Six Lectures on Fundamental Truths Connected with the Church of God

The subject on which I propose, with the Lord’s help, to enter to-night, is the one body, the body of Christ; and this, too, not only as a great doctrine which the Holy Grhost has laid down with the utmost clearness, and throughout a considerable part of the New Testament, but also, as far as I am able in a short space, deducing some of its practical consequences, and showing its bearing upon the communion and the conduct of every member of it, that is, of every Christian.

Now, in order to develop the special characteristics of Christ’s body, it will be necessary to explain how it differed from that which God revealed, or set up, in past dispensations; for there are distinctions, and even contrasts, between the past dealings of Grod and that which He is now accomplishing to the honour of His beloved Son. While there was, of

B course, always the only true Grod; while He had in times past those He loved upon earth; while He ever wrought by His Spirit; while there was necessarily faith at work in order to the blessing of souls; yet for all that, there are essential and deeply important differences, which none can overlook without loss to himself, without sure weakening of his testimony to others, and, above all, without coming short of the just perception of what God Himself has nearest to His own heart — His own glory in Christ.

Now, it is perfectly plain, if we take up the Old Testament, that when man fell into sin, Grod gave certain revelations of blessing, all of which find their centre in the Lord Jesus. We see this from the very beginning of Genesis. When sin entered, not only righteous government, but grace instantly followed. Grod was there; and in the presence of the guilty pair, and in defiance of the serpent, the mercy of Grod spoke of that same blessed One, of whom we are about to hear further and deeper glories. In due time Grod brought out, in a distinct and personal manner, blessings in connexion with Abraham and his seed. There we have the domain of promise — not only revelation and mercy, but distinct promise to a given person, and to his seed. This had not been the case in the garden of Eden. Man fell there; and it is evident that fallen man could not possibly be the object of the promise of God. There are promises for such: there could not be a promise to such. When Abraham received the promise, he was not a fallen man merely, but a believing man. It was as one elect, called, and faithful, that God made him the depository of promise. But it was when Adam fell, before there was anything of the operation of divine grace in him; it was when he and Eve had completely separated themselves from Grod, that mercy, entirely irrespective of their condition or desert, held out a revelation of grace in the person of Christ. The woman’s seed was presented more particularly as the destroyer of him that had wrought this deep and, as far as it went, irreparable mischief — irreparable to the creature, but only furnishing the opportunity for God to bring out His own grace to the glory of Him who, bruised Himself, was to bruise the serpent’s head.

The effect of the promise to Abraham was that a family was set apart unto Grod, and, in due time, a nation. Next, we find that, as this nation was full of confidence in its own powers, Grod was pleased, in the wisdom of His ways, to try them by the law, as we all know, given at Sinai. I need not enter into the details, but just state the general outline of the divine dealings, for the purpose of clearing my subject. But the issue of that trial, however long Grod might delay, was not doubtful for a moment; for at the very mountain where Grod spoke, the children of Israel set at nought the authority and the glory of Grod, and bowed down to the work of their own hands: that is, the law, as a moral question between God and man, was overthrown from its very foundations at the outset. God lingered — long lingered — in patience, b 2 and meanwhile brought out His ways in every possible variety. The crowning experiment of all was the presence of Christ, the seed of the woman, and the seed of promise, too; for now came the Person who answered to all the revelations and promises, the ways, and types, and prophecies of God. He came, in whose Person was found all that was worthy of God, and that was suited to man. But the coming of Christ brought out the awful truth, not only that man is himself corrupt, depraved, and loves his own will, but that he hates goodness — yea, divine goodness — in a man. He is the enemy of God when manifesting Himself in the most blessed manner — in His own Son; when manifesting Himself, not only in power — for we can understand a guilty creature alarmed at holy power — but in perfect love, coming down in humiliation, putting Himself at the foot of man, beseeching man; for this is in truth not a figure or exaggeration of man’s mind, but God’s own word. Hear His description of it: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now, then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech by us” &c. This love beseeching sinnors was the attribute of divine grace in the person of Christ. What was the result? That man proved there was no possibility of extricating himself by any means that God put at his disposal: that if it were a question of man’s delivering himself, no matter what might be the mercy or the blessing, no matter how deep and full the grace displayed in a living person, man was too far gone — nay, so truly dead in sin, that, so far from being won by God’s love, he only took advantage of it, and when Jesus put Himself at the foot of man, he lifted up his heel and trod on Him, the Son of God. But if man thus, under Satan’s malicious guidance, cast out and crucified Christ, Grod in the cross not only demonstrated His love (herein is love, indeed!), but wrought out redemption, a work suited even for those that crucified Jesus, capable of blotting out the foulest sin man was ever guilty of. God has triumphed even where man did his worst against Him.

But this is not all. In the previous dealings of God, when He had given His law, God had separated the nation that was called out of Egypt — had marked them off in the most distinct and positive manner from all others. It was needful. Men might have complained that there had been no fair trial; the corrupt examples of others might have led them astray. God set Israel apart by their institutions, rites, ordinances, services, and His law; and by that law, and by those rites, He severed them from all others; so that it would have been sin against God for a Jew to have communion with a Gentile, no matter how godly and disposed to respect the law of God. No doubt there might be such a thing as being brought out of Gentilism, at any rate to a certain extent; but still, all through the system of God’s dealings by His law with the Jewish people, there was the express and total severance of His people from all others. I do not speak of the abuse of it, working upon the corrupt heart of man against others — the pride of men’s heart, who despised others because of their divinely isolated position; but apart from the evil use that Israel made of their separation, faithfulness to God then required it, and His will was in the thing itself. God was proving before the whole world the painful and humbling truth, that let a nation have ever such mercies, ever such privileges, ever such wisdom directing their movements, outward and inward, nay, everything pertaining to them, the issue of all is increasing enmity against God Himself.

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