Ephesians Lesson 4 part 5

Picking back up where we left off with our thought of yesterdays blog and with some more being quoted from St. John of the Cross as he wrote within chapter 21 and 22, pages 197-214 of book two which is within the book entitled "Ascent of Mt. Carmel" as a means of illustration of this: Ephesians 1:9
"Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:"

Now there's nothing secret about the prophetic things that the Old Testament prophets wrote about. There was nothing secret about Christ coming to the Nation of Israel was there? Why it was even revealed where He would be born. It was revealed to Mary that His name would be called Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. There's nothing secret about that. The Old Testament in Psalms and Isaiah are full of the crucifixion, His burial and resurrection, it was all back there, it isn't secret. It's the same way with the Book of Revelation. There's nothing in that Book that's a secret. It all fits with the Old Testament prophecies. All we have to do is read Joel, Daniel and Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and they all fit with Revelation, that's not a secret. But when the Holy Spirit is denied then man remains in darkness as these things are all of them spiritually discerned. Which simply means we are in need of the Holy Spirit within us to receive the illumination of revelation in order to perceive them. We have to be Christ's brothers! But when we come to these things like we're looking at now, that here we are by God's Grace having wisdom and prudence given out to us, the likes of which had never happened before, nor will it happen again once the Church, the Body of Christ is removed. I mean, we're on separate special grounds as believers in the Church Age. Now let's look at another one of the mysteries in Colossians we've already mentioned 6 or 7 of them, and we haven't touched on all of them. But before we progress to Colossians we'll look at what St. John of the cross has to reveal to us first. For chapter 21 of book 2.

"Wherein is explained how at times, although God answers the prayers that are addressed to Him, He is not pleased that we should use such methods. It is also shown how, although He condescend to us and answer us, He is oftentimes wroth."

"Certain spiritual men, as we have said, assure themselves that it is a good thing to display curiosity, as they sometimes do, in striving to know certain things by supernatural methods, thinking that, because God occasionally answers their importunity, this is a good method and pleasing to Him. Yet the truth is that, although He may answer them, the method is not good, neither is it pleasing to God, but rather it is displeasing to Him; and not only so, but oftentimes He is greatly offended and wroth. The reason for this is that it is lawful for no creature to pass beyond the limits that God has ordained for its governance after the order of nature. He has laid down rational and natural limits for man’s governance; wherefore to desire to pass beyond them is not lawful, and to desire to seek out and attain to anything by supernatural means is to go beyond these natural limits. It is therefore an unlawful thing, and it is therefore not pleasing to God, for He is offended by all that is unlawful. King Achaz was well aware of this, since, although Isaias told him from God to ask for a sign, he would not do so, saying: Non petam, et non tentabo Dominum.(Isaiah 7:12) That is: I will not ask such a thing, neither will I tempt God. For it is tempting God to seek to commune with Him by extraordinary ways, such as those that are supernatural.

But why, you will say, if it be a fact that God is displeased, does He sometimes answer? I reply that it is sometimes the devil who answers. And, if it is God Who answers, I reply that He does so because of the weakness of the soul that desires to travel along that road, lest it should be disconsolate and go backward, or lest it should think that God is wroth with it and should be overmuch afflicted; or for other reasons known to God, founded upon the weakness of that soul, whereby God sees that it is well that He should answer it and deigns to do so in that way. In a like manner, too, does He treat many weak and tender souls, granting them favours and sweetness in sensible converse with Himself, as has been said above; this is not because He desires or is pleased that they should commune with Him after that manner or by these methods; it is that He gives to each one, as we have said, after the manner best suited to him. For God is like a spring, whence everyone draws water according to the vessel which he carries. Sometimes a soul is allowed to draw it by these extraordinary channels; but it follows not from this that it is lawful to draw water by them, but only that God Himself can permit this, when, how and to whom He wills, and for what reason He wills, without the party concerned having any right in the matter. And thus, as we say, He sometimes deigns to satisfy the desire and the prayer of certain souls, whom, since they are good and sincere, He wills not to fail to succour, lest He should make them sad, but it is not because He is pleased with their methods that He wills it. This will be the better understood by the following comparison."

From here then he progresses to reveal the trickery played upon the naive of mankind through the offices of the devil with old testament illustrations that are there for our learning and teaching by the Holy Spirit. Form here we'll turn our attention to chapter 22 wherein he reveals Christ.

"Wherein is solved a difficulty — namely, why it is not lawful, under the law of grace, to ask anything of God by supernatural means, as it was under the old law. This solution is proved by a passage from Saint Paul."

