Address—D. Rule
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We'll begin by singing together the first verse only.
Of #141.
141 first first and we'll need somebody that can start tunes to start it for us.
To turn with me to Proverbs chapter 8.
Proverbs, chapter 8.
And verse 23 I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no foundations abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before the hills were, was I brought forth.
Well, as yet He had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world, when He prepared the heavens.
I was there.
When he said a compass upon the face of the depth.
When he established the clouds above. When he strengthened the fountains of the deep.
When he gave to the sea his decree that the water should not pass his commandment. When he appointed the foundations of the earth.
Then I was by him as one brought up with him.
And I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, And my delights were with the sons of men.
Now over to Ephesians chapter one.
Ephesians chapter one and verse 9.
Having made known unto us the mystery of His will.
According to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.
That in the dispensation of the fullness of times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth even in Him.
We're going to consider together briefly.
Some of the purposes and counsels of God.
When I was traveling here.
I was struck by the fact that when we came far enough W that there was no cloud cover but we could clearly see the ground.
Then looking at the ground, there was a lot of interesting things to be seen.
The landscape had a lot of differences to its features. There was a one point I wished I brought my binoculars so I could have seen some of it in a little finer detail.
It was interesting. It was something that my natural eye could take in at least a tiny bit, have some sense of understanding of what I was seeing.
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Then I looked up.
Instead of down and when I looked up the the sky was quite blue. No clouds, no features was featureless.
There was nothing that the natural eye could see to look at or to understand.
I introduced the remarks this way because.
As natural men, there are things that God has created us to be able to see and understand.
They're temporal things. They're going to pass. They're not going to endure. But as we look at them, we can enjoy them. We can enter into them with our natural minds and eyes and hearts too.
But when we look up.
In the picture that I've tried to draw to you at first, there's nothing to be seen.
There's nothing to be understood really. It seems empty.
But we're told in the Word of God concerning the purposes of God.
The eye hath not seen.
Neither half the ear heard.
Neither hath entered into the heart of man.
The things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
We can stop that verse there.
But God, God doesn't stop it there.
We can say, as it were, we have no sight, we have nothing that we can see with respect to that which God has said. The eye hath not seen, the ear hath not heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man.
But it goes on to say, but God.
Hath revealed them to us.
God has chosen.
To make known to us.
In quite a bit of detail, actually.
What his thoughts and his purposes are.
I look out at you as a company of people.
And with my natural eye.
You're a pretty ordinary group.
There's nothing particularly remarkable about you as I look at you.
Some young, some old.
And so on.
But if I look at you and I do.
According to the purposes and counsels of God.
This room in its glory exceeds.
The grandest view of creation.
You represent as you sit there, not just represent, you are.
Some of the carrying out.
Of the purpose and counsel of God.
U Express.
In what you are.
The glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ.
Friday night.
I was looking at one of you across the room in the Shadow Hills meeting room.
And it's always a joy to look at you.
Because I see in you.
Something of Christ.
And that which I see in you, Christ in you.
As part of the fruit.
Of the glory of God in Christ.
That has made you what you are.
Enrollments. I'm sorry, in Proverbs chapter 8, I'm going to make a little application.
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But it's I think it's part of the interpretation too.
Back in eternity passed.
Before there was.
Anything created?
Just gone.
No angels, no heavens, no earth, no man, nothing.
Existed in what we call creation.
And if I may take the liberty to do so.
We'll have a conversation that took place back then.
Mm-hmm.
We're told.
I was daily by him as his delight.
God had daily delight.
Even though time didn't exist.
God found his pleasure, his delight.
In the sun.
The son found his pleasure and his delight.
Not only in receiving the delight of the Father or God, if you will.
But also he rejoiced.
As only God could do, and that which didn't actually exist, as we would say, in fact, but his delight was in the habitable part of God's creation.
And further his delight.
Was it in the sons of men?
That shared delight.
That oneness between.
God and Son.
Formed the beginning.
Of the counsels of God.
OK, because from it.
Comes all that has come to be.
There's certain things in the formation of those thoughts and councils that had to be maintained.
