Reading:Ephesians 1:15-23;
Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:13; 2:10,15.
In a previous meditation it was Christ's
centrality and supremacy in the light of the individual
which occupied us; then it was His centrality and
supremacy in the Church, which is His Body. We are now to
consider that which is implied by the tenth verse of
chapter two of Colossians: "... the head of all
principality and power." Going with that is this
statement from chapter one: "... who delivered us
out of the power of darkness."
THE GREAT COLOSSIAN ERROR
To apprehend rightly and appreciate truly
the value of particular statements in the letter, such as
this which we have just read, we must keep in view the
background and occasion of the letter; and so for a
moment we will be occupied with the main things which are
in view in this letter. And firstly, and all inclusively,
there is this absolute supremacy of Christ. For the
unveiling of that to the believers and the establishing
of the believers in that, the Holy Spirit led the Apostle
to write this letter. It was because of a movement by
means of a teaching which had come to Colossae, the
effect of which was to take the Lord Jesus out of His
prominent place and put Him in a lower place, that this
letter was provoked. It was a corrective. The nature of
that teaching was a combination of Judaism with a
spurious Christian philosophy. There were elements of
Judaism and elements of Christianity woven into a
somewhat fascinating philosophy, and it had to do in the
main with supernatural beings from low orders to very
high orders: principalities and powers in the lower
realms and in the higher realms, and these orders of
supernatural and spiritual beings were traced through the
ranks of spirits and angels and archangels, and then, as
one of them, but of very high rank, Christ was presented.
And He was made to be just one of the superior, or
perhaps the unique superior head, of angelic forces,
angelic orders, and these were offered for worship. There
was what the Apostle calls here: "a voluntary
humility and worshipping of angels," by which he
meant that people were assuming to be very humble people,
worshipping angels, bowing down to any superior person in
the spiritual realm, a voluntary humility and worship of
angels. As you will see by reading again, the Apostle
repudiates the whole thing as being earthly, and of man,
and being pernicious and evil, and to be utterly put out
because, under cover of a very sincere and earnest
religiosity, it subtly struck at this one thing, it
struck at the absolute supremacy of the Lord Jesus as in
the Godhead. It was a wonderful thing. It drew out
worship. It even led to the worship of Jesus, it gave Him
a very high place in heavenly orders; it represented a
very great deal of devotion, and with its external rites
which were taken over from Jewish ordinances, which you
will see in the letter, it captured a great many, and
they accepted it as a revelation, a wonderful revelation,
and as a truth to be received and obeyed. They were in
danger of failing to recognize the peril of this thing,
that though it exalted Christ, led to the worship of
Christ, produced in those who accepted it an attitude,
apparently spiritual, of reverence and humility and had
that moral effect in them of something to make them very
reverential people, very humble, earnest people, with a
great devotion to Christ, and a great respect for
everything spiritual; yet all that blinded them to the
deep, subtle, devilish thing that was there. How far
Satan will go even in bringing about a kind of devotion
to Christ, and promote a mystical, psychical
"Christianity" (?) with elements of moral
elevation, and yet hide within that very thing something
which is of himself and, being of himself, savours of
that which was in him from that time when he himself was
hurled out of heaven, that thing which would take from
the Lord Jesus the absoluteness of His place in the
Godhead.
That is what was here, back of this
letter; and the letter was written to expose this Gnostic
philosophy, this false spirituality, this Satanic
devotion to the Lord Jesus, and to show that the Lord
Jesus was not only at the top of angelic ranks, He was
Head of all principality and power in the sense that He
was the Son of God's love, and that He was one eternally
with God in the Godhead. The fullness of the Godhead was
in Him in bodily form.
Now, beloved, from what we have just said
there ought to be guidance for us at the end time; and
you can take what I have said and apply it to some things
which are of this very character, which will have great
vogue in the earth, but which just fall short of this
essential thing. But that is not the object of my saying
this, though it may provide that understanding and
knowledge and guidance and precaution. He is head of all
principality and power, Christ is absolutely supreme, in
a unique supremacy, not as one of that order, at the top
of that order, but One whose order is far above every
other order and whose supremacy is because there is not
another like Him. He does not belong to the angelic
order. He is not a created being. He is eternally one
with God. Of course, to you that is nothing new, and
provokes not a very great deal of enthusiasm because we
all believe that quite heartily. I hope that is true of
you; that you believe that, that you stand there, that
from your heart you are well able to say without the
slightest suspicion of a reservation: "Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God."
