Some Pictures of Christ and the Church

… So, today you can read the book of Genesis. Verse 18, And the Lord God said, It is not true, the man should be alone, I will make him, and help him, for him. Verse 21, And the Lord God caused a deep sea to fall upon Aaron, and he slept. And he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh, and stayed thereof. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now born of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called a woman, because she was taken out of man. And Adam said, This is now born of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. Verse 22, Wives, submit yourselves unto your husbands as under the law. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church. And he is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spoiled it for any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. So all men should love their own wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man hath ever yet given his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the law of the church. For we are members of his body, and of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man give his father and mother, and shall he join them to his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery. But I see concerning Christ in the church. It's what we get there in that last verse. Particularly it's on man. All that we have there in the fifth chapter, though he leads us to understanding that I am in reference to human earthly conditions, yet in his mind he's thinking of the law of Christ and the church. That is the basis of my talk this evening. We turn now to Genesis 2. We see there something which was before sin took place. In this sin, sin itself, it has not entered into the creation which God has made, into the paradise of God, unending. And he said here, it is not good that the man should be alone. There is the first thought that God has expressed concerning Christ and the church. That here in the paradise of God, God's love, and it has reference to Christ and his church. It says there in Italy, it says, I will make him a heartbeat for you. The thought is, God will make a Christ, something which is like unto himself, a counterpart, a companion, one that can enter into his thoughts, one that can enjoy his love, and of course that he can enjoy her love. But we still need, and that's what I wish to build upon, the thought that here in the beginning of things, before ever sin had entered in, God gives his thought. Christ and the church, Christ and the man, Christ and the wife. Those are what God has in mind. And even in creating man, he has that in mind. And what we find in the moment that was created, we find that she was made of himself. I didn't bring concerning creatures. They are separate. But we find here that there is that which is taken out of man, a rape was taken out of him. The flesh rose up again. And out of that rape was made a woman. And the man says, this is a woman. In other words, she's my counterpart. She's my companion. Now here we see what was God's mind in doing that. That Eve should enjoy Adam's love, companionship. That she should enter into all that Adam was going to do, the man. And that she would be able to enjoy it. And he would enjoy it. How true it is. There, at the very beginning, in a sinless creation, mind you, in a reckless creation, there was a man who could enjoy his wife, vice versa. Now we see in that a picture of all that the Lord did. I've been amazed, as I've been concerned with these things, how that the Lord there, he takes out, as it were, from himself, that which is of himself, and makes another like unto himself. Exactly the same thing happens. Perfect. Without any intention, without any reason, all those things that mark us as creatures of earth, does not mark that creation. It's a God. And though that was there, given, that Adam should enjoy with his wife those conditions, along the last day, I know, I'm counting, not very long, but they came to an end. But I see in that a picture of what the Lord is doing, God is doing, the present time, through the gospel, through the giving unto, the glad tidings to the whole universe, that God should bring out of it all a company of people that should be like unto himself. Perfect, holy, without spot of anything. Now, I don't wish to bring before you a great deal, although there's much going on in my mind, but I have been meditating, very much recently, in the book of Genesis, and I see very many pictures of what God does. As he was the, you might say, the prototype of the church, the Bride of Christ, in that it was there before the fall. This was in England. There was perfection there, as far as England. We see then, in the Christ is brought before us, in the rest of the scriptures, that which speaks of the perfection, that God's work in the hearts of his own. Now, as I'm meditating upon the book of Genesis, I found this out, that there are many examples of the things which the church, or the bride, or the lamb, or the wife, or the wife, whichever you like to call it, has to do in relation to the person. My mind goes, first of all, to Isaac. He, but the wife. Isaac is the one that was risen from the dead. And as the one that has risen from the dead, he has to have a wife. It's on the other side of this present condition of things. Having risen from the dead. Picture, as we know, the Lord himself, having gone into the grave, comes out of it. But in coming out of it, he gets a wife. Now we find that Isaac, after he had been brought back