THE LOVE OF CHRIST
I desire to speak of the love of Christ. The Scriptures that we have read serve to show that we have to take account of the love of Christ in different aspects.
In Romans 8, the apostle says at verse 31: “What then shall we say to these things?”. He sums up this part of the epistle that shows the ways by which God has addressed our needs, in His grace, full of righteousness, and has effectuated His purpose. In verse 29, he leads us to the thought of foreknowledge, and assuming that we are established in grace, the apostle sets out the conclusions to which we come: that is to say that the love of God is behind everything that He has effectuated and the result of it is maintained by the love of Christ.
So the apostle Paul says, “Who shall bring an accusation against God’s elect?”, which shows that everything concerning the accused has been considered and has been faced by the power of the love of Christ. So that he says, “It is Christ who has died”; not a single question can be raised. “It is Christ who has died, but rather has been also raised up; who is also at the right hand of God; who also intercedes for us”. There are these different ‘alsos’ as if the apostle passes from one thing to another to show the triumph of the love of Christ. There is nothing that the love of Christ cannot overcome. He ends with the thought of the intercession of Christ, and this is a great thing for us to consider; it is the way in which His love finds expression. The present occupation of the love of Christ is His intercession which never ceases. We are in a position of favour in the Beloved; there is a power that attaches to Christ personally and this power is used by Christ for the saints in the presence of God. The intercession of Christ takes account of each of His own, of their circumstances, and He undertakes the matter in a very feeling way before God. It is said in Exodus 28, where we have a figure of Christ in His position on high, that the priest bore the names of the children of Israel on his shoulders and also on his breast. The chapter enters into much detail to impress us with the moral and personal glories of Christ so that we should feel that God is served by One who is in every way for God’s pleasure. So it is said in Hebrews 7 that such a High Priest became us. It is one of the first impressions that we need to have of the love of Christ. He has died; and He is raised. He is also at the right hand of God and there He intercedes for us; that never ceases either by night or day, and in this intercession not one of the saints is forgotten. So we can thus have an impression of the greatness and the power of the love of Christ who understands all the saints across the world and all their circumstances.
Before going on high, the Lord said to Peter, “Satan has demanded to have you, to sift you as wheat; but I have besought for thee that thy faith fail not”. Think of the power of Christ’s prayer before God! I, the Lord, have prayed for thee! Thus Peter had the feeling in his soul that he himself was especially in the love of Christ.
The Lord is occupied with the Father, and so it says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? tribulation or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” The apostle enumerates everything, things which according to the following verses might be thought to be coming upon the saints because they belong to Christ; but while all this may happen to us, the fact remains that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. In passing through circumstances, we find ever increasingly that the love of Christ is true and faithful. The apostle says: “But in all these things we more than conquer through him that has loved us”. So it is that John, in the first chapter of Revelation, speaks in a slightly similar way when he introduces the Lord, saying, “from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and has washed us from our sins in his blood”, and immediately he adds, “and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father: to him be the glory and the might to the ages of ages. Amen”. He refers to the love of Christ as a personal thing, and he says that He has made us a kingdom, that is to say that He extends His protection over us so that we should be available to God: “a kingdom, priests to his God and Father”. It is a great encouragement, especially in the last days which are in view in Revelation. We live in days when the enemy does everything that he can to hinder the saints from serving God. We see love ever present in Christ and the power of His kingdom. He has made us a kingdom, so that whatever might be contrary to the truth, the love and power of Christ are established to maintain the service of God among the saints. One could well enlarge on all this. Numbers 10 gives us an illustration. When the people are set in movement for the first time, viewed as God’s testimony, the ark went before them three days’ journey to seek out a resting place. The ark was moving of itself and facing the enemies, so that Moses could say, “Rise up, Jehovah, and let thine enemies be scattered; And let them that hate thee flee before thy face”. This is a matter of great encouragement for us, and particularly for the young, so that they should be seen fully in the testimony; the Lord is faithful to recognise everything that may be opposed to them.
