THE LORD JESUS AS LIVING HEAD

Colossians 2: 19

Acts 9: 1-6, 15-20

Ephesians 4: 15, 16; 5: 29, 30

JSS We have been considering how the present activities of the Lord Jesus result in life for God, and I wondered if in this reading we might consider how the Lord Jesus as living Head acts in relation to His body that there may be life in the body. I read in Colossians; it begins negatively, but we can look at it in the positive aspect as to the need for “holding fast the head, from whom all the body, ministered to”. It seems to be an active thought, that there is a ministering to the body from the Head. We might consider how the Lord Jesus would do that.

In Acts we see an example, I think, of the Lord as Head in heaven and His body here. It has often been remarked that the Lord says in verse 4, “why dost thou persecute me?”. He did not say, ‘Why are you persecuting Christians?’ or ‘Why are you persecuting my people?’; it is “me”. It is presented as if it is Himself, and that is because it was Himself. Saul was persecuting those “who were of the way”. There must have been something that identified these persons as being “of the way”. There must have been something about them that Saul could have identified that showed they were “of the way”, to persecute them. The Lord in His wonderful power and grace comes in and changes this man, converts him. Saul becomes a believer; Saul becomes a member of Christ’s body. Ananias was one of those members before him, and you see the wonderful grace in which Ananias acted through communication from the Lord. You might say that Ananias was “holding fast the head”. He was being obedient to what the Lord would have him to do even though he had reservations about it, understandably, but we see how it leads to Saul being received as a brother into this body and the positive result that comes from that: “straightway in the synagogues he preached Jesus that he is the Son of God”.

In Ephesians we see further thoughts as to how the Lord Jesus would be acting, the thought of “supply” and “self-building up” in chapter 4 and the thought of “nourishes and cherishes” in chapter 5. That was the main thought that I had in mind. The Lord Jesus, speaking reverently, would be actively nourishing and cherishing His assembly, which is seen in His body here on earth at the present time. I suppose we could look at the passage in Acts as an act of the Lord cherishing His body. He was protective of it because it was so precious to Him.

Perhaps we could get help with these things together.

RHB What is involved in “holding fast the head”?

JSS Well, I would like your help. It does not mean that a member of Christ’s body can ever become separated from the Head, does it? Once you are a member of Christ’s body, and I suppose it might just be plain to say that, that every believer in the Lord Jesus who has the Holy Spirit is of His body, a member of His body, and can never cease to be a member of His body, but one explanation that appeals to me is that I may cease to consider Him as Head or be subject to Him as Head. I can start to think my own thoughts. I can start to allow my own will to be exercised and in that way I am “not holding fast the head”, because I am deciding to do something independently of the Head.

RHB It comes at the end of a list of things that they were going on with and it seems to be summed up by that, that they were “not holding fast the head”. It struck me that that is quite a challenging thing for us as we sit even in a meeting like this, whether we function in it as under His direction; giving out a hymn, praying, whatever takes place, has to take place under His direction as the Head. Is that how you understand it?

JSS That is very helpful; so we would be under His authority, subject to His direction, His influence, what He would cause to happen. As to these things that you mentioned beforehand, this list, the thought of humility comes in and on the face of it that might seem quite commendable, but it is “doing his own will in humility”, v 18. That is the problem, is it not? I think it has been likened to someone that might be in a nunnery or a monastery or something like that. You might say what they are doing is all very good and humble, but if it is in their own will it is “not holding fast the head”.

JL Is there not the thought as well that, if I am “not holding fast the head”, I not only deprive myself of the benefit of the flow from the living Head, but I may in turn partially deprive others because of the need for communication between all the members in the body? Other scriptures bear that out.

JSS That is helpful; so we have here “the joints and bands”. These are means of communication within the body. Would that be fair to say? If someone is drawing something from somewhere else other than the Head, that is harmful, is it not?

DCB Earlier in the chapter there is a reference, “and ye are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and authority” (v 10), but I wondered if the whole thought of “holding fast the head” is really in accepting “ye are complete in him”; so there is no other source of operation in the assembly.

JSS I think it is helpful to bring that out. There is no need to look anywhere else because there is full sufficiency in the Head. That is good. Why would we need to go elsewhere? We have everything we need in Him.

