Canberra, Joseph Company Conference, 05/04/2008

Part 1

Introduction

The Father wants us to want other of his sons / daughters to be noticed (glory – beauty’s purpose) for Jesus sake, as a witness.

Jesus desire to have constant communion with us in all of life means he is and will transform the earth into the eternal home of God = a temple. Every temple/house of God must have pillars in their corners. The SW of WA has been “in a corner” (cf. returning on flight from Argentina) [1] re God’s workings on earth, but is becoming a hub of love, a city of love. Importantly, this love has two poles, the love of Jesus in heaven, the love of brothers on earth. For this to happen God’s purpose is to open a gate/door between heaven and earth. This leads to the story of Jacob’s revelation of God at Bethel (Gen 28).

The Pillar of Jacob: A Pillar of Perpetual Adoration

1. Jacob is fleeing from his home – poor, helpless and forsaken by men because he has deceived his father into giving him the birthright.

2. “12 he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! 13 And behold, the Lord stood above it ” The ladder/stairway is a symbol of access to God’s dwelling place in heaven.

3. Jacob’s revelation is one of total grace for God encounters him as a deceiver and not a believer. At the centre of the promise of land, descendants and universal blessing (“The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 14 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”vv 13–14) is the essential covenant promise of perpetual presence, “I am with you and will keep you wherever you go…. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (v.15) [cf. Matt 28:20 “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”] ; His material blessings are not the object of faith but the result of an encounter with God. “He met God at Bethel,” (Hos 12:4) – he whom he had known of through promise he met personally; this is Jacob’s conversion experience.

4. The sign that he is transformed by a genuine manifestation of God is that he is filled with fear as sacred awe of a gracious presence, “he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”” (v.17)

[(cf. “As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.” (Gen 15:12); “I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”” (Isa 6:5); “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.” (Rev 1:17).]

Cf. # “awesome” sense of God’s presence in contemporary church.

5. “He called the name of that place Bethel”, house of God, a place of pilgrimage to meet with God, God was to be found there (Judges 20:18; 1 Sam 10:3).

6. Jacob response to all this is the longest vow in the Old Testament. It is drawn out of him by the manifest presence of God and the two fold promise of land and prosperity, ““If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear” (v.20). His response is three fold:

a. Yahweh is his God “then the Lord shall be my God” (v.21) (In Gen 27:20 Jacob referred to the God of Abraham and of Isaac as “your God.”)

b. to pledge worship/founder of a sanctuary “Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it ….this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house” (v.18, 22)

The sacred pillar (monument masseba) is representative of the communication between heaven and earth because it participates in it. The pillar is a memorial place (anamnesis) of prayer/praise and sacrifice, a memorial of love and sacramental grace in each other.

c. bring the tithe to that place “And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.” (v.22). A response of grace that precedes the law for the purpose of sustaining the perpetual worship of God at Bethel (Gen 35:7).

Jesus Fulfils the Revelation to Jacob

Since Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament (John 5:39), he is the meaning of Jacob’s encounter. “And he said to him (Nathanael), “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”” (John 1:51)

As the ladder/gateway of Jacob connected earth and heaven, so in Jesus, God descends and ascends as the Word made flesh and becomes the place of worship (John 2:21;4:21- 23).

It was not the place where the ladder stood which was now most important but the person who was the ladder. Jacob saw God above the ladder; Jesus revealed himself as the ladder who bridged the gap between heaven and earth. It is through Him that God has come down to man. It is through Him that man will have access to God .

Ascending comes first because prayers precede divine intervention. Jesus reveals heavenly things to man and brings uninterrupted intercourse with God around himself. The reason that Nathanael (and presumably the other disciples) would see Jesus (John 14:19) as “the way to heaven” (John 14:12), while others would not, is all grounded in the earthiness of Jesus’ relationships. I believe it relates to Jesus having something so human as friends.

Jesus’ love for his friends contains two profound promises:

1. Supreme sacrifice: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.

2. Revelation: 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:13-15).

The purpose of this two fold promise is “to bring many sons to glory” (Heb 2:10), which is to bring them into the relationship he has with the Father from eternity, “Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”(John 17:5). It is through sacrifice that revelation comes and glory is imparted to the disciples, “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one.” (John 17:22) and also to Jesus. The glory that Jesus has to give is the glory of being the Lamb who is honoured to give the Father sons (John 1:29; “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”12:27– 28).

