CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 6

FER Nothing is more noticeable than the intensely moral character of Scripture; nothing is dogmatic. Children are to obey their parents, and it is added, “for this is right”. So, too, as to servants; whatever good thing a man does is commended of the Lord. Things are commended because they are just and right. The injunctions, although especially applying to those in the Christian circle, contain principles of universal application. It is always right under all circumstances for children to obey their parents. These relationships do not belong to us as over Jordan, but on this side. If you look at Matthew 19: 1 - 9, “The Lord came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan”; and in the parallel passage in Mark 10 it is even more specific — “The coasts of Judaea by the farther side of Jordan”. It is the land where the two-and-a-half tribes settled. The moral force in it, to us, is this: that the natural relationships do not lie on the other side of death; they are not on the resurrection side of Jordan. These things are not in Christ, they are “in the Lord”. So we get, Obey your parents in the Lord. “In Christ” takes you over Jordan and into all that is of the purpose of God. “In the Lord” refers to the sphere where Christ has authority; it is not the wilderness. It is intensely individual. The authority of the Lord is in its character millennial. It has been said that you have the Lord in the house, not in the garden. The thing is, people not only want their house well ordered, but they want their garden prettily laid out; but it will not do to have your garden millennial. When it is a question of moral order inside your house, it is millennial; every relationship is to be properly maintained because it is right. All the institutions that are really of God will have their place in the millennium, and so they have now in the house of God.

Ques What is the difference between the house of God and the kingdom?

FER The house of God is where the Spirit of God dwells, but the kingdom of God brings in a different idea; it is the authority of Christ. That is one thing, but the presence of the Holy Spirit is another. There will be no house of God in the millennium. “In the Lord” brings in the thought of the kingdom and of what is individual; it is the believer and his house, and the place the Lord has in his house. Beyond Jordan you know Him as Head, not as Lord. Lordship supposes authority and subjection to that authority. As Head He should have pre-eminence. A man is not lord to his wife: he is head, and that brings in subjection to him. It is only to the believer properly that Christ is Lord. Many may say Lord, Lord, but no one can really say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Spirit. When the thought of the Lord is brought in, its application is to me individually, not in connection with the house of God. Christ is Son, not Lord, over God’s house. “One Lord, one faith, one baptism” marks the sphere where Christ is Lord, but the application of it is to ^[p. 273] the individual and to all that relates to him. If Christ is Lord to me, He must be Lord to all that is mine; that is the ground of household baptism. It is an impossible idea that He should be Lord to me and not to mine.

The fifth commandment is brought in here to show the great importance which God attaches to filial obedience. The promise still holds good for children; here it is connected with Christianity. The best way of looking at it, is seeing how much importance God attaches to it. It is not a good beginning for children when they are self-willed and self-assertive towards their parents; it is not likely to bring about good results. “That it may be well with thee” is, of course, in natural things.

Then comes the injunction to fathers; it is put upon them to bring their children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And for this reason, that the father stands in the place of responsibility. The father properly represents the authority of the Lord in the house. As a matter of fact the mother has more to do with the children, but this does not alter the fact that the father stands responsible.

Ques What is provoking children to anger?

FER It is not a very difficult thing to do. They are often unjustly blamed. Something happens which greatly aggravates me, and the likelihood is that I visit it on the child according to my provocation, and not according to the measure of the offence. If you deal unjustly with them you lose influence, and very likely provoke them to anger. The great thing with children is to retain your hold on their affections. The Lord never provokes us to anger; He always takes a right measure of everything. The great end of all discipline is moral training. Children are foolish, and you have experience, and you can warn them of what would become a pitfall to them. The discipline of a house is entirely different to that of a regiment ^[p. 274] or a school. The Lord gives character to the nurture and admonition. We have to understand something of it before we can exercise it. The Lord never chastises us hastily. If a child is chastened in heat it is sure to be done unduly. Discipline is always for our profit.

Rem J.N.D. has said, ‘Discipline is never without love in God and need in me’.

FER It is beautiful to see how Christianity came into the world and took up things as they were; it did not come to set it and its things right, but to set people right. Therefore slaves are exhorted to be obedient. Christianity was not intended to disturb the state of things, but to bring into a man’s soul that which would enable him to fulfil his obligations. It is the Lord, not Christianity, that will set the world right. We are not called upon to set it right. Those who try to do so do not make much of it. Men have gone into Parliament intending to revolutionise things, but they have found themselves powerless. The point to me is that one Person has gone through the world and has completely solved the question of good and evil; and He only, when He comes in power, is able to set the world right. The point for us is to get out of the world; that is what baptism really means, and thus the question of good and evil is solved for us.