PAG You need both hands to hold fast. You cannot hold fast to two things at once.

JSS That is helpful. “No one can serve two masters”, Matt 6: 24.

PAG We may worry about the word ‘exclusive’, and it has been wrongly used, but the fact is membership of this body is exclusive; it excludes membership of anything else. As you say, you cannot “serve two masters”. You cannot be associated with Christ as Head and associated with something else as well. Why would you want to be? There is no better association than association with Christ. We are associated with Him as brethren but, as being linked with Him as Head, there is no better link to have than being linked to Christ as Head. There is no superior link, nor is there any superior authority over us.

JSS That is helpful and just a practical word. Many of the so-called bodies of men assume to confer a degree of respectability on their members. Some of them have been formed by royal charter. We are already a member of the greatest body that there is with Christ as Head. How could you be part of anything inferior? I would also like help as to “the increase of God”, what that means: “increases with the increase of God”.

RB-n Is the Spirit’s service vital for what you are saying? I am thinking of 1 Corinthians 2. It is the Spirit that searches the deep things of God, v 10. That chapter finishes, “But we have the mind of Christ”, v 16.

JSS I think so. The Holy Spirit is absolutely essential. Speaking simply, we could not be connected to our Head in heaven other than by the Spirit; so this increase has to be “the increase of God” because only what is produced by the Spirit could cause the increase. Nothing of nature could add to this body. There could be no increase apart from the Spirit’s work; it is essential.

DCB “The joints and bands” are like the skeleton and ligaments. There is what is joining together for mutual benefit. The scripture in Ephesians speaks of “every joint of supply” which is slightly different, but here it is the matter of everything held together, and, do we mutually help in “holding fast the head”?

JSS I think that is true. I am glad of what you say as to “the joints and bands”. We were speaking about evidences of life in one of the earlier readings, and I suppose movement would be an evidence of life. Normal, healthy movement in a body shows that it is living, and I think what you say as to helping one another is good. Perhaps you see someone who was once showing evidence of “holding fast the head” a little more than they currently are. Am I able through my relationship with the Head in any way to help them? It can only be if I am “holding fast” the Head that I will be able to help anybody. It is a test.

TJH Love so amazing, so divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all! (Hymn 272)

I wonder if that fits into what is in mind. We cannot just hang on with one hand.

JSS It is wholehearted committal, is it not? I think that is good. We are of His body; let us hold that as precious and let us hold fast the Head!

NCMcK I was thinking of one of the scriptures mentioned earlier, “ye are complete in him”. “For in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily”, v 9. Does that bear on “increases with the increase of God”? Everything of the Godhead is available to the saints in Christ.

JSS That is very good. I would like if you would say some more as to “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily”. What do you understand by that? How does it apply to us?

NCMcK We often contrast it with what is said in the previous chapter, “for in him all the fulness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell”, v 19. That was in His life here, but now as a Man what is of God is available to us in Christ. Everything for the believer is available to us in a Man because that is the way in which we can appropriate it and therefore we are behind in absolutely nothing because we have everything available to us in that Man. What a resource the believer has and, therefore we must be increased with that “with the increase of God”.

JSS I think that is very attractive. In having Christ we have everything. It is all in a Person, is it not? If this relied on us learning theories or something like that, I would certainly fall short, but we know that in having Christ, we have everything, bodily there in Him. It is a complete thought, bodily in Him. I think that is good.

JTB The spouse in the Song of Songs “held him, and would not let him go”, chap 3: 4. Do you think it is love that underlay that? Is it love for the Head that draws us into contact with Him and really encourages us or motivates us not to let Him go?

JSS That is very attractive. The thought of love comes into Ephesians as well. She had found Him so precious. He nourishes and cherishes His body. I suppose in that way we would be encouraged to cherish the Head. He has become so precious to me that I do not want ever to let Him go. He has everything I need, everything for my blessing, everything that can cause an increase “with the increase of God”.

AMB I was wondering if you would link the thought of “holding fast the head” with abiding in Him? The Lord spoke to His own in chapter 15 of John and said, “Abide in me” (v 4), and the result is fruitfulness, is it not? Abiding follows the Lord’s comment as to the branches and the vine. Life is communicated by which we can grow. Abiding in Him and “holding fast the head” would be very close thoughts, would they not?