CHRIST'S SUPREMACY INDICATED BY
HIS WORK
Now having said that, and seen that, you
are able to move on to the thing which is connected with
it as a main thing in this letter. Connected with the
absolute supremacy of Christ, is His supremacy as
indicated by His work. It is here that the Apostle shows
in what way Christ is different from, and superior to,
all other orders of angels and archangels and
principalities and powers. It is not just the statement
of the fact that He is, but it is the showing of HOW
that is so, in what way that is so; and it is by reason
of His work. You see that is what comes out in this
letter. You take the great statement of chapter 1:13:
"Who delivered us out of the authority (lit.) of
darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son
of his love." You can say that about no angel or
archangel. There is no other being in heaven or in earth
to whom you can attribute that. That represents His
mighty work, and it was that that He did in what you read
in chapter 2:15: "Having put off (lit. stripped off)
from himself the principalities and the powers, he made a
show of them openly, triumphing over them in it (His
Cross)." When He did that He delivered us out of the
authority of darkness, and we were translated into the
kingdom of the Son of God's love. No angel did that. No
archangel stripped off principalities and powers. He made
a show of them openly, triumphing over them in His Cross.
It was Christ who did that. It is Christ's whose is the
kingdom. It is the kingdom of the Son of God's love, His
is the kingdom; and that kingdom is His by reason of
conquest, by reason of triumph, by reason of casting out
all other principalities and powers; by displaying openly
in His triumph those others who sought to take possession
of the dominion of this world. His is the kingdom in
virtue of His Cross; and His Cross is the scene of His
dealing with every other authority and power in the
universe that would in any way seek to take His rights as
the eternal, predestined heir of all things, as the
Apostle here says: "All things have been created
through him, and unto him." The supremacy is based
upon His work.
It is a great thing of course to recognize
the personal supremacy of the Lord Jesus; it is an added
thing, beloved, to recognize the greatness of the work
which He accomplished which brought Him into that
personal supremacy. In Philippians 2 we see the
descending movement of the Son of God's love from the
place of equality with God down, down, down, until
utterly emptied; He became "obedient even unto
death, yea, the death of the cross." "Yea"
says the Apostle: "yea" - and no glorious
death, no honourable death in the sight of men -
"the death of the cross" -
"Wherefore" (For this reason, on this account,
because of this, the death of the cross) "also God
highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is
above every name; that in the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and
things under the earth, and that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father." The ground of His supremacy is the
uniqueness and the transcendence of the work which He has
done.
OUR PLACE IN THIS SUPREMACY
Now the third thing which comes in with
this letter brings us in. That is all glorious, and our
hearts ought to be moved by that great objective reality,
the supremacy of Christ and His work: but we have got to
see how we come into it, and one or two fragments will
help us. Let us look at Colossians 2:12. "Having
been buried with him in baptism, wherein ye were also
raised with him through faith in the working of God, who
raised him from the dead. And you, being dead through
your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
you, I say, did he make alive together with him, having
forgiven us all our trespasses." "If ye died
with Christ" - might we not leave out the
"if" and make it an affirmation: "Ye died
with Christ." "If then ye were raised together
with Christ..." You see formerly he has made the
statement that this was so, that we were buried with Him,
that we were raised with Him. Now we might take it up
like that, as a two-fold affirmation: Ye died with
Christ; ye were raised together with Christ: "...
seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated
on the right hand of God." The right hand is always
the place of honour and power; that is where He is.
"For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in
God." "Lie not one to another; seeing that ye
have put off the old man with his doings, and have put on
the new man, that is being renewed unto knowledge after
the image of him that created him: where there cannot be
Greek and Jew... but Christ is all, and in all.'' That is
the way into the good of what we have been saying and it
is necessary for us to carry Christ's work right through
to this full issue. The full issue of His absolute
victory in the realm of all principality and power, in
the realm of the authority of darkness - I say it is
necessary to carry His work through to that full issue.
