Lord, we can only pray from our heart,
under the very deep sense of need, of
dependence, of longing, that Thou
Thyself would stand fully possessed of every moment
of this time and of this day to
give Thyself with great application, wisdom, love, and
power to securing the completion, so far as
this time is concerned, of thought Thou didst
have in mind in bringing us together.
Thou didst say, after feeding that multitude, gather
up, gather up, what remains over, that nothing
be lost, that nothing be lost.
Believe that this is Thine own desire, that
nothing be lost.
And we pray that Thou would bring this
very definitely into this day, that nothing be
lost.
We ask in the name of the Lord
Jesus, Amen.
In our occupation with the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ through this week, and our
tracing of its application to different situations and
conditions, represented by letters of the Apostle Paul,
we have this morning arrived at the letter
to the Ephesians, and the place that the
cross has and the meaning that the cross
has in that letter.
I hope that you may have read it
before the meeting, or that at least some
knowledge of it exists in your minds, so
that it is not necessary for me to
give you the content of the whole letter.
We are not concerned with that at this
time, but with this one focus, what has
the cross to say to us through this
letter.
The actual mention of the cross in the
letter is infrequent, but references
to it by way of implication are very
evident.
You will recall that early the Apostle addresses
these believers as those who have been quickened
together with Christ, and raised together with him.
That thought occurs more than once in the
letter, implying that these believers had come by
way of the death, the burial, the resurrection,
and that they now stood on the other
side of the cross.
The cross had had its place and largely
done its work in them.
They, standing on resurrection ground, were now able
at least to be shown what the meaning
of the cross is in its greater fullness.
And again we are impressed with the spiritual
sequence of things in these letters.
We have said the divine arrangement of them,
so different from the human chronological arrangement, that
you move in real spiritual sequence in these
letters, as they are given to us by
the Holy Spirit in this present order.
That, as I have just intimated, is very
apparent and patent in the movement from Galatians
to Ephesians.
In Galatians something had to be got out
of the way.
The head of that giant, that Goliath, Judaism,
and every other ism represented by it, had
to be cut off.
That giant had to be decapitated.
And put aside all legalisms of every kind.
Everything that makes Christ smaller than he is,
makes the gospel smaller than it is.
Everything speaking of a wrong limitation had to
be put out of the way before you
can get to Ephesians.
Because we are going to see Ephesians is
the emancipation from all circumscribed
horizons.
The cross and emancipation from all circumscribed horizons.
You are going to move in a big
realm, aren't you?
When you come into this letter.
And of course, anybody who knows this letter,
knows what a boundless thing it represents.
I am not going to recapitulate a lot
of things.
I have said in the little book with
which some of you may be familiar, the
stewardship of the mystery.
But I can remind you that this is
the letter, more than any other, in the
New Testament of superlative.
Indeed, this man of such tremendous ability, intellectually
and in other ways, was hard put to
it when he wrote this letter to find
language to express what was in his heart,
what he had come to see.
His superlatives just topple over one another and
spoil all his grammar.
He will just build it up, speeding abundantly
above all and so on.
It's the letter of superlatives and therefore we
can rightly sum it up in this way
as the letter of emancipation from every limited
horizon.
I remind you again, there is a real
atlas in this sequence that A.I. could
make to the Old Testament.
And A.I.'s issues, having been settled, and
A.K.'s, the element that would pull the
people back onto the old Corinthian ground we
have in here, A.K. having been removed
with all that belonged to him, wife and
children, it looks very cruel, very untimely, ruthless
to pull A.K. out and his family
and stone them all to death.
But you must remember the Bible moves on
spiritual principles and anything to do with this
kind of thing.
The thing itself, the A.K. and any
related thing to this that Galatians represents has
got to be wholly and entirely put out
of the way.
As Paul said, let it be anathema.
And again I say, let it be anathema.
He's not having any compromise with any ism
that limits Christ or ground that is smaller
than Christ.
And that all being dealt with so thoroughly,
now we can move on.
Come out into these great expanses of Christ
which this letter represents.
And if I indicate a few things, cannot
do more than just indicate them with the
most restricted comment, you will have to take
it away and spread it over for all
your future time with the Lord.
But it's one thing into which all these
things are gathered with which we are concerned
on this last day of the Feast or
so far as I am.
