“Unto the economy of the fullness of the times,
to head up all things in Christ,
the things in the heavens
and the things on the earth,
in Him” (Eph. 1:10):
The economy, or dispensation,
that God, according to His desire,
planned and purposed in Himself
is to head up all things in Christ
at the fullness of the times.
This is accomplished
through the dispensing
of the abundant life supply
of the Triune God
as the life factor
into all the members of the church
so that they
may rise up from the death situation
and be attached to the Body.
The times refers to the ages,
and the fullness of the times
will be when the new heaven and new earth appear
after all the dispensations of God in all the ages
have been completed.
(A dispensation is
the act or instance of dispensing.
It refers to
God’s dispensing of Himself
into His chosen people.
We need
the element of God with His life and nature
to be wrought into our being.
This is
the meaning of dispensation.):
Altogether there are four ages:
the age of sin (Adam),
the age of the law (Moses),
the age of grace (Christ),
and the age of the kingdom (the millennium).
God dispensed Himself into
Abel, Enosh, Enoch, Noah,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with Joseph, Moses,
and, of course, with the Lord Jesus.
This dispensing continues
in the New Testament Epistles;
God’s dispensation is even greater
than it was at the time of the apostle Paul;
today
there is a deeper, higher, and wider dispensation
of the grace of God.
This dispensation will continue
through the millennium
until the fullness of the times;
the ultimate, the consummate, dispensation
will be the dispensing of the Triune God
into the whole city of the New Jerusalem.
We enjoy a miniature
of this consummate dispensation
in the church life today;
as we enjoy the Spirit as the living water
and eat Christ as the tree of life
in the church life,
we are awaiting the consummate dispensation,
in which we shall be fully saturated
with the Triune God.
Where life is,
there is light also;
because the New Jerusalem
is saturated with light,
it has
no need of the light of the sun;
the glory of the Triune God
will be our shining and controlling light.
In the New Jerusalem
there will be
no night, no death, and no darkness;
instead,
there will be
life and light,
causing everything
to rise up and be in good order.
In the New Jerusalem
as the center of the new heaven and new earth,
all things will be headed up in Christ;
this will be the fulfillment
of the heading up of all things in Christ
spoken of in Ephesians 1:10.
God made Christ the Head over all things;
through all the dispensations of God in all the ages,
all things will be headed up in Christ
in the new heaven and new earth;
that will be
God’s eternal administration and economy.
Thus,
the heading up of all things in verse 10
is the issue of all the things
covered in verses 3 through 9
—God has chosen us, predestinated us,
redeemed us, forgiven us, and graced us
for the purpose of
heading up all things in Christ.
Verse 22 reveals further
that this heading up
is to the church
so that the Body of Christ
may share in all
that is of Christ as the Head,
having been rescued from
the heap of the universal collapse
in death and darkness,
which was caused by
the rebellion of the angels
and the rebellion of man;
to be rescued from the collapse
is to be headed up.
The believers participate in this heading up
by being willing to be headed up in the church life,
by growing in life
and by living under Christ’s light.
The picture in Ezekiel 37
of the dead, dry, and scattered bones
shows that the unique way
to have the Body, the church, and the house of God
in the genuine oneness
is the way of life:
When the breath entered into the dead ones,
it became life to them,
and they lived and stood up in oneness
to become an exceedingly great army.
The dead bones
were enlivened
and became one
as the issue of
the dispensing of life
and the growth in life.
The heading up of all things in Christ
takes place through the dispensing
of the abundant life supply of the Triune God into us;
the more the factor of life is ministered to us,
the more we rise up and become attached;
God’s way to head us up
is to work Himself as the factor of life into us
that we may rise up and be attached to one another.
When everything is headed up in Christ,
there will be absolute peace and harmony,
a full rescue out of the collapse;
this will begin
from the restoration of all things.
We need to grow up
into Christ, the Head,
in all things (Eph. 4:15):
The organic building up of the Body
is the growth of the Body,
which is the growth of God,
the increase of God as life,
in all the members.
To grow in life
is to have more of God in us;
our problem is
that we are short of God.
The growing members
are the building members.
In order to grow up into the Head,
we must hold to truth in love:
Truth here
means things that are true:
We need to hold to God’s eternal economy:
This is the economy of the mystery
hidden in God.
This economy
is to have the church
as the organic Body of Christ
to consummate in the New Jerusalem
for the manifestation of Christ
as God’s multifarious wisdom.
We need to hold to the all-inclusive Christ:
His measure is immeasurable.