Now, in 2 Corinthians 5, we have the love of Christ in another aspect, as something that helped the apostle to an important conclusion, “the love of the Christ constrains us, having judged this”. That is to say that he was arrested by the love of Christ as being expressed in His death, and in coming to a definite judgment under its influence. He says, “the love of the Christ constrains us, having judged this: that one died for all, then all have died”. That is to say, by the fact that One died for all, it is established that all abode under a condition of moral death.
Then what is in view in the fact that Christ died for all is that those who live should come to light, but the question is this: in what are they to find their life! So Paul says, “and he died for all, that they who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who died for them and has been raised”. So as considering the love of Christ, our interests and affections are transferred to One who is raised, so that we are completely separated from the course of things down here, so as to be linked with the interests of Christ raised from among the dead.
In Colossians, we read that He is the beginning, firstborn from among the dead. The things that interest the Lord are not found on this side of death; the saints are down here, but the things in which they go on are those above and this is what is to be effectuated down here. Our affections are transferred to another order of things relating to those who realise death and their bond with One who is raised from among the dead. And so in the last chapter of Matthew, when the angel speaks to the women at the sepulchre, he says to them, “He is not here, for he is risen”, as if he emphasises that the Lord had left things down here and that He was in another world; the angel says, “He is not here”. It is a gospel that particularly emphasises the truth of the assembly. The women had to understand in their hearts that He was not here, but that He was raised. If the church had kept this in mind, and been maintained in fidelity of affection for Christ, it would not have sought to obtain a public place down here. Hence the importance for us of considering the love of Christ. With the apostle, it had the effect of constraining him, so that he came to a just judgment of it and was not turned away from it; he concluded that he would live for One who had died and had been raised.
Now, in the epistle of John, we have the love of Christ set before us as being a model of the love which should be expressed in the circle of the brethren. The apostle says, “Hereby we have known love, because he has laid down his life for us”. It is not said in a specific way that it is the love of Christ, but rather it is love itself as being the divine nature, and this love has found expression in the personal love of Christ, because it is He who has laid down His life for us. That must be an example of love which should be found among the saints. So that the apostle speaks of the obligations incumbent upon us: “Hereby we have known love, because he has laid down his life for us; and we ought for the brethren to lay down our lives”. It is love which is shown in the sacrifice of Himself and it is said that we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. The circle of the brethren is the circle in which love should find expression. Love is of God.
We must have our eyes open to take account of the circumstances of the brethren, so that if someone has need, this is not lost sight of. In chapter 4 it is considered that we have our eyes open as to the welfare of the brethren; so that if we see a brother committing a sin not unto death, we have to pray for this brother, and God will give him life. We are indeed to be set to care for one another. The first two brothers were Cain and Abel. Cain said, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” and this question finds its answer in the circle of the brethren. It is very interesting to notice in Genesis 4 how many times in a few verses Abel is spoken of as Cain’s brother, as if God would emphasise this relationship of brethren. The circle of the brethren is a circle of very great interest to God, because in this circle there is an expression of His own nature, and we are set together so that love might develop. Love is of God, but it can be stronger or weaker among us, and we have to express love in the presence of weakness.
Finally, in the verses in Ephesians, we have the love of Christ in perhaps its most excellent character. The apostle says, “I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom every family in the heavens and on earth is named”. That is to say that the apostle has before him a very extended perspective on divine purpose, including every earthly and heavenly family, and he desires that we should be strengthened by the Father’s Spirit in the inner man: “to be strengthened with power by his Spirit in the inner man; that the Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts”. The Father’s Spirit is indeed to put in our hearts the Father’s thoughts as to Christ, and the Father’s thoughts as to the whole system of glory, for the Father is the source of it. Hence the importance of our drawing near to the Father and bowing our knees before Him, so that He should strengthen us with might by His Spirit in the inner man, so that the Christ (that is to say, Christ seen in relation to this great system of glory) might dwell through faith in our hearts. Christ must have a place in the heart of the assembly. It was to Adam that God brought the woman, to Adam as being set in the position of Head of the whole system that God had brought in. He had created the earth and established a world composed of different sorts of life, heavenly and earthly, and He set Adam at the head of all that; then in this position, He gave the woman to be with him. Such is the assembly’s position and the Lord has such an appreciation of it that it is said that He “loved the assembly, and gave himself for it”. He desires to have it for Himself and to have it with him in the administration of this vast system of which the Father is the source.