If you will.
Whatever might be done.
Must be consistent with what God is.
In his essential being, God is light and God is love, and anything that would flow from God would be that.
Which expressed light and love.
Holiness was essential as well.
Because God is holy.
Whatever was to be.
Would express the glory of God.
And so.
If you will, in that conversation of a past eternity.
Godstone.
Whatever.
I want to see.
My son.
Be supreme.
The center of it all.
The Sun. My delights are in the sons of men.
I want.
To see them.
And so.
It was determined.
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That there would be a creation.
A creation that represented or expressed.
The delight of the Creator.
The special.
Center of that creation.
Would be the habitable part.
Of it.
And it would be said, let us make man.
In our image.
And in our likeness.
And so the purpose of God began to, if you will, to be formed in his counsels.
It was further determined.
That man that was to be created.
Would have the oversight, the dominion of the creation.
He would be head over it.
In Ephesians chapter one.
Verse 10 has often been called the key to the whole Bible.
It unlocks, if you will, the understanding.
Of the whole.
That the scriptures that the purposes of God bring to us.
We know it expresses in that verse.
What will be seen in the Millennium?
In the display of the glory that is part of the purposes of God.
But I want to give emphasis not to that aspect of it.
But to the part that says.
In one all things in Christ.
That was God's delight.
And whatever was to be, was to be that which centered itself.
In Christ One, we're going to look at some of the purposes of oneness. They're fantastic in their character.
But just here to introduce the thought that there would be that which centered everything that would be in one Christ.
And everything would have its relationship to that one center.
Christ.
There's something I believe significant also, as we will see in the expression in Christ.
In Christ.
What we are before God as this creature as unfolded in his counsels, our position, our place before God is always seen in that in Christ.
And further, in general, it's always or most always seen in new creation.
Because it says in Second Corinthians chapter 5 if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.
And the fullness of the purposes of God didn't stop with what we would call the original creation in which Adam was placed on earth, but the purposes of God went on to that which we call new creation, which God calls new creation, and to which we have been brought into in Christ.
If there's to be a creature.
According to the heart of God.
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He must be like Christ.
Must be like Christ.
God must, because God is God, love him as he loves his own Son.
We'll see more of it, but I'd like to refer.
We won't have time to turn to many of the scriptures that we might but turn with me to.
2nd.
Timothy, Chapter One.
Second Timothy, chapter one and verse nine, who has saved us and called us with any holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose.
That's what we're taking up, His purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus.
Before the world began.
These things, we won't look at all of them, we're just looking at some of them. But if you trace it out in your own enjoyment, in the Word of God, you will find them quite often. Mama. Well, always in some way connected with before the world began.
And you will be surprised at how many places we learn things that were in the thoughts of God before the world began. And so here we have something that's told us about his purpose. It was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, when we read here of grace.
Grace flows from what God is in love, in action.
And before the world ever began, it was the purpose of God to express His heart in grace.
And further, it was the purpose of God to do it.
In connection with Christ and in Christ.
Turn over to Titus.
Chapter One.
Titus chapter one and verse 2.
In hope.
Of eternal life.
Which God who cannot lie?
Promised.
To you, To me, No.
Promised before the world began.
Consider that statement. Here's a promise made by God before the world began.
Who promised who what?
God made a promise to the Son.
Before the world began.
Concerning life.
Eternal life.
The Sun and the Father in perfect unity.
Decided and God makes the promise to the Son. Yes.
The creatures we create.
Will be given eternal life.
It's a tremendous thing.
This is life eternal.
That they might know thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom thou descend.
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Life was going to be given to bring the creature into a oneness with the creator of fellowship and communion.
A nature.
A nearness.
God was going to bring.
Man into the most intimate, close relationship with himself.
MMM, we know concerning the Lord Jesus.
And concerning what we call marriage.
Which, if there's time, we'll get to later.
We know the statement. It is not good that man should dwell alone.
I will make a help meet for him his life.
And so the church was formed in the counsels of God with that thought in mind.
For his son.
Who, to fulfill their purposes, would become man.
Mm-hmm.
