04.07. Conclusion

Conclusion

It only remains now in conclusion to summarize the purpose of the issue of this edition in addition to what has been said in the introduction.

First and foremost, our purpose in cooperating with Dr. Bushnell in making known to Christian women the truths which Cod has enabled her to gain for His redeemed church is that we see it is impossible for the invisible church, consisting of the living members of Christ, to reach "full stature’’ in preparation for the lord’s return unless each member of the " Body,’’ set in its place by Cod, fulfills its office. For how can the Body reach full growth, and "make increase with the increase of God," if some of its members are quenching the Spirit or retarding their own growing up into Christ by breaking the laws of the Spirit in His leading them on into maturity?

It has been said that this question of the status of Christian women and their right to speak or pray in the assembly of saints most vitally concerns the Body of Christ; and this is so, for if a member of the Body, in which Paul says there cannot be "male or female," fails to carry out the will of the "Head," it checks the life of the entire Body and the manifestation of the Spirit through all its members.

It is important for the understanding of this to distinguish (1) the ’’church" as an organisation (in various sections) of professing Christians and (2) the "church’’ as an organism forming the mystical Body of Christ. In the first are rules and laws made by men who have a right to say who shall and who shall not occupy certain places and do certain work in its services; and Christian principle demands that no woman, or man for that matter, should act contrary to these rules. In the second-the "church" as an organism, formed of living members of Christ-are the ’’ laws of the Spirit,’’ which govern members of the Body according to the will of the Head; and each member must be free to obey the Spirit if the Body of Christ is to increase with the increase of God. In Paul’s description of the assembly in 1 Corinthians 14:1-40, the principles of action for the members of the Body-the "church’’ as an organism-are easily to be seen in their external manifestation as they worked out in the early church-and as tney would work out today if the Spirit of God had right of way in the gatherings of God’s people.

