The Heavenly Calling - Part 9 — T. Austin-Sparks

The friends who have been with us all the time will be patient with me if I say a few words for those who have only joined us this morning. Just by way of helping them to come into line with what the Lord is saying.

The Heavenly and Spiritual Israel in the Present Dispensation

We are occupied at this time with what God is particularly doing in this dispensation. And it is very important that all Christians should know what the special character of the time in which they live is.

So we have seen that God in this dispensation is forming a heavenly and spiritual Israel. We put special emphasis upon those two words, heavenly and spiritual. That is the particular nature of God's work in this dispensation.

We are seeing that God has left the old Israel which was an earthly and temporal Israel and has moved on to form this heavenly Israel. The first Israel refused to move on with God into this heavenly Israel.

It got its roots so deeply into this earth and into this world that it would not have them pulled out. So God rooted out that vine. God pulled up that tree by the roots and has thrown it into the fire of these last two thousand years.

He has taken a remnant from it, represented by the twelve apostles, by the apostle Paul, in the first place by the one hundred and twenty at the beginning, and then the three thousand saved Jews on the day of Pentecost, a spiritual remnant of Israel, and then extended this spiritual Israel to embrace the Gentiles.

And he has been going on with that work ever since. There are two things that I want to say before I go further with our particular point. I want to correct a possible misunderstanding. The heavenly and spiritual Israel, which is the church of Jesus Christ, the heavenly and spiritual Israel, which is the church of Jesus Christ, is not an afterthought of God.

It was not brought in because Israel failed. Please be very clear about that. There are those who teach that that is so. The Lord offered it to Israel, Israel refused it, and then he had to do something.

And so he got the idea of a church. It was quite an afterthought. A kind of emergency movement of God. And he brought in the church. That is entirely false to the whole of the Bible. And that is one thing that we are seeking to show in these days.

No, we have said that everything in the Old Testament, including Israel, had Christ and the church in view. It was all leading on to Christ and the church. And Christ and the church take up all the divine thoughts of the past and embody them in themselves.

The church is the eternal thing. The church is in the heart of God before time was. The church was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. The church is no afterthought of God, it is a beforethought of God.

God's son is not an emergency matter. He may have come in at a time of emergency. But he was from all eternity in view of this particular work. The church was eternally intended to be the body of Christ.

Now I want you to keep that in mind in all that we are saying. It is a very important matter. The other thing that I want to say or emphasize is this. That this new Israel, the church, is essentially a spiritual thing.

The Spiritual Nature and Unity of the Church

As truly as Christ here now is a spiritual matter. And Christ is here in this world by the spirit. As truly as Christ is here no longer in physical presence. And on a temporal basis. But can only be known spiritually.

We can only have fellowship with him spiritually. As truly as that is the case with the Lord Jesus, so it is as to the church. In the minds of many Christians there has got to be a revolution about this matter.

That where church is taken up and just put on to almost anything. Forgive me. I mean no offense. But we are dealing with very vital matters. Aber es geht uns hier um sehr wichtige Dinge. Wir sprechen hier von dieser Kirche oder jener Kirche.

Die Lutherische Kirche. Die Methodisten Kirche. Die Baptisten Kirche. Die Amerikanische Kirche. Und so viele mehr. Think of all these as the church. From heaven's standpoint that's a lot of nonsense. From heaven's standpoint that is not the church.

These things may represent one or other aspect of truth. Diese Kirchen können wohl einen oder einen anderen Aspekt der Wahrheit enthalten. Aber Teile von ihnen haben die ganze Wahrheit. Und sogar wenn wir sie alle zusammenfassen, haben sie noch nicht die ganze Wahrheit.

Die ganze Wahrheit ist allein in Jesus zu finden. Die Gemeinde ist etwas Geistliches. We cannot look upon anything material or any people in the flesh and say that's the church. You are only in the church in so far as there is something of Christ in you.

Wir sind nur soweit in der Gemeinde ob etwas von Christus in uns ist. Es ist Christus in uns der die Gemeinde bildet. Die Gemeinde ist eine Einheit in Christus. The Lord Jesus never looks upon so many loaves of bread all over the world when there is a gathering to his table.

I suppose that on any Lord's day there may be millions of loaves of bread being broken. Ich kann mir vorstellen, dass an jedem Sonntag tausende von Broten gebrochen werden. Und was den Wetter anbelangt, weiß nicht wie viele.

Aber der Himmel sieht nie mehr auf ein Brot. Und der Himmel sieht nie mehr auf einen Telz. Das Brot ist Christus. Und der Telz ist Christus. Und durch unsere Teilnahme werden wir eins gemacht in Christus.

