Table of Contents

Access to God

Romans 5: 1, 2; Ephesians 2: 18, 3: 1-21

God as Father.

"Seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God."

Colossians 3 :1.

Seek."

"of Him

Those things which are above".

God of Peace

our home is there

Where Christ sitteth".

Christ is the substance"

On the right hand of God"

The World Against the Father

F. A. Hughes - Articles from 'Scripture Truth' magazine

F. A. Hughes

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Access to God

Romans 5: 1, 2; Ephesians 2: 18, 3: 1-21

F. A. Hughes.

An Address given at Cheltenham 1962

(Extracted from Scripture Truth Vol. 41, 1962-4, pages 136-8 & 148-151.)

I want to speak of the blessedness of drawing near to God. You will have noticed that in each of the Scriptures read we have the thought of access to God. We have been engaged in this conference with the highest possible truth in the Christian dispensation and I want to say with emphasis that our being formed by the truth does not in the ultimate depend upon the knowledge of the word of God, important as that is; nor does it depend upon Christian fellowship, important as that is; but if we are to really take in the truth and be formed by it then we must know something of nearness to God. If I were asked for some special word of importance for believers, and especially for young Christians, I would say above all else cultivate personal history with God; nothing can take its place.

There is nothing more blessed than to know God, and what God desires is that we should enjoy His company in intimacy and nearness. On His side everything has been done in order that that might be so. If as Christians we are conscious of distance between ourselves and God, we may be sure that the difficulty lies with us and not with God.

We have all experienced drawing near to God in our need as sinners, but we could not have drawn near to God had He not first moved towards us in grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. God has drawn near to us, and He has spoken to us in wonderful compassion, having in mind that we should reciprocate His love and know the blessedness of drawing near to Him.

Nearness to God is an essential if the secrets of divine counsel which are engaging us in Ephesians, are to be known. There are two outstanding things which eventuate from nearness to God. First, a spirit of absolute simplicity; there is no room for self-esteem, self-aggrandisement, self-seeking, or self-importance in any person who is consciously near to God. In the presence of God we are given to know that pre-eminence belongs to Christ. We may have known this as a text of Scripture, but it becomes spiritual substance as we learn it in reality in the presence of God. We realize that no flesh can glory there! The flesh can glory in every sphere except the presence of God, but it cannot glory there. Thus in the presence of God we learn to be emptied of self-importance, and to appreciate that all greatness and all glory belongs to Christ.

The second thing we learn is that nearness to God is an absolute necessity if we are to understand that which He would communicate to us in the power of the Spirit. In the 11th chapter of Matthew's Gospel we have a profound verse in relation to the knowledge of the Father and the Son, and immediately following that wonderful pronouncement (which is like a scintillating jewel set in the gold of Scripture, shining out in all its preciousness and glory in relation to the Person of the Son as known by the Father and the revelation of the Father by the Son) the Lord Jesus says, "Come unto Me . . . and learn from Me" as the preposition should read (vv. 28, 29). Does not this indicate that the import of that wonderful verse was to be learned in nearness to Christ? And one is conscious as one speaks that there must be nearness to God if we are to get the full benefit of what the Holy Spirit would bring before us in the Ephesian epistle.

Having said that by way of preface I now refer to the three Scriptures which we have read — the first in the epistle to the Romans. I have purposely referred to Romans because it has always appealed to me as being a necessary preparation for the understanding of the Ephesian epistle. The epistle to the Romans does not develop the truth of the mystery, or the truth as to Christ and the Church, but what it shows is the settling from God's side of every moral question brought in by sin. Now I make the point definitely and earnestly, that there can be no understanding or enjoyment of the deep things of God if there are moral matters outstanding between our hearts and God. God is holy, and if He has been pleased, as I hope we may see as we proceed, to introduce us into the secret of His eternal thoughts, and has given us to enjoy the outpouring of His love in Christ; in doing that He has not surrendered one whit of His holiness. It is essential that the young brethren particularly should consider this important point, indeed both young and old should realize that there must be the complete settling of moral matters if there is to be the enjoyment in nearness of the presence of God, and the understanding of spiritual things.