But his like.
A oneness.
Communist.
But one could enjoy the other.
But in my own heart.
I'm gonna say this about my God that I know at least a little.
It is not good.
That God should dwell alone.
It is not good.
That God should dwell alone.
So another brother said at conferences like this many years ago.
Multiple times in my youth, he said God is sufficient in himself.
In every respect except one.
And that is?
An object or his love.
That's another way, perhaps of saying it is not good.
That God should dwell alone.
And when we look on to the future and the finish of the work and the fulfilling of the councils, we read in Revelation 21.
God shall dwell with man.
He will not dwell alone.
For eternity God shall dwell with man.
The Father's delight is in the Son, the Son's delight is in the children, sons of men, and so God's delight is in the same.
The sons of men as well.
For there's perfect harmony in it.
And in the thoughts of God.
Turn over to.
John's Gospel, chapter 17.
John 17 verse one. These words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said Father.
The hour is gone.
Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.
As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give.
Eternal life.
Promised life of Titus.
That he should give eternal life to as many.
As thou hast given him.
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ.
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That was sent.
Father, the hours come.
That which we purpose.
In eternity past.
That which we together form this purpose and Council.
Now the time has come.
To carry it out.
To make it known.
To the objects of our councils.
The work is still going on.
Fullness of the Councils have not been yet fulfilled.
But the hour had come.
To, if you will.
Begin to manifest.
And fulfill that which was to the glory of God and the Son.
And their purposes.
Life was to be given.
That man might be brought into the unity.
That he could be brought into as a creature.
With God.
I'll just stop. Not exactly this point, but to back up, if you will, for a moment.
We're told from First Timothy chapter 6.
That God dwells in unapproachable light.
Which no man has seen nor can see.
God in his very essence.
Is unapproachable in His Majesty.
I don't know any real way of trying to express it except to say man would never think of.
Going to the sun, it's an unapproachable light, it's seeable, so it isn't exactly right analogy. But at least in the sense of unapproachableness, there is a majesty and natural creation connected with the sun or any other such * that man can't approach.
There are no plans that NASA or anywhere else on this Earth for man to take a trip to the sun.
It's absolutely unapproachable to him.
In God there is a majesty that is beyond the creation that.
Is not seen and never will be.
So in the purposes of God and the bringing of them out, we have what's brought out in Colossians chapter one. We won't take the time to refer to it, but concerning the sun, it says he is the image of the invisible God.
Expected brother Darby.
Says that's the essential of all his stories, of which the others are derivative, that is.
God to act.
To do what he purposes to do was going to must carry it out in sun.
God has spoken in Son. The image of the invisible God is sun.
Are drawing near to God is in sun.
And in the relationship with Father, he that has seen me has seen the Father. The revelation of God, the nearness of God to us, is carried out in sun.
And so here the sun is carrying it out.
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One of the.
If you will purposes or counsels, was the father saying to the son, Your delights are in the sons of men?
And I purpose giving them to you as a gift.
And some of them very special gift.
They'll be part of your bride, your body, the church.
So notice.
We're not going to go into it in detail, but, uh, here in this chapter, he says.
On verse nine, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, given to him before the world began.
For they are thine, and all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them.
Now I'm no more in the world.
But these are in the world, and I come to the Holy Father. Keep through thine own name those whom Thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. I want to just give emphasis to the expression. They may be one as we are.
And umm, skip down to.
Verse 21.
That they also may be one, as thou, Father art in me, and I and thee. That they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Verse 23 I and them and thou in me, that they made me bade perfect in one.
That the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. I'll try to differentiate here particularly, but just this thought connected with it.
The purpose of God, the counsel of God to fulfill the good pleasure of His heart and the delight in His Son and His Son and the sons of men.
Was to bring that creature into the nearest possible oneness with himself.
Oneness and will.
Oneness in joy, Oneness in thought.
Oneness and glory that the creature could participate in as the last one, this is.
That they may be one with us.
And that for eternity.
How much higher?
Could God go? Couldn't go any higher than that.
But to have the purpose of bringing us into a unity with himself.
