Apostle's Doctrine - Part 3 — G.W. North

The Call to Be Moved by Scripture

On to the theme again then, beloved, in Ephesians, chapter 4. I want the Lord to talk to my heart again as I read these opening words. I may read them every morning, I'm not committing myself to a form, I don't know, but just a glance at them again, I don't know what Scripture does to you, but just a glance at them again.

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, sort of opens my heart in a wonderful way, I don't know whether it does that to you, or whether you can read this thing just intellectually and it leaves you unmoved, or really unreached, so that in the end it only becomes an academic exercise anyway.

Beware if you're never moved by the word of God, beware, you're in a parlous condition. You know that, don't you? Well, I hope you do. I mean, if you go to a doctor, for instance, he might tell you to cross your knees, and he'll just tap you below that kneecap, and he knows that there's no response, or in a pretty bad way, and on some nights.

And it's a very, very big thing, just the slightest tap will do it. And it's like this with God. And that's how I approach it. Walk worthy, it says in verse 1, and I want to do that as I go through this great doctrine.

I want to walk worthy of it. I want my soul to move in it, worthy of its greatness. Able, if God is willing, and I think he is, to understand something of what he's really saying. I wonder if, when I said that this was the Apostle's Doctrine, I have not only committed myself to it in work, but also in writing, and I firmly believe it.

The One Body and the Apostle’s Doctrine

When I say that, and you say, well, this is the Apostle's Doctrine, all right, you read through it, let's do it again. One is one body, verse 4, one spirit. Even as you are called in one hope of your one Lord, one faith.

One baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. What a tremendous thing it is. And possibly, I only say possibly, I mustn't impute wrong thinking to you, but possibly you may think, well, if that's the statement of the Apostle's Doctrine, where's the atonement, where's the doctrine of the atonement?

Where's the doctrine of redemption? Where's the doctrine of the second coming? You see, all these things, where is the Christology? And because you and I, possibly, if we haven't been determined then, through colleges or teaching places, whatever they may be named, say, well, why are all these things not there then?

We need the doctrine of reconciliation. We need the doctrine of all these things. Well, I'll tell you why they're not there. Because they are not basic. Now, don't let your hackles lie. This is the doctrine behind the doctrine.

Write that down if you want to write that. This is the doctrine which necessitated all the other doctrines coming into being and being taught. Now you will understand. I trust. The doctrine behind the doctrine.

There's always something behind something unless you go, until you go back to the ultimate beginning. If I may put it this way, and you will excuse me, I know God, knowing my paucity of understanding and my limited ability to express these things, the doctrine behind this doctrine, which I think is behind the other doctrines, I believe, is God himself.

And that's why, in no other place where doctrine is brought in, that's the doctrine of sin. And do you get this statement? Keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Well, this is the unity of the Spirit expressed doctrinally.

This is the one great thing. Because God the Father brought forth one body, I've moved from the end to the beginning. I did this the other morning. He begot one body through the womb of Mary. And in that one body there was one Spirit.

Hallelujah. You've got that tremendously clear. And you're in fundamental things. Now that, to our mind, we see this taking place in history. That the angel came to Mary because of the determination of God the Father, and with her consenting person, she handed herself over to God, for God to bring out into the world whereby this doctrine could be constructed and written into Scripture.

God brought into being the plan, the scheme, the doctrine, if you like, that he had way back in eternity. Are you following what I'm saying? So this is the doctrine that's fundamental to the atonement, the redemption, the reconciliation, to all the other things, sanctification.

This is the highest goal. This is why Paul says, and no one else says it, he's not belittling anybody else, but Paul was raised up to be the apostle and teacher of the Gentiles, as I've pointed out to you, and there are all Gentiles in the room.

This is why he talks, as he does, to the Corinthians, and he says, and I'm going to put it more forcefully than it is in Scripture, because it will bring it out, I am the wise master builder. I have laid the foundation, and this doctrine is foundational to the rest of the doctrines.

Do you see that? And once this, as I was going to say, flows into our being and doesn't end anymore, and it's in the epistle of fullness, you'll remember, being filled with all the fullness of God, that's how he ends the perception.

