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ADMINISTRATION (9)

JT The subject of administration has been pursued in the Old Testament for several months and it is thought that we should consider it now in the New Testament. It is thought that Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians should be considered. It may be thought that the level of Ephesians is somewhat high for the first reading in the New Testament, but the principle governing it requires that we should begin at the top, for administration refers to what is at the top. It is therefore a question of Christ in heaven, being “head over all things to the assembly, which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all”, chapter 1:22,23. Earlier in the chapter we have the exact word which has entered into all these meetings: “... having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself for the administration of the fulness of times, to head up all, things in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the I things upon the earth”, verses 9, 10. The word is also used twice in chapter 3. The subject, therefore, has a prominent place in this epistle. It should be noted that Paul, to whom was committed the great subject of the mystery of the gospel, as well as other leading subjects of the truth, resided and ministered three years in Ephesus and unfolded the truth in its fulness. He said he had not “shrunk from announcing to them all the counsel of God”, (Acts 20:27). He spent three years at Ephesus and eighteen months at Corinth, which is the fundamental side of the position, but added to these he spent a good many years in prison. He was about two years in prison in Caesarea and probably more in Rome. It is thought that these years of imprisonment were ordered of the Lord to give the apostle an opportunity to be in quietness and in freedom from his ordinary active ^[p. 428] labours which entailed great sufferings as he tells us, especially in 2 Corinthians 11. So that he would thus have opportunity to ponder the truth in all its bearings, which doubtless he did. In fact, his greatest epistles were written from prison. There can be no doubt that the Lord intended that this great epistle to the Ephesians should be in writing in the inspired page, as well as the epistles to the Philippians and the Colossians, and others. This would show that he had great opportunity with the Lord to ponder the truth, and the great subject of administration necessarily came before him in those years.

It is morally right that we should bear all these things in mind in considering the subject of administration. We read of the Lord having gone beyond all the heavens, but in the subject before us He is at the right hand of God, as we are told in verse 20: “... and he set him down at his right hand in the heavenlies, above every principality, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name named”. He is actually administering now in the whole realm of the testimony. So that we have the Lord before us functioning as the great Administrator of the whole realm of the truth. It was thought, therefore, that we should direct our view to this epistle as well as to the verses we have read from Acts 19, which give the historical facts of the apostle’s ministry in Ephesus. Chapter 20 is engaged with other features, but particularly calls attention to the apostle’s work and how he summoned the elders of Ephesus to him to review the whole matter of his service amongst them and to exhort them to shepherd the assembly of God. We now get the benefit of all that. Administration extended all through the past centuries and will go on through Christianity, but it will also extend through the millennium and beyond it, for the assembly will be engaged in the service of administration throughout the eternal day. The assembly is made to grow into a holy temple ^[p. 429] in the Lord; meaning that it is where things are told out and explained.

AR Would the reference in chapter 3 of this epistle to the administration of the grace of God and the administration of the mystery help in what is before us?

JT Yes. It is a parenthetical chapter and it is devoted to Paul’s knowledge of the mystery, which he wishes the Ephesians to know. We too should know it, but there was one man whom God especially raised up to know the mystery. But we want to get the truth of administration as in the hands of the Lord at this time. The Lord is functioning in that very way tonight; but He is functioning in heaven and the Holy Spirit is carrying it out here. We want to get the full thought of administration from the spiritual side which Ephesians affords.

AMacN Does Joseph, who is a type of Christ exalted among the gentiles, serve to illustrate the present administration of the Lord Jesus in the assembly?

JT Quite so; only that the subject before us is not simply Christ among the gentiles. Ephesians contemplates Jew and gentile in the assembly so that it is the widest thought we can get and embraces all that compose the assembly.

FHL Would the counsels of God involve administration?

JT It is a question of His counsels, so that we have, in the book before us, the counsel of His will, the mystery of His will, and the good pleasure of His will. The will of God is going through in every respect, which involves His counsels. And so Paul told the elders of Ephesus that he had not shunned to declare unto them the whole counsel of God. We get the widest thoughts in this epistle.

