In writing the first Epistle to Timothy the beloved Apostle Paul punctuates it, in 1 Timothy 3:4-16, with an explanation for writing a description of the House of God, which is the church of the living God, and with the introduction of the mystery of piety which concerns the glory of Christ.
According to 1 Timothy 1:3, the Apostle had left Timothy at Ephesus to minister the truth whilst he continued his journey to Macedonia, and from 1 Timothy 3:14 we learn that Paul hoped to see him soon, but was afraid that he might be delayed. Evidently conscious that "the King's business requireth haste," this devoted servant of the Lord wrote this wonderful Epistle on "how one ought to conduct oneself in the House of God," which contains such a wealth of practical truth for the guidance of the saints of God today.
There is no doubt that it was according to God's ordering that the instruction should be given by letter rather than by word of mouth so that it should be available, not only for Timothy and the saints at Ephesus, but for God's people at the present moment. We need to give the closest attention to the detailed teaching of this Epistle as we are beset with similar dangers, and shall only overcome them by the unqualified acceptance and undeviating practice of the truth unfolded here. Is it not a solemn consideration that he who had been inspired of God to write to the assembly at Ephesus concerning the purpose and counsels of God, in their searchless heights and abiding effects, should deem it necessary to enjoin Timothy to teach in Ephesus the fundamental truths of Christianity and the conduct suitable to the individual in the House of God?
In 1 Timothy 1, Timothy is enjoined to minister "love out of a pure heart, a good conscience and unfeigned faith," the three unshakeable bulwarks against the inroads of erroneous doctrine. As God is presented in this Epistle as a Saviour God (1 Tim. 1:1), would this not mean a heart which had been truly purified by the cleansing effects of the Gospel, and wherein God's own nature, love, had been shed abroad by the Spirit? Would not a "good conscience" result from the practical apprehension of the truth of God and the intelligence deriving therefrom, for is it not through this avenue that every ray of divine light reaches the soul? And would not "unfeigned faith" indicate that the true object is before the soul even as the Apostle states in the Epistle to the Galatians, "I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me"? (Gal. 2:20). He had life from God, and Christ as an object for faith. Would not this threefold exhortation enjoined upon the saints at Ephesus suggest that when the affections are right the intelligence will follow and bring into the view of faith's transpiercing gaze the Person in whom is everything for God and for believers?
1 Timothy 2 is concerned with the aspect of the House of God towards all men in that prayer has to be made for all men, and particularly for kings and those in dignity; also with the conduct of believers, both men and women. The men, in the expression of their dependence, should be found praying in every place, lifting up pious hands; the women are to be marked by decent deportment, becoming dress, good works and subjection, the reason for the last mentioned being that Adam was formed first, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman having been deceived was in transgression.
The first thirteen verses of 1 Timothy 3 contain details of the qualifications required by those who aspire to exercise oversight, and by the ministers (deacons), without giving any guidance as to how they are appointed or by whom. A search of the Pauline epistles will show that no authority has been given by God to anyone, or to any company, at the present time to appoint either overseers or deacons.
Paul's main concern, as we have seen, was to acquaint Timothy with the conduct suitable to the individual in God's House. This would show that it was the House on earth which is in view, for there will be no need for instruction regarding the conduct of the saints in heaven. The House on earth, as the assembly of the living God, was formed to maintain a witness to the truth, and particularly with regard to piety as it was seen in the Person of Christ on earth.
The mystery of piety is great because it is connected with the Person of Christ. Never before had God's character been set forth in perfection in this world until the coming of Him who "did not esteem it an object of rapine to be on an equality with God," and it is in occupation with this glorious Person that we become morally like Him. It is in this way the assembly can effectively represent God's character in His House. No doubt it was with this in view that 1 Timothy 3:16 was written, unfolding as it does a six-fold glory of Christ on which comment will now be made.
(1) God was manifest in flesh. The spiritual mind will accept the stupendous character of this truth with adoring wonder as realising that the Scriptures are so clear and definite about it. For instance, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, the writer presents the glories of Messiah in a richer and fuller way than the Jews had known or expected, saying, "at the end of these days" God "has spoken to us in Son" (Heb. 1:2). It was God the Son in whom God was speaking. The Epistle then presents Christ's glories as Son of Man in Heb. 2, and those of Apostle and High Priest in Heb. 3, but all take character from His divine and eternal glory in Heb. 1.
The first chapter of John's Gospel affirms the divinity of Him who came in flesh, stating "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (verse 1). Here we have the place the Son had in eternity past as the Word, but in John 1:14 He steps, as it were, into the time sphere, for "the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we have contemplated His glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father) full of grace and truth." Surely anyone seeking only the guidance of the Spirit of God in interpreting the Scriptures — and they cannot be interpreted in any other way — would agree that what was essentially true of the Son as to Godhead in an eternity past was also true of Him in coming into time.
