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  ANTHOLOGY ON THE HOLY SPIRIT
  by Various
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A collection of writings on the presence and operation of the Holy Spirit in the
church. Includes letters, essays, and theological reflections on the Spirit's
work among believers, drawn from multiple authors.

  Chapters: 28

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS
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    1. 00 - Anthology on the Holy Spirit
    2. A few remarks connected with the Presence and Operation of the Spirit of God...
    3. A letter to the Saints in London as to the presence of the Holy Ghost in the Church.
    4. An habitation of God through the Spirit.
    5. Another Comforter
    6. Another Comforter
    7. Christ in Heaven, and the Holy Spirit sent down.
    8. Christian Life in the Spirit.
    9. Five Letters on Worship and Ministry in the Spirit.
   10. On Sealing with the Holy Ghost
   11. On the Presence and Action of the Holy Ghost in the Church
   12. One Body and One Spirit
   13. Our Future Glory, and Our Present Groaning in the Spirit.
   14. Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
   15. Remarks on the Presence of the Holy Ghost in the Christian.
   16. The Baptism of the Holy Ghost.
   17. The Holy Ghost.
   18. The Holy Spirit
   19. The Holy Spirit
   20. The Holy Spirit as seen in John's Gospel
   21. The Holy Spirit's Service.
   22. The New Birth and Eternal Life.
   23. The New Testament Doctrine of the Holy Spirit.
   24. The Person and Deity of the Holy Ghost.
   25. The Spirit of God
   26. The Spirit of Truth
   27. The Workings of the Holy Spirit.
   28. What does the Coming of the Comforter mean?

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  CHAPTER 1: 00 - ANTHOLOGY ON THE HOLY SPIRIT
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Anthology on the Holy Spirit A few remarks connected with the Presence and
Operation of the Spirit of God in the Body, the Church A letter to the Saints in
London as to the presence of the Holy Ghost in the Church An habitation of God
through the Spirit Another Comforter Another Comforter Christ in Heaven, and the
Holy Spirit sent down.

Christian Life in the Spirit Five Letters on Worship and Ministry in the Spirit+
On Sealing with the Holy Ghost On the Presence and Action of the Holy Ghost in
the Church One Body and One Spirit Our Future Glory, and Our Present Groaning in
the Spirit Person and Work of the Holy Spirit Remarks on the Presence of the
Holy Ghost in the Christian The Baptism of the Holy Ghost The Holy Ghost The
Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit as seen in John’s Gospel The Holy
Spirit’s Service The New Birth and Eternal Life The New Testament Doctrine of
the Holy Spirit The Person and Deity of the Holy Ghost The Spirit of God The
Spirit of Truth The Workings of the Holy Spirit What does the Coming of the
Comforter mean?


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  CHAPTER 2: A FEW REMARKS CONNECTED WITH THE PRESENCE AND OPERATION OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD...
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A few remarks connected with the Presence and Operation of the Spirit of God in
the Body, the Church.

J. N. Darby. My dear brother, I have read the unpublished tract you sent, and I
proceed to give you my judgment upon it.

I cannot help seeing in it some expression of the same restlessness of the flesh
which it professes to condemn, and (as it seems to me) of quite as evil a
character, because, whilst on the other side this restlessness is against
certain individual qualifications, on this side it has a more unbelieving
tendency, inasmuch as, however unconsciously, it is directed against the
presence, power, and acting of the Holy Ghost in the Church. And here I begin by
admitting that what is called open ministry has given occasion to the flesh. But
I do not think the remedy for it is to deny the presence and operation of the
Spirit of God: which, as far as it goes, is the principle of the tract. And I
will add further that, while I admit that the flesh has taken occasion from
spiritual liberty to take licence to itself (as God has warned us it would), and
while I think that flesh acting thus ought, as in every other case, to be judged
by the Church if the individual does not judge it for himself, I have no
hesitation in saying that I have found spiritual devotedness and spiritual
intelligence and brotherly joy unequivocally inferior, and a very carnal
following of particular ways of thinking taking their place, wherever teachers
(with a comfortable opinion of themselves, because able by natural
qualifications to be acceptable to many, without denying that they might have
gift) have absorbed into their own hands the ministry of the word. It is, and
has been in all ages, one of the first symptoms of spiritual decline in the
Church. Another consequence is, that sisters lose a most blessed place which God
has given to them in the Church, and take one which He has not given, and which
is really only a dishonour to them before God. Moreover (while I would press
upon every heart, and especially upon those who would act upon the deplorable
and unchristian principle of "having a right to speak," that grace is swift to
hear and slow to speak, and that, while faithful in the exercise of what God has
given, one must ever be ready to esteem another better than oneself), I believe
that the love of power is as much to be dreaded in those who can gratify the
ears and minds of many (and that is not edification), as the love of doing in
those who can please but few; and this especially where spiritual power is on
the decline, and teaching looked to stimulate, instead of the Lord enjoyed in
grace. The consequence is, you will find more or less the teacher take the place
of the Lord. Seemly flesh is not more pleasant to God than rude flesh, though it
pave the way more easily for the Church’s contentedly leaving God and forgetting
His presence. Teaching, precious as it is, is not His presence. I dread much
when I hear people say "dear Mr. Such-an-one." It may be accompanied with grace
in other ways; but I do not think they would have so spoken of Paul or Apollos,
when the grace and holy power which puts the conscience in the presence of
Christ was in its energy, though they would have esteemed them very highly in
love for their work’s sake. You may perhaps think I am blaming others — I am
not. I have seen the same spirit working as regards myself; and I think I may
say I have struggled against it, though this (in the feebleness of the Church as
to labourers) is not easy; but in trusting God for this, I have found that
blessing has followed, whatever the danger seemed. I believe that the Holy Ghost
dwells in the Church. This will never make man careless in watching over the
saints for their good — quite the contrary; but the belief of it will hinder his
taking the Spirit’s place. God will be respected in the Church, and His Spirit
in the whole body and in the least of its members. And those that honour Him, He
will honour. The pamphlet you have sent me is just the setting aside of all
this, and the expression of the decline, in the writer’s case — I might almost
say, the ceasing to believe in the presence and operation of God in the Church.
I do not suppose that you can force, so as to be profitable, the speaking of
those who have little gift or but few words to say. The forcing a member to act
may not restore the tone of the body, want of which has disabled the member from
acting; but to take this state as the healthful one, because the acting of the
members made the body in its sickly state ill at ease, is a sad mistake. This is
the progress of the thing: when real and fresh joy in the Lord is there, and the
saints think much of the Lord, a few words spoken about Him recall Him, and they
are full of joy and happy. If another can speak largely of His grace (though in
fellowship this would be to me exceptional), they feed; Christ is still thought
of, His glory present, and the soul perhaps carries away meditation for another
moment. The speaker and the hearers together think of Christ. Where the Lord is
much less thought of, the few very same words would not recall Christ scarcely
at all to the heart, because He is not there in the same way, and they are
wearisome, they do not stimulate; and he who once was wont so to speak thinks
himself and his gift despised. Perhaps, too, some defect of education or the
like has accompanied these few words; it was quite or almost overlooked when
Christ was very present, but now it is very evident and displeasing. If
sometimes he went beyond what the Spirit gave him, this, though perceived and
(if there was faithfulness) mentioned in grace, with the recognition of Christ
in all the rest — now that Christ is not the source of the same blessing, has
not the same place in the hearer — becomes remarked and offensive, because what
man is is now much more prominent. Hence the more accomplished teacher who does
not offend the ear and the taste becomes necessary — a dreadful snare to himself
and to the whole assembly. But when this comes to be insisted on as the right
thing and those who have educational qualifications come to insist on this state
of things as the right state, it is very sad. Failure, and building on failure
to sanction the position which the flesh would assume for its ease because of
failure, are two very different things. The first man has to confess; the last
is assuming his ease in it and setting aside God and his own responsibility at
once. And I do avow I have a little distrust of this, coming always from those
who take the whole matter to themselves on this ground.

I think, if the history of the Church be examined, it will be found that the
decline of any revival always took this road.

One word more of general remark. I do not at all say that in any gathering where
such is the state of things, those who can edify very little or not at all are
to force themselves on the gathering, or to be encouraged in that state of
things to speak. If it does not edify, it can be of no use. The point is, that
all should feel what the state of things is, and above all not sanction as right
what is the proof of failure and decay. I have no hesitation in saying that
worse spiritual decline is always the consequence.

I turn to the pamphlet to shew as briefly as I can (and it will not require many
words) that its reasoning is without foundation, its statements unscriptural,
and its principle the denial of the operation of the Spirit of God in the
Church.

First, let us remember this, that the presence of gift did not in the smallest
degree hinder the working of the flesh in speaking: it was at full work, to the
marring of edification, and that in the grossest shape (for men were speaking
what nobody understood at all), when the gifts were undeniable. It is not the
presence of real gifts that is any check to this fleshly confusion. It was the
most undeniable utterance-gifts, tongues for example, when there could be no
mistake as to the Spirit’s power, which were the occasion of carnal confusion.
This is of the last importance, because the assertion is, that persons speaking
without gift, on the assumption that they have it, produce confusion, and the
remedy is that they should recognize that there is no gift now; and thus the
ministry be left to persons, gracious persons no doubt, who, by their human
attainments, are capable of satisfying in general the demands of the flock for
instruction. Now the answer at once is that all this is without foundation. The
edification of the flock had to be watched over against the licence of the flesh
where there were gifts, as much as on the assumption that there are none. The
question does not lie there at all. The ground of the argument is all a mistake.
It lies much more in the spiritual grace which can maintain the edification of
the body. And just see where this reasoning places me. It destroys absolutely
the applicability of scriptural directions to the assemblies of the saints; so
that I have no scriptural rule nor guidance in ordering that edification. I
admit that there is a great difference in fact as to gifts. The Church is shorn
of well nigh if not all her glory and ornament, and well has she deserved it.
Hence there is a necessary modification in the application. I cannot regulate
the speaking with tongues when there are none; but if the principle of
ministerial edification be different, if the thing regulated by the scripture
does not exist at all in any shape, then the rules for order and edification of
the assembly are gone with them. I have a teaching without the operation of the
Spirit and without the regulation of the Spirit. It is not "edification by gift"
that is in question, but it is the existence of any assembly on this principle.
It is a new sort of assembly which is proposed, to which the scriptural
directions do not apply, such as have been already formed in the Establishment
and among the Dissenters, and which I have left because they are not scriptural.
Now I am told that it is all a mistake to take these scriptures and apply them
at all; they are based upon that which exists no more. It is in vain to say we
meet as brethren, and the ministry is a distinct question. I admit we meet as
brethren, but at the same time we meet in the unity of the body, where God acts
by the members; and it is the Holy Ghost acting in the unity of the body by its
members which is called in question; for these members are what are called gifts
in Corinthians, and in the use of another word in Ephesians too. It is this that
makes the question serious. That the flesh has used liberty for licence I do not
doubt: the gifts did not hinder that. It may be, too, that in a given gathering
there may not be a teacher at all; this is very possible, because the gifts are
in the unity of the whole body, not in a single gathering. The state of the
Church may make our weakness very apparent in this respect; but if we are
humbled, we shall accept this position and be blessed. The attempt to restore
gift by, or rather to substitute for it, the quietness which decent human
attainment may give, is just to avoid the holy, humble, God-owning confession of
the state we have brought the Church to. It is building again (and worse) the
things which we have destroyed.

It is, after being awakened, refusing to acknowledge and bow our heads on
account of the sorrowful state of the Church; and this I see fast growing in
many a mind because of the blessing which God in His sovereign goodness deigned
to bestow on those who did so own and humbled themselves on account of that
state. The Lord keep us lowly, and keeping the word of His patience. And now as
to the arguments of the writer. They are based on his explanation of the word
charisma.

If I might be allowed to suppose a case so very simple that all might understand
it (yet in the plainest seriousness), I would say: —

I mean by boots coverings for the feet and ankles, drawn on, without strings and
being tied; and I affirm then that there are no boots made at Stafford at all.
It is replied to me, "Why the town lives by making boots, and sends them all
over the world." No, I say, there are none made there that is what a boot really
means, at any rate, what I mean by a boot. Would it not be evident that my
statement was good for nothing at all, because it was founded upon a meaning
which I had attached to the word which did not exist in reality, though some
boots might be so made? The reasoning was based on a false ground, and therefore
was all invalid. The question is, Are there gifts according to Scripture? I
attach a meaning to the word ’gift’ which is not scriptural, and then use it to
prove, as to the present fact and time, that there are no scriptural gifts. The
total fallacy of such a proceeding is evident. But I shall at once be stopped
short by the remark, But you must prove that it is not scriptural. It is just
what I proceed to do, and from the only possible source of reasoning on it — an
examination of Scripture itself. This is the writer’s statement of what gift is:
"Charisma, or gift, I look upon as quite distinct from everything of man’s doing
— distinct from the natural ability or talent he may possess of God, distinct
from the improvement and sanctification of that talent, and alike distinct from
any attainment he might make by the diligent use of means. It is the Holy Spirit
giving, in distinctness to anything we see in man. It is that giving when the
power of the Spirit is manifestly seen using the creature indeed, and yet
clearly to be distinguished from the creature; as, for instance, we see in the
gift of tongues, etc. . . . So I believe it was of all gifts of the Spirit, etc.
. . . Such I believe to be of (?) the true nature and meaning of gift; and I am
not aware that there is any passage in the New Testament in which charisma, or
gift, can be shewn to be something different from this." This statement is
constantly referred to and in substance repeated. We shall find that the
writer’s statement involves the whole question of the presence of the Holy Ghost
in the body, the Church; because He must act in some way if He be there to act
in the body. I say the presence of the Holy Ghost in the body, not His merely
acting in grace in individual minds. This question is entirely overlooked in the
writer’s statements. But as to the word gift itself. Charisma, or gift, is the
Holy Spirit’s giving, etc. Now I should not have made any difficulty as to the
expression "gifts of the Spirit," as a general human expression, sufficiently
exact to convey historically what was meant; but when this is insisted on as a
definition, it is important to notice that there is no such term in Scripture;
and the Holy Ghost is never spoken of as giving. Nor do I apprehend that this
distinction is without intention on the part of the divine Spirit. At any rate,
on a very important and delicate subject it is well, when we are defining, not
to speak otherwise than the word speaks.

Next, that charisma is a free gift, or a something freely given, and not
attained by man’s labour, is evident. The word means it. But then it is quite
beside the mark to speak of the word meaning "the Spirit’s giving." First, it is
used independently of all question of the Spirit’s giving in several passages.
In Romans 5:15-16; Romans 6:23, it is the free gift of God unto justification
and eternal life; in Romans 11:29, it is used in the most general way possible,
and applied to God’s purpose as to the Jews. This the writer recognizes in the
latter passage. It is very doubtful whether the statement made there as to
charismata Theou could be applied to what are called spiritual gifts. At any
rate, the word by these passages is proved not to have any particular
application to the Spirit’s giving in its meaning. It means free gift; and
whatever is free gift may be called charisma. Now here there was nothing of the
Spirit being seen, manifestly seen, using the creature, and yet clearly to be
distinguished from the creature. This life was "I live, and yet not I, but
Christ liveth in me; and the life which I live in the flesh, I live by the faith
of the Son of God." So that free gift was not necessarily (in the case to which
the writer compares it and which is called effectively charisma) what he affirms
in the same place it must be, as the only true meaning of the word; so much the
contrary, that in the case alluded to a man could say, "I, yet not I, and the
life which I live." That is, precisely the contrary was the case to that
asserted by the writer. Charisma, or gift, is not what the writer asserts.

Further, in cases of spiritual* gift, properly speaking, I suppose when the
apostle preached at Athens, when in the synagogues he spoke as a Jew to Jews, he
did so in the exercise of his apostolic gift; and yet there is no appearance of
such a distinction before the heathen, and the Jews, "of the creature and the
gift." That there was great power in what he said, and thus demonstration of the
Spirit, I doubt not; but it has no appearance at all of an utterance, as it is
called, which attracted supernaturally the attention of the hearers — "the
Spirit seen using the creature, and yet clearly to be distinguished from the
creature." Again, I suppose the epistle to the Hebrews (if it be allowed to be
what Peter alludes to as Paul’s epistle to the Jews; and at any rate it is the
inspired production of the Holy Ghost, as every other epistle) is really by the
gift of the Holy Ghost: it is according to the wisdom given unto him a gift, the
writer insists, indistinctly. Yet there is nothing but a spiritual mind
developing certain great truths from the word — by inspiration, by gift, I have
no doubt; but how in a way clearly distinguished from the creature (i.e.,
distinguished evidently from spiritual attainment, however sanctified on the
face of it, as "tongues, working of miracles, healings," etc.)? That it is real
gift and real inspiration, I have not the smallest doubt — that is just what I
insist upon; but I do not see anything of this miraculous form of utterance or
power so distinct from any improvement or sanctification of talent he possesses
of God, or attainment he might make by the diligent use of means. I do not see
that this distinction was so strong in the apostle’s mind when he says, "when
for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you," etc.

{*Though, indeed, this is not a scriptural expression: we have pneumatika, a
much wider meaning than spiritual gifts, and includes, in the way of
explanation, what the demons did — every thing that related to spiritual
manifestations.}

I know not whether the writer would allow the holy Scriptures to be written in
virtue, or in exercise, of a gift: if not, all his statements are of little
importance, for in that case it is evident that the most important
communications from God (and that, inspired ones too) are not gifts. But if we
are allowed to consider them as such (and for this I refer to 2 Peter 1:20-21,
for the principle), then I beg the reader to consider the beginning of Luke
1:1-4, and say how far, in this case, gifts are distinguished sensibly from what
man is capable of by spiritual attainment. So Paul in the Corinthians. I suppose
it will hardly be denied that these were the fruits of apostolic gift, "though I
made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent." Is there
anything in this so clearly distinguished from the creature? For my own part,
that which to me so exquisitely distinguishes the general character of the New
Testament inspiration and gift is, that the Holy Ghost — instead of, as in the
old prophets (with the exception of, perhaps, a few passages in Jeremiah, which,
by the way, is a very interesting point as to this prophet), giving oracularly
certain revelations with "thus saith the Lord" — enters (as come down in the
unity of the body, as dwelling in the creature, and associating Himself with all
its affections, sorrows, and feelings, helping its infirmities) into all the
sympathies, and acts in all the affections which redemption has created and left
room for and which become the unity of one body, and binds it all together. "He
who searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He
maketh intercession for the saints according to God." I cite this not as a gift,
but as the expression of the way in which the Holy Ghost introduces Himself into
the sorrows and sufferings of the body, as being still connected with the
creature. What a marvellous sympathy of God in and with the creature! He who
searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh
intercession for the saints according to God. And were the gifts not of this
sympathy and unity? Let any man read the epistles of Paul and say. Let him read
Philippians, Philemon, 2 Timothy, Corinthians, or indeed any: and yet surely
apostolic gift, prophetic gift, and doctoral gift were in exercise here. I do
not deny that there is sometimes a distinct enunciation of positive fresh
revelations. The book of Revelation is a clear case of this; and so in many
passages of Paul’s epistles. "This we say unto you by the word of the Lord," and
so on. But will the writer of the tract be bold enough to say that when the
apostle spoke thus he was exercising his gift; and that all that is found with
it in the same epistles is not the exercise of gift, but spiritual attainment
merely, though addressed as from an apostle? But if not, his view of gift is
surely completely falsified; and it is manifest he has confounded gift with
another immediate action of the Holy Ghost, with new revelations. It is not
pretended that God keeps infallibly now as He did in forming the written word;
but that is not the point: it is to know whether He works now, so as to give
competency, and to guide in speaking, and lead to speak, or to be silent. We
have seen that when the apostle was not at the same height of spiritual
apprehension and power, he repented having written a letter which we possess as
an inspired epistle. Nor can I see that the fact that certain gifts were
evidently supernatural, as miracles and signs (which are by the apostle declared
to be inferior to others, and as tongues said to be signs to unbelievers, as
indeed miracles were also to confirm the word), should exalt such form of gift
above that which edified the Church, or converted souls, but which had not
necessarily any such form, and whose power was seen only in the conviction of a
sinner’s conscience, or the edifying of a believer’s soul. In the passage in
Peter we have a very important principle indeed on this subject, which seems to
me to preclude altogether the reasonings of the writer of the tract. As every
man has received the gift, let him so minister the same, as good stewards of the
manifold grace of God. Thus, whatever manifold grace may be, it is to be
ministered as a charisma; for the simple fact it, whatever charis (grace) gives
is a charisma, no matter what. If any man speak, let him speak as oracles of
God; if any man minister (i.e., serve in any way) let him do so as of the
strength God supplies. That is, he sums up the whole matter into general parts
which embraced the general good of the Church as in ordinary exercise, speaking
and serving; if any man speak, he must do it from God — as expressing what God
gave him; if he served, as of the ability which God gave him: that God in all
things may be glorified. All was to be presented as coming directly from God,
"that God might be glorified." Now this is the very thing the tract sets aside.
It is perfectly clear that the reasoning of the apostle is null, if it be
translated "according to the oracles." Besides, that is not what is said; it is
as oracles, not even as the oracles. What the apostle is speaking of is the
source to which it is to be attributed, in order that this source may have the
glory, and not man’s attainment. That is, charisma is the source of speaking
(charisma being simply the expression for all that the manifold grace gives) and
it is forbidden to speak in any other way: it is to be ascribed to the gift of
God. And I apprehend that if saints, one and all, were honestly thus to wait
upon God, there would be a great deal more real gift, and gifts of less human
attainment would be better appreciated; while many a person would be kept in
healthful silence, because he could not say that he spoke as of God: and if this
were demanded, the flesh would be more easily detected, if he pretended to do
so. At any rate, such is, I have no hesitation in affirming, the only true
meaning of the apostle.

Further, I proceed to shew that as regards the distinction of gift from
diligence in the use of means, though the gift be not thus acquired, the writer
is wrong: and further, that while gift is really gift, inasmuch as God give it,
yet that God prepares the vessel, so that suitability is God’s way of acting in
this.

First, as to diligence in the use of means; the statements of Scripture shew the
writer’s notion of using the creature independently of such diligence to be
entirely false. In 1 Timothy 4:1-16 the apostle thus addresses his beloved son
in the faith: "Till I come give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to
doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee which was given thee by prophecy
with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Meditate upon (or occupy
thyself with) these things, give thyself wholly to them, that thy profiting may
appear unto all men; take heed to thyself and unto the doctrine; continue in
them, for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee."
Is the possession of gift so contrasted here with the use of means, so that
profiting should appear? Again, "Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou
stir up the gift of God which is in thee, by the putting on of my hands. For God
hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound
mind. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which
dwelleth in us. The whole of these directions prove that the possession of
charisma was to be accompanied by the use, the diligent use of means, so that
profiting should appear; and that the writer’s confined use of it is entirely a
false one.

Further, as to being distinct from natural endowment. The writer instances
tongues. I really cannot say as to this, it may have been so; but the general
rule in gifts for edification is otherwise. The principle of scripture, of the
Lord, is natural endowment, gift, and diligence through confidence in His love.
The last two we have seen in Timothy, while in Peter we have been guarded from
the abuse of it, into which the writer has fallen. In Matthew 25 we have the
express statement of the Lord, that when He went away, He called His servants,
and gave to each of them according to his several ability; and they then traded
with the talents as His given money. So Paul was a chosen vessel, as well as the
receiver of a gift; and I think no one can doubt the remarkable qualities which
preceded his call. Nor in reading the history of Peter and James and John, "who
seemed to be pillars," can any one doubt that the Cephas and Boanerges of the
Lord had qualities before the day of Pentecost, which the Lord had, in divine
wisdom, prepared and chosen for the purpose for which He employed them by His
gift. And, while equally apostles, it is clear that all were not alike in this
respect. Is it unnatural with God to do thus? or, when He chooses before He
gives the gift (as we know He did both with Paul and the others), are we to
suppose that He chooses without display of wisdom or without a fitness which He
Himself has prepared in His instrument? That it is not what would have appeared
in man’s eyes may be very true, for "God seeth not as man seeth"; still He
seeth, and in some fair and ruddy youth who is taken from following the ewes
great with young, or in some poor fisherman of Galilee, He may have prepared and
chosen a vessel which will put man to shame, but glorify the profound wisdom of
God in His poor creatures; while in the learned and freeborn Jew of Tarsus He
may shew, in an energy which God alone could have sustained, what it was to
count those things which were gain loss for the excellency of the knowledge of
the Lord, whose very name he had once sought to destroy. The Lord chooses the
vessel, and He chooses it in the wisdom which has prepared it for His use. And
it is not the substitution of mere spiritual attainment for the creative wisdom
which has prepared it, and for the divine grace which has filled the vessel with
His own gift, which will put either God or man in his place.

Let us turn to Romans 12:1-21. The apostle, after exhorting every man to think
soberly of himself, according as God had dealt to every man the measure of
faith, for that we are all members of the same body (a point we will, D.V.,
touch on presently) adds, "having then gifts differing according to the grace
given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of
faith, or ministry on ministering, or he that teacheth on teaching, or he that
exhorteth on exhortation; he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that
ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness." Now I ask, is
it possible (if the apostle had the idea of gift which the writer has) that such
a passage would have been found? Could he have spoken of ministry — not of the
word properly, but of any service to the saints — teaching, exhortation, giving,
and ruling, and then pass on to what are fruits and the walk of grace, heading
all with the word ’gift’ (charisma), "Having therefore received gifts," if such
a thought had been in his mind as the writer insists on?

It is quite evident that, while some gifts bore externally the stamp of
supernatural power, or, if believed, having the character of new revelation,
were necessarily assumed to be such, the piety (and I apprehend the enlightened
and scriptural piety of the saints, whose record is in the word) recognized
everything as a gift (charisma); and, as the Holy Ghost and He only did
everything in the Church that was good, it was attributed to Him; not as His
gift, but as His working. To say otherwise would be to confine His working to
signs or revelations, which is clearly false. And hence the lists of gifts are
altogether diverse, according to the subject of the writer, and none of them
complete as if it were a regular enunciation of certain known things, because
all that was done for God, God was the doer of it; and that doing was gift to
the Church in him in whom it was accomplished, and Peter forbids its being done
in any other way. The service or ministry which we have (I have no doubt in
Peter, but certainly in Romans 12:1-21) as gift, being by Peter contrasted with
speaking, and indeed in Romans 12:1-21 too. It is clear that exhortation and
evangelizing were neither signs nor fresh revelations, yet they were gifts.
Indeed, receiving the word (not on the ground of signs, but) by faith in the
conscience, is the only true receiving of it; and the fact of signs accompanying
it is just the proof that it was not a sign itself. And now see what we have
lost as coming from God — we may have it, it seems, as man’s sanctified
qualities and attainments, but not as a gift from God.*

{*Apostles, prophets, teachers, miracles, healings, tongues, interpretation,
helps, governments, speaking, ministry, exhortation, presiding or ruling,
shewing mercy, discerning spirits, the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge.
These are all named as charismata to which we may add evangelists and pastors
(domata) from Ephesians 4:1-32.}

Further, either there were in the primitive Church two sorts of ministry, one
which came as a gift from God, and one which did not (which I leave anybody to
believe that will, and which I have no doubt Peter forbids expressly), or else
the ministry which is now sought to be set up is altogether different, and is
not recognized in Scripture at all; and this is a very serious point, the proper
operation of the Spirit being hereby absolutely excluded, His will in
sovereignty in distributing, but above all, His operation. The individual, it
seems, may be sanctified in this as in everything, but the Holy Ghost never
operates in the Church. He may work in a soul for its good, but He never works
in the Church. And this is very important, because it goes a great deal farther
than a personal question of gifts, even to the living existence and functions of
the body — which I beg may be carefully remarked. These gifts are always treated
by Paul as membership of the body, the Holy Ghost animating the whole and acting
in the parts. There must be no body then, or at any rate no members of the body.
I admit freely that this is a figure; and I do not pretend to say, such a member
is such a gift; but the figure means something. It means that the Holy Ghost is
dwelling in and making one the body of Christ, and acting by every one of the
members in one way or another, His actings being called charismata in the
members. It is quite true that some of these may be ostensibly and evidently the
power of God; still all that is done must come from the same source, according
to what is given to each: if not, it comes from the mind and flesh of the
individual, and is good for nothing. And, though certain gifts were before the
body, and operated for the gathering of it, yet, being of it by the then union
of it all together, they are all treated by the apostle as members of the body.
And it is important to remark here, that gifts are never treated as separated
isolated things, though in responsible individuals, as complete in the
individual, as a separate acting of the Holy Ghost in him; but as the
consequence of the Holy Ghost acting in the body of which they were members, and
they acting merely as members of the body. And the apostle is so far from
presenting that which is adorned with the outward ostensible sign, as being the
most valuable and important gifts, that he states exactly the contrary,
distinguishing the two kinds. Comeliness, says he, is put upon what is less
comely; for our comely parts have no need: but God has thus tempered the body
together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked.

Let us, passing over for the present the passage of Peter which forbids speaking
save as oracles of God, consider now the passages of Paul’s epistles to the
Romans, Corinthians, and Ephesians.

I add Ephesians, though the word be not charisma. There may be a shade of idea:
substantially they are the same thing. Doma is not more human attainment than
charisma; there is no difference in this respect. That is, apostles, prophets,
evangelists, pastors, teachers, were gifts properly speaking (spoken of in a
different point of view, I admit, but not the less gifts) in the fullest and
highest sense of the word, the consequence of Christ’s exaltation; and, with the
exception of pastor, which is here identified as the same person, not gift, with
doctor, declared elsewhere to be distributions of the Holy Ghost, who is not, as
we shall see, left out here. The Church had been declared to be the habitation
of God through the Spirit. And they are engaged to walk worthy of this calling.
There was one body, they are told, and one Spirit; but to every one of us is
given grace (charis) according to the measure of the gift (doreas) of Christ.
Christ had ascended up on high, He had given gifts to men, and He gave some
apostles, etc. The principle stated is that there is a unity of the body in one
Spirit; but that to every one of us grace (charis) is giver according to the
measure of the gift of Christ. The charismata in Peter are said to be received
according to the manifold charis; that it is Christ who fills all things, who
being ascended up, and so Head of the Church (and this is the doctrine of the
whole epistle), has given in particular these gifts. Every one has received as a
member of the body; but these notable gifts are particularly marked out, which
especially minister of the fulness of Christ for the gathering or nourishment of
the body, that we might grow up to Him in all things, who is the Head. They come
from the Head (to the Church over all things), that we may grow up to the Head;
of whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every
joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every one
part maketh increase of the body to the edifying of itself in love. Is all this
to be given up? For surely (call them domata or charismata) these were no
sanctified human attainments — they are gifts which Christ ascended has given
according to the power of the one Spirit in the body, so that each member should
work severally in his place to the edifying of the body in love. Is all unity
and membership gone? or are the members dead? or are they now to work on some
other principle than the living power of the one Spirit in the body which
animates each member in its place while it makes it a member in the unity of the
whole body? Or will it be said, that at that time, besides the perfect corporate
system of working by joints and bands, through the power flowing from the Holy
Ghost as a centre, there was another system, another sort of teachers, another
sort of pastors besides, who were not of this perfect system of divine
workmanship? If not, and there is another sort now, then not only are gifts
gone, but membership and unity and the body are gone. Not only we have failed as
to them, but they are gone as on God’s part, so that my faith cannot look to
them; for if they exist, then (if it be not a dead body) does the Holy Ghost
work in the several living members for the good of the body, and gift in the
true scriptural sense of it subsists; and blessed be God that it does! And this
is the question — the existence and unity of the body in its living members. And
here a word on what is called impulse in passing. I have no love for the word,
but rather the contrary; but I am not frightened by a word either. If by impulse
be meant the real present acting of the Holy Ghost leading saints to speak and
guiding them in speaking, it is surely the only thing of any value or power. If
they are not so led by the Holy Ghost, they must be led by something else, which
will not be, to say the least, the present acting of the Holy Ghost: and
therefore if even very good things may be said, it will not be power; for in
every sense power belongs unto God. We have already seen that organic utterance
(if there be any gift, which is simply such, i.e., the use of the creature
without his mind) is the lowest kind, and the Corinthians are treated as
children in understanding for thinking much of it. We have seen real, proper
gift, or charisma, identified in the case of Timothy with the diligent use of
means; and I add here that the mind using truth, and the Holy Ghost using the
mind, are two very different things, for God is in one of them; but the Holy
Ghost’s using the mind is gift, properly and truly gift, and stated by the
apostle to be the superior kind of gift. Having already spoken of this, I cannot
be charged with any wild idea of impulse; but I do say that the acting of the
Holy Ghost in and by man, in a member of the body (which is what the apostle
calls gift), is what we are to look for by faith, and is the only thing of any
real value or power. I admit that the Holy Ghost can, in another’s mind, use
what is not such. The testimony of Christ printed on a playbill for an oratorio
may be used by the Holy Ghost in the reader’s mind for conversion; and the
mind’s statement of truth may be used in another soul by the Holy Ghost for
blessing; but it is not what we are to look for; it is not power in service.

