THE RIGHTS OF GOD (2)
THE RIGHTS OF GOD (2)
JT There are two thoughts especially in view in this chapter. One is God taking up His rights in raising up Elijah, as we had it this morning; raising him up amongst His people as one whose word should determine certain things; and then in this chapter setting him in heaven: “The Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind”. These were the two thoughts that were especially in my mind, and I suggested this chapter on that account; not that I wish to overlook that which comes in between, but only to seek to bring out the great principles which mark the introduction of Christianity. God would have a Man by whom everything should be regulated, and then He would have that Man where He would; namely, in heaven.
FL So that this chapter involves more than resurrection: there is the thought of exaltation in it. Resurrection does not go beyond being brought out from amongst the dead: this is another thought.
JT It would suggest a good deal as to translation, as to the setting in which it is found in the Word, and I think that one feature is prominent here; namely, that God would take Elijah up into the heavens and how He would do it, by a whirlwind. We know that the thought of translation appeared earlier, in Enoch. In Enoch it is not exactly that He would take him into the heavens, but that He would take him. “He was not, for God took him”, Genesis 5:24. That was not a question of God’s sovereign rights exactly, His creatorial rights to the heavens and earth, but that He would have such an one as that. He would have him, for he pleased Him.
AFM Would this have the Lord’s administration in [p. 15] view?
JT That is what I thought. God would take Him into the heavens; the heavens having their own significance.
CB In order to fill all things?
JT That is the result according to the New Testament.
FL And for the reason that administration was henceforth to be from the heavens. I suppose in that way constituting the kingdom of the heavens.
JS On what ground is Elijah taken up? Enoch was translated on the ground that “he pleased God”.
JT Here I think it is more God’s sovereign rights. It is not a question of Elijah’s personal character so much, but that God would do that. No one can question His rights to do that. That is how it reads indeed. “And it came to pass when Jehovah would take up Elijah into the heavens by a whirlwind”. The first verse clearly states the mind of God and then the chapter proceeds to narrate for us the facts leading up to this, so that the chapter shows us the death and resurrection of Christ, and then His ascension. The first verse is simply God’s rights. He would do this. Then we have outlined how it was done.
Ques Would you say Elisha was a figure of the Spirit?
JT A figure of that instrumentality used by the Spirit. I think he represents that more — he received a double portion of Elijah’s spirit here.
AFM To shed forth the Spirit was the first thing the Lord did, we may say. So when Elijah goes up, a double portion of his spirit falls on Elisha, according to his request.
JT In the beginning of John 13 we have that which was in view stated; “[Jesus,] knowing that the Father had given him all things into his hands, and that he came out from God and was going to God” (John 13:3); then certain things flow from that, certain things [p. 16] happen which lead up to that, and so it is here, only here it is not that he should depart out of the world to Jehovah, but that Jehovah should take him into the heavens by a whirlwind, so that henceforth there should be a man there who had already been here in administration; but now he should be there.
FL This is suggestive of the second of Acts. That is, Jesus is exalted by the right hand of God, and then He pours forth the Holy Spirit. It is that point of view when it comes to be applied to Christ Himself.
JS Is there any significance in the means by which he is taken up, the whirlwind?
JT I think it is to show the character of the power.
J.S. Irresistible?
JT Yes, that nothing could resist the power of God. We know when we come to Christ it is different from this, but with all that it is “the working of the might of his strength, [in] which he wrought in the Christ, [in] raising him from among [the] dead, and he set him down at his right hand in the heavenlies, above every principality and authority, and power, and dominion”, Ephesians 1:19 - 21. It is the one stroke of God’s power.
AFM The coming of the Spirit at Pentecost is somewhat of this kind.
JT “Parted tongues, as of fire”, Acts 2:3.
ANW And the sound “as of a violent impetuous blowing” (Acts 2:2) which filled the house where they were.
AFM This whirlwind was connected with chariots of fire and horses of fire.
JT Taken as a general figure, it refers to the means by which God can carry out His will. His will is to put a man in heaven; but fire refers not to what is in heaven, but to what is on earth, to what has to be overcome; and there was much, as the previous chapters show, that had to be overcome. The power was there in the way of testimony, just [p. 17] as at the grave of Christ the angel’s face shone like lightning, the testimony to the power by which God would dispose of evil here. Nevertheless, the ministry connected with Christianity is one of grace. That is to say, in the lightning the idea is that judgment is deferred, but the testimony to it is there.
