05.02. THE SPIRIT CONTROLLING ALL THINGS IN VIEW OF THE INCARNATION.

THE SPIRIT CONTROLLING ALL THINGS IN VIEW OF THE INCARNATION.

"The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life." Job 33:4. "Hast Thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese? Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews." Job 10:10-11. Here we are taken back to that consultation in Eden when the Deity held consultation over the creation of man. "The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him." Zechariah 12:1. All this calls for careful attention, for while we do not read of any other section of the moral creation over which Deity deliberated before, neither do we read of any who were so created, that at a later time, they could be re-created and thus become a new creation in Christ. This must have a distinct place in our thoughts if we are to understand the true character of the Spirit’s day, and the blessings proper to it. The first mention of one of the eternal Three, is in Genesis 1:2. The earth was waste and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. This was the beginning of a work which would turn chaos into cosmos; a dreary waste into a scene of splendour. A work which will result in the whole earth being resplendent with glory. But as the material is servant to the moral, it adumbrates His work in the spiritual chaos of the soul of man. In this is seen God’s triumph in the recovery of the creature of His predilection, and brings into view His resource in the Son of His love. As created, man was richly endowed with capabilities for great things and it is well to note how these were developed in spite of the seduction and corruption of his moral nature. Certain works were accomplished which involved language, arithmetic, mechanics, etc. Cain built a city and trades began to be practised which called for lines, angles, cubes and squares. This development of primitive man must have been under the hand of his Creator. We are not left to inference here, for we are told that He who endowed him with such capabilities, imparted the strength, wisdom and understanding for their use. Exodus 35:30-35. This is a sample view of man as created and developed under the hand of the Holy Spirit. What he might have become had he remained in obedience none can say, but we do know what he has become as in Christ as a vessel of glory for the delight, satisfaction and praise of God. Having come under the power of sin and Satan through the fall, his gifted qualifications have been used against a beneficent Creator to build up a gigantic system called world. A system governed by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Satan is its god; it hates the Father and the Son; it is already judged; the execution thereof being at the door. In this way, after the fall, Cain built a city and named it after his son Enoch which means dedicated. Here, the trades and commerce began to flourish with music and entertainment as an accompaniment. Nothing can meet the need of the heart of man but God, hence the call for music and the many false charms the enemy gets up — science; politics; travel; or religion with its sensuous musical programmes for his entertainment. Passing over some allusions to the Spirit, we come to a remarkable work of His in the desert of Israel’s wanderings. This we select as showing His control of man both in body and soul. Having heard of the triumph of Israel over the Egyptians, Balak the king of Moab hired Balaam to come and curse for him the people of God. It appears that Balaam was not entirely destitute of the knowledge of God, but sought to make gain by trafficking with evil spirits. The Holy Spirit is seen here both with the testimony and with the people of God; whatever their failure is, no enemy can curse them. "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?" Romans 8:33. Balaam makes an attempt, with the result that he is forced to bless them altogether. The Holy Spirit so controlled both the mind and the vocal organs of the man, that he was compelled, against his will, to bless them. Moreover, such is the beauty of his language and the comprehensive bearing of his words, that his four little parables or poems will compare favourably with the richest strains of prophetic language in the whole book of God. If we take the lovely grandeur of the song of Moses and the people in Exodus 15:1-27; or listen to the felicity of his words in Deuteronomy 32:1-52, Deuteronomy 33:1-29; or the dignity and pathos of the last words of David in 2 Samuel 22:1-51, and again in Psalms 18:1-50; then follow on to the sublime strains of praise, in 2 Samuel 7:18-29; 1 Chronicles 29:10-14, with all their thrill, they do not surpass the language which the Holy Spirit draws from the lips of this wicked man. Nor was it different with Caiaphas, the High Priest. John 11:49-52. With Balaam it was an attempt to mix clean and unclean; holy and unholy, but with Caiaphas we see a man governed by hatred to the Lord Jesus, yet made to utter the precious truth of God. When the people of God are obedient as in the days of Joshua, the Spirit is owned in His proper work, and victory is the result, but where they are disobedient and lapse into open failure, He is engaged with correction and recovery. There is a marked contrast between the books of Joshua and Judges as to this In the former, they took the land by conquest and the lot of each tribe was assigned to them by their leader Joshua. In the latter, after his death, they not only failed to take their possessions but fell into the sins of the Canaanites and brought upon themselves the sword of divine government. The Spirit of God came upon men again and again from Othniel to Samson. Judges 3:10; Judges 6:34; Judges 11:29; Judges 13:25; Judges 14:6; Judges 15:14. The most remarkable of all these was Samson. Both he and Jephthah were morally far below men like Joseph or Daniel but the Holy Spirit could use them as expressive of their generation. If Israel were low enough to produce a Samson they got lower still to produce an Ahithophel, 2 Samuel 16:20-23. And down to the deepest depth of all to produce a Judas Iscariot.

Pre-eminently thus the Holy Spirit was at work ruling and over-ruling, in every circumstance guiding the march of all history forward towards one grand event — the incarnation of the Son. Whichever way we look at man, he is under the Spirit’s control. Physically He controls the beating of the heart, the breathing of the lungs and the circulation of the blood in growth, waste and decay. As to the moral man, He is the power for both thoughts and feelings; temperaments and faculties; emotions and tastes, all are the fruit of His sovereign will and while each one must give an account for every word, thought, and deed, we must never forget that we can originate nothing but are dependent on Him for all. The victory of Abram over the five kings, or of Moses over Pharaoh, or Israel over Amalek were by the Spirit. So also the conquest of Canaan by Joshua, but as history proceeds Israel has to learn that God is holy and no respecter of persons. They fall before Assyria, Babylon and ultimately into the hands of Rome where, through rejecting their Messiah, they are in bondage to this day.

There is however, a brighter side and it is comforting to trace the marks of His work in the men of the covenant, throughout the ages. The Spirit as a divine Person is behind the word faith in Hebrews 11:1-40. It was by His power the exploits of these witnesses were accomplished. The sacrifice of Abel; the communion of Enoch; the building of Noah were all potentially of Him. Abraham the pilgrim and friend of God; Moses the legislator — the meekest man on earth; Joseph the administrator; Joshua the captain; David the king — all was the fruit of sovereign power directed by the Spirit. The same is true of the exploits of the Judges; the beautiful poetic strains of the Psalmists whether David, Solomon, Moses, Asaph, Ethnan or Habakkuk. The Lamentations of Jeremiah; the weeping of captives in Babylon or Rachel weeping for her children. Each and every part had its place in sovereignty of wisdom, holiness and love, all going to show that God the Holy Spirit is immanent in all history, the superintending force in every event whether in the unit or aggregate. At every moment both private thought and public opinion are the fruit of His sovereign will. But besides His place in the sphere of holy government, the Spirit pervades the typical system. The fire of the Altar; the water of the Laver; the oil for cleansing the leper, sanctifying the Levites and consecrating the priests, spoke symbolically of the Spirit. He was the overseer of the ritual on the great day of atonement, as also the feasts of Jehovah. When we recall that it is He who gives the inspired account of the whole range of things in Creation; Providence; Government and Redemption, we get some impression of the Office and work of the Holy Spirit in co-relation with the Father and the Son.