NOT OF LETTER, BUT OF SPIRIT

J. Renton

John 3: 3–6; 4: 23, 24; 2 Timothy 1: 7, 8; Ephesians 1: 15–19

These scriptures have been read because they contain the word “spirit”. There are other references to “spirit” in the New Testament; the spirit of faith; the spirit of meekness; the spirit of prophecy. It seems to suggest the essence of something, it is in contrast in some cases to letter, “not of letter, but of spirit”, 2 Corinthians 3: 6. I would like to say something about what is spirit—not of letter, but of spirit. We can have things in letter; we can have the Scriptures in letter; we can study ministry in letter, but there is something deeper than that, there is something more important than that, and that is what is called spirit. We were reading in Exodus in the meeting here this morning. In Exodus 20, God gave the law, the commandments, to Moses on stones which apparently God Himself made, and God wrote with His finger the commandments. We know what happened, these stones were shattered at the foot of the mountain, but certain things happen between that time and chapter 34. For instance, there is the tent set outside the camp; there is the appreciation of the mediatorship of Moses; there is God declaring His goodness; and according to the corresponding incident in Deuteronomy there is the ark to contain the two tables which Moses was to make. Moses made the second two tables, “Hew for thyself two tables of stone like the first”, Jehovah said to Moses (Deuteronomy 10: 1). So Moses hewed these stones and then carried them up the mountain, and God put the same words on these stones as on the first stones, but in Exodus 34, it speaks about the tenor of these words, “after the tenor of these words have I made a covenant with thee”, Exodus 34: 27. Now that is more like the spirit of a thing, the tenor seems to me to involve a certain formation, not just apprehending mentally the letter, but the tenor, taking into consideration the One who gave the law, and the Mediator available, and all these things, it corresponds, I think, with this word spirit of which we read.

Now I begin with the initial matter of new birth which is spoken of here. The Lord says,

“Except any one be born anew he cannot see the kingdom of God”. Born anew, means it is different from natural birth, it is from an entirely new source, it is the sovereign activity of the Spirit of God in the person who becomes a believer; it is a sovereign operation, entirely different from anything of nature, born anew, from a new source and beginning of life. Then He says, “Except any one be born of water and of Spirit”, that is the same birth but it indicates a moral beginning. First it is born anew, that is entirely different, but then born of water and of Spirit indicates a moral beginning. Then the Lord says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”. It is obvious that that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that can never be improved, can never be altered. One of our early teachers has told us, You may sublimate the flesh as much as you like, it will never yield spirit. Flesh and spirit are opposed. The only thing that deals with the flesh is death, but that which “is born of the Spirit is spirit”. Now this spirit can be distinguished from the Holy Spirit; He is the One who has sovereignly imparted spirit. It could also be distinguished from the human spirit. Every human being has a spirit, but this is something different; this is something that has been imparted by the Holy Spirit of spirit in the believer. It has been likened to a germ which develops. We have no part in the sovereign imparting of what is called spirit, it is a sovereign operation of the Spirit, but it seems to me we have some part in the development of it. “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit”, is the potential for being spiritual, the beginning of what is spiritual.

Let no believer ever say, I am not spiritual, because

every believer has this element of spirit sovereignly given by the Holy Spirit. Maybe we have not followed up this element of spirit, that could be true, because I think we have a part in developing this germ, and that must be by the Spirit; it involves formation, and formation is by the Spirit. The Spirit is the One who forms us in spirituality, and it depends, therefore, on ourselves for what opportunity we give to the Spirit, what advantage we give to the Spirit, what time we give Him. What can we do to develop this element called spirit, which every believer has? Never say, I am not spiritual! If you are a real believer on the Lord Jesus you have the wherewithal, you have the potentiality to be spiritual. It depends on the development of this germ, and I would advise every young believer here, and every believer indeed, to value that germ sovereignly imparted to us by the Spirit. Value it, identify it. I suppose it leads to the inward man of Romans 7. You know, dear brethren, eventually we are going to be entirely spiritual, there will be nothing of nature, nothing material. What goes into eternity is only what is wrought by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we need to commit ourselves to identify this feature of spirit, and give the Holy Spirit opportunity for its development so that we may become spiritual persons. It is not beyond any believer to be spiritual. May we be encouraged!

