Ephesians 1:9-10
Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Him,
Unto a dispensation of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth.
In some versions, in verse 10, you may find the phrase, “to sum up all things in Christ.”
Ephesians 3:9-11
And to make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery which for ages hath been hid in God Who created all things;
To the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God,
According to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
May we look to the Lord in prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, it is the desire of our hearts that we may see Thee face to face. We do praise and thank Thee because Thou hast made it possible for us through Christ Jesus, that veil having been rent.
So we do come to Thee this morning with unveiled faces. We desire to see the glory of the Lord and be transformed according to His image by the Lord, the Spirit. We commit this time into Thy hands and trust Thy blessing, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
We have mentioned a number of times that the Bible is nothing but the revelation of Jesus Christ. The reason why we study the Bible is that we may know Him. This is the only reason why the Word is given to us, and this is the only way that we approach the Word of God.
Therefore, we desire to see the Lord Jesus in every book of the Bible. We have been trying in the past, beginning with Matthew, and this morning we would like to see Christ in the letter to the Ephesians—or, to put it in another way, see Christ through the church.
There is a similarity between the book of Acts and the letter to the Ephesians. Why? Because in the book of Acts we see the risen Lord doing and teaching through His corporate Body, which is the church. That is what the book of Acts is all about.
Then, in the letter to the Ephesians, it is again the Lord Jesus as the Head of His church. But there is a difference. In the book of Acts, we find the fact presented to us: the fact that Christ is seen in His Body. In the letter to the Ephesians, we find the teaching—the teaching of Christ in the church.
You know, it is a wonderful thing, because God always presents us with the fact first, and then He is going to tell us what it means.
In the book of Acts, we are presented with the fact that the church is really Christ Himself working and teaching on earth. Just as, when He was on earth during those years in His incarnation, He taught and worked through the body which He took upon Himself, so likewise, in the book of Acts, we find that the risen Lord took upon Himself another body, a corporate Body. In that corporate Body, He continued to do and to teach. This is a fact.
Now we find in the letter to the Ephesians the interpretation, the teaching. What does this mean?
We remember that this letter to the Ephesians was written by Paul when he was in prison. Physically, he was restricted. He was not able to be active, moving around among God’s people.
But he was not down in his spirit. On the contrary, we find that he still soared to the third heaven, and there he saw the mystery of God. He tried to share that mystery of God with the believers in Ephesus and, of course, with us today.
This letter to the Ephesians reveals to us Christ as the Head of the church, His Body. It is the mystery of God’s will.
In 1 Corinthians 2, Paul says, “I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” But that does not mean that, aside from the fundamental teaching—aside from the foundation of Jesus Christ and Him crucified—Paul knew nothing else.
Immediately following, he says, “But among the perfect”—and the perfect there does not mean sinless perfection. Nobody is sinlessly perfect except One, our Lord Jesus. He is sinlessly perfect. But “the perfect” in the New Testament means grown up, mature.
Among mature people, Paul says, “We speak wisdom”—a wisdom that is not known by the world, nor by the rulers of the world. It is God’s wisdom in a mystery. It is a wisdom that has been hidden through the ages, and it is for our glory.
Now, there is no contradiction here. Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the foundation, but that wisdom that Paul talks about—God’s wisdom in a mystery—builds upon that foundation. It is the same Christ.
So here, in the letter to the Ephesians, Paul deals primarily with this wisdom of God in mystery. He leads us back to eternity past and then onward to eternity to come. In other words, in this letter to the Ephesians, Paul deals with the matter of the eternal purpose of God.
Dear brothers and sisters, God has an eternal purpose. Why do we call it an eternal purpose? Because God purposed that purpose in eternity past, before there was time and before there was creation. God had already purposed a purpose in Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.
Then God works through all time until He realizes that purpose in eternity to come. What He has purposed in eternity past must be, and will be, and shall be realized in eternity to come, because God cannot fail.
That work is in time. So He created time, a period in which He can work out His eternal purpose. This is really what time is, and we are still in time now.
