REPRESENTATION
[p. 74] REPRESENTATION
2 Timothy 2:19; Revelation 3:7,8; John 20:19 - 23
What I have before me is to speak of representation. It being God’s thought to be represented, His thought can never be relinquished, even when, as in our own times, that in which He was represented here, now grossly misrepresents Him. There is the most gross misrepresentation possible of God and of Christ in that which claims the place of divine representation in this world; and my desire, dear brethren, is to show, with the Lord’s help, how God would bring us to the divine thought in regard of this, fitting us for it and maintaining us in it. It was said, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3. But the foundation is not destroyed, and hence the way is open for the righteous. And not only so, but as the passage in 2 Timothy shows, the righteous has in his possession the seal of representation — a most important provision for a day in which, as I said, God is grossly misrepresented, Christ is grossly misrepresented, and the truth concerning the vessel in which the representation should be seen, is wholly given up. We have in our possession a seal; it is not, as you will observe, that we are sealed, true as that is, for He who has anointed us and sealed us, and given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts, is God; 2 Corinthians 1:21. That is not what is alluded to here, but rather a mandate from God for the righteous. Behind it must lie the great truth of the vessel in which the divine mandate, as I may say, was primarily vested.
Now that leads one to think of the place the assembly was intended to fill in relation to Christ. He is Himself, as we read, the “image of the invisible God”. Colossians 1:15 Wonderful fact! — that in a Man here in this [p. 75] world, coming in in the lowliest, most unpretentious way, there should be the image of the invisible God!
He represented God, beloved, in His creation, and then, as it is said, He is the “Firstborn of all creation”, Colossians 1:15. But He is the image of God. Adam presents to us the first great feature of representation of God. “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion”, Genesis 1:26. In the representation of God here, it was His thought that Christ should have the assembly, and God has not relinquished that. All the service of Christ and of the Spirit in our day is to bring us back to the assembly’s place and function in relation to Christ who is the image of God; for the full representation of God here, according to the early chapters of Genesis, involved the woman. “In the day when they were created”, we are told, “He called their name Adam”, Genesis 5:2. It was not only that the man should not be alone, but in the day they were created, He called their name Adam. They represented one great divine thought; they were to be the representatives — or jointly the representative — of God in the creation. And God has not surrendered that thought. The assembly was here at the outset in that way. She stood out as in relation to Christ in the primary thought of God; she also stood out in relation to Him as meeting conditions that arose consequent on sin; but it is of all importance to recognise that she was here in the light of Ephesians as the companion of Christ, answering to the divine thought before the worlds. The first great type of the assembly has nothing to do with sin, and unless we understand what that is — what the upper and inner chambers of the house represent 1 Chronicles 28:11 — we shall not understand how to shine in the provisional relation to Christ.
But then in meeting the consequences of sin God develops typically His testimony; and so we have to distinguish John’s presentation of the resurrection and the ascension of Christ from that presented by the other evangelists. Matthew, Mark and Luke present the resurrection of Christ in relation to previous dealings of God; you will find the link with the Sabbath maintained, whereas John emphasises the first day of the week, signifying that Christ will have the assembly, or the saints who form it, first of all in relation to eternal thoughts. John begins, not with previous dates in the development of God’s ways, but he goes back before the foundation of the world: “In the beginning”. John 1:1 We have to understand the assembly as belonging to eternity, and that is what John presents to us. We have access in that light to the eternal thoughts of God, where we see the glory that Christ had with the Father before the world began.
But then there were the subsequent things. And so Rebekah comes in in type as a companion for Christ in view of Israel’s decease; for the moment Israel is gone, and dear brethren, the assembly is to be the companion of Christ for His comfort in the tent of Sarah. I think the synoptic gospels have in view “Sarah’s tent”. Genesis 24:67 They contemplate it as empty, but they provide in the assembly an occupant for that tent; she is now occupying Israel’s place and the Lord would have us to remember that. No true believer, no true lover of Christ, can forget or disregard the place that Israel had with Christ. We cannot but feel, we cannot but be moved, beloved, by the tears of Christ, as He saw Jerusalem. We are often touched by the tears of Christ at the grave of Lazarus, but He wept as He beheld the city. Was it nothing to Christ that His city should be indifferent to Him? Ah, beloved, how he loved it, as Moses said of Jehovah, “Yea, he loved the people!” Deuteronomy 33:3. “How often”, He says, “would I have gathered thee!” Luke 13:34 No love of Christ.
[p. 77] had been effective in His dealings with regard to Israel. He needs comfort (speaking reverently); God will bring us to that. Receiving Rebekah, Isaac was comforted after the death of his mother.
