THE ASSEMBLY AS THE COUNTERPART OF CHRIST

A. M. Brown

Genesis 2: 18, 21–23; Revelation 21: 9–11, 21–24, 2, 3; Ephesians 3: 9, 10; Colossians 2: 2 (from ‘to the full’), 3

I seek to say a simple word, beloved brethren, as to the assembly; that great mystery that is made known in the present time. We had an impression where we broke bread on Lord’s day morning as to the assembly, and it was an impression that, I felt, grew and deepened as the service proceeded. There was reference in response to the Lord, to the assembly as His counterpart. His helpmate—what is for Him, for His delight and for His exclusive satisfaction, what is suitable to Him. The word ‘counterpart’ is not used in the scripture we read in Genesis, but we have “a helpmate, his like”, the translator puts in a helpful footnote which says—‘Or ‘counterpart’’. We also had some impression of the activities of the Holy Spirit as the One who adorns the assembly, filling our heart and mind with feelings and thoughts and intelligent responses that are entirely suitable to Christ and to His satisfaction.

Then we had a very distinct impression of the assembly as the crown of God’s workmanship; a vessel, the contemplation of which would cause us to ascribe glory to God. These are majestic thoughts, deep and rich and wonderful thoughts and I cannot do justice to them, but I felt that these scriptures would bring before the hearts of all of us something of what God has in mind, what God sees and what the Lord Jesus sees in the assembly.

That precious and august vessel is the product of intense activity on the part of divine Persons. These are the activities of God Himself for He is the author of both its concept and its consummation. In the purpose of the ages God Himself has envisaged this wonderful vessel for the completing of His thoughts in making man, so that there should be a completion and satisfaction of affection and longings; God had that thought. The assembly is the product of the original purpose and counsels of God. The apostle refers to that in speaking of things that have been hidden in mystery since the beginning. That is, these things were in God’s purpose and counsel, but are now made manifest in the present, wonderful dispensation. Then you have the assembly too as the result of the Lord’s

expenditure, His giving all; He loved the assembly and gave Himself for it. God has purchased it with the blood of His own, that is with the blood of the blessed Lord Jesus. It is the result of His activity. There was a reference in prayer to the current operations of the Lord Jesus in nourishing and cherishing His assembly, and then also in sanctifying that blessed vessel through “the washing of water by the word”, Ephesians 5: 26. You might say these matters are the blessed current occupation and operation of the Lord Jesus. We see too how the assembly is the vessel in which the work of the Spirit is known and is responded to, and in which the adorning of the Spirit is seen. Spiritual impressions of Christ and spiritual responses are worked out in that vessel for God’s glory, and for the satisfaction of Christ by the Spirit. What a vessel she is! What a wonderful matter that such thoughts should be in the heart of God. They could only be His. We had something of that in the first hymn that we sang in the reading here on Lord’s day afternoon,

‘What raised the wondrous thought,

Or who did it suggest,

That we, the church, to glory brought,

Should with the Son be blest?’ (Hymn 92)

The hymn goes on to say that these thoughts could only be God’s. No other mind could have the strength, the power for thoughts so bold, so vast and free.

My desire is that I should have—and we all should have—an enhanced impression of what the assembly is. It is not a response to circumstances, or a product of expediency, or a solution to failure in any sense. The assembly has proceeded from the heart and mind of God Himself, and therefore the outgoing of the love of God and the love of the Lord Jesus; all that is involved in the assembly. The verses we have read in Genesis are very well known, and I cannot add to them nor can I add to what the brethren know about them. It is a most touching and striking reference typically, to the origin morally of the assembly. It is what has been taken out of Christ. The bone refers to what is moral. There

is structure there, durability; it would allude to what is moral and the assembly is the moral counterpart of Christ. Now, just let that sink into our souls, how wonderful it is, that the One of whom we sang has a moral counterpart.

‘That Name encircles every grace

That God as Man could show’ (Hymn 6)

What moral perfection and beauty and glory there is in Christ as Man, and the assembly is His counterpart. The assembly is taken out of His side, ‘what is next Thy heart’ (Hymn 160) as we sometimes sing. That moral substance and structure, speaking reverently, the moral structure of Christ Himself, becomes the structure of the assembly. What a matter—“bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”. The flesh would refer to what is formed and what is beautiful, what can be taken account of. If it was not for the bone, if it was not for what is moral, the flesh would be nothing, but the two go together in a most attractive way that is entirely suitable to Christ, His helpmate, His counterpart, His like. You might say from a natural viewpoint, what a wonderful matter it was that God should act in this way, “It is not good that Man should be alone”. Literally that was the case and God took account of it. But how infinitely greater it is that Christ as Man should have a counterpart, a bride, a wife entirely suited to Him, if these things had not proceeded from the mind and heart of God, no one could ever find the strength to imagine them. They are thoughts that are vast and free. Well, may they lay hold of us.

In Revelation, we have read very well known passages. What we read first refers to the assembly seen at the beginning of the millennium in display, “coming down out of the heaven from God, having the glory of God”. It speaks of her shining, and later on it speaks of her transparency. What features these are! We sang on Lord’s day morning, ‘The city shines with precious light’ (Hymn 258) You might say, it is characteristic of God Himself, for God who is light is seen there, “the lamp thereof is the Lamb”. It has often been said that the city acts like a lens, refracting the glory, the light that comes from Christ Himself. She is transparent, she is altogether morally in accord with that light, “the lamp thereof is the Lamb” and “Her shining was like a most precious stone”. The footnote says, ‘she as a light-bearer was’. What a tribute, what a testimony to the purpose and counsel of God, and to the work of Christ, and to the adorning operations of the Holy Spirit, that scripture can say such a thing of this creature vessel, ‘that she as a light-bearer was’. She shines with precious light. These are wonderful passages that well repay reading and contemplating.

