GREAT THINGS
[p. 138] GREAT THINGS
John 1:46 - 51; Acts 2:4 - 11; Revelation 21: 9 - 17
I wish, dear brethren, to speak about great things. The word great in the Scriptures applies to what is evil as well as to what is good. The worst formation known is great Babylon — the word is used in regard to her, and applied to many men in the history of the world; it carries largely the thought of evil exploits, for unregenerate man is capable of admiring evil doings. The whole world will presently wonder after the beast; saying, Who is like him? Who can make war with him? Yet in a moment he is destroyed, he and his lieutenant, the false prophet, are taken and cast alive into the lake of fire, without any effort, without any struggle of arms even. Revelation 19:20. And likewise, the great promoter of all evil himself — Satan, that old serpent as he is called, the devil, — one angel takes him, and chains him, and places him in the pit.
It is well to have these things in our minds, so that we may not be alarmed by man’s doings, however great they may seem to be; for, as to each of the personages in the world, who are called great, their breath is in their nostrils. Thus the mind of the believer is turned by the Spirit of God to the One of whom Gabriel says, “He shall be great(Luke 1:32)”. Gabriel says that of Jesus as about to be born.
The Spirit would call our attention to Him at this time. John does not present Him to us as a Babe, but as become flesh. He says, “the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father), full of grace and truth (John 1:14)”. He is great!
Nathanael, following on others in this chapter, shows us a believer, just coming into the realm of [p. 139] faith, and at once discerning the greatness of Jesus; a true mark of a worshipper, one who begins to see the greatness of Jesus, and less and less of the greatness of man. More and more do real believers, as the Holy Spirit operates in us and opens our eyes to Jesus, turn away from what might have held us and dazzled our minds. This chapter is a galaxy of personages affected by and reflecting the glories of Jesus; of Him who is introduced to us at once: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... . All things received being through him, and without him not one thing received being which has received being. In him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:1; John 1:3,4)”. There He is! The Spirit of God alone could put such words together, and the Son of God alone, a divine Person, could become the theme of such words; no creature could become the theme of such words. The words themselves are divinely set, and tend to affect us, and cause us to turn aside from what is current — men and their doings — to Jesus; to Him who is presented in these wonderful verses. So, as I said, amongst those who are thus affected is Nathanael, an ordinary man, as we might say, hitherto not spoken of, sitting under his fig-tree, and he hears about Jesus, having been found by Philip. The Lord Himself had found Philip.
The word found has a special place in this section of the chapter, and every true believer understands that; how one is found by Christ. He finds Philip Himself. It always comes home to one; each believer can say, Jesus found me, entered into relations with me, had a transaction with me. He found Philip, and Philip found Nathanael. The idea of finding marks this gospel. Philip found Nathanael, and says to him, “We have found him ... Jesus, the son of Joseph, who is from Nazareth (John 1:45)”. He had found Jesus. In truth, that is how the matter stands, Jesus has found me, and I [p. 140] have found Him, and the result is eternal. Philip’s remarks to Nathanael elicit from him the evidence that there was very little in his soul at this time, the fig-tree would be very much his environment; it is often the case with men and women, and young people; how small is our environment; a little bit of dress, it maybe, or a house, and a garage and a car, and so forth; living in a narrow environment. Philip brought infinitude to the attention of Nathanael, that is indeed what every true evangelist does, he brings infinitude to us, “the gospel of God ... concerning his Son”. Nathanael is not equal at the moment to the great news brought to him; far otherwise: “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” he asks. Think of the paltriness of that! as one affected, like Philip, says, “We have found him of whom Moses wrote in the law, and the prophets, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph (John 1:45)”.
The words affected Nathanael but little, yet he was capable of being moved, for he responded to Philip’s invitation, “Come and see”. John will have movement, he will not leave anyone sitting; if the light comes to where he is sitting, if he stays there, he is of no account to John — I mean the spirit of God through John. There is nothing of God in one not capable of moving; he may talk glibly about things, but spiritual movement is required. One may come to a meeting like this out of curiosity to hear what is said, but unless there is capability of spiritual movement you are here in vain. So Philip’s invitation, “Come and see”, moved Nathanael. He had no hesitation in saying that, for Philip knew well that anyone who would come and see would be affected; he had been affected himself. And so the Lord looks on Nathanael coming to Him. One often thinks of this, how the Lord looks at persons as they come to Him, the Last Adam. The first Adam looked at the animals and named them, but Christ names men, knowing them by their movements. He says of Peter, “thou shalt be called Cephas (John 1:42)”. He named him as looking on him. That is the idea. Andrew had brought Simon to Him, and He named him. He is the last Adam; He is not naming the animals and birds, as the first Adam did; Jesus is naming men, naming them as He sees them moving to Him. When He saw Nathanael coming to Him, He said, “Behold one truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile”. One has often thought of that, no guile, how much guile there is, even among God’s people; the Lord says of Nathanael, no guile. Nathanael rightly says to the Lord, “Whence knowest thou me?” and the Lord responded, as He does respond at all times where there are reasonable questions — such questions as evidence real interest. As seeking to serve in the gospel, one has to do a good deal with young people, and in some there is no response, not even a word. Young persons can talk at length about other things, but if you ask them about their souls there is no word. That is the evidence of the absence of life. The Lord loves to converse with us, and those who are seeking our souls also love to converse with young people.
