Hidden On High (Col 3:3)

[WordSword]

Heavenly beings living in an earthly realm! Angeles? No, believers in the Lord Jesus! Angels are in the earthly realm; they do not live but work here. Every true saint knows their destiny, which is where they are presently positioned in heaven.
NC

 

 

 

Hidden On High (Col 3:3) 

 

God’s relationship with earthly Israel was, I am so holy that I cannot let anyone come near Me. I will give you laws and promises, but into My presence you cannot come (e.g. Exo 19:12, 13). As Christians, our relationship with the Father is infinitely otherwise. We have “boldness to enter into the Holiest” (Heb 10:19). What was, that God did not come out to man, and man could not go in to God. Keep the law and have human self-righteousness, but do not come near Me. All this ended in the rejection of the Messiah.

What is, that the veil is rent from top to bottom, and that the only place I have to walk in is in the light as my Father is in the light, and if I cannot walk in the light I cannot walk with Him at all. A believer’s place is not that he ought, but that he must walk in the light, as the Father is in the light, or he cannot walk with Him at all, for now there is no veil.

We have a title and position to be in the Holiest by the Blood that brought us there, and are fit for it as cleansed from all sin, and there is no other place to walk with the Father. But we reckon ourselves also dead to sin (concerning its dominion and damnation—NC) to all that is without. This is the very thing that gives us deliverance. I am not in the flesh at all (Rom 8:9), therefore I can go in with boldness.

Our Father has personally accepted us in His Son, His Beloved who is in the glory. Our actual condition is never spoken of except as being in connection with the Second Man in glory; our only connection with the Father is in is Son; we are “Predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom 8:29).

This is not a question of our responsibility; it all depends upon the finished work of the Last Adam; it rests upon the finished work of the Cross. The Lord Jesus has obeyed even unto death, and is glorified. As the result of His work, we have been begotten again with “the Word of Truth” (Jas 1:18), we have been made the children of the Father through faith in His Son, and thus have a new life and nature. We are now heirs of God and “joint-heirs with Christ” (Rom 8:17).

Now this new life must have an object, and the Father has given it One that is not in this world at all. There is not a single thing in this world to which we are crucified that will not deter our growth if we go after it. Sanctification is connected with the Lord Jesus Christ, our Life, in glory. All is new: the Life, the character, the Object by which we are sanctified through the Holy Spirit, is outside the world entirely.

The work being fully accomplished, the Spirit of Christ comes down and says, “Now the world is done with, and if you do not come out of it in body (e.g. die - 1Co 5:10), be out of it, and in heaven in spirit (heavenly positioned in the spirit of our mind while yet here in the body—NC). I have come down purposely to recreate you in union with the One outside this world.” The Object before us is the glorified Lord Jesus; He is our Christian Life (Col 3:4): we are “created in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:10). The believer has responsibilities here, and is not “taken out of this world” (Jhn 17:15); but his life is wholly in union with the Lord Jesus at the right hand of the Father, and everything that diminishes our perception of Him there, diminishes our practical growth here.

The world will not now bear a man that is like Christ. It will tolerate plenty of Christians; an amiable Christian it will get on with; but a believer is called to be faithful. Remember, the believer has two lives, two natures and whatever he gets on in the world, it is the believer who goes to the world (carnal Christian—NC), for the world cannot go to him—it has only one life and nature.

—J N Darby (1800-1882)

 

 

MJS devotional excerpt for January 26

“Affliction and suffering are the lot of all men, the privilege of all believers. Our sufferings bring forth need, and our need brings forth His comfort and consolation. Blessed need! “As ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation” (2 Cor. 1:7). Blessed promise!” –Miles J Stanford
http://www.abideabove.com/hungry-heart/
 

[AdHoc]

2 hours ago, WordSword said:

Heavenly beings living in an earthly realm! Angeles? No, believers in the Lord Jesus! Angels are in the earthly realm; they do not live but work here. Every true saint knows their destiny, which is where they are presently positioned in heaven.
NC

 

 

 

Hidden On High (Col 3:3) 

 

God’s relationship with earthly Israel was, I am so holy that I cannot let anyone come near Me. I will give you laws and promises, but into My presence you cannot come (e.g. Exo 19:12, 13). As Christians, our relationship with the Father is infinitely otherwise. We have “boldness to enter into the Holiest” (Heb 10:19). What was, that God did not come out to man, and man could not go in to God. Keep the law and have human self-righteousness, but do not come near Me. All this ended in the rejection of the Messiah.

