"SEEK THE THINGS WHICH ARE ABOVE"

“SEEK THE THINGS WHICH ARE ABOVE”

The things which I seek necessarily impart a character to me. It is not only that I must have the nature which seeks what will suit itself; but that which I seek strengthens the nature which induces me to seek it. Hence the character and walk here is in correspondence with the study and occupation of the heart. It is not what a man does that forms him; what he does reveals what he ^[p. 161] has sought; his acts tell the nature of the things he has really pursued. They are the expression of his ability and taste, not merely of his ability, but of his ability in the line of his desires. A man seeking to be rich betrays in his acts the extent and force in which he is really seeking riches. The thing sought gives a character to him, and the strength of the prepossession is disclosed by the acts; so that two things are manifested — the nature of the thing sought, and the force in which it is sought. I gather from the acts the desire and ability of the man; but he is formed by the thing he seeks. Hence we see the importance of the word, “If therefore ye have been raised with the Christ, seek the things which are above”, Colossians 3: 1. If I seek the things above, my acts here will reveal what I seek; they will be heavenly, because the acts must follow the occupation of the heart. But not this only. If I am seeking the things above, I cannot seek the things here; and the things above are “where the Christ is”, the things here are where He has been refused. And the more my acts reflect and support my seeking, the more eagerly and heartily do I seek; and I am not only seeking but thinking of things above, and not of things on the earth.

To a saint set here on this earth it must be a most serious question what he is to seek; for what he is to do will follow, as I have said, from the things sought; and it is in every way important, for a mistake here affects every act of his life. Now all through Scripture we find that the saint was tested by this very thing — the thing which he sought; and the word of the Lord alone determined what he should seek. Noah was not to seek the earth as it was, but the ark, and he was blessed accordingly, and the thing he sought imparted a colour to his whole course and ways. Abram must turn his eye from Babel and, a sojourner in faith, seek “the city which has foundations, of which God is the artificer and constructor”, Hebrews 11: 10. Hence he confessed he was a stranger and a pilgrim, “for they ^[p. 162] who say such things shew clearly that they seek their country”. If it be admitted that I am here where Christ is not, and if Christ be my life, there can be no question as to the claims on me to seek the things where He is. I am set to journey through a scene where He is not, to be a follower of Him who has been refused here. And how can I know what suits Him, save as I am conversant with the place and things where He is? Moses is shown the tabernacle, the figure of the true, in the glorious mount; and surely we cannot walk in unison with Christ, who is in heaven itself, if we do not seek the things above, where He sits at the right hand of God.

When I seek the things above, I necessarily turn my eyes from the things below, and I find myself in association with Christ where he is. The seeking is in connection with the scene where I am blessed with all blessing. If I am risen with Christ, I must occupy myself with the scene where He is, or I shall fall back to the things out of which He has risen; and the very fact that I am in the scene where He is not makes it the more necessary that I should be occupied with the scene where He is. How are we to conduct ourselves in a scene where He is not, if we are not connected with Him, and do not cherish and strengthen our links with Him in the scene where He is?

The things above only instruct us as to what is due to Christ, while we are mixed up with things here where He is not, and where He has been rejected. And hence, when the rejection of Christ was consummated at the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7), then the Holy Spirit, filling the heart of Stephen, gave his eye the new and right direction. He looked up stedfastly into heaven, with no uncertainty or hesitation, but stedfastly. Everything now was to come from above. There, now, Christ must be known and enjoyed; even as Elijah said to Elisha, when failure was at its height in Israel, and nothing more was to be looked for here, “if thou see ^[p. 163] me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so to thee”, 2 Kings 2.

Gilgal was the spot to which the army of Israel was to return after victory (Joshua 5: 9; Joshua 9: 6; Joshua 10: 15, etc.), in order to revive and refit for conflict, in occupying the land. Now it is “above”, clear outside all, where the reproach of Egypt is rolled off; there we must be in spirit in order to be adjusted and fitted for the duties and warfare of the scene. Let us examine Scripture, and we shall see that it is from above that we derive adequate ability to meet every duty, and that every blessing and gain also comes from thence. Begin where we may, it will be found that the magazine, the place of supply for everything connected with us, is from above.

