PAUL'S LIGHT
PAUL’S LIGHT
Isaiah 60:1 - 3; Ephesians 1:3 - 6; Ephesians 5:7 - 14
— I have the thought of following up the subject of light. Light is necessarily introduced into all God’s operations. Before giving creation its present form, He said, “Let there be light” Genesis 1:3.
I would like to show you the special character of the light in which the assembly is established, which involves Paul’s ministry. The Jews in general had received light, but in the case of Paul we see degrees of comparison with regard to the light. First it speaks of it as a light out of heaven; then, as a great light; and finally, as a light above the brightness of the sun; there was a special significance in that, indicating what was going to be presented to the saints through Paul. John speaks of light perhaps more than any other apostle, but he does not speak of it as a light out of heaven; John speaks rather of the true light, which coming into the world, lightens every man. John insists on its universal character; it is not partial. When it is a question of Paul, we receive what we might call our own light. Isaiah 60 gives the idea, but that passage applies to the Jewish remnant at Jerusalem in the future. There will come a moment when the light of Israel will shine. Previously, for a moment, great darkness will cover the earth; but God will intervene on behalf of the remnant of Israel at Jerusalem. There will be an outshining of light for them through Christ. It says, “Jehovah shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen on thee”. It is not a light that will shine directly for the people of the nations; they will walk in that light, but through Israel.
— The Jewish remnant is distinguished by the fact that the light will arise upon them.
— [p. 110] I read this passage from Isaiah in view of the thought of a special light; there will be a moment of deep darkness on the earth; but the glory of Jehovah will shine upon the Jewish remnant at Jerusalem, and so the remnant will have a place of supremacy on the earth. Now, the light that has come through Paul corresponds to that light; that is to say it is a special light for the assembly. It is distinguished as being a light out of heaven. It shone round about Paul and those who were with him: those who were with Paul saw that light. Then, later, he speaks of it as a great light: “There suddenly shone out of heaven a great light round about me” Acts 22:6. And finally, speaking to king Agrippa, he says that it was “a light above the brightness of the sun” Acts 26:13. The spiritual suggestion of this last expression is that that light delivers us from all human light: every other light is eclipsed by that light. This light is communicated to us in the epistle to the Ephesians. One finds that, in a general way, brethren have only a poor appreciation of what is particularly ours — our special light. It says, “Thy light is come”. It is a question of shining in our light.
— “Wake up, thou that sleepest, and arise up from among the dead, and the Christ shall shine upon thee”.
— The light that shines upon the saints who wake up is, so to speak, Ephesian light, and I have thought that the revival of the truth which has taken place in the last century, bears this character: our light has been recovered. From that time, the object of the enemy has always been to deprive us of that heavenly light, and I believe many believers would be content with a place in the millennium; but that is not our light.
— That will be the portion of the remnant.
— We shall also have our part in the millennium, but our part will be a heavenly part. The assembly [p. 111] will be seen coming down out of the heaven from God, her light like a most precious stone.
— As a crystal-like jasper stone.
— That heavenly light is already brought in now. In Ephesians it not only says that we are in the light, but that we are “light in the Lord”.
— Christ is the light that illuminates the city.
— It says that “the city has no need of the sun nor of the moon, that they should shine for it; for the glory of God has enlightened it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb” Revelation 21:23. It has no need of natural light.
— Her light is most precious, “like a most precious stone, as a crystal-like jasper stone” Revelation 21:11.
— The city is composed of sons of light.
— They are sons of God, according to this passage from Ephesians. It is this blessed relationship that gives the assembly its special character.
— And it comes down out of the heaven from God.
— The revelation of God might be called a general light that shines for all, and John speaks of it from that side: fellowship is in that light.
— It says, “If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another” 1 John 1:7.
— Fellowship existed already before the introduction of Paul’s ministry: we find fellowship in the second chapter of the Acts; it is the “fellowship of the apostles” Acts 2:42.
— John alludes to it in his epistle, when he says, “Our fellowship is indeed with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” 1 John 1:3.
— Paul in no wise set aside what existed already; but he introduced additional light. So, speaking of the Lord’s supper, he said that he had received it directly from the Lord; and the subsequent light brought in in Paul’s ministry is connected specially with the Lord’s supper. Paul’s ministry maintained the sovereignty of God, but in no wise set aside the ministry of John. The ministry of Paul links everything [p. 112] with heaven, so that the Gentiles were not led to what was established at Jerusalem. Two things had taken place before Cornelius received the light; first the light had come from heaven and had shone round about Paul and his company (Acts 9), and then a sheet had come out of heaven and was taken up again into heaven; Acts 10. Now it was after these great events that Peter was sent to Cornelius, so that we are introduced into something greater than that which existed at Jerusalem.
— It is of all importance to see what it is into which we, of the nations, have been brought.
— Would it be the same thought, when it says, “Ye have come to mount Zion” Hebrews 12:22?
— That would be the same character.
— In chapter 12 of Hebrews you have the whole range of all that exists before God, now already, including the assembly of the first-born whose names are written in the heavens; we have come to the light of all that. What is to be noticed is that we, Gentiles, have been brought into the greatest light. The day of Pentecost was a wonderful day, but the system into which Cornelius and his company were introduced was still greater. In the fifteenth chapter of Luke, it speaks of the prodigal son, and it says that the best robe was brought out.
— That is something more than Pentecost.
