WE have here a remarkable instance of the parenthetical style of the epistle; for the whole chapter on which we are entering is an example of it. We shall find parenthesis within parenthesis, the want of seeing which increases the misunderstanding of the epistle; but once observed, all is easy, and the moral fitness of such a form of describing what is in itself a sort of parenthesis in God's ways has been and should be noticed by the way. We can seek, by the grace of God, to learn and consider the reason for these digressions, which form a parenthesis of unusual length. The whole of chapter 3 comes in between the doctrine of the close of chapter 2 and the exhortation at the beginning of chapter 4, which is founded upon that doctrine. What is the meaning of this turning aside? The Holy Spirit stops short in the midst of the unfolding of the doctrine to lead us into—what? The answer, I think, is very plain. He had just alluded to that which must have seemed a great stumbling block to a Jew; namely, God's forming one body, where there is neither Jew nor Gentile. Among Christians now, I am sorry to say, the difficulty is not even felt, still less is the truth understood. The reason is because they have so little hold of the faithfulness or the purposes of God. For what is a real trial of faith to a devout mind is when one part of the truth of God appears to clash with another. There cannot be any real discord; all must be in perfect keeping and harmony: But we are not always able to understand how the different parts of truth hang together.
Let us for a moment seek to put ourselves in the position of the Jewish believers, who inherited the thoughts and feelings and prejudices of the Old Testament saints. And let such an one have words of this kind clearly pressed upon him—one body, neither Jew nor Gentile, the enmity slain, the middle wall of partition broken down. What a truth for a Jew! How extraordinary that God should destroy that which he had been building up, and had so long sanctioned; that God who had so formed and insisted on the distinctions between Jew and Gentile, on peril even of death to slight them, that He Himself should reduce them to nothing, and bring in what is totally different from and irreconcilable with the old order! No wonder all this should be a difficulty, if put together as being the mind of God for the same time. But there is a key to the whole enigma. They are not instituted of God for the same time. Hence all the difficulty amounts to is—that God, who at one time ordained the distinction between Israel and the Gentiles, is pleased now for a season to abolish it and to bring in an entirely new thing. Now the early part of chapter 3 is devoted to the explaining of this special part of the mystery of Christ, whereby the Gentiles are brought forward and put upon exactly the same level with the believing Jews that now received Christ, so that in this world they form one and the same body. But the more that a man adhered to the truth of the Old Testament, the more insuperably hard this was, because the Old Testament never speaks of such a state of things. In fact, for a person who only knew the Old Testament revelations, it was a wrench without precedent, and that for which he must have been altogether unprepared. There was this difficulty of apparently going contrary to the plain word of God. This is the difficulty that the Holy Spirit here removes out of the way. And first of all, observe the wisdom of God in laying an admirable foundation for the bringing in of this doctrine. We have seen the counsels of God from all eternity centering in Christ, and embracing the glorious thought of souls gathered out from this world to be the sharers of the same love and glory in which Christ is now found in the presence of God. (Ch. 1) That He gradually brings down to meet souls in their ruined state upon earth; and we had it in chapter 2. And now in chapter 3 we have the digression for the purpose of explaining fully the nature of this part of the mystery.
We must, however, guard against the notion that the mystery or secret means the gospel. The gospel never was, and never can mean, a mystery. It was that which in its foundations always was before the mind of God's people in the form of promise and of a revelation of grace not yet accomplished. But nowhere in Scripture is the gospel called a mystery. It may be connected with the mystery, but it is not itself a mystery. It was no mystery that a Saviour was to be given; it was the very first revelation of grace after man became a sinner. The seed of the woman was to bruise the serpent's head. A mystery is something that was not revealed of old, and which could not be known otherwise. Again, you have in the prophets a full declaration that the righteousness of God was near to come; the plainest possible statement that God was going to show Himself a Saviour-God. So again you have His making an end of sins and bringing in reconciliation and everlasting righteousness. All these things were in no sense the mystery. The mystery means that which was kept secret, not that which could not be understood, which is a human notion of mystery, but an unrevealed secret—a secret not yet divulged in the Old Testament but brought out fully in the New. What, then, is this mystery! It is, first, that Christ, instead of taking the kingdom, predicted by the prophecy, should completely disappear from the scene of this world, and that God should set Him up in heaven at His own right hand as the Head of all glory, heavenly and earthly, and that He should give the whole universe into the hands of Christ to administer the kingdom and maintain the glory of God the Father in it. That is the first and most essential part of the mystery, the second, or Church's part, being but the consequence of it. Christ's universal headship is not the theme spoken of in the Old Testament. You have Him as Son of David, Son of man, Son of God, the King, but nowhere the whole universe of God (but rather the kingdom under the whole heavens) put under Him. In this headship over all things, Christ will share all with His bride. Christ will have His Church the partner of His own unlimited dominion, when that day of glory dawns upon the world.
