The Gospel of God Concerning His Son Jesus Christ Our Lord

by T. Austin-Sparks

Chapter 6 - The Development of Sonship

We have seen in our previous meditations that the gospel of God concerning His Son relates to what the apostle terms "the eternal purpose". We have seen that sonship is the key to the eternal purpose, and that to be led by the Spirit is the law of sonship. Now it is concerning this law of sonship that we are led to think more in this meditation.

"As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God" (Rom. 8:14).

"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit..." (Matt. 3:17; 4:1).

In Matthew 4 we have something which will help us greatly to understand the meaning of sonship as developed and brought out under the hand of the Holy Spirit. There is one thing which particularly and peculiarly relates to sonship.

As we have already said in our previous meditations on this subject, when we are speaking of sonship, we are not speaking just of relationship to God or to Christ; that is brought about by new birth, but new birth is not sonship, it is only potential sonship. Sonship is, as we have taken pains to point out, maturity, full growth, the state which makes it possible for responsibility to be entrusted and taken in relation to the interests of God. Sonship is something far in advance of being born a child. That is according to the Word of God.

We were saying that there is one thing which is peculiarly and particularly related to sonship, and that is faith. There is the closest connection between the trial of faith and sonship. I think we should not be wrong in saying that sonship really rests upon that and rises out of that. The trial of faith is absolutely essential to sonship, and there can be no sonship till faith has been tried, proved and established, and that carries us altogether outside of this world, outside of the things seen. Faith always does that. The very nature of faith takes you off the earth, away from the sentient world into the realm of things unseen, so that - and note this - the first realm of effectiveness in life and in service is that which is unseen. It is the realm of satan. I do want you to lay hold of that.

Here is the Lord Jesus stepping out into the ministry for which He has come from heaven, taking up the work which He accepted from before the foundation of the world. Now at the age of thirty, He crosses that line between the private, hidden, secret life, the years of Nazareth, and assumes the great business of eternity in time, and the two things now are His life and its value; His life as such, and what it is going to count for, and the work that He will do. Those two things always go together - life and service. There can be no effectiveness in service if there is not effectiveness in life, and effectiveness in life will always issue in effectiveness in service. If we live effectively, we shall work fruitfully.

This is the question then, the double question of life and service in effectiveness. Where does it begin? In the realm of the unseen and in the realm of satan. Oh, always remember that! Young men, young women, who are thinking of serving the Lord, remember that. If you remember that, you will thank God to the end of your days that you were made to know that. It is because so many have gone out into what is called "the service of the Lord" without that knowledge that they have to look back upon years of delay and comparative ineffectiveness. If you recognize where Jesus started to live and to work, and you start in the same place, you have got the secret of Jesus in life and service. Remember then that all effectiveness in life and service begins in the realm of satan, not in the realm of men. We move out to work among men, we think that that is the sphere in which work counts primarily. It is going to count there, but there will be undesirable consequences if that is all we have and we do not know something of effectiveness behind men, in that realm which lies behind men and things. Jesus won His life battle and achieved the success of His work among men behind the scenes first of all, and sonship begins there and has its secret there.

You can be so occupied with what is here on this earth among men, working for the Lord incessantly, and not growing spiritually, not knowing increase of spiritual power, not becoming more and more a factor to be reckoned with in the spiritual world, but rather perhaps less and less. All that is going to be with men and things has got to come out of what has been in that realm where things take their rise, from which men are governed and dominated. That is where Jesus began.

Sonship and Life

What was the nature of that which went on in that realm? It was the establishing and the developing of sonship by trial of faith. You note by very simple words how true that is. "This is My beloved Son... This is My Son." "If Thou be the Son...". Everything circles round that 'if'. It is a question of believing what God has said, not having an 'if' about it, and sonship hangs upon that.

This sonship of which we are speaking (I am not speaking of relationship to God), this kind of sonship that God is after to bring to the throne, hangs upon that. Well, follow it through. It is the trying of faith, the proving of faith, the establishing of faith which brings out sonship. Satan says, "If Thou be the Son". God had just said, "This is My Son, this is My beloved Son." Luke changes the statement and puts it this way, "Thou art My Son." Why the change? For a very good reason, but the fact remains the same. It is a declaration of Sonship. It was a declaration for the Jews and it was a declaration for Christ Himself. It was something for others, but it was also something for Him: "Thou art".