Romans 9 is no less unequivocal concerning the divinity of the Christ of God. Having referred to the great grief and uninterrupted pain in his heart for his brethren according to the flesh, who are Israelites, in alluding to the nation the Apostle writes, "of whom, as according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen" (Rom. 9:5). We can understand something of what Paul felt when inserting the Amen here, for nothing could be added to this, and no greater privilege or honour could be bestowed upon any nation than to be associated, according to the flesh, with Him who is God over all blessed for ever.
(2) Has been justified in the Spirit. When the Lord was on earth, a divine Person in Manhood, He said, "I am come down from heaven, not that I should do my will, but the will of Him that sent me" (John 6:38).
Even though a divine Person He would not act independently of the Father, and it is not surprising to find that He did everything in the power of the Spirit, the third Person in the Trinity. Even at His birth the Spirit of God is in evidence, for the angel said to Mary, "the Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, wherefore the holy thing also which shall be born shall be called Son of God" (Luke 1:35). The Holy Spirit has taken great care, in recording the details of this holy mystery, to show that it was a completely divine action, and that there could not possibly be any other result of this than the "holy Thing."
It is beautiful to see the perfect fulfilment, in the holy conception of Jesus, of the fine flour mingled with oil in the meat offering (Lev. 2). The oil poured on the fine flour typified what was enacted at the waters of baptism, when the Lord took His place "to fulfil all righteousness," identifying Himself with the godly remnant of the Jews which had dissociated itself from the guilty nation, "and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form as a dove upon Him" (Luke 3:22). How often has this incident been used to draw out the worship of the people of God! It was then, as later on the glory mount, the Father's voice was heard declaring the delight He found in His Son.
Another unique feature of this occasion was that "the heavens were opened to Him" (Matt. 3:16), not exactly on Him, though that was true, but "to Him" for He ever had a moral title to enter that heavenly place, for though on earth He was "the Son of Man which is in heaven" (John 3:13), and the wonderful thing is that because the heavens were open to Him, they are now open for us. The men in white clothing in Acts 1:10-11, said "'Men of Galilee why stand ye looking into heaven?" Stephen, in Acts 7:56, saw the heavens opened, and the heavens are opened to all believers as is seen in 2 Corinthians 3:18, "But we all, looking on the glory of the Lord with unveiled face." The privilege of the believer is because of Christ's work on the cross, a work which is the basis of our every blessing.
With the mention of Christ's work on the cross another aspect of the manifestation of the divine energy of the Holy Spirit suggests itself, as found in Hebrews 9. The writer is contrasting Judaism with Christianity, and showing what existed in the former. There was an earthly tabernacle with its furniture, priesthood and sacrifices, but this system could not provide a perfect conscience for the worshippers or enable them to enter the holy of holies. Only the high priest could enter the holiest but once a year, and that not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins of the people.
Judaism was a provisional earthly system, but Christianity, which is based on the Person, work and blood of Christ, is an eternal and heavenly system, which purifies the conscience of the worshippers, and gives them access to the inside place, where Christ has entered, even into heaven itself. In dealing with the work of Christ, verse 14 reads, "Christ, who by the eternal Spirit offered Himself spotless to God." Here it was in the power of the Holy Spirit, in which the Son of God ever lived for God, that He offered Himself for the accomplishment of the will of God, and to purify the consciences of those who would thus be able to worship the living God.
It will be noticed that these three examples of Christ having been justified in the Spirit relate to His birth, His life and His death. In Romans 1:4 it is shown that the power of the Spirit of holiness, that marked the Son of God in His life, was associated with the resurrection of Jesus from among the dead.
(3) Has appeared to angels. These four words intimate that the God who dwells in unapproachable light appeared to angels for the first time. When Christ came into this world as Man, not only were there wondrous results on earth but great were the effects in heaven, for these heavenly messengers were constantly in attendance upon Him here.
What a beautiful picture of what angels thought of the entrance of God manifest in flesh into this world is recorded in Luke 2:8-20. The heavenly messenger came not to the temple from which the glory of God had departed, not to the religious leaders who had allowed the temple to become a house of merchandise, nor to the wicked king Herod who had sought the little child to destroy Him, but to some shepherds conscientiously tending their flock in the country surrounding Bethlehem.
The presence of the angel and the accompanying glory which surrounded the shepherds created great fear in their hearts, as would normally happen with any man on earth when enclosed in the glory of the Lord. A work of God is necessary before men can be in the glory of God without fear as having moral suitability for it. This is what the believer has according to Romans 5:1, "Therefore having been justified on the principle of faith, we have peace towards God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom we have also access by faith into this favour in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God."
