IDENTIFICATION IN TESTIMONY AND IN HEAVEN
[p. 134] IDENTIFICATION IN TESTIMONY AND IN HEAVEN
Acts 2: 1 - 4; Luke 10: 17 - 20; Hebrews 12: 23 (part) “the assembly of the firstborn who are registered in heaven” (N.T.)
It is in mind to speak of identification, and perhaps some increase of the thought, but identificationas here in testimony. We should be identified as here in testimony, and eventually, in our place in heaven, identified in our proper relative positions in heaven.
Now in the first Scripture in Acts 2, we have the identification of each one present suggested, alluding to those in the upper room. They were identified in the upper room by their names in chapter 1, and now in chapter 2 by the numeral one — each one. That is, each one there is sitting; it is the sitting attitude. But in chapter 1 they are identified as the eleven apostles, and several women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brethren. These the Lord had selected in His sovereignty and also wrought in them to fit them for the great occasion — one of the greatest occasions. That is to say, the inauguration of the assembly. It is an inaugural time. Other times had preceded it, of great importance, of course, and particularly in the Lord’s remark as to the Supper, in view of instituting it, that it was before He suffered. Much is near His heart, I need not say, and John says more of what is in His heart than any of the other apostles. But it was before He suffered. And then in His presentation to the disciples in chapter 1, it is after He arose; as it is said, “after he had suffered”. And following on that, the charge He gave His apostles by the Holy Spirit — great and glorious suggestions, suggestions of power. “By the Holy Spirit” He charged them, indicating how the matter stands today. It is a question of the Holy Spirit here below and the [p. 135] Lord Jesus above. One Advocate above, and Another here. How wonderfully well off we are, dear brethren.
And then His ascension to heaven; His ascension to heaven having in mind much, how much, who can say? The unwritten, the unspoken thoughts of God that have existed throughout all this period of time, all this dispensation, the dispensation of the Spirit. Nineteen hundred years or more. All that was ahead. The Lord, however, did not give any inkling that the time should be long or short ere it should be terminated. So that we have to weigh in our minds thoughtfully what has happened all these years, these centuries. We may read human histories; many are extant. But who can tell the history of heaven? And yet it has a history. What thoughts are there, cherished there. Unspoken, too, publicly. But still the dispensation runs on.
It says that they, the apostles, spoke to Him, asking whether He would at that time restore the kingdom to Israel. That was in their minds. Their minds were not as large as His, not as large as heaven, they did not extend to include the counsels of God. And the Lord has to say to them, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power”. But He immediately said, “Ye shall be my witnesses”. That is the point for us, dear brethren, to be His witnesses. His witnesses because we are the subject of His work. Witnesses also as qualified to bear witness to Him in word, in speaking; in preaching or in teaching, or in whatever it may be, we bear witness to the Lord.
Well, that is so far. And the Lord having said all this, He was taken up. It was the time of heaven’s intervention. And what feelings must have been there, dear brethren, at that time. “The Son of man who is in heaven” even while down here, is now going up. It is said He was taken up into heaven, they [p. 136] beholding Him. They are to be the ones on whom all the great responsibilities should rest for the moment “They beholding Him, and a cloud received him out of their sight”. The time came when they saw nothing. They were to learn to look with other eyes, to see beyond the clouds. A cloud received Him out of their sight, but they were to have eyes to penetrate the clouds. The heavens were opened, we are told, in Stephen’s case.
But I am now speaking of what is leading up to this passage. That is to say, the heavens received Him. And Peter tells us later that heaven must receive Him. “Whom heaven indeed must receive till the times of the restoring of all things, of which God has spoken by the mouth of his holy prophets since time began”. Acts 3: 21. That is the position. Whatever has been spoken by the holy prophets of God since time began, up to this very minute. All that has to wait until the final moment when the Lord Jesus will come forth, not in a private sense but in a public sense. He will come forth. That is the thing that we are to love, to look forward to, to love His appearing. Not simply His coming, but His appearing, when He appears. The heaven must receive Him until the times of restitution of all things. That is to say, what the prophetic ministry points forward to. When that arrives, great things will happen on the earth. In heaven, too, but particularly on the earth, in a physical sense. At the present time it is earth’s time in a moral sense, the greatest possible sense, the presence of the Holy Spirit here below. That is now the position.
So in the passage I read in Acts 2 it says, “When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were [p. 137] sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other [p. 141] tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance”. Now this is why I read the whole passage — the identification of the persons whom the Lord had spoken to. He had assembled with them, meaning that He has the assembly in mind and would inaugurate the thought and would fill their minds with it, so that they should know how to assemble during all this wonderful period. And let us remember, dear brethren, that day still holds; that on the first day of the week it is our privilege to assemble — not simply to come together but to assemble — to break bread. It carries with it all the authority involved in the assembly here below, Christ the Head of it above.