Hence the epistle to the Romans is of great importance. In the earlier chapters we see how the whole state of man in his degradation is taken up and settled from the divine side. The basis of that transaction is the precious blood of Christ, and in consequence of the value that God sets upon the precious blood, all that history of moral breakdown in which we all have been involved, has been dealt with from the divine side, and there is the possibility of each of us knowing what it is to be in absolute peace with God. There is no need for one to apologise for this simple note; it is dangerous in any company to take too much for granted. It is impossible to understand, or to enjoy Ephesian truth, if we have not settled peace with God. We need to grasp as it were what God has said as to His valuation of the work of Christ; we need to embrace by faith what has been accomplished through His precious death, and to see that everything has been settled, not according to my need or apprehension, but according to God's complete satisfaction and glory, and that involves the valuation that God Himself sets upon the precious blood of Jesus. We are "justified by His blood" (Romans 5: 9); that is the basis of our justification. We are "justified freely by His grace" (Romans 3: 24); that is the way in which God has moved towards us as the Justifier. Liberated we may say in His love by the work of Christ He can now justify us freely by His grace.

But we are also "justified by faith" (Romans 5: 1). The testimony given by God in His word in relation to the work of Christ is to be taken hold of in faith; we believe what God has said. In the gospel God declares His complete satisfaction in the work of Jesus, we accept it by faith, and we have peace with God. The past is all cleared in the death of Christ. The future is bright, for a justified person can "rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5: 2).

Later in the chapter we find that a reconciled person rejoices in God Himself, but as justified we can rejoice in hope of the glory of God, for when the glory shines upon us it can only reveal the work of God. We are absolutely cleared of every stain of sin, and there is nothing left which would hinder us from being in absolute peace with God. And then if the past is all clear, and the future is all bright, the present is most blessed, we stand in the favour of God; "we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand". We stand in the enjoyment of the free movements of God's love in Christ, the power of which the Spirit is here to make good in our souls.

Now the ground is cleared for us to move on to what we have brought before us in the Ephesian epistle where we see how God has acted in order to bring into evidence His own eternal purpose of love, and the blessings we are brought into have in view our enjoyment of and response to these great thoughts of God.

In our second Scripture we have the wonderful statement, that we "have access by one Spirit unto the Father." We have access to the Father and we are made fellow citizens of the household of God. It is a blessed thing surely to have conscious access to the grace of God but it is a most wonderful thing to have access to where God dwells, and to know Him in the intimacy of "Father." We so easily take these names upon our lips without due consideration of the import of them. How easy it is to speak to Him and say "Father!" How "many thousands in Christendom take those words upon their lips — "Our Father!" Do we really know the blessedness of having access to God, and know Him in all the intimacy of the love that He has towards us as Father? The actual verses are a reference to the way in which the middle wall of partition has been broken down between Jew and Gentile, and both have been brought into this one way of access to God by the Spirit. The whole Godhead is engaged in that verse. There are many verses in Scripture in which we get the complete Godhead, and here we have the Godhead concerned in this wonderful matter of our knowing what it is to be in the enjoyment of the intimacy of the Father's presence. If divine Persons are so interested in this matter, ought not we to be responsive to their interest? Ought we to allow these things to be mere texts of Scripture? Ought we to allow them to be a kind of special vocabulary and conversation, or are we desirous of knowing the reality of enjoying access to God as Father? In the 20th chapter of John, when the Lord Jesus was about to leave this world, where He had been rejected, He said: "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God" (v. 17), and the Ephesian epistle seems in very large measure to be in accord with that utterance, for in the prayers of the apostle we have "the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (3: 14), and "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1: 17).

I am confining my remarks to knowing Him as Father, as in union with Christ, in that eternal love in which the Son ever dwells, and which is available to us now, as we have access into His presence. It is something that Moses knew nothing about, great saint of God as he was it is something that Abraham did not know; it is something that the prophets of the Old Testament did not know; it is that which has been reserved for this dispensation, that we should have access to the very presence of God Himself as Father, and to know Him in that relationship. What does it mean to know God as Father? In Matthew's Gospel we read: "Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of." (6: 8.) It is said in that gospel that "the very hairs of your head are all numbered" (10: 30). Then also, not a sparrow falls to the ground without His knowledge; and all that we need is under the bounteous hand of the Father. But that is but one way in which we can know the Father.