In the end of this chapter we come into the world in testimony, and then we come in contact with the rulers of the darkness of this world, who have their seat in the heavenlies. We meet them down here; we stand here as against the force of the world, where the power of the enemy is. The apostle breaks off from telling them of the armour, to tell them of the powers with which they must wrestle (verse 12). There are three things in this epistle — the power of God towards you, the power of God in you, and the power of God that works from you. It is in the world the conflict takes place. You have gone over Jordan, but you must come out to maintain for Christ here.

^[p. 275] It is here, not in the heavenlies, that we want the shield of faith.

Now we come to the armour. It is complete armour — it is from head to foot. You cannot take up one part without the other. It must be taken up individually, but it is what has to characterise the whole company. The point in the armour is that everything which is presented to you in the gospel has become effective in you. It is not only that the great things which the gospel brings are light to you, but that these things have become effective in you. Then “above all” you have faith, the shield of faith. The armour is the proper and practical effect of the gospel; these principles have become effective in you.

The truth, the righteousness, the peace are all of God; that is why it is God’s panoply. Righteousness is the disallowance of sin; that is what God has done; He would not tolerate sin, and this principle is effective in me when I walk in self-judgment. Peace, too, is of God. We are in a scene where there is falsehood, sin, and confusion, but I am to be characterised in it by truth, righteousness, and peace. Truth is that all is estimated according to its own proper value and place. If my loins are girt with truth, I am not unduly governed by my natural affections; the truth puts everything in its true place.

“Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace”; it is peace adapted to the whole course of a Christian down here. How could a man talk about the righteousness of God if he is not walking in self-judgment, and how could he talk about peace if he is not in the sense of peace?

Love does not come in here, because it is a question of armour. Love is not armour, it is in the heart and gives its character to all, it is not protective.

It is the whole or “complete armour”. It is no use having a strong point; you must have things balanced.

^[p. 276] If defective in any one part, you would be open to the enemy; you are to be encased.

“Faith” is that a man has confidence that God is able to bring down all the power of the enemy. A man could not stand here if he does not believe that the whole great world-system is to come down. The great point of the armour is to enable you to stand for Christ, to claim the inheritance for Christ. Things do not belong to Satan or to man, but to Christ. The armour is necessary to claim it. It is a principle in Scripture that if you have an inheritance, you must claim it. The Lord riding into Jerusalem was claiming the earth. They cast Him out, and now we claim it for Him. It is not that you are to be aggressive, but you claim it for Christ. The effect would be, I would have nothing to do with this world, nor with the honour which comes from it, for Satan is the prince of this world; but the earth belongs to Christ and we claim it. The enemy comes in by means of the influences of infidelity and superstition; his darts may come in between the joints of the armour. The influences of the devil are very deadly.

This conflict is being carried on through the saints. We are to stand “strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might”. When He comes into the inheritance we shall come with Him, but now we claim it for Him. He is heir of all things, and God has made known to us the mystery of His will, to head up all things in Him. Things here are in a most outrageous state; Satan claims all for himself.

We could not come out in this way (as in chapter 6) unless we first knew the two things that have been spoken of in this epistle — the power which is towards us (chapter 1), and the power which worketh in us; chapter 3. Chapter 6 is the power which works from us.

The “helmet of salvation” is that you lift up your head in the dignity of Christ.

Every saint ought to claim the inheritance, and ^[p. 277] then there would be prayer for the testimony. Here the testimony was identified with the apostle.

The sphere of this conflict is the world. The enemy does not dominate in heaven, but he has great power on the earth. Satan does not put himself to the front; even in the latter days he will not come to the front; the beast will. Satan is a lying spirit. All this demands the most rigid separation from the world, and to be encased in what is of God.

There are three circles of testimony — personal, relative, and the enemy.

It is something to stand here for the inheritance that belongs to Christ. We are not only going to have things in heaven, but also those on earth. What a mockery Christendom is! — it is a make-believe that Christ is in honour here. It is the same principle as “ye build the sepulchres of the prophets and your fathers killed them”.

To stand for Christ is the common privilege of all Christians; the testimony is greatly marred if it is not so. The sword is a two-edged one, it cuts yourself as well as others.