|
"... reaching forth unto those things which are
before ...
toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus
"
(Philippians 3:13-14)
Next issue
| Vol. 1, No. 1, Jan. - Feb. 1972 |
EDITOR: Mr. Harry Foster |
[ifc/1]
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THE GREAT PRIZE
T. Austin-Sparks
Reading: Philippians 3:1-16
THE Philippian letter begins with Paul's statement, "For to me to live
is Christ", and then goes on to express his ambition to know the Lord
more and more, with his determination to pursue that knowledge as a
coveted prize. If we desire to know what is meant by gaining Christ we
have to turn to Romans 8:29, where we find that God's intention is that
we should be conformed to the image of His Son. This being conformed is
gaining Christ, this is the prize; it involves an attaining unto the
fulness of Christ in moral perfection, which is to be the glory in
which God's sons will be manifested. It is simply this, that to come to
be morally and spiritually one with Christ in His place of exaltation
is the goal and prize of the Christian life. We do well to keep in view
this glorious end, "the manifestation of the sons of God".
When Paul spoke of gaining Christ and of reaching out for the prize, he
was expressing his earnest longing to be conformed to the image of
God's Son. This is something which is the issue of salvation, it is
God's end in salvation, but it is clearly something which needs to be
pursued. It is plain that we do not have to win salvation, and we
certainly do not have to suffer the loss of all things to be saved. We
are saved by faith, not by works, salvation is not a prize to be won,
not something for which we must reach forward, but a present, free
gift. Beyond this, however, Paul still aspired to heights as yet
unreached, and he wrote that he counted all things as loss for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord. If the power of
the same Spirit is working in us, this will surely produce the same
effect of making us realise how little is the worth of everything else
compared with the great prize of Christ.
THE SUPREME ISSUE
It is interesting to compare Mark 10 with Philippians 3, as each
passage tells of a young man and his momentous decision. The two men
were very similar in many respects, they were both rich rulers, men of
high standing socially, intellectually, morally and religiously among
their own people. They were probably both Pharisees, and were both
loved by the Lord. Of the one it had to be said "One thing thou
lackest", while the other could affirm "One thing I do". The nameless
young man turned away from Christ; he did so sorrowfully but
nevertheless he did it, and the reason was that he was not prepared to
part with his great possessions. Paul had great possessions also, but
they lost all their attractiveness in the light of the vision which he
had of Christ; to him it was the alternative of earthly prizes or the
one great heavenly prize, and he gladly made his choice of the latter.
There is a sense in which we may say that he had a great advantage and
a different vision of Christ, for he saw the Lord in the full power of
resurrection. He not only saw Jesus of Nazareth as the young ruler did,
but he was able to appreciate something of the exceeding greatness of
God's power in raising from the dead this One who, despised and
rejected of men, had on the cross been reduced to helplessness and
apparent despair only to be lifted from death and the tomb and exalted
to the right hand of the majesty on high. It was resurrection power
which made Paul decide to pursue the prize. [1/2]
THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION
That which makes everything possible in the spiritual life is the fact
that the same resurrection power which raised Christ to His heavenly
goal is the power that works in us (Ephesians 3:20). While it is true
that our justification rests upon the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,
the whole scope of that resurrection goes far beyond the realm of
personal salvation, for its power is the means whereby all the
realisation of God's eternal thought may be accomplished. Probably one
of the greatest needs of our time -- which I believe to be the end time
-- is for a fuller experimental knowledge of resurrection life, for the
final triumph of the Church with its ultimate breakthrough to the
throne, with the consequent dispossession of the satanic kingdom, can
only be achieved by this means. This life is something which has met
all the evil power of the universe, and proved that it cannot be
touched or corrupted, so that morally as well as physically it is the
life which has triumphed over death.
Resurrection life is not some abstract idea or mystical sensation, but
it is a very practical expression of victory over sin and Satan. If
this life could be tainted or corrupted then Satan would have won the
ultimate victory, but there is no fear of such a tragedy, for the life
of Christ is that which has fully and finally conquered death; and
inasmuch as His resurrection life has placed Him in an unassailable
position, "far above all", it is destined to bring His Church through
to share His victory and His throne. So, in his quest for the prize,
Paul first mentions his need of knowing "the power of His resurrection".
I believe that this attitude of Paul's tests our own knowledge of
Christ. I cannot understand how a Christian who really knows the
indwelling of the resurrection life of Christ can hang on to things,
having a controversy with the Lord about the letting go of this and
that, when the alternative is full abandonment to Christ. What should
settle all disputes and questions is the realisation of the royal
nature of our high calling in Christ, and the determination to let
nothing stand between us and the full outworking of His resurrection
life.
THE FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERINGS
Paul's pursuit of the prize made him desire not only to know Christ in
the power of His resurrection, but also to be ready to enter into
suffering for and with Him. This puts suffering in its right place, and
relates it to a leading on to glory. Very often suffering gets out of
its place with us, and so causes us trouble by being the thing which
pre-occupies us and blots out everything else. The Lord would have us
see suffering in its right place, that is in relation to something
which should make the suffering very much smaller in our estimation
than it would otherwise be. "I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall
be revealed", that glory being the glory of the children of God. It was
this glory which Paul described as the great prize of gaining Christ.
If we ask what it means to gain Christ we have to consider Romans 8,
where we find that God's intention is that we should be conformed to
the image of His Son. This being conformed to Christ is really gaining
Christ: this is the prize. It involves an attaining unto the fullness
of Christ in moral perfection; for this moral and spiritual perfection
is His glory. So for us the simple issue is that to come to be
spiritually and morally where Christ is in His place of exaltation is
the goal, the prize. We do well to keep in view this glorious end, "the
manifestation of the sons of God", when we shall be revealed with
Christ and made like to Him. For the present we groan, and if we can
truly analyse our groanings we may discover that they represent our
longing for deliverance from the old creation life, with its bondage to
corruption, sin and death, so that we may know moral perfection in
Christ. One day the groanings will cease, and that will be the moment
of our arrival at perfect conformity to Christ.
This is what God foreordained, for we notice that God's work in a
groaning creation is related to foreknowledge, and therefore to His
fore-ordination. Such predestination was not connected with the simple
matter of salvation, but rather with the issue of salvation. This makes
all the difference. The issue of salvation is conformity to the image
of God's Son, for whom He foreknow He also foreordained, not to be
saved or lost but to be "conformed to the image of His Son". The work
of the Spirit of His Son in us, constituting us as sons and enablings
us to cry "Abba, Father", is the commencement of God's work in the
groaning creation, the work of securing in secret those sons who will
provide the key to its deliverance from the whole state of vanity or
disappointment which obtains at present. The whole creation is to be
delivered into the enjoyment of the liberty of the glory of God's
children, for this is to be the issue of the power of resurrection
working in us. We [2/3] are linked in our very
sonship with the whole creation's emancipation from the vanity imposed
upon it. But note, the creation is not only to be delivered at the time
of the manifestation, but is to take its character from Christ revealed
in the sons of God. It can only find its true glory when the power of
Christ's resurrection has had full expression in the glorification of
God's sons as they receive their redeemed bodies, made like to His.
You may feel that this vast conception does not help you very much when
you come up against personal difficulties, but it is for this very
thing that Romans 8:28 links such practical experiences with the whole
range of God's purpose in Christ. That calling and purpose govern every
detail of our spiritual history. If, of course, we take things as
purely personal incidents, then we cannot find any good in them,
whereas if we appreciate their relation to God's determination to make
us Christlike, then we have the clue as to their meaning. This is more
than personal, inasmuch as the trial, difficulty, perplexity or
provocation holds the secret of developing in us the life of the Lord
Jesus, the resurrection life which carries with it the ultimate issue
of God, which is the glorification of the whole universe. The New
Testament is very practical, the vast things of the eternities are
brought down into the most intimate details of our spiritual life, so
making all things work together. These "all things" will be made to
contribute to ultimate good provided they are considered in the light
of divine purpose. God's meaning must not be missed. It may seem that
we suffer contradiction; we ask for one thing and get just the
opposite; but this is because God is not relieving us of
responsibility, but using the contrary experiences to draw out and
develop in us that moral strength which only the Holy Spirit can
provide.
CONFORMITY TO HIS DEATH
It was the Holy Spirit who made Paul write things in this order, first
the power of His resurrection, then the fellowship of His sufferings,
and finally the being made conformable to His death, but in fact we can
only know the power of His resurrection by sharing with Him in this
experience of death which involves the setting aside of everything that
is personal in order to make the things of Christ our only objective.
Is it not true that the basic, foundation sin is pride? And what is
pride, this root sin? Really it consists of personal interests, self
will and self seeking. This was how sin entered God's universe at the
beginning, for Satan fell when he said, "I will exalt my throne.... I
will be like the Most High", and subsequently he persuaded Adam to
grasp at the opportunity of being "like God" (Genesis 3:5), so causing
self interest to enter the human race. Such pride is native to us all,
and only a practical experience of conformity to Christ in His death
can deliver us from it.
