CHRIST GLORIFIED

F. C. Mutton

Ephesians 1: 16 (from “making mention”)–23; 4: 8–10; Colossians 1: 17, 18; Hebrews 1: 1–4

I feel the need of much grace in seeking to comment on these rich and wonderful scriptures which engage us with the present position of our Lord Jesus Christ. What a blessed thing it is to be occupied, to be absorbed, with Christ as He is, where He is. We have to attend to much here that relates to responsibility. It is essential that we do attend to it, to our personal, household, local, and general exercises, but let us never be far from occupation with, and contemplation of, our blessed Lord, in whom everything for divine pleasure is secured, and is expressed and personified.

One great matter that the scriptures we have read touch upon, and which is very affecting, is how He has reached the place where He now is. In our first scripture, His present position is the result of what the Father has done. In the scripture in Hebrews it is the place which He Himself has taken by right; He set Himself down. Both are calculated to draw out worship.

How rich these passages are and I earnestly desire that the Spirit may give us a touch as to them which will enrich our appreciation of Christ, in His glorious worth and supremacy.

In Ephesians 1 the whole vast realm of divine pleasure opens up before us, all of which is based on the resurrection of Christ and the Father’s setting Him where He now is, “the might of his strength, in which he wrought in the Christ in raising him from among the dead”. I think a sense

entered into our souls as we sang that hymn (No. 343) as to the glory of this blessed Man. As we exclaim, ‘Lord, what is man?’ here is the answer—Christ raised, Christ glorified, and set down at the right hand of the Father in the heavenlies. What a moment in time! What an answer to divine purpose before the world’s foundation! It is not now a Man in flesh and blood; He had been perfect in that condition, filled out in it all that was for divine pleasure.

And it must be so, that in the very condition in which man as such had failed, and dishonoured God. God had been glorified in that blessed One who could say, “It is finished”

and deliver up His spirit. He had glorified God in that condition; now He is in another condition. So we have “the working of the might of His (the Father’s) strength, in which he wrought in the Christ in raising him from among the dead”. What it meant to the Father, beloved, that that blessed Man should be in that area, among the dead. Oh the wonder of that divine counsel, the divine working, that the Christ should be found in that situation.

The thing that affects me freshly, and it comes before us in the second scripture, is that it is a part of the glory of Christ that none has gone so low as He, and none has gone so high. The supremacy of the place into which He has now entered answers to the depths to which He went. What delight the Father had in raising Him in that selective resurrection. His answer to the faithfulness, the devotion, the unreserved committal of Jesus—“I lay down my life that I may take it again … I have received this commandment of my Father”, John 10: 17, 18. With what exultation would the Father’s glory operate in raising Him from among the dead! But then, as a second and additional thought, “he set him down at his right hand in the heavenlies”. The Spirit would give us

some sense of the Father’s infinite delight and complacency and satisfaction in that action.

“He set him down at his right hand”. He who is the Yea and the Amen, the assurance that every thought of the Father’s purpose and pleasure is established, and shall be secured, whether in this present dispensation, in the world to come, or in eternity. I think it is expressive of wondrous complacency and finality. We exult in that the purpose of love is given effect to in divine power and wisdom, and all is established in Christ.

When we come to Ephesians 4, again we have these wonderful extremities—the depths, and the infinite heights that answer to the depths: “He that ascended, what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth?” It is a matter for worshipful contemplation—

“the lower parts of the earth”. Who can define it? It is inscrutable, but I am assured that it is part of the glory of the Lord that He has gone lower than any. There are no depths of distance, no depths of the moral issue, to which He Himself has not descended. It could not be otherwise; it could not be that there is any dimension of the moral question into which Jesus did not descend. But how glorious the answer, that the elevation, the ascension, the glorification, correspond to the depths to which He went. Now what does He do? What has He done? He has “ascended up on high, he has led captivity captive”. How encouraging these statements are! No adverse power has any claim over us any more. He has led captivity captive; the world, the flesh, the power of sin. He has led them all captive, and you and I are entitled, as associated with Him, to be ourselves in victory in life.

Not only has He met every foe, but a wonderful administration commences in all its wealth;

“He has

led captivity captive, and has given gifts to men”. It is put here as if it was almost His first action as having ascended. Later in the chapter we have the gifts He has given, their variety and their purpose, all related to the work of the ministry, the edifying of the body of Christ, full growth and maturity, and our arriving “at the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ”. So that we are set up with this rich and liberal endowment, with all that is necessary for the prosperity of the work of God in His people.

