THE CHURCH'S UNION TO CHRIST: ITS NATURE AND EFFECTS

THE CHURCH’S UNION TO CHRIST: ITS NATURE AND EFFECTS

There is no truth more distinctly insisted on by the apostle Paul than “the mystery of the gospel”, the relationship which believers now bear to Christ, as he says, “This is a great mystery”, that the church is the body of Christ, and all believers now are the members of His body. The first great truth to accept in faith is that the church is the body of Christ. If this is held in simple faith, there can be no question as to the fact of union. The church could not be Christ’s body if it were not united to Him. It would be only a figure of speech, and not a “great mystery”. The apostle adduces the type of Adam and Eve in order to show that as they were one flesh, so there is a unity now, but of a much greater order. At all events there is a great point gained when one accepts in faith that the church is Christ’s body; and therefore it is ^[p. 222] as absolutely united to Him as my body is to my head, or it would not be His body. This is of all importance; because it is here the most pernicious leaven of the day works. It has been covertly maintained, and speciously taught, that an offence to the body is of quite a different character from an offence to the Head. If this were true, it would be to separate the Head from the body: of course this is not openly stated, but the inference is evident, and it is the corrupting effect of such an idea that I deprecate. If the thought be once admitted that the body is not a component part of the Christ, all true apprehension of the church’s union to Christ has vanished, and to accomplish this has been the main point of Satan’s opposition, so that for many centuries the truth was completely lost.

The church is Christ’s body and it is in purpose, “the fulness of him that filleth all in all”. Romanism made the church everything, and left out the Head; hence in that system, another head was introduced; but the more truly the church is regarded as Christ’s body, the more faithfully will every movement of it be viewed absolutely in relation to Him; and consequently the church comes to no decision but when gathered in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is from the Head that all the body, by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, makes increase unto God. A body can do nothing without its head. It is from the head all counsel and direction comes. If it is so in the natural body, how much more so in the great mystery! It is not competent for any number of christians, majority or not, to act apart from Christ; but any number, however small, directed by Him, determines that which is binding on all, as at the conference in Jerusalem (Acts 15).

