Colossians 1:9
That we might be Filled with the Recognition of His Will in all Wisdom and Spiritual Understanding
"For this cause, namely, that you have 'recognized' the grace of God 'in reality' and are manifesting this recognition by fruit-bearing and increase, we do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that you might be filled, and this fullness is none other than the 'recognition' of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." (Col. 1:9) Authors' translation according to usage.
This prayer is very much along the lines of that found in Ephesians 1:15-19 where the Apostle prayed that in the sphere of this acknowledgment or recognition, the spirit of wisdom and revelation would be granted. At the close of the prayer, he reverts to this "recognition," and once again, we must carefully examine the original. We must note that there are several readings of the text of Colossians 1:10.
The Received Text reads eis ten epignosin, "unto the knowledge," but the bulk of the best texts read simply te espignosei, the dative case, without either the prepositions eis or en. Some of these readings can be seen in the footnotes of various editions of the Greek New Testament. The Companion Bible notes a few, but textual criticism is a specialized study; consequently, we translate Colossians 1:10: "Being fruitful in every good work, and increasing by the recognition, or acknowledgment of God. "
It is "by" the acknowledgment of God that we both "bear fruit" and "increase," and apart from that acknowledgment or recognition, growth ceases, sight becomes dim, and the keenness that once characterized our pursuit of The Truth of The Mystery wanes.
We believe that the Apostle in Ephesians 1:17 is not concerned with "knowledge"; he, in effect, says, "We must pause for a while. In the charter of The Church, there is enough knowledge to last a lifetime - what is needed is the grace and the willingness to acknowledge the wondrous truth." It is just here that so many fail. We have met those whose intelligence was bright enough for them to see very clearly that with the passing of Israel, a new dispensation was called for. They saw only too well that there were exceedingly different conditions in The Mystery from those obtained during the Acts. They drew back, not because they did not see, but because they saw only too well and realized that a heavy price would be exacted by Christendom if they dared to step out into the full light and liberty of The Mystery.
So, failing to "acknowledge" what they had seen, they soon failed to recognize The Truth and are now quite content with the ordinances and their appropriations of Pentecost. The fear of man bringeth a snare, and "repentance unto the acknowledging of The Truth" (2 Tim. 2:25) is the only means of deliverance.
Write comment (0 Comments)All Truth Revealed
The Dispensation of The Mystery
Of the several ways in which God has dealt with His own, the present is distinguished as being "The Dispensation of The Mystery"; other administrations have had their related mysteries, but this dispensation was itself altogether and entirely a mystery (secret) until it was revealed. It should be noted that there is no reference to an "age" or "period of time" in the term "dispensation." The present age was not a mystery, as it was foreseen by the prophets as the dispensation between the return to heaven by our Lord and His return to earth. It was spoken of by the Lord, but what should be God's dispensation during this age was a mystery (secret) right until the time this age commenced. The desolation of Jerusalem and dispersion of Israel did not come about immediately after the Lord's death, for when He was on the cross, He prayed, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." This request was answered in the years of testimony to Israel that ensued. The Lord had spoken of those years, but He also revealed plainly that the testimony would not be received and in consequence, Israel should be dispersed and Jerusalem destroyed (Luke 11:49-51, Luke 13:1-5, Luke 19:41-44, and Luke 28:28-30).
Thus the present age was foreseen, but what was to be God's administration that should obtain during this age was not foreseen by the prophets. It was a mystery. God's purposes in Israel remained in view so long as they were a people in the land and possessed of their city and temple, but when their heart was hardened, they were dispersed, and their hope was necessarily deferred until later. It is at this juncture that the question arises - "What is now God's dispensation?" The Mystery committed to Paul after Acts 28:28 supplies the answer.
The somewhat difficult term "Dispensation of The Mystery," therefore, simply means the way God is dealing with His redeemed during this period of Israel's dispersion.
To inquire what is this present way of dealing with God's people is obviously the most logical and necessary thing that the believer should do. What is now the position of the Lord Jesus Christ, and what is now God's purpose among the redeemed?
