"The
unsearchable riches of Christ" (Ephesians 3:8).
"O the depth of
the riches...! how unsearchable...!" (Romans 11:33).
"Things which
eye saw not, and ear heard not and which entered not into
the heart of man, whatsoever things God prepared for them
that love him. But unto us God revealed them through the
Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the
deep things of God" (1 Corinthians 2:9,10).
"Canst thou by
searching find out God?" (Job 11:7). (You will
notice that there is a marginal rendering which puts it
this way: "Canst thou find out the deep things
of God?" - "The Spirit searcheth... the deep
things of God.")
We ought also to read
from John's Gospel chapter 16, where the Lord is saying
to His disciples that when the Spirit was come He would
take the things that are His, and show them (verses 13,
14).
Three
Key Words
Let us look at two or
three outstanding words in the passage that we have
quoted of the first Corinthian letter. You notice the
three words - "prepared",
"searcheth", "deep things" (lit.
"deeps").
"Things God prepared
for them that love him" - things which God made
ready for them that love Him. The question of course
immediately arises: When did God prepare, or make ready,
those things? The word is used in different connections,
and they throw light upon this question. You remember
that, when the Lord was here on earth, there was a
request made of Him by a mother concerning her two sons,
that, when He came into His Kingdom, they might sit one
on His right hand and one on His left hand; and His
answer was that that was for those for whom it was
prepared (Matt 20:23). He could not grant that privilege
- it was kept for those for whom it was prepared, made
ready, by God. Again, the blessing of the Lord upon
certain ones takes this form: "Inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world"
(Matt. 25:34). And the Apostle Paul writes of: "good
works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in
them" (Eph. 2:10).
We shall presently
touch more definitely upon when that took place, but it
is quite clear, I think, from these passages, that there
was a long anticipation of something, going right back to
the foundation of the world - more literally the 'laying
down' of the world, the mapping out of the world. It was
then that things were prepared by God for them that love
Him.
Then this word
'searcheth': "the Spirit searcheth all
things". The word does not mean to find out, to
discover. It means to range: 'the Spirit ranges the deep
things of God.' The Spirit's movement is deep, far and
wide, ranging and exploring the whole realm of the things
of God.
And then 'deep
things'. This very same word, in the singular, was
the word which the Lord used to His disciples: "Put
out into the deep " (Luke 5:4); and Paul used it of
some of his own experiences when he said: "A night
and day have I been in the deep" (2 Cor. 11:25).
That will give anybody who knows anything about the sea
some idea of the meaning of this word as it is employed
here, in the plural, for "the deep things of
God."
When we come into the
realm of the things of the Spirit, and the ministry of
the Holy Spirit, we are led into a very great realm, and
we are going to ask this question - What are these deep
things of the Spirit? We can only hope to think of some
of them - perhaps only one - at this present time. What
are these deep things, which have been revealed, though
never explained? We must not confuse those two things. It
is possible to reveal or uncover something, bring a thing
into view, without explaining it, and we are not given
the explanation to the deepest things of God. We are
still left with very, very great questions about them, as
we shall clearly see as we go on; nevertheless they have
been uncovered, they have been brought to light as
immense realities, and moreover brought to light for our good.
Christ
God's Appointed Heir of All Things
One of the deep things
of the Spirit which have been brought to light, and I
think the first of them, is the place of Christ in the
Divine scheme of things. Here is a very, very deep thing
indeed, far beyond our fathoming, but nevertheless it is
clearly before us in the Word, going right back again
into past eternity. The writer to the Hebrews, speaking
of the Son, says: "whom he appointed heir of all
things" (Heb. 1:2). That is His place in the Divine
scheme - "heir of all things". He was appointed
- when? Well, before all things were created; because
immediately it goes on to say: "through whom he made
the ages". He was "appointed heir of all
things".
You remember His
parable in which He quite clearly intimated this - the
parable of the wicked husbandmen who, having stoned the
servants, espied the coming of the Son and said,
"This is the heir come, let us kill him, and take
his inheritance" (Matt. 21:38). This incidentally
touches upon the deep things of Satan. It is an
uncovering of Satan's deep work to rob Christ of His
inheritance, and explains the Cross from the side of the
enemy - the murder of the Heir with the securing of His
inheritance in view. So Jesus, the Son of God, is
revealed by the Spirit to be God's appointed Heir.