Take another point, "Be not drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit,
speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs." I suppose,
when filled with the Spirit, the Holy Ghost was acting, and acting immediately,
I may say sensibly. Is all this to be laid aside too? Is it wrong to be filled
with the Holy Ghost, or wrong to hope that there may be more of it? And this "be
not drunk with wine" is wonderfully like "these men are not drunken as ye
suppose," when tongues were spoken. I am not adducing this to shew that we are
not to look for tongues, but that the notion of denying gift goes much farther
than is supposed — that it goes to denying the present acting of the Spirit of
God, the being filled with the Spirit, as well as the unity of the membership of
the Church of God, which are either dead, or active by virtue of the Spirit in
what is called in Scripture gifts, and that eni ekusto, to each one, and called
charisma too. For let us turn to Corinthians: we have the same principles as in
Ephesians. Only (the subject not being the exaltation of Christ over all things,
as the one head of the body), the subject is approached from a different side to
suit the pneumatiko, and the contrast of the one Holy Ghost with the many
demons. But while thus taking it up on a different ground, it comes to the same
statements: the same doctrine is found in it. First that which distinguishes the
Holy Ghost is that He says, in the saint, "Lord Jesus": a demon would not, But
this shews that it acted in the mind, person, and faith of the individual; as
indeed the demons often did, when really such, as in an oracle. See the case of
Legion: "what have I to do with thee? I pray thee torment me not"; only it was
by blinding the mind, and not by light. Nor do I doubt that this often happens
now.

Then there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit Here I would remark by
the way, that this is not calling them gifts of, or given by, the Spirit, but
merely that it was not as with demons, many, each acting by himself; but that
though the gifts were many the Spirit was one. It was clearly the operation of
the Spirit in these gifts; but He is never said to be the Giver of most of them,
I doubt not of all: Christ is said to be the Giver, as in Ephesians 4:1-32, and
so in Acts 2:1-47, "being by the right hand of God exalted, he hath shed forth
this which ye now see and hear." But in the economy of God, the Spirit is rather
said to operate or distribute than to give: something like Eliezer (Genesis
24:1-67), who had all the goods of his master in his hand, and distributed them,
disposed of them, but they came from another. I say something like, because the
word ’master’ is irrelevant here, and the Holy Ghost being God, the operations
are the operations of God — a truth carefully preserved in this chapter. To
explain further this distinction, I could notice the words employed — it is
given through (dia) the means of the Spirit; according to (kata) the Spirit; in
(the power of ) (en) the same Spirit. But to pursue — one more point. Whatever
were the manifestations of the Spirit, it was for profit, not for display; but,
whatever they were, the point insisted on is, it was "one and the same Spirit."
"For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one
body being many are one body; so also is Christ." And here I would ask, Is
Christ so now? That man has marred and maimed this body, as regards its
condition on earth, is admitted — yea, earnestly urged; but in the principle of
its existence, can it be said now, "so also is Christ"? This evidently is a most
serious question.

Haggai could say to Israel, on whom Lo-ammi was already written, "As in the days
when ye came up out of Egypt, so my Spirit remaineth among you, fear ye not."
What a blessed and important consolation this! and ground on which faith could
rest in its hopes, its confidence, or its labour.

For, continues the apostle, by one Spirit we have all been baptized into one
body, whether Jews, etc., and have all drank into one Spirit. For the body is
not one member, but many, etc. But now the members are many but the body one;
and, after a passage above quoted, it is said, "that there may be no schism in
the body, but that the members may have the same care one for another."

"Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular: and God hath set in
the Church, first, apostles . . . and seek earnestly the better gifts."

Now what I would remark here is, the way in which the gifts (charismata) are
indissolubly knit up with the unity and membership of the body. And this is no
casual idea: we have found the same connected with the headship of Christ as
domata in the Ephesians. Here we see the basis is stated, "by one Spirit we have
been baptized into one body," and this baptism with the Holy Ghost is what
distinguishes the Church, and the ministry of Christ Himself as exalted on high
in respect of it — "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost." Having stated the
principle in 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, and the excellency of charity in 1
Corinthians 13:1-13, in 1 Corinthians 14:1-40 he applies it to the state of the
Corinthian church, and we have connected with this subject singing, blessing,
and giving thanks; and he prefers doing it with his mind. That is, the whole
action of the Holy Ghost in the body is brought out in connection with this
subject, whatever pre-eminent gifts might be found among them.

And, further, this universality of action is assumed as a possibility in the
whole body, in respect of the most public and evident gifts. "When ye are
gathered together in one place, if all speak with tongues, will they not say,
you are mad? but if all prophesy, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all,
and the secrets of his heart being revealed, he falls down and confesses that
God is in you of a truth" (i.e., that God is in the assembly, in the saints). Is
all this gone too? He does not fall down and confess that God is in such or such
a gifted person; much less does he admire or look up to the spiritual
attainments of an individual: he confesses that God is in the assembly, among
the Christians. And is this to be lost, and not even sought, and individual
attainment substituted for the presence of God in the assembly? For this is the
real question: not merely whether such individual acts on such or such a
principle, but whether I am to look to God or to man — to God’s presence in the
assembly, or to man’s competency by acquired attainments. Can I be satisfied
with the latter without some very clear proof that the former is not to be
sought-that God has abandoned the assembly of His saints? For if there, is He
not to make His presence known? If He do, it is a manifestation of the Spirit in
the individual who acts; it is a gift, and, if you please, an impulse. It is God
acting: that is the great point. And here I remark that the application of "the
rest" ("let the rest judge") to a certain number of recognized teachers, is
entirely against the sense and spirit of the passage. That an unspiritual man,
in whom the Holy Ghost’s power is not, is incapable of so judging is quite true,
though "the spiritual man judgeth all things." But what the apostle is
considering is the power of the Spirit of God in the gathered assembly; so that
God is confessed to be in them; so that all might speak with tongues, all
prophesy, the person entering be convinced of all, judged of all; and the Holy
Ghost so acting that they might all prophesy one by one, that all may learn (a
very good position for everyone to be in sometimes), and all may be comforted.

Let us turn to Romans. Here again the same principle meets us. "For I say," says
the apostle, "through the grace given unto me, to every one among you, not to
think highly of himself, above what he ought to think; but to think soberly
according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." Here again we
have a very important principle: no false pretension, sober thoughts of self and
gift. Charisma (as we may see in what the apostle goes on to say) is spoken of
as God’s dealing to every man the measure of faith — this is to be the ground
for every man to act upon; if he goes beyond it much or little, he is in the
flesh and in folly, let his attainments or acceptance be what they may. We want
God in order to be profited, and that is according to the measure of faith, and
that in every man. For as in one body we have many members, but all the members
have not the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, but each
members one of another, but having different gifts (charismata), according to
the grace given to us, whether prophecy [let us prophesy] according to the
proportion of faith.

It is, then, in the unity of the body, according as God has dealt to every man
the measure of faith. This is the principle of gifts (charismata); happy are we
that it is so simple. That there were gifts which had a sensibly miraculous
character I do not deny, and such as we have lost; but I deny that this was the
necessary character or real meaning of charisma (but the effect or produce of
charis, grace, here applied to the action of a member of the body in service.)
These gifts, however, were by no means the most important ones, and their
absence does not touch the truth of the presence of the Holy Ghost in the body,
acting (as He is still sovereign in doing) in the unity of the body in its
several members, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
I add here, I have no doubt that the object of the apostle in this passage is to
confine each to this measure of faith, to think soberly of himself, and to
confine himself to what God has dealt to him; first, as to the nature, and
secondly as to the measure, of the gift; and I add, that I do doubt that many a
brother’s gift would be recognized, if he did not go beyond his measure in it.
If he prophesy, let him prophesy according to the proportion of faith — all
beyond that is flesh, and putting himself forward; and this is felt, and his
whole gift rejected: and it is his own fault, because he has not. known how to
confine himself to it, and therefore his flesh was acting; and his speaking is
attributed to this, and no wonder. It is also true as to the nature of a gift;
if a man sets about to teach, instead of confining himself — to exhorting, if he
exhorts, he will and cannot edify. I humbly think — but in this I fully confess
I may be mistaken, and desire that he may be blessed with every gift — that this
is our brother’s mistake. This tract is teaching: I believe his gift to be much
more exhorting, and that it is out of the measure, if not out of the nature, of
his gift — a gift in which I know he has been blessed. I do not think his
estimate of Charisma is scriptural, or according to any sober measure of
teaching from God. I trust he will bear with me in saying this: we owe such a
remark to each other — that I say not to the Church. I will add, to shew that I
do not despise anything that comes from him where I can trace divine teaching,
and that I think his suggestion on sophia is of importance for the understanding
of that point; and though I have not examined it fully in the word, several
passages connect themselves with his remark, in my mind, which make it of
interest and importance to me.

I add yet further, that I recognize fully certain gifts which we may call
permanent, or perhaps more accurately attached to the person; He gave some
apostles, etc. I have spoken of it elsewhere. I repeat it now, that the putting
forth of another part of the subject, which is of equal (I apprehend indeed of
much greater) importance, namely the presence of the Holy Ghost acting in the
body, should not be exclusive. The main point is the Holy Ghost’s acting in the
unity of the whole body and in each several member; but in so doing, Christ
constitutes certain persons as vessels of certain gifts, and gives them for the
service to which He is pleased to call them. I do not believe either will be
kept in their place of blessing unless graciously owning the other. But it is
equally clear that the unity of the body, and the presence of God in it, is of
more consequence than that which ministers to the maintenance of that unity. Yet
these do help to maintain the saints in that unity. But if they despise that
unity manifested in the positive action of the Holy Spirit in all the members,
then they become a positive and crying evil. It is the principle of popery;
which, as a practical fact, places the operation of the Spirit in the teachers,
not in the body.

Along with this, unity may be much insisted on, as we know from popery; but it
is the unity of slavery and death.

There is no such evil in the Church as the claim of spiritual power in the
Church, where it is not fully owned as really and practically acting in the
members of the body. These cannot on the other hand by the Spirit deny His
operations in special service. But it is service — a service to Christ and the
saints. Christ gave Himself for the one; He acts by the others, by whom He will,
by the Holy Ghost.

I add one word as to the translation of 1 Peter 4:11. Is it not evident here
that the question is (not of a rule according to which things should be done,
but) of the source of power and capacity; so that it should be attributed to
that source, even God Himself, and thus He receives all the glory? It is not the
scriptural accuracy of what is said, but the divine source to which all is to be
attributed, that the apostle is insisting on. It is quite true that if it is not
according to Scripture it does not come from God. But this is a means of proving
the thing. The literal translation of the passage is this, "If any man speak, as
oracles of God: if any man serve (or minister — the word means any service, not
properly of a slave), as of the ability which God supplies: that in all things
God may be glorified through Jesus Christ."

"As oracles of God," it seems to me, cannot, by any possibility, be translated
"according to the scriptures."

I do not in the least pretend here to have treated the subject in full; but
merely to have said what I believe a sufficient reply to the ground our brother
has taken, and to afford light to the saints on it.

Affectionately yours.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 3: A LETTER TO THE SAINTS IN LONDON AS TO THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY GHOST IN THE CHURCH.
========================================================================

A letter to the Saints in London as to the presence of the Holy Ghost in the
Church.

J. N. Darby.

PREFACE In correcting this tract for a third edition, I have not entered on the
distinction to be made between the body of Christ and the habitation of the
Spirit — in that one is composed of members livingly united to the Head, the
other built (see 1 Corinthians 3:1-23) by the instrumentality of responsible men
on earth: I have treated it elsewhere. It is an important practical point in
connection with the present state of the Church of God, but does not affect the
great fundamental principles which govern the whole enquiry, as here pursued. I
have corrected the passages in which there may have been so far confusion
between the two as to lead to any practical obscurity of the mind on the
subject. The importance of the question of the Holy Ghost’s presence in the
Church on earth, will render some inquiry into it profitable to us.

It is a great question of principle regarding the position and walk of the
saints which has arisen wherever that testimony of God specially committed, as I
believe, to those commonly called the brethren, has existed. It is a question of
vast importance — a principle resisted abroad as well as in England; and the
resistance to which is always connected with the establishment, in one shape or
other, of a clergy under the title of ministry. All I shall attempt here is to
set the principle clear. There is, I fully believe, as real a question of God’s
truth as in Luther’s days: I do not say as important a one; because in Luther’s
time the question was one of the ground of individual salvation — of the basis
of our standing with God. Whereas the question now at issue is the position and
standing of the Church, of the saints gathered when they are saved. But no one
will think this a trifling question. It is closely connected with Christ’s glory
and the doctrine of the Holy Ghost. The question in Luther’s time was the value
and efficacy of Christ’s work; or, in other words, justification by faith. What
existed he assumed to be the Church. The question now is the presence and power
of the Holy Ghost as forming and embodying the Church in unity. This evidently
is important. It has been accompanied among the brethren with the revival, as I
judge, of the clear doctrine of justification by faith, which was much buried
under collateral doctrines, as regeneration and its proofs, which had really
taken the place of justification by faith; so that, in general, assurance of
salvation was rare, and considered to be a matter of spiritual attainment.
Besides, there are truths to which God recalls the saints as being important at
such or such a time, as leading to peculiar and needed blessings, or as bearing
on peculiar evils or dangers, and against which therefore the malice of the
enemy will be particularly directed, to oppose or undermine them. Such I believe
the doctrine of the Holy Ghost’s presence in the Church to be at this time. The
unity of the body as Christ’s spouse, separate from evil, is closely connected,
yea, identified with, this great doctrine, which is founded on the exaltation of
Christ as Son of man to the right hand of God, in testimony of the full
completeness of His work, and His infinite favour with God. And hence its
connection with the full, free assurance of salvation in the soul, and the joy
of adoption by the Holy Ghost. No one taught of God could knowingly undervalue
such a doctrine; and I do especially believe that no one specially taught of God
now, "men having understanding of the times," but will on the contrary feel its
peculiar vital importance, as ministered of God in the Church for saving souls,
and the Church itself from the current delusions of the day. This is the
question before us.

There are three great points connected with the doctrine of Christ, or positions
in which He may be viewed: a crucified Christ, accomplishing the work of
redemption, in virtue of which, as testified of in resurrection, justification
is the portion of the believer; an exalted Christ, in whose name, and by whose
sending, the Holy Ghost the Comforter is come down on earth, and dwells in the
Church; and Christ coming again in Person. Now the first of these, namely,
justification by faith, was preached by Luther, and souls were delivered, and
many peoples set free from the burden of popery. But the Holy Ghost sent down
here, though taught in a measure as a truth, formed no part of that which
characterized the Church; and therefore it fell under the power of the
magistrate, when delivered from the Pope. The doctrine of the Lord’s second
coming fell into the hands of real fanatics, who would have set up what they
called the fifth monarchy by the sword; and in Germany did attempt it, and held
a city they called their Zion for some time under Munzer. That which
characterized the ministry and testimony of those called the brethren, however
feeble, and feeble they were, was (with the accompanying revival of assurance by
faith in the simple testimony of redemption) the bringing out and walking in the
faith of the two latter doctrines: namely, the Holy Ghost in the Church, and the
coming again in Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this ministry was blessed
both in gathering many into a simple position by it, and extending the happy
influence of these truths among many who were not so gathered. With this
connected itself the unity of the Church as the body of Christ by the Holy Ghost
sent down from heaven, and that, separate from the world, as bride of the Lamb.
A comparison of what the Church was at first when filled with the Spirit led
them to the sense of our present ruined state, and to seek in earnest
devotedness more conformity to its early path, and that nothing should be owned
which was not of the Holy Ghost. And they waited for God’s Son from heaven. If
the presence of the Spirit gave them the consciousness of being the bride, He
made them also earnestly desire the coming of the Bridegroom, and the joy of
that day when Christ should come and receive them to Himself, and take the
kingdom and the glory.

They entered in spirit, in their little measure, into that word, "The Spirit and
the bride say, Come"; and they were happy and blessed. And where, beloved
brethren, let me ask you with the apostle, is that blessedness ye spake of? Did
you suffer so many things in vain, or for an error, if it be yet in vain? Did
you begin in the Spirit, or was it all a delusion of your imagination which
wiser minds have discovered, and that you are glad to give decently up, and to
end in the flesh?

Now the presence of the Holy Ghost in the Church was (with the waiting for
Christ’s coming), the grand doctrine on which the whole testimony of those
so-called brethren was founded. And this it is which it is sought to deprive you
of. Let us not deceive ourselves; this is what is in question. It will soon be
seen everywhere, save as this truth itself is forgotten anywhere. It may be
clothed in terms which may seem not to deny it, because that would alarm — in
terms suited, alas! to the failure of spiritual power, and therefore of
discernment, which may be found among us. It may begin in practice in one place,
and be avowed in doctrine in another. It may change its shape where it is
detected, and testified against. But the presence of the Holy Ghost in the
Church, and His presence as the power of the unity of the body of Christ, is
what is in question.

I dare say it may not be admitted: but if one comes to rob me of my treasure,
his not telling me he is, nor admitting he is, cannot satisfy me. But this,
perhaps, it will be said, they do not mean to do. I will admit they may be
ignorant of the truth itself, and therefore of the loss of it, and therefore not
be aware of the mischief they are doing. But, if one is urging the vessel on the
shoals, and he is mentally innocent, because he does not know them, that will
not content me as a passenger if I know, nay, not even if I suspect them. But is
it denied? Is it not admitted? It has been distinctly taught that the acting of
the Holy Ghost in the body being in the members, the presence of the Holy Ghost
practically was by the teachers. Now, because there is truth in this, and that
the Holy Ghost does act by the teachers, the denying such a doctrine is treated
as if it were denying the Holy Ghost’s acting in the teacher, and, in a word,
denying ministry. But it is no such thing. What is affirmed is the presence of
the Holy Ghost in the Church itself on earth. No doubt when there, He acts,
among other things, by teachers, etc.; but He is present in the Church. And
anyone can see that, assuming His acting in the teachers, and denying His
dwelling in the whole assembly or Church as such; or denying His acting properly
in the way of gift in any, but that grace just sanctifies natural talent and
education; and that there is no dwelling in the whole body, as distinct from the
members (these teachers being the members who are to act), is throwing the whole
matter into the hands of certain persons who have more natural talent to the
exclusion of the body. It is the reconstituting a clergy who form the Church,
and who are to judge of the qualifications of others whom they admit into their
ranks: for this is demanded also. It is just the clergy over again. I recognize
that God forms the vessel individually for service as well as puts a gift into
it, when I look at the individual. I have no doubt that the blessed apostle Paul
was a man of most extraordinary natural character. But this truth, which I find
in Scripture, does not make me deny that the Holy Ghost dwells in the Church.
But I will first bring out the idea before the minds of brethren, that by it
they may be able, through grace, to judge of the statements by which it is pared
down and destroyed, and what they are losing for their souls if these statements
are listened to. Let us remember the question: the dwelling of the Holy Ghost in
the Church as such. That I may not misrepresent the doctrine I combat, take - ’s
account of it: "A dwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Church, apart and distinct
from the members, is what I confess my inability to receive." Again, "But from
the way in which I have heard some speak of the Person of the Holy Ghost in the
individual, and distinct from this the Person of the Holy Ghost in the Church,
the thought has arisen in my mind, which one almost fears to express, Do they
believe in two Holy Ghosts?" Again, "I see these precious promises of the
Spirit’s abiding and presence during our Lord’s absence, in John 14:1-31, John
15:1-27,John 16:1-33, but surely no dwelling here, nor through the Acts of the
Apostles, distinct from the individual believer." We have then distinctly before
us the question. It is denied that these two things are distinctively true — the
Holy Ghost in the individual, and the Holy Ghost in the Church. I have found
this view fully confirmed by the statement, that the blessing of the body is the
aggregate of the blessing of the individual members. My view, which is commented
on, is, "The Holy Ghost dwelling in and making one the body of Christ, and
acting by every one of the members in one way or another"; and, "the Holy Ghost
working in the several living members for the good of the body."

I now turn to the main point — God’s dwelling with man. This I believe to be the
peculiar and special blessing of man, and the highest honour that could be
conferred on him, unless it be his actually in glory with the Lord, when
something more is added, viz., being like the Lord and with Him. God came to
walk in the garden, but Adam, a sinner, was not there to meet Him. But this
deeply important truth is much more distinctly stated in Scripture. Redemption
is the true ground of God’s dwelling with man. He did not dwell with Adam; He
did not dwell even with Abraham; but as soon as Israel was brought out of Egypt,
and the Spirit inspired the song of triumph, what was the leading thought? "He
is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation." So in God’s own preparation of
it: "In the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the
sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established." This leading thought of
what distinguished Israel is clearly a distinct one from dwelling or acting in
an individual. Further, this is a constant thought as distinguishing the people
of God. So in Exodus 29:45-46, "And I will dwell among the children of Israel,
and will be their God; and they shall know that I am the Lord their God, that
brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them; I am
the Lord their God." So, 2 Chronicles 6:1-2, "The Lord hath said that he would
dwell in the thick darkness, but I have built an house of habitation for thee,
and a place for thy dwelling for ever." So Exodus 25:8; 1 Kings 6:13; Ezekiel
43:7. So indeed to the same purpose, Deuteronomy 23:14. But it is needless to
multiply passages.*

{*It is the final testimony of triumph and blessing; "The tabernacle of God is
with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God
himself shall be with them, and be their God."}

We may take notice in all this that it has nothing whatever to do with the
dwelling in an individual. It was a distinct thought altogether. The serious
question is, are we worse off now as to this? There were then also operations of
the Holy Ghost in the way of prophecy and testimony, but it was a distinct
thing. We may expect this to be modified in many ways when the Holy Ghost was
sent down from heaven; because in Christ, where our proper acceptance is, we are
characterized rather as dwelling with God — in His house. Still the other is
true by the Holy Ghost sent down. What we have to inquire is, whether this
presence of God in the midst of His people is spoken of in the New Testament,
and that distinct from His gracious presence in the individual. If there be any
material modification of it, this may also claim our attention. It would be
difficult to suppose that there was less real presence of God in the midst of
His people now than under the Old Testament. It is true we look for His presence
in glory; but surely meanwhile the main doctrine, as to the actual condition and
existence of the Church, is the presence of the Holy Ghost sent down from
heaven, as truly and really the presence of God in the midst of His people as
the Shechinah of glory. If God was in His holy temple then, God is in His holy
temple now — most truly, though after another manner: not merely in individuals,
the aggregate of whose individual blessing is the blessing of the whole, but in
His spiritual temple, the Church of the living God. And here I would remark
further, that His personal presence as acting in any power in the Church is
wholly denied. It may not be in words (this I should think much less of; the
faith of simple saints might at once meet it); but it is undermined and taken
from us without our being aware of it. It is vain to cry out about its not being
fair to impute to a person what he denies. Are the saints to be robbed of their
heritage and blessing, because he who does so denies he is doing it? It may be
through ignorance, but it is much fairer to detect than to deny it, if the thing
be so. Man may speak by the Spirit,* may use Him, may act under His gracious
influence, but He, the Holy Ghost, does not act. That would be impulse. No one
pretends to inspiration in the sense of new revelation, but simply that the Holy
Ghost acts in leading, guiding, filling and using the vessel. That is, He acts
by us. The distinction, however, is wholly unscriptural. The Holy Ghost speaking
by a man, and a man speaking by; the Holy Ghost, are used as equivalent terms;
as Acts 1:16; Acts 6:10; Acts 20:24; Acts 21:4, Acts 21:11; compare Acts 11:28,
Acts 28:25; Mark 12:36; compare Matthew 22:43. The difference of the expression
most clearly amounts to the lowest Arminianism** as to the Holy Ghost. That is,
man acts by it, but the Holy Ghost does not act by man. And I beg the attention
of brethren to this — it is just simply not believing in the personal presence
and actings of the Holy Ghost. I am satisfied that it is simple unbelief in the
presence and actings of the Holy Spirit.

{*In every shape and way the acting of the Holy Ghost Himself is denied. Suppose
a person believes he is led of the Spirit of God to exhort his brethren (I say
nothing now of gift), this is denounced as "impulse." Man may act by the Spirit,
but this would be the Spirit acting by man, and this cannot be. The Holy Ghost
could not lead any one to speak, for it is quite clear this would be impulse.
And who is to speak? Persons of proved competency. And how are they to be
proved, if there is not to be an opening for their action? But the answer is
ready — sent by the leaders of principal meetings to try their hand in the
country, and these leaders are exclusively "the other" who are to judge; 1
Corinthians 14:29. This is the avowed plan in some places. It would be much more
honest to fall openly into the old dissenting plan, for it is nothing whatever
but setting it up again, and I do not doubt there are men of God there. But my
answer is, I believe in the Holy Ghost, not merely as sanctifying competent
persons, but as acting as a living Person in the Church of God, and God present
in the Church through the Spirit. It may be well to add here, what may perhaps
seem incredible, that the authoritative explanation at Plymouth of this matter,
in commenting on Mr. — ’s tract and the expression "meeting the Holy Ghost," is
that they go to meet God and not the Holy Ghost, and we go to meet the Holy
Ghost and not God. This charge against brethren, untrue as it is, is sufficient,
as well as the statement they make as to themselves, to shew their view on the
subject, if view it can be called. Any comment on it here would carry me too
far.} {**See pp. 20-23 of "Some Thoughts."} And now to the statements of the New
Testament on the subject. That the presence of the Comforter is the
distinguishing truth of this dispensation, founded on the work of Christ, I
ought not to be obliged to insist on. Suffice it to say, that it is on the fact
of this presence that the Lord grounds the advantage of His going away. "If I go
not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I go away, I will send
him unto you." And all the blessing, communion, and testimony (save the personal
testimony of the disciples as living with Him, and that was by His bringing all
to their remembrance), is founded on the presence, personal presence, of this
other Comforter. This is evidently of the last importance. Here it is well to
remark on the force of this word ’Comforter.’ He was One who, by being down
here, was to take the place of Jesus when He went away; and was to take up and
carry on the cause of the disciples as Christ had done, only more powerfully in
a certain way because of Christ’s work and exaltation. It is the same word as is
said of Christ, "we have an advocate with the Father" — one who is charged with
and maintains our cause. This the Holy Ghost was to do, and to guide, comfort,
sustain, direct the disciples as Jesus had done, with the difference noted. And
further, He was not to leave them as Christ had; He was to abide with them for
ever. This name of One come down to take Christ’s place, and abiding for ever,
is of all moment in this case; for the Holy Ghost, come as the Paraclete in
place of Christ, was to be amongst them as Christ was. Christ had acted among,
and for, and by, them too — not they merely by Him; though, no doubt, what they
did when sent out was by His power, as in His name. Now, they were to have
another Paraclete, who was to be among them in His stead (though glorifying
Him), and to act among and for, and by them; and lead, and guide, and correct,
and direct, and sustain them, and to be with them for ever. This was not merely
natural qualities sanctified by grace, and man acting by the Spirit; it was a
living divine Person acting for them, and by them. That, He being grieved (and
withal in the sovereign counsels of God), much of that in which He shewed His
power is lost, is true; but to say, because man has abused this grace, and
feebleness has followed, because God has not honoured those who did not honour
Him, or because the flesh has abused the doctrine, that He does not dwell
amongst us, is merely that kind of unbelief hateful to God, which is called in
Scripture "tempting God." The place was called Massah and Meribah, "because
there they tempted God, saying, Is the Lord amongst us or no?" And here I will
remark on the "with us," and "in us." The distinction is perfectly scriptural.
The Lord said (John 14:25), "These things I have said unto you, being yet
present with you" — the exact phrase in Greek which is used concerning the Holy
Ghost, translated, "He dwelleth with you." Christ was yet dwelling with them,
but another Comforter was to come whom they would know (though the world would
not, because it did not see Him) because He dwelt with them; and then He adds,
as to the manner (which was not so of Jesus come in the flesh) a new thing, and
therefore put in the future tense, "He shall be in you." This new Paraclete was
to be thus their Counsellor, Guide, Orderer (as Jesus had been), manage their
cause and affairs as dwelling with them. Hence we see the importance of
distinguishing this living presence and acting of a Comforter from a man’s using
his talents in a sanctified way by grace.