"And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the church which is His body..." (Eph. 1:22-23).
This position now is particularly ascribed to Christ (Head of The Body, The Church), and this position is now given to a company of the redeemed (The Church, which is His Body); these are both present facts. The sevenfold unity of the Spirit enumerated in Eph. 4:4 commences, "There is One body..." As this is so, God's present way of dealing with His redeemed is to call some out from among all believers to be those who are to form His One Body.
Write comment (0 Comments)Heavens
The five Hebrew words and one Greek word that speaks of them
Heaven. There are five words employed in the Hebrew O.T. translated as "heaven" and one Greek word so translated in the N.T. Of the Hebrew words, galgal (Psa. 77:18) refers to the "rolling clouds," the word galgal being elsewhere rendered "wheel" and "rolling thing." Shachaq, used in Psalm 89:6 and Psalm 89:37, means a "thin cloud" and is elsewhere translated as "cloud," "sky," and "small dust." It may be accidental, but it is nevertheless interesting that the blue color, and hence the visibility of the "sky," is owing to the refraction of blue rays of light and that it is to the vapory and the earthy particles in the atmosphere that the refraction is due; but for these, there would be total darkness till the instant of sunrise. As the imagery of the O.T. has been seized upon to "prove" the unscientific character of these ancient writings, the inclusion of the above note may not be without justification. Arabah "mixed" (Psa. 68:4) and ariphim "dropping" (Isa. 5:30) complete the references that refer to the clouds under the covering figure of heaven.
Shamayim. This Hebrew word is the one that is translated as "heaven" or "heavens" in the O.T. except in those portions where the Chaldee equivalent shemayin is used (Ezra, Daniel, and Jer. 10:11). The Hebrew shamayim occurs in the O.T. 419 times, of these, twenty-one occurrences are translated "air," as in Genesis 1:26. In the N.T. only one word, ouranos, is translated "heaven." This Greek word occurs over 280 times, of which "air" accounts for ten occurrences and "sky" for five. The name 'heaven' in our own language has been explained, according to its etymology, as that which is heaved or lifted up, and a similar origin has been assigned to the Greek ouranos and the Hebrew shamayim. The temporary "heaven" stretched out like a tent over the earth during the ages of Redemption is not the subject of this article where we will deal with heaven itself. Whether the translation reads "heaven" or "heavens," the word is always plural in the original. This no more indicates a plurality of "heavens" than the plural Elohim "God" indicates a plurality of Gods. There is a use of the plural in the Hebrew language known as "The Plural of Majesty" as, for example, "the sacrifices of God" in Psalm 51:17, which means "the great sacrifice."
Creation is divided into two parts, "heaven and earth" (Gen. 1:1), which in Colossians 1:16 is expanded to mean "all things visible and invisible," and the term "heaven" may include thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers, as well as physical sun, moon, and stars. Heaven is often used as a symbol of authority, for example, when Nebuchadnezzar learned "that the heavens do rule" (Dan. 4:26). The superiority of the heavens to the earth is expressed in the words "on high" (Luke 1:78, Heb. 1:3), "height" (Isa. 7:11, Psa. 148:1, Proverbs 25:3). It is possible that, after Genesis 1:1, there are but nine or ten references to "heaven itself," i.e., the heaven of Genesis 1:1, in the whole of the O.T. This can be put to the test by reading the Book of Genesis, and noting every allusion to "heaven." We read of the waters that are under heaven, lights in the firmament of heaven, fowl that fly in the "air," the windows of heaven opened at the deluge, Abraham directed to look toward heaven, to the countless number of the stars, but no passage demands that the term "heaven" should be interpreted of the heaven of Genesis 1:1. We cannot print here the 419 references to heaven, but we can print the nine or ten references that look beyond the present limited firmament.
"Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's thy God" (Deut. 10:14).