It is this difference between the professing church of the present time and the mystical "church" [Body] of Christ which Christian women need to understand in their service for Christ when, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, they are called to ’’ proclaim godliness." Where and when they are to speak, the Spirit of God must show them. But they should clearly define on what footing they stand as they speak. If they are to have working with them the Holy Spirit, do they speak as women or from their spiritual position as members of the Body of Christ, "new creations in Him? This point is so vital for the obtaining of the eo-working of the Holy Spirit in service that we must endeavor to make it clear. Let us turn for illustration to Ephesians 2:11-19, where Paul speaks of the cause of the enmity between Jew and Gentile as ’’the laws of commandments contained in ordinances. This enmity, the Apostle says, was slain through the cross so that ’’ He might create in himself of the twain one new man’’-the Body of Christ of which He is the Head. On the Cross, where the old Adam was slain, the Jew and the Gentile-as Jew and Centile-died, the one with his ordinances and the other without, so that out of both might be created a new creation, neither Jew nor Gentile, but Christ. For only through the Cross and the slaying of the old Adam is the " New Man’’-the Body of Christ-created; and there is no way into the membership of the Body but by way of the Cross. Then what he says about Jew and Gentile in Ephesians 2:1-22, Paul declares in Galatians 3:28 about "bond and free’’ and "male" and ’’female." If the Cross slays the enmity between Jew and Gentile because both have died with Christ, it also slays the distinctions of "bond and free," "male and female," in the Body of Christ. In the light of this sweeping away of earth’s distinction between Jew and Gentile by the Cross, is it not clear that the Cross has removed also the middle wall of partition" between male and female in the service of God? What difference is there between them before God, apart from the redemptive work of Christ? Has man or woman any right within the veil except on the ground of the atoning blood? Is it honoring the blood of Christ to believe that God bids a redeemed woman always enter His presence with a reminder of Eve s "fall" upon her head, or is she to point to the atoning blood and to the Cross of Calvary where the old creation life was slain and stand in God’s presence under her new Federal Head-the Last Adam, the Lord from heaven? And stand also towards her fellow members of Christ’s Body in the carrying out of the will of the Head in testimony and service for Cod. In the home sphere she is woman, wife, mother, sister, daughter, but in the Church and in service for God, praying or " proclaiming godliness,’’ she is a " partaker of the divine nature,’’ a messenger of the Lord of Hosts, a member of the heavenly Body, the Church-in both spheres seeking, with a meek and quiet spirit, to do the will of her Head in heaven. As we consider all this, it appears that the spiritual understanding of the truth of the Body of Christ is alone sufficient to show that the words " Let your women keep silence" was the language of the Judaizers and not the "commandment of the Lord," for it is obvious that the Apostle would not speak at one moment of the "spiritual" status of the ’’Body,’’ and each member as a channel of the Spirit and in the next moment lapse to the dealing with one section of it on the status of the Fall! In the light of this truth of the Body of Christ and the need for its rapid maturing in view of the lord’s soon return, we earnestly pray that through this message every Christian woman who has been called of God to witness for Him in " proclaiming godliness’’ may be strengthened to fulfill her ministry, with the empowering assurance that the Word of God is in harmony with the call of God which she has received. And we pray still more that the Holy Spirit may call out witnesses, male and female, to the Cross of Christ in this last hour of the Christian dispensation. That this was God’s purpose for redeemed women, as well as redeemed men, was unmistakably expressed in the prophecy of Joel foretelling the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.... Upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit," said Joel (2:28-29). He was one of the last of the prophets who could say, "Thus saith the Lord," before the ’’days of mingling" came upon the Jewish people, when there was no longer any prophet or vision of God. How the Holy Ghost came on the Day of Pentecost and how ’’daughters" and "handmaids’’ prophesied as they were filled with the Holy Ghost is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. And so it has been all down the centuries ever since. The Spirit of God has never been poured forth in any company, in any part of the world, in any nation, without the ’’ handmaids" prophesying, and this as the spontaneous and unvarying result of the Spirit of God moving upon women as well as men, as at Pentecost. This invariable characteristic of all "revivals" is accumulative historical evidence to the mind of God on the matter, giving additional proof that 1 Corinthians 14:34 and kindred passages should have been interpreted by translators and expositors in the light of Acts 2:1-47 and not Genesis 3:16. For we dare not attribute satanic power, without danger of sinning against the Holy Ghost or quenching the Spirit in those whom God has moved to proclaim the Gospel, to every supernatural movement that has ever broken out in the church, or differentiate and say that only the men were inspired by the Holy Spirit and all the women at the same time, in the same place, were inspired by Satan. Counterfeits there have been in every movement of the Spirit throughout the ages working alongside the true, and counterfeits there are today. But there is one infallible test for distinguishing the false from the true-the testimony to the atoning work of the Cross of Christ.

We believe solemnly, as in the light of the Judgment Seat, that Dr. Bushnell speaks truth when she says, "The church which silences women will be found to silence the Holy Ghost,’’ and "a sect, or sex, or race which attempts a monopoly of the Spirit’s voice and power, will find that the Holy Spirit will flee far from it.’’ We are in the throes of the most crucial changes in the world, when "our (God is marching on" into the fulfillment of His purpose for the Church and for the world. ’’ All things,’’ said Paul, " are for your sakes.’’ God’s time has come for the emancipation of women, but it will be woe to the world and terrible loss to the Church if they are not won for Christ and for His service. For it is certain that if Christ does not get hold of the women of today, the devil will. And on the other hand, in the light of the Genesis 3:15 prophecy and evangel, it will be woe to the " serpent" and to his kingdom if those whom he has so oppressed and persecuted lay hold of the fact of his utter defeat at Calvary and in the power of their triumphant Head turn upon their foe in assurance of victory.

Let us pray for revival if the Lord still postpones His return and be ready to welcome all that is of God when the opened heavens are given. May He set His seal to this message for His glory unto the ages of the ages. Amen.