JSS I think they are. I think that is very helpful. You get the thought of life and the evidence of life there too, do you not? Fruit is evidence of life. It is evidence that I am abiding in Christ, drawing from Him, the Source of supply. The fruit that is produced will take its character from Him if He is the Source. I think that is helpful.

HTF Under Joseph’s administration “the land brought forth by handfuls”, Gen 41: 47. I wondered if that illustrated the result. “And Joseph laid up corn as sand of the sea exceeding much, until they left off numbering; for it was without number”, v 49. Do you think that illustrates this matter?

JSS That is very good. You get the thought of prosperity there, do you not, the abundance of supply? It is just reinforcing what the brethren are saying. There is no need to go anywhere else. Christ has everything in abundance.

GBG The body is the expression of Christ. The Lord Jesus is no longer here. It is the expression of Christ for God’s pleasure. God had one Man here for His pleasure, and now His body is here. That is quite a test, is it not? Am I as a member expressing Christ?

JSS Well, that is really the exercise, but what you say is very helpful. God’s delight was in Christ when He was here, a real Man on earth, exhibiting every feature that pleased Him, but there are persons here now who, as we have been reminded earlier, have Christ in them, and if those features come to light, as being members of the body, God finds delight in that too.

GBG In both Colossians and Ephesians it says, “from whom”. That is the way; the Spirit is involved in it to express features of Christ.

JSS There is no thought of any increase if there is any independence from the Head.

JL It is not only a fact that we must draw from the Head, but there is an added import in the word used, “ministered to”. Does that not imply the Lord’s delight to communicate things to His own? He has pleasure in causing that flow of life-giving supply to minister to the body. Can you say something about that?

JSS I am glad you draw attention to it because it seems like an active matter. If we can just speak carefully, it seems to me that the Head is initiating this. The Head is causing this ministering, and we have a responsibility to hold fast the Head, but His desire is to minister. He is actively engaged in ministering that we might benefit from it.

SCL Do you think one of the elements of headship is what our primary influence is? I was thinking in the world in which we live there are many things that would seek to have influence over us, how we would live our lives and the decisions we make, but if Christ is Head, He is the primary influence, do you think?

JSS I think that is absolutely right. In the physical body the head influences the members. The body only does what the head directs. I think that is very important. It shows the importance of “holding fast the head” because if I do not, I may find myself coming under another influence and, if it is not Christ, it will be wrong.

NJH What is meant by “the increase of God”?

JSS I would like to hear what you say. “The increase of God”: it must be something that has its source in God. It must be of Him and is really coming from our Head in heaven, Christ. It must be something that is in accord with what God is pleased with, but I would like help about it.

NJH My mind went to your reference in Ephesians to “the mystery of the glad tidings”, chap 6: 19. That is a great object of God from the glad tidings, to bring persons into the body.

JSS That is helpful as to “the increase of God”. The mystery as to Christ and the assembly is what Paul particularly brought out, was it not? Maybe that takes us on to Acts because I suppose this appears to be the first realisation by Saul that there is a Head in heaven and a body here. What a forceful way, you might say, for him to discover that. He had, of course, witnessed someone speaking to Christ in heaven. He had heard Stephen doing that, and now there is a Man speaking to him out of heaven. It is the same Man that Stephen had been speaking to. “Why dost thou persecute me?” It is very personal and feeling, and I just wondered if this was an act of the Lord cherishing His body.

DJW Does the Lord not as Head give the gifts to the assembly? Does He use the persons He has given the gifts to to arrive at the full-grown man? Is there some connection between that and “the increase of God”?

JSS I think that is helpful; there is no thought of increase that is haphazard or in any way disorderly. Any increase is “of God”. God is not a God of disorder. Everything must be according to Christ. He is God’s Pattern, and any increase must be towards that.

JL The apostle Paul said in writing to the Corinthians, “I have planted; Apollos watered; but God has given the increase”, 1 Cor 3: 6.

JSS So it is “the increase of God”; only God can do that; only God can give it. We see persons from time to time in the Scriptures trying to add something or support something, even with apparently right intentions, adding something; but if it is human, it cannot cause increase in the body. Only what is of God can do that.