That we might for eternity with God share with Him in what is in His heart, and what's in His heart, His Son.
His son's delights and the sons of men. The very evidence that we're children of God is that we love one another.
Because love is of God and it's an expression of what's in His heart.
Love your brother.
You love him because that's what God is and does, and it expresses that which you've been brought into with Himself.
To delight and what he delights in. To joy and what he.
Rejoices and.
If I could put it this way and and the counsel of God.
God the Father says.
I'll be the source of love in them.
I'll dwell in them, in love.
The Sun says.
I'll be their life. I'll dwell in them as life.
The Spirit says I'll be the power of that life.
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And so God dwells in us, in his purpose, and in fact, in love.
The Spirit dwells in US.
But they may be one in US, he says.
It's wonderful, isn't it?
You know.
These things are not.
Something for the mind.
Yes, we listen with our minds.
But the understanding of them.
Is in the heart.
Man in nature understands with his mind.
But in the spiritual realm, in the family of God, that the understanding of your heart.
The intent, I believe of God this afternoon is to write these things not so that we can all understand them with the intellect none of us can actually, but that they be written in such a way as on our heart that we can say is in Ephesians chapter 3 to know.
And then it says concerning that which is beyond comprehension.
We can know in our hearts that which we can't comprehend with our minds, and God wants us to enjoy Him. That's why He gives us life. If you knew everything there was to know objectively about God, and you didn't know His heart, you don't know God.
You don't know him.
You can go to philosophy school and they can give you 27 attributes of God and omniscience and this and that and the other and have absolutely no comprehension of God at all.
Because.
You have to have the heart for it, and you have to have the life to have the heart.
And so.
That's what God is saying. And so he goes down to verse 26. I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it that the law were with thou hast loved me may be in them.
And I in them.
God imparts to us.
That love, it flows from himself.
The the oneness is so great and it's so important, I think, to enjoy it in the soul that.
Divine Love.
Flows from God's heart as its only source.
Divine Love does not have a source in US.
It's found in First John Four. We won't go there, but.
That's the unity, if you will, of desire and purpose of God to bring us with to Himself. That the very love itself, there's only one source of it and it's gone and it flows into us. And if it's flows in US and there's no hindrance in the vessel of us, it flows out and is seen to others.
There's only one eternal life.
Only one. There's a room full of people that each have their own natural life. But this purpose of God in Oneness for us and bringing us together with Himself is such that there's only one life.
Christ is that life, Christ who is our life.
That life is in US.
But there's only one life we share. We participate in one and only one life, Christ, who is our life.
And that's part of the oneness.
Of the thoughts of God.
Turn over for a little bit more to Ephesians chapter one.
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Ephesians chapter one and verse four, according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that tells us it has to do with His purpose and counsel before the foundation of the world that we want we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.
Holy and without blame before him in love. We'll just make a quick comment or two here. Umm, I was very thankful yesterday in the reading comment was made about the glories of Christ involving redemption is found in first Peter chapter one. Just to say this, God has chosen to display himself in his glories in two main spheres, in creation and in redemption.
And as part of that purpose of God, when it says the Lamb in first Peter chapter one, it says ordained before.
The foundation of the world, that purpose of God in redemption, was part of His counsel and determined in the land before the foundation of the world and in that work of redemption.
It is a necessary work to fulfill what God's end results are to be that we might be holy and without blame before him in love, holy as having received the divine nature that Peter speaks about our life in Christ and.
Without blame redeemed.
Cleanse.
Made clean through Christ before God.
And so he chose us in verse 5 unto the adoption of children or sons by Jesus Christ to himself.
The particular and specific relationship of our place. I like it expressed this way.
The Son of God became the Son of man, but the sons of men might become the sons of God.
Part of that purpose was to bring us to be in his family.
Having the life and nature of the family as sons and the thought of sons as Galatians 4 uses the word sons is intelligence understanding.
Commonness. You have a child and a family and at first it it has the nature, but it doesn't have the the father and the mother can't talk to it with all that's in their heart because it's limited by its age and its capacity. But the thought of sonship is that which is maturity, so that the fullness that God wants to share with us and his delight in his Son, we're capable of comprehending and enjoying it.
