TWO
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Outside the Camp
There are four great outstanding facts that every Christian should cherish. First, the Cross; second, Christ's session in the glory; third, the Holy Spirit's presence on earth, and fourth, the second coming of Christ. All true Christians rightly make much of the Cross; very generally, too, they look for the second coming of Christ. But sadly, the two central facts are almost ignored and their significance lost, and yet those two central facts are the distinguishing marks of the present dispensation. The blessings of the Cross are not confined to this present period. Every saint of every age, whether past, present or future, finds in the Cross the righteous basis of all blessing. Nor can the coming of Christ be confined to the saints of the present period. This great event in one form or another will affect every saint of every dispensation.
But the two great intermediate facts give to Christianity its unique character and distinguish the Christian period from all that went before and all that is yet to come. Never before in this world's history could it be said that there is a Man in the glory and a Divine Person on earth, and never again will it be true. These facts belong exclusively to the Christian period, and upon them the Church is established and by them the Church is maintained. Not until Christ was glorified as the risen, exalted Head, and the Holy Spirit come to baptize believers into one Body could the Church be formed, and in its pathway through this world it is maintained by Christ in the glory and the Holy Spirit on earth. Even its last passage from the earthly journey to the heavenly home will be taken in answer to the voice of the Man in the glory and the quickening power of the Holy Spirit on earth (1 Thess. 4: 16, Rom. 8: 11).
If these then are the distinguishing marks of the Christian period, it should hardly surprise us if they become the unceasing object of the enemy's attack. The devil knows full well that if he can succeed in obscuring these two truths, he will succeed in robbing us of every true thought of "Christ and the Church." He cares not if we are legal saints after the pattern of a former dispensation or if we seek to be millennial saints after the pattern of the world to come, if only he can prevent our being heavenly saints according to God's purpose for the present moment. The unceasing hostility of the enemy is ever shown in seeking to rob Christ of His glory and the saints of their blessings. If however by the grace of God these two great facts are received and maintained in power in our souls, we shall have the key to the Christian period and the way of recovery of the truth of that great mystery — Christ and the Church.