But, further, this is fully brought out in Scripture as a distinct thing from
being in individual members. Both are spoken of; but they are spoken of to
different purposes in Scripture. "Know ye not that your body is the temple of
the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God; and ye are not your own?"
etc. (1 Corinthians 6:19). Here accordingly it is applied to personal
sanctification. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit
of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God
destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are," 1 Corinthians
3:16-17. Here it is clearly the Church of God, the building of God which some
might corrupt by false doctrine. They were God’s building. The Spirit of God
does then clearly distinguish the dwelling in the individual and the dwelling in
the body. And this is so much the same thought and connected with the idea of
the presence of God in Israel, that in 2 Corinthians 6:16 it is distinctly
introduced. "For ye are the temple of the living God: as God hath said, I will
dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my
people." And now I would ask, What is there debasing in the blessed doctrine
that God dwells in His holy temple? We might perhaps say (were it not for that
precious blood of Christ which has cleansed us) that it was a debasing idea that
the Holy Ghost should dwell in our poor wretched bodies as His temple. But His
testimony is to the value of that precious blood as cleansing us, so that His
presence in the believer is a glorious testimony to the infinite preciousness of
Christ’s work, and His presence at the right hand of God the Father. But His
presence in the Church as His temple, though no doubt founded on the same great
truth, is at least more easily apprehended. Because, when I think of the Church,
I do not think of the flesh, but only of the redeemed people of God on earth.
Here, my soul says easily, the Holy Ghost can dwell. It belongs to Christ, whom
the Spirit glorifies. Both, we have seen, are true, and distinctly true; but
when I think of a man, I think readily of what he is in his infirmity; and
(though it would be wrong) might be easily led to say, Can the Holy Ghost dwell
in such poor vile creatures? But when I think of the Church, I do not think of
the first Adam state. I think of the fruit of Christ’s redemption. Here, my
heart says, the Holy Ghost ought to be. But having seen that the scripture does
speak of both distinctly (that is, that our bodies are the temples of the Holy
Ghost, and that the Church is so too), I would quote some passages which speak
of both one and the other, that we may see that both are fully taught in the
word. We read (John 4:1-54), "The water that I shall give him shall be in him a
well of water springing up into everlasting life." John 7:1-53, "Out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water; and this spake he of the Spirit, which
they that believe on him should receive." These are evidently personal and
individual. And this presence of the Holy Ghost is connected with life, joy, the
sealing of our persons, and the certainty of salvation (and that, known in our
own hearts), and strength to resist temptation, and fruits against which there
is no law. "He that stablisheth us together with you in Christ, and hath
anointed us, is God, who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the
Spirit in our hearts." So that we know that "all the promises of God are in him
yea, and in him amen, to the glory of God by us." We are "strengthened with
might by his Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts by
faith." Here He is acting in, and on, and in testimony with, the individual as
himself livingly united to Christ. But there is another truth besides. God is to
be in His temple. What is a temple without God? There was Israel where God
dwelt; and a temple built with hands, where God vouchsafed in a certain manner
to dwell. Then Christ was the true temple, as we know, when He was here; as He
took the place of Israel as the true vine. Is there none now? Or is it only the
individual poor weak saint that is so? No. God has broken down the middle wall
of partition, and through the glorious though seemingly debasing work of Christ
has made both one, making peace, and reconciling both Jew and Gentile in one
body to God by the cross, and has built them up together to be His habitation
through the Spirit (Ephesians 2:1-22). In a word, the Church of God (not looked
at as individuals, but, on the contrary, as brought together into one by this
glorious work of Christ), is God’s habitation through the Spirit. So, as the
apostle draws the consequence, there is one body and one Spirit. And it is
against this blessed truth that all the effort of the enemy is now directed — a
body formed into one, by the cross of Christ breaking down the middle wall of
partition, and the presence of the Holy Ghost upon earth consequent upon the
exaltation of the Head, so that there should be one body and one Spirit, and a
habitation of God on the earth: God having exalted Christ above all principality
and power, and given Him to be Head over all things to the Church. The same
doctrine is taught in 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, 1 Corinthians 14:1-40 as in
Ephesians. Now, that the Holy Ghost acts in the members of the body is fully
admitted. Moreover this acting of the Holy Ghost in the members is proper gift,
as anyone reading 1 Corinthians 12:1-31 may easily see: but, though He acts in
the members, His dwelling is in the Church or whole assembly. We might as well
say, as to my soul, because it acts livingly and sets my members in motion, that
it was only as dwelling in the members that it did so, as hold that the Holy
Ghost’s dwelling in the Church was only individually in the members: for "so is
Christ." For surely the Holy Ghost is much more, as the other Comforter, an
independent living Person and agent distributing severally to every one as He
will, than my feeble soul is in my body; and in which of the members was He
acting when the place shook where they were assembled? And hence, I am
persuaded, it is that one can be made partaker of the Holy Ghost, as in Hebrews
6, and yet lost. Looked at as the individual seal and earnest, by which, after
believing, we are sealed to the day of redemption, that cannot be: but as
dwelling in power, according to the principle of this dispensation in the
Church, it is supposed we may partake of it, not as the power and seal of living
union (in that case it would bring forth fruit meet for Him by whom it was
dressed), but acting in divine ministry and energy in the midst of the Church as
a Person dwelling there: God making it His habitation by the Spirit, so that one
could lie to Him; for in lying to the Holy Ghost they had lied to God. So the
stranger fell down and confessed that God was in them of a truth: not merely in
the individual who spoke, but in the assembly, as He was lied to not in any
working in a member: HE WAS THERE. There might be persons, we know there were,
who were false brethren, in whom He did not dwell as a seal or earnest at all;
but He was in the Church. It is the presence of the Holy Ghost, as sent, which
constitutes and is the power of the unity of the body. Grace acting in the
members may aid to maintain this in the bond of peace; but the great and blessed
doctrinal truth we have in Ephesians, and 1 Corinthians, and elsewhere, is that
the Holy Ghost, the other Comforter sent down from heaven, is the constituent
power of unity to the body. No grace in the members, nor sanctifying natural
talents save as practically maintaining it, has anything to do with this. They
are in this individuals as before. The other character of its presence is making
the outward assembly on earth the habitation of God. (Compare the end of
Ephesians 1:1-23, Ephesians 2:1-22.) And now, suppose man has grieved this Holy
Spirit, that the Church has lost many of His manifestations; supposing its
practical unity is gone and scattered — that the wolf, because there were
hirelings, has caught the sheep (though not out of Christ’s hand) and scattered
them, and the ruin is felt. Am I to confess the sin of man, and say, "Let God be
true and every man a liar," and therefore recur in faith to the promise that the
Comforter should abide for ever with us? or to say that unity is gone; that
opening for the Holy Ghost to act in the members is a "bygone mode of God’s
dealing in His house," because the Holy Ghost acts "neither in mode nor in
measure, as in New Testament times"; and therefore that we, not having New
Testament directions, must make arrangements for ourselves as to ministry? It
may be said the Holy Ghost remains. But His acting is denied altogether, it is
impulse. That is, because man has perhaps abused a principle, instead of
correcting the abuse, the blessing is denied altogether. It is just simple
unbelief in the presence and operation of the Holy Ghost. For my own part, I
desire through grace to correct the flesh whenever it appears; but I am not
going to retrace my steps: I "fear" to do so, because I know God led me on the
road. I have found the blessing. Were we happiest when this was believed or
since it has been denied? And if we have failed in maintaining or in using the
blessing, are we to humble ourselves, or to deny the blessing? We found it when
there was no such unbelief or teaching amongst us. There was blessing enough to
cheer and help us on in spite of much weakness and infirmity. And I shall not
deny God in His truth and blessing because man knows not how to use it, if it
even be so; but I do not believe it. We may be humbled; but God will help and
meet us according to our faith. I own a ministry, have always owned it; but I
cannot deny the blessed truth of the Holy Ghost dwelling in the Church, and
acting as so present in the various members of the body as He pleases. And here
I will add, I do not say among the gathered brethren. The only difference as to
those is, they have acted together on this truth. The Holy Ghost in the whole
Church may own a brother’s gift elsewhere, in a chapel where he is minister;
only he denies a blessed doctrine which God has taught, and, I fully trust, will
maintain among us. And let it be here remembered, that stated ministry has never
been denied, but always in exercise amongst us — always owned in principle. In
half or more of the services, one who has gift has exercised his gift on his
responsibility to Christ. This is known to every one. And for my own part I
recognize it fully, be it one or two, if they agree together to do it. The
teachers have waited on their teaching. It is an utter untruth or sheer
prejudice to deny or lose sight of this. It is only in the meetings for worship,
when the saints assembled as such, that this has not been the case. The profit
of a stated ministry, all that is true in a one-man ministry, has been in the
fullest exercise among those called brethren. In their worship they have not
sought sermons, but the presence of God — the accomplishment of that promise,
that where two or three are gathered together in His name, He will be in the
midst of them. I avow I do not go there to hear a sermon; nor do I like to hear
one. I go to worship, to find the Lord, and worship Him. And I judge that if
brethren are become incapable of enjoying this, it is a very bad sign. I do not
go with my ears there to hear man, however gifted, but to worship God; and I beg
to press this on brethren. I feel thankful if any one be led of God (I trust we
may be forgiven for still thinking this possible, in spite of the efforts to rob
us of it), to give a word of exhortation or comfort. I know that the flesh has
abused this, forgetting the word "swift to hear, slow to speak" — "my brethren,
be not many teachers." But I add, most decidedly that, though I have seen
liberty used for licence (and "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
liberty"), I have found where God was owned incomparably more of His presence
and blessing than where man’s arrangements have taken the place of God. There
might be evils to deplore and to correct; but there was God to enjoy, because
God was owned. Elsewhere I have found decent things of man, a fair show in the
flesh, but a sepulchre. The God I found my delight in was not there. For even
God’s grace or gift in teaching is a wholly different thing from God’s presence
in the way of worship. But I add that, where in worship this latter is slighted,
I never found even the former. It is written, "Cursed is the man who putteth his
trust in man." Correct the evils, brethren; but let us not disown God nor His
goodness. If you cannot know His presence in worship nor what the blessing of
this is, humble yourselves. You have suffered great loss, you have spiritually
declined. Forgive me! But if (which I cannot believe, for I at any rate have
found it among you) you have forgotten this joy — pardon me here also — I, poor
as I am, and I feel this unfeignedly, I have not forgotten it. I shall, with His
grace, continue to trust Him. I will, if need be, begin afresh, and am not
afraid of not finding His faithfulness and love, and of enjoying with a despised
remnant that sweet and blessed fellowship with Him which He has granted us in
times past. And, if I am to take my place among you, I shall freely exercise,
when the just occasion offers, the ministry with which I believe God has
entrusted me in my weakness, the gift of His grace; and, when we meet as saints,
I shall be glad often to wait, not merely to compose my spirit, to gather up my
strength from the Lord, before I enter on His work, or open my mouth to speak in
His name, but to wait in the hope to gather up strength through the blessing
conferred upon some other beloved one of God, or by our joining together,
whoever may be used as our mouthpiece, in thanksgiving, and prayer, and praise.
For the joy of the Lord is our strength. I do not expect to be edified if the
flesh act amongst us, and we shall do well to own where it has been so. But I do
expect the Lord’s presence, and His acting amongst us, if we wait upon Him, to
guide, to use, and to bless us. And to Him, and to that hope I cleave.

I would add, in this second edition, some notice of the unity of the Church by
the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, as intercourse with saints seems to shew
that this truth has been little laid hold of. The epistle to the Ephesians
offers at once the testimony of the word on the subject. I would first notice
that the body the apostle speaks of is of those actually quickened, subjects of
the power which raised up Christ, not merely objects of purpose and counsel,
though that of course was true of them. They had been dead in trespasses and
sins. They were quickened together with Christ, raised up together, and made to
sit together in heavenly places in Him. They were united to their Head in heaven
by living union by the Holy Spirit. Secondly, they were, if afar off, brought
nigh by the blood of Christ, having been aliens from the commonwealth of Israel.
But they were not introduced into anything of which Israel was in possession.*
Peace was preached to them afar off, and to them who were nigh — to Gentiles and
to Israel. The latter were to be introduced as well as the former. That which
distinguished them was broken down, "the middle wall of partition," and of both
one new man was made, both being reconciled in one body by the cross. That is,
on the foundation of the actual accomplishment of the atonement on the cross,
those then actually existing in two distinct conditions, namely, Jews and
Gentiles, were reconciled and made one new man of — reconciled to God in one
body (the actual accomplished work of the cross, setting aside the Jewish order
of things, being the ground of it).

{*This introduction into the place of promise on earth is the subject of Romans
11:1-36.}

Next, the work itself is spoken of under the figure of a building. They were
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. These prophets are the
prophets of the New Testament. This can scarcely be doubted by those acquainted
with Greek, because the two words are united by a single article, which, as
every scholar knows, proves them to be the same persons, or identified as one
set of people by a common condition. But the English reader can easily see that
it is so by looking at chapter 3:5, "as they are now revealed to his holy
apostles and prophets by the Spirit." This passage clearly and definitely shews
who the prophets are who are referred to, namely, the prophets of the New
Testament. We have then persons brought out from among Jews and Gentiles
reconciled to God in one body, and builded on the foundation of the apostles and
prophets of the New Testament. This grew up to a holy temple. Hence they were
builded together for a habitation of God. They were God’s dwelling-place, just
as the temple had been of old, only that it was by the Spirit. God was in His
holy temple; but it was by the presence of the Holy Ghost there. The Ephesians,
to whom he addressed himself, were builded into this one habitation of God. In
this chapter, then, we have in the most distinct way possible, the saints, Jew
or Gentile, losing their own proper natural place, and united together,
consequent on the death of Christ, into one new man, formed into one body, and
so, by the unity of the whole, forming a temple and builded together to be a
place where God dwelt by the Holy Ghost. Hence, passing over the development of
the mystery in chapter 3 (in which the apostle shews that it had not in other
ages been made known to the sons of men, as it was now revealed to the holy
apostles and prophets by the Spirit, so that by the Church the manifold wisdom
of God should be known on high), in chapter 4 he comments practically on the
walk suited to this calling to be a temple of God in the Spirit. They are to
keep its unity in the bond of peace. There was one body and one Spirit — this
one body, of which we have been learning in chapter 2 as reconciled to God, the
power of which unity is the one Spirit sent down from the ascended, exalted
Head. The Holy Ghost could not thus come down indeed at all till the Head was
glorified on high. The subject of His testimony was not yet there. The ground of
His presence in sinners in the effectual righteousness of the exalted Head was
not yet established in the presence of God on high. The body could not be formed
before the Head was there on high. "The Holy Ghost was not yet given, because
that Jesus was not yet glorified." Being so given, He was the power of unity in
that body so formed into one, by His coming down; and being thus in it, wrought
by joints and bands for the edifying of the body of Christ. That is this unity
of the body, the new man formed on the exaltation of the Head, by the Holy Ghost
come down from heaven, and formed on earth, the Holy Ghost having come down to
earth, though its title and place and head were in heaven. And while He dwelt in
and united it (so that it was the habitation of God), it made increase of the
body, each part working in its measure — the body grew. As then before we had
the building in which God dwelt, so here we have the body in which He acted
vitally in blessing; both designating the saints united in one, and on earth,
consequent on the death and exaltation of the Lord Jesus — the glorious Head to
which they were united. To this testimony on this all-important subject much
might be added from 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, where the "so also is Christ," so
clearly marks the present state consequent on the exaltation of the Head, for it
was not so before; and the gifts there spoken of had their place of exercise and
service beyond all controversy on the earth. But the reader, if he gives himself
the trouble of reading the chapter in connection with what has been said, cannot
fail to apprehend the evidence it affords of the truth treated of. That the body
is one, and one on earth, though belonging to heaven, consequent on the
exaltation of Christ as its Head, and acted in by one Spirit operating in
members set every one of them in the body, that is, in the whole assembly of
saints, and that on earth.


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  CHAPTER 4: AN HABITATION OF GOD THROUGH THE SPIRIT.
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"An habitation of God through the Spirit."

Ephesians 2:1-22.

Lecture 9 of ’The New Testament Doctrine of the Holy Spirit.’

W. Kelly.

Though I have read this chapter of the epistle as a whole, my intention is to
take up almost exclusively the last few words: the reason why will appear
presently. The Holy Spirit views the Church, not merely as the body of Christ,
but as the habitation of God. The body of Christ specially brings before us our
communion with Himself as a head in heaven; the habitation of God connects
itself just as simply and clearly with the actual place of the Church now on the
earth. This is not the only difference; but it is considerable, and important
too. Nevertheless both agree in this, that there can be neither the body of
Christ any more than the habitation of God, save through the, Holy Ghost, and
founded upon redemption. This is of great consequence doctrinally, but it is not
less so practically. Collaterally also it decides, to any man who is really
subject to God’s word, the limits of the Church — the time when its formation
began. Thus the Church is consequent on redemption.

There was no such thing as either the body of Christ or God’s habitation through
the Spirit, till sin was judged in the cross, when the Holy Ghost was sent down
from heaven to the earth to form it. To know this is an immense step for many a
heart. There is not one in this room that has known this truth long; there are
comparatively few of the children of God who admit it to be a truth at all; and
so much the worse for them. It is not that the participation of the blessing is
lost thereby; for not the relationship, but our enjoyment depends on our
knowledge of it. And this is a very great mercy on God’s part. So far, it is
with this as with other privileges that His grace confers. Many a soul really
looks to Christ alone, and consequently has eternal life; but if you asked,
"Have you life everlasting?" there might be no little hesitation there; and even
those who are not conscious of this difficulty, have no adequate conception of
the nature of eternal life. They would not question the words that Scripture
makes use of; but what the character, nature, and consequences (now and
by-and-by) of eternal life are they are exceedingly ill-acquainted with. So it
fares with the truth of the Church of God in either aspect — its union with
Christ above, or its affording God’s dwelling-place by the Spirit below. Last
night we looked a little at the former of these truths; tonight we shall search
the Scriptures an the latter, though one cannot do more than direct the enquirer
to those parts of God’s word which develop with divine certainty either great
truth. I shall touch by the way on some of the practical consequences; for,
certainly, we never do taste the blessing of any truth, any more than we honour
God by it, until we are sufficiently awakened by the Holy Ghost to gather for
our souls, and also to cultivate in our experience, ways, and worship, the
fruits of that which God has made known to us. In reading the verses that have
just been before us, it is obvious that the point to which the Holy Ghost has
arrived in this epistle is the setting aside of the Jewish system, and the
bringing in of that which was entirely new on the earth. Being altogether
unprecedented, God dealt in a wholly new way. He brought in Gentiles, who before
this were, as He says, the uncircumcision in the flesh. Not only so; but having
brought in those Gentiles, who, before they received the gospel, had been aliens
and strangers, without hope and without God in the world, He put both them and
those who now believe from Israel together in one new position before Himself.
Why all this? Because redemption is now accomplished. Now, is it not strange
that Christians should have any question as to this? Is it not an extraordinary
fact (for it is a fact), that theory should be allowed to upset that which is
the most evident and unquestionable teaching of God’s own word? Our whole
epistle, from beginning to end, contemplates Christians and Christians only. If
I take some isolated word, I may, no doubt, apply it to Old Testament saints
(for instance, the very word "saints"); but then I never find even such an
expression alone. If we read of saints, all is set in a new connection. Thus it
is said in the very beginning, "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of
God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus."
There was nothing of the kind in the Old Testament: we could not possibly hear
of any faithful in Christ there. The language would have been wholly
unintelligible, and could not in anywise be conceived to be spoken in those
times. Not that some were not faithful; not that there were not saints; but they
could not be thus spoken of. They were waiting, according to promise and
prophecy, for the Messiah. God’s Spirit had not failed to work in them, of
course. Precious fruits too there were in their season; but not a single phrase,
as far as I am aware, of this epistle could have been uttered at any moment of
any one soul in the whole course of Old Testament times. What, then, must one
think of men who apply every word of it to all times? Why simply that they do
not at all understand its bearing. I do not in the least deny that they have
reaped good from the Saviour, because they do see Himself; they have tasted
grace in Him; they do see some sweet mercies that are shown the Christian, But
assuredly the depth of present privileges and their peculiarity, as well as
their force and heavenly character, are obscured, attenuated, and blunted to
their souls by the vague haze which is thrown over the whole, by unduly
extending to all saints what God has revealed distinctly and solely of the souls
that are now brought into the knowledge of His grace since He manifested Himself
in Christ, and the work of redemption was wrought. Hence I maintain that, as a
whole, every thought, every sentence, contemplates exclusively the saints that
have been called since Christ appeared in the world to die in atonement, and
before He comes again to receive them to Himself.

All this needs no argument, I suppose, to most here. It is a simple question of
believing the word that opens the New Testament mystery, and of comparing the
language with any part of the Old Testament, which, of course, is the part of
Scripture alone capable of letting us know with unerring certainty the state,
condition, and experiences of the Old Testament saints. My motive for alluding
to this which, after all, ought to be here, at least, a trite and familiar
truth, is to remark, that all attempts to fritter away the differences of the
word and the ways of God have an enfeebling effect on our appreciation of that
to which God is now calling His children. And there is no one mistake which has
wrought greater mischief, as to the very truth which is now before us, than
allowing these generalities to swamp the precision of God’s revelation. Men
think that it has been always the Church, for instance, that God has been
dealing with in this world; that it now has a little more light, and a little
more blessing (for differences cannot be denied); but that, nevertheless,
substantially it is the same system from beginning to end. This I wholly deny;
but I entreat those who have not as yet duly considered the matter, not to
receive what I have said, but to examine it by the word of God; I entreat them
to examine what they have hitherto held by the word of God; I entreat them to
bring all their own thoughts, and the suggestions of others, on this great
matter to the sole test that God acknowledges, the only means of light and truth
possible for any one.

If we are willing thus to subject our thoughts touching the Church, as God’s
habitation by the Spirit here below, we learn, first of all, that the work of
redemption is applied to souls after a wholly indiscriminate sort. That is,
there is no question now whether a man be a Jew or a Gentile: if there had been
this difference in the ground on which the Church is formed (whether in the
aspect of the body of Christ on the one hand, or of God’s dwelling-place on the
other), in either case there is supposed for this new work the total subversion
of that which God had sanctioned and set up in former days. Hence we find the
language proceeds: "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are
made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one,
and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished
in his flesh the enmity." Thus vanishes the partition which subsisted in Old
Testament times by God’s appointment, "even the law of commandments contained in
ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one new man." That is, it is not
merely blotting out our sins, nor simply ensuring heaven by-and-by; but forming
here below a creation entirely unknown before. It is the communication of
privileges unheard of and impossible, while God still dealt with His ancient
people, and acted among them and governed them by a law as in Israel. "That he
might [consequently we are told] reconcile both unto God in one body by the
cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and came and preached peace to you which
were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access
by one Spirit unto the Father."

Here we come to the point which is more particularly before us to-night. "Now
therefore," it is said, "ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but
fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon
the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief corner stone." Take notice that it is not a question of the Old Testament
prophets here. The order in which the Holy Spirit wrote excludes this sense; for
if the Ephesian saints were "built upon the foundation of the apostles and
prophets," what could be less natural than an allusion to the Old Testament
prophets in such a case or fashion as this? "The apostles" are put before "the
prophets." More than this, the construction of the phrase means a common class
of persons who form a foundation for this building, that God was about to
construct. And when was this foundation laid? Not just after man had sinned, not
in the time of the elders, did God begin to execute this great work in the
earth. Here we find that late in the day, after four thousand years had passed,
and Christ had come and died, then was the foundation laid (not the work, long
in course, brought to a completion) by the apostles and prophets. The common
class, signified by one Greek article, forbids our thinking of the Old Testament
prophets that were past. The prophets were then present, and associated with the
apostles in this work.* Both apostles and prophets, namely, of the New
Testament, were those that laid this new foundation, "in whom all the building,"
says he, "fitly framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord." Such
is the ultimate result. This holy temple will be seen by-and-by: but note the
last clause; "In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God
through the Spirit." What I draw from it is, I conceive, a simple and sure
inference — that there is now, before the holy temple is grown to its full
proportions, this work on earth displacing the system of Israel, a new building
altogether, which really is God’s habitation in virtue of the Spirit’s presence.

* Compare Ephesians 3:6. "It is now revealed" to both.

Thus, believers now, were they Gentiles in nature before they had received the
gospel, are brought, with Jews who may now believe, into this dwelling-place of
God, "in whom ye also" — addressing the Ephesians — "are builded together for an
habitation of God." The manner of it is declared to be "through" or "in the
Spirit." That is, the Spirit is just as necessary for the habitation of God, as
for the body of Christ, into which we were last enquiring. Nevertheless, the
habitation of God is, in some respects, not so exclusively a new thought as the
body of Christ. We find, at least, more distinct types of the great truth of
God’s dwelling among men on earth in the Old Testament Scriptures. But nothing
whatever was revealed of the joining of Jew and Gentile in one body; still less
that they together should compose the body of Christ. Of course we have the type
of Adam’s marriage, or union, with Eve; but this discloses nothing of its
components, tells us nothing of Jew and Gentile — a distinction not then hinted
at — joining in one. The fact can only be used, and we know it was used by the
Spirit of God, when the Church came to light, but nothing more. As to the
habitation of God, we have, as is well known, no trace whatever of it in
Genesis. There is not even a promise as yet. And this is the more striking,
because if there is a book in the Old Testament that is more than any other
fertile in germs of divine truth, it is the book of Genesis. All the other books
put together, it is not too much perhaps to say, do not present so many views of
that which God was about to work in due time; yet there is this remarkable
exception: God’s habitation, God’s design to have a dwelling-place on earth, is
never once alluded to. The reason is manifest. Though we see the beginning of
sacrifices in Genesis, though burnt offerings are spoken of, though covenant
dealings are often brought before us, there is yet no redemption. Redemption is
also as remarkable an exception as God’s dwelling-place throughout this
wonderful book.

Then comes the second book of the law, not so remarkable for presenting in this
manifold way the unfoldings, so to speak, of the ways of God and the counsels
that were afterwards to have effect given to them in Christ. But certainly the
book of Exodus claims our special attention now; inasmuch as it presents us, in
type, the very truth we are in quest of — first, indeed, redemption, and then
God’s dwelling with men. We may add by the way, that although of course the law
comes in too, within that law we find the renewed assurance of this very truth.
Thus the great truths which stand out in the book of Exodus are among the things
revealed in Ephesians 2:1-22, and in similar order. The first part of Exodus is
occupied in showing us the forlorn, miserable, debased condition of the people
of God. Thanks be to God, it was not merely that they cried out of the depth of
their ruin, but the Lord hearkened, and occupies Himself for their deliverance.
Not content with sending messages of mercy, in due time He works, not first in
judgment, though He did judge, but claiming His people for Himself. He sends
Moses and Aaron, and, as signs following their mission, plagues, in which He
chastises the pride of the world that kept His people in bondage. Finally comes
before us the most remarkable type of redemption that the Old Testament affords,
and this in both its parts — the blood of the Lamb with death and resurrection,
the Passover and the Red Sea. Either one or other alone was inadequate to set
forth redemption, which can only be rightly known when they are both received
together. For if we look at the Passover, we find, after all, God still judging;
and it must be so. God is armed with power, God is dealing in vengeance on that
which was evil, but at the same time in His own admirable wisdom providing a
righteous means of shelter for His people.

Thus the most prominent truth that appears in the Passover is God in judgment,
though with provision to spare His own. Substantially the same thing appears in
one aspect of the gospel. One of the central thoughts in the gospel is, that God
is righteous therein. (Romans 1:17) It is not mere mercy. However precious this
may be, it is quite a different thought from the righteousness of God, though
there never could have been the founding or display of the righteousness of God
without His mercy; but His righteousness in justifying is the boast of the
gospel. While the sinner is accounted righteous, it is not merely that God
pardons and shows mercy, but is just in justifying. So it is with the Passover.
God that night came down in judgment of man as well as of the gods of Egypt. He
was marking His hatred of sin as He had never done before; and this, too, in
quite as evident a manner in His dealings with Israel as with the Egyptians. No
doubt there was death. That night, in every Egyptian house, the first-born lay
dead, and the wail of sorrow declared all over the land what it was to despise
the admonitions of the Lord; but in every dwelling of the Israelites the
bloodstained doorposts as truly and still more blessedly declared that God is
just, and at the same time the Justifier — spoke of a substitute indeed — of
another’s blood; spoke, at least in God’s ears of His death, who should become
man, though most truly God; spoke of the Lamb of God, and the shedding of His
blood.

Nevertheless this was not all the blessing, even typically. The Paschal Lamb
simply kept God outside, only stayed His judgment from falling on the persons of
the Israelites themselves. Is this the full character of redemption — to shut
God out from His own? It is the notion that too many have of redemption; but how
far short it falls of redemption according to God! Most important as it
unquestionably is, it is not the whole truth of the matter, but very far from
it. And therefore it is we find that along with this God appends another type as
its complement — namely, the Red Sea, where the flower of Egypt found a grave,
and God gave the Israelites to pass through what seemed to be sure death to
them, what in truth became in type life everlasting, and their best security. So
it is precisely that the believer finds the death and resurrection of Christ.
Then for the first time God deigns to speak of salvation in relation to His
people. (Exodus 14:13; Exodus 14:30, Exodus 15:2.) He never speaks of anything,
however glorious, wrought previously as "salvation."

It may be remarked by the way, that it is a great injury to souls to speak of an
immature and partial knowledge of God as salvation — knowledge, I mean, even of
the love of Christ. Thus one often hears such talk as, "It is true, the man is
not happy yet; he has no liberty of soul; but, at any rate, he is saved."
Scripture never sanctions such language. What it designates as salvation is not
that a soul is converted or quickened merely — is not that a soul has received
of Christ that which makes it judge itself, and cry out to God, yet with a
certain measure of hope. Scripture reserves "salvation" precisely though not
exclusively, for the being brought into conscious liberty, for the realization
of the present deliverance through the gospel from every enemy by the power of
God in Christ. And hence it is that we only hear of salvation when Israel comes
to the Red Sea, and when there is, therefore, the full and final quittance of
the land of Egypt, and the total destruction of their proud foes. "Today," says
Moses, "ye shall see the salvation of the Lord." It was not the night of the
Paschal feast; it was the day when they could look back on the Red Sea crossed
for ever. For this reason, it is of the greatest importance that we should speak
according to Scripture as to this, not owning as salvation anything short of it.
Otherwise we do not help God’s children, as we might, to a settled assurance of
the mighty victory of Christ, the lack of which never fails to leave them in a
sort of dead-and-alive state — an anxious and struggling condition instead of
peace. It is very blessed, indeed, for a soul to be wrought in profoundly by the
Spirit, and to find out what it is before God; but till it is broken down to
rest with simplicity and confidence on the finished work of Christ, there is
nothing that God calls "salvation" in the complete sense.

After this mighty work — as far as the type is concerned, wrought then — we find
Israel for the first time singing. The song of Moses is heard on the other side
of the Red Sea. Remark particularly the language of this song as bearing on our
subject to-night: "I will sing unto Jehovah; for he hath triumphed gloriously:
the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. Jehovah is my strength and
my song, and is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an
habitation." How strikingly the truth comes out! The full type of resurrection,
as well as death, is brought before us then; and then, first, we hear of
salvation; and immediately ensuing on this (as far, of course, as the shadow of
these things is concerned), the heart desires that God should have a habitation.
(Compare also Exodus 29:45-46.) How comes this? Are we to suppose for an instant
that there was any quality or conduct in those who thus sung in the wilderness,
which was more agreeable to God than what He had found in their fathers or other
elders of the book of Genesis? The very reverse is true. Among these were some
that God had put the most signal honour on — that had been chosen of God to be
the depositaries of His secrets, not only exempted from a world-wide judgment,
but in one instance at least taken up to heaven without death, as in another God
come down to sup with His friend on the earth. Need I remind any how this last
was made the object of promises, confirmed to his son, and repeated to his son’s
son — promises that will not cease to roll their course of blessing, till all
the ages have closed in the eternal rest of God, when good and evil shall have
each their lot for ever, according to the judgment of God as well as His grace?
Is it not, then, impossible to suppose it a question of persons? But for this
very reason the wonders of redemption are brought into relief. Christ’s death,
whether in type or in antitype, alone accounts for it; and I do not think it too
much to say that redemption ought to account for it. I affirm that it is
suitable, and not surprising after all, when we know what redemption deserves,
and who has wrought this redemption, and how it was wrought; when we know that
it needed the Son of God, and that He should come into this world as a man, not
only to give up the enjoyment of all His own proper glory for a season, but that
He should enter in grace the circumstances of all man’s shame, and sorrow, and
suffering; and yet, after all this, instead of emerging into a place of
blessedness and glory, on the contrary, should go into a deeper depth, after man
had done his very worst, after Satan could do no more. For then, after all the
rest, was resolved a question that had to be settled between God and that
Blessed One. And that question must have been of all others the hardest for God,
and in itself the most trying of all things for the Son of God. For what can
compare with that wondrous hour when sin had to be judged of God, and be dealt
with in the strangest place in which it was possible for man to conceive it —
imputed to the person of the Holy One of God, even the Son of God, by God
Himself? When one reflects on these things, who can wonder that God should see
in redemption such infinite worth, and such a resting-place for Him, that the
heaven of heavens should cease, so to speak, to contain Him; as though God
Himself should say, "I must come down now. My Spirit must dwell where that
precious blood is; He can no longer remain above!" It may have been the vilest
spot in all creation; it may be that which too often lifted up its puny head in
the fiercest, and, at the same time, most shameless rebellion. But no matter
what the earth may be, and no matter what the people on the earth may have been
proved against God, and against His Anointed, God could not consistently with
His estimate of what Christ has suffered, abide in heaven any longer, but must
come and find His dwelling-place in this very earth, and among the members of
that very race which had treated Him with such habitual contumely. To my mind
this, and this alone, accounts for the blessed truth of God’s having His
dwelling among us on the earth, or even for the possibility of His having an
habitation on earth. Redemption accounts for the fact, and the Holy Ghost at
once makes it good when redemption is effected. And so, therefore, we see in
this very chapter when the type of redemption was fulfilled, that the typical
habitation of God immediately becomes desired on the earth; when the true
redemption, eternal redemption, was a fact, God comes down really to dwell,
abiding for ever by His Spirit in the redeemed. Thus nothing can be conceived
more harmonious than either the typical facts, on the one hand, or the real
accomplishment of them, on the other, in the eternal redemption Christ has
acquired for the Christian. But there is another thing, too, that should be
noticed here. Not only have we now the people, through Moses, expressing their
common desire for preparing God a habitation, but farther on we here find (and
it is a remarkable fact too) that this is the first chapter in the Bible where
God’s holiness is presented. No one would suspect this; no one, I am convinced,
could believe it until he had ascertained the fact for himself, that God should
have waited all this time before giving a revelation of Himself in His holy
character, in His dealings with men here below. There was, no doubt, an allusion
to the thought of holiness, when He separated the sabbath day; and I mention
this because it is the only passage which might appear exceptional. Thus, before
there was any question of sin, God saw fit to enunciate in the sabbath day a
pledge of that rest which "remaineth for the people of God." So it comes in due
season. But when dealing with man, and man was actually before Him on the earth,
not one word about holiness is uttered until Exodus 15:1-27. A little lower down
we read (in Exodus 15:11), "Who is like unto thee, O Jehovah, among all the
gods, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises?" This, we shall see, connects
itself with God’s habitation in the New Testament. I merely point you to the
striking circumstance, that the two things are for the first time presented
together, consequent on the accomplishment of the typical redemption. In point
of fact, it is only when redemption has been accomplished, that man can bear the
full revelation of the holiness of God. There may be a call to this or that
before, but manifestly it was after all only of a fleshly order; it was but
ceremonial dealing with the first Adam in one way or another. But the moment
there is the type of redemption, in Jehovah accomplishing deliverance, then even
the Israelites can speak without anxiety, and in their measure rejoice and
praise His name. Of course, it is no more than an earthly deliverance as yet;
but they sing of the holiness of God.

Now, if we turn to the New Testament, we see, in the chapter from which I have
already read, what answers to all this. Here we have redemption wrought. The Son
of man gave His life a ransom for many; the effect of it is the bringing souls,
even the most distant, nigh to God, and that in perfect peace — Christ Himself
being the expression of it. "He is our peace," with which there can be nothing
comparable, nothing — I will not say superior, but — so much as approaching it.
But it is exactly on this that we begin to hear of the habitation of God. Nor is
this truth confined to any one epistle. Take 1 Corinthians 3:1-23 as an
illustration. "We are labourers," says the apostle, "together with God: ye are
God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building." The apostle speaks of his own relation
to it. He says: "According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise
master-builder, I have laid the foundation." It is built on the foundation of
the apostles and prophets. So here Paul takes this place, and accordingly, lower
down in the chapter, appeals to them. "Know ye not," he says, "that ye are the
temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" At once this is the
ground of a strenuous call to holiness: "If any man defile the temple of God,
him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." That
is, it is not merely a revelation of what the Church is to be by-and-by, but he
is speaking of present facts. It seems to me that we should pay more attention
to this than is usually done; for it is of the greatest consequence that
believers should have a just apprehension that Christianity consists not merely
of doctrines, but of facts; and that facts are the foundation of doctrine. There
is a person, a real living man born, manifested in this world, who lived here,
died here, and rose here, although He is now gone to heaven; and that person is
not merely the means of making truth known, but is Himself the substance of the
truth that He makes known. Abstract Christ from Christianity, and what remains?
And now that He is gone, too, God makes Christianity good by another person,
even the Holy Ghost that-is come down, who, instead of supplanting Him that is
gone on high, is now the power of our knowing Him. I can only know really and
according to God Him who is gone by Him who is come. It is His presence that
makes the temple of God. The Holy Ghost dwells in the saints on earth; as it is
said, "Ye are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."

Now, I would ask my brethren before me this night, Have you sought to estimate
the immense magnitude of such a fact as this? Is it this which fills your heart
to overflowing, when you come together, say on the Lord’s day, or at any other
time when the assembly of God is gathered, either for worshipping Him, or for
edifying one another? Does the presence of the Holy Spirit comfort you as a
matter of faith? Do you count on the Lord as really in the midst? or are you
thinking only of those who compose that assembly, or such as open their lips in
worship and edification of the saints? What would be thought of a visitor coming
into some grand building, who merely occupied himself with the small accidents
here or there? It is evident that the object of all would be lost upon him. But
still more when we bear in mind that there is a living, divine person whom I am
entitled to count on, and to know present in the assembly here below’ who makes
them to be God’s assembly, as nothing else does. It is not their faith simply;
for this did not make the Old Testament saints to be God’s assembly. It is not
life again; for certainly all saints from the first were born again, and yet, as
we know, till Pentecost God’s assembly was not. The only thing that could thus
give the assembly of those who have faith, and therefore life, the title of
being God’s assembly, is the presence of God Himself there; and He is there by
the Holy Ghost.

