THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST
[p. 373] THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST
Acts 2: 33; Acts 5: 31; Philippians 2: 9 - 11
My purpose, dear brethren, is to speak about the exaltation of Christ and what flows from it, what accrues from it, both to God and to man. The idea of exaltation began early, it began sinfully; Adam aspiring to be as God, and that spirit has come down to us and is prevalent today. It has marked the founders and leaders and builders of this world, whom men have admired and still admire; those who would exalt themselves as having ability, courage, and boldness to go forward in their projects. Their aim at self-exaltation is oftentimes skilfully disguised, but exaltation is pursued until, if possible, the zenith is reached.
This is not only so with men of this world, unregenerate men, but, alas, it finds a home even among christians, and we are given the word that he who “exalts himself shall be abased”: God sets Himself peculiarly against self-exaltation, it interferes with His operations amongst us, it even blinds and darkens those who would serve, and so He sets Himself against it peculiarly. He abases all those amongst His people who exalt themselves. It is for Him to exalt, it is His prerogative. The Lord told the mother of the sons of Zebedee that it was the Father’s prerogative to exalt His own. She would have her sons exalted because they were her sons, and she was their mother. Alas, dear brethren, we allow this spirit of self-exaltation; but it is he who humbles himself that is exalted. In the world this spirit obtains, and at times hides itself in men of great powers; they seek power and place, and will allow nothing to thwart them in so far as it is possible.
Our minds are being prepared by God at the present time for the full development of this. I believe God is showing us how things are to happen by what is current.
[p. 374] We are not to be mere observers of these matters and speak lightly of them as, perhaps, fulfilling prophecy; we are to be affected by them. God would draw us to His side as to them, so that we might be with Him about them, and that, correspondingly, there might be prayer; because much hinges on the prayers and influence of the people of God at the present time, as to the present course of things in the world.
God would remind us, dear brethren, of the great place that He has accorded to us, and the intentness of heaven to hear what we have to say, that is, specially what we have to say as the outcome of our observation as with God. He will do nothing, we are told, save as He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets, (Amos 3: 7). He would draw us to His side in this sense, so that our prayers might be insistent; He loves to do things in answer to our prayers. He does things of His own accord, of course, but our prayers are greatly respected in regard to the governance of this world; it belongs to us, the saints are to take the kingdom, and the more we understand that and value it, the more we shall pray as to those who are exalting themselves in it now.
We read of one “Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God”, 2 Thessalonians 2: 4. But there is what hinders, and let it be understood, dear brethren, that we have a great deal to do with the hindering. God expects us to take account of it, to take account of the rapid rise of this spirit of exaltation. The enemy will use it to baffle the saints and to hinder the testimony, and God takes account of our interest in that way and answers our prayers, so that “he who now letteth will let”, as it says, “until he be taken out of the way”, and then again there is “what withholdeth”, and that continues too. So that the prayers of the saints are that which hinders. The book of Daniel is to be looked [p. 375] into in this respect; it is the key to the present modern world, and what marks it is that the prophet is deeply concerned in his soul, making earnest inquiries as to the matter, and, at the same time, supplicating God, afflicting his soul, in such a way that, at the very beginning of his prayer, Gabriel was sent to him.
Think of the interest of heaven in such a man, a man who observes things and feels as to them — he is called a “man greatly beloved”. What a glory that casts over our meeting for prayer! One often thinks of it, how, after the privileges of the first day of the week, the saints come together in so many places on the next day, what a glory is cast over them! Gabriel tells Daniel that he is sent to him and he tells him that he is a man greatly beloved. The admiration of God, as I might say, the admiration of heaven, enters into these meetings for prayer, and, as we understand and enter into that, they become not wearisome or uninteresting, as if we have no exercise before going to them, but full of buoyancy, for we are brought into the very precincts of heaven, if not into heaven itself, as at the golden altar before God. So Daniel speaks peculiarly about prayer, as one of those who have the golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints; prayers that are treasured by God. As we are told about this one who is coming, one who exalts himself in opposition to God, we should observe what is leading up to that; everything is on the divine calendar, and God makes our prayers to work out so that the items on that calendar are fulfilled according to His purpose.
Over against all this exaltation of man away from God, we have the exaltation of Christ, and I hope the Lord may show, through the Spirit, in what I have to say, the importance of the thought and the results accruing to God and to men. The first passage says, “Having therefore been exalted by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which ye behold and hear”. Which ye behold and hear, that is, dear brethren, the actual results are immediately introduced, they were there indeed before this statement was made. This remarkable address of Peter’s, the first great gospel address after the descent of the Spirit, is, in the main, to explain what was there, what he could speak of as “this which ye behold and hear”. It was no theoretic matter, it was a tangible thing, to be seen and heard.
