The vision of the church isJesus. The vision of the church is not the Body. The vision of the church is not the cross. The vision of the church is Jesus. If you have a vision of the Body without the vision of Jesus remaining supreme in your heart, you will become mystical and theoretical. You will be talking about the Body all the time, but you, yourself, will not be an example of what it is to be a member of the Body. You may talk about the cross, and get a doctrine of the cross, but unless the cross is seen in the supreme light of the Person of Jesus your doctrine will be hard. It will be without love, and without worship, and people will wonder why you, who preach so much about the cross have so little of the love which is revealed in the cross. People will be saying that you are talking about the Body as something mystical in the heavens, and the love that should be manifest in you as a member of the Body is not revealed. But all this is because there is an absence of the vision of Jesus. That explains a great many things, and brings us back to simplicity. The reason why so many people come into advanced truth, as it is called, and manifest so little of the true grace of God is because they have lost the vision of Jesus. The vision of Jesus in the Godhead, that is the testimony of the church - We behold Jesus!
(This e-book can be downloaded for free at Austin-Sparks.Net)
(This e-book can be downloaded for free at Austin-Sparks.Net)
