 |  |
#44.
Access to the Father (Eph. 2: 17, 18).
pp. 84 - 86
Not only has peace been made, but it had been made known. The Lord Who made the
both one "came and preached peace to you which were far off and peace to them that
were nigh". The two conflicting parties are variously named according to the aspect of
truth which obtains at the time. So far as covenant relationship is concerned one is the
circumcision, the other the uncircumcision. One is Israel, the other Gentile. Here the one
is the far off, the other the nigh. Both the far off and the nigh needed the work and the
proclamation of peace. The nigh were only such in the flesh. They had no access in the
spirit. The "far off" is another title of the Gentiles in their dispensational disability.
In the days of His flesh the Lord categorically declared that He was not sent but to the
lost sheep of the house of Israel. The apostle, in Rom. 15:, declares that Christ was a
minister of the circumcision, and that he, Paul, was a minister of Jesus Christ to the
Gentiles. In II Tim. 1: 8 he says, "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our
Lord, nor of me His prisoner.
The words "and came and preached" indicate that the ministry of the Mystery is as
much the personal word and work of Christ, as the Sermon on the Mount or the Parables
of the Mystery of the kingdom of heaven. It brands as unscriptural that sentiment which
prefers the "words of Christ Himself" to those of Paul, for Paul links the testimony of his
Lord with his own prison ministry. When Paul made known the blessings of the mystery,
Christ Himself "came and preached". It is of the first importance that we realize that
Christ has spoken since His ascension. Eph. 4: 8-13 says:--
"When He ascended up on high He gave gifts unto men . . . . . some apostles . . . . . for
the perfecting of the saints . . . . . till we all come in the unity of the faith . . . . ."
Peace constitutes the gospel of the Mystery, the word preach meaning to preach the
gospel. "And having come, He announced as glad tidings, Peace." The order is
suggestive. Whoever would have put the Gentiles first before this period? Here the "far
off" are named before "the nigh".
This evangel made known the blessed fact of access. "For through Him, we, the both,
have access in one spirit to the Father." When we examined chapter 1: 1-14 we observed
how the Father, the Son and the Spirit divide the passage into three sections of truth. We
find the same apportioning in the verse before us.
Through Him . . . . . One Spirit . . . . . The Father.
The recipients of the blessing are named "We, the both", and the blessing itself is
"access". It is the sequel of acceptance. Those who are accepted in the Beloved of
necessity have access to the Father. Those who have been reconciled in one body
experience the blessed fruit in one spirit. Experimental access to the Father cannot be
enjoyed except in this one spirit. Unity there must be in the presence of the Lord. The