The Heavenly Calling - Part 10 — T. Austin-Sparks

The Gospel of Baran and the Transition to the New

In the 16 points in the Gospel of Baran, which mark the course of transition from the oldest route to the new. In the 16 points in the Gospel of Baran, which mark the course of transition from the oldest route to the new.

Jesus Christ as the Light of the World

We come this evening to number 12. And we are in the 8th chapter of the Gospel by John. From verse 12 through into chapter 9. From verse 12 through into chapter 9. I think we have better read some of this.

In other words, Jesus spoke to them and said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not perish in darkness, but will have the light of life. Then the Pharisees said to him, you bear witness of yourself, your testimony is not true.

You bear witness of myself, my witness is true, for I know whence I came and whither I go, but ye know not whence I come or whither I go. Jesus answered and said to them, even if I bear witness of myself, my testimony is true, for I know whence I came and whither I go, but ye know not whence I come or whither I go.

Ye judge after the flesh, I judge no man. Yea, and if I judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I and the Father, that sentence. Yea, and if I judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I and the Father, that sentence.

But also in your law it is written that the testimony of two men is true. I am the one who testifies of myself, and the Father who testifies of me in all things. I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, albeit he that sent me is true, and the things which I heard from him these speak I unto the world.

I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, albeit he that sent me is true, and the things which I heard from him these speak I unto the world. Verse 31, Jesus therefore said unto those Jews which had believed him, If ye abide in my word, then are ye truly my disciples.

Jesus therefore said unto those Jews which had believed him, If ye abide in my word, then are ye truly my disciples. Know the truth, and the truth will set you free. If thou, ye shall be made free. If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I know that ye are wicked, but ye seek not to kill me, for my word is not in you. We should actually read the whole chapter. It is a pity that the chapters are divided here.

Because chapter 9 is a demonstration of all that is in chapter 8. In a very practical way, Jesus shows the truth of what he has been saying. And so we have this in chapter 9. As he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth.

The Blind Man and Israel’s Spiritual Blindness

And as he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind? And he said, the works of God should be made manifest in him.

We must watch the works of him that sent me, while it is day, the night cometh, when no man can watch. I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he sat on the ground and made clay, and anointed his eyes with the clay.

And as he had said, he sprang up from the earth, and took out a cloth from the mirror, and made the cloth like a salve on his eyes. And he said to him, go, wash yourself in the pool of Siloam. Then he went and washed himself, and came to see.

But it is perfectly clear that this story, this incident, is set in the background of Israel. That is, the earthly Israel. The effect of this long section of the record is intended to show that Israel, after the flesh, is blind.

If ever men demonstrated how blind they were, these people did, in all this argument. Jesus is making them give themselves away. That is, he is just compelling them to betray their own blindness. These people are not seeing, that's the fact.

They are as spiritually blind as was that man naturally blind. So that what we have here is set in Israel's blindness. All with the object of showing this specific characteristic of the new spiritual Israel, which the Lord Jesus was bringing into being.

God’s Unchanging Purpose and the New Israel

Now, can you just hold that for a few minutes? Don't forget it, I don't want to have to say it again. But I am going away from it for a few minutes. Because there is one marvelous truth which embraces all these things that we are saying.

And that truth is this. That no thought that God has ever expressed dies. There is no lapse of any thought that God has expressed. In the Israel of old, God expressed his thoughts. His thoughts were in the very conception of Israel.

Seine Gedanken waren in Israel verkörpert. They were in the very constitution of Israel. They were in all that was said about Israel. They were in all that was revealed as to God's purpose concerning Israel.

Sie waren offenbar in all dem, was im Plane Gottes für Israel gesagt worden ist. In a multitude of ways, God had expressed his thoughts in Israel. Now that Israel failed to answer the thought of God. Aber jenes Israel versachte, indem es nicht auf Gottes Gedanken einging und sie ausdrückte.

They would not give God the answer to his expressed thought that he desired. Those thoughts of God concerning Israel were never realized because of Israel's rebellion. So Israel is put aside. But God's thoughts are not put aside with Israel.

All those same thoughts are taken up in a new Israel. Jesus himself becomes the inclusive new Israel. Das alles umfassende neue Israel. You remember he referred to Jacob. Jacob whose name was changed to Israel.

And he said to Nathanael, Afterward, that is later on, you shall see the heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. So Jesus is the new Israel in person. Jesus ist also in person das neue Israel.

