02.04. Part 4.

Part 4.

We may now be able to see why the perfect life of our Lord had to come to an end in death. He had taken up life in flesh and blood condition with that end in view. There was the purpose of God to be accomplished and our state to be dealt with and beyond all, He was to enter into His glory that way. "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?" (Luke 24:26.) We are far removed here from the current teaching which links our Incarnate Lord with man in his fallen state and then goes on to speak of Him as a great world teacher, citing the sermon on the mount as a beautiful compendium of moral instruction for fallen flesh. To teach that His coming was for the adornment of a fallen race is confessedly black, so black indeed that, but for the mercy of God, it would have destroyed the truth long ago. This Judaising of christendom has led, in the estimate of the masses, to bringing Christ back to flesh and blood and putting man under law. This denies the cross and puts man — like the Galatians — under law and thus continues the testing of man, which the cross had already brought to an end. This teaching not only ignores the cross but sets aside the whole range of divine purpose as revealed in christianity. "Beware that thou bring not my son — the risen one in type — thither again" said Abraham to the servant, when he sent him to call a bride for his son Isaac who in type, had passed through death on the mountain top. Previous to that, Abraham had not only to part with Ishmael — type of man in nature — but had also to take Isaac to the mount and figuratively pass him through death. (Hebrews 11:19.) So Christ whose perfect life met in every way His Father’s approval, goes down into death that the eternal plan and purpose of God might be brought to fruition in the establishing of the world of God’s glory in resurrection.