God is said in Scripture to be the Father of compassions (2 Cor. 1: 3 N. Trans.); every ray of true love and sympathy found its origin in the eternal heart of God. It is the province of the very babes of Christianity to know the Father. John says of the babes that they "have known the Father," and in knowing the Father they have been brought to the source of love itself. Love had its origin in the bosom of the Father; what a blessed thing that is! We may have to deplore the absence of love in some circles ("the love of many shall wax cold") but as having access to the Father, we have been brought to the warmth and joy of divine love for our present enjoyment.

He is said to be the Father of glory. Are we seeking glory in this world? There is a glory in this world. When the devil tempted the Lord, he showed to Him not only the kingdoms of the world, but their glory. There is a glory in connection with this world, but it is a passing one and it is a challenging one; it is a glory that challenges the glory of God, for the god of this world is the enemy of God. Every true ray of glory comes from God the Father, lighting up our affections with the splendour of a glory that will never be tarnished, a glory that is eternal and which we are going to share in the company of Jesus throughout an eternal day. It is to be known now as we have access to the Father, the source of all.

He is also the Father of lights. James tells us that "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (1: 17). So many things change in this world. Thank God there is one sphere in which there is no change, no variableness, no shadow of turning; all is glory, all is light, ineffable light, no shadow there at all. It is unchanging, eternal, and it is available to us now as we have access to the Father, "The Father of lights."

One further thought: He is the Father of spirits. Sometimes we may forget that we have spirits. How often we say "body, soul and spirit;" the Scripture says "spirit, soul and body" (1 Thess. 5: 23). We are so apt to think more of our bodies than of our spirits, but God is concerned with our spirits. He is not unmindful of the needs of our bodies as we have already seen from Matthew's Gospel, but He is dealing also with our spirits. As the Father of spirits He would by His word purify our inward motives in order that our spirits might be more responsive to the Holy Spirit, that divine Person here — so sensitive, so sensible too, of all that is necessary in each one of us, if we are to enjoy the things of God. The holy, sensitive Spirit of God indwells us, and yet oftimes, through the allowance of the flesh, through the allowance of that which is contrary to the will of God, we grieve the Spirit, and are not able to enter into the deep things of God. Knowing the blessedness of "access to the Father," let us seek to be found "in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live." (Heb. 12: 9.)

In the last Scripture we read we have the thought of access into the secrets of God. "According to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him" (Eph. 3: 11, 12). These eternal secrets were hidden in Old Testament days. (The prophets mentioned in the 3rd chapter of Ephesians are New Testament prophets). This is something that was hidden in God, something not previously revealed, but which waited for the dispensation in which we live. Think of the dignity of that; think of God keeping this secret. It is not something that He thought of in this dispensation; it was in the mind and heart of God before the foundation of the world. He made much known to the saints in other dispensations; He made known His Name with its attendant glory; He made known His will; He gave to them many promises, and the light of the coming kingdom; but there was one wonderful secret that God kept, and He kept it for the day in which we are found. Paul says "that I should preach among the Gentiles (that is ourselves) the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery . . . hid in God" (v. 8, 9). The unsearchable riches of Christ, something beyond human ken, something that we are absolutely dependent upon the Holy Spirit to lead us into. God has been pleased to open His storehouse, He has made known the wonderful secrets of His heart, and He gives us to see that they are all centred in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is "to head up all things in the Christ" (Eph. 1: 10, N.Trans.).

What a profitable occupation it would be for the young men and women to study the Scriptures and to search out how often the thought of "all things" stands related to Christ, and then seek help to make it a very personal matter! The woman in the fourth chapter of John, said, "I know that Messias cometh which is called Christ: when He is come, He will tell us all things" (v. 25). But there came a moment, the Lord having dealt with her moral condition, when she said "come, see a Man, which told me all things . . . is not this the Christ?" (v. 29). And it is a wonderful thing, beloved brethren, when we get into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Revealer of secrets, for He will not only reveal to us the secrets of our own hearts, but as the One to Whom the Father has already committed "all things" (John 3: 35), He will bring us into the enjoyment of the secrets of God! The Lord Jesus Christ came into this scene freighted with the knowledge of them; He came to earth to make them known, "that we might share His joys."

