◄ Heaven Now And Forever ►

[God] hath raised us up together; and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:6).

In the first stage of our Christian life we seek to bring the Lord Jesus down to our level, for our use; later on we learn to take our position in Him at His level, for His use.

"The desire of many and the tendency of all is to connect the Lord Jesus with ourselves on this earth, instead of accepting that we are in living union with Him in heaven. The Lord give us to apprehend the reality of our true position; that we are outside this scene when we are in our true place. We are thankful that Christ was here, and that He made a pathway through the wilderness, but we have properly to come from Him in glory to learn the path and to find His succor in it."

"If you do not know your union with the Lord Jesus in heaven, you cannot come out in the power of the heavenly Man to act from Him on earth, to be descriptive of Him. You can never be heavenly by effort. Many seek to be heavenly by prayer, reading the Word, devotedness, but the only pathway to it is to be brought by the Holy Spirit to realize union with our risen Lord. You are heavenly by union, by nature. Abide in Him."

"Are we prepared to accept our union with the crucified and risen Lord, not only as the basis of being received by the Father, but also as the way we walk day by day? If this question was honestly faced, and answered affirmatively by the members of our churches, there would be no need to endeavor to whip up a revival.' There would be a spontaneous upsurge of life and blessing - the direct work of the Spirit of God Himself." -J.C.M.

"Risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead" (Col. 2:12).