That
all the elements of a great transition were present in
those first years following the resurrection and
ascension of the Lord and the advent of the Holy Spirit,
is unmistakable.
Although
those immediately concerned and in responsibility were
not fully awake to the meaning of what was happening and
were slow to grasp the implication of things, there is no
doubt that they were conscious of being precipitated into
waters strange, deep and unaccustomed. Strange things
were happening, and the cumulative meaning only slowly
broke upon them. True, there were ACTS of divine
Sovereignty which could not be ignored, but their
inclusive meaning only GREW upon them. For
instance, the death of Stephen was an event, but what
Stephen and his death implied only a very few seem to
have recognized at the time. It took the
“apprehending” of Paul by Christ, and the full
purpose of his election to explain Stephen.
“The
persecution which arose about Stephen” was under the
sovereign government of heaven, but it seems to have been
looked upon only in that light and not as a part of a DISPENSATIONAL
plan. This, with the crisic event of Peter and
Cornelius, was not seen to be related to heaven’s
intervention to change the base of operations, and the
“headquarters” from earth to heaven. There was
a clinging to Jerusalem.
Dr.
Campbell Morgan has a fine paragraph on this in his
"Acts of the apostles". It reads thus:
“The
martyrdom of Stephen created a crisis in the history of
the church. In reading the Acts, we find that from this
point onward (chapter eight) Jerusalem is no longer the
centre of interest. It almost fades from the page. This
is not loss, but great gain. When Jerusalem ceases to be
the centre of interest, the record does not suffer in any
way, nor does it reflect upon Jerusalem. THE LOCAL,
THE TEMPORAL, THE MATERIAL, ARE OF LITTLE IMPORTANCE IN
THE CHURCH OF GOD. THE UNIVERSAL, THE ETERNAL, THE
SPIRITUAL ARE SUPREME. It was of the very spirit of
an old and past economy to fasten upon a geographical
centre, and to depend upon material symbols. The church
now moves out upon the great pathway of her victorious
business, independent of Jerusalem. THAT IS THE
SUPREME REVELATION OF THE BOOK OF THE ACTS OF THE
APOSTLES. Not easily did they learn the lesson, for
the apostles clung to Jerusalem; but the great spiritual
movement, independent of Jerusalem, and the apostles,
went forward, not slighting Jerusalem, nor unmindful of
Jerusalem, nor careless of its past history and early
contribution, but far more influenced by the vision of
Jerusalem from on high, the mother of us all… NO
LONGER HAMPERED BY LOCALITIES AND TEMPORALITIES, THE
SURGING SPIRITUAL LIFE OF THE CHURCH SWEPT THEM ALL
AWAY... Church failure has invariably resulted from
an attempt to check that spiritual movement which is
independent of locality, and of all things material.
Whenever the church is governed from Jerusalem, or from
Rome, or from anywhere else other than heaven, it is
hindered and hampered and prevented from fulfilling the
great functions of its life.” (Italics [emphasis]
are ours.)
We
have said that there was a slowness at the beginning to
recognize the meaning of heavenly trends. This was
probably due to two things. Firstly, when we are close up
to events and happenings we only see them in themselves:
the element of perspective and relatedness is obscured or
blurred. The things themselves are all we see. We, in
later times, are able to see how the steps and incidents
fitted into a divine pattern. Or, are we so able? Perhaps
inability to so discern is the reason for so much
confusion when the pattern is before us.
Then,
secondly, they were thus slow because GOD'S WAY OF
TEACHING IS MORE BY EXPERIENCE THAN BY THEORY. Often
they only drew their conclusions from accomplished facts
and not from reasoned theories. God did something and
explained it afterwards. This is something which should
be helpful to us all in events which, at the time, are
“out of our depth”. Heaven has the meaning and
what is not explained now will subsequently be made
clear.
What
then was the great transition?
It was
the passing of all government, with the seat of
government, from earth to heaven; from the hands of man
to the hands of the ascended Christ. Henceforth all
reference and deference was to the exalted Son of God.
Henceforth man was an instrument, a vehicle, a recipient.
Man was not an originator, a projector, a source, a
deviser, a planner, a master. He had to GET
everything, be absolutely subject.
There
is a very indefinite and nebulous belief in the
sovereignty of God. It is a kind of fatalistic
generalization which takes everything into its own hands,
and “trusts God that it will turn out all
right”.
This
is not as it was in the beginning. Prayer was made
regarding every question and not until it could be said
with assurance: “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit
and to us”, or “The Holy Spirit said...”
would they move. Those are things which it is most rare
for the church to say in our time. The custodianship of
the Holy Spirit regarding the world-mission of the
church, local and universal, was not taken for granted or
assumed, but specific and definite reference was made to
Him.
But,
when we have pointed to the fact and general nature of
the great transition, we are obliged to say something as
to the great difficulty in which it involved the new
dispensation. This probably was a further reason why, on
the one hand, the change was so slow in being made or
entered into and, on the other hand, why the Lord did not
impose it on them all at once. He seems to have nursed
them into it, with certain crisic precipitations. The
change was so radical! The new position was indeed all so
new. By way of illustration consider Israel in the
wilderness. Under heavy testing, they may later have
given to Egypt an illusory and sublimated adornment, when
they hankered for “the fleshpots of Egypt”, for
the garlic and the onions, but still there WERE
fleshpots! They took their “kneading-troughs”,
so there must have been dough to knead, and the frequent
reference to leaven indicates tasty bread. Crushed,
oppressed, and in bondage as they had been in Egypt,
their support was tangible and sure. The wilderness was a
new position and an extremely testing one. Life was
placed upon a supernatural basis in all temporal matters.
If this was true of an earthly Israel, how much more so
of the heavenly!
In
this new dispensation all our spiritual blessings are in
heavenly places. Our city and citizenship are in heaven.
Our Priest, altar, and sacrifice are in heaven. Our
calling is a heavenly calling. Our entire spiritual
support has to come from heaven; and so much more. Only
those who are wholly committed to God know how testing
this life of faith is. And yet, and yet, what a miracle
it is that we go on and not under, even after many years
of trials and sufferings! Our place is by no means an
easy one. It is so contrary to the life of nature and the
flesh! But it is carried on by the power of his
resurrection.
We may
add that the further we go on with the Lord — not in
time merely, but in depth — the more testing our
position becomes. It is impossible to take a position
with God without having that position severely and
perhaps repeatedly tested. It might be thought that to
move with God will carry with it His defences against
serious trials and adversity. In fact it works the other
way, but He keeps and is faithful. Justification will be
found in spiritual, heavenly and eternal values. Because
many have not had the spiritual measure to stand up to a
position MENTALLY, DOCTRINALLY OR OBJECTIVELY taken,
they have reverted to an easier, and what they call a
“simpler” or more “practical” way,
and this explains so much weakness among Christians in
our time.
Undoubtedly
the Spirit of God is pressing many Christians up into
reality. This is true, even amidst much activity to
popularize Christianity and to eliminate the hard way of
the Cross. It may be necessary for some hard blows to be
struck at traditional fixity, but this would only make
the end of the age correspond to the beginning, both in
the Spirit’s method and His object. Systems will
have to collapse in order that the Person shall be all in
all.
When
we have said this we have touched one point at which
things radically differ in organized Christianity from
what they were at the beginning. The organized so often
takes away the opportunity of proving God and letting
HIM get ALL the glory.