In the record of the actings of the Most High, can we trace a case to exhibit for Himself as Creator and God of providence; or is the testimony committed to the character of the Savior?
What is the bearing of this upon the preaching of the gospel, in the acts and on the scene, as shown us by prophecy? How far was and is that which is of nature or providence used of God in the church 7 Can we learn anything from our present horizon?
The peculiar position the church of God assumes was vividly brought before the eyes. One thing rests on my mind—the entire distinction of the church of God from everything else besides, rejoicing in God Himself, and estimating His ways. “We have the mind of Christ.” When the prophet asked, “Who had been his counselor?” there was no response; the mind of Christ, the Holy Ghost, are in the church. This intelligence is such as there never was before. They were but servants. I may tell my wishes to my servant, but he had no participation in my thoughts. The first principle of the Jewish dispensation is marked by the veil, Jehovah dwelling in the darkness: they did not really know God, they had no access into the holiest; but when Christ came, it was impossible He should not be revealed; and how He could deal with His own Son but as what He was? We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God could lead David to say, “My soul panteth after God": we know Him now. When God said to Abraham, “I am thy shield,” &c., His “friend,” who in some respects stood higher than Old Testament saints, yet did not know God in the character as we do. “What wilt thou give me"? he asked. When God gives Himself as a reward, He necessarily brings out the heir. Abraham talking with God could look down on all things below.
To us is given all that God gives in and with Christ. The church is told everything. The scriptures are so exceedingly precious because we have all God's mind from beginning to end, even about the Jews, given to us. This assumes perfect reconciliation to God, the being brought into fellowship with the Father and the Son. It also implies perfect peace; for if I had any doubts about myself, how could I at all care to be inquiring about God's dealings with the Jews? The conduct and character of a child who has no doubt of his relationship is altogether different from a servant's, the moment I see the truth.
“For their sakes I sanctify myself,” said our Lord, going as Man on high. This is not a testimony against evil, but to get to the sanctification of the believer through the truth. Even before I saw the coming of Christ, I saw that the Spirit of prophecy condemns the world and its ways; but in the setting apart of the new man in Christ, I see what draws my affections and acts on the conscience. The setting apart of the church according to the model of Christ, the new Man, acts on the affections. God does not become what He reveals Himself to be, for that He effectually is. So as to creation, Christ travels across all dealings with the Jews and others, and says, Your Father gives rain to the just and unjust; go, and do likewise. Christ was God manifest in the flesh; not merely a perfect Jew, but the heavenly Man above all evil, and the conduct of man is to be based upon what God is in Himself—my Father, of whom ye say that He is your God—the Father of Jesus their God.
We say we trust in the living God, and this is the difference between a Christian and a man who talks about God. We trust not as in a dead God, who has given rules and leaves them, but in One who lives and watches over me, and I can walk through any danger with the fullest certainty of “Not a sparrow falleth to the ground without your Father,” &c. You as a child are an object of all good; all providence was for them of every kind, because of their association with Christ. Thu church is not the sphere of providence as Israel was. The church has not its root in the systems of the world at all. When Israel is no longer His witness, when the world asserted its power uniting with the Jew to crucify the Messiah, then the church is brought out in connection with Him before the foundation of the world. Men may think they can do what was not done when Christ was here. “The world hath not known thee, but I have known thee.” The display of Himself is to the saint. The church is not the sphere of Providence, but the Jew was. In God's mind the church is not of the system of the world at all. Christ had glorified the Father on earth, and then closed by saying, “The world hath not known thee.” “The world seeth me no more, but ye see me.” Thus did He, sanctify His disciples. The church ought to have here another thing, because all power is given to Christ; so Christ has all power in heaven and earth. Hence, when the appeal is made, it is, “Kiss the Son.” The church ought to have been the witness of the same, of the power of Christ on earth, even the powers of the world to come, a testimony in the Spirit to the power Christ will exercise in the world to come (healing the sick, raising the dead, were powers of the world to come). Where shall I find creation put to rights but in Christ? There was a fresh testimony in man to the power of Christ over creation. When the spirits were cast out, He said, I saw Satan fall as lightning from heaven, a sample of the end, when all the powers of Satan will cease.