Again, so paramount is this, that the fact of persons slipping in there who are
not born of God does not destroy His assembly. It is sorrowful and humiliating;
but I am not to be alarmed, nor overmuch cast down by it. It ought to be a pain
that we had so little discernment, and that persons were allowed to come into
the assembly of God who never were born of God. But there is nothing that Satan
would not dare, in order to defile and destroy the assembly of God. It is the
nearest thing to God upon earth; it is that in which His Son’s glory is most of
all concerned now; it is that body to which God commits His truth. From it God
demands an answer to His moral glory and character here below; and if He has not
given unfailing power of miracles, He has sent down His Spirit to dwell with us
and be in us for ever — His own habitation in the Spirit. It is not, then,
because of this or that quality He so blessed us, but through His present
Spirit.

Supposing there should be the sorrowful fact of those brought in who, having no
life in their soul, in time depart from the Church. These are apt to turn out
the greatest adversaries not only of it, but also of Christ Himself, the haters
of His name, and deniers of His glory (such as, for instance, we find in Hebrews
6). They had shared astonishing powers, as we are told, yea, "were made
partakers of the Holy Ghost." This is a great difficulty to some; whereas, in
point of fact, it is no mean help toward understanding the very truth that we
are considering tonight. So far from its being an enigma, it seems to me to be
that which falls in with the truth generally, and which gives us the key to
facts that may occur at any time, as they have happened from the beginning. Thus
we find unquestionably that there are men who creep in unawares among the
saints, and these men, when alienated, are so much the worse — twice dead, as
the apostle Jude calls it — just because, having taken the place of confessors
of the Lord Jesus, they have gone from Him, abandoned the truth with disdain,
treated it with the utmost contempt, become, therefore, infinitely fiercer
zealots against the truth of God than they even were in its favour when they
commenced. These men might have had any amount of outward privileges; for there
are external mercies of no mean value entirely short of eternal life. It is not
said that any of these professors of Christ had ever been quickened of God.
Eternal life is in no sense an external privilege Nor is there such a thing in
the Bible as a man, who had once partaken of eternal life, losing that life.
Those quickened of God do not afterwards fall back into death in that sense. It
is very possible for a man, touched in feelings and persuaded in his judgment,
to renounce the Christ he professed, and to walk no more with Him; as we read of
certain disciples stumbled by the Saviour’s teaching, so unsparing to the flesh
and the world. Thus we only can understand these passages consistently with
others. The professor, naturally dead, was now twice dead, as Jude says, having
given up what he seemed to have, and gone back to earthly ordinances or to open
sin, as the case might be, with even greater relish than before, and intenser
hatred than he ever had for that which he thus openly abandoned. These are the
persons described in Hebrews 6, 10, and such departures every now and then
present themselves before the eyes of sorrowing Christians, as Scripture
explains.

Thus the flesh may go to the farthest extent in professing the truth, and may
possess every conceivable external privilege and power it is possible to enjoy,
and this even now more in Christian than in older times. Thus we know that in
the Old Testament Saul had got among the prophets, and others were gifted with
mighty powers by the Holy Ghost, who then, as ever, was the sole agent of divine
energy, and might act by whom He would, and in what He would, for God’s glory.
Now the grace of God opens the door, if possible, for readier abuse, if men dare
to take advantage. It is quite possible also for the unconverted to deceive
themselves as well as the Church of God and to rush in, assuming the profession
of the name of Jesus, so much the more because with less conscience The Holy
Ghost now gives His persona1 seal, which is peculiar to him who has true faith
and life everlasting in Christ. But while the Spirit is given as a seal, it
would be an error to forget the outward powers He confers. In Hebrews 6 the
apostle does not speak of His sealing, any more than of quickening souls, nor of
"the earnest" the believer has in Him of the coming inheritance of glory. There
is the greatest guardedness of language in speaking of anything that ought to
produce a real difficulty. Still, there is participation in the power of the
Holy Ghost. This many unregenerate men may have had in the early days of
Christianity. Can one wonder that such persons abandon the name of Jesus,
because of which alone these powers were conferred on them? This again explains
the present state of Christendom — the extension of the habitation of God to the
unbelieving and profane, who nevertheless bear outwardly the name of the Lord
Jesus, and venture where God’s presence is made good by the Holy Ghost. No
doubt, where there was carelessness, outward privileges might be lightly used,
as, for instance, baptizing unto the name of the Lord Jesus. All such like
things could easily be carried out irregularly by men, so as to bring in
multitudes of unconverted professors, as we know was soon the fact. Accordingly
it was by some such broad-churchism, in manifold forms, which need not be
entered on at present, that the house of God, although the Spirit dwelt there,
was gradually corrupted in every direction, as an unhallowed ambition sought
increase of sway, outside the intentions of God, and man, as ever, lost sight of
his solemn responsibility, and turned the grace of God into licentiousness.

Another thing I would just observe too, which is, I think, of importance for
judging rightly on this subject. We have in Scripture, not only the house of
God, according to the divine idea described in the close of Ephesians 2:1-22,
but also its responsible connection with man’s labour in 1 Corinthians 3:1-23,
to which I have alluded. There is, indeed, more than this; for we have a
half-moral half- prophetic sketch of that which was working, in a measure, when
the apostle wrote his last epistle (2 Timothy 2:1-26), to which I must briefly
refer, because it bears so powerfully on present duty. The apostle calls on
Timothy to study to show himself approved unto God, and tells him of the profane
and vain babblings which he was to shun, but which, nevertheless, should
increase to more ungodliness. He speaks of persons who, concerning the truth,
had erred, but comforts his too sensitive fellow-servant, who was clearly under
pressure from the dangers and difficulties of the time, by this consolation:
"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth firm, having this seal, The Lord
knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord
depart from iniquity." But this is followed by a very animated figure of what
was then in existence, and afterwards to be verified yet more literally. "But in
a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood
and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore
purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet
for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work." Here we have evidently
a most graphic description of what was then in rapid progress, though going on
every day yet more and more. This great-house condition has arrived at the
present time; it was but the anticipation of full-blown Christendom. That is, we
have a vast building in these lands, where vessels of honour, as well as of
dishonour, are found.

What, then, is a Christian to do? Is he to abandon the great house? Certainly
not. A man cannot go outside the great house without ceasing to be a Christian;
for that is precisely the condition into which the profession of Christ’s name
has got. Therefore it can never be a question in any way of giving up the
profession of the Lord’s name: what we have to do is to separate from all that
is contrary to His will, never to relinquish the profession of His name. The
profession of Christ is in itself the only stand revealed that is good and
complete below. Up to it no profession can attain. It is, assuredly, also due to
Him, as it is the blessing of the saint to render it, no less than His
salvation. For who shall be saved but he that calls on the name of the Lord? And
so all through, from the first acquaintance with Him, calling on the name of the
Lord, professing His name, is clearly just as much a joy as a duty. In no case,
therefore, can it be right to abandon the house which is characterized by the
profession of the Lord’s name. But in that great house there are vessels of
honour, as well as of dishonour. What am I to do? I am commanded to purge myself
from the vessels of dishonour. Such is the meaning of the text, such the clear
intention of the Holy Ghost when it is said, "If a man therefore purge himself
from these" (i.e. from the vessels of dishonour). This a man does when he ceases
from any evil fellowship that he knows to be judged by the word of God, from all
companionship with that which, by God’s standing written testimony, is proved to
be opposed to His will.

If a man therefore finds himself involved in subjection to an unscripturally
formed ministry, for instance, or, again, in any prostitution of an institution
of the Lord (say the Lord’s Supper), let him have done with it at once. The Lord
does not warrant His servant’s sanction of what is contrary to truth and
holiness. Why should I, as a Christian, endorse any ministry which is not of
God? Why should I be a party by my presence to a desecration of the Lord’s
Supper into a sacrament made a means of grace for the world, for anybody, for
every one? He that possesses but little knowledge of God’s word about either,
knows perfectly well that they cannot be defended by Scripture, and that they
frustrate the Lord’s will in these grave matters. Am I then to abandon the
Lord’s Supper? Am I henceforth to do without the ministry of the word? Certainly
neither the one nor the other, if wise and obedient. What one has to abandon is
the abuse of these things. I am to have done with that which, as being without
Scripture, is clearly to the dishonour of God. I do not give up Christian
ministry, therefore, I do not give up the Lord’s Supper; but I judge according
to the word of God, as far as enabled by His grace, what is His will in these
respects. The same principle applies to every other. Do you think of worship,
for instance? I must search the Scriptures to judge what is Christian worship
according to God’s word for us now, as a Jew used to do from the Old Testament.
Am I not bound so to do? Am I not to follow His will? As to the question before
us — What is it that God would have His saints feel as to their position on
earth? That they are nothing less than His assembly. Here, therefore, we have at
once an invaluable test for discovering whether that to which we hold day by day
as His Church in this world, in the midst of so many conflicting claims, really
for our consciences meets His will. It is not enough for me, nor should it
satisfy any, the feeblest, of the children of God, that those composing it
should be Christians; still less is it a question of arranging Christians in
various classes of doctrine as offering the best guarantee for peace. What
presumption! Who called me to arrange the saints of God? Who warranted you to
order the house of God? Who gave any man title to put those here and these
there? The character and testimony of the Church of God is destroyed by any such
arrangement. Supposing one could have every soul in communion holding precisely
my views or yours on every topic, I should regard it as a very great calamity
for the Church of God. What measure could be thought of surer to blot out the
truth that we are God’s assembly? What more calculated to produce a false
estimate of the state of the saints than all thus banded together with identical
views, all crammed with just the same thoughts, satisfied with one another, and
contemptuous to those outside who did not hold similar sentiments? I am
supposing now every notion correct, and the things done to be according to the
mind of God. To my mind such a picture in no way answers either to Scripture, or
to the love of Christ.

Brethren, let me be plain-spoken. The Church of God is not a citadel for the
strong only, nor a niche for the wise and intelligent alone; it is not a front
bench for those who have arrived at a certain maturity of holiness any more than
of knowledge. He would have me always contemplate all saints (save those in sin
or evil doctrine). So far from thinking the eclectic school according to the
Lord’s mind, to my view it utterly dislocates and spoils the truth God has
disinterred about His Church. What I find there is the body of Christ, and
doubtless the various members in their place. There are feet as well as hands.
The feeble have their use as well as the strong, and all as God is pleased to
give and order. As the large-hearted apostle teaches, the uncomely parts,
instead of being left outside, are treated, being in danger of scorn, with more
abundant honour. Such is the way of our God, such His express word. Have we
learnt to bow? Those that are strong are expected to bear the infirmities of the
weak, instead of pleasing themselves. Religious rationalism might think it best
to have only the strong, only those of the same mind, only such as had attained
a certain given point of truth; but is it Christ? The Church of God should be
before our hearts, as it is according to His word. The moment we seek to model
or even to desire in our heart anything different from what is given us by Him,
there is fatal insubjection stamped on the thought, and confusion must be the
result wherever that theory is yielded to and carried out. And therefore,
brethren, I am persuaded it is the will of God concerning us, especially in the
present broken state of the Church, that he who is most strengthened in divine
wisdom seek most especially to cherish the ignorant and the feeble who have
attained ever so little — that we seek to walk towards all saints according to
Christ’s love to the Church. Assuredly Christ cherishes, not merely the more
worthy and honourable members of His body, but the Church as a whole, cherishes
most of all, if there be any difference, those that need His love most. Are we
in this to have communion with Him or not?

Just in the same way, as to His habitation in the Spirit, God contemplates in
this His whole Church — contemplates every one that names the name of the Lord.
Here of course, in Ephesians 2:1-22, those that bear His name truly have part in
it; but do any one of those that name a false Christ? Not in the least degree,
save for judgment. In the present state of Christendom there are vessels of
dishonour. Am I to bind myself up with them? I am forbidden by the Holy Ghost.
"If a man purge himself from these." Communion with any vessels to dishonour is
wrong. I am called to separate myself from all such, if I cannot get them
separated from that which bears the name of the Lord. Otherwise I am a party to
the mystery of lawlessness; for the continuance of a Christian in fellowship
with known evil is as good as saying that Christ holds communion with Belial.
Sometimes it is allowance of doctrinal or practical evil; sometimes it is an
indifference which ignores the presence of the Holy Ghost, or hinders His
operations in that which bears the name of the Lord here below. But no matter
what may be the particular forms of allowed evil, which there is no means of
judging, a man is to purge himself from these. There stands the plain and
positive duty. You are not presumptuous; you are assuming no improper authority;
you are only obedient thus. It is not a question of setting up to be somebody,
but of obeying God. It is incumbent on every man that names the name of the Lord
to depart from iniquity. And instead of leaving the occasion undetermined,
instead of throwing a Christian on his own mind or heart to judge what he must
separate from, here is the explicit demand of the Lord that he must purge
himself from vessels of dishonour, whatever and wherever they may be. If people
bearing the Lord’s name (and so His name in their persons) committed themselves
to sin, they were vessels to dishonour, and the Christian is bound to stand
clear and undefiled. It is the prescribed course in a corrupt state of
Christendom, as surely as other Scriptures deal with individuals as objects of
discipline for the assembly. Value for peace or unity was not to override the
character of Christ, which must not be compromised on any account. The saint
cannot abdicate his responsibility. The first of duties is what we owe to
Christ’s name. We can never sanction or wink at evil. Nor is it, let me say, a
question only of flagrant wrongs. The Church, being God’s habitation, is
intolerant of all that is unfit for His presence, though we have need of
patience too; and who is so patient as God? But He will be sanctified in all
that come near Him, among whom He dwells: everything contrary to His word must
be judged. Supposing there be only, as men say, a little evil, am I to bind up
His name and presence, not to speak of myself, with even a small evil? Be it far
from us. Not that it is called for, of course, to separate for every fault; but
we are never to partake in what is contrary to God, but always by God’s grace to
keep ourselves pure. At the same time, the manner in which this is done must be
determined by the word of God. For instance, not every censurable brother, but
those guilty of wickedness (1 Corinthians 5), are to be put away from the
Church; but in no case is a Christian bound to go along with that which he knows
to be offensive to God. Again, we have to judge ourselves, lest we should be
hasty in imputing evil. Slowness to suspect, to act, and speak in such
circumstances God looks for from His children. Alas! how ready we are, because
of the evil of which one is conscious within, to think of it in others. On the
other hand, our comfort as well as spring of responsibility is, that God dwells
in us as His habitation by the Spirit. We can and ought to count upon it,
assured that He will aid us, hear us, appear for us; and therefore, whatever be
the difficulty, whatever the sorrow, whatever the shame, let this be our
confidence — God dwells in the assembly, His temple. It might be in a very low
state; it might be only (as things are really) represented in a given place, by
two or three individuals. Nay, a soul might be obliged to stand alone; or there
might be no sense of the truth sufficient even to produce this result. But I
adhere as to a fixed and fundamental Christian axiom, that there is no possible
circumstance in which a member of Christ is obliged to have fellowship with that
which is opposed to God’s will. Patient remonstrance and adequate waiting may be
called for; but never allowance of evil. It is not the amount of evil (as
remarked already) which destroys the quality of God’s temple, but the deliberate
sanction of known evil, though it may take no stronger outward form than mere
indifference. This does destroy its character: else it would suppose God Himself
indifferent, who dwells there. When that which bears the name of His house
commits itself to binding up His name with the evil it allows, all is over with
it. Then it becomes a simple though sorrowful question (not without urgent
appeals to the conscience of those who stay) of leaving that which has ceased to
be in any sense a true representation of God. What claim can it longer have on
the faith of His child to abide there? This is evidently of the last importance.
It makes the Church question to be one of judging according to God’s word by His
presence. Profession and prejudice, tradition or human will, are equally out of
place. It becomes a manifestly serious step to own or to disown an assembly as
His. He who does so lightly or falsely trifles with or abuses the name of God.
How different this from an ecclesiastical strife! Instead of a man’s judging
according to what he thinks ought to be in the Church, instead of his own
feelings or mind about it, God is the criterion. How right and holy this is! Of
course His word is the standard, and His Spirit is the power. Thus nothing can
be simpler, but at the same time nothing more certain, than that, where there is
simple faith, God will appear, hear the cry, and come to the rescue. He will
make the path manifest.

Another thing may be observed. The Church undoubtedly may make mistakes.
Measures taken in discipline may be hasty, slow, or erroneous. In fact it is
with the habitation of God in the Spirit collectively, as with the Christian
individually. If the saints are, so the saint is, the temple of God Now nobody
in his wits could maintain that a Christian is exempted from evil or mistake,
because the Holy Ghost dwells in him. It is exactly the same principle with the
assembly; as to it the same kind of liability exists. It may be so far in
practice guarded against, humanly speaking, in proportion to the men of God who
are there. This or that man might easily err; but it would be difficult to think
that in the midst of an assembly not one so looked to the Lord as to gather His
mind. Yet it is possible; and particularly where the commanding influence of one
or more weakens the dependence of the assembly on God. It is evident that a
wrong principle, a false position, or even mere precipitancy, might expose an
assembly of God to act amiss. Therefore there is nothing so important, no matter
what servant or servants of God may help, as to bear in mind that the one
safeguard is, that God is there. He may be pleased to correct the wisest of His
servants on the earth by a very feeble child.

Hence we must hold to it resolutely and watchfully, that the Church is not the
assembly even of a Paul, still less of you or of me; it is God’s assembly.
Consequently, in a case of discipline, for instance, it would be destructive of
that assembly, if the measures taken were to be settled for it definitely by any
of His servants. Every person who knows either God’s word about the Church, or
its wants and difficulties practically, must acknowledge the immense value of
the help of those He has given to guide and rule. There is as truly rule as
there is teaching; and the Church would forsake its own mercies if it despised
the help of either. Doubtless some have large spiritual capacity, and great
experience in souls; and these are able, as a general rule, to judge rightly
about such things much more than those less gifted and versed. Nevertheless, God
is jealous, and room must be left for His own free action in His own assembly
till the last moment. Where there is no room to revise whatever individuals may
judge, where there is no power left to the Spirit to set aside, by the feeblest
member of Christ there, the judgment of the best of guides, I no more dare call
that assembly God’s than any other society of believers under the sun.

Therefore it is not a question simply of sound doctrine, or precious saints, or
great gifts. What I am insisting on is yet greyer. I admit all these in their
place; but the fundamental truth to apprehend and hold fast always, and under
all circumstances, is, that the Church is God’s own even now; and God, because
He is there, will maintain His sovereign action. He can shed fresh light. He may
correct the most experienced, where unduly leaned on, by whom He pleases. There
must always be this kept open; for God will not permit that we should glory in
the flesh; nay, more, He will not permit that we should glory in the gifts He
Himself gives us. He will convince us, however thankful we may be for all the
fruits of His goodness, however we may bless Him for all He has given us, that
the Church is God’s, that He loves to be owned, and that will make His presence
felt in the assembly that has faith in Him.

Faith loves to see and know Jesus in the midst; and this in the darkest day, if
there were but two or three gathered unto His name. And with Him thus looked to,
will the Spirit fail to guide? I do not believe it; yet I allow freely that
either confidence in a leader or jealousy of a leader, or any other fleshly
working, or the haste of unbelief whether lax or self-righteous, may practically
sever the assembly from the mind of Christ in any given case. Hence the
assembly, as the individual must be ever open to the Spirit’s correction through
the written word: if it should err in fact, humiliation also is due before the
injured Lord.

Time forbids my touching more Scriptures now; indeed, I feel strongly how
imperfectly the subject has been treated. Still, I have desired to point out
some practical results, as well as the truth that we are God’s habitation
through the Spirit. If the Lord be pleased to use these hints to stir up His own
to examine His word about it for themselves, they will see with surprise how
largely His testimony hangs on this truth. The Spirit in the Apocalypse as
compared with the Epistles.

Revelation 1:4-5, Revelation 19:10.

Lecture 10 of ’The New Testament Doctrine of the Holy Spirit.’

W. Kelly.

These two portions of the Revelation have been read that we may be enabled to
contrast the aspect of truth given us by the Holy Ghost in the last book of the
New Testament with the testimony of the epistles. Our course now, therefore,
must be somewhat discursive. For instead of confining myself to a particular
Scripture, I shall endeavour to put together in a somewhat comprehensive view a
number of passages scattered over the epistles, chiefly St. Paul’s, which we
have looked at either not at all or for other purposes. Having taken a rapid
survey of these scattered lights I shall endeavour to put into juxtaposition
with them that which is furnished in the Revelation on the subject. The Holy
Ghost is always presented, whatever Scripture may treat of Him, according to His
own object in each book where the reference occurs. This remark applies to one
topic no more than another that may be in hand; but as it is true of other
doctrines, so of the Holy Ghost. Thus we have seen, in the epistle to the
Romans, that righteousness is the subject, and especially the righteousness of
God. Hence, till this has been thoroughly cleared, there is not one word about
the Holy Ghost at all. It is only in Romans 5:1-21 where the first allusion is
found, as indeed also the first statement of God’s love along with it, as
already noticed. "The love of God," says the apostle, "is shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." Thus the whole question of our
sins, and God’s judgment of them, of sin and deliverance from it, has been fully
met before the Spirit of God is Himself introduced. It was not well to open the
work which goes on in the heart until God had been thus shown amply vindicated
in the redemption and resurrection of Christ. But it is in Romans 8:1-39 (that
is, when we have had not merely our sins, but sin, fully discussed) that the
apostle launches into an ample doctrinal exposition — the doctrine of the
Spirit, viewed both as a condition and also as an indwelling person. But I do no
more than allude to this now, as it has been already before us. Let me recall
the fact, that all is viewed on the side of righteousness, and this practically,
after all is clear about the righteousness of God. "The law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what
the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after
the flesh, but after the Spirit." This is the only possible way now, or indeed
at any time, in which the righteousness of the law could be fulfilled in the
saint. It is in walking after the Spirit. The believer is first set free as in
Christ before God. There must be liberty as well as life; and founded on this
righteousness, the moral scope and purpose of the law is fulfilled in the
believer. It is not exactly by the believer; still less is it fulfilled for the
believer, which is as baseless as it deserves a harsher name. It is fulfilled in
us, and is thus a more intrinsic thing than if simply by us. Love, as we are
told elsewhere, is the fulfilling of the law; and this the Holy Ghost works in
us as possessed of a new nature, and now able to treat the old man as judged in
the cross. The new nature is then drawn out in loving God and man; and thus the
righteousness of the law (in vain sought under law) is fulfilled in us who walk
after the Spirit. It is the display of what is according to God’s moral nature,
which is thus accomplished in the exercise of the new man by the power of the
Holy Ghost. This illustrates how thoroughly the Holy Spirit, and the character
of His operation in the believer, is determined by the scope of the epistle.
Having laid down, first, man’s ruin as needing the gospel, and God’s
righteousness as revealed in it, the apostle now turns to the answer of
practical righteousness in the children of God; and the Holy Ghost takes His
place in reference to both. When righteousness is cleared, the love of God can
be freely spoken of as shed abroad in our hearts; and, further, the Spirit is
shown to be a power that displaces not only sin, but law as an external test,
which can in no way enable such as we are to work inward and practical
righteousness. In the first epistle to the Corinthians we have the Holy Ghost
after another sort altogether, and with remarkable fulness. What gave rise to
this was carnality at work in almost every possible form except legalism. They
were too loose to like the law; but their carnality was beyond all power of the
law to remedy: law can only condemn the carnal. Christ alone can meet such evil,
or any other; but Christ also made good by the power of the Spirit. Hence we
find in this epistle the wisdom of man, first, judged by the cross (1
Corinthians 1:1-31); and, next, supplanted by the communications of God’s
Spirit. These communications which he takes up in 1 Corinthians 2:1-16 are shown
to be revealed by the Spirit, and set forth in words which the Holy Ghost gave,
as He alone is for man the power of receiving them. Thus the Holy Ghost gave the
truth, and the words, and the capacity to bow and understand. The Holy Ghost, in
point of fact, has to do with everything as to the truth of God, which is only
rightly seen in Christ Himself. Clearly, then, the Corinthians, who were wishing
to bring in some wisdom from the world in the hope of making the gospel more
palatable, were thus completely at fault, and, in fact, in opposition to the
mind of God.

Then, again, the next chapter (1 Corinthians 3:1-23) shows, though I need not
dwell on much of it, how the Holy Ghost is viewed as having constituted
believers God’s temple. This is urged as a standing fact, as well as the
consequent seriousness of meddling with God’s sanctuary, and bringing in either
mere trash, or positive defilement and destructive evil. "If any man defile the
temple of God, him shall God destroy." But even supposing a man did not defile
the temple of God in the strongest sense, if he brought in what was worthless,
all his labour should come to nothing, and be burned. He himself might be saved,
but it would be as one who passed through the fire. This is, of course,
figurative, but a most instructive figure, intimating the application of God’s
judgment to the work, though the man himself might escape. The next, and very
solemn use that is made of this gift of the Spirit, is as regards the believer’s
body. It is not now that together Christians constitute the temple of God, but
that each one’s body is His temple. This is a capital truth of Christianity; for
the Corinthians fell into that error which has been perpetuated in our own day,
that, if we be only right in heart, it matters not about the body — that we must
not be too particular as to outward things, among which comes, of course, the
body as the outward instrument of the man. To such it seemed an unspiritual
thought to be occupied with the body: why not insist on the inner man? Let the
soul be right, and the rest may be safely left. Not at all, says the apostle
Paul; the Holy Ghost is pleased to dwell in the man, and makes, not the soul,
but the body, His temple. If the body is consecrated to the Lord, if it is
separated by the power of the Holy Ghost, the soul must surely be all right. But
there might be excuses made, so as to leave the body free for self-indulgence
and downright wickedness, while highflown sentiments filled the spirit of a man.
This, it is evident, is hateful to God. "Ye are bought with a price: therefore
glorify God in your body." (1 Corinthians 6:1-20)

After this (1 Corinthians 12:1-31), not to notice every passage, the Holy Ghost
is described in the Church, first, operating in the way of gifts, His
manifestation given to each, on which enough, perhaps, has been said to excuse
my not delaying now. Again, 1 Corinthians 14:1-40 regulates the exercise of
these gifts in the assembly of the saints, in God’s assembly. Thus is
established the important principle, that the possession of power of the Holy
Ghost exempts none from the Lord’s authority by His word. Yea, it is the Holy
Ghost who applies that word to deal with Christian conscience in the use that is
made of His power. In vain does a man plead that he has a word from God, and
that it must be spoken. Not so, save in due season, and in the proper place. A
word may be ever so truly from the Lord, but He holds to His own order in His
own house. Nor does the Spirit of God set aside in the smallest degree personal
responsibility in the exercise of gifts. The word, and the word alone — not the
Spirit — is the standard. (Compare 2 Timothy 3:1-17) And this, I need not say,
is an invaluable truth; for the tendency of men who really believe in the action
of the Spirit of God is more or less to subject the word to the Spirit, instead
of owning what is made so plain in Scripture, that the Holy Ghost subjects His
own manifestations to the authority of the word of the Lord — the word that He
has Himself inspired.

Next, in the second of Corinthians, when God had wrought powerfully to awaken
and recover the souls of the saints, we have a passage of great weight connected
with our theme. The apostle expressly consoles the saints who had been cast
down. He himself had experienced a fearful persecution, but had been brought out
of it. Next, he tells them, that "all the promises of God in him [Christ] are
yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us." They had been, some of them,
reproaching him for not having kept his purpose. Did this, at best vacillation,
seem like an apostle? If any man’s word ought to be trusted, surely an apostle’s
ought; but Paul had not come as he had promised. The change of purpose as to his
visiting them was thus turned artfully against his authority. At any rate, he
answers, if I have not kept my purpose, God keeps His in the gospel. "All the
promises of God in him [Christ] are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God
by us. Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is
God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our
hearts." This is precisely what takes place in the dealings of God with the
soul; and all is here presented in a remarkably full and orderly manner. The
believer is established by God in Christ, which, of course, supposes that he is
quickened with the life of Christ. I do not mean that this establishment in
Christ is only quickening, but that, when a soul is thus established, he must
needs have been quickened. This is the strongest way of putting the blessing;
for Christ gives force and fulness to that which is inherited of previously
existing privilege. Then, again, he is said to be "anointed;" for the Holy Ghost
is the power of his knowing all things according to God. "Ye have an unction
from the Holy One," as we read even of the babes in 1 John 2:1-29. So,
immediately after his establishment in Christ, anointing is mentioned — the
Spirit’s opening of the believer’s eyes, and giving him power to see and take in
things with a new and divine capacity. Moreover, the Spirit seals the believer
on the ground of accomplished redemption, and becomes to him the earnest of the
future inheritance. "Who hath sealed us, and given us the earnest of the Spirit
in our hearts."

Let us now turn to another Scripture, where the same double thought occurs — the
epistle to the Ephesians; for the brief remarks I shall make on this subject may
suffice for both. In Ephesians 1:12-14 it is written, "that we should be to the
praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ." "We"* means from among the
Jews, who anticipate the nation in being brought to rest our hopes on Christ the
Lord. "In whom ye [the Ephesians] also, after ye heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed
with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance," etc.
You will observe that the apostle treats of the Holy Spirit in two special
points of view, and in relation to the two main subjects he had been and is
setting forth in the chapter. One is the call of the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ; the other is the inheritance. The Holy Ghost deals with us in
relation to both. Relatively to the call of God He seals the believer; and
relatively to His inheritance He is the earnest in our hearts. In the one case
He is the power of conscious separation unto God on the ground of that which is
now complete. And therefore, you will observe, that in this very verse it is
said, "After ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation." It is
only consequent on this that the Holy Ghost deigns to take such place in the
believer. He seals the person of him who rests on redemption; and He becomes the
earnest of the inheritance of glory, which we shall share along with Christ.

* "We, apostles and Jews, that had this privilege first to trust in Christ." (T.
Goodwin, in loc.) "’In whom you also,’ you Ephesians you Gentiles — ’you also.’"
Here is A WORK OF THE HOLY GHOST DISTINCT FROM FAITH: ’after you believed, you
were sealed’. The capitals here are Dr. G.’s, who repeatedly insists on their
distinctness, and controverts Piscator and Calvin, who held the common confusion
He draws truly from p?ste?sa?te?, "after that ye believed," that the faith was
not contemporaneous with but antecedent to the sealing of the Spirit. So
Ellicott. Alford is not clear. On this subject there are often difficulties in
the minds of true children of God. My only object and desire, in saying a few
words now on it, is to contribute one’s mite of help, with a view to removing, I
trust, some of the difficulty, and, I must add, somewhat of prejudice, that
darkens the subject. That there should be some difficulty in comprehending such
a theme as this ought not to surprise any who know how the world has encroached
on the domain of the saints. I was thankful, the other day, in glancing over an
old Puritan writer, to note, that even he admitted its distinctness from faith
(and certainly Puritanism is not the quarter to which I should look for
intelligence in the doctrine of the Holy Ghost). But still, just because it was
little expected, it may have been the more pleasant to find a theologian lifted
up above the too common legal traditions of his party. It was the homage that a
godly mind paid to the plain and precious truth of God. Be it remembered too,
that this good and able man, a couple of hundred years ago, wrote at a critical
period, when the moral side of the law was asserted with more keenness than
perhaps at any other time. Legalism ordinarily is the great hindrance in the way
of understanding the Holy Ghost. It is legalism in some shape or another which
causes difficulties. The Holy Ghost is the power of holiness to the believer, as
law was the strength of sin to men under it. The law dealt with flesh. The Holy
Ghost now dwells where the new nature is. In quickening, the Spirit of God finds
a soul that has no life whatever towards God. There is nothing but fallen nature
before He imparts the new creature by faith of Christ. The soul is connected by
faith of the word with Christ; there is a spiritual nature communicated which it
never had before. "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit," as flesh comes
from flesh. But the sealing of the Spirit supposes a holy thing already there,
whether one looks at Christ, or the saints as in Christ. Of course, there is no
sealing of the old nature. The Holy Ghost seals that new nature, or rather the
quickened person. But is there not more? I believe that in our case there is
another thought. It is not only that there must be something good and holy to
seal, and that it would be monstrous and absurd to suppose the Holy Ghost
sealing the old nature or the flesh; quickening supposes an absence of life, but
sealing further implies that there is something to seal which is according to
God. For even a new nature is not enough; because the saints had a new nature
all through the Old Testament times (though not revealed then), yet we never
hear of their being sealed of the Spirit. But now more is implied. The sealing
of the Spirit does not come simply on quickening, though it always supposes it,
but follows the reception of "the gospel of our salvation." "In whom after that
ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after
that ye believed," etc. I do not lay any particular stress on the word "after"
here, but am willing to take it, as some contend, for "having believed." Still
it comes precisely to the same effect in the end. Most decidedly, in my opinion,
it assumes that the saints had already believed, and that the sealing was a
subsequent action of the Holy Ghost on their souls. In short men are not sealed
as unbelievers, which would be the most miserable thing if possible. They are
sealed as believers, as they were quickened when dead in sins. The question of
the time elapsing between believing and sealing is of slight consequence, but
the distinctness of the two things is of great moment. Let there be but a
minute; still they are distinct, and the sealing follows faith. The unbeliever
needs to be quickened, the believer to be sealed. Far from allowing it to be a
doubtful point or an open question, to my mind Scripture is positive and
uniform, that the sealing of the Spirit invariably follows faith, and is in no
case the same thing, or even in the same moment, as faith. I hold that whoever
does not see it confounds the action of the Spirit of God in quickening or
giving to believe with that which is altogether of another nature. The danger
too is, that people are thus exposed constantly to confound the condition of
saints in the Old Testament times with Christianity. Undoubtedly the Holy Ghost
dealt with souls of old; undoubtedly they were quickened, and believed. Were
they sealed? Had they the earnest of the Spirit in their hearts? Neither. This
brings us now to the reason of the difference. It was not because they were
unbelievers, or without quickening; for their faith is certain, and to be born
anew is indispensable for God’s kingdom. But the gospel of salvation was not yet
a known published ground of blessing for the soul in its relation to God. That
is, the condition of old was always one simply of expectancy; there was as yet
no enjoyed communion with God in peace and deliverance. Christianity has brought
in all this and more. Christ is come, and has accomplished redemption; and the
Holy Ghost, now sent down from heaven, brings us not merely the promise — for
this of itself is never Christianity — but the promises verified in the highest
degree in Christ Himself: Wherever it is simply promise presented to an
unconverted soul, the gospel of salvation is not yet understood. I admit, of
course, that there are promises where the soul has found Christ. Some things are
future, and, of course, in that sense they are not fulfilled (for instance, the
resurrection of the body and the display of glory). But I maintain that
Scripture attributes the greatest possible importance to the fact of (not bare
promise now, but) accomplishment in Christ; and that this is precisely,
therefore, what is now preached (not promised) in the gospel. It is not a mere
hope of Christ, which is exactly where those under law always find themselves.
They are constantly yearning to be saved, for an interest in Christ, and so on.
This was all right in the Old Testament, and no person was entitled to go beyond
it. The Messiah was not come, nor the work done: hence it would have been
sentiment to have believed more, and not the truth of God; not reality, but
imagination. It is not according to God’s present testimony to set forth promise
only; indeed there is no such thing as a "promise of forgiveness" now.
Forgiveness is an actual fact; while eternal life is a present possession, but
future also. Salvation, in a most true sense, is the believer’s portion
(Ephesians 2), and so complete that the believer is said to be risen with
Christ, and seated in heavenly places with Him. Viewed as far as Christ, it is
as perfect as it ever can be, although our bodies must be changed into the
likeness of His body by-and-by. In this sense salvation is only at hand, not yet
come.