In the second Psalm,
undoubtedly Messianic and prophetic, we read: "Ask
of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine
inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy
possession" (Ps. 2:8). So His inheritance is the
nations and the uttermost parts of the earth, Divinely
appointed and ordained, and it cannot be set aside. And
Heaven too - for He said on His resurrection: "All
authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on
earth" (Matt. 28:18). He is the Heir possessing all
authority in every realm. And He is Heir to the Church -
for Paul prays that, through the Holy Spirit as the
Spirit of revelation, believers might be able to see
"the glory of his inheritance in the saints"
(Eph. 1:18) - that is, Christ's inheritance in the
saints. Here are some of the all things - the nations,
the uttermost parts of the earth, the heavens and the
earth, and within the Church. That is a statement of
fact. It is a deep thing revealed by the Spirit.
But the point arises
here: 'God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit'.
These things, then, must have a very real meaning for
believers. This will take us away from a superficial
Christianity. If we can really grasp the meaning of this
first thing for ourselves, as believers, it is going to
exercise upon us a very salutary effect.
The
Believer's Calling
The calling of
believers is said to be in accordance with His eternal
purpose. What is that? The eternal purpose is Christ
inheriting all things: so that our being called, our
hearing the Call, is a first work of the Holy Spirit in
relation to Christ coming into His inheritance, according
to something laid down with the foundation of the world.
That makes conversion something very much bigger than
just being saved, does it not? It is not just a matter of
becoming a Christian. There is this immense background to
our being called. The Holy Spirit has, so to speak, 'got
to work' in relation to the appointed Heir of all things:
you and I are coming under the hand of the Holy Spirit as
a part of that inheritance. Our very calling in grace is
according to that purpose, and our calling therefore is
something tremendous. It is not only our calling. The
beginning of our Christian life is not something merely
incidental. It is fundamental to the whole scheme of
things in relation to the Lord Jesus.
The
Believer's Consciousness
I think it is true to
the experience of most, if not all, of those who respond
to the Spirit's influence and call, that, following that
response, there comes into being, there settles down
within, a sense of belonging, of being owned, possessed.
We feel: 'I know now where I belong - this is really
where I belong. I felt that I did not belong to anything
or anybody before, but now I know I belong, and to Whom I
belong.' It is a sense of being taken into possession. It
is a matter of ownership.
That is why there
springs immediately from the lips of those who have
responded to the Spirit the word 'Father'. Paul says to
the Galatians that the Spirit of God has been put into
our hearts, and thereby we cry 'Abba, Father': and what
does 'Father' mean if it does not mean belonging? And
again, 'Lord': the first ejaculation of Paul after his
apprehending was 'Lord'. We love that word, but we did
not always love the idea of being 'lorded'. It is foreign
to human nature to be lorded over. There is a revolt in
the whole human race against being lorded over by
anything or anybody, but it is the Christian's delight to
use that word 'Lord' - Dominus - and to be
'dominated' by Him. 'Master' - that word is music to the
Christian, as applied to the Lord Jesus; but how the
natural man hates the idea of 'master'!
This is the
consciousness that comes in. We are not compelled or
forced; it is spontaneous. The Spirit has brought us
home, brought us into our rightful ownership. This is how
it ought to be. For that was all arranged long, long
before we had a being. We belong to Somebody, we are
Somebody's, that is where we belong.
The
Believer's Confidence
This leads surely to
the believer's confidence. There is a tremendous value
for us in the place of Christ in God's scheme of things.
If really, in the 'before-times-eternal', we were made a
heritage, included in the inheritance of the Son, and the
Spirit calls, do you think there is going to be any
difficulty in our acceptance? It is altogether out of
keeping with this whole scheme of things to have any
question at all as to whether we shall be accepted. If
you had an inheritance, and that inheritance was brought
within your reach, do you think there would be any
argument as to whether it could be accepted? None at all.
And so this very great, deep, blessed truth of Christ's
inheritance in the saints gives us a ground of confidence
as to our acceptance. There is no question about it, we
belong to Him - why have any question as to whether we
shall be accepted?
Of course, He has done
everything to make our acceptance a blessed reality and
to dispose of anything in the way. What a ground of
assurance! This whole question of assurance amongst
believers is so often challenged by the Devil and every
demon that he has, with the object of shaking confidence,
shaking assurance, bringing in doubt. Why? - there is no
ground for it at all. It is not contingent upon our
worthiness, or anything about us - except that we believe
it. Long before this terribly complicated make-up of ours
had any acceptance, the whole thing was planned. We were
given to the Lord Jesus, and we belong to Him. What a
ground of assurance, then! It stands rooted in eternity;
it stands rooted in the Divine counsels. If you've heard
the Spirit's call, that is not just something belonging
to this moment or to this life. That is something which
ranges all the ages and goes right back to the beginning.
