EPHESIANS 3 (READING AT TEIGNMOUTH, 9 JUNE 1924)
[p. 40] EPHESIANS 3 (READING AT TEIGNMOUTH, 9 JUNE 1924)
Ephesians 3: 14 - 21; Revelation 21: 1 - 4
Ques Is not promise the outcome of purpose?
CAC Promise has rather to do, generally speaking, with conditions of evil; God’s answer to this is the vindication of Himself in regard to it all. He makes His glory to appear in complete victory over all that has been brought in by the power of Satan. This can be measured by the intelligent creature, as we see in Revelation 21: 15 - 17, but when we touch purpose we touch what is immeasurable. There are no measurements of the city in the eternal state; it can be measured by the creature as coming down in the world to come, but when we see it coming down in the eternal state it is not measured — and for a good reason, because it is the tabernacle of God. God is all in all, and what creature could measure that? The city in the world to come is the wonderful product of the activity of God in relation to certain conditions; but in connection with His eternal purpose there are no conditions. It is what God thought of for the satisfaction of His own love when He had nothing to consider but that love. There was no sin or death, neither innocent nor fallen man then, nothing but Christ, the Man of eternal purpose, so there were no limitations — all was immeasurable. In Ephesians 3 it is purpose; we get the breadth, length, depth and height, no measurements but an intimate expanse of blessedness, all of God and according to the greatness of God.
Ques What is the difference between measure and comprehension?
CAC It is apprehend, not comprehend (see New Translation). It is quite impossible for the creature to comprehend what we have in Ephesians 3, but it may be [p. 41] apprehended by those strengthened by the Father’s Spirit; we can apprehend a blessedness that we cannot comprehend. We sing sometimes, ‘’Tis too vast to comprehend’, but it is not too vast to apprehend. We apprehend as strengthened by the Spirit of the Father; the moment you touch that you are outside limitations. It says, “God gives not the Spirit by measure” (John 3:34); when we take account of what comes in by the Spirit we are outside measurements; we are in touch with what is eternal and therefore immeasurable. That is the difference between the city in the world to come and in the eternal state — one is measurable and the other is not. In the eternal state there are no measurements and the city takes the character of the tabernacle of God. We get another dimension in Ephesians 3; in Revelation 21 the city has three dimensions only, breadth, length and height but in Ephesians 3 there is a fourth dimension, depth. That word “depth” connects the whole subject with the eternal purpose of God.
Ques What is the thought of depth?
CAC I connect it with 1 Corinthians 2: 7 - 10, “But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, that hidden wisdom which God had predetermined before the ages for our glory: which none of the princes of this age knew, (for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;) but according as it is written, 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, but God has revealed to us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God”. Everybody can see that that is immeasurable.
One feels in reading the two scriptures before us that we have a different conception in them. There is a range of things that can be measured, connected with the administration of the world to come, and it terminates.
[p. 42] But there is another aspect of things where there is no limit; it is immeasurable and connected with what is eternal. We belong to, and constitute part of that eternal and immeasurable system. The satisfaction of God is there; it is what God proposed to Himself when there was no man to consider but Christ. In eternity the only Man present in the divine mind was Christ, the Man of eternal purpose, and in that purpose all is according to the measure of Christ and the measure of the Father’s love and that is immeasurable. It is important for us to see that the Spirit being a divine Person connects us with what is eternal and immeasurable. At the end of John 3 it says, “God gives not the Spirit by measure”, then there is immediately added, “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things to be in his hand”. The “all things” are the immeasurable system connected with the Father’s love for the Son, and the Spirit connects us with it.
Ques Would you connect that with Romans 8: 39?
CAC Romans 8 brings in the whole expanse of the created universe, “Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature”. It is the whole expanse of the created universe from the height of heaven to the depths of hell, and not a thing in the universe can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Does it not set you up in triumph? If you had every power of the created universe against you, it is measurable, but you are linked up with the love of God in Christ and that is immeasurable. The measurable things can never disconnect you from what is eternal and immeasurable. The glorious greatness of God begins to shine on one’s spirit. It is written that on one occasion, “All were astonished at the glorious greatness of God”, Luke 9: 43. I believe that is the kind of impression God would leave on our hearts today.
Ques Do the promises refer to the millennium and purposes to [p. 43] the eternal state?
