Men Whose Eyes Have Seen the King # 14

The Person of the Lord Jesus Christ (continued)

We find the third conception of the coming Messiah in the Book of Daniel, chapter 7. It is a very wonderful passage.

"I beheld till thrones were placed, and One that was Ancient of days did sit: His raiment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool; His throne was fiery flames, and the wheels thereof burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him: thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened ... I saw in the night visions, and, behold, thee came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a Son of Man, and He came even to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" (Daniel 7:9, 10, 13, 14).

That was their coming Messiah: King, Saviour, reigning Lord for ever and ever, in universal sovereignty. When Peter said, "Thou art the Messiah, the Son of the Living God," all that was present in the declaration. Hence, Jesus said, "Flesh and blood did not reveal that to you. My Father knows the meaning of the Christhood, the Messiahship, the Sonship, and it is all that!"

Now, I have included that, only with a view to trying to revive this conception of the greatness of our Lord Jesus; to help toward the vision. I would that, as we speak of it, read of it, you might see that your Lord Jesus is no little, defeated Lord - defeated at the hands of the great enemy. Only as we have such a conception and apprehension of His Person shall we get through in triumph.

2. The Church

The second thing is the Church. The Person always does lead to the Church, in Divine sequence. "I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18).  Why? Well, for that very reason. It is His Church, the Church of this One - this One to Whom the Kingdom is given, and the Throne; before Whom all nations shall bow. The Church is the embodiment of the vision of the Exalted Lord. If that is true, it will make a great Church, a powerful Church. If this One - this One of the Transfiguration mount, this One of Stephen's vision, of Paul's vision - if this One, by the Holy Spirit sent from Heaven, is embodied in the Church - then what a Church!! What a Church! Is that the Church with which we are familiar? Have we really understood that that is what is meant by the very term "Church" - the embodiment of Himself as Lord over all?

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 15 - "3. The Cross"