All the communications of God and heaven to man are by way of Jesus, the new Israel. All God's thoughts in the past ages are taken up in the Lord Jesus in the first place. All that was ever intended by God concerning Israel and that Israel lost is carried on in the Lord Jesus and then transferred by Jesus to his companions.

Und dann von Jesus weitergegeben an seine Gefährten. An die Gefährten Jesu und der himmlischen Berufung. Das neue Israel, welches ein geistliches Israel ist. Ich habe einen sehr weiten Bereich für euch geöffnet.

Es wäre für mich ganz unmöglich, alle Kennzeichen des Willens Gottes für Israel zu nennen. Lass mich nur daraus hinweisen, was ich meine. You know, God marked Israel up as a people distinct from all other people by appearance.

The Distinctive Character of Christ’s Companions

Some years ago before he went to the Lord, I knew a very distinguished Hebrew Christian. Von äußerlich erkennbaren christlichen Juden, bevor er starb. Er pflegte überall hin zu reisen, in der ganzen Welt.

Und er sagte mir folgendes. Überall, wo immer ich hingehe, in alle Teile der Welt, weiß ich es immer genau, wenn ich einem Juden begegne. For generations in this country and in that. But there is something about them that they never lose.

Without being told that they are Jews, I always know. God marked them out as a people distinct from all other races. Now see how that is taken up in the Lord Jesus. And see how that is taken up in all the true companions of Jesus.

Not by the shape of our face. Not by any outward form. But it is perfectly true that wherever you meet a true Christian in this world, you know them before being introduced. There is never any need for anybody to bring them to you and say, this is a Christian.

You come into their presence. There is something about them. It is different. And when you begin to talk, you know you have met one of your own race. There are good features, maybe those of Chinese, Indian, British or anything else.

But there are spiritual features which mark them out as different from all others. And they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. They are different. There is that about them which is quite different from all others.

Now that is a truth. We must very sacredly safeguard that truth. There are far too many who bear the name of Christ who cannot be distinguished from the world. Indeed they are just trying to behave like the world.

But my point is this. Whatever the expressed thought of God was, in any one of a thousand ways, if Israel let that thought, it is taken up in Jesus Christ. And it is transferred by him to his companions.

The companions of Christ always take some of his character. And that is why somebody started the name Christian. And that is also why somebody started the name Christian. And the Christians were first called Christians in Antioch.

Somebody said to them, these are Christ's ones. That is just the meaning of Christian. Within which we are speaking in these days. Israel was called to be God's instrument of light to the world. God raised up Israel to be light to all the nations for him.

Israel’s Calling to Reflect God’s Light

All the nations were intended to come to know God through Israel. To see what God is like. To come into the knowledge of God. Israel was set in the nations for that purpose to be the light of the world.

God intended to reflect himself through Israel on this earth. The light of God was intended to fall upon Israel like a mirror. And then from Israel to be reflected, to shine forth to all the nations. There were times when it was like that to some extent.

But what a tragedy Israel was in that particular. Time came when God was rather veiled by Israel than revealed. Israel became a terrible contradiction of God. When you pick up these gospels, you read all these arguments between Jesus and the leaders of Israel.

You read all that is in these gospels as to the Jewish rulers. The way they behave. The way they talk. The spirit that they show. You say well if that is God I want to have nothing to do with God. That is a terrible misrepresentation of God.

And because of that God put Israel aside. But in this particular respect he did not put his thought aside. At that time when Israel was about to be rejected. Into the world came God's Son. He took up the thought of God that was intended to be realized in Israel.

And he said right in the midst of this dark and blind Israel. I am the light of the world. Israel has failed. I take the place of Israel. And in me and through me shall all the world know what God is like.

While I am in the world I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness. But shall have the light of life. God always intended that the races of this world should have the light of life.

Life giving light. Liberating light. Oh how light liberating. When I came out of my room to come into the meeting tonight. There was no light on the stairways. It was as dark as night. I was feeling everywhere to find where the light was.

I was afraid to walk to the top of the stairs in case I fell down. I was helpless. I was a prisoner to darkness. And I could do nothing. Until I found the light. And here I am. Quite safe and sound. I was a prisoner of darkness and I might never have got here.

When the light came I was set free. I could go anywhere. Do anything. If the sun shall make you free ye shall be free indeed. When the sun shall make you free ye shall be free indeed. How does the sun make us free?

Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. While I am in the world I am the light of the world. And the effect of the light is to set men free. Do you remember the commission given by the Lord to the Apostle Paul at the time of his conversion?

Paul’s Commission to Turn People from Darkness to Light

It is most illuminating and instructive in the light of what we are saying. The Lord said to Paul, giving him his commission to the nations, to whom I send thee, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God.

Prisoners of Satan and therefore in the dark. To turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God. And every person of the human race by nature is in the prison of the devil. And every person of the human race by nature is in the prison of the devil.

I think perhaps some of you here have heard me quote from John Bunyan's Holy War in this connection. I hope you have all read his Holy War. You have probably read his Pilgrim's Progress. You will remember that the Holy War sets forth the battle for man's soul.

And all the forces of Apollyon attacking to capture man's soul. Apollyon Man's soul is represented as a city. And Apollyon calls his leaders together. And he says this, If we are going to capture man's soul, we must first of all capture the burgomaster of man's soul.

And the name of the burgomaster is Mr. Understanding. We must capture Mr. Understanding and put him in a dark dungeon so that he does not see what is happening. We must capture Mr. Understanding and put him in a dark dungeon so that he does not see what is happening.

That is a very clever thought. The scripture says that our understanding is blinded. The God of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelieving. So that the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus should not shine unto them.

If light comes upon Jesus to any soul, that soul is liberated. If light comes upon Jesus to any soul, that soul is liberated. Then the whole strategy of Apollyon is destroyed. How important it is for the God of this age that he can blind the eyes of man.

And make sure that he does not see what is going on. And that is the state of every child of Adam after the flesh. The Lord was saying to Israel, that's where you have got to. You who were intended to be the light of the world, are now involved in the very darkness of the world.

You are a contradiction to all God's thought and intention. Well, that is quite clear and evident, isn't it? But that is the negative side. We repeat, what Israel failed to realize is taken up in the person of God's Son.

And transferred to the new, collective Israel. Called in the Hebrew letter, the Companions of Christ. Do you see what the Companions of Christ are supposed to be like? They are supposed to be the very vessels in which this truth is fulfilled.

They are supposed to be the very temples of Christ. And in them he is to be the light. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ in you, the hope of glory. And that would lead us to a very large study.

Spiritual Understanding and the Light of Christ

You know that the New Testament has a very great deal to say about spiritual understanding. The tremendous importance of spiritual knowledge. It puts a very high and great value upon this faculty of spiritual sight.

You remember that great passage in the second letter to the Corinthians? Chapter four. God, who said, let light be, has shined into our hearts. In other words, has said, let light be in our hearts. Has shined into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency might be of God and not of ourselves. Do you notice what is surrounding that marvelous statement? It is connected with Moses going up into the mountain where God was.

And receiving the law at the mouth of God. And then coming down the mountain. Not knowing it, but his face was shining. It says that he wished not that his face did shine. But the people saw it. And they could not look.

The light was too strong. And they could not look upon the face of Moses. So Moses took a veil and put it over his face. And hid the glory of God behind the veil. Now says the apostle, bringing this right up to date.

From that time until now, there is a veil upon the heart of Israel. Israel is incapable of looking upon the glory of God. Israel is incapable of looking upon the glory of God. But says the apostle, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil will be taken away.

Now by the Lord I mean the Spirit. And where the Spirit is Lord, there is liberty. And where the Spirit is Lord, there is liberty. When the Holy Spirit takes away the veil from the heart, and the light becomes visible, then one receives liberty.

Then life is set free. All by the Holy Spirit. I'm just hoping that that's what's happening here in these days. Well if it isn't happening in you, it's happening in me. I'm having a glorious time. Heaven is open.

We are seeing the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And we are set free. Who will say that there is not the liberty of the Spirit amongst us in these days? I think we can say about this, as Jesus said about something else, today is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

From Facts to Personal Spiritual Sight

Now what I have said is the statement of fact. And when the facts have been stated, we are only at the beginning of the matter. You will never be liberated by the statement of facts. I may stand here for years and state facts, it will make no difference to you.

Something has got to happen. It's got to begin to happen if you are not already born again. Es muss anfangen zu geschehen, wenn ihr noch nicht wiedergeboren seid. And what has got to happen to you right at the beginning of your Christian life is what happened to this man born blind.