Now, what is the purpose that God has purposed in Himself in eternity past? To put it very simply: to sum up all things in Christ; to gather up, to comprehend, to head up all things in Christ.
God so loved His only begotten Son that He wanted to express His love to His Son. The way to express love is to give. You know, love expresses itself by giving. God loves His Son so much that He wants to give His Son everything. That is the reason why He created all things.
He created heaven and earth and all things for His beloved Son. Not only the mountains, the oceans, and the plains were created for His Son; not only the birds, the fish, and the animals were created for His Son. Even the celestial angels were created for His Son, and terrestrial mankind was created for His Son.
There is nothing that was created apart from His Son. He created all things in His Son, by His Son, and for His Son, that His Son might inherit all things and that all things might be summed up in Him. Now, that is the eternal purpose of God.
We know that eternity to come is coming. In eternity to come, we know that this will be true: all things will be summed up in Christ.
What is the meaning of “summing up”? This word, “sum up,” or “head up,” is used two times in the New Testament. Once it is used here in Ephesians 1, and there is another place in Romans 13:9.
Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.
Just as there are many commandments, whatever commandment it may be, it is all summed up—headed up—in one word, and that is love. Love is the totality of all commandments. Love is the meaning of all commandments. Love gives meaning to all commandments, and love is the only way for the fulfillment of all commandments. Therefore, love sums up all commandments.
Likewise, Christ sums up all things—whatever those things may be, including you and me, the angels, everything. All things are summed up in Christ. Christ is the very meaning of all things. He gives meaning to all things. He gathers all things into a harmony of unity, and He is the purpose of all things.
We know that in eternity to come it will be a manifested reality. Thank God for that.
But, you know, there was no problem in eternity past. When God purposed His purpose, there was no problem, no argument, no opposition, no different opinion. And there will be no problem in eternity to come, because everything that God has purposed shall be realized. There will be no more opposition, no more conflict. God will get what He wants.
But there are lots of problems in time—basically, two problems. After God had purposed His purpose and began His creation, problems began to come in.
First, there was the rebellion of the archangel Lucifer. We find that the archangel whom God had created rebelled against God and made himself a devil, an adversary of God. Because of that, the earth entered into chaos.
Then again, we find in the book of Genesis that when God recreated the earth, prepared the earth, made it habitable, and created man, He put man in control of the planet earth. Again, we find that man fell into sin. So the whole world again was subjected to vanity and corruption.
Oh, thank God, things are working. There we find God, again through His beloved Son, redeeming and reconciling all things back to the fullness of God.
In other words, it is again through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, that He comes to be the Redeemer and the Reconciler of all things. Not only has He redeemed us by His precious blood, but His redemption actually reaches to the whole universe. Because of what He has accomplished on Calvary’s cross, He has reconciled all things to Himself. This is what Christ has done.
But, you know, in God’s eternal purpose for His Son, He has also purposed in His Son that there will be a people—there will be the church—who will be the bride of His beloved Son, to share His glory as well as His responsibility, to share in His life as well as in His work.
Now, this is part of the eternal purpose of God, and that is where you and I come in.
It pleases God, as He gave all things to His Son, that His Son should share all things—share His glory—with a people, a redeemed people, the church.
It is the good pleasure of God that, in the very work of Christ on earth to accomplish the eternal purpose of God, yes, He did all the work, we may say. But after He finished the work of redemption, He wants a people to carry it out, being for His Son and with His Son.
I always remember that illustration. One day, a father was moving a table. Now, it was a very heavy table, but the father was strong. He was able to lift the table up and move it. But he had a little boy, and when the little boy saw that his father was going to lift the table and carry it, his son said, “May I help?”
The father said, “Yes, son, you may help.” So the son held one side of the table, and the father took the other side, and they started to move the table. Actually, the son put more weight on the table than he took away. The father not only carried the table; he also carried the son. But they carried the table together, and after they finished, the son said, “We have done it.”
Dear brothers and sisters, this is the picture. Actually, all is done by our Lord Jesus. Yet God, in His pleasure, allows us to work together with Him. Actually, you know, we give Him more weight. If you do not, I do. But He is able to take up the extra and carry everything through, that the Father’s purpose may be accomplished. Thank God for it.
