VESSELS OF HEAVENLY TESTIMONY
[p. 159] VESSELS OF HEAVENLY TESTIMONY
What was particularly on my heart to speak of was this “vessel”, which is described by Peter as being like a great sheet descending from heaven to him, “bound by the four corners and let down to the earth;” having in view to dwell on the fact that it came down out of the opened heavens. Heaven gives character to the present time, whether we view Christ as coming out of it, or the Spirit as coming out of it, or the assembly as coming out of it. Indeed, we must regard all vessels that are employed by the Spirit as having come out of heaven morally. If they have not, they cannot rightly present the great features of the moment.
The things I have referred to show that the moment is characterised by heaven and what comes out of heaven, so that if one is to be a vessel for the Lord’s use, one has to come thence in a moral way. The Lord speaks of Himself, as recorded in John’s gospel, as having come down from heaven, and the service of God is seen perfectly in Him. John the baptist said, “He who comes from above is above all” (John 3: 31). The baptist had acquired an appreciation of Christ as come “from above” and as having come “out of heaven”. Heaven has therefore the priority, and John’s gospel would impress upon us at the outset that we have come into that which has the first place, the greatest place. So that John the baptist disappears joyfully, like the angels who had announced, according to Luke, the birth of Christ — who had announced that the Son had become Man. They were wholly unjealous. John had not an atom of jealousy in his heart that One had come upon the scene to take precedence of all.
Now John stood (John 1: 35), meaning that he [p. 160] discerned that now his work was done; Another had come in, and in standing, he admired the walk of that Other. He saw in that walk perfect correspondence with the light he had received from the Spirit of God as to this wonderful Person. God had made it known to him that He upon whom he saw the Spirit descending, was He that should baptise with the Holy Spirit, and he says, “I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God” (John 1: 34). His witness was in keeping with the revelation made to him; but now he sees the walk, that which was here in perfect keeping with the place whence He came. It says, “Looking at Jesus as he walked;” not now the Son of God, but Jesus, the Man, here. He says, “Behold the Lamb of God”. That was the light. John valued that walk, for that walk disclosed the life of Jesus. John called attention to Him, and his two disciples followed Jesus. It was a testimony from his heart; later, in answering certain inquiries, he said, “He who comes from above is above all”. Then he says, “He who comes out of heaven is above all”. He has brought the characteristics of heaven in His walk. He is personally above all, but He is also morally above all. That is what marks the gospel of John; it is the heavenly Man come in. So He says later, “I am come down from heaven, not that I should do my will, but the will of him that has sent me” (John 6: 38). He came here with that resolve, and it marked His every movement — to do the will of Him that sent Him.
So it says in John 10: 18, “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it again. I have received this commandment of my Father”. It is a marvellous statement. He laid down His life as a matter of obedience; He had authority to do it, and to take it up again absolutely independent of man here. So at the end He lifts up His eyes to heaven. Having finished the work which the Father gave Him to do,
[p. 161] He discloses to His disciples His precious interests down here. What a moment that was for the Father! He is speaking anticipatively of the cross, which was yet future; He says, “I have completed the work which thou gavest me that I should do it” (John 17: 4). He is speaking to heaven, and He proceeds to speak of those whom the Father had given to Him. He was sanctified and sent out, and now He says, “Sanctify them by the truth: thy word is truth” (verse 17). They are placed in the hands of Him who is in heaven. It is the Father’s work to sanctify those whom He was about to send into the world. So that there is a heavenly company upon earth. In the last chapter He breathed on them, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit”. He is setting them up in the full dignity of the position. Then He says, “As the Father sent me forth, I also send you” (John 20: 21). Not now as apostles, for John does not present to us the apostles as such: he presents disciples — disciples sent out with the word, “Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted to them; whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained” (verse 3). That is our position, dear brethren, in this world: a heavenly people here, set up in the light of our heavenly relationships, and actuated by the Spirit of Him who came out of heaven.
Now Luke runs parallel with this, so he brings heaven into view. In Acts 9, he records for us that the light shone out of heaven, meaning that Jerusalem, although long borne with as God’s centre on earth, was now about to be given up. Light and communications henceforth were to be from heaven, so that a vessel is now announced who is to be used in this heavenly testimony. The Lord says to Ananias, “Go, for this man is an elect vessel to me”. We have to take that expression in relation to its setting. Its setting indicated a light out of heaven and a voice out of heaven, and that voice is the voice of a Man in heaven — Jesus. It is a voice of sympathy with men, for He says, “Saul, Saul why dost thou persecute me?” “It is hard for thee to kick against goads” (Acts 26: 14). It is a voice of sympathy; it is hard for thee: that is particularly Luke’s side. Heaven is sympathetic with men, even with one who was the bitterest opponent of the truth. The chosen vessel is in relation to this wonderful setting. The idea of a vessel is very simple, and indeed we find the word much used in Scripture. The fact that it is employed in regard to Paul is of peculiar significance. The others were called out, but we do not find the word employed in regard to them. Peter was made a fisher of men; John and Andrew were called too. But here it is a vessel — an “elect vessel”. A vessel in a person’s house is wholly at that person’s requirement or use. Whatever use he has for it, the vessel is there; it is wholly available. Ananias was hardly in keeping with this because he was questioning. The Lord would put him in his place. The idea of a vessel is, “Here am I; send me” (Isaiah 6: 8). Would an angel for a moment question if sent on an errand? No; angels are wholly at the divine disposal.