Now in John 4 we have this word “spirit”, it says, “But the hour is coming and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth”. Now that is not exactly the human spirit, it is not exactly the Holy Spirit, it must refer to this “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”, it is the wherewithal to worship the Father intelligently and suitably. It goes on to say, “God is a spirit; and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth”.

That is this matter of spirit, which we have derived from the Holy Spirit. I hardly know how to describe it, but I want to point out the distinction between it and the Holy Spirit and our human spirits. Every human being has a spirit, believer or

unbeliever, but unbelievers do not have this spirit, “in spirit and truth” belongs to the believer. No doubt it refers back to chapter 3, “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”. I do not want to be mystical or difficult, but I would like to call attention to this feature, it seems to be so important, dear brethren, not letter but spirit. It is the wherewithal in the believer to worship God who is a spirit, to worship God suitably. What a privilege it is to worship God suitably, and that is in spirit and truth. Truth would, I suppose, refer to the revelation of God, how God is known, but spirit is something inward that rises up in worship; it is affected and responds suitably to God who is a spirit, it is a spiritual order of things into which the believer is brought. I trust it makes itself attractive to us all; not just to be content with the letter.

So we go on to 2 Timothy, and there again this idea of spirit comes in. This is in view of having part in the testimony of our Lord in a day of ruin in which we are, “God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power, and of love, and of wise discretion”, that kind of spirit.

It is the character of spirit that is spoken of in John 3 and 4. It is not “a spirit of cowardice, but of power, and of love, and of wise discretion”, the wherewithal to be intelligent and devoted in the testimonial situation no matter how rough or difficult it becomes. You hear sometimes, If there is any more trouble I am finished! That is the spirit of cowardice, that is not the kind of spirit that God has given us. God has given us a spirit of power to withstand, it is that kind of spirit that would stand—“Be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner”. Paul was in prison. These were testing times, difficult times, and that has been extended to our time; the testimony is under reproach; the spirit we have been given has the character of power to stand and withstand, and of love. It is a fine balance;

“of power, and of love, and of wise discretion”. “Wise discretion” is a very important feature in the time in which we are. It is to have a

quiet, sound, sober mind. It involved judgment, we need wise discretion to, be able to judge, to go by divine principles; that is the kind of spirit we have, not influenced by what is natural.

Dear fellow believer, that is the kind of spirit God has given, “For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power, and of love, and of wise discretion”. How much wise discretion is needed at the present time!

We have all been given the same kind of spirit. It ought to unify us, to draw us together, to go on together. We have, of course, the gift of the Holy Spirit personally, but we have been given this character of spirit, of power, and of love, and of wise discretion. May the Lord help us, because sometimes we tend to go by letter! We hear parts of ministry quoted to support certain ideas—that is letter, that is not spirit, that is not the tenor; we need to get, the tenor, the substance of the thing. I would appeal to all of us. There is no doubt that we all want to keep together, surely, but sometimes there seems to be very little holding us. Therefore we need this kind of mortar, this kind of spirit, of power, and of love, and of wise discretion; the same kind of spirit of wise discretion, the same kind of love, the same kind of power. God has given us this kind of spirit. May we be encouraged!

I just wanted to refer to Ephesians 1 which is something additional. It is not exactly presented as something God has given us. Paul prays that the Ephesians might be given it, because of

“having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is in you, and the love which ye have towards all the saints”. There is a basis for Paul to pray thus for these believers. Is that true of us? Have we faith in the Lord Jesus and love towards all the saints, a universal outlook?

