OUR KINDRED, POSITION AND RESPONSIBILITY
[p. 431] OUR KINDRED, POSITION AND RESPONSIBILITY
1 Corinthians 6: 19, 20; Ephesians 5: 30
I desire, beloved brethren, to seek to interest you a little as the Lord may help me, in the difference between these two passages; the one presenting the truth, that your body is a member of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit; the other, that you are a member of His body. I believe the two are often confounded, and some quote the former as though it were union, whereas in this passage we have our responsibility; not our position in, nor union with, Christ: “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, ... ye are not your own ... therefore glorify God in your body” which is God’s. The translators have put in the words, “in your spirit”; just as in Colossians 2: 11 they have introduced the word ‘sins’. They could better understand the idea of glorifying God in your spirit, than in your body. The words, “in your spirit”, are interpolated, they should not be there, the thought is the body.
The first thing we have to learn is where the gospel sets us; and you must learn it first before you can understand your position. The bright and blessed day of grace bursts in on this dark world, when the thief on the cross was taken to Paradise, taken to the very brightest spot. All the judgment that lay on him removed, he goes up with Christ to that heavenly scene; not as he asks, to the kingdom, but to the very brightest spot, for all the judgment due to him was gone. The just judgment of God lay on every one of us, for God had said at the very outset, “in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”, Genesis 2: 17. This is the judgment of sin on the body of fallen man. The blessed Lord went under the whole [p. 432] weight of judgment. He went down to death and drank the bitter cup. As the victim, He took the sinner’s place and rose from the dead. Never did a victim rise from the dead till then. In the types of the Old Testament we have death, but none ever arose. Christ is the only victim who arose from the dead. This guilty man (the thief) is brought, apart from all that he was in himself, to the very highest spot in company with the Lord. “with me in paradise”. Not only so, but his body is now the Lord’s and He will raise it a glorious body like His own. We do not sufficiently apprehend that we are to glorify God in our bodies; and it is the sense of this that has led me to speak on this subject. Now, as to the gospel and the work of Christ, I do not find that it is adequately apprehended that the benefit conferred by the gospel is far beyond the need of the sinner. You cannot measure the benefit by the need. You may say, “Does it not cover the need?” It does; but you get no clue to the benefit from the measure of the need. You must go elsewhere to find out the character and measure of the benefit, you cannot find it anywhere save in God’s heart: you cannot find it in your own thoughts or expectations. How little indeed, do we enter into the fulness of the benefits of the gospel! The elder brother in Luke 15 did not object to his brother being forgiven, but it was unwelcome to him to see the wonderful excess of grace bestowed on him by the father, “Thou hast killed for him the fatted calf”. Many have the sense of forgiveness without the knowledge of this excess, this wonderful thing, this marvellous abounding which no tongue can tell, no human ability can explain. The next thing is, the blessed Lord having relieved the body from all the weight of judgment which lay on it, now owns it. That body is to be a display of Himself in this world now: so as to be hereafter in [p. 433] relation to Himself in the kingdom. According as it is used for Him here, so will you be with Him in His kingdom when He reigns; and according to the works done in the body, you will be in relation to Him when He reigns in His kingdom by-and-by. He says, as it were, ‘I have relieved that body of all the judgment that lay on it, and it is Mine; the Holy Spirit dwells in it, and it is to be down here descriptive of Me; and according as it is, so will it be in relation to Me in the kingdom’.
I now turn to Ephesians 5: 30: “For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones”. There are two points here. First: we are of His kindred; and second; the position which belongs to us as united to Him. We are of His kindred, of the same order as He is. That is where the gospel puts us. It is very evident that if I am a member of His body I must necessarily be of the same order as He is. What supports this is the quotation from Genesis 2: 22, 23: “And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man”. When the woman is brought to the man, “Adam said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”. The great thing now is to be brought to the man. To do this, to bring the soul into conscious knowledge of union with Christ, is the great work of the Spirit of God in this day. It is an immense fact to get hold of, that nothing of moral disparity could be united to Christ. If there were not suitability to Him, there could not be union with Him. We have to learn, and to help others by our own learning, the difference between kindred and position. Nothing is more erroneous than to think a believer is elevated by being united to Christ. If he were not of the same order as Christ he could not be united to Him. The first thing to understand is, kindred; and I believe here is the lack. In seeking a wife for Isaac, the one thing that Abraham’s servant [p. 434] was sworn to was with respect to his kindred. “Thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac”, Genesis 24: 4. You are of the same order as Christ. Turn to Hebrews 2: 11; we read, “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren”.