The shepherds could know nothing of this as Christ had not died, but the angelic announcement of glad tidings of great joy, which was for all people, pointed forward to it because that day there had been born in David's City a Saviour who was Christ the Lord, the One whom Simeon received into his arms, at the same time saying, "Lord now lettest thou thy bondman go, according to thy word, in peace; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples, a light for revelation of the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel." Evidently the salvation He had brought was to reach far beyond the bounds of Israel, although it had a primary application to that Nation. The angel would have the Nation in view in speaking of "the people."
There was not only the announcement by the angel, there was the sign; the keepers of the flock would find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. A sign was necessary in this instance, for who would have thought that God would have been manifest in flesh in such conditions as these? The prophetic word had announced that the Ruler of Israel would come out of Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), but there was no suggestion that He would be cradled in a manger because there was no room for Him in the inn. Added to the testimony of the prophetic word, and later that of John the Baptist, is the witness of this celestial messenger to the glory of Him who had come into their midst, leaving that wicked and adulterous generation without an excuse in rejecting Him.
It seems as though the mention of that "Babe" by the angel on earth found a response in heaven, for suddenly a heavenly host was in attendance praising God in accordance with their normal service (see Psalm 148:2) and saying "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good pleasure in men." If men were silent at the birth of Christ, and ignorant of the greatness of Him who had been born into their midst, the heavenly company were vocal with praise concerning the glory which had reached God in the highest. The Son could say in reaching the terminus of His journey here, "I have glorified thee on the earth." God's glory had been secured in every step of Christ's pathway in this world, and He has shown the pleasure He has always found in His Son by glorifying Him now (John 13:31-32).
Besides the glory, there was peace on earth. In a world where all the elements of war exist, in the heart of man at a distance from God, peace had come in Him who was God manifest in flesh. The enmity which was present in the creation would be removed, for He would make "peace by the blood of His cross." The racial barrier between Jew and Gentile would also disappear, for "He is our peace who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of enclosure … that He might form the two in Himself into one new man, making peace." Then there is the peace He will carry as the Prince of Peace into the state of disorder on earth, when He holds the reins of government during His reign in the Kingdom, "For of the increase of His government and of peace there shall be no end" (Isaiah 9:7).
Having spoken of glory and of peace, the angelic host concludes the note of praise with the mention of good pleasure. God's good pleasure had always found a resting-place in His Son (Prov. 8:30): but this heavenly multitude was evidently in the intelligence of the mind of God, for their prediction was that His pleasure would be in men. Would this not be in the nature of prophecy in connection with the fulfilment of Romans 8:29, where the Son is presented as the Firstborn amongst many brethren? Whilst His supremacy is ever implied in the title of Firstborn, it is a supremacy in association with others who will be conformed to His image for the good pleasure of God.
After confirming the tidings they had heard, the shepherds were found in testimony towards men (verse 17), and in response towards God (verse 20). Is this not the normal effect on those who have truly apprehended something of the glory of Him who was wrapped in swaddling clothes and who lay in a manger?
In Matthew 4:11 another effect of His having appeared to angels is given, for they minister to Him. A reference to the Scripture will show that when the devil left Jesus, angelic ministry to Him followed. Would this not show how totally exposed He was as Man to the temptations of the devil? He had come to vanquish the enemy in life as well as in death, and it is an account of the former which is given in these verses. It was for the prime purpose of being tempted that He was carried up into the wilderness by the Spirit.
Having fasted for forty days and forty nights, afterwards He hungered. He had reached the lowest point of resistance, as Man, to the invitation of the devil to provide Himself with loaves of bread. But there was no lust of flesh in Him: neither did He use His miraculous powers in dealing with the temptations. He quotes from the written Word of God, therein giving to His own the perfect example for overcoming the seductive powers of the enemy of our souls, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
There was no hunger with the first man when he succumbed to the wiles of the serpent through his wife: he was surrounded with an abundance of fruit, and failed when everything was in his favour. What a contrast to the Second Man who was in the wilderness where there was no food, and who triumphed when everything was against Him. Unlike Adam and Eve who forfeited their original relationship with God through the lust of the flesh, the pride of life and the lust of the eyes, none of these things, which compose all that is in the world, was found in the blessed Lord, and He uses the written word to combat the assaults of the devil. After such a trying ordeal angels had the privilege of ministering to Him.
A further example of angelic intervention is recorded in Luke 22:43. "An angel appeared to Him from heaven strengthening Him." This shows the deep concern heaven had for a suffering Christ, and also the weakening effect these sufferings had upon Him as Man, for the angel strengthened Him. At His temptations the angels appeared after the devil had left Him. In His sufferings in the garden the angel appears whilst He is passing through them, telling us of the greater intensity of His sufferings.