CAC Yes, the promises will all be fulfilled in the millennium. Eternal life is the summing up of all the promises; it is the distinctive promise. But in purpose you are brought to sonship, and that is the expression of what is immeasurable. In a sense you can measure eternal life, but you cannot measure sonship.
Ques In the eternal state there is no trace of what is connected with the entrance of sin; it seems to be obliterated.
CAC In the world to come there are kings and nations, and a large substratum of material not responsive to God, for we see that after the city has been light to the world for a thousand years there is rebellion in the four quarters of the earth, but when you come to what is eternal there is no flaw. Administration in the world to come is perfect, but the conditions in which it is exercised will not be absolutely perfect even in the millennium. We even get a distinct intimation that things will decline among the people of God. There will be no departure from Christ, but there will be a measure of decline. We see that in the diminishing number of the sacrifices through the seven days of the feast of tabernacles which is typical of the world to come — there is a bullock less each day, beginning at thirteen and coming down to seven. That indicates a diminishing apprehension of Christ, and that is the root of decline. But we do not get anything like that in what is eternal, all there has its roots in the depths of God. The administration of the city is perfect but it is a measured administration; in the eternal aspect of the city the thought of measurement is not introduced. Our proper privilege is to look at what belongs to the world to come from the standpoint of sons, of those who have their part in what is eternal; we have an eternal place with Him who is above.
Eternal life is connected with promise; you could not [p. 44] have anything greater on the line of promise than the reversal of everything that is evil and the substitution of all that is blessed and of God. Eternal life in the Old Testament is the blessing, and in the New Testament it is the promise. God committed Himself to man in promise, for as the power of evil showed itself, God met it by promises. He pledged Himself to meet every manifestation of the power of evil by corresponding good. When a man gets to the blessedness of that good, that is eternal life. In answer to every sign of evil that appeared God made a suggestion of Christ. In the Old Testament we see the development of evil which culminated in the rejection of Christ and we see God pledging Himself at every step to meet it, and to bring in a good which stands in relation to the evil but which exceeds it, like the “much rather” in Romans 5:9,10; Romans 5:15; Romans 5:17. We get the whole scope of what came in by Adam and then all that came in by the last Adam, and that brings in eternal life. Romans 5 ends with grace reigning through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. That is the gathering up of all the promises; they are connected with all that God committed Himself to in the presence of the power of evil.
But the world of purpose was in the depths of God from eternity, and we cannot fathom it. It was in the depths of God before time; before man or sin were there, there was that which God cherished for His own delight, His own eternal purpose in Christ Jesus. What belongs to eternity has now begun, as we sometimes sing, ‘Eternity’s begun’. And there will be that which is eternal through the millennium. The saints in the city will not be deprived of what is eternal; they will exercise their administration in the light of what they are as sons. Now in Ephesians 1: 3 - 6 we read, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with [p. 45] every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ; according as he has chosen us in him before the world’s foundation, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love; having marked us out beforehand for adoption through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has taken us into favour in the Beloved”. Who can fathom that? We have got into the depths of God. If we want to understand the depths we have to take account of the wisdom which was foreordained for our glory before the ages. God chose us in Christ and His great desire was to dwell with holy sons — that was His eternal thought. The answer to that is in the opening verses of Revelation 21, the tabernacle of God where He dwells according to His eternal thought in eternity. In connection with the earth God desired to dwell in Zion, and He cherished it — “Here will I dwell, for I have desired it”, Psalm 132: 14. As to the earth His dwelling is in Zion, but in relation to eternity He desired to dwell in a company of holy sons; they are the ones of whom the Lord spoke, “The men whom thou gavest me”, John 17: 6.
We are much limited by making ourselves a centre. We shall never be spiritually right until God becomes our centre, because God is the great Head of the universe. “The Christ is the head of every man, but woman’s head is the man, and the Christ’s head God”, 1 Corinthians 11: 3. We do not come to the proper centre or head until we come to God. David knew God in His headship; he says, “Thou art exalted as Head above all; and riches and glory are of thee” and so on (1 Chronicles 29: 10 - 19). If we got to that it would be a spring in our souls. In the eternal state God is all in all; everything disappears but God’s eternal thought. Think of the blessed God desiring to dwell in a company of holy sons! He has made us holy sons in order [p. 46] to dwell in us eternally. The greatest thought of all is that God should have the satisfaction of His love. In principle God delights to dwell with us now in the character of holy sons: it is the Father’s desire, the thought did not originate with us.
