This is the last meeting of this conference.
I also remember what our dear brother Austin-Sparks says. He says that in the Bible you find this word, “finally.” When you see that word, finally, you may think that this is the end. But he said this word finally, in the original, actually means gathering up all that has gone before and raising it up to a higher level. That is finally.
And I do hope that our last meeting will be like this. This is not the end, but this will be the beginning.
We mentioned at the very beginning that God is calling us to His fullness. This is just another way to say that God is calling us to Himself, because our God is a God of all fullness. He cannot, and He will not, call us into something less than what He Himself is. This is the love of God.
God has called us into His fullness, and this calling is according to purpose—that is, according to His own purpose. This calling is according to His grace, because it is only the grace of God that will bring us into that purpose. And we do praise and thank God that He has called us.
It is extremely important for us to consider the way we respond to His calling. God’s calling never changes; it knows no repentance. And He who calls us is faithful. But then we have a responsibility on our part, and that is, we need to respond to His calling.
You remember that verse in the Scripture which says, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” How do we respond to God’s call unto His fullness?
Do we respond as David did? Even though we may not fully understand the scope of His calling—and I believe that no one really understands—and yet we do know that He is calling us with a tremendous calling. He is calling us to Himself.
Even though we may not fully understand, yet we need to have the heart of David. We need to go to the Lord and say, “Lord, who are we? But this is the way that You do things. Perform; fulfill according to what You have said.” I think this should be our heart attitude.
We mentioned that because God is infinite and we are so finite, therefore we need vision. Unless God reveals Himself to us, we will never be able to know Him. Unless God shows us His fullness, we will be content with the little that we have.
So we need vision. We need a vision of the fullness of Christ. We need to see that our Christ is not small at all. Oh, Christ is the fullness of the Godhead. As we cannot fathom the fullness of the Godhead, so there is no way for us to know the depths of the fullness of Christ.
It is into this fullness that we are to receive. As we find in Colossians 2, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily, and we are complete in Him.
We need to have a vision of the fullness of the church, because the church is the body, the fullness of Him who filleth all in all. In other words, the church is nothing less than the fullness of Christ. That is the vision that we need to see.
Of course, if God should reveal to us the fullness that is in Him, it should create in us a hunger and thirst after it. You know, sometimes God first creates such a dissatisfaction in us. As Brother Fox said, not the wrong kind of dissatisfaction that we know very well, and which does not help us at all.
But we need to have a kind of dissatisfaction—a holy dissatisfaction. We are not satisfied with what we are now, with our present situation. We know that we are not what we should be. Because of this, we are restless, we are dissatisfied, and we are hungry and thirsty after something more that is in Christ.
As we are seeking for something more of Him, He will show us the way. It may come to us as a surprise, and He often does.
We want fullness, but the more you want fullness, the more you find that you are being emptied. Because the law of fullness is through emptiness. As our Lord Jesus emptied Himself of all the glory and honor and position and power, and humbled Himself as a man, God highly exalted Him and gave Him a name which is above every name.
At that name every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. The way to fullness is through emptiness. The way to real life is through death.
Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone;
but if it die, it beareth much fruit.
This is the divine principle that governs the eternal purpose of God.
Now, this morning, we would like to share together on some practical applications of fullness. We would like to consider four areas:
What is Christian life? What is the life that God has called us to live? What is the life that God has ordained for us, even before the foundation of the world?
If we read the Word of God, we will find that, so far as the life that God has ordained for us to live is concerned, there is only one style, one kind of life to live.
It is true that we do find in the Word of God descriptions of a kind of life that is abnormal. For instance, in 1 Corinthians 10, we find that it refers to the children of Israel.
They all came out of Egypt. They were all baptized unto Moses. They all drank the spiritual drink that came out of the smitten rock. They all ate the spiritual food, the manna that came down from heaven. And yet the Bible says God was not pleased with them. Why?