Es ist eins gleich. Ich bin nicht sicher ob die Übersetzer recht hatten. Aber es mag etwas darin sein. Hauptsächlich in den Worten des Herrn beim Abendmahl. So übersetzen, dieses mein Leid für euch gebrochen.

Und ich glaube es ist viel Wahrheit enthalten in diesen Worten gebrochen. Ja, wahrhaftig wurde der Leid des Herrn verbrochen. Aber die späteren Übersetzer haben dieses Wort gebrochen festgelassen. Und sagten, dies ist mein Leid, der für euch ist.

Vielleicht lässt diese spätere Übersetzung eine falsche Idee weg. Weil dieses Wort gebrochen, die Idee vermittelt, dass hier ein Stück ist und dort ein Stück und dort nochmals ein Stück. Alles getrennte Teile.

Aber Christus ist nicht geteilt. Paulus fragte, ist Christus etwas verteilt? Nein, Christus ist nicht verteilt. Es mag tausend Stücke des irdischen Brotes geben. Aber das himmlische Brot ist nur eines.

Und genau so sieht der Himmel die Gemeinde. Die Gemeinde auf Erden ist etwas verbrochenes. Es ist in viele Stücke verteilt hier unten. Aber im Himmel wird sie als eine Einheit gesehen. Und je rascher ihr und ich hier den himmlischen Standpunkt sehen, umso besser.

Wenn dieser Mann oder diese Frau wirklich in Christus ist, it does not matter whether that man or that woman is in our denomination or not. Whether they are in our sect or not. If they are in Christ, they are part with me and with you of Christ.

Wenn die wirklich in Christus sind, dann sind sie ein Teil von euch und von mir. Nun versteht ihr, dass die Gemeinde etwas himmlisches ist und nichts irdisches. Und das ist äußerst wichtig, dass wir es erkennen.

The Spiritual Continuity of Israel in the Church

Und jetzt habe ich bereits viel Zeit gebraucht, bevor wir zum eigentlichen Thema kommen. Wir sind verantwortungslos zu tun. Auf der einen Seite zeigen wir Gottes Wege mit dem alten Israel auf. Auf der anderen Seite sehen wir, dass Gott die geistlichen Gesetze des alten Israels aufnimmt und sie weiterführt im neuen geistlichen Israel.

Was Gott zeitlich mit dem alten Israel tat, tut er genau wieder das gleiche. In gleicher Weise, aber auf geistlicher Art mit dem neuen Israel. Now our last word yesterday morning was that God's glory in Abraham reached its climax in sonship.

Sonship in death and resurrection as represented by Isaac. God's glory came to its climax in sonship. Sonship is the climax of God's glory. We are back in our letter to the Hebrews now. Damit befinden wir uns bereits wieder in unserem Hebräerbrief.

Was ist der Höhepunkt jenes Briefes? Und der Höhepunkt alles wirkens Gottes, wie er in jenem Brief gezeigt wird, befindet sich in einem Pferd, in dem er viele Söhne zur Herrlichkeit brachte. Das ist der Höhepunkt der Herrlichkeit Gottes.

Wie es zeitlich in Abraham geschah, so geschieht es geistlich im neuen Israel. Aber die Idee der Sonschaft begann nicht bei Abraham und Isaac. Es kam erst in Abraham und Isaac zum Vorschein. Aber dieser Gedanke lag schon weit zurück in der Ewigkeit.

Dieser Gedanke der Sonschaft war der Lieblingsgedanke Gottes vor allen Ewigkeiten. Und dieses Geheimnis ging verloren in Samen Abrahams nach dem Fleische. Es wird aber wieder aufgenommen in Abrahams Samen nach dem Geiste.

Now probably you know that the letters to the Romans and Galatians are concerned with that particular thing. In the letter to the Romans, chapter 9, 10 and 11, all one section really, the Apostle is just saying this.

Sagt der Apostel genau das. Sie sind nicht alle Israel. Nur jene die vom Israel sind. Aus Israel heraus ist das neue Israel. All the natural children of Abraham are not Israel now. It is the spiritual children of Abraham now.

And when you go into the letters of the Galatians, that is explained very carefully. Wird auch dort sehr genau erklärt. Und der Apostel führt es auf diesen grundlegenden Satz zurück. Er bezieht sich auf die Verheißung die an Abraham ergangen war.

In deinem Namen sollen alle Nationen gesiegnet sein. Now this is the thing that got Paul into a lot of trouble. He said, when God said that, he did not say, in thy seeds. He said, in thy seed, as of one.

And he said, and that seed is Christ. Not the many natural children of Abraham, but the spiritual children, and that is Christ. Christ and the companions of Christ. Isaiah cried, he shall see his seed.