The church is not only a testimony to the grace of God, but to the power of God, in creation and providence. Full peace is a settled state of happiness, which people do not talk much about if walking in it, and engaging every thought, and feeling, and plan, and act of His, and as connected with it. The church had her own place in all the testimony she had to give. You that were her enemies are now able to enter into the power of the new life, to enter into all the hopes of redemption, &c. Miracles now are a different thing from what they were. Egyptians had been swallowed up, Dathan and Abiram, &c.; but miracles in the church were a sign of the power of the world to come. They confirm faith, but they are not to us in any sense the basis of faith; to the Israelites, in a certain sense, they were. Who brought you out of the land of Ham? Nicodemus speaks of miracles, but Christ stops him, and says, “Ye must be born again.” Adam had his garden taken away from him. The flood afterward came—then men's imagination made sticks and stones into gods. The prophet speaks of the folly of worshipping and warming themselves by a bit of wood; but the Spirit leads the saint behind the scenes, and he sees that the idolatry is not merely the folly that could be seen, but men worshipping demons.
When I come to the principle that God is Creator of heaven and earth, I see that Israel bound their idols with the very things the true God had given them. They would offer these gifts to the queen of heaven. Generally the Gentiles were given up to their own ways. God revealed as Jehovah was not only the Most High, Almighty to Abraham, but the Covenant-keeper to Israel. (Psa. 91) Whosoever dwells in the secret place of the Most High lodges under Almighty shelter. Jehovah was the revelation of the place of safety—Jehovah is the resting place. Satan tempted the Lord Jesus to take this up, not in obedience; but He said, No, I am come as a servant, and must take the place of obedience. In, spite of everything, Jesus will show Himself the possessor of earth. In Isaiah, up to chapter 49, the Lord takes up Israel as the servant; but from that time Messiah is called the Servant, because Israel had been destroyed, and lost his standing.
No reclaiming power was of any use whilst the tree was bad. Man as a sinner may be polished, but he is a sinner still. The law was weak through the flesh. Man ever knows that precept is a sharp accuser, but a useless friend; there must be power. With all man's immense faculties—and I do not believe that they are half developed yet—he cannot please God; there is no good in acting on the old life, so God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
I could not speak to you, beloved friends, about these things, if I did not assume that you and I are enjoying perfect peace. We thus can contemplate all power in heaven and earth, and this in Christ. God, of course, never resigns any of His titles; but all power is given to Christ, and when He returns, all this power will be manifested, and the church its sharer with Him. Till the heavens are cleared, we have to do with principalities and powers in—heavenly places, but ours is power in suffering. I am to bear witness that there is salvation in Christ. Man is done with for the present. How does God deal with His title actually on the conscience? I find Christ will exercise this power on earth. When on earth Jesus continually said, “Fear not,” but after His resurrection He said,” Peace be unto you.” Now I see in Job that his friends thought that the things going on in the world were an adequate testimony to God. Job said many naughty things, but there was a craving of soul after God which his friends knew not. So a man may understand all doctrine, and yet not be in a state of mind God could meet, save to correct or judge. Job went on wrestling after something he could not find in himself—a better state than all mere doctrine—he was standing in need. We often find wants in heart which we should know how to apply to God for.
The church, being a heavenly thing, has her warfare there. Christ first clears the heavens, and the church takes with Him the seat of power. As has been said, the church was at first not only a saved thing, but the witness of the power of Christ as the possessor of heaven and earth. There are two ways in which God deals with man: firstly manifested to the Jews, so that every nation that came against them was punished; secondly, the testimony in rain and fruitful seasons. Now the church as a heavenly thing manifests God on earth, as we see in the deliverance of Peter. The Holy Ghost “convinces the world of sin,” &c., because they rejected Christ. The very presence of the Holy Ghost is the consequence of man's rejection of Christ and crucifying Him. The Holy Ghost down here virtually says, “I am here because you have rejected Christ, the Son of God.”
As to providence, Israel being God's earthly people, His providence, so to speak, rallied round them. I think the Jews were not finally rejected till the last chapter of Acts. As the Gospels are a transition from law to gospel, so the Acts are a transition from Judaism to Christianity. I find the Lord Jesus sanctioning the law, and giving in further light from the kingdom of heaven: so to speak, it is neither law nor gospel. In Acts there is the further proof that the ten thousand talents would be forgiven them; therefore, to the Israelites Jesus Christ risen was sent to every one of them, to turn to Him in repentance. By virtue of the resurrection of Christ, they were treated as having done it ignorantly, till Paul applies the words of Isaiah, “that their hearts were waxed gross,” &c. Then the truth was brought out, that every saint, whether Jew or Gentile, had his life hid with Christ in God. He was dealing with the Gentiles now, as intending to judge the world in righteousness by “that Man,” &c.; not “now,” but God having appointed a day. The testimony against the idols was that God will deal with this earth again.
