CHAPTER FIVE 

[responsivevoice_button voice=”US English Female” buttontext=”Listen to Post”]

by George R. Hawtin

GOD SPEAKING BY HIS SON

The journey through time from the cradle of humanity in Eden to the manger of Bethlehem was long indeed. Ages waxed and waned; suns rose and set on millenniums; dispensations dawned with their present truths only to give place to the clearer light of a coming day. No age was without its truth, no millennium without its message, no dispensation without its revelation from the Almighty.

 

Through the changing scenes of time God was speaking. Never did he leave the world without a witness. Never was the voice of truth silent. The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world were clearly seen by the things which He had made, manifesting His eternal power and Godhead. The heavens declared the glory of God and the firmament showed His handiwork. Day unto day they uttered their speech and night unto night they showed His knowledge. No speech or language was bereft of His voice, for like the rays of the sun, itself, His truth was always present in the earth.

If you will but listen, His voice is always speaking, telling of His eternal goodness, omniscience, and power. The marvels of the starry heavens, the day that follows night, the rain that gives life to the earth, the ship that sunders the sea, the bird that flies, the horse that gallops, the motionless rose and the still stone, the winds, the clouds, the fire, the water, the glance of a woman, the smile of a child, the palm tree that bends in the winds, the date that ripens – these all speak of His goodness and wisdom. The trees sing of His power; the flowers waft their perfume toward Him. He is Lord of the pink morning, the white noon, and the blue evening.

You do not have to shout your faith;

Thrice eloquent are the quiet trees,

And the green listening sod.

Hushed are the stars,

Whose power is never spent;

The hills are mute,

But how they speak of God.

Yes, God is always speaking. But there is a secret to hearing His voice. It will not be heard above the excited babble and din of the throng. He will not shout to drown other voices that clamor to be heard. He waits till all other voices are stilled and you have put away from your heart and mind all your own striving, and the din of the multitude who shouts for your attention has completely died away. You must become insensible to the sound of all other voices and hear only the voice of His Spirit speaking to your spirit.

There is a wonderful peace in silence. When your brain is wracked to a turmoil and you have examined every avenue for a solution to the exasperating problems that confront you, only to find that your search leads you to greater confusion, it is time for silence, repentance, and listening to the voice of Christ. He will speak and give His wisdom, but not until all other voices are silent and all other wisdom has become foolishness. “Be still and know that I am God.” Then He breaketh the bow, maketh war to cease, cutteth the spear in sunder, burneth the chariot in the fire, and is exalted among the heathen in all the earth. Psa. 46. It was after the earthquake, the fire, and the terrific wind that Elijah wrapped his head in his mantle and listened to the still small voice of God. “He leadeth me beside still waters,” said David. “Be still and know that I am God.”

When God speaks to your heart He will not simply help you to decide between two or more opinions already in your mind. When He speaks it is revolutionary and the opinions of men are discarded for they are always contrary to His will. We will never find God building on the old foundations we have laid. He will throw down every stone and build a temple after His own order.

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake unto our fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son.” God is always speaking. In the perfumed magnificence of Eden He walked and talked with man face to face until man, through his shame and sin, hid himself from the presence of God and from His voice. But, though man is cast out from His hallowed presence, still He seeks and still He speaks. Even the blood of murdered Abel, shed upon the ground and crying for vengeance, spoke of the wrath and judgment of God, and the skins of slain beasts covering man’s nakedness spoke of a sacrifice to be made at Calvary, when once again their nakedness would be covered by His presence and they would see His face and His name would be in their foreheads.

At sundry times and in divers manners He sent His prophets among them, inspiring their words with exactness, proclaiming with wisdom and verbal inspiration the very word of God. They came from divers places, they spoke in divers manners, but all spoke the message of God by verbal (word) inspiration. Moses, the Levite, was rescued from the reeds of the river to speak face to face with his God, and to do all things according to the pattern that was showed him in the mount. Elijah the Tishbite appeared suddenly before Ahab, speaking the word of the Lord. Where he came from is a mystery. His origin matters not at all. The important thing is that he spoke the word of God. Elisha left his oxen to receive a double portion of the spirit of Elijah. David was taken from following the sheep and Amos from among the herdsmen of Tekoa. Shepherds came from their sheepfolds, farmers from their farms. Rugged men came from the wilderness. Kings came from their palaces. Some wore girdles of skin and ate locusts and wild honey; others were arrayed in royal apparel and sat at the table with kings. Others were fed by ravens and widows. Many were destitute, tormented and despised. Singlehanded they put armies to flight, and silenced the wrath of kings. They fed the poor and raised the dead, fled before enemies and prayed for death to take them, but the word of the Lord was in their mouths, burning like an unquenchable fire. They did not speak their own ideas but the Spirit spoke by them, and His word was in their tongues. The prophecy by which God spake in ancient times was not a sermon nor a comforting exhortation. It was the exact word of the Lord, and the prophet was completely incapable of making an error of any kind.