Satan's continual attempts to work on our self interest are so subtle
that he will even seem to patronise Christ if he can do so in a way
which will ensnare God's servants. It was in Philippi, the city to
which this letter was directed, that one of his demons publicly
proclaimed that Paul was a servant of the most high God who was showing
men the way of salvation. What more could Paul have wished for? Here
was free publicity! Well, the fact is that we may be sure that there is
some subtle plan of the devil when he begins to patronise the Gospel
and make its preachers popular. The apostle realised this, and having
waited on God he rebuked the demon, with results which seemed
calamitous for him and Silas, for it brought them into prison with all
hell raging against them. Paul, however had been delivered from a
satanic trap even though he was in prison, and although for the moment
he was being conformed to Christ in a new experience of His death, this
inevitably brought him a new experience of God's resurrection power. He
lived to write back to these Philippians from a prison in another city,
and was able to assure them once more that the things which had
happened to him had turned out for the furtherance of the Gospel. When
human ideas, preferences and desires are set aside, it may involve
deprivation for the moment, but as self interest goes down into death
Christ is given a new place in our lives and we get nearer and nearer
to our great prize.
CHRIST MAGNIFIED
It seems clear that as the apostle moved towards the end of his life he
was pressing ever more eagerly towards the prize of likeness to Christ.
I believe that it is a point of real advance when we come to the place
where we can live without the thrill of outward signs of success or
obvious miracles, and can be perfectly happy with the Lord Himself.
What I have in my heart is that you and I may come more and more to the
place where the Lord Jesus Himself is everything to us. We do not seek
even conformity to Him for its own sake or for our satisfaction, but
only that He may find joy as we move closer to Him. This is the mark of
spiritual growth and maturity, to desire only that Christ may be
magnified, and to press on resolutely to this objective. "Christ is the
path, and Christ the prize!" [3/4]
----------------
THE LORD AT PRAYER
Harry Foster
Reading: John 17:1-23
THIS is probably the most significant prayer of the many which the Lord
Jesus prayed, and it has the unique feature that without the context it
would be impossible to know where it was prayed and when. The reader
might well imagine that it was prayed on the day of Pentecost after His
ascension, or at least that it was after He had risen from the dead,
and yet we know from its placing in the gospel narrative that it was
offered just before His arrest. Taken by itself it is almost impossible
to know where the Lord was when He prayed it. We know that He was on
the earth, but He uses phrases which suggest that He was already in
heaven, looking down on the earth where His disciples remained. The
truth is that the whole prayer deals with a realm outside of time and
outside of space, it is eternal and heavenly. It is, of course, the
only prayer of Christ which is recorded in detail, and it is clearly
one which was of supreme importance to Him. Since we were among those
prayed for, we do well to consider its implications.
THE SUBJECT OF THE PRAYER
The Lord Jesus was quite specific as to whom He was praying for. "I
pray for them", "I pray for them all". Comprehensively He included the
whole body of believers in the burden of His intercessions, taking no
note of their personal differences, of the different periods in which
they would live or the different places in which they would be located.
It is clear that He attached no importance to distinctions which often
matter so much to us, things which assume such great proportions in our
eyes but which are quite insignificant in the light of eternity.
Certain things, however, are of extreme importance to heaven, and these
represent the burden of our Lord's prayer. We want to investigate them,
and may be helped to do so by observing that various times during the
prayer a comparison is made between Christ and His Church by the use of
the words "even as ...". The first of these references defines those
who are being prayed for, who are, in fact, the subject of His prayer.
1. NOT OF THE WORLD
We who are being prayed for are identified in this way, "they are not
of the world, even as I am not of the world" (verse 16). We notice that
the Lord is not praying that we should not be worldly, indeed the
phrase is not a request at all but a statement of fact. Of course He
does not want us to be worldly, but He seems to take it for granted
that we will not be; we are faced with this solemn and searching
affirmation that we no more belong to this world than He did. What does
this mean? We all have our ideas of what it means to be worldly, and
have different criteria for assessing worldliness, usually basing our
judgments on outward things, such as people's habits, associations or
even their dress. The Lord approached the matter from an entirely
different viewpoint, not being concerned with merely outward
distinctions but with what was essentially inward; He prayed for the
Church as consisting of a people who in their origin and character
belonged, as He did, to another world. The Pharisees were noted for
their outward distinctiveness from all others, and were proud of it,
but Jesus was not praying for Pharisees but for men and women united to
Himself by a living faith.
Not of the world! This was the statement He made about the disciples,
but we may wonder how they felt at being given such a description.
Perhaps they were too numbed with sorrow and apprehension at that
moment to feel the force of the Lord's words, but if they were able to
appreciate what He was saying they would surely feel ashamed. Not of
the world! They who were so affected by the world's opinion! There had
been a time, of course, when the world seemed to favour their Master, a
time when the crowds gathered to Him and everything seemed prosperous
and popular; but now popularity had given place to antagonism, and they
were enough of the world to fear this and in fact were about to join
the rest in forsaking Him. Not of the world! It did not need much
provocation to disprove this. The gospel story seems to indicate that
they were very much protected by the Lord so long as He was with them,
but there were occasions when they had to face the world, and the
stories show how much of its spirit was still governing them. James and
John were provoked by the Samaritans, and their immediate response was
a desire to call down fire from heaven on their enemies (Luke 9:51-55).
Not long after this prayer Peter was provoked, and responded with a
sword thrust (John 18:10). This, surely, was the world's spirit of
retaliation. [4/5]
Not of the world! It is true that they had forsaken earthly prospects
to follow Christ, but their rivalry and wrangling over who should be
given official recognition and who should occupy the platform gave
little evidence of any difference of spirit from the rest of the world,
but rather accentuated the sad fact that worldliness in things
religious is the ugliest form of worldliness.
Not of the world! This does not refer so much to outward conformity as
to origin and nature. The Church no longer belongs to this world. We
must not be confused by the Lord's statement that He was not praying
for the world (verse 9) and think that it is wrong to pray for
non-Christians. The Lord Jesus did not for a moment mean that He could
not or would not pray for outsiders, indeed one of His last prayers was
to ask forgiveness for those who crucified Him. Far from it being true
that we ought not to pray for the people of this world, we ought to be
the more fervent in prayer that they may be delivered from this present
evil age and born into God's family. On this occasion, however, the
Lord was not praying for conversions but interceding for the converted.
It is true that those disciples were characterised by much of the
world's spirit, but the Lord was not thinking of them as they were at
that moment, but rather reaching out in prayer to what they would be
when they had been brought into living relationship with God by the
mighty baptism of the Spirit. Earlier He had promised them that He
would seek this baptism for them -- "I will pray the Father, and He
will give you another Comforter" (John 14:16) -- and this seems to have
been at least a part of that prayer, for it is certain there can be no
hope of the formation of a Church which belongs to another world
without the Spirit's power.
Not of the world! Was this true of the Church for which Christ so
earnestly prayed? After Pentecost it was, as the book of Acts clearly
demonstrates. As we read its record we observe how constant were
Satan's efforts to prove that after all Christians were no different
from other men, but that the Church was of the world, like everybody
else. The efforts were intense, but they were in vain. The disciples
were threatened; their answer was "We must obey God rather than men"
(Acts 5:29). They were beaten; their response was to rejoice at being
privileged to suffer for God (Acts 5:41). It seemed that they could not
now be provoked. Devil-driven men gnashed their teeth at Stephen and
stoned him to death, only to find that he met their anger with angelic
peace (Acts 6:51) and used his final gasps to pray for their
forgiveness (Acts 7:60). And so the story goes on, showing that this
"other world" spirit was everywhere evident and that it was not
peculiar to any one individual but was a conspicuous feature of the
whole Church. Truly they were not of the world.
We, too, are included in this definition, for Christ was praying for
the whole body of believers of this dispensation, and in His prayer
affirming that we have a heavenly origin as well as a heavenly destiny.
Unlike those first disciples, who could not yet honestly identify
themselves as they listened to this prayer, we ought now to have a
humble awareness that we have been given a place among those who can
truly be so described. We have been delivered from this world and made
members of His Church; we are born from above; the Spirit has come; so
far as Christ is concerned we are no longer of the world.
2. SENT INTO THE WORLD
We now come to the second occurrence of the phrase -- "As thou didst
send me into the world, even so sent I them into the world" (verse 18).
We have been considering the fact that the Church is a heavenly entity,
noting that this does not only refer to its future destiny but also to
its present nature and behaviour. We now observe that the Church must
not wrongly interpret this truth by trying to withdraw from the world
but must realise its mission in the world, and live for God there.
Eternal life is experienced here and now, and heavenliness is a quality
of life which is to be expressed right here on the earth; God's will is
to be done on earth as it is in heaven. We do not belong to this world,
we are not of it; then why are we in it? Have we been left here, to be
called for later? Are we here by accident? No, it is just as though we
had been taken out of it in a flash when we were saved, and then sent
back into it again to live here as He lived.
There is one Bible use of the word which describes the world as a mode
of life, a kingdom which governs men and tyrannizes over them. This is
the world which the Lord Jesus never belonged to, and which He has now
delivered us from by His cross. But the word also describes this
earthly sphere where men live, and into this world the Lord Jesus was
sent by the Father. As He lived here He found comfort and strength from
the realisation that He was not here by chance or as the victim of
circumstances, but as the direct result [5/6] of
a divine sending. The remarkable comparison made in this prayer reveals
that we also share His mission. We are accustomed to think of
missionaries as special people, usually in foreign lands, and we
readily understand that in times of stress they are fortified in their
hearts by the assurance that they are in the place where God has sent
them. These Christians have no monopoly of such comfort; it is
available for every one of us, since Christ prayed for us as His "sent
ones".
