THE INFLUENCE OF HEAVEN - READING 2
THE INFLUENCE OF HEAVEN — READING 2
Luke 9:28 - 36; Luke 10:17 - 24
We did not touch on verses 21 and 22 of chapter 3 this morning, but we should notice heaven coming down, first in one angel accompanied by heavenly light, of which we often sing as making all things bright, and the volume of angelic personages were [p. 51] noted bringing heaven down, as it were, but in angels, not yet in men. The scripture for this reading will show how men come out from heaven in relation to what is below.
These two verses of chapter 3 are to be taken in relation to the babyhood of Christ, the condescension of the Person, and then there is growth; He grew, we are told, in wisdom and stature. His baptism is noted and He is praying in relation to it. It is said that “The heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form as a dove upon him; and a voice came out of heaven, Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight”. We do not get that in relation to the babyhood of Christ, nor even the boyhood, but the manhood. God waited for those thirty years to announce this word, but it is in keeping with what is down here, that is, the Lord’s own movements — having been baptised and praying, as it says. It is a question of what was here according to the divine viewpoint, what came out in the Babe. The Lord here in a world of evil and about to carry on the service of God is seen praying. It points to the importance of prayer in relation to the divine scheme. It brings up the whole question as to ‘why’ prayer. This gospel stresses prayer and the intelligent inquiry as to why. It is linked up both here and in the passage in chapter 9:28,29. It says, “He went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed the fashion of his countenance became different”.
God is signalising this attitude of the Lord’s as a Man down here; there is something secret and mysterious as to the power of prayer, and how it glorifies God and brings out this voice; heaven sees it in a Man. It is part of the constitution, I suppose, that God designed in man, that he was to be an intelligent dependent being. The law of creation, is there anything in it to correspond? We have to ponder over Romans 8:19, which says, “For the [p. 52] anxious looking out of the creature expects the revelation of the sons of God”. Then we have, “For we know that the whole creation groans together and travails in pain together until now. And not only that, but even we ourselves ... groan in ourselves, awaiting adoption, that is the redemption of our body”. And then one other scripture says (verse 26), “In like manner the Spirit joins also its help to our weakness; for we do not know what we should pray for as is fitting, but the Spirit itself makes intercession with groanings which cannot be uttered”. Now it is to bring that out as to whether it is something to be looked into spiritually as to the why and wherefore of prayer and whether heaven descends in principle to the lower creation.
Daniel is an outstanding example of one who prayed in relation to a place on earth. He is called a man greatly beloved. Here the Lord is seen by heaven baptised, which would mean intelligent apprehension of what was suitable to God at that time. And then, being baptised and praying; one is the intelligent acceptance of God’s judgment on conditions as they are, and the other is dependence on God in those conditions.
Alluding to Elijah, he was a man that was urgent; he put his face between his knees, a remarkable foreshadowing of what is seen here — the Lord prayed all night; (chapter 6). Clearly he would be praying for something perfectly known to him that it would happen, whatever it was, whether it brings out the antagonism of what was known to be there. Paul said, Satan hindered us. Well, why should that be said? If God is all-powerful why should Satan hinder? Is it the want of prayer? What is prayer, what is the power of it, and the absence of it — does it mean that Satan has advantage? Constantly we hear people say, God will overrule, God has ordered it. But what about the matter of prayer, has it been [p. 53] wanting? The Lord shows here it was not wanting in Him; it is being baptised and praying, that is His attitude.
You get God’s assurance about a thing; you cannot be happy until you do. There is too much of this saying, God has ordered or allowed it, and God can prevent or stop it. But what can I do? The word is, “faith removes mountains”. It does not say God — but faith does it (God does the thing, of course). It shows the power it must have in the universe, it is inscrutable, really, because it is not simply what is said, but it is faith; the prayer of faith shall heal the sick, it is the thing itself. God does not pray; it is constitutional in the creature, how far it goes down to man or angels is a question, but clearly it is intended to be constitutional in manhood. There is sometimes an element of fatalism with us; has Satan got some advantage on our side for want of prayer? The Lord said to Ananias in regard of Saul of Tarsus, Behold he prayeth. He is constitutionally right, because the Lord says — not that he is going to pray — but he is doing it.