He shall see the travail of his soul. And this heavenly Jerusalem is the spiritual seed of Abraham, which is Christ. The letters of the Galatians says, the rest have gone. Even all the other children of Abraham are now set aside.

God only recognizes his spiritual children. And this is taken up in this phrase, that has governed our whole time together. Wherefore, holy brethren, companions of a heavenly calling. We are companions of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning, down unto the end.

There is something there, that I am tempted to stay with. But I think I'll have to hold it over for another connection. I want to get on with this matter. This spiritual and heavenly Israel is called, companions of a heavenly calling.

Israel's Calling to Mediate Light and Life

For a few minutes I want to dwell upon that heavenly calling. What was God's intention in this world, concerning the first Israel? Well, as we said last night, it was that they should mediate light and life to the nations.

As we said last night, it was that they should mediate light and life to the nations. That was their divine calling. That the nations should receive light through their light. That the divine channel should be for light and life from God.

That was their calling. We could take quite a lot of the Old Testament to show that. I'm going to take perhaps only one illustration. You may have noticed that all the sons of Israel found their embodiment in one son.

When I speak of Israel now, I mean Jacob. All the sons of Jacob found their embodiment in one son. And that son was Joseph. And not only the sons and families of Jacob, but all Egypt would have perished.

The world would have perished, in a sense. God's strange, sovereign dealings with Joseph brought him through death and resurrection to the throne. And when his brothers came to Egypt and he made himself known unto them in utter shame they went down before him.

They began to apologize to try and excuse themselves. Poor, miserable, wretched fellows they were down before Joseph their brother. What did he say? Don't be sorry. Fear not. Don't be miserable about it.

You meant it for evil. God meant it for good. To send me before you to save many alive. Life and life came not only to all the families of Jacob but to Egypt, the world, through Joseph. Joseph was the inclusive representative of all his brethren.

God made him like that. And he sets forth this truth that God intended all Israel of old to be a minister of life and light to the whole world. To save much flesh alive. There is Israel calling. That is what Israel was intended for in the old dispensation.

Just down here by God's appointment right at the center of the nations in a position of ascendancy to mediate life and light to the nations. Abraham's seed was intended to be that. But that seed of Abraham failed God.

And instead of fulfilling that holy calling they contradicted it. We need not dwell upon their failure. It's a dark and terrible story. And if you ask why Israel has been where they have been for the last nearly 2 ,000 years for they have been just where the Lord Jesus said they would be he said the children of the kingdom shall be cast into outer darkness.

There will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. And that is the story of the earthly Israel through all these past centuries. That is as a nation. Thank God for all those who have escaped from the outer darkness.

Who are not weeping and wailing and gnashing their teeth now. But are rejoicing in Christ Jesus. But that is where the nation went. And the last stroke of that was in the year A .D. 70. That's the dark side.

The Church's Heavenly Calling to the Nations

That God had not finished with an Israel. He still had in view a prince with God. For that is the meaning of the name Israel as you know. And this heavenly spiritual Israel to which you and I belong are called into the vocation of Joseph.

God has transferred that in a spiritual way to us. We are here in the heavenly kingdom. We are calling this spiritual vocation to minister light and life to the world. That is to be our heavenly calling now.

That is why the Lord said to his new Israel go ye into all the world. Begin at Jerusalem. Samaria. All Judea. And unto the uttermost parts of the world. And wherever you are your heavenly calling is to bring light and life from above.

And at the beginning the church almost settled down in Jerusalem. That is the earthly Jerusalem. They were very slow to move away from the earthly Jerusalem. So the Lord took a big hammer. And he brought that hammer down on the church of Jerusalem.

And they were all scattered abroad. The Lord said I finished with this earthly city. The new Jerusalem is above. And the new heavenly calling is all the nations. That is the heavenly calling of the spiritual Israel now.

But that has got to come to fullness afterwards. And that fullness is represented at the end of the Bible. The holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. No, this is not a material and political world center.

This is the church. These are the companions of Christ. Represented in the symbolism of a city. And the last word about that city is this. And the nations of the earth shall walk in the light thereof.

And in the midst of the city there is the tree of life. And the leaves of the tree are for the health of the nation. You notice I've changed the word? Our translation says the healing of the nation. Our translation says the healing of the nation.

It's not correct. The nations then won't need healing, thank God, in eternity. But they will need their spiritual health ministered to. Most of us here this morning do not need saving. And remember, by the way, that the word salvation in the original is the word health.

It is a state of being in good health. That is the meaning of the word salvation, being in good health. Of course it means spiritually. The nations will then be the nations that have had the gospel and responded.

Righteousness will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. And right at the center of the nations will be the church. And through the church, light and light will go out to maintain the health of the nation.