Prophecy always acts on the judgment of the world. There cannot be prophecy about heaven, though it may describe heavenly things. In all that I read in Rev. 22 There is nothing about rest, but blessed activity, showing us God's governmental administration. All the proper prophetic part (not descriptive, which goes up to heaven), is on earth, the place of testimony on earth, but to hear what has been heard in heaven—God on the throne acting on earth. The church's testimony, on the other hand, is about heavenly things; not the Father is spoken of in Revelation, but the throne of God, the displayed, not the hidden, joy. The people walk in the light of the city. This great secret of government—God dwells in the midst—the seat of government is in heaven when Satan cast out.
How far may the things of nature and providence be used? There seems to me some confusion between man's using nature and God's using it, because man can never take God's place of sovereignty over evil. But I make an entire distinction between faculties and man's will. God may let Satan have this place of sovereignty, as He did with Job. God can use everything, even Satan. He can reverse the effect of evil in producing good. The church is placed altogether out of the place of using the things of nature and providence. As to man's faculties, God uses tongue, limbs, &c., but I make an entire distinction between faculties and man's will. The church enters into Christ's character of subserviency, it can never get out of the place of obedience. Faith, said a philosopher, is subject to man. Then said I, I am in the place of God. Faith alone places God in the right place. I have only to look up to Him, to trust in and depend on Him. Of course the Spirit works on my understanding—it is not as a brute that He communicates with me. Now I believe that nature is always used. When the talents were given, it was according to every man's ability, therefore I should not hesitate to say, with brother C., that twelve men with different faculties might be used for opposite purposes (mental faculties a step further), for I believe God's purposes are more exactly prepared than we think. God may have given man a capacity to speak, but does the man think about the capacity? When I find the apostle speaking in power, I find he says, “I was with you in weakness,” &c. When God acts in power, He suppresses the man, and so must I, if I am His faithful servant. The vessel is prepared, as Paul was a chosen vessel. It carries a gift, it reveals Christ. Faith always trusts in the living God. As much as the gift is occupied with Christ, it shows that it is an earthen vessel.
What do I learn from the present horizon? It is useful in alarming the consciences of men, but never in awakening affections, unless to rescue something of value. Sometimes the fairest thing that appears turns out to be bad. If my horizon does not lead to heaven, it will keep back to earth. As to the growth of evil, which I recognize as much as any man, if my horizon does not lead me to heaven, it will to earth. The way evil works now is not by saying, Give up the name of Jesus, but use Jesus not as revealed by faith. So Aaron said, “To-morrow is a feast to Jehovah,” and then made a golden calf. Unless we recognize the union with Christ in the heavens, we have no security. Everything that is most amiable in Christ, and most excellent in man, will be connected together, and nothing can preserve a saint from gross denials of Christ, but seeing the church in union. There is a sentimental part in man which loves to take up something about Christ, but this is not what I learn by faith. One touch of Christ (as our brother Bellett said) does not dispel evil till the church is in heaven. There is no preaching acknowledgment of Christ but by the Holy Ghost. I must believe God as He has spoken in His word. There may seem faith, and great faith too, in approaching to God, as when man believed that Jehovah was in a calf. People talk about judging the word, but I do say that nobody has received the word until it has judged him, and then he truly listens to it. The word judges you. I do not think we can trust ourselves to look at the horizon: we must take a Jeremiah's place to be able to do so, and God had, as it were, to frighten him into giving His word faithfully. If I look at the evil, it presses dreadfully on my spirit, and if I look on the church, I see evil where we ought to be looking for the beauty of holiness; when I do look at it, I must keep the ruin as in the back of my heart.
No man is fit to deal with evil till his heart is broken with it. When Jerusalem was prepared for blessing, it was occupied with the blessing by which they were to be drawn out, and be saved. I could not get on, and get my heart tender, when occupied with evil, though to have an understanding of what is going on is of great importance. How did the apostles act when they thought of the untoward generation? “Save yourselves from it.” Grace in Christ is the power that delivers the heart from the poor world, as in it. My heart would, I believe, be broken, if I looked at the horizon, rather than the power given of the present blessing.