We'll get more present.
Here then we have in this letter a
whole series of transitions from the limited to
the unlimited.
A whole series.
First of all, there is the transition from
the earthly to the heavenly.
And all who know this letter know that
the characteristic phrase of this letter five times
repeated is in the heavenly.
Tremendous movement has taken place in the horizon
here.
In thrust far back from earth.
From the earthly to the heavenly.
The heavenly in Christ our Jesus.
Now I know quite well that that is
a difficult idea to thrust.
And of course the natural mind immediately gets
pictures of something out there far away to
heaven.
What do you mean by that?
And it is said that some people are
so heavenly that they are no earthly good.
We'll come on to that in a minute.
Let us get quite clear as to what
this really means in the heavenly.
It is true that Christ now is in
heaven.
It is true that there is a super
mundane realm in which principalities and powers, world
rulers of this darkness, hosts of wicked spirits
operate.
We'll come on that again.
It is true that there is a realm.
But it can be very unpractical if it
is just a mental conception.
A remote abstract idea in the heavenly.
The first thing said about this is that
we have been made to sit in the
heavenly in Christ Jesus.
But we haven't.
In another sense we are sitting here in
this place.
And very literally so.
Probably as the hours go on with the
talking you feel it is very literal.
To have to sit there.
Very real.
And so an element unreality can come into
our mentality when we read this phrase repeatedly
in the heavenly.
What is really meant by that?
Well of course our names are written in
heaven.
In Christ in heaven we have our place.
And all our resources are in him.
And to come from him as there.
Our government has to be from heaven.
Many other things.
But even so this has got to be
brought more definitely into our knowledge.
Our experience.
The experience of being in the heavenly.
That is the point.
And until we've got that settled all this
about emancipation from limited horizons is but a
beautiful conception.
What is it?
Now let me say at once.
It is for all practical purposes in the
Christian life here and now in this world,
in this life it is an inward thing.
An inward thing.
Very simple.
If you have really been born again and
you know quite well that that is not
the exact translation of the original language.
It is born from above.
Born from above.
Well, new birth.
If you really have come into the experience
of the new birth which is birth from
above what is your first consciousness?
Your first awareness from that time?
Something that you come to realize right at
the beginning.
You know quite well that you you've parted
with this world and this earth.
That is, if you no longer belong here
something has happened that has been in the
nature of a translation inwardly.
Your interest.
Those interests which were no longer your interest.
Your association.
Your own people now.
Your own people are the Lord's people.
Your gravitation is toward heavenly things.
It's an inward awareness and consciousness.
We all know something.
As we go on in the life with
the Lord that becomes more and more.
We are on a spiritual pilgrimage.
A spiritual pilgrimage inside of ourselves.
And our pilgrimage is away.
Away.
We find it increasingly difficult to be at
rest at home in the things of this
world and the things which the people of
this world have as their ultimate.
Now that's very simple, isn't it?
But note the apostle is saying this to
people who had gone a fair way on
the pilgrimage.
He'd been with these people in Ephesus and
he said to them, dear elders I have
not shunned to declare unto you the whole
counsel of God.
They had gone quite a way and yet
here he is after all in this particular
connection as we shall see in others saying
to Christians to Christians well on the way
your life, your life is not here.
Don't expect anything here.
Don't look for anything here.
All your resources are outside and to come
to you from outside.
Truly as ever the manna had to come
from heaven in type and symbol in the
wilderness day by day so you have to
and you can learn to live every day
from about I say that almost elementary and
simple but what is your experience?
What is your experience?