The mountain of His inheritance is the fulfilment of His promises to Israel, but being brought to the abode of His holiness is a hint of what is eternal. God had before Him a holy Son, His beloved One. Christ was in God’s purpose from eternity: He was not actually Man until He came to earth, born of the virgin, but He was Man in purpose, and God chose us in His holy Son that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love. He would dwell in a company of holy sons. Christ was the beloved from eternity. He was in purpose the beloved holy Son in Manhood, and we were chosen in Him before the world’s foundation that we should be holy and blameless in sonship’s place, accepted in the Beloved. It is immeasurable! No creature with a golden reed could measure that.
Ques What is the thought of chosen?
CAC I think it is the sovereignty of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, a sovereign action by which certain persons are elected. The election of God is a personal election. I would have nothing to do with the idea of abstract election. Scripture speaks of names from the foundation of the world — that shows it is individual. Also we get, “Whom he has foreknown, he has also predestinated ... whom he has predestinated, these also he has called; and whom he has called, these also he has justified; but whom he has justified, these also he has glorified”, Romans 8: 29, 30. No one could question that the calling is personal and individual, or that justifying is personal and individual, and therefore foreknowledge and predestination are personal and individual. If you [p. 47] say, Why did God choose me instead of a million others? I could only bow my head and say with reverence, Because He chose to do so. In eternal purpose God was free to do what His love would have Him do. It is wonderful that in the depths of God every one of that company of holy sons had his distinctive place by name — God’s elect before the foundation of the world. After sin had come in and all the ruin of the first creation it was necessary that God should call and justify.
Rem People disagree over the subject of sovereignty.
CAC I think none of us gets right with God until we accept the truth of His sovereignty. The sense of the absolute sovereignty of His mercy and His love puts us right with Him and makes us worshippers. Jacob is the only one in Hebrews 11 who is spoken of as a worshipper, and in him the principle of sovereignty came out in the fullest degree — “I have loved Jacob, and I have hated Esau”, Romans 9:13. This is connected with the depths of God in eternity: He was entitled to satisfy His own love.
Ques What are the riches of His glory?
CAC The riches of His glory are connected with the saints being strengthened with the Father’s Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ might dwell in our hearts through faith, “In order that ye may be fully able to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height”. The riches of His glory are something for us to understand now; they are the measure of our present endowment. The Spirit is not often spoken of as the Spirit of the Father; I think this is the only place. What riches of glory it is to have the Father’s Spirit! It enables us, as strengthened by the Father’s Spirit, to be rooted and founded in love: we get the blessed sense of love. Love is the spring of everything, and then we can apprehend with all saints the breadth, length, depth and height.
[p. 48] Ques How does the next word or two come in, “To know the love of the Christ”?
CAC I think that is to give us a sense of the height. Only one divine Person can make known Another. The love of Christ is the love of the Head, and Christ is Head of every family. In this great system which has breadth and length and depth and height without measure, Christ is Head of every family, and His love is going to be the mainspring of response to the blessed God in every family eternally. That is what the love of Christ is, it is a provision for an adequate response to the love of God.
In chapter 2 we see how God’s quickening power wrought, where there was nothing but depth, in order to bring us to the heavenlies in holy sonship; that is the length. The divine working in the souls of His saints is a long process. The quickening of chapter 2 has been going on for nearly two thousand years and it will result in a quickened company of holy sons who will be a dwelling place for God in eternity. Then there is the height. Nothing is so high as the love of the Father for the Son; none of us will ever know what that is. We cannot understand the love of the Father for the Son in Deity — that is beyond the creature — but we can know the love of the Father to the Son in manhood for He prayed that “the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them”, John 17: 26. That is the height, and He prayed that it might be in us. Then there is another side, response. There is nothing so high as the responsive love of Christ to the Father, the responsive love of the Head to bring every family to respond to the Father; that is height.
‘Suited to Thine own thoughts above, As sons like Him, with Him to be’. That is eternal and immeasurable.
Ques Is it love to the Father?