CN So that it says in chapter 4:9, “But that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same ^[p. 430] who has also ascended up above all the heavens, that he might fill all things; and he has given some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints; with a view to the work of the ministry”. Would that involve the Lord’s administration?

JT Quite so. It is therefore open to us to help each other according to the measure of ability that there may be among us. It is a question of the gifts that have been given, as it says: “Having ascended up on high, he has led captivity captive, and has given gifts to men”. This is the Lord’s position, and He is functioning in it now, and it is for us, as having any knowledge of the truth of Christ’s administration, to unfold it to one another, and the Spirit of God is here to help us.

ANW Would the “administration of the fulness of times” denote finality in regard to administration? The passage goes on to speak of heading up all things in Christ.

JT Just so; we are in the times of the gentiles now, but the fulness includes all times. All that has come out in all dispensations will be seen fully in the millennium, so that it is a very full and comprehensive thought. The Lord would help us to apprehend it.

RWS Would the Lord’s present administration bear on the assembly, or is it wider than the assembly?

JT Well, His administration is wider because it involves the heading up of all things. The idea of heading up is to be noted. It is not simply that He is now administering through the assembly, which He is, but He administered even before the assembly was formed. He arose, and went up to heaven, and was in heaven for ten days before the Spirit came; but as the Spirit came. He began to unfold through the gifts. There were twelve men — the apostles. They are all said to be present, and Peter stood up and spoke. As he finished speaking, the Spirit of God began to work in ^[p. 431] souls, so that they spoke to Peter and the other apostles. That is, all the gifts were there, and they were recognised. And in any little measure in which that is seen now, the Spirit of God is present to unfold things to us. And so it was that those who were convicted said to Peter and the others, “What shall we do?” Well, that is the way the matter worked out but we need not proceed further on that line, because we are now concerned as to the unfolding of the mystery of the whole counsel of God. And according to the measure in which the Spirit has His way in any of us He will help us into that.

AMacD I think what you say about the fulness of the times is important. The passage in Galatians 4:4, which says, “But when the fulness of the time was come ...” would mean the present moment in which we live — Christ’s day of administration.

JT That passage refers to the fulness of time that led up to the incoming of the Lord Jesus. “God sent forth his Son, come of woman, come under law”. But we are dealing with Ephesians, not Galatians, and I believe if we keep to that we shall get something as to the great general thought entering into administration, for it governs the whole position of the truth. It is not simply the universe in a physical sense, but in a moral sense — the whole of mankind is in mind. The Lord is unfolding the truth in that sense.

JTJr The centre of operations is heaven — that is the top, so to speak. We should get a view of everything from that position.

JT It is the grand view that is afforded to us in Christ above, the Holy Spirit down here giving us the power, subjectively, to understand and to speak of it. They spoke “as the Spirit gave to them to speak forth”. He gave the apostles, and particularly Paul, utterance of the whole scope of the truth; but now we are engaged with the matter of administration.

AR ^[p. 432] Is the extent of the administration conveyed in “the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth”? Would that reference go beyond the assembly?

JT Quite so. The administration runs on into the millennium and into the eternal state of things. But at the present time it enters into Christianity. The Lord is in charge of it; it is His matter, only the gifts are employed by Him, and the assembly itself will be employed presently even in regard to the universe, so that she grows now into a holy temple in the Lord. She will be that in the millennium and in the eternal state of things, too.

APT Are the gifts subsidiary administrators?

JT I think that is right. Paul was such. He speaks of himself in that sense in chapter 3, “If indeed ye have heard of the administration of the grace of God which has been given to me towards you, that by revelation the mystery has been made known to me (according as I have written before briefly, by which, in reading it, ye can understand my intelligence in the mystery of the Christ), which in other generations has not been made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the power of the Spirit, that they who are of the nations should be joint heirs” (this is the fact of the mystery) “and a joint body, and joint partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus by the glad tidings; of which I am become minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me, according to the working of his power”, verses 2 - 7. So that what you say is borne out here, that the apostles and other gifts are immediately in the Lord’s hand to help in the unfolding of the truth.