I say to you that after I've mentioned
a number of years of seeking to walk
with the Lord today, today with all the
grey hairs and all the years and all
the experience never a day comes but what
more than ever before I am conscious that
unless the Lord supplies from heaven today they're
not worse it has to be like that
even after the greatest fullness you might have
had large fullness yesterday might have closed the
day with very rich provision from the Lord
to begin the day as though we never
had anything start all over again it's true
it's got to be like that that is
the first grey horizon into which we are
emancipated from earth to heaven and our
whole way of life if it is a
true spiritual life if the cross has really
cut in between us and this world if
we really have reached the sixth chapter of
the letter to the Galatians the last word
about the whole situation of the earth touch
and the earth bond God forbid that I
should glory save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ whereby the world is crucified
to me and I to the world if
we really have reached that point of the
cross the cut in then we are in
a position really in a position to know
this wonderful enlargement of heavenly sustenance heavenly provision
heavenly fullness has blessed us with every spiritual
blessing in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus where
inwardly we are together with him it's an
inward thing an inward consciousness you know I'm
tempted to put in a big parenthesis there
every spiritual blessing but it would be impossible
I think to say in a sentence that
would be adequate but I'll remind you I'll
remind you what the apostle mentions here as
some of the spiritual blessings into which we
have come by reason of this transition inwardly
in the spiritual life what does he say
as he says chosen in him chosen in
Christ before the foundation of the world have
you ever tried to contemplate that is that
a blessing no accident in our salvation the
working out of an eternal thought chosen in
him dare I mention it predestinated to be
conformed to the image of his son what
a blessing accepted in the beloved I spent
a whole conference on that alone didn't we
redeemed in whom we have our redemption redeemed
enlightened enlightened these are words in Ephesians enlightened
endowed healed all in Christ
Jesus pure of the blessing in the heavenly
in Christ Jesus wonderful things aren't they now
you see we need to extend the conference
for another month or so ah this is
where the conference ought to finish you know
with the twelve baskets full over with such
a conception such a mighty conception of that
into which we have been brought that our
whole rise and fall step is so great
great the greatness of our Lord Jesus Christ
well that's only one of the transitions from
the earthly to the heavenly next transition from
time into eternity before the foundation of the
world is where it begins and unto the
ages of the ages where it ends lift
it completely out of what kind of its
power you know in the other summary of
the blessings in Christ given by Paul which
we have considered this week he says about
the love of Christ shall life or death
these are big things the compasses of this
earthly sojourn life and death he says no
they lose their power they are ruled out
here in this horizon of eternity how I'd
like to dwell upon before the foundation of
the world the counsels of God from eternity
concerning the trust the church I think I
must stop back here for this little bracketed
statement that word pre-death can limit your
horizon if you're not careful I see the
tragedy of this spread of ultra pre-destination
theology I've seen I know the companies of
the Lord's people going on in the freedom,
the liberty, the life and the joy all
moving on and then this thing has come
in pre-destination and its theological interpretation and
they started going around in mystery you can't
get anywhere at all beyond that and it's
like a dead hand a dead hand on
everything be careful because pre-destination has nothing
to do with individual salvation get that?
it has to do with the eternal vocation
of the church the church and that's the
basis and that's where you get the word
well pre-death as intended to be helpful
to throw the horizon back to deliver us
from this awful bondage it's one of the
isms, you know great man, good man was
Calvin but when it comes to Calvinism be
careful from time into eternity we
are emancipated thirdly, from the temporal to the
spiritual something very helpful we can grasp it
it really is a deliverance this an enlargement
to realize that the temporal the temporal that
is the things of this life things of
this life and the things of time things
which make up our daily life the events,
the happenings the permissive will of God in
so many things and the directive will of
God in other things all that has to
do with our human life here is governed
by the spirit if we are in this
comfort in Christ of course I said that
in Romans you have the whole thing gathered
up comprehensively and then the letters following break
it up and so out of Romans we
bring this to here all things work together
for good for them that love God don't
stop there and are the call according to
his purpose as we shall see in a
minute that's the great work of this letter
so that the temporal things your sorrow your
love your disappointment oh what a large round
of happenings trials, difficulties, sorrows suffering, perplexities and
so on in things that come into our
lives we call them the temporal things because
they belong to this life here if we
are in this realm in Christ Jesus and
the cross has really cut in and emancipated
us from the finality of temporal things how
often the temporal experience becomes a finality with
us we think that spells the end of
everything no if in this realm in Christ
then the temporal things are governed by spiritual
influence do I need to enlarge on that
most of us look back upon things that
happened we thought what chances what tragedies happening
to us and they were pretty difficult very