How often is the resurrection of our Lord spoken of as the birth of a new creation? Such is the prevailing confusion that there is little sense of the glorious way our God has taken, through His blessed Son, to remove all the disorder. Three passages of Scripture will demonstrate this. "This is he that came by water and blood." His coming into the world and death upon the cross. 1 John 5:6. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour has come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world." John 16:20-21. His resurrection. "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come . . . by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place." His present place in heaven. These three passages show (1). that our Lord was born into this world at Bethlehem and died upon the cross as witnessed by the water and the blood. (2) That His resurrection, seen in the figure of the birth of the man, has inaugurated a New Creation. (3) That He has gone back to heaven in the good of this new system and sustains it in His high priesthood. In connection with the new creation, we need our thoughts widened out from individualism. As soon as Adam’s race began to multiply, there was a necessity for administration. It is impossible to have a company without organisation of some kind. In this way we have in the resurrection of our Lord the dawn of a new day and a new world for faith to enter into and enjoy. It has been well said that in the first creation man came last, but in new creation Man is first, that is, Christ in resurrection. As to full bodily condition, He only is risen but by the operation of the Holy Spirit there is a company on earth united to Him as His body and of such it is said, they are even now risen together with Christ. Colossians 2:12. This links itself with a further development of the purpose and plan of God. There is now a Man in heaven. In the provisional ways of God, man was created for the earth but in the purpose of God, as the fruit of redemption, his eternal home is in heaven. This shows the remarkable way in which grace reaches back beyond the fallen state to lift him out of the original condition and put him in a new heavenly status in the risen Head — the glorified Man. This is a most blessed racia1 reality. The place and the state suited for the first order was seen in Adam innocent, the first head. The place and state suited for the new order is seen in Christ risen and glorified in heaven. His place determines ours because of the relationship of life and sonship we have with Him. Glory be to God. Such wonderful blessings are far beyond us for we are creatures and ever will be, but the blessings we are brought into are far beyond creature conception, The blessing of men on earth through the administration of a Man glorified in heaven, is foreseen and richly set forth in the Old Test. Psalms 110:1-7, Psalms 132:1-18, with their quotations in the New Test., give both the present exaltation of Christ and His present administration in those who form His body. Comp. Ephesians 4:1-32. Acts 2:34. Hebrews 1:1-14, Hebrews 2:1-18. Again and again the typical picture presents the Gospel age in detail. If we take the time between Adam and Enoch; the story of Joseph and his glory in Egypt; the volume of typical instruction contained in the journey of Israel from Egypt to Canaan; all prefigure and speak of the time when heaven’s resources would be administered by a MAN in the glory, through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit down here. As the sun rays itself forth in the solar system, so Christ in glory is the pledge of security for the whole moral system. His going there put the stamp of finality on the whole divine procedure because by that act, revelation and approach were completed. The One who came out to reveal has gone in, carrying Manhood in His Person in there, in answer to what He revealed. At the risk of being thought tedious, we would endeavour to amplify the transitional blessing at this point, by speaking of life in its moral activity in a three fold way. (1). When on earth our Lord stood alone as the corn of wheat who must abide alone until death. (2). His disciples, though born again, were in the life and status of man in the flesh. (3). By death the Lord laid down the flesh and blood condition and took up life in a new state entirely. This new life He brought His disciples into by association with Himself in resurrection, by breathing on them. Just as He had breathed into Adam and he became a living soul, so the disciples were one with Him in life and status. The Spirit puts it thus. "Both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren." Hebrews 2:11. The Gospel is not reformation in any possible sense. It reconciles man to God by reconstituting him in his moral being and in that way transferring him from under the original Adamic headship, to the Headship of Christ. "Reconciliation;" "in Christ;" and "new creation" all go together. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature — new creation — old things are passed away; behold, all things are new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself." 2 Corinthians 5:17-18. In this way we reach in thought, the connection between the robes prepared for Aaron and the holy vestments for his sons. It will be recalled here, how the Lord insists on the impossibility of patchwork in the parable of the new garment in Luke 5. New creation is the complete change of texture in our moral being and in no other way could there be the perpetuation of the life of Christ here. In the sons of Aaron we see that God would have a company separated from the life of flesh, for the service of the sanctuary. In His going on high, Christ took His place as Minister of the sanctuary and in that capacity, His saints are without any disparagement in association with Him as the consecrated company, for the service of God within the Holiest of all. This for us supposes an indwelling Spirit, Who forms us after Christ, so that in the power of intelligent affection we may even now enter in to that sphere of light and life, on the principle of faith, having part with Himself in all that concerns the glory of God. This is put in such a lovely picturesque form by our Lord in Luke 15, that we are able to visualise it. The best robe is to fit us for a scene of holy festivity; a scene of holy joy, which is the fruit of the Father’s counsels and to which He gives impetus in the words, "Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring. hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat and be merry . . . And they began to be merry." This reminds us of a scene in heaven where the words ring out," Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready." Revelation 19:7. Here again, all is " fine linen clean and white; for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." But the picture in Luke 15:1-32 is beautifully illuminated by the words of Ephesians 1:3-4. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." In Zechariah 3:1-10, the filthy garments had to give place to "Festival-robes." New. Trans. Here in Ephesians we learn that a God of holiness will have those who are the fruit of His own love, in His company, for His pleasure and in perfect moral suitability through the work of His Son. "To himself" as Zechariah 3:5 assures us. The parable also links with the truth of the sanctuary as taught in Hebrews. The fatted calf is the death of our Lord in the character of the peace offering which includes the communion of the worshipper. In that way, we have the truth of the inside as in Hebrews, linked with the grandeur of the revelation at its height as in Ephesians.

Thus far, we have had the place of the believer before God and in the life of Christ. That life is to be seen coming out here,. That is to say, the character of Christ is seen in His people. This is the christian circle where they are portrayed in relationship with one another, reciprocating the grace of Christ, and thus His life is reproduced down here. "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering: Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful." Colossians 3:12; Colossians 3:15. This is the description of what was seen coming out in the life of Christ in the Gospels, now seen, in the Epistles, as coming out in a company during His absence. We may be asked, Where is it to be seen? It is to be seen, thank God, in the Church. In spite of all the break-down today, we may still see the beautiful features of Christ, in His people. This is what prevents the world from pandemonium today. Moreover, it pleased God to give a complete expression of it in the Church before He allowed the breakdown to come in. If we read Acts 2:1-47, Acts 3:1-26, Acts 4:1-37 at one reading, we shall find a beautiful answer, in the saints, to what came out for the pleasure of God as recorded of our Lord in the Gospels.