FL I was going to suggest that Elisha was hardly a type of the Holy Spirit, but rather of that vessel which the Holy Spirit takes up as formed by Christ, and through which He effects things.
JT Yes, quite, and what you notice is that, whilst it was Elijah’s translation, it says; “Elijah went with Elisha” showing the Spirit had in mind what was to be brought about in Elisha through this. That is, his presence there was not an incident simply. It was a main thought, and so the disciples’ presence with Christ in the upper chamber, as you were saying this morning, was not an incident. It was a prime feature of the situation, so that Christ is with them. He says: “With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you”, Luke 22:15. It is not simply “you with me” but “I ... with you”. There was much for them to learn on this great occasion. It says: “Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal”.
FL So it was a prime thought that “he led them out as far as Bethany” (Luke 24:50) because they should be with Him when He was taken up.
JT Exactly. It was not an incident merely, it was an intention. And so it is that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. Elijah said unto Elisha, “Abide here, I pray thee; for Jehovah has sent me to Bethel”. That is, it was a question of the will of God, as the Lord clearly intimates at the Supper and Gethsemane, but they would be tested. It was a testing of the heart as to how they can conform themselves to this, because the testimony was to be in their hands and it was of great importance that [p. 18] they should go through all this experience from the Supper to Gethsemane and the cross.
JS The way indicated here would be the way down to death.
JT That is the point, but first of all these points had to be traversed, as much as to say that under the old order of things the mind of God had not been reached, and Elisha was to understand that. There is not one iota of God’s mind expressed to us that is to be let go; all is to be taken up again and every thought is to be maintained in the energy of the Spirit.
FL It is very wonderful, and we could not reverse the order of these things. I mean, Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho and Jordan. When it is taken up in connection with Christ and His disciples it is very obvious that He went that way. Each of these places had an answer in the Lord’s path.
JT It was a wonderful experience for a man like Elisha, because he was really exercised. The sons of the prophets were not. They were there and knew what was happening but they were not in it. Elisha says: “I will not leave thee”. That is the secret.
AFM Then you regard these four points as being fulfilled in Christ personally?
JT I think that is right, as our brother has been saying.
AFM And then it is taken up afterwards in the power of the Spirit by the saints. It is testimony here.
FL But first of all the early chapters of the Acts lead them back over this course. That is where they get their side, like Elisha ministering.
AAT Does not Elisha take the steps backward? He goes through Jordan and then Jericho to Bethel.
JT Yes, the order is reversed. Elisha went back over the Jordan to Jericho, [p. 19] and thence to Bethel,
and from thence to Carmel, and from thence to Samaria.
BTF Have you been speaking of the journey at the beginning of the chapter as representing what came out in the last hours of the Lord’s history on earth?
JT Yes, beginning with the Supper. He had desired to eat the passover with them. The experience that they had from that point onward must have had a permanent effect upon them; it would remain with them. Their souls must have been ploughed up, and it seems that in the statement here, “Jehovah hath sent me” the moral thought is that we are to be brought into conformity with the will of God. At Gethsemane the Lord said: “not my will, but thine, be done”, Luke 22:42. The synoptic gospels do not give so much of the intercourse between the Lord and the disciples during those hours, as John does. They give us more the outward, historical facts, whereas John opens up more, and records more, of the private intercourse with Christ, during these hours. The whole section from chapters 13 to 17 is taken up, you might say, with what transpires during those solemn hours.
BTF Then is the thought that the believer in the power of the Spirit, should be able to take the reverse journey?
JT I think that is the thought. Of course this goes on in figure to the covering of the whole forty days after His resurrection, which you will observe is given after they cross Jordan. It says in verse 11, “it came to pass, as they went on and talked”, That was a wonderful moment, suggesting, I suppose, what there was in the way of intercourse between the Lord and His disciples after His resurrection.
FL I suppose much of what we have in these chapters in the gospel of John is morally after His death. I mean His death is contemplated.
[p. 20] PHP You get a great deal about grief in those chapters in John. Elisha had a sorrowful experience here.