JTB Would there be a link with being “filled even to all the fulness of God”, Eph 3: 19? Would that involve the increase?

JSS Yes, I am sure it would. That is a very full thought, is it not? There is no thought of anything lacking with “the increase of God”. It is a full thought.

JTB It is set before us as a prospect, “that ye may be filled even to all the fulness of God”. That must involve increase.

JSS Well, I think increase would be going on at the present time with that as an end in view.

APG Paul often prays that the saints’ love would increase, love for one another, “that your love may abound”, Phil 1: 9. That would be “the increase of God”, divine love, love for all the saints.

JSS I think that is right. Love builds up, does it not? It is said, “knowledge puffs up, but love edifies”, 1 Cor 8: 1. We had about puffing up in the previous scripture, but you can see how that building up in love is a very positive matter and it is of God. God is love, so if the building up is in love, it is of Him.

RBr In chapter 1 of Colossians it speaks of walking “worthily of the Lord unto all well-pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work, and growing by the true knowledge of God”, v 10. Do you think that would be something of the “increase of God” proved in quite a simple way but quite a profound way?

JSS I think that is a very helpful reference, “growing by the true knowledge of God”. Increase is not an increase in intellectual knowledge; it is not even an increase in numbers, I do not think. It might not be a rapid increase, but it is a steady, real increase that is pleasing to God. If it has its source in Christ as Head, that is the character it will take.

QAP Did you have any impression as to the Lord Jesus using His personal name to Saul, “I am Jesus”?

JSS It is very affecting, is it not? It shows, do you think, the reality of His manhood, that He is a real Man who is speaking here?

QAP I wondered about that word through the prophet, “I drew them with bands of a man, with cords of love”, Hos 11: 4. Do you think this would lead to “holding fast the head”, appreciation of the attractiveness of Jesus?

JSS I think so. We can see how effective a vessel Paul was, how fruitful a member he was of Christ’s body, how he was able to help others. He would never have forgotten this experience. How could he have? It is amazing that “straightway … he preached Jesus that he is the Son of God”. He had learned quickly, not only that He was a real Man, but He was the glorious Son of God.

DCB You have mentioned that the Head is in heaven and the body is here. Does “the increase of God” mean that there is an increase in what is heavenly among those who are members of His body?

JSS I think that must be so if we are drawing from our Head in heaven who is heavenly; He is the heavenly Man. Even when He was here He was “the Son of man who is in heaven”, John 3: 13. What a wonderful source and therefore anything that is formed of Him down here would have a heavenly character, I would think.

DS Does the assembly in a special way understand something of the sufferings of this One? I wondered if that helps in this formative work you are speaking of. “Why dost thou persecute me?” That is the body here as suffering in relation to the Lord’s interests. Is there something we can learn from that?

JSS I think that is a helpful point. It shows that the body here is in the same place where Christ suffered, and those of the body are exposed to the same elements that caused that suffering. “Do not wonder, brethren, if the world hate you”, 1 John 3: 13. The world hated Him; so it follows that anything that is like Him, the world will hate. It is no surprise, but I think the Lord, coming back to the thought of what is priestly too, has tender sympathy. He knows what it meant to suffer down here. He is able to cherish and nourish His assembly, His body, accordingly. It would increase our valuation of Him. She knows that He has been here, and He has suffered here.

MBG I was thinking of the scripture referred to, “growing by the true knowledge of God”. It does not say ‘in the true knowledge of God’ although that would be a good and right thing to grow in, but it is as if the knowledge of God is what causes the growth. I was thinking of Saul here. Later he says that what he did he did with a good conscience, but he did not have “the true knowledge of God”, did he? I was thinking of his experience here. He came to know very quickly what God was really like through the grace of His Saviour, do you think? Is Saul a good example of one who rapidly increased as he grew “by the true knowledge of God”?

JSS It is very helpful to bring that in. Paul grew quickly. How powerfully the Lord had caused him to understand something of God, growing by the knowledge of that. Christ had revealed Himself to him. “Filled with the Holy Spirit”, it says, ”He preached Jesus that he is the Son of God”.