But then He has the assembly, as I said, outside of all that, for it was not an afterthought; it was a primary thought. It were degrading to the assembly to assume that it was an afterthought; it was a primary thought. And so as glorified among the Gentiles, Joseph says, “God has made me to forget all my toil and all my father’s house”; so in regard of Christ, He forgets in this wonderful relation of the assembly; Genesis 41:51. Then we get fruitfulness in Ephraim, denoting that he has got a wholly new generation. How great a thought it is, that Christ is among us. “Christ among you”, the apostle says, “the hope of glory”. Colossians 1:27.
But then there is the testimony of God, and all that it involves; Moses represents that. He forsook Egypt. He did not share the glory of Joseph for another king had arisen who knew not Joseph; “by faith he forsook Egypt”. Hebrews 11:27. We are now in the presence of the testimony of God, the faithful and true witness, and so in Moses’ wife we have a companion for Christ as the vessel of God’s testimony. This latter involves not only Israel, but every divine thought. No lover of Christ in this relation will despise the very least of the testimonies of God; whether the sun, moon or stars, everything is of interest in the testimony of Christ. It is Moses who brings in the great truth of creation, dispelling all the mists of heathen darkness from our minds. We have the true God; we have Him in all His testimonies in the heavens and upon the earth. The assembly is linked up with Christ in that way. We are the companion of Him who unfolds the mind of God, who is the Word, the faithful and true Witness, the Alpha and Omega. Wonderful place! The more you understand the relation of Moses’ wife to him, the more you will cherish every thought of God, even in nature. As it says, “Doth not even nature itself teach you”. 1 Corinthians 11:14 Some of us are very cramped in regard of these things, but Moses would unfold to us the whole testimony of God.
And then we have what is an integral part of all this, and that is, the battles — the wars of the Lord. David was anointed in regard to the enemies of God. He was anointed in regard to the ark, that it should have its place. He says, “We heard of it at Ephratah; we found it in the fields of the wood ... I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob”, Psalm 132:4 - 6. What an undertaking! If he did not fully grasp it, God knew; and in the anointing of David we have the divine challenge to every foe in heaven and upon earth. Satan quickly comes forward with his mightiest instrument, but David brings him down. We see one now in the conflict, fighting the battles of the Lord. “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 1 Samuel 17:26 And then Abigail, representing the assembly, comes to light, “My lord”, she says, “fights the battles of Jehovah”. 1 Samuel 25:28. Do we apprehend the Lord in that light? Are we prepared to forsake our Nabals, and become part of that which is His companion? “The woman”, it says, “was of good understanding, and withal of a beautiful countenance”. 1 Samuel 25:3 That, I think, is what God is bringing about today in a peculiar way — the good understanding and the beautiful countenance. “I speak”, says the apostle, “as to intelligent persons”. 1 Corinthians 10:15 The Lord’s supper is introduced in that connection; it is a test to our intelligence. The effect is that it builds up a constitution which is seen, which is manifest in the countenance. David himself was “beautiful-eyed” we are told. We are now coming [p. 79] to personal distinctions, personal distinctiveness. As he appeared in the midst of his brethren it is said he was ruddy, lovely eyed, and of a beautiful appearance. And so Abigail is a fit companion for him. He is fighting the battles of the Lord. Let us not assume for a moment that these battles are over. It is one after another, and for David one battle after another meant one victory after another, one triumph after another; there was nothing to fear. Abigail recognised that he was fighting the battles of the Lord, that “the souls of thine enemies them shall he sling out as out of the middle of a sling”, and that the soul of her lord would be “bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God”, 1 Samuel 25:29.
Now all these thoughts underlie this remarkable mandate in 2 Timothy, for Timothy was well acquainted with Paul’s doctrine. “Thou hast fully known”, he says, “my doctrine and manner of life”. 2 Timothy 3:10 He understood the assembly and the assembly’s place, and he understood the manner of life of the great apostle. And so, as the foundations were not destroyed, he was to go forth with a mandate, as it were. And what is that? You say, I thought we were in days not marked by officialism, and yet you are speaking about a seal of office. But God never relinquishes any thought of His, and in the darkest day He intends representation. It is, however, on moral grounds and not formally official. I can go forth to those who call on His name professedly, and say, I have a mandate. I have authority from God — here is the seal written on both sides as it were, “the Lord knoweth them that are his”. How many of us carry this seal about? It was in the power of it that the great revival came about from which we are all benefiting now, and it remains. “The Lord knoweth them that are his”. There is not one of them in the whole world who is not perfectly known [p. 80] to Christ; and if the Lord know those that are His, He never withdraws His eyes from one of them. He makes His circuit, as we read of Samuel — “he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpeh”, 1 Samuel 7:16. Let us be assured of it, beloved, that the Lord in His circuit pays attention to everyone. But He does it mediately, He does it, in the main, through His servants; He would employ us. As walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, He is judging what you do for Him, what I do for Him; this is what the Lord is doing. “The Lord knoweth them that are his”. We cannot forget them; we cannot shut our hearts against them. They belong to us; they belong to the Lord. We are entitled to claim them.