Und was mit euch geschehen ist, als ihr euer Christenleben anzieht, ist genau dasselbe, was hier mit diesem blinden Mann geschah. You have got to be able to truly say exactly the same words as he said.

Wir müssen in der Lage sein, genau das gleiche zu sagen, was dieser blinde Mann nachher sagte. One thing I know. A lot of things I don't know. But one thing I do know. Whereas I was blind, now I can see.

That is the characteristic of the beginning of a true companion of Jesus Christ. But that is only the beginning of seeing. The Apostle Paul had given a tremendous amount of teaching to the believers in Ephesus.

He said to them, I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God. Er sagte zu ihnen, ich habe mich nicht zurückgehalten, euch den ganzen Ratschluss Gottes auszuzeigen. He spent some years with them.

And he was just pouring out to them the light that he had. They were therefore Christians who had a lot of instruction. Sie waren deshalb Christen, die sehr viel empfangen hatten. Und nach dem allem, Paul went to prison.

And in prison, he wrote a letter to them. And he said, I pray for you. I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus, for you. And this is what I pray to God for you. With all that you have received, this is what I pray for you.

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, will grant unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of his Son. The eyes of your heart being enlightened. That's not for their salvation.

They've been saved a long time. They have been taught very much. They have gone a long way with the Lord. But still, Paul prays this prayer. In effect, he is saying, all that you have received, all that I have given you, is nothing compared with what there is yet to see in the Lord Jesus.

And for all that, you need to have your eyes open. You need a spirit of wisdom and revelation. How important this is. And you notice how he finishes that letter? Our wrestling is not with flesh and blood.

Spiritual Warfare Against the Loss of Light

But with principalities and powers. With world rulers of this darkness. And spiritual hosts of wickedness. And what is it that they are seeking to do? Rob you of the light. Paul says there, we are not ignorant of his devices.

Take the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. The wiles of the devil are to stop you getting more light. The wiles of Satan are to prevent you from getting more light.

To rob you of the light that you have. To bring in something that will blind your eyes. To get your eyes off the Lord Jesus, onto something else. Perhaps onto yourself. Or onto some worldly interest. And as soon as that happens, you will go into bondage.

You will be helpless prisoners again. This matter of spiritual enlightenment is a great battle. There is always a battle bound up with receiving more true spiritual light. Well we must just close. For the present.

Christ’s Companions Learning Spiritual Truth

We have come only to the door of a very great matter. But we close by repeating what we said. This great thought of God is taken up in Christ and transferred to his companions. I thought that I might say something this evening about Christ's battle with his own companions in the days of his flesh on this matter.

He had chosen twelve. The number of the tribes of Israel. He had made them his companions. But oh, what a difficulty he had to make them understand. He had sometimes to say, do you not understand? And he had to put his teaching into little children's parables.

To try and get through their thick minds some understanding of spiritual truth. A sower went forth to sow. And you know the picture. It's the picture for little children, isn't it? And all the other parables.

And when he had finished them all. He had to tell them that he had to do it like that because they hadn't got understanding. All the way through he was battling with their dark mind. And he was pointing on to a day when they would understand.

Because he knew that day was coming he didn't give them up. In that day he shall ask me no more questions. When he the spirit of truth has come he will guide you into all the truth. And I have thought that the Lord Jesus must have been very happy on the day of Pentecost.

And I have thought that the Lord Jesus must have been very happy on the day of Pentecost. Have you read Peter's address on the day of Pentecost? Here is a nice little piece of bible study for you. Make a list of all the subjects included in Peter's address on the day of Pentecost.

That address is just packed full of the Old Testament. And people are saying why it's all been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. That is what Jesus labored three and a half years to get them to understand. And on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit had come the bible was wide open to them.

They saw it all. They were set free. By the truth. By the light. I think Jesus in heaven must have been saying my this is what I lived for and what I suffered for. These men are seeing at last. These are my companions now.

The companions of Jesus are those who see as he sees. How true that is of all companionship. There is really no companionship between two people if they don't see alike. You might want to keep together.

But oh how difficult it is when one doesn't see what you see. You can just go so far no further. Says the scripture how can two walk together except they be agreed. Real companionship rests upon mutual understanding.

And I think there are few things that Jesus wants and longs for more than to have people who understand him. This is what God ever wanted. And this thought is taken up in his son. And is passed on to the son's companion.

John says if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another. Jesus says if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another.