I was saying we do not need salvation now in the sense of being saved. But why have you come here? You're all saved people. What are you doing here? Ought you not to be out all over the world getting others saved?

Well, that may be. But you're here because you want your health looking after. You take your morning breakfast to keep your health good. And you have come here to the Lord's provision. The table which the Lord has spread for us.

To keep our health good. And to still make our health better. So the leaves of the tree are not for the healing but for the health of the nation. So when everything has been said and done. You have gone right through the long, long story.

At last you come to the end in the last chapters of history in the book of the Revelation. And the last picture is of a heavenly Israel ministering light and light to the nation. Perhaps some of you Bible students, you people who are very interested in doctrine are just troubled now with a question in the light of what I've said.

The Heavenly City, Inheritance, and Spiritual Maturity

Does he mean that the church is one thing and there are a lot of people who are not of the church? In other words, the city is one thing and the nations are another? No, I'm not going to please you by entering upon any argument about this.

But I'm going to bring you back to this letter to the Hebrews for your answer. And the answer in this letter is in one little word of two letters. If. We are become companions of Christ if. Whose house are we if?

And the whole letter in one sense circles around that little word. It is not now a matter of salvation and getting into heaven. It is now a matter of that instrument of heaven for all the rest. This is the height of the heavenly calling.

I leave you to answer the question by studying this letter again. It does seem to say that everybody will not be the city. If everybody was the city, where is the country? No, the city is the center. It is the seat of administration.

The seat of government. The seat of light. The whole country derives its values through the city. And it does seem that that is the truth that is here. It is possible to get into heaven but not be of the city.

Well, if you've got trouble with that. And you disagree with me. It doesn't worry me very much. I can only say to you, go back to the world. I cannot, my dear friends, I cannot understand this letter on any other ground.

Why is this letter shot through and through with this urgency to go on? I do not believe that if you don't go on that means you forfeit your eternal life. That you sacrifice your salvation. But I do believe that if you don't go on you will forfeit your inheritance.

And that is the teaching of this letter as I see it. Why, the whole of the New Testament after the Gospels has this one object. To get Christians to go on. To go on to full growth. This is Abraham's spiritual seed.

And we are going to see at some point that Abraham looked for a city. Whose builder and maker is God. This is the city that Abraham was looking for. So I'm going to close with that thought this morning.

Abraham's Holy Discontent and the Call to Go On

God put something into the very constitution of Abraham. Which had two effects. It made Abraham a very discontented man. Abraham was possessed of a holy discontent. He went up and down the land. He saw the land.

God gave him crops and herbs in abundance. But all the time Abraham was saying this is not it. There is something more than this. I can never be satisfied with this. And in a right sense Abraham was a most discontented man.

On the other hand he had a vision of what ought to be. The New Testament calls it the heavenly country. He was looking for a city the builder and maker of which is God. And no city on this earth answered to what was in the heart of Abraham.

Do you think I'm exaggerating? Do you think I'm making that up? What did Jesus say to the oldest one? Your father Abraham saw my day. And he rejoiced. He saw right down the ages. He had a vision. Nothing in this world could satisfy that vision.

His heart was ever hungry. And so he was a man who never settled down on this earth. I expect people round about said continually hello Abraham you packing up again? You pulling down your tent again? Where are you going this time?

That was always happening with Abraham. He could not settle down anywhere. There was in his heart this vision and this hunger. Something that God had done in him. And nothing but the heavenly could satisfy him.

Now I've given you the letter to the Hebrews again. Let us go on says this letter. Continually let us go on. Let us not settle down. Let us never be satisfied with anything less than God's fullness. That's the message of this letter.

And it is in the end represented as a race. We are running a race. The gold and the prize lie ahead. Let us not stop in the race and turn aside. Let us run with patience the race that is set before us looking up unto Jesus.

Your father Abraham saw my day and rejoiced. It is still to be like that. Looking up unto Jesus. Never settling down with anything less than God's fullness. Wherefore holy brethren companions of a heavenly calling.

I am quite sure that where the Holy Spirit really has his place in a heart. That heart will be a going on heart. That heart will never settle down to anything less than God's fullness. There are two different kinds of dissatisfaction.

There are those poor miserable people who are never satisfied with anything. Always discontented. And that in a wrong way. And I am not appealing for such people like that. But this spiritual discontent.

This that says no I haven't yet attained. Neither am I already perfect. But there is one thing I do. Leaving the things which are behind. I press toward the mark of the prize of the on high course. That is the nature of a truly Holy Spirit governed life.

It will always be pressing on to something more of the Lord. These are the true heavenly feet of Abraham which is Christ. And we leave it there for the time being.