JT It must have been a very great grief to his heart to think, that the one whom he had followed, and to whom he had become so attached, he was about to lose, as the sons of the prophets seemed to know. They said: “Dost thou know that Jehovah will take away thy master from over thy head today?” Every time they said that it must have been a pang to him, but he says: “I also know it”. There must have been a ploughing up of his soul. He began with ploughing, you know. He was taken from the plough twice. There has to be the ploughing and sowing in order to be impressed. You need that. The soul has to be ploughed. As was said of Mary: “(and even a sword shall go through thy own soul;) so that [the] thoughts may be revealed from many hearts”, Luke 2:35. I believe the last hours of the Lord’s life brought to light the thoughts of many hearts; what was in the hearts of those that loved Him, and the heart of Judas, the heart of Pilate, the hearts of the priests. Where there was reality, as in a man like this, the effect would be lasting.
FL The Lord does not minimise that, because He said: “Because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart”, John 16:6. He gives full place to it, and makes provision for it. He turns them to the side of the joy that would come from the place to which He was going. I was thinking about these questions of the sons of the prophets: they seem to suggest some of the unintelligent exercises of the disciples themselves. But then running current with that is the intelligent reply as to what was going to happen.
CAM The Supper would bring before them the meaning of the Lord’s pathway and that they were [p. 21] going to lose Him. Elisha knew Elijah was going to be taken.
JT Just so, but it would not mitigate the sorrow. I am sure the sorrow is a necessity morally. “Your grief shall be turned to joy”, John 16:20. It is right in its place.
AFM If these sons of the prophets were unintelligent they should at least have had sympathy.
JT They seem to be simply onlookers, having intelligence about things in a sort of orthodox way, without any heart. They did not follow with Elijah and Elisha.
BTF Would you say they represent Christians in a way?
JT I think they represent a class we are familiar with now; those who are the lineal descendants of men who have had light from God, but who are wanting in heart. They are orthodox. They have knowledge, but what you sorrow about regarding them is that in result they would disregard the ascension of Christ.
Ques The sons of the prophets bear witness that “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha”. Has that anything to do with what we get in Romans 8, “If any one has not [the] Spirit of Christ?”, Romans 8:9.
JT The spirit of Elijah resting on Elisha surely would.
PHP As to the sorrow of Elisha here, I notice in John’s gospel, as the Lord proceeds with the disciples, the sorrow seems to increase. He more frequently referred to that side and He desired that their hearts should be touched with it.
AAT In Colossians you get the thought of being with Christ in resurrection. There is no sorrow connected with that.
JT You see the chapter here is mainly taken up with what took place before Elijah and Elisha crossed the Jordan. That is, it corresponds in that [p. 22] way more with the experience at the Supper and in the hours that followed; and as our brother remarked, a great deal is said about sorrow in those communications the Lord makes to them as recorded in John 14 to 16.
AAT Then after they crossed Jordan you have a different thought in mind. Christ had been through death then.
JT Yes, there is nothing about sorrow then. He joins them again. He says: “I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one takes from you”, John 16:22. I suppose they had that experience after He arose, and it would correspond I think with the walking and talking after Elijah and Elisha crossed the Jordan.
BTF Where does Jericho come in on the journey to Jordan?
JT It is the place of the enemy’s power, the place of the curse too. The city had been cursed; it was rebuilt just before Elijah appeared, so it represented the expression of man’s will, and in that way the enemy’s power. And so the fact that he visited it would show that that was to be terminated. It says, in verse 19, “And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold now, the situation of the city is good, as my lord sees: but the water is bad, and the land is barren”. And he asks for a new cruse and goes to the source of the waters and heals them. I suppose it refers to Jerusalem, as our brother was saying; the situation was pleasant.
WHF Figuratively the Jordan is death and resurrection with Christ. Colossians answers to the period spent by Christ with His disciples on earth after His resurrection, and His intercourse with them during that period.
JT I think it would correspond with the walking and talking between Elijah [p. 23] and Elisha.
WHF The ministry in connection with the disciples before He left this scene for glory.
WB-w Is it necessary for believers now to come into the sorrowing side in Christianity?
AAT There used to be a hymn in our old hymn book about joy and sorrow mingling. There is no thought of sorrow at the Supper, is there?
