The
same text that closed the study last night will be our study for several
lessons yet to come. Therefore if any part of the text should be passed
over and you think it has not been explained yet or has not been noticed
even, just bear in mind that we are not nearly done with the text yet
and each part will come in in its place. Ephesians 2:13-18:
But
now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometime were far off are made nigh by
the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and
hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having
abolished in his flesh the enmity … for to make in himself of twain
one new man, so making peace.
That
is He did it to make peace. Peace is made and only by this means. And it
is all “in himself.” And He made this peace, “that he might
reconcile both [Jew and Gentile] unto God in one body by the cross, “having
slain the enmity thereby.” The text says “thereby.” The margin
says, “having slain the enmity in himself”; the German says,
“having put to death the enmity through himself”; “and came and
preached peace to you which were afar off and to them that were nigh.
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”
I
would mention again, as I did last night briefly, that it is the
separation, the enmity, that existed between Jew and Gentile that is
considered here. It is true that the destruction of that separation and
enmity is considered, the taking away of it is studied and explained,
and also the means by which it is taken away and the destroying of it is
told. But as we mentioned last night, Christ did not spend any time
trying to get the Jew and the Gentile, as of themselves, reconciled
among themselves. He did not begin by trying to get them to agree to put
away their differences, turn over a new leaf and try to do better, and
forget the past and let bygones be bygones. He did not spend two minutes
on that, and if he had spent ten thousand years, it would have done no
good, because this separation, this enmity, that was between them was
only the consequence, the fruit, of the enmity that existed between
them and God.
Therefore,
in order effectually to destroy the whole evil tree and its fruit as it
stood between these, He destroyed the root of the whole thing by
abolishing the enmity between them and God. And having done so “he
came and announced the glad tidings—peace to you who were afar
off and to those near.” Greek.
Thirteenth
verse: Therefore, “Now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometime were
far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace who
hath made both one.” It is true that he made both Jew and Gentile one,
but he first made another one, in order that these two, “both
Jew and Gentile,” might be one and before they could be made one.
Therefore the “both” in this verse, that are made one, are not the
“both” of verse 18. In verse 13 the two, the “both” are God
and man, who is separated from God whether he be near or far off.
Therefore,
first, he is our peace who hath made both God and man one
and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between God and man,
having abolished in his flesh the enmity; that is, the enmity
which is in man against God, which is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be. This He did in order that He in Himself of
two should make one new man, so making peace.
The
new man is not made of two men who are at outs, but is made of God and the
man. In the beginning man was made “in the image of God.” And
that signifies a good deal more than the shape of God. One looking upon
him would be caused to think of God. He reflected the image of God; God
was suggested to whoever looked upon the man. God and the man
were one. And God and the man would have always remained one too,
had not the man hearkened to Satan and received his mind which is enmity
against God. This mind that is enmity against God, when received by the
man, separated him from God. Now they were two and not one. And being
separated from God and in sin, God cannot come to him Himself, for the
man cannot bear the unveiled glory of His presence. “Our God is a
consuming fire” to sin, and so for God to meet a man in that man’s
self or alone would be only to consume him.
Men
in sin cannot meet God alone and exist. This is shown in Rev. 6:13-17.
The great day when the heaven departs as a scroll when it is rolled
together and the face of God is seen by all the wicked ones upon the
earth, then “the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich
men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond man, and
every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the
mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us
from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of
the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able
to stand?” A man who is in sin, a man in and of himself, meeting God,
would rather have a mountain upon him than to be where the unveiled
glory of God would shine upon him.
Therefore,
in order that God might reach man, and be joined to him once more; in
order that God might be revealed to man once more, and that man might be
once more in the place which God made him for, Jesus gave Himself,
and God appeared in Him with His glory so veiled by human flesh that
man, sinful man, can look upon Him and live. In Christ man can meet God
and live, because in Christ the glory of God is
so veiled, so modified, that sinful man is not consumed. All of God is
in Christ, for “in him dwelleth all the fullness of the godhead
bodily.” When Jesus came to bring man once more to God, He veiled this
bright consuming glory so that now men can look upon God as He is in all
His glory in Jesus Christ and live. Whereas, out of Christ, in Himself,
alone, no man can see God and live. In Christ, out of Himself, no
man can see God and not live. In Christ, to see God is to live,
for in Him is life and the life is the light of men.
Thus
God and man, by the enmity, were separate, but Christ comes between and
in Him the man and God meet, and when God and the man meet in Christ,
then those two—“both”—are one, and there is the
new man. And “so,” and only so, peace is made. So that in
Christ, God and man are made as one; consequently, Christ is the at-one-ment
between God and the man. At-one-ment, making at one. Consequently, join
the syllables together and He is the atonement. Oh, the Lord
Jesus gave Himself and in Himself abolished the enmity to make in
Himself of two—God and the man—one new man, so
making peace.