Four hundred years had gone by since Malachi had proclaimed the word of the Lord in Israel. No other prophet had appeared on the scene and there was a great dearth of the word of God in the land. The order was changing. God was removing the old way of speaking and bringing in a better way. In times past He had spoken by the prophets. Now He would speak by His Son, the Son by whom and for whom the world and all things in it were created, the Son who was the brightness of God’s glory and the express of His person.

When they heard Him speak, the soldiers said, “Never man spake like this man.” The Jews marveled that He spake with authority and not as the scribes who could only quote what others had said. The sermon on the mount excelled all other sermons either written or spoken as light excels the darkness. No words of truth and comfort ever thrilled a human heart as did His words to weeping Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life.” No man had ever opened the gates to the kingdom as He did when He explained the new birth to Nicodemus. No words of forgiveness were ever uttered before as were spoken to the trembling woman, “Neither do I condemn thee.” He knew the answer to every question, but when He questioned there was none to reply. By His matchless skill the lame were made whole. By the touch of His hand fevers vanished and by the word of His lips dead men rose to life again. At His rebuke demons fled, fierce winds stilled and raging seas whimpered like babes at His word of peace, and fell asleep. God was speaking by His Son, setting an eternal pattern for a vast family of sons who were soon to follow His steps.

The voice of the Galilean has been silent for almost two thousand years, but all through the centuries God has been speaking by the life of His Son. Consider carefully the thoughts that follow and you will see that God is speaking in these last days by what that Son is even more than He spoke by the words which fell from His lips in the long ago.

Nothing is dearer to the heart of God than sonship. It would be futile vanity for me to presume to argue for the sonship of Jesus Christ, for that must be accepted by us all. That holy thing that was born of Mary was the Son of God. He became a partaker of the human nature, though He was very God, that we who are men might once again be partakers of the divine nature.

There is need of the spirit of revelation here to save us from the gaping cavern of human theology. The driest theologian in the apostate church will admit that God wants us to be sons, and we must avoid that wretched passive admission at all costs. When the truth dawns by revelation to the waiting heart, convincing us that God not only wants sons, but that He has provided a way whereby we can enter into that sonship, then all earthly gain becomes loss in anticipation of the hope of sonship and the whole realm of nature becomes too small a tribute for the prize that is before us.

“Beloved, now are we the children of God (thus says the original) and it doth not yet appear what we shall be.” What we are is children. What we shall be is sons. Jesus Christ is the first born son of a vast family of sons. As He possessed the fullness of the divine nature, so also every son will be a partaker of the fullness of the divine nature. What is mortal in them will be swallowed up by His immortality and what is natural swallowed up in the greatness of His divinity. God is speaking by His Son. As He is so we also shall be.

I believe in the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We must never belittle, minimize, or disparage that fundamental truth. Yet the birth of Christ is wrapped in a garment of even greater importance. I mean the method by which that birth was accomplished.

The mighty angel Gabriel vouchsafed to Mary the method by which sons of God are to be begotten. Setting aside her virginity and all natural processes of birth as a thing belonging to a natural realm, He declared that the birth of the Son would be on this wise: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you, and the holy thing that shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God.” God is speaking by His Son. There is no other way to sonship than this.

The overshadowing power and presence of the Holy Spirit will bring forth the son of God within us as surely as it brought forth the Son of God in Mary. There is no other road to sonship. Christ in you is the hope of Glory. Though Christ was separated from Mary, He will not be separated from you, for what is mortal must be swallowed by His life.

Except a man be born from above, he cannot see the kingdom. He who dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Sonship comes about by dwelling and abiding in the overshadowing presence of the Holy Spirit, walking, living, and breathing in Him. It cannot come to those who persist in show or those who crowd in for a few minutes of praise, prophecy and signs only to go away and fill their ears and eyes and hearts with the sounds and sights of earth for the rest of the day. God is speaking by His Son. Our sonship, like His, is accomplished by the overshadowing power of His Holy Spirit continually touching our lives, our hearts, our thoughts, and our minds. All else beside this is vanity and loss. As He was begotten by the overshadowing power of the Spirit, so also are we.