His riches are unsearchable.
His love is knowledge-surpassing.
We need to hold to the church
as the Body of Christ:
The Body of Christ
is the corporate Christ.
The Body of Christ
is the fullness, the expression, of Christ and of God.
We hold to truth
in the element and sphere of the divine love.
We grow up into the Head in all things
—in all things means
in everything, big or small,
in our daily life and in our work.
We grow up into the Head
through acknowledging the authority
of the headship of Christ:
As the Head of everyone.
As the Head of the church.
As the Head of all things.
We grow up into the Head
by allowing Christ to increase and grow
in all the inward parts of our being:
In order to grow in life,
we must know, we must use, and we must exercise
our mingled spirit:
Ephesians 1:17 shows
that we need to pray
for a spirit of wisdom and revelation
to fully know Christ and God’s economy.
Ephesians 2:22 says
that all the believers are being built together
into a dwelling place of God in spirit.
Ephesians 3:5 says
that the mystery of Christ
has been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in spirit.
Ephesians 3:16 shows
that we need to pray
to be strengthened into the inner man,
which is our regenerated spirit
with God’s life as its life.
Ephesians 4:23 tells us
to be renewed in the spirit of our mind.
Ephesians 5:18 tells us
to be filled in spirit.
Ephesians 6:18 tells us
to pray at every time in spirit.
In order to grow in life,
we must feed on
the milk and food of the holy Word,
as the embodiment of Christ, the living Word of God.
As we grow up into the Head in life,
our function will come out from the Head
for the building up of the Body:
When we allow Christ to be the Head in everything
and when we grow up into Him in all things,
we will be supplied with the riches of His life,
receiving something from Him
to transfuse into other members of the Body:
To build up the Body of Christ
is to minister Christ
as the life-giving Spirit
into the saints
for their growth into Christ.
We must help the saints
learn to enjoy the Lord
and be nourished by the Lord
so that they can grow.
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Prophecy note, 11 January 2015
The economy, or dispensation,
that God, according to His desire,
planned and purposed in Himself
is to head up all things in Christ
at the fullness of the times.
This is accomplished
through the dispensing
of the abundant life supply
of the Triune God
as the life factor
into all the members of the church
so that they
may rise up from the death situation
and be attached to the Body.
A dispensation is
the act or instance of dispensing.
It refers to
God’s dispensing of Himself
into His chosen people.
We need
the element of God with His life and nature
to be wrought into our being.
This is
the meaning of dispensation.
God’s dispensation is even greater
than it was at the time of the apostle Paul;
today
there is a deeper, higher, and wider dispensation
of the grace of God.
This dispensation will continue
through the millennium
until the fullness of the times;
the ultimate, the consummate, dispensation
will be the dispensing of the Triune God
into the whole city of the New Jerusalem.
We enjoy a miniature
of this consummate dispensation
in the church life today;
as we enjoy the Spirit as the living water
and eat Christ as the tree of life
in the church life,
we are awaiting the consummate dispensation,
in which we shall be fully saturated
with the Triune God.
In the New Jerusalem
there will be
no night, no death, and no darkness;
instead,
there will be
life and light,
causing everything
to rise up and be in good order.
In the New Jerusalem
as the center of the new heaven and new earth,
all things will be headed up in Christ;
this will be the fulfillment
of the heading up of all things in Christ
spoken of in Ephesians 1:10.
The believers participate in this heading up
by being willing to be headed up in the church life,
by growing in life
and by living under Christ’s light.
Day 6
In Ephesians 4:16
the expression “out from”
in the original language
carries the sense of “originating from.”
When we grow into Christ
in all things big or small,
and when we become men in Christ
enjoying Him,
we will spontaneously have something
originating from Him
that is
for the building up of His Body.
The growth of the Body of Christ
is firstly through the joints
of the rich supply.
These are the gifts
described in verse 11:
the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists,
and the shepherds and teachers.
They are the joints,
which are joined together
by the sinews,
for the rich supply
to every member of the Body of Christ.
Second,
this growth is
according to the operation
in measure of each one part.
The each one part
refers to
every member in the Body.
Every member in the Body of Christ,
whether great or small,
has a measure.
Because of its measure,
it has an operation.
Through the rich supply
of every joint
and according to the operation
in measure of each one part,
the Body of Christ
grows gradually.
The building up of the Body of Christ
is in love and by love.
This love is
not our natural love.
Rather,
it is
the divine love.
