The Authority Is Invested In the Man on the Throne (continued)
Wheels are Full of Eyes
Then we come to the next thing: these wheels are full of eyes, all around the wheels there are eyes. We meet those eyes on several occasions in the Word of God. We meet them in the prophecy of Zechariah, and we meet them several times in the Book of the Revelation; and, of course, we know what they symbolize - they represent the complete and perfect intelligence of the Throne. This government of the Man upon the Throne is the government of a Perfect Intelligence. If we transfer this principle to the beginning of the Book of the Revelation, there we see what it means. The churches are about to be judged, but the One Who judges them is the One Whose eyes are as a flame of fire. That One says to the churches, "I know thy works." Then He goes on to say all that He knows about the churches, and it is shown that He knows more about the churches than they know about themselves.
He tells one church that they think that they are rich and increased in goods, that they have everything. He says, "You do not know that you are wretched and poor and naked." Then what does He say to them? "I counsel thee to buy of My eyesalve, that thou mayest see," - that you may see what I have seen. The Lord knew more and saw more than that church knew about itself. That is only an illustration of this. All the movements of this Chariot-Throne are in complete Intelligence. That One upon the Throne sees and knows everything. The Lord is not blind to anything, and He is not ignorant of anything.
The Spirit of Life in the Wheels
Then finally: the Spirit of Life is in the wheels. The whole governing principle of the movements of the Lord is Life. The thing which governs that Throne is this main principle of Life. You know so much about Life in the Bible that I need not stay with it now. You have been taken right through the Bible on the principle of Life, and you know that Life is the whole governing question of the whole Bible. That is the issue with which the Bible begins, and that is the issue with which the Bible ends. All the movements of God from eternity to eternity are on this basis, and with this question of Life.
ALL POWER IS GIVEN TO ME IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH
Now we will sum up and bring this into the New Testament. In the first place, there is very little doubt that we have to read Matthew 28:18-20 into this. Jesus said: "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." That is the first half of the statement that He makes in these scriptures; and that brings us back to the Chariot-Throne in relation to the whole creation and the authority that is invested in the Man on the Throne. Do note that word "authority" that He used. He did not say, "All power is given to Me in heaven and on earth"; of curse, that was implied, but He used another Greek word. He said: "All authority is given unto Me." That is a bigger thing than power. The power lies within the authority. The authority is the exercise of the power. Jesus said, "Behind Me is all the authority of the government of heaven." "Men may just call Me Jesus of Nazareth, they may regard Me as just another man, but they are going to find out that behind Me is all the authority of heaven." And that is what they did find out.
Then we have the second half of the statement in Matthew: "For this very reason, go ye into all the world; and I am with you all the days." Here are the movements of the Throne "into all the world," and the authority of Jesus Christ is with the Church. All the authority of heaven is behind the Church when it gets into line with the goings of that Throne.
So, first of all we bring Matthew 28:18-20 right into Ezekiel, and note we are dealing with the preparation of a servant for his work. Ezekiel certainly needed that preparation. If he had not had that vision, his work would have been impossible. Every servant of the Lord needs that vision. You and I need to see that. We need to be assured of that.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 30)
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