Sometimes if we pray for all those with whom we walk we think we have a universal outlook, but we have prayed for a very, very small part of what the Lord has on the earth. I think we need to have love towards all the saints, even those who

will not look at us or will not speak to us; we need to have this attitude. Maybe we have to be bound in our affections like Joseph was with his brethren. He had to restrain himself, and our affections cannot flow freely towards all but the affections ought to be with us. The Lord was girt about the breasts with a golden girdle with regard to the assemblies in Revelation 2 and 3.

His love was there, it was restrained, but love was there. Our love which we have to all the saints would need a more universal outlook on all that the Lord has, all who love God at the present time, because those with whom we walk are very, very few, and consist of a very, very minimal percentage of all the Lord has. We need to have love to all the saints and a more universal outlook, I think, in our prayer meetings and our private prayers.

So he says, “Wherefore I ... do not cease giving thanks for you, making mention of you at my prayers”. Paul, in prison, must have had times which he set apart for prayer. I would like to have heard Paul praying—he had the care of all the assemblies; he would pray for every assembly intelligently; he would pray for every person he knew intelligently. “Who is stumbled, and I burn not?”, he said (2 Corinthians 11: 29). What a heart he had! So he goes on, “making mention of you at my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him”.

Our brother was speaking about what is positive, certainly the enemy would occupy us with what is negative, but there is so much positive truth to go in for; think of this spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory.

How much there is to explore, to commit our minds to, to commit our affections to, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation”, that kind of spirit. Apparently they did not have it yet, but Paul prays that they may get it. No doubt Paul had this spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him, but he prays for these Ephesians

that “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him”. What a thing to desire! I do not think we get this exactly by study or our own efforts, but we would not get it without desire. I think Paul would put this desire in the hearts of these Ephesians; to desire the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory.

How great these things are! I would like myself to desire to have this; it is within our reach. I suppose it would depend on conditions, our desire, our ability to pursue it, the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him.

What kind of influence would a person like that have? We all exercise some kind of influence. Has it come from the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him? Dare we influence anybody otherwise? Do I dare to influence anyone apart from the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him? I ask myself sometimes, What kind of influence do I have? I appeal to each one of us to ask ourselves, What kind of influence am I having? What is the end in view of the influence that I am exerting? May we desire that “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him”. Apparently it was available for the Ephesians. It is available for us. I think Paul put it into their minds, their affections to be bent on this desire, to set themselves to secure this; it is God given, they do not exactly reach it by their own energies, but their attitude would be such that God would impart it. Let us all, I would exhort every one, myself included, to desire this, then our influence would be right, towards the unity of the brethren and cohesion. This is not untempered mortar, but something that is going to bind us together, be a bond, the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him.

Paul goes on to say, “being enlightened in the eyes

of your heart”, not your mind, not of letter but of spirit. I suppose the heart is the seat of the affections. The eyes of your heart must be the inlet of light, “being enlightened in the eyes of your heart, so that ye should know what is the hope of his calling”. It is His calling, and His inheritance, and His power. These positive things build us up, they would keep us together; they would yield fruit and pleasure for God; “so that ye should know what is the hope of his calling”, the calling of the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory. The hope of His calling would be glory, of course, heaven, final conditions. We need hope to sustain us in testimony here. Was it not hope that the Thessalonians lacked? They are commended for their faith and love in the second epistle, but hope is not mentioned, and hope tends to weaken with us, tends to fade. If He calls, He has nothing but glory eventually in mind for us, “the hope of his calling”.