Accordingly the Spirit of God takes a new relation or mode of action in
reference to this development of the ways of God, and the impartation of the
full blessing. As far as the soul is concerned, salvation is already perfect,
and the Holy Ghost (in dealing with the soul now) bears the message of this, and
seals the person of him who believes the gospel. The sealing supposes not only a
new birth, which was true of old, but, beside this, it is based on redemption
complete, and supposes the work of Christ known. Even we do not seal a thing
until it is done. Nobody would think of sealing a letter till it was written.
Thus it always supposes that the ground, on which an object that is sealed
already stands, is finished and firm. Hence the act of sealing, which is applied
by the Holy Ghost, clearly indicates the completeness of what is in question. As
the Holy Ghost seals to the believer the salvation which the gospel announces
(which is, in fact, the way in which the call of God now displays itself in
Christ), the other side has its place. There is that which has not yet come; and
the Holy Ghost even there is not a promiser, but an earnest. He is an earnest,
not of Christ’s salvation, any more than of God’s love, but of the inheritance.
The Christian has God’s love as complete towards him as he ever can have it. I
have such a salvation for my soul that even God Himself could not make it more
perfect; but I have not yet the inheritance; and the Holy Ghost, instead of
merely holding out a promise now, gives me to taste it — gives me to enter into
the anticipation, joy, and blessing of it even while I am in this world.
Therefore, He seems to me to be called the earnest of it. This may suffice for
the text in the Ephesians; but I must go back for a moment to the Galatians,
though it may seem to savour of disorder. "Received ye the Spirit by the works
of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" They knew well, though beguiled by
Judaisers, that law works never led to ministering the Holy Spirit to them, any
more than to working miracles among them. (Galatians 3:1-29) This, however, does
not for all minds decide that they are distinct. I shall refer to another and
later expression in Galatians 4, which is very explicit. When His people were
under law, "God sent forth his Son . . . . to redeem them that were under law,
that we might receive sonship. And because ye [Galatians, who were not under
law] are sons, God [when redemption was accomplished] hath sent forth the Spirit
of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Thus it is the Holy Ghost
giving us the consciousness of the relationship already ours by faith in Christ.
(Galatians 3:26.) They were sons already — "Because ye are sons." But then they
might not have the known enjoyment of this relation; for this "God hath sent
forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." The meaning
and force is thus as plain as possible. Under the law the believer, although a
child, never had the consciousness of a child. He was ostensibly and in his
experience in the condition of a servant, though lord of all, as the apostle
elaborately explains. The reason of this was because, for the first time, he was
under law. He was like a minor, under guardians and stewards till the period
fixed by the father. He was held in bondage under the principles of the world,
and the law scourged him, and made him feel how naughty he was, and what
rebelliousness there is in human nature. All this was going on during the legal
system. But now is come a wholly different state of things, as the apostle shows
here. So the epistle to the Romans taught us that grand truth of Christianity as
to the flesh, that I am entitled, nay bound, to regard it as dead. I am never
called to die to it. This is natural, pietistic, mystic, but not at all the
truth revealed in Christ. I am never called to die to the flesh. Dying, of
course, to nature and the world is practically spoken of — dying daily. But it
is another thought altogether, and is a question of exposure to trial and death
for Christ continually. But as to the flesh, I am entitled by grace to say that
I have died already; and I am called on to reckon myself henceforth and always
dead. Mysticism is an effort to become dead in oneself, and sounds well; but
grace gives me the title of Christ to believe in the power of His death for me,
and of my death in Him; so that I may, without presumption, reckon myself dead
unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. The epistle to the Romans gave us
this teaching in connection with righteousness; but here, what is taught is in
contrast with the legal system of restraints which served to deal with those
under age. Redemption has brought us by faith of Christ into the place of sons,
and we have the Spirit of God’s Son given to us as the power whereby we cry,
Abba, Father. Such is the connection of the Holy Ghost with the doctrine of this
epistle. The object of the enemy there was to draw away believers from the
liberty with which they had been made free in Christ, and from that blessed
relationship of sons before their God and Father, back again under ordinances of
the law, in one shape or another. The Holy Ghost is the great delivering power
given to us, founded upon redemption by and in Christ. But a few words more on
the presentation of the Holy Ghost in the Ephesians before we pass on. We need
not enlarge on all the allusions to the Holy Ghost; for there is not a chapter
that does not furnish one or more. In the testimony of Ephesians 1:1-23 and
Ephesians 2:1-22 the Holy Ghost is viewed as the power of access to the Father
for both Jew and Gentile that believe now: at the close we are told of Him also
as the constitutive power of the habitation of God. It is not the habitation of
God in an external manner like Israel. No visible cloud of glory marks His
presence in the Church; but there is the utmost reality in the fact that the
Holy Ghost dwells there. In Ephesians 3:1-21 the Holy Ghost is not only a
revealing power, as in Ephesians 1:1-23, for our intelligence, but also an
inward energy for deepening the spiritual communion of the Christian, and
strengthening his inner man according to those riches that are in Christ. In
Ephesians 4:1-32 the doctrine of the Spirit of God is largely developed in
relation to the body, as well as to individual gifts. Above all, in the latter
part of the chapter we have Him alluded to as the active power and personal
measure of holiness in walk. It is not merely doing this or that which can suit
the new man, but not grieving this divine person, by whom we were sealed unto
the day of redemption. It is not enough that we have the truth of the old man
judged, and the new man given; but there is the Holy Spirit of God, whom we are
on no account to grieve. Ephesians 5:1-33 furnishes another and a very
interesting allusion to the Holy Spirit. We are called upon there not to yield
to carnal excitement, but to be filled with the Spirit, and, in connection with
this, "speaking to each other in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
and making melody in your hearts to the Lord." And here I will allow myself to
make some remarks which, I think, may be helpful to souls often charged with the
inconsistency of using hymn-books, whilst they object to forms of prayer. There
is no such thing in the New Testament as a body of praise metrically prepared
for Christian use. There is no provision of psalms, or hymns, or spiritual
songs, written by inspiration for the Christian; there is very abundantly for
the Jew. Do you wonder at this? It seems to me simple, suitable, and full of
interest. The Jew needed such praises made for him; the Church does not; for the
Christian and the Church, having the Holy Ghost, as the Jew had not, has within
a full spring for making melody in his heart. This seems to me the reason why
there is no external supply provided for Christians. To the Church, having the
ever-present and indwelling Holy Ghost, belongs the well of living water; nay,
each individual Christian has it, and so far, naturally and normally, breaks out
into psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs. Thus, what to some is an evidence
of the need of human forms, or to others a ground for falling back on the psalms
of David, is really the most striking proof, in the simplest possible way, of
the actual blessedness of the Church of God and of the Christian, if they had
only faith to use their goodly heritage. Those who are under all the dolorous
experience of the law, and cannot therefore enter into proper Christian worship,
may, no doubt, require to be provided and stimulated with the Jewish store of
the psalms, which, if they only understood, suppose a wholly different
experience as well as relationship. There is no spring of joy in themselves;
they want a provision for them outside. But just because we have Christ, and,
besides, the Holy Ghost as a divine power for enjoying our Saviour, with our God
and Father, it would be to lower the Church’s place to make for our singing a
provision of psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs in the word of God. Holy
Scripture deals with the Christian as grown up to man’s estate, and supposes the
Church, unless beguiled by deceivers, to be standing in full liberty before God,
in intelligence of His mind, and confidence of His love, entering into the
riches of His grace and of His glory in Christ; and this because the Holy Ghost
is in the Christian and in the Church. The consequence is, that such conscious
blessedness naturally — not to say necessarily — finds its expression, as is
said here, not merely in praise, but "speaking to each other in psalms, and
hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the
Lord."

Again, I do not the least doubt that these psalms, and hymns, and spiritual
songs here spoken of were Christian compositions — not indeed extemporaneous,
any more than Davidical, but their own suited expressions of various praise.
They were the fruit of the Spirit of God working in the early believers, causing
them to express their own proper joy to God, instead of casting them on an
inspired provision, which does not enter into their distinctive privileges and
joy, but in all directly belongs to others who are as yet to come. Does not
this, then, fully meet those persons who urge captious difficulties, and say,
"After all, you have a hymn-book, and we must have forms"? It seems to me so.
The expressions here really intimate that there were known metrical compositions
of these kinds; that there was a due and characteristic expression of praise and
thanksgiving, as well as of the different spiritual experiences of the
Christian. These varieties seem meant by "psalms, and hymns, and spiritual
songs." They have each their own proper character, and no one can take up a
Christian book of praise to God without finding one and the other and all of
these things. But, I repeat, these compositions are left room for among
Christians, instead of being provided ready by God’s inspiration outside
themselves; indeed, this is one of the peculiarities of the Holy Ghost’s action
in the New Testament. He has come down to be in us. He is not merely One who
writes for us and teaches us: there is this kind of testimony. You will find,
particularly in the Apocalypse, and occasionally elsewhere, even the prophetic
character of revelation still, as "The Spirit speaketh in the latter times,"
etc. Thus we do not lose in the New Testament the predictive element which
abounds in the older Scriptures, any more than the narrative. There is in the
epistles special instruction on Christian standing and conduct, ministry, etc.
Besides, the Holy Ghost leads the believer in joy and praise. He does not give
up His function in furnishing authoritative injunctions or visions of the
future; but neither is in any way the characteristic dealing of the Holy Ghost
with the Christian or the Church. The praise of children, the expression of
common as well as of individual joy in the Lord, cannot but go forth from the
heart now, as well as from the lips, to the praise of God, and this, too, in a
rhythmical form. The only other allusion to the Spirit of God which remains to
be noticed now in the Ephesians occurs in the last chapter, where prayer is
called for in the Spirit: "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in
the Spirit." Never does the New Testament speak of prayer "to," but "in" the
Holy Ghost. It is not that the Spirit is not worthy of worship and prayer; it is
not that He is not God, equally with the Father and with the Son; but He has
been pleased, since redemption, to take a place in us which precludes His being
made the definite object of prayer while thus dwelling with us. Prayer to God
includes the Spirit with the Father and the Son. Therefore, where Christian
subjects are revealed, it is invariably praying "in the Spirit," and not to Him.
Praying to the Spirit would be unconsciously not to believe in the Holy Ghost as
dwelling in the Church and in the believer; as it is the expression of want of
faith in one of the great distinctive Christian privileges, always known among
those who confound the Church’s estate with the Jewish position.

Without touching on the minute passages in the Philippians, which speak of the
Spirit in point of character rather than as an indwelling person (that is, as
the source of fellowship, and the character of worship as contrasted with what
was special), let us observe the remarkable omission of the Spirit of God in the
doctrine of the Colossians. It has been often noticed; but I refer to it in
passing. This epistle as strikingly brings out the new life or nature, as the
kindred one to the Ephesians makes much of the Holy Ghost. Of course both
features are connected with the peculiar strain of their respective epistles. In
1 Thessalonians the Holy Ghost is introduced with remarkable strength and
simplicity, and this from their conversion throughout their whole career. (1
Thessalonians 1:5, 1 Thessalonians 4:8, 1 Thessalonians 5:19.) The texts need no
extended remarks, save perhaps the last, which is sometimes misunderstood:
"Quench not the Spirit." It is totally different from grieving of the Spirit,
against which we are warned in Ephesians 5:1-33. Grieving Him is clearly a
personal question; whereas quenching Him is just as emphatically with regard to
others, and mainly, I suppose, in public action, or, at least, in the use of
their gifts. I am not to hinder another, nor to raise difficulties as to the
manifestation of the Holy Ghost in any brother. It may be a great work, or a
very little one. This is not at all the question; but — Is it of the Spirit?
Respect for the presence and operation of the Holy Ghost in all the variety of
His action in the Church would keep the greatest from quenching the Spirit in
the least. God certainly does not despise the day of small things. In both
epistles to Timothy we hear of the Holy Ghost repeatedly. I have referred to the
prophetic episode in the first epistle; but the introduction of the matter in 2
Timothy 1:7 is deeply interesting also. "God," says the apostle, "hath not given
us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (See
also 2 Timothy 1:14.) It is not hard to see why the Holy Ghost is so spoken of
in this place. Timothy shrank from the difficulties of Christian warfare — from
that sorrow and trial into which the service of Christ, more particularly among
the assemblies, necessarily brings him who seeks to be faithful. Hence the
apostle reminds him of the gift which had been given him through the imposition
of his own hands, and adds that the Spirit, who is given to us Christians, is
not the Spirit of cowardice, but of power, love, and discreetness (s?f????sµ??).
There are thus two things — the gift given him by the imposition of the
apostle’s hands, and, besides, the general character of the Spirit given to the
saints. Clearly this was for the purpose of stirring up the trembling man of
God. Why should he be surcharged with grief at difficulties, dangers,
disappointments, or even the defection of those who had once laboured with the
apostle himself, but were now turned against him? In Titus we have a rich
passage — not about a gift to a beloved servant, but the common place of
blessing into which Christianity brings a soul (Titus 3:4): "After that the
kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the
washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us
abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace,
we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Here we have not
the being born anew or of God, which is common, in my judgment, to all saints at
all times, but that form and fulness which now pertains to the Christian. It is
"the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on
us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour." This appears to be distinctly
the full power of the blessing which characterizes the Christian. The new birth
simply is universal; but the new place and the gift of the Holy Ghost thus
richly awaited the accomplishment of redemption. Therefore this is said to be
"shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour." Thus the passage very
strikingly shows both what always is and must be true, and what only became
possible according to God’s wise ways when the hindrance was removed, flesh was
judged, and the Holy Ghost could be shed thus abundantly through Jesus Christ
our Saviour

There are various references in the epistle to the Hebrews; but I need only
notice two expressions for a moment — "the Spirit of grace," and "the eternal
Spirit." They are both to be applied to the Holy Ghost, and stand in evident
contrast with Jewish things: the "Spirit of grace" in contrast with law, and the
"eternal Spirit" with temporary dealings as of old.

Next, we come to a passage in 1 Peter 1:1-25, of much interest to the believer:
"Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who
prophesied of the grace which should come unto you: searching what, or what
manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it
testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did
minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached
the gospel unto you with (??) the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." Now, this
passage demands and will repay the most careful consideration. First there is
the clear statement of the working of the Spirit of Christ in the prophets of
old; but what He was in them was a spirit of prophecy; that is, He gave them to
bear witness to what was coming. He gave their souls to bear witness to the
sufferings that belonged to Christ, and the glories after these. How much they
understood, and how far they could enjoy, are other questions; but He set both
before them. We find all this in the Psalms and prophets generally, and in
Isaiah, Micah, Daniel, and Zechariah, with especial clearness. But, again, we
find much more: "Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto
us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that
have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven."
Thus, now that the gospel is sent out, because Christ has come and the great
work of redemption is accomplished, the Holy Ghost takes quite a new place —
"sent down from heaven," you will mark, which is not said about the working of
the Spirit of Christ before. Evidently the mission of the Holy Ghost sent from
heaven is contra-distinguished from the Old Testament operations, however
blessed, of the Spirit of Christ. It is the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven who
is the power of the believer’s entering into that which is now reported in the
gospel. Besides, there remains the accomplishment of the prophecy at another
epoch, when the kingdom shall be (not preached, but) set up in power and glory
here below.

Accordingly there are three things in all: first, the Holy Ghost predicting;
next, the present enjoyment of soul-salvation proclaimed by the gospel in the
power of the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; and, thirdly, the revelation of
grace at the appearing of Christ, which will be the fulfilment of the
prophecies. That is, there is a mighty work accomplished, and, no doubt,
prophecy touches on that work, though it goes far beyond what prophecy has
revealed. Finally, the full accomplishment of prophecy awaits the appearing of
the Lord in glory. Between the two — after Christ came to suffer, but before He
appears in glory — the Holy Ghost is sent down from heaven; and we enjoy in
faith by His power what the gospel announces in Christ. We shall find the
importance of this by-and-by, when we look at the Revelation; but these
preliminary remarks may serve to bring out the contrast with what we shall find
there. On 2 Peter I need not dwell, as the chief allusion is simply to the Old
Testament prophets, who spoke under the influence of the Holy Ghost.

1 John might claim a particular hearing, as we have there very full instruction
as to the gift of the Holy Ghost to us, whereby we have God dwelling in us, and
ourselves dwelling in God. But as this again would detain us from that which is
proposed for this evening, I only refer to it by the way. At length we come to
the Revelation, where the first words in which the Spirit of God is announced
place the subject on entirely novel ground — novel at least in the New
Testament. Here it is outside not only usual phraseology but spirit to speak of
"the seven Spirits;" so much so that some ancients as well as moderns have
denied the reference to the Holy Ghost, and applied the phrase to the seven
presence-angels. (Revelation 8:2.) I do not myself doubt that the allusion is to
the sevenfold spiritual power of which we hear in Isaiah 11:1-16. But the style
is unprecedented in the New Testament. The connection differs here, of course,
as applying to a transitional time of judgment on men, while the Jewish prophet
was showing how the fulness of the Holy Ghost was to rest on the Messiah.

Thus the Apocalypse is not at all occupied in its prophetic visions with the
ordinary objects of the New Testament. This is evidently the key to the change
of the style. Hence the Revelation — about to treat not of the display of grace,
but of God’s government — is pregnant with allusions to the Old Testament. No
person is capable of understanding the book who has not the ways of God of old
before his mind’s eye. But bearing in mind its constant allusion to the law and
the prophets, while at the same time it connects New Testament elements with
this leading up into the eternal state after a sort far beyond the Old
Testament, one may follow its communications somewhat more intelligently.

Hence, though saying "grace be unto you, and peace," God Himself is spoken of
after another manner than we have found before. It is "from him which is, and
which was, and which is to come." He speaks as Jehovah. It is a translation, if
one may so say, of the Hebrew "Jehovah " into the New Testament language. As God
is thus brought before us, so is His Spirit — "the seven Spirits which are
before his throne." Any one familiar with the New Testament must be so much the
more struck by such an expression. Do we not always hear of the Spirit — yea,
"one Spirit"? Is not this the emphatic teaching of the apostle Paul? Is not this
the ground and formative power of the one body of Christ, that one Spirit dwells
in every disciple of Christ, knitting together and incorporating into one all
the various members? Surely so. Here; in the very terms of the salutation, we
hear of the "seven Spirits;" and more than this, "the seven Spirits which are
before his throne." It is another order of ideas, wholly different from what we
find in the epistles. He is "the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven" elsewhere; He
dwells in the believer; He distributes and operates in the Church. Here it is
the seven Spirits that are before God’s throne. How comes this? We are entering
on a scene of government and judicial dealings. We are closing the heavenly
parenthesis of grace where God made the wondrous display of the mystery, hid
from ages and generations in the glory of Christ on high, and of the Christian
and Church united to Him there. Even in the preface of the seven churches and of
Christ in relation to them, judgment is the point, and the Holy Ghost is viewed
according to the governmental character that the book as a whole unfolds to us.
God Himself is thus presented judging, and about to govern directly, instead of
providentially. It is the book consequently where every system, and man as such,
must be judged. The churches are judged in the first place; the world is next
judged; then the quick (at Christ’s appearing, and before His earthly reign
closes), and in the last place the dead are judged. Throughout it is judgment.

Consistently with this the Holy Ghost is viewed according to an earthly and
judicial character, resuming an Old Testament aspect, but with a depth
characteristic of the final and complete revelation of God. The prophet speaks
of "the seven Spirits;" it is the full but varied perfection of the Holy Ghost
acting according to the developed ways of God Himself in government, and
therefore designated as being before His throne. In the addresses to the
churches, there is a remarkably coincident manner of speaking even to them:
"What the Spirit saith to the churches." It is not the working of the Spirit of
God in the saint or the Church. It is not the habitation of God in the Spirit.
But even He, in addressing them here, takes rather the place of warning and of
expostulation as One outside. Christ Himself does the same. He is not here as
the head of the Church communicating nourishment and cherishing His body. He is
seen walking in priestly robe — more than a priest, but as a priest too; not
indeed interceding or bearing up the believer, but, on the contrary, searching
with His eyes as a flame of fire, and dealing with that which was contrary to
the mind of God. This is clearly the revelation that we have even of our Lord
Himself in the things seen. Consequently He Himself is described as the Son of
man — an extraordinary designation relatively to the Church; and why so? Why is
He seen as Son of man here? He is going to take the kingdom. Meanwhile judgment
is given to Him because He is the Son of man. (John 5:1-47) Thus the Lord has
taken the place of a judge, even though the subject be the churches themselves.
Every kind of judgment is in His hands. "Alas! who shall live when God doeth
this?" Hence we find that the best of these churches — the first of them at
least — is threatened with the removal of its candlestick if it repented not;
(and did it repent?) while the last of them, although called to repent, is
threatened positively with being spued out of our Lord’s mouth. Thus, as for the
churches, there was utter and hopeless rejection.

Then ensues a vast change; and (whatever may be judged) redeemed ones — no
longer on the earth — are glorified in heaven; and the Lord is seen above as a
Lamb that had been slain (a rejected Christ) in the presence of God and on His
throne. There, again, is seen once more the Spirit, but still as seven Spirits,
symbolized by seven lamps or torches of fire (still judicial); as also in the
next chapter there is power and activity in the seven Spirits of God sent forth
into all the earth — not any longer a question of preaching the gospel with the
Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. The Church is not in view any more than the
gospel, but a mission into all the earth, where He is a Spirit, not of grace,
but of government, dealing actively with the earth universally. The churches,
too, are no longer heard of; they are here not even objects of testimony for the
Spirit of God. Hence forth God is occupied with other and earthly plans, the
heavenly joint- heirs being seen on high with Christ. The Spirit of God, then,
acts in view of all the earth. This of itself sufficiently indicates the great
peculiarity of the Holy Spirit’s action at this Apocalyptic period. The largest
portion of the book treats of the transitional interval after the churches have
disappeared from the scene, and before the Lord Jesus comes from heaven with His
glorified saints in judgment of the earth. I believe that this is in brief a
true account, as far as it goes, of the main subject-matter of the Apocalypse.
The churches are gone, and are no more heard of after chapter 3 (save in the
exhortations at the end). Then we hear, as remarked, of the seven horns and eyes
representing the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. The term of
long patience ceases, and divine judgments run their course. It is not that
there are not saints called and witnessing; nor, of course, could there be
saints without the quickening power of God’s Spirit acting by the word as of
old. But what is the character of the action of the Holy Spirit in and by these
saints who follow the Church on earth? What is the nature of His communications
to their souls? What is the experience that He forms within, or the walk that He
leads to without? The answer in the words of the Apocalypse itself is, that the
Spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus (for such is what I suppose the
order really ought to be, though, being reciprocal, the grammar admits equally
of either). It is a question here entirely of contextual propriety, whether you
take first the one member or the other.

Now, this at once lets us into the total difference in the relation of the
Spirit of God towards these saints, as compared with His aspect toward the
Church and the Christian. The Holy Ghost, as a present and characteristic fact,
dwells in the believer as a spirit of communion. What I learn in Christ, I enjoy
as mine. It is all my portion and delight. There is not a single revelation that
God makes of His Son that I am not entitled to take as the comfort of my heart.
The Christian has a direct interest in all His glory. He may see that which only
presents Him as an object of worship for the soul, as the Son of the Father;
but, still, nothing more delights him, because, as born of God, and having the
Holy Ghost setting the heart free, it is the joy of the believer to have One
above himself, whatever His love — One before whom he can fall down and worship.
We know, alas! how John proved his own weakness here (the abuse of what in
itself would be perfectly right to a divine object); but the glory of the angel
for a little while dimmed the homage of his heart, and divided it: so bright was
this revealing personage, that the prophet was going to worship him. But the
believer (whose heart knows the Son of God, knows His grace, delights itself in
His glory as the Holy Ghost brings before him Jesus) is a willing worshipper, as
of the Father, so of the Son. In all other things where Christ is not simply
thus as the Son, the eternal One, and divine Person, the object of worship, we
have One who is both above us, and in deep and ungrudging love is pleased to
share His relationship with us. In fact, all that He had given Him, He gives to
us; all that He has wrought, He has caused to contribute to our infinite
blessing. In all this, you observe, it is the Holy Spirit of God who takes of
the things of Christ, and shows them unto us. He is glorifying Christ, but it is
by showing His things to us. He makes our hearts run over with the joy of Christ
that we possess. This is not the case in the Apocalypse. Look at the saints in
Revelation 6:1-17, which is the first place where any on earth are brought
before us in the prophetic part as a matter of fact. They desire the Lord’s
judgment of their adversaries. They are wistfully longing after some good they
have not got. This is the case even in Solomon’s Song, not what pertains to the
Church or the Christian’s relationship, as I shall show presently in speaking of
the book of the Revelation. But the position of saints on earth, after the
Church has disappeared, is such that the Holy Ghost is only the Spirit of
prophecy. The sole testimony that He renders to Jesus is as a prophetical spirit
which casts them on the future — on what they are to receive by Jesus when He
appears. It is not so with the Christian; and this is a fact which may suggest
much as to differing principles in the display of God and the blessing of the
saint. Two things are wanted to set one in real blessedness as a present thing.
I want a satisfying object for my affections, and I must possess that object; I
want a stimulus for my expectations, being still in the body, and surrounded by
objects that Satan uses as means to draw one away from God. Now, it is essential
for me, that as I have Christ for my heart, so I should yet have Him to wait for
in the other sense of my hope. We want these two things, that seem to be
contradictory but in reality are the essential constituents of full blessing for
the saint and for the Church. If there be not a satisfying object before my
heart, what exercise or rest can there be for its affections? But the Christian
has Christ. And therefore it is that the Holy Ghost does seal him, gives him
this unction, gives him to know what he has, and is his power of enjoying Christ
and what Christ has given him. But then the same Holy Ghost leads me to look for
Christ. This we shall find in the Revelation too — for us, not for those who are
to succeed the Church. It is only with the Bride that the Spirit says, "Come."
It is only in dealing with her that He prompts her cry, and joins in saying,
"Come." And He says "Come," because He who loves us best, and is truly loved by
our hearts, has told us that He is coming. Then the Spirit, who honours His
word, instils this desire, and makes us long for Him. But then He is One who
loves as none other could love — who has spent Himself in His love, that I am
waiting for. Therefore I have, while I have not; I have all the blessedness,
consequently, of possession by faith, and yet have all the stimulus of hope,
that makes me look out of the present scene, only to be perfectly satisfied when
He has me and I have Him in the heavenly glory where He is gone. This is
precisely what meets the heart in Christianity. Christ has come down to the
world, and loves me where I am. He loved me in the midst of my folly, and in
spite of my sins. At the same time He is my hope; and I shall be like Him and be
with Him where He is. And this is what is found in Christianity, and nowhere
else. It could not be before Christ came, because the object was not come nor
fully revealed. It cannot be after Christ has come again. At His coming there
will be full and everlasting blessing, and all sorrow and difficulty shall
vanish away. Then the path for saints on the earth will be an easy one. But now
there is the opposition of the Spirit of God to Satan’s power. Therefore there
is every possible element to hinder and try the child of God. But there is the
blessedness of faith and hope. The Holy Ghost is the spring of all power. He,
since redemption, takes His place in the believer and in the Church. How blessed
is the portion of the Church of God! But manifestly, when the Church goes on
high, there will be no longer any kindred state. The Spirit of God will quicken
souls, as He did before He was sent down from heaven and formed the Church. That
is, there will be the same elementary and eternal work of the Holy Spirit as
long as there are souls here below, and a God to know vitally. Besides, the Holy
Spirit, working appropriately, will throw them upon the future. This is not
wonderful; because it is simply the order then before God. Thus the contrast is
plain. The heavenly saints just before will have been taken out of the world:
here are these souls which are being prepared for the millennial earth It is a
strictly transitional period; but the form of the Spirit’s action and testimony
is to direct hearts to the future that is about to be revealed. The spirit of
prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. Thus it is not the opening out of the
fulness of redemption. It is not the power which gives the soul the
consciousness of drawing "within the veil," where there is "an anchor of the
soul both sure and steadfast." Nothing of our peace and joy appears: saints have
this now in Jesus. But the emphatic form intimates that the Holy Ghost will
direct them to look to Him for the future. They will have to wait. Other souls
must also suffer like them. (Revelation 6:11) Accordingly we find some such
words as these, "How long, O Lord?" They look for One who is to come; and
nothing but the mighty power of God can give them to believe this: such will
then be the deceit of unrighteousness.

It is not for man to dispute with God; and it is not for a believer to question
the word of God. All our wisdom is in exercising at once simple faith in the
Scriptures, which has a sedative effect on the soul in presence of all
questions, difficulties, and doubts of mind about these matters. If God has
revealed the future, He has revealed it for us to know. So far is it from being
true that the Christian has enough to do in occupying himself exclusively with
his own blessings, on the contrary, you rob the Christian of part of his
peculiar inheritance if you induce him to quit this vantage-ground. Not only has
he faith’s possession now, and hope’s anticipation, but he stands here put on an
eminence whence he can survey the future, looking right into eternity itself.
What can be larger, what more blessed, than the place of a Christian? Oh, how
little we enter into, and know, and enjoy our proper blessing in Christ! The
Apocalyptic saints will have not this, but a prophetic testimony from the Spirit
of Jesus.

There is no need for me to say more now on this subject. Let me simply recall
your attention to the closing words, as proving more fully what has been already
asserted — that the Holy Ghost, after the prophecy terminates, is shown to us at
the close in unison with the hope of the Bride, which means the Church of God,
and nothing else. The attempt to apply the Bride in the Revelation to Jerusalem
seems to me a delusion. "The Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that
heareth say, Come." Here we have clearly the Spirit guiding the Church, viewed
in her own bridal anticipation of Jesus. The place where it occurs makes the
call all the more striking; because, after having gone through the whole course
of God’s dealings with man up to the very end, after even the final judgment
before the great white throne, after fully describing the new heavens and the
new earth, it might have detracted somewhat from the Christian’s own proper joy
to have been so much occupied with prophecy. Indeed, such study always
depresses, where there is not a counterpoise of heavenly hope. I am persuaded
prophecy, when alone, tends to produce an earthly effect on the Christian’s
soul, and leads one to fritter away the spiritual energy which is intended for
Christ and the Church, and for souls in their need and danger, if the mind be
let go after merely detailed objects of earthly judgment and curious knowledge.
Of course, this is positively injurious for the saint of God, just in proportion
to the measure of its exclusion of Christ and heavenly things.

Mark how the Holy Ghost has here provided against this peril in relation to the
Church. We may go through all these prophetic visions which John wrote for us,
and we may see in them a complete picture of the future, which unites the
scattered lights of the rest of Scripture into a focus in the Apocalypse. After
it is all done, the main thing that He sets Himself to do is, as it were, to
establish us in looking completely out of the earthly scenes for our own proper
object — Christ. And this seems to me all the more impressive if not surprising,
because it is in a book so eminently prophetical. This final call, however, at
once lifts US out of the lower region of prophecy into that which suits the
renewed heart in its truest affections for its right and heavenly attraction —
Christ on high and coming again. The Lord give us to enjoy with an ever
deepening relish the marvellous light which God’s word affords us as to the Holy
Spirit who deigns to be in us (though solely for Christ’s sake), and this
because of His estimate both of Christ Himself and of that redemption which is
our immovable foundation before God. May we not merely learn more about the
Spirit, but, guided of Him, have our hearts strengthened, enjoying by Him in
Christ our Lord all that God has been pleased to reveal to us in His precious
word.

Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, Appendix.

’The New Testament Doctrine of the Holy Spirit.’

W. Kelly.

Having freely alluded to the doctrine of the inward light held by the Friends as
derogatory to the revealed truth of the Holy Ghost, I am almost bound to add
briefly some of the grounds on which a severe censure has been passed on this
their fundamental peculiarity. It will be evident to the intelligent reader of
G. Fox, W. Penn, I. Pennington, Sewel, and other so-called Quakers, that they
call the same principle right reason, grace, the Spirit, the word of God, Christ
within, and God in us. Confounding all these and more with that conscience, or
knowledge of good and evil, which is the universal property of man since the
fall, they thus extend to all, without exception, what Scripture says of
Christians only. Mosheim’s account is just and calm; and I shall quote no more
than is incontrovertible. He had remarked that, though apparently novel,
Quakerism was really but a modification of the mysticism of the second century,
which had never died out of Christendom, fragments of which were floating about
in books, tracts, and men’s conversation when Fox wandered about moodily, laying
claim to divine inspiration. What he expressed confusedly was systematized by
his successors, especially Penn, Barclay, Keith and Fisher. "Their chief dogma
then, on which depend all the rest, is that famous and very ancient burden of
the mystics, that there lies hid in the minds of all men a certain part of
reason and the divine nature, a spark of that wisdom which is in God Himself.
Since this is overwhelmed with the weight of the body and the darkness of the
flesh which surrounds us, whoever desires happiness and eternal salvation must,
by retiring from external things into self, by contemplation and by enfeebling
the sensual force, draw it out, kindle, and inflame it. He who does so will feel
an admirable light to dawn on him, and a heavenly voice to burst forth from the
inmost recesses of his mind, — a conductor into all divine truth, and the surest
pledge of our union with the Supreme Being. This treasure, natural to the human
race, they call by various names, most frequently ’divine light,’ sometimes a
’ray of eternal wisdom,’ at others ’the heavenly Sophia,’ the dress of whom
(married to a mortal) some of these writers set forth magniloquently. The terms
more familiar to us are ’the internal word’ and ’Christ within;’ for since they
hold with the ancient mystics and Origen that Christ is the very reason and
wisdom of God, and they will have all men to be endowed with a portion of the
divine wisdom, they necessarily conclude that Christ or the word of God is,
dwells, and speaks in all men.*

* But the modern Quakers, as appears from the latest writings of Martin and
others, do not know the real sentiment of their ancestors, and perpetually
confound that innate light with the Holy Spirit’s light operating in the minds
of the pious.

"All their singular and marvellous views flow from this parent principle. For
since Christ is in all mankind, it follows, — (1.) That all religion consists in
calling off the mind from outward objects, in weakening the power of the senses,
in a complete introversion, and the most attentive reception of all that Christ,
in the heart or the inner life, commands and dictates. — (2.) That the external
word, that is, Holy Scripture, neither determines nor leads man to salvation;
for letters and words, being void of life, have no adequate power to enlighten
and unite man’s mind to God. The only advantage of reading Scripture is in
rousing and stimulating the mind to hear the inner word, and to attend the
school of Christ, who teaches within. In other words, they regard the Bible as a
dumb master, which by signs points out and discovers that living master who
dwells in the mind. — (3.) That those destitute of the written word, as
Polytheists, Jews, Mahometans, savage tribes, want, it is true, a certain small
help toward attaining salvation, but not the way and doctrine of salvation; for
if they attend to their inner monitor, who is never silent when the man is
silent, they will learn abundantly from him all that is needful to be known and
done. — (4.) That the kingdom of Jesus Christ is of vast extent, and embraces
the entire human race; for all carry Christ within them, and thereby, though
utterly barbarous and in total ignorance of Christianity, they may become wise
and happy both here and hereafter. Those who live virtuously, and restrain their
lusts and passions, whether Jews, Mahometans, or Polytheists, shall be united to
God, both here and eternally, by Christ that lies hidden within," etc.
(Mosheimii Institt. E. E. Saec. xvii sect. ii. pars ii. c. iv. § vii. viii.)
Take the following extracts from early Friends.

Fox: "And as I was walking by the steeple-house aide, in the town of Mansfield,
the Lord said unto me, That which people do trample upon must be thy food. And
as the Lord spake, he opened it to me, how that people and professors did
trample upon the life, even the life of Christ was trampled upon; and they fed
upon words, and fed one another with words; but trampled upon the life; and
trampled under foot the blood of the Son of God (which blood was my life); and
they lived in their airy notions, talking of him. It seemed strange to me at the
first, that I should feed on that which the high professors trampled upon; but
the Lord opened it to me clearly by his eternal Spirit and power.

"Then came people from far and near to see me; and I was fearful of being drawn
out by them; yet I was made to speak and open things to them. There was one
Brown, who had great prophecies and sights upon his death-bed of me. And he
spake openly of what I should be made instrumental by the Lord to bring forth.
And of others he spake that they should come to nothing: which was fulfilled in
some that were something in shew. And when this man was buried, a great work of
the Lord fell upon me, to the admiration of many who thought I had been dead.
And many came to see me for about fourteen days’ time; for I was very much
altered in countenance and person, as if my body had been new-moulded or
changed. And while I was in that condition I had a sense of discerning given me
by the Lord, through which I saw plainly that when many people talked of God and
of Christ, etc., the serpent spake in them. But this was hard to be borne. Yet
the work of the Lord went on in some, and my sorrows and troubles began to wear
off, and tears of joy dropped from me, so that I could have wept night and day
with tears of joy to the Lord in humility and brokenness of heart. And I saw
into that which was without end, and things which cannot be uttered, and of the
greatness and infiniteness of the love of God, which cannot be express by words.
For I had been brought through the very ocean of darkness and death, and through
the power and over the power of Satan, by the eternal, glorious power of Christ;
even through that darkness was I brought which covered over all the world, and
which chained down all, and shut up all in the death. And the same eternal power
of God, which brought me through these things, was that which afterwards shook
the nations, priests, professors, and people. Then could I say I had been in
spiritual Babylon, Sodom, Egypt, and the grave; but by the eternal power of God
I was come out of it, and was brought over it, and the power of it, into the
power of Christ. And I saw the harvest white, and the seed of God lying thick in
the ground as ever did wheat, that was sown outwardly; and none to gather it And
for this I mourned with tears. And a report went abroad of me, that I was a
young man that had a discerning spirit. Whereupon many came to me from far and
near — professors, priests, and people; and the Lord’s power brake forth. And I
had great openings and prophecies, and spake unto them of the things of God . .
. .

"And they were discoursing of the blood of Christ. And as they were discoursing
of it, I saw through the immediate opening of the invisible Spirit, the blood of
Christ. And I cried out among them, and said, ’Do ye not see the blood of
Christ? See it in your hearts, to sprinkle your hearts and consciences from dead
works to serve the living God. For I saw it, the blood of the New Covenant, how
it came into the heart.’ This startled the professor, who would have the blood
only without them, and not in them. . . . .

"Now was I come up in Spirit through the flaming sword into the paradise of God.
All things were new; and all the creation gave another smell unto me than
before, beyond what words can utter. I knew nothing but pureness, and innocency,
and righteousness, being renewed up into the image of God by Christ Jesus; so
that, I say, I was come up to the state of Adam, which he was in before he fell.
The creation was opened to me; and it was showed me how all things had their
names given them according to their nature and virtue. And I was at a stand in
my mind whether I should practise physic for the good of mankind, seeing the
nature and virtues of the creatures were so opened to me by the Lord. But I was
immediately taken up in Spirit to see into another or more stedfast state than
Adam’s in innocency, even into a state in Christ Jesus that should never fall.
And the Lord showed me that such as were faithful to him in the power and light
of Christ should come up into that state in which Adam was before he fell: in
which the admirable works of the creation, and the virtues thereof, may be
known, through the openings of that divine word of wisdom and power by which
they were made. . . . .

"And on a certain time, as I was walking in the fields, the Lord said unto me,
’Thy name is written in the Lamb’s book of life, which was before the foundation
of the world.’ And as the Lord spake it, I believed, and saw it in the new
birth. Then, sometime after, the Lord commanded me to go abroad into the world
And I was to turn them to the grace of God, and to the truth in the heart, which
came by Jesus. . . . . For I saw that Christ had died for all men, and was a
propitiation for all; and had enlightened all men and women with his divine and
saving light; and that none could be a true believer but who believed in it. I
saw that the grace of God, which brings salvation, had appeared to all men, and
that the manifestation of the Spirit of God was given to every man to profit
withal These things I did not see by the help of man, nor by the letter (though
they are written in the letter); but I saw them in the light of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and by his immediate Spirit and power, as did the holy men of God, by
whom the holy Scriptures were written. Yet I had no slight esteem of the holy
Scriptures; but they were very precious to me. For I was in that Spirit by which
they were given forth; and what the Lord opened in me, I afterwards found was
acceptable to them. . . . .

"Therefore I exhorted the people to come off from all these things, and directed
them to the Spirit and grace of God in themselves, and to the light of Jesus in
their own hearts, that they might come to know Christ, their free Teacher, to
bring them salvation, and to open the Scriptures to them."

"Whosoever witnesseth Christ within, they witness the end of imputation, they
witness the thing itself, and they possess their sanctification, and such come
to know faith and love. And such as may have all the Scriptures, and preach of
justification and sanctification without them, and not within them, be as the
Jews, be as the witches and reprobates."

PENN: "The same Christ, Word-God, who has lighted all men, is by sin grieved and
burdened, and bears the iniquities of such as so sin and reject his benefits.
But as any hear his knocks, and let him into their hearts, he first wounds, and
then heals; afterwards he atones, mediates, and reinstates man in the holy image
he has fallen from by sin." Again: "All the disadvantages the Protestant is
under in this is that of his greater modesty, and that he submits his belief to
be tried, while the other refuses under the pretence of unaccountable
infallibility. To that authority reason demurs; right reason, I mean; the reason
of 1 John 1:1-9; for so Tertullian, and some other ancient as well as modern
critics, give us the word Logos; and the divine reason is, one and all, the lamp
of God which lights our candle, and enlightens our darkness, and is the measure
and test of our knowledge."

"I have chosen to speak in the language of the Scripture, which is that of the
Holy Ghost, the Spirit of truth and wisdom, that wanted no art or direction of
man to speak by, and express itself fitly to, man’s understanding. But yet that
blessed principle, the Eternal Word, I begun with to you, and which is that
light, spirit, grace, and truth, I have exhorted you to in all its holy
appearances or manifestations in yourselves, by which all things were at fist
made, and man enlightened to salvation, is Pythagoras’s great light and salt of
ages;

Anaxagoras’s divine mind;

Socrates’s good spirit;

Timaeus’s unbegotten principle and author of all light;

Hieron’s God in man;

Plato’s eternal, ineffable, and perfect principle of truth;

Zeno’s Maker and Father of all; and

Plotin’s root of the soul: who as they thus styled the Eternal Word; so for the
appearance of it in man they wanted not very significant words:

’A domestic God or God within,’ say Hieron, Pythagoras, Epictetus, and Seneca.

’Genius, angel, or guide,’ say Socrates and Timaeus.

’The light and Spirit of God,’ says Plato.

’The divine principle in man,’ says Plotin.

’The divine power and reason, the infallible, immortal Law in the minds of men,’
says Philo; and

’The law and living rule of the mind, the interior guide of the soul, and
everlasting foundation of the soul,’ says Plutarch."

"The condemnation or justification of persons is not from the imputation of
another’s righteousness, but the actual performance and keeping of God’s
righteous statutes or commandments; otherwise God should forget to be equal.
Therefore, how wickedly unequal are those who, not from Scripture evidences, but
their own dark conjectures and interpretations of obscure passages, would frame
a doctrine so manifestly inconsistent with God’s most pure and equal nature,
making him to condemn the righteous to death, and justify the wicked to life
from the imputation of another’s righteousness — a most unequal way indeed!"

"The way to justification and sonship is through the obedience of the Spirit’s
leadings; that is, manifesting the holy fruits thereof by an innocent life and
conversation."

"The Trinity of distinct and separate Persons in the unity of essence may be
refuted from Scripture, and also from right reason. "

"If each Person be God, and that God subsists in three Persons, then in each
Person there are three Persons or Gods, and from three they will increase to
nine, and so on ad infinitum."

"The vulgar doctrine of satisfaction, being dependent on the second Person of
the Trinity, is refuted from Scripture and right reason."

"The same light and life which afterwards clothed itself with that outward
body."

"Though we believe that the eternal power, light, and life, which inhabited that
holy Person who was born at Bethlehem was and is chiefly and eminently the
Saviour, yet we reverently confess the holy manhood was instrumentally a
Saviour, as prepared and chosen for the work that Christ, the Word-God, had then
to do in it."

BARCLAY: "it will not from thence follow that these divine revelations are to be
subjected to the examination either of the outward testimony of Scripture, or of
the human or natural reason of man, as to a more noble and certain rule and
touchstone. "

"We may not call them [the Scriptures] the principal fountain of all truth and
knowledge, nor yet the first adequate rule of faith and manners, because the
principal fountain of truth must be the truth itself; i.e., that whose authority
and certainty depends not upon another." Again: "God hath committed and gives
unto every man a measure of light of his own Son — a measure of grace, or a
measure of the Spirit. This, as it is received, and not resisted, works the
salvation of all, even of those who are ignorant of the death and sufferings of
Christ."

"Though we affirm that Christ dwells in us, yet not immediately, but mediately,
as he is in that seed which is in us; whereas he, to wit, the Eternal Word,
which was with God and was God, dwelt immediately in that holy man."

"From this large description [John 6:1-71] of the origin, nature, and effects of
this body, flesh, and blood of Christ, it is apparent that it is spiritual, and
to be understood of a spiritual body, and not of that body or temple of Jesus
Christ which was born of the Virgin Mary, and in which he walked, lived, and
suffered in the land of Judea, because that it is said that it came down from
heaven, yea, that it is he that came down from heaven. . . . That this body and
spiritual flesh and blood of Christ is to be understood of that divine and
heavenly seed, before spoken of by us, appears both by the nature and the fruits
of it. . . . So, then, as there was the outward visible body and temple of Jesus
Christ, which took its origin from the Virgin Mary, so there is also the
spiritual body of Christ, by and through which he that was the Word in the
beginning with God, and was and is God, did reveal himself to the sons of men,
in all ages, and whereby men in all ages come to be made partakers of eternal
life, and to have communion and fellowship with God and Christ For as Jesus
Christ, in obedience to the will of the [father, did by the eternal Spirit offer
up that body for a propitiation for the remission of sins, and finished his
testimony upon earth thereby, is a most perfect example of patience,
resignation, and holiness, that all might be made partakers of the fruit of that
sacrifice: so hath he likewise poured forth into the hearts of all men a measure
of that divine light and seed wherewith he is clothed; that thereby, reaching
unto the consciences of all, he may raise them up out of death and darkness by
his life and light; and they thereby may be made partakers of his body, and
there-through come to have fellowship with the Father and with the Son."

PENNINGTON: "How came the Scriptures to declare of Christ? Was it not from the
Spirit? And is not that same light still with the Spirit, by which the
Scriptures were given forth? And can he not give it forth without the letter,
where he seeth need of it, and vouchsafeth so to do? Why may not men now by the
light of the Spirit come to know that Christ is come, dead, and risen, as well
as these things were known and believed before the Scriptures were written’"

"But we believe the Spirit to be a touchstone beyond the Scriptures, and to be
that which giveth ability to try and discern, not only words, but spirits."

"The light is near all mankind, to discover to them and help them against the
darkness. The knowledge of those, and belief of those who own the light, is
owned by God’s Spirit (in this our day) for the true believing in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and for that knowledge which is life eternal; and the knowing and
believing on him, as men account it, according to their apprehension of the
letter, without this, is reckoned with God for ignorance and unbelief."

Answering the question, "Whether the writings of any now be of equal weight with
the Scriptures?" he says, "Yea, the immediate word of the Lord, spoken and
declared this day by any man to Whom it pleaseth the Lord to commit the same, is
of no less authority, nor more to be slighted now, than it was in his servants
in the days past, by whom the Scriptures were given forth."

"I will grant a great deal to the letter and ministration outward, but I must
attribute more to the inward, or else God’s light, and the holy experience he
hath given me, will condemn me." Again, "The Holy Spirit of God and the
Scriptures are not always joined together; for some in the dark corners of the
earth may be visited by the Spirit, and receive the Spirit, who never heard of
the Scriptures."

"The Scriptures give testimony concerning the one thing necessary to salvation;
but the thing itself, Christ himself, the seed itself, is not contained in the
Scriptures, but revealed in the shinings of the true light, and so received or
rejected inwardly in the heart."*

* For most of the quotations from Pennington, I am indebted to "The British
Friend" of November, 1867; and he who extracts them subscribes himself "a
believer in our first principles," and commends strongly these and other such
statements of an author who, he allows, was "by no means the most extreme in his
views, or the most trenchant in his expressions."


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  CHAPTER 5: ANOTHER COMFORTER
========================================================================

Another Comforter

A.J. Pollock Our Lord in view of leaving this earth to return to the Father,
from whence He came, said to His disciples, “I will pray the Father, and He
shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever” (John
14:16). By the use of the word, “another,” our Lord intimated He would not cease
to be our Comforter, and Advocate, in heaven, but that He would send a Successor
to earth, putting the one to be sent on the same level as Himself, even a Divine
Person in the unity of the Godhead—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If the One sent
were only an influence, an emanation from God, as some falsely teach, our Lord
would not have put the One to be sent on a level with Himself. That the
Comforter sent would be a Divine Person in the full sense of the word, our Lord
leaves us in no doubt, “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 1:26). When the High
Priest entered the Holiest of All to sprinkle the blood of the sin-offering upon
the mercy-seat, the sound of the golden bells, attached to his garments, should
signify to the anxious listeners outside, that the High Priest was alive
carrying out his high-priestly functions with all their wealth of typical and
prophetical meaning. On similar lines the sound “as of a rushing mighty wind,”
filling the room where the expectant disciples of our Lord were assembled on the
great Day of Pentecost, signified that the dispensation of the indwelling Holy
Spirit of God had arrived upon earth, coinciding with the birthday of the church
of God (Acts 2:1-15). This surely was a wonderful and outstanding day in the
history of the world, linking up each believer with their glorified Head in
heaven, and to each other on earth, thus forming them into the one body of
Christ. We read, “By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be
Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink
into one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13).


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 6: ANOTHER COMFORTER
========================================================================

Another Comforter John 14:15-17; John 14:25-26; John 15:26; John 16:7-15.

N. Anderson Our Lord was about to leave His own in the world where evil
abounded, and where they would be hated for His sake (John 15:19-21). So He
exhorted them, "Let not your heart be troubled" (John 14:1), and again, John
14:27, having said, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as
the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let
it be afraid."

Four reasons He gave them as to why they should heed this word from their Lord.

1. His going away to the Father’s house would prepare a place there for them.

2. He would come again for them, that He might receive them to Himself, that
where He was they also might be.

3. While He was away they should have His peace in order that they might be in a
world of hatred and persecution, in tranquillity of spirit even as He had been.

4. In addition He would beg the Father and He would give them another
Comforter-One who could come alongside and undertake for them completely.

They would indeed be better off during His physical absence. They were not to
lose by His leaving them, rather were they to be the gainers. So He said, "It is
expedient for you that I go away: if I go not away, the Comforter will not come
to you."

We would like to make an aside just here. Our Lord, though having assumed the
flesh and blood condition, "The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us"
(John 1:14), did not in so doing relinquish that which was ever His in
co-equality and in co-eternity with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Thus we read
of Him saying, "I beg the Father." There are two words used in the course of
these chapters, John 13:1-38, John 14:1-31, John 15:1-27, John 16:1-33, John
17:1-26, for "pray" or "ask." One of which denotes the asking by an inferior of
a superior, the other which denotes the asking of an equal. The latter is used
in this instance. Our Lord was consciously on equal terms with the Father and so
He makes His request that the Father would send them another Comforter.

There are two necessary prerequisites on the part of His own. It was not
sufficient that they be troubled in heart, let them prove their love for their
departing Lord. "If ye love Me, keep My commandments." Obedience is ever the
proof of love. "To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of
rams." The other Comforter, unlike our Lord Who was about to leave them, would
abide with them for ever. The disciples would gain then, for they would have two
Comforters-the Spirit of Truth to be with them forever, even for the remainder
of their sojourn here upon earth, and Christ in the Father’s presence as their
Advocate (see 1 John 2:1). Our Lord’s advocacy, not being part of our present
theme, we leave it-profitable though the consideration of it would be. In
leaving it we would just like to add that the same word is translated in either
passage as Comforter and as Advocate-Paraclete. The other Comforter is
identified as the Spirit of Truth. What our Lord had said of Himself
objectively, "I am . . the Truth," is here said of the Spirit subjectively. The
Spirit would reproduce in the disciples of the Lord a practical answer to that
which had been set before them in Him. Furthermore, the Spirit of Truth would
not only be "with you"-companywise, but He would be "in you"-individually. The
Son had been with them but He had not been "in" them. The Spirit being "in"
them, awaited "that day." For His being "with" the Assembly in its collective
character as distinct from being "in" them individually-please read 1
Corinthians 3:16 and also 1 Corinthians 6:19.

Note that the company of those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are distinct
and consequently distinguished from the world. For "the world cannot receive the
Spirit of Truth, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him, but ye know Him
for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you" (John 14:17).

It is averred by some that "He dwelleth with you" was only true while our Lord
was here on earth but we would counter such a suggestion by saying that the
Spirit being in the saints was in consequence of His dwelling with them. Let us
keep in mind that "the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not
yet glorified" (John 7:39)-while as yet our Lord was still here on earth. In
John 14:1-31, "Another Comforter" is identified for us by our Lord as the Holy
Spirit (John 14:26). Note that in this chapter "The Father will send in My
Name." In John 15:26, "Whom I will send unto you from the Father." While we read
in John 16:23, "Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth is come." Thus, in John
14:1-31 He would be sent by the Father in the Son’s Name. In John 15:1-27, the
Son would send Him as from the Father. And in John 16:1-33, He would come. In
the first instance He is sent in the interests of the Father. Finally, He comes.
How blessed is the inter-communion of the Persons of the Godhead! In John
14:1-31 our Lord outlines for us the ministry of the Spirit of Truth, "He shall
teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I
have said unto you." This would have particular reference to the gospels. We are
not left to the fallible memory of men, no, we have the infallible Spirit of
Truth to direct the disciples even in these matters. Hence, at the close of this
gospel the last verse says, "There are also many other things which Jesus did,
the which if they were written every one, I suppose that even the world itself
could not contain the books that should be written." So the Spirit has been
selective in that which He recalled to their remembrance. He Who alone is
capable of teaching us all things is surely capable of bringing those things to
their remembrance which He sees absolutely indispensable. For instance, if we
read with prayer and care the first epistle of John we shall find no fewer than
nine references to that which is "from the beginning"-the commencement of our
Lord in His ministry in this world. In John 15:1-27, the Spirit of Truth, said
our Lord, "shall testify of Me" This most certainly covers the teaching of the
epistles. Their characteristic feature, among others, is that they are united in
presenting Him. His lowly self-humbling leading to His exaltation; His being
extolled as Lord and Head; the truth of His priesthood and His being Minister of
the Sanctuary as also Mediator of the New Covenant. How enthralling is the
teaching concerning His being the Second Man out of heaven, and the Last Adam.
His being Firstborn of all Creation, and the Firstborn from the dead. The Head
of the New Creation. As such He has accomplished the work of Redemption and
Reconciliation. The Spirit then bears witness to Him where and as He is. In this
He uses the disciples, "Ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me
from the beginning."

How rich their compensation for having companied with Him during those days when
having come unto His own, His own people received Him not! How many facets of
His glory in His many functions as witnessed by Peter, James and John, Jude and
Paul. For all these we are debtors to the Spirit of Truth Who had empowered them
in their witness. Granted that Paul had not companied with our Lord from the
outset, yet he certainly had seen our Lord in glory!

We turn to the account in this chapter: it would assuredly be expedient for the
disciples that our Lord should go away. If He did not, then the Comforter would
not come to them. "If I depart I will send Him to you" (John 16:7). In this
instant we have His distinct sending on the part of the Son. When He was come,
His coming would have a distinct bearing on the world. His very presence brings
demonstration to the world of three things:-

1. Of sin.

2. Of righteousness.

3. Of judgment. Not "judgment to come," as so often misquoted.

1. "Because they believe not on Me" The crowning sin of the world is unbelief as
to the Person of the Son. The blessing of God had been offered to the world on
the incoming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He had earlier said, "I am come a light
into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness. And
if any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not; for I am come not to
judge the world, but to save the world" (John 12:46-47). Again He had also said
to the leaders of Israel, "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin; but now ye
say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth" (John 9:41).

2. "Because I go to the Father" The demonstration to the world of righteousness
lay in the fact that He had gone to the Father. Henceforth they would see Him no
more. The world which He had created, in which sin was reigning, had been
presented with its Creator, replete with saving grace. What was its response?
"Away with Him. Crucify Him. We will not have this man to reign over us" (John
19:15; Luke 23:21; Luke 19:14). And so He who was so unrighteously treated here,
left the world and went to His Father. If then we would see righteousness we do
not look around, we look up and see our Lord accepted by His Father. He has
reversed the judgment of the world which has rejected His son. He has received
Him in perfect righteousness. The world, in rejection of Him, is a doomed
system. The Father then has expressed the truth that righteousness is not to be
found here. It may only be found with Him, and that as connected with Him in the
exaltation of His Son.

3. "The prince of this world is judged." Little wonder then that the world is
doomed! Led on by him in self-exaltation and in his hatred of God and His
Christ, the Spirit gives convincing demonstration that he is entirely unchanged
since his assault against God in the garden of Eden. Then he had succeeded in
alienating man from God his creator. "He was a murderer from the beginning, and
abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. when he speaketh a lie
he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44). "He
that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning"
(1 John 3:8). The prince of this world had also pitted himself against our Lord,
not in a garden but in the wilderness. Having met his match and being defeated,
he retreated for a season (see Luke 4:13). We read also, John 12:31, "Now is the
judgment of this world, now shall the prince of this world be cast out." His
sentence was reached at the cross; his judgment is richly deserved. The
execution of that sentence awaits that occasion of which we read in Revelation
20:1-15 -he shall be bound for a thousand years and cast into the abyss. "And
when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his
prison"-and it shall be evidenced that his long incarceration has not altered
him in the slightest (read Revelation 20:7-10), "and the devil that deceived
them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone," thus shall his judgment be
ultimately carried out.

Here in John 16:1-33, while the door of this world is closed to the saints, that
into the Father’s world is opened to them, "I have many things to say unto you,
but you cannot bear them now." Loving consideration of our departing Lord!
"Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you into all the
truth; for He shall not speak of (from) Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear,
that shall He speak." He will lead us into the sweetness of the communion of the
Persons of the Godhead. They never act independently of each other, while we do
read in our King James translation, "He shall not speak of Himself," there is no
doubt we could better read, "from."

It is erroneous to assume that the Spirit shall not speak about Himself-indeed,
we are indebted to Him for every word we read about Him. He, then, would lead us
into that realm of subsisting communion of life, nature, co-equality, and
co-eternity of Deity. "He will show you things to come," pleasing or painful,
dark or bright! He outlines to us the future-the coming glory, as well as the
ensuing breakdown, and who amongst us has not failed to hold fast that which has
been committed to our trust? He, while shewing us things to come, gives not only
warning but also recovering truth. How often does our Lord say, "He that hath an
ear let him hear what the Spirit saith to the Assemblies." "He shall glorify Me,
for He shall take of Mine, and shall shew it unto you."

How full and heartwarming is the Spirit’s ministry as He repeatedly draws
attention to Christ? No matter in whatever aspect we view Him He is so presented
to our affections "that in all things He might have the pre-eminence." Our Lord
goes on to say, "All things that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I,
that He shall take of Mine, and shall shew it unto you." This will draw us into
the sphere of eternal life, where the Father and the Son are at home in
unalloyed bliss. John tells us, by the Spirit, in 1 John 1:1-10, that which we
have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with
us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ."
In 1 John 5:1-21 we learn that our Lord, no longer on earth but now in the
glory, and having gone there via the cross, has given us the Spirit Who joins
His witness with that of the water and the blood. "These three agree in one . .
and this is the witness, that God has given unto us eternal life, and this life
is in His Son."

We thank God for that other Comforter, the Holy Spirit, and His present ministry
which gives us the value of the Gospels, the Epistles, and the prophetic
portions of the New Testament including the book of Revelation.


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  CHAPTER 7: CHRIST IN HEAVEN, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT SENT DOWN.
========================================================================

Christ in Heaven, and the Holy Spirit sent down.

Acts 2:22-36

J. N. Darby. This passage brings very definitely before us (Christ having been
exalted as man by, and to, the right hand of God) how consequently the disciples
received the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost. This runs through all the
instruction given here. The place of Christ, having finished redemption, is to
sit now at the right hand of God, "expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool," Hebrews 10:13. He has not yet taken His own throne at all; He is
seated on the Father’s throne. "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with
me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his
throne," Revelation 3:21. Thence He will "come again," as He says in John
14:1-31, and receive us unto Himself.

Christianity is not the accomplishment of promise. Of the earthly part the Jews
were the centre. But God meanwhile "hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ"; and then, till Christ comes again, He is sitting
on the throne of the Father, and has sent the Holy Ghost down. The Christian is
one in whom the Holy Ghost dwells between the accomplishment of redemption and
His coming again. The thought and purpose of God about us is that we should "be
conformed to the image of his Son." The Holy Ghost is given to dwell in us
meanwhile, to dwell in us individually — collectively too, but I speak now
individually. That is what the Christian is: Christ is his life, his
righteousness: it is a ministration of righteousness and of the Spirit. "If any
man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Romans 8:9); it does not
say, "If he is not converted," though that would be true, of course. You see so
many saints everywhere who are not settled in their relationship with God; the
present power for this is the Holy Ghost come down. The coming of the Lord Jesus
is not simply a little bit of knowledge which we may add to the rest, but it is
the hope of the Christian. If we die we go to Him, but what is held out to us is
that the Christian is waiting for Christ. "So Christ was once offered to bear
the sins of many, and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second
time without sin unto salvation," Hebrews 9:28. If we die we go up to Him, and
blessed truth it is too; but that Christ shall come, this is the hope of the
Christian, the only full hope. "To depart and to be with Christ which is far
better," true this is not the purpose of God for us; the purpose of God is that
we shall be like Christ. I do not want to be like Christ with my body in the
grave, and my spirit in paradise: the expectation of the Lord’s coming makes the
person of Christ to be so much before the soul. I am going to see Him and to be
like Him. Scripture does not talk of going to heaven; "Absent from the body,
present with the Lord," 2 Corinthians 5:8. "To depart and be with Christ which
is far better" (Php 1:23), always the thought is going to Christ. That is what
we all want personally, that Christ should have a larger place in the heart:
"Rooted and built up in him"; "To know the love of Christ which passeth
knowledge." "Christ is all," and He is "in all" as the power of life; having
become our life, He is before our souls to fill them.

Christ is the motive for the Christian for whatever he does, whether he eats or
drinks; and his desires are never satisfied, and never can be, till he be with
and like Christ. Therefore he is always waiting for Him. The Thessalonians were
converted "to wait for his Son from heaven," 1 Thessalonians 1:10. The coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ, instead of being a little bit of prophetic knowledge, is
interwoven with all the thoughts and condition of the Christian. Grace has
appeared teaching us (Titus 2:11-12), and the grace that has appeared is the
grace that saves. When the Lord went up on high the Holy Ghost came down, and
through the Holy Ghost we have not only the knowledge but the fruits of the
place He has given us. The seal of the Holy Ghost is put upon us: the presence
of the Holy Ghost is that which gives the full knowledge of our place and
blessedness. Redemption, which brings us to God, is finished; we are exercised
afterwards — all that goes on, but our relationship is never in question. I
believe the government of God is most important when we are children; "He
withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous," Job 36:7. This is most important
and blessed in its place; but the great thing is first of all to get into the
place where God has put us. The very names of God go along with this. To the
patriarchs He was "God Almighty," when they were strangers and pilgrims; to
Abraham He said, "I am thy shield, and thine exceeding great reward" (Genesis
15:1-21); to Israel He had given promises, and He takes the name of Jehovah, the
name of One who, having given promises, never rests until they are fulfilled.
Then in the Revelation He speaks of Himself as the One "who is, and who was, and
who is to come," Revelation 1:8. All that was concerned in a certain sense with
this world; but it is not so with us. We are called to suffer with Christ,
because Christ has been rejected, and this with the full knowledge of
redemption. "And I have declared unto them thy name and will declare it, that
the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them," John
17:26. God has another name, "Most High." You never find the name "Father" from
Psalms 1-150. "And this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true
God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent," John 17:3. "Life and
incorruptibility" have been brought "to light through the gospel," 2 Timothy
1:10. The name "Almighty" does not carry eternal life. "Jehovah" fulfils
promises, but does not give eternal life, but the Father sent the Son, "that we
might live through him," 1 John 4:9. "For the life was manifested and we have
it, and bear witness and shew unto you that eternal life which was with the
Father and was manifested unto us," 1 John 1:2. "And this is the record that God
hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in the Son," 1 John 5:11. When
we receive the Son, we get into the place of children; it is the force of the
expression in John’s Gospel. "But as many as received him to them gave he right
to be called children of God," John 1:12. The Son is there, and we are
associated with Him completely and fully. In Matthew 3 the Holy Ghost comes down
upon Him, and the Father’s voice says, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased." There the full revelation of the Trinity is Christianity: we have the
Son as man, the Holy Ghost coming down in bodily shape like a dove, and the
Father’s voice, in that wondrous scene of Christ taking His place publicly as
man. "I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God," John 1:34. The Old
Testament saints were quickened surely; but if you take Galatians 4:1-31, you
find they were not in the condition of sons. "The heir, as long as he is a
child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all," Galatians
4:1. "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into
your hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Galatians 4:6). That had not been the case
before; they were ordered to do this and that under the law.