The Epistles as an Unfolding of God’s Will

God helps us to see the continuity of truth that runs through these epistles. The epistles are not a lot of odd text clung together, nice thought put together, so that preachers can get something to found a few remarks on.

They are an unfolding of the inevitable processes of the mind and the will of God, he being who and what he is. When I say what, that enables me to use this word doctrine about God. For God, Jesus said this, we know what we worship.

You keep this very clear. He passes into the new text, and he wants us to understand that there is nothing in this whole creation, even if it be throbbing with the life of God, that you can't ask the question, what about that?

When we know all the time it's him, this blue sky, there's an expression of him, he says, well ha ha, you don't know anything, it's not blue. Oh yeah, I'm not there, I went to school too. Not a very good one, but I did go.

But where did it all come from? How can it look blue? How can you make this vast black density up there look blue, Lord? I'm God. Don't you see? I'm the deceiver of all the scientists in the world, till they get bored again and begin to understand me.

And that's the wonder of it. Hallelujah. Now you're really having to do some thinking this year, aren't you? We've always been in the primary class. And God wants us, and I want to say this, may God expand this Bible week.

Well, I don't mean entirely, I mean but in numbers. May there be those who want to know. Probably want to float about in air if there are ideas in the mind. But having discovered these things, I said, Lord, I'd like to know how they work.

I'd like to know a little bit more about it. Nothing wrong. Never act to free your mind. Only keep it on the tight rein. So the Lord unfolds his truth. And therefore, beloved, this morning we are going to look into this great truth of you are called in one hope of your calling.

Hallelujah. It's wonderful, isn't it? And these words, even as, I don't know how your mind takes those two words. Because he's now moving on to you. My call. I am called. That's now focal in the mind.

It usually is. Let me illustrate it. Jesus Christ comes. He walks by the Sea of Galilee. And there they are, and they hear a call. Peter! James! John! Come. And that's how it all began. They didn't know anything about God manifesting the flesh.

Not then. The rumours seeping through from a bygone day, thirty years earlier, of a virgin conceiving and bearing a son, didn't mean much to them, really. It started with the call. Amen. Now you've been called.

Called to Belong to Christ

This is how Paul keeps on. Called. A slave of Jesus Christ. Called an apostle. Not called an apostle of Jesus Christ. Puff, puff, puff. And now and again I do the work of a slave. I know. He sees the thing differently.

He sees himself enchained to the will of God. He sees himself bound up in the eternal purposes of God. He sees that. He didn't see it at the time. But he would have asked him when he was a Pharisee. He would have said he was following a calling.

That's what he would have said. Nobody was bound to be a Pharisee. Nobody was born a Pharisee. Unless you say we're all born Pharisees. That is people with masks on. And that has to be taken off and brought to reality.

We're all born hypocrites. Oh, but don't you? Yeah, well, whether you like it or whether you don't. That's right. And it has to be dealt with by God. We are not what we seem to be when we are born. You understand that?

You seem so sweet. You seem so lovely. Butter wouldn't have melted in your mouth. And you didn't want to keep the milk down either. But people wanted to eat you. You were so lovely. And you grew up and you were so horrible.

Yes, you were. Unless you'll still live in the lie. And deceive in your own self. Naturally we're all hypocrites. You don't say that, but we are. Look at Adam and Eve. I mustn't take Rodgers Brown from him.

I said he's less captive. Of course, he may just have got into it. But anyway, they practiced hypocrisy straight away. Soon as they took that fruit. That's right. Went and ate himself. Ate himself. He said it was hers.

She said it was something else. And there you are. And away it goes. And Paul would have considered himself to be called of God. He said in the Galatian letter, he excelled in the Jews' religion above all his contemporaries in his own religion.

A man called with a calling in him. Now listen. I don't want to expand just on Paul. I want to come back to truth. Not that Paul wasn't a true man. Don't read anything into my remarks. Here is the big thing.

You were called. Now, even as you were called, do you remember when you were called? Well, I didn't hear a voice speaking out, neither did I. I always suspect people who hear voices calling to them. I always do.

Sorry. Well, I hadn't got to tell him what happened to me then. You'll suspect me. Well, no. What I suspect is often a deception. I don't mean the person telling a lie. When I say, well, I heard a voice calling.