again, having gone with his father to Mount Moriah, and there he offered up to God, where God intervened and said, do the lamb no harm? He saw the faith in Abraham that would enable him to believe that that man, that lamb, should be put to death, should be slain. That which would raise him again to life. So we see then, in Isaac, a picture of the resurrected Lord. And he gets a wife. Or we find that it's after that that Abraham says to his servant, now that's a picture of the Holy Spirit. He says, you go and get a bride for my son. Get a bride. And the Holy Spirit has been occupied ever since the Lord rose from the dead. Even to this present moment, the Holy Spirit is working with that individual. Of bringing together so many people that shall be united with that blessed risen person. He shall be brought forth as the one who has a bride suitable for himself. Matthew. The man was not told, although I believe indeed where it's told, he's a nameless man, he's a servant. And truly, the Spirit of God is a servant, is a servant of God in that respect. And it's told, he must not get a man, a bride from the country around him. He must go right to where Abraham came from. And there he must get a bride. And at the end of the day, he comes to the household and sees Abraham. He feels, this is the one. He brings him before her parents. They turn around and say, look here. When she gives an answer, let it be. So, the girl is brought before him. And he says to her, will thou go? Her answer is, I will go, I will go. And there, is that the answer? Which we as those who have been influenced by the word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit have come to that decision. We want to be dissociated with that lesser person that's in dependence. The one that has passed out of bed is at the other side of him. That's where we want to be. I'm not going to be there, but she comes. And she's presented to him. And he takes her into his mother's service table. That's his wife. We don't talk a great deal about it in that respect. But he inherits all the greatness, all the wealth, all the glory that marked Abraham. He inherits it. He gets it from his father. And Rebekah is the one that is joined to him to enjoy it all. Now, in the coming day, when, as it were, the Lord himself shall receive from the father all the glories, all the wealth, all the greatness that the father has cast upon him, wondrous grace, wondrous grace, that he shall associate his own with him. How wonderful it is, then, that we see there in the picture of Rebekah and Isaac, that she willingly went. She pursued her own country, her own people. Well, you shall not be a young girl. They live in their teens. You couldn't have been much older. She took it all. She says, let her go. She learned from that servant the greatness of Isaac and all that will be his. The coming glories, the coming greatness. Do we learn down here what the greatness of the Lord is and what it will be in that coming day. And the infinite grace of God's Father that he associates with him. He said, I want you to go into it. I want you to enjoy it. Watch this. But look at another one. Not only do we have Rebekah, we get in relation to Jacob. It's very clear. The thing is, there's quite a difference between Isaac and Jacob in this respect. In Isaac, the bride is brought to him. But in Jacob, he goes to seek a father. What does his father necessarily do? He says, go to Laban. Go to Nafal in that country where we come from. He says, and take a bride there. Don't take one like Esau. One of this country. No, no, no. You go there and get one of ours. One that belongs to us. One that's of our nature. One of our culture. Get one of those. What does the Lord do? Come into this world in his infinite gifts, he's coming into this world, searching, searching for a bride. He's searching for a bride. Those that shall be his throughout all eternity, to know him and enjoy him in all his fullness, he's searching for him. He came into this world. He's in his womb. And she's called Rachel. But for a moment, I'll leave her aside. He is not given Rachel first. He's given Leah. And Leah becomes his bride. Becomes his wife. Now, what is there associated with Leah? Leah is the one that is with him during those many years of hard labor and toil. Read Esau. In the book of Genesis. About the chapter 13. 32 or 34 or something like that. There he comes. She gets him as a prostitute. And she says, I'm going to be with you. And she's with him during all those 20 years of serving in that land. We all are. Seven years with Leah. Seven years with Rachel. Six years with his wealth. Or his money. Or with what he had arrived at. Twenty years. And we find that she's with him all day long. She's with him in all the toil. In all those 20 years. And what does she say to Laban? When Laban comes and says, look here, you're going to make me my children. She says, did I not labor all the lands? How often did I labor night and day that I might not take a thing from you? That which I had a right to have and which was arranged with you, my Jew, I have. Yes. And yet, mind you, she's a picture of the true, true bride. She has the children. She is the one that comes and gives it all. And there it is then. We see again, in Leah, a picture of the church. A picture of that woman who, having been with the Lord in all his labors and toils down here, what is it that goes on? Have we not been talking this week about many of our exercises, of all our, many of our difficulties, the things that come before us? Have we not been speaking to