As to ourselves personally, where do we circumcise but above? where obtain power to mortify our members on earth? And it is because souls are so occupied with the wilderness and its need, instead of with the things above, that they do not circumcise and cannot really and truly deny their own wills.

But it is not only that in seeking things above I am enabled to circumcise; there indeed I must be circumcised; but the only true way to maintain myself there is, “forgetting the things behind, and stretching out to the things before, I pursue, looking towards the goal, for the prize of the calling on high [or above] of God”, Philippians 3. Being above, I get free from the evil membership on earth; and in my walk here I pursue a true course, because I press toward the mark for the prize of the calling of God above. And when I turn to things in relation to God, how entirely am I connected with things above! I pass into the holiest — heaven itself — through the blood, through His flesh, the new and living way; and I have a great High Priest over the house of God.

There is no intelligent or happy acquaintance with my position before God but as I am above; and there ^[p. 164] is no expression of worship such as He seeks, except as I am in the holiest of all. Nor am I able to hold fast the profession of my hope but as I am in the place to which faith leads me. But besides worship, I only know the things which have been prepared for me as I am in the Spirit, who searches all things, even the deep things of God. What is prepared is above; and if it be not revealed by the Spirit, there can be no ability to comprehend it, or any of the deep things of God. How can I, in a scene which is in the hands of the god of this world, the prince of the power of the air, be able to form a right judgment about anything going on here, but as I am above in the sanctuary? See Psalm 73: 17; there I learn for myself the solution of everything, and can rejoice in my position there, away and apart from all here.

Again, if it be with respect to things to come, it is with me now as with John. “Come up here, and I will show thee” etc. (Revelation 4), because the same things, seen from God’s side and from man’s side, present a very different appearance. The head of gold to Nebuchadnezzar is a lion to Daniel. High or low, things human or things divine, all obtain their value and true direction from being connected with that which is above. Even for temporal wants I am to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to me. A master is to remember that he also has a Master in heaven (Colossians 4: 1), in order to regulate his conduct toward his slave on earth. If the above is not sought and kept before the soul, as the place where Christ sits, and whence every sustainment must come, there must be manifest defect here in every act; for He is passed into the heavens, touched with a feeling for our infirmities, apart from sin, in order to supply us from Himself the grace that was in Himself down here, and thereby to enable us to walk as He walked, the Son of man that is in heaven. And it is as I behold the Lord in glory that I am “transformed according to ^[p. 165] the same image from glory to glory”, by the Spirit of the Lord, and am qualified to minister of the Christ now in the presence of God, either to saint or to sinner; for there only can I know the glory of the Lord for the one, or the terror of the Lord for the other.

There is neither growth nor gain of any kind but as I “seek the things which are above”.

We work on here only as connected with this scene as a diving bell. A diving bell is maintained in the waters by connection with the air above, and so we are maintained in the scene by connection with our life outside it, where He sits at the right hand of God. It is quite as possible for a tree to grow and flourish without any sustenance as for a saint to act according to Christ’s mind apart from Himself, where He sits; and every defect in doctrine and practice is simply traceable to neglect of this, the only proper direction of the eye — things above. It will be said that we are ever receiving favours from God on earth, and are we not to enjoy and prize them? I reply, Certainly, but where are they to carry the heart? Is it to rest in the scene where Christ is not, or to rise to the hand which has liberally and bountifully provided for us? God is the same and has the same love for us below as above; but here He provides for us with reference to our new place and relationship, and not simply with reference to our natural state and condition; and hence all His arrangements for us, if rightly accepted, would lead us above, instead of binding our hearts to what is below. His gifts come down to ease us in a world like this, that our hearts may rise the easier to the scene where He displays the fulness of His love for us. And if there be chastenings in the circumstances here, it is only to detach us the more effectually from all here, and to lead us to the home where He has given all to us. So that seeking the things above ensures every good thing for us in every condition.