Hence then, as we know, the mystery consists of two great parts, which we have summed up in Ephesians 5:3232This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:32): “This is a great mystery; but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” Thus the mystery means neither Christ nor the Church alone, but Christ and the Church united in heavenly blessedness and dominion over everything that God has made. Hence, as we saw from chapter 1, when God raised Him from the dead, He set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, “and put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the Head over all things to the church.” It is not said, “over the church,” which would overthrow, not teach, the mystery. He will be over Israel and over the Gentiles, but nowhere is He said to reign over the Church. The Church is His body. I admit it is a figure; but a figure that conveys an intense degree of intimacy, full of the richest comfort and the most exalted hope. The saints that are now being called are to share all things along with Christ in that day of glory. Hence it becomes of the greatest interest to know what the nature of the Church is. When did its calling begin and what is the character of that calling and the responsibilities that flow from it?
The Epistle to the Ephesians is the capital seat of the doctrine of the Church; and if the Spirit of God here departs from the current of the doctrine, it is to give us a view of what was one of the chief difficulties connected with it; namely, the Gentile believers being brought with believing Jews into the unity of Christ's body. A Jewish mind would not feel it so strange that God should bless a Gentile; but he would suppose that the blessing must be inferior to that of a Jew—that a higher place must be reserved for Israel and a lower one for the Gentile. The doctrine brought out now overturns all this. To a mind bred in Old Testament thought it was the apparent undermining of the plain word of God. How was so natural and strong an objection to be removed! It was a new thing for heaven, during Israel's rejection for the earth. Further, it is from not understanding “the mystery” and what the Church really is that the Popish or antichurch system has sprung up. But not only so, Protestants too have departed from the Word of God on this subject through unbelief of our heavenly relationship to Christ and through love of the world—love of present honor and worldly greatness. They have not the faith and patience to wait for the day of Christ. A Christian is called upon to suffer now, to be cast out as evil, waiting to be glorified with Christ—not merely by Christ, but with Christ, to be with Christ Himself where He is. This supposes our place “without the camp,” that is, every form of worldly religion. Does not the world now take the place of being the Church of God? This is the part of Babylon; and though the strongest expression, and, if you will, the center of Babylon is found in Popery, that system of confusion is not confined to Rome. We do well to come nearer home, to examine what we are about ourselves, to look whether we be not drawn away into a grave misunderstanding of what God has saved us for. Do Christians generally realize that they are saved at all? Are they simply, thoroughly, abidingly happy in the consciousness of God's salvation? Look at the hymns that are sung—think of the prayers that are offered. They are the aspirations of anxious, uneasy souls, who call themselves miserable sinners, because they have no conscious possession of the blessing, but only desires after it. Is it possible that it comes to this, that souls count it humility to doubt God? that it is a becoming and boasted part of the worship of God to express the misery and the bondage of redeemed souls on the day that proclaims that their sins are blotted out and their peace made? Where, in all this, is the simple, hearty rest in the knowledge of redemption as a completed thing? of sins being entirely done with for the Christian, as far as regards the judgment of God. Assuredly there remains always the need of our acknowledging our sins, and of judging ourselves; but this is quite another kind of judgment and of confession, the confession of souls which blame themselves so much the more because they have not a doubt that they are sons of God—hearts which are perfectly at peace and which express their happiness in songs of praise and thanksgiving to the God that has forever saved them.