The Lord was pleased, I am sure, with Nathanael’s inquiry, “Whence knowest thou me?” The Lord did not turn aside from that question, nor answer it with another, as He sometimes did; He said, “Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee”. He throws Nathanael back on his own history: before Philip called him. What was going on in his mind then? Was he thinking of the figs on the tree, or what might be on it later? The Lord knew just what was transpiring in his soul. Nathanael was not slow to discern the greatness that was before him; that is the point, for we are to become full of the greatness of Christ, so that all else might be eclipsed. Nathanael was full of greatness, not his own greatness, but the greatness of Christ; he said, “thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel”. He grasped in his [p. 142] soul something of the greatness of Christ. The Lord said, “Thou shalt see greater things than these”. The Lord is always ready to lead forward one impressed with His greatness, and our minds can never be too big for Him. One is always challenged as to the littleness of one’s mind. Solomon comes into such exercise; a man like ourselves, but given great largeness of heart. He spoke, you might say, of everything living; even botany, life in all its phases, but not the heavenly side of the truth. Solomon had great largeness of mind and heart. One would crave largeness of mind, of the renewed mind, to take in the great things that are in Christ. The Lord says of Nathanael. “Thou shalt see greater things than these”. Increase in greatness is the thought; infinite greatness is in Christ. So the Lord says, further, “Verily, verily, I say to you. Henceforth ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man”. Notice the change of number; it is “ye” now, for in truth, when the greatness of divine things is in view, we need all the saints. I get on better as with the saints in considering the things of God; my mind becomes freer and more enlarged in relation to the brethren, than it is when I am by myself. Ephesians 3:18 says, “in order that ye may ... apprehend with all the saints”. We are helped as with the saints. As Nathanael used the title the “Son of God” he referred to Christ in relation to His kingship of Israel. The truth of our dispensation involves greater things. What great things belong to us!
In referring to the Acts, I do so because it relates to the Spirit of God coming down from heaven, freshly; the Spirit, of course, is never other than fresh, but still one may have latitude to express what marked His early activity as come down. The Lord Himself refers to the Holy Spirit, saying that He “goes forth from with the Father”, John 15:26, as if to set the mind on the relations of the Spirit with the Father in heaven, and [p. 143] how He would carry out down here on earth, the Father’s thoughts about Christ, the Father’s thoughts, too, about everything that we should know. Hence, before Peter begins to speak, the account tells us of the saints to whom the Spirit had come; it was a matter, as you will all know, of a filled house, the saints are seen here as in a house, not simply an upper room; it is called a house, and the house was filled with the sound. A sound as of a rushing mighty wind is heard from heaven, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Was there ever a house like it? We hear of the Houses of Parliament, and such great places in relation to men, but think of this house! Think of the sound that entered into it and filled it! The sound would not exclude certain other things, but it filled the house, and the Holy Spirit came in the form of cloven tongues of fire, and it sat upon each; every person in the house was affected; each was identified; each had his own distinction. The Spirit came in in relation to that distinction, the Spirit was in them according to the distinction the work of Christ had imparted to each of those persons; the Spirit comes in to enlarge it, and make it suitable for testimony here and for eternity with Christ. All that is included in the work of the Spirit as here in the assembly. Here in Jerusalem are devout men, Jews from all parts of the then world, and they hear the apostles speak in their own tongues “the great things of God”. That is what believers should be talking about, and it challenges our hearts as to whether we are giving the doings of men more place than the great things of God. I am now calling attention to the action of the Spirit of God in the saints; He gives us “to speak forth” in testimony. And then the writer tells us that they were speaking of the great things of God. This implies deliverance from the present state of things, and the conditions which have arisen which the enemy would use to overwhelm us. The people of God are in danger of being
[p. 144] darkened in their minds by current things, which the enemy would use to darken our minds and oppress us, whereas the Holy Spirit would keep us on the line of the great things of God. They will stand when the great things of men will disappear for ever, and it is our privilege to speak about them, and that according to the example set at Pentecost. Speaking of His great things directs hearts to God Himself.