I don't mean that. I suspect the source of the voice. Well, here we are. You were called. Okay. Now, even as you were called, we'll go back. Listen. There's one spirit. And there's one body. Hallelujah.

All these things, beloved, come in the area of a soul's awakening to God. In that great area of truth. In which we've been dead. He says so in the second chapter. You had he christened who were dead. And he broke into your death with the call.

Lazarus! Come forth. Of course, your name's not Lazarus. But he broke into it. Glory be to God. We become aware from the moment we're called. All we should do is we really have life. If we're unaware from that instant, you've not been born.

You keep that clear. For the voice is christening. It awakens you. That's why he writes in this same, or in the next chapter, 5, he says, Awake! Rise from the dead. Christ will give you life. We've never received what the old people used to call the effectual calling of God.

They say, Ari's right on Calvinistic lines this morning. Yeah, I might be on the opposite lines tonight. I don't know Calvin and I don't know Armin. I don't know them. Haven't you read them? No. Do you expect it before you die?

No. No. I'm not boasting either. I'm just telling you so that we clear our lines. You're made awake to these things. And blessed is the man or woman who having been quickened by God. You have to be quickened.

Who were dead in trespasses and sins. Goes after God and everything that God is and has. There shall not be one year of his life but that he will learn God and learn of God. If he will follow the call.

For you can be called and by not following your call you can lose what was in the call. The story of thousands of men's lives. What a glorious truth it is to understand that I've been called in one hope of my calling.

Many Callings Within One Calling

I'm glad that it's your calling and it's not just one man's call. And I'd like to say this. That within the calling there are lots of callings. Just to confuse you a lot more. In the calling there are lots of callings.

Here they are. I can read some of them for you. Apostles. Prophets. Evangelists. Pastors. Teachers. There you are. They're all callings within the calling. In your heart you may have a calling of you.

You see a boy who says I'd love to be an architect. When you get linked to an architect the first thing you're called is an office boy. You see what I mean. That's within the calling. That's within the calling.

Because what you hope is to be somebody with a lot of letters after your name. That means nothing to the ordinary man in the street. And according to some builders I look at it means nothing where science is concerned.

Beauty of science anyway. Here is the whole glory and wonder of it. Within the calling there are many callings. But all within one calling how glorious it is then to know what God is really wanting of us all beloved.

And there's a hope. Now you may call it your hope and your calling. But being in the Calvinistic mood this morning I'm going to talk about God in the calling. For that is the most important thing. The trouble with most people is that they're not stupidly enough and I guess we're all subject to the temptation.

We hear a call and we build up hopes upon the call. Isn't that right? You know you go and you're waiting for a job you see. So you sit there waiting. You find there are ten others. Everybody goes in and their credentials are examined.

And you go all right why don't you sit back there. And then presently when all ten have been in you're hoping you're going to be the one called in for the interview. And you know it happens and you're made the managing director or something like that.

That's the thing. Now that's my hope. But I want to talk about God's hope. Now you may think it's a strange thing to connect hope with God. You say if he knows and if he's a God of faith how can it be hoping for something to happen.

When either he knows it's going to happen or he knows it's not going to happen. Or if he had enough faith, you know we use the modern jargon, he could make anything work. So why hope then? Seems such a middle ground which is no man's land.

Hope Founded on the Character of God

But don't you believe that? Do you know why you have hope? Do you know why you have the ability to hope? Do you know why that thing is in your heart? And do you know why you have these great hope souls?

It's all connected with the fact that you are a spirit. And that there's a great future. And you don't know the future. And you can't predict the future. Yes. I might go and sit in John's garden, you know how big it is.

I don't suppose I will. And it's black and cold and gloomy and you know how I hate rainy clouds and gloominess and cold. And you say, what are you doing here? I'm hoping the sun's going to shine. You see, what a hope in Exeter.

But here's the truth. There's a future. It's not always going to rain. It's not always going to be cold. It's not always going to be dark skies. Bright skies will soon be on me. That's hope. And hope is based upon certainty.