one another about them? That's what we need to do. It's toil and labor. Night watching. Being deceived. Yes. I'm not going into the fact that David was a deceiver. But mind you, labor and deceit, David would be. And how much of it, when you come and see it in the Lord himself, down here, the one that suffered in this, he will find that we did it in him. We're not wanted in the world. We're ostracized. We're set up not. We're despised. We're persecuted. All these things are part of us. What we have to take down here, what the Lord has. He trade the pathway with him. Through it all. But mind you, he got very well. Great well. It made him a great man. When he could factor a land, and with all his children, and Leah is there. Leah is with him. She enters into that inheritance. And all that that was for years, he got it back from his father. She enjoys it. We take it. And we are really and truly enjoying the fruit of the Lord's labors down here. Not only in Calvary. In all that it is. But what goes on through his own. In a testimony down here. What will it be when we find that it's all over. And we're in the presence of our Lord himself. That no one enjoys his greatness. His glory. His wealth. We are all here. But I spoke before about when there was another one, Richard. And now we find that when Jacob came there to the house of David, he saw Richard. He says, that's the one I want, Richard. That's the one I want. We know from the very first, he was deceived. He barred him. He said, through labor, I would like Richard. Yes. I would like Richard. I said, yes, why? He said, very well. But suddenly he was deceived. Because he didn't get Richard then. He was leaving. Then what is Richard a picture of? A picture of his wealth. A picture of his wealth. He came to his own and his own received him not. He didn't get him. When they all came into this world, was it not to fulfill all the promises to Israel? And what was it for? Nothing. But he will have Israel. But Israel, as it were, is the one. He loves them, yes. But has no fruit. No fruit. Until the end. We didn't get her. We didn't get Joseph. And she dies at the birth of Bethlehem. And Matthew, it was before she, before they arrived at the end of the journey. Now I see in that, a picture of Israel, losing that place for the time being, only to gain it in the future. But Richard, being a type of Israel, is not fruitful. Leah is the one that brings forth the fruit. Leah is the one that enjoys all the wealth that comes through the suffering of the Lord. We are the ones, the church of the present time, are the ones that enjoy the things. Israel, heretic and blinded, they're out of it all. Rachel has passed away, as it were, for the time being, we know. But she's out of it. It's Leah that comes in. And I think, in that sense, Leah is a picture of the church going right through into eternity, whereas Israel finishes at the end of the millennium. Others, those are only thoughts that I have in mind that happen. But we get others. We get also those that speak of various things, for instance, as Joseph. Joseph is the one who was despised by his brethren, who wasn't accepted by them. He was sold for twenty pieces of silver. He went to Egypt, though out of the insult he was a perfect man in his ways and his people that he had come in contact with said, he's a fine man. What about me? What happens? He said, I make you head of my household. Evil comes in and he's put down to the bottom, put in prison. Eternal evil. Goes to the bottom. While in prison, what does he say? He meets there the butler. And the butler says, look here, I've got a dream. He says, I'll tell you all about it. And he tells him what the dream is. And the dream comes true. But what does he say to the butler? He says, when you get out of it, and are received back again into the king's household, remember me. Remember me. He's in prison, down at the bottom. It took quite a while before that butler remembered his promise. He died in the ocean. But what is it? Joseph is brought out of it all. The wonderous things. He's raised to the next level in the land. What greatness. What gloriousness. When you consider the Lord, as Josephine has said, what do we find? He was the one that came down to the bottom. His brethren wouldn't have it. He came to his own and his own received him not. They would not have it. They sold him for thirty pieces of silver, and received him not. He went to the bottom. Before men he was despised, not wanted. He was slain. He was crucified upon the cross. That's where he's now. In the glory. He's been raised from the very depth to the very island. That's where he is. And when he's there, a lot of people are thinking, he's been given away. When he's raised from the top, he's given away. That's in heaven. And she is the one that is with him in his greatness and need. What a picture of us. With all the greatness of God, goodness of God, in his grace, that he takes us up, those that have been down at the bottom, those that really have no value at all, many a time. He raises us up. He blesses us in himself. In the days coming, when we unite together with Christ, we shall be with him in his glory. So we see then, Joseph the Massaman, a picture of the Lord and the Church. But take another. Take Moses. Moses was one who was greatly in need. He was there, given a place in the household, to be trained up, as the great one of the Pharisees. But the time came when he realized, he said, these downtrodden people are my people. It's all very well saying, I am a Pharisee. Those are my people. I