We must remember that the Lord Jesus often seemed to be a victim of
circumstances, though He never was. Christ the babe went down into
Egypt because He had to be protected, and Christ the boy had to leave
the Temple and go back to Nazareth with Mary and Joseph, subjecting
Himself to their decision rather than enjoying the prospect of a
university education. On certain occasions He wanted solitude, but the
crowds robbed Him of it, while at other times He could not enter a city
but had to keep away because beneficiaries who had been asked to keep
confidence insisted on giving Him undesired publicity. In the last
cruel phases of His life He was forced to go from one ruler to another,
and finally led out of the city and nailed to a cross. These unpleasant
experiences seem to be the very opposite of divine guidance, looking
rather as though He were the unfortunate plaything of chance. If for
one moment He had yielded to such a thought, He would have lost His joy
and His strength. He never did so doubt, but always maintained, even in
His darkest moments, that what was happening was a part of His being
sent by the Father.
In this prayer the Lord Jesus took it for granted that we would have
the same sort of experiences, but implied that we can share His peace
in the matter since He has given to us a similar "sending" to what had
been given to Him. It is probably more difficult for us to appreciate
the fact of our having been so sent, especially when we cannot trace
the hand of God but feel only the pressure of circumstances beyond our
power, but the same Lord who explained our constitution as being not of
the world insists that there is an intimate connection between the way
in which we have been sent into the world and His own sending by the
Father.
Many men had been sent out into the world by God before the Lord Jesus
came, but none of them came as He did. They were sent with a message
from God which they were told to speak, whereas the Lord Jesus came to
bring not only a message but the very presence of the living God. When
people met Him they met God, as He affirmed, "He that hath seen me hath
seen the Father" (John 14:9). The purport of His message to men was not
only to tell them about God but Himself to present God to them in terms
of love. Although not in the same way yet in a very real sense the
implication concerning those who are the subject of this prayer is that
the Church is not merely in the world to tell men about Christ and
point men to Him, but that something of His presence should be conveyed
to them. The Church is here lest the ascension should mean that the
world no longer has living evidence of God's love, lest Christ's going
to the Father should involve a loss to needy men; it is here in the
world that men should not only hear about God but be confronted by Him
as a living Person by the power of the Holy Spirit.
THE OBJECT OF THE PRAYER
This brings us to the actual request which the Lord Jesus made to the
Father, namely "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me,
and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may
believe that thou hast sent me" (verse 21). This, then, is how the
Church's mission of bringing the living presence of God to the world
can be accomplished; this is how Christ's earnest petition to the
Father can be answered, by the Church's finding its vital unity in
fellowship with the Father and the Son.
We have noticed how in the prayer everything depends on relationships.
When the Lord Jesus spoke of our being not of the world as He is not of
it, He did not mean that we were to try to be unworldly but that our
relationship with Him ensures that we belong to another realm. When He
spoke of sending us even as He Himself had been sent, it did not mean
that we have a similar mission but rather that we now share His work in
the world. Now His request for us does not mean that we should try to
imitate the harmony which exists between the Father and Himself, but
rather He asked that the Church might be welcomed into that same
fellowship of the Spirit eternally enjoyed by the Father and the Son.
AN INNER UNITY
"That they may be one" surely means something more than outward
uniformity. It has ever been the demand of the world that the Church
should offer itself as a massive, monolithic institution, capable of
being compared with other such institutions, and even of proving its
rightness by out-doing [6/7] all the rest. There
is nothing in the New Testament to support this idea, for spiritual
greatness does not depend on size. From time to time Christians have
responded to the world's sneering challenge by attempting to provide a
show of outward unity, but the result is inevitably to draw attention
to itself, whereas its true function is to draw attention to God's
Christ (verse 21).
The Church is not called to make itself impressive in the world's eyes,
but to convey a powerful impression of Christ. This requires an inner
harmony which can only be produced by a divine miracle, which is
precisely why the Lord made it a matter of prayer rather than of
exhortation. His request was that the Father would create a unity of
the Spirit, the unity of the many members of one body.
The unity of the Father and the Son is more than an amicable agreement,
it is a unity of life and love, the unity of the Spirit. The Lord Jesus
prayed that the Church might be admitted into this fellowship, and
before we begin to deplore the obvious contradictions which are
everywhere so evident, we should ask ourselves if the Father has
answered His Son's prayer, or not. If not, when will He do so? If so,
when did it happen? It seems clear that He did, for John declared
"truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus
Christ" (1 John 1:3). As to when it happened, it seems equally clear
that on the day of Pentecost this union of believers was formed by the
mighty baptism of the Spirit. God did it! In Christ there is now one
body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one Father
(Ephesians 4:4-6); as the Father is in the Son and the Son in the
Father, so are we all one in them.
PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
The Church cannot fulfil Christ's prayer but it must face the
implications of it. Some care little for unity outside of their own
limited circle; others long and strive for unity, only to find that
their efforts fail to produce it. Now there is no easy or cheap way of
bridging the tragic gulf between Christ's prayer and our actual state,
but we take the first step in the right direction when as individuals
we commit ourselves to the spiritual implications of the fact that we
have a life together with all other believers and are members one of
another. We must abjure all ideas that some are "in" while others are
not, and particularly beware of any imagined superiority of some
Christians over others.
When we come to face the practical implications of this matter we may
rightly enquire what aids Christ has provided for His disciples that
this high calling may be possible. A further consideration of His
prayer will show that His contribution towards the outworking of this
unity includes the fact that He has given us the Name, the Word and
God's glory.
"Keep them in the name which thou hast given me, that they may be one"
(verse 11). In giving Himself to His disciples the Lord Jesus had given
them God's Name, that is His authority. He had made the Name known to
them and by this means conveyed to them the love of God (verse 25). The
secret of unity among individual believers in the body lies in their
complete submission in love to His absolute authority. The early Church
gave prime importance to "the Name"; for them there was no other, and
there is still no other authoritative name. From this it follows that
we must refuse to be prejudiced against or partial to any other names
which God's children may bear. Our name -- or lack of it -- does not
matter, provided we truly acknowledge the supreme authority of His
Name. We will find that "names" divide us if we allow them to do so,
but if we ignore them (as apparently the Lord does) and concentrate on
open-hearted fellowship with all who bear His Name, we shall find
ourselves helped in this task of keeping the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace.
2. THE WORD
"The words which thou gavest me I have given unto them" (verse 8). This
He has done not only to instruct us but to set us apart in togetherness
unto Himself (verse 17). The Lord knew only too well that our partial
understanding of God's Word and our imperfect interpretations of it can
well divide instead of uniting. He therefore stressed the importance of
the sanctifying work of the Word. Such sanctification includes
cleansing from our old natures, which inevitable war among themselves,
and the positive setting us apart as devoted not to some group or
teaching but to Christ Himself. He sanctified Himself, that is allowed
Himself to be cut off by death and restored to God by resurrection, in
order that His death might cut us off from ourselves and His
resurrection lift us into heavenly relationship with God. The Word will
do this work in us daily if we cease from trying to handle it in our
own way and allow it to handle us. [7/8]
3. THE GLORY
"The glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them, that they
may be one, even as we are one" (verse 22). The glory of Christ is a
further secret of oneness. If we refer back again to the early days of
the Church we discover that when the disciples were preoccupied with
the glory of Christ they flowed together spontaneously.
Part of the request made by the Lord was that His disciples might see
His heavenly glory in the future, but in addition He spoke of a glory
bestowed on the Church here and now, and bestowed with the purpose of
making us one. If Peter overheard this sentence he might well have
wondered at that time where the glory was, but after Pentecost he had
no doubts about it; glory had come to the Church. Later his first
letter indicates an important aspect of this glory, it is the ability
to believe even when we do not see (1 Peter 1:8) and to rejoice in
suffering for His sake (1 Peter 4:14-16). A Christian who is filled
with glory in this way has no difficulty about fellowship with others,
and a Church which is characterised by this kind of glory has no
problems about unity.
----------------
NOT NOW BUT AFTERWARD
T. Austin-Sparks
"Who is there among you that will give ear to this?
that will hearken and hear for the time to come?" (Isaiah 42:23).
WITHOUT considering the context of these words, we use them to ask
ourselves if we really believe that there is a time to come. Do we
believe that the time to come is a bigger time than now, that the
afterward is much greater than the present, that there are ages of ages
before us, and that however long it may be, our whole lifetime here on
earth is only a small fragment of a dispensation? Do we believe that
our service in "the ages to come" is far more important than in this
age?
We do not thereby rule out the importance of this life in which we
should buy up every opportunity and redeem the time, but even so our
life is but a span which will soon be completed, and we depart just
when we are reaching a condition of being able to help others. No
sooner have we learned something which might be of value to other
people than we are called away. What a problem, what an enigma life is!
"For the time to come." That was the perspective of the apostles, one
of whom wrote, "I will give diligence that ... ye may be able after my
decease ..." (2 Peter 1:15). This is the real test -- whether we want
always to be in view, interested only in what we can do in our own
lifetime, or whether we are content to wait for the values of "the time
to come".