Then it says, “and what the riches”—wonderful language—“the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints”; the inheritance of the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory. Think of the idea of His inheritance, it is the result of all divine workmanship, all divine patience, “his inheritance in the saints”. It must be Christ formed in the saints; nothing but Christ would be suitable for the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory. His inheritance in the saints must be Christ formed in the saints—“the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints”. Then, “what the surpassing greatness of his power towards us who believe”. I just commend again what our brother has been commending to us as to what is positive, how important it is to be preserved in a positive way, that is what Paul is bringing before them here, something positive, very rich, very blessed, you could not think of anything more blessed than these things. His inheritance is the result of all divine workmanship, of all 20

divine patience worked out in the saints; it must be Christ formed in the saints; nothing but Christ would be

suitable. How important to be preserved in what is positive, that is what Paul is bringing before them here, something very rich, very blessed, you could not think of anything more so than these things. He says, “the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him

... the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what the surpassing greatness of his power towards us who believe”. All these things would encourage us; all these things would keep us bound together in affection, and outlook, so much needed at the present time.

That is all I have to say, but I desired to present and make attractive this kind of spirit which every believer has, that which is “born of the Spirit is spirit”. It has been spoken of as a germ, a potentiality that can develop into spirituality, and every believer has it. Let us be exercised therefore to provide conditions for the Spirit to effect this work of formation. I, suppose we can all be more spiritual; it would be so if we could grow in this kind of thing, I think we could. We need these desires, this committal, in view of the worship of God. What rises in the believer towards God is this element of spirit. What is going to sustain us in the testimony is the spirit of power, and of love, and of wise discretion, and then to have in our hearts and our desires, this spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him. May the Lord encourage us; may He help us; may He set us in this direction. I can see the great importance of it. I can see that we tend to go by letter. Taking quotations from ministry to support certain ideas is the letter, that is not the tenor, it is not the spirit. When God speaks about the tenor that does not mean that He diminishes any item, every item is important, no item is omitted, but the tenor involves an understanding and appreciation of God in our souls, and some knowledge of the scope of His mind and His will.

Address at Dundee, 13 August 1993

HOW GOD SECURES HIS PURPOSE

P. van den Berg

John 1: 1–5; Colossians 1: 12–20; 2: 1–9

We have read quite a bit, dear brethren, there is much to go in for. The epistles to the Colossians and Ephesians were written from prison. Paul was in prison, but the word of God was not bound, and God was able to bring out of such conditions these great thoughts that we have been considering. God has come out in His purpose of love in view of securing what is precious to His heart, not only for the present time, but indeed for eternity. We have read from John’s gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. The Person known here as the Word was there eternally. Moses says, “even from eternity to eternity thou art God”, Psalm 90: 2. There is what is inscrutable, what will ever be beyond us. There are things that are inscrutable, that are not made known to us, and we had better not peer into what has not been revealed. God was there in His majestic Being eternally. The beginning in John 1: 1 goes back to before creation. In Genesis we read, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1: 1), but John goes back before that; he goes back to the purpose of God, what He purposed in Himself, involving the love of God, having in view what would be for His eternal pleasure. What a way God has taken! Think of the way God has taken according to those counsels, counsels that were there before the world’s foundation in order to bring to pass those great thoughts in purpose.

In John 1: 3 we have reference to the beginning of creation, “All things received being through him, and without him not one thing received being which has received being”.

Through Christ all things have been created—How great He is in His Person! How great is the work of creation! All the science of the day is not

able to explain what God has created, it is beyond man. The glory of God is expressed in creation; the heavens declare the glory of God, they are a testimony to the glory of God. But there is what is greater still than the work of creation, and that is the work of redemption. It was in divine thoughts, that one of the Persons of the Godhead would come into manhood, and remain Man for ever; that He should go into death to secure God’s eternal pleasure. So the Lord Jesus could say prophetically, “Behold, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me—To do thy good pleasure, my God, is My delight”, Psalm 40: 7, 8. Think of His committal! We cannot enter into the relations in the Godhead in the past eternity, but this we do know, that love was there, and Christ came in according to purpose and counsel to accomplish the work of redemption. Creation in itself did not reveal the heart, the love of God; it brought out His greatness, the glory of what He is as Creator. It is in the death of Christ that we learn the heart of God. It is in the death of Christ that God was made known in His attributes and in His nature. So in the fulness of the time God came out in the Person of Christ.

