EPHESIANS - THE ASSEMBLY'S LIGHT
EPHESIANS — THE ASSEMBLY’S LIGHT
Ephesians 1:3 - 6; Ephesians 1:15 - 20; Ephesians 3:14 - 19; Genesis 24:62 - 65
With the Lord’s help I would like to dwell a little on the epistle to the Ephesians as being that which may be regarded as our light. I believe the passage in Isaiah is referred to in this epistle: “Arise, shine, for thy light is come” Isaiah 60:1. I have been thinking of it as perhaps not altogether beyond us, although conscious of one’s meagreness of apprehension, as well as the meagreness of the apprehension of the saints generally in regard to this marvellous epistle, reminding us, as it does, of the divine thoughts before the world was.
The great body of the Scriptures has to do with what transpired subsequent to the foundation of the world, with what occurred indeed since the present formation depicted in Genesis 1 and 2. But whilst the Scriptures have been engaged from that time with current occurrences, we can read certain parts as bearing on God’s primary thoughts, particularly the formation of Adam and the formation of Eve. We can understand by reading these scriptures that God had His primary thoughts in mind. Thus in all the scriptures dealing with current events — the incoming of sin and all its train — God always had His eternal thoughts before Him, and that these must take form in due course. His righteousness, and His power, and His love have come to light in dealing with current developments, but His primary thoughts have ever been present, so that we can look back and see how glimpses of them were furnished.
In the passage I read from Genesis 24 we have Isaac standing out, as we now understand, as the heavenly man, and he is presented in this section as having just come from Beer-lahai-roi. He had just
[p. 574] come. I refer to this because the well, being, so far as I know, the first one introduced in Scripture, stands in relation to the assembly as the divinely provided companion for the heavenly Man. What is so striking about this well is that it came to light in connection with Hagar — one who in no sense was to have part with Isaac. It points, I apprehend, to the provision of God available for all, for if there is one thing more than another which God would emphasise it is His liberality, and in giving the Spirit it is made plain that He is available generally as well as specially. There is not a person in the whole of Christendom who may not avail himself of the Spirit — not one. He is available for all. In the giving of the Spirit it is a question of divine bounty. The giving of the Spirit at Pentecost represents heaven’s full measure. One has to admit that one has but little conception of heaven’s full measure, and that is what Acts 2 brings out — it was the magnitude of the gift; the Holy Spirit came personally, and as here He is available to all; hence this well is first seen in connection with Hagar. She was of the household of Abraham although an Egyptian; and, although she brought sorrow into his house, and an offspring that was “a wild-ass of a man” (Genesis 16:12), who could never answer to the mind of God, yet this well stands in relation to her, which is, to my mind, a remarkable tribute to the magnitude of God’s gift — heaven’s full measure. No one who understands that could be narrow, sectarian, or partisan. As Christ was given for all — He gave Himself a ransom for all — so the Holy Spirit is available for all. “To you is the promise”, Peter says, “and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God may call” Acts 2:39.
Well, Isaac is seen as just come from this well; he is in figure the heavenly man. In chapter 21 he is weaned, and Hagar and Ishmael go out, that is to say, Abraham saw Messiah’s day; he saw it by faith. We have to apprehend Christ in that way as weaned, as detached from all that is natural, to make way for our own detachment from what is natural. Hagar and Ishmael go out, but although cast out, the well was available for them. There was no digging of a well connected with Hagar, nor with Ishmael; the well in connection with them is entirely from the divine side, to bring out the magnitude of the divine gift, how general it is, and how available it is to all.
In chapter 22 Isaac is raised from the dead in figure, and then he is out of view so far as Scripture goes, until chapter 24, but as a type of Christ he is in the faith of Abraham. Although Abraham comes down from the mountain, there is nothing said about Isaac coming down. (See verse 19.) Abraham comes down to his young men and they go together — a most interesting company, governed by the faith of Abraham; they go together to Beer-sheba, denoting spiritual history, and they dwell there, that is to say, you have a company in the light of the resurrection of Christ, and, I may say, of His ascension, for He went up. You have a company dwelling together at Beer-sheba — the well of the oath — and they are dwelling under the wing of divine faithfulness; that is the position opened up to us in the letters to Corinth. “God is faithful, by whom ye have been called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord” 1 Corinthians 1:9. God is faithful “who will not suffer you to be tempted above what ye are able to bear” 1 Corinthians 10:13. “God is faithful, that our word to you is not yea and nay ... but yea is in him. For whatever promises of God there are, in him is the yea, and in him the amen” 2 Corinthians 1:18 - 20.