The question arises as to whether you would be prepared to go to serve
the Lord in India or Africa, and within a few weeks lay down your life,
either in martyrdom or in sickness. Would it be worth it? If you think
so, then it can only be in the light of the afterward, the "time to
come". You believe that it would be worth while to go out to India for
just a month and die, do you? If you do not, you have no right to go.
Let us always have "the time to come" as a real motive in living. The
fruit of our lives cannot be immediate, for only a small part of its
meaning can be in our days, the total value will appear in the
afterward. We have to live not only for this time, for though we live
right up to the limit in our own day we cannot do or be much, and I
doubt whether the outcome here is worth the cost. The cost, however, is
not just for our lifetime; the Lord has in view "the ages of the ages".
----------------
THE SHADOW OF HEAVENLY THINGS
THOUGHTS ON THE TABERNACLE (1)
Roger T. Forster
AS we consider the record of the building of the tabernacle in Exodus
chapters 25-40, we notice that the materials for its construction are
listed and described seven times over. If we compare the Creation story
in Genesis, where the materials for the creation of the world are
enunciated only once, we understand something of the importance of the
truths illustrated by the structure [8/9] of the
tabernacle. Moreover we start to see why it is so important if we look
for the interpretation of this Old Testament picture as it is found in
Hebrews 8, 9 and 10.
It was a revelation, given to Moses in the mount, which typified
something else which is called "A heavenly sanctuary" (Hebrews 8:1-5).
Moreover it represented what was true in the deepest sense of that word
(Hebrews 9:23-24). We remember that the Lord Jesus said that eternal
life was to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. This
tabernacle is a picture, not of what is transitory, like the things of
earth, but of something which is eternally true. Now the things that
are eternal cannot be seen, as Paul reminds us, so that is why we are
given this visible representation of them. Things like love, truth,
honesty, purity, cannot be handled and wrapped up, so they are given to
us in pictures, as though the children under the law were being taught
by their guardians using an ABC picture book in preparation for the
fulness which was later to appear.
GOD'S ULTIMATE REALITY
Hebrews 10 gives a hint that one day the real thing will appear. The
tabernacle was an anticipation, a kind of prophecy of good things which
would come not by the sacrifices made year after year, but by a
different kind of sacrifice which would make the consciences of the
people perfect. So we see that the New Testament interpretation of this
tabernacle is that it speaks of what is heavenly, of ultimate reality
which is to come in due time.
We are therefore dealing with what belongs to the Spirit and to heaven,
God's domain; it shows the mode of His existence and the reality of His
realm. Just as a wonderful symphony can be expressed in dots on paper
which we call music, although it is not really music but only ink on
paper, so the things of God which cannot be seen are made real to us,
and since God has put eternity into our hearts we reach out for them.
Now a symphony is put down on paper in order that you and I can share
with the composer the beauty of his music, and God brought the
tabernacle into being so that men could enjoy the beauty of His
thoughts. The real purpose of the dots on the music score is not only
that men may desire to hear the harmony and enjoy doing so, but also
that individuals may learn to play their own part on the instruments,
and so make the symphony their own. In the same way, through Jesus
Christ, we are called to participate in the heavenly realities; not
only enjoying the contemplation of God's resources, but also sharing in
them and living in this new realm of God. The children of Israel had to
erect the tabernacle -- it did not drop out of heaven ready made! This
shows that while to some extent the tabernacle is the Lord Jesus, yet
there is a sense in which it speaks of our active life with and in Him.
The Israelites had to put up the tabernacle, because they had a part to
play in making use of what God had revealed, and we too have a part to
play as we make use of what is revealed in Christ and through Him start
to enjoy the resources of heaven.
Moses could not actually see love, truth, holiness and purity; he did
not actually see God; but through the pattern given him in the mount he
saw the symbols of what God is like and of where He dwells. The sum
total of these eternal verities typified by the tabernacle is, of
course, God Himself, but God has a mode of existence and through the
symbols of the tabernacle He seeks to show us how He provides a way for
men to approach Him and dwelt with Him. This mediation into the
presence of God is found in the sphere of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is
the work and the worker of it all. This is basically what the
tabernacle is all about, and it is truly profound, so much so that the
five different names for it seem to provide a whole comprehension of
God and His purposes. The study of the tabernacle is not a side issue
of biblical teaching, for it encompasses the whole of God's being and
the revelation of His purpose. The following are the five different
names:
1. A DWELLING PLACE
The word translated tabernacle means a dwelling place, a home, and the
fact that God commanded Israel to make it proves that He wants to come
and live with men. God is other than His creation and distinct from it,
but He is seeking to find a way whereby He can come and dwell in it.
Pantheists say that God is part of the creation, but the Bible makes it
clear that God is different and distinct from what He has created.
Nevertheless He wants to come and be at one with it, in a vital union
where two personalities coalesce and yet remain separate personalities,
for God does not want us to lose our identity and individuality, but
seeks a oneness by the encounter of two coming livingly together. In
order to realise this properly and fully, and to enjoy it all the time,
He needed to set up home; this is why He came to Israel and told them
that He wanted to make His home among them in a dwelling where this
oneness could be enjoyed. Of course He knew that when He had moved in
He [9/10] would have to keep the door shut most
of the tame, or else men would be destroyed by rushing into His holy
presence, a fact which involves a certain tension in tabernacle
teaching, for while God wants to dwell with men, He also has to hold
them back. This tension, however, is resolved in Christ, so that in Him
men can be truly at home with God.
2. A SANCTUARY
In the second place the tabernacle is described as a sanctuary (Exodus
25:8), that is a place set apart. This quality of being set apart is
the essence of the meaning of the word "holy". One of the first things
we must learn about our home is that it is a set-apart place, which
belongs to nobody else but us. If it is not first and foremost
something sacred to our family and set apart from all other homes, then
it becomes more like a hotel or an institution. Other people should be
welcome, but they come in on sufferance, for the place is not free for
all but our own private dwelling. It is a sad fact that some have
destroyed their family life by not keeping their homes set apart in the
right way, for if one does not have a place where there is intimacy and
sacredness between husband and wife, then family life will soon fall
apart. God has His sacred home, His set-apart place which He has chosen
so that He may intimate in communion with His people. We should ask
ourselves if we have had such an experience in our Christian life
today. Were we alone with God, set apart unto Him?
3. A TESTIMONY
The third aspect of the tabernacle is that it was a tent of witness or
testimony. This stresses the fact of God's giving witness of Himself,
saying that which reveals what He thinks and what He is like. It would
be a strange home, would it not, if it were not a place where one could
learn and understand the people who live in it? Indeed the whole
essence of living together in the love of home life is that there is a
continual revealing, through which each learns more and more of the
other.
Now in the case of the tabernacle there were three things connected
with this feature of witness. The first were the two tables of the law
which were called the tables of testimony and were put inside the ark;
then the ark itself was called the ark of the testimony; then there was
the veil of the testimony. The whole structure was therefore called the
tabernacle of the testimony. So we see that at the heart of the
testimony were the commandments, written on two tables, resting in the
ark and right at the centre of the structure. The deepest idea of
testimony was upon those stones, namely the things which God had said,
so giving a revelation of His own nature, of what He is like. God's
home was a revelation of Himself, so that not only in the ten
commandments but in all the gold and purple, the linen, the silver, the
pillars and the boards, in all these things He was seeking to show men
what He is like. All speak of the Lord Jesus, for He is "the witness of
God" and He is the one who reveals the nature of God to us. This
revelation is so wonderful that we are not surprised that God took such
pains to train humanity before the truth appeared.
4. THE TENT OF MEETING
The fourth name given to the tabernacle is the tent of meeting, though
it is sometimes called the tent of the congregation. God Himself
promised "there will I meet with thee" (Exodus 25:22). Such a meeting
involves mutual interchange, not just the chance encounter with a
handshake which can happen a hundred times without there being a real
meeting, but the occasion when each gives to the other and receives
back from him. The tabernacle, as the tent of meeting, was to give
opportunity for God to fulfil His desire to give something to His
people and to receive something from them, so providing a place of
interchange where men might be constantly enriched by communion with
Him and by communion with one another in His presence.
5. THE TEMPLE
The house or temple of the Lord is the place where He can be found. The
actual temple was the house of God, a sort of extension of the
tabernacle, only with a slight difference, embodying the truth that God
can be found by those who want His help. So the tabernacle was to be
put down in the centre of Israel's camp in order that any man who, like
Job, was crying "Oh, that I knew where I might find Him" could have the
answer by realising that wherever God's tent or testimony was, there He
could be found.
In a comprehensive way, then, we are confronted with the wonder of God
having a home among men. Having analysed the background of these
tabernacle truths we begin to know something of God's fatherly heart,
of how He wants to have a home and communion there with sons, with whom
He can share His affairs and so that He can make Himself available to
them which is, after all, the good news revelation of the whole Bible.
This is the eternal purpose of God, conceived when He first brought man
into being, His purpose of a [10/11] home and a
family of sons. So the tabernacle is not given as a happy hunting
ground for mystical ideas, but as a visible means of enshrining and
embodying the most wonderful concept of God's gospel, His good news
made possible by the Lord Jesus, who came and tabernacled among us. The
final fulfilment is described in Revelation 21:3, where it says that
the tabernacle of God is with men, so foretelling the time when God
will have fully accomplished His great purpose.