You say, no, no, that's contradictory. You just said you don't know. Oh, yes. It's like old Moore. He bases his almanac, hopefully for 12 months, on what took place in the last 50 years. And he's supposed to be a prophet.

Of course, he's not. He's a scoundrel. If he's still alive, of course. But here is the thing. Hope is based upon certain. Certainty. Certainty. That's what hope is. Amen. And that certainty is God. Hope thou in God.

That's my hope. Glory. And so, we're on the nature, we're on the being, we're on the character of God. Isn't that right? The doctrine behind all the doctrines. Amen. Isn't this lovely? Hope. What is it that Wesley had of sin?

We hardly see this here in the Blue Book. Oh God, my hope, my heavenly rest. My all of happiness below, grant my unfortunate request. And so we go on in that marvelous hymn that most of the fellowships seem to miss and pass by.

But it has verses like this in it. I cannot see thy face and live. Then let me see thy face and die. Oh, there's another little, little phrase. What? One drop? One chance insight. I have a sun, a sea of light.

What's the matter with your thrown-over, marvelously proud words for doggerel? What's the matter with you all? God's ruler just about leads into the nowhere. Instead, we'll reveal truth that will lead you into the heart and experience of God.

Just to get you happy for a meeting or something like that. Thank God not all of them are. But don't throw away the gold. Fool's gold. Let the Lord show us the truth, beloved Chari. And move on into these great realms of the knowledge of God.

It's all based on certainty. And God is a God of hope. Is God hopeful? Yes. And I want to tell you something. Did you know this? He's hopeful of me. Now, you may say, well, you're pretty hopeless. But you see, God's hopeful of me.

I will be what he wants me to be. And I will attain unto what he wants me to attain to. I don't know whether I will. But God's full of hope. There is a quality in God which we have described. Remember, words are only descriptive.

They're appellations. They're something by which names try to describe, often that which is beyond them, outwith them, something they feel, something they're reaching after. The only way you can do it is forget it to a person's mind by a word.

And how they'll interpret it when they hear it, only God knows. There is this quality in God that God is a combination of all these glorious things. And in our language we say, well, that's hope, and that's faith, and that's something else, and that's something else, and that's something else.

I learned something this week. You'd never think you'd come to Exeter to learn, really, would you? But I learned what a formicory was this week. I never knew until this week. Did you know what a formicory was?

No. It was in the telegraph. I don't know whether you had the telegraph. But I rather like doing it occasionally if I get time. And so on. A formicory. And I must confess now, my wife appeals to me. She thinks I know everything.

Rather thinks like a dictionary. But I was stymied on this one. But I sat in the car, and we were just talking about it, and a voice, a better voice than mine, said, I think it's an anthill. Oh, well, I didn't know a formicory was an anthill.

Did you? Yes, come on, be honest. One person could nod his head. He really does know something. A formicory. Sure. I did. Yeah, that's right. It was three, four. So, anthill. But I didn't know that. You see what a dunce I am.

But it's the thing, you see. We, we, we, a formicory. Well, what's that? You say, hope. What's that? And if I asked you to describe hope, what would you say? It's this. It's that. Call it the buoyancy of the soul.

Oh, not quite right. It's good. What is hope? Somebody says it springs eternal in the human breast. It's the oil. Wonderful poem. What is hope? Well, I'll tell you, the Ephesians, the Hebrews, it's an anchor of the soul.

Hope will stop you from thrifting. Did you know that? And God doesn't thrift. You see what I mean? There's a quality in God. He's steadfast. He's immovable. And so we go on. There is this in God. And he has a great hope.

I will repeat it. He hopes that because he is who he is, and I am who I am, and because he is what he is, and I am what I am, projected, so far as I know, I'm going back further than this present play, but in my present consciousness, before I know God, projected into this world, I've been born, where have I come from?

Why am I here? Where am I going? What is it all about? I'm adrift on the sea of life, and I've got everything militating against me, whether it comes from the stuff that upsets my tummy when I'm born, or the politics that's drummed in your ears every night.

Where are we going? What's it all about? Some professor says this, and some lecturer says something else, and you know positively well that they're dealing superstitious themes of the mind, and there's something inside that says, I'm hungry, I'm hungry, I'm left stranded still.