The more we are conscious of the love of Christ for the assembly and of our distinct place as being loved by Him, as a husband loves his wife, the more we will be found in liberty in this system of which God is the centre.
And so the apostle refers to the necessity of apprehending the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of the Christ, because the more we understand that, the nearer God will be to us, for it is He who has purposed this domain. His desire is that we should be enlarged in the appreciation of God, so that there should be a richer note of adoration in the assembly, and that we should apprehend the length and breadth and depth and height of His love.
It is important that we should know the love of Christ for it is love that sustains us in relation to Himself, as one with Him, in the very centre of what God has purposed for His pleasure. It is for these things that Paul prays, so that we might know the love of Christ for the assembly. This relationship holds us in our position of intimacy with Christ and the more we are conscious of our distinct position with Christ, the more simply and easily we will take part in divine service. Once assured of our position with Christ, it is easy to understand the meaning of the words, “My Father, and your Father ... my God and your God”.
May the Lord help us in a growing appreciation of the love of Christ. The Lord orders the circumstances and tests of the present time to gain a full place in our hearts, and so that we should know the love of Christ in His most exalted position. It is important to do as Paul did, to bow our knees before the Father, for it is the Father who gives us such a place in the affections of Christ.
May the Lord bless His word.
BRONAC
9th November 1949
Translated from the French magazine, ‘Ondées’, August 1951
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THE DEFENCE AND CONFIRMATION OF THE GLAD TIDINGS
A.J.G. It is remarkable to see the place which the glad tidings occupy in this epistle. In the first chapter, in particular, there are six allusions to the glad tidings. The apostle gives thanks to God for the Philippians’ fellowship with the glad tidings from the first day until now. At the end of the chapter, he exhorts them to conduct themselves in a way worthy of the glad tidings, and particularly that they should be marked by unity, labouring together with one soul in the faith of the glad tidings. So that it is very clear that the glad tidings, being the public testimony of God in the world, is considered as being a special link between us, and we have to be entirely engaged with it and exercised to conduct ourselves in a manner that would be worthy of it.
Paul presents himself as someone in whom could be seen in fact the reality of salvation, that is to say, that not a single circumstance could overcome him. The superiority of the glad tidings was demonstrated in him. That had been seen in him when the glad tidings had been brought to Philippi for the first time. Paul had a vision, a Macedonian man said to him: Pass over into Macedonia and help us, and Paul and those who were with him had concluded that the Lord’s desire was that they should go there to preach the glad tidings. That was the first introduction of the glad tidings into Europe. Philippi was a Roman colony, a place where one was a Roman citizen, and the Philippians were proud of that as is seen in Acts 16: having led Paul and Silas before the magistrates, they say: “These men utterly trouble our city, being Jews, and announce customs which it is not lawful for us to receive nor practise, being Romans”. They had a system in which the glory of man had a particular place, but the glad tidings introduced true glory in manhood according to God, the glory of Christ. Paul spoke of the day when Christ will fill all things, and meantime, his exercise was that Christ should be magnified in his body, whether by life or by death. That is the full result of the glad tidings. All that marks us naturally is set aside and all that is of Christ is put in its place; this is why the apostle makes so much of conduct, and of walk, as being what must be a demonstration of the power of the gospel.
Ques. Is the power of the glad tidings underlined in that Paul has written this epistle in captivity in Rome?
A.J.G. That is what is in my mind. Paul was approaching the end of his course, the circumstances which were ordered for him by the Lord manifesting the reality of what was established in his soul. He was unjustly in prison and there were those who preached Christ in a party spirit, believing it would stir up tribulation for his bonds; that was a test, but he manifested that he was not overcome.