Now it is not union that we get in this passage, but relationship, kindred; “all of one”, a new stock and lineage. So in John 12: 24 . “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit”. The Lord never had brethren till He rose from the dead. It was necessary that He should die, or He would abide alone. But after His resurrection He can say, “Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God, and your God”. Now He has brethren. Even Israel will be “sons of resurrection” by-and-by. What we get in Hebrews is that we are companions of Christ. He is anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows, His companions; and it is most important to get hold of this truth, for, as I have said, if we are not fit to be His companions, there could be no union with Him. There is no allusion to Him in this connection until after He rose from the dead. Hebrews, whilst not presenting union, shows that we are in company with Him as Aaron’s sons were in company with their father.
In Ephesians you get “accepted in the beloved” before you get union, and in Colossians we are made “meet to be partakers .. . with the saints in light”. As an individual, you are, like the prodigal, brought to the Father’s house, and you find yourself a son there. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God”. Individually we are the children of God, we are of that order, hence “the world [p. 435] knoweth us not because it knew him not”. And in John 17, “Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth”. That is putting them in altogether a new order. Until you get hold of this, you cannot get hold of union. The great work of Abraham’s servant (the Spirit in type) was to procure a bride who was of Abraham’s kindred.
Now I would ask, and it should greatly concern our hearts; Are we really answering to God’s purpose about us? I do not ask whether you are saved, but whether you are answering to God’s purpose about you? A great many cannot answer this question because of the teaching in the present day, for it does not go beyond the delight of the prodigal in being in the Father’s house. But I wish to engage your hearts with the purpose of your Father about you; and that is, that you should not only know you are saved and called to share in the festivities of His house, but that you should apprehend that each of you is a member of the body of Christ. God hath set each one of us in the body as it hath pleased Him. Are you seeking to answer to His purpose for you? If you can say, I do seek to answer it, I thank God. You may know little of it, still you seek to answer to His purpose; you are set on God’s aim, His end. In Christendom the salvation of the sinner is the ultimate, but that you should form a part of Christ’s body is God’s ultimate.
Referring again to the type, Abraham’s steward asked for a sign by which he should discover the damsel of the true kindred, and it was by her grace and readiness to serve that he discovered her. No one is prepared to be conducted by the Spirit to Christ in heaven who is not walking in His grace and service here. Unless you are in the Father’s house and happy there; unless you know that you are of His kindred, you cannot apprehend the greatness of your Father’s purpose, and that is, that we are members of the body [p. 436] of Christ, and brought into the realisation of this wonderful blessing. You are united to Him, you have a new position; your kindred cannot be improved, but you get a new position. The great burden of the apostle’s prayer in Ephesians is that this union might be known. The prayer in chapter 3 is that you may know the good of it. I trust that these two points are clear, namely, that we are of the same kindred, and that we are by union with Him in the dignity of His position.
Turn now to Romans 12, “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service”. That is your responsibility; your responsibility is always in keeping with your capacity. Listen to a man’s prayers; if he is exercised he seeks to know his responsibility: your position determines your responsibility. There are many who try to reach up to a higher course of action, but they must first apprehend a higher position. It is not easy to explain, but as an illustration, at college the grade of each student is known by his gown; and in the army, an officer is distinguished from the common soldier by the cloth which he wears. But before we dwell further on Romans 12, let us turn to a more general statement. In Luke 11: 34 we read, “The light of the body is the eye, therefore when thine eye is single thy whole body also is .. . light”; that is, luminous; not “full of light”. The body is the vessel of testimony. The light should be seen in it. I take it to heart myself how much I have overlooked this truth. I used to speak a good deal of the testimony itself, but I should now like to speak more of the witness.
In Luke 10 to 18 we get the traits of the new company. The Lord is about to go away, and He sets forth the new company and their traits. The second is that the body is luminous. There is a moral weight [p. 437] about a person whose body is luminous. The whole body luminous, having no part dark: as when a candle doth give its light. If there is a flaw visible in a Christian, a “dark part”, the defect is inside. If a doctor finds an external symptom he will say there is something wrong inside. If a shepherd wants to know what is wrong with a sheep he looks at its eye. “When thine eye is single thy whole body also is full of light, .. . as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light”. How can you be this? As you apprehend your position you take in the light better, and you are able to answer to it; your responsibility is to be according to it. You are set here to answer to His purpose, not merely to behave yourself better, but to answer to His purpose; to stand “perfect and complete in all the will of God”. As you apprehend your position your body becomes a reflection of it. The external indicates the internal; you must begin inside. The Pharisee began (verse 37) outside. A Pharisee hears Him and asked Him to dine with him, as if they were on the same line. The Lord corrected the inside, not the outside. The outside is in keeping with the inside, “He setteth himself in a way that is not good” — the external. “He abhorreth not evil” — the internal. Then in Luke 12 there is neither fear nor care. As we apprehend by faith our position, the body becomes an answer to Christ here; a display of Him, according as our position, through grace, is consciously accepted in the power of the Spirit. One may say, I should like to arrive at the highest practice. Then you must apprehend by faith your highest position. The highest position gives the highest practice. A child’s practice is lower than that of a grown-up son.