Seeing that this is so, it ought to be a very fruitful occupation to
consider this particular mode of communication. If God has seen fit to
provide this way of revealing Himself, then a consideration of the
tabernacle should be most profitable to us who delight to know and to
do His will. Because God's thoughts and manner of existence are summed
up in His Son it is obvious that the truths of the tabernacle will
reveal the Lord Jesus to us. Christ's flesh is called "the veil"
(Hebrews 10:20), so at least that part of the material of the
tabernacle will have something to tell us of Him. And since it is
impossible to look at Christ without seeing His body, which is the
Church which He now indwells, then we can expect to discover the
significance of the "two or three gathered together" in His name, and
see how the eternal thoughts and character of God can be revealed in
that people of whom He declared, "I will dwell in them, and walk in
them...." (2 Corinthians 6:16).
THE MATERIAL
As we have already said, these materials are listed some seven times
for us, all of them earthly and some of them very costly. We may well
ask where the tremendous amount of rich materials came from, the blue,
gold, scarlet, jewels, skins, etc., and we are told that when they
emerged from Egypt they were commanded by God to ask and receive them
from the Egyptians. There was no dishonesty about this, for the whole
nation had worked hard in Egypt and deserved payment for their years of
labour. As it turned out, the Egyptians were only too glad to pay them
off in the end, and to get them out of the way. So the rich material,
the precious metals and the gems all represented the fruit of their
hard labours in Egypt. It may even have been that some of the skins and
goats' hair came from work actually done in the wilderness, but in any
case it was their work which provided the stuff from which the
tabernacle was made.
What does all this mean for us? How can we provide rich and beautiful
material for God's house, we who have realised that the only things
worthwhile and priceless in the spiritual realm are Christ Himself? The
answer is that while it is true that everything is of Christ, it is
surely true also that the different aspects of Christ represented by
the colours, the rich materials and the priceless gems, must be
appreciated and appropriated by us, and then we can contribute such
spiritual wealth to the building of God's house. Our labours, our
sufferings, and even our sins make us capable of appropriating and
understanding more of the depths of Christ's sufferings and the riches
of His love, and so we have a contribution to make which comes out of
our personal experience. For God's people there was nothing from their
experience in Egypt -- or for that matter after Egypt -- which could
not be translated into values for God. So that is how the tabernacle
was built.
No Christian should ever have a boring or wasted day, for it is out of
our daily experiences with Christ and our growing understanding and
enjoyment of His work and worth that we can provide some more building
materials for the place set apart for God's dwelling in our lives. Our
various backgrounds, our different temperaments and temptations, will
make us understand the Lord in slightly different ways; our new
experiences of need or victories over sin will provide an appreciation
of Christ from a new angle. In this way each day can provide new
opportunities for us to contribute something of value for God's
dwelling among His people.
ROOM FOR GOD
We must also realise that a whole area was required in order to make a
place for this tabernacle. All around there were pitched the tents of
the people of Israel, but right in the middle there was a clearing, so
that if there had been no erection of the tabernacle there would have
been a great gap. The beginning of having a place set apart for God in
my life is the provision of an area for Him. I may argue that if I am a
Christian then Christ must be living in my heart already, so that I may
assert that there is certainly a place for Him, but this in fact is
only potentially so far as practical experience is concerned. I am the
one who must clear a place for God and keep it clear, if I am to enjoy
his living presence. I have a place for my work, a place for my
reading, an area for my family and my friends, but what about God?
Where is the sacred part, the cleared space upon which He can erect His
home? [11/12]
There can be no spiritual building of the tabernacle unless space is
given for God's living presence. He needs room and time in our lives,
so that out of communion and intimacy with Him the visible evidence of
His house may appear. Here, then, is the great challenge to us all, for
how can people encounter God if an assembly, a family or an individual
leaves no space for Him in their activities? It is no use complaining
that the Church is cutting no ice or making no impact, if the fault is
ours because we are not making room for God. What does vital impact
come from if not from the fact that God is there? Supposing, for
instance, that a man had walked into the camp of Israel; he would have
seen higher than all the other tents, in the middle with a cloud
resting over it, a tent so striking that he would immediately have
inquired who lived in that great house. The answer would, of course,
have been that God dwelt there. So much depends on this factor of
clearing the ground for Him, making space right at the centre of our
lives so that there can be room for Him. This, and this alone, will
produce the impact on the world that the Church ought to make. When we
give time and place to Christ, then we shall be truly building for God.
THE LABOUR
The third point to note is that it entailed much work to build this
tabernacle, it neither grew up of itself nor did it drop down out of
heaven, but was the result of the Israelites' labours. They found that
there was a lot of work to do and there were often men who were given
special skills by the Spirit to lead the rest in the hard work of
weaving, carving, casting, etc. The same is true spiritually in
connection with the tabernacle of the Church. There will be no real
expression of God's mind unless there are people who are prepared to
put in real work, that is people who are not just happy-go-lucky
Christians, living without purpose, but those who are seriously dealing
with God and seeking to give expression to what they have come to
understand of Him. This readiness to express what has been experienced
is the sort of work necessary to the building of God's house; when men
and women live like this, they bring spiritual wealth into the
assembly, but when there is no such exercise then the result is
spiritual poverty. It is amazing that in past days when people had slow
transport and such long working hours that there were those who stole
time from their sleep to express what they had experienced of God and
were able, even out of their strenuous existences, to make rich
contributions to the house of God. I do not believe that there can be
cheap ways of getting a rich house, nor that what has been picked up or
brought over from the past can be a substitute for a fresh appreciation
of Christ, born out of up-to-date experiences of His hand upon us.
With the labours of the Israelites there was need for a certain order,
a pattern; they were to be sure to conform to the pattern given in the
mount. Such order means freedom, freedom for each part to be properly
related to the other parts and fitted into the whole. If there is no
order there is not freedom but anarchy; what the house of God needs is
an orderly freedom which makes it possible for each man to find his own
place and to make his distinctive contribution to the whole.
SOME FINAL THOUGHTS
In conclusion we note that the description begins with the ark, which
was right in the middle of the holy of holies, and then moves out from
the ark to the veil or covering, then to the lampstand and the
shewbread, then on past the brazen altar to the door of entry. The
description then returns from the door, detailing the priestly regalia
which the entrant must put on, and then on this return journey the last
thing to be mentioned is the altar of incense. Thus, in this order
given to Moses, the revelation suggests that God starts from the heart
of things to go out to man in welcoming love and His purpose of
bringing man back with Him into intimate communion; the return journey
typifying His re-entry with man. This time, however, stress is laid on
the suitable equipment for fellowship with God, so man must put on his
priestly garments, for only by that which typifies the mediatorial work
of the Lord Jesus can he finally arrive at the altar of incense to
begin his communion by prayer. When this has happened, then God and man
are one. So the actual order of listing the material and furnishings of
the tabernacle depict for us the truth of God's outgoing to man and the
way in which man can be brought back into a relation of face to face
communion with God -- the Dweller of the holy of holies.
Having been shown this we are then confronted with the basis on which
the sanctuary is sustained (Exodus 30:11-16) which is represented by
the silver half-shekel. The whole relationship between God and man is
kept living and real by the payment of the atonement money, the value
or price placed upon each individual as he is redeemed from Egypt.
Everyone had to pay the same price, whether they [12/13]
were rich or poor, all were redeemed on the same basis, silver being
the very foundation of the whole tabernacle. Now this is important for
us, since if we do not keep in view the fact that we are all redeemed
at the same cost we shall soon be despising or rejecting our fellow
worshippers, and once we get superior or begin to devalue others we
destroy our relationship and our way unto God. The silver of the
atonement is essential.
So is the laver (Exodus 30:17-21), for there can be no communion
without cleansing. As important also is the unique anointing oil
(Exodus 30:22-33), for fellowship depends on the fresh anointing of the
Spirit. Following this we are instructed concerning the incense (Exodus
30:34-38), for prayer is another "must" if we are to know real family
life together.
In conclusion we are reminded of the Spirit-given wisdom which is
needed by those who are to be builders in the tabernacle (Exodus
31:1-6). It is noteworthy that Bezalel is the first man whom the Bible
describes as being filled with the Spirit. It needs the Spirit's
filling to build this house, and if we ask what is God's purpose in
filling a man with the Holy Spirit, the answer is that such a filling
is to result in the building of the house of God.
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GOD'S CALL TO THE LIFE ABOVE
T. Austin-Sparks
"They that trust in the Lord
Are as mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abideth for ever.
As the mountains are round about Jerusalem,
So the Lord is round about his people,
From this time forth and for evermore." Psalm 125:1-2
PSALMS 120 to 134 form a little volume of their own, called the Psalms
or Songs of Ascent. They tell of the climb up out of the deep, dark
valley on to the sunny heights, which is where the Lord always desires
His people to be.