"Difficulties keep coming to our mind, and thus we cannot progress with the speed that we should desire. For as they occur to us, we are obliged of necessity to clear them up, so that the truth of this teaching may ever be plain and carry its full force. But there is always this advantage in these difficulties, that, although they somewhat impede our progress, they serve nevertheless to make our intention the clearer and more explicit,[literally:‘they serve nevertheless for the greater doctrine and clearness of our intention.’] as will be the case with the present one.

In the previous chapter, we said that it is not the will of God that souls should desire to receive anything distinctly, by supernatural means, through visions, locutions, etc. Further, we saw in the same chapter, and deduced from the testimonies which were there brought forward from Scripture, that such communion with God was employed in the Old Law and was lawful; and that not only was it lawful, but God commanded it. And when they used not this opportunity, God reproved them, as is to be seen in Isaias, where God reproves the children of Israel because they desired to go down to Egypt without first enquiring of Him, saying: Et os meum non interrogastis.(Isaiah 30:2) That is: Ye asked not first at My own mouth what was fitting. And likewise we read in Josue that, when the children of Israel themselves are deceived by the Gabaonites, the Holy Spirit reproves them for this fault, saying: Susceperunt ergo de cibariis eorum, et os Domini non interrogaverunt.(Joshua 9:14) Which signifies: They took of their victuals and they enquired not at the mouth of God. Furthermore, we see in the Divine Scripture that Moses always inquired of God, as did King David and all the kings of Israel with regard to their wars and necessities, and the priests and prophets of old, and God answered and spake with them and was not wroth, and it was well done; and if they did it not it would be ill done; and this is the truth. Why, then, in the New law — the law of Grace — may it not now be as it was aforetime?

To this it must be replied that the principal reason why in the law of Scripture the inquiries that were made of God were lawful, and why it was fitting that prophets and priests should seek visions and revelations of God, was because at that time faith had no firm foundation, neither was the law of the Gospel established; and thus it was needful that men should inquire of God and that He should speak, whether by words or by visions and revelations or whether by figures and similitude's or by many other ways of expressing His meaning. For all that He answered and spoke and revealed belonged to the mysteries of our faith and things touching it or leading to it ("It" here being the person of Christ). And, since the things of faith are not of man, but come from the mouth of God Himself, God Himself reproved them because they inquired not at His mouth in their affairs, so that He might answer, and might direct their affairs and happenings toward the faith, of which at that time they had no knowledge, because it was not yet founded. But now that the faith is founded in Christ, and in this era of grace, the law of the Gospel has been made manifest, there is no reason to inquire of Him in that manner, nor for Him to speak or to answer as He did then. For, in giving us, as He did, His Son, which is His Word — and He has no other — He spoke to us all together, once and for all, in this single Word, and He has no occasion to speak further.

And this is the sense of that passage with which Paul begins, when he tries to persuade the Hebrews that they should abandon those first manners and ways of converse with God which are in the law of Moses, and should set their eyes on Christ alone, saying: Multifariam multisque modis olim Deus loquens patribus in Prophetis: novissime autem diebus istis Iocutus est nobis in Filio.[Hebrews 1:1] And this is as though he had said: That which God spoke of old in the prophets to our fathers, in sundry ways and divers manners, He has now, at last, in these days, spoken to us once and for all in the Son. Herein the Apostle declares that God has become, as it were, dumb, and has no more to say, since that which He spoke aforetime, in part to the prophets, He has now spoken altogether in Him, giving us the All, which is His Son.

