SPIRITUAL ELEVATION
[p. 49] SPIRITUAL ELEVATION
Luke 24: 50 - 53; Acts 1: 9 - 14
In reading these two scriptures, I had in view the idea of elevation. Luke, the writer of both, emphasises the idea of elevation. He, as you will remember, speaks of “the Highest” in recording the communications of the angel to Mary: the “power of the Highest”, he says, shall “overshadow thee” (Luke 1: 35). And again, in communicating the sayings of the multitude of the heavenly host at the birth of Christ, he speaks of “Glory to God in the highest” (Luke 2: 14). Also, 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, “Yet in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subjected to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10: 20). And further, in recording the praises that greeted the Lord as He entered Jerusalem for 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 he writes his second letter to Theophilus, he tells him in the second chapter that from heaven came the sound “As of a violent impetuous blowing” (Acts 2: 2). He is now occupied with what is coming out of heaven, as in the gospel he referred to what is in heaven, or going into heaven. So in the ninth chapter, he speaks about a light from heaven — again something coming out of heaven; and in the tenth chapter he speaks of a sheet, knit at the four corners, containing all manner of four-footed beasts, descending out of heaven. So that whilst in the gospel he occupies us with the elevation of heaven, and what is there, in the Acts he speaks of what comes out of it. He speaks thus in view of what is here, in the provisional period, in the way of testimony. What is here is of that kind [p. 50] or it is not according to the mind of God. It comes out of heaven. We may say, ‘morally’, to use a well-known word, yet nevertheless really. The Spirit came out as the sound as of a violent impetuous blowing, involving something irresistible here, and then the light, exceeding all that was known here, “Above the brightness of the sun” (Acts 26: 13), and thence the voice of a Man, and that Man — Jesus, then the vessel suggestive of the house of God.
Luke has in view the house of God here in the assembly — the residence of God, in His attitude of grace towards men. God has that in which He can reside here, and in which He sets out, in grace, the vessel having come out of heaven. It contains what God has cleansed. That suffices, whatever men may think. The sheet, knit at the four corners, let down from heaven thrice, Peter says, “It came even to me” (Acts 11: 6). It contained what God had cleansed. It comes down thrice and is received back into heaven — a wonderful sign of the dispensation. It is a wonderful dispensation. One of the greatest features of the moment is that God has maintained amongst His people some estimate of it, and hence my desire and exercise to call your attention to this feature of elevation, that we might not be found on the level of current religion. There is nothing elevating about that. Nominal Christianity has got to the level of the ancient religions of the world, long since proved spurious and worthless; long since declared to be without moral value; the very best of them having grown old so as to be discarded of God as a worn out garment, good for nothing.
So that, the Lord would recall His people to “That which is from the beginning;” even in this respect that the house of God, amongst other features, expresses what is elevating. As having come out of heaven, it must do so. God proposed to Ahaz, of old, to ask for a sign. He says: “Ask for it in [p. 51] the deep, or in the height above” (Isaiah 7: 6). Poor Ahaz, not having faith, like many modern religionists, asks for it in neither place. Literally, it was as though God said to him, ‘Even if you soar up’ we cannot go too high for God, for Jesus is beyond. Jesus, personally, is beyond our very highest conception, passed far above the heavens. It was the privilege of Ahaz to ask for a sign in the height above. There was no limit put upon him. And, I think, that Luke, in his gospel, answers to the divine proposal made to Ahaz; he presents to us the very highest spot. Who can measure the elevation for He is gone, as it is said, “Far above all heavens”, thence He has sent down forgiveness. We are not left down here in ignorance as to His mind there. Ephesians gives us a sign in the “depth;” for the elevation is in keeping with the wonderful descent of Christ. Man has gone up. “He that descended is the same who has also ascended” (Ephesians 4: 10), and He went into the lower parts of the earth. Who can fathom this? Job speaks of those who search the crust of the earth in quest of minerals. But what about wisdom? It went farther. In Job 28: 20 - 22 it says: “Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? For it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the fowl of the heavens. Destruction and death say, We have heard its report with our ears”. Far beneath the region explored by the miner did wisdom act, even down to the lower parts of the earth, we are told. We do well to dwell upon that. And, as God proposed to Ahaz to soar upwards, as we follow the descent to its marvellous depths, as the Lord Jesus went down, how wonderful it is! He went down. He says: “The waters encompassed me, to the soul: The deep was round about me, The weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; The bars of the earth closed upon me for ever”
([p. 52] Jonah 2: 5, 6). Such is the language of the spirit of Christ; and all the waves of God’s judgment rolled over Him. And then the ascent: how love follows that shining way, as Luke presents it; and as God proposed to Ahaz, soars upward!
