"How precious, also, are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great
is the sum of them!" (Ps. 139:17). This is the language of Christ,
the Head, regarding the members as one with Himself. The Epistle
to the Ephesians is the beating out of this piece of gold.
Never take a winding path to look for acceptance with God --
go straight to Christ; but when you would look at the children
of God, look well at _Christ first_, and then see the saints
in Him.
Christ calls Himself the Husband of His Church, because the bond
of marriage is the closest and tenderest of all human ties; and
to show the purity of His love, He calls her at the same time
His sister. His tenderness delights to take occasion by the infirmities
of His spouse. She leans on Him, not only for support, protection,
and guidance, but also and chiefly for communion; and leaning
is melted into adoring love, which is to Him as spiced wine.
He sees His own image in the Church, and this is among His chief
joys.
It was the Bridegroom who bare the sins of His spouse in His
own body on the tree. What other burden will He not bear? Even
the troubles that our own folly brings upon us are occasions
to His love, if we do but cast the burden upon Him; but if we
do not judge ourselves, He knows how to chasten us to bring us
to self-judgment, that He may comfort His mourners with His immeasurable
grace and love.
The lonely, the mournful, the friendless, the tempted, the dejected,
the despised, the forsaken, the outcast, Christ will wait on
each one of them, whatever his case, as though that one were
His only charge. By this exact and special oversight of each
member of His body, how precious, how lovely, how glorious, does
Christ appear!
If Christ will not be satisfied with His present glory at the
right hand of God without having His Church, the members of His
body, with Him, how can we be content without Him in this valley
of the shadow of death, this present evil world?
The candlestick in the temple was a type of the Church. It was
for the high priest to supply the oil, to trim the lamp, to watch
and tend it; the light must be ever brightly burning.
The ruin of a kingdom is a little thing in God's sight, in comparison
with division among a handful of sinners redeemed by the blood
of Christ.
When the body is in perfect health, there is a noiseless, perfect
co-operation of the members; so was it with the church at Pentecost,
and so it ought to be with us now.
To reform the Church of God we should always begin with self-reform.
Schisms and divisions will increase so long as we begin with
reforming others. Wisdom is only with the lowly.
Every kind of self-pleasing is rebuked and put down in the 2nd
of Philippians; but, alas! the Church of God in these days is
more like the carnal, puffed up, schismatic Corinthians, than
the lowly saints at Philippi, whose fellowship in the Spirit
made glad the heart of Paul.
The new creation is God's delight; of that new creation Christ
is the Head; as one with the Church Christ stands before God.
The Church, the body of Christ, cannot rise above its present
low estate, until there be a conscience in the members of fulfilling
each one his office in the body.
While I mourn over schisms and divisions in the Church of God
I justify God, and bless Him for the wisdom and equity of His
discipline: He gives us to reap as we sow.
The titles given to the Church in Scripture bespeak heavenly
unity, such as "the body," "the vine," "temple of God," "a holy
nation," "a chosen generation," "a royal priesthood." Such words
set forth the church of God as a witness for Him in the world;
but the names which have been invented by men are names of sects,
and declare our shame.
The Church of God is a field that needs double ploughing.
Christ ever enjoys perfect communion with His Father; He craves
also communion with us His members (Rev. 3:20); and when this
is denied Him by our ways of selfishness, He turns to the Father,
and finds joy and rest in communion with Him. The mourners in
the Church of God over its low estate must in like manner betake
themselves to the Father and the Son, for fellowship by the Spirit,
when they cannot find what their hearts long after among their
brethren.
The ark of God at Jordan went before the people—was in their
midst—followed after. Christ is the leader, the rereward,
and the glory in the midst of the Church; their life, and bond
of fellowship.
As Christ is the brightness of the glory of the Father, so is
the Church the brightness of Christ's glory. He, as the Sun of
righteousness, sheds forth, through the church, the beams of
His light.
As without Christ the perfections of the Father were not manifested,
so the glory of Christ was not shown until His body the Church,
which is His fulness, was manifested. But the Church does not
shine by native excellency; she is made up of those who, being
by nature vile and of the earth, are created anew by the Spirit
of God. The life, beauty, and glory of the Church are all from
Christ her Lord derived. Whereas Christ is by nature the brightness
of the Father's glory.