Because even though they came out of Egypt and knew the provisions of God in their lives, yet they were lustful. They were murmurers. They were fornicators. They were idolaters.
They did not live the life that God had called them to live. They did not live the life that God had provided for them. Instead, you find that they lived within themselves. They lived according to their flesh, and because of this, they all fell in the wilderness.
The apostle Paul used this to admonish and warn the Corinthian believers. Why? Because this is the very way, the very style, that the Corinthian believers were living. They were carnal. They were babes in Christ. They never grew up, and they were self-centered, living according to the flesh.
Now, these words are given not as permission that we can live like that. These words are given as a warning, as an admonition, telling us that this is not the kind of life that we should live.
If we live this kind of life, we displease God. If we live this kind of life, we do not know what God has offered to us. We do not know God’s provision for us. In a sense, God has made provision, and yet we do not make use of the provision.
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, so far as our personal, individual life is concerned, let us remember that we are called to live only one kind of life, and that is a life of fullness.
Any style of life that is less than fullness is not what God has called us to live or ordained us to live. Now, think for just a moment.
The life that God has given to us—when we believe in the Lord Jesus, we receive a new life. This new life is called eternal life. Now, what is eternal life?
I hope that everyone here knows that you have eternal life because you have believed in the Lord Jesus. He that has the Son has life. We who have the Lord Jesus have eternal life in us. This is the life that God has given to us. But, dear brothers and sisters, what is eternal life?
Probably we think of eternal life more in terms of time: that it is timeless, that we will continue to live after we die and live on and on. But, dear brothers and sisters, eternal life is more than a matter of time.
It is true, eternal life is timeless. It begins now and it never ends. But eternal life is more a matter of quality. In other words, eternal life is a life of the first quality. It is a life of fullness.
This life has been demonstrated to us in the life of our Lord Jesus when He was on earth. We find in Him a life—a life of fullness, a victorious life, an obedient life, a life in perfect harmony with God, a life that is glorious.
Nothing less than this very life is now residing in each one of us who believe. Brothers and sisters, do you know that the life which now resides in us, that eternal life, is nothing but that life which our Lord Jesus lived for thirty-three years on this earth?
He demonstrated to us what kind of life that is. It is nothing less than that. It is the very life that Christ lived on earth for thirty-three years. Now that very life is in you and in me, and this life is meant to live.
I believe we have all discovered that we cannot live the Christian life by ourselves. We have tried. After we believed in the Lord Jesus, I believe we all tried. We tried to live a life like Christ, but we found that it was impossible. It was beyond us.
We need vision. We need revelation. We need to see that, for us to live, is Christ. In other words, we have been crucified with Christ.
When Christ died on the cross, God not only put Him on the cross, but God put all of us with Him, in Him, on the cross, because God says we are no good. God says He cannot improve upon us. God says He is finished with us.
Therefore, in Christ, we died. When Christ died, we died. Therefore, today, we who live, live by Him who lives in us.
Dear brothers and sisters, remember: it is Christ who now lives in us. He is our life. And because He is our life, can you imagine that He will live a very different life—a much lower life, a poor life, a weak life—than what He lived two thousand years ago? It is impossible.
We need to see that it is Christ who lives in us. And if we allow Him to live, if we believe that He lives in us, and if we let Him live in us, that life is a life of fullness.
Colossians 2:9 says that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily. You know, we find this twice in the letter to the Colossians.
In Colossians 1:19, it says that all the fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell in Him. Then in Colossians 2:9, it says that the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily.
Now, I do not know whether we can make this distinction. Probably this is one way to look at it. In the first chapter, it pleased God that the fullness should dwell in Christ. Probably that refers to eternity.
In other words, from eternity to eternity, the fullness of the Godhead dwells in the Son. He is the fullness of God. There is no gap. Eternally, this is true. In eternity past, the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him. In eternity to come, the fullness of God still dwells in Him. The fullness of God has made its permanent home in Him, and there is no gap.