I think the Lord is just leading the way in these passages for us, first in baptism, which is the acceptance of God’s judgment on the conditions that exist. The judgment would not refer to Jesus, but He is identifying Himself with it as baptized — and then He is praying. That is to say, it is the God and man position — God in covenant. There is an obligation on the part of man mediatorially as before God that the thing must go through and that it depends upon my prayers, too. The mediatorial position is always present and we are included in it now as having the Spirit, and it makes you avoid mere glibness in dealing with these matters.
It is really a dispensational position that the Lord is inaugurating by example and it is owned in heaven; therefore, it is said the Holy Spirit descended in a [p. 54] bodily form. The Deity is here, the Son is here in manhood praying, and the heavens are opened and the Spirit descends. He is not said to be sent here, He descended “in a bodily form as a dove upon him; and a voice came out of heaven, Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight”. That is the Deity, I apprehend, in a mediatorial position.
This mediatorial position is carried forward into chapter 9 which enlarges on the kingdom. The Lord said (verse 27), “I say unto you of a truth, There are some of those standing here who shall not taste death until they shall have seen the kingdom of God”. That is a direct link with what we have looked at in chapter 3. And then verse 28, “And it came to pass after these words, about eight days, that taking Peter and John and James he went up into a mountain to pray”. That is what He went up for according to this gospel. “And as he prayed the fashion of his countenance became different and his raiment white and effulgent. And lo, two men talked with him”. Now it says that they were Moses and Elias and they spoke about His departure which He was about to accomplish in Jerusalem. It is the Lord Jesus in direct touch with heaven, and heaven comes out not in angelic form, but in human form. And as He is praying the fashion of His countenance became different and his raiment white and effulgent. So that now we have heavenly company come down. It is not exactly the mount of heaven, but it is very near. Heaven comes in in known personages in the testimony. We should become accustomed to heaven’s way and this constitutional way in regard to this mediatorial system, because the mediatorial system shall continue after we leave.
As to the raiment, it is not swaddling clothes — that belongs to a certain state — as the depths God will reach, but now it is Manhood answering to [p. 55] Adam as figure of the coming one. Adam was never a babe, never a boy — nothing but a man. It is the clothing of a man that is changed. Clothing represents what the man is.
The idea of the kingdom belongs to God, there must be that in God that is always dominant; that God may be all in all. The Lord Jesus delivers up the kingdom to His God and Father. These references to His own personal kingdom are to bring Him personally into view and make Him personally dear to us and known in His greatness, too. Chapter 3 brings in what Christ was down here as the object of the Father’s affections, and prayer entered into that; He would be the Son of the Father’s love.
It would seem as if experience with God in His testimony must be seen in men. That is another side of the position that we are coming into, such as the heavenly, that experience with God must have part in this matter. These two men come out of heaven, they appear in glory. How are they capable of appearing in glory? Clearly it is an allusion to their history. From Adam God has been working out His own scheme and that scheme involves experience with God here below. There are persons in the divine realm that we are going to converse with and keep company with, they belong to the system, and that is what is in mind here. Peter, James and John are admitted into that experience with God in relation to Christ; they are speaking to Him. That gives them a certain moral distinction. We ought to learn to value men who have experience, because they belong to the divine scheme of things; the young brothers and sisters are slow to learn this. Moses and Elijah appear in glory, as if they take the lead; they talk with Him and speak of His departure which He was to accomplish in Jerusalem. That is another part of the great thing that they are engaged with; they understand and know about it. We do [p. 56] not know what the personal histories of Gabriel and Michael were; Moses is a man whose history is given us fully; Elijah’s is not, he came in in a crisis. The point is that we are going to be in this kingdom of God which is seen here, and we have to do with persons of experience. Moses and Elias are finished products, they are brought in prepared beforehand to express this thought of experience, that it is a part of the divine scheme, and now is the time to acquire it. Peter and the others here are to be fitted, for they are to evangelise.
The fact that Moses and Elias appeared in glory is an additional compliment to them, that they were able to converse with Jesus. The greatness of the glory did not hamper them, showing the liberty we may have. We are to be constituted to take up that place, that we are able to converse with Jesus. We will meet Jesus in those courts above, and we will be able to introduce the conversation, and He will listen to us. It is to accustom us to the things in mind for us; the Lord knows how to be mutual. Moses and Elias knew what to speak about, what was in keeping with the moment. They are not talking about His ascension, they are talking of His exodus, alluding to what Moses was well accustomed to, of Israel going out of Egypt.