Psalm 84 speaks of passing through the valley of weeping, but in that
connection we ought to underline the two words "passing through", for
this valley is never meant to be the dwelling place of the people of
God but only a passage through which they pass. Zion, the mountain
home, is where God wants His people to abide. It is surely instructive
to note that the Lord established periodic ascents as an ordinance in
Israel; all their males had to go up to Jerusalem three times in every
year. God meant these going-up ordinances to be governmental in nature;
that is, the people of Israel were not to be governed by the plains or
valleys, but to be a people of the mountains. They might have to spend
time, perhaps much time, down below but their normal life was
continually interrupted by the command to go up. Their life, their real
life, was up in the high places. If we could have joined their caravans
as three times a year they made ready and got on the march, leaving the
valleys and the plains and going on the upward way to Jerusalem, we
would have found that these journeys had a tremendous influence on the
life of the people. These songs, for instance, became songs for all
time; they were provided for the ascents of those particular occasions,
but they were not reserved for the three times a year, becoming the
perpetual songs of Israel in which we ourselves find much of abiding
value. This is because the Lord's mind for His people is that they
should not abide in the deep and shadowy places, though from time to
time they may have to pass through the valleys, but that they should be
a people of the heights, with their lives governed by that which is
above and not by what is below.
I have been very much impressed with the large place which mountains
had in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus, as may be verified in
Matthew's Gospel, which begins in chapter 5 with the Mount of
Instruction and finishes in chapter 28 with the Mount of Commission. It
can be noted that all through the Gospel the peak events were
associated with mountains, as though these found an answer, a response,
in the very heart and nature of our Lord. Is it not true that Jesus
came down and passed through this valley of weeping in order to meet us
and lift us up out of it?
His whole life, in every aspect and activity of praying, teaching and
working, was a life on a [13/14] rising plane, a
lifting, returning move to heaven which would take back with Him as
many others as possible. There was nothing in the low level of this
world's ways to give Him any pleasure, so it is not surprising that He
loved the mountain heights. The very nature and spirit of the Lord
Jesus was a complete contradiction of the natural course of human
movement which is steadily slipping lower and lower. The Lord Jesus is
in direct contrast to this; the whole effect and influence of His
presence anywhere being to lift upwards. He only came by way of this
valley of tears to lift us up out of it.
ASCENDENCY
Mountains suggest and represent elevation, ascendancy -- "I will lift
up mine eyes unto the mountains". To take our eyes off what is here --
self, circumstances and the rest -- and to set them on the One who is
the Lord over all, high and lifted up on the throne, is itself an
elevating experience. "Looking off unto Jesus" is the one thing which
will bring us up out of the valley of despair, for where our vision
rests affects the course of our lives. It is in every sense an
uplifting experience to be joined to the Lord in heaven; it is morally
elevating and spiritually emancipating.
Perhaps what most of us need is a higher level of life. We are too
small. Our valley is a hemmed-in place, it is narrow and limiting. We
must get on to the mountains to find enlargement, with a sense of being
liberated from the littlenesses of life, freed from its smallness and
pettiness. If this is true naturally, it helps to interpret a spiritual
truth, reminding us that God has "raised us up together with Christ".
Individually and collectively in the Church, a very great deal of the
trouble, weakness and even paralysis which we suffer is due to our
failure to maintain our true position in the heavenlies in Christ. If
we could get up higher, move on to higher ground and leave behind the
things which belong to the shadows and miasmas, we should find
ourselves living in the good of the mighty will of God in us.
SECURITY
Then, as the psalmist indicates, it is not only ascendency which comes
from the mountains but also security. "As the mountains are round about
Jerusalem, so is the Lord round about His people ...". The heights are
the places for strongholds, for refuges. And our strength, our safety
is to get away from the low things, to leave behind what is mean and
contemptible, and to get up into fellowship with the Lord on high. On
the low levels we become the playthings of bad influences and cross
currents -- there are always evil powers which are at work down there
in the dark. We will find deliverance and security by rising on to
higher ground.
The devil and the evil forces are tremendously concerned with getting
us down and holding us down, so that they can harass and play havoc
with our spiritual lives. Down ... down ... that is the drive and
direction of the evil one, who plans to get us down and keep us down in
the place where he has the strength. Our refuge is not to fight on that
low ground, but to flee to the heights, to escape to the Lord in the
secret place of the most High.
I think that the Lord Jesus did just this. At the time when He was
aware of all the pressure and down-drag of earthly conditions and
disappointments even with His own disciples, He said: Let Me go away
for a while and go into the mountains to My Father. It was thus that He
was able to return marvellously fortified, and we can do the same,
finding our way of escape by fellowship with God in the heights.
VISION
There is a further point about mountains, a fairly obvious one, and
that is that they are places of vision, places where one can see the
far distances. At the end of the Bible we are taken to an exceeding
great and high mountain and shown the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, so
that the last scene in the Bible is a mountain scene, and the mountain
is truly one of vision, showing the Church in the full expression of
its heavenly glory. Surely it is of supreme importance that God's
people should have their vision enlarged. Our vision is too small, our
purpose in life is too small; our conception of our salvation is often
too small. We tend to narrow our thoughts so much that it is important
for us to ascend into the Mount of Vision, for the loss of vision
always brings about a falling to pieces. Those Christians who have no
great sense of God's purposes and of His ability to reach His end and
fulfil His intentions will find themselves at the mercy of the doubts
and fears which defeat men down here on this earth.
GRAVITATION UPWARD
The reader may agree with all that has been said and yet still be
puzzled as to how such elevation to the heights can be realised. The
answer is that it is already a working power in [14/15]
the new nature of the Christian. The beginning of the Christian life is
the discovery that Christ has come from heaven to take us back to
heaven, and so has given us life from above. From the day that a man
really comes into vital union with our risen and ascended Lord there
begins within him a process of gravitation upwards. He now discovers
that he does not really belong to earth, but has a heavenly nature
which responds to God's call to the life on high. As he progresses, he
finds that his new life leads him further and further away from the
world in which he lives, and although this involves him in some
difficulties and even embarrassment, he cannot find himself at home
here as he once could. This very inward pull is evidence that he is a
child of the heavenly country.
The consummation of the believer's life is certainly upward -- for he
is to be caught up to be forever with the Lord. So the life is a
constant movement upward, from its first beginnings to its glorious
end. This means that, like his Lord, he must learn to respond to the
heavenly gravitation, not clinging to earthly interests and
possessions, not being bound by earthly considerations, but giving
always an inward answer to the call of heaven.
So far as Christ was concerned even His physical going up into a
mountain illustrated how eager He was to respond to this call. And I
believe that when at last He ascended to the Father, His heart was
filled with the deepest satisfaction at home-going. It will surely be
the same with us. We shall not go reluctantly and with regrets; no, we
shall be rising to where we belong and what we were made for; we shall
be rising to the final ascendency, and in doing so we shall be
answering to everything in our new constitution. Spiritually we are a
mountain people. Let us now seek grace day by day, so that we may
repudiate all earth-boundness and refuse to dwell in the valley. We may
often have to pass through it, but we must never settle down there, for
we belong to the heights in Christ. "Here we have no abiding city, but
we seek one to come" (Hebrews 13:14).
----------------
THE HIGH ROAD
SOME THOUGHTS ON ROMANS 5:2-4
Eric Fischbacher
"LET us rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (RV). This piece of advice
seems relatively easy to accept and to follow. The prospect of glory is
an exciting one, something to look forward to with joy. Strangely
enough, however, it is not only the attractive prospect of glory in the
future that should give us pleasure and an elevation of mood, but there
are other things which justify the same sensations. "And not only so,
but let us also rejoice in our tribulations" (RV). How can it be
suggested that tribulation might produce the same emotional reaction as
the prospect of glory? How can we be expected to respond in the same
way to these extremes of experience -- the one a warming glow on the
horizon, the other a dull ache in the heart or an agonizing pain in a
fractured limb?
"KNOWING ..."
Only knowledge -- the knowing that tribulation is a pathway that leads
to glory -- makes it possible to appreciate tribulation as a positive,
meaningful factor in life. The prodigal may find the road home a hard
one on his feet, but the thought of home distracts him from the
consciousness of aching bones, and makes the journey not only
tolerable, but even joyful. The vital factor is "knowing" where the
path is leading.
The road to glory as described here has four stages, and these must be
traversed consecutively. There is no short-cut, nor can the road be
entered except by the first stage, it is really a kind of turnpike for
which a toll must be paid. It costs to travel on it, and the traveller
must prepare for the charges if he is not to be taken by surprise when
they are levied.
TRIBULATION WORKS PATIENCE
The first stage is tribulation, and it leads to the second stage --
patience. It may seem obvious when stated, but many travellers forget
that for tribulation to produce patience, or endurance (RSV) there must
be a time factor. If the "tribulation" section of the road were
too short, it would not reach to the "patience" section; it would be a
cul-de-sac, leading nowhere. When tribulation of any kind strikes -- an
illness, or an accident, a vindictive superior at work or an
incompatibility with another brother or sister, or even just loneliness
-- we need time to obtain the fruit from the tree. [15/16]
The words patience and endurance imply the passage of a reasonable
period of time, but when tribulation comes we cry to God for help and
can't understand why he doesn't answer immediately. Why doesn't He stop
it? Why doesn't He rescue me? Even Paul was caught in this one -- he
begged the Lord three times to deliver him from his thorn in the flesh.
But God needed time, not to find a way to help Paul, but to teach him
endurance. That is what the grace was for. We say in times of
tribulation, 'God has not answered my appeal for help'. Of course He
has answered -- He always does. He answered Paul, "My grace is
sufficient for you". It may not have been the answer he had hoped for
-- the removal of the pressure -- but it was the answer he really
needed, and in the same way we shall find that we receive "grace to
help in time of need" if we pursue the path of patient endurance.