Then there is the conduct suited to those who are linked up with the testimony of our Lord on the earth. The manner of life suited to those who are heavenly, as being united to a glorified Christ. Sincerity — "Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." Luke 12:1. Reverence — "And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body . . . Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him." Luke 12:4-5. Courage — "Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God." Luke 12:8. Greed — "Take heed and beware of covetousness." Luke 12:15. Worry and distraction — "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. Your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things." Luke 12:22, Luke 12:30. These are the traits of a heavenly man. They have all been seen in our Lord in this world and the Word says, "He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to so walk, even as he walked." 1 John 2:6. Thank God there is no lack of power from Himself on high to carry it out. Then what shall we say of our attitude in the place of servants? "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, . . . Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them." Luke 12:35; Luke 12:37.

Thus far we have traced the way divine power and wisdom have taken to perpetuate in the saints, the wonderful life of our Lord as seen in the Gospels. A word is called for on the dress which the Lord has provided, for the saints to stand in His interests to-day and to thus anticipate the day in which He will appear in judgment. We have already seen how He is coming in judgment, clothed with the garments of vengeance for clothing and clad in zeal as a cloak. Isaiah 59:16. This conflict is not with flesh and blood but with the hosts of evil which have their place in the heavenlies. This is perhaps the highest favour committed to the saints, or indeed, ever committed to man. It is that subtle character of conflict going on in christendom today, in which the enemy has had such success, by attacking our Lord and the whole range of heavenly truth, treasured in the Church to-day. The Epistle to the Ephesians where this conflict is mentioned unfolds, as no other Epistle does, the magnitude of christianity in relation to the counsels of eternity. It shows that the present economy of grace as a faith system goes on to the day of full display when faith shall be no more called for. This is new creation or the resurrection world we have been speaking about. Mirrored forth in that system, our Lord stands, with His Assembly, at the centre of all. He stands in relation to all creation in a glorious triumph of grace. All this is apprehended and enjoyed by the saints to-day, by faith. This is what the enemy is out to oppose and every inch of the ground has to be contested. So, in Ephesians 6:1-24, we have the armour which we need in this conflict, outlined for us. "Stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth." Not only are the Messianic rights of Christ in the earth attacked, but His universal authority as Son of Man — His rights both in heaven and on earth. What adds both pathos and solemnity to this conflict is, that christendom, in its leaders, has gone back to the God-defying wickedness of the early centuries and the multitudinous schools of thought of the Gnostics. This same playing with holy things is in evidence amongst those leaders in christendom calling themselves Modernists. The sad feature of it all is that the Gnostics were openly opposed to christianity, but the enemies of the truth to-day are inside, taking the place of giving us new light; delivering us from the traditions of the past, while robbing the people of all the holy things of God. How terrible is the position of church leaders today. The synagogue of Satan is what the professing church has become and the throne of Satan is set up there. Revelation 2:9; Revelation 2:13-14; Revelation 3:9. In the great hierarchy of the professed body of christendom, men are set up as officials who do not fear to attack the birth, ministry, and atoning work of our Lord, in such a way that the common people, whose guides these men assume to be, are afraid.

It was fore-seeing all this that the Lord has doubtless given back to the Church in these last days, the whole Apostolic testimony. This, in the goodness of our God, has come into the hands of many of the flock of Christ in power, so that a remnant are fitted to stand, in the face of the apostasy of the ages. Laodicea, with all its pretension has come. Some have got the eyesalve to see the situation and to open the door of the heart to give Him His place, Who is so worthy, and consequently, have the joy of supping with Him in the very midst of apostate christendom. It is only the fear of God that delivers from the fear of men and such are delivered from the hereditary class, who claim to be what they are not but are in truth, blind leaders of the blind.