Here Moses draws attention to the firmament, which is "called" heaven, and the Heaven of heavens, the Heavens in the highest degree that were created long before the six days of Genesis 1:3-31 and Genesis 2:1. No further reference is made to the heavens themselves, until the days of David and Solomon, where in Psalm 8:1, Psalm 57:5, Psalm 57:11, Psalm 108:5, Psalm 113:4, Psalm 115:16 and Psalm 148:4 we have six references to a glory that is above the present limited heavens; making, with Deuteronomy 10:14, seven in all, the perfect number; in all other places the heavens referred to are put into correspondence with the firmament (Psa. 19:1) either by the actual statement or by implication. Five hundred years after Moses, Solomon recognized that neither the present heavens nor the Heaven of heavens could "contain" God (1 Kings 8:27), and the last reference to the Heaven of heavens, in contrast with the firmament, is found in the Levites' prayer (Neh. 9:6).
Even when we bring these passages forward, they only emphasize the fact that "the heaven" of the O.T. was the "firmament" of Genesis 1:8, stretched out like a curtain or a tent for God to dwell in (Isa. 40:22) and any reference in Psalm or Prophecy that speaks of heaven as God's "dwelling place" refers to this tabernacle formed by the firmament. When we open the N.T., it is pardonable if we there expect to find a great advance upon this limitation of the term "heaven." Twelve times do we read in Matthew of the "Father which is in heaven," but we also read that the heavens were opened at the baptism of the Lord, that the heavens are to pass away, and unless it is a matter beyond dispute that "angels" inhabit the Heaven of heavens, we shall find no instance in the gospel of Matthew of a reference to any other "heaven" than the firmament of Genesis 1:8.
We have to wait until we reach the Gospel of John for any explicit reference to the Highest Heavens, and there the Saviour speaks of ascending up to Heaven to where He was before (John 3:13, John 6:62), to the Glory that He had "before the world was" (John 17:5). In these few references is contained practically all that is said of the "Heavens" of Genesis 1:1 in the four Gospels. The only Calling and Company, Hope, and Sphere of Blessing that pierces the present firmament above us and ascends to where Christ sits at the right hand of God is the Church of the Mystery. Christ is set forth, in Ephesians 4:10, as having ascended "far above all heavens" yet revealed as seated at the right hand of God "in the Heavenly Places." These Heavenly Places, therefore, must be above the limitations of the outstretched heavens. This is not invalidated by the fact that the selfsame sphere is called in Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians "Heaven," for we must not allow ourselves to rob "heaven itself" of its true title simply because we have used it so often of the limited firmament. In connection with this same calling, Christ can be said to be both "far above all the heavens" yet "in heaven" at the right hand of God.
There are eleven references to "heaven" in the Epistle to the Hebrews; one only speaks of "Heaven itself," and the others refer to the lesser and lower heavens. For the heavens created as recorded in Hebrews 1:10 are to "perish," but this can never be said of "Heaven itself" Christ is said to have "passed through the heavens," dierchomai (Heb. 4:14) and as being made "higher than the heavens" (Heb. 7:26), without involving any contradiction in the saying that He Who passed through the heavens and was made Higher than the heavens, was at the selfsame time depicted as entering "heaven itself" (Heb. 9:24). The contradiction only exists in our minds if we fail to distinguish the heaven of the beginning, Genesis 1:1 from the heaven of the ages, Genesis 1:8. The only references to the heavens of Genesis 1:1 that are found in the remainder of the N.T. are those of Peter and of the Revelation, which speaks of a new heaven and new earth (2 Pet. 3:13, Rev. 21:1).
The new heavens and the new earth spoken of by Isaiah are related to Jerusalem (Isa. 65:17-18). Where we read in Revelation 21 of a "first heaven" and a "first earth," the word translated "first," protos, is rendered in verse 4, "the former things," and we should possibly translate Revelation 21:1 as "the former heaven and the former earth," the reference to "no more sea" being an evident allusion to Genesis 1:2. In connection with the subject before us, let us turn to the words of Paul as found in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4. In direct connection with the visions and revelations which he had received, he refers to an extraordinary experience. Whether he was "in the body or whether out of the body," he could not tell, but he did know that he had been caught up to the third heaven . . . caught up into paradise.
