"THE POWER THAT WORKETH IN US"
“THE POWER THAT WORKETH IN US”
Ephesians 3: 20; Isaiah 14: 7; 2 Samuel 23: 13 - 17
These scriptures speak of the power of God — that is why I have read them, wishing to consider this great matter from the point of view of the first scripture, which says, “the power that worketh in us”. There is power operative otherwise, creatorial power involving all the kingdoms, as we may speak of them, of creation, especially those involving life; the power of God is operative every day in giving life. In Him, it is said, indeed, that we all live and move and have our being; a great matter that is surely to be included in our faith. Indeed, the wide creation, far beyond, not merely our comprehension, but our apprehension, is dependent on the power of the Creator. “By faith we apprehend”, we are told, “that the worlds were framed by the word of God” (Hebrews 11: 3). They are poised and kept going, not as left to themselves, but by the power of God. Then there is governmental power operative all the time, especially since the placing of the cherubim in Eden, and, coming down to our own times, it is a matter of great consequence as holding the power of evil in check. We could not be here tonight, dear brethren, otherwise, and surely it is a matter to be held in our minds, in our believing minds. There is the good side to it; the powers are appointed for good, as it is said, “it is God’s minister to thee for good” (Romans 13:4). This could scarcely be so, aside from the discriminative adjusting power of God in government. The powers are forced to be good, for God is with government, in whomsoever’s hands it may be. Our Lord will presently sit as a priest on His throne, and all will be regulated by Him according to His own heart. Today God has to operate through the bit and bridle, but nevertheless effectively, for the [p. 460] horse remains a horse, and is forced to execute judgment, forced to execute government, by God.
I am thinking, however, as I said, of the power that worketh in us, the power that normally marks a believer from the very outset of his being, even before his birth, as seen in some. We have this inherent power, as I may call it, only in a relative sense in us, but nevertheless really so. We have it illustrated in a most remarkable way in unborn children — the power of supplanting, for instance; in Jacob we have a striking illustration of what I am saying of the power of God. It may begin in a small way, but its potentialities are marked at the beginning. Here is an unborn child that will supplant one whom God will ultimately hate; he is doing something — struggling — and as they were born he took his brother by the heel to supplant him. So that we have in Jacob in result, one whom God loves; it is the operation of God’s power.
So with another, whose name indeed gave me my text, who is spoken of as breaking forth, a great principle in the living kingdom, the kingdom of life, whether it be plant, animal, or saint — the power of breaking forth, breaking through, so as to excel. In Pharez, (Genesis 38) to whom I allude, we have one who broke forth, one who acquired his name thus, and who became famous in Israel. He is the progenitor of Boaz, of Obed, and of David. We have to look, dear brethren, at these initial movements. We have these examples, and they are examples of more than themselves. The creation as a testimony from God is full of those things, for it is a question of God; God working in us, working subjectively to accomplish results. So much is it so in the case of Pharez, that in the book of Ruth the genealogy begins with him instead of with Judah (Ruth 4). He is owned to be Judah’s son, but if God wishes to bring forth a worshipper, and the sweet psalmist of Israel,
[p. 461] He begins with Pharez. It is a question of potentialities in these initial movements of God. We see the power of life operating. On the one hand we have a man whom Jehovah loves — “Jacob have I loved” — his very name denoting that he had displaced somebody, and that somebody was hated of God; surely that is an exploit. To be in the mind of God in this way from one’s beginning is surely something to be thought of, and to be nurtured and encouraged. So that we have, as I said, in Pharez, the progenitor of Obed, a worshipper — the thought developed in David, the leader of the praises of Israel.
I speak of all this, dear brethren, that we might be on the look-out for these things; what God is doing according to the power that worketh in us. We have again in John the baptist a signal exemplification of what I am saying; as unborn he was capable of joy as the sound of the voice of the mother of Jesus fell upon his mother’s ear. How great a thing that is, as suggesting how we are bound up together in the wonderful organism into which we are brought. With Jacob it was to supplant what God hated; with Pharez, to excel, and how could he excel more than in the development of the praises of Israel, the worship of God? It is the great thought for the moment that God is stressing amongst His people — His service; and then the permeating joy as seen in the baptist. Its fulness was experienced as he heard the Bridegroom’s voice. It is a question of Christ in relation to the object of His affection, and, dear brethren, we want to be sympathetic with Him in that; what He has secured at such infinite cost. John was the friend of the Bridegroom and rejoiced as he heard His voice. He had heard another voice, the voice of Mary coming to him through his mother; now he hears directly the voice of the Bridegroom and his [p. 462] joy is full. He rejoiced with joy unspeakable, as we may say, and full of the glory. It is a question of glory, being filled with the glory of Christ as the Bridegroom — “He that has the bride is the bridegroom”. I speak of these evidences of the power that worketh in us as seen initially, so that we might be on the look-out for these evidences and nurture them. See how Rebecca looked after Jacob; she had the mind of God about him. See the care expended on Obed! See the divine pains taken so that he might come in as he did, and then the Spirit of God, as we may say, delighting in giving us the genealogy from Pharez down to the sweet psalmist of Israel.