hard and we thought that they spelled the
end and we can now see that they
had very real spiritual value and that we
should not have come into the knowledge of
the Lord which we have today but for
those things they have not been narrowing things
but enlarging things things which happened unto me
before the things which happened that happened have
worked out have turned out for the further
in the way of things enlarging, enlarging various
transitions from the temporal to the government of
the temporal by the spiritual that's a very
large royal mess when you can get out
there when by the grace of God we
can say the presence of this thing that
happened which seems so devastating so desolate seeming
to write over everything loss failure disillusion when
in the presence of that we, by the
grace of God are able to say there's
some spiritual value in this that would justify
it that will vindicate God's wisdom in allowing
it something in this I can't see it
now I've come into it sooner or later
I've come into it and I can look
back upon this and say Christ was the
pathway he led them by a straight way
he didn't he led them round and round
and round in the wilderness and yet the
verdict is he led them by a straight
way however circuitous it may seem if it's
going to reach his end it's straight now
it's easy perhaps to say these things but
dear friends these are things we have to
learn to be emancipated from the domination of
the temple into the government of the church
yes and this letter is full of that
you know full of that and a lot
of times it's wanted to show it but
let me let me remind you chapter four
I beseech you to walk worthily of the
calling wherewith you are called you've got to
walk amidst conditions in this world which are
very difficult he's writing to Ephesians and God
only knows how those Ephesians had to live
it had to live it walk about amongst
how everything could have dragged them down forced
them down kept them down this and that
and that which we will touch upon now
in the midst of it all walk worthily
of the vocation wherewith you are called let
the greater home rise lift you up of
these temporal things and give you a motive
a motive an incentive for living here in
this world the incentive of another dimension or
to be very much more practical lifting out
of this letter these temporal things very practical
indeed husbands and wives that's very practical isn't
it very practical in the world in which
we live the relationship there oh what a
training ground that is because when you get
married you've entered into utopia you're going to
have no more trouble that man is absolutely
perfect that woman was never in the world
not with anyone like her we're never going
to have any trouble together now I don't
want to spoil it and I'm not speaking
out of a history of disappointment no one,
no one passed that on but we all
know that this this very relationship is one
of God's school in which we have to
learn very much about the Jesus Christ it's
a temporal thing isn't it but look at
the horizon into which this letter puts it
even as Christ loved the church and gave
himself for it so husbands and wives isn't
that lifted out into a dimension isn't that
a transition my word so Paul says I
speak of history I speak of Christ and
his church when I'm speaking about husbands and
wives and why I'm speaking about Christ and
his church can you, can you bring your
even your marriage relationship onto the ground of
Christ and his church and his giving himself
for it and the other way in which
it's applied the opposite but the point is
lifting it out of this poor state as
we know it in the world and as
perhaps sometimes you are tried by your husband
or your wife sometimes perhaps may I say
it's almost a breaking point in which it
involves any sacred but I know human life
well enough oh yes I know it somewhere
away in a a box of all sorts
of odds and ends I put it away
somewhere there is a bullet and I took
that bullet from a gun with which a
Christian man was going to shoot his wife
workers in the church that's terrible that's perhaps
an extreme case but you see you can
be driven by the devil to all sorts
of things because that relationship is intended by
the Lord to represent something so great oh
if the devil can really get in between
husband and wife and smash that he has
he did in a very very big thing
he has robbed Christ of a testimony to
himself and his relationship to the church and
so I'm going to say that perhaps there
are few if any relationships that the devil
is against more than the relationship of a
true partnership of husband and wife and wife
and husband seems that he stops at nothing
to spoil that because he's going to gain
a lot because of Jesus as Paul says
I speak of Christ isn't that lifting things
out of one realm into another that's Ephesians
suffer the word but we must be very
faithful we are not just roving in idealism
very practical and we come to the next
transition the seen as overshadowed
by the unseen I think probably that is
implied in what I've been saying but we
might just underline the phrase the overshadowing of
the seen by the unseen and here dear
friends it is not just a statement in
words a phrase to me to me not
that I am anything important or a model
but to me this is one of the
most testing things in the Christian life I
know of few more testing words in scripture
than those words used by the apostle not
here but elsewhere our light of victory which
is but for a moment worketh for us
a far more exceeding and eternal weight of
glory while we look not at the things
seen but at the things which are not
seen the things seen are temporal the things
which are not seen are eternal I repeat
I know of few passages of scripture more
testing the seen the seen so real so
real seems so ridiculous shut your eyes to
them they are real all these things that
this apostle passed through were real the shipwrecks
by the number of them he says a
night of the day in the deep perils
of robbers perils of false prevalence so on
and on were they real?
