ADMINISTRATION
[p. 302] ADMINISTRATION
Revelation 4: 1 - 8; Matthew 28: 9, 10; Matthew 28:16 - 20; Acts 1: 1 - 5; Acts 1:8
I desire to speak of the administration and dignity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and have put these scriptures together to show how the subject is presented by Matthew, and in the Acts by Luke. John is, as ever, the reserve man, the disciple whom Jesus reserved for the emergency that was foreknown to Him, hence we have with John in Revelation that which is in the way of reserve. He appears, not in the office of an apostle, but as a brother and a companion of suffering saints. In our days it is a matter of immense importance to have a brother such as John, and a companion, one who suffered in the kingdom and patience in Jesus; these two go together. In the light of the kingdom and in the enjoyment of its power, we can afford to be patient.
John was in Spirit on the Lord’s day, and would have his face toward heaven, as we all, if we are spiritual, would desire to have on the first day of the week. He hears a voice behind him and says, “I turned back to see”, not to hear; and having turned, he sees Christ, clothed with ample authority to enforce His will. In view of the working of man’s will in the house of God, Christ is seen as furnished with the means of asserting His will; His countenance was like the sun shining in his power. John sees Him walking in the midst of the seven candlesticks, evidently hampered as regards the display of His affections, for He is girt with a golden girdle, but His will must prevail.
After this John is taken up to heaven and he sees a door opened in heaven. If we follow in John’s way we shall see these opened doors, “I have set before thee an opened door”, says the Lord to Philadelphia:
[p. 303] a door that had been opened. John sees a door opened in heaven and hears a voice saying, “Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter”. He is allowed to see a throne standing in the heavens. He had already seen the Judge walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. It is a very solemn thing to see the Lord moving about with eyes of flaming fire, seeing everything, and armed with power to enforce His will. Every-thing that has occurred in that which professes to be the house of God shall come under the special observation of Christ. In regard of the work of building, Paul says, “the fire shall try every man’s work”. (1 Corinthians 3: 13) Not simply the whole structure, but every man’s work shall be tried by itself, of what sort it is.
John sees a throne standing in heaven. We have come to a remarkable time in the history of this world. Thrones do not seem to stand, but this throne is said to stand. John sees it standing in the heavens, and One on it with ample power for the enforcement of the will of God in this creation. The creation of God is in view, not now the house of God, and this throne stands; it is far beyond the reach of democratic influences; it cannot be swept away with any democratic flood. John sees the One sitting there like a jasper and a sardine stone, and the rainbow is there. That is a beautiful touch. There is no rainbow round any human throne. The very best covenant a king can make depends on what he is, not only in his heart, but in regard to his ability. When we come to God’s throne, the rainbow is there, a token of the covenant made ages before. There it stands, the bow that God set in the clouds. “It shall be a covenant between me and you and the beasts of the earth”. (Genesis 9: 13) God never forgets His covenant. He not only has the disposition, but He has the power to carry out His designs of love.
Now the idea of a covenant in Scripture is a [p. 304] much more extensive one than most of us are disposed to think. It is God’s way of dealing with man. He graciously condescends to take account of us as we are. We are very limited. Paul, one of the very greatest of men, knew but in part and prophesied in part. God takes account of our limitations and expresses His disposition towards us in such a form that it can be taken into our minds and hearts. So we find the principle of a covenant from the beginning, both with Adam and Noah. When God sets His throne in the heavens, He is not forgetting the covenant He made with man on the earth. Let us not be forgetful of the full meaning of the signs that God gives to us.