AM Was the light of the body contained in the Lord’s words from heaven that Saul was to find his part experimentally in it as he went into the city? He was to prove what it was practically.

JSS I think that is very much the case. “It shall be told thee what thou must do”; Paul was not too used to being told what to do, but that was for his blessing. I think we could say Ananias was under the direction of the Head. He was a member of Christ’s body here, and he shows wonderful grace, as has often been remarked, “laying his hands upon him he said, Saul, brother”; so Paul, as having been obedient to the authority of the Lord and subject to the Head, then received by Ananias, now becomes a living and effective member of Christ’s body himself and quickly shows what he is able to accomplish for God! “The increase of God” was rapid with him: “he preached Jesus that he is the Son of God”.

RMB Is it instructive in connection with verse 6 that the Lord did not tell Saul of Tarsus Himself what he was to do, but he would learn that as a result of going into the city?

JSS I think that is helpful because the Lord had confidence in one of the members of His body, Ananias, that he would be able to instruct Saul what he had to do when he was there. I think that is helpful; so it shows how the Lord operates in the body. There are gifts given and there are helps in the body so that we can help one another.

RMB Could we say, perhaps especially for the benefit of our dear younger brethren, that it is important to be exercised about what the Lord would have them to do? That is an important exercise that they can take up in their personal relations with Him. But does this suggest that whatever that might be in the case of one or another, the understanding of that will not be independent of His assembly here on the earth?

JSS I think it is a very important point that you make. There is something for everyone to do. Every member has something to do and, although the Lord will use one and another to help in different ways, it is never independent from the influence of the Head.

TWL The start of all of this in relation to Saul was with Stephen. Was Stephen “holding fast the head”?

JSS He was looking at the Head and he was speaking to Him. If we go back to chapter 7, “having fixed his eyes on heaven” , that certainly seems to be a “holding fast”, is it not? “He saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, Lo, I behold the heavens opened” (v 55, 56) and so on, and then he says, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge”, v 60. He acknowledged Him as Head very much.

TWL I was thinking their clothes were laid “at the feet of a young man called Saul”, v 58; and of what you have been saying in relation to the Lord using persons. Stephen held fast to the Head at the expense of his life. The influence of Jesus was such that he would not give it up, even at the expense of his life, consequent on that was Saul’s conversion, following what he saw and heard there. Does that fit in?

JSS I think the experience there must have had an effect on Saul. You cannot imagine witnessing that and it not having an effect on you. I think that is helpful; so he sees “holding fast the head” exemplified in one of the members of His body, Stephen, and now he sees it again in another, Ananias.

GBG Was Stephen also the expression of the new man?

JSS Please could you explain what you mean by that?

GBG There were two things special to Paul in his ministry, the body and the new man. Saul saw the new man. It was features of the new man he was persecuting. “Why dost thou persecute me?” It was the body. You do not see the body; what you see are the features of the new man. It is Christ here in testimony, is it not?

JSS I think that is very helpful, these features actually seen in persons in reality. I think that is very good. We cannot see the body as one whole - we cannot do that at the present time - but we can see real features of it that prove persons are members of it, these features of the new man.

EJM One local assembly is commended that they had “a little power, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name”, Rev 3: 8. These things are distinctive, “his name” and “his word”. I suppose the power is little because it attaches to us. The Holy Spirit’s power is great; the Lord’s power is great; the Father’s power is great; but the Lord says, “thou hast a little power”.

JSS It is like “holding fast”, keeping things. We keep what is precious to us; we hold fast the things that are precious to us, “a little power”. Well, the Lord’s power is sufficient for what we require at the present time.

NCMcK Mary in Luke 10 sat at his feet and “was listening to his word”, v 39. Is that representative of someone in the good of headship, a complete absorption with Christ, a definite position at His feet and receiving from Him. It says where you read in Colossians, “ministered to”. The body is “ministered to”; it does not minister. The gifts are set in the assembly. The body is “ministered to”. It is occupation with Christ and absorption with that blessed One and receiving therefore spiritually from Him. The sisters are every bit in the body as the brothers are. There is no difference between sisters and brothers in the body, is there?