First, then, we have arrived at this, that the church is Christ’s body; and that there cannot be any distinction between one part of Christ and another. Paul’s first lesson is conclusive on this point: the Lord regards his ^[p. 223] persecution of the church as personal — as done to Himself: “Why persecutest thou me?” No room here for the error that there is a difference between an offence done to the church, and one done to the Head, as if they were two parts of a great whole, which can exist separately. Now it being admitted that the church is Christ’s body, and that its relation to Him is more complete and continual than that of the natural body to its head, we may ascertain the nature of the union. While the union of man and wife sets forth the nature of the relationship, it does not adequately express the nature of the union. In the types in the Old Testament the great fact indicated is the satisfaction of heart the bride-elect has in prospect; so that in Canticles she has no delight apart from the company of the Bridegroom. Affection is set forth and fostered on both sides, as preliminary to union. Union without affection would be contrary to all order, but affection is not union, though it is essential to it. “We love him, because he first loved us”, and this historically before union is known or enjoyed. Rebekah can leave everything naturally dear to her for Isaac, before she is united to him; no doubt union was in prospect, and the steward’s account of him had won her heart. I merely adduce this type to show that affection exists before union; but then there cannot be less affection after union, but rather an affection of a deeper kind. There are links in the chain of love. The first is when the soul apprehends the perfection of Christ’s work, as Jonathan to David, when Goliath was dead. “Jonathan loved him as his own soul”. As the woman in Luke 7: “her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much”. This apprehension of Christ’s love is the first, and attaches the heart to Him always, because the sense of His love must ever come before the soul, as it enters into its new and eternal place, because of His love. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”. This is the first link, and this is characterised by surrender. I make much of the object of my heart at ^[p. 224] my own expense. The next is, I learn what Christ is to me. Like Ruth with Naomi, I cannot do without Him. It is His company now I seek; in trials or difficulties here, I cannot do without Him. I want Him here each hour of need. His sympathy is my only cheer. Like Mary in John 11, He is the only One to comfort me, but it is His personal nearness to me that I seek and require. Like Mary Magdalene, I feel desolate here without Him. This is the second link; not only preparing for union, but making the knowledge of union the deepest joy of the heart. For as He is absent in heaven, even though He ministers to me of His grace, in blessed sympathy, in my path down here; yet I am not in the place where He is. Longings for it are ineffectual or worse, because longings when unsatisfied, if they are true, the more they are baffled the more they increase; and thus the longings become an engrossment, and one’s own feelings the centre. Now to one with this affection the knowledge of union is an immense relief and favour; he is ready for it. This in a measure Mary Magdalene found, when the Lord told her of His ascension. His words had a wondrously soothing effect on her, for she went away from Him without reluctance to do His bidding. As surrendering for Him marks the first apprehension of His love, so does seeking His company and subjection to Him mark the second. Hence our Lord could say to His disciples, that if they loved Him, they would keep His commandments; and that if they did, He would come and manifest Himself to them. Surely we do not lose the first, because we have the second: no, but on the contrary, they mutually contribute to one another. Now to the one inconsolable because of Christ’s absence, it is an unspeakable relief and cheer to learn that through the Holy Spirit we are members of His body, and can thus reach Him in the place where He is. Practically this is not known or enjoyed but in communion: as affection precedes, and is the preparation of the heart for, union, so does communion fit me morally for the union. “If ^[p. 225] I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me”. Peter had a great deal of affection, but with the root of the sin unjudged, he had not communion; and we all know that union without communion, would be only a title without companionship. If it is so naturally, how much more with us! Our union is by the Holy Spirit. It is here where the unity of the Spirit may be apprehended, one Spirit uniting the Head and the members, the counsel and direction of the Head alone valid, and claiming the attention of every member of His body, now united by the one Spirit to the Head in the place where He is. This then is another link or growth; each succeeding growth increasing the preceding ones. It is growth in the apprehension of His love, consequent on the knowledge of union with Him, by which we are introduced into a scene of unclouded bliss, where everything is in divine harmony, which in every way suits our Lord. Here His love from the beginning, and the depth of it in dying for us, comes before us in the fullest way. The very nature of the place demands it. I am in such consciousness of being “blessed ... with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ”, that I revert to the whole history of His love. Hence in type, the beginning, the first thing in the new place after Gilgal, is the passover; the heart celebrating its remembrance of the death of Christ, of all He went through, to bring me to this wondrous position. The Lord in a measure led His own into this great moral elevation, on rising from the dead, when He appeared in their midst. And in John 13 at the supper table, He begins His new service from heaven, to secure our companionship with Him in heaven. It is as washed by Him, separated by the action of His word, in true circumcision, from the root of every offence, not only forgiven but the root judged, and thus all reserve between Him and me removed, that I am free to enjoy the scene where He is, and in which we are set, through union with Him. Hence as affection makes the knowledge of union desirable, so is communion necessary in order ^[p. 226] that I may be suitable for it. Affection leads me, at all cost, to leave the place that naturally suits me, for the place that suits Him; and as I approach that place, I am myself transformed into suitability to it. The word detaches me from every working of the flesh, that had caused any moral distance, and consequently the more I am in His place, the more is my heart drawn out to dwell on His love, in effecting so much for me. It is when I am dwelling in heaven, as set forth in type in Deuteronomy 26, that I am enabled to have the best sense of His love; “to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge;” and then to advance into being filled unto “the fulness of God”. It is when I am in the place that suits Him, to which union entitles me, to which affection leads me, and communion fits me for the enjoyment of, that I enter into the effects of union with Him. I am in the spot where it began. The power that wrought in Christ has brought us there; and now, not only in the domain of glory interminable; not only in the love, passing knowledge, that I do know something of, but I am invited to be “filled ... to all the fulness of God”. Deep, momentous effects flowing out from union, and beyond it!

This is the consequence of union Godward. But there is also on the earth among men another effect. The great mark of the one enjoying union, for all are united, is that he is occupied with Christ’s interests in His own. Where Christ’s heart is, his heart is. “The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her”, is applicable to him; and therefore in Ephesians, from the church down to the slave, everything is done in every circle as Christ would do it. Moreover it is impossible for any one to enjoy union and not be essentially corporate in all his labours. He is devoted to the church of God. If an evangelist, he seeks for the lost as sent by Christ. If he learns any truth, like the true bee, it is his one business to bring it to the hive. So in everything, however feebly, the care of the body of Christ here is his unceasing toil. If only with ^[p. 227] two, he labours to set forth and maintain what is due to the house of God on earth, the edification of the body of Christ. The man who advocates and sanctions isolation assuredly does not know union. It is simply impossible for any member of my body to isolate itself, and surely it must be so for a member of the body of Christ.