Upon the foundation of salvation as a complete thing, the Holy Spirit leads on to the understanding of the Church. If you do not know and rest in Christ's redemption as accomplished, yea and accepted for us of God, you cannot have a single true idea of the Church. This shows the exceeding wisdom of the Spirit of God in bringing in the doctrine of the Church here, after all question of salvation has been fully met and settled. “For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles.” He was a sufferer even to bonds for the sake of the Gentiles. Wherever a person takes his place truly as a member of the body of Christ, how can he have honor, or escape reproach and trial in the world? The proper home of the Church is in heaven; but on earth he who brought out this blessed truth is content to be a prisoner. “If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward.” Dispensation here means administration or “stewardship” —that for which he was held responsible to God. The Apostle Paul was the instrument chosen of God for bringing out the nature, calling, character, and hopes of the Church. Mark the ways of God. He would not develop it among the Jews, nor would He reveal it by Peter or James. It was revealed to them no doubt, but not by them. The Apostle Paul was the only one of the inspired writers by whom God made it known. Hence if there were the smallest truth in apostolic succession, Paul ought to be the root or channel through whom the succession comes, and not Peter, who was expressly an apostle of the circumcision. Paul's apostleship was directly from the Lord and with the uncircumcision as its sphere. He was the grand witness that all true ministry must be direct from Christ. He may work by means. He may call a person to preach, and there may be persons whose gift is developed by means of teaching. The same apostle who derived his gift from the Lord, and who insisted upon this so strongly, was teaching others. He communicated the truth to Timothy, and Timothy was enjoined to teach others that which he had himself received. The Lord works by those who understand the truth well, to communicate the truth to those who understand it less. But still the principle remains, that all gift is immediately from Christ, and not derivative from man. There were outward and local appointments, such as elders and deacons; but that was another thing altogether. The elder might teach or not, and might do so formally and publicly, if he were a teacher; but his eldership was purely a certain charge communicated by the authority of the apostles, distinct from the question of gift. I only refer to the underived character of gift properly so called, which the Spirit distributes in the Church. It comes immediately from Christ on high (Eph. 4), and not through the muddy channels of the earth.
In this further statement the apostle Paul says, “By revelation He made known unto me the mystery (as I wrote afore in a few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ).” He had touched upon it in chapter 2, but now he is entering upon it more fully. “Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men.” Here you have a positive statement that the secret was a something not revealed in other ages— not that it was obscurely intimated or badly understood, but it was not revealed at all. It was a secret kept hid, as the apostle lets us know in Romans 16 “Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest.” It was only now divulged. It was not that the thing had been predicted by the prophets, and only now laid hold of by faith. In truth it was now made manifest, now published and taught; it never had been before. “But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.” There is no doubt that the “scriptures of the prophets,” alluded to here, are New Testament scriptures. It is, properly speaking, “by prophetic scriptures,” not referring to Old Testament prophets at all; and for this reason— “Now is made manifest, and by the prophetic scriptures.... made known to all nations.” Had the meaning been Old Testament prophets, what could have been more extraordinary than such an expression? He might have said, It was revealed to the prophets, but now it is understood. But he says, It is now made manifest. “Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.” There were inspired men, not apostles, who were prophets. To both of these it was now revealed; but we cannot say that “prophetic scriptures” in Romans 16 extend beyond the writings of Paul, which develop this blessed secret of God. The unfolding of the Church ensued when the Holy Spirit was given after a new manner. “The Holy Ghost was not yet [given] because that Jesus was not yet glorified.” The Holy Spirit had wrought before, but He was to be poured out personally; and this is identified with the calling of the Church. At Pentecost, for the first time, we have an assembly that is called the Church of God. “The Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved.” There we find what is called the Church or the assembly: a body which God intended to have Jew and Gentile without distinction; which state of things never existed before the day of Pentecost. And now we have Jews and Gentiles brought into this new order, new to both of them, to which the former revelations of God no longer applied as a direct description of their privileges.
And here let me warn you to beware of so taking the Scriptures as if everything God says there is about you and me and the Church. The Church is, comparatively, a new thing in the earth; it is exclusively a New Testament subject. If I said that saints were thus new, it were false; but if you say that the Church embraces Old Testament saints, you neglect and oppose the word of God, which confines the Church of God to that which began with Christ set at the right hand of God, and the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven to baptize all who now believe into this one body. What is meant by “the Church? “The assembly of souls gathered by the knowledge of Christ dead and risen, and by the Holy Spirit united to Christ, as the glorified man at God's right hand. Such a state of things did not exist before Pentecost. There was no redemption accomplished before the cross. Christ stands alone as Son of God from all eternity—a divine person equal with the Father. But He became man in order to die for men upon the cross; and risen from the dead, He enters upon His new place of headship to the Church, His body; the Bridegroom of the Bride. Atonement has been made and sin put away by the sacrifice of Himself; and there could be no such thing as becoming a member of the body of Christ till this was accomplished. The Church is founded upon the remission of sins by the blood of Christ already shed, and consists of those that are united with Christ to share all His glory, save that which is essentially and eternally His own as the only begotten Son of the Father.