JT I do not see that there should be any since the Spirit has come. As regards the world outside you bear that attitude. You are not with them; you cannot go with them; you hang your harp on the willow; you cannot sing with them nor have mirth with them. I do not see that there should be any sorrow of heart in the Christian now because he has the Spirit.
PHP And the Man has been born: the Man has been brought into the world.
JT Exactly, the Man has come in, and is before your soul, and you see Him, so that it is not the time of sorrow in that way. I think that is past.
Ques Is the point of the Supper that you miss the absent One?
JT You miss Him as regards your position in the wilderness. He is not there, and all is desolate here, but in your soul you are in the light of the Man. The Man, so to speak, is born, and He remains.
FL I presume the thought would have a place in what lies preparatory to the Supper. The passover and the feast of unleavened bread was to be taken with bitter herbs, but when it comes to the Supper itself, as given from Christ in heaven, the thought of sorrow hardly comes into it now.
JT I think not. There may be occasion for it in the vicissitudes of the wilderness path or conditions you meet with. As the Lord said: “These things have I spoken to you that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye have tribulation”, John 16:33. [p. 24] That remains.
FL We have the bitter herbs individually, do we not?
JT Oh, quite, that is essential on account of what the flesh is, and what it occasions.
CAM That means self-judgment before you are there: “Let a man prove himself”, 1 Corinthians 11:28.
JT Any sorrow we have now is not on account of Christ’s position, whereas the disciples’ sorrow was on account of His position. He was to be taken from them by murderous hands and put to death. It was a terrible thing.
FL So one would say perhaps that that condition of things was met with on the first day of the week: “The doors shut ... through fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and says to them, Peace [be] to you and ... he showed to them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced therefore”, John 20:19 - 20. I think that gives the atmosphere, the light in which we are in connection with the Supper.
JT And that remains. There is no blot on your soul from that onward. Whatever position you may be in in regard to the wilderness your soul is always in that light. You do not lose that. So our position can never correspond with theirs. Their position between the time of the Lord’s apprehension and resurrection is unique. There can never be really a repetition of that, but it was an experience that was necessary for them as the chosen vessels to represent Christ here after He left them, and explains the wonderful power and intelligence that marked them according to the Acts.
FL It is worth noting in passing, that the apprehension of Christ in Christendom at large is in the main part taken up with His sufferings from the time of His apprehension to His death; but we are to go beyond that. We join Him on the other side.
JT I think we ought to see clearly here, that these [p. 25] points which embrace the testimony are to be re-visited. That is, the mind of God is to be fulfilled from heaven. The Lord had come as recognising what had existed. John had come and the Lord had come on that line, and He took up, as you remarked, each feature of the testimony, but then nothing was accomplished, you might say. Of course, it is not that the ministry of Christ was imperfect, but the material it applied to was useless. Even in the ministry of Christ there was much that was provisional, which is a very important thing to see, so Elijah visits all these points with Elisha, as much as to imply that it is from heaven now that these things are to be taken up. John the Baptist said “I must decrease”. “He who comes from above”, he says “is above all”; “He must increase, but I must decrease”, John 3:30 - 31. And then the evangelist goes on to say that, “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things [to be] in his hand”, John 3:35. That is the heavenly Man, so that the fulfilment of the mind of God here is from heaven.
JS And the first thing Elisha does is to rend his clothes. He would now take on the character of the heavenly man.
JT Yes, the man he saw going up.
AFM Will you speak of the double portion of the spirit, in that connection?
JT I think it refers to Christianity. That is what one would like to make clear, that Christianity represents a double portion; it is the firstborn’s portion.
GWH Why is it conditional?
JT Because of the importance of exercise and watchfulness. Heavenly and spiritual things are made to depend on that. The sons of the prophets were wanting in that. They were wanting in exercise, in intentness; these things were found in the disciples.
CB When He says to them: “Ye shall ask what ye will” (John 15:7); I suppose that implies that there would be exercise so as to ask for what would be right.
FL If one were going to connect what is now occupying us with Romans it would take us into Romans 8, where we have both Christ and sonship, also the Spirit.