But then, when you come to Colossians 2:9, it says that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily. Now, I wonder whether that refers to the days when our Lord Jesus was on earth.
If this is the case, then you find that even when He was on earth, taking the form of a man and emptying Himself of all the glory and honor and all these things, all the fullness of the Godhead still dwelt in Him in bodily form.
In other words, when the Lord Jesus was on earth, He was the very embodiment of the fullness of the Godhead.
This fullness of the Godhead was manifested in bodily form, so that we could see, hear, and touch. Not only that, but this fullness of the Godhead is now made available to us.
Because our Lord Jesus has come, He has died, He was buried, and He has risen from the dead. So today, the fullness of the Godhead is not only in Him, but the fullness of the Godhead is now made available to us.
The fullness of the Godhead resided in Him, but now the fullness of the Godhead is open to us. That is the reason why it says, “Ye are complete in Him.” The word complete is the same word: made full in Him.
Not only is He so full, but now His fullness is available to us, that we are made full.
This is a revelation that we have to receive. Brothers and sisters, forget your condition for a while. You know, at times we are so shut up with our own condition.
In Chinese, we have a proverb: you sit at the bottom of a well and look out toward heaven, and you find heaven is just that small, because that is all you can see.
Brothers and sisters, how true it is. We are always conscious of our own condition, and because of this, our horizon is so narrowed. We can only see that very small area, and we cannot see the vast horizon.
Brothers and sisters, the only way to catch a vision is to forget yourself for a while. Do nothing about your condition now, but look up and see what God has done for us.
All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ, and it is bodily. We have seen Him, we have heard Him, we have contemplated Him, we have touched Him. This is the fullness of the Godhead.
But thank God, it is not only that there is one man in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells and is demonstrated. You find that He has made it available to us through the eternal redemption that He has accomplished.
Through His death and resurrection, this fullness is now our portion. It is made available for us. If you read Colossians 2, it says, “Ye are complete in Him.”
All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily. There is no question. And then it follows: “Ye are complete in Him.” He does not say, “Ye shall be complete in Him,” or, “Ye will be complete in Him,” or, “You probably will be complete in Him.” No. He says, “Ye are complete in Him.”
In other words, the provision has already been laid. God has already given us His provision to live a life of fullness. It is ours. Ye are made full in Him. So far as God is concerned, it is already done.
But, of course, so far as we are concerned, there is that subjective side. Objectively speaking, through the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, this fullness is given to us. Therefore, we are made full in Him. God has done it.
Now, subjectively, the Holy Spirit, who dwells in each one of us, works to bring us into that fullness, or to bring that fullness into us, so that that fullness will become our experience. Dear brothers and sisters, this takes time.
What God has done in Christ concerning this fullness is done once and for all. It has been perfected. There is nothing that can be added. It is yours. It is given.
But, dear brothers and sisters, so far as the subjective side of experience is concerned, it is true that we need to explore. We need to possess it. We need to put our feet down, and every spot where our foot is placed is ours.
The Holy Spirit cannot do anything other than what Christ has already accomplished. All He does is apply that which Christ has already accomplished and apply it to us. He communicates what God has already given in Christ, so that we may enter into it and experience that fullness.
So, brothers and sisters, we find the apostle Paul in Philippians 3. This is the heart attitude that we should have today.
Here you find this man, a Pharisee, who was filled with all the credentials of Judaism, and he was proud of these things. But on the road to Damascus, when the Lord met him and transformed him, you find what he said:
I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.
He caught a glimpse of the Lord Jesus, and this glimpse of the Lord stirred within him, created within him, such a longing for the Lord Jesus. He was willing to count everything as dross, as nothing; willing to empty himself and let everything go in order that he might gain Christ.
Oh, that I may know Him,
and the power of His resurrection,
and the fellowship of His sufferings,
being conformed unto His death;
if by any means I may attain unto the out-resurrection from among the dead.