John impresses us with the glory of the way God has come out in Christ in declaration. God has His own way in bringing His thoughts to pass. It says in Proverbs that Jehovah possessed wisdom in the beginning of His way (Proverbs 8: 22). It refers to the ordered way God takes in securing His purpose according to His counsels. God cannot be hindered in any of His thoughts; all things serve His purpose. The way God is taking is beyond our understanding. It says in Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith Jehovah” (Isaiah 55: 8). We often cannot explain the ways that God has with us, things that happen amongst us, the sorrows that come in; but God works all things according to the counsel of His will, and all things serve His purpose. We can be assured that all things work together for good in our lives; they work together for good to those that love God, who are called according to

His purpose. We can be assured that as for God His way in perfect. It brings peace into our souls when we accept the will of God in the way He has with us. We learn God in His dealings with us; we learn His faithfulness and His patience. What a God we have! What love He brought out in the death of Christ! God gave His own Son for you and for me. God has maintained His righteousness and His holiness in the death of Christ; He secured His thoughts in purpose in Christ, the Lamb foreknown before the world’s foundation, who has been manifested at the end of times for our sakes (1 Peter 1: 19, 20). As coming into the world He says, “Lo, I come ... to do, O God, thy will”, Hebrews 10: 7.

So I thought of the beginning. The beginning in John’s epistle goes back to what was here in Christ; in Genesis we have the beginning of creation; in John’s gospel the beginning goes back before creation to the purpose of God. What is in mind is the great end that God has in view. John presents in his gospel the true light coming into the world, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light appears in darkness, and the darkness apprehended it not”. In Colossians it says, “giving thanks to the Father, who has made us fit for sharing the portion of the saints in light, who has delivered us from the authority of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love”. What a deliverance! Christ was the true light that lightens every man, but the darkness apprehended it not. It says, “He came to his own, and his own received him not; but as many as received him, to them gave he the right to be children of God”. The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God (see Romans 8: 16). Thank God for the presence of the Holy Spirit! The Lord says that the Comforter would be with us for ever. What a provision that is, that in life and in facing death we have the company of Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Colossians speaks of our being made fit for the sharing of the portion of the saints in light. It stands in contrast to the darkness that is upon man, we share the portion of the saints in light. As walking in the light, as God is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. John gives us that impression in his epistle, “if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin”, 1 John 1: 7. God has made every provision for us in Christ, and every thought of God has been secured in Him; we could not think of one thought of God in purpose that has not been secured in Christ; everything stands in relation to the Man of His purpose. He is the One in whom we have eternal life; He is the glorious Centre of that universe of bliss where God will rest eternally in those who are near Him, the tabernacle of God with men. What a consummation it will be when the end comes that God will be all in all, where He will have what will be for His own pleasure according to what He has purposed. What a way God has taken! It is just beyond us when you think of the way God has taken to accomplish it all. His way is in the sea. (see Psalm 77: 19). And Christ has the first place in all things. He is to be the first in everything. He is the Firstborn of all creation; He is the Firstborn from among the dead; He is Firstborn among many brethren. The Lord has the first place in all things.

Paul brings in His glory as Creator, “because by him were created all things, the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones, or lordships, or principalities, or authorities: 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”. Think of the greatness of Christ, the One who is the Creator of all things, who upholds all things by the word of His power. Not only did He create the universe but He upholds it, and that is what He is doing now in relation to what He has accomplished on the basis of redemption. What He has accomplished, what He has secured, He upholds. He is the “Apostle and High Priest of our confession” (Hebrews 3: 1); He is not only the One that brought it all about; He is also the One who upholds it, He upholds all things by the word of His power.

