CHRIST AS OVERSEER AND HEAD
[p. 320] CHRIST AS OVERSEER AND HEAD
1 Peter 2:25; Ephesians 4:14 - 16
My exercise is to pursue the thought we have already had as to Christ, for one feels the intense need of the saints coming, first of all, to recognise that He is Head, and, secondly, to hold Him as such. I refer to Peter, not that the Spirit of God uses him to bring out this truth; he travelled the same road as Paul up to a point, but it is Paul who leads the saints into headship, and what I would remark about Peter is that he is true to the impression received from the Lord after He rose from the dead. We know from Acts 1 what was the Lord’s charge to the apostles, and that it was in the power of the Spirit. He charged them, He placed them under obligations, entrusting them with the ordering and the government of the assembly. He singled out Peter in revealing Himself specially to him after He rose from the dead; and then afterwards the Lord probes Peter.
When Peter and his associates in the fishing expedition as recorded in John 21, return and discern Christ, John said “It is the Lord”, Then “Peter girt his fisher’s coat unto him, for he was naked, and did cast himself into the sea”, and he reached the Lord in that way. The Lord had food prepared for them. There was a “fire of coals, and fish laid thereon and bread”; then He gave them the invitation to “come and dine”. It is said of David, “he fed them according to the integrity of his heart”. How true that is of Christ! And then it is added “he guided them by the skilfulness of his hands”. That is wisdom; integrity in feeding, and wisdom in leading. So Peter dines, and then he is probed by the Lord; and after that the Lord says to him “Feed my sheep — feed my lambs — shepherd my sheep”. That was the impression that the [p. 321] Lord made upon Peter; he was to feed and he was to shepherd the sheep of Christ. The Lord further impresses upon him that he is to be a follower. Peter looked round and saw John following, and he said, “Lord, and what shall this man do?”
Now John was following; and John, I think, says more about following than any of the gospel writers. He begins his narrative by calling attention to the fact that a certain two of the Baptist’s disciples heard him speak and followed Jesus; (John 1:35). John himself was following, and the one who follows can speak about following, and needs not that any one should criticise. Peter had said. “What shall this man do?” The point is: What is he doing? He was following; that was sufficient. What are you doing, beloved? How happy it is for God to hear the Lord say a word for you! He says of John, “If I will that he tarry till I come!” These are the last words of Christ to Peter, according to John’s narrative; and Peter’s epistle shows how unmistakably the Lord had impressed him. He had not only given him a commission, but He had impressed him; and I would say in that connection that Christianity largely consists in that. I am not belittling doctrine, but if you take away the impression of Christ, of what value is the doctrine? Christianity is the continuation of what is set forth in Christ. That is simple, but in what way? Through impressions gained by the follower of the Lord.
Peter was impressed, and his epistle shows that the impression lasted. Time failed to efface it. See his last letter? He says, “I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance” (2 Peter 1:13). Remembrance of what? Of that which had been from the beginning. He says, “we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of [p. 322] his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory”. What an impression Peter had received! He says “when we were with him on the holy mount”, and “there came such a voice from the excellent glory”. Excellent glory! How impressed he was! Then he goes on; “we have also a more sure word of prophecy” (2 Peter 1:16,17; 2 Peter 1:19). It was a certainty to him.
Well, the gist of Peter’s letter is really in 1 Peter 2:25: “Ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls”. The believers of the circumcision were as “sheep going astray”. Note, it is not that they were simply astray, but they were “going astray”. Like the two we read of in Luke 24, they were going the wrong way. I wonder how it is with us. It is not only has gone astray; it is “going astray”. There is progress in either one direction or another. But now he says: “Ye are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls”. He does not say that he has brought them back, but the passage would show that his ministry had been effective: it had not been in vain. The sheep had returned, and returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of their souls. It is a remarkable statement. One has to measure oneself by a statement like that, as to whether one has really returned to the Shepherd. We have each been far enough away. We were speaking this afternoon about the distance from Jerusalem to Emmaus, 60 furlongs. The Lord has measured the distance that each one of us has travelled in going astray. How He watches over our souls when we reach the turning point! How happy when we return, “the same hour of the night”, for it is night when you are astray, but the morning comes as soon as you return. Returning to the Shepherd, you come to the great light; there is no night there. Peter says, “Ye have returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls”.
Now that is Peter’s ministry. The sheep are viewed as having returned to Christ the Shepherd, and as having returned to the Shepherd they have also come to the “Bishop of their souls”. Note, it is the Bishop of your souls; it is not the Bishop of London, or of Canterbury, or York; there is no such idea in Scripture as the bishop of a locality. We get such an idea as a bishop in a locality, but not of a locality. When we get the thought of the bishop of a place, it means that Christianity has become in people’s eyes a settled thing in the world, part of the world; the expression involves that idea, It is one thing to be in a locality, another thing to be of it. The Lord Jesus is the Bishop of souls; His people’s souls are His diocese. The apostle did not ordain men to be bishops of cities, but in cities. “Ordain elders in every city”, the Word says (Titus 1:5). And what is the area of the Lord’s bishopric? Souls! You have a soul — well, there is a Bishop of that, thank God! There may be under-bishops, too. You can discern them not by their cloth, but by the interest they have in your soul. The Lord has an interest in your soul, that is His diocese. He is an Overseer of souls.