Brothers and sisters, here you find Paul. He had a vision of the fullness of Christ, and because of that vision of the fullness of Christ, he pursued. That created in him one passion. Here is only one passion, and that passion is to know Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters, do we have this passion within us?
There was a man whose name was Zinzendorf. Probably you have read of him in church history. He came of noble birth, but when he was a little boy—I think he was four or six; I do not quite remember—he came to know the Lord in a very real way.
He loved the Lord. He often sat at the window of his castle. He wanted to do something for the Lord, but the little child—what could he do? So he used to write, “Jesus loves you,” and things like that, and throw them out of the window, hoping somebody would pick them up. That was his way of expressing his love for God.
After he graduated from university, he traveled in Europe, because that was the way they educated the nobles. When people of the same age came to Paris, they were lost in Paris. But to Zinzendorf, it was nothing. It was nothing.
Then he traveled to Düsseldorf, and there he saw a picture of the Lord Jesus, drawn by an artist. That is another story. Underneath that picture, it said:
I have done all this for thee; what hast thou done for Me?
He just stood there transfixed until the guardian, the warden of the museum, had to tell him, “It is time to close the museum.” He went to his hotel room and offered himself to the Lord.
God used him to raise up a tremendous movement of the Spirit of God—the Moravian mission. Zinzendorf said, “I have only one passion: Jesus.”
Oh, brothers and sisters, do we have a vision of Christ? If we really see Him, should it not create within us a passion—a passion for Christ?
That is the passion you find in the apostle Paul: “To know Him. That is all I want. I am willing to give up everything, anything, but to gain Him.”
Even at the time when Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians, he was in prison. He was in the latter years of his life, and yet he said, “I do not say that I have already attained.”
I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus.
He had apprehended Paul, and Paul wanted to apprehend Him just as He had apprehended him. Dear brothers and sisters, surely the Lord has apprehended you. If the Lord had not apprehended you, you would not be here. But have you apprehended Him as He has apprehended you?
Are you contented, thinking that you know it all and you have it all? You say, “No more progress, no more Christ.” Oh, brothers and sisters, Paul said:
Forgetting the things which are behind,
and stretching forward to the things which are before,
I press on toward the goal
unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
What is that high calling? It can be nothing less than the fullness of Christ.
Paul said that anyone who is perfect, anyone who is mature, anyone who is growing, ought to have this mind. This ought to be his heart attitude. But, of course, we go one step at a time.
So, brothers and sisters, let us remember: the fullness of Christ is not a theory for us to speculate about. The fullness of Christ is a life that He has called us to live.
Oh, we need to press on toward Christ, to His fullness. It is an endless pursuit, and I think that is the thrill of it—an endless pursuit toward Him.
I suppose many of you have heard the name Madame Guyon. This lady loved the Lord, and her life was beautiful.
She wrote a book called Spiritual Torrents. It is a book not easy to read. But Mrs. Jessie Penn-Lewis reduced that book and published a booklet, and the name is Life Out of Death.
This sister knew the subjective side of pressing on toward the fullness of Christ in life. I would like to read to you just some excerpts.
After having our faith fixed in Christ—that is conversion—as soon as the soul has turned to God and has been cleansed from its sins, it instinctively desires to be entirely united to Him.
Now, brothers and sisters, after we are saved, after our sins are forgiven, after we are in faith, then intuitively, naturally, spontaneously, we desire to be completely, entirely united to Him.
I think this is a spontaneous desire within us. In other words, God’s fullness is calling us. We hear the call, and within us there is a life that responds to it. We want to be completely, entirely united to Him.
Their progress may be compared to rivers flowing toward God as their ocean.
Now she tries to describe a soul that is seeking after the fullness of God.
The first stage: some moving toward Him sluggishly and feebly. They deal much with outward life and are very dependent on outside sources of help. They are like pumps: they give water only when worked. They have great desire to be always doing. They are full of plans how to seek God and to continue in His presence. But all this is by their own efforts and not by grace.