JSS Of course not. I think that is absolutely right; it is a good example. It was a deliberate position that she had taken and it was a deliberate attitude of mind that she had relative to Jesus, sitting at His feet, “listening to his word”. It was an active thing, “listening to his word”. She was “holding fast the head” in figure, and she benefited from it. She drew from what He ministered.

Turning to chapter 4 of Ephesians, previously in Colossians we thought about “the increase of God” and “holding fast the head”, but here it is “holding the truth in love, we may grow up to him in all things, who is the head, the Christ”. Perhaps we could get some help about it.

GJR Can I ask how else could the truth be held?

JSS For example, there might be persons who could probably recite lengthy texts of Scripture that are not believers in the Lord Jesus. We might say they have a tremendous intellectual knowledge of the same Scriptures that we hold in our hands but unless they have love for the Lord Jesus, unless it is held in love in relation to that Head, they would not be holding it at all. What would you say?

GJR Mr Coates says, ‘I have not only to be true to the light, but to wait on the exercises of the brethren, and carry them’, vol 6 p129.

JSS Very good. Well, it would mean that we are considerate of one another if we are holding it in love. I think that is very good. So “fitted together, and connected by every joint of supply”: there are good relationships between these members of the body such that things can flow freely. That is the test, is it not? If you hold the truth in love, I am sure that would work out as a result.

PAG “Growing by the true knowledge of God” has been referred to. “The true knowledge of God” would involve appreciation of His nature. This scripture would remind us that you cannot detach the truth from the nature of God. They are not two separate things.

JSS You mean the nature of God being love, and the truth being everything that can be known of God, so they cannot be separated?.

PAG What you say is correct, and that is why this chapter goes on to say, “as the truth is in Jesus”, v 21. We have been referring to the name of Jesus. The truth is in a Person. It is there to be taken account of in Him. How could it be anything less than the full revelation of God “as the truth is in Jesus”? Then the Spirit is here and active to form us in relation to what is taken account of in Him.

JSS I think that is very helpful. What would you say as to growing “up to him in all things”?

PAG Well, there are important words in Ephesians: one is “up” and the other is “together”. We have thought of the character of the world in which we now live, and “up” is very important. What is characteristic of Christianity and characteristic of what is heavenly involves “up”. It is interesting that Christ is described in Romans 6 as being “raised up from among the dead by the glory of the Father”, v 4. You might say “raised” was enough. No! He is “raised up”, and now it is growing “up”. The world is a great place for individualism, but Christianity is a place where things are enjoyed together: so growing up and being together. Do you think that is what we can experience in a meeting like this?

JSS I think that is a very helpful way to put it.

JL Does it also bear the sense of growing up towards the light and source as a plant does?

JSS That is helpful; I had wondered that. We “grow up to him”. You might say we are growing up towards the Source, away from the earth, as having Christ as its Object. Anything that has an increase is really going back up towards its source.

TWL Is this the acquiring of glory? Eventually at the end of all of this there is going to be a vessel that has the glory of God, and that is being formed now. Growing up to Him is the acquisition of the glory of Jesus in persons. You reminded us yesterday of what we are as Christ in us. Growing up to Him is the acquisition of the glories of that Man who lives in us. Would that be right?

JSS That is helpful.

JJB Does accepting the reproach of the Christ help us in maintaining the truth as well as in the Spirit’s power?

JSS The reproach of the Christ is mentioned in Peter’s first epistle: “If ye are reproached in the name of Christ, blessed are ye; for the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God rests upon you”, chap 4: 14.

JJB We “go forth to him without the camp, bearing his reproach”, Heb 13: 13. It is the Person, is it not? Does that help us in “holding the truth in love”?

JSS Naturally we would shy away from reproach and suffering, but it would be a proof of our love for the Head if we are willing to accept it. “The Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God rests upon you”. There is glory there.

DCB You made reference to the fact it is, “the head, the Christ”. What would you say as to the fact it is emphasised “the Christ”?

JSS Christ, it would be right to say speaks of God’s anointed Man, and there is dignity attached to that, is there not? I was thinking a little about Psalm 133. You have the thought there of the anointing oil flowing down from the head, giving character to those that are down here. Is the thought of dignity associated with this, God’s anointed? What would you say?