He is here in the capacity not only of Israel's King, but as Son of Man, and as Son of Man, He has accepted a position of utter dependence and faith. He is stripped and God has said to Him, "Thou art", as well as to others: "This is". God has made a declaration and satan immediately steps in and says, "If Thou be the Son...". God had said it. What was the issue? The Son of Man was placed in the midst of circumstances and conditions which produced no evidence in themselves, but which rather would contradict or give plenty of ground for a question, if a question can be raised. Satan always takes that ground if it is about: the ground of circumstances; the ground of appearances; the ground of human difficulty; the ground of aloneness; the ground of tiredness; the ground of bodily weariness; the ground of that reaction after spiritual strain. You know it! Forty days' hunger - plenty of ground for an 'if'. That is in the human realm, plenty appearing as seen to support the devil, and so he shoots this arrow, this fiery dart, this wile of the devil, to strike right at His very heart, at His faith: "If Thou be the Son..."!

What is Christ's answer? In the answer of Christ on each occasion, you have the key to the situation. His answer is, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." The Lord had said, "This is My Son, Thou art My Son"; that had proceeded out of the mouth of the Lord. God has said something, and everything that can be seen and recognized in the human world, rather than bearing it out, seems to contradict it. Which are you going to accept? This is the question for faith.

If the 'if' gets a lodgement, then you fall to appearances, to circumstances. If what God has said stands, then you refuse to accept things as they appear, you repudiate that whole realm of things, and you say, "I stand here, God has said it! It has proceeded out of the mouth of the Lord - that is where I stand!" It is not always easy to do that; it is sometimes exceedingly difficult. Oh beloved, in such a moment as that the great issue of sonship was at stake. Yes, the great end of God's eternal purpose, a Man-child in the throne, hangs upon the moment, the hour, the day. We are put to it in our faith with only something we know God has said, and a whole world of conditions which give plenty of occasion for an 'if'. This is real life, something about which we all know a little.

But you see what God is doing. God has made a statement and God is going, under the hand of the Holy Spirit, to make good His statement. The Holy Spirit leads the sons. How does He lead them? Oh, this is a matter of guidance! When we read Romans 8:14 about being led by the Spirit we, of course, always see our problems solved, our difficulties got over - being led of the Spirit: a wonderful life! But no. "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil". It is no less a proof of sonship to be brought by the Spirit of God Himself into a situation where satan lays on and circumstances are his handmaid, than it is to have any of the leading of the Spirit which is more blessed.

Miss Carmichael has just published another book, and there are some beautiful chapters in that book. There is one paragraph which I think goes to the heart of things. I cannot give you the exact words, but it is something like this, referring to the commencement of the work at Dohnavur, she says, "There were those who expected that, if it was a work of God, it would be most manifestly sealed of God in such a way that all would have to say, 'This is the work of God, God is in this! Look at this and look at that and look at the other, look at what God is doing! How manifestly God is in this!'" Then Miss Carmichael says, "When they saw reverses, losses by death, things being apparently held up, under arrest and frustrated, when a little rescued child - rescued from the iniquity of India, brought into the safety of the Home - was suddenly taken by the Lord, then they began to say - or if they did not say it, their attitude changed, and meant - I am not so sure that this is a venture of the Lord, that this is the Lord's work." And Miss Carmichael said, "We had to set ourselves to secure a band of workers who were so sure of God that no reverses that came into the work could ever raise for them a question as to whether the work was of God." Oh, that is sonship, and God has set Himself to get, shall I call it, "a band of workers", and His Son is the first one.

The principle of such work is sonship, faith established through trial when circumstances all give the enemy his occasion for raising his 'if'.

Have you been through that wilderness? Do you know something of that desolation? Have you been down in the darkness with everything around you saying that God is not with you, God is not in this, this is not of God; look at this, look at that! Have you been there? Satan has raised his terrible 'if' in your heart. Do you know something about that? Do not think, beloved, that such a situation means that you are not under the hand of the Holy Spirit. Let me say this to you, it is not a platitude, it is not some product of my own imagination, my mind - I have been there. I know the bitter depths, that black darkness. Perhaps you know something of that.