It is on this first "tribulation" section that the traveller will meet
a sympathetic character who will urge him to open one of the gates
along the roadside -- and escape. The traveller has, in fact, one or
two keys which will fit and he may go out by one of these gates as he
gives up his work, or breaks off his spiritual relationships, or gives
up the struggles in some way. If so he will find that although the
immediate relief is wonderful, he has now become vaguely aware that he
has missed something, and he has indeed -- he has missed an opportunity
to gain more patience and experience and hope. (Some have even been
persuaded by the tempter that the exit marked "No Return" is the only
possible solution to their suffering -- with great loss to themselves.)
Should the traveller refuse the cowardly way of desertion, the kindly
acquaintance may remind him that God himself has promised that there
will be a way of escape provided, for which he should search. He is
advised to claim deliverance by faith and is reminded that it is not
logical that one whom God loves should so suffer. The suggestion is
even made that the only reason he is on this rough road at all is
because he does not have the faith to get off it! If the traveller
entered by Sickness Gate the new companion may point out the exit
marked "Healing" which, if it does not open by itself, may perhaps be
forced in some way. (This does not lessen the importance of spiritual
healing provided it is part of God's High Road, but it does remind us
that the mere relief of suffering is never God's end, and that the New
Testament tends much more to stress the spiritual values of enduring by
faith.)
Actually the apparently understanding companion may be the tempter who
always misrepresents the truth. God has undertaken to provide a way of
escape "that ye may be able to endure it" (1 Corinthians 10:13). God
never suggested that the Christian should leave the path of tribulation
before he reached the "patience" sector, but undertook to make a way of
escape along the road . The way of escape is never back, or to
the left or right, but on and through.
AID FROM THE PARACLETE
As the traveller hesitates for a moment, considering his multiple
discomforts, the exits by the roadside, and the road ahead, another
Comforter appears from nowhere (and the first hurries away). The
Paraclete, as He is known to some, sits down on a rock beside hill and
dresses the worst of his blisters; gives him a drink from a flask He
carries, and then helps him gently but firmly to his feet. As they walk
along together the Paraclete supports him just a little, and talks
cheerfully with him, reminding him of the prospect ahead -- the Glory.
The effect of this encouragement and help is dramatic. Strength
returns, his step becomes firmer, and to his own surprise he breaks
into song. Almost imperceptibly Tribulation Road merges into Patience
Road, with no toll-gate and no change in the scenery. The traveller
suddenly notices that the surface is less rugged. Apart from this the
road is much the same, but he is getting his "second wind" and an
increasing awareness of a strange peace in his heart -- strange because
there seems no obvious explanation of it, it passes understanding. So
the miles seem to pass more swiftly.
From this point on the Paraclete appears whenever required -- to dress
a wound, to help out of a ditch or over a stream. But His presence
begins to be more and more appreciated, not just for the immediate help
He gives, but because of something about Him, indefinable at first, but
bringing a profound sense of comfort and companionship. (This
Tribulation Road is a lonely one, for although there are lots of people
on it, they are almost all sitting by the roadside, complaining to one
another and nursing their aching feet. Very few are actually traveling.
Some of them wonder how this man can step along so cheerfully, for his
feet are obviously in very poor shape too, but being too preoccupied
with their own troubles they fail to realise the help he is getting
from his Companion.) [16/17]
"AND PATIENCE, EXPERIENCE (A.V.)
The road surface and the scenery are much the same here in the
experience section, but it doesn't seem half so bad. The Paraclete is
now his constant companion, and not only actually gives him a hand over
the worst of the obstacles on the road, but has taught him so much that
he is able to avoid many of the pot-holes into which he would at one
time have fallen. No ravine, or snow-covered pass really frightens him
now, because although they seem quite impossible to cross he knows that
none of these barriers are a problem to his Friend. This does not mean
that the going is really any easier -- in fact it seems to get worse.
Nor does it mean that he never feels uneasy or nervous about the way
ahead, for he becomes downright frightened at times. But then, this
Companion seems to be there just at the right time, and His presence
makes all the difference.
The Christian is experienced now -- he can look back along the road and
say 'He helped me there, and there, and again there'. He can now say
with some conviction, "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded
that He is able ...". At the same time others on the road seem to
notice a growing confidence in this man's bearing, and suspect that he
has an inner secret. He has! The key to everything for him now is a
deepening personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
(Other names are given to this stretch of the road. There is "proof"
(NEB) and the word is explained by 2 Corinthians 2:9 where Paul says
that he has been looking for "proof" in the lives of the believers,
meaning experimental evidence of their obedience. This is helpful to
us, for it signifies that tribulation endured produces in the life of
the believer the "evidence of things not seen" -- something tangible,
substantial, developing in his life and character, which is the proof
that something real is going on. Another word used is "character" (RSV)
which serves to remind us that the patient endurance of tribulation is
an act and a continuous process of faith, having as its fruit the
development of character approved by God.)
"AND EXPERIENCE, HOPE (A.V.)
Again there is no clear boundary between Experience Road and Hope Road,
the one leading to the other. But here our man has left behind for ever
those crippling doubts as to whether the whole enterprise is a terrible
mistake, doubts as to where the road is leading -- if anywhere. He now
knows with an inner certainty that a little further along the road,
perhaps round the next bend, is the glory. In fact he now sees quite
distinctly the rainbow which, as the Paraclete has assured him, is not
only the sign of God's unchanging faithfulness, but is actually a
'shadow' cast by the glory itself.
These last two stages seem to follow naturally from the first two, for
experience and hope come as a result of a walk with God through the
dark valleys of pain, frustration, or loneliness, or grief, and will
lead to glory. There are, however, a few matters worthy of notice about
this last stretch of the road. One of them is the happy relationship
our man now has with fellow-travellers who have kept going as he has.
It is true that they are less numerous than earlier on, but as they get
nearer to the goal of their journey they tend to forget the smaller
matters of difference, to close the gaps between one another, and to
find closer comradeship, with the Paraclete as the central Figure of
their happy group.
Noticeable also is a new tolerance, understanding and sympathy for
others on the Tribulation Road, an ability to support and encourage the
weary and a growing humility. He presses on, his step quickening in
response to the distant music thankful for the grace that has kept him
on God's High Road to Glory.
----------------
FOR BOYS AND GIRLS
FIRE AND WATER
Harry Foster
THE twins were having an argument as to whether all fires could be put
out by water or not. As a matter of fact the twins were always having
arguments, and this one had been started by the fact that at family
prayers that morning their father had read from the Bible a verse which
seemed to speak of a fire which no waters could quench.
Now it was afternoon, they had come back from school and were at it
hammer and tongs, Angela saying that there was no such thing as a fire
which could not be put out by water and Beth insisting that there must
be because it was in the Bible and then changing her argument to one
about science.
"Science" scoffed Angela, "we can soon find out about that when Daniel
comes home." At that [17/18] moment, however,
Mother came into the room, So they asked if she could decide. They both
began talking at once, making such a hubbub that she had to command
silence to hear herself think, and then, after wracking her brains in
an effort to remember what she had learned at school, she suddenly
said, "Of course! Phosphorus! You just put it on water and it bursts
into flame. At least I think so" she added, and then hurried on into
the kitchen to cook the meal.
Angela, however, was far from satisfied, so when their brother Daniel
came in from school they met him with the question as to whether
phosphorus does burst into flame on touching water. "On the contrary"
Daniel replied laughingly, "you always keep phosphorus in a jar of
water to prevent it from burning, so you have got it quite wrong." He
hurried past them to do his homework saying "Try sodium" as he slammed
his bedroom door. Poor Beth felt thoroughly confused by now and Angela
so certain that she was right that when they were all gathered round
the table for their meal she told her father all about it. She expected
to be told that she was right and Beth wrong, but she made a big
mistake.
Father began by quoting the text which had been the cause of the
argument, "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown
it" (Song of Songs 8:7) and pointed out that the flame which could not
be quenched by floods of water was the flame of true love. Then he went
on to consider the truth about the scientific facts which were muddled
in their minds. "First, phosphorus" he said, "that is never really
quenched by water for as soon as it gets out into the air it begins to
burn of itself. So you see, Angela" he continued, "phosphorus has an
inner fire which may be kept down by water but is never drowned by it.
Sorry Mother" he said with a smile to her, "but you had better go back
to school again!"
He then went on to confirm what Daniel had said about the extraordinary
property of sodium which ignites when it comes into contact with water.
"What a wonderful fire that is" Father commented, "for it is actually
set on fire by water." But he had not finished yet. "There is one more
kind of flame" he continued, "which tends to spread by means of water.
If oil is burning, then to pour on water not only fails to put out the
fire but means that wherever the water runs, the fire burns on top of
it."
By this time Angela was ready enough to admit that she had been wrong
and even asked Father to repeat what he had been saying about the three
water-conquering fires. First there was phosphorus, which was only
temporarily checked by water, then there was sodium which burned
because of the water and then there was oil which spread its fire
wherever the water took it. "Don't forget" added Father, "that what we
are really talking about is love, the love which will not be quenched
by trouble but which burns the brighter and spreads the more as floods
of wrong try to quench it."