So all things subsist together by Him and He is, “the beginning, firstborn from among the dead”. Christ is the beginning of everything for God. He addresses the assembly of Laodicea as, “the beginning of the creation of God”, Revelation 3: 14. Everything begins with Christ,

“he is the head of the body, the assembly; who is the beginning, firstborn from among the dead, that he might have the first place in all things—for in him all the fulness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell”. Just think of it! In His manhood here the fulness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell. Colossians speaks of our being reconciled to It, the Fulness; It dwelt in Him when He was here, and It is now dwelling in Him as Man in glory. The fulness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily as Man in glory. You do not need to go for anything outside of Him, He is the Head of the body. We can draw on Him for wisdom, power and food; “he is the head of the body, the assembly; who is the beginning, firstborn from among the dead, that he might have the first place in all things”. It leads on to the reconciliation of all things on the earth and in the heavens. Think of the extent of the work of Christ, not only in relation to the assembly, or the other families, but the whole universe, a reconciled universe, where God will dwell in nearness without a shade of distance. We have referred already today to our being reconciled in one body to God. What a vessel the assembly is, the body of Christ. We are set together in the one body in relation to one another, dear brethren, and as holding the Head what nearness there is in the relations in which God has set us together in the one body. We are indispensable to one another, we need one another.

So He has reconciled all things, having made peace by the blood of His cross, then it says, “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in mind by wicked works, yet now has it reconciled in the body of his flesh through death; to present you holy and unblameable and irreproachable before it, if indeed ye abide in the faith founded and firm, and not moved away from the hope of the glad tidings, which ye have heard”. May there be stability with us! May we be established! There is need for being established in the truth and in our links with God, to find Him to be the stability of our times (see Isaiah 33: 6). May we have our own links with God, He who is the Same. The Lord is the One to whom the Father has committed all things, and He will see everything through to completion. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things to be in His hand. We have been translated into the kingdom of the Son of His love, a kingdom that is pervaded by the love of the Father for the Son. We have been speaking about the relations between the Father and the Son; the love of the Father for the Son and the love of the Son for the Father, those reciprocal affections. These relations are to be known by us.

The Lord says, “that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them”, John 17: 26. There is no distance in these relations. The distance has been removed. When Christ was here, God was here in the ministry of reconciliation, and God could come out in grace to man—“on earth peace, good pleasure in men”, Luke 2: 14. How could there be good pleasure in men? It was on the basis of reconciliation (see 2 Corinthians 5: 19).

Reconciliation has now been effected by the blood of His cross, and as reconciled to God we stand on the ground of new creation. The new man according to God is created in truthful righteousness and holiness. It is in the conciliation of the nature of God with His attributes that God has in the assembly a vessel where His glory can be known in the way He has moved in maintaining His glory in the death of Christ.

The glory of God shone out in the way in which His attributes; His righteousness, His holiness have been maintained. God did not compromise, God has

righteously settled the whole matter in the death of His own Son—“He who, yea, has not spared his own Son”, Romans 8: 32. Who shall separate us from the love of God? What can the enemy bring in in the way of accusation? Everything has been met according to His own standards of righteousness and holiness, in the love that He displayed in the giving of His own Son. And the Holy Spirit has shed abroad the love of God in our hearts; we have been brought into relationships in which we can enjoy in nearness the love of God; we can say, Abba, Father, as taken into favour in the Beloved. We can enjoy by the Holy Spirit the relations into which God’s love has brought us, and know the love of the Son for the Father and the love of the Father for the Son, as the Lord says, “that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them”, John 17: 26. The Spirit would strengthen us in our affections that Christ may have a place in our hearts as He has in the Father’s heart. The Father would strengthen us by His Spirit in order that Christ might have the supreme place in our hearts. He has the first place in all things. Everything for God has its beginning in Him; and He is the Head of the body, the assembly. What a place the assembly will have in the world to come, what a place the assembly has now! What the assembly means to the heart of God and to Christ! You may say that everything publicly has broken down, but God has never given up the assembly. He had the assembly in His purpose, and Christ is committed to the will of God in relation to it. He said, “I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go free”, Exodus 21: 5. The Lord in purpose was committed to the assembly. He loved the assembly, He has delivered Himself up for it, He serves the assembly. It says that Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep (see Hosea 12: 12). The Lord Jesus is serving in view of having the assembly for Himself without spot, or wrinkle or any of such thing. So we have this reference to the assembly here, “And he is the head of the body, the assembly”.