This is the divine side, but there is your side and mine. Paul says to the Corinthians that there is to be desire on our part for gift, not to make anything of ourselves, but to be used and expended sacrificially for the beloved saints of God. I would say, especially to younger brethren, in Paul’s language (1 Corinthians 12: 31), “Desire earnestly the greater gifts”. We should be exercised as to this, and pray that others might be exercised as to it. What are we desiring? A good job? Well, the Lord will provide us with what He sees we need. But gift is equipment to enable us to be serviceable in all that God is doing in this dispensation, in His beloved people and in the gospel. Later, in chapter 14, after speaking about love, Paul says,

“follow after love, and be emulous of spiritual manifestations” (that is something else to seek) “but rather that ye may prophesy”. So on the one hand there is the wondrous liberality of Christ in the bestowing of gift, but on the other hand there is the importance of earnest desire for gift on our part, that it may be used devotedly and sacrificially for the saints and for the testimony.

I would only add this, that Mr. Taylor spoke of the scarcity of gift among sisters. I think there is scope for exercise there. Sisters can ask for gift. It would be a normal thing for a sister to

have gift. For example, Philip’s four daughters prophesied (Acts 21: 9); that involves gift.

They must have been holy sisters, and I think they asked the Lord for the ability to be of some help and comfort in personal contact and conversation with His dear people. Thus they were able to prophesy, and that fact is recorded, in Scripture because of its value.

This passage should cause us to worship—“But that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth?” It would cause us to adore Him who has been so low, beyond our penetration or conception. How right that such a One should ascend up on high in supremacy of glory.

What I wish to draw attention to in Colossians 1 is this marvellous setting out of who Christ is, and what He is. We have this wonderful description of His supremacy. “All things have been created by him and for him. And he is before all, and all things subsist together by him.

And he is the head of the body, the assembly”. It is brought in in this epistle because chapter 2 shows that these beloved Colossian saints, who in many ways were so commendable, and had been from the very day that the glad tidings reached them, were in imminent danger of philosophy and vain deceit. Paul’s discerning eye saw that, and no doubt Epaphras, who had come to him from Colosse, had shared with Paul his own great exercise and concern. Hence Paul makes this statement, “He is before all … And he is the head of the body”. We have in chapter 2 Paul’s warning, “See that there be no one who shall lead you away”. Then he urges the importance of “holding fast the head”. We have a wonderful Head. Paul says (Colossians 2: 9), “in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily”. It is in a Man, and therefore so available, so easily appropriated. It is intended

to be not only encouraging and stimulating but regulating—“He is the head of the body”.

How this has been challenged in the history of Christendom! The idea of a pope is a challenge to this, a denial of it, and it has come nearer home to us than that, to our shame and loss and sorrow. Thank God for deliverance from it!

The scripture this brings to mind is the wonderful point when Solomon brought in the ark and placed it in the oracle of the house (1 Kings 8: 6). It says that “the cherubim stretched forth their wings”; it does not say ‘over the ark’ (which would be true), but ‘they stretched forth their wings over the place of the ark’. There is a difference. Here we have not only the ark, but the place of the ark, not only Christ personally, but the place He must have. The Father, who is represented by those cherubim, would jealously guard the place of the Head. Dear brethren, may we reverence and respect not only the Ark, but the place of the Ark in the whole divine order of things.

This epistle is addressed to a locality, and though headship must be universal, it must operate in every locality. This is well-known ground, but it is a vital aspect of the headship of Christ that, whilst it operates generally, it operates in a specific way in relation to localities, because the Lord is the One who, for example, has the seven stars, which represent assemblies. I think this is of the greatest importance because I would tremble lest, with the best of intentions and desires, I might intrude on the rights of Christ in His headship and on His direct relations with His beloved people in any particular locality. It is a sobering thing that so often local problems become protracted and extended because of unwise influence and intervention from without. Now not for a moment would we contemplate the congregational idea, where

one locality is set up in complete independence. That is foreign to the whole conception of the assembly. In Corinth the house of Chloe had advised Paul of the local crises, but the working out, the administration, the action, was essentially a local responsibility. Localities have their own direct, immediate relations with divine Persons. If it is in my spiritual capacity to bring in humbly any right influence, it might even be counsel, the way is open; but how easy it is to undermine or weaken, as we have seen in sad experience, the responsibility and the working out of matters in the locality. Where that is present it leads to complications and the prolonging of difficulties.