What is it we sing? The waters of the earth have sailed, and I am thirsty still. I long for springs of heavenly life, and here all day they rise. Do you know that great hymn? See, there's something else you've abandoned.

It's a great thing. Hope? I'm going to shock you now. It's a hunger. It's a long awkward... Yes, it is. You see, we get tied up with eating bread, and statements in John 6, and all this business, and it's all in words, and even the great words of Jesus Christ, they fail so much, says, I'll send you THE word.

It's a man. He's embodied hope, faith, love, all along. I dare not go through. Take up the time. You will not see. You must. God has, this is him, son. I want to be, that's what I want. I want you to be a real son to me.

Sonship and the Hope of Glory

And, of course, the great language of Scripture brings to mind, and we'd better go back into the Roman letter now, and in this famous eighth chapter. Now, nothing or no one in this world comes to fame.

I use the word famous. Nothing comes to fame unless justice is done. For instance, you might go out on the tennis court this afternoon and bang a ball about that you'll never play at Wimbledon. And understand this.

It has to come, it has to be justified. So we say, the famous eighth chapter, justifiably so. And we turn to it, and this is how we read. It says this in the fourth end of the chapter. You will know the well-known passage.

It says, let's start at page six. I'll leave out the word likewise because that connects me to the foregoing and I don't want to touch on that at the moment. The Spirit also helps our infirmities, our weaknesses.

Now, you can tell this morning how weak I am. We're all groping about. I won't say in the dark, but even in the light, our minds are still going out, searching, looking, wanting, hungering. It's not just this.

You're not looking for alternatives to what you've got. That's not what I'm talking about. That search is all stopped. But in this scene, let me take up the famous statement of David. It used to be in the old Scripture Union portion.

Open thou my eyes. You know the chorus? That I may behold. And so on. Did he say anything? He said, open my eyes. I want to see more. I want to enter more. He understood and saw a lot. Yeah, that's right.

But I warn you, the more you see, the more you understand, the more you must understand, there is the undeniable quest upon which the human soul has been launched by virtue of being human. And this is how it all goes.

All right. We don't know what we should pray for. Verse 26. As we ought. Don't you tell yourself you do, because you've got a long prayer list. We don't know what we should pray for. As we ought. The Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

And he that searches the heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to God. The words of Willow are not in them. You should cross them out. They're not there.

He's referring to two things. Intercession by the Spirit is according to God. And saints are only saints according to God. You can try it which way you want. If you're not a saint according to God, it doesn't matter if they put you up in stained glass in a window with a limber slant.

This is the whole truth, beloved. He makes intercession. It's always according to God. He doesn't necessarily make intercession according to your ideas or the things you want to pray about. That doesn't stop you.

He makes intercession joining with your prayers. I hope that is still inspiring when you say, Oh Lord, I don't know what to pray for. I don't know what to pray for. You've got to pray for the church. You've got money.

You've got to pray for this. You've got to pray for this. You've got to pray for that. So you finish up half crippled before you start. Well, don't we need to pray for the church? Yes, yes, yes. Strange.

Perhaps I pray for the church in a different way from you. I don't know. No prayer is real prayer, just by word. It's got to come out of a groaning of your heart. This is never prayer. And that may be groaning for entirely different things than the things that you're supposed to say.

In other words, you are only true, you are only a true being if you are true to your groaning. And you come out of that and you pass into the accepted tenets and language of denominationalism or individualism, whatever it may be.

And it's very acceptable to the company you gather with. I trust it's not acid coming out from my tongue. I don't think I've got the poison of acid on my lips. But we're here to get down to truth. And God has to shake us free in order to get us right.

Conformity to the Image of the Son

And this is where the spirit makes intercession. And this is why some people flourish and others don't. They sit back and say, well, how does he do it? How does she do it? How can it be? Somehow, without even knowing it, they let themselves come to what God wants.

Listen. It's in verse thirty-nine, conformity to the image of the Son. That's why they've agreed to conform. Subconsciously, they've agreed often. I want to give you my testimony. It happens to me in the unconscious, subconscious, well, there you are.