Rem. In the first chapter of Galatians, it is said, “If any one announce to you as glad tidings anything besides what ye have received, let him be accursed”. Is this the glad tidings of the glory, or of salvation, or of the assembly?
A.J.G. It is the glad tidings entrusted to Paul, which showed that, in approaching men in grace, God desires that they should be in Christ Jesus by the gift of the Spirit, and this implies a moral formation according to Christ; so that, having had the features of the first man, they take on now the features of the heavenly Man, and the full gospel of salvation extends to the point of having a body of glory like to Christ’s body.
Rem. In this chapter, it seems that the glad tidings are seen as an interest among the saints.
A.J.G. Yes, they are indeed. Here the apostle is not so much occupied with the effective preaching of the glad tidings, although that is evidently good in its place, but with the necessity of having a conduct which should be worthy, and that we should stand firm in one and the same spirit and the same soul. We have always to have the same mind, proving in our soul the power of the glad tidings which makes us superior to all that is natural, and saving us from the influences of what is around us.
Rem. In writing to Timothy, Paul says: “The glad tidings of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted”.
A.J.G. The apostle makes allusion to certain ones who preached Christ in a spirit of contention, and also to certain ones who walked without manifesting the true heavenly character of the glad tidings; while the glad tidings entrusted to Paul has in view to deliver us completely from the present evil world and to secure us for the pleasure of God.
Rem. Paul’s recommendation to Timothy is “take heed to thyself, and to the teaching”.
A.J.G. Evidently; when Paul came into Philippi, the Lord brought Lydia to light as a person who was attending to the things Paul said—so that she embraced the heavenly character of the glad tidings that Paul preached; then the full extent of salvation is demonstrated by the way in which Paul and Silas conducted themselves in the prison.
Rem. In chapter 4 of the Philippians, it is said, “assist those who have contended along with me in the glad tidings”.
A.J.G. That shows how the glad tidings were in Paul’s heart.
All around us, there are the efforts of the religious world to use the glad tidings to improve the first man, while the glad tidings entrusted to Paul has in view the introduction of an entirely new order of things by the Spirit with those who receive these glad tidings.
Rem. Hence the importance of taking account of the glad tidings in the preaching.
A.J.G. It is good to consider that the first time that the glad tidings were preached after Christ was taken up into heaven, that is to say on the day of Pentecost, Peter presents the gift of the Holy Spirit as being the great blessing that God had for man in the glad tidings. He answers those who asked what they should do: “Repent, and be baptised, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for remission of sins, and ye will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”. This shows that the gift of the Spirit is the great blessing that God has for man in the glad tidings.
Ques. Would you say that in the first chapter of Philippians, it is summed up by Paul’s exhortation to Timothy: “Do the work of an evangelist”?
A.J.G. I do not know if it is the work of an evangelist as such which is in view in this chapter. That is very important in its place, but Paul addresses all the saints in Philippi who are in Christ Jesus. He is concerned that all the saints should receive the glad tidings in their hearts, and that they should conduct themselves in a worthy manner, not allowing that there should be a single element of disunity among them, but that they should be concerned to express the full measure of salvation that God has in view for us.
Ques. Have we the character of the dignity when we read in chapter 3: “we worship by the Spirit of God”?
A.J.G. Yes. That establishes a contrast with all that is formalised around us, and it is a public testimony to the good news in the life of the saints, which is a most important thing; that is why, when Paul and Silas came into Europe to bring the glad tidings there, the enemy made great efforts to try and overcome them. They were beaten, put in prison, their feet secured in irons, but by the power of the Spirit and the support of the Lord, they were completely victorious, and the power of salvation was demonstrated by these men.
Rem. It is remarkable that the first person who received the glad tidings in Philippi was a woman and it was also women who had contended with Paul in the glad tidings.
