CHRIST'S ASSEMBLY: HOW IT IS BUILT
CHRIST’S ASSEMBLY: HOW IT IS BUILT
Matthew 13:44-50; Ephesians 5:22-33
I want to point out the way in which Christ in a practical way gains the church for Himself. If Christ sets Himself to gain the church He must gain her affections. All will be accomplished according to eternal counsel, but besides that, there must be a work by which Christ will gain the affections of the church. There is the initial act, “Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it” Ephesians 5:25, but there is a process which succeeds that, and the object of it is that He may gain the affections of the church, and present it to Himself according to Himself. That is the work which is going on at this moment. I read these parables in Matthew that you might see the object which Christ had before Him, that is, a process by which Christ would gain the affections of the church. The real work to be done is to lead us to appreciate Christ, that is, that He might practically gain our affections.
“It behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations”, Luke 24:46,47. See also Matthew 16:15,18: “Whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God .... Upon this rock I will build my church”.
The thoughts in these two passages are dissimilar, and yet they are both perfectly true. No one could fail to see that in one passage the thought is of the grace of God going out to any one and every one, with no special object in view. In Matthew 16 you get another side, and that is that Christ had a definite object in view. In the time of His rejection He has this object in view, namely, that He will build His [p. 283] assembly. There is the tidings of God’s grace among all nations, and this goes on all through the present period. There is one Mediator between God and men, and the testimony to be rendered in its own due time. But with this you get the special object which Christ had in view, that He would build His assembly. “Upon this rock I will build my church”, Matthew 16:18. We have to hold two dissimilar thoughts, which are distinct, and yet perfectly true. In the time of His rejection by His people Christ would build His assembly. He is separated from kindred after the flesh, but Christ and the church are become one.
Now I want to come to the moment when this is apprehended. The first apprehension of divine things is that of the grace of God presented in the gospel. Every man must begin with the glad tidings. If it were otherwise, it would set aside the relative position of God and man. But when a person has apprehended the grace of God in the glad tidings, a moment may come when he apprehends that Christ had a very special object in what He did. (See Matthew 13: 44-46.) Many have wrong ideas of these two parables — they make men the seekers, and what is found is salvation. But it is not so. In these parables the kingdom is looked at from the divine side. Christ bought the field for the sake of the treasure, but this He hid. So the church has not yet been made manifest, but it will come out into manifestation.
Then, again, the merchantman sold all that he had that he might buy the pearl of great price. That agrees with what we get in Ephesians 5: “Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it” Ephesians 5:25, that it might be a peculiar possession. Christ died for all, that the grace of God might be presented to all — but having learnt that, we are free to learn another truth, and that is that Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it Ephesians 5:25. This we have to lay hold of, and it is very definite and special. It is a wonderful moment [p. 284] when the soul comes into the sense that it belongs to that for which Christ gave Himself. It is a great moment to come to that He loved me and gave Himself for me; Galatians 2: 20. Now His death was the expression of His love to the church, and greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. If I can show you how it is that Christ gains the appreciation and affection of His people, I shall be able to show you how He sanctifies and cleanses the church by the washing of water by the word. These two things must infallibly work together.
Now I want to refer to three passages to show you how we are led on in our appreciation of Christ. See 1 John 2:1, “Jesus Christ the righteous”; also verse 20, “Ye have an unction from the Holy One”; verse 13, “Ye have known him that is from the beginning”. Chapter 5:20, He is “the true God, and eternal life”. Manifestly there are four thoughts presented in regard to Christ: (1) The righteous One, the propitiation for our sins; (2) He is the Holy One;
(3) He is from the outset; (4) He is the end, He is eternal life. These passages open out the truth in regard to Christ; it is in that way and order that we learn to appreciate Christ. It will become manifest when Christ comes again in the heavenly city that He is “the true God, and eternal life”, 1 John 5:20; and it is all the more remarkable because He suffered here.
