ELEVATION

^[p. 294] ELEVATION

Luke 24: 50 - 53; Acts 1: 9 - 14

In reading these two scriptures I have in view the idea of elevation. Luke the writer of both emphasizes this idea; you get it throughout his gospel and also in the Acts.

He, as you will remember, speaks of the Highest (Luke 1:35) in recording the announcement of the angel to Mary — “power of the Highest overshadow thee”. And again in chapter 2: 14 in communicating the saying of the multitude of the heavenly host at the birth of Christ, he speaks of “Glory to God in the highest”. And in recording the report of the seventy as having been sent out by the Lord in service, he mentions that the Lord said to them, “Rejoice not, that the spirits are subjected to you, but rejoice that your names are written in the heavens”, Luke 10: 20. Further in recording the praises that greeted the Lord as He entered Jerusalem the last time, he records that they said, “Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest”, Luke 19: 38.

In keeping with all these references as Luke writes his second letter to Theophilus, he tells him in chapter 2 that from heaven came the sound of a rushing mighty wind. He is in Acts occupied with what is coming out of heaven; as in his gospel he referred to what was in heaven or going to heaven. So in Acts 9 he speaks of a light from heaven; that is again something coming out of heaven; in chapter 10 he speaks of a vessel as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners descending out of heaven; so that whilst in the gospel he occupies us with the wonderful elevation in heaven, and what is there — glory, and the names of the saints, peace, in Acts he speaks of what comes out of it. He speaks thus to bring into view what is here in this provisional period in the way of testimony. What is here is of that kind or it is not in accord with the mind of God; it comes out of heaven morally, but none the less really. The Spirit comes out, “a sound out of heaven as of a violent impetuous blowing” involving something irresistible here; and then a light from heaven exceeding all that was known here “above the brightness of the sun”; and with it the voice of a man and that Man Jesus; then the vessel descending from the opened heaven is suggestive of the house of God.

Luke has in view that the house of God as here in the assembly is the residence of God in His attitude of grace towards men, just as in the gospel He had spoken of “my house”. God has that in which He can reside here, and in which He sets out His grace; the vessel having come out of heaven knows, as it were, the mind of heaven; the vessel contains what God has cleansed; that suffices whatever man may think. The sheet was knit at the four corners, it was firmly held, and let down thrice; “it came even to me”, Peter said. It contained what God had cleansed; it came down here three times and was received back to heaven — a wonderful sign of the dispensation. It is a wonderful dispensation! and one of the greatest features of the moment is that God would retain amongst His people a due estimate of this. And hence my desire is to call your attention to this feature of elevation that we might not be found on the level of current religion, with nothing elevated about it, which has dropped to the level of the ancient religions of the world, long since proved spurious. Christianity has dropped to the religious level of the world, long since effete and without moral value. The best of these has grown old and aged and has been discarded by God as a worn-out garment, good for nothing. So God would recall His people to what was at the beginning of this dispensation — the house of God, suggesting what is elevated, for as coming out of heaven it must be so.

God proposed to Ahaz of old to ask for a sign, “Ask for it in the deep, or in the height above”, Isaiah 7: 11. Poor Ahaz, without faith — like the modern religionists — did not ask for it in either place. If we soar up, we cannot go too high for God, for Jesus personally is beyond our very highest conceptions, “far above all heavens”. It was the privilege of Ahaz to ask for a sign. God says, as it were,

Soar up, there is no limit. “Ask for it ... in the height above”. I think that Luke in his gospel answers to the divine proposal; he presents to us a sign in the highest; he presents Jesus in the very highest spot. Who can measure the elevation of it — gone, as it is said, “far above all heavens”? Thence it is the gifts are given; we are not left in the dark as to His mind. Luke also gives us a sign in the deep, for the elevation is in keeping with the wonderful descent of Christ, and that is morally right. Man has gone up, “He that descended is the same who has also ascended”. “But that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth?” Who can fathom these parts? Job speaks of the miner (Job 28) going down in quest of minerals, but what about wisdom? It went further — “Destruction and death say, We have heard its report with our ears”, verse 22. Far beneath the regions explored by the miner did wisdom go — He went down to the lower parts of the earth. We can follow, and it is well to dwell upon the marvellous depths to which the Lord went down — “The waters encompassed me, to the soul ... . The bars of the earth closed upon me for ever”, Jonah 2: 5 - 6. Such is the language of the Spirit of Christ; all the waves of God’s judgment rolled over Him. But He ascends for us that upward, shining way, and as God proposed to Ahaz, so we too are invited to soar upward. Our Head has gone up, the Head of the race, “God, who has raised him from among the dead and given him glory, that your faith and hope should be in God”, 1 Peter 1: 21. He “is ... gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being subjected to him”, 1 Peter 3: 22. What thoughts these are! The Lord Jesus has gone on high and the testimony here is according to that. It is not to be on the level of accredited worldly religion such as, alas, Christianity has become publicly. The Lord would direct us to the sign in the heights. There is nothing more elevating than that. What is the sign today and during the whole period of the dispensation? Jesus sitting at the right hand of God. Stephen saw Him standing, and that is in keeping with the end of Luke. Stephen is finishing the chapter with his testimony.