CAM Would you say the expression, “The fulness of times” refers to the millennium, and would be the closing up of time, whereas the thought of “the fulness of him who fills all in all” will go into eternity?

JT Just so. The fulness of times is the millennium.

^[p. 433] The present time is a sort of parenthesis, as we have often remarked, to bring out the assembly. The great burden of truth comes down from the Old Testament and enters into the millennium. But in the meantime everything is disclosed in the assembly and Paul is the minister of it, so that we should all be informed and instructed and built up in the truth. What has been said as to subsidiary administrators is important. The Lord has all of us, in whatever measure we are able to link on with the system, because, as soon as one is converted and has the Holy Spirit, he forms part of the system. If he is a gifted man, he will be more in evidence in the system. That is the advantage we have in these meetings, because the Lord is over us all and the Spirit is here and ready to use us according to our measure.

DP Would the administration of the food in Acts 6 come within the scope of the administration of which you are speaking?

JT It belongs to the administration, and it was of the Lord that deacons should be appointed to look after it. The apostles said it was not right that they should leave the word of God to serve tables. Serving tables was part of the administration, but on a lower level than this of which we are speaking. It was a matter of administering literal food to the saints. Therefore, seven men of good report among them were appointed to attend to that ‘business’.

RWS John says, “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things to be in his hand”, (John 3:35). Is Ephesians the working out of that in a detailed way?

JT Just so. We are now engaged with the whole matter, and we are part of it. The next chapter brings in the woman of Samaria, and she recognises, as the facts show, that she was part of the system. She says, “Is not he the Christ?” The Christ is the Head of the system. He is the One who does things. So it is that she ^[p. 434] immediately left her waterpot. She had come out to draw water and she left the waterpot because the Lord had brought in spiritual water — the Holy Spirit. She becomes a vessel for the Spirit. Each one of us here, who has the Spirit, is a vessel of the Spirit, and we are in the administrative system according to what we may be able to do, and especially if there is gift, as remarked.

ANW Would you make it a little plainer where the historical reference of Acts 19 fits in with what we are considering? Is it the Lord administering there or the apostle acting in a subsidiary way?

JT We read that passage, having in mind to look into it because it gives us the historical facts of this part of the ministry. There were twelve men involved, as we have often observed. They were probably converts, having light as to John’s ministry, but that is not Christianity. Apollos had come to light in chapter 18 and he was a preacher — an able man. These twelve men would be of a similar class, only they had not as yet received the Spirit. Paul asked them, “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye had believed? And they said to him. We did not even hear if the Holy Spirit was come. And he said. To what then were ye baptised? And they said. To the baptism of John. And Paul said, John indeed baptised with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him that was coming after him, that is, on Jesus. And when they heard that, they were baptised to the name of the Lord Jesus. And Paul having laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. And all the men were about twelve”, verses 2 - 7. These verses show this particular part of the work of the apostles; especially Paul, and how the Ephesian assembly was formed, which is a most important matter. There were twelve men, all converted, and they received the Spirit at the same time through Paul laying his hands upon them, showing that ^[p. 435] this part which we are considering now is characteristic of Paul’s work. That is why we are dealing with the epistle to the Ephesians. It is thought that we should seek to grasp the truth unfolded by Paul because it is the final administration of the truth. He completed the word of God. It is thought that we should begin with his ministry if we are to get a proper view of our subject.

AAT Would the fact that there were twelve men connect with the thought of administration?

JT That is just the point. That is particularly in mind because the number twelve suggests administration. We shall see also that this number is stressed in regard to the city in Revelation 21.

CN Is there any special import to be attached to the upper districts?