— In the fourteenth chapter of Luke we have the great supper; that is Pentecost. There was the house, and the house had to be filled. What is in view there is simply a place in the house, but chapter 15 goes further than that. In chapter 14 it is not said that the Father ran to meet repentant sons; the servant goes right and left seeking the poor, maimed, etc.; but chapter 15 shows us what a reception awaited the Gentiles, for “while he was yet a long way off, his father saw him” Luke 15:20. Now, that is in [p. 113] view in the epistle to the Ephesians which shows what is our portion.
— “Wake up, thou that sleepest, and arise up from among the dead, and the Christ shall shine upon thee”.
— If the sleeping Christian wakes up, it is in the midst of this marvellous light that shines. When the Father saw the prodigal afar off he ran to meet him. Nothing can compare with that.
— Then a Christian may be asleep.
— And how many are asleep in our days! But this word is addressed to us; and if one is recovered, it is to the greatest light, so that nothing is comparable with the reception of the returned prodigal. The prodigal is ourselves, those of the nations. Then, before the prodigal is received, Peter had to be specially prepared; and it is heaven that undertakes that preparation. Peter is therefore carefully prepared, in order that the prodigal should be suitably received; Acts 10.
— He goes up to the housetop he falls into an ecstasy, and a vision comes to him he sees all kinds of beasts. As Peter would not eat anything, the voice told him not to call unclean what God had cleansed.
— It was “a certain vessel descending, as a great sheet” Acts 10:11.
— It is a question of something that comes down out of heaven. The origin of the assembly is heaven.
— The character of the family is according to its greatest light: “Arise, shine! for thy light is come”.
— The epistle to the Ephesians governs this situation for us. Peter had to be carefully prepared in order that the prodigal — Cornelius — might be received in a suitable manner. So Peter preaches in the house of Cornelius, and while he is preaching, the Holy Spirit falls on all those who were listening to the word.
— That corresponds to the Father who ran to meet the prodigal and covered him with kisses.
— He is submerged in love.
— [p. 114] That is the reception given to those of the nations!
— It is as if God would show in every way how happy He was to see the Gentiles return. Then, He clothes these Gentiles with the best robe.
— “And I will clothe her priests with salvation” Psalm 132:16. Is that the thought?
— That is the thought indeed. No one can fulfil the function of a priest without being righteous. Think of the best robe with which we are clothed!
— You have said that it is necessary to be righteous. The fine linen represents the righteousnesses of the saints. That is what is produced from day to day by the Holy Spirit. But the best robe was already in the Father’s house. There is only one “best robe”. It is made of what is best; our calling is heavenly. That is what we must lay hold of! That is to say that in entering heaven you are perfectly at ease. The assembly is clothed with this robe that no other family can ever wear.
— Each one should take the thought to himself, since it is the portion of all. It is Paul’s light.
— Is that the idea, in Romans 13:14 “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ”?
— There, it is rather the Christian profession, but here it is something more. In Romans it is a question of the Lord Jesus Christ and of your position down here; but in Ephesians it is more elevated, which we must understand. In Luke, the robe is the best. This explains the beginning of the epistle to the Ephesians, when the apostle says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ”. However numerous the blessings are, they are all ours, but they are all given in the heavenlies, and at the outset of the epistle you have: “Having marked us out beforehand for adoption through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the [p. 115] good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has taken us into favour in the Beloved”. Think of all the affection connected with this favour into which we are brought! The prodigal is clothed with all the divine thoughts of love. Not only are we taken into favour, but “taken into favour in the Beloved” — the strongest expression conceivable of Christ’s place before the Father. Think of the place we have in the divine affections!
— “The best robe”, “the Beloved” — these expressions are in the singular; it is unique.
— But it is absolutely necessary that each takes the Place of the prodigal.
— I understand the expression ‘bring out’ as involving the ministry of Paul. You have the prodigal; he is there, covered with kisses: that is chapter 10 of the Acts. Chapter 11 introduces Paul into his active service: he sets out and goes to Antioch where he spends a whole year. In chapter 13 he is sent further to preach, and in his ministry the best robe is brought out. In result, the saints are clothed with the thoughts of divine and eternal love.
— All saints are included. The epistle to the Ephesians embraces all believers, Jews and Gentiles.
— The robe was within, but he brought it out by his ministry.
— The Lord had already appeared to Paul and He was going to appear to him again later.
— “Things which eye has not seen, and ear not heard, and which have not come into man’s heart, which God has prepared for them that love him”, (1 Corinthians 2:9) that is what God has revealed to us by His Spirit!
— The light goes on growing.
— God had hidden these deep things by Him. First, He brings in Paul through that light out of heaven. Then, the sheet comes down out of heaven to Peter. Peter goes to Cornelius and receives him with the greatest affection. Then Paul begins his [p. 116] ministry, and there are successive waves of light; the eternal thoughts of God concerning the assembly are developed one after another. In chapter 2 of Ephesians, we arrive at quite a definite point. Our light is come — quickened, raised, made to sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. The assembly is to shine in that light.
— That is why, in Revelation, Ephesus is first; she had been set up in that precious light, and it was a question of her reflecting it.
— That is a subjective thought, is it not?
— This light is developed by Paul, to the end that it should be developed in us; so that in chapter 5 this responsibility is placed upon us: “Walk as children of light”. Verse 14 is a quotation from Isaiah; the appeal is addressed to all those who compose the assembly, that they may awake and arise and shine, because “thy light is come”.
Reading with J.T. at Beauvoisin, 9th May, 1926, evening.