"Ye Are Come to Zion" - by T. Austin-Sparks
by John Mark on 03/13/24
Dear Saints,
This message
originally posted September 21, 2014.
My
notes:
As
God placed Adam into the Garden of Eden and he was told to cultivate it and to
guard it, so we, also, when we are placed into Christ at our new birth,
"We have a stewardship and a responsibility to cultivate that life; to
cultivate that which will bring us into a deeper abiding union and fellowship
with Him, and then to guard it. We need to guard our relationship by the manner
in which we walk."
As
Brother Sparks speaks of our entering into God's rest, rather than inaction, he
adds, "if we are going to find rest in service, it must be very
heart-satisfying service. Well, that is home. It is the place of rest, it's the
place of abiding. These are the things, with many other features of what
"home" means, which we are supposed to find in Christ."
Speaking
about possessing our inheritance, Doug commented, "That garden (Eden)
represented a place where Adam was to exercise dominion. And so, we have to
dispossess principalities and powers to come into the fulness of our
inheritance in Christ... That inheritance is inherently characterological, not
just about knowledge, but about a nature to be possessed." Brother Sparks
adds, "[It is] to be possessed, in the first place, to be exploited; that
is, it's got to be taken up and made to yield its inherent and its intrinsic
values."
As
Brother Sparks was speaking of the battles we experience, even those in our
gatherings, he asserts, "We'd see changes in our gatherings if we are
sensitive enough to register the encroachment of death and know then that's the
time for us is to do something; not to accept it, but to do something: exploit
Life." However, I'm reminded of 2 Corinthians 4:11-12, "For we who
live are constantly being handed over to death because of Jesus, so that the
life of Jesus may also be revealed in our mortal flesh. So death works in us,
but life in you." Not to contradict Brother Sparks, but this is 'the other
side of the coin'. There are those times we experience death, but when we know
life is registering in others because of it, we can endure and patiently wait
for the Lord.
"The
justification of Life is in the measure of Christ in others through us."
Think about this - re-read it. Why am I here? Why am I alive? What is my
purpose? What is the justification for me here and now? Can it be, that in some
way, other's measure of the reality of Christ in them is somehow connected to
me and my relationship to them? Remember Ephesians 4:16: "the whole body,
being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the
proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the
building up of itself in love." Brother Sparks continues, "That is
the justification of our existence, and the vindication of God in giving Life.
Life... oh, it's a challenge isn't it? It's a test, but here it is: the Family
is in view." Wow!
"Oh,
dear friends, covet above all things that you shall not be an end in yourself,
but there will be many who, by the grace of God, can attribute their spiritual
Life to you as a channel. You make it your real business in life to see that
there are many who have received Life through you. That is the justification of
our existence, that is the vindication of God in giving us Life at all. Indeed,
it is the vindication of the Cross of Christ." This so clearly identifies
what I am called to do as a 'joint of supply', a tiny little artery that
connects this vital spiritual food from Doug, Sparks, and others, via the
website and YouTube channel to saints all around the world. It is my joy, privilege
and honor. And, there are many of you who are joints of supply connecting
others to this ministry. Isn't it amazing how we are one body, connected to
each other this way??
Want
to know what "Zion" means? Doug goes into a helpful explanation
midway through this audio recording. "Zion is always the ideal of what
Israel should become." However, 'Zion' isn't a term limited to Israel. I
see Zion as it relates to the body of Christ, not as the church in general, but
as the remnant made up of overcomers, those conformed to the image of Christ
and Christ being fully formed in them. As you'll hear, both Doug & Sparks
go into much more than that. For example, "Zion, therefore, is not only
all that God has accomplished in Christ and all that Christ means in Himself of
God, Zion comes in the next place to mean a people in the good of that... we
have come to be a people in the good of all that God has provided and
accomplished in His Son. It is the sum of God's salvation enjoyed by a
people."
In
Doug's closing, we should consider praying with him, "Father, show each
one of us that as we live day in and day out, how do we cultivate this Life and
this place in Christ, and how do we guard it? Show us what it means to 'gird up
our loins for action'... and what it means to 'press for the prize of the
upward call of God in Christ Jesus'; what it means for us 'to apprehend that
for which we've been apprehended in Christ'."
DISCUSSION:
Doug
shared the impact another message he'd been reading by T. Austin-Sparks had on
him, The Church of the Firstborn
(https://www.austin-sparks.net/english/books/church_of_the_firstborn_the.html).
We
are not just to come to learn about our Lord, not to gather facts and fill
notebooks about Jesus Christ and not just be able to quote many bible verses or
pontificate on how much we know. We are to bear His Name. What we know about
Him is to become an experiential reality, so when people see us, they see
Jesus; when we speak, people hear Jesus; how we act when circumstances hit us
unexpectedly, people see Jesus respond. It will be the glory of Christ
expressed in us that will be manifested when He comes for us. 'We will enter
into the sufferings of Jesus Christ; that we will so become one with the nature
of Christ, the character of Christ, that wherever we go, we bear the Name of
Christ. And to bear the Name is a characterological reference to our whole
conduct and our whole being.'
I'm
reminded of that amazing passage in 2 Corinthians 4:6-11: "For God, who
said, 'Light shall shine out of darkness,' is the One who has shone in our
hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing
greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted
in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but
not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body
the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in
our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death
for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our
mortal flesh." So, are people seeing the life of Jesus, the
treasure? ... or the earthen vessel – especially when we are afflicted,
perplexed, persecuted, struck down, and delivered over to death?
Link
to Audio: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/9-21-14+Sunday+Assembly.mp3
Link
to Discussion: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/9-21-14+Sunday+Assembly-discussion.mp3