In occupation with the things of God, we learn how to name them. The brethren have remarkable experiences, the Lord having revived the truth and brought us back to original thoughts and operations; still we become so accustomed to them that we are apt to lose the sense of their greatness. The operations of the Spirit of God now are in themselves great relatively, even as the rising of the dead; the Spirit’s operations are God’s operations, and they are going on. Believers are the subjects of the Spirit’s work, and we are apt to think too little of them, to minimise them, whereas they are really great, the great things of God. The epistle of the Ephesians opens them up to us in an especial way, and we shall enter into them soon as the heavenly city. I am referring again to the plural ye in the Lord’s reply to Nathanael. The Lord would bring us together to speak of these things to us, to think of these things. He says, “Henceforth ye shall see the heaven opened”, etc. There are greater things, and still greater. We are living in the period of the opened heavens; let this be impressed upon our minds. The epistle to the Hebrews contemplates the opened heavens. “We see Jesus ... crowned with glory and honour”,(Hebrews 2:9) it says; it is heaven opened to us, and so the Lord says to Nathanael, “ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man”. He is not calling attention to the angels by themselves. He is calling attention to the fact that He must come first in our minds; they [p. 145] ascend and descend on Him. The idea is that Christ is first, and so the greatest creatures are attending on Him. If you look into heaven you will see Christ is everything there. As ascending on Him, the angels begin with Him. They do not descend on Him first, but ascend: they began with Him down here. Stephen looked into the opened heavens and “saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:55)”. Hebrews 2:9 says, “We see Jesus ... crowned with glory and honour”.
I would now turn briefly to the last scripture read, just to show how all this greatness is seen in relation to the assembly and how we are essential to it according to divine purpose; we are part of it. The Lord’s statement, “Ye shall see the heaven opened” is carried through. Peter sees the heaven opened and a great sheet coming down, knit at the four corners; that refers to ourselves, it is full of all creatures which God had cleansed. It is called “a certain vessel ... bound by the four corners,(Acts 10:11)” it is held in divine power. It refers to the assembly, in the purpose of God, as I said, essential to the great things. The Spirit tells us in Revelation 21, that one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, said to John, “Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife ...” I will show thee — that is another word I want you to get into your minds. We need to be shown from the very outset; the principle of being shown is stressed in the Scriptures. This angel was one of those who had had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues; “had had” implies that that was past; the judgment is a past thing; he is now occupied with the present thing; the present positive result of the work of God, and it is included in the great things of God. Outside of divine Persons, nothing is greater than the mystery, the assembly. Would that the Lord would bring that home to our souls. It is seen here, shown by an angel who [p. 146] earlier had to do with judgment, and I may say that unless each of us has had to do with judgment, and is governed by judgment, we shall not have understanding of this great matter, “the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven from God”.
It is the angel that judges, and corresponding with it the apostle says, “Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity (2 Timothy 2:19)”. Otherwise we shall not see this wonderful sight; it requires that we shall judge the current evil of the professing system, if we are to come into the light and appreciation of the heavenly city; it is one of the great things of God. John is privileged to see it — in this book he is not an apostle, he is a prophet; as an apostle his name is in the foundations of the city; one of the foundations, but he is a prophet here. We are living in times in which prophecy is having a place, and it enters into this, for if we are to understand the great things of God we need the prophetic word, the prophetic word brings God, and His great things, to us.
John says, “and shewed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her shining was like a most precious stone, as a crystal-like jasper stone”. You can understand that the holy city is, as I said, one of the great things of God, “Her shining was like a most precious stone, as a crystal-like jasper stone”. What a change from the murky things that are around us — evil counsel and lying statements! The man of sin comes “in all deceit of unrighteousness (2 Thessalonians 2:10)”. “Bright as crystal” is the river, too, that flows out of the city, all is clear. Then there is the measuring of the great city, which idea is to affect our minds. Twelve thousand stadia is said to be the measure. Think of the vastness of it, the length, breadth, and height being equal! Vastness is the idea that the Holy Spirit would get into our minds, and this wonderful thing is really composed of persons, of [p. 147] what the Holy Spirit has effected in our dispensation from Pentecost to the coming of the Lord. Think of the myriads of persons, all actuated by one mind, actuated by love! The Spirit helps us to see the force of the language used in the Scriptures to describe the mystery, and to describe the assembly — and each of us can say to himself, I belong to that! What could be greater to get into your soul than that you belong to it? Understanding the truth of it, you say, I want to function in that, I want to come in with Christ and be in relation to Him, that He may be my Head, as belonging to that! God is carrying out His great thoughts, and about to display them in this wonderful thing called the heavenly city, which comes down out of heaven from Himself.
Well, dear brethren, that is what I had in mind, mentioning the measurements at the end. As I said, the Holy Spirit would impress our minds with them. The height of the wall is a hundred and forty-four cubits. Think of the height of that as a wall stands! Add fifty per cent and you have the feet measurement of the wall, and that is intended to impress our minds with something, that is, exclusiveness: that nothing of what is evil, nor common, nor that maketh an abomination and a lie shall enter into it. And the effect of that is to make me exclusive now, that is what it is for, that I may function in a little way in relation to this great matter, and see how the assembly itself is part of the great system of things that are called the great things of God. We are to be in them, occupied with them, dear brethren. To say the least, it means deliverance from the present darkness. Satan would darken our minds with current events, but the Lord would keep us in clarity of mind and spirit, so that we move in love in the presence of the evil and in spite of it, and that is victory! “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”(1 John 5:5)