CAC I think it is the love of the Head; He is the [p. 49] wonderful Head of this immeasurable system characterised by breadth, length, depth and height, created in the purpose of God and brought to pass in the power of the Spirit. Every part of this system is under the influence of a glorious Head who is characterised by surpassing love. “To know the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge”; that is immeasurable. Paul wants us to know it, so that we might answer to the keynote struck by the Head. The love of Christ is the spring that will make every part of the universe of bliss vibrate in response to the Father’s love throughout the eternal day. It will fill every heart to overflowing. There you are lost; the apostle does not attempt to describe it. He prays that we may “apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height”, but he says nothing of measurement. The blessedness of God in His nature brought into the universe in purpose is infinite. It is amazing that we should form part of that wonderful city which comes down in the eternal state — no measurements there, but a vessel capable of being filled to all the fulness of God, that God may dwell in His company of holy sons. He will have a people on earth who know Him, but He will dwell in a tabernacle comprised of holy sons. Heaven is learning today, “principalities and authorities in the heavenlies” are learning, through the assembly “the all-various wisdom of God”; that is the breadth, and He will display in the assembly “in the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace”, Ephesians 2: 7. He is teaching angels today, and He will show it to men in the new earth in eternity. Angels are called sons of God, and so they are interested in what God is doing; there could not be holy sons uninterested in what God is doing. The angels form an outer circle, but they are intensely interested in those who form the inner circle. See how they came forth and could not hold their peace [p. 50] when that blessed One came into this world, God with us, a pledge of all the promises: “A multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good pleasure in men”, Luke 2: 13, 14. They rejoiced in what God was doing in getting another company of holy sons from among men.
The effect of rightly apprehending all this would be that we should be beside ourselves to God. How do we get into it? If we had the apostle Paul here — in a sense we are listening to him — he could not help us further. He could only set these things before us to move our spirits, to fire our hearts with holy devotion but he could not give it to us; we must bow our knees to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that it may be reached in our souls. It is essential that we should bow our knees to the Father to have granted to us this wonderful strengthening by the Spirit, so that we should have the consciousness, and not merely be able to sing, that ‘Eternity’s begun’. We can touch what is eternal as holy sons.
In the presence of every kind of evil, sickness and death, the greatness of Christ came out. He cleansed the leper; a person died, He could bring him to life; He gave sight to the blind. And His moral perfections — what a wonderful contrast to every other man! He grew up before Jehovah as a tender plant: He is spoken of in many passages as a sprout, which suggests a shoot of an entirely different character from anything else seen. He grew up in all the perfection and beauty of holy Manhood, delightful to God in the midst of evil. There was that about the Lord to which nothing in the natural man answered, as we read in Isaiah 53, they saw “no form nor lordliness” in Him; that is the right word. Think of the lordliness of Christ! The Supper is the lordly Supper! What distinctiveness and surpassing excellence, what dignity and lordliness were seen in Christ in the midst of [p. 51] all that was evil here! He was the root out of the dry ground. But when we get to the eternal thoughts we see the delight of the Father in His Beloved in circumstances and conditions that are congenial to the Father’s love. Here He was for a moment, a visitation of divine perfection passing through this dark world! John looked on Jesus “as he walked”. He was moving from the sacrificial position which sin had made a necessity to His abiding place; and John writes so that we might move from what is temporal to what is abiding and eternal. In following Christ we pass from what is connected with sin and death to His abiding position. The two disciples said, “Where abidest thou?” And they came and “abode with him that day”, John 1: 38, 39. It was the abiding place of the Son in Manhood, and He is saying today, “Come and see”. May the Lord help us to meditate on these things, first of all to see the blessedness of the city that can be measured, and then the blessedness of that which cannot be measured but which abides eternally, the dwelling place of God in the company of holy sons.
When God has glorified Himself in relation to all that has come in, then He will rest in His love according to His eternal purpose.
Rem There is a peculiar freshness about all this — the city coming down as a bride in the eternal state suggests freshness.
CAC Yes, it suggests the thought that the peculiar fervency of bridal affections will never be dimmed throughout eternity. The city in the eternal state will have all the freshness of bridal attire and affection which will never wane; that is what she will be in relation to Christ. The assembly will stand eternally in relation to Christ and will never lose the bloom of bridal affection. In ordinary cases you do not speak of a bride after a person has been married a few years, but in the divine [p. 52] thought the bride continues for eternity in the freshness and bloom of first affection. Christ will be the true Adam and in the bride adorned for her husband we see the true Eve. God’s primary thoughts are eternal.