Oh, God is faithful and sometimes He comes to our comfort, not always while we are in that situation, it is sometimes afterwards when the battle has been fought and we do not know whether we are triumphant or not, it has taken so much out of us, it is afterwards that the angel comes and ministers to us, the angel comes with some explanation from the life of the Lord's own Son, and here it is. Such an experience, such a situation, may be definitely under the leading of the Holy Spirit. It may be the direct work of the Spirit. "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit." You cannot have a more precise statement. "Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil", and that when heaven had been opened to Him and God had declared, "This is My Son." His position is: "I do not live by circumstances; I do not live by appearances; I do not live by the tangible evidence; I live by God, I live by what God has said. I live because God has made a declaration".

Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me; and that life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith which is in the Son of God" (Gal. 2:20). I have been crucified. To what? I know of course the immediate context of Galatians 2:20 is crucified to the law, but may it not have a wider application? May we not say, "I have been crucified to my own interests, my own ambitions". If we are not, then we cannot take the position. It is what God has said, not what I see.

Sonship and Service

Well, we go on to the second thing.

"Then the devil took Him into the holy city; and he set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said unto Him, If Thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down; for it is written..." (Matt. 4:5).

The devil will try and get Him on His own ground, "it is written". He says in effect, "Oh, that is the ground you are taking, is it? Alright, I will beat you on your own ground! It is written, 'He shall give His angels charge concerning thee; and on their hands they shall bear thee up, lest haply thou dash thy foot against a stone'" (v.6).

The answer of the Lord Jesus gives us again the key to the situation: "It is written, 'Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God'", or, thou shalt not make trial of the Lord thy God, thou shalt not experiment with the Lord. "Cast Myself down from the temple with an 'if' to answer?! You raise the question of 'if'. If I accept your 'if' and try to answer your 'if', that means that I have a doubt and I am going to clear up My doubt by experimenting with God!" This thing goes very deep. It means this: "Well, if, after all, I am not the Son of God, it will not matter if I come to disaster; better so, than be deceived. If I am the Son of God, then He will give the proof. So then, putting everything into the balances, I will experiment with God, I will put God to the test, I will try out God, I will accept your inference".

"Thou shalt not make proof of the Lord thy God, thou shalt not experiment with the Lord, thou shalt not tempt the Lord, or put the Lord to the test". It is unbelief leading to giving God a test situation. God has said - then let us give God a test situation! That means we do not accept what God has said.

This may relate to recognition by men. It has been pointed out before that it may have been that it was the introduction to His work and a method of securing instant success. If suddenly He came from that great height and lighted down in the midst of the crowded court, then Israel would hail their Messiah as having come down from heaven and His recognition and acceptance would be instantly secured. It is a temptation when you know in your heart that the way that you have accepted is not going to be the popular way. It is going to involve you in being rejected, it is going to mean that you are not going to be recognized. Faith again becomes a very living question, a very acute matter, does it not? Faith as to the success of our life work without employing any of this world's means or doing anything whatever to secure it for ourselves - letting God do it.

Well, it is faith, and this is the pathway of sonship. Faith is being tested under the hand of the Holy Spirit to develop and perfect sonship. Let us move on.

Sonship and the Throne

"Again, the devil took Him into an exceeding high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of this world, and the glory of them; and he said unto Him, All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then said Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve" (v. 8-11).

Here then, the throne is in view, the ultimate reign is in view. How shall that end be reached? What does the reaching of that end mean? So far as He is concerned, the reaching of that end is the perfecting of sonship. It is the Son taking the throne as Son in all the meaning of sonship; not relationship, but quality, of capacity, as Man perfected to have dominion. The reaching of that throne is sonship fully developed and established.

What is the way of sonship, how will that come about? Well, it is here you see, in His answer to satan. "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve." The prince of this world must have nothing. "If thou wilt worship me". You see, "the world" is not just a sphere or what is in that sphere. "The world" has become a principle, a spirit, a way of things. "The world" becomes in our hearts a motive and a method. What is the motive of "the world"? It is human glory: our gain, our success, our position. The method? Well, anything that will achieve the end! The spirit of the world is that. That is the world. Gain the world - that is the temptation; and to gain the world you must go the world's way, to work the world's way. That is the motive. Then the world has its way of reaching its end. Behind all that, satan is getting what he wants. The Lord Jesus later said, "The prince of this world cometh to Me and has nothing in Me." He is getting nothing. That is sonship. Sonship is, on the one hand, nothing, absolutely nothing, for satan; on the other hand, everything, absolutely everything, for God. No shaving off at all, a clean, clear cut. Nothing for satan.