Well now, this passage in Ephesians 3 — confirmatory of all I have been saying, as I believe you will agree — is the outcome of a prayer. It is one of the two prayers of Paul recorded in this epistle. The first, in chapter 1, related to the intelligence of the saints; that we might have the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God, and that we might know, among other things, “the surpassing greatness of his power towards us who believe, according to the working of the might of his strength, in which he wrought in the Christ in raising him from among the dead”. In this second prayer, what is in mind is the Father’s Spirit; the apostle is thinking of the Father, not now exactly as representing the dispensation of grace, but as naming the families; that there are families and that He names them all. Then that the Father would operate in the brethren; in the Ephesians, and of course in ourselves now, by His Spirit, and that it should be according to the riches of His glory. Think of the beautiful ornamentation surrounding this point that the apostle has in mind; the wealth of thought in which it is encased! It is like a jewel in a proper setting. The passage ends with a doxology. The riches of the Father’s glory — think of that! and it is connected with His Spirit operating in us, that we might be strengthened with His Spirit in the inner man, and to the end that we should be rooted and founded in love. That is to say that this power, this unique sort of power, namely, the Father’s Spirit, should operate in us, and that all the surroundings should be in keeping with it, that the saints should be rooted and founded in love. How great the need is to take care of the roots by which we draw the sap; and then the establishment, the founding, the equalising, so that we are steadily in the thing — no longer babes! Then that the Christ, the great divine Operator, should be dwelling in our hearts by faith. What men are contemplated! So all the way down the chapter; “that ye may be fully able to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height; and to know the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge”. There are His infinite operations in the execution of the divine will; He is to be apprehended in faith in our hearts and held there, and we are to know His love in the midst of all that. He is not too much occupied with operations, dear brethren, to love us; nor should we be too occupied with operations to love Christ. We should take time for that surely, as He will take time to love us — and He does. “To know the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge; that ye may be filled even to all the fulness of God” — meaning that we are in infinitude, and yet not lost in it; we are steadily filled in all these things, knowing the love of Christ and His personal thoughts of us, and ourselves filled; and if we are filled, it is to be with naught else but the fulness of God, nothing else, for God is to be all in all. It is a God known in Jesus — a well-known God; no stranger, either He to us, or we to Him; there is no room for reminiscences there; eternal joy in the fulness [p. 464] of God, and we filled with it. And so, as I said, it is “to him that is able to do far exceedingly above all which we ask or think, according to the power which works in us”, power that we are already conscious of. God has been working in us from the very first spiritual movement we had, and it is by nothing else than this — the power that works in us.
I now wish to go on to show how practically this power bursts forth, first in Isaiah. Isaiah is full, I may say, of this sort of thing. He contemplates the work of God in God’s people, and the ultimate results according to it; not simply that the counsels of God will be fulfilled, but that the power that works in us will go through, and carry us through to finality. This verse in chapter 14 contemplates the fall of Babylon, a very significant fact of which Isaiah speaks exultingly. He is a prophet of great feeling, and feeling with God about things; so he puts into the mouth of the people of God a proverb against Babylon, now that she is doomed. The whole world had suffered from the king of Babylon, as he is spoken of here, and so the proverb runs, “The whole earth is at rest, is quiet: they break forth into singing”. In our own times this is a very significant matter, one of the most significant of the public occurrences in the history of the assembly is the fall of Babylon. She will never be revived to what she was — Babylon is fallen, is fallen, and has become the cage of every foul and hateful bird. But presently a greater calamity is coming — her complete destruction; never to be revived. As a millstone is cast into the sea, so shall she be; not indeed lost to the judgment of God, but ever present to it, as it is said, “her smoke goes up to the ages of ages”. Such has been her guilt that her judgment remains, stands out, as it were, eternally, and God would bring us to a judgment about all this. God says by [p. 465] the Spirit, that He judges our judgment upon her; that is, the judgment of heaven and of the apostles and of the saints. If we work with God in our judgment, He works with us, He loves to do it. The judicial glories of God are very great, it is one of the features of His glory, and He calls us into it; to be with Him in what He does. As Babylon falls and is destroyed, heaven is called upon to praise, to rejoice — and so it does; the mighty multitude of voices join in harmony, that God has executed His wrath on that great harlot, the corruptress of the earth.