What is, that the veil is rent from top to bottom, and that the only place I have to walk in is in the light as my Father is in the light, and if I cannot walk in the light I cannot walk with Him at all. A believer’s place is not that he ought, but that he must walk in the light, as the Father is in the light, or he cannot walk with Him at all, for now there is no veil.

We have a title and position to be in the Holiest by the Blood that brought us there, and are fit for it as cleansed from all sin, and there is no other place to walk with the Father. But we reckon ourselves also dead to sin (concerning its dominion and damnation—NC) to all that is without. This is the very thing that gives us deliverance. I am not in the flesh at all (Rom 8:9), therefore I can go in with boldness.

Our Father has personally accepted us in His Son, His Beloved who is in the glory. Our actual condition is never spoken of except as being in connection with the Second Man in glory; our only connection with the Father is in is Son; we are “Predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom 8:29).

This is not a question of our responsibility; it all depends upon the finished work of the Last Adam; it rests upon the finished work of the Cross. The Lord Jesus has obeyed even unto death, and is glorified. As the result of His work, we have been begotten again with “the Word of Truth” (Jas 1:18), we have been made the children of the Father through faith in His Son, and thus have a new life and nature. We are now heirs of God and “joint-heirs with Christ” (Rom 8:17).

Now this new life must have an object, and the Father has given it One that is not in this world at all. There is not a single thing in this world to which we are crucified that will not deter our growth if we go after it. Sanctification is connected with the Lord Jesus Christ, our Life, in glory. All is new: the Life, the character, the Object by which we are sanctified through the Holy Spirit, is outside the world entirely.

The work being fully accomplished, the Spirit of Christ comes down and says, “Now the world is done with, and if you do not come out of it in body (e.g. die - 1Co 5:10), be out of it, and in heaven in spirit (heavenly positioned in the spirit of our mind while yet here in the body—NC). I have come down purposely to recreate you in union with the One outside this world.” The Object before us is the glorified Lord Jesus; He is our Christian Life (Col 3:4): we are “created in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:10). The believer has responsibilities here, and is not “taken out of this world” (Jhn 17:15); but his life is wholly in union with the Lord Jesus at the right hand of the Father, and everything that diminishes our perception of Him there, diminishes our practical growth here.

The world will not now bear a man that is like Christ. It will tolerate plenty of Christians; an amiable Christian it will get on with; but a believer is called to be faithful. Remember, the believer has two lives, two natures and whatever he gets on in the world, it is the believer who goes to the world (carnal Christian—NC), for the world cannot go to him—it has only one life and nature.

—J N Darby (1800-1882)

 

 

MJS devotional excerpt for January 26

“Affliction and suffering are the lot of all men, the privilege of all believers. Our sufferings bring forth need, and our need brings forth His comfort and consolation. Blessed need! “As ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation” (2 Cor. 1:7). Blessed promise!” –Miles J Stanford
http://www.abideabove.com/hungry-heart/
 

It is hard to argue with Darby. In this excerpt he reveals grand truths. I like his concise language. Here is the context of Colossians 3:3:

1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

For those not familiar with Victorian English, I think that the extract will be challenging. Here is how I see the matter in high school English.

God, Who must humble Himself to look at His creation, however grand it is, just cannot mix with that which touches His holiness. For this reason He dwelt behind a veil in Israel. And for this reason was Uzzah killed for touching the Ark of the Covenant (2nd Sam.6). But now, God has left His House in Jerusalem "desolate" and it is destroyed. The New Temple is Christ. And in this House are many "abodes" - the individual Christian. How then are we to approach God if it could mean death? Even if we were not sullied by the world, how do we establish a holiness up to God's standard - and this, NOT for Hi dwelling WITH us like Israel, but IN us (Jn.14:17). But we are left in the world, so how could we ever be adequate "abodes" for Jehovah? God does it so sovereignly.