As he enjoys it.
We again have in verse six to the glory of His grace.
That was part of how he was to act.
Well, we, we won't take it up for time, but another aspect and wonderful and one we take up more frequently than some other aspects of this together is that.
As we said for God, I I believe it's true to be said it's not good for God to dwell alone, but the sun having become man, it's not good for man to dwell alone. And so part of his counsel and special part of his counsel was to give the son a bride. And so in a collective way we're part of his bride and the bride becomes a Co heir with him of all that he.
Inherits. She shares, as we have in John 17, Oneness in His glory. His official glories that can be shared. She shares in them, and he finds his delight in sharing his heart with one that has been brought in such nearness to himself.
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It wouldn't have satisfied the heart of the Lord Jesus to be heir of all things and having the proper dominion over all the creation alone.
It was honor, glory, splendor, but not fully satisfying to His heart. And so we are as His body in verse 23, the fullness of Him that filleth All in all.
Last few minutes I made a partial list of them. I'm not going to refer to the places, but maybe you say to yourself, well, what's the practical side of all this? Yes, it's all true, or maybe it's all true or something like that. It has a very, very practical side if you appreciate what God purposes and His carrying out for His glory and your blessing.
God having so chosen and determined these things.
Calls those who he's chosen.
To participate and be part of it. And when it gets to the point of the calling those that he chose and predestinated for certain things and so on, says then he also called.
And if you turn to Hebrews Chapter 11 with respect to a different calling, but the calling of Abraham, when it says about Abraham's call, it says he obeyed.
He obeyed.
That is, the calling involves something of responsibility in US in the response to the call.
I looked at A room.
Make a minute or two remark about something taken up at Saint Louis Conference.
I'll just quote a verse of him.
Called from above.
And heavenly men by birth.
I'm looking at a room full of heavenly people.
Called to that.
That heavenly man came down to earth, and we see it in John Three. He spoke to an earthly man named Nicodemus to call him.
To a heavenly calling.
Nicodemus was having trouble understanding it, and the Lord had to say to him, well, Nicodemus, if you don't understand the earthly things, that is, of Judaism, how are you going to understand the heavenly things of the heavenly call?
I've come down to earth as a heavenly man to call you to be part.
With me.
We're heavenly by calling.
Is it practical? Are you living a heavenly life even though in the circumstances of earth?
Peter says that the calling is he that has called you as holy be holy.
In all manner of conversation, if I truly enter into what God is blessed and brought me into.
It's a holy calling. God is holy, and so he says be holy.
Am I walking a holy life presently?
Peter says you called you out of called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Do I live as in the light? I am in the light, John One tells me first. John one tells me. Do I live that way? Do I live transparently?
Would you like everything that you did last week to be written on the board?
We fellowship with God is essentially to be in light. There's no darkness in God. And if there's something on the record of last week.
That is inconsistent with the light. There was no fellowship in God in that part of the day or time.
Ephesians 4 says to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you're called.
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We all know something of the exhortations of Ephesians 4.
Are we walking according to it? And all loneliness and meekness, long-suffering?
The fruit of the light it tells us in chapter 5 is is in goodness and righteousness and truth.
Consistent with the calling.
First Corinthians 19 says.
Called into the fellowship of his son.
Jesus Christ.
He's called me, and he's called me in the church too, into the fellowship of his son.
Did I express that fellowship with him this morning?
In the remembrance of himself at his table.
Do I express that oneness in my daily life in fellowship with himself?
May God help us.
As it says in first John chapter two, he that hath this hope in him, that hope which is the result of the calling of God in purpose and counsel, to be like Christ in perfection, as it will be in the end. If that's my hope, that's my expectation. He that hath this hope in him, it says purify himself even as he is pure.
That is, in the measure in which these things lay hold of our hearts. We will seek in practice each day to be more like Him. Let's pray.
Our God and Father, please work in each one of us.
To fulfill thy good pleasure.
And give us.
That daily desire.
To walk.
Consistent with the calling.
We ask our God, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.