In the earlier reference, beginning in verse 2, we have a picture of the assembly at the ushering in of the eternal day. At that time, at the end of the thousand years, when the physical earth has, you might say, grown tired, the time comes for it to be rolled up. The heavens and the earth will be rolled up and a new heaven and a new earth of which the scripture says, “wherein dwells righteousness” (2 Peter 3: 13), will be inaugurated. God will make all things new and at that point, at the end of the thousand years, the assembly is seen in all the freshness and lustre of a bride adorned for her husband. It makes you think of the scripture that says, “having no spot, or wrinkle”, Ephesians 5: 27. There is no sign of age, no sign of any deterioration, but freshness in vitality and attractiveness; how attractive to Christ she will be. How attractive she is now. How attractive she will be when He presents her to Himself at the beginning of that wonderful period of display, how attractive and fresh to Him at the end of it. There will be no diminution, no falling away at all, but living affection maintained in perfect accord with Christ, and entirely for His satisfaction. These are wonderful matters that are completely outside our natural experience, but I believe that they are not foreign to our spiritual experience. We have some insight into these wonderful things, particularly on Lord’s day morning as we are engaged in the service of God. What is happening is that the assembly is functioning in freshness, brightness and clarity; marked by light, marked by love. The features that characterise God Himself, that were seen blessedly, and are seen blessedly in Christ, as Man, are seen in the assembly, that counterpart of Christ.

You might say that is all in the future, what about now? The apostle Paul has intensely interesting things to say about the assembly. Everything about the assembly should interest us very much. One thing to say about it is that the assembly consists of every blood-bought saint, from Pentecost to the rapture, all those imbued with the Spirit; but the greater numerical part are asleep in Jesus at the moment, and we cannot see all the personnel of the assembly active, because most of them are asleep in Jesus, they are with Christ. Those of the body are here, that is Christ’s own on the earth now, that is His body currently, but the assembly consists of every saint from Pentecost to the rapture. What a wonderful gathering, not seen at the moment, but all will be seen on the earth for a moment, just in that twinkling of an eye as the dead saints are raised and we the living are changed at the coming of the Lord Jesus. That will be absolutely wonderful. It will be taken account of by eyes that are able to see it. The Lord will take account of that, and I think that we as among saints of the assembly will be able to take account of it. The world will only have the dimmest of impressions of something having happened and no doubt a lie will be spread about it. How blessed that all the personnel, all the saints of the assembly will be seen together.

Now, you say that is future. Yes, but the blessedness of the realisation and the reality of it are to affect us now, as I think they affected Paul in these verses that we have read. He says, “that now to the principalities and authorities in the heavenlies might be made known through the assembly the all-various wisdom of God”, that is that the heavenly powers and principalities take account of the all-various wisdom of God in the assembly. Now, it is for us all to ponder that the

undertakings of God Himself, and what He is working out in His wisdom, come into expression in the assembly and are taken account of by the principalities and authorities in the heavenlies. These things do not come into expression in the world. Nor does it say that they come into expression in the creation, although God’s wisdom and His power are seen there, but they are seen in the assembly. Now, what is God’s wisdom? Is it not seen in Christ?

Christ has been made to us “God’s power and God’s wisdom”, 1 Corinthians 1: 24. The scripture could be spoken of in many blessed ways, but my impression is that God really brings the expression of Christ out in the assembly. Christ is, you might say, represented by the assembly here in a way that can be taken account of by these principalities and authorities in the heavenlies. Account is taken of these things now in the heavenlies. God Himself is taking account of what is to be seen operating, coming out and brought into expression in the assembly.

Do I have an exercise that it might be true, that it might be practically worked out in my life and in my testimony? Then this applies particularly as we are together in assembly response.

In one sense these thoughts are abstract, because we cannot see all the saints of the body or the assembly, even those of the assembly who are alive on the earth now, we cannot see them all, we do not know who most of them are. God knows every one of the saints and He is entitled to take an abstract view of them. He sees what is truly His work in each one, and He is able to see the aggregate of it, and something of His wisdom is seen and brought out. But the exercise that I have is that these things might not only be in our minds as blessed spiritual impressions in the abstract, but that we might be deeply interested in God’s thoughts as to the assembly and commit ourselves to them so that the all-various wisdom of God is seen and made known through the assembly.

The verse in Colossians speaks of “the treasures of

wisdom and of knowledge” being hid and this suggests that the assembly is a vessel of immense resource. That “the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge”—that is God’s wisdom and knowledge—are hid there—means that they are available and accessible to the saints of the assembly, in the Spirit I believe, “for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God”, 1 Corinthians 2: 10. The resource that there is in Christ has been made available to us to draw upon and is available to this blessed vessel as it proceeds in its earthly pathway, its temporal journey. As we draw upon heavenly resource, then these stitches are being put into the garment that will be seen in display, the fine linen, “for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints”, Revelation 19: 8. That weaving and embroidery is going on now. The resources of heaven, the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God are available to us.

So we see that the greatness and grandeur and perfection of God’s purpose and counsel in all its scope and magnificence, perfect in every aspect, connects up with the pathway, the step by step pathway of saints here, as saints in committal are together in our knowledge of God and of the blessedness of serving Him. The concept and the consummation come together (see Hymn 370). Put it another way—what is objective, what proceeds from the mind and the heart of God on the one hand; and what is subjective, what is worked out in the experience and the feelings of the saints on the other, all come together. His ways serve His purposes, as we often say. The mind of God is being worked out in substantial reality so that Christ should have a counterpart, a helpmate His like. May these things be for our encouragement.

Word in meeting for ministry, Grangemouth
26 January 2010