DCB In Corinthians the whole vessel is “the Christ” (1 Cor 12: 12), but this is distinguishing the Person, the Man in heaven. There is the earlier reference as to the knowledge of the Son of God, “until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, at the full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ”, chap 4: 13. Everything is according to the standard of God’s anointed Man.

JSS Exactly. He is God’s anointed Man. He is the One in whom God has His delight, and any growth or increase must always be in accordance with that Pattern.

AGM It is growing up to him “in all things”. Does that involve that there is going to be complete correspondence with His body with regard to the Head? When you take that into the assembly, she is formed to be consort. The assembly is His fulness. This is the time of formation.

JSS That is a helpful word to draw attention to, “in all things”. It is comprehensive. The other thing you get here is “the whole body”. That is another comprehensive thought. There is nothing partial about it. And in Colossians where we first read it says, “all the body”. It is a complete thought; we cannot think of a partial body. It is one Head and one body and there is the thought of completeness about it.

DAB What does it actually mean in this scripture as to “its self-building up in love”? That is not the body functioning independently of the Head. What do you understand by that?

JSS I would like others to say what they understand by it. It clearly does not mean that it is independent of the Head, “works for itself the increase of the body to its self-building up in love”. I would really like someone else to say something about it.

GBG Love is infectious.

JSS Very good; it has that effect of promoting and provoking what is positive by itself.

DAB I was just thinking of what Ananias said to Saul, “Saul, brother”. That was the love, we might say, the “joint of supply”, operating through that, reaching out to Saul, was it not? “Saul, brother”. I am thinking of what has been said. “Self-building up” is the Spirit operating, we might say, horizontally, but the Spirit is always fixing our eyes and our affections on Christ; so it is a very wonderful thing, really the vertical and the horizontal working in sympathy and in tandem with each other as we are today. Headship is operating in this reading.

JSS That is the exercise; that would be the desire. I think what is being said as to what operates in that infectious way of love is helpful.

ASP Do you see an example of it in the epistle to Philemon? Paul reminds Onesimus and Philemon as to the proper place they had, “not any longer as a bondman, but above a bondman, a beloved brother”, Philem v 16. That was building up in love, was it not?

JSS That is very good. It shows how love goes above merely what is required; there is an excess about it. I think that is good and it would confirm the thought of dignity. The thought of the Christ is a dignified thought. The brother is a dignified thought. I think that is a helpful reference. It shows an example of one member of Christ’s body encouraging another member to act in that way.

TJH Can we have some more help about the “joint of supply”, and what it is? It seems to come between the reference to growing up and building up. There is a long footnote, but I wondered if the “joint of supply” might connect with the living Head, the subject of this reading, and the “joint of supply” is from that living Head, and where it is not so, neither the growing up nor the building up will take place at all.

JSS I think that is a good enquiry. “Every joint of supply” suggests what can flow through such a “joint of supply” freely. In the Old Testament we have “the two sons of oil”, Zech 4: 14. There is the thought of what flows freely without obstruction. Often our relationships together help with that so that if I have an impression of Christ and I have good relations in love with my brother, it will be a natural thing in that sense to share the impression with him and to be increased together.

TJH One or another may be asked to serve in an address or preaching; the word will come through a “joint of supply” and from heaven?

JSS We certainly desire that any ministry would have its source in Christ in heaven. It would not be effective otherwise.

JTB It is “every joint”. It would be an exercise for each of us to put ourselves about in that way, do you think?

JSS I think that is very good, “the whole body” and “every joint”. We might say every member is to be engaged in this for the building up.

TRC A little later in Acts 9 the disciples took Saul “by night and let him down through the wall, lowering him in a basket”, v 25. Is that the “joint of supply” in operation? It was something for Saul to be subject to the brethren in that sense, but he came into an area of love and affection, and that love was operative, and it was for his protection.

JSS I think that is a very good example of the members working together for the benefit of another member.

AGM It says, “according to the working in its measure of each one part”; so none are excluded. Each one of us has our measure, but we can increase that measure as linked with the Spirit; so it is all working out for the completeness of the body.

JSS I think that is very helpful. We had some ministry recently about measure. You might say the important thing is not necessarily the capacity of the measure but the fact that it is full. It might be a small measure, but is it full?