This describes the up-and-down experience and fitful self-effort of many true children of God. How true it is. Some children of God are God’s children, but they move toward God slowly and feebly. They have all kinds of plans. They trust in good things. Their experience is up and down, and mainly by self-effort.
Then the second stage: some proceeding decidedly and rapidly, the way of light. So full of light and ardent love, they excite the admiration of others. For God seems to give them gifts upon gifts: grace, light, visions, revelations, ecstasies. Temptations are repelled; the deeper trials are borne with strength. Their hearts are enlarged, and they gladly make great sacrifices for God and souls.
When you enter into the second stage, you find that you are moving swiftly toward God. It is the way of light. It seems that you receive great revelation, and you seem to be doing great things for God. You stir up the admiration of others.
But this is just the second stage.
And then the third stage: some advancing with headlong impetuosity, the way of faith. They rest in nothing until they reach the goal. Christ is revealed within. The soul seems overwhelmed with joy unspeakable and full of glory. At this early stage, there is much of the emotional life and manifestation of God, which comes in a high degree.
Then comes the stripping of spiritual riches, until the soul is on all points wrecked upon God. The stripping is first the garment: gifts and graces; then the stripping of the ornaments: gifts and graces; then the stripping of the garments: the power for service; and then the stripping of beauty: the power to practice divine virtues. The loss of everything that self-love could cling to. The soul, brought to nothingness, is united through Christ in God. Then the soul is revivified.
Now, brothers and sisters, we are complete in Christ, but we need to be completed. The Spirit of God is working in us to lead us, or drive us, into that fullness that is in God. We cannot stop at any other point.
So, in personal life, we need to experience the fullness of Christ.
Now, the second area we would like to consider is the corporate life.
Here in the letter to the Ephesians, in Ephesians 1:22-23, God has made Christ Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who filleth all in all.
Now, this is a revelation. Paul prayed that God would give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of God. What is the revelation of the full knowledge of God? One part of the revelation is that the church is the body of Christ.
What is a body? The body is the fullness of Him who filleth all in all. Now, that is the revelation, and this revelation is a calling. We are called to be the body of Christ.
You know, if you read the letter to the Ephesians, you will find that God’s calling is corporate. Oftentimes we think of calling as a personal thing, but you will see that calling is corporate. God is calling us not to do, but to be the body of Christ. I cannot think of any calling higher than that calling.
Think of that. God has called us to be the body of Christ. What is the body of Christ? The body of Christ is none other than the fullness of Christ.
That is the reason why you find the apostle Paul sometimes uses the term the Christ.
For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is the Christ.
Why? Because this body is nothing but the fullness of Christ, who filleth all in all. In other words, you do not find anything in that body but Christ.
That body is not an empty body. The body is not filled with you and me, with Adam, with our flesh. You find that body is a healthy body, a pure body. In that body, you find nothing but Christ. He filleth all in all.
That is the vision, the revelation, of the church. Because we receive such a revelation, now what shall we do? It is not something just for us to talk about.
But you come to Ephesians 4, and it says, “Walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye are called.” Brothers and sisters, we are called to be the body of Christ. Now walk worthily of it.
What does it say? “Keeping diligently the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Since we are called to be the body of Christ, and there is only one body, should we not walk worthily of our calling? How do we walk worthily of our calling? Keep diligently the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.
That is to say, God has put us all in that one body. Because we are all members one of another, therefore we cannot be divided. Is Christ divided? If Christ is not divided, then the church is not divided.
We need to diligently keep the unity of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit has already given us this unity. We have one Spirit, one Lord, one Father and God of all.
We need to stand firm on that ground, and upon this ground we fellowship with one another.
Now, it is true that we have many differences. Not only are we different in temperament—thank God, He created our temperaments. I often say that temperament is the shape of our soul.