want to be with them. I want to take side with them. And he takes side with them. And what does it mean? It means, that he has to free the country. It's not just a moment. As I read, God has a way with each one of us. But it's not the moment of being there, the deliverer, of these people Israel. It's the going and the rejection. And for 40 years, he's there, knowing what it is, to be a shepherd, to shepherd the sheep. A little bit of what he had to do, in the last three, the third 40 years of his life, to shepherd Israel. He learned it then. But another thing is this, when he goes to Midian, around the Midian, he goes to the priest, because of the connection with the priestly family, he is given a wife, Zippa. Zippa comes into his life. She is rather different to Asenad, of course. Asenad, in connection with Joseph, is given a place where he is great, he is glorified. But Zippa is with him in his 40 years in the wilderness, in the desert, in the land of Midian. Be with him in all his rejection by his people, counted as nothing. As I said, we, beloved friends, we are to be down on Midian as those that walk in association with the man that is to be in the glory. But now is the time of our rejection. We are not wanted by the world. We are not accepted by the world. We are set aside. We are despised by the world. That is where it is. But here, Zippa, there are two sides, and they are associated with Moses in his rejection by his people. The outcome, there is another duality in that. We find there in Ruth, we find in Ruth the one who was, she lost her head, she was in sorrow. She knew what a pig she was. She knew what poverty was. She was damned of the world. She had no children but her husband had died. Her father did not die. It was only Naomi that could give him help. Which he is. She was a great help. Naomi was, as it were, a great help to Ruth. When they took Offa and Naomi, Offa and Ruth were together, and they said that Mother of God said, look here, if you cannot go back with me to the land of Israel, go back even further. They didn't talk. Offa says, very well then, I'll go back. Ruth says, no, I see something in you that I want, and I'm not giving up. Your God shall be my God. Your land shall be my land. Your people shall be my people. She says, I'm going through with it. And she went through with it. She comes into the land. And there, as it were, the marvellous thing is this. There's one Caesar that makes her to be greatly disappointed. He was straight. He says, I'm going out. And the marvellous thing is this. Oh, it amazes me. In a way, it's not good in the beginning. It takes time. But what was she doing? She was at Moabites. And what does it say at the Moabites? They shall not be in the congregation of Israel till the tenth generation. The tenth. Do you think she'll ever get there? Never. Ten generations. It won't work. A million of my people, a million of my generations will never be in it. Never. Yet the grace of God is such that He takes you and me and puts us into the place of death associated with the one who is great in wealth. Great wealth it is. He's a wealthy man. What is it to worship? To think of God who in His infinite grace has taken us up. We who are like Moabites who have no right whatsoever to the things of God and yet we get it. We're bound down in praise and worship to God. For all that He's done. That He shall take us up and bless us in such a way. She was a widow. She knew what it was to suffer loss. There's loss of everything. She had no father, had no father, had no husband. Everything went. But she got her husband. How are I to serve the Lord? When one dies, what is it? He brings in another. We die that we might be married to another. With the grace of God. That we are brought out of the degradation of sin and raised up to the greatness of God in His majesty. Associated with Him. And out of that what do we find? In due time, we know it's not that one person but it was her grandson, I think, who did. They did a picture of the Lord Himself. They did. That there in the royal line of Israel there shall be brought forth a Moabitess that brings in the royal line. What shall it be? In the royal people of God. In that coming day, the manifestation of it all. That the people that were sinners shall be saved by Christ and nothing else. We praise His name forever. We praise His name forever. One more. The sister of the man. Another. Abigail. Now Abigail was the one that was associated with the man who dwelt with Abigail. Nabal. The man who dwelt with Abigail. He was one, but he was a whole. He wasn't associated with the man who dwelt with him. Now Abigail, although it says wonderful things about Abigail, she is the one that shall escape the darkness. God in His wisdom brought death to Abel. Death. When David hears of this, what does he say? He says, said, all right, I want her. She'll be my wife. Then she comes. She who would have been associated with wealth takes the place of disguised, who did as a passage upon the mountains. Not sufficient, as it were, to find an area of need. The despised king that had been anointed, which is associated with him. Beloved friends, we are associated with the one that is despised upon this earth. Don't let us be ashamed of it. Let us remember as she saw it. She says, I will sit with him upon his throne. His glory and majesty shall be mine with Abigail in it all. And the greatness is yet to come. How is it yet to come? It's right now. It's yet to come. But in the present time, we are to be associated with the Lord. It's yet to come. …