I am now speaking of the identification of the persons. There were only a few, apparently, at the most about a hundred and twenty. Not that they are mentioned in that way here, but we assume that it was so. They were all together in one place, it says. And each one is identifiable by the means mentioned in the 3rd verse, “There appeared to them parted tongues, as of fire, and it sat upon each one of them”. (N.T.). They are marked off in that sense. What men they were. The exact names of the persons are not given, but we cannot doubt it would include the women, the Lord’s mother and the several women also. And they are all to be identified. What a thing it is, dear brethren, to be identified in this sense, that is, with cloven tongues like as of fire sitting upon each one of us! Of course I can easily understand that one might say it is not literal, it is not actual now. But the thing that happened is actual, carried out in actuality in the power of the Spirit. Nothing has happened that is not carried in the assembly in the power of the Spirit. Things are held, they are carried,
[p. 138] in the power of the Spirit, so that they are here in their moral sense. Hence the identity of each one of us, in the Spirit sitting upon each one, in the form of fire. “Cloven tongues like as of fire” — really the allusion is to the Spirit. What that would imply as to the tongues. These are divine tongues. Think of the Lord Jesus: what a tongue, and what a mouth! As also in Peter, what a tongue, and what a mouth! Peter says in chapter 15, “... the Gentiles by my mouth …”.
God attaches importance to our organs. And so the word comes to us as to what about our tongues, dear brethren. This is the divine idea in principle. That as they were sitting, they saw this, according to verse 3 of chapter 2. There appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each one of them. It is said in verse 2, “Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting”. That is another thing. The sound was heard. The sound filled all the house. And the sound is still to be heard, if you understand, in the application of divine truth. What the Holy Spirit conserves here, what He holds down here, using whom and what He pleases. And who is there among us who does not wish to be used in this matter? Because it continues, the Holy Spirit continues. He is the same as He was then. He is as much here now as He was then, as much available as He was then. The sound is carried down. And what a sound, too, if one may speak in detail. It was a breathing, a hard breathing. Not simply an ordinary wind, but breathing. Breathing is from the lungs, if you can understand that. Think of the lungs of God, if I might speak reverently. The Lord Jesus breathed on the disciples: think of the tenderness, the sympathy, the mutual feeling that entered into that! You may say that is greater than what we are speaking [p. 139] of. I am speaking of the hard breathing. What can all the armies and navies of the world do in the face of this, this powerful breathing direct from the lungs of the blessed God! For that is what it was. Let us accept it. It is really a time of believing, dear brethren, believing what is written and realising the facts, so that it becomes real to our souls that we are in the very midst of the things.
I have already alluded in prayer to the number here. I am thankful for them. I have seen many such numbers, and I am delighted. Not because I am being listened to, but because God is being listened to. And there will be more, and the quality will increase. And so the ministry is a matter to be noted. All this enters into what I am pointing out, this mighty movement of breath, hard powerful breathing, the sound of it filling the house. We have often been touched at the thought of the odour of Mary’s ointment, Mary of Bethany; the odour filled the house. Now it is the Spirit of God Himself; the mighty breath of God by the Spirit here on earth on the day of Pentecost filled the house.
And then it goes on to say, as I said before, “And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance”. So, as I have suggested already, what about our tongues? Because they are in mind here, notice. It is not our feet or our hands. They have their place, of course; there is walking, and there is doing, working. As Paul says, “These hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me” Chapter 20, verse 34. Even those who minister are to use their hands as well as their tongues, and to do things for others because it is not the idea to be always on the platform. But then, what about our tongues?
[p. 140] Not that I am here to exhort at this time, but rather to unfold the truth of this wonderful matter and then to go on to something else, namely, the assembly viewed not here on earth but in heaven, For we have come to that, we are told in Hebrews. But we can go further, and say we are of that. We belong to it. Hebrews does not go so far as that. It says, “Ye have come ... to the assembly of the firstborn who are registered in heaven”. And also to refer to chapter 10 of Luke about the same thing.
