05.05. THE HOLY SPIRIT IN RELATION TO THE HOUSE OF GOD.

THE HOLY SPIRIT IN RELATION TO THE HOUSE OF GOD.

It has ever been the desire of God to dwell with man and to secure this, redemption must first be accomplished. As before remarked, in the kingdom the saints are seen in their individual settings as subjects, with the name of the Lord as their bond. In the House of God, they are seen as sons. The House of God is the result of His own workmanship. Bearing in mind that we are as far as possible from material things here, the saints are said to be God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, and built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. A man’s household is his family and he is known through them In this way, God, as He has revealed Himself, is known through His sons today. "This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell." Psalms 132:14. From that centre, the voice of God is heard. Acts 13:2-4. 1 Timothy 4:1. Here, no disturbing element can come. God is its centre, there He rests in the blessing of His own, whose delight it is to worship and adore Him in the power of the Holy Spirit.

God’s righteousness with glory bright Which with its radiance fills that sphere, E’en Christ, of God the power and light, Our title is that light to share. In establishing that House, the middle wall had to be broken down between Jew and Gentile. All strife being gone, Jew and Gentile are brought nigh in One New Man, and are reconciled to God in one body by the cross; both having access by one Spirit unto the Father. A verse like this intensifies our interest as we dwell upon the Holy Spirit. It is that Person in the Godhead who has brought us out of the darkness and distance of our Adamic state and turned the dark tragedy of Calvary into the greatest triumph of God. This leads on to the city and the Household of God. Ephesians 2:11-22. Then to the building fitly framed together, which groweth into a holy temple in the Lord. Here, in the very heart of the precious things of heaven, we come to the habitation of God; the place where all these treasures are installed; the resting place of all that is of God; the evidences of past victories and the receptacle of much spoil. Well it may be so since — if we may use the language of the typical house — this Palace is not for man but for the Lord God. 1 Chronicles 29:1. Amongst all this wealth, there is one treasure kept as a secret; a mystery hid in God. This is taken up parenthetically in Ephesians 3. To this we shall return when dealing with the Holy Spirit in reference to our corporate relationships. The Epistle to the Ephesians falls into two parts of three chapters each. The last three, being the hortatory part, may be read with the first Epistle to Timothy. The Spirit is mentioned thirteen times, or it may be twelve (see footnote to 1 Timothy 5:9. New Tran), and thus He comes before us six times in each of the two divisions of the Epistle. In 1 Timothy 4:1-14, we are seen in relation to one another and are exhorted to walk worthy of the calling in all lowliness, meekness and longsuffering; using diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace; both holding the truth and growing up in it in love. In the next section, 1 Timothy 4:16; 1 Timothy 5:1-21, we are exhorted how to conduct ourselves with regard to those that are without. Having been set before the face of God in richest blessing, we are to walk in love as dear children and reflect His light in the midst of the darkness for we are now made light in the Lord. In the next section, 1 Timothy 5:22-25, 1 Timothy 6:1-9, we are instructed as to our conduct in the home circle — the sphere of natural affections. Subjection on the part of wives; love on the part of husbands; obedience on the part of children. Then in the business circle faithfulness on the part of servants and righteousness on the part of masters. Lastly from 1 Timothy 6:10, it is the conflict with the spiritual forces of evil, the powers of darkness. In each of these sections we are in the hands of the Spirit and thus have power to stamp the colour and character of heaven on them all. In 1 Timothy God’s administration which is in faith is first brought before us and the standard is the gospel of the glory of the blessed God. Believers in the House of God is the theme, and that which binds the whole structure together is the mystery of piety in the incarnation of the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The men are to pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and reasoning and the women to be marked by modesty of dress in the fear of God. In this way, a proper impression of God will be set forth in testimony. God is One, and the mediator between God and men One, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, the testimony to go forth in its own time. The rest of the Epistle gives instruction concerning oversight and ministry with directions concerning the distribution of alms to the needy and dependent. All these details are given us because God desires all to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. He does not want us to give a false impression of Him, for it is through His saints He puts Himself in touch with all. The Holy Spirit speaks of Himself here in this Epistle and, as dwelling in the saints, is the immanent life and power of the whole spiritual structure. The witness of the Spirit, both to the saints and through them, is brought out very plainly in the first Epistle of John. He is mentioned eight times and here we have a holy record of spiritual blessing which includes some of the wealth of heaven in the richest of christian blessing. The saints are viewed in House of God connection as the family of God. Seven times they are said to be born or begotten of God, and having thus the birth-right, their place of intimacy is assured in all the unreserved blessedness of the Father’s love. In this circle of holy love there can be no distrust; no distance; no reserve, for the Father has found an outlet for His love in His children and to them in love’s own circle He can unfold all that is in His heart. The Epistle opens with the saints being brought into company with the Apostles to enjoy with them communion with the Father and the Son. In that communion it is the delight of the Father to unfold to our hearts His own appreciation of His Son. And correspondingly, the Son delights to make known the Father in His goodness, grace, mercy, and His eternal counsel of love. So intimate is the relationship in both life and nature that we dwell in God. Divine love is our home and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God. 1 John 4:16. They are an entirely new generation; they know that they have passed from death unto life because they love the brethren; they know that they know God, because they keep His commandments; they know they are in Him, because they keep His word and in that way, His love is perfected in them. This word dwell or abide reminds us that this is not a temporary retreat but the abiding home of the soul. Then the character of God their Father is seen in them for, not only do they love, they practise righteousness also 1 John 3:10; 1 John 4:7. They know that the Son of God has come and has given them an understanding to know Him that is true, and they are in Him that is true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ. They can say, if no one has seen God at any time, "We have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world." 1 John 4:14. They have eternal life and they know it. 1 John 5:13. The very first characteristic of that life is to know the Father and His sent One, Jesus Christ. John 17:3. They also know the Holy Spirit. 1 John 4:2. This is not mere speculative theology but the word of God brought home to the heart by the living power of the indwelling Spirit. This is infinitely beyond the critical reasoning of the present day. Nor are the saints ignorant of the power and insidious working of evil all around them and their liability to fall into it if not constantly kept in the conscious enjoyment of these holy treasures. Although brought abstractly into all this range of blessing, they are yet in a bodily condition which is liable to both weakness and wilfulness. It is well to hold truth in balance and for that, let us look for a moment at the other aspect of our position.

"Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?" Answer. "He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil . . . . . Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off." (of distances) Isaiah 33:14-17. That is the heavenly land. Observe in reference to this, Moses, Aaron and his two sons with seventy of the elders of Israel were called up to meet Jehovah in the mount. Moses alone was brought near in the cloud and the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud. Exodus 24:9-18. Does this not teach us something of what it is to be brought to dwell in God? If sin is in question, God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:29. Does this bring home to us the necessity of the Cross where that fire fell upon the Holy One, judging and condemning our sinful state? So efficacious has that work been, that God has cleared us from all that was offensive to Himself. Consequently, He now brings us before Himself holy and without blame for His pleasure, fitted, not only to dwell in the love of God but in the God who is Love. But dwelling in God is by dwelling in love. Care is needed here lest we wander into the by-paths of imagination and, like the mystic, lose ourselves in the ecstasy of folly. The mystic is self-engrossed being occupied with his wants, wishes and desires. The intelligent believer is occupied with Christ and perfectly satisfied, his heart being filled with peace and joy as the result of being occupied with the object set before him by the Holy Spirit. There can be no real intimacy apart from the fulfilment of this condition, namely, he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God. We rise then from the ways, work and counsels of God to God Himself. Beyond this we cannot get now, but in the company of the Holy Spirit we come forward into time on the way to an eternity of bliss where we shall ever dwell with and in God. But it is not only what we get in all this but what God has got for Himself in the fulfilment of His own eternal plan, in the triumph of that grace which has secured for Himself the creature of His choice. But does it follow that every believer who has received the Spirit dwells in God? The Corinthians and Galatians are an example of the opposite. Even in this Epistle of John, if any man sin, or, if our heart condemn us. When we are dwelling in God, there is no inner conflict going on between the flesh and the Spirit. All is rest, peace and joy. And hereby we know that He abideth or dwelleth in us, by the Spirit which He has given us. 1 John 3:24. But note. "Hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in us, because he hath given us OF his Spirit." 1 John 4:13. In the first of these passages the believer dwelling in God is the effect of obedience and is put first — all resting on the gift of the Spirit. In the second, while showing the same mutuality of dwelling as the result of communion in nature and the circle of love in the activities of life, there is the addition of that little word OF in 1 John 4:13, which is important as raising the question of the Being and relationship of God and the Three who form the Holy Trinity. It is as if God gave us part of Himself. No man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of man which is in him. 1 Corinthians 2:11. We all know there is a mysterious depth in a man known only to himself. But if that is so, what shall we say of God? If we are conscious of the impossibility of intruding into the inner enclosure of the being of a fellow mortal, what shall be said of God? To illustrate this, someone has said, "I could not give you my spirit if I would, neither would I give you my spirit if I could. Why? Because you would know too much about me." This is exactly what God has done. He has given us His Spirit, His own Spirit, part of Himself that we may know Him. He desires to be known not only in His works, words, ways, covenants, purposes and counsels but Himself in all that He is in the deep moral fulness of love and glory. The Spirit which He has given us searcheth all things, yea, the deep things or rather the depths of God. 1 Corinthians 2:10. Nature in its ruined state cannot intrude here, nor creature capacity at its best understand the things of God. Into the inner consciousness of the depths of movements, tastes, joys and feelings of Him who created this vast universe and upholds it in all its unity, none dare venture. But when we learn that not only would He have us there, but He has undertaken, through His Son, to remove every hindrance that sin had occasioned and take us right into His own company in moral suitability to Himself; creating a capacity in us to know Him in the depths of His Being; to rejoice in Him and adore Him for ever more — what can we say? "I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being." Psalms 104:33. This raises another question which calls for a word here. In the light of all this blessing, how far can it be said that the saints partake of Deity? Some have erred by failing to distinguish between the Essential Being and the Moral Nature of God. As begotten of God we have His life — eternal life; His nature — eternal love. We are made His righteousness in Christ and are partakers of His holiness, but if we partook of Deity we would cease to be creatures, and He would cease to be God.