But the wonderful thing is this: when God puts us in His eternal purpose concerning His Son, He does not want us to enter into it passively, mechanically, automatically, or technically. He wants us to enter into His purpose in a living, spiritual, real, experiential way.
Because of that, the first thing He has to do is make known to us the mystery of His will. Dear brothers and sisters, if we do not know the mystery of His will, then God’s will remains a mystery.
Who knows the mind of God? Who knows what is going on in God’s heart? Who knows what God has determined in eternity past? Who knows what is behind all His workings in time? Who knows what He is aiming at? No one knows. It is a mystery.
Brothers and sisters, not only does the world not know; even the angels do not know. It is a mystery hidden in God. God’s will is a mystery hidden in God.
But it pleases God to make known the mystery of His will to whom? Brothers and sisters, it touches my heart that God does not reveal the mystery of His will to the angels. As a matter of fact, the angels ought to know His mystery through the church.
Only to us, the redeemed of the Lord—we who have sinned, we who were dead in sins and transgressions, we whose minds were darkened, we who were alienated from the life of God, we who became His enemies, we who hated Him and rebelled against Him—and yet, in His love and mercy, through the grace of Jesus Christ, He has not only saved us, but He has made known to us the mystery of His will.
He does not treat us as slaves; He treats us as friends. Think of that.
In order to make known to us the mystery of His will, He first has to draw us to Himself. He has to bring us into a living relationship with Himself, so that our knowledge of His will will not be merely outward knowledge, but an intimate and experiential knowledge of the mystery of His will.
It is not merely a matter of teaching; it is a matter of teaching based upon experience. You know, if all you know is teaching, it is something. But if teaching is based on experience, that is life. God wants us to know His will in life.
That is the reason why, in the first chapter of Ephesians, Paul, trying to describe it—and it is beyond Paul even—says that, in order to make known to us the mystery of His will, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
What are these spiritual blessings? Here we find that, according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, God has chosen us. Brothers and sisters, before the foundation of the world, God has chosen us.
“You did not choose Me, but I chose you,” even before the foundation of the world. He has chosen you, but He has not chosen you without a function. He said, “One day, this one whom I have chosen will become a son after the fashion of My only begotten Son.” Wonderful.
That we may be holy and without blemish before God in love. There is only one way to be holy and blameless before God, and that is in love, because love covers a multitude.
Then he says how He has taken us into favor. God has favored us in the Beloved. Or, to put it another way, God says, “You are My favorite.” Now think of that. You are God’s favorite. God is very partial—but, of course, He is partial to everybody.
He has redeemed us through His blood. What a costly favor! Christ had to shed His blood to redeem us according to the riches of His grace. He has given us an inheritance in heaven.
Oh, that we may know the hope of our calling. We are called to be the Body of Christ, and what is the hope of the Body? That the Body may be fully grown to be the bride of Christ.
We ought to know the glory of His inheritance in the saints. Not only do we inherit Christ and the inheritance He gives to us, but Christ is to inherit us, and we will become a rich inheritance to Christ.
We are also to know the surpassing greatness of His power toward us. All the power that God works toward us is nothing less than the power that raised Jesus from the dead and put Him at His right hand over all things. The same power is now working toward us.
He has done all these things in Christ to make us realize that it is Christ. It is in Christ that we are chosen. It is through Christ that we can gain sonship. It is because of the blood of Christ that we are redeemed. It is because of Christ that we become co-heirs with Christ.
Everything that we experience in the grace of God is in Christ. In other words, God is making Christ everything to us. He is to be all things in our lives. Now, that is summing up all things in Christ.
Not only individually: in the second chapter of Ephesians, we find individuals who were dead in trespasses and transgressions. His love and mercy came upon us; His grace came upon us; and we were not only raised from the dead, but were seated together with Christ in the heavenly places.
Corporately, we who were all scattered are now being made one new man in Christ. We are gathered together in Christ unto God.