First, we must be clear as to the meaning of the term "caught up." The word "up" in this passage has no equivalent in Greek, and to attempt to make it have any bearing upon the subject betrays as much ignorance of the original as would be betrayed by anyone seeking to extract the idea of direction upward, from such idiomatic phrases of the English language as "shut up," "wash up," "lock up" and the like. We can omit the word "up"; for the Greek word arpazo is translated as "take by force," "catch away," "pluck," "caught away," and "pull". The phrase "in the body" translates as en somati, which is very like the phrase en pneumatic" in spirit" used on the occasion when John was translated to the Day of the Lord (Rev. 1:10). The closest parallel is that of the experience of Philip, who was "caught away" by the spirit of the Lord, and was "found at Azotus," some miles away.
It is evident that the third heaven to which Paul was caught away was Paradise; otherwise, his reiteration would need a deal of explanation. Paradise has been located in different regions by different teachers, mainly in accordance with their peculiar beliefs concerning the intermediate state. If we keep close to the Scriptural meaning of Paradise, we shall know that it is derived from the Hebrew pardes (Neh. 2:8, Song. 4:13) and means "a garden or orchard," and when we meet the word in the Book of Revelation, it has no connection whatever with an intermediate state but is still a garden and orchard, it is indeed the garden of Eden restored and extended.
In what way, we may ask, can this Paradise at the end of the age be in any way related to the "third" heaven? If we count the third heaven as being like the third story of a building, it will certainly appear incongruous. But Revelation 21 has already spoken of "a new earth" and a "former earth," consequently it would be true to say, even as Peter in 2 Peter 3 has indicated, that there was a first heaven in the beginning (Gen. 1:1); a second heaven, at the making of the earth ready for a man (Gen. 1:8); a third heaven, at the end when redemption shall be finished (Rev. 21:1). It was to this "heaven" and this "paradise" that Paul was caught away, and as he stresses more than any other writer in the N.T. the blessings of the New Creation, it is quite understandable that this great goal of the ages should be associated by him with the visions and revelation he had received in connection with his apostleship.
The great lesson that forces itself upon our attention, however, is the fact that, apart from Paul's ministry, and especially his prison ministry, there is scarcely any reference in the Scriptures, either Old or New, to the heaven of Genesis 1:1. The hope of the Mystery alone pierces the intervening firmament and places the believer "far above all" even where Christ sits at the right hand of God. We must now go on to the consideration of the special term "heavenly places," but to this, we will devote a separate study.
Write comment (1 Comment)Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Up to the great divorce of Acts 28:25-28, both spiritual and material blessings had to do with the earth, the land that was promised to Abraham and to his descendants. Even the New Jerusalem comes down to the earth to be inhabited by a chosen people (Rev. 21:2). Among those will be Abraham and those who are children of the promise made to Abraham.
But abruptly in Ephesians 1:3 is the announcement that the Gentiles had a special calling from before the overthrow of the world and now will enjoy every spiritual blessing in The Heavenlies. This is a part of The Great Secret that was hidden in God for ages and generations (Eph. 3:2-6). This must have been a great surprise to the believers of that time. Not even a hint of such a thing had ever before been thought of or uttered by the prophets.
We wonder what the Ephesians thought of such an announcement! The Gentile believers of that district were told earlier that by faith, they had become children of Abraham and so could partake of the promises of life everlasting, and this apart from keeping the law as they were under grace. The Roman church had been told that they had partaken in sign gifts and some of the spiritual blessings of Israel. So these Gentile believers would go to the synagogues or assemblies every Sabbath (Saturday) and hear Moses and the prophets and all about the material and spiritual blessings that were theirs by virtue of being a 'wild olive branch grafted into the true olive tree,' Israel (Rom. 11:17-24).