if not go and spend a night of
the day in a shipwreck in the sea
clinging to some bit of wood a night
of the day isn't that real?
no your Christian science won't save you there
when I was a young Christian I was
walking home from the city of London one
evening after work a fellow joined up with
me in Hyde Park and I was suffering
in agony of toothache you know what toothache
is?
oh I had an awful absence and I
had my hand up this fellow joined up
asked me what was wrong and I told
him oh there's no such thing as pain
it's all imagination well I was in my
teens and I was a boxer and I
had been taught boxing by my brother who
had excelled in amateur boxing and he had
split panels of doors with the back of
my head so I said to this fellow
look here my friend let me give you
a real lift right from the shoulder on
the point of your jaw and then you
say there's no such thing as pain will
you stand by your philosophy?
well he wasn't allowing the test I
think his philosophy broke down at that point
it never happened do you see what I
mean?
no, no, no, no this won't do this
won't do at all things seen are very
real the things felt are very real they
are very real and the things unseen seem
unseen seem to be abstract and unreal and
yet the apostle says that the effect of
what we are going through to bring an
exceeding weight of glory depends upon our not
being occupied with the seen but looking beyond
beyond to the unseen I say testing I
mentioned before one point in this is that
you spend your life pour out your life
costly suffering poor people the people of God
come to the end of your life and
as far as you can see there's very
little for it and what you can see
is a very large, great deal of discrediting
of you and your ministry for the Lord
in his kindness his great kindness does live
the veil sometimes a little bit and someone
comes along and says you know, you know
thirty years ago I heard a message from
you and I never forgot just a little
bit like that little bit like that perhaps
not enough to save you from seeing the
things that are seen altogether but afterwards the
great afterwards I believe dear friends we're going
to see very much more in the afterwards
of what the Lord's values were in our
being here than we can see at present
and it doesn't seem very comforting to these
souls to say now when you are gone
from this world and perhaps know nothing about
it all the spiritual values of your life
will come out not very comforting is it
or is this our salvation looking not at
the things seen things not seen but we
do want to see and we do want
to be occupied with the seen, don't we
I say it's the most testing thing well,
there we are the unseen the spiritual overshadowing
the seen we must hurry on the next
transition here is from existence to purpose existence
to purpose it's quite a big changeover an
enlargement of horizons have you ever wondered why
on earth you were born why you came
into this world perhaps you perhaps it never
troubled you at all but you think it's
all right it's quite a right thing that
you were born God made no mistake at
all when he brought you into the world
but some of us, you know have been
down in the depths after all well did
the Lord make a mistake did he get
hold of the wrong piece of material clay
fire fire I tried to argue with an
elder brother of mine once many years ago
about this matter nobody's answer was did I
absolutely repudiate any responsibility I was never asked
whether I wanted to come into this world
I was never given a chance to say
yes or no I'm here without any option
being given to me and I do not
therefore take any responsibility for being here in
this world what could
you say to that oh that that what
about God's eternal purpose in your being behind
it all foreknown chosen in Christ called according
to his purpose according to his eternal purpose
is the great phrase in Ephesians existence mere
existence painful existence or making the best of
it saying let us eat and drink tomorrow
we die doing the best you can because
you're just here and you unless you commit
suicide you've just got to go through it
or encompassed by God's eternal purpose out of
the eternal counsels of the Godhead all chosen
in Christ that's the dimension isn't it that's
not just making the best of life and
the poor thing that's dead no it's emancipation
from mere existence into great power and with
one remark I'll pass from there dear friends
don't you feel that there's a great lack
in the preaching of the gospel the emphasis
upon the emphasis of most gospel preaching today
is well get your sins forgiven and go
to heaven be happy ever after have a
good time you're not surprised are you that
you have little tiny Christians who never grow