We must remember that this is a moral conflict. It has long raged, including in its arena heaven, earth, and hell. Its present aspect has gone on since Calvary and will continue till the Lord Himself appears. "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:4-5. This warfare may be visualised in the men who were the servants of Christ in the days of the Acts of the Apostles. Here were men who knew that the race was not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. They were clothed in the armour of light and exposed the hidden things of darkness, pulling down strong holds in such a way, that their enemies were compelled to say, that these men had turned the world upside down. The whole armour of God is thus provided for us that we may stand and, having done all — that is, having conquered — may still stand. There are Truth; Righteousness; Peace; Faith; and Salvation. These are the divine verities provided for this awful conflict and the way they are bound together, so as to become effective, is by PRAYER. This is the power. It has long been said that a man of prayer is a man of power and surely in this way, it is proved. Then it has to be remembered while the clash is on earth, we are made conscious that our real enemies are lords of darkness; spiritual powers of wickedness in the heavenlies.

Needless to remark, all these garments are moral as indicative of certain features which the Spirit produces in those who belong to Christ. Material dress has its place and it is well when dwelling on these abstract realities, that we should not only be clothed with humility but also in modest apparel. We have reached a time when morals have got so low that modesty is little known and that which Scripture designates abomination, is seen in our streets without shame. It is one of the proofs that Laodicea has come and the saddest thing of all is, to see how easily believers fall into such things. But as we close our meditation on fine linen, we may recapitulate and it may be glance at christendom in relation to the truth we have had before us. Our point in part one was the wealth of typical instruction contained in the Old Testament concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. As the centre of the divine volume, He fills both Testaments but in the Old Testament it comes out necessarily in type, figure, symbol, promise and prophecy. Prophecy foretold what history records namely, that the march of events in this world, from Adam, for four millenniums, was towards the incarnation of the eternal Son of God. During much of this period, Messianic songs sounded out in strains of heavenly music, both from men and women, in ecstatic vision, as under the control of the Holy Spirit. This glorious event was foretold in a threefold way as answering to what we have already seen in the Divine-Human Person of our Lord. (1). God Himself was coming down to deliver. Exodus 3:8; Isaiah 13:3; Isaiah 13:5; Zechariah 14:5; Mark 1:1; Mark 1:3. (2). The seed of the woman; the Son of Abraham; the Son of David; the Prophet like unto Moses that would be heard. Genesis 3:15; Deuteronomy 18:15; Matthew 1:1. (3). These two lines of Messianic prophecy run right through the Old Testament, but combine together in Isaiah 6:9 and Micah 5:1-15, where the Babe of Bethlehem is described as the eternal God whose goings forth have been from eternity. This leads to part two namely, the holy Gospels and the grandeur of the incarnation. Coming then to the holy Gospels we pass from types and pictures and come under the charm of a MAN. If we must have a department, this is the Holiest of all. No other subject is like this. It bows us in humility white we exult in praise. Its simplicity inspires us with confidence but its grandeur with holy amazement. At times there is ecstasy of delight, while at other times it is the silence of holy awe. All is wonderful! His Name is Wonderful. Isaiah 9:6. We worship and adore. Here behold the matchless beauty of that MAN, in the simplicity of obedient service; serving His God faithfully, in unbroken dependence on the one hand, while on the other there is the Majesty, Omnipotence, and Omniscience of God. Putting the two together we have the Divine-Human Person of our Lord in a holy mystery where there is perfect control with perfect submission; command with obedience; endless resource with poverty; supreme power over all in heaven, earth, and hell yet, submitting to the cross. This is the record of the Gospels. This is our Lord, the peerless Lord Jesus Christ. Oh! why do we not adore Him more? Marvel of all marvels, this is the One this world has crucified and, still taking advantage of His wondrous stoop, continues to tarnish His glory. This leads to part three where we have considered the cross in relation to the creature’s guilt and, behind it all, the wonder of the cross as the fruit of the eternal purpose and plan of our Got. The perfect submission of our Lord to everything that apostate creatures could. heap upon Him and along with this, His set purpose to carry everything through for God’s glory according to plan and the blessing of the creature whose malignity put Him there. In the light of this, think of the way our blessed Lord is set aside today, both in His incarnation and atoning work. We do not refer here to this deluded world but to christendom — that which calls itself by His Name. Could we have a more melancholy picture than the numbers of church dignitaries, who belittle and ignore the work of the cross, by assuming that the Lord Jesus connected Himself with man in the flesh to lift him up? Perhaps there is nothing more amazing than the way Christ is belittled in christendom. When we think that soon every part of the universe is to vibrate with His praise, from the highest down to every blade of grass, Why is it, we may well ask, that men who stand high in official dignity in that great religious hierarchy called christendom, are not intelligently in the light of His Incarnation and Redemption and leading His praise just now? Instead of that, there is the deplorable sight of many of these men at a loss to know what to do and sadly crying out for a new age. This leads to part four where we saw how God had made good His thoughts in a remnant. There are those today who, in infinite grace, see the perfect beauty of His plan and purpose and can in holy liberty worship and adore. Such have learned the meaning of God’s plan and see how, line the key to the lock, it fits into and solves every problem. Surely every sane person would admit that since it is His plan, it must be perfect in every way. Instead of attempting to bring Christ back to this life and eulogising Him as a great Teacher to set up again fallen men, they have learned the racial character of the Gospel which comes from a glorified Christ, to lift them out of the Adamic condition and link them with Christ in glory, as the new Head of a new race, into which thank God, no fall can ever come. "Hallelujah! Sing unto Jehovah a new song; sing his praise in the congregation of the godly. Let Israel rejoice in his Maker; let the sons of Zion be joyful in their king. Let them praise his name in the dance; let them sing psalms unto him with the tambour and harp. For Jehovah taketh pleasure in his people; he beautifieth the meek with salvation. Let the godly exult in glory; let them shout for joy upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand." Psalms 149:1, Psalms 149:6. New Trans. So beloved reader, we sought your ear at the beginning of our meditation and now, one word at the close. We have looked together at some of the entrancing scenes of holy Scripture. Things which the Gold; Blue; Purple; Scarlet; and Fine Twined Linen portray. Have we learned something of the wonders of the holy Book of God? It shows us God: man; angels; and devils, as well as heaven; earth; and hell. It shows us the sphere where good and evil rages and man’s entrance into the conflict with all its terrible results and terrible consequences for those who refuse salvation from Christ. It shows us where time touches eternity in the past and leads us on through storms and conflict, to where eternity touches time’s end in the future. How marvellous and beyond all our creature thoughts is all this! It shows us man’s world where the fallen creature grovels under Satan’s tyranny, where sin, death, and demons operate and where the creature is engaged with things which must — however great in his estimate — pass away for ever.