Now I want to illustrate these thoughts in connection with the first — the righteous One (see Luke 7:41-50): “She hath washed my feet with tears”, Luke 7:44. To whom much is forgiven, the same loveth much. This illustrates Christ as the righteous One, and is the best illustration of it that I know. There are two things which must be in the righteous One: one is that He must accomplish righteousness, and secondly, [p. 285] He must put Himself in communication with man. He must bear the judgment under which man lay — that is the accomplishment of righteousness, and He must put Himself in communication with man. The righteous One is a Man. The woman in the city appreciated Christ as the righteous One — she loved Him, and for this reason, that He brought God close to her in grace. Her heart had this appreciation of Christ: He announced righteousness to her, “Thy sins are forgiven” (Luke 7:48), and the effect of righteousness is peace, and so He said to her, “Go in peace”. If you do not appreciate Christ as the righteous One, in whom God has approached men, and who has accomplished righteousness, you have not learnt the grace of God. We must all begin there, just where the woman began. It is the poor sinner who appreciates Christ as the righteous One, and the secret of her appreciation was that He brought God close to her in grace.
Then another thought: Christ is the Sun of righteousness. He has accomplished righteousness, and is the propitiation for our sins, and for the whole world. He is the Advocate with the Father. We have an interest in the Lord at the present moment. We have an Advocate with the Father, and He is the righteous One; He represents us there.
Now a step further: “Ye have an unction from the Holy One”, 1 John 2:20. See John 4:27-29: “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did”. Here we get attachment to the Holy One. In the one case it was knowing Christ as the expression of grace and forgiveness; and in the other it is, “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?”, John 4:29. This Christ was the anointed One, the One who could receive the Holy Spirit. She knew He was holy, and yet she was not repelled. She appreciated the light that exposed her, and she wanted the men of the city to come and see a Man who told her all that ever she did. “Is not this the Christ?”, John 4:29. The Lord does not speak to her about forgiveness, but about living water. “Ye have an unction from the Holy One”, 1 John 2:20. Christ proposed to give to her living water. You get, therefore, in this woman of John 4, appreciation of Christ as the Holy One. Is it not true to us? Have we not received from Christ the living water; have we not received an unction from the Holy One? All this is connected with the ways of Christ in regard to us: making Himself known to us as the righteous One, then as the Holy One.
I pass on to another point. He is “the true God, and eternal life” (1 John 5:20), see John 11:40. “If thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God”; verse 44, “Loose him, and let him go”. Here we get an illustration of the true God and eternal life. The glory of God is the effulgence of God in a Man, and the effect of that is the dispossessing of death. When Christ comes out as the true God and eternal life, the shining out of God in that Man, death will be swallowed up in victory. It is true now that He is the true God and eternal life, and we know it, but it will be manifested publicly yet.
To whom were these blessed things made known? To the woman of the city — the woman of Samaria — and to Martha and Mary; not to the scribes and Pharisees and the great men in Israel.
Then to whom was it made known that He is the beginning — the One from the outset? To Peter. The Father revealed to him that Christ was the Son of the living God, though soon after Peter broke down. Then all these are made known to us that we might be attached to Him. The attachment is secured on His side. “Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it”, Ephesians 5:25. But attachment is brought about in us to Him by acquaintance with the love of Christ. You could not imagine any more gracious act on the part of Christ than that He should give living water.
Now in the ways of God He never brings together those who are unsuitable to one another. Eve was perfectly suitable to Adam; so the servant of Abraham [p. 287] had to go to fetch a wife suitable to Isaac — she was fair to look upon, and he was comforted. What God brings about is perfect suitability. Hence Christ gathers up the affections of His people, so that it, the church, might be presented to Himself glorious, holy, and without blame, and the secret of it all is that in the meantime He has gained the affection of His people, so that we might be presented to Himself a glorious church. It is brought about by bringing before us the moral features of His own beauty.