According to Luke 22:39 it was His custom to go to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed Him quite unprepared for what was about to take place, for the Lord had to enjoin them to pray that they enter not into temptation. What wondrous love that He who knew what lay ahead of Him should, in not thinking of Himself and His sufferings, think of His own and how they could rise above temptation! Feeling the need to be alone in prayer, He withdraws from His disciples about a stone's throw and, taking the place of the truly dependent Man, kneels down and addresses Himself to the Father. His words indicate the pressure felt upon His holy soul in anticipating the dread experience awaiting Him, the drinking of the cup of wrath upon the cross; while the over-riding desire to accomplish the Father's will is expressed in the words, "Not my will, but Thine be done." The Father answered in sending the angel from heaven to strengthen Him, strengthening required to maintain Him in the conflict while He prayed more intently.
There was not only the anguish of soul, there was physical suffering, for His sweat became as great drops of blood falling down upon the earth, showing that God's Son passed through it all as a perfect Man, without any mitigation of the sufferings involved. The incalculable depths of His sufferings were known to Him and God alone.
He returned to find His disciples asleep with grief when they should have been awake in prayer, so as not to enter into temptation. Consequently, when the test came, they wanted to smite with the sword (which one of them did), instead of sheathing it. How much we lose through disobedience to the Lord's word!
(4.) Has been preached among the nations. Although the eleven disciples were commissioned to "teach all nations" (Matt. 28:19), Paul was afterwards appointed "a herald and apostle and teacher of the nations." From the time he was apprehended by the Lord, on the road to Damascus, Saul had known of the great commission allotted to him, and of the field which his labours would cover. The Lord had spoken of "The nations to whom I send thee" (Acts 26:17-18), and this great servant of the Lord could speak of not being disobedient to the heavenly vision.
On several occasions Paul refers to his Apostleship to the nations. In Ephesians 3:8 he writes, "To me, less than the least of all saints, has this grace been given, to announce among the nations the glad tidings of the unsearchable riches of the Christ"; and in Galatians 2:2 he writes, "I laid before them the glad tidings which I preach among the nations." The verse in Ephesians 3 is as wonderful in itself as it is in its context, adverting as it does to the unsearchable riches of the Christ, and as preceded by the unfolding of the mystery of Christ, and as followed by the mention of the love of Christ which passeth knowledge (verse 19).
The language the Apostle uses in describing himself is all the more remarkable when we consider how great he was as a servant of the Lord. He had received a special call by the Lord out of Judaism in which he had advanced above many of his contemporaries (Gal. 1:14), and he had the great distinction of being the Apostle to the Gentiles (Rom. 11:13). Yet when he recognises the immensity of the things he is ministering. he is conscious of being less than the least of all saints. The magnitude of the precious truth gives him such a sense of his own smallness that in comparing himself with all the saints he takes the lowest place. It was no false modesty that led the Apostle to draw this comparison, but a true humility as in the presence of the Father, before whom he bowed his knees (Eph. 3:14).
Paul also acknowledges that there is no ability in himself naturally for announcing the truth. Whatever he had learned at the feet of Gamaliel served no useful purpose in the work of God, for all he had learned of Judaism only fanned the flames of hatred in his natural heart, and led him into a course of persecution against the Lord's people. It was while he was active in this work that the Lord laid hold upon him, and removed from his heart the hatred of believers, and distilled there the altogether opposite principle of grace, not only towards the saints and the Jews, but towards all men.
The grace of God could not be contained within the perimeter of Christianity, or within the confines of Jewry; it had to be universal in its scope and application. and to him who was "less than the least of all saints" was this grace given. Paul clearly shows that the grace was a pure gift. He had been indoctrinated in the system of Judaism, founded on the principle of works but on the road to Damascus he became the servant of Him who supplies as a free gift all that is necessary in His service. "Without me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5) is absolutely true whether in bearing fruit for the Father or in testimony before men.
The gift of grace had been given to the Apostle with the specific object of his announcing the glad tidings. Grace as an active principle had taken hold of the Apostle, and gave character to his life, even as he shows in Titus 2:12 that grace teaches us how we ought to conduct ourselves in this present course of things, and grace marked him in his preaching, reminding us that the glad tidings will be heard in all their sweetness when this grace is filling the heart of the one who preaches.