Then comes in this special part of the mystery “that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.” The promises of God to Abraham, and the promise of God in Christ, are two things not only different but contrasted. For if I look at the promise to Abraham in Genesis 12, “I will make of thee a great nation,” is this the Church's expectation? When Christians become great in the earth, it is when they have slipped out of their proper blessing in fellowship with Christ; but when Israel is made a great nation in the true sense of the word, they will be blest and a blessing as they never were before. The promise was given to Abraham, and will be accomplished in his seed on earth by and by. “I will make of thee a great nation.... and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Here you have room left for the going out of blessing to the Gentiles; but mark, they are to be blessed in Abraham, and afterward in his seed. In Genesis 22, the promise is renewed to Isaac; and this is what is referred to in Hebrews. “By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.” Is this what we are looking for? I trust not. We want to be in heaven with Christ, and we shall be there through His love and the favor of our God. But Israel is to possess the gate of his enemies, and to be exalted above all people of the earth. In the Psalm we have a sort of commentary upon these expectations of the godly in Israel. Thus in Psalm 67 we have the prayer, “God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause His face to shine upon us (Selah); that thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.” The preliminary of the blessing to other nations is the answer to Israel's cry, “God be merciful unto us and bless us.” All hope for the world as such depends upon the blessing of the Jews. Not so as to the Church, which God is now calling out. Its blessing does not hinge on the promises or the blessing of any people. Hence these Psalm do not apply; yet persons persist in diverting them to present circumstances. No wonder that they are bewildered. The fault is in their perversion of the word of God. “Let the people praise thee, O God; yea, let all the people praise thee.” Now it extends to others. “O let the nations be glad and sing for joy; for thou shalt judge the people righteously and govern the nations upon earth.” When that day dawns, instead of the groaning and travailing that as yet prevails, “Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.” Anything like this is very far from being the case now. It is the millennial state that is expected here, when the power of God will be put forth triumphantly, and God will acknowledge His people Israel, and other nations will be blessed in them. Now the Gentiles are fellow-heirs and of the same body. “Fellowheirs?” With whom? With Christ, and with the Jew in Christ. Whether Jews or Gentiles, they are fellow-heirs. Grace has put them on common ground. It is not now the Jews set on the pinnacle of the earth's blessing. On the contrary, as a nation they are dispersed, and God is judging them, not showing mercy; there is a complete obliterating of the old landmarks. And for this reason: the Jewish people were the real leaders in the world's enmity against Christ, and in the crucifying of their own Messiah. The cross of Christ terminated the distinctions between Jew and Gentile; and, founded upon that cross, God is building the Church. The vilest sinners upon the face of the earth, whether Jew or Gentile, God takes up; and out of their condition of sin and distance from God, puts them all upon one common heavenly level as members of the body of Christ. This is what God is doing now, and it is of immense importance to understand it, in order to enjoy fellowship with His ways. Besides the whole Bible becomes practically a new and yet more precious book when this is understood. Truth cannot admit of compromise, however rightly we may seek to be patient; the revealed mind of God necessarily excludes the notion of people having their own private judgment. Neither you nor I have a right to an opinion on matters of faith. God is the only one entitled to speak on these things; and He has spoken so plainly that it is our sin if we do not hear Him. But you cannot sever truth from the spiritual affections. Hence, if people do not carry out the truth of the Church practically, they lose it, and become bitter against it. God's mind about the Church always brings him who knows it into the world's enmity, and the special enmity of Christians who do not understand it. It was so with Paul preeminently, and it has been the same tale ever since as souls have laid hold of his testimony; and so it must be. The doctrine that Paul held, if taught by the Spirit of God, never can admit of a party, because the very center of it is Christ in heaven.