Let us do that! We are invited to do so. The Head has gone up. The Head of the race, I mean; as Peter says: “God, who has raised him from the dead and given him glory, that your faith and hope should be in God” (1 Peter 1: 21. He further says, “who is at the right hand of God, 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 current, accredited, worldly religion. Such, alas, Christianity has become publicly. The Lord would direct us to the sign above, in the heights. What is that sign today, and indeed, during the whole period of the dispensation? It is, 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 of grace to Israel in his testimony. Elisha may be taken to represent what I am speaking of. He was to take Elijah’s place in testimony. God retains His right to testify, and, in the exercise of His right, He would have vessels in keeping with Himself. Hence, Elijah says to Elisha, “Ask;” as if the service is to be of such importance that you need to ask. You cannot undertake it in your own strength. Many have, and have brought discredit on the testimony. Many young men have taken up service in their own strength, but it is important for young men to bear in mind, in taking up the testimony, to “pour water on the hands” of those older and more honoured in service. Elisha “poured water on the hands of Elijah”. He did not enter the list as Elijah’s rival. He took account of [p. 53] how Elijah had laboured in the service, and he would refresh his hands. So Elijah says, “Ask”. If we are to be of service in the testimony we have to learn to ask. We have nothing of our own. As Paul says “What hast thou which thou hast not received?” (1 Corinthians 4: 7). If you have not received it, you have not anything whatever; your studying, your efforts, and the like, will not avail you much, if you have not received things from Christ above.
In the service of God things must come down from heaven — from the very highest place, too, as we learn in Ephesians 4: 10, 11. And so Elisha asked, he did not ask amiss. He did not ask for something in order that he might shine for man’s approbation here. He says, virtually, to Elijah: I do love the way you have wrought: I do appreciate your spirit. How beautiful as you follow the footsteps of Jesus in the gospels! What a wonderful spirit! What a wonderful way He had! And so Elisha said, virtually, I want that, and I want plenty of it: I want a double portion of it.
You know that we have a wonderful place (would that we understood it!) the place of the firstborn. Joseph received it, although he was not the first born. The birthright was his: he had a double portion — “One tract of land above thy brethren” (Genesis 48: 22). And so Elisha had a double portion; but his mind had to be trained, you see. The Lord would train us in looking upwards. The temple (the porch) was one hundred and twenty cubits high, i.e., roughly one hundred and eighty feet. Added to the height of the mount you come to some conception of material elevation. What an imposing spectacle it must have been, as one approached it! “Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King” (Psalm 48: 2). The temple porch gave a most remarkable suggestion of elevation. God would train His people to [p. 54] the principle of elevation, and so would enjoin us to set our minds on things above. “Our minds”, not exactly our affections. And so Elisha was to be trained. Elijah says, “If thou see me when I am taken from thee” (2 Kings 2: 10). The mind has to be trained to the upward look, as the blessed Lord Himself “Lifted up his eyes to heaven” (John 17: 1). And so, Elisha, as you can understand, being intent on obtaining what he desired, looked up — he kept his eye on Elijah. It is very similar to Luke; the end of the path was upward. Elisha saw Elijah go up, and he obtained his desire. He returned: he rent in twain, we are told, his own garment, thus discarding what he might have relied upon naturally. Let us learn something from that! What we have been trusting in, let us learn to discard it wholly to make room for the new, for there is plenty of it. God gives not His Spirit by measure. The Holy Spirit is here Himself; a wonderful fact! What resources are ours!