Forgiveness of sins is a great blessing, the atonement
for our sins is a great blessing, to be saved from hell
at last and go to heaven is a great blessing, we would
not minimise them for a moment or take from the greatness
and the grandeur of those things because of the infinite
cost with which they were purchased for us, but I say
again, it is necessary for us to carry the work of Christ
through to its full issue, and its full issue lies in the
realm of principalities and powers, lies in the realm of
the authority of darkness, the jurisdiction of darkness.
That is important for the sinner to know, that it is not
only a matter of being forgiven his sins and saved from
sin, but that the sinner should know that in salvation
all the authority, the jurisdiction of principalities and
powers, of the Adversary, Satan himself, has been
destroyed and broken, and out of that jurisdiction, that
authority, that rightful hold of Satan, they have been
rescued - for that is the word here - rescued by Christ
in His Cross; it means that Satan has no more power
because he has no more right. His power depends upon his
right, and his right is based upon a state of things in
our hearts, and the Cross deals with the state of things
and destroys or removes the ground of his right, and
breaks his power. Carry it right through. Now all that is
in Christ for us. Christ in Himself embodies His
supremacy over the Adversary because in Him there is no
one of that ground that the Adversary must have upon
which to encamp and construct his rightful authority to
hold in bondage. In Christ there is no such ground;
Christ is in us when we believe, and, as we have already
pointed out, that apprehended by faith means that the
authority of Satan is broken because there is that in us
which is Christ; there is Christ in us in whom there is
no ground for the jurisdiction of Satan. To be delivered
not only from sin (let me say it again) but from the
authority of Satan, is a tremendous thing. "Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?"
"It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen
again." What is the value of that? The Accuser comes
along and tries to lay a charge against us. What is our
ground of answer? Oh, our ground of answer is this:
"It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen
again." That is the way to answer the accusation of
the enemy; Christ, who hath triumphed over sin and over
all the grounds of Satan's authority. You and I can never
meet the enemy ourselves in ourselves, he would have the
best of the argument every time, but if we are able to
present him with Christ, what can he do? "... the
prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in
me." They are the words of the Lord Jesus. What
power has he? In Christ's death and resurrection all his
power has been destroyed. "Who shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect?" "Christ in you, the
hope of glory." Do you follow that? That is the
provision God has made, and if only we had a fuller,
readier apprehension of Christ we should find that to be
the way of victory. What is it that the Holy Spirit works
upon in order to make victory in us actual? It is not our
struggles to be better. THE HOLY SPIRIT NEVER HELPS US
IN A STRUGGLE TO BE BETTER. We may struggle on for
ever, and die struggling, and the Holy Spirit will not
help us if that is the way in which we think we are going
to be either saved or sanctified. What is it with which
the Holy Spirit will cooperate? It is our faith
apprehension and appropriation of Christ as our
perfection, as our salvation. "Oh," you say,
"yes, but we are sinful and there is so much wrong
about us; are we to close our eyes to actualities about
ourselves?" You are to open your eyes to Christ.
Stop looking at yourself and your own sin and get your
eyes fixed upon the Lord Jesus as perfection for you to
God, and from God to you, and as you take Him by faith -
"Not what I am, O Lord, but what Thou art" -
"I in myself am bad: '... in me, that is, in my
flesh, dwelleth no good thing,' but Lord, You are my
salvation, You are my righteousness, You are my holiness,
You are my sanctification, I hold on to You for all
that" the Holy Spirit makes that good to us. It is
our appreciation of Christ that is the Holy Spirit's
ground of activity; that is the way of deliverance.
CHRIST THE WAY OUT FOR THE SINNER
Hear that wretched man crying out:
"... for what I would, that do I not; but what I
hate, that do I." In that up and down life,
resolving and failing, at last he cries: "O wretched
man that I am! Who shall deliver me? ...I thank God
through Jesus Christ our Lord." What is the way out
for the wretched man? An apprehending of Christ. Not his
struggles, his resolutions, his efforts in making up his
mind that today he is going to be better, and coming back
and having to repent at the end of the day. No, no! It is
our faithhold on Christ which is the way out, the
positive ground of victory. You try that way. God honours
His Son, and God honours our faith in His Son. "It
is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen
again," triumphant; and, "Christ in you"
"... the head of all principality and power."