A.J.G. It is very interesting, because that supports what we have in view to know, the subject of the formation of saints in support of the glad tidings. Having all that in our minds, the apostle says in verse 9: “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in full knowledge and all intelligence, that ye may judge of and approve the things that are more excellent”.
We have in chapter 1 in Paul himself, and in chapter 2 in a manner supremely in Christ, what is excellent; and particularly the moral excellence of obedience. I have no doubt that it is because Paul appreciated the moral excellence of obedience in Christ that he accepted the circumstances that the Lord had ordered for him, manifesting thus in himself the moral excellence of a man who accepted the will of God, whatever it was, without murmuring. In consequence, Satan’s influence in opposition to the will of God was completely overcome.
Ques. The apostle speaks of the glad tidings, then of the word of God; is that a different thought?
A.J.G. The expression “the glad tidings” accentuates the fact that they are good news, while the “word of God” accentuates the fact that it is the authority of God’s word in contrast with the word of men. It manifests God and this is brought out because the word “word” implies the mind of the One who speaks. The Lord Himself is “the Word”, and He is going to come in a coming day as being “the Word of God” to judge evil, Rev 19: 13.
In verse 11, the apostle is concerned with what is complete, he has in view the day of Christ, a day in which nothing else will be in view except what is of Christ, where the will of man and his pride will be set aside, but the moral glory of the Man who has sought the glory of God will be displayed; because Christ must fill all things and He will fill all by means of the saints. He will be glorified in the saints and wondered at in all that have believed; hence the great importance of being formed after Christ. The circumstances of the present moment should develop this formation and the apostle is concerned with what is complete.
Rem. The word of God presents us with what is complete. I thought of what you said just now as to what is excellent. It is said in Hebrews: “taking a place by so much better than the angels, as he inherits a name more excellent than they”. The word of God leads us to what is more excellent.
A.J.G. Quite so. It is what is in view in the allusion made to excellence here, it is supreme moral excellence. The “name more excellent” in Hebrews is a very understandable thought which embraces all the glories to which the quotations in that chapter make reference. That is to say, His glory, as the Son, “thou art my Son”; the glory of the answer in this relation: “I will be to him for Father and he shall be to me for Son”, and also the glory of having loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; the glory in which the angels render homage to Him; the glory of having created all things. And if everything passes away, He remains the same and His Name will not pass away. So that the expression, “more excellent”, embraces all His glory. When the apostle speaks here of discerning the things that are “more excellent”, he makes allusion to the moral features of Christ, because in the second chapter he emphasises the moral excellence of Christ in His obedience. The fact that God has given Him a Name above every other name shows that God has marked Him out as being supremely excellent.
Ques. Is verse 11 made part of the excellent things: “being complete as regards the fruit of righteousness”?
A.J.G. Yes, that is included. The idea of righteousness would be to be here for the will of God whatever it may be that God desires for us. What God desires is to govern us, and it is necessary to be found in Christ, entirely formed after Christ. So it is that the apostle accepted his circumstances in prison, he relied on the prayers of the brethren and on the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
Ques. What are the two thoughts: “the defence and confirmation of the glad tidings”?
A.J.G. If the glad tidings are defended, there will also be confirmation. Satan seeks to bring in elements of disunity among the saints, but if this is refused in the Spirit of Christ, we are then defending the glad tidings, and this helps in their confirmation. Satan constantly opposes. In recent times, there has been much pressure in Scotland, in New Zealand, in Australia, on the part of unions against the saints to join them and make their life impossible if they do not. All this is simply an attack of the enemy against the glad tidings, because this involves the saints in associations that are not holy and to which the Name of Christ cannot be attached. This leads to a measure of suffering in the maintenance of the truth; so that it is said at the end of the chapter (v 29): “because to you has been given, as regards Christ, not only the believing on him but the suffering for him also, having the same conflict which ye have seen in me, and now hear of in me”. If, although in a different way, the enemy constantly attacks the glad tidings, so as to try and bring in among the saints a character different from God’s mind, this calls us to defend the glad tidings and to be of the same mind as to it.