How blessedly He walked here! "He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich." He trod that lonely pathway. He was bereft of everything. His precious body alone was left to Him, and He gave that for us, in order that the love of God might be known and that we might have present access into the secrets of divine love.

How wonderful it is to get over to God's side of matters! How much Christ means to us! Our forgiveness, our justification, our peace with God, our reconciliation, our being conformed to His image in the coming day, all these show how essential Christ is to us; but how absolutely essential Christ is to God! Everything for the glory of God depends upon Him. There could be no making known of the secrets of the heart of God were it not for the Incarnation, for in Him in holy manhood have been made known to us the secrets of the heart of God. God has in mind that we should be brought into the enjoyment of all that He has determined to do for His own glory in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. I trust that God may help us to understand these things a little: His favour as our present standing; the knowledge of Himself as Father, and the consequent enjoyment of all that belongs to the household of God; all the secrets of God resident in that Christ.

The Lord graciously give these things a larger place, in the power of the Spirit, in our hearts, and may we not only appreciate what God has shown to us for His own glory in Christ, but be found intelligently responding to it. The burden of the apostle's prayers in this epistle is that the saints may not only see these things objectively as presented to us in Christ, but that they might be formed in us for the praise of God.

God as Father.

F. A. Hughes.

(Extracted from Scripture Truth Vol. 42, 1965-7, pages 177-80.)

There is today a rapidly growing movement in religious circles which has for its object the establishing of a common ground for worship, upon which professing Christians, Jews, Muslims and others may meet. Implicit in this is the recognition of the universal Fatherhood of God and, in consequence, the universal brotherhood of men. These are doctrines which carry an appeal, and have an attractiveness to the natural mind, and such passages as Malachi 2: 10 and 1 Corinthians 8: 6 are torn from their context to support what is asserted. We propose to examine the question in the light of Scripture, in which, and in which alone, is revealed the true basis of man's approach to God in worship.

First, let us consider briefly the awful errors to which such a path way would, if followed, lead. If all men (we use the word as expressive of men and women — mankind) are the children of God and He is their Father, then quite obviously the doctrine of eternal punishment must be cast aside, for there is no suggestion in Scripture that one of God's children will ever eternally perish. This in turn makes the atonement unnecessary, and thus the Cross — the glorious centre and outstanding theme of Christianity — is no longer needed. The atoning work of Christ is belittled, if accepted at all, and He is stripped of glories which are unique to Himself. We shall refer to this point later.

Now we concede at once that all men are the offspring of God. This is made perfectly clear in Paul's address to the Athenians (Acts 17). It is also made abundantly clear in that chapter that Paul is referring to men as being part of God's creation, and as standing in the relation of creatures to God as Creator. It is also clear that the Athenians had no knowledge of God as their Father; He was "unknown" to them; they were "ignorant" of the way of approach to Him, but in infinite mercy He had made it possible for them to "seek the Lord  and to "feel (to "search for") after Him". The context shows that man had become estranged from His Creator and the whole tenor of Scripture makes this clear beyond doubt. It is this creatorial relationship which Malachi refers to, in a book where men are strewn to have lost reverence for God.

The reference in 1 Corinthians 8 completely refutes the suggestion of "universal Fatherhood" — in no way does it support such a heresy. The apostle says, "To us there is but one God, the Father." Who are the "us"? We are left in no doubt at all! In chapter 1 of the same Epistle Paul tells us to whom he is writing. "All that . . . call upon the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord." Those who are "waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ", and have been "called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord". These are they who stand in relation to God as Father. Thus the touchstone of the relationship is the One who is completely left out by those who propound these errors, Jesus Christ our Lord.

In 2 Corinthians 6: 14, the Apostle writes, "Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers", and then goes on to describe the outstanding features of both believers and unbelievers — urging believers to separate themselves from the company of unbelievers in order that they might know the blessedness of God's promise — "I will . . . be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters." Again therefore we see that the thought of God's universal Fatherhood is not in accordance with Scripture.

If the Fatherhood of God applies to all men, why did the Lord say to the religious leaders of His day "If God were your Father", adding those terribly solemn words "Ye are of your father the devil" (John 8: 42-44). Note carefully that these are the words of "a Man that hath told you the truth" (verse 40).