In the Lord’s supper we have a sign; the bread and the cup are tokens to our hearts of divine love. Let us not be forgetful of that. They speak to our hearts of the love which is in Christ Jesus. We are in the covenant of that blessed Man who is indeed a divine person. The cup presents to us the love that should govern the heart of every Christian. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, but it is all in Christ. God has given to us that which constantly reminds us of that, a sign for our hearts of what is in His heart. He has found an outlet for His love in the death of Christ, and an inlet for the same love into my heart by the Holy Spirit. The cup is the new covenant in Christ’s blood. As intelligent creatures we look up to the rainbow and enjoy what God has engaged Himself to centuries ago. So we, in the power of the Spirit, can enjoy what God has given to us in Christ, the unlimited love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So in regard to the throne; there it is, the token of God’s engagement in regard to His creation. It is our privilege to look on that bow and be assured that, although creation groans and travails in pain together until the present moment, yet its deliverance is [p. 305] nigh. This throne is the assurance to our hearts that God will intervene and secure the complete deliverance of the creation. “For thy pleasure they are and were created”. (Revelation 4: 11) God is going to have all for His pleasure. So the throne is to that end, that He may secure the complete emancipation of creation from the thraldom of Satan. That is what John sees in the throne.
Then the elders are there, also on thrones, for the One on the throne is surrounded by those who have intelligent sympathy. Alongside the elders were four living creatures. We see thus the manner of God’s throne and of His administration. It is supported by elders, men of experience in the ways of God, now crowned and enthroned. Then the creatures themselves, the representatives of the whole creation, are there; they are living creatures. The creation has been brought under the power of sin and death, but these are living creatures; they are executors of the throne. The heads of the various families are to be the executors of this wonderful throne. They ascribe holiness to the One who sits on it, for it is the throne of God.
We have come to a period in which human thrones are simply crumbling; they are about to be swept away, but here is one that is set in the heavens. How encouraging for our hearts! In the book of Ezekiel, chapter 1, you have a parallel passage, and I want to call attention to the point the Spirit makes as regards Him who sits on the throne. He says “From the appearance of his loins upwards and the appearance of his loins downwards was as the appearance of fire ... ... as the bow that is in the cloud,” Ezekiel 1:27. It is Christ who sits on the throne, and the measurement is from the loins, upwards and downwards. I take that to refer to the affections of Christ as going out in sympathy to others. In John 7 from the inward parts of the believer flow out rivers of [p. 306] living water. So in connection with the bow we see the faithfulness of God to His creation in the blessed Man who is taken account of from the loins upward and downward; the sympathies of a man are on that almighty throne, and yet with power to carry out the will of God.
Now I turn to Matthew, who presents to us the administration of the gospel. I would dwell on the manner in which He sets up the means of administration for His disciples here, pending the establishment of the kingdom publicly. You will observe that all is given in administrative dignity in Matthew. He sends a message to His brethren. He owns them as His brethren, but He says; Tell them to go into Galilee. It is a dignified message from the Administrator to those who were to be associated with Him in a subordinate way in administration. If we are set up here in any way, there is to be a respectful recognition of the dignity of Christ as set over us. Matthew, in presenting the transfiguration, says His countenance was like the sun. That is the touch he gives us, which is in keeping with what he has in his mind. We must recognise the dignity of this great Person. All have to pay worshipful reverence to Him. In sending the message to His disciples, He tells them to go to Galilee, to a mountain, and they will see Him there. We have to learn that. It is not here the blessed enjoyment of privilege in the assembly. You go, and you see Him there. So it says, in Matthew 28: 17, “when they saw him, they worshipped him”. That was very suitable. The Lord would fortify our hearts against the present current of the world, which is seen in the way men speak evil of dignities, and seek to overthrow all that speaks of the authority of God. Here in Matthew 28 it is not worship in the assembly; it is the respectful regard that we have of Christ as set up in the place of authority; “but some doubted”. Alas!
[p. 307] if there is a doubt in our hearts. Let the Holy Spirit rebuke in our hearts every doubt in regard to Christ, in regard to His dignity and ability to enforce the will of God.