We are building up the Body of Christ
in the element and sphere of the divine love.
At the same time,
this is the direct building up
of the whole Body of Christ
by the many members of this Body.
The Head
does not build directly,
nor do the gifted ones
do the direct building work.
Rather,
it is
we, the perfected members,
who build up the Body of Christ directly.
The end of 1 Corinthians 12
reveals that love
is the most excellent way (v. 31b).
How can one be an elder?
Love is the most excellent way.
How can one be a co-worker?
Love is the most excellent way.
How do we shepherd people?
Love is the most excellent way.
Love is the most excellent way
for us
to prophesy
and to teach others.
Love is the most excellent way
for us
to be anything
or do anything.
Love prevails.
We should love everybody,
even our enemies.
If the co-workers and elders
do not love the bad ones,
eventually they will have nothing
to do.
The church is
a loving home
to raise up the children.
The church is
also a hospital
to heal and to recover the sick ones.
Finally,
the church is
a school
to teach and edify the unlearned ones
who do not have much understanding.
Because the church is
a home, a hospital, and a school,
the co-workers and elders
should be one with the Lord
to raise up, to heal, to recover, and to teach others
in love.
Love covers and builds up,
so love is the most excellent way
for us
to be anything
and to do anything
for the building up of the Body of Christ.
The opposite of being subject
is to rule;
however,
the apostle did not exhort husbands
to rule over their wives
but to love them.
In married life,
the wife’s obligation
is to be subject
and the husband’s
is to love.
The wife’s subjection plus the husband’s love
constitutes a proper married life
and typifies the normal church life,
in which the church is subject to Christ
and Christ loves the church.
Love is
the very element, the inner substance, of God.
The goal of Ephesians
is to bring us
into God’s inner substance
that we may enjoy God as love
and enjoy His presence
in the sweetness of the divine love,
and thereby love others
as Christ did.
Day 5
Eph. 6:17-18
And receive the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the Spirit,
which Spirit is the word of God,
by means of all prayer and petition,
praying at every time in spirit
and watching unto this
in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints.
To hold to truth
is for the purpose of
growing into the Head, Christ [Eph. 4:15].
According to our experience,
the growth here
is not our growth,
but it is
the growth of Christ within us.
In the end
we will be like Paul
who said
that “it is no longer I who live,
but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).
Moreover,
when Christ grows within us,
we grow in Him.
Actually,
our growth
is just His growth.
As a result,
we decrease,
and He comes in
to gradually replace us,
and we grow into Him.
In Ephesians 4:15
in all things means
in everything big or small
in our daily life and in our work.
Whether they are big things, small things,
spiritual things, or things in our daily life,
we have to allow the Lord
to grow in us.
We must decrease,
and He must grow.
Once He grows and we decrease,
we will grow into Him.
The meaning of growing into the Head, Christ,
is acknowledging the authority
of the headship of Christ.
He has the authority over us.
In all things big or small
we have to allow Him
to be the Lord.
This lesson
is not easy.
In our eating out in restaurants
and in our shopping,
seldom do we allow Him
to be the Lord.
Since we lack the practice
in our daily life,
it is
not a surprise
that when we come to the meeting
we find it difficult
to prophesy for the Lord.
The key to prophesying
is to allow Jesus
to be the Lord.
Christ is
not only the Head of us individually;
He is also
the Head of the church
and the Head of all things.
We should acknowledge the authority of His headship
in our Christian life,
in the church life,
and in everything.
By this
we will grow into Him.
When we grow into the Head, Christ,
we are allowing Christ
to increase and grow
in all the inward parts of the members.
Today
our common problem
is that we
reserve a big part within us for ourselves
and give the Lord
only a little place.
Therefore,
it is impossible
for Him
to increase and grow within us.
When He cannot grow,
we cannot grow.
When Christ grows in you and me,
the Body of Christ
will grow.
Hence,
the growth of the Body of Christ
is the growth of Christ
in His members.
In each of the six chapters of Ephesians,
the human spirit is mentioned.
Our human spirit
has been regenerated
and indwelt by the compound, all-inclusive, consummated Spirit
to make this spirit
a mingled spirit.
In 1:17
the apostle Paul prayed
that the Father would give us
such a mingled spirit
of wisdom to understand
and of revelation to see
the mystery of God’s economy.
Ephesians 2:22 says
that all the believers
are being built together
to be God’s dwelling place
in spirit.
Ephesians 3:5 tells us
that the economy of God,
which is so mysterious,
has been unveiled to the apostles and the prophets
in their spirit.