A teacup cannot contain the ocean, neither can the world contain the books that should be written about Him, yet I fear that for all our learning about Him we have missed one of the most essential things. We learn of His doctrine. Word by word, we study His sermons and dissertations. We preach about His miracles and healings. We talk of His love and mercy. We marvel at His answers and wisdom. Our hearts are made strong by His promises and we are brought to penitence by His rebukes. But have we forgotten that all these glories came from what He inherently was? He gave life because He was life. He spoke wisdom because He was wisdom, and all its universal treasures dwelt in Him. He healed the sick, not because of a gift of healing, but because of the overwhelming presence of life which swallowed up every degree of death that entered His presence. In Him was life. The words of wisdom falling from His lips had no origin in the schools of men, nor yet were they the inspiration of a gift from above. They dropped from a mind from which universal wisdom has come. He is wisdom. God has made Him so. Apart from Him there is neither wisdom nor knowledge. No secret was hidden from Him, not because of learning, but because of what He was.

God is speaking by His Son. Let us pass beyond the realm of doing to the realm of being. Spiritual gifts are an excellent way, but they must cease to make way for the more excellent way. The more excellent way is the way of sonship where everything is God and God is everything. Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels and have not love, I am as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. Now please tell me, what is love?  Have we not learned that God is love! He who dwells in love dwelleth in God and God in him. But if I speak with tongues, perform mighty miracles and have the gifts of healing, prophesy a great deal, and give many gifts to the poor, yet I am not moving in Him, I will be like those deluded ones who will come saying:  “Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name cast out demons, and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And He will reply, “I know you not.” Cease crying for a return of gifts. Gifts are always compassed with the dread infirmities of those who possess them. Seek rather to go on to that more excellent way, for that is the way of sonship and the kingdom. If God is removing the spiritual gifts, it is for a reason. He definitely has been removing them for some years. Jesus did His mighty works, not because of gifts but because of what He was and still is. That is the more excellent way. He showed love because He was love. He showed mercy because He was mercy. He spoke truth because He was truth. “What is truth,” Pilate asked, and had he waited for the reply, he would have learned this: “I am the truth, the life and the way.” He does not just give life. He is life. When He shows us the way, He shows us Himself, for He is the way.

God is speaking by His Son. Let us come beyond the realm of doing to the realm of being. Let us leave off our imitation of Christ, which at best is hypocrisy, and give Him place to live within that He, from within these temples, may be the truth, the way, the life, the health, the wisdom, the omnipotence, that as He is, so we should also be, in this present world. This is the more excellent way.

“Inasmuch as He has suffered being tempted. He is able to succor them that are tempted.” What a revelation this passage really is. It throws into clear light the eternal mystery of suffering and temptation. The age old question, “Why do the righteous suffer,” is forever answered by His life of suffering and temptation. The unsympathizing, cynical, and cocky are always found among those who have not suffered temptation’s ravaging power. They cannot shed a sympathizing tear, for they have never faced that trial which manifests their infirmity. Those who brag of their boldness are usually the biggest cowards, and those who boast of the greatest strength manifest the greatest weakness under the stress of temptation. “We have not an high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmity but one who was tempted in all points like we are, yet without sin.” He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust. Therefore, like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. God is speaking by the temptation of His Son.

Let us take a different attitude toward temptation and suffering. Let us see by the revelation of the Spirit that the enduring of it and the victory over it are as completely necessary to our sonship, as it was also necessary to His. Though we are tried by fire, we will find the trial of our faith is more precious than gold, that at the appearing of Christ within us, we should be found unto glory and honor and praise. God is speaking by His Son.

The life of Christ was pure and sinless because of what He was. Though we were born in sin and conceived in iniquity, yet we have started on the road to sonship. I know little good is gained by a system of laws consisting of do’s and don’ts. I have never taught that there is merit in such a system. But of a truth I declare that those whose hearts are restless and yearning for sonship can never be satisfied with the trivial vanities of this earth, and in our quest for sonship we will have to refuse to let our eyes be turned aside to the profane and earthly things. “Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee,” were the words of wisdom from Solomon. There must be a resolution and a resolve in all our seeking. We must lay aside every hindering weight and the sin which does so easily beset us, while we run with patience the race set before us. Races are not won by turning aside to view the landscape, but through straining every nerve to reach the goal. Whatever cynical scoffers may say, it is nevertheless true that all the world’s fleeting joys tend to dull our spiritual appetite, dim our vision, render us insensible to the voice of the Spirit, and, in general, turn our hearts away from God. I strongly advocate to all who patiently wait for the promises of God that they turn aside from all worldly pleasure and refuse the fleeting satisfaction that comes from excitement and amusement. “Flee also youthful lusts, which war against the soul, but follow righteousness, faith, love, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” If you do this faithfully, your time will be fully occupied. No hours will hang heavily on your hands, nor will you need the world’s trash to fill out your day.