Why should they be called glad tidings? They are tidings which are given of God for the benefit of mankind, and designed to produce gladness in the heart of the one who receives them, and are not confined to the mentions in the New Testament, for in Isaiah 52:7 we read, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who announces glad tidings … who announces glad tidings of good." There the good news is of peace and salvation for a restored Jerusalem when Christ reigns, with earthly blessing for Israel. It is only when the New Testament is reached that we find the lustre of God's thoughts regarding the Gospel, announcing heavenly as well as earthly blessing. This great subject is presented in a variety of aspects, which include that of the unsearchable riches of the Christ.
The enquiry immediately arises in the mind, "What are the unsearchable riches of the Christ?" It will be at once obvious that, because they are unsearchable, it is not possible for us to encircle them with a rigid definition. They include all that Christ has as Man, and all the glory God has given to Him in virtue of who He is, and on account of the work He has done. Christ is the appointed Heir of all things, and according to the counsel of God's will the saints have obtained an inheritance in Him (Eph. 1:11). The riches are concerned with God in His attributes, shining out when all things will be headed up in Christ in the fulness of times.
When reference is made to Galatians 2:2, the glad tidings appear in a very different context, and are applied in another way. God's people in Ephesus were mature and ready for the reception of heavenly truth, whereas those in Galatia were in danger of losing the light of the fundamental truths of the Gospel, and of these truths the Apostle reminds them in the Epistle. By the divine wisdom given to him, this faithful servant of the Lord was able to discern the state of Galatian believers and, by the Spirit, minister what they needed. This manifested the Apostle's great spiritual understanding as well as his ability to present the truth of God.
We learn from the verse under consideration that Paul went up to Jerusalem according to revelation, indicating how much his life was controlled by divine intervention and guidance in the great things as well as the small. This revelation had to do with a major issue of far-reaching importance relating to the truth of the glad tidings as communicated to Paul, and was for the preservation of the unity of the Assembly.
There seems no doubt that the visit to Jerusalem, as recorded in Galatians 2, is the same as that of Acts 15, and was consequent upon the arrival in Antioch of certain brethren from Judea who taught that unless brethren were circumcised according to the custom of Moses they could not be saved. This was a complete travesty of the truth as taught by Paul, and he opposed it with the support of Barnabas.
Arising from the dispute, it was arranged that the Apostle and Barnabas, together with certain brethren from Antioch, should go to Jerusalem about the matter. It is not without significance that the company was set on its way by the Assembly (Acts 15:3), so that Paul and those with him had the fellowship of the Assembly on their mission. Had the brethren from Judea sought the same commendation from the Assembly at Jerusalem before going to Antioch, the dispute might never have arisen, although it is quite clear that it was allowed in God's wisdom. The truth of the Gospel as taught by Paul had to be clarified in the minds of the Jewish believers, and accepted by them, so that the unity of the Assembly could be upheld.
By grace we can perceive the wisdom of God in decreeing that the question should be settled in Jerusalem and not at Antioch by the exercise of Paul's apostolic authority. The Apostle's special revelation coincided with the exercise of the brethren at Antioch to go to Jerusalem, and the details of what happened, and the letter sent out, reflect the healthy state in the Assembly at Jerusalem, for there was willing response to what was so clearly according to the mind of God (Acts 15).
In addition to stating what had caused him to go to Jerusalem, Paul refers to his defence of the truth when he got there. He had laid before the brethren the glad tidings which he preached among the nations, and there could be no doubt about their accuracy, for he had received them by special revelation of Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:12). Consequently, we can understand in some measure how disturbed the Apostle would be on learning of what had developed amongst the saints in Galatia.
Although the Galatians had received the glad tidings (Gal. 1:9), they had turned from God, who had called them in Christ's grace, through the efforts of false teachers perverting the glad tidings of the Christ. These Judaisers were teaching that the law and Christianity were complementary instead of contradictory, and the Apostle exposed the error in the most scathing terms, while showing the truths of the Gospel as the only corrective.
What was happening in Galatia was not new; it had already reared its head as between Jerusalem and Antioch, and had been settled according to God's mind. Even subsequently the enemy had sought, by Peter's action, to inject confusion into the settlement, but Paul withstood him before all (Gal. 2:11-21).
When Paul laid the glad tidings before those at Jerusalem, he records that he had done it, in the first place, privately to those who were conspicuous among them, and this is confirmed in Acts 15:6 where it states that only the Apostles and elders were gathered together. Would this not teach that certain matters of importance, or because of their special character, might be better considered by the elder brethren in the first place before being submitted for ratification by the whole assembly? When sending chosen men and a letter to Antioch, the whole Assembly is associated with the Apostles and elders in the decision (Acts 15:22. 23).