The assembly is thus seen, in figure, under the wing of divine faithfulness. But Rebekah is not there; it is not the heavenly position. It is a position of great value in the history of the believer and of [p. 576] the saints, but it is not the heavenly position, for the saints at Corinth were not equal to that. What they needed was to know something about the faithfulness of God — that God was faithful, who had called them into the fellowship of His Son. But in that position the light of Rebekah comes to Abraham, for you will remember that it was there the word came to him that she was born. We are thus on the threshold of the heavenly position. Sarah dies, but there is no void, for Rebekah is already on the scene, in principle, before Sarah dies.
And then we get the heavenly man, not in the patriarch Abraham, decrepit and old, though full of faith, but in Isaac, and he has just come from the well. It is the position of this dispensation; it is the position that governs it; it is Christ as the heavenly Man with the means by Him of supporting the assembly, so that it should be heavenly; he had just come from the well. He dwelt in the south country, that is, a position of favour, for he is the beloved, and we are taken into favour in the Beloved. The south country is a marvellous position — a country of wells. Beer-sheba was there, Beer-lahai-roi was there. And so Isaac lifts up his eyes as he meditates at eventide — the end of a period; his mother’s tent was there, for Christ was not without His feelings in regard of Israel — the first loved. He is meditating in the field, and he lifts up his eyes and what he sees is not Rebekah — we are not told he saw Rebekah — he saw the camels. For the moment it is a question of support, of power for carrying and refreshment; all these are grouped in the type so that we might understand that if Christ is the heavenly Man, the assembly is to be heavenly, not in name or theory only, but in power.
I read Ephesians because, as I said, it is our light — not a type, but the direct word furnished for the assembly, that which is peculiarly the light governing [p. 577] our position as called to heaven. So the apostle begins, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ”; then he goes on to call attention to what is in the mind of God, that “he has chosen us in him before the world’s foundation, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love”, having marked us out to sonship through Jesus Christ to Himself, that we should be to the praise of the glory of His grace. One would love to be able by the Spirit to let the light of all that shine into one’s soul — our light — that it might shine out, and that there might be some glimmering in these last days of the heavenly thing, of the divine mind being reflected in those who are destined for its fulfilment, even us, as the apostle says, “vessels of mercy ... prepared for glory” Romans 9:23. Think of that — prepared for it!
Well now, the apostle says, “Having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is in you”, that is to say, they were in the dispensation of faith, for it is the dispensation of faith. We were noticing in Acts 1 that it was after the Lord had communicated certain things to His disciples that He was taken up from them. We must not forget that He was taken up. He had been with them for forty days as risen; that time was not exactly the faith period; it was a spiritual period; it denotes what is spiritual. They were set up in spiritual education before the faith period began — when He was taken up. We have to understand the faith period, as it says, “faith having come” Galatians 3:25. Faith came in in Christ, as I apprehend; He set out the great principle of faith; He is the beginner, the author, and finisher of it; He has set out the thing and finished it; the disciples could see it.
One would love to be able to open up the life of Jesus. I only just refer to it, but the disciples saw it: “We have contemplated his glory” (John 1:14), they said. He is never seen praying with them; but they see Him praying, that is to say, they see a man speaking to God on the principle of faith. One of the disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1); we would like to know how to pray; and He taught them how to. In a variety of ways they could perceive what a life His was — a marvellous life of faith set out in its perfection in the author and finisher of it. Faith was seen there; it was seen in Christ; it was seen objectively, so that they might apprehend it. While He was with them it was more sight, but before the period of faith came in, that is, when He was received out of their sight, they were taught spiritually, hence, “He presented himself living”, it says, “after he had suffered” Acts 1:3. That was to command their hearts, and to touch their hearts. “he presented himself living, after he had suffered, with many proofs” Acts 1:3. It was not faith, it was spiritual — that a Man should come in through closed doors, should vanish out of their sight, and then appear again. It was a marvellous education, and later He “assembled with them” (Acts 1:4), and finally they came together asking Him a question, “Lord, is it at this time that thou restorest the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them, It is not yours to know times or seasons, which the Father has placed in his own authority; but ye will receive power, the Holy Spirit having come upon you, and ye shall be my witnesses ... And having said these things he was taken up, they beholding him, and a cloud received him out of their sight” Acts 1:6 - 9. The faith period had begun, and the subsequent movements of the apostles and of the saints indicate how much intelligence they had, how spiritual they were. You see how they could act for God on the principle of faith. We naturally tend to what is seen — to big meetings and the like. Thank God for big meetings, for large [p. 579] numbers! May God continue to add to His people! But the principle of the faith period is not largeness in that sense, the principle is the upper room; they went to the upper room, that is to say, it is elevation in obscurity — the heavenly thing maintained in obscurity, that is the principle.