up immature no I do feel this that
in presenting Christ and the gospel to the
unsaved we ought to present the greatness of
the eternal purpose concerning every life and if
they grasp that my am I called to
that is that the dimension of salvation they'll
grow you'll have a different type of person
conversion oh and then someone says that you
can't bring the simple little children the great
things of manhood and put that on their
shoulders well that may be a natural argument
but what I have seen is the best
Christians that I know were converted in a
ministry to the saints in great richness oh
yes at the Lord's table and in the
morning ministry when you were not thinking about
unsaved people at all some of the best
Christians were born again in that purpose as
overshadowing existence I hope I'm not tiring you
we have so many transitions here but let
us look at another one Ephesus let us
go into Ephesus great city and what would
impress us what is it that these people
are all so obsessed with dominated by talking
about the great temple of Diana of the
East one of the wonders of the world
you know, you know how much that was
to the Ephesians they tried to kill Paul
on that issue great is Diana of the
Ephesians they cried, they cried, they cried all
other voices were quenched by their acclamation of
Diana and her temple which shows down from
heaven magnificent it was wonderful it was with
all its sensuality so terrible too so
magnificent so wonderful this is Ephesus Paul will
present to you something far more magnificent and
glorious than the temple of Diana the church
that he may present to himself the church
a glorious church not having spot Ephesian
sensuality or any such the church may be
a glorious church the transcendent oh Diana's
temple with all its magnificence fades fades from
the horizon when Paul brings into view this
church oh the devil has defamed it has
done so much to spoil it isn't it
great need is of a recovery of the
true conception of death and what an emancipation
it is yes all those years with all
the clerical attire and the churchy energy and
the pulpits and the whole ministerialism and the
hostess it was so much and then the
cross and through the cross an opening up
of the true heavenly nature of the church
the body of Christ and it always what
was holding and gripping so much the horizon
just faded out as nonsense child's play playing
at churches playing at chapels like that nonsense
child's play in the presence of this unveiling
it was emancipation my dear friends that Paul
compared with the apostle Paul only a faithful
reflection look at the absolute domination of Jerusalem
and its temple and its system in the
life of this man he had gone to
the utmost limit of that earthly system in
every way my words see him going out
against those who won't have it who call
it into question vehement fierce relentless men
and women being cast into the pristine so
later Paul standing by giving his confession young
man glorious life the light of heaven on
his face done to death this is the
man the grip of this thing upon this
man what will emancipate him what will get
him out of that system and make it
not only nonsense but abhorrent you'll never get
him out by preaching by teaching by persuasion
by coercion nor by persecution there is no
force on this earth that would lift that
man right out into this efficient position but
what he's seen he has seen he has
seen Christ and seen the implications and significance
of Jesus Christ in God's universe and one
of the great implications the church which is
his body he has seen it out so
out as you find him in Galatians my
slaughtering hippens by the very thing that he
once found his very life this is a
large horizon this is emancipation the cross did
it the cross did it and really I
don't want to call anyone's Christian life into
question cast any assertions but I believe that
if the cross is known as it ought
to be known you'll be out of your
rhythms and everything that here as an earth
receives self-limitation you won't have to ask
questions ought I to believe this ought I
to believe that ought I to give up
this and that ought I oh no you
won't go round consulting with flesh and blood
the thing has been done to you and
you'll have to say I'm out my spirit
is out so much is left behind however
great was Diana of the Ephesians and her
temple by what a poor, poor thing it
is that once you've said well there we
are there is one more thing but it's
all included in what I've been saying you
notice as you come to this letter to
the apostle when you begin to unburden his
heart in the letter not long after he's
started the whole thing almost overwhelms him feels
the hopelessness of this getting this over you
ever felt like that?