Hence it weighs upon me tonight that ‘ He is the head of the body’. That is to be unchallenged universally and in its operation in our local companies. Thus headship will have its intended effect. May we all be in the active exercise that we have in chapter 2: 19 of “holding fast the head”. As we come together for all our occasions this is to be our attitude. What is to develop in any particular occasion? Matters can only rightly proceed and develop as we are in faith, dependence, reverence, submission and leadability, holding fast the Head.

In Hebrews 1 one is especially thinking of verse 3, “Having made (by himself) the purification of sins, set himself down on the right hand of the greatness on high”. What profound statements these are! One Man alone is before us and the work that He has done by Himself. No other could essay to do it. He has done it, as the footnote helps us to understand, by Himself and for Himself, though, thank God, we reap the benefits of it. But what a work it is; “having made (by himself) the purification of sins”. You can bring the offerings in

here as helps to our understanding—the passover, the sin-offering, the burnt-offering, and the fire, the blood, and the water. And the result of this immense work is the purification of sins—persons are cleansed, the sin issue dealt with for God according to the requirements of His own throne and His holy nature and attributes. One Person alone has done it. Let us more deeply and worshipfully contemplate it. When we think of the stain of sin and its terrible character, challenging God and all His rights, one blessed Man has provided the answer to it at such cost. And, the work having been done, He “set himself down”. Dear brethren, let us just contemplate it, this wonderful action of Jesus and the grandeur of it. From the lowest point He ascends to the highest point, and as of His own right sets Himself down on the right hand of the greatness on high. It involves His deity; it must do; but it is as Man that He has set Himself in that place of supremacy, power and greatness.

And thus every thought of divine pleasure now flows out—“Thou art my Son … I will be to him for father, and he shall be to me for son … let all God’s angels worship him … Thy throne, O God, is to the age of the age” (Hebrews 1: 5–8). It is intended to bow our hearts in worship to the One who did the work, and who in His own right and entitlement—Oh wondrous, sublime and glorious action!—“set himself down”. We thought of the Father’s feelings in Ephesians 1, we think now of the Lord’s own feelings of victory and delight at having completed the whole work, and His setting Himself in this place of triumph, restfulness and power, from which all that is for God’s pleasure proceeds, as this scripture unfolds it.

I would commend to the brethren other references in this epistle to the right hand. There are four of them, and they are comforting and encouraging.

In Hebrews 8: 1 Paul sums up an extensive reference to the priesthood of Christ by saying,

“We have such a one high priest who has sat down on the right hand of the throne of the greatness in the heavens”. What a comfort! Earlier he has been speaking of the features of our High Priest. He is able to sympathise with our infirmities, and we are to approach with boldness to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4: 15, 16). In our times of need—and we are always in need; how frail we are; how constantly we need the service of the High Priest let us remember that we have “such a one high priest who has sat down on the right hand of the throne of the greatness in the heavens”. You feel weak, you may feel the difficulties are overwhelming, well, turn your eyes heavenward and contemplate the supreme power and exaltation of our High Priest. As we know, the Hebrews were in danger of turning back; some of them were in danger of fainting, and these references to the right hand are intended to be immensely strengthening and encouraging.

Another reference is in Hebrews 12, where it is a question of the race, “Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us”. We are to lay aside every weight, and sin which so easily entangles us, “looking stedfastly on Jesus the leader and completer of faith”—that is, the One who has set on this whole conception of faith, and sustains and completes it—“who, in view of the joy lying before him, endured the cross having despised the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God”. He has been through the very path that you and I are in, though feeling the tests and the opposition far more than we ever could. He has completed the course on this principle of faith, and nothing can be of greater encouragement to us than that, having completed that wondrous course of devotion and faithfulness. He is

“set down at the right hand of the throne of

God”. He is there for God, but there for you and there for me, that we might be strengthened and encouraged to run with endurance the race that lies before us. May we be doing this! I would that Christ might become more and more to us all as Object, and as Example. May it be so for His glory. Amen.

Address at Colchester
5 December 1987