JL Did Aquila and Priscilla impart that as a “joint of supply”?

JSS I am sure they did, for example, when they helped Apollos. What would you say? It was a gentle action, was it not, but it was beneficial, unfolding “more exactly”, Acts 18: 26?

JL A “joint of supply” is not exactly a gift, is it?

JSS It does not appear so. I think what the brethren are saying about each member and “every joint” seems to leave it open to every one of us. That would be an exercise, would it not? I suppose if a member is “holding fast the head” they would be effective as a “joint of supply”.

We could touch on Ephesians 5. You get the thought of the husband and the wife here. We have been speaking about the Head and the body. In an earlier reading we spoke about the Shepherd and the sheep as well. They would perhaps be slightly different views of the same thing, but here it does speak about “his body” in verse 30: “we are members of his body”. “For no one has ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it”. That suggests to me that Christ is actively engaged in that, nourishing and cherishing, in relation to His assembly, His body.

KRC I would like help with the thought of nourishing and cherishing. We have a hymn that speaks of them both, Hymn 359. We sometimes use the first verse in the morning occasion but maybe not the second; so could you open that up for the younger ones to understand the thought better?

JSS I would like to understand it too so would be glad of what others would say.

DCB The cherishing is a matter of affection, is it not? He would supply what is needed, but cherishing is just how much He loves His assembly. The sense of being loved is very important to the assembly, is it not, being attached to Christ?

JSS I think that is helpful. I think it has been said nourishment provides everything that is needed, but cherishing brings in the thought of love. The type has been used as to Boaz. When Ruth first arrived to meet Boaz, he nourished her, gave her everything that she needed, but when she became his wife, he cherished her, CAC vol 31 p530.

PAG Is this the Lord demonstrating how you hold the truth in love? We have spoken of nourishment, food, in other words, and we might think of that in relation to teaching or ministry or whatever might be provided by the Lord to strengthen individually and collectively what is for Him, but everything He provides is provided in love. Even correction is done in love. Regarding holding our brethren, do you not think the Lord wants every member of His assembly? How many people are members of the assembly? I do not know: millions if you go back to Pentecost. Do you not think the Lord wants every single one of them? Well, then, I should too! Would that be all right?

JSS I think that is right so that thought of nourishing would be a careful consideration of what is needed in each situation, involving the thought of caring.

RB-n Is the Lord nourishing and cherishing His own in John 17 when He is speaking to the Father?

JSS That is very attractive; say some more about it. He is letting them into the secret of His affections with the Father.

RB-n He speaks about them being kept in the Father’s name (v 12), but He goes on to speak about being occupied with His glory and the Father’s love being in them. He is providing us with everything for the testimony, is He not?

JSS And He is doing it in love. There is no thought of what has to be done, but He is loving to do it, nourishing and cherishing it.

GBG It is a lovely thought to think of the Lord Jesus cherishing the assembly eternally.

JSS She is so precious to Him.

GBG I was thinking of the thought in Genesis 2. The assembly will respond to His cherishing.

JSS If you are conscious of being cherished, it must bring about a response to the one that is cherishing.

At 3-day meetings in Edinburgh

21^st October 2023

List of initials:

R Bain, Fraserburgh; A M Brown, Linlithgow; D A Brown, Bo’ness; D C Brown, Edinburgh; J T Brown, Edinburgh; R Brown, Linlithgow; R H Brown, Maidstone; R M Brown, Strood; J J Buchan, Peterhead; T R Campbell, Glasgow; K R Cumming, Edinburgh; H T Franklin, Grimsby; A P Grant, Dundee; G B Grant, Dundee; M B Grant, Grangemouth; P A Gray, Linlithgow; T J Harvey, East Finchley; N J Henry, Glasgow; J Laurie, Brechin; T W Lock, Edinburgh; S C Lock, Edinburgh; N C McKay, Glasgow; A G Mair, Cullen; E J Mair, Cullen; A Martin, Buckhurst Hill; A S Pittman, Grangemouth; Q A Poore, Swanage; G J Richards, Malvern; J S Speirs, Grangemouth; D Spinks, Bo’ness; D J Willetts, Birmingham