In the next reference (verse 51), it is said, “When the days of his receiving up were fulfilled”. We have now got the counterpart, it is not His departure — the departure is what you leave — the receiving up refers to heaven. What a history Jerusalem had; the Lord is going out a certain way, by the gibbet. There are just a few words about it here, but volumes have been filled about the subject, as John says, the world itself could not contain the books. Peter and James and John are learning the mutuality of heaven and they ought to work it out in their part in the assembly later. What liberty Moses and Elijah had. That [p. 57] liberty is to be accorded to me. Sonship gives me status; I belong with Christ.
Now Peter and those with him were oppressed with sleep; it shows how little had been effected yet in them, how much work had to be done on them. “But having fully awoke up they saw his glory, and the two men who stood with him. And it came to pass as they departed from him, Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said”. Meaning, how much is to be effected in this brother; and so it is in our meetings — how much is to be effected in me that I might join into this matter constitutionally. This is to bring out how far these three brothers had got, as I was saying, “Not knowing what he said”. How incongruous! “But as he was saying these things, there came a cloud and overshadowed them, and they feared as they entered into the cloud: and there was a voice out of the cloud saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him”. Meaning, all this is for those three brothers; it is for all of us, of course, as to what is to be effected in us, as I should know what I am saying. This heavenly matter is a mutual thing; He would awaken us to bring us into the thing, that we have part in it as knowing and as having a status. Am I in keeping with that status?
The first lesson in the educational system is to listen to this one Person, the Son of the Father’s love. He is to be listened to at all times; they must hear Him. We do not pray to Moses or to Elijah, nor to Mary; Jesus is the only teacher — “My Teacher”, Mary Magdalene said; she was learning. “Jesus alone with themselves” (Mark 9:8) — that is the nucleus of the new system. Mary in chapter 10 was in keeping with the position on the mount. The matter of His departure is one thing, receiving up is another, the glorious reception He received up there in heaven! “And it came to pass when the days of his receiving up were fulfilled, that he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem” (verse 51).
In chapter 10 I thought we might see the same subject of heaven in relation to service here below. The Lord appointed seventy others and sent them out two and two, thirty-five pairs of brothers sent to testify, and they come back with shades of success. “And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us through thy name”. This is a subject that belongs to what we are saying, that heaven has to be cleared of the devil, we are not going to be there in company with him. “I beheld Satan as lightning falling out of heaven. Behold, I give you the power of treading upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall in anywise injure you”. Thus the whole matter of service is cleared up and the Lord is saying a much greater thing as to their work. All the power they needed was available to heal the sick and the like, and there was also experience. So that in the Lord’s service we are to remember the greatness of divine power against Satan that has compelled him to fall, not descend, but fall. Demons are simply emissaries of the devil. Satan himself falls, he is not cast out here, but he falls which would mean that he had lost his place, his exploits are over, he has got to go because greater things have come about. Heaven would be filled with persons who have renown, persons who have names. Satan lost his renown, he has no name at all really.
That is a settled matter now, the matter of the devil and the power in service, yet He says, “rejoice not, that the spirits are subjected to you, but rejoice that your names are written in the heavens”. It is a question of renown, the renown that we acquire by the Spirit of God. The saints are taking the place of the devil in all his renown there; certain great men [p. 59] now are doing great things. It opens up the road to us as to what we shall see when we get there, and the habit of getting acquainted with one another and giving due credit to everything that is a part of the name. The mighty men are coming into light one after another; it is taking on the whole armour of God. We have already alluded to prayer. It is a question of what you are since you got the Spirit of God, but they had acquired renown through certain relations with Christ.
So it says, “In the same hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I praise thee, Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth, that thou hast hid these things from wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes”. That is, the Lord is capable of being affected in any given time by happenings. Great things are happening in the world, but spiritual brothers are getting help in their souls, acquiring a name. Romans helps us in that because the apostle mentions persons that are to be saluted. As to the babes, I suppose that would revert back to when the disciples began under the Father’s hand, then they were making headway, they were further on now. That is, God took them on without any human sophistication. Even a man like Paul, He took him on, but he would himself accept that he was taken on as a babe, he had to learn everything.
I think you come on here to the perfecting work in the Lord’s mind. It says, “And having turned to the disciples privately he said, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see”. They are getting on now. It says He rejoiced in His spirit; He saw something in Peter or some of them that indicated there was a work of God. When Peter made his confession there was an immediate work of God. Undoubtedly the Lord takes on certain ones to make outstanding what He has in mind as to all.