It is here we learn the importance of having right thoughts of the incarnation. The distance between the creature and the Creator was twofold. First as a creature; then as fallen into sin. By becoming Man, the Son removed the first, bridging the distance. As to the second, He removed that also by His death, so that we might share the glory with Himself in proper conditions, according to God. In Him, Sonship and eternal relationship was brought into Manhood, and made available for us by His atoning work upon the cross. Here, let it be said, we behold Him in a three-fold way. First, what He is in Deity — the glory we are going to behold. Second, what He is in Manhood as risen and glorified — to Whom we are united by His Spirit from on high. Third, what He is as a Divine-Human-Person — with Whom we are associated, as by adoption, before God for His pleasure. "Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Galatians 4:6. In connection with the office and work of the Spirit in the company, we turn to John 14:16. The operations of the Spirit in the soul individually, had been brought out by our Lord in John 2:1-25; John 4:1-54; John 7:1-53. Just before His betrayal and apprehension, the Lord gathered His own around Himself, and in view of His departure and the break up it would cause, instructed them on the necessity of His going away and the coming of the Spirit as a consequence. He assures them that the coming of the Spirit was a necessity for them that they might have a capacity to take in and be led into the meaning of all that the Lord had said and done while He was among them. The result would be, they would be brought into a greater degree of intimacy with Himself than was possible while He was with them. In the most tender way, the Lord was detaching them from Judaism, the earth and earthly things by attaching them firmly to Himself as exalted in heaven, Part with Him there in a new faith system, every part of which would be instinct with life in the power of God the Spirit Who would be in them, making good what the Lord had taught them, thus creating a new capacity to fit them for the work that, as His disciples, lay before them. It was needful for them, as well as for Him, that He should go, for if He did not go the Comforter would not come. They were to learn that there was something beyond miracles, which would lead them to rejoice in the moral depths of His teaching. They were to be enlightened within by God the Spirit Whose immanence would flood their innermost being with the knowledge of God.