Why should the Apostle wonder whether, in any way, he was running, or had run, in vain? He had received the glad tidings as a special revelation of Jesus Christ, and had gone up to Jerusalem by revelation. Was there any doubt in his mind as to the source of the truth he preached? There could not possibly be. Not knowing the brethren in Jerusalem very well, and being unknown personally to the Assemblies in Judea which were in Christ, Paul doubtless wondered whether they would accept the truth of his glad tidings in which were "things hard to be understood" by believers of the circumcision.
Another thing is that even an Apostle was allowed to experience some suspense before obtaining confirmation of his exercise, even though it had been substantiated by a revelation. God in His goodness gave abundant confirmation to the Gospel preached unto the Gentiles, for Titus was not compelled to be circumcised, although there were present false brethren brought in surreptitiously, and James, Cephas and John extended to Paul and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship.
(5.) Has been believed on in the world. It is not only that the Son of God has been preached among the nations, He has been believed on in the world. The faith that is preached and the faith that appropriates the preaching are not the same thing, but "faith … is by a report, but the report by God's word" (Rom. 10:17).
There are several instances in the Gospels where the Lord becomes the object of faith, the blind man in John 9, and the woman in Luke 7, being examples. Altogether there were not many cases, for when the disciples were all gathered together they only numbered one hundred and twenty (Acts 1:15). This only proved the character of the world where God had been dishonoured, and particularly what the Jews were, that when the Son of God was here in grace such a small number of people should receive Him. If the Jewish nation, as such, did not receive Him, God had in mind the presentation of His Son in a far wider sphere, but this supposed His death and exaltation.
In resurrection, just before His exaltation, the Lord said to His own, "And behold I send the promise of my Father upon you; but do ye remain in the city till ye be clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). This power was required in connection with the testimony concerning the repentance and remission of sins which had to be preached in His Name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. As a sequence to the Lord's words, Acts 2 records the details of how the promise was fulfilled, and what the effects were on the disciples and on those who heard their testimony.
The feast of Pentecost had been chosen by God for the happening of these wonderful things about to be considered, because the feasts described in Leviticus 23 had clearly shown, in a typical way, that the sending of the Holy Spirit would be related to that feast, the middle feast of the three major feasts, the Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. The Passover, typical of the Lord's death, had been fulfilled, but the feast of Tabernacles will not be truly fulfilled until it is celebrated when Israel is restored in the land. Now we look back to Acts 2 where there is the fulfilment of Pentecost, when all the disciples were gathered together.
From Christ in glory the divine power was sent, and in the Person of the Holy Spirit, a divine Person; and the sound that accompanied His coming was of a violent, impetuous blowing, and it filled all the house where they were sitting, but this caused no alarm to the disciples. Parted tongues of fire sat upon each of them, the parting suggesting diversity of speech, the fire indicating the penetrating power of the speech that would be used (Acts 2:37). No human power could utilize a tongue which was heavenly in origin, only divine power could do this, so they were filled with the Spirit, a divine Person taking up His residence in each of those He filled, and as a company they were baptised by one Spirit into one body, a truth to be developed later by the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 12).
Having received the Holy Spirit, and the power, the disciples began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them to speak forth. The rumour of what had taken place having spread, the multitude came together, and were confounded because each one heard the disciples speaking in his own language. This was a complete reversal of what happened at the tower of Babel (Gen. 11), where the Lord confounded the language of the people that they might not understand one another's speech. Nor was it only that each heard in his own tongue, but in his own dialect.
It is not difficult to understand that these strangers in Jerusalem were amazed and perplexed at such a happening. No natural man can understand the origin or operation of such divine power. In honesty, he can only express perplexity; in mockery, he can only make some absurd suggestion such as "they are full of new wine." Peter does not ignore the suggestion, however thoughtless and irresponsible, but standing up in fellowship with the eleven, dismisses the remark of the mockers with the curt reminder that it was but the third hour of the day, about nine in the morning, then proceeds to give the real explanation of the divine power which had been manifested in their midst.
Peter showed from Joel that the descent of the Spirit was a partial fulfilment of his prophecy, terminating his quotation with the words, "And it shall be that whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved." Peter's address is to the men of Israel, and not just to those of Judea and Jerusalem, and he speaks to them of Jesus the Nazarean, for this was the way in which the Jews had described Him in their reproach and hatred.
God had borne witness to His Son during His life, and had also borne witness to Him in death, for He raised Him up, having loosed the pains of death, but not before they had been experienced in all their power. The reason for God's raising Him up is instructive: it was not possible that He should be held by its power, for He had broken it. The Jews ought to have known the truth of resurrection, for David had prophesied the resurrection of Messiah in Psalm 16, and had also written there of His exaltation to God's right hand. The fulfilment of prophecy in the resurrection of Jesus, and the promise of the Father in the sending of the Holy Spirit, are the great themes pressed upon his hearers by Peter.