^[p. 297] Elisha may be taken to represent what I am speaking of: he was to take Elijah’s place in the testimony. God maintains His right to testify, and He would have vessels in keeping with Himself. Elijah says to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for thee, before I am taken away from thee”. If service is to be of real value, you need to ask: you cannot undertake it in your own strength. Many have done so and have brought discredit on the testimony. In raising up the testimony, we should first know what it is to pour water on the hands of those older and more honoured in the testimony. Elisha poured water on the hands of Elijah, he did not enter the testimony as a rival to Elijah, but he refreshed the hands already weary as labouring in the testimony. Elisha was told to ask, and if we are to do a service we must ask, for what hast thou that thou hast not received? If we have not received, we have nothing, whatever we may have acquired by study. So Elisha asked and he did not ask amiss, as we often do, to consume it upon his lusts, or to cause him to shine for man’s approbation here. Elisha says, I have a great appreciation of your spirit. So as we follow the footsteps of Jesus in the gospels what a wonderful spirit we see! So Elisha says, I want that spirit and plenty of it — a double portion of it. We have a wonderful place, the place of the first-born — a double portion. Joseph received one portion above his brethren, though he was not the first-born. So Elisha got a double portion, Elisha said, If you see me when I go, but his mind had to be trained. The Lord would train us to look up.

The temple was roughly 180 feet high; this added to the height of Zion gives one some conception of the material elevation. What an imposing spectacle as one approaches it! “Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion” — and the temple crowned it, towering up 180 or more feet. It is a remarkable suggestion of elevation. God would train His people to the principle of elevation, and so we are enjoined to set our minds on things above. Elisha had to be trained — Elijah says, “If thou see me when I am taken”. The mind has to be trained to the upward look; the Lord Himself lifted up His eyes to ^[p. 298] heaven; He looked there, not down, and so Elisha, as you can understand, being intent on obtaining what he desired; kept his eyes on Elijah. This is similar to the end of Luke, for faith followed Him and the end of the path was upward. Elisha saw Elijah go up, and he obtained his desire. Then he took hold and rent in pieces his own garments, discarding what he might have relied on naturally. Let us learn something from this. Your garment is what you have been wearing; discard the old wholly and learn to wear the new. God gives not His Spirit by measure; the Holy Spirit is here; what resources are ours! Elisha, having obtained his desire, took up the mantle of Elijah which fell from him, and smiting the waters crossed the Jordan. What will he do in the swelling of Jordan? What Christ did in the swelling of Jordan is a lesson book for all. How shall we fathom it? Jordan was driven back, “What ailed thee, thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou turnedst back?” Think of the power of Christ! Think of a man like Stephen in the swelling of Jordan, how exhilarating as we dwell on him there! For testimony or service we have to learn what to do in the swelling of Jordan. Death has to be faced experimentally or we shall carry our own feelings and natural aspirations into the service of God, and that is disastrous. We are exposed at every step unless we know what to do in the swelling of Jordan. Where is the Lord God of Elijah? For us, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who raised Him from the dead. We too are, raised with Him through faith of the operation of God who raised Him from the dead. So Elisha comes back from the Jordan possessed with the spirit of Elijah to take up his service in the testimony of God.

The company in Luke 24 is like Elisha, they get the blessing and power and return to Jerusalem with great joy. They worshipped Him “and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God”. That was a wonderful contribution in the way of testimony to Israel; there was adequate witness there. Now in Acts 1 we have not the temple but material for the house. In the gospel of Luke we get the expression of the divine grace towards the city ^[p. 299] instead of judgment. Think of the magnitude of that! Testimony in grace was rendered by the disciples praising and blessing God. But in Acts 1 we are looking assemblywise, and so they see Him go up and two men stand by in white apparel. The women at the grave in Luke 24 saw two men in shining garments, heavenly men, but here we have not only that but white, indicating purity — an essential feature of our position. These two men say, “Why do ye stand looking into heaven?” Then they returned to Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey, and went to the upper room, not to the temple. Many today have despised the upper room and prefer the cathedral, which ministers to the flesh and represents those religions that are effete, which God has rejected. There is nothing for God there, but much for the flesh. Let us take sides with God. These men who returned were spoken to by men in white garments; the upper room and white garments go together. The overcomers in Sardis are to walk with Him in white; to walk with Jesus in white is to go to the upper room now; and that involves reproach: there are no stained windows or choir there. They went to the upper room; there we see the assembly, a heavenly vessel, a vessel in which the mind of heaven is expressed on earth. They found men dwelling there, “where were staying both Peter, and John, and James”, we read, suggesting that the assembly is the abiding place of affection, and also where the authority of Christ is represented. Peter and the apostles are representative of the authority of the Lord; unless that authority is owned there is no room for the Spirit. With these men there were many others — “the crowd of names who were together was about a hundred and twenty”, Acts 1: 15. Each had a name, something to mark him off spiritually, something of account in the assembly, a spiritual status or energy of life-giving character, for that is what I believe is embodied in a name.

The viewpoint in Acts 1 is toward the assembly. Acts had the assembly in view, the initial idea of the assembly, so that men went to the upper room. Let us learn to go there today, and dwell there where abode Peter and the apostles, with the brethren of Christ; the Lord’s relations were ^[p. 300] there; it is wonderful to be where they are. In the light of the Lord’s present position on high we are here in testimony. Our ways are not to be like the ways of the world, but according to the elevation of our position, heavenly ways. We may say, See what is being effected by human methods — but obedience is better than sacrifice.

If the assembly began with the upper room and men clothed in white, God has not changed His mind. These things are to mark the end. The assembly is the place where the authority of Christ is represented, and where the brethren of Christ dwell.