Ques. What is the significance of the expression: “Christ shall be magnified in my body whether by life or by death”?
A.J.G. The apostle was concerned that Christ should be magnified in his life. If he had been overcome in mind and complaining, Christ would not have been magnified; if he had not accepted the circumstances as being the will of God for him, and if he had not shown obedience in Christ, Christ would not have been magnified, but he found salvation in the principle of obedience. Whatever our circumstances may be, we must accept them and, moving in this way, Christ will be magnified in our bodies. If the will of God for Paul was that he should pass through death, he desired to pass through death so that Christ should be magnified by his death. Thus, whatever the will of God was for him, life or death, he desired that Christ should be magnified in his body.
Ques. Is the following verse, “for me to live is Christ”, the foundation of the fact that Christ was glorified in his life?
A.J.G. I think that it is encouraging to see everything manifested in Paul; it is indeed possible that we should not be able to say the same: “For me to live is Christ, and to die gain”, although there is no reason why we should not be led to that. In any case, this has been true of a man, Paul, who has been taken up by God to manifest in himself the full results of the glad tidings. So that before king Agrippa, speaking by the power of the Holy Spirit, he says, “I would to God, both in little and in much, that not only thou, but all who have heard me this day, should become such as I also am, except these bonds”. He could present himself as a man in whom the full results of the glad tidings were manifested. These are God’s desires for men.
Rem. The apostle says in Romans, “I am not ashamed of the glad tidings”.
A.J.G. Yes exactly.
Ques. Should we consider normal the little, or lack of, sufferings that we have in present service?
A.J.G. It is possible that we will have more of it. In any case, there is always suffering if the truth is maintained; sometimes the character of the suffering has been the fact of separating from one’s own family on account of the truth. But other forms of suffering could develop, and that is what we have alluded to as to Australia, Scotland and other countries. This really implies suffering for those who are affected, and it is important that we should be of the same mind, sympathetic in this matter.
Rem. I thought of the contrast between Paul’s word and that of Hezekiah, who said: “by these things men live”, while Paul says: “for me … to die gain”.
A.J.G. Hezekiah makes allusion to the ways of God in discipline and God has certainly in view that we should live by this means, but that we should live for Him in our spirits, because His is the Father of spirits.
Rem. I suppose that one can suffer even among one’s own brethren, like Joseph.
A.J.G. That was how Paul suffered, there were those who preached Christ in a party spirit to add to the tribulation of his bonds; but he would not allow his spirit to be overcome and he rejoiced that Christ was preached.
Ques. Do we have a subject of suffering in verse 27: “Only conduct yourselves worthily of the glad tidings of the Christ, in order that whether coming and seeing you, or absent, I may hear of what concerns you, that ye stand firm in one spirit, with one soul, labouring together in the same conflict with the faith of the glad tidings”? If this is not realised, it is a great matter of suffering.
A.J.G. Quite so; the element of suffering must be entered into in our souls in the fact even of self-judgment. It is said in Peter, “Christ, then, having suffered for us in the flesh, do ye also arm yourselves with the same mind; for he that has suffered in the flesh has done with sin, no longer to live the rest of his time in the flesh”. So that the acceptance of the truth changes us and we suffer; we suffer the displacement of ourselves and Christ becomes greater. He is manifested and that is worth the pain.
Ques. Would you say that Isaiah was an evangelist?
A.J.G. Yes.
Ques. I ask myself what sort of suffering he had felt when the glowing coal touched his lips?
A.J.G. In engaging in God’s testimony, he had to suffer. It speaks of the prophets in the epistle of James as those who are examples of suffering. The more we engage in the truth, the more this implies suffering of one sort or another. The apostle presents it to us here as a special privilege from God if we suffer in some way for the truth: “because to you has been given, as regards Christ, not only the believing on him but the suffering for him also”.