The apostle goes on with his statement; and this is the particular phase of the mystery that he brings out here— “That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of His power.” What is the effect of this truth? The most humbling possible. “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. It brings out the value of Christ as nothing else does. He adds further, “And to make all men see what is the administration [not, fellowship] of the mystery.” Be shows thus, that besides the aspect of the mystery towards the saints, it has also its application to all men, without distinction; to those outside the Church. Persons who preach the gospel necessarily preach Christ, hut there are few who understand the character of the grace which unites the soul with Christ in the relationship of members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. This was a main part of Paul's work. Therefore he adds, administration of the mystery, “which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.” Mark, it is not hid in the Scriptures, but “hid in God.” “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.” Consider what a wonderful place this is—that God is now making known a new kind of wisdom to the angels above by his dealings with us; and, by us, I mean all the saints of God now on earth. For let them be called by whatsoever name, every saint of God is a member of the body of Christ. All belong truly and equally to the Church of God. The only difference is, that we ought to understand what the Church of God is, and to act upon it; we ought to know what God intends, and how He intends His Church to walk. Christ is equally possessed by all; but all do not equally understand what the will of God about His Church is; how He would have us to worship Him, and to act upon His word together; how to help one another to carry out this glorious truth—God is manifesting by the Church His varied wisdom. Are we walking so according to the will of God for His Church, that He can point to us as a lesson to the angels of God? Such, and no less than this, is God's intention. You cannot, surely, get rid of the responsibility connected with it, by refusing to act according to it! It is not by and by, when we reach heaven, that God will manifest by the Church His manifold wisdom to the heavenly hosts, but now on earth, while the members of the Church are being called. “That now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.” Does not this bring in a very serious consideration? It is not a question of what men think about us, and whether we are loved or disliked here below. Very sure I am, that if we are walking according to Christ, we never can be anything but hated by the world; and it shows that we value the world if we wish it otherwise. It is a most painful thing to feel that so it must be; but if I believe Christ I must believe this, and I ought to rejoice to be counted worthy to suffer in the least degree. But beside this, the Church is called to be the lesson-book for the angels of God. When we think that God is overlooking with the angels that surround Him; that He is occupied with such objects as we are; that He sees in them the dearest objects of His affections; that He has given them Christ to be their life, and sent down the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, to take up His dwelling-place in them, and make them to be His temple, while they are in this world, what a calling it is. If an angel wants to know where this great love is, he must look down into this world and see it thus. You cannot sever Christ from the Church. But the wonderful thing is, that, before the angels of God, the astonishing conflict is going on—Satan and all his hosts endeavoring to mislead them, by putting them on a false ground, preaching righteousness in a thousand forms, in order to lead them away from grace and from the cross of Christ. On the other hand, there you have God working by His word and Spirit to bring His people to a consciousness of their privileges. But whether the children of God are faithful or not, perfect love dwells upon them and acts towards them (it may be in discipline); God is occupied with them, caring for them, always keeping this before His mind, that He will have them perfectly like Christ. Nothing can cloud this. Weakness may for a time dishonor the Lord, and destroy our own comfort, and help on the delusion of the world. All that may be; but the purpose of God, it shall stand; what God has spoken must be accomplished. Our weakness may be manifested, but God in His mighty love will complete His purpose. And this is the way in which He is teaching a new kind of wisdom that never was seen before in this world, to the principalities and powers in heavenly places. They had seen God's ways in creation, and at the deluge, and in Israel. But here was something that was not even in the Scriptures of God, which was not promised to man, a thing entirely kept secret between the Father and the Son.
Now it is come out. The Holy Spirit is the One who develops and makes good this glorious truth of the Church of God. How far have our souls entered into it. How far do we content ourselves with vague guesses at it, thinking that it is of no great importance? Willing ignorance of this truth arises from a secret love of the world. There is the feeling in him who declines it, that you cannot take it up in heart and walk with the world. You must thoroughly break with everything that the flesh values under the sun. You have a place above the sun with Christ, and the consequence is that you are called on to submit to the sentence of death on everything here, to glorify the name of Christ and rejoice in Him, whatever may be the will of God about us. For no circumstances shut us out from the responsibility of being the witnesses of a glory that is above this world. The world ought to see in the Church the reflection of Christ. You may find a nun or a monk sweet morally, but all this may be mere nature, and not Christ. I do not say that Christ may not be there too, in isolated cases, spite of an outrageously wicked system. To faith, however, it is a question of doing the will of God and of glorifying Christ in the place of earthly reproach. God looks for the confession of the name of His Son at cost of everything. If the world heeds it not, is it in vain for the principalities and powers in heavenly places.