The effect of this powerful testimony of the Spirit through Peter was that their consciences were reached, they were pricked in their hearts, so that they said to Peter and the other Apostles, "What shall we do, brethren?" (Acts 2:37).
A comparison of Acts 2:38 with Luke 24:47 reveals, in the answer that he gave, how closely Peter followed the instruction he received from the Lord just before His ascension. There was to be the preaching of repentance and remission of sins, and here Peter says, "Repent, and be baptised, each one of you, in the Name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins." They were to take sides with God against themselves by repentance, and to be baptised as a public act of their association with all that was implied in the Name of Jesus Christ, and of their dissociation from a nation that had been guilty of His death.
In this way they would receive the remission of sins to become morally suitable for the reception of the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit could not be received by anyone in the unholy condition of having his sins upon him. Whilst Peter testifies that the promise is to those of Judea, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Israel, as well as to their children, he is careful not to limit it to that circle, for he mentions "all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God may call." This would include all who receive the call of God at any time.
As a result of Peter's preaching, about three thousand received his word, were baptised, and that day were added to the company of believers. Apart from the one hundred and twenty, this is the first example recorded in the Scriptures of Christ being "believed on in the world."
Peter's ministry was specially to the circumcision (Gal. 2:8), but he was also the instrument used of God to bring the Gentiles into the divine circle, when he spoke the word of God to Cornelius and those in his house (Acts 10). At the close of Peter's address in the house of Cornelius, he said, "To Him all the prophets bear witness that every one that believes on Him will receive through His Name remission of sins" (Acts 2:43). Here was another proof of Christ being "believed on in the world."
In Acts 8, after the scattering of the saints in Jerusalem through persecution, Philip went down to Samaria, and "preached Christ to them" (Acts 8:5), and "when they believed Philip announcing the glad tidings concerning the kingdom of God and the Name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women" (Acts 8:12), giving yet another proof of men and women in this world believing in Him who was manifested in flesh.
Then we have the many preachings among the Gentiles by the Apostle Paul, reaching to Europe, and resulting in many believing on the Name of the Son of God. Since the days of Paul, the preaching has gone out to the Gentiles through many faithful servants of the Lord, and great have been the results. The fruit of the many preachings will soon be displayed, when the Lord Jesus "shall have come to be glorified in His saints, and wondered at in all that have believed," and Paul could add, "For our testimony to you has been believed" (2 Thess. 1:10).
(6.) Has been received up in glory. After stating that the Lord Jesus had been believed on in the world, this Scripture immediately introduces the thought of His ascension. There is no reference to the end of the Lord's path on earth, no reference to the cross, for the Apostle is dealing with the perfection of the Lord's life down here as foreshadowed in the meat offering in Leviticus 2. So delightful to God was the perfect pathway of His Son that it could only lead to His being received up.
Luke 24:51 states, "As He was blessing them, He was separated from them, and was carried up into heaven." Here we see that His destination was heaven. His hands were uplifted in blessing as He was separated from His disciples, leaving an indelible impression on their minds of the service He had rendered to them here below, and which He would continue for them in heaven whither He was going. The hands that are now outstretched in blessing towards His saints will still be engaged in service to us when we reach Him in heaven (Luke 12:37). The mighty power of God that took Christ out of death (Eph. 1:20), was in evidence in carrying Him into heaven, the place that was native to Him as a Divine Person, but to which He was returning as Man.
In Mark 16:19 the Lord had just spoken to His disciples, and then "was taken up into heaven, and sat at the right hand of God." His being taken up to heaven conveys the thought of God's delight in the return to heaven of His beloved Son, after His wondrous path on earth and the completion of His great work upon the cross. His act in sitting at the right hand of God manifests His title to be there, and His knowledge of God's will for Him, for He alone could occupy that place of power, a place that none can share, for it is uniquely His. Benjamin, the son of Jacob, was a type of the Lord Jesus. When Benjamin was born, his mother, Rachel, called him Benoni, "son of my affliction," but his father named him Benjamin, "son of the right hand" (Gen. 35:18). Benoni typified the sorrowing path of the Lord on earth, but Benjamin His place on high.
According to Acts 1:9, Jesus "was taken up, they beholding Him, and a cloud received Him out of their sight." On four separate occasions in this chapter it is recorded that Jesus was "taken up," surely to emphasize the importance of this event, which was necessary, before the Holy Spirit could come, or be sent (John 16:7).