What Jesus was as a Man, as in flesh, is also spoken of as seen and heard and handled and contemplated. John presents wonderful thoughts to us in his first letter as to the tangibleness of the incarnation, how substantial the thing was; God “manifested in flesh”, as we are told elsewhere. There was a perfect manifestation of God in flesh, and, alongside of that, justification in the Spirit — in the Spirit there was justification of the manifestation. That is to say, the works were morally good, they were of moral worth, they were all in favour of man; the manifestation of God was not against man — “God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved”, John 3: 17. All His thoughts and calculations were in favour of man, and everything Jesus did miraculously justified Him. In one instance we get judgment — and obviously for a very good reason — the question of the fig-tree; every other work of Jesus was in favour of man, and every work was perfect in itself, every case of healing was perfect in itself, everything was finished. How like God that is — He was justified in the Spirit.
Now we have the Spirit here Himself, not in Jesus here, but in the saints; it was in the saints that He was seen and heard — and Peter speaks of that. A very great fact, which is presented here as the consequence of the exaltation of Christ — “Therefore being”, says Peter, “by the right hand of God exalted ... he hath shed forth this ...” It was there, it was a tangible thing, and what was it? Well, the saints were wonderfully [p. 377] happy, they were full of the Holy Spirit. One speaks of these things with a strained feeling, because there is so little now of this filling. It is as well to measure things and to compare things, so as to be sober, and hence the bearing of the passage upon us at the present time is, What is there here? What is there in this place? Peter says, “Having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit” — think of all that enters into that, the transaction between the Father and the Son. The Lord had said before He went up, “Father ... glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee”. Now He is there glorified on high in this wonderful transaction, this reception of the Holy Spirit. He received it from the Father.
We are in the presence of the great mediatorial system, the great economy, into which God has come; it is not a question of light unapproachable. God has come out into the realm of creation so as to make Himself known. He has come into the realm of creation, for the heavens are included in that, in the establishment of the great wonderful economy, which is all in favour of man, including this wonderful transaction between the Father and the Son. “Having received”, Peter says, “of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this”. Think of all the holy thoughts between divine Persons up there, the bearing of all those thoughts is towards us. God remains in His full Deity, in light unapproachable. He remains God; there will never be any change in the majesty, in the inscrutability of God; yet He has come out in the wonderful economy under the appellation of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The three Persons are presented as having to say to One Another, and all in relation to us; even in the Lord’s wonderful communication and prayer to His Father in John 17, the whole chapter is about us, save, as I might say, verse 5, and there we have a little inlet, so to speak, into the inscrutable. He says, “And now, O Father, glorify thou me [p. 378] with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was”.
There is a transaction manifestly presented to our understanding in this record in the book of Acts, a transaction between the Father and the Son up there, and the bearing of it is towards us, so that Peter says, “having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which ye behold and hear”. The bearing of all this is in view of the establishment of christianity; the setting up here of a tangible system of things which is in favour of men; the most delightful things available here, to be seen and heard. This is a present thing, as the outcome of the exaltation of this blessed Man, of whom Peter had been speaking. The whole discourse is a divinely inspired explanation of what was there, and the bearing of it today is to raise the question with us. What is in this town — what is in this district, to be seen and to be heard, that is of God? We may be much in evidence, of course, owing to the number of the saints that can be taken account of, but what is there that heaven can call attention to?
Now this is not a mere fanciful thing I am speaking of; heaven is far more intent on this meeting than any one here, far more intent, too, on the two gatherings in this place than any one else. We take in but little the intense interest of heaven in what is going on down here, to the end that there should be something that can be called attention to as in favour of man; something resulting from the exaltation of Christ.
See the wonderful colour, as I may say, the wonderful glory that comes over what is of God in this world, as we think of it as the outcome of the exaltation of Christ, but then there is the result of it here on behalf of man; let us take this in, that we are here on God’s account. What else could we be? God, of course, is working out His eternal thoughts as to every one of us, but, as to our position in this world, of what use is it [p. 379] at all except as it is representative of God and beneficial to man and, as God said, “Thou shalt glorify me”, Psalm 50: 15. The Lord, speaking to the Father, said, “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent”. It is the saints viewed as down here; it is the most exalted thought of eternal life morally, involving the knowledge of the true God, and of Jesus Christ, the true Man; the representation of God in knowledge; the true God in Person in this setting, and the knowledge, too, of Jesus Christ — not — the “Son of God” there, but “Jesus Christ”; it is a question of what we are down here where the need is and where the testing is.
Well now, in Acts 5 we have the exaltation of Christ presented as the means of making all this effective. In chapter 2 the point is what is to be seen and heard as a tangible thing in man’s favour here on earth, but in chapter 5 the apostles’ point — both Peter and the other apostles testify to it — is that God has exalted Jesus by His right hand to make Him Leader and Saviour “for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins”. Now that is the next thing, dear brethren, and it enters into all our services, all our preachings, teachings and discourses of every kind; it is a question of making what is presented in chapter 2 effective in men. Hence, as exalted, Christ is now set before us as Leader; the initiative of everything must come from Him, and not only from Him personally, but from Himself exalted at the right hand of God. See the dignity attaching to the service! He is the Leader.