Now
we come to the other “both” in verse 18: “That he might reconcile both
[both Jew and Gentile] unto God in one body.” But what body is
it in which He, Christ, reconciles “both” into God? His own, of
course. His own, in which the at-one-ment is made. “Having slain the
enmity thereby and came and preached peace to you which were afar off”
to the Gentile, “and to them that were nigh,” that is, the Jews.
The
Jews were nigh “for their fathers’ sakes.” As in themselves, on
their own merit, the Jews were separated from God and were just as far
off as the Gentiles. But God had made promises to their fathers and they
were beloved for the fathers’ sakes. And they had the advantage, for
to them pertained “the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and
the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises.” In
this sense, and for this cause they were nigh. And he preached peace to
them that were nigh; they needed peace preached to them.
Thus
“through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”
Now
let us follow this expression, that the enmity is destroyed in himself.
“Having
abolished in his flesh the enmity”--having slain the enmity in
Himself. In Himself of two, so making peace. It is all in
Himself. No man can have the benefit of it except in Him. If
there be those in the audience to whom this seems obscure and who would
say, “I cannot see that” and would stand off and look at it as
though it were something you would try to get hold of from without, I
would say to such, You will never get it in that way. That is not the
way it is done. It is in Him that it is done, not outside of Him.
In Him only can it be known, not outside of Him at all. Surrender to
Him, yield to Him, sink self in Him, then it will be all plain enough.
Only in Him it is done, and only in Him can it be known.
We are to study now how it was done in Him. And knowing this, we shall
know how it is done for every one of us in Him.
First
of all I would call especial attention to that expression “in Him.”
This expression is not used in the Scriptures and I shall never expect
to use in any such sense as that it is in Him as in a receptacle or a
reservoir to which we are to go and take out what we may need and put it
upon us or apply it to ourselves. No, no, no! That is not it. It can
never be gotten in that way. It is not there as in a receptacle to which
we are to go and take out what we would have of him and enjoy it and
apply it to ourselves and say, “Now I have got it.”
No,
it is in Him, and we ourselves are to be in Him, in order to have
it. We are to sink ourselves in Him. Our self is to be lost in
Him. Then He has us. Only in Him it is. We find it only
in Him. And even when we would get it in Him, it is only by being
ourselves overwhelmed in Him. Never are we to think of going to
get it there and take it out of Him and use it ourselves.
Therefore where the Scriptures use the term “in Him,” it means only
that to all. All is in Him and we get it by being ourselves in
Him.
Many
people make a mistake here. They say, “Oh, yes, I believe on Him. I
know it is in Him and I get it from Him.” And they propose to
take it from Him and apply it to themselves. Then soon they
become quite well satisfied that they are righteous; they
are holy, and they get so far along at last that in their estimation it
is a settled fact that they are perfect and just cannot
sin and are even beyond temptation. Such a view is certain to bring only
such result, because it is out of Him. And it is themselves
who are doing it.
But
that is not the way. That is self still, because it is out of Christ.
And “without Me,” that is, outside of Him, “ye can do nothing,”
because ye are nothing. In Him it is and only in Him. And only as
we are in Him can we have it or profit by it at all. The
Scriptures will make that all plain. I thought best to set down this
explanation so that in the studies that are to come of what is done in
Him and what is given is in Him, we shall not make the
mistake of thinking we are to find it in Him and take it out. No. We are
to go to Him for it. There is where it is, and when we go to Him we are
to enter into Him by faith and the Spirit of God and there remain and
ever “be found in Him.” Phil. 3:9.
Turn
to the book of Hebrews now and we will study the first two chapters for
the rest of this present lesson. The question now is, How did Christ
abolish this enmity “in His flesh” “in Himself.” I will first
state the argument in both chapters in order that we may cover the two
chapters in the short time we shall have.
In
these two chapters the one great thought is the contrast between
Christ and the angels. I do not say that is all there is in the two
chapters, but that is the one thought that is above everything else.
In
the first chapter and up to the fifth verse of the second chapter is the
first contrast; in the second chapter from the fifth verse to the end of
the chapter is the second contrast.
In
the first chapter and up to the fifth verse of the second is the
contrast between Christ and the angels, with Christ as far above the
angels as God is, because He is God. In the second chapter, from the
fifth verse onwards, is the contrast between Christ and the angels, but
with Christ as far below the angels as man is below the angels, because
Christ become man.
There
is the outline of the two chapters. That is the statement of the case.