Then the other side is, “Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity”. We have this seal in our possession on moral grounds — the power of representation. Although God is falsified on every hand, there is in those who hold the seal and act on it, a representation of God, and it means deliverance, for a true witness delivereth souls. There is no other way out, it is a divinely appointed representation of God, in a day of general departure. He has opened up the way, and so the Lord says, “I have set before thee an opened door” Revelation 3:8 — not an open one, but an opened one; the Lord has done it. He has the key of David; as He says, He opens and no one shuts, and He shuts and no one opens; and so “I have set before thee an opened door”. How it became opened I think is explained by the seal. We have the way opened for what I may call a little bit of collective representation. I think the Lord has great delight in the return to the collective thought; hence He says, “I have set before thee an opened door, and no man can shut it”. So that there is a way open to us, dear friends, a door opened by the Lord in which we, having a little strength as He says,
may represent Him. He says, thou “hast kept my word (it is in that that representation lies) and hast not denied my name”. Revelation 3:8 How can those who take on another name represent Christ? It is misrepresentation; whereas this assembly — Philadelphia — affording a green spot for Christ, had not misrepresented Him; she had kept the word of His patience, and not denied His name. She had a little power. The Lord appreciates a little collective power, and I think the fact that He does so should be treasured in the keenest way by us. There is no pretension attached to it; it is what the Lord sees and treasures. No misrepresentation; she keeps the word of His patience and does not deny His name.
What I read in John 20 I believe gives the secret of all this; that is, we must apprehend the inner place with Christ. John comes in at the last, as we often remark. He gives the likeness of God; he brings in what is like God. You will remember in Genesis 1 man was to be made in God’s image and likeness; but in chapter 5, which involves recovery from departure, we are told that Adam begat a son in his own likeness, after his own image; likeness comes first. You cannot have representation now without likeness. It would be incongruous for God to put His seal to anything to represent Him, apart from His likeness. But John brings in the likeness of God. In John we read “a man come from God”, and of Jesus it says, “knowing that he came from God and went to God”, John 13:3 those who saw Him saw the Father. You have the likeness of God. Hence Adam begat a son in his own likeness after his own image. God will not have image-representation now without likeness; hence the great service of John’s ministry is to bring in likeness; and so we have in this passage the exaltation of Christ, the ascension. “I ascend”, He says, “to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God”. Dear brethren,
[p. 82] what a precious link for our souls is that well-known message, a message which never wears out; it retains its brilliancy and freshness the more we enter into it. It is constantly living, and links our souls with Christ as ascended to His Father. It is what I may call the “upper and the inner chambers”. 1 Chronicles 28:11 You remember when David gave the plan of the house to Solomon we read of its upper and inner chambers. We must understand the upper and inner in order to shine here for God, as Luke presents it. Luke gives us what is representative of God in external moral comeliness and beauty, but John gives the spirit of the thing; he brings in the likeness of God. And so the Lord having spoken to the disciples, breathed into them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”. “As the Father sent me forth, I also send you”. There is nothing less than that, dear brethren- persons sent out with the Spirit of Christ; as the Father sent Him, so He sent them.
Then He says, “Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted to them”. That is divine representation. We have in these words as I may say, a warrant for forgiving. How could we be together in the light of the assembly, save on the principle of forgiveness? We have all had to do with the sin of the world and the church, and how could we be together except on the principle of mutual forgiveness. But then there is also the retention of sins — a most important warrant. We could not preserve what is of God without it. Divine representation involves that you must put limitations on sin. In Matthew it was, “Whatsoever ye shall bind on the earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on the earth shall be loosed in heaven”. Matthew 18:18 That refers to the beginning of the dispensation. The Jews were bound by the apostles, and so in that measure the saints were released — a very happy release from the influence of Judaism, but now at the end of the dispensation,
[p. 83] representation of God involves that we should begin with remission. Our attitude as knowing God is remission; the way is open for it; we have a warrant to remit. I cannot understand how we can be gathered together unless that is true; the principle of remission is a divine principle. But then there is the principle of retention. A solemn fact, but we could not be together in the light of the house of God without it. There must be the principle of retaining sin. If men will be sinners, if men harden their hearts and refuse the light of God — the great principles that have been recovered for us — then the sins are not remitted. There is the judicial principle going on. If Samuel judges in Bethel, he insists upon the principles of the house of God, and we must refuse people — those with whom we cannot walk. “Holiness becometh thy house, O Jehovah, for ever”. Psalm 93:5 But the love of our hearts, as having the Spirit of God, leads us to forgive. The way is opened for every one, every lover of Christ, to this position, but the principle of it is forgiveness; if the heart be hardened and there is refusal of light, then the sins must be retained, for the Lord is amongst His people, and He judges; it says of Samuel that he “judged Israel all the days of his life” 1 Samuel 7:15 — what is due to the holiness of God’s house goes on to the end. May the Lord bless the word.