JT I think there is. Apollos was at Corinth, which would be the lower district, so to speak, and therefore suggests fundamental Christianity; whereas Paul is moving in the upper districts, which would allude to the heavenly side of the truth, from which position administration is carried on. The administration of the universe, whether physical or spiritual, is in the hands of Christ. He is using all the gifts in the unfolding of the truth.

AMacD Would Priscilla and Aquila take on the position? They were apparently local at Corinth and at Ephesus, for some time.

JT Just so; I think they represent this. They joined in with Paul in a very sympathetic way. Acts 18 is the Corinthian chapter — the fundamental side of the truth — whereas chapter 19 is the Ephesian or heavenly side of the truth, and that is what we are dealing with now.

AMacD Aquila and Priscilla instructed Apollos more exactly in regard to the truth. Having been with Paul, they would know his ways and thus be qualified to adjust ^[p. 436] Apollos.

JT He needed to be instructed more exactly and that is what we are seeking to get at now, in principle. We are told that they “took him to them and unfolded to him the way of God more exactly”. The way of God would be wider than what we are dealing with now. It is Christianity, really, and it involves the way in which the gospel is promulgated, but we are dealing now with the heavenly side of the administrative services of Christ. As this dispensation finishes these services will especially affect the millennial day.

ATD Would the orderly way in which Boaz went about his matters in relation to Ruth fit in here? Boaz asked ten men and the near of kin to sit down with him, the number being twelve altogether.

JT Boaz therefore may be regarded as a type of Christ, and as you say, he went about things in an orderly way. He says, “Thou, such a one, turn aside, sit down here”, (Ruth 4:1). It was a deliberative matter. And that is the point now. We want to get on to the deliberative side, and to keep to the particular phase of the truth that is seen in Ephesians. These meetings should be deliberative.

JTJr When Peter said that the Lord Jesus was made both Lord and Christ by God he did not open up what those titles mean, but Paul opens up the thought of Christ, especially in this chapter.

JT Just so. When the article is used — ‘the Christ’ — it is the Man who does things for God. He is anointed to do that. If it is the preaching of the gospel. He is anointed to do that; if it is opening up the truth of the mystery. He is anointed to do that. Then the brethren who are anointed, as having the Spirit of God, are called into the work of the anointed One. So it is a question of being able to deliberate and weigh things patiently as to how they fit in with what is before us.

JTJr What is the force of “... head up all things”?

JT The word ‘head’ is a verb and is used to show how God works out the principle of headship. Christendom is not governed by headship at all. There are perhaps a hundred religious groups in Christendom. Recently it was reported that representatives from a number of these were closeted together here and in Geneva, but headship is not being recognised in such meetings at all. Headship will be headed up in those who recognise the lordship of Christ and the presence of the Spirit and the authority of the Scriptures, and I trust it is coming about in us now. We only want to get the truth of Scripture and the way it applies. The Bereans would lead in this. It was said of them “... daily searching the scriptures if these things were so”. (Acts 17:11). It is a question of determining if what is ministered is so — not merely what any one may think, but whether it is so according to Scripture.

AR Christ is made Head over all things to the assembly.

JT The assembly has part in headship. He is Head over all things to the assembly; that is, the assembly has part in headship.

FNW Do the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth go beyond the millennium into the eternal day?

JT I think the heading up of all things has in mind the millennium. Then, when time shall be no more, we have entered into eternity.

ABP The thought of fulness appears twice in this chapter — “the fulness of times”, and in relation to the assembly, “the fulness of him who fills all in all”.

JT The word is applied to Christ; the fulness of the Godhead dwells in Him. The Godhead operates in Him, in the sense of fulness, and then the assembly is the fulness of Him who fills all in all. So the assembly comes very near to Christ’s place in the word fulness. Its use in Colossians is almost as a title of God; “In ^[p. 438] him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily”. That is Deity, but it is in Christ as the great Operator, and the assembly is very near to His place, because she is the fulness of Christ. “The fulness of him who fills all in all” is the assembly, showing how great her place is. No other part of the redeemed throng has that place. She has part in the fulness. She is to Christ what Eve was to Adam.

