UNION WITH CHRIST AND THE NEW START

UNION WITH CHRIST AND THE NEW START

I fear there is very little apprehension of union with Christ. The union has taken place when the Spirit has been received, but how few enter into the great fact of being united to the exalted Man in heaven! I have been meditating on the consequences of such a union. As a rule, Christians speak of and seek the Lord as if He were here on earth: that is, they so identify Him with themselves on earth, that they only look for Him to help and minister to them down here, as if they were united to Him on earth instead of in heaven. If I am united to Him in heaven, and if I truly believe it, I seek to enter into and enjoy the consequences of so great a union.... The great object in Rebekah’s heart in that long journey ^[p. 163] was Isaac; though she could never get a glimpse of him along the road, as we are privileged to have of Christ when we are gathered together in His name.

... I have been speaking on what I call the ‘new start’, and I connect 2 Kings 2: 9 with Acts 7: 55. The power has come to us. Stephen is over Jordan, his spirit reaches to where Jesus is; here he is divested of everything as Elisha rent his own clothes, but he comes out in the beauty and fashion of Christ. This is vastly beyond “the mantle of Elijah”. Unless we learn the new start, we never can comprehend what the present time is in the mind of God. Until the gospel of the glory is known I do not believe the church as the mystery can be apprehended.... It is of great moment and interest that His presence in heaven prepares a place for us there.