Do not seek to be rich, for riches only add a snare and many hurtful lusts that drown men in perdition. Leave hockey and baseball and all kindred amusement to those who belong to that realm. God is speaking by His Son. He spent His life in touch with God and never once did we find Him obtaining satisfaction in pleasurable amusement and excitement. All the games and vain amusements of this earth are for those who belong to this earth, but if your treasures are in heaven then seek the things that belong to heaven. “My kingdom is not of this world,” said Jesus. Neither is our kingdom from hence, so let us fully turn from it and seek our lasting joys from above. God is speaking by His Son.

Nay, world, I turn away, though thou seem fair and good.

Thy friendly outstretched hand is stained with Jesus’ blood.

If in the least device I stoop to take a part,

All unawares thine influence steals God’s presence from my heart.

I miss my Savior’s smile, when’er I walk thy ways;

Thy laughter drowns the Spirit’s voice,

And chokes the songs of praise.

When e’er I turn aside to join thee for an hour,

The face of Christ grows blurred and dim,

And prayer has lost its power.

No mark of sonship was more outstanding in the life of Christ than His constant walk in the will of God. To please self or to please men never entered His divine mind. He had one thought and one only – to do the will of God that sent Him. The fact of His unswerving devotion to God’s will is clearly seen in that Jesus said, “I honor my Father and ye dishonor me.” (John 5:30) “For I come down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.” (John 6:38) The temptation, the tears, the strong crying, the agony and the bloody sweat of lonely Gethsemane were the final crucial test of His complete devotion and abandonment to the whole will of God. Neither shame, desertion, nor the prospect of the cross could move Him from the thorny but blessed path of the will of God. He was prepared to endure the cross, despise shame, and be utterly forsaken and alone that He might fulfill the will of the Father. The desperate aloneness of the Son of God in His final hours is amazing to behold, but this is the path that leads not merely to Gethsemane but to His kingdom as well.

God is speaking by His Son, telling us that none can reign with Him but those who embrace His will, become utterly forsaken of carnal men, and lay down their lives that He might live. While tens of thousands of Christians claim to be doing God’s will, in reality they know nothing about God’s will or God’s mind. They are confused, imagining that the purposes they are moving heaven and earth to accomplish, are God’s will. In reality these things are their own will and God has not spoken at all. Let us settle it in our minds, however, that none will reign with Christ but those who are one with His will. That blessed company who have God’s name written in their foreheads, are those who have the mind of Christ, and I am sure that the mind of Christ and the will of God are one and the same thing. God is speaking by His Son.

“God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto Me and I unto the world.” (Gal. 6:14) How can a man read those words and still lightly make himself a friend of the fleeting joys of earth? Turn away from these vanities, for there can be no resurrection or glory except it comes by the way of the cross. The way of the cross is the way of death to all the old life and leads us to the resurrection which lies beyond the veil whither Jesus has for us entered.

Stand with me for a moment with bowed head and reverent heart, while we hear Paul speak again, “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” (Gal. 1:20) Without the spirit of revelation this passage is devoid of sense, for how could one be dead and still alive? But when seen in the light of the cross it is full of meaning. The “I” that was crucified is not the same “I” that now lives, but the new “I” is none other than Christ Himself. Read it again with this in mind and you will see why the cross is necessary for you. “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in Me. The old “I” that was crucified is my old self, the new “I” that lives is none other than the risen Christ. There is a cross waiting for your crucifixion, that you may be crucified with Him and that Christ may live within you. Herein lies the secret of the resurrection, for the death of the cross is followed by the glory of the resurrection. God is speaking by His Son.

And Jesus when He had cried with a loud voice gave up the Ghost. The earth quaked, the rocks rent, and the veil of the temple was rent from top to bottom. At the precise moment of the physical death of Christ, which is the death of the flesh, the veil of the temple was rent asunder, and the way into the holiest of all, which is the realm of the Spirit, was made open for the first time. Beautiful as the veil was, it had to be rent asunder before the way to the holiest was opened. In like manner also we must die to the flesh, or be crucified with Him, that we may enter into the realm of the Spirit and be sons of God. There is no other way to sonship. The rending of the veil was the opening of the way. There must come an end of all flesh and a new life in the Spirit must begin. It is not enough to know that Christ was raised from the dead. You must be raised with Him. Neither is it enough that His flesh was rent in death. You must be crucified with Him. God is speaking by His Son.

Away with pride! Away with plans! Away with ambitions! Away with every scheming human device to forcefully bring the kingdom. God is speaking by His Son. Let us follow His path in every detail and we will enter in with Him.  Time and space would fail me to enumerate all He speaks by His divinely beautiful life, but if in every circumstance of your life you behold Him, you will find the answer, the truth and the way. God is in these last days speaking by His Son.