Well, about our tongues. Let us see whether there is the poison of asps. That is what James depicts in his epistle, and what is so solemn. “The tongue is a little member, and boasts great things. See how little a fire, how large a wood it kindles!” Sometimes you see thousands and thousands of acres on fire, and a little box of matches, or one match, may have started it. The tongue has great power for good or for evil. So we are reminded how much we may set on fire by our tongues. “Which sets fire to the course of nature”, James says, “and is set on fire of hell”. In order to get to our chapter we have to learn to judge these things, which means, of course, much from the epistles to be understood, to apply the death of Christ to our tongues, because it is a question of the new man. The new man has a tongue, and the old man has, too, alas! But the new man is true to all of us who are Christians. And the new man would speak right things, words of peace, words of truth. It is a time of speaking peace to one another. Peace coming out of heaven to us, for that is what the Lord Jesus says three times in John 20, “Peace unto you”. I would urge all the young people to read the 3rd chapter of James tonight, to show how easily we may slip into the use of our tongues in a false and wicked way, so that we may learn to judge all that and to arrive at what it says here, “They ... began to speak with other
tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance”. And what did they speak about? The wonderful works of God. That is what they were speaking about. This matter of speaking may mean long speeches at times, if necessary. We are told that at Troas, as they assembled to break bread, Paul discoursed to them till midnight — a long discourse. It only reminds us as to what I have been saying about our tongues. That we may learn to get other tongues. That is, the new man bringing forth purified thoughts, speaking right things, speaking peace and love to one another.
I am now speaking of this wonderful event, this mighty breathing, and the evidence of it in the tongues. And what opportunities there are, now there is peace on earth. It will be only a little while, dear brethren. Not that I am prophesying, but I read the Scriptures and I can see it is not for very long. “When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them”. 1 Thessalonians 5: 3. These are honest facts, and it is for us to face them, and to understand the times. What times they are. Thirty years ago the times were difficult, but not so bad as now; what can we say about thirty years hence? But this we can say, This time is ours. And God has opened up doors to us and He has given men ability to preach the gospel, to teach, and to do other things. It is a time to be doing. And so this book I have read from begins with this, “All things which Jesus began both to do and to teach”. First doing, then teaching. Then in the 2nd chapter three thousand persons are converted, and they persevered in the teaching of the apostles. You say, How wonderful! It is no accident that the three thousand are mentioned. It is to show what God can do under given circumstances. And what can He not do under these circumstances which we are in? It is a question, dear brethren, of our being ready, and what is to be [p. 142] done. Whatever our hands find to do, to do it. Luke says by the Spirit in Acts 1, “All things which Jesus began both to do and to teach”. So that, as I am saying, it is a great opportunity for us at this present moment. I am certain of it. It is no question of prophecy. It is something anyone can see if one has discernment. I would quote David, “Blessed be thy discernment”. And of the children of Issachar, it says they had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.
It is a question of doing. God has been doing great things, terrible things, but He has brought His people through. What a doing that was! Another Exodus, as it were, reminding us of when the Lord Jesus will come to take His people out of it altogether. It is simply a prelude to that. He is going to do it thoroughly and effectively. Every one of us will be caught up. In Acts 8, a great evangelist was caught away by the Spirit. I mean Philip the evangelist. Not Philip the apostle, but Philip the evangelist. He is a different man. What a great person! He had an experience that no other evangelist had, as far as I know. No evangelist was ever raptured by the Spirit of God except Philip. He was let down to the earth again to continue his preaching; he was found at Azotus, we are told, and passing through he announced the glad tidings to all the cities till he came to Caesarea. But it was Peter who evangelised Cornelius, in Caesarea. That was Peter’s work. I am only speaking of what enters into the moment. The idea of being ready in the service of God. And again, we find Peter in an ecstasy, another great event. An ecstasy is not exactly a rapture. That is to say, the Spirit caught away Philip, and he was then found at Azotus. But Peter was on the housetop; he went up on the housetop to pray. We have inklings of what enters into the service. And who of us is not in it?
[p. 143] It is our opportunity. And so Peter was on the housetop, getting a wonderful outlook into the field of God, into the Mediterranean. That is the sphere of Paul’s labours; he says, “From Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ”. Romans 15: 19. That is the idea that has come down to us, and it is intended to enlarge our hearts and to teach us to be evangelical, to seize the opportunity according to God.
Peter went up to the housetop to pray; not to get a view of the Mediterranean, I do not mean that at all. There is not much in such views. There is not much in those bags strapped over the shoulder; I do not think much of them. I am speaking now of where we are in our eyes and in our feelings, that our own sphere is above. We are away from home when we are down here. We are not in our place at all but we are in a place of testimony. We may find it difficult, but we are to be with God in doing something, accomplishing something. It is a time of work, dear brethren. So Peter was on the housetop, he had gone there to pray, and he became hungry and desired to eat. But as they were making ready an ecstasy came upon him, and he saw the heaven opened and a certain vessel descending unto him, as a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to earth, in which were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. It all pointed to what God can do in spite of what men think. Peter did not understand, but he came to it. If we do not come to it, we do not understand the assembly. In that sheet let down from heaven, in which were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and in the three occasions, too, what history for heaven and for earth!