Ephesians 4:23 says
that we have to be renewed
in the spirit of our mind.
Our spirit
can become the spirit of our mind.
Ephesians 5:18 tells us
not to be drunk with wine,
that is,
not to be filled in our physical body with wine.
Instead,
we should be filled
in our spirit.
Ephesians 6:18 says
that whenever we pray,
we should pray
in our spirit,
not in our mind.
Our spirit mingled with the Spirit
has been mentioned six times
in the book of Ephesians.
This indicates
that to know God’s economy,
to receive His dispensing,
and to participate in Christ’s transmission,
we must know, we must use, and we must exercise
our spirit.
We should not be persons in our mind
but persons in our spirit.
Day 4
Eph. 4:15
But holding to truth in love,
we may grow up into Him
in all things,
who is the Head, Christ.
Col. 2:19
And not holding the Head,
out from whom
all the Body,
being richly supplied and knit together
by means of the joints and sinews,
grows with the growth of God.
New believers
are short of God.
They have God within them,
but they are short of God
in their conversation, in their expression,
and in their attitude.
They do not have
that much of God’s element within them,
so they need to grow.
To grow in life
is to have more of God in us.
Life is
God in Christ as the Spirit.
God is life to us
in Christ and as the Spirit.
The growth in life
is the increase of God
in Christ as the Spirit in us.
Growth, increase, and building up
are not three different things.
With organic matters
such as a tree or a person,
growth, increase, and building up
are synonyms.
They are also synonyms
in relation to the organic Body of Christ.
The organic building up of the Body of Christ
is the increase of the Triune God in the believers,
and this increase
is the believers’ growth in Christ.
On the one hand,
we are
members of the organic Body of Christ,
and on the other hand,
we are
the builders of this Body.
We, the members of the Body,
are the builders of the Body.
The growth of all the members of a man
is the building up of this man.
The growing members
are the building members.
All the Body causes the growth of the Body
unto the building up of itself.
The Body grows
to build up the Body.
Ephesians 4:15 says,
“But holding to truth in love,
we may grow up into Him
in all things,
who is the Head, Christ.”
According to the words of Solomon,
everything under the sun
is vanity;
there is no reality (Eccl. 1:2).
But there is One
who is real in the universe,
God Himself.
If God occupies the proper position in everything,
then everything is true.
Otherwise,
all things
are but vanity of vanities.
As Romans 3:4 says,
every man is a liar;
only God is true.
In this true God
there are three things:
the economy of God,
the Christ of God,
and the Body of Christ, the church.
In the whole universe
only this group of things
is true.
If you take them away from the universe,
the universe will become vain.
When we hold to truth,
the first item to hold to
is God’s New Testament economy.
God’s economy
is His dispensation of the mystery
hidden in Him.
God arranged
to create the heavens and the earth
and to create man according to His image and likeness
that man would be like Him, be His vessel,
and be prepared for the day
when the Creator God would enter into man
to be mingled with man,
to become the many members of Christ,
and to constitute the Body of Christ
to express Christ,
which is to express
the Triune God in Christ.
Second,
we have to hold to
the all-inclusive Christ.
This Christ
is the One
who fills all in all.
He is
not only in all
but also fills all.
The universe is immeasurable,
and Paul compared
the breadth, length, height, and depth of the universe
to the measure of Christ (Eph. 3:18).
This shows us
that the measure and riches of Christ
are unsearchable.
Paul used the highest expressions
such as “the breadth and length and height and depth”
and “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (3:8)
to describe Christ.
Third,
we have to hold to
the church.
The church
is the Body of Christ
as the fullness of Christ
to express Him.
Hence,
the church is
not an organization,
but an organism.
It is constituted by those
who are regenerated, saved,
and have received Christ as their life.
All the genuine members
are grown into the church;
they are
not added in
by organization.
Day 3
Where life is,
there is light also.
This light
is the light of life.
In Revelation 21
we have
both life and light.
Because the New Jerusalem
is saturated with light,
it has no need
for the light of the sun.
In the New Jerusalem
we shall have
the glory of the Triune God
as our shining light.
In the new heaven and new earth
with the New Jerusalem
there will be
no night, no death, and no darkness.
Instead,
there will be
life and light.
This will cause everything
to rise up
and be in good order.
In Revelation 21
we see
the Head,
the Body surrounding the Head,
and all the nations
walking in the light of the city.
This will cause the new heaven and the new earth
to be a bright sphere.