You see, that's why he's like this. I mean, you see, Mr. Brotherson, he knows it all. It's got to be done there before it reaches the interconscious mind. Amen. So I'm not now adrift on the grey ocean of life.

I've heard the call. Let's go. Go read this again. The starting in the doctrine, behind the doctrine, using the neuter term about God. What is God's own inner workings of minds and beings that have been expressed in the doctrine?

And for which sake, and for the sake of it, there had to be redemption. It was necessary for the blood to be shed. It was necessary for understanding, to get some understanding of sanctification, at least in experience, because we can't always express it right.

And I don't know how many different theories have been advanced about the word sanctification. We pass into God. This is the whole thing. Listen. He searches the heart. That's what he's doing in this room this morning.

He's searching your heart, friend, and mine. And I tell you, there'll never be much that the God is, in his searching, can't find something there. And there'll never be a preacher, especially a preacher man.

If he doesn't find anything in your heart, he'll never make you a preacher. Even though you may have the gift of words. It's got to come out of the substance wrought in you. Nothing gathered from your favourite author, particularly.

You say, but you seem to have gathered a lot from Wesley. That's right. But they only come and write something into my mind when I'm thinking. I don't... The whole marvelous thing is this. He makes intercession for saints according to God.

Whatever they say, whatever they think, that's what the Holy Ghost does. And he that searches the heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit. Because he makes intercession for the saints and so on. When that happens, verse 28, we know that all things work together for good.

To them that love God. To them who are called according to purpose. The verse is not there. You can cross it out. Called according to purpose. Amen. Of course we know it's his purpose, but it's more primitive in our thinking.

Called according to purpose. I'm going to do something with you. You're going to do something with you and now you listen. It's got to be what I say in your life, be what I say. It's got to be what I want.

That's what's in the word conformity. You think that with me and you come back into the Arminian phase of thinking and say, how wonderful he's so gracious and tender loving with me. How patient he's been through the years.

Hallelujah. I'm a living testimony to that. But nevertheless, without the steel, only with gold, he molds and brings you down and round and through and works and all the things. So this is against this terrible phase of my life.

And he's quite wrong. All things are working together. It's good. Stopped. Bleating. Nobody believes they're in the hands of God, though they say so and they love to read God's message. Lord, you're going to pluck out of my hand.

That's lovely when you feel like saying it. But when you don't feel like saying it, you forget about it. Everything, beloved, is working together. Good. For these people. Then embrace your circumstances.

Be careful not to put your arms around the devil. Just embrace the circumstances. Do you know what? They are necessary to you. Absolutely necessary. What the devil might have done to has not been necessary and perhaps you should have been rid of it years ago.

What a tremendous thing it is to know these glorious truths. How happy the soul that delights itself in God and is free of his circumstances and free in those circumstances, free of them in the sense that they don't cloy and cling and depress and get you down.

But free in them to be son of God. Amen. What a monarch. And that's what God wants us to see. And we, I've got to move on, although I'm not going to end too early this morning. It says, So, whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be, must be left out, crossed the mark, they're not there.

He predestinated you conformed to the image of his body. Now, that's the predestination, that's it. The image, conformed to that image. He has a perfect, how glorious it is. Then he goes on, he's passed from the doctrine behind the doctrine, here comes the popular doctrines now, boldest, justifiedest, glorifiedest, lovely things.

Amen. Quite certain, were they? Well, they said that they're important, but everything is God's importance. I'm going to come to this. I'm going back into the Ephesian letter. Of course you know that the one is linked with Roman dates, the same man was the author of both.

Chosen in Christ Before the Foundation of the World

And we read in the Ephesian letter that in my system, before we start, the system of doctrines, real theology this is. You know, purporting to be, I don't say that in any derogatory way, the mind of God and the revelation of God.

But you know that they can't all be right because we've mentioned two quite opposing doctrines already. It's such a shame but in that Ephesian 4 we get this remark on it. This great thing starts with one body.

When I turned it on its head and started with one father. Now why did I do that? And what is the body about? Well we've referred to it in the Romans chapter 8. Now let's look at it in Ephesians 1 on the same page.

Here it is. And peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who have blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heaven and in Christ.

According notice this word according according as he hath chosen in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy without blame before him in love. Now there's no.