CHH To whom does the ‘him’ refer?

JT “The fulness of him” is Christ, I think, because it says, “... the assembly, which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all”.

ANW Is it the fulness of the Man? It says, “... which is his body”.

JT I think so, and yet Deity is implied in His filling “all in all”. Only God could be so regarded — “who fills all in all”.

ABP Does it connect with chapter 4:10, “He that descended is the same who has also ascended up above all the heavens, that he might fill all things”?

JT That helps, that is the Lord. But it is really Deity. But I was thinking of the assembly’s place. How great a place that is! No other family of the redeemed has this place. The assembly alone has it. She is the fulness of Him who fills all in all. It comes very near to Deity. Of course it cannot be Deity because the assembly does not have part in Deity, but she is brought very near.

JAP Will the assembly be in heaven in the millennium or will it stand in relation to earth?

JT We cannot limit things in that way. She will go into heaven and she will come down from God out of heaven having the glory of God. That is how the matter stands. She has her place in relation to the millennium, but to say that she must be in any particular place is another matter. The saints will be in the liberty of the glory. So that she may go up to heaven or she ^[p. 439] may come down. She does not come down to the earth literally, as far as we can tell, but she comes very near to it.

JAP The Lord Jesus will be here?

JT I think He will be here in the assembly, properly, only every eye shall see Him and we cannot say that must be in the assembly.

RWS Verse 21 refers to Christ as being set down “above every principality, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name named”. Is that moral or spiritual? Would you just enlarge on what the principalities and powers and dominions are? They are mentioned in chapter 3 as seeing now the all various wisdom of God in the assembly.

JT We have to keep in mind that the assembly is viewed by itself in all this, but the Lord, according to verse 20, was raised from among the dead. The footnote says, “’Set him down’ is an added statement not connected grammatically with what precedes”. We should notice that. “Set him down at his right hand in the heavenlies, above every principality, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name named, not only in this age, but also in that to come”. Well now, the Person of Christ is in mind there, and how universal the outlook is! This gathers up everything under Christ. These things may not all be existent at the moment but they will be in time. What is existent at the moment and functions under Christ’s headship is the assembly. I think that is the way we should keep it in mind, for “every principality, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name named, not only in this age, but also in that to come”, not only has Christianity in mind but the millennium is also in view. And not one is excluded, all will be under Him.

RWS Are the principalities and authorities evil powers?

JT Whatever they are, Christ is above them. Some of them may be destroyed; “whom the Lord Jesus shall consume with the breath of his mouth”, (2 Thessalonians 2:8). It is to bring out how universal the Lord’s dominion is; how everything is under Him. And then it is brought down to the assembly. “And has put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the assembly”, verse 22. Paul’s thought is to bring in Christianity in its present function, and to show that the saints are in the matter. The assembly is a present thing.

ABP Will the fulness of times involve setting out in display the results of what God has wrought in time?

JT The fulness of times will be a setting forth of all that had come out from God in all the dispensations beginning with Adam. The subject of administration was considered in these meetings beginning with Adam, and following that the flood, Abraham, Israel, then the transfer to the gentiles, and then finally in relation to Christianity. All these things are the working out of what was in the mind of God, and the fulness of times means that the whole product is to be gathered up. But verse 22 says, “... and has put all things under his feet”. All is under Christ. This would set aside Christendom as it is, and the nations as they are, because all these are provisional. What we are dealing with now is not provisional. It is what is in the mind of God. It is a question of God’s counsels being brought to pass and everything set up under Christ. “He has set a day in which he is going to judge the habitable earth in righteousness by the man whom he has appointed”, (Acts 17:31). That is one idea.

CAM The assembly will occupy its place in heaven but Satan will be cast out of heaven. It is right that he should be confined and finally consigned to the lake of fire.