All these things are done to us, and all these things we receive and experience, that we may come to a real knowledge of the mystery of God’s will. In other words, the mystery of God’s will must be worked out in us first—not only understood in our minds, but worked out in our lives.
Indeed, the church can say, “All things are headed up in Christ.” Indeed, we can say, “All things are summed up in Christ.” Christ is everything. He is the meaning of everything. He gives purpose to everything, and He is everything to us. That is the testimony of the church.
Do you know the mystery of God’s will? Do you know that God’s will is that the Son may have the preeminence in all things? Do you know that God’s will is to head up all things in Christ, to sum up all things in Christ, that Christ may be manifested in all things and glorified in all things?
Do you know this mystery of God? If we do not know it, who can know it? If you ask the angels, they say, “I do not know. I have seen many mighty acts of God. I know He is working for something, but what is that? I do not know.”
Brothers and sisters, the church is not only to teach the world, but the church is also to teach the unseen world what the mystery of God is.
In Ephesians 3, you see what it means:
To the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God.
First, God makes known to us the mystery of His will in a living way. Then, through us, the church—the redeemed—God is to make known His manifold wisdom to the principalities and authorities in the heavenly places.
Who are these principalities and authorities in the heavenly places? Of course, these do not refer to kings, lords, and nobles upon this earth. It is true that God is to make known to the world the mystery of His will through the church, because otherwise the world would never know. But even the principalities and authorities must know.
Most commentators agree that the principalities and authorities here refer to the good angels. If we can divide angels into two groups, there are good angels and bad angels. Good angels are those who obey God and execute the will of God. Bad angels are those who rebel against God under the archangel Lucifer.
These principalities and authorities in the heavenly places are the good angels. But even the good angels are more intelligent than we are. Acknowledge it. Yet, even though they are more intelligent, they are not all-wise. They do not know everything. They know more than we do, but they do not know everything.
They need to be told. Who is to teach them the wisdom of God? The church.
When they see what God is working in the redeemed, when they see the redeemed enter into the reality of Christ, then their eyes are opened. “Now we know: this is the eternal purpose of God.” We are to teach these angels the wisdom of God.
Why do commentators believe that these are good angels? Because the bad angels are to know the authority and power of God; only the good angels desire to know the wisdom of God.
Sure enough, the church is not only to teach the good angels the wisdom of God; we are to let the bad angels know the authority and the power of God. That is in Ephesians 6.
Why? Because Christ has accomplished all things on Calvary’s cross, and He gave His victory to the church and said, “Execute it. Bring the purpose of God through, that the bad angels may know the power of God.” We are to stand, to withstand, and to stand. Brothers and sisters, this is the letter to the Ephesians.
How is Christ to be seen through the church? Of course, you must know what the church is first. If you do not know what the church is, then how can you see Christ through the church?
The letter to the Ephesians is a great letter concerning the teaching of what the church is. Brothers and sisters, if you want to know what the church is, do not look around. You will never find it.
If you want to know what the church is, do not even go into church history, because what you find is official Christianity. If you want to know what the church is, go to the letter to the Ephesians, because there we find the revelation of the church of God.
Very briefly, first: what is the church? Ephesians 1:23 says:
The church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.
What is the church? The church is the Body of Christ, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all. The church is the fullness of Christ.
Just as my body is the fullness of my head, all the wisdom, all the plans, all the purpose, all the authority, all the government—everything—is in the head. But the head uses the body. So the body becomes the fullness of the head.
Now, tell you what the church is: the church is the Body of Christ. All the wisdom, all the unsearchable riches of Christ, are stored in that Body. God says, Christ says, “This is My fullness.” That is what the church is.
This Body of Christ is not only to contain all the unsearchable riches of Christ, but this Body is to manifest His glory.
The body is always covered; the head is exposed. The church is not to speak of herself. The church is not to let the world see what she is: “Look, how rich we are; look at our people; look at our achievements.” No. The church is to reveal Christ.
When people enter into the assembly of God’s people, what they see is Christ. God is there, and they bow down and worship God. The church is the fullness of Christ. It is always to be covered, never to be exposed. What is exposed is the Head, Christ.