You know, when God created us physically, everyone is different, and there is the beauty of creation. Everyone is different. Do not try to be another person.
Not only physically is this true, but so far as our soul is concerned, God has created our souls in different shapes, and that is our temperament. We are all of different temperaments. Now, temperament seems to be a big problem today in the church, but it should not be.
We have different interpretations of the Scriptures. We have different experiences of Christ. We have different ideas. We are different in background, in culture, in race, in color, or whatever it may be. You will find that we are full of differences.
But in spite of all these differences, we need to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. It is on that ground that we fellowship with one another.
We do not exclude one another. We are open to one another. We do not try to force one another. But we are open to one another. We love one another. We bear with one another. We try to encourage one another, to build up one another.
If we do that, the Bible says:
Until we all attain unto the unity of the faith,
and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
unto a full-grown man,
unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
that we may be no longer children.
Brothers and sisters, we need to walk worthily of our calling as the body of Christ. It is only when we maintain that unity and learn to share whatever Christ has deposited in each one of us that we enrich one another and build up one another.
Eventually, we will arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, arriving at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Why? Because God’s aim for the church is the fullness of Christ.
Brothers and sisters, each one of us is just a member of that one body. Each one of us has limited capacity. Christ is so full that it takes all of us to contain Him and to manifest Him.
That is why we need one another. We cannot be independent. We have to be related to one another. It is true that in the body, because we are so close together, there are bound to be many problems. But thank God, as long as there is love, love is the cement that cements us together.
So we may arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
You know, when you come to Ephesians 5, you find that this is exactly what the Lord is doing. He loved the church. He gave Himself for it. He brought the church into birth.
But did He bring the church into birth and then leave the church alone, letting the church find its own way, fight its own battle, and see whether it could survive? Not at all.
You find that He who brought the church into birth sanctifies it, purifying it by the washing of water with the Word, that He might present the church to Himself a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that it might be holy and without blemish.
Brothers and sisters, the Lord Jesus is working. As our brother said, He is building His church. He is working. He is sanctifying it, purifying it by the water with the Word.
Using the living Word—and the water also represents life—His life, together with His Word, purifies the church of all spots and wrinkles and any such things, that the church may be a glorious church to offer to Him.
Brothers and sisters, the church is not to be a church in poverty, but it is to be a glorious church. This is what the Lord is after. He is looking for fullness in His own church.
We do not have time to go over the first seven letters to the churches written by Paul, which show us the kind of church that God ordained it to be. Then in the seven letters in Revelation 2 and 3, you find Christ walking among these churches, looking for something.
What is He looking for? You find that in these seven churches they have a lot of things to offer Him, but that is not what He is looking for. He is looking for Himself. He is looking for His fullness.
This is what He has brought the church into being for. He will never be satisfied until He sees His fullness manifested in the church. Should we be less satisfied?
In the third area, I have to go quickly: ministry. Now, brothers and sisters, what is ministry? What is the aim, the goal, the purpose of ministry? In other words, why do we minister? What do we want to accomplish in ministry?
If you read the letter to the Colossians, you find that Paul makes it very clear that the purpose of ministry is unto fullness.
For instance, in Colossians 1:24, he says:
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,
and fill up on my part in my flesh
that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ
for His body’s sake, which is the church;
whereof I was made a minister,
according to the dispensation of God
which was given me to you-ward,
to fulfil the word of God.
The word fulfil means to make full the Word of God.
The mystery which hath been hid for ages and generations;
but now hath it been manifested to His saints,
to whom God was pleased to make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
whom we proclaim, admonishing every man
and teaching every man in all wisdom,
that we may present every man perfect in Christ;
whereunto I labor also, striving according to His working,
which worketh in me mightily.
In other words, you find the goal of ministry is fullness: that through ministry we may present every man perfect, complete, made full in Christ.