why it's good ministry when you do feel
like that you know your heart is so
full you've got something so great my heart
that's what ministry ought to be and he
started out on this and it wasn't long
before so to speak I don't think he
was writing it himself he had an immanuensis
writing at his dictation but so to speak
it wasn't long for him and dropped on
his knees in the presence of the overwhelmingness
of this great dimension did I bow my
knees unto the father's word that he would
grant unto you Ephesians who've had so much
know so much whom I've given so much
yet to you with all that you have
that he would grant unto you a spirit
of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of
him the eyes of your heart being enlightened
Ephesus the seat of learning the seat of
all the library of the books of pagan
mysticism you know when they were converted when
they came to the lord these believers they
gathered all their books of the mysteries and
the prices given of that and it's a
tremendous price all the learning all the mysteries
all there in Ephesus that he would grant
unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation
in the knowledge of him why he's speaking
about the mysteries of Christ here other mysteries
the knowledge the eyes of your heart being
enlightened you Ephesians who've had all this in
the books oh there is a horizon of
knowledge of spiritual knowledge spiritual understanding which leaves
that as mere ashes nothing all that you
can have a spirit of wisdom and revelation
in the knowledge of him which is beyond
all human ability to comprehend that's what he
said you know to the Corinthians I have
not seen neither have ear heard nor has
it entered into the heart of man the
things which God has prepared for them that
love him God God has revealed them by
his spiritual men to receive spiritual things which
the natural man can never never he's in
the dark he's in the power by nature
now Paul isn't isn't the game moving in
abstract realms don't you know something of this
you may say you know very little but
don't you know something of this that the
eyes of your heart have been enlightened that
you have seen what you could never have
grasped or understood until until you were born
from a virgin you may not be able
to explain it any more than that man
born blind in John 9 when they try
to put him through his faces on explaining
his experience how did he do it to
you so on explain it define it poor
chap he's out of his depth as far
as explanation and definition the only thing is
to say well how he did it I
don't know who he is I don't know
but one thing I do know I was
blind and I see now you may not
comprehend all the truth but you know the
principle there is a work of the Holy
Spirit that is leading us beyond all our
abilities intellectually or any other way beginning to
see things see things and you know it's
startling it's very startling that angels you think
a lot of angels don't you angels don't
know what is being revealed to the church
which means angels desire to look into well
I don't want to get you too much
bewildered but what I'm saying is here's a
horizon of understanding and knowledge which by all
revelation of the Holy Spirit take us far
outside of this poor capacity mental capacity into
another realm that's how it ought to be
it ought to be thank God for some
of us that has happened through that great
crisis of the cross it has happened a
new dimension of spiritual knowledge and understanding has
opened and although today we have to say
we are only on the fringe the fringe
all is so much beyond us nevertheless it
represents a very big transition from what it
was before well how all this well
it's the place of the cross the cross
planted in our natural mind in order to
bring us the spiritual mind taking us through
death onto resurrection ground where there's such an
extent Lord Jesus lived and laboured under certain
very real limitations to him not in himself
but those in others his disciples his disciples
how he tried to make them understand that
no their horizon was just the natural one
and he cried and I have a baptism
to be baptized with and how I am
cleansed up until it be accomplished all that
it were already accomplished the groan of an
imprisoned spirit imprisoned by the understanding the apprehension
the grasp of these men around him who
said I I long for that time when
all that will break down give place to
the greater dimension of spiritual understanding it will
not be until I've gone through the baptism
of passion the baptism of the cross all
that that were already accomplished and now look
how oh dear the change in their apprehension
comprehension and understanding on the day of Pentecost
is literally amazing literally amazing think of how
they regarded the cross itself before an appalling
prospect if ever that happens we lose everything
far be it from thee Lord this shall
never come to thee all our hopes and
expectations will be blighted and devastated if that
happens look to the other side of it
blighted?
no, never so the cross has done something
to liberate him in them and isn't the
Lord needing such a limitation such an emancipation
in us?
it will only be by the same process
we die to ourselves to our own mind
our own will this self-life die to
this whole life as we have been speaking
of it rise and come out onto the
ground of resurrection the spiritual man in the
seas we could never see before things on
which we looked at one time as things
we could not expect could not contemplate but
we have God forbid that I should go
say to the cross of our Lord Jesus
you dear friends must take this to the
Lord see I can't put you through this
I can tell you about it tell you
it's real I can't put you into it
cannot do it for you you must go
to the Lord and say now Lord I
commit myself I touch your grace see me
through the cross but I commit to myself
you do the thing you do the thing
and when the pinch is on and the
cost is being applied I'm being myself put
out by men Christian men and all that
hold me hold me do the work only
speak to it I come into this breaking
Lord relieve of all burdens that is tension
and stress whether it be mental or nervous
or anything like that even physical and do
bring us into something of the apprehension of
the wonder the wonder of that cross and
it's tremendous what it can do the wonder
apprehended in a spiritual way oh we don't
know how to pray but we're going to
say now if what has been said here
today and this week through thy servants is
God's truth don't let it pass into forgetfulness
or stored up in artificial reservoirs that do
make it a river, a spring breaking up
in us unto life eternal cover all all
mistakes every defect in presentation and personality may
be Christ and his truth divides with us
nothing else may ourselves be in the name
of the Lord Jesus Amen