To return to Romans 12, “Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind”. You have first what is negative, and next the positive, even a new mind. It does not mean [p. 438] the old mind made new, but an entirely new mind. The previous part of the epistle sets forth how we are justified, sons of God, led by the Spirit of God, and there is now neither condemnation, nor separation from His love; then we learn that the body is the Lord’s, to be presented a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. It is all in keeping with what we are. In Romans we learn experimentally to be dead to sin. Further on, we are called to “put on the armour of light”, not the armour of God; we do not get that, but in Ephesians. In 2 Corinthians 3: 18 we have the same word, transformed, though there translated, changed. I have a new mind which turns me from the course of this world, to prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God, I am transformed, transfigured. We have in 2 Corinthians 3 an advance on Romans, though still it does not carry us beyond the gospel.
Now the Corinthians had departed from the ground of Romans, and the apostle, in trying to recover them, is presenting to them Christ in glory. He shows that they are not only, as they learnt in the epistle to the Romans, clear of all unrighteousness, but they are brought into the righteousness of God in Him; where there never was sin at all: in the justification of life. They have not simply a new mind, but he shows how they would, beholding Christ’s glory, become transformed from glory to glory. This word ‘transformed’ or ‘transfigured’, occurs four times in Scripture; twice in connection with our Lord at His transfiguration. The believer can behold Him in glory. The glory is the expression of God’s satisfaction, according to all His attributes, resting on that blessed One. Beholding the Lord in glory is a condition of things: you see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and the effect is, that you are transformed. I illustrate it by the queen of Sheba: “And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s [p. 439] wisdom, and the house that he had built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cup-bearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her”, 1 Kings 10: 4, 5. What were the things? The house he had built, the meat of his table, the sitting and deportment of his servants, the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his. cupbearers, and the ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord. They are not great things, but if wisdom so permeates small things, it shows how it permeates everything. In Philippians 4: 6, 7, you go to God burdened and you come out with His peace; you get so near Him that you lose your care and acquire His peace.
Now turn to the Colossians. Practically they were true to the assembly, the house of God, but like many a true-hearted one in this day, they had not apprehended in faith the mystery of God. In chapter 3: 12 you are a display of Christ; having put on the new man, you are in the virtues of Christ. “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering”. You may naturally be rough and uncouth, but you have died and risen with Christ, and you are now to put on His sensibilities and affections. You have died out of the old man, and having risen with Christ, you have lost your own position, and have entered on His, in the sphere where He is “everything, and in all”. You derive from Him now, and you come out in the moral traits of Him from whom you derive, and first in the circle of His own. Everything now is of Him. Also, you come out in a new way in your family, because you derive from Him. He is your Head. You get direction and dictation from Him.
Now in Ephesians it is not simply that we derive [p. 440] from Him, but you are a member of His body, and your individuality is merged, and your heart is occupied with His interests. Christ dwells in your heart by faith. You comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, length, depth, and height. You know His love which passeth knowledge. You are in the power of the heavenly man. How could you carry out His pleasure unless you are in your true position? Your walk will correspond to it. A higher responsibility can only be reached by the soul’s entrance by divine power into a higher position. It is not merely fulfilling all the duties of life, but you do so as Christ. No one can conceive the wonderful nature and capabilities of his position till he lays hold of it.
And again, you must know your position and the great capabilities you receive there, in order to withstand the power and opposition of Satan. You are to “be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might”. The words used here and in Ephesians 1, “the power of his might”, are to unfold the greatness of the power toward us, in order that we should consciously know our position. Hence you are to “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”. The church’s rapture will terminate Satan’s power in the heavenlies . then he concentrates his power on earth.
In 2 Corinthians 5: 10 we read: “We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ: that every one may receive the things done in his body”. In Revelation 19 the bride has passed the judgment-seat, “the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints”.
[p. 441] Every one will receive what he has done in the body. Moses chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. According as we have acted for Christ here, we shall receive from Him there.
I trust that we may have a deeper sense of the greatness of our position and responsibility, and that He may be magnified in our bodies by life or by death. The Lord grant that each of us may seek to be according to His purpose, so that we may in some measure be a display of Him in this world; so that each of us may be found when He comes acting in His power and for Him according to His desire for us.