It is one of God’s great principles to have a leader, and that Leader is Christ exalted. If He takes up this one, that one, and the other — Paul, or Apollos, or Peter, or the other apostles — He, as the Leader, takes each up. He is the great Leader, taking all initiative in the service. You can see how effective things will be if each learns to take his place behind the Lord; let Him take the initiative. He loves to let us do things [p. 380] that we can do, but the gospels show unmistakably that all initiative is with Him. If He sends out the twelve two by two, it is not until He calls them up to the mountain that they might be with Him, that He might send them out to preach, that they might see the great ideal in the great Leader. “Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins”. This enters into every gospel meeting, to every meeting for ministry, it is a question of what the Leader will do, what He will initiate. Leadership here makes the way so that we have repentance and remission of sins. He is the Saviour, too. A “leader and saviour, to give repentance to Israel and remission of sins”; that is to say, effectiveness depends on this, results for God depend on this, to making room for the Leader.
Think, dear brethren, of the magnitude, moral as well as literal, of the elevation of Jesus, exalted as a Leader and Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and remission of sins. What can we do? What can we do with souls? We can present the truth of Jesus, who gives repentance and remission of sins. Well, what a service that is. Repentance to bring men round to judge themselves as before God, and then to bring them the remission of sins. What a boon it is, dear brethren, whether to the saint or the sinner, the knowledge of the remission of sins which the Lord, the great Leader, as exalted, gives to us. Think of Him being occupied with a poor sinner here on earth, from that elevation at the right hand of God, to give repentance and remission of sins; that is the service of the great Apostle.
Then finally, in Philippi, where you might expect it, where love was collectively as the product of the work of God: in the epistle to the Philippians, this perfect jewel of truth is set down for us — the mind that was in Christ Jesus. It is traced for us by the skilful hands of the Spirit, the path of the One who, “subsisting in the form of God, did not esteem it an object of rapine [p. 381] to be on an equality with God; but emptied himself, taking a bondman’s form, taking his place in the likeness of men; and having been found in figure as a man, humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of the cross”. Can language present anything greater? No, there is nothing greater. Language cannot present anything greater morally or literally than what is contained in those verses. “Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and granted him a name that which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of heavenly and earthly and infernal beings, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to God the Father’s glory”.
Now what I want to say about this wonderful passage is that it is the exaltation of Christ — He is said to be “highly exalted”; it is not here at “the right hand of God”, but “highly exalted”. “Wherefore also God highly exalted him”. What that word “highly” may mean as to measure, who can say? If we turn to Ephesians, we read that He has gone beyond all the heavens, that He has gone beyond the created realm into an uncreated realm, as to which, of course, our finite minds cannot say anything, it is beyond us. If we go to Hebrews we find the same thing, that He has passed through the heavens; yet He is our Priest, however high the exaltation. He never loses sight of the saints; He is interceding for us continually. Think of it — making intercession for the saints continually; we hardly take it in, that in that glory He should be so engaged with us. What encouragement to draw near! “Such a high priest became us, holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and become higher than the heavens” (Hebrews 7: 26), and yet He is there ever living to make intercession for us.
May we not move here with the utmost confidence, and yet in reverence and holiness! Think of that, every name of every saint is on that wonderful breastplate in that wonderful exaltation of our glorious High Priest [p. 382] in heaven. Here the apostle, by the Spirit, is concerned as to finality, as to subjection. There may be those here now who are not subject to Christ as yet. Well, this passage is to remind you that, if you are not subject now, when blessing accrues through subjection, you will have to bow when there will be no blessing at all for you, and you will be actually in company with infernal beings in submitting to the authority of Christ — “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of heavenly and earthly and infernal beings, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to God the Father’s glory”. It is to show the finality, how the exaltation of Christ works out finally in the complete subjugation of all, and, not only that, but that every being will acknowledge, every being will confess the name, and in each case it is to the glory of God the Father. What a great result of the exaltation of Christ! He is highly exalted, and the result is complete subjugation, not merely by pressure, but that every being has to acknowledge that glorious name — the name of Jesus. How one’s heart is moved as one thinks of Jesus who has been down into death, who loves us with an everlasting love, that this is the end of everything as regards evil, all must not only go down by power, but by intelligence, as it were, owning the thing, that that name is worthy to be confessed and that God is glorified in the confession.
You will see, I believe, the importance of the thought that we might have before us the exaltation of Christ and what accrues from it, and how that finally there is complete adjustment, not only forced acknowledgment, but intelligent acknowledgment on the part of every being, every creature, to the supremacy of Christ, to the exalted name of Jesus. How worthy He is! How God, as it were, puts everything into that name, all the wealth of the Deity is in that name — no less than that — the name of Jesus; indeed it is Himself, it means Jehovah the Saviour. What a wonderful thing that a [p. 383] Man is set up in such exaltation, and that the whole range of creation is brought round intelligently to own it to the glory of God the Father; God being the great end of all these things, that God might be glorified.