Well, the result of all this, as you will see, is the release of what God seeks, namely, praise. Babylon has shackled the saints and she continues to do so; indeed all that is of her kind, in the religious world, also does so; it is intended by Satan to do it — to prevent the praises; but they break forth; it is a question of power — the power that works in us. It can be employed in no greater way than the breaking forth of divine praises. Will not God release His people? He is doing it. It is our business, too, to help Him, that God should have His praises. Psalm 22, the great sorrow psalm, that which depicts the sufferings of Christ as none other does, exceeds in this matter. The cry of Christ there, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” shows how He went to those depths in relation to the praises of Israel, the praises of God; as He says, “Thou art holy, thou that dwellest amid the praises of Israel”. As come forth in resurrection, His word, as given to us by the Spirit in Hebrews 2: 12, is, “In the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises”. There will be a universe of praise to God, through Christ, but it is now going on in the assembly; we are having part in it now; let everyone take it to heart, God is calling us into this great matter. So here, as Babylon is overthrown, the word is, “the whole earth is at rest, is quiet: they break forth into singing;” and [p. 466] this has its counterpart in the book of Revelation, as I was remarking.
Finally, I wish to dwell on these three mighty men of David. We are brought back to John the baptist in his beautiful regard for Christ; how his joy was full at hearing the Bridegroom’s voice. He was near enough to know what that voice meant; it is not simply the words, it is the voice of the Bridegroom. Let us understand, dear brethren, such a sound as that — the voice of the Bridegroom, and how John is affected by it. He says, “my joy is fulfilled”. A perfectly satisfied man, he disappears more than satisfied, his joy is fulfilled. Will not every one of us, as lovers of Christ, have a fulfilled joy in what we see in Him and in what He has in His heart; what He has in His bride; what the assembly is to Christ? I would like to come into that now, just to know what He thinks about the assembly, what He feels about it, what His affections are as to it.
Well, it is no question here with David of the bride, but something that his heart longed for, and the enemy stood between him and it. There are many such things, dear brethren — the well at the gate of Bethlehem is well known; the Lord knows those that are His. He knows what joys He has had from some of them, but has no longer, alas! I often picture the Lord looking down on Palestine, Asia Minor, Greece and Italy, and North Africa, and countries nearer to us; what He must feel as He reflects on what He once had in those countries. He has not forgotten anything — what Ephesus was and what joys He had there. He says later, “thou hast left thy first love” — He missed that. There are many, living today, who yielded to Christ in times past, but the enemy has come in between Him and them. He is longing for the springing well — for it is really the same thought — springing up in affection to Him. “The water which I shall give him”, says Christ, “shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up ...” He looks for that. He is denied it by some here maybe — certainly by many in the world — the enemy has come in between. We know, for instance, in the case of a daughter of Abraham of old, the Spirit of God pictures her for us as being bent over — Satan did that, he did it eighteen years before. The Lord straightened her, and she glorified God. The glorious things He is doing are spoken of in that section, and what are the glorious things He is doing today? Is there a saint here who loves Him who is not a testimony to the glorious things He is doing? “To us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him” (1 Corinthians 8: 6). Is not every saint a miracle? It is a question of the works of Christ, the glorious things He did. One of them was to straighten that woman so that she might look up to God. Maybe there are some here whom Satan has ill-affected against God. Satan has come in between them and God, and robbed God of them.
My point here is that these three mighties broke through. They knew what David longed for. The assembly is the great thought of Christ for the moment, the one predominating thought throughout the dispensation. The gospel is subservient to it. The Lord has lost much through Satan’s work, the enemy has come in, and it is a question now of breaking forth, laying down our lives, taking our lives in our hands, to get for Christ what He longs for. What does He long for? For the assembly; what He is robbed of in its members. So that certainly one might say to the brethren, our work is well defined; let nobody mistake it. The gospel, of course, is the work of the evangelist — preach the word instant in season and out of season — but it is all to get what Christ’s heart is set for. We know what He wants - [p. 468] most of us here do; He has made our work perfectly evident, dear brethren. “He that brings back a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall cover a multitude of sins” (James 5: 20). What satanic power has to be broken through to get a soul for Christ! Indeed, the apostle says, “For this cause I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2: 10). Certain ones — they are in the mind of God, and they must be secured, and it is incumbent on us to get them; and these three mighties represent what is needed to get them.
That is all I have on my mind, and I leave the thoughts with you as to this question of breaking forth, the result of the power of God that works in every christian here and in every true believer on the earth.