The Lord Jesus Christ has been raised to an incomprehensible position of glory and authority. What would it be like to possess all authority and all power in Heaven and on the earth? There have been wicked men on the earth who have sought to rule the world. Never in their most exalted imaginations could they have conceived of the glory and power possessed by the Lord Jesus.

God has said to Jesus:

But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. (Hebrews 1:8)

Also:

And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. (Hebrews 1:10-12)

Because Jesus was to be entrusted with supreme glory and authority, and because He was to be the ruler over many sons, He had to suffer greatly.

For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. (Hebrews 2:10)

Christ was perfect, from our point of view, before He was born in Bethlehem. However, God had in mind to give Jesus supreme rulership over all the works of God's hands—the supreme rulership assigned by the Scriptures to man. Therefore Christ had to be perfected in obedience to the Father.

Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; (Hebrews 5:8)

Christ learned obedience to the Father, and He learned it by suffering.

If Christ Himself learned obedience by suffering, what will we saints experience? If we would reign we must suffer. "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: . . ." (II Timothy 2:12).

We must arm ourselves with a mind to suffer. As we seek the high calling of the saints we may be tempted to try to assume our Divine "rights" while we still are self-willed. This is the danger in the current attitude of the Pentecostal movement. Never before in the history of the Church have so many believers been acquainted with, and in possession of, the gifts of the Spirit. Power and revelation are being dispensed among the Lord's people.

There is danger in this. We can lose sight of the Lord Jesus. We hear teachers of the Scriptures exhorting the believers to seek power from God. The impression is given that we are to use the power of the Spirit to fulfill our ambitions. The Presence of God is not felt in such teaching. The cross is not seen. It is a Pentecost without Jesus, as someone put it. The present emphasis on spiritual power apart from the Presence and rule of Jesus is the False Prophet (Revelation 13:11).

Never before in history has there been so much potential for good among the believers in Christ. Never before in history has there been such potential for evil among the believers in Christ. To receive spiritual power apart from the sufferings of the cross is to invite the worst possible forms of deception and spiritual bondage.

To be continued.