And now I proceed to the second passage read, as to the matter being written in heaven. It is said in [p. 144] the 1st verse of Luke 10, that the Lord appointed seventy other’s also, and sent them two and two before His face into every city and place, whither He Himself would come. Seventy others were taken up as well as the twelve, and they had wonderful success. In verse 17 it says, “The seventy returned again with joy” — an experience we all have in the Lord’s service — “saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you”. These are very encouraging words for those who are in the service, and all of us. “Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven”. Now it is only just a word as to this, which leads up to the passage in Hebrews. That is, the Lord is dignifying us as we proceed in His service, we are mighty men in service. The demons were subject to them, they said, through His name. They did not attribute it to themselves; they attributed it to His name, which is to their credit. This is what they said to the Lord. They say, “Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name”. Now the Lord says to them, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven”. I do not stop to dwell on this. It is a prophetic suggestion, how the devil will be turned out of heaven, the great war. We know about the war spoken of in Revelation. I do not stop to dwell on that, but it is involved in this.
And later in Luke, chapter 19, instead of peace on earth, as was said by the angels at the Lord’s birth, it is peace in heaven. “Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest”. That is what Luke presents in his gospel, what we may look for, And I need not say [p. 145] that that must come about before there will be peace on earth. We get “On earth peace” in chapter 2, but in chapter 19 it is “Peace in heaven”. And that involves our place in heaven. Our place is up there This is not our place. Our place is up there. It is as simple as anything can be as presented in the Scriptures. And the question is, Are we getting ready for it? When you are getting to seventy or eighty you begin to see the necessity for it. Perhaps you have not seen the necessity for it yet, but I have and many others have, too. We are enjoined to “number our days, that we may acquire a wise heart”. Psalm 90: 12. Not to be foolish in old age, but just to be getting ready for heaven, for going to be with the Lord, to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
“This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come ...” Acts 1: 11. It is the public appearing of the Lord, which we are enjoined to love; we are to love His appearing. “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven”. The interim in all this is leading on to over nineteen centuries. And what a history in heaven we shall see presently! The whole of Paul’s doctrine, the whole of Paul’s work, the whole result of his work will be seen. Well, that is the position we are in, waiting for the Lord to return. “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven”. I verily believe that the Lord’s Supper, in the sense of order and continuous thoughts, the order that enters into the Supper and all that follows, all are intended to bring us into conformity with the Lord’s ways, His manner. “In like manner”. There is to be correspondence with all that belongs to heaven in all our ways here until the Lord takes us all up into glory.
Well now, just to finish. How thoughtful the Lord [p. 146] was, not discrediting what they were doing, but indicating that they had to learn how to rejoice. I wonder whether I know how to rejoice really in the sense in which the Lord spoke of it. He spoke of it in His own experience. And Paul speaks of it, “Rejoice”, he says to the Philippians, “and again I say, Rejoice”. It is that we may learn how to rejoice, to be buoyant; and yet working, doing the thing that is needed, and doing it well. And so the Lord recognises what they did, but He says, “Not withstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven”.
Now I go on to the last passage read. We are viewed as having come to the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem; and to myriads of angels, the universal gathering; and to the assembly of the firstborn who are registered in heaven. We are seen in that chapter, Hebrews 12, as coming to this. What I am seeking to bring out now is that we belong to it. Hebrews does not take us on to that, but Ephesians does. Ephesians tells us that we are already made to sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. It is anticipatively so. And that is what we want to understand, dear brethren, that we belong to heaven. It has to be said in the sense of anticipation, it is true. “God ... has raised us up together, and has made us sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus”. We may reach it in our assembly service. I would urge it again, what is involved in the service of God, what is opened up to us through the Lord’s service, the manner of Christ, the ways of heaven come down here in the service of God. All intending that we should be led up.
And see, the Spirit’s power
Has ope’d the heav’nly door,
Has brought us to that favoured hour
When toil shall all be o’er. (74:5)
[p. 147] Well, the writer of that hymn knew something of what I have been saying, what it involves, the heavenly position, the heavenly place, heavenly experience. What belongs to the service of God up there, and what we belong to eternally, we are already touching. And so it is, as I said, “the assembly of the firstborn”. The Authorised version does not give the sense. It is in the plural, referring to the firstborn in Egypt, but particularly to the Levites. I would direct you to the 3rd chapter of Numbers, which speaks about the family of the Levites, and the 4th chapter which speaks about the service of the Levites. The family is what we are speaking of now. The family of the Levites was taken instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel. And that is what is here, that every one in the assembly is a firstborn, which is not possible in any other family. It is the assembly of the firstborn who are registered in heaven. I would advise you to read and understand the 23rd verse of this chapter, Hebrews 12. Read all the items there mentioned, the whole passage, as to what we come to, and then understand that one of the things we come to is composed of ourselves, it is the assembly of the firstborn, every one is a firstborn, “the assembly of the firstborn who are registered in heaven”. We come to that. But we are it. Ephesians contemplates that we are already caught up to heaven and made to sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.
May the Lord bless the word.