I say again: What a ground of assurance!
And He will keep surely
that which belongs to Him. "I am persuaded that he
is able to keep" (2 Tim. 1:12). Is the Lord Jesus
able to keep what is put into His hands and what really
belongs to Him from eternity past? Is He able to keep it?
What a ground of assurance for keeping! We need have no
worry about tomorrow, about the future. He is able to
keep. Oh, those mighty words of the Apostle - "Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ?" (Rom.
8:35) - followed by a catalogue of everything conceivable
that might be thought to have the power of separating -
only to be swallowed up by: 'I am persuaded, none of
these things' - "we are more than conquerors through
him that loved us." Why? Simply because we belong to
Him.
The
Church's Message
We have seen something
of the believer's life, as to what lies behind the call,
as to what accompanies the call, for assurance, for
confidence for the future. What about the Church's
message? You see, the Church's message is called a
proclamation. The word most characteristic of the
function of the messenger of Christ is that he is a
herald. It is a herald's business to make a proclamation,
an announcement, a declaration. What is the message? It is
an announcement, it is a declaration, it is a
proclamation - and, mark you, this means far more than
may appear on the surface - that all things belong to
the Lord Jesus.
Every unsaved man and
woman belongs, by right, to the Lord Jesus. This world,
in every spot, by right belongs to the Lord Jesus. Put
your foot down just where you are and say, 'This place
belongs to Christ by right!' The Holy Ghost takes account
of that, stands on that. Oh, yes: although He has not got
them, they belong to Him. But, you see, it raises
tremendous issues. If you declare the fact that men and
women belong to the Lord Jesus by every right of creation
and redemption, as His inheritance: if you declare it, if
you make it known, then if they refuse they are held as
guilty of rebellion against the rightful owner. It
precipitates a very positive, clear-cut issue. If there
should be reading these lines an unsaved person - any
person who does not recognise the absolute ownership of
the Lord Jesus - and you are not, in the presence of this
declaration, ceding Him His rights, you are positively
guilty of rebellion against God's appointed Heir. It
raises a tremendous issue. And it goes beyond that. If
you belong to the Lord Jesus, by right of God's giving
and appointing, and you do not give Him yourself, you are
robbing Jesus Christ of His rights. It is a very positive
issue. You are in the category of a robber of God, and
that is very serious.
So this is the
proclamation. There is the good side, the Gospel side, of
this. It is a grand thing, on the grounds which we have
set forth, to know that I really belong to the Lord
Jesus. Recognising and acknowledging that, there is no
question as to whether He will accept what belongs to
Him; there is no question as to whether he will keep what
belongs to Him; there is no question as to the destiny of
what belongs to Him. All I have to do is to believe and
to cede to Him His rights.
This is the work of the
messenger; the herald, the proclaimer. The Holy Spirit is
said to be committed to this. If we make the right
proclamation or take the right position in relation to
Christ's place in God's scheme of things, the Holy Spirit
comes in on that. It may be that very often the Holy
Spirit cannot come in and precipitate issues because we
are not clear-cut enough as to what this whole thing is
about. It is about nothing less than Christ's Heirship of
all things. Bring that in, and the Holy Spirit will come
with tremendous conviction. We make the issue so much
less - usually what the individual is going to get as the
benefit of coming to the Lord Jesus - instead of
primarily the rights of the Lord Jesus Himself. If we
proclaim Him as Lord, the Holy Spirit will set His seal
to that. In the unsaved or in the saved, when we cede
anything to Him as Lord, let Him take His place as Lord
on any point, the Holy Spirit bears witness. That is
always His ground.
So the Spirit is
committed to calling according to purpose, to sealing
those who respond, to conforming them to the image of
God's Son, and to guiding them into all the truth related
to God's purpose.
That is Christ's place.
It is a deep thing of God, it is a big thing, it is an
immense thing, but this has been revealed, amongst many
other things, to us by the Spirit. May the Lord
strengthen us by His Word.
First published in "A Witness and A
Testimony" magazine, November-December 1956, Vol 34-6