Wherefore he that would now inquire of God, or seek any vision or revelation, would not only be acting foolishly, but would be committing an offence against God, by not setting his eyes altogether upon Christ, and seeking no new thing or aught beside. And God might answer him after this manner, saying: If I have spoken all things to you in My Word, Which is My Son, and I have no other word, what answer can I now make to you, or what can I reveal to you which is greater than this? Set your eyes on Him alone, for in Him I have spoken and revealed to you all things, and in Him you shall find yet more than that which you ask and desire. For you ask locutions and revelations, which are the part; but if you set your eyes upon Him, you shall find the whole; for He is My complete locution and answer, and He is all My vision and all My revelation; so that I have spoken to you, answered you, declared to you and revealed to you, in giving Him to you as thy brother, companion and master, as ransom and prize. For since that day when I descended upon Him with My Spirit on Mount Tabor, saying: Hic est filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi bene complacui, ipsum audite [Matthew 18:5] (which is to say: This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him), I have left off all these manners of teaching and answering, and I have entrusted this to Him. Hear Him; for I have no more faith to reveal, neither have I any more things to declare. For, if I spoke aforetime, it was to promise Christ; and, if they inquired of Me, their inquiries were directed to petitions for Christ and expectancy concerning Him, in Whom they should find every good thing (as is now set forth in all the teaching of the Evangelists and the Apostles); but now, any who would inquire of Me after that manner, and desire Me to speak to him or reveal aught to him, would in a sense be asking Me for Christ again, and asking Me for more faith, and be lacking in faith, which has already been given in Christ; and therefore he would be committing a great offense against My beloved Son, for not only would he be lacking in faith, but he would be obliging Him again first of all to become incarnate and pass through life and death. You shall find naught to ask Me, or to desire of Me, whether revelations or visions; consider this well, for you shall find that all has been done for you and all has been given to you — yes, and much more also — in Him.

If you desire Me to answer you with any word of consolation, consider My Son, Who is subject to Me, and bound by love of Me, and afflicted, and you shall see how fully He answers you. If you desire Me to expound to you secret things, or happenings, set your eyes on Him alone, and you shall find the most secret mysteries, and the wisdom and wondrous things of God, which are hidden in Him, even as My Apostle says: In quo sunt omnes thesauri sapientiae et scientiae Dei absconditi.[Colossians 2:3] That is: In this Son of God are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge of God. These treasures of wisdom shall be very much more sublime and delectable and profitable for you than the things that you desire to know. Herein the same Apostle gloried, saying: That he had not declared to them that he knew anything, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.[1 Corinthians 2:2] And if you should still desire other Divine or bodily revelations and visions, look also at Him made man, and you shall find therein more than you think, for the Apostle says likewise: In ipso habitat omnis plenitudo Divinitatis corporaliter.[Colossians 2:9] Which signifies: In Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

It is not fitting, then, to inquire of God by supernatural means, nor is it necessary that He should answer; since all faith has been given us in Christ, and there is therefore no more of it to be revealed, nor will there ever be. And he that now desires to receive anything in a supernatural manner, as we have said, is, as it were, finding fault with God for not having given us a complete sufficiency in His Son. For, although such a person may be as-summing the faith, and believing it, nevertheless he is showing a curiosity which belongs to faithlessness. We must not expect, then, to receive instruction, or aught else, in a supernatural manner. For, at the moment when Christ gave up the ghost upon the Cross, saying, Consummatum est,[John 19:30] which signifies, ‘It is finished,’ an end was made, not only of all these forms, but also of all those other ceremonies and rites of the Old Law. And so we must now be guided in all things by the law of Christ made man, and by that of His Church, and of His ministers, in a human and a visible manner, and by these means we must remedy our spiritual weaknesses and ignorance's, since in these means we shall find abundant medicine for them all. If we leave this path, we are guilty not only of curiosity, but of great audacity: nothing is to be believed in a supernatural way, save only that which is the teaching of Christ made man, as I say, and of His ministers, who are men. So much so that Paul says these words: Quod si Angelus de coelo evengelizaverit, praterquam quod evangelizavimus vobis, anathema sit.[Galatians 1:8] That is to say: If any angel from Heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we men preach unto you, let him be accursed and excommunicate."

Now we'll leave this book to pick back up where we were earlier in our study in Ephesians. Now there's nothing secret about the prophetic things that the Old Testament prophets wrote about. There was nothing secret about Christ coming to the Nation of Israel was there? Why it was even revealed where He would be born. But when we come to these things like we're looking at now, that here we are by God's Grace having wisdom and prudence given to us, the likes of which had never happened before, nor will it happen again once the Church the Body of Christ is removed. We mean, we're on separate special grounds as believers in the Church Age. Now let's look at another one of the mysteries in Colossians we've already mentioned 6 or 7 of them, and we haven't touched on all of them.

Colossians 1:23b,24
"... whereof I Paul am made a minister; (Paul has to let us know that he's God's authority.) Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, (not His body of flesh, but what") which is the church: "
We don't find Peter using this term. We don't find Jesus in His earthly ministry talking about the Body of Christ, because all He dealt with was Israel and the prophetic period which it states this, "until John" or until John the Baptist came. But in Paul's writings he's constantly reminding us that we are members of the Body of Christ, a special combination of believers from every walk of life, from every corner of the globe, by virtue of having believed this Gospel. Now verse 25.