Beyond all this, it shows us God in His Own world. That scene where all that is pure and holy obtains and sin and death can never come. Here He displays Himself in the fulness of redemption, grace, and glory, surrounded by those who have been made capable by redemption, to respond to Himself in holy adoration for ever more. The time scene sets forth many wonderful things both on the side of good and the side of evil. Above all, it sets forth GOD. In that scene He is seen today in perfect control of all whether Providence, Government, Long-suffering, Goodness and Truth. Oh! how marvellously does it display Him in redemption, where all His wonders are seen in plan, purpose, and execution in His blessed Son — now being made good by His Spirit. The centre of all the grand legacy which eternity will draw from time’s eventful history, will be the abiding miracle of God the Son’s becoming flesh, to carry out in the creation, the eternal counsels of the great Godhead. His stoop to Manhood and the cross with the holy grandeur as recorded in the four Gospels — all will abide and form the grand centre of that eternal scene, in the light of the grand fact that Manhood, in Him, has been carried far beyond its originally created condition, to the place marked out for it in the counsels of eternity. His Incarnation and Atoning work will continue to be, as it were, the twin pillars upon which will rest the stupendous fabric, which the great Godhead has built up out of the time history of sin, sorrow, and woe. While, in the time history my reader in our schooling days, let us give ourselves to these heavenly and eternal verities, that we may carry with us into eternity some of the spoils of victory. This has now been made blessedly possible by the constant supply of the mighty power and grace of our God.

"And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work."