"If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." John 14:15-17. It is as if He said, My being here with you can but be transient; He shall be with you for ever: all the things you have heard and seen during My ministry here ye cannot apprehend or appreciate for want of capacity, but when He is come He shall give you to understand, that never were creatures favoured like you have been. "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." John 14:26. Here we have illumination, on the ground of which they could say after He had gone — but not before — "We beheld His glory, the glory as of an only-begotten with a Father, full of grace and truth." The words, "He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said to you," includes the inspired record of the Gospels and the opening up of the holy grandeur of all they had been taught. He had spoken of Himself as the Son; Son of God; Son of Man; Son of David. The Tabernacle, the Temple, the Law, the Testimony, all figured in His ministry. His parables explored the moral world and His miracles the world of nature — all was marked by a combination of depth and simplicity, that only the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth could unfold. But what of the present time? If the Spirit alone can teach us the meaning of His life and service here, who shall tell us of where He is now and what He is doing? Peter asked Him, "Lord, whither goest thou?" John 13:36. Thomas said, "Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?" John 14:5. The Spirit is the answer to all this. "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes forth from with the Father, he shall bear witness concerning me; and ye too bear witness, because ye are with me from the beginning." John 15:26-27. New Tran. When He left them at His ascension, they stood bewildered till two men in white clothing said to them, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?" Acts 1:11. Sometime later Peter wrote of Him, "Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him." 1 Peter 3:22. How did Peter know this? Flesh and blood could not reveal it. It was revealed by the Spirit, Who had come according to promise, that our Lord’s whereabouts, His official glories and activities might be known by us, and that, by the same blessed Spirit, we might have the joy of communion with Him where He now is. We are told that Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and for ever. Hebrews 13:8. The Holy Spirit makes Him known to us as He was ’yesterday’ in the Gospels. John 14:26. He also shows us where He is and what He is doing ’today’. John 15:26. This comes out in the Epistles. Thirdly, the Spirit shows us things to come. John 16:13. This is what the Lord will do ’tomorrow’. Thus we have in these three chapters the work of the Spirit concerning our Lord past, present, and future. At the present moment, He is gone far above all heavens; He has been made Lord; Head; Priest, and is coming again to put down all evil and establish the rule of God over every part of creation. We know Him as He is now. The Lord of Glory; the Head of every man; the Head of the Body the Assembly; the great Priest over the House of God; the Minister of the Sanctuary; the Mediator of the better covenant. And well we know that He is about to come forth and call His own home to be with Himself for ever. But John 16 goes further and shows the coming of the Spirit to His people as a vessel prepared by the Lord Himself to receive Him — with the bearing of His pressure on the world and its prince. While He comes to the disciples, the first effect of His presence is to bring demonstration to the world of its guilt in the death of the Lord Jesus. After telling them that it was profitable for them that He should go away, He used the words to you twice. As dwelling in them, He would bring demonstration to the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. "Of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." John 16:9-11. It is not to be taken that the activities of the Holy Spirit were in any way towards the world or its prince. His presence here in the Assembly, in the working out of the plan of the Godhead, is a challenge to a system which refused the Son; and that challenge works out in a threefold way. Observe that He names the three factors, sin, righteousness and judgment twice. The second time He qualifies these three things by bringing in three other actors in the arena; Himself; the world, and Satan. He had before said, "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out." John 12:31. Here, that solemn sentence in its eternal, irrevocable character is confirmed by the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church. The very thing which appeared to be a complete victory for the world and its god, is seen to be their complete overthrow. The sin here is, they believe not on Him. This the sin, beyond all other sins — the sin of hating the Father and the Son. John 15:22-24. Righteousness here is what is right. What could be more fitting, in the nature of things, than His exaltation to the Father’s right hand? And note here, it is an act of His own volition, "I go to my Father." Judgment can be the only result, for this world, led on by the Devil, joined issue with God over the Son incarnate and this is the result for both to all eternity.

Following this, the Lord opens out the work of the Spirit as come down from the Father and the Son, in His normal working in the company. Three things the Lord outlines here. First, "He shall guide you into all the truth." This must be taken as the new faith system established in resurrection, of which all scripture speaks. Directly, or indirectly, all scripture has in view a new creation into which sin and death can never come. Whether it be history, prophecy, typology, or doctrine, the words employed and the things concerned are from the Holy Spirit. Mental activity has wrought much mischief by intruding into the mysteries of the faith but ignoring the guide. Is there any wonder that the flock is robbed of food? The saints are starved and the precious things of heaven undervalued or unknown. "He shall guide you into all truth," might be illustrated by the Epistle to the Hebrews. Chapters one to two present the Person of our Lord, first in His Deity and then in His Manhood. In three and four we get the House, the Word, and the Throne. In chapters five to seven, the new Priest. In chapter eight — the new covenant; in nine — the new sanctuary; in ten — the new worshipping company. This is all an answer to the typical system set up by the same Spirit in an earlier day, as taught us in Exodus and Leviticus. The second thing the Spirit would do would be to show them things to come. He alone can unlock the chambers of the Old Testament, dispensational, Messianic or moral, and link all together as leading sectors in the great circle of truth. How could the different ages or dispensations be known apart from Him? Who could have known the parenthetic gap in the ages, in which Israel is cut off and the Assembly brought in as the vessel of eternal purpose? Or who could have understood the seventy weeks of Daniel apart from Him? In the book of the Acts, He has linked up the past dispensation with the present, and in the book of Revelation, He has linked up the present with the future. In that book too, He shows the connecting link with eternity — God’s eternal day. In this way, "He shall show you things to come." "He shall glorify me: for He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you." This is the third and last point here of the ministry of the Spirit and it leads from the things to the Persons and Their relations in trinity, both in essential Being and in co-equality of interests. We shall leave that till we have dealt with the office and work of the Spirit in our corporate relationship. This brings in the truth of the Mystery — the Assembly as the Body of Christ; the secret which was hid in God but is now made known unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.