This, for the unsaved, is a necessary fact. If we had
been converted on the strength of this we would have been
stronger believers from the beginning. If only we had
known this when first we were saved we would have leaped
into something that came to us many years afterward. Oh
for the preaching of salvation to the full! You get a
different kind of convert altogether when you carry the
work of Christ to its full issue; when it is not only
preached that your sins will be forgiven and you will go
to heaven and not hell - perhaps a little more than that;
but it is infinitely more than that, and if only we
preached the fullness of Christ's work we would have
converts that went ahead, apace, and reached maturity
much sooner than the majority are doing, and we should
find that most of our conventions are quite unnecessary,
for they are mostly to get us to the place where we ought
to have come when we were converted.
THE PREACHER NEEDS TO KNOW THIS
It is necessary for the believer; may I
just say that is necessary for the worker, the preacher
of the Gospel, the one who has to do with souls. You will
not be a popular preacher of course, if you preach this.
You will find, more than ever, that hell will be out
against you, and many of the Lord's people will turn
against you, but it is necessary. You take the case of
the heathen; though what we have in the heathen is only
obvious and patent: the same thing holds in the case of
the enlightened, civilized, but it is not so obvious, it
has been covered up by civilization and a great deal of
Christian tradition: but in the case of the heathen it is
very patent. What is the trouble with so many converts
from heathenism? They go so far on the matter of
forgiveness and salvation from sin, and faith in the Lord
Jesus, but oh, the haunting, tracking, pursuing fear of
the spirit world, evil spirits, the authority of
darkness; it follows them up, and very often that is the
thing which drags them down and brings them back into
bondage; and because of the fear of that, and the
consequences of their action in breaking from the
traditions of their fathers, fear of the consequences in
the spiritual realm, what may happen to them, what may
overtake them, they become again in bondage to fear and
leave the way and go back.
If only we could bring to them in the
power of the Holy Ghost right at the beginning the
proclamation of Him "who delivered us out of the
power (lit. authority) of darkness, and translated us
into the kingdom of the Son of his love," and get
that in, we should see different results. Take that to
them.
Beloved, the same thing obtains here in
this country as in heathen countries, but I have said it
is veiled. The authority of darkness is just as real here
as it is amongst the heathen, the same Gospel is
necessary, and you will find that until you have
registered the impact of Christ's Calvary work against
spiritual forces behind men you have not wrought out
their full deliverance. We believers know what it is for
the enemy to try to get us into the grip of fear again
concerning himself. The authority of darkness is a very
real thing to us. We have experiences, and if we were to
capitulate to them, that would be the end of us. He tries
to bring upon us that impingement of the authority of
darkness, and if we surrender to it, capitulate to it,
accept it, we are beaten. If we are the Lord's, Christ is
within, and Christ is supreme and we must go on even if
we have no feeling, or if we have a very bad feeling;
when it seems to be the last thing we ought to be saying,
we say it because it is God's fact, and when we begin to
affirm God's fact we win through. Believers know what it
is for the enemy to try to make them accept the authority
of darkness. Stand upon the truth of God. God does not
change with our feelings. God does not alter with our
consciousness. This whole life of ours is subject to
variation, more swift than the variation of weather, but
He rules, unalterable, unchangeable. He is "the same
yesterday, and today, and for ever." And if He is
there within, He has come to stay, and victory is in
faith; believing that, standing on that, holding to that;
and we must carry that through to its final and full
issue, that He is Lord of all, "Head of all
principality and power." Satan will sometimes try to
make us believe that he is in the place of ascendancy,
the place of supremacy, but since Calvary he is not, we
stand there.
The Lord give us a new joy in the Son of
His love as supreme in every realm.
Flash from our eyes the glow of
our thanksgiving,
Glad and regretful, confident and calm,
Then through all life and what is after living
Thrill to the tireless music of a psalm.
Yea; through life, death, thro' sorrow and thro' sinning,
He shall suffice me, for He hath sufficed:
Christ is the end, for Christ was the beginning;
Christ the beginning, for the end is Christ.