"Verily, verily I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and
die, it abideth alone, but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit," John 12:24.
He was totally alone, a true man in His relationship with God; even when He
declared His Father’s name to His disciples, they did not understand a bit of
it. Then you see redemption brings us into this place.

Let me turn back to the basis of all this. Here am I a child of Adam, with an
evil nature and sins; Christ bore my sins, and that is all perfectly settled for
ever — if it is not, it never can be; but it is "once for all, for ever"; there
is no other application as regards the putting away of my sins in God’s sight.
He does not impute them for the simple blessed reason that Christ has borne
them, and He is sitting at the right hand of God, because it is done. Many a
true honest soul sees only past sins put away, but what about sinning
afterwards? Go to Calvin, and he will send you back to your baptism, while the
evangelicals go back to the blood. "For the law, having a shadow of good things
to come . . . can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year
continually make the comers thereunto perfect," Hebrews 10:1. "In which were
offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service
perfect, as pertaining to the conscience," Hebrews 9:9. If I go into God’s
presence, I have not the most distant thought that He imputes anything to me as
guilt: that is what is wanting to so many souls. "Because that the worshippers
once purged should have had no more conscience of sins," Hebrews 10:2. He does
not say sin: the old stock is there. I "But in those sacrifices there is a
remembrance again made of sins every year," Hebrews 10:3. I go into the presence
of God now, and I see Christ sitting, because by one offering He has settled
everything. "And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes
the same sacrifices which can never take away sins; but this man, after he had
offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on the right hand of God, from
henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool," Hebrews 10:11-13.
He sits at God’s right hand, because He has finished that work perfectly. "For
by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified" (Hebrews
10:14). He has set them apart to God, and He has perfected for ever their
consciences.

"The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not
yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing," Hebrews 9:8.
Now we have "boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus." The
thing is done; it was prophesied of before, but now it is done. "For ever" here
means never interrupted. If I come to God, Christ is always there, and my
conscience is always perfect. I may go and humble myself in the dust if I have
dishonoured Christ: it is in the holiest that I learn how bad sin is. I could
not be before God in the light until the veil was rent, but "by one offering"
Christ has perfected my conscience. When I go to God I find Christ, who bore my
sins, sitting at the right hand of God because He has done it. This will make me
see sin a great deal more than anything else. I have got a new nature, and I am
in the light as God is in the light. This turns the question from righteousness
to holiness. So long as I am connecting it with a question of acceptance, it is
righteousness that I want: suppose righteousness is settled, then I abhor the
sin because it is sin, for itself. "Well but," you say, "without holiness, no
man shall see the Lord." That is quite true, but you are looking for
righteousness, not holiness. The clearance in that way is absolute; but there is
another thing which gives my soul its place before God. Not only Christ died for
my sins, but I died with Christ; the tree is bad, not only the fruit: then I
reckon myself dead. In the first part of Romans we get nothing about experience.
Suppose I owed £100 and that it was paid for me, no experience would be in
question; but suppose I say to you, "You are dead to sin," perhaps you would
say, "Indeed I am not, it was working in me this morning." Till you are clear
about that, you are not settled in your place. The old tree has been cut down,
and grafted with Christ. In Romans 6:1-23 I reckon myself dead: "Likewise reckon
ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin" (Romans 6:11); in Colossians 3:3
we get, "For ye are dead"; and in 2 Corinthians 4:10, "Always bearing about in
the body the dying of the Lord Jesus." We find God’s estimate and faith’s
estimate; and in Galatians 2:19 we have the summary of the whole thing, "For I
through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God." When I find a
nature working in me contrary to Christ, I say it has been crucified with
Christ, and I do not own it. "What the law could not do . . . God sending his
own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh," Romans 8. He has forgiven the sins and condemned the tree that produced
them, but the tree that was condemned has died in Christ.

I have to learn thus, by the power of the Spirit of God, not merely that what
the old tree produced has been blotted out, but that Christ is my life; "I am
crucified with Christ," and sin in the flesh has been condemned. Where? Where
you died with Christ: when Christ was there for sin, sin in the flesh was
condemned, not forgiven; it died, for faith, where it was condemned. "O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God
through Jesus Christ our Lord," Romans 7:24-25. Looked at as in that old man, I
died in Christ. The moment we believe in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, then
we get the sealing of God. Because the blood of Christ is upon me, then the Holy
Ghost comes and dwells in me. They received the Holy Ghost on believing the
forgiveness of their sins. In Acts 10 we find the same thing: faith received the
forgiveness of their sins in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then the
Holy Ghost came on them. As in the figure in the Old Testament, we are washed,
sprinkled with blood, and then anointed with oil. The Holy Ghost comes, then I
know where I am, that my standing is in Christ: "There is therefore now no
condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus," Romans 8:1. "In Christ" is my
standing before God; the Holy Ghost is the present power of it all; the work is
Christ’s.

I get the other point, knowledge of salvation, and knowledge that I am not a
child of Adam but a child of God. "To give knowledge of salvation unto his
people by the remission of their sins," Luke 1:77. "Behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world. The same is he which baptiseth with the Holy
Ghost," John 1:29; John 1:33. He could not baptise with the Holy Ghost till He
had died, and was risen and glorified. I know the place I have got into: the
treasure — is in an earthen vessel, but I have got the knowledge of salvation.
"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty," 2 Corinthians 3:17. It is
that which enables me to say with truth, "I am crucified with Christ,
nevertheless I live." There I get first the accomplishment of redemption; and
Christ sitting on His right hand; and the purpose of God, as the blood on the
lintel and door-posts made the Israelites free, and they were brought from Egypt
to the Red Sea, out of an old place into a new, so that Moses could sing, "Thou
hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation," Exodus 15:18. "Thou
shalt bring them in" (Exodus 15:17). I get these two things, complete redemption
is one; the other I have not got yet; Christ has entered as our Forerunner, I
have not entered yet, but the Holy Ghost is "the earnest of the inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession." Christ "endured the cross,
and despised the shame," and He is set down as man at the right hand of God. We
rejoice in hope of the glory of God. "Therefore being justified by faith we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by
faith into this grace wherein we stand," Romans 5:1-2. I know by the Holy Ghost
that I am in divine favour. We have these three things.

1. We are justified, and have peace with God.

2. We stand in present grace, in divine favour.

3. When Christ comes again, we shall be in glory with Him. "That the world may
know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me," John
17:23. It is "That the world may know," not believe: this ought to be now, but
it is very far from it. When it sees us in glory, it cannot help knowing; when
we appear in the same glory with Christ, people will think, "Why these people
that we trampled under foot are in the same glory with Christ!" We do not wait
for that: the world will know when we are in the same glory with Christ, but now
we know by the Holy Ghost, "That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in
them and I in them," John 17:24. Beloved friends, just think of that: your
hearts ought to have the consciousness that He loved you as He loved Jesus! A
child might say, "I am a foolish child, I think little about my mother"; but he
has no uncertainty about his mother’s love to him. We never apprehend all God’s
love to us; still we know we are children and sons. It is no uncertain place: I
know I am loved as Christ is loved; we have poor wretched hearts, that is quite
true. A true child does not measure its mother’s love; I am sure it could not,
but it knows and is in it.

We have got "the adoption of sons." "Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth
the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba Father." I have got the
consciousness of it; I know my place. We know God as our Father. The soul that
has the Spirit of God dwelling in him knows not only the clearing of the sins of
the old man, but that he is in the second Man, and knowing it, he cries, "Abba,
Father." "For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified, are all of
one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren," Hebrews 2:11.
They are "all of one," one set, as it were. What is my life? Christ. What is my
righteousness? Christ. He is not one with the unconverted world; there is no
union in incarnation. He stood for us in the cross, but He has united us with
Him in glory. If I take the Father’s relationship with Christ as man, He is not
ashamed to call us brethren. In Psalms 22:1-31 He says, "Thou hast heard me from
the horns of the unicorns. I will declare thy name unto my brethren." His work
was finished: as soon as that was done, He comes out in resurrection, past the
power of death and of Satan, and He sends this message to His disciples: "I
ascend unto my Father and your Father: and to my God and your God," John 20:17.
He had never said that before, though He called them "sister" and "mother" and
"brother" in a general way. Beloved brethren, what we want is to see how Christ
has united us to Himself, to see the way God has brought us into the place of
the second Man, as sin brought us into the place of the first man.

One point more, our connection with Christ: "And I will pray the Father, and he
shall give you another Comforter." "At that day ye shall know that I am in my
Father, and ye in me, and I in you." Ah, it is a terrible thing that saints are
so far from scriptural ground as to say we cannot know! We are in Christ,
"accepted in the Beloved," and we have the Spirit of adoption. One thing more,
besides the point I am on: Christ is in us. You cannot live on in sin, you are
dead; that is where the Christian’s responsibility is, not in connection with
his acceptance ("By one man’s obedience many shall be made righteous"). I know
He is in me, having bought me at all cost, and there I see responsibility. I get
the two things in Romans 8:1-39. "No condemnation to them which are in Christ
Jesus," and "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." You
have been delivered, you have redemption in Christ, and you have been sealed
with the Holy Ghost. I own nothing as life in the Christian but Christ: the
whole of our lives should be the expression of Christ and nothing else, our
"speech always with grace, seasoned with salt." Only one other thing, beloved
friends; God is love, and the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts:
therefore we get in the Epistle of John, "He that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in
God, and God in him." We have the Person of the Holy Ghost dwelling in us, so
our bodies are temples: God is there in the perfection of His own nature; we
have to watch not to grieve such a guest. It is through the Holy Ghost that the
love of God is shed abroad in our hearts; that is the key to everything. "And
not only so, but we glory in tribulations also" (Romans 5:3); it is the key to
everything; I want it, and He sent it. Christ is sitting at the right hand of
God, and the Holy Ghost comes down giving us the consciousness of the present
relationship in which we are to walk.

"Be ye therefore imitators of God as dear children," Ephesians 5:17. How are we
to imitate God? Was not Christ God? I earnestly desire that all our hearts may
get hold, through the power of the Spirit of God, of the place we are brought
into, that we may have the consciousness of this, the knowledge of it through
the Holy Ghost until we go to be with Him. The Lord give you to have this
consciousness. Why, beloved, to think of the Father’s love at work, and the Son
of God having gone down to death for you, it is not much to expect! The Lord
give us to feel what we owe Him, that our whole desire may be to glorify Him.


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  CHAPTER 8: CHRISTIAN LIFE IN THE SPIRIT.
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Christian Life in the Spirit.

Php 2:1-30, Php 3:1-21.

W. Kelly.

(B.T. Vol. 9, p. 371-375.) The whole of this epistle contains very little
doctrine (doctrine being just alluded to in Php 3:1-21); but it gives us, in a
remarkable manner, the experience of a christian life in the power of the Holy
Ghost. It is full of blessing in that character — the life above seen down here
in a man through the power of the Spirit of God. So much is this the case that
the very word "sin" is not found in it. When he speaks of justification and
righteousness, it is not in contrast with sin, but rather with human and legal
righteousness. The flesh was there. At the very time Paul wrote the epistle he
had got the thorn in the flesh to prevent it from acting; but we see in him one
rising above the flesh and all hindrances, that Christ might be magnified in
him. Whether to live or die, he did not know; he would have liked to be gone,
but in love to the church he says, Better for you to remain; and so, counting
upon Christ and knowing it is better, he knows he will remain. He knows how to
abound and how to suffer need; he is pressing towards the mark for the prize —
it is the only thing he has to do. The graciousness of a Christian is in Php
2:1-30, the energy in Php 3:1-21, the absence of care in Php 4:1-23; but it is
all by the power of the Spirit of God. It is well for us to lay it to heart. We
are the epistle of Christ known and read of all men — an epistle written not in
stone, but in the fleshy tables of the heart. We are set as Christians to be a
letter of recommendation of Christ before the world. Yet it gives us the fullest
and blessedest confidence towards God if we take that ground; for, if we are in
the presence of the world for God, Christ is in the presence of God for us. His
work has perfectly settled that question, and He is every moment appearing in
the presence of God for us.

We are loved as He is loved. In every shape in which we can look at it, all is a
fixed settled thing according to the counsels of God in grace; it is in a poor
earthen vessel, but our relationship is settled, all that belonged to the old
man cleared away, and all that belongs to Christ, the new Man, our positive
portion. Not only are our debts paid, but we are to be conformed to the image of
His Son, and He has obtained for us the glory which is His own. "The glory which
thou hast given me I have given them." He has given Himself on the cross to meet
what we were, and He has obtained for us all that He has. This is the way Christ
gives — not as the world. If the world gives, they have it not any longer; but
Christ never gives in that way — never gives away, but brings us into all He If
I light up one candle by another, I lose nothing of the first; and such is the
way He gives. I speak of blessed principles. "My peace I give unto thee . . . .
that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves." "Thy words thou hast given
me I have given them . . . . that the love wherewith thou hast loved me maybe in
them." He became a man on purpose to bring us as men into the same glory as
Himself. That relationship we are brought into already. "I go to my Father and
to your Father, to my God and your God." If I look at righteousness and
holiness, I am as He is; if at the Son, I am before the Father as a son; and, is
we hive borne the image of the earthy, we shall bear the image of the heavenly.
The work that entitles us to this is absolutely and totally finished. The Spirit
makes us first feel our need in order to our possessing it, but the work is
finished. In order to get our path clear, we must see where He has brought us. I
cannot expect anyone to behave as my child, if be is not my child; you must be
in the place before you can have the conduct suited to that place, or be under
the obligations which belong to it; and it is this last part I desire to look at
a little tonight. "You hath He reconciled," not brought halfway: as to
relationship, brought into Christ. That is all. Through the work of the cross He
put away our sins, and when He had done it, He sat down at the right hand of the
Majesty in heaven. He finished the work which His Father gave Him to do; and in
Hebrew the Spirit contrasts Christ’s work with that work of the priests which
was never finished so that they never sat down.

We are perfect as pertaining to the conscience. A blunder often made is
confounding perfection as to our state with perfection as to our conscience.
When once we have understood the work of Christ, we are perfect as regards the
conscience. If I look up to God, I can have no thought of His ever imputing sin
to me again, or I could not have peace with God; and this is so true that it is
said, if this work was not perfectly done, Christ must suffer again. But He
cannot drink that dreadful cup again, the very thought of which made Him sweat
great drops of blood. If there is any sin still to be put away (I speak now of
believers), Christ must suffer again, and this can never be. God has set Him at
His right hand as having finished the work: "I have finished the work which thou
gavest me to do; now, O Father, glorify thou me." He will deal with His enemies,
no doubt, when He rises up in judgment; but, as to believers, He is sitting down
because He has no more to do. I am not speaking now, of course, of the daily
grace He ministers to them. It is settled, and settled with this double aspect
that, the purpose of God being to bring us into the same glory as His Son, the
work of Christ not only cleared away our guilt but obtained that glory for us.
We have not got it yet; but the work which is our title to it is finished,
though we have not yet the glory to which it is our title. We are anointed and
sealed with the Spirit, and He is the earnest of our inheritance. We are to the
praise of the glory of His grace, but not yet to the praise of His glory, which
will be when He comes the second time to bring us into the glory which His work
obtained for us when He came the first time. And our life stands between the two
— the cross and the glory.

We are here in this world, beloved friends, in the midst of temptations, snares,
and difficulties, everything around us tending to draw us away; but the power of
God is in us. We know that we are sons of God, though the world knows us not.
"It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know when he shall appear we
shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; and every one that hath this
hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." The practical effect of
beholding the glory of God is to change us into the same image. When Moses came
down from the mountain, they were afraid to look in his face, because the law
required what they had not to give; but now I see the glory which excels, the
glory in Christ, which is infinitely brighter. But the glory in the face of
Jesus Christ is the witness that all my sins are put away. That which shone in
the face of Moses required what man ought to have been as a child of Adam, but
it came to man who was a sinner. It required righteousness, and pronounced a
curse if it was not there. Now I see it in the face of Him who bore my sins in
His own body on the tree. The Christian sees the Man who died for his sins now
in the glory as Man, a witness that the work is done, and a testimony to the
place unto which He is bringing us; and, meanwhile, we have the testimony of the
Holy Ghost that our souls may be perfectly clear as to this. That is where the
believer is set, resting in entire confidence upon the efficacy of the work of
Christ, and, upon the other hand, waiting for God’s Son from heaven, converted
for this: "Ye yourselves as men who wait for their Lord." Standing here is
perfect liberty, for where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. And here
we have the proper experience of a Christian as led by the Spirit of God. We
have in Php 3:1-21 a Christian as to his walk, Christ having laid hold of him
for that; as in 2 Corinthians 5:1-21 : "He that hath wrought us for the
self-same thing," etc. He has wrought us for that, not only cleared our sins. He
sees Christ in glory before him (Paul had really seen Him there), and that was
what he was going to get. "This one thing I do . . . . I press toward the mark
for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." What he was doing was
to win Christ. He had not yet obtained Him, or got into the glory; but it was
the only thing he was doing in the world: his whole life was that. In Php
2:1-30, on the other hand, Christ is looked at, not as going up to glory, but as
coming down to the cross; and here we see the graciousness of His character. By
this our hearts and affections are won, and we are formed into the likeness of
this graciousness. And thus we have the two great things that govern the
Christian: the glory that is before him, and the grace that has been shown him.

One word as to Php 2:12-13 : "Not as in my presence only," etc. Often this "fear
and trembling" is used to cast a doubt upon our relations with God. Yet it is
not this we have to fear about. But we are in the midst of temptations,
everything around us, the power of Satan distracting and turning the heart from
Christ; and he presses upon them that, now he is absent, they must take care. He
had worked for them when he was with them, he had met the craft of the enemy in
wisdom and apostolic power; but he was in prison when he wrote this. He says,
"Therefore, now, you must fight for yourselves;" but this is in contrast with
his fighting for them; and they were to do it, for it was GOD that worked in
them. The contrast is between (not God and man working, but) Paul and the
Philippians. God it was who did work in them, were Paul there; and, if they had
lost Paul, God who wrought in them was still there.

But, then, what a solemn thing for us, beloved friends, if we have the sense of
this, that we are left down here to make good our path to glory against Satan
and all the difficulties of the way! It is enough to make us grave. A false step
will throw me into the snares of Satan. I have to be serious; I have the promise
of being kept, but I need to be serious.

I have spoken of the finished work, but there is another thing that exercises
us: how far can we look at the flesh and say we have done with it? And this is
where the practical difficulty comes, if you are in earnest and desiring to walk
in fellowship with the Father and the Son. I ought never to walk after the
flesh. The existence of the flesh does not give me a bad conscience, but if I
allow it to act it does. Whenever I let even an evil thought in, communion is
interrupted. It is not that the flesh is gone as a matter of fact; not that
there is nothing in us which Satan can tempt, but there is power in us not to
lot it act. The flesh is not changed. The word is as plain as over it can be as
to what the flesh is. If left to itself, it becomes so bad that God had to
destroy the world. Noah, saved out of the old world, gets drunk. The law is
given, and the flesh is not subject to it. Christ comes in grace, and the flesh
crucifies Him. The Holy Ghost is given, and the flesh lusts against it; and we
get the ease of one in the third heaven, and the flesh ready to puff him up. The
flesh could not be mended, but he gets a thorn in it. But that is no reason why
I should ever let it act; it never ought.

Scripture does not speak of our being conformed to Christ here; it says we are
to walk as He walked. But the place of conformity to Christ is the glory, and
"he that hath this hope in him purifieth himself;" that is to say, he is not
pure, he has not attained. The place where I shall be like Christ is in glory.
He has obtained it for me; and then, my eye looking upon Him by faith, I am
changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit.

I find this the great truth which Scripture does give me: not only that Christ
died for my sins, but that I died with Christ. In the epistle to the Romans, in
the first part, you get all the sins dealt with, the great truth of Christ being
substituted for us on the cross — bearing our sins in His own body on the tree,
He is delivered for our offences; and, in the subsequent part taken up, is the
question, not of sins, but of sin — not the fruit, but the tree, and we are
shown not to be in the flesh if the Spirit of Christ is in us.

I do not live by the life of Adam, but by the life of Christ; and this is where
the total difference is for the Christian. But it is not only that I have a new
life as quickened by Christ, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, nor
that He has been crucified for me so that my guilt is removed, but I am
crucified with Christ. In Colossians we read, "Ye are dead, and your life is hid
with Christ in God" — therefore dead in this world. This is God’s declaration of
our state as Christians. In Romans, "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified
with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed." "In that he died, he died
unto sin . . . . wherefore reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin,
but alive unto God (not in Adam, but) through (or in) Jesus Christ our Lord."
This is faith’s estimate of it, and this is where you find real deliverance and
freedom from the bondage of sin. It is "no condemnation" not to them whose sins
Christ bore, but "to them that are in Christ Jesus." God condemned sin in the
flesh: He did not forgive it, He condemned it. If I get the law, it condemns me;
but Christ — does He condemn me? No; for He has taken the condemnation for me,
and in Him God has condemned sin in the flesh, and I reckon myself dead because
it was in death He did so. Christ’s death is, as all that He has wrought,
available to me; and therefore I reckon myself dead. In 2 Corinthians we get the
carrying this out in practice; " Always bearing about in the body the dying of
Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in your mortal bodies."
And then he speaks of the exercises which God sends for our good, to test this
realisation in us and make it effectual: "Always delivered unto death," etc. We
all fail for want of watchfulness, but that is what our life ought to be.

Suppose I have got a man in my house who is always at mischief. I cannot turn
him out, but if I lock him up he can do no harm; he is not changed, but I am
free in the house. If I leave the door open, he is at mischief again; but we are
to keep him locked up, this is what we are called to do — what God calls us to
do. The world will not have this; it will mend and improve man, cultivate the
old man, as if it could produce good fruit, because it does not see how bad it
is. The world would dig about it and dung it. That has been tried. God cuts it
down and grafts us with Christ. This condemning and cutting down was in the
cross of Christ; not, of course, that He had any sin, but as made sin for us;
and I know, not only my sins cleared away, but I am crucified with Christ, and
my life hid with Him in God. And this is available for power, if I carry it
about in my heart. Supposing we honestly held ourselves dead; can Satan tempt a
dead man? But in order for this, it must not be putting one’s armour on when the
danger is there; but, living with Christ, my heart is full of Him. Would a woman
who had heard that her child was killed or hurt at the other end of the town be
thinking of what she saw in the shop windows as she ran toward him? No; she
would have just enough sense to find her way. If your hearts were fixed like
that on Christ, nine-tenths of the temptations that come upon you would be gone:
you would be thinking of something else, and outward things would only bring out
sweetness, as they did with Christ; for we are never tempted above that which we
are able.

Saints, if in earnest, have got to realise not only the putting away of their
sins, but also the having died with Christ; and this delivers from the power of
sin.

We see in Php 3:1-21, a Christian with one object: knowing Christ has laid hold
of him for glory, and his heart is running after Christ. I am to have no other
object, though I may have many things to do. He is "in all" as the power of
life, and He is "all" as the object of that life. He is all and in all. (See
Colossians 3:12.) This is again summed up in the latter part of Galatians 2 :
"Not I, but Christ liveth in me;" and then the object: "I live by the faith of
the Son of God." Then there is the sense of His perfect love: "Who loved me and
gave himself for me." The heart is fixed on Him, and follows hard after Him.

There is another thing — the spirit and character in which we walk down here;
and this we see in Christ coming down. When I have got this blessed place,
Christ my life, holy boldness, yea, to know we are sitting in Him in heavenly
places, the place a Christian is called to (a wonderful thing, I grant) is to go
out from God and be an epistle of Christ. I joy in God, have got the blessedness
of what He is, and go on in communion with Him to show out His character in the
world. This is in Php 2:1-30.

Ought I to walk as Christ walked? Every Christian will own that: "Let this mind
be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." Suppose my soul has tasted this
perfect love, and it is well we should recollect it, God’s love shed abroad in
our hearts, and know, be conscious down here, that we are loved as Jesus was
loved; for if I really know God as thus revealed in Christ, what do I believe
about Him? What put it into God’s heart to send Christ down here? He knew how He
would be treated. Did the world? It would not have Him when He came. It was all
in His own heart! Perfect love in His heart; the unsuggested origin of every
blessing. What character did it take in Christ? Was it staying up in heaven and
saying, "You behave well and come up here?" No! we all know that. But He who, in
the form of God, in the very same glory, thought it no robbery to be equal with
God (mark the contrast with the first Adam), made Himself of no reputation; and
what brought this about? Purest love, love coming to serve. For Christ took the
form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man. He emptied Himself of
all the glory — the very opposite of the first Adam. Divine love came to serve;
a new thing for God — the only new thing. And this is what I learn. I know this
love, I know that I am made the righteousness of God in Him; so that I stand
before Him, and then I come out from Him towards the world to bring out this
blessed character. I have learned the love, and now I must come out and show it.
"Be ye followers of God as dear children." You are children: that is all
settled. Now you go and give yourself as Christ did, in whom this love is known
— a sacrifice to God, and for us. The spirit of love is always lowliness,
because it makes itself a servant. I get the grace that brought Christ down. It
is very difficult for us to bow; I know that, beloved friends. He "went to
another village." There was perfect meekness; but it tries men — some more than
others; but the moment perfect love is seen, it comes and takes the lowest place
to serve others. Paul endured all things for the elect’s sake, that they might
obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. And here I find
what is entirely beyond law. Law tells me to love others as myself; grace tells
me to give myself up entirely for my neighbour or for anybody. Did not God
forgive you? You go and forgive your enemies. Is He kind to the unthankful and
the evil? You go and be the same. It tests all the fibres of our hearts, all the
pride and vanity and selfishness that are in us. You like doing your own will.

"He humbled himself and became obedient to death;" He goes so low down that He
could go no lower; "even to the death of the cross." But, then, "God hath highly
exalted him." He was the first grand example of "he that humbleth himself shall
be exalted."

Blessed be His name! He will never give up His service: it is the very thing He
shows us, and in which He would that our hearts should see the perfection of His
grace. It is what He is doing in John 13:1-38. He had been their servant down
here, but now they might think that there was an end of His service. No. He
says, I cannot stop with you, but I must have you with me. "If I wash thee not,
thou hast no part with me." He does a slave’s work; and this is what He does
now. We pick up dirt as we go — there is no excuse for it; but then is Christ up
there, the Advocate with the Father. And, even in the time of glory, "He will
gird himself and come forth and serve them;" He will be there to minister the
blessing Himself. Our hearts want to learn the perfections of that love in which
He came always down, down, till He could come no lower. Are we willing to walk
in that path? No one would deny we ought; but are we disposed to do it? Would
our hearts be glad of the power of that grace which, holding the flesh as dead,
can say, Here I am in the power of that love to walk as everybody’s servant? We
are to esteem others better than ourselves. If my heart is frill of Christ, I
judge myself for everything not like Christ: I judge the evil in myself because
I see the blessedness in Christ. But what do I see in my brother? I see Christ
in him. The effect of being full of Christ is to make me think little of self
and much of my brother: there is no real difficulty about it if one is.

"Do all things without murmuring," etc. If you take every single part of this
passage, you will find it a statement of what Christ was here. He was blameless
and harmless, the Son of God, without rebuke in the midst of this evil world; He
was the light of the world, and He was the word of life.

If I reckon the flesh dead, only the life of Christ conies out; if only this
came out, we should be a very wonderfully blessed kind of people! To him that
hath shall more be given. If I yield myself to God as one alive from the dead, I
have got fruit here unto holiness, as well as fulness of blessing hereafter.

I would ask you, beloved friends, do you purpose to be Christians? Are you
willing to yield yourselves to God as not having one bit of will of your own?
There is power in Christ, not to say, "I am pure," but, always having my eye on
Him, to purify myself.


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  CHAPTER 9: FIVE LETTERS ON WORSHIP AND MINISTRY IN THE SPIRIT.
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Five Letters on Worship and Ministry in the Spirit.

W. Trotter.

Letter 1 — God present in the assembly Letter 2 — The church edified by gifts
Letter 3 — How to distinguish the guidance of the Spirit — negative marks Letter
4 — How to distinguish the guidance of the Spirit in the assembly — positive
marks

Letter 5 — Miscellaneous observations on the mutual dependence of saints, in
meetings for mutual edification, and on other subjects

Letter 1.

GOD PRESENT IN THE ASSEMBLY.

Beloved Brethren, — There are several points connected with our position, as
gathered together in the name of Jesus, as to which I feel it on my heart to
communicate with you. I take this mode of doing so, as affording you better
opportunity individually to examine, and maturely to weigh, what is
communicated, than you would be likely to have in a free conversation where all
were present. I should be very thankful for this latter, should the Lord incline
your hearts to it, when you have examined and weighed in His presence the
matters I have to put before you.

One word at the outset in acknowledgement of God’s mercy to us as gathered in
the name of Jesus. I can but bow my head and worship in remembrance of the many
seasons of real refreshing and unfeigned joy He has given us together in His
presence. The recollection of these seasons, while it bows the heart before God,
renders each one with whom such mercies have been enjoyed unspeakably dear. The
bond of the Spirit is a real bond; and it is in the confidence which He inspires
in my brethren’s love, that I would as your brother, and as your servant for
Christ’s sake, express without reserve what seems to me of deep importance to
our continued happiness and associated profit, as well as to what is of far
greater moment, the glory of Him in whose name we are gathered. When in July
last we were led of the Lord, as I doubt not, to substitute open meetings for
the Lord’s day evening gospel preachings, which had been sustained till then, I
anticipated all which has since ensued. I may say that the result has not
disappointed me in the least. There are lessons as to the practical guidance of
the Holy Ghost which can only be learned practically; and much that may now, by
the Lord’s blessing, commend itself to your spiritual understanding, and to your
consciences, would then have been quite unintelligible, from your unacquaintance
with the kind of meetings to which such truth applies. It is often said that
experience is the best teacher. This may perhaps be questioned, and rightly so;
but there can be no question that experience makes us conscious of wants which
divine teaching alone supplies. You will believe me, that it is no joy to me in
itself to find my brethren mutually dissatisfied with the part taken by each
other in the meetings. But if this state of things should be overruled, as I
trust it may be, to the opening all our hearts to lessons from God’s word, which
we could not otherwise so well have learned, this at least will be matter for
thankfulness and joy. The doctrine of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in "the
body, the church," and as the sure consequence His presence and supremacy in the
assemblies of the saints, has for a good many years now appeared to my own soul,
if not the great truth of the dispensation, yet surely one of the most momentous
truths by which the present period is distinguished. The virtual or actual
denial of it constitutes one of the most serious features of the apostasy which
has taken place. The sense of this does not abate with me, but rather deepens as
time rolls on.

I do freely confess to you, that with the full acknowledgement that there are
beloved children of God in all the denominations around, and with every desire
to keep my heart open to them all, I could no more have fellowship with any body
of professing Christians who substitute clerisy in any of its forms for the
sovereign guidance of the Holy Ghost, than as an Israelite I could have had
fellowship with the setting up of a golden calf in the place of the living God.
That this has been done, and that throughout Christendom, and that for this,
along with other sins, judgment is impending over Christendom, one can but
sorrowfully own, and take the shame of it before God, as having all had to do
with it, and as being one body in Christ with numbers who to this day glory in
it. But the difficulties which attend a place of separation from this evil, and
which we are all beginning to feel (as we ought surely to have anticipated),
have no such effect with me, as to weaken the sense of the evil from which God
has in His mercy separated us; and they awaken within me no desire to return to
that kind of human, official place and power, the assertion of which for a
distinct class characterizes the professing world, and is fast hastening on the
judgment by which the professing world will ere long be visited.

But, beloved brethren, while our conviction of the truth and importance of the
doctrine of the Holy Spirit’s presence cannot be too profound, let me beseech
you to remember, that the presence of the Holy Ghost in the assemblies of the
saints is itself A FACT. It is simple faith in this we need. We are prone to
forget this. And forgetfulness of this, or ignorance of it, is the main cause of
our ever coming together without profit to our souls. If we did but come
together to meet God; if we did but believe when we are assembled that He is
really present, what an effect this must have on our souls! The fact is, that as
really as Christ was present with His disciples on the earth, so really is the
Holy Ghost now present in the assemblies of the saints. If in any way His
presence could be manifested to our senses — if we could see Him as the
disciples did see Jesus — how would our souls be solemnized and subdued. What
deep stillness, what reverent attention, what solemn waiting on Him, would be
the result. How impossible that there could be any haste, or rivalry, or
restlessness, if the presence of the Holy Ghost were to be thus revealed to
sight and sense. And is the fact of His presence to be less influential because
it is a matter of faith instead of sight? Is He any less really present because
unseen? It is the poor world that receives Him not, because it does not see Him;
and shall we take its place and forsake our own? "And I will pray the Father,"
says Jesus, "and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you
for ever; even 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 14:16-17.)