Then in chapter 2 the apostle is combating to the end that the saints at Colosse might be encouraged and be united together in love, “unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding”. They were in danger of man’s wisdom, philosophy and vain deceit. Over against that is the headship of Christ. We need to draw on Him as Head. We could not have a greater Head than One in whom all the fulness of the Godhead dwells. The saints in Colosse were in danger of persons not holding the Head, and the apostle is expressing his concern that they might be encouraged. May we all be encouraged! May we be united together in love, dear brethren. May we grow in our understanding of divine things. There is so much to go in for, “Things which eye has not seen, and ear not heard, and which have not come into man’s heart, which God has prepared for them that love him”, 1 Corinthians 2: 9. They are revealed to us by His Spirit. It is not beyond us; it can be entered upon, and it is for us to enter upon it, to come into the riches, the knowledge of the mystery of God, “in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge”. Paul says, “And I say this to the end that no one may delude you by persuasive speech”.

Dear brethren, may we be preserved in the testimony, and in the glory of the light into which we have been called, which God in His wonderful grace has brought us into in the end of the dispensation in which we are. Breakdown has come in but God anticipated that at the end of the dispensation there would be a response to the light of His original thoughts. They have been departed from, but in the recovery God has brought us back to His original thoughts in purpose in relation to the assembly. The truth has been maintained, it has been stood for.

There has been sad departure from it too, but God is faithful, and He will see His own thoughts through. God will see through what He has originated, He will see it through in His own faithfulness. He has called us into the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, and that in His faithfulness He will see us through.

What is here in the present time is the result of the faithfulness of God; we have failed but God has not failed; He cannot be hindered in any of His thoughts, He will see them through to completion. May we stand true to the charge that has been committed to us, and may we be faithful to it. The Lord has committed Himself in love for the assembly. In His committal He did not go out free. Would we go out free? How precious the assembly is to His heart. He loves the assembly. The Lord has been serving us in these days we have been together in view of these things, in view of the inheritance. It is what we have been called into. Christ is the expression of the purpose of God and we lay hold of it in Him. May our hearts be established! May we be firm! The Lord has His own way of maintaining things; He abides faithful, He cannot deny Himself. He will see things through in His own way, and He has the means and the ability to do it, and He will do it.

So the word is, “As therefore ye have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted and built up in him, and assured in the faith, even as ye have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. See that there be no one who shall lead you away as a prey through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the teaching of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to. Christ. For in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily”. The fulness of the Godhead dwelt in Christ when He was here, and the fulness is dwelling in Him now bodily. He is the Head of the assembly, we can draw on Him. Do not draw on man’s wisdom; do not draw on natural thoughts or thinking. The enemy seeks to intrude by bringing natural thoughts and feelings into the things of God. We need to have priestly understanding and discernment. There is need for priesthood, “For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and at his mouth they seek the law”, Malachi 2: 7. It is important that our thinking should be on spiritual lines, that we are spiritual in our thinking. Priesthood relates to an order of things in resurrection and we do

not allow our natural mind to work in the things of God. So it is a question of holding the Head, not to be carried away, but to hold Christ as Head, that what is for His own pleasure may be maintained and maintained in unity. The Lord says to Philadelphia, “hold fast what thou hast, that no one take thy crown”, Revelation 3: 11. It is a time for holding fast; it is a time for not giving in to what the enemy is doing. The Lord is over things; the Lord has everything in His own hand, and He will see the testimony through. May we be in it! May we be committed to it! May the Lord bless the word.

Address at Dundee
14 August 1993