Now, it is a difficult thing to maintain that, especially when God brings in thousands as He did, for God is great in His thoughts. The first gospel address brought in three thousand, and the numbers increased daily, we read. How then is the principle of the “little flock” (Luke 12:32) to be preserved? I venture to say, by the keeping of the passover. It was to be kept in Egypt, for how else could the people of God get out of Egypt save in smallness and by reduction? I shall never leave Egypt by maintaining my greatness; whatever the government of God may have made me in it, I can never get out of Egypt on that principle. The only way out is by the passover, and the feast of unleavened bread. So, too, in the wilderness, and also in the land — at the entrance to it the passover was kept.
The passover speaks of Christ’s suffering: “Our passover, Christ, has been sacrificed” 1 Corinthians 5:7. The lamb was roast with fire — direct action — and anything that remained over until the morning was burnt. The soul is reminded in the type — roast with fire — of what the Lord endured on account of sin. Am I going to maintain it? The maintenance of the feast of unleavened bread is the principle of reduction. I go out of Egypt into the wilderness in smallness by the maintenance of the feast, and so, too, in the land; I believe that the maintenance of the passover contributes largely to the sustenance of the people of God in their heavenly position, for it is in smallness and in contentment in smallness, that elevation in obscurity is maintained.
Well, the Ephesians had faith, faith that could be [p. 580] spoken of, and the apostle had heard of it. Faith leads us out of this world; it means that I am not looking at what is seen, but at what is unseen. “We look not at the things that are seen”, says the apostle, “but at the things that are not seen; for the things that are seen are for a time, but those that are not seen eternal” 2 Corinthians 4:18. That is what faith implies. And they had, too, love to all the saints. The Ephesians were not national in their feelings, they were general, they had love for the saints wherever they were. That is a feature of the epistle to the Colossians and the epistle to the Ephesians; they embraced in their affections every member of Christ. That goes with the heavenly position, for when we are raised up, we do not go up severally, we go up together. We must never forget that. In the translation of the saints — at the rapture, as we call it — every member of Christ, from Pentecost to the end, is embraced. It is a marvellous thought, and a thought that love values, for love would not omit one of its objects. The Ephesians had love towards all the saints; so in chapter 2 the apostle says, “And has raised us up together” (Ephesians 2:6); that is a tribute to their love as I understand it. He says, as it were: If you love all the saints, you will have them all with you when you go up, and when you are in heaven you will have them all. He “has made us sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus” Ephesians 2:6. You know what it is, no doubt, to sit down together here, under the wing of divine faithfulness, but there, there will be no need of divine faithfulness, although there will be the evidence of it. He has made us to sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus; the point in Ephesians is the greatness of the position — in the heavenlies in Christ.
In the light of their state — faith and love — the apostle prays for them. I wish briefly to point out that the two prayers involve sustenance for the position.
[p. 581] I have spoken of the well in Genesis, but if you look through Genesis you will be greatly helped by seeing the way the Holy Spirit brings in the idea of wells, and the digging of wells. These two prayers involve the presence of the Spirit. Without the Spirit there can be no sustenance for such a position as that to which we are called.