The twins knew that this kind of love was too high a standard for them,
but it was also too high for Daniel and even for their father and
mother. Once again, then, they were reminded that the only love which
can do these things is the love of Christ and that the marvel of the
Christian life is that this same love is actually given to work in our
lives -- and through them too. "The love of God is shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Romans 5:5).
As usual Mother had the last word. "I may be wrong about science" she
said, "but I know that I am right when I sing my favourite hymn:
'Come let us sing of a wonderful love,
Tender and true;
Out of the heart of the Father above,
Streaming to me and to you.'"
How true it is that many waters cannot quench that love, neither can
the floods drown it! Is it burning in your heart?
----------------
WHAT IS HIS NAME?
1. THE SON OF GOD
Harry Foster
IF we could overhear a saint at his private devotions, we would be
certain to hear him confessing his shortcomings, and the greater the
saint the more likely would be his expressions of personal
unworthiness. Jesus Christ excelled all others in saintliness yet, far
from voicing self-abasement, His prayer on the eve of the crucifixion
breathes an atmosphere of quiet confidence and perfect partnership with
the Father in a love and glory which had neither beginning nor ending
(John 17:5 & 24). He addressed the eternal Father as though He knew
Himself to be the eternal Son: and this is [18/19]
what He is; the Father's Fellow, the Father's much loved Comrade and
Colleague.
Christ shared the planning of man's creation; and at the beginning of
time He was Himself the One who executed this plan (Colossians 1:16).
Further, He shared the planning of man's redemption, and in the fulness
of the times He personally came down to earth to carry out this
sacrificial plan (1 John 4:14). So Mary's baby, born in Bethlehem of a
human mother and destined to live as a Man among men, and as Man to die
for men on the Cross, was in fact the Son of God. Mary herself knew
this -- none better -- and realised that only a miraculous intervention
in her life by the Holy Spirit could make it possible for God's eternal
Son to become a member of the human race (Luke 1:35).
Satan himself recognised this sonship, and in the wilderness
temptations tried to use the fact as an argument to induce Christ to
act in ways which would contradict His complete dependence on God. The
lesser demons recognised it too, and even though it was to their own
confusion, found themselves obliged to acknowledge Him as God's holy
Son, though He had no wish for their recognition (Luke 4:41). The
Jewish leaders knew well enough that Jesus claimed to be the unique Son
of God, but instead of humbly investigating this possibility, they
rejected it out of hand and had Him murdered on this very charge (John
19:7). In the last dread hours of His agony on the cross, Christ was
taunted as to whether He really was the Son of God (Matthew 27:40). The
thoughtless mockers may have genuinely doubted His sonship, as even His
disciples seem to have done, but the satanic spirits who prompted the
cruel sneers had no doubts about it, but were in fact making their
final effort to get Him to break with the Father and abandon the
enterprise of man's redemption. He refused to come down from the cross,
though He could easily have done so, and by His refusal He not only
made the perfect sacrifice for sin but made it clear that He really is
the Son of God (Matthew 27:54).
The resurrection made it even clearer. It exposed the folly and
futility of the Jewish leaders' crime, for the mighty miracle of
resurrection on the third day was the full and final authentification
of Christ's sonship (Romans 1:4). After His ascension He resumed the
glory which He had enjoyed before the world existed, and which He had
temporarily relinquished for our sakes. It is to our enormous comfort
that He resumed it with the added quality of sympathetic understanding
which He had gained here on earth (Hebrews 4:14-15).
We must never allow the simple beauty of Christ's Manhood to obscure
the vital fact of His eternal sonship. It is true that in His
incarnation He emptied Himself of the outward evidences of His glory
(Philippians 2:7), but He did not and could not divest Himself of that
essential place in the Godhead which enabled Him to make the claim "I
and the Father are one" (John 10:30). It was understandable that at the
moment when the Father was in heaven and He was on earth He should
recognise that the Father was greater than He (John 14:24), but that
was greater in position; never for a moment did He admit that there was
anything less than equality between Himself and the Father. Every wise
father longs for the time when his son will be mature enough to be his
equal, with the sole difference between them of seniority in years.
There can be no such seniority in the Godhead, where time
considerations do not exist, so that this One, the Father's Son, is His
perfect partner in an inexpressibly wonderful fellowship of love and
life.
One matter is not easy to understand, and that is what may be involved
in the disclosure of the fact that when His kingdom activities are
completed the Son will subject Himself (1 Corinthians 15:28). He will
certainly not be superseded nor be demoted from His kingship. The
significance may well be that this will mark the fulfilment of His
commission within the Godhead of restoring perfect harmony to the
universe, marking a point in time, or at the end of time, when the
eternal blessedness of God's supremacy will be unchallenged, and men
will honour the Son as they honour the Father (John 5:23).
Acceptance of Jesus Christ as the true Son of God is not optional but
essential. This knowledge brings assurance of eternal life (1 John
5:13); it is the basis of our personal experience of the Holy Spirit
(Galatians 4:6); and it is the only sure secret of victorious Christian
living (1 John 5:5). God Himself comes to live in the heart of the one
who truly receives Jesus as His Son (1 John 4:15).
Out of his woeful sense of ignorance a man called Agur once demanded to
know the identity of our Creator. "What is his name" he cried, "and
what is his son's name; if thou canst tell me?" (Proverbs 30:4).
Happily the New Testament can tell him, and everybody else who wishes
to know for it discloses God's Name and nature by testifying of Jesus
Christ, His eternal Son. [19/20]
----------------
[No title]
Will you let Christ have first place in all the circumstances of your
life? Will you say to Him: 'Lord, I will not decide anything any more.
I am Thy property; Thy slave'? That is a very searching question but
the cross always is very searching! It does not only touch your sin and
your self, it touches all that which you consider good. Christ Himself
must be everything. Will you also give Him your church, you assembly,
your experiences, your blessings, your views on this, that and the
other -- everything? Will you give Him what He Himself has given you?
For He has given all.
Perhaps you say, 'I cannot give up my view of such and such a truth; I
am fully convinced that my view is right'. Very good; then there is no
risk in your giving it up to Christ! He knows what is right but it is
always just possible that you were mistaken in your view. It is better
to let Him take charge. That is the only safe way. He is the way, the
truth and the life. He is everything. He -- not your view! He -- not
your assembly! He -- not your experience! He -- not your baptism! He is
everything, absolutely everything! Oh, how He longs to be everything in
your life! - Poul Madsen -- "The Cross in Colossians"
----------------
A NEW BOOK OF DAILY READINGS BY THE EDITOR
DAILY THOUGHTS ON BIBLE CHARACTERS
Obtainable at Evangelical Bookshops
Price: Hardback 95p; Paperback 45p
Published by: VICTORY PRESS
Lottbridge Drove, Eastbourne, ENGLAND
In the U.S.A. from: Christian Literature Crusade
Box A, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania 19034, U.S.A. [20/ibc]
----------------
[Inside back cover]
WITNESS AND TESTIMONY LITERATURE
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| THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY |
Vol. 1 |
15p /$0.64 |
|
Vol. 2 |
16p /$0.69 |
|
Vol. 3 |
17p /$0.75 |
| The three volumes, when ordered
together: |
|
45p /$1.92 |
| |
|
|
| For Boys and Girls |
|
|
| By G. Paterson |
|
|
| GOSPEL MESSAGES FROM THE ANTARCTIC |
|
|
| (170-page cloth-bound book.
Illustrated) |
|
20p /$0.85 |
| |
|
|
| By H. Foster |
|
|
| (All with illustrated art paper
covers) |
|
|
| READY FOR THE KING (48 pp. Illus.) |
|
7p /$0.32 |
| ON WINGS OF FAITH (52 pp. Illus.) |
|
10p /$0.43 |
| BURIED TREASURE (48 pp. Illus.) |
|
10p /$0.43 |
| OPENING IRON GATES (40 pages) |
|
10p /$0.43 |
| |
|
|
| Bound volumes of A WITNESS AND A TESTIMONY |
|
|
| for the years 1969, 1970, 1971 |
Price per volume |
25p/$0.70 |
| |
|
|
| Certain back issues are also available at cost
of |
|
|
| postage. Please indicate date of the issue(s)
desired. |
|
|
----------------
[Back cover]
Orders for literature and requests for "Toward The Mark" should be
addressed to:
The Secretary,
WITNESS AND TESTIMONY LITERATURE TRUST,
39 Honor Oak Road, LONDON, SE23 3SH, England.
Telephone: 01-699 5216/4339
----------------
POSTAGE AND PACKING: For postage and packing please add
the following to the total amount of the books ordered:
Orders totalling less than £1 -- please add 20 per cent.
Orders totalling more than £1 -- please add 10 percent.
To the U.S.A.: Please add 12 cents in the dollar.
----------------
Witness and Testimony literature can also be obtained from:
| Ministry of Life, |
Convocation Literature Sales, |
| Box 74, Rt 2, |
1370 Ray Street, |
| Cloverdale, |
Norfolk, |
| Indiana 46120, U.S.A. |
Virginia 23502, U.S.A. |
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Printed by The Invil Press, 4/5 Brownlow
Mews, London WC1N 2LD -- Telephone: 01-242 7454
|
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