Well, one can understand Peter’s service to the saints being accomplished. He sees the sheep having returned to the Shepherd and then he says, “and to the Bishop of your souls”. The Lord Jesus is the Overseer of every soul on earth; every believer belongs to that diocese. He is the Bishop of our souls. How comforting to know that whether you wake or sleep He is overseeing your soul perpetually. I do not deny that He looks after your body, as the body is His too; but the soul is the great centre of need, and the Lord is Bishop of that.
Now, Peter first indicates his ministry and the impression he had received from the great Shepherd and great Bishop. I believe in overseers. I believe the Lord calls men for that. It is not difficult to [p. 324] discern who they are, and it is well to take account of them. There were several at Ephesus, but we get no such idea as one bishop of one locality. Paul called the elders at Ephesus to him, and he charged them as to the flock over which the Holy Spirit had made them overseers. Finally he said, “Remember the words of the Lord Jesus”. What were the words? “It is more blessed to give than to receive”. Then he warns them, “also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them”. That was a terrible contemplation for a heart like Paul’s. To be a leader of a party was abominated in his mind; he strove against it, but he insists that the flock, the assembly of God, should be fed; the assembly which God has “purchased with the blood of his own”. What a charge it is! Well, Peter leaves us with the Overseer. The very idea contemplates the saints here in the world needing oversight. It is not headship.
Now, in turning to Ephesians, we find the full gist of Paul’s ministry. One might say much on that: there is, indeed, far more than one could say, and at best one can only touch this wonderful letter addressed to those saints at Ephesus. You will remember Paul had traversed the upper regions in going to Ephesus; it was an elevated territory morally. We are not much accustomed to the “hill country”. Ephesians stands in relation to the upper district or region. We have to accustom ourselves to this elevation. The low land scarcely requires the same exercise. The apostle comes to the full result of his ministry in Ephesians 4. His thought is to leave the saints, as it were, self-supporting. I do not wish to use a misleading word, but that is a very good word, as I hope to show you. John uses it in certain features of his writings. Indeed, it is a mark of his gospel and epistle that those who come under the influence of Christ, and who benefit by that [p. 325] influence, can take care of themselves. They can! Have you learned to take care of yourself when the brethren do not see you? Are you able to take care of yourself? Luke, so to speak, provides care, as in chapter 10. But John contemplates an era in church history when there is not that care; he contemplates possible isolation. What would you do now if you were left alone? John brings forward certain persons who were left to themselves, and who proved by their conduct that they could take care of themselves.
Look at the woman in John 4. The Lord gave her no direction as to what to do. He said a great deal to her. He spoke of living water, of worship, and He told her that He was the Christ. Then “she left her waterpot”. He did not tell her to leave it, but she did, and there is spiritual significance in that. She then went into the city, and went to the men in the city, and said, “Come see a man which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” That is the conclusion arrived at in her soul. She received no direction as to what to do, but we are told what she did, and what she did showed that she could take care of herself, so to speak. She could tell the men about Christ, and they believed on account of her word. That is a bit of Christ’s handiwork, according to John. One would desire to be like that, to be able to take care of oneself, and to take care of others, and at the same time to take care of the testimony. The leading feature in that connection is seen especially in Lazarus in John 11. The Lord said, “Loose him and let him go”; he would take care of himself.
Well, 1 John 5:18 presents the individual as taking care of himself, as it says, “He that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not”. We need this in these days. Everyone should see to it that he takes care of himself, and in doing so that he may be able to take [p. 326] care of others, and of the testimony. We cannot look for collective self-support today. I do not look for it, but what the present moment requires is what John’s ministry supplies; namely, those who can look after themselves, and who can look after others, and the testimony. I am not casting any doubt upon the collective side, but it is well to have the truth of John’s writings, and they are calculated to set up individuals. Look at chapter 14:21 of his gospel. “He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me”, he is the one, “and I will love him and will manifest myself to him”. Do not misunderstand my word self-supporting. I am not overlooking the Lord as overseeing, or the Spirit indwelling; I am speaking of the effect of the Lord’s work in our souls. What a company we should have if each one of the Lord’s people in this city were self-supporting! That is what John aims at.