In beholding the Lord Jesus going up into heaven, the disciples resembled, in some respects, what was set forth in Elisha when he saw Elijah as he went up by a whirl-wind into the heavens. Having seen Elijah as he went up, Elisha received a double portion of his spirit to enable him to continue in Israel the labours of Elijah, who was a type of the ascended Man. Elisha also saw the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof, typical of the power of God. The Apostles, beholding the Lord, saw a cloud, which in Scripture denotes the divine presence (Ex. 33:9, 14; Matt. 17:5), and subsequently they were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2) as power for their witness to continue the Lord's work.
Another aspect of the Lord's ascension is found in Ephesians 4:8, "Having ascended up on high, He has led captivity captive, and has given gifts to men." This verse is divided into three parts: what He did in His own mighty power in ascending up above all heavens, what He did in leading captivity captive, and what He did in giving gifts to men.
Here it is the power which is in Christ inherently by which He ascended on high to occupy His place as Head of the church, His body. First of all He had to overcome the devil who holds men in captivity, as the slaves of sin, and this He has done, thereby emancipating His own from the devil's power and bringing them into subjection to Himself.
Christ has done much more: He has given gifts to men so that, in exercising them in dependence upon Him, they might be used in freeing others from Satan's dominion. In Psalm 68:18 it states, "Thou hast received gifts in Man," because it was as Man that Christ received them; but in Ephesians, whilst quoting the Psalm, it is what Christ gives. The gifts are the servants themselves, apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers; and not as in 1 Corinthians 12:8, "the word of wisdom; and … the word of knowledge."
The Scriptures give adequate testimony that in the Lord being received up it was "in glory." To Stephen the heavens were opened, and it states of him in Acts 7:55, "But being full of the Holy Spirit, having fixed his eyes on heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God." He had the requirements for beholding this wonderful sight: he was full of the Holy Spirit, and his eyes were fixed on heaven. No power, apart from that of the Holy Spirit, could bring into focus, to a man on earth, what was seen in heaven, the glory of God and Jesus standing in the place of power, at the right hand of God. That Jesus was standing indicated that He was still prepared to return to earth if the Jewish nation would receive the testimony of the Holy Spirit through Stephen. In stoning Stephen, the Jews rejected the testimony of the Holy Spirit to a glorified Christ, even as they had rejected the testimony of the Father in the Son by crucifying Jesus.
Then there is what Saul of Tarsus was privileged to see as he journeyed to Damascus (Acts 9:3), when the light out of heaven suddenly shone round about him. In commenting on it later, the Apostle described it as "a light above the brightness of the sun," and, as it was midday, it would be the sun at its meridian brilliance. The sun may shed its rays of light, heat and life-giving properties to the natural body, but it takes a greater light out of heaven to affect the soul.
In the result, that heavenly light brought Saul to the earth where he could receive the blessing of his soul, and as he listened he heard the voice of Him whom he addressed as Lord, saying, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest." Although he could not have realised it at the time, he was hearing the first intimation of the saints he was touching their Head in heaven. Later, having been called to minister this great truth, he wrote to the saints at Corinth giving the local aspect of the "one body" (1 Cor. 12:27). The aspect embracing all the saints on earth at any given time was given to the saints at Colosse (Col. 1:24), and the full thought of the church as the body of Christ in heaven was given to the saints at Ephesus (Eph. 1:23).
There is also what we, as believers, are privileged to see now, "But we all, looking on the glory of the Lord with unveiled face, are transformed …" (2 Cor. 3:18). When the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34), neither Moses nor any of the priests or people could enter or see it. As God's dealings were exclusively with Israel, it follows that no one of the other nations could see the divine glory.
Now, coincident with the blessing of the new covenant, all the Lord's people, irrespective of nationality, may look on the glory of the Lord and the Lord as He is now revealed, according to the ministry of the Spirit, and not as Jehovah under the ministry of condemnation. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai the second time, with the two tables of testimony, the skin of his face shone (Ex. 34:30), and Aaron and the children of Israel were afraid. Looking on the glory of the Lord, believers at the present time, instead of being afraid, are transformed. They become morally like Him on whose glory they look, being changed from glory (cause) to glory (effect). This is not achieved by any human power, but by the Holy Spirit, whose Lordship is mentioned here.
The Apostle Paul's testimony concerning the glory is found in 2 Corinthians 4, in verse 4, "the glory of the Christ, who is the image of God," and in verse 6 "the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Paul here likens God's dealings with what had taken place in creation. God spoke, and into the darkness the light shone (Gen. 1:3), so that "The heavens declare the glory of God" (Psalm 19:1). Similarly, the light of the knowledge of God's glory shone into the heart of the beloved Apostle that there might be from him a testimony to the knowledge of the glory shining in the face of Jesus Christ. This glory is associated with the new creation order, and not with the present creation. The former is seen by faith in the energy of the Spirit, the latter is what the natural eye beholds. J. W.