Let us read the chapter:
God,
who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the
fathers by the prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his
Son whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the
worlds; who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of
his person and upholding all things by the word of his power.
Or,
as the German reads, “Holding up all things by his powerful word.”
That gives another turn to it; not simply the word of His power, but He
carries all things, holds them up, by His powerful word. And we might
pause a moment upon that one statement. How many things are held up by
His word? All things. The world? Yes. The sun? Yes. All the starry
heavens? Yes. Does the word that made them still hold them up? Yes. Can
we be numbered among the “all things?” Assuredly so. Will He hold
you up by His powerful word? That is the only way that he holds anything
up.
Were
you ever uneasy any time in your life, when you arose in the morning
with the sun, for fear that the sun would drop out of place before noon
or before sundown? Oh, no. Were you ever uneasy when you arose with the
sun for fear that you yourself as a Christian would slip
out of place before sundown? You know you have been. Why were you not as
uneasy as to whether the sun would drop out of place before sundown,
fearing that that might slip out of place and fall as you were that you
yourself would fall? Oh, of course no one ever thinks of any such
anxious question as to why the sun does not fall. It is always there and
will stay there.
But
it is perfectly fair for the Christian to ask, Why is it that the sun
does not slip out of his place? And the answer is, The “powerful word”
of Jesus Christ holds the sun there and causes him to go on in his
course. And that same power is to hold up the believer in
Jesus. That same word is to hold up the believer in Jesus and the
believer in Jesus is to expect it to do so, just as certainly as it
holds up the sun or the moon. That same powerful word is to hold up the
Christian in the Christian’s course, precisely the same as it holds
the sun in his course. The Christian who will put his confidence upon
that word that is to hold him up, as he puts his confidence in that word
that holds up the sun will find that that word will hold him up
as it holds up the sun.
If
you think of this scripture tomorrow morning when you arise, you will
think that God is holding up the sun. You will not wonder at it either;
you will expect him to do that and will not be watching uneasily to see
whether the sun will slip out of its place. No. You will simply go about
your work with your mind upon the work and leave the holding up of the
sun altogether to God, to whom it belongs. Also tomorrow morning when
you arise with the sun, just expect that same powerful word to hold you
up as it does the sun. Leave this part to God too, and go about your
work with all your might and put all your mind upon your work. Let God
attend to that which belongs to Him, and give your mind to that which He
has given you to do. And thus serve God “with all the mind.”
We cannot keep ourselves from falling. We cannot hold ourselves up. And
He has not given us that task to do.
This
is not contradicting the text that says, “Let Him that thinketh He
standeth take heed lest He fall” because in this way the man is
relying upon God to hold him up and does not depend upon his own
efforts. And he who constantly bears in mind that God is holding him up
and that he must be held up is not going to be boasting of his
ability to stand. If I had to be carried in here this evening, perfectly
helpless and two or three of the brethren should have to stand here and
hold me up, it would not be very becoming in me to say, “See how I can
stand.” I would not be standing. I could not stand. Just the moment
they should release their hold, I would fall.
It is
precisely so with the Christian. The word of God says of the Christian,
“To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden
up; for God is able to make him stand.” Rom. 14:4. And the man
whom God is holding up, who is trusting in God to hold him up,
and knows that it is God alone who is making him stand—it is
impossible for that man to begin to say, “I am standing now, and
therefore there is no danger of my falling.” Is there any danger of a
man’s falling while God holds him up? Of course not. It is only when
he takes himself out of the Lord’s hand and begins to try to hold
himself up and then boasts that he can stand, it is then that there is
not only danger but the thing is done. He has already fallen. He takes
himself out of God’s hand and he is bound to fall.
When
he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the
Majesty on high.
When
did he sit down on the right hand of God? How long ago? Away back
yonder, when he arose from the dead and went to heaven—nearly nineteen
hundred years ago. But notice, He had purged our sins before He
sat down there. “When He had”—past tense—“by himself
purged our sins, sat down.” Are you glad of this? Are you glad that He
purged your sins so long ago as that? In Him it is. In Him
we find it. Let us thank Him it is so. The Word says so.
Being
made so much better than the angels as he hath by inheritance obtained a
more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at
any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I
will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he
bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the
angels of God worship him. And of the angels, he saith, Who maketh his
angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he
saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.
What
is his name? What does the Father call him? God. “Thy throne, O
God.” Then that is His name. How did He get it? Fourth verse: “As
He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than
the angels.” You and I have a name that we have by inheritance. We may
have four or five names, but we have only one name that we got by
inheritance. And that is our Father’s name. And that name we have just
as soon as we exist and just because we exist. By the very fact of our
existence we have that name; it belongs to us by nature. The Lord Jesus
“hath by inheritance” obtained this name of “God.” Then that
name belongs to Him just because He exists. It belongs to Him by nature.
