1 Peter 3: 22
1 Corinthians 15: 27-28
John 17: 19-20
I was affected on Lord’s day by the place that Christ has in heaven. His pathway of a few years on earth showed what man thought about Him. It says they "crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Cor 2: 8), the One who had been among them demonstrating divine love and grace, power and wisdom that could never have been, and never was, before. It says that God sent prophets and last of all He sent His Son. He said, "perhaps, when they see him they will respect Him" (Luke 20: 13), but that brought out man’s heart. However fine we may think man is, or whatever progress he may have made, there is man exposed in his fulness. Paul says, “for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory”. What grace in that statement, “had they known”. That is how God in divine grace looks on men. Peter himself says, “ye did it in ignorance”, Acts 3: 17. You can hardly think of that, you know. He fed five thousand, raised dead, opened blind eyes, and yet the grace of God says that they had done it in ignorance. Yet, if you look at the Scriptures you can see that it was Satan finding expression in men. We need to be careful about that, dear brethren. Satanic power is working today in men in these awful circumstances in the world, but Jesus has been received up in glory. What an answer to what man has done, that He was raised by the glory of the Father. Mr A J Gardiner often used to speak about God passing by all those great men that had gone before, who lay in death, but He raised Christ and Him alone by His glory. What an answer to what man had done! And men today, all they know about Christ is that there He died, on the cross. What happened next is a secret matter in some sense, but well known by believers. So Peter tells us; he was very clear about it all. He had looked on an empty tomb, but he knew something about this that we read about that He has "gone into heaven." We have been reading in the beginning of the Acts, and you can see there the effect of Him having gone into heaven. At that first preaching there were three thousand souls converted. There is the effect of Him having gone into heaven. Those early chapters of the Acts show the great demonstration of divine grace and power of a Man having gone in.
The first scripture we read speaks of that, “the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being subjected to him”. Peter experienced that as he was sleeping in prison and about to be killed on the morrow, and what happened? An angel smote him and said, "Rise up quickly", and as he walked along that path the very gates opened, Acts 12: 7, 10. The guards were like dead men. There were angels “subjected to him”, and we can see that throughout history. We can see it in our own histories if we care to ponder by the Spirit the activities of divine grace, angels, authorities, powers being subjected to Him. He will act soon to put things all in their place, the troubles in the east, and all these things. And then will be the beginning of the millennium, but in the meantime, His great service is what we have in John, “I sanctify myself for them”. The Lord Jesus is worthy to reign. He will reign. It says,
Kings shall fall down before Him
And gold and incense bring;
All nations shall adore Him,
His praise all people sing
(Hymn 36)
What a day that will be! What an answer to a pathway of shame! Isaiah says "the trees of the field shall clap their hands", Isaiah 55: 12. He is using that language because he could not find any better way to describe it. The Spirit uses this language. Think of the whole universe vibrating in joy and harmony and hallelujahs to the One who has come to put things in their place. But in the meantime we have this word; He says, “I sanctify myself for them”. He did it for the twelve. You see the service that they experienced in the Acts, Peter and John; and then Philip - think of that Ethiopian being converted and many others, but then it says. “but also for those who believe on me through their word”. That is our very selves, dear brethren, “those who believe on me through their word; that they may be all one”. What an objective the Lord has for us. What divisions there may be in our own hearts and our own circumstances, but there is the Lord serving patiently. If you look back on your own history you have to say. ’How patient He has been, what grace’. In Acts 13: 18 the Authorised Version says, "about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness". I feel that is just what God has done with us, dear brethren, with me at least, He has suffered my manners, He has waited in grace. That is part of the sanctifying Himself for us, “I sanctify myself for them …. that they may be all one”. He is patiently serving that He is going to have this. It will not be the church recovered publicly yet. Yet there will be something on this earth that is the expression of His service of sanctifying Himself for them, “that they may be all one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee … that they may be one, as we are one”. Let us have some sense of the divine objective, that He is seeking to have this. As I say, it will not be a public demonstration of unity, but may it be seen more and more; in small local companies, it may be, but let us observe that that is the divine objective, and He has given us the resources, dear brethren, that it may be effective. One of these things, He has given us is grace to repent. Repentance is a wonderful thing, to be able to repent and see how we, each one of us individually, have proved that He has sanctified Himself for us. It refers to His priesthood; it refers to His advocacy. Oh how wide and glorious that has been. It says that if we sin "we have an advocate with the Father", 1 John 2: 1 AV. What a place to have an Advocate, Jesus Christ; not in any High Court of Britain or any place else, but you have an Advocate "with the Father". As Advocate He is somebody who takes up your case and says, ’Here they are, I know them. It may be they have done this or done that, but I know them’, and He refers to the work of God in each soul, and as we confess our sins He is righteous to forgive. That is the service of the Advocate. The High Priest then would restore you to your full vigour because, while the Advocate would clear your conscience, the High Priest shows you your place on the breastplate, the place you have in divine affections. Well, that is all part of Christ’s service.
That comes between these other two scriptures I read. On the one hand He has gone in, and this is how He is serving. Later on He will come out and, as I said, He will put everything in its place. What a day it will be. It says, “Then the end”. That is going to be the end, the great result of Christ having gone into heaven will be that He will take up things on the earth and bring them all in subjection to God. What a time it will be, dear brethren, but we have the light already of our eternal home. The rapture will be long before this, and that is one of the great secrets that the assembly has, that before all these things there will be the taking of the church, the assembly, the bride, the wife, to be with Christ, for ever with Him. And she will be with Him, in some of these subjecting matters that take place; the assembly will be employed mediatorially, but it says "the end" when everything will have been placed in subjection to Him. What power He has to do it! What authority He has to do it! He has shown that He alone has the authority and power to do it, and He will hand over everything to God. Well, as I said, the assembly has the light of the eternal day as no family really has had before, “that God may be all in all”. What a result! Well, that is the result, dear brethren, of Christ having gone into heaven.
May we open our hearts more to know something of His grace and to have in our hearts in a deeper way the great objective He has, and may we more fully appreciate His service. For Christ’s name’s sake.
Kirkcaldy
18th April 2011