JT Quite so. Things are being worked out now provisionally. Nothing is finished yet; Christ is at the ^[p. 441] right hand of God, but that is provisional, also. He is on His Father’s throne. He is going to occupy His own throne later. And it says, “The Son also himself shall be placed in subjection”. (1 Corinthians 15:28). All these things are in mind, and we have to see how they are developing and how we are in them.

SW The Lord saw Satan fall as lightning from heaven. Would that be the evidence that all things are to be put under Christ’s feet? He saw that, so we can see, anticipatively, all things put under Him.

JT The Lord says, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven”. But that has not taken place literally as yet. The war in heaven must first take place, and then he will be cast out.

SW The principalities and powers against which we struggle are wicked.

JT Quite so; but the Lord has power over them.

RWS Would not the converts at Ephesus have a good start in their conflict against Satan’s power over them in that they brought their books and burned them? “Those that practised curious arts brought their books of charms and burnt them before all”, (Acts 19:19). I wondered if, in great measure, Satan was enthroned in Ephesus, and we have an example of how the Lord defeated him through Paul’s ministry.

JT That was in mind in reading the passage, because it shows how the Lord is operating. It is the Lord in Ephesus. It is rather the word of God at Corinth; but in Ephesus, it is the word of the Lord that prevails. It is the military side and shows how things are controlled now; how the Lord can take things in hand to make way for us. He does not interfere with politics. The governmental ways of God indirectly regulate things publicly. The powers that be are ordained of God, and we are to submit to them. God uses them, too, but the Lord is operating Himself in certain matters to make way for His people; and what we have referred to ^[p. 442] as burning the books at Ephesus helps in that way. The books that were destroyed cost fifty thousand pieces of silver. It reminds us of Kirjath-sepher, which is the “city of the Book”. Books are greatly used by Satan to defile and corrupt humanity. But we see how the Lord is acting against that here in a militant way. It is the same way in which Michael will cast out the devil from heaven. The Spirit of God is operating in this way now to overcome the books in the minds and hearts of the saints.

DMacD You referred a moment ago to the place of subjection of the Son, 1 Corinthians 15. Is that the eternal thought?

JT It is important to have that before us, because it is a question of time. Verses 20 to 28 of that chapter are in a parenthesis, referring to a special point, and the verse that you are calling attention to reads, “But when all things shall have been brought into subjection to him, then the Son also himself shall be placed in subjection to him who put all things in subjection to him, that God may be all in all”, verse 28. Notice the use of the word “then”, relating to time. This parenthesis is put in to fill out the whole subject, and it is helpful now to bring that up because the end of the whole matter is that God is all in all — not ‘all and all’, but “all in all”. He is in the saints in the assembly.

ABP Subjugation is typified particularly in David.

JT Yes; it stands in contrast to the idea of destruction as under Joshua; the Canaanites were not only to be subdued; the point was to destroy them; they were to get no quarter. But David carries the thought of grace. He subdued them, and they became his subjects. He set up garrisons to maintain his authority; not to destroy the people, but subdue them.

ABP Does Paul’s ministry seem to carry this feature of David right though the millennium?

JT I think so; it is a question of subduing. There ^[p. 443] will be destruction of course; the beast and the false prophet and Satan will be cast alive into the lake of fire, which is an awesome thing, and others will be destroyed. I suppose Christendom will be. I do not think any peace will be made with Christendom. It has had its opportunity and is revolting now. The man of sin will presently arise, but the eastern nations will be taken in hand in mercy and the everlasting gospel will be preached to them. I believe that is how matters will stand.

APT These verses in 1 Corinthians 15 can only be understood by those who are very near to the heavenly Administrator.

JT That is just what I was thinking. It is a privilege to get near to things, and I believe the Lord is bringing us near. The Lord, in revealing the truth, intends that it should be understood, and the assembly is the body of Christ. It is not simply an institution. It is the body of Christ and therefore near to Christ. We are nearer than the word ordinarily signifies. He is in the assembly.