Ananias learns that the Lord has found one who would be wholly available for any service — the most menial; that of a deacon: not that one refers to it with any reproach. Paul never appointed any one to do a work which he could do himself. Not only that, but Paul did the work of a tent-maker; he worked with his hands in order to be able to supply the need of others. Whatever was to be done for the furtherance of the interests of Christ, he was there to do it. That is the idea of a vessel. The Lord says, “This man is an elect vessel to me, to bear my name before both nations and kings and the sons of Israel”. How well he did it, later records show; but the Lord here refers to it. You say, ‘He was a great man; he was used to the conversion of men’. Thank God for it; but the Lord says,
“an elect vessel to me”. What has this one or that one been for Christ? What am I for Christ? What use has He made of me? Here is one who is to be wholly at the bidding of Christ.
Now the word ‘vessel’ is carried into the next chapter, and it is used by Peter to describe this wonderful sheet come down. A sheet is a wide idea. It has four corners; it is a vessel out of heaven. It is a vessel available to heaven. It refers to what there is in this world provisionally at the present time, containing what God has cleansed. Take certain religious institutions that exist; some of them have great antiquity, others are more modern. Have they got four corners? Are they universal? Take the greatest of them, which claims to be catholic; it is not catholic, it has not four corners. It is a locality, pretending to influence and control universally; it has not four corners. One corner of the sheet has the same value as the other corner; there is no difference, whereas that great system called Roman Catholicism is not so marked. Does it contain what God has cleansed? What God has cleansed is precious; no one is to call it common. The qualifications for that system are not divine. If one but had the opportunity, one would like to say to those in it, “Come out of her, my people”. In her is found, not what God has cleansed, but “demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hated bird” (Revelation 18: 2). One might come nearer home, and look at other systems less guilty. Can a national system be four-cornered? No; it has not four corners; it is national. Does the Anglican system provide for what God has cleansed? No, beloved; it does not. Nor do the others. It would be well if the people of God were enabled to see this. They are full of what God has not cleansed, and no one can breathe in them spiritually. To enjoy the good of the Spirit of God, believers have to get out of them.
[p. 164] But there is here this wonderful thing, without much pretension; just a sheet come down out of the opened heavens. I have no doubt there is the thought of mercy in it; there is nothing in it to cause inconvenience or discomfort. Mongolians, Africans — all are in it; but they are in it as cleansed of God. It represents the provisional institution that God has here come out of heaven morally as a sheet, but it is about to go up again. Wonderful prospect! That which we are in is about to be transferred to heaven. I understand it to be the house of God; the assembly is the house of God, as Luke presents it to us. Luke presents the provisional order of things which God has established in this world. It is morally out of heaven; there is nothing of earth in it. So that, with those who form this wonderful institution, the great exercise should be to convey the heavenly features. It is a vessel coming out of heaven. Peter got the light as to this. The time had come for it, and he admitted Cornelius. He opened his mouth in the light of the four-cornered sheet. His mouth was part of the vessel. He says, “I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him”. It is a great thing to lay hold of; it saves us from localism and nationalism. We are in accord with heaven. We want to be in accord with that four-cornered sheet coming down and going up again, and that repeated thrice. “What God has cleansed:” it runs parallel with John’s “whosoever”.
John says, “Every one that believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God” (1 John 5: 1). This light enables us in our service to be heavenly vessels — vessels sanctified and serviceable to the Master; we move here in the light and character of heaven. We are morally out of heaven, so that we are not adding something to what is here as an improvement. The assembly is entirely new and heavenly, and forms no part of this world;
[p. 165] it is outside of it. I confess that I know less about that than anything — that wonderful new thing come out of heaven, which is left here provisionally, so that the mind and character of heaven might be witnessed to here. Then it is taken up again, to come out in another world as “the holy city” that comes “down out of the heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her shining was like a most precious stone” (Revelation 21: 10, 11). That is the final issue of the suggestions we get in this chapter: the heavenly city coming down from God out of heaven. It is universal in its bearing, for it “lies foursquare”. The assembly illuminates everything in that day: so we should today. As we view ourselves in relation to the house of God, we think of all the saints. Our prayers include all.
One has ever to be exercised as to whether his prayers are “four-cornered” ones. The golden altar was one cubit square, suggesting unity and universality. I have often been exercised as to the prayers of the saints. The first epistle to Timothy is intended to govern us in our behaviour in the house of God, and this involves our prayers. So that men are to pray everywhere: prayer, intercession, and supplication should be made for all men. This is acceptable to God, “For God is one, and the mediator of God and men one, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2: 5, 6). That is really the principle of the four-cornered sheet. We express it in our prayers. One likes to go to a place where prayer is “wont to be made”, but there is often great disappointment, because the four corners are not in evidence. The Lord had every one of His saints in His heart when He died; He has them in all His heart now. He knows every one by name. There are a great many isolated saints; we forget them often — saints living in distant lands. The nearer we get to the Lord, the more we embrace them in our prayers. The Colossians had love in the Spirit; in measure, they loved as God [p. 166] loves. Love in the Spirit is free from the discrimination occasioned by personal, local, or national feeling. It enables us to pray for all saints, and indeed for all men.
One would be exercised that the features of the dispensation should continue until the end. God has not changed at all; the conditions in heaven remain, and the nearer we get to God, the more we shall desire that things here should be in keeping with what God has established in heaven, so that the gospel in its general bearings, as well as the ministry to the saints should be maintained in the light and grace of heaven; that we might be vessels chosen, separated from those unto dishonour, to be vessels unto honour, sanctified and meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.