Rem. The full subjective result is that we move in the light of a new world, not living any more for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
A.J.G. Indeed so, and the truth is manifested not only in teaching, but Paul is presented to us as being a person in which the results are seen, and Paul was in the heart of the Philippians. It is said in verse 7: “it is righteous for me to think this as to you all, because ye have me in your hearts”, and in chapter 3: 17: “Be imitators all together of me, brethren, and fix your eyes on those walking thus as you have us for a model”. It is a good thing to have Paul before us.
Rem. And to have regard to those who are according to this model. It is a privilege.
Ques. Are these the people referred to in the epistle to the Hebrews as our leaders?
A.J.G. Yes.
Rem. “Take thy share in sufferings” is an exhortation that we should have before us.
A.J.G. Yes. “Take thy share in sufferings”.
Ques. Do we see another aspect of suffering in the fact that he renounced the desire to depart in order to abide in the flesh?
A.J.G. That shows how he was formed according to Christ in his love for the saints. It seems that it was as if the Lord had given Paul the choice; but the position was such that Paul’s love is expressed so that he desires to remain for some time for the sake of the saints.
Ques. It is striking to see that Paul says, “remaining in the flesh”, not in the body, why is that? Previously he had spoken of his body and then “remaining in the flesh”.
A.J.G. I think that this expression, the body, suggests the vessel in which Christ could be magnified, but the flesh is the fragile condition, and he was happy to remain in this condition for the sake of the saints.
Rem. This expression was even more remarkable because he was in prison.
A.J.G. Yes, but he adds that he had some confidence that he might be granted to them for a little time. He had the hope of seeing them again: “your boasting may abound in Christ Jesus through me by my presence again with you”.
Rem. I think he had realised the way of more surpassing excellence of which he speaks to the Corinthians!
A.J.G. Quite so. That does not work in an automatic way, so that even a person as great as Paul commits himself to the prayers of the saints, saying: “I know that this shall turn out for me to salvation, through your supplication and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ”. So that in supporting the gospel, when we learn that some are suffering for the truth, we identify ourselves with such a person in our spirit and we devote ourselves to supplication, which is a more intense form of request than ordinary prayer.
Ques. Is it this form of sympathy that we find at the end of verse 8: “I long after you all in the bowels of Christ Jesus”?
A.J.G. Quite so. What is so striking, and could remain as a final impression, is the apostle’s preoccupation, that the saints hold firm in one soul and one spirit, labouring together with the same soul with the faith of the glad tidings, that is to say that we should retain in our minds that in every way Christ must be magnified in our bodies.
Ques. What is implied by the expression, “the faith of the glad tidings” at the end of verse 27?
A.J.G. It is a matter of the Christian faith, the present time is a dispensation of faith, the saints are governed by what is invisible, and the results are visible. The glad tidings are present as being the great testimony of God in the world, and it is the testimony that rests on faith. We have in the books of the Acts in chapter 12 that “the word of God grew and spread itself”, as if the testimony itself possessed a certain power, and the saints themselves possessed a certain power, and the saints have moved in accord with it and sustain it.
Rem. It is for us to be exercised to have our part in the testimony.
A.J.G. Especially to maintain its heavenly character. I believe that what will help us is to take account of the present position of Christ; He has gone up above all the heavens so as to fill all things; so that in the day of Christ there will be no place for whatever it may be if it is not Christ. This helps us to have a moral judgment from now on and to refuse all that is not of Christ.
The day of Christ is spoken of in this epistle as Jesus Christ’s day. It is evidently the same thought, but particularly emphasising the fact that One who has been down here in humiliation, in reproach, in suffering, will be justified in that day. The features seen in Him down here will then be fully manifested.
Rem. We can say that Christ has been magnified in the life of Paul and in the death of Stephen.
A.J.G. Yes exactly, and I believe that Christ is magnified in the death of many saints, because they are marked by peace, tranquillity, and submission to the will of God, having the joy of Christ in their hearts; so the reality of Christianity and of the glad tidings is testified in the death of saints.
ST ETIENNE
11th November 1949
Translated from the French magazine, ‘Ondées’, January 1951
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