In verse 18 He speaks to them. It is the most wonderful speech that ever issued from a throne; for it was what you might call a speech from the throne. He summons His immediate associates, those He had selected to be with Him, and this is His speech: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth”. Do we believe it? Let us not doubt; let us be sure of the power of the throne. “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations”. That is the commission. What joy it would have given to the heart of John and Peter and to all of them! The more they loved Him, the more it would be joy to their hearts to know that He had all power. “Go and baptise all nations”. He does not raise the question whether the nations would accept baptism. The greatness of the power for it was too much to admit of any such thought at this moment, but no one with spiritual instincts would refuse such a baptism as this. It is to the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That is what we are baptised to. The Lord does not suggest that anyone would refuse. Only the will of man, blinded by the enemy, would refuse such a baptism. It is not the baptism of repentance; it is baptism to all that God is in Christ. “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you”. After baptism comes the authority of God in our souls. Baptism is perfectly futile without that. If your baptism has not been accompanied by faith and by obedience from the heart to that form of teaching into which you have been instructed it is null and void. Israel were all baptised unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, but with many of them God was not well pleased.
I only dwell now on the administrative side of [p. 308] baptism. They were to baptise all nations, and to teach them that the will of God must be done. We have here, in effect, the speech from the throne, the commission, and the teaching; that is to say, the law. We are brought into a system in which Christ administers, in which there is a law, the law of His commandments. When I say law, I do not wish to make you legal; but it is obvious that if we are to be in the fear of Christ there must be rule. In the tabernacle of old and in the temple when you entered there were cherubim in every direction. It is important for young Christians to bear that in mind. There is no room in the house of God for man’s will. The things that God taught the apostles must be carried out. He said to them, “I am with you alway”. How comforting that is. He says, as it were, You may be assured that in all your undertakings, as you are in the execution of my commission, I will support you. That is Matthew.
Now we come to Luke and I want to point out that the Lord Jesus, in commissioning the apostles, does everything by the Spirit; Acts 1: 2. There is no mention of that in Matthew. I would call attention to the manner in which Luke introduces and develops this great subject of administration. He says, “after that he through the Holy Spirit had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen”. Luke immediately introduces the leading characteristic of Christianity, the presence of the Holy Spirit. Matthew may go on to another dispensation, and does, but Luke is engaged with the special feature of Christianity. I mention this so that we might see how the Holy Spirit must be recognised in our souls in this great matter. In the carrying on of any little administration for Christ, it is to be in the power of the Spirit; all else is to be refused. Even the Lord Himself begins by commanding His apostles by the Holy Spirit.
[p. 309] Then another feature that Luke presents is that Christ assembles with His disciples. It is one of the most remarkable expressions. Think of the Lord of glory assembling with men! Mark, it does not state that they assembled and He came, but He assembled with them. It is as if the king entered into parliament and took part in it in his own official dignity. Now it is in this remarkable connection that He says, I command you not to place yourselves in any position where you are not in the power of the Spirit. Take note of this. The Spirit is the Father’s gift that involves Christianity. He assembled with them and commanded them that they should not leave Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came. He presses upon them that as He began by the Spirit to command them, they also must carry on their administration by the Spirit. These are features of the beginning, and if we want to get into Christianity, we must go back to the beginning. I would specially commend this to you; the position the Lord takes up as assembling with His disciples and the prominence He gives to the Holy Spirit, both in His own administration and in theirs, have come before me lately with very great power. If they are to be His witnesses, this must, and can only be, in the power of the Spirit.
I would point out another feature in a passage I have not read. In the end of Luke He is carried up to heaven from Bethany, and the disciples return to Jerusalem and go into the temple. Now in this narrative it states they returned from the mount called Olivet, and further that they went into the upper room at Jerusalem. We have all these features in Christianity. They went into the upper room not into the temple; the Holy Spirit’s activities were in connection with the upper room. The Holy Spirit came upon them there. The eleven, the women, the mother of the Lord, were all abiding in that [p. 310] upper room; there they prayed, and were of one accord, and the Holy Spirit came upon them. These are the features that marked Christianity at the beginning and I believe the Lord would lead us back to them, especially to the recognition of the blessed Spirit of God which we have received.