Therefore,
in the new heaven and the new earth
with the New Jerusalem as the center,
all things
will be headed up in Christ.
This will be the fulfillment
of the heading up of all things in Christ
spoken of in Ephesians 1:10.
The heading up of all things
in Ephesians 1:10
is the issue of all the items
covered in verses 3 through 9.
God has chosen us, predestinated us,
redeemed us, forgiven us, and graced us
for the purpose of
heading up all things in Christ.
In order to head up all things in Christ,
God firstly heads up His chosen ones.
Therefore,
the church life
is a life of being headed up.
Ephesians 1:22 says
that God gave Christ
to be the Head over all things
to the church.
The little word “to”
implies transmission.
It indicates
that Christ’s headship
is being transmitted to the church.
This means
that, in a sense, we can share
the headship of Christ over all things.
Although we are not the head,
the church can share the headship of Christ
because the church is the Body of Christ.
Due to the two rebellions,
the angelic rebellion and the human rebellion,
the whole universe
is in a state of collapse.
To be rescued from the collapse
is to be headed up.
God’s eternal intention
is to head up all things in Christ,
who has been appointed
to be the universal Head.
The first step
God takes to accomplish this
is to head up His chosen ones in Him.
One by one,
God rescues His people from the heap
caused by the universal collapse
and places them under the headship of Christ.
Here,
under the headship of Christ,
we are outside of the heap
of the universal collapse,
and we are over all things.
When the church takes the lead
to be headed up in Christ,
God has a way
to head up all other things.
When everything is headed up in Christ,
there will be
absolute peace and harmony
in the human kingdom, the animal kingdom, and the plant kingdom
because everything will have been fully rescued
out of the heap of collapse.
This rescue out of the collapse
is called “the restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21).
This restoration
begins with our being headed up
in the church life.
The heading up in the church
is a matter in life.
If we try to be headed up
without growing in life,
we shall fall into organization.
The more you grow in life,
the more life you will have,
the more heading up there will be,
and the more you will be rescued
from the heap of collapse.
The heading up in the church life
also takes place by light.
This light,
of course, is not the light of knowledge
but the light of life.
Today
we in the church life
are taking the lead
to be headed up in Christ.
For this
we need to grow in life
and have the light of life.
Day 2
In the Bible
there are four different ages.
In John 1:17
we see
that the law is related to Moses
and grace to Jesus Christ.
Two ages are implied here:
the age of the law
and the age of grace.
When Moses was raised up,
that was
the beginning of the age of the law.
When Christ came,
that was
the beginning of the age of grace.
Romans 5 mentions
Adam and Moses (v. 14).
Sin is related to Adam,
and, as we have seen,
the law is related to Moses.
Therefore,
we have three persons
—Adam, Moses, and Christ—
and three things
—sin, law, and grace.
Adam is related to sin,
Moses is related to the law,
and Christ is related to grace.
This indicates
that from Adam to the second coming of Christ
there are three ages:
the age of sin,
the age of the law,
and the age of grace.
Many of you
are familiar with the theological teaching
of the seven dispensations,
the dispensations of
innocence, conscience, human government, promise,
law, grace, and the kingdom.
It is not incorrect to say
that there are seven such dispensations.
But according to the record of the Bible,
we may say
that prior to the millennium
there are just three ages,
the ages of Adam, Moses, and Christ.
After the age of grace,
the age of the kingdom
will come.
This will be
the thousand years
of the heavenly reign on earth.
Therefore,
altogether
there are four ages:
the age of sin,
the age of the law,
the age of grace,
and the age of the kingdom.
These four ages
are the times.
Before the first of these ages began,
there was not time
but eternity past.
And after these four ages
there will no longer be time;
instead,
there will be
eternity future.
Between the two ends of eternity,
eternity past and future,
there are four ages, four times.
When these four times
have been fulfilled,
that will be
the fullness of the times,
the completion of the ages.
The ages of Adam and Moses
have been completed,
the age of grace
is being completed,
and the age of the millennium
has not yet begun.
After the completion of the fourth age,
there will be a dispensation
called by Paul
the fullness of the times.
God dispensed Himself into
Abel, Enosh, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham.
He had an even greater dispensation with Moses
and, of course, with the Lord Jesus.
The dispensing continues
in the New Testament Epistles.
It may surprise you
to know
that God’s dispensation at the present time
is even greater
than it was at the time of the apostle Paul.
I doubt
that when Paul was on earth
there was a congregation
who had the privilege of hearing the things
that you are hearing today.
