Wednesday, October 29, 2014

"That Which Is Born of the Spirit" # 24

The Rule of the Heavens (continued)

Sovereignty (continued)

I mean that the man who used that very phrase "concerning His Son" came to the Son by that which was in heaven, and he was brought into experimental knowledge of the Lord Jesus (Romans 1:1-4). The most astonishing thing ever a man has seen - He who was considered to be a Nazarene impostor suddenly revealed as the Son of God bringing this one down on his face and the first word utter by him, "Lord ...". The heavens do rule (Acts 9). We never come into the fullness of the Gospel until we see the heavenly side of the Gospel. Until then we only see Him as Saviour and not a Prince, God's order is "Prince and Saviour." Many people see Him as Saviour and accept Him as such and perhaps many years afterward come to see Him as Lord, then surrendering fully to Him. That is out of order and in the meantime you have lost so much that God intended. We need to put it God's way - first the Prince, that is, the Lord Jesus exalted and enthroned above everything in our lives, and having Him as Saviour included in that. Those who accept Christ only for salvation's sake only get part of the Gospel.

Paul came into the Gospel by first of all seeing Jesus Christ as Lord. He saw what was in heaven and came to the Saviour by way of the sovereignty of Jesus Christ, and that is the way into full salvation. At the beginning the Gospel is symbolically represented in the star - that which was seen in the heavens as ruling and controlling the course of men bringing them to the Saviour. That is very simple but represents a very important principle and law to be carried right through. The close of Matthew strikes the very same note, but with all the development that has come in between. "All authority has been given unto Me in the heavens and the earth, you therefore go" (Matthew 28:19, 20). That which is seen in the heavens governing in the beginning has now developed until you come to he blessed position of seeing that all political divisions of this earth are under the sovereign rulership of Jesus Christ. "All authority given unto Me in the heavens and in the earth" and the government of his world, though unseen, is in the hands of the Lord Jesus. There is sovereignty back of it which will issue in his being King of kings and Lord of lords one day.

The Gospel comes in with Matthew as the Gospel of sovereignty, and there are various symbols of the sovereignty of the Lord Jesus in this book. You find the very word "heavens" occurs no less than seventy-five times in Matthew, and angels abound in this Gospel, for we meet with them no fewer than seventeen times. Another factor which always speaks of transcendency, elevation, ascendency, sovereignty, is the reference to mountains, which occurs fourteen times in Matthew, and a study of these mountains will show them as coming in in some governing capacity. In some way the Lord is bringing home the fact of His government - His control. You finish the book in a mountain.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 25)

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