Now, Paul aims at collective self-support, and in this chapter he shows us Christ ascended far above all heavens that He might fill all things. What a victory! He has led captivity captive, and has gone far above all heavens. For faith the whole world system is led captive. I look at it in that way. In Romans you get the powers that be, ordained of God; you respect them, but in Ephesians all power is in the hands of Christ. He has led captivity captive; not simply overcome, but led captive. What power can prevail? None. Then He “has given gifts to men” (Ephesians 4:8); and now, to faith, the whole area is under His control. We were speaking this morning of the spirit of the living creatures in Ezekiel being in the wheels; so here the spirit of Christ is seen as pervading all below. Gift is exercised in the power of the Spirit. In Ezekiel, in the amber spot above all the array of power, is a Man. Jesus has gone above all heavens, and carries on His work outside all systematised religion and error. All that [p. 327] is utterly refused, and the work of God goes on outside of it.
Then we get the gifts enumerated. Firstly, apostles to enforce His authority; secondly, prophets to bring God in; and then evangelists to bring man in; last of all, pastors and teachers. In the pastor we touch Peter’s line. Then it goes on “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”. That is the situation, “till we all come in the unity of the faith” (verses 12,13). Mark the word “faith”; it is not the unity of the Spirit, as in the earlier part of the chapter, but the unity of the faith; by this means we come unto a perfect man. That is a collective thought. “Unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ”. What a marvellous aim! Well, that is Paul’s ministry.
Now he says “that we be no more babes”; that is a word for our souls. The state of babes is a most dangerous one to remain in. In 1 John 2 the saints are classified as fathers, young men and babes; and a good deal more is said to the babes than to the “fathers” or to the “young men”. You will observe also no charge is committed to the babes. Their great danger was Antichrist. Not that Antichrist had yet come, though John says he is coming; but he adds, “Even now are there many antichrists”. How are they to be known? “They went out from us, but they were not of us”; and the babes were in danger from them. So we are today; we are in danger from the influence of men. The babes are greatly exposed to the influence of men, those who would be leaders in the world. Now, the apostle Paul says, Let us be no longer babes; “that ye be no more babes tossed to and fro by every wind of that teaching, which is in the sleight of men in unprincipled cunning with a view to systematised error”. Systematised error; that is Christendom. Ministry now is very largely taken up with exposure [p. 328] of evil; it is not happy work, but it is essential. The apostle saw Christendom as systematised error. Note, it is systematised. It may be very plausible, carefully constructed and built up, but it is deceptive, and the babes are caught by it. Hence the need of ministry. The object of ministry is to prevent the babe state continuing, and to lead us on to growth, to “perfection”, so that we should be “no longer babes”. Let us see to it, for in the babe state we are exposed to “systematised error”. Look at the words, “the sleight of men and cunning craftiness”. How essential to be on our guard in respect of such things!
Then the apostle goes on to the positive side; “speaking the truth in love”. What a happy employ that is! “They that feared the Lord spake often one to another”; we are not told what they said, but it was not distasteful to the Lord’s ear, you may be sure, for He “hearkened and heard it” (Malachi 3:16). The Lord has a perfect ear. Joshua said on the occasion of the golden calf: “There is a noise of war in the camp” (Exodus 32:17). His ear was deceived. Moses said: ‘No, it is not war’. Idolatry was at work. The Lord hearkened, and heard those who spoke together of His things, and what He heard, as I said, was not distasteful to Him. How searching as to what we talk about when together! So the apostle says, “Speaking the truth in love”, “in love”, that is what will be to His glory. “Speaking in love”, not to show how much we know, but speaking the truth for the truth’s sake. If you read John’s second and third epistles you see what he says about the truth. Love of the truth should mark every one of us, and loving it leads us to speak of it; and we do not dissociate it from the brethren.
Then further, “that we may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ”. See how the apostle leads us on. Growth is necessary for apprehending headship; growth in Christ, “that we may grow up to him in all things who is the head”. In speaking the truth in love together we acquire divine sensibilities, such sensibilities as discern the movements of the Head. Then he goes on, “from whom the whole body fitted together, and connected by every joint of supply”. It is from Christ that all the nourishment flows in this connection, but every joint has its own contribution to make to the whole, for the growth is “according to the working in its measure of each one part”; not one excepted.
Now, I repeat, this is Paul’s ministry, the great end of it, that the saints should be set together in those holy bonds growing up to Christ as the Head, and getting all the nourishment which comes from Him, working out through all the members, so that there is increase. Romans does not give increase, but the man there is just recovered, without any children, so to speak, like David at Ziklag; it says he recovered all. Then he goes to Hebron and gets children, and at Jerusalem he gets more; a further increase. So Colossians and Ephesians give increase. The Man from heaven increases through the body, so that there is a presentation of Christ down here. Thus Paul closes the passage with this “making increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love”. It is self-edifying, or building up in love. The apostle sets the assembly up here as self-supporting, and thus there is increase, and self-building up in love. Whilst we cannot look for the collective idea now, it is our privilege to have it as light. We can look on to the “latter glory”; but the New Testament writers insist on what was “from the beginning”. We do not look for development, but for what was from the beginning and for what is coming out in the future. What was at the beginning is to take Christ’s place during His absence and that is the testimony for us right on to the end.