What nature is His, then? Precisely the nature of God. And God is His
name, because that is what He is. He was not something else and then
named that to make Him that, but He was that and was called God
because He is God.
A
scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved
righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
The
Father still speaking, says:—
And,
thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth;
and the heavens are the works of thine hands. They shall perish, but
thou remainest: and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a
vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou
art the same.”
No
change with Him. Notice the connection in these words: “They shall perish;”
“thou remainest;’ they shall be changed; thou art the
same.” When these perish and pass away there is no passing away to
Him—Thou remainest. When these are folded up and changed, there is no
change in Him,—Thou art the same.
And
thy years shall not fail. But to which of the angels said he at any
time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them
who shall be heirs of salvation? Therefore we ought to give the more
earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we
should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast and
every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of
reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at
the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by
them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and
wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost,
according to his own will?
There
is the contrast between Christ and the angels so far. And where is
Christ in the contrast? Where God is, with the angels worshiping Him.
And if an angel’s word was steadfast and received a just recompense of
reward when it was disregarded, how shall we escape if we neglect the
word of Him who is higher than the angels? How shall we escape if we
neglect the word of God spoken by Himself?
Now
turn to the other contrast. Ephesians 2:5—
For
unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come,
whereof we speak.
There
are those two worlds of which we spoke last night. God said, I will put
enmity between man and Satan. And that gives man a chance to choose
which world. We have chosen the world to come. Unto the angels hath He
not put in subjection that world either; that is the thing He is talking
about. The world to come which we have chosen is not put in subjection
to the angels.
But
one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man that thou art
mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Now
what is the purpose, what is the force, of putting the word “but” in
there? He has not put it in subjection to the angels, but He has said of
man so and so. Does that suggest that He has put it in subjection to
man? What do you think? Look at it again. “Unto the angels hath he not
put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak; but”—What
part of speech is “but”? A conjunction. A conjunction joins two
parts of a sentence. But this is a peculiar kind of conjunction, a
disjunctive conjunction. A juncture is a joining, conjunct is to join
together; disjunct is to separate. Then here is a word that both joins
and separates. It is a conjunction in that it joins the clauses;
it is a disjunctive in that it separates the thoughts that are in
the two sentences or clauses as the case may be.
Many
people say, “I believe the Bible, but”; “Yes, I believe the Lord
forgives sins, but”; “Yes, I confessed my sins, but.” That “but”
disjoins them from everything that they have said; it shows that they do
not believe at all what they have said. What are the two things, then,
that are separated by this “but” in Hebrews 2:6? First, who are the
two persons who are separated by the “but”? One is the angels and
the other is man. He has not put in subjection to the angels the world
to come, but has put it in subjection to somebody and that somebody is man.
Let us study it for that blessed truth.
But
one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man that thou art
mindful of him? or the Son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest
him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and
honor and didst set him over the works of thy hands: thou hast put all
things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in
subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now
we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus.
Where
do we see Jesus? “We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the
angels.” There is the contrast again between Christ and the angels. In
the other contrast we saw Jesus higher than the angels; here we see him
lower than the angels. Why? because man was made lower than the angels
and by sin went still lower even. Now “we see certainly as it is true
that as Jesus was where God is, so certainly He has come to where man
is.
There
is another thought we want to put right with that. He who was with God where
God is, is with man where man is. And He who was with God as
God is, is with man as man is. And he who was one with God
as God is, is one with man as man is. And so certainly as His
was the nature of God yonder, so certainly His is the nature
of man here.
Let
us read this blessed fact now in the Scriptures, and that will close the
lesson for tonight. Tenth verse:
For
it became him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in
bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation
perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who
are sanctified are all of one.
Christ
sanctifies, and it is men who are sanctified, and how many are there of
them? One. It was Christ and God in heaven, and how many were there of
them? One in nature. How is He with man on the earth and how many are of
them? One, “all of one.”
For
which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will
declare the name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I
sing praise unto thee.
That
time is coming soon, when Christ in the midst of the church will lead
the singing. Remember, this is Christ speaking in these quotations. “And
again, I will put my trust in him.” This is Christ speaking—through
the Psalms, too.
And
again, behold I and the children which God hath given me. Forasmuch then
as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also likewise took
part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the
power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them, who through fear
of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took
not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his
brethren.
He
who was one of God has become one of man. We will follow the thought
further tomorrow night.
1895 General Conference
Bulletin. A. T. Jones Sermons NO. 12.
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