Unquestionably the most serious feature of this teaching is the way in which the Lord Jesus Christ is left out, and this in the face of the Scripture "All men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father" (John 5: 23).

Let us then enquire from God's Word as to the way in which we may know God as Father, and rejoice in the consciousness of relationship to Him as children. The Scriptures are abundantly clear as to this.

In John chapter 1 we read, "As many as received Him (the Lord Jesus) to them gave He power (or right) to become the sons (children) of God, even to them that believe on His Name." In the previous verse (11) He had presented Himself to "His own, and His own (the Jewish people) received Him not". Galatians 3: 26 reads, "Ye are all,the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." Thus we see that our relationship to God as Father is dependent upon the Lord Jesus Christ having His place, through faith, in our hearts.

Let us now consider the actual words of Christ Himself in reference to this vital question. Matthew 11: 27 reads — "Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and He to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him". Further in John 14: 6 we find these conclusive words "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me". Thus for the knowledge of the Father, and for the way to Him, we are dependent absolutely upon the Person of the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and there is no other way to God as Father.

We must ever remember that He who is to be known in the blessed relationship of Father is God, and the dwelling place of Deity is "in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see" (1 Tim. 6: 16). God is righteous and holy — ever was such and ever will be; He has "purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity" (Hab. 1: 13); the stars in their scintillating beauty "are not pure in His sight" (Job 25: 5). Many scriptures show the moral distance between man and his God because of sin. Perhaps Romans chapter 1 portrays it in its clearest form, man actually preferring to worship the lowest creation and indulge in the most revolting sin, rather than retain and appreciate the knowledge of God. Of His earthly people — the Jew — God has to say "they are all estranged (foreigners) from Me through their idols" (Ezk. 14: 4); and of the Gentiles Paul writes "being alienated (non-participant) from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them" (Eph. 4: 18). Foreigners and non-participants — this is the condition of mankind as in sin — idolaters and ignorant of God. We do well to face the truth of Scripture, solemn and searching though it be!

Into this dark scene of moral departure from and ignorance of God, there came One — God's blessed Son, He who in speaking to God as Father could say, "Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world" (John 17: 24). As God looked upon Him here in Manhood He opened the heavens and said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3: 17). He, and He alone, could remove the distance existing between man and his God. "There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for all" (1 Tim. 2: 5, 6). It is through Him and His finished work on Calvary's cross that man can be reconciled to God. "When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son" (Rom. 5: 10 cf also 2 Cor. 5: 18; Col. 1: 21 ; Eph. 2; 16). This glorious Person is presented in the Gospel to men as Saviour and Lord, and we have already noticed that it is "by faith in Christ Jesus" that we are made the "children of God ".

Having completed the work of Calvary the Lord Jesus has "risen from among the dead" ascended from this earth to the Father. Before He left the scene in which He had suffered, He uttered those memorable words to Mary Magdalene, "Go to My brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father, and your Father; and to My God, and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things unto her" (John 20: 17, 18). The link between these lovers of Christ had been forged in His precious death and victorious rising — and they were now to be introduced through Him, and as in association with Him, to His Father as their Father, to His God as their God. Thus we see the truth of the verse already quoted:

"No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" (John 14: 6).

"For through Him we both (Jew and Gentile) have access by one Spirit to the Father" (Eph 2: 18). Commg to, and knowmg the Father, is one of the most precious privileges enjoyed by those "who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity". It is a privilege open to all Christians — it is the possession of the "little children" in the family of God, those of whom it is said, "Your sins are forgiven you for His Name's sake" (1 John 2: 12). "I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father ". Blessed knowledge! to be shared by every redeemed heart. Yet completely unknown by the unregenerate whatever their ecclesiastical pretension may be.