It is only as the church operates in this sort of friendship of sacrificial love that it is one and enveloped in the heavenly cloud of glory that surrounds Christ.

Part 2

Why don’t we see what the angelic host sees e.g. Isa 6:3 ““Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”” cf. Herrnhut, DL Moody, Edmund Chan, Gary Althorp. The purpose of glory is that it be seen, it is the manifestation of a nature.

Philadelphia: The Way of Brotherly Love

10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. (Rev 3:7]

Philadelphia means “brotherly love” and I believe the church in that city is a type of what God wants amongst us. He is calling for the love of friends perfectly exemplified in Jesus.

The church at Philadelphia is small, weak (3:8) and oppressed (3:10), but faithful (3:10) “8 I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”, so it receives some glorious promises.

These promises are made to friends and embrace the 2 dimensions of relationship with Jesus, adoration in heaven, and witness on earth. The first of these promises relates to

1. “An open door”:

“‘‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut.” (Rev 3:8)

In the letter to Philadelphia this relates to entry into the city and temple of God which is in heaven “The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.” (Rev 3:12; cf.7:15;11:19;14:15, 17; 16:1, 17 of the temple; 21:2, 10 of the city).

A little later in the book John expounds the meaning of the open door, “After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.” (Rev 4:1-2)

In the Spirit, faithful believers are admitted into the heavenly sanctuary. From there, in concert with those who have preceded them, “we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1), they give witness to an unbelieving world. “I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet and they will learn that I have loved you.” (3:9).

The open door is for the multiplication of faithful witness, which is the purpose for writing Revelation (1:2, 5;2:13;3:14; 6:9; 11:3; 15:5 – witness; 1:2, 9; 11:7;12:11, 17;19:10; 20:4 – testimony). This correlates with Paul’s vocabulary in relation to a door for the word, “for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” (1 Cor 16:9), “When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord,” (2 Cor 2:12), “pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word” (Col 4:3)

The second of Jesus promises to the church concerns

2. a temple pillar :

The church in Philadelphia is promised a permanent divine presence, as the doors of the invisible sanctuary of salvation have been unlocked to them, “‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.” (Rev 3:7). Therefore, “The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God.” (Rev 3:12) Cf. “blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them” (Rev 13:6-7), this indicates that the heavenly sanctuary surrounds the earthly church).

To to be a pillar and be named with the name of Jesus (“I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.” 3:12) is to be in union with Jesus himself, “And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.” (21:22)

The implications of this continuous presence are spelled out in other texts within Revelation, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ““These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.” (7:9, 14- 15). The presence manifests itself in the perpetual adoration of Jesus that unites heaven and earth (this too is a form of testimony).

A Community of Friends

We very much know persons by the friends they keep e.g. pastor of a large church deciding to join denomination – choice between old and new friends. Has cut off old friends, evicted various holy ones from the church etc.

Jesus not only had friends during his earthly life but has one communion of friends in heaven and earth now. The promises to the Philadelphians apply to us. He is willing to give us his presence and show us all that he is doing.

The purpose of friends is to help one another see the glory the Father has imparted to each of us through Christ. The way this is done is through the manifold gifts of grace (1 Pet 4:10), but in this context, especially through a union of prayer and praise with the community of the saints and Christ in heaven. From within this we are given to see the fullness of his ascension gifts in each other. The church on earth shares with the saints in heaven in their unceasing worship of the Lamb.

“And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.”

11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!” 13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might forever and ever!” 14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshipped.” Rev 5:6 – 14;7:10; 14:1 -3; 15:3).

The corresponding action of earth , is “be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph 5:17-18). This is a both a wisdom manifested to the principalities and powers concerning the victory of Christ (Eph 3:10) in our midst, and a stimulus to witness in the world as we tell each other who we are in Jesus.

In Revelation, “the prayers of the saints” are presented by angelic beings before the presence of God in heaven (5:8; 8:3 -4). These saints include both the earthly (13:7, 10;14:12; 20:9) and the heavenly witnesses to Jesus (6: 9- 10). In agreement with the intercession of Jesus in heaven (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25), the prayers of the heavenly and earthly children of God mingle before his throne and must be answered in the affirmative. They are enveloped in the cloud of glory, “and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power,” (Rev 15:8). Cf. Isa 6:4; Acts 4:31.