Let Christ be exalted and be seen. Let us decrease and He increase. Now, that is the church.
The church is the Body of Christ. Through the church, Christ can continue to do and to teach. There is much that needs to be done yet, and He is doing it in the church and through the church. There is much to be taught yet, and He teaches it through the church.
The church has no teaching of her own; the church teaches what Christ teaches. The church has no work of her own; she works what Christ works. This is the church, the Body of Christ.
Do we see Christ in the church? If we only see the body and not the Head, it is an abomination. Let Christ be seen in the church.
Oh, brothers and sisters, unless Christ is seen in the church, it is a misrepresentation. And the greatest thing in the whole world is the sin of misrepresentation. Oh, may we represent Christ corporately in a living way. That is the church.
Secondly, what is the church? The church is the one new man. You find that in Ephesians 2:15.
See Adam, the old man; see Christ, the new man. In Adam all die; in Christ all are made alive. In Adam we were all divided; in Christ we are one.
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, neither barbarian nor Scythian, neither bond nor free; but Christ is everything and in everyone. He is all and in all. That is the one new man.
In the world, you have the Jews; but in the church there is no Jew. In the world, you have the Greeks or the Gentiles; but in the church there is no Gentile. You cannot find a Gentile in the church.
In the world, you have barbarians—lots of them—and Scythians. The Scythians were more barbaric, because Scythians are different. If you know history, you know that the Scythians were the most barbaric of all mankind. So actually, in God’s eyes, there is no civilized nation. You are either barbarian or Scythian. You are only civilized in Christ.
All these natural distinctions and discriminations, you find them in the world, but there is no place for them in that one new man, because we are all one in Christ.
Brothers and sisters, when you look at a brother or a sister, what do you see? Do you see a Chinese? Or do you see Christ? If you see a Chinese, it is unfortunate—not only for you, but also for me.
In the church, there is no Chinese, no American, no black or white or yellow or red. In the church, there is no Ph.D., no illiterate. In the church, there is no master or servant. Yes, in the world they are, but in the church there are not.
As we gather around the Lord’s table, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. We are one. Nothing can separate us from Christ, and nothing can separate us from one another, because the love of Christ is the bond that binds us together.
The church is the one new man. When people look at the church, at the unity of God’s people, they realize that this is not naturally possible. This is supernatural. It is Christ that unites us into one. That is our testimony.
What is the church? In the same chapter, Ephesians 2:19, we are fellow citizens with the saints. Brothers and sisters, the church is the kingdom of God on earth.
God has translated us out of the power of darkness and transported us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. We are now in God’s kingdom. We are fellow citizens. Our citizenship is in heaven. We are strangers and sojourners upon this earth, and yet we have a citizenship: it is in heaven.
When you think of the kingdom of God, then you realize that, as God’s people, we need to submit ourselves completely to the authority of our King, Christ.
If we submit our lives to the rule of Christ our Lord, then in reality we express His kingdom. If in our own lives we rebel against the authority of Christ, then how can we express the kingdom of God upon this earth? The world is full of rebellion, but are we?
The church is the kingdom of God, but this kingdom is the kingdom of God’s Son. Just as you find in Matthew 17, and then you find the voice that says, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him.” Now, that is the kingdom.
To be in the kingdom of God, our attitude should always be, “What do You say?” An attitude of obedience and of submission.
If we submit ourselves to God’s Son in our lives, individually and collectively, brothers and sisters, the world will see Christ. His authority will be manifested through us. His will will be carried out through us.
Fourthly, the church is the household of God. Ephesians 2:19 speaks of the household of God—a simpler way of saying the family of God. We are not only a kingdom; we are a family.
Thank God, our family is a big family. When you think of family, the first thing that comes to your mind probably is family resemblance. Sometimes you look at a person and say, “You must belong to that family.”
So, brothers and sisters, being of the household of God, we are supposed to bear the resemblance of our Heavenly Father. We are supposed to have a resemblance to our elder Brother, because God has made His only begotten Son the firstborn among many brethren.
He has given His life to us, and with that life we ought to grow into an increasing likeness to His Son. Are we growing? What is our family resemblance? I think that is an important question to ask ourselves.