God does not take us a people like Israel - born of the womb and profane from birth who need a Law to be ritually clean. He causes Christ to be a grain of Wheat, which, when planted in death, brings out of itself, many grains of wheat. And because we are IN Christ for this purposes, we are accorded all the privileges of Christ. But privileges do not put away the flesh. Being IN Christ IN HIS DEATH does! If we are IN Christ and he dies, we die with Him. If Christ is raised we too are raised - all this as spiritual seeds. And being dead to ourselves, God deals with us as having shed the flesh (as a dead man does).

But being dead is not for the fallen man. He is too obscure and humiliated by death. Death is abhorrent. It kills fame and position. The Christian practicing death cannot be famous among men and cannot claim anything before God. Our obscure life is HID with Christ. But this obscurity is only temporary. It is for dealing with our characters - for equipping us for the real purpose we sit with Christ in the Father's Throne for. We sit in the Father's throne to learn who is King and the profit of doing his will. And anon, when the time of the Gentiles is full, God reveals the new Kings of the earth. The word "glory" in the Greek means "made apparent". Having sat in lowly places on earth, with our thoughts on heavenly things, we will, at Christ's Coming, be with Him AND IT WILL BE MADE APPARENT WHO WE ARE - SONS OF GOD AND HEIRS TO THE WORLD.

If Christ is hid from men and scorned, how much more must we take this low position. But Christ's life must be infused into us in this time of training. No Laws and no self-help program can make us worthy of Christ's Kingdom. Only His life imparted at the new birth and infused into us, can make us up to the standard that the Father requires. The branch of the vine must stay IN the Vine. He must abode. He cannot go anywhere else. He must be IN the Vine to be connected to its LIFE sap. Only then does it bring forth "that which cheereth God and man" (Judg.9:13).

[Guest]

3 hours ago, AdHoc said:

If Christ is hid from men and scorned, how much more must we take this low position. But Christ's life must be infused into us in this time of training. No Laws and no self-help program can make us worthy of Christ's Kingdom. Only His life imparted at the new birth and infused into us, can make us up to the standard that the Father requires. The branch of the vine must stay IN the Vine. He must abode. He cannot go anywhere else. He must be IN the Vine to be connected to its LIFE sap. 

Hi, like your reply and appreciate much your encouraging comments! It's my understanding that upon rebirth it is as you've indicated, we become "partakers" of Christ's Life via the newly created "man" (nature), which is after His image (Col 3:10). This is eternally part of our spirit and soul, and thankfully as such will manifest itself in the believer's walk via the Father's "work" (Phl 2:13) is us.

Good point about the perseverance of the "branch," as separation from the Vine manifests a yet-to-occur connection with Him, or it wouldn't have died.

[AdHoc]

2 hours ago, WordSword said:

Hi, like your reply and appreciate much your encouraging comments! It's my understanding that upon rebirth it is as you've indicated, we become "partakers" of Christ's Life via the newly created "man" (nature), which is after His image (Col 3:10). This is eternally part of our spirit and soul, and thankfully as such will manifest itself in the believer's walk via the Father's "work" (Phl 2:13) is us.

Good point about the perseverance of the "branch," as separation from the Vine manifests a yet-to-occur connection with Him, or it wouldn't have died.

Yeah. Today's Christianity is very Old Testament. We're here and Christ is in heaven. They've swapped the Law of Moses for a morality that is equally, if not more, difficult than Moses. Don't smoke, length of the women's hair and whether or not you should watch TV. But the real issue is the Tree of Life. It does not make requirements from a distance. It provokes the owner of this life to do God's will AND it supplies the needed power intrinsically.

13 For it is God which worketh IN you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. (Php 2:13)

And then there is the matter, that Darby so aptly put - what we are reckoned to have and be IN Christ. All ritual sacrifices, diet cleansings and clothings voided in favor of Christ's perfect Work as the Father views it. And though it is hid now, and we take a retiring and conciliatory way now, we partake just as surely of Christ's glory when the "sons of God are manifested" (Rom.8:17-19).