If you turn to the last chapter of Colossians, you find Epaphras did the same thing—how he labored in prayer that they might be perfect and complete in Christ. Now, that is the goal of ministry.
Any ministry that is less than this goal comes short of what ministry should be.
Now, what is ministry? Ministry is the imparting of Christ. Ministry is not imparting yourself, your knowledge, or your cleverness. Ministry is imparting Christ.
Because of this, we who minister—oh, how we need to know the fullness of Christ. Not only do we need to know the fullness of Christ, but we, as earthen vessels that contain that fullness, have to be broken so that that fullness can flow to the people to whom we minister.
As Paul said:
Always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus,
that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body.
Now, that is ministry.
I do not have time to go into details. I have to move on to the last one, because this is something I have to do to conclude it: fullness in the recovery of the testimony of Jesus.
I will just read to you from that article by our dear brother T. Austin-Sparks. It is the same article, “Attaining to God’s Full Thought.” I will read it very slowly. I hope the Spirit of God will really impress it upon our hearts, that we will bring it to the Lord with all seriousness.
This is what he said:
I read certain letters that were written by Paul at the end of his life, and at a time when Christianity, as to its primal beauty and glory and purity, was breaking up.
We know what these letters are. I see that the first, early conditions, as we have them in the opening chapters of Acts, have changed. Things seem to be going wrong. The purity of things, the heavenliness, is being lost. The church is becoming an earthly thing.
At the end of his life, with these conditions coming about, Paul writes some letters. No one can pretend that these letters are a compromise, accommodating to the situation that is developing. They are the most drastic and utter contradiction of it. They are a wonderfully full revelation of the heavenly thought and mind and position.
What is the significance of this? Is it not that in these letters, God has sovereignly made His provision for all times of declension? That is His sovereign reaction, in which He says, in effect, “Whenever declension sets in and things begin to lose their purity, here is your provision. I have laid it up for you. Everything is provided to meet the situation.”
We are not left without guidance. We are not left without light in a dark day. We can take hold of these later letters and say, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come. Darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but here is our light.”
God does not accommodate Himself to the situation and say, “We must make the best of a bad job. We must be contented with a little.” He has taken sovereign precaution against that by giving us letters: Ephesians, Philippians, Timothy.
What about the faithfulness of man? We shall be unfaithful, thoroughly unfaithful, if we take the attitude, “Well, everything has gone wrong. There is nothing today which represents the original. We had better accommodate ourselves to the situation as it is.”
For a long time these letters were lost as to their real value in the church. It is only within recent times that the value of Paul’s letters has come home to Christians. They have appeared too deep, abstract, heavenly. The Gospels were practically the Bible of the church for a long time.
Then Luther saw the true meaning of Romans, and that made the break. Then another movement of God, and the church saw the spiritual implication of Ephesians, and that made another break.
We have to recognize the significance of all the epistles of Paul, and see that the position which they set forth is one which is regarded as attainable and maintainable by the grace of God, and that we are required to hold fast in faithfulness in a day of declension.
Unfortunately, brothers and sisters, we do live in a day of declension. Things are not what they should be, not what God has ordained them to be.
But is it because of this that God gives up? Does He say, “Let Me make the best of a bad job and see if I can live with it”? Or is it for us to give up and say, “Well, there is nothing better, so I have to live with it, accommodate it, compromise”?
God never changes His purpose. God’s purpose is to see His fullness expressed in a people on earth, and He never changes that.
We know it because Paul, when he wrote these last letters, was in that kind of situation. But the revelation from God is drastic, original.
God does not compromise. He is still looking for fullness in His people. If this is the case, we will be unfaithful if we easily give up and compromise.
Oh, that the Lord will enable us to be so taken up by God’s heart—that fullness which He wants so much to be expressed in a people—that, by the grace of God, we will be there.
It is difficult, but it is attainable. It is maintainable. It is not a theory. The testimony of Jesus must be recovered in the last days, and it will be recovered.
Shall we pray?