Today
there is
a deeper, higher, and wider dispensation
of the grace of God.
This dispensation will continue
through the millennium
until the fullness of the times.
The dispensation of the fullness of the times
will be
the highest and the broadest.
This dispensation
will be in eternity,
as revealed in Revelation 21 and 22.
The New Jerusalem
is actually a great mountain.
At the top of the mountain
there is
the throne of God and of the Lamb (Rev. 22:1).
Out of the throne
flows the river of water of life.
In the water of life
grows the tree of life (Rev. 22:2).
When you drink the water,
you receive the life supply.
Here we see
the ultimate, the consummate, dispensation:
the dispensing of the Triune God
into the whole city of New Jerusalem.
This will cause the city
to be filled, saturated, permeated, and soaked.
This is
the highest dispensation
purposed by God
for the fullness of the times.
We enjoy
a miniature
of this consummate dispensation
in the church life today.
We have the flow of life,
we drink the water of life,
and we eat the tree of life.
As I enjoy
the living water
in the church,
I am awaiting
the ultimate dispensation.
We shall all be
in this consummate dispensation,
fully saturated with
the Triune God.
Day 1
Eph. 3:2
If indeed you have heard of
the stewardship of the grace of God
which was given to me for you.
Eph. 3:9
And to enlighten all
that they may see
what the economy of the mystery is,
which throughout the ages
has been hidden in God,
who created all things.
The economy, dispensation,
which God purposed in Himself
is to head up all things in Christ
at the fullness of the times.
The times
refer to the ages.
When the new heaven and the new earth
come after all the dispensations of God
in all the ages
have been completed,
that will be
the fullness of the times.
The word stewardship, or dispensation,
is also found in Ephesians 3:2.
The stewardship of the grace of God
means the administration of the grace of God.
In order to understand
what the dispensation of the grace of God is,
we need to see
that in eternity past
God purposed a plan.
According to this plan,
He created the universe
with the heavens, the earth, and billions of items.
He then created mankind
as the center of the universe
to be a vessel
to contain God
for God’s expression.
Now
we need to understand
what a dispensation is.
According to one teaching,
a dispensation
refers to an age.
However,
this understanding
is not accurate.
Another teaching
is that a dispensation
refers to the way
God deals with people
during a particular period of time.
For example,
in the dispensation of innocence
God dealt with man in one way,
and in the dispensation of conscience
He dealt with man in another way.
Likewise,
God deals with people
in different ways
in the ages of
human government, promise, law, grace, and the kingdom.
This understanding of dispensation
is not incorrect,
but it falls short.
A dispensation is
the act or instance of dispensing.
It refers to
God’s dispensing of Himself
into His chosen people.
Although I have studied
this matter of the dispensations
for many years
and have studied
a number of diagrams,
I have never been told
that God’s dispensation
is the dispensing of Himself
into His people.
Forget all the diagrams
and remember one basic point:
God is now dispensing Himself into us.
The stewardship
involves a dispensation.
For example,
a mother dispenses food to her children
every morning at breakfast.
In such a dispensation
a proper control
is always exercised.
If a child misbehaves,
the mother may say,
“If you don’t behave,
there will be no breakfast for you.”
She controls them
by means of a sweet dispensation, a dispensation
that is also a kind of
administration and intimate service.
The heading up of all things in Christ
does not take place
by a governmental administration.
On the contrary,
it comes about
by a sweet stewardship,
by an intimate household arrangement,
by a pleasant dispensation.
It takes place
through the dispensing
of the abundant life supply
of the Triune God
into us.
The apostle Paul calls this
a “stewardship
of the grace of God” (Eph. 3:2).
Satan’s injection
has no administration or stewardship
because he
subtly injects himself into us.
But God is working Himself
into His chosen ones
by a sweet, intimate stewardship.
Paul’s ministry
was such a stewardship.
It was
a model of the stewardship of grace,
of the dispensing of God as grace
into His chosen ones.
By this dispensation of grace,
the dispensing of God Himself
as our enjoyment,
the factor of life
is ministered into the chosen ones.
As the life factor gets into them,
they are raised up
and attached to Christ in the Body.
This is the dispensation
that heads up all things in Christ.
God’s way to head us up
is to work Himself
as the factor of life
into us
that we may rise up
and be attached to one another.
Through this dispensation,
the life factor
is ministered to all the members of the church
that they may rise up
and be attached in the Body.
This is
the heading up in Christ.