JTJr Is there a converging of the truth in Corinthians and Ephesians where the expression “all in all” occurs in both epistles? 1 Corinthians 15:28 refers to God being “all in all”. In Ephesians 1:23 it says, “... the fulness of him who fills all in all”. Is that where the two epistles meet?

JT Very good. It is a great thing to see, in these things on which we are touching, the nearness into which we are brought. We are already venturing to speak of nearness to Deity, and I believe it is a proper term, if it is guarded so as not to imply that we have part in Deity; but there are families that are nearer than others and the assembly has the nearest place because it is the body of Christ, “the fulness of him who fills all in all”.

CAM When Satan occupied the exalted place ^[p. 444] he was given he had a thought to be God. It is such a marvellous thing that the assembly is so near to Deity and yet there could never be a thought that would outrage the throne.

JT It is in holiness that we are entitled to speak of such exalted things, and God graciously gives us the liberty of sonship: “For ye have not received a spirit of bondage again for fear, but ye have received a spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father”, (Romans 8:15). That shows the nearness of the position that is ours. It is the assembly’s position and it is greatly enlarged on in Paul’s ministry.

FNW “That ye may be filled even to all the fulness of God”, (Ephesians 3:19).

JT Just so. We are made capable of that; and then, “To him be glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus unto all generations of the age of ages”, verse 21. The assembly is the only family of whom that is said. That is the present time and it is eternal, too, showing one family has a nearer place than the others. God is entitled to the liberty and latitude that He takes in grading things.

TEH Is it not remarkable that a man who had such wonderful light in these matters should be bowed in prayer that we should be able to understand it a little?

JT Yes, “For this reason I bow my knees”. Perhaps if we bowed ours more we should know more of the mystery.

APf “For of his fulness we all have received, and grace upon grace”, (John 1:16).

JT That is the fulness of Christ. It is important to see that there are different families, but there is one family which has a peculiar place of nearness for ever, and that family is the assembly.

ANW That family is the fulness: “... which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all”. I ^[p. 445] suppose that of no other family can it be said that they have part in the body.

JT No; the assembly is the body. Colossians tells us that He is the Head of the body, the assembly. The article means there is no other.

FSC Is the Holy Spirit the power in us for this?

JT It is the Spirit in His present relation: “... a spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father”. We have that peculiar place of relationship.

FHL Is that place of relationship in mind in the address to Ephesus in Revelation 2? The word is: “Remember ... whence thou art fallen”.

JT That is good. We should remember that: “Remember therefore whence thou art fallen”. The church was never reinstated to that position. In Philadelphia we get a touch of the real thing that she lost. It is through Philadelphia, where brotherly love prevails, that this can be reached now. Where brotherly love is, there is recovery to what the assembly enjoyed at the beginning.

FNW Is the assembly included in the ‘all things’ under His feet or does it have a place of distinction in relation to Him as Head?

JT The assembly has part with Christ in headship and therefore should not be regarded as being part of the ‘all things’ over which He is Head. The passage reads: “Head over all things to the assembly, which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all”. It is a question of understanding that God is entitled to grade things. “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom every family in the heavens and on earth is named”, (Ephesians 3:14,15). The assembly is the first family. It is the only family with which God is working at the present time. Of course. God recognises the angels, but in relation to what we are speaking of now, the assembly is the only family in which the work of God is being perfected.

ABP ^[p. 446] The holy city — the bride, the Lamb’s wife is exclusively the assembly?

JT I think so. I do not see how we can make it anything else.

ABP The reference to the twelve sons of Israel would be moral?

JT I think it would be to show the greatness of the position. She is great enough to include all that. There is nothing the assembly is not in the secret of. She knows all that the other families know, and much more. It is in the sense of what she knows. She comes down from God out of heaven having the glory of God. The glory of God would refer to what God is in His nature.

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