Suddenly Israel is cut off. There is no source anymore for blessings for the Gentiles that believe in the God of Heaven. And then comes the good news from a Roman prison that by a special revelation to the Apostle Paul, the scene of God's operations has shifted for the time being from the earth to The Heavenlies; that there is a purpose in the great plan of redemption that also includes a realm of principalities and powers far above the earth. Mankind had never imagined such a thing.
On the earth today are multitudes that have believed according to John 3:16 and have life and the hope of resurrection (John 11:23-25). But that resurrection pertains to the last day and the earth as its sphere of blessing. Many of these may want to know how one can obtain membership in the little band that is blessed with every spiritual blessing in The Heavenlies (Eph. 1:3). This is something that is beyond the will of man (Eph. 1:4), for he cannot join the invisible Church (Eph.1:21-23). The fact that a man may desire this membership shows that he may be in some such relationship in some way, but God does the choosing and the adopting of those that belong to the chosen people of today. And that is no different from the case of His chosen people, Israel, of yesterday. As soon as any person takes an interest in these spiritual blessings and wants to know how to obtain them, we feel assured that they have been chosen from before the overthrow and predestinated to The Adoption (Eph. 1:4-5). If they take no interest, then God must have foreknown it, and they have not been chosen. Simple, is it not?
We proclaim The Good News hoping that it will fall on good ground and produce fruit.
Write comment (1 Comment)The Dispensation of Promise and The Dispensation of The Mystery
These are the hopes, respectively, of the Dispensation of Promise and The Mystery. The gathering together (some say rapture) concerns an earth people, who here on the earth expect the coming of the King. Among those who go out to meet Him at His coming are the five wise virgins; the foolish ones, not being ready, miss it. The Manifestation concerns those whose citizenship is in the heavens, who are seated with Christ at the right hand of God. The Manifestation is to be in The Heaven of the heavens and to the principalities and powers there. Those who take part in it are those who are there, those whose life is hidden with Christ in God.
So the gathering together is for earth-dwellers, and The Manifestation is for heaven-dwellers. The gathering together was not a secret hidden in God for ages and generations. This resurrection and the change that is a part of it are revealed in the Book of Genesis and throughout the Scriptures. Hebrews 11:10 clearly tells us that Abraham looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. On that day, when the Lord comes to meet them in the air, the dead in Christ will be resurrected, and the faithful ones who are alive will live forever, that is, be changed (1 Cor. 15:52). But the Truth that there would be a people that should have a resurrection in Glory and be Manifested with Christ The Head was not known to other ages and generations till revealed by the Apostle Paul after Acts 28:28 (see Eph. 3:4-5).
In the gathering, the believers are caught up (1 Thes. 4:16-17) to the air (not heaven) to meet the Lord as He comes to take over the kingdoms of this earth and rule on the throne of His father David. When satan is cast out and his angels with him, then the steadfast believers will meet Christ in the air, where they will rule and reign with Him as their reward for their faithful stand. All the guests and the virgins will then return with Him to the earth, where a marriage supper will be observed, and The King will take over His rule on the earth. At one time, the people of Israel were invited to this marriage, but they refused the invitation and even killed some of the servants who gave it. But a day is coming when other servants (angels) will come and gather scattered Israel from the highways (among the nations) and bring them to the supper. These are the nation, a nation born in a day, who will bring forth the fruits of the kingdom, taking the place of those rejected. These are earth-dwellers.
But the Manifestation does not pertain to the earth and those that dwell in it. Christ will emerge from the Shekinah Glory to be Manifested (seen) in The Heaven of heavens, and it is promised that when He is Manifested, then His Church which is His Body, will be Manifested with Him. The members, both living and dead, are there in purpose and potential as their lives are hidden with Christ in God and will continue there till their resurrection and Manifestation in that place (Col. 3:1-4). Nowhere do we find any of these will be resurrected here on the earth and then have to be transported to heaven, for they are seated in Christ Jesus in The Heaven of heavens now.
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