The first great desire of the apostle was that the saints should be intelligent. The prophet Hosea speaks about the people of God being destroyed for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6), and the same prophet says, “And we shall know, — we shall follow on to know Jehovah: his going forth is assured as the morning dawn” Hosea 6:3. It is an apprehension of Christ as He is, risen and glorified, so that the great burden of the first prayer is that the saints should be spiritually intelligent, hence he says, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him, being enlightened in the eyes of your heart, so that ye should know what is the hope of his calling”. It is a question of state. It is the Holy Spirit in relation to the upper affections and faculties; “being enlightened in the eyes of your heart”. The affections are involved, but the higher affections, because it is a question of heaven, and what relates to God.
It is not a question here of living water, but of the higher affections, and intelligence — all that relates to God: “what is the hope of his calling”. Have you ever thought, beloved, of what the hope of God’s calling is? The emphasis is on His — what His calling is, for it is wholly according to His mind, according to Himself. Everything that is connected with God in that way is according to Himself in the greatness of it. Then the next thing is “the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” — what He has in the saints. How differently they are [p. 582] viewed in the mind as we see them in connection with the divine inheritance, what God has in them; and then, “the surpassing greatness of his power towards us who believe, according to the working of the might of his strength, in which he wrought in the Christ in raising him from among the dead”. These are the things that are to be known.
How much do we know of them? that is the question. We read the Bible and books written on it (of all importance in their place), but what about the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him and that which God gives in answer to prayer? It refers to the furnishing and sustenance of the saints in the great position in which they are set. The knowledge that belongs to us infinitely surpasses what this world with all its means of education can supply; it cannot touch these things. It is a question of the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God in these three relations.
The second prayer has reference to the inner man; it has in view Christ’s place in our hearts. It is the Father having in view the place Christ is to have. The two things go together, so that the apostle, it seems to me, was more burdened as he drew near to this side of the truth. He says, “I bow my knees”, which shows how he corresponded to the Lord, who bowed His knees in Gethsemane. The supreme exercise of the apostle for the Ephesians, for the assembly, was that they might be strengthened in the inner man. It is a question now, not so much of intelligence as of ability, power to take in things, so that he says, “being rooted and founded in love, in order that ye may be fully able to apprehend with all saints” (for he ever brings that in in Ephesians — all the saints) “what is the breadth and length and depth and height; and to know the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge”. No finite or natural mind could take in all these four dimensions. It is a question of power [p. 583] from God enabling us in a spiritual way to think as He does — to think spiritually; it is a question of ability — that ye may be fully able to apprehend with “all the saints”, etc. One loves to think of the place that all the saints have on this line — the heavenly line.
And then he says, “That the Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts”; it is on that principle — through faith. It is a question of the faith period. Things are on that principle, not on the principle of sight. You love the Lord and you apprehend Him as the Christ — as the ark of old which was brought into Zion, the city of David, as it is called, for David brings the ark in, according to the account given in 2 Samuel. It is to be noted that Joab is not brought in in the operations; it would be out of keeping with the spirit of the book; it is David’s work. Joab is introduced in 2 Chronicles, but not in 2 Samuel. In the latter it is a question of David’s operations in laying hold of the hearts of the people, so that there might be a place for the ark — that Christ might be in the hearts of the saints and that He might be there to dwell — “that the Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts, being rooted and founded in love, in order that ye may be fully able to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height; and to know the love of the Christ”. That is Isaac in the field, in the south country, known in the heart of Rebekah — his love known there; he is dwelling in the heart. She lights off the camel; the camel had done its service. She says, “Who is the man that is walking in the fields to meet us?” The servant said, “That is my master”. It is not Abraham now. When he set out Abraham was his master; now it is Isaac; it is Christ supreme. Rebekah took a veil and covered herself — she is for Isaac alone. Christ dwells in the heart; He is the hidden man of the heart.
In Ephesians He dwells through faith in the hearts [p. 584] of all the saints; that is the great thought, and His love is known; it surpasses knowledge, but it is known in the hearts of the saints; it is known there. And then you are “filled even to all the fulness of God”, that is to say, one is merged in the divine nature, in divine love. You have touched eternity really, for there is very little between that and eternity — “filled to all the fulness of God”. There is no other way to be there intelligently save as being filled to all the fulness of God. You are there intelligently, you can apprehend everything, and you are there as filled; every vessel is to be filled to all the fulness of God.
That is what I had to say; my desire was that we might understand the calling a little, the light that is peculiarly ours, and understand also the means of sustenance there is for the great position.