Of course, we would all agree that it is to be like that, but remember that this is a very subtle thing. It is the kingdoms of this world and the glory thereof. And how subtly that works! If only you will compromise a bit, you may have open doors of influence. That is a subtle, devilish temptation to Christians, to children of God. Do this and do that and have in mind that it will be to God's advantage and put you into a position where you will be able to do things and exercise influence and so on. If only you recognized what is behind it, you would see it is 'the end justifies any means'. That is of the devil. It does not justify the means. God's end demands that all the course shall be according to the end, in harmony with it, and sonship is that which, though it may at present lose open doors, lose influence and recognition, lose the world and its kingdom and its glories, sonship will not come down to compromise, but will see to it that every step is taken in accordance with God, that God gets everything. It is not, 'What will be the result of my taking this or that step in this or in that way?' The results are with God.

The question at every step is, 'Does the Lord require it? Does the Lord want this?' The result is not going to influence the step at all. I am not going to take a step because it will give me an advantage, even, as I may think, for the Lord. That may all be disappointed, and I may be found to have compromised and to have sinned against God and not to have got, after all, what I thought I would get. I am not going to take a step because I think it will bring about advantage for me, even for the Lord. I am not going to take a step because it is going to cost me everything. I am going to take every step because the Lord requires it. It is all to the Lord.

Satan tried both ways with Christ. On the one hand, he tried to bribe Him, to offer Him things to His advantage; a pleasant prospect, if only He would take another position, take other ground. Later on he tried this: "Come down from the cross and we will believe." What is the Lord Jesus doing all the way through? In the first place, He says, "I am not going to take anything away from God to get the greatest opportunity that can be given Me, as may be suggested: even for God!" Then later He says, "I am not going to come off the cross and accept relief from any of the cost to get anything that you may offer! No, I refuse the kingdoms and I refuse to let go the cross. And the ground of My refusal is that God has required it; this is the way the Lord has appointed for Me!" It is a severe test of faith.

Oh yes, it is very true, it comes right home to us. We could have so much more scope and a bigger sphere if only we would let go a little, if only we would change our position a bit... what great doors would be open to us, what a great sphere of acceptance and service! How much of the suffering of the Cross might we escape! When you recognize how hemmed in and shut in and shut out you are, deprived of so much, brought to the place where you even wonder if you are of any use at all, it is a real test of faith in God. In the midst of that, especially when the circumstances are wilderness circumstances, it is an acute issue. That is the way of sonship. God may be getting something more for the eternal ages by our having less in this age.

Sonship may mean something of infinitely greater preciousness for all eternity than our having things here for the time being. No, God is not concerned so much with how much we do in this life, as He is with what measure of Christ there is at the end of this life. That may require a certain amount of adjustment on the part of some. It may demand a letting go of a position being tenaciously held. It may be that your whole will and mind is set upon service, work, results, and you are weighing the value of everything by that.

Now, what I say is not intended for one moment to weaken your devotion in the service of the Lord or your seeking to win souls for the Lord, but beloved, this is true. You must believe God, and when you have produced your argument, you have to turn round and say, 'What is God thinking about it?' And what God is thinking about it is seen in your present situation. How much are you being used? How much can you see? What have you got? May it not be that the Lord is steadily shutting you up, if He has not already shut you up, to Himself, suspending a great deal of manifested fruitfulness? What is He after? He is not after making you less useful to Him but, in the first place, and it is always the first place with God, He is after the increase of the Lord Jesus. He is after sonship. You have got a lot of work to do yet, and a long, long time in which to do it! Your work is going to last through ages, and your parish is going to be the universe, and you are going to have nations to serve. That is not just language, that is real and you have got to be fit for it; you have got to have capacity for it, and capacity is found in that word 'sonship'.

You see, here you have the question of God's place and God's rights, demanding our selflessness in every direction.

So these three temptations or trials of faith in the case of the Lord Jesus touch three things. They touch life itself, the question of life: "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God". It touches service or work among men: our position, our standing, our status, our recognition. And then it touches the issue of Life - the throne, reigning.

Those three things are touched by this trial of faith, and the one thing which is at the heart of each and of all, is sonship. Sonship is fulness of Life; sonship is effectiveness in service; sonship is reigning with Him for ever.