The blessings connected with the knowledge of the Father are boundless. In Luke chapter 12 the Lord Jesus tells us that the Father knows all that we have need of in our pathway through this world; but there is much more than this! "Every good and perfect gift . . . cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness". Unchanging in His constant love the Father delights to flood our hearts with the bounty of His own affections from the boundless resources which are His in that scene of unclouded light (James 1: 17). He is "the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort" (1 Cor. 1: 3). No sorrow, no care, no anxiety, no pressure upon spirit or body — escapes His eye, and from Himself as Father comes the needed sense of mercy and comfort. He is the "Father of glory", and as in affectionate communion with Himself He would flood our hearts with the wisdom and intelligence of His glorious purpose in Christ, and of the "exceeding greatness of His power", which give us to know our place as an integral part of that vast inheritance of glory (Eph. 1). He is the "Father of spirits" and as such is engaged with the inward refining of our affections, having in view the blessed fact "that we might be made partakers of His holiness" (Hebrews 12: 9, 10).

As in the enjoyment of this precious relationship to God as our Father may the features of the children of God be manifested in our walk. "In this the children of God are manifest . . . that we should love one another" (1 John 3: 10, 11). "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour" (Eph. 5: 1, 2).

"Seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God."

Colossians 3 :1.

(Extracted from Scripture Truth Vol. 45, 1974-6, pages 56-7)

These words framed as a text, and hanging on a wall of my bedroom, were invested with a fresh import and joy (albeit a challenge also) during a recent illness. Each word seemed to carry a new sense of blessing, and a strong appeal to one's affections. Reaching for my Bible I read with deepened interest the preceding words — "If ye then be risen with Christ." We understand the word "if" in this verse to be an "if" of consequence, not of uncertainty; and the blessed assurance of this was confirmed as one read verse 12 of the previous chapter — "Ye are risen with Him"; or as another translation puts it — "Ye have been also raised with Him through faith of the working of God". How blessed to contemplate the sovereign movements of God in mercy and the gift of faith that gives one a personal interest in the context of this verse.

A brief consideration of the text may yield some spiritual profit.

"

Seek."

This active verb should provoke interest and desire; it suggests that there is something well worthwhile discovering. In the gift of the Holy Spirit of God we have ability to search out discerningly the precious matters which this seeking has in view, and He, if unhindered, would promote the necessary spiritual impulse in our affections to that end. David in Psalm 27 says "One thing have I desired of the LORD that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in His temple". At home in the presence of God, delighting in His beauty (His graciousness), would create in the affections still further desires for the knowledge of His mind and glory — desires met as one inquired

"of Him

in His temple" (New Trans.) Embedded in this word seek is the thought of "worship" and the atmosphere of the Psalm would most surely confirm this! How great the reward for those who truly seek — nearness to God; an increasing sense of His glory and His thoughts of love, resulting in a spirit of intelligent, affectionate worship.

"

Those things which are above".

Christianity is not mere theory and dogma, it embraces that which is permanent, substantial and indeed eternal. Things of earth are transient, corruptible, subject to decay and disintegration; "things which are above" are abiding, pure, full of glory. Precious outlet for our affections and practical salvation for our ways as we allow the "things which are above" to control our thoughts. Turning from this scene of violence and strife we find our joy in a realm where the "

God of Peace

" moves in the tranquility of His own thoughts of blessing; and scenes of corruption and guile give place in our minds to one of equity and righteousness, for "Jesus Christ the Righteous" is there. Above all else, beloved,

our home is there

! Do we not treasure the words of our beloved Lord — "I go to prepare a place for you, .... that where I am, there ye may be also".

"We have a home above,

From all defilement free;

A mansion which eternal love,

Prepared our rest to be".

Blessed, too, to realize that if this world, of which Satan is god, is marked by rebellion and refusal of God's testimony, the will of God has place amid the "things which are above", and His word is "for ever.... settled in heaven". Happy indeed the portion of those whose desires are towards this scene of moral elevation and glory.

"

Where Christ sitteth".

Here we reach the One in whom everything is centred and established. "Jewish ordinances were but shadows,

Christ is the substance"

(J.N.D.) Every thought of the blessed God, the eventual display of all that is involved in His eternal purpose; the full revelation of His heart of love, are all centred in Christ. In Him the fulness of the Godhead dwells; as God's Anointed He displaces all that attached to the first man. All things have been entrusted to Him; He is the Head of all things; "He is before all things, and by Him all things consist". In Him is the pre-eminence, the firstborn from the dead. God has decreed that He will "head up all things in the Christ.... in Him, in whom we also have obtained an inheritance" (Ephesians 1:10-11. New Trans.). Presently He is our Head, the Head of His church; our Great High Priest; our Advocate; our Surety; in Him the Beloved we are accepted before God; He is our soon coming Lord ! As we await His return we are encouraged in the pathway of faith as we hear His word to the assemblies  - "Even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne" (Revelation 3: 21).