JT Romans presents so much that is moral, it involves great exercise. The ministry of the twelve apostles necessarily hinge on the things which they went through. Paul makes a good deal of the things he went through. Now Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. That was a very excellent desire and one befitting the circumstances. In fact a less portion would not be adequate, so he says: “if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so to thee”. It was a “hard thing”, but “if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so to thee”. I think what is implied is that Christianity is more than millennial. The saints on the earth then will have a portion, but not a double one. They will not have the firstborn’s portion, whereas the Christian, the assembly, has the place of the firstborn; the assembly of the firstborn, who are registered in heaven. We have the double portion, and therefore adequacy for the carrying out of the will of God here where it had broken down under the old order of things, under the law.
FL That beautifully fits in with John 14 and 15; that is, Christ’s going in connection with the Spirit’s coming and the consequences. One sees the power of it.
JT I think that is very important, because the Lord, I believe, has raised the question amongst His people as to the character of Christianity; what it is, and whether there is means sufficient to answer to the will of God in it; whether it is not superior to that which preceded it and that which [p. 27] succeeds it on earth, and I think the double portion here is the indication that there is ample means for the fulfilment of the will of God.
J.S. In the way of power?
JT Yes, in the way of power there can be nothing greater than that which we have. It is the Spirit of God. “God gives not the Spirit by measure”, John 3:34. That suggests the great distinguishing feature of this dispensation.
JS Grace is to mark us.
JT That comes out subsequently, but I think it is of great moment to see the formation of the vessel, how the vessel is formed so that this double portion should not be too much. The vessel is equal to it.
PHP You would require a double portion of a man’s spirit to thus fully represent him.
JT Yes, it is not, of course, that Elisha had more than Elijah, or that he was to have twice as much as Elijah. That is not the idea here, because Elijah is a type of Christ. It is rather that we have more than they will have in the millennium.
FL When Elisha returns to Jericho he asks for a new cruse. There is to be a new vessel. He will proceed to do things with a new vessel.
JT That is it. It is not now restoration, as we were saying this morning. Things were to be new, so the second book of Kings, I think, is more exclusively Christianity, and Christianity as seen in Paul’s ministry. It is Christianity in its full sense, so that the end of this chapter shows that the generation from here on becomes reprobate. They were accursed.
BTF Will you open out a little in connection with this; “If thou see me?” The power given was conditional on that.
JT We were just touching on that, the intentness with which the disciples followed the Lord’s steps, and how interested they were. It denotes interest [p. 28] of heart, that you cannot be indifferent in dealing with these things. It requires constant application of mind and heart.
CAM We learn these things individually so as to enter into Christianity. Is that the thought?
JT You feel the importance of applying yourself with undivided heart to the things of God.
CAM The difficulty I have is that things are conditional even to a man who has passed over Jordan.
JT I think it shows there is no allowance of indifference or carelessness in these wonderful things. Proverbs speaks of one watching daily at wisdom’s gates, and waiting at the posts of its doors.
FL Morally He calls the company that stood with Him at the cross to view Him going to the Father. “Go to my brethren, and say to them, I ascend” (John 20:17); that in a sense, is seeing Him go up.
JT He would direct their mind to that thought.
FL And that puts its stamp on the saints of this dispensation. They see Jesus as it were, going up to the Father.
JT And that same chapter opens up to us the wonderful transaction between Him and them, the breathing into them, and then they are sent out.
GWH In virtue of having a double portion of the Spirit, do you take up the will of God now in the light of sonship?
JT Surely you do, but it is the abundance of the power that is in view here, I think.
WHF Is life in abundance connected with power? “I am come that they might have life and might have [it] abundantly”, John 10:10.
JT It is a parallel thought. It is the manner in which Christians have life. I think Christianity has something distinctive about it above all other dispensations, even in regard to life. Abundant life, I think, refers to the form in which Christians have it.
FL [p. 29] In the last few years we have been greatly helped by the emphasis upon ascension. I think our minds too generally looked upon resurrection as embracing everything. Resurrection is a necessity for everything from Adam to the end, but the peculiar light and privilege for the assembly, for the day of the Spirit, is ascension. “If thou see me when I am taken from thee”. Now the thing is a company that sees Jesus go up — ascension.
JT And the power we have in the Spirit is commensurate with the light.
ANW And one would never cease to be conscious of the source of that power.