That is what the church is: the household of God.
Fifthly, Ephesians 2:22 says:
In Whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.
What is the church? The church is the habitation of God in the Spirit. That is, God dwells in the church in His Spirit.
When you think of a habitation, immediately you think of how the Lord said, “I will build My church upon this rock; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” In other words, Christ is building us together as living stones upon Himself as the foundation.
If we are being built together upon Christ, then the result is that God will take up His abode among us. “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” Now, that is the house of God.
Are we tearing one another apart? Or are we striving and struggling against one another? Or are we edifying, exhorting, encouraging, and comforting one another?
Are we building with gold, silver, and precious stones—that is, the life of God, the redemption of Christ, and the work of the Holy Spirit? Or are we building with wood, hay, and stubble—that is, filled with human nature, human effort, and all our ideas? What are we doing?
The church is the habitation of God, to be inhabited by Him. Not what you like, but what He likes; not what you feel comfortable with, but what He feels comfortable with; not what you are satisfied with, but what He is satisfied with. That is what habitation means. That is what the church is.
When you go to a house, immediately you know the habit, temperament, life, likes, and dislikes of the owner of the house. You look at the arrangement of the furniture, look at what is hanging on the wall, and look at the condition of the house. Immediately you see the owner of the house, because all these things are manifested. That is what the church is.
In Ephesians 3:4, the church is the mystery of Christ. You know, God’s mystery is Christ; Christ’s mystery is the church.
If you want to know God, you have to know Christ. The Lord said, “Have I been so long time with you, and dost thou not know Me? … He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.”
Likewise, the mystery of Christ is the church. If you want to know Christ, look at the church. This is where you ought to recognize Christ. Unfortunately, today this is not true, but that is what the church is. The church is a mystery. The church reveals Christ.
Why? Because the church is the Christ. In 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, we find that there is one body and many members—many members, yet one body. So also is the Christ.
In other words, here you find the Body of Christ with many members. Even though there are many members, there is one Body. Not each member is a body, but all these members are one Body. The Bible says, “So also is the Christ.”
If we were writing 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, we would say, “So also is the church.” But the Holy Spirit says, “So also is the Christ.” Why? Because the church is none other than Christ expressed corporately.
It is Christ in you, Christ in me, Christ in every one of us, together manifesting Christ. That is what the church is.
Remember, the church is not built with you and me. You may say, “If the church is not built with you and me, then what is the church built with?” No, the church is not built with you and me; it is built with the Christ in you and the Christ in me. You and I have to go to the cross. That is why the church is the mystery of Christ.
What is the church? The church is the bride of Christ. Think of that.
When you think of the bride of Christ, first you think there must be suitability. In other words, there must be likeness, a counterpart. You cannot put two unlike things together into one.
Just as God said, “I will make for Adam a help meet for him,” that is what the church is. The church is His counterpart, His likeness—not only having His life, but being purified and sanctified until she becomes a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle, just like He is. Then the church will join with Him as one, the bride.
Finally, what is the church? The church is the warrior of Christ. Ephesians 6 shows us that the church is to be used by God to fight the good fight of faith.
The church is to apply the victory of Christ over all things, so that all things may be brought into subjection to Christ. The church is to be used by God to defeat the enemy, the angel that was created higher than man; yet God uses one lower than him to defeat him.
Romans 8 says that when the sons of God are manifested, then all creation will be delivered from the bondage of corruption, from vanity, and will be released into the liberty of the sons of God. That is, all things will be subjected to Christ.
Brothers and sisters, first God works in us that we may subject ourselves to Christ in all things. Then, through the church, all things will be brought into subjection to Christ, that Christ may sum up all things. The purpose of God shall be fulfilled.
Take this letter to the Ephesians. May we see Christ.
Dear Heavenly Father, show us Thy Son through Thy church. Do not allow us merely to have a mental knowledge of what we hear. Lord, Thou art working to bring us into that reality, that Thy Son may be manifested and glorified.
So make this all real to Thy people on earth. In Thy precious name. Amen.