In this the saints in heaven and earth have supernatural assistance. The purpose of angels is to assist in the communion between the heavenly and earthly assembly centred on Christ. cf. “I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.”” (Rev 19:10).

Assistance of angels is facilitated by the church’s participation in the heavenly assembly, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, [and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.]” (Heb 12:22-24)

This draws us into a true awareness of God like Jacob had, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.” (12:28- 29). cf. “And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”” (Gen 28:17). The sense of holy awe is a sign of the true worship of God.

The Goal: the Testimony of Jesus in all things

The ultimate goal of God is that all people witness the surpassing beauty of Christ in all things (“making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” Eph 1:9-10; “6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Rev 19:6-10). N.b how v.10 follows the climax of the marriage of Jesus and the church!

This universal testimony the surpassing beauty of Christ in all things can only come via a cultural death and resurrection in every place.

Under usual circumstances the Australian way (particularly in the church) is epitomised by the third servant in the parable of the talents: “He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed?… So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.” (Matthew 25:24 – 26, 28)

Why didn’t his mates help him with his talent? Why are their so many gifted people living on the streets, stuck in addictions, poverty, oppression, hopelessness? It is because their fellow humans see themselves only as fellow servants and not as “brothers”. This is to deny the reality of the Incarnation, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Rom 8:29).

The failure of the church in Australia to be fully fruitful in witness can be traced back to an inability of friends who are brothers in Christ to release each other in love. With Jesus raised from the dead, “Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”” (Matt 28:10. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” n.b. how it precedes the Great Commission), and ascended into heaven it is all different, “Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (John 20:17).

Since it is shame that always silences testimony, Jesus identification with us is what breaks our silence not only about him but about his glory we see in one another). “For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12 saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation (i.e. the heavenly and earthly church) I will sing your praise.” (Heb 2:11- 12).

This reality is released only as we commune with him in adoration/prayer so that we are moved to release our brothers in love. Whatever the cost, we will assist them, as far as we are able, through the gifts of Christ, to see what the Father is doing in their lives. By such a mutual discovery/empowerment/expression of the gifts of Christ the kingdom of God comes with power, and praise is multiplied amongst Christ’s disciples (see the pattern of Luke 10).

Advance Australia There

In this way of laying down our lives for our brethren a memorial is offered to Christ’s sacrificial friendship. This is deeply connected to the mode of Australia’s sacred pillar/ memorial/ anamnesis of its identity – the War Memorial in Canberra being the most important building in the city and in Australia. Cf.Melbourne, dying soldier over shield in shape of a cross.

The ANZAC suffering is, in the sovereign purposes of God (Eph 1:11), a divinely ordained gift anamnesis / memorial to us to lead us to himself (cf. JY in Europe – even if man remembers only himself, God has not forgotten him). However, God’s remembering us in this way will only ever be seen and received in the glory of the cross – love reflected and revealed in the community of glorious comradeship found in the church.

This Spirit of Christ beneath the ANZAC suffering for friends/good mates is Australia’s missionary gift to the nations. It is the means by which the truth of Zion as the heavenly Jerusalem will become manifest in the midst of where we live –Western Australia. All the immigrant peoples will come to know the Lord through the atmosphere of prayer, praise and sacrificial love that breaks open the presence of the heavenly Zion in the midst of the earthly church in every place, “On the holy mount stands the city he founded;2 the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob…Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon; behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush “This one was born there,” they say.” (Ps 87:1-2, 4). The nations of the world that Jesus has brought here will meet his heavenly glory here so they can take it back to the four corners of the world – the pillars of his eternal earthly temple.

Conclusion

The important thing about gifts is that they are meant to bring God glory, since they reflect the beauty of Christ they are meant to be noticed. As friends on earth are filled with the sacrificial love of the Lamb in heaven who gave himself that the Father may have many sons in glory (Heb 2:10) they too enter into the glory cloud of God that surrounds Christ and are assisted by ministering angels (Heb 1:14).

God is establishing a constant communion of heavenly and earthly friends via the adoration of Jesus and mutual recognition of gifts. This will break hearts free from any container/containment. This is so that in every place – offices, schools, homes, street corners, sports clubs, pubs, there will be pillars of adoration, prayer and witness filling “all things” with Christ.