So that Elisha obtained his desire. He crossed the Jordan; taking up the mantle of Elijah and smiting the waters, he crossed over. One is reminded to refer to that word: “How wilt thou then do in the swelling of the Jordan” (Jeremiah 12: 5) — not what Christ did. What Christ did is a lesson-book for the universe. When shall we fathom it? It is fathomless! What He did in the swelling of Jordan, when Jordan was driven back! “What ailed thee, thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou turnedst back?” (Psalm 114: 5). Think of the power of Christ! And then, I delight to think of Stephen — a man like ourselves, in the swelling of Jordan! How exhilarating, as you dwell upon Stephen there — how he stood! And I say that if we are to be in service, we have to learn how to do in the swelling of Jordan. Death has to be faced experimentally, otherwise you carry your own feelings,
[p. 55] natural aspirations, pride, intelligence, or the like it may be, into God’s service, which must ever prove disastrous. You are exposed to the enemy every step, unless you go through the Jordan experimentally. But Elisha went through it. He took the mantle of Elijah and rent his own in twain. Wonderful is the God of Elijah! What glory He has given to Christ. As Peter says: “Who by him do believe in God, who has raised him from among the dead and given him glory” (1 Peter 1: 21). So we may also say: “Raised with him through faith of the working of God who raised him from among the dead” (Colossians 2: 12). So that Elisha comes back through the Jordan, possessed with the spirit of Elijah, to take up his service in the midst of the people of God. And so, the company, in the end of Luke, is like Elisha; they see the Lord go up, and, in going up, He lifts His hands and blesses them, — the principle of power for witness. And they returned to Jerusalem not disconsolate, but “They, having done him homage, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God” (Luke 24: 53). That is the Lord’s contribution, in the way of testimony, to Israel — an adequate witness come down from heaven, as it were, in the temple, every day praising and blessing God. As the Lord said, “For a testimony unto them”. They had received blessing from His hands, and had witnessed to it. They had seen Him go up.
Now, in Acts 1 you have not the temple but the material for the house. We are looking assembly-wise, in the Acts — in another direction. In the gospel, the look is toward the city, with the expression of divine grace instead of judgment. There was a wonderful witness in the temple. The disciples were like Simeon, full of the spirit of Christ, praising God, whereas in the Acts, we are looking assembly-wise; and, so, they see Him go up, and two men stand by [p. 56] them in white garments. The women at the grave of Jesus, saw two men in shining garments — suggestive of what is heavenly. The heavenly Man is the divine thought. In taking up the actual service and witness of the assembly here we have purity — what is white — one of the most essential features of our position. The two men say: “Why do ye stand looking up into heaven?” The point is testimony. And they returned to Jerusalem from Olivet. It was a sabbath day’s journey; and they went, not to the temple, but to the upper room. There are many today, of God’s dear people, who decline the upper room; they prefer the cathedral, because it ministers to the flesh. It may be, there is someone here who prefers the cathedral to the upper room. The cathedral represents those religions which God has rejected. Let us take sides with God! There is nothing in them for God, but much in them for the pride of the flesh. So that these men, having been spoken to by men in white garments, go to the upper room. White garments and the upper room go together.
The overcomer in Sardis is to walk with Christ in white. He stands out as a testimony against modern, accredited religion. To walk with Jesus in white, is to go to the upper room now — the place of reproach. There is no choir, no ecclesiastical position or the like, but purity: “The simplicity of the Christ”. Here is the assembly — the heavenly vessel — the vessel in which the mind of heaven is expressed on earth. And therefore they find men dwelling who represent the authority of Christ. The Archbishop does not represent it; but “where were staying both Peter and John” and all the apostles, the authority of the Lord is owned. They were the representatives of the authority of the Lord. We must have that. Unless there is the authority of the Lord really owned, there is no room for the Spirit; but where the authority of the Lord is owned, the Spirit is free.
[p. 57] The number of those in the upper room was one hundred and twenty. “The crowd of names;” each one had a name — something to mark him off spiritually. That is what counts in the assembly — spiritual stature, the energy of life, giving you a character, and that character is embodied in your name. The Acts has the assembly in view — the material for it; the initial idea of the assembly is that the men went to the upper room. Let us learn to go to the upper room, where abode Peter and the others! Mary was there, and the brethren of Christ were there. That is where they are for us. You get the Lord’s relations 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 thoughts are not to be on the level of men of the world; our ways are not to be like their ways. They are to be according to the elevation of the position; they are to be heavenly ways upon earth. Nothing less will do. We may say, See what is being effected by human methods! Yes, but obedience is better than sacrifice. God does not change His mind. If the assembly began, as it did, in the upper room, it is to finish there and her garments are not to be corrupted by the religions of this world. God has not changed His mind. These things are to mark the saints at the end; however obscure the white garments and the upper room, where the authority of Christ is owned, and where are the brethren of Christ; these things are to mark the saints at the close. The Lamb’s wife is to make herself ready and she is to be clothed in fine linen bright and pure — the righteousnesses of the saints; (Revelation 19: 8).