JT I think so. You connect it with the Man in heaven. Although not here, it is in the New Testament; namely, the translation of the assembly. She goes to heaven of necessity. “[The] assembly of the firstborn [who are] registered in heaven”, Hebrews 12:23. It is a question of God’s mind and counsel, and nothing can interfere with that.
JS Is that more seen in Enoch than here?
JT Quite so. Our translation to heaven is in one sense on account of our being the body of Christ.
CAM Christianity is something entirely new.
JT And therefore the new cruse.
CAM This morning we were speaking a good deal about restoration. How do you make restoration agree with something entirely new?
JT That was the point. It was simply restoration under the ministry of the prophets, ending with the Lord Himself, a power in the midst of men capable of restoring things, but on account of the conditions restoration was impossible, so the Lord had to die. Things are to be on the ground of death and resurrection, and hence Christianity is new.
CAM Christianity is not on the order of [p. 30] restoration?
JT It is a new thing, but divine thoughts are reinstated.
CAM You say that God’s thoughts were reinstated.
JT All the thoughts He had given expression to before, such as the kingdom and the house, were reinstated, and man too. Indeed that ought to be put first, man is reinstated, but, as I remarked, it is as ‘alive in Christ Jesus’ . Man is not restored to what he was in natural life, but being alive in Christ Jesus he has a new Head. He is still man, but man alive in Christ Jesus, and following upon that we have all other thoughts that God gave expression to. Israel shall be reinstated, and the house of God is reinstated, but all in connection with Christ.
CAM It is the same man and yet it is not the same man, when you speak of reinstating.
JT That is where many have a difficulty. I think we ought to get in our minds the abstract thought of man; “By man [came] death, by man also resurrection of [those that are] dead”, 1 Corinthians 15:21. Not the same individuals surely.
FL Man in contrast to angels.
JT Yes, that order of being. God has not given up that order of being. He has not destroyed him and brought in another order of being. He retains the idea, but in Christ.
CB As to the salt in the new cruse, would having salt in yourself preserve what is of God?
JT The new cruse refers to what is taken up in Christ, and the salt is the preservative power of the Spirit in the saints.
GWH Referring to our brother’s thought about Enoch, is Enoch’s translation greater than Elijah’s?
JT As we remarked this morning, Enoch’s translation refers to what he was. God would have that man. It says of him: “By faith Enoch was [p. 31] translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before [his] translation he has the testimony, that he had pleased God”, Hebrews 11:5. It is not that it was proclaimed about him, he had the testimony in his soul that he pleased God, so that God would have one with Him that pleased Him; whereas in Elijah there is nothing said about that. What is said about Elijah is that God would take him into heaven, not to Himself exactly, but into the heavens; meaning that He would put a Man there in order that he should administer the things of God from thence.
GWH So His ascension is a greater thought than exaltation. There is the thought of the pleasure of God in ascension, while in exaltation it is more ministry manward.
JT When you come to ascension, referring to John 20, you see it is the Lord’s own act. “I ascend”. It is what He does. That is to say, it refers to what Christ Himself did; on account of His dignity as a divine Person He did it; whereas in Luke He is “carried up into heaven”, Luke 24:51. That is not His own act. That is an act of God. He is carried up into heaven.
FL I would like to suggest that in Enoch, and of course in Christ, we get the thought of the pleasurable man; the man that was a pleasure to God, and God takes him in this connection. What we have been occupied with this afternoon suggests One exalted officially: “Wherefore also God highly exalted him and granted him a name, that which is above every name”, Philippians 2:9. And then He administers from there. So there are the two aspects of the same One, the pleasurable One and the Man who takes everything up to administer.
JT So in John 13 He departs out of this world to the Father. It is not there a question of His right to ascend, but that He is going to the Father. That [p. 32] is much more like Enoch, whereas in chapter 20 He ascends to the Father, the emphasis is on ascension. In Luke He is carried up, not to the Father, but “into heaven”; and in Mark He sits on the right hand of God.
JS And in chapter 14 you have: “I go to prepare you a place”, John 14:2. We are to have a special place, and we are to be with Him.
JT As regards the assembly, it is not said that she ascends in the sense in which it is said of the Lord. She goes up, of course, but He comes for her and she is “caught up”.