"

On the right hand of God"

This position at the right hand of God is unique to Christ — all power is entrusted alone to Him! In Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3 He sits there gloriously and triumphantly, taking the seat Himself in the majesty of His person. In verse 13 He is there expectantly — waiting for the complete subjugation of every opposing element. In chapter 8 He is seen in priestly character, minister of the true tabernacle, possessor of "a more excellent ministry", and "Mediator of a better covenant"; in chapter 10 He is there "in perpetuity" — nothing can interrupt or disturb the position; in chapter 12 He is the Man of joy, the work of the cross completed, the Leader and Completer of faith, worthy to attract and hold the steadfast gaze of all His own. In 1 Peter 3: 22 we see Him there in pre-eminence — "angels and authorities and powers being subjected to him". How much more is involved in the present position of Christ at God's right hand!

May the consideration of this precious verse of God's Word stimulate our affections, giving us a deeper appreciation of "things above" and of Him who is at the centre of them.

The World Against the Father

The World Against the Father.

1 John 2: 13 to 17.

F. A. Hughes

(Extracted from Scripture Truth Vol. 44, 1971-3, pages 6-7)

I propose to speak of the meaning of the terms used in this Scripture in relation to three matters: the world; the Father; and those to whom the Scripture is addressed.

I refer first to the world. The world we are told not to love is not the people in the world that God in His infinite grace loved, but it is a system of which the character is clearly portrayed.

First, Satan is its God. In 1 John 5: 19 we read that "the whole world lies in the wicked one." The world has rejected Christ; it has not a mother cradles her baby. The world has rejected Christ, it has not known the Father, it cannot receive the Spirit of God, so that it is a system completely alienated from Divine Persons in its responsibility. Next we see that the prince of this world, Satan, is judged, and the world itself is a judged system. Although the world is so attractive, it is already under the judgment of God. It is marked by the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. It is remarkable that when Babylon is judged, it is proclaimed, " God has judged your judgment upon her " (Revelation 18: 20) . I particularly want you to come to a right judgment of the world in which you live. It is in God's sight less than two days since the world crucified your beloved Saviour. (2 Peter 3: 8) Do you want to find all your ambition, all your hopes, all your pleasures in such a world?

Secondly, if we love the world we shall turn away from the love of the Father, for the love of the world stands in absolute contrast with the love of the Father. In the Lord's prayer in John 17, when He speaks of the world He says, "O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee." The system of this world is absolutely unrighteous, for righteousness in Scripture is that which is due to the name and honour of God, and this world knows nothing about it. When He prays about the saints, He says, "Holy Father." He wants them to be encompassed by the holy character and affections of the Father Himself.

Finally, in relation to the persons to whom these words were addressed, there are three classes of people here. We are brought into the family of God by receiving the Saviour. (John 1:12) Within that family, we find in 1 John 2 a gradation, but two features of the whole family of God are, that their sins are forgiven for His Name's sake, and that they have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the power for the true Christian life, and for the battleground. The victory is assured on the divine side. The desire of Divine Persons is that we should be brought into victory in the conscious sense of the Father's love which will never let us down, and will hold us to the end.

Notes.

1. It is striking that this warning, "Love not the world", is addressed to those who have made real progress, that is, to young men. They need constant salvation through the written Word of God which warns of the world, promotes experience of the Father's love, and is the offensive weapon in this warfare.

2. The Lord did accept the Pharisee's invitation, but His testimony had power to dominate the situation.

3. Giving up the ways of the world is necessary to enjoy the Father's love, and the giving up and the enjoying help each other.

4. Meditate on the fact that Christ died to deliver us from the world: cultivate communion with God and the Father's love: and everything will fall into place.

5. The way to discern the will of God is (a) by prayer. (b) Scripture (c) Do not grieve the Spirit, who can lead us.

6. An acrostic of prayer in Acts:

Adoration,

Confession,

Thanksgiving,

Supplication.