[AdHoc]

11 hours ago, Josheb said:

Was everything Darby said in that article correct? 

If I may (knowing the question was not directed at me).

If the third last and second last paragraphs are taken away from the rest, we may ask for more clarification, for we are left in the world for a purpose. But Darby, within the context and point he was making, has correctly made his point.

This, of course, does not preclude objections. But I think that objections will come from those who are confronted with this for the first time. It is similar to Ephesians. The scene is once again "those IN Christ" as viewed by the Father. A small word, but profound in our standing before God, just as IN Adam is profoundly tragic.

[Guest]

13 hours ago, Josheb said:

Was everything Darby said in that article correct? 

Hi and thanks for your interest, but I would need more clarification by what you mean "correct." God bless!

[AdHoc]

1 hour ago, Josheb said:

If we include the third last and second last (do you mean the sixth and seventh paragraphs?) is there, then no need for clarification? What, for example, is the difference between a "believer" and a "Christian"? How about an "amiable-Christian" and a "carnal Christian," and where might I find such things identified in God's word? What kind of Israel besides the "earthly Israel" and where might I find the others described in scripture? 

Is it true that God did not permit anyone to come near Him? 

Is Exodus 19:12-13 about God permitting them to come near Him? Does the passage not go on to say they simply had to sanctify themselves before doing so? Did they not go up the mountain and did God not come down to them? 

Would keeping the whole Law prevent God from coming to that person? Would it result in "human self-righteousness"? 

Was it God not coming to man and man's inability to come to Him what caused the Messiah to be rejected? 

I have an appointment in 20 so I'll just start with a brief answer.

I think that in Darby's, and the grand scheme of things, "believer" and "Christian" are the same. But I am aware that if you push the point then Abraham was a believer but not a Christian. I hope we are not going to discuss on that level though.

An "amiable Christian" is one who seeks acceptance among all men by not standing for something. You know plenty if you've ever been in Church life.

"Carnal Christians" are well documented in 1st Corinthians 3. You seem to spoil for a fight - when a concordance will do. They are Christians who seek division from those who don't agree with them.

In Exodus 19 God came in a "thick cloud" and the elders of Israel were under threat of death. I would not use the words "simply sanctify themselves". Aaron has quite a ritual and the bells on his hem tell the story of a man's short future if he gets one thing wrong.

Yes. God does not meet with man based on the man's righteousness. There was One Man Whose righteousness sufficed and it is that righteousness that God accepts and imputes to believers exactly for the purpose of audience with Him. Aaron wouldn't last a second in his own clothes (Rev.19:1-8). Uzzah didn't last a second.

Jesus is a Mediator. He is Emmanuel. He is "God Veiled by the body of a man". Our Lord's rejection was because He rightly said that Israel's problems where their fault and due to their sins. This thought is abhorrent to men.

See you later.

[AdHoc]

4 hours ago, Josheb said:

Are those your definitions or Darby's? I ask because Darby appears to be making some undefined distinction and doing so in a manner pitting one against the other. I agree with you, a believer and a Christian are synonymous. Why then does Darby discriminate? In the article an amiable Christian is a Christian the world tolerates, a Christian that "gets along" with the world toleration. Is any of that scriptural? Some will cite verses that speak of God's causing us to find favor with others while other believers (no irony intended) will cite the verses that speak of inherent conflict, of how friendship with the world is a problem or the expectation of persecution. 

The selective use of scripture rarely leads to Christlikeness.

 

 

.

OK. Your view an judgment are noted.

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Josheb said:

In normal everyday ordinary usage the word "correct" means "in accordance with fact or truth; free from error".  Since he's writing about God and man and doing so using the Bible and doing so from a Christian point of view we might then add "In accordance with fact or truth as the Bible asserts such things". Is this article by Darby in accordance with the facts and truth of the scriptures? Is the article free from error?

I believe all that Darby and the Plymouth Brethren teach have been Scripturally correct!