"But ye know him." Would that we did, beloved! More and more am I persuaded that
our great lack is that of faith in His personal presence. Have there not been
times when His presence has been realized as a fact? and how blessed were such
seasons! There might be, and there were, intervals of silence; but how were they
occupied? In solemn waiting upon God. Not in restless anxiety as to who was next
to speak or pray; not in turning over the leaves of Bibles or hymn books to find
something that we thought suitable. No; nor in anxious thoughts about those who
were lookers-on, wondering what they would think of the silence that existed.
God was there. Each heart was engaged with Him; and for any to have broken
silence, for the sake of doing so, would have been felt to be an interruption
indeed. When silence was broken, it was with a prayer that embodied the desires,
and expressed the breathings of all present; or a hymn in which all could with
fulness of heart unite; or a word which came home to our hearts with power. And
though several might be used in such hymns, and prayers, and ministrations, it
was as evidently one Spirit who guided and arranged the whole, as though a plan
of it had been made beforehand, and each one had had his part assigned. No human
wisdom could have made such a plan. The harmony was divine. It was the Holy
Ghost acting by the several members, in their several places, to express the
worship or to meet the need of all present. And why should it not be always
thus? I would repeat it, beloved brethren, the presence of the Holy Ghost is a
fact, not merely a doctrine. And surely if in fact He be present when we are
assembled together, no fact can compare in importance with this. It is surely
the grand, the all-absorbing fact, from which everything besides in the meeting
ought to derive its character. It is not a mere negation. That the Holy Ghost is
present, means more than that the meeting is not to be ordered by human and
previous arrangement. He must order it if He be present. It means more than that
any one is at liberty to take part in it. Nay, it means the opposite of this.
True, there must be no human restrictions: but if He be present, no one must
take any part but that which He assigns, and for which He qualifies him. Liberty
of ministry is liberty for the Holy Ghost to act by whomsoever He will. But we
are not the Holy Ghost: and if the usurpation of His place by one person be so
intolerable, what shall be said to the usurpation of His place by a number of
persons acting because there is liberty to act, not because they know it to be
the present mind of the Spirit that they should act as they do?

Real faith in the personal presence of the Holy Ghost would set these things
right. It is not that one would desire silence for its own sake, or that any
should be restrained from taking part by the mere presence of this or that
brother. I would rather myself that there were all sorts of disorder, so as for
the real state of things to come out, than have this repressed by the presence
of an individual. What one does desire is, that the presence of the Holy Ghost
Himself should be so realized as that no one should break silence except by His
power, and under His direction; and that the sense of His presence should thus
restrain us from all that is unworthy of Him, and of the name of Jesus in which
we meet.

Under another dispensation we read such an exhortation as the following: "Keep
thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to
give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. Be not
rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before
God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few."
(Ecclesiastes 5:1-2.) Surely, if the grace wherein we stand has given us greater
freedom of access to God than this, we are not to use such freedom as an excuse
for irreverence and haste. The actual presence among us of God the Holy Ghost
should certainly be as urgent a motive to reverence and godly fear, as the
consideration that God is in heaven, and we upon the earth. "Wherefore we
receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may
serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear; for our God is a consuming
fire." (Hebrews 12:28-29.) Hoping to resume the subject, I am, dear brethren,
Your unworthy servant in Christ,

W. Trotter.

Letter 2. THE CHURCH EDIFIED BY GIFTS.

Beloved Brethren, — In resuming the subject on which I lately wrote to you, I
would present you with the following extract from a tract, written at least nine
or ten years ago. The author, if I am rightly informed, is one who has been
greatly honoured of God amongst us, and who is known personally to most of you.
The tract is in the form of a dialogue.

E. I have heard that you assert that every brother is competent to teach in the
assembly of the saints.

W. If I did so, I should deny the Holy Ghost. No one is competent to do this who
has not received gift from God for this very purpose.

E. Well, but you believe that every brother in the assembly of the saints has a
right to speak, if he is able.

W. Indeed I do not. I deny the right to any one, save God the Holy Ghost. A man
may in nature be very able to speak, and to speak well, but if he cannot ’please
his neighbour for good to edification,’ the Holy Ghost has not fitted him to
speak, and he is dishonouring God his Father, grieving the Spirit, and
undervaluing Christ’s church, if he does speak; and is showing, moreover, his
own self-will.

E. Well, what is the peculiarity which you do hold?

W. You may think it peculiar to me, perhaps, to believe, that as the church
belongs to Christ, He has, in order that its attention may not be wrongly
directed and its time misspent in listening to that which is not profitable
(pretty as it may be), given gifts to it, by which alone it is to be edified and
ruled.

E. No. I admit that, and only wish that there were a little more coveting of
such gifts from God, and more caution to put a stop to the use of every other
means, however accredited by human power or eloquence.

W. I hold also that the Holy Ghost gives gifts to whom He pleases, and also what
gifts He pleases. And that the saints ought so to be united together, as that
the gift of one brother should never make the exercise of the real gift of
another irregular, and that there should be an open door for the little as well
as the great gifts.

E. That is a matter of course.

W. Not so; for neither in the Church of England, nor in Dissent, do I find 1
Corinthians 14 acted upon. Moreover, I assert that no gift from God has to wait
for a sanction from the church ere it is used. If it is of God, He will accredit
it, and the saints recognize its value.

E. Do you admit a regular ministry?

W. If by a regular ministry you mean a stated ministry (that is, that in every
assembly those who are gifted of God to speak to edification will be both
limited in number and known to the rest), I do admit it: but if by a regular
ministry you mean an exclusive ministry, I dissent. By an exclusive ministry I
mean the recognizing certain persons as so exclusively holding the place of
teachers, as that the use of a real gift by any one else would be irregular, as,
for instance, in the Church of England, and in most dissenting chapels, a
service would be felt to be irregular which had been made up by two or three
persons really gifted by the Holy Ghost.

E. On what do you build this distinction?

W. From Acts 13:1, I see that at Antioch there were but five whom the Holy Ghost
recognised as teachers: Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen, and Saul. Doubtless,
at all the meetings it was only these five, one or more of them, who were
expected by the saints to speak. This was a stated ministry. But it was not an
exclusive ministry: for when Judas and Silas came (Acts 15:32), they were
pleased to take their place among the others, and then the recognized teachers
were more numerous.

E. And what connection would this have with the giving out of a Psalm, etc., or
with praying, or reading a portion of scripture?

W. These would fall like the rest entirely under the Holy Ghost’s direction.
Alas for the man whose self-will chose to give out a hymn, or to pray, or read a
scripture, without the guidance of the Spirit! In doing these things in the
assembly of the saints, he is professing to be moved and guided by the Holy
Ghost; and to profess this where it is not true is very presumptuous. If the
saints know what communion is, they will know how very difficult it is to lead
the congregation in prayer and singing. To address God in the name of the
assembly, or to suggest to it a hymn as the vehicle for the expression of its
real state to God, requires great discernment, or else a most immediate guidance
from God.

Such is the light in which this subject was viewed by one known, as I believe,
to most of you; one of the earliest labourers among those who, for twenty years
and upwards, have been seeking to meet in the name of Jesus. In further
confirmation of the main thought in the above extract, namely, that God never
designed all saints to take part in the public ministry of the word, or in
conducting the worship of the assembly, I would refer you, first, to 1
Corinthians 12:29-30. "Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are
all workers of miracles? have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with
tongues? do all interpret?" There would be no meaning in these questions if the
fact had not been self-evident, that such places in the body were filled by but
a few. The apostle had just said, "And God hath set some in the church, first
apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles," etc. And
then he says, "Are all apostles?" and so on. Thus we find in the very portion of
scripture which most largely treats of the sovereignty of the Holy Ghost, in the
bestowal and use of gifts in the body, the church — in the very portion which is
always referred to, and justly, in proof that liberty of ministry is what God
has established in His church — in this very portion we are told that all were
not gifted persons, but that God had set some in the body; enumerating the
different orders and kinds of gifts by which they were distinguished. Will you
turn now for a moment to Ephesians 4? Questions have been raised as to 1
Corinthians 12:1-31, 1 Corinthians 14:1-40, whether it be possible to act on the
principles there laid down, in the acknowledged absence of so many of the gifts
there enumerated. I have no such questions myself, and as to any who have, I
should only ask them, What other principles have we in scripture whereon to act?
And then, if there be no others, What authority have we to act on principles
which are not found in scripture at all? But there can be no such question as to
Ephesians 4:8-13. "Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led
captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men . . . and he gave some, apostles; and
some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the
body of Christ." And you will observe too that they are given until the church
is completed. As long as Christ has a body on earth needing the service of such
men, He bestows on them the gifts of His love for the nourishing and cherishing
of His body, His bride, "Till we all come," etc.

It is thus by the ministry of living men, whose place and calling it is to
minister, that Christ cares for and feeds His flock — that the Holy Ghost works
in the body which He inhabits. These men, it is true, may work at their trades.
Paul was a tentmaker. And they may be very far from any pretensions to clerical,
official place and dignity: the further the better. But still they are Christ’s
provision for the edification of His saints; yea, and for the calling in of
souls; and the true wisdom of the saints is to discern such gifts of Christ
where they have been bestowed, and to own them in the place which He has
assigned them in His body. To own them thus is to own Him; to refuse to do so is
both to wrong ourselves and to dishonour Him. Be it remembered, too, that it is
in the body, the whole body, God has set these gifts: it is on the whole body
Christ has bestowed them; and we are not the whole body. Suppose the church had
still been manifestly one, as it was in the apostles’ days; even then. it is
quite possible that the church in one place might be without an evangelist, and
in another without a pastor or teacher; while in some places there might be more
than one of each. But now that the church is so divided and scattered, how much
more true is this of the little companies here and there, who have been gathered
in the name of Jesus. Has the Lord Jesus ceased to care for His church because
of its torn, divided state? God forbid. Has He ceased then to manifest His care
by the bestowal of suitable and needed gifts? By no means. But then it is in the
unity of the whole body they are found. And we need to remember this. All saints
in - form the church of God in the place; and there may be evangelists, and
pastors, and teachers among those members of the body who are still in the
Church of England, or among the Methodists or the Dissenters. And what benefit
do we derive from their ministry? or what benefit do the saints with them derive
from any of Christ’s gifts which are amongst us?

Why do I bring this forward? To press upon you this point, beloved brethren,
that if among the seventy or eighty who meet in the Lord’s name at — there be
none who are His gifts according to Ephesians 4:1-32, or if there be but two or
three such, the circumstance of our meeting as we do will not of itself increase
their number. A brother who is not made a pastor or evangelist by Christ
Himself, does not become one by beginning to meet where the presence of the Holy
Ghost and liberty of ministry are recognised. And if, because there is liberty
from all human restrictions, those begin to assume the place, or act in the
character of teachers, pastors, or evangelists, who have not been given as such
by Christ to His church, will edification be the result? No, but confusion; and
"God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the
saints." If we have not such gifts among us, let us own our poverty: if we have
two or three, let us be thankful, own them in the place God has given them, and
pray for more and better gifts and ministries. But let us not suppose that the
activities of any whom Christ the Lord has not set in such a place will supply
the lack of gifts like these. The only effect of such activities is to grieve
the Spirit, and hinder His actings by those whom He would otherwise use in
service to the saints.

One happy thought arises before me, in drawing this second letter to a close. If
we were not in a position answering to what we find in scripture, such questions
could hardly arise amongst us. Where all is settled and arranged by some human
system; where officers, appointed by a bishop, a conference, or a congregation,
attend to the routine of duties prescribed for them by the rules under which
they act, questions like these have no existence. The very difficulties of our
position prove by their character that the position itself is of God. Yes, and
God who has brought us into it by His Spirit through the word is all-sufficient,
and will not fail us in the difficulties, but guide us through them, to our
profit and His own praise. Only let us be simple, humble, and unassuming. Let us
not pretend to more than we have, or to do that for which God has not qualified
us. Some points of detail I reserve for another letter.

Meanwhile, I remain, Affectionately yours in Christ Jesus,

W. Trotter.

Letter 3.

HOW TO DISTINGUISH THE GUIDANCE OF THE SPIRIT.

NEGATIVE MARKS.

Beloved Brethren, — There are two points on which I desire to make myself
distinctly understood ere entering on the special subject of my present letter.
First, as to the difference between ministry and worship. I here use the word
worship in its largest sense, of every kind of address from man to God, whether
prayer, confession, or what is more properly speaking worship, namely,
adoration, thanksgiving, and praise. The essential difference between worship
and ministry is, that in the one man speaks to God; in the other God speaks by
His servants to men. Our only and all-sufficient title to worship is the
all-abounding grace of God, which has brought us nigh by the blood of Jesus; so
nigh as to know and worship Him as our Father; so nigh as to be kings and
priests to God. In this all saints are alike. The feeblest and the strongest,
the most experienced and the veriest babe are all alike in this. The most gifted
servant of Christ has no better title to draw near to God than the weakest saint
among those to whom he ministers. To suppose the contrary would be to do what
has been so largely done throughout Christendom, namely, to institute an order
of priests between the church and God. One great High Priest we have. The only
priesthood besides His which exists at present is that which all saints share,
and which all share alike. I could not suppose, therefore, that in an assembly
of Christians the giving out of hymns, and prayer, thanksgiving, and praise (the
expression of these I mean), should be confined, to those who are qualified of
God to teach, or to exhort, or to preach the gospel. God the Holy Ghost may use
others of the saints to give out a hymn which really expresses the present
worship of the hearts of those assembled; or He may use them in prayers which
really express the present need and desires of those whose mouth they profess to
be. And if God be pleased so to act, what are we that we should say Him nay?
Still, while these exercises cannot be confined to gifted persons, they must
surely be subject to the present guidance of the Holy Ghost; and they all come
within the range of those principles laid down in 1 Corinthians 14:1-40 such as
that everything must be in order and to edification.

Ministry, that is, ministry of the word — ministry in which God speaks by His
servants to men — is the result of a special deposit with the individual of a
gift or gifts, for the use of which he is responsible to Christ. Our title to
worship is that in which we are all alike. The responsibility to minister flows
from that in which we differ. "Having then gifts differing according to the
grace that is given to us." (Romans 12:6.) This of itself establishes the
difference I refer to between ministry and worship. The other point is, as to
liberty of ministry. The true, scriptural idea of liberty of ministry not only
includes liberty for the exercise of gifts, but also for the development of
them. It implies that we so meet in the recognition of the Spirit’s presence and
supremacy, as to present no hindrance to His acting by whomsoever He will; and
it is quite clear that in the first development of gift, it must be His acting
by those who have not been previously so used of Him at all. Any principle which
would interfere with this would, as it seems to me, be alike subversive of the
church’s privileges, and of the Holy Spirit’s rights. But then it must at once
be obvious, that if saints meet together thus, on ground which leaves scope for
the Holy Spirit to lead to a hymn by one, prayer by another, or word of
exhortation or doctrine by a third; and if room must be left for the Spirit to
develop, as well as to use, gifts for the edifying of the body, this cannot be
done without affording opportunity for forwardness and self-sufficiency to act
without any guidance of the Spirit at all. Hence the importance of knowing how
to distinguish between that which is of the flesh, and that which is of the
Spirit. I shrink greatly from the hackneyed use of such terms as "ministry in
the flesh," and "ministry in the Spirit;" and yet there is all-important truth
embodied in those expressions, soberly used. In each Christian there are two
fountains of thought, feeling, motive, word, and action, and these are
denominated in scripture flesh, and Spirit. The part we take in the assemblies
of the saints may flow from one of these sources, or from the other. It is most
important rightly to distinguish between them. It is most important for those
who take part in the meetings, whether statedly or occasionally, to judge
themselves as to this. It is important for all saints, seeing that we are
exhorted to "try the spirits;" and on the assembly must rest eventually the
responsibility of owning what is of God, and of discouraging and
discountenancing what proceeds from any other source.

It is to some of the broad and principal landmarks, by which we may distinguish
the guidance of the Spirit from fleshly counterfeits and pretensions, that I
would now solicit your attention. And first, I would mention several things
which are not a warrant for our taking part in conducting the meetings of the
saints. The mere circumstance of there being liberty to act is no warrant for
acting. This is so self-evident that nothing need be said to prove it; and yet
we need to be reminded of it. The fact that there is no formal hindrance to any
one taking part in the meeting, renders it possible for those whose only
qualification is that they can read, to take up a principal part of the time in
reading chapter after chapter, and hymn after hymn. Of course, any child who has
been taught to read can do this; and there are few amongst us, indeed, who
cannot conduct the meetings, if ability to read hymns and chapters be all the
qualification that is requisite. But while it is easy enough to read a chapter,
to know which is the right one to read, and which is the right time to read it,
is quite another matter. It is easy enough to give out a hymn, but to give out
the hymn which really embodies and expresses the worship of the saints, is what
only can be done by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I confess to you, my
brethren, when some time ago (not lately, thank God), we had five or six
chapters read, and as many hymns sung, around the Lord’s table, and perhaps not
more than one prayer or giving of thanks, it did occur to me whether we had met
to improve ourselves in reading and singing, or to show forth the Lord’s death.
I do unfeignedly bless God that there has been improvement in this respect for
months back; still, it may be well for us to bear in mind that while there is
liberty to take a part in the meetings, the existence of an opportunity to take
part is no warrant for so doing. That no one else is doing anything at the time,
is not sufficient warrant for taking part in the meeting. Silence for its own
sake cannot be too much deprecated. It may become as complete a form as anything
else. But silence is better than what is said or done merely to break the
silence. I know well what it is to think of a good many persons present who are
not in communion, perhaps not believers, and to feel uneasy at the silence on
their account. Where this commonly or often occurs, it may be a call from God
for an entirely different kind of meeting; but it can never authorize any one to
speak, or pray, or give out a hymn, for the mere sake of something being done.

Again, one’s individual state and experiences are no certain guides as to any
part we may take in meetings of the saints. A hymn may have been very sweet to
my own soul, or I may have been present where it has been sung with great
enjoyment of the Lord’s presence. I am not to conclude from this that it is my
place to give out the hymn at the next meeting I attend. There may be no
suitability in it to the present state of the assembly. It may not be the mind
of the Spirit that a hymn should be sung at all. "Is any among you afflicted?
let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms." (James 5:13.) The hymn must be
expressive of what those assembled feel, or there is no sincerity in their
joining to sing it. And who but He who knows the actual state of the assembly
can guide to a hymn expressive of that state?

Then as to prayer: when one prays in the assembly, it is as the vehicle for the
expression of its wants and its requests. I may have burdens of my own to cast
on the Lord in prayer, which it would be very improper for me to name in the
assembly. The only effect, probably, would be to drag down all my brethren to a
level with myself. On the other hand, my own soul may be thoroughly happy with
the Lord; if that be not the state of the assembly as such, it is only by
identifying myself with the actual state of the assembly that I shall be enabled
to present its requests before God. That is to say, if I am led by the Spirit to
pray in the assembly, it will not be as in my closet, where none are present but
the Lord and myself; and my own wants and my own enjoyments form the proper
subjects of prayer and thanksgiving; but I shall be enabled to offer such
prayers, and make such confessions, and present such thanksgivings, as are
suited to the actual state of those whose mouth I become, in thus addressing
God.

There cannot be a much greater mistake than to suppose that self, and what
relates to self, is to be our guide in conducting the meetings of the saints. A
portion of scripture may have interested my own soul greatly, and I may have
profited by it; it does not follow that I am to read it at the Lord’s table, or
in other meetings of the saints. Some particular subject may be occupying my own
attention greatly; and it may be well for my own soul that it should do so; but
it may not be at all the subject to which God would have the attention of the
saints generally drawn.

You will observe, I am not denying that we may ourselves have been especially
occupied and exercised by subjects which God would have us bring before the
saints. Perhaps this is often, or even commonly, the case with God’s servants;
but what I would affirm is, that this, of itself, is no sufficient guidance. We
ourselves may have necessities which the saints generally have not; and they may
need what would not meet our own case.

Suffer me to add, that the Spirit would never lead me to give out hymns because
they are expressive of my own peculiar views. There may be points of
interpretation on which saints meeting together do not see eye to eye. If in
such a case hymns be chosen by those of one opinion for the purpose of
expressing it — however good and true the hymns may be — it is impossible that
the others can join to sing them, and discord instead of harmony is produced at
once. The hymns to which the Spirit of God leads us in joint worship, will be
the expression of that in which all are agreed who unite in the act. At all
times, but in the assembly at all events, let us endeavour "to keep the unity of
the Spirit in the bond of peace." And let us remember that the way to do this is
to walk "with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one
another in love."

Here let me recall to your minds that in singing, prayer, or worship of any
kind, it is the assembly, whoever may be its mouth or organ, that speaks to God.
It therefore can never be truly or sincerely beyond the state of the assembly,
but must be expressive of it. True indeed, blessed be God, He may by the Spirit
strike a higher note, with which immediately all hearts chord, and so the tone
of united worship be raised; and this He often does. But if the assembly be not
in a state to respond at once to such a key-note of praise, there can be nothing
much more painful than for an individual to go on with exalted strains of
thanksgiving and adoration, when all other hearts are sad and cold, wandering
and distracted. The one who utters the worship of the assembly must have the
hearts of the assembly with him, or there is no reality in what takes place. On
the other hand, ministry, being God’s voice to us, may be ever so much in
advance of our state. It is an individual speaking as God’s mouth, and if it be
really so, it will often be to minister truth we have not as yet received, or to
recall to us truths which have ceased to act in present power on our souls. How
evident that in either case, and in every case, it must be the Spirit of God who
guides. As to what distinguishes the positive guidance of the Spirit, I find I
must leave it for still another letter. The negative part alone has been
presented in this.

Yours, beloved brethren, Affectionately in Christ Jesus,

W. Trotter.

Letter 4.

HOW TO DISTINGUISH THE GUIDANCE OF THE SPIRIT IN THE ASSEMBLY.

POSITIVE MARKS.

Beloved Brethren, — The man who would attempt to define the Spirit’s operations
in the quickening or conversion of a soul, would but betray his own ignorance,
and be denying, moreover, that sovereignty of the Spirit which is declared in
the well-known words, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the
sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is
every one that is born of the Spirit." And yet scripture abounds with marks
whereby it may be discerned who are born of the Spirit and who are not. So as to
the subject of this letter. I hope to be kept from so usurping the place of the
Holy Spirit as to presume in any way nicely to define the manner of His
operations on the souls of those whom He leads to take part in the worship of
the assembly, or in ministering to the saints. It may be in some cases much more
direct and sensible (to the individual I mean) than in others. But however vain
and presumptuous it might be to attempt nicely and accurately to define on such
a subject, scripture gives us ample instruction as to what are the marks of true
ministry. And it is to some of the plainer and more obvious marks that I wish
now to solicit your attention.

Some of them apply to the matter or substance of what is ministered, and others
to the motives which induce us to minister, or to take any part in conducting
the meetings of the saints. Some will afford a test to those who do thus act,
whereby they may judge themselves; others will furnish to all saints criteria
whereby to judge what is of the Spirit, and what from other sources. Some will
serve to show who are Christ’s gifts to His church for the ministry of the word;
and others may aid those who really are so, as to the important question when to
speak and when to be silent. My soul trembles to think of the responsibility of
writing on such a subject. But my comfort is that one’s sufficiency is of God,
and that "Scripture . . . is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be
perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." Let all I may write be tested
by this all-sufficient standard; and if anything will not bear this test, God
grant you, beloved brethren, wisdom and grace to reject it. The guidance of the
Spirit is not by blind impulses and unintelligent impressions, but by filling
the spiritual understanding with God’s thoughts as revealed in the written word,
and by acting on the renewed affections. In early days there were indeed God’s
gifts which might be in their use unconnected with spiritual intelligence. I
refer to the gift of tongues, where there was no interpreter. And it would
appear that because this gift seemed more marvellous in men’s eyes than the
others, the Corinthians were fond of using and displaying it. For this the
apostle rebukes them. "I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:
yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by
my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown
tongue. Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye
children, but in understanding be men." (1 Corinthians 14:18-20.) The least,
then, that can be looked for in those who minister is acquaintance with the
scripture, the understanding of God’s mind as revealed in the word. There may be
this, observe, without any gift of utterance, without any capacity to
communicate it to others. But without this, what have we to communicate? God’s
saints are surely not assembled from time to time in the name of Jesus to have
crude and undigested human thoughts presented to them, or to have retailed to
them what others have spoken or written. Personal acquaintance with God’s word,
familiarity with scripture, understanding of its contents, is surely essential
to the ministry of the word. "Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all
these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. Then said he unto them, Therefore
every scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an
householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old."
(Matthew 13:51-52.) When our Lord was about to send out His disciples as His
witnesses, it is said, "Then opened he their understanding, that they might
understand the scriptures." (Luke 24:45.)

How often we read of Paul, when preaching to the Jews, reasoning with them out
of the scriptures. (Acts 18:4; Acts 18:19.) If the apostle addresses the Romans
as able to admonish one another, it is because he can say of them, "And I myself
also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled
with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another." (Romans 15:14.) Where
the action of the Spirit in the assembly is most definitely treated of, as in 1
Corinthians 12:1-31, it is not to the exclusion of the word. "For to one is
given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the
same Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:8.) Where the apostle enumerates the marks by
which he and others approve themselves the ministers of God, we have mentioned
in the wondrous catalogue, by knowledge, by the word of truth, by the armour of
righteousness on the right hand and on the left. (2 Corinthians 6:7.) If you
look at what that armour consisted of, you will find truth as a girdle for the
loins, and "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Ephesians
6:14-17.) The apostle speaks of what he had afore written to the Ephesians,
"whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of
Christ." (Ephesians 3:4.) Where the same apostle speaks of the admonishing one
another, see what he mentions first as an essential prerequisite. "Let the word
of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your
hearts to the Lord." (Colossians 3:16.) To Timothy he says, "If thou put the
brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus
Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou
hast attained." He exhorts him, "Till I come, give attendance to reading, to
exhortation, to doctrine. . . . Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly
to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto
the doctrine; continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself,
and them that hear thee." (1 Timothy 4:6; 1 Timothy 4:13; 1 Timothy 4:15-16.) In
the second epistle Timothy is exhorted thus: "And the things that thou hast
heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who
shall be able to teach others also." (1 Timothy 2:2.) As to himself we have
these words: "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (1 Timothy 2:15.) Among
other qualifications of the bishop, or overseer, as they are given in Titus
1:1-16, we have this: "Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught,
that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the
gainsayers." From all this it is evident, my brethren, that it is not merely by
little scraps of truth, brought out whenever some impulse to that end visits us,
that the church is to be edified.* No; they by whom the Holy Ghost acts to feed
and nourish and guide the saints of God, are they whose souls are exercised
habitually in the word of God; they "who by reason of use have their senses
exercised to discern both good and evil." (Hebrews 5:14.) As has been said, the
least that can be expected of those who minister in the church is such
acquaintance with the word of God as this.

*God forbid that any should be discouraged from ministering the least word
tending to real edification. But such as are used of the Lord thus would be the
very last to suppose that theirs was the only ministry, or that by which the
need of saints is principally supplied of God.

Knowledge of God’s word, however, is not sufficient. There must be its present
application to the consciences of the saints, so as to meet their present need.
For this, as some one has in substance observed, there must be either
acquaintance by intercourse, etc., with their state (and this could never be
very perfect or accurate), or else direct guidance from God. This is true of
those who are in the fullest sense, and most manifestly, the gifts of Christ to
His church, as evangelists, pastors or teachers. It is God only who can guide
them to those portions of truth which will reach the conscience and meet the
need of souls. It is He only who can enable them to present the truth in such a
way as to secure these ends. God the Holy Ghost knows the need of each and all
in the assembly; and He can guide those who speak to speak the suited, needed
truth, whether they have the knowledge of the state of those addressed or not.
How important, then, implicit and unfeigned subjection to Him.

One thing which would always mark ministry in the Spirit would be the promptings
of personal affection for Christ. "Lovest thou me?" was the thrice repeated
question to Peter, connected with the injunction, as oft repeated, to feed
Christ’s flock. "For the love of Christ constraineth us," - Paul says. How
different this from the many motives which might influence us naturally. How
important that we should be able each time we minister to say with a good
conscience, "My motive for speaking was not a love of prominence, or the force
of habit, or the restlessness which could not be content unless something were
being done; but love to Christ and to His flock, for His sake who purchased it
with His own blood." Surely it was this motive which was wanting in the wicked
servant, who hid his Lord’s talent in the earth.

Then, further, ministry in the Spirit, or indeed any action in the assembly to
which He leads, would always be marked by a deep sense of responsibility to
Christ. Let me put it to you, my brethren, and to my own soul as well. Suppose
we were questioned at any time after the close of a meeting, Why did you give
out such a hymn, or read such a chapter, or offer such a prayer, or speak such a
word? Could we with a clear, good conscience reply, My only reason for doing so
was the solemn conviction that it was my Master’s will? Could we say, I gave out
that hymn because I was fully persuaded that it was the mind of the Spirit, that
at that juncture in the meeting it should be sung? I read that chapter, or spoke
that word, because I felt clear before God that it was the service my Lord and
Master assigned me? I offered that prayer because I knew that the Spirit of God
led me as the mouth of the assembly to ask those blessings which in it were
implored. My brethren, could we answer thus, or is there not often the taking
this part or that, without any such sense of responsibility to Christ?

"If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God," says the Apostle Peter.
This does not mean, let him speak according to the scriptures, though this be of
course true. It means, or rather says, that they who speak, are to speak as
oracles of God. If I cannot say in speaking, "This is what I believe I have been
taught of God, and what God has given me to speak at this time," I ought to be
silent. Of course a man may be mistaken in saying this, and it is for the saints
to judge by the word of God all that is spoken. But less ought not to induce any
one to speak, or take any part in the meetings, than the solemn conviction
before God, that God has given him somewhat to say or do. If our consciences
were exercised to act under such responsibility as this, it would doubtless
prevent a great deal which does take place; but at the same time it would make
way for God to manifest His presence, as we are not wont to witness it.

How strikingly do we behold this sense of direct responsibility to Christ in the
Apostle Paul. "For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for
necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! For
if I do this thing willingly" (that is, from choice, for any personal object),
"I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is
committed unto me." (1 Corinthians 9:16-17.) How affecting his words to the same
people! "I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling." (1
Corinthians 2:3.) What a rebuke to the lightness of heart and self-sufficiency
with which, alas, we all too often handle God’s sacred word! "For we are not as
many," he says again, "which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but
as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ." (2 Corinthians 2:17.)

One other point I would touch upon. "God hath not given us the spirit of fear;
but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7.) "The spirit .
. . of a sound mind." A man may have little or no human learning, he may be
unable to express himself in any elegant diction, or even with grammatical
propriety. All this he may lack, and yet be a good minister of Jesus Christ. But
the spirit of a sound mind he must have. And may I now, while on this topic,
mention what in other places, as well as among ourselves, has sometimes made me
very sad? I mean the confusion between the Persons in the Godhead, which is
often made in prayer. When a brother has commenced by addressing God the Father,
and has gone on to speak as though it were He that had died and risen again; or,
addressing Jesus, has given thanks to Him for sending His only-begotten Son into
the world, I confess to you I have said to myself, Can it be the Spirit of God
who leads to such prayers as these? Surely all who conduct the worship of the
saints need so much of the spirit of a sound mind as to avoid confusion like
this. No one believes that the Father died on Calvary, or that Christ sent His
Son into the world. Where, then, is the collectedness of spirit, the soundness
of mind, which should characterize those who take the place of being the
channels of the saints’ worship, when they use language which really expresses
what they do not themselves believe — and what it would be shocking for any one
to believe!

Still reserving some other points for another letter, I am, yours affectionately
in Christ Jesus,

W. Trotter,

Letter 5.

MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS ON THE MUTUAL DEPENDENCE OF SAINTS, IN MEETINGS FOR
MUTUAL EDIFICATION, AND ON OTHER SUBJECTS.

Beloved Brethren, — My remarks in this will be of a more desultory character
than in the preceding letters, my object being to gather up several points which
could not be so well embraced in the subjects of my former communications. And
first, may I remind you, that whatever takes place in a meeting for mutual
edification ought to be the fruit of communion. That is, if I read a chapter of
the word, it is not that I have to look through my Bible to find a suitable
chapter; but being more or less acquainted with the word, the Spirit of God
brings to my mind the portions He would have me read. So if a hymn is to be
sung, it is not that I feel the time is come for singing, and so look through
the hymn book for a nice hymn to sing. No; but out of the measure of
acquaintance with the hymn-book that I have, the Spirit of God reminds me of a
hymn, and leads me to give it out. The idea of half a dozen looking through
their Bibles and hymnbooks to find chapters and hymns suitable to read or give
out, is as subversive of the real character of a meeting for mutual edification,
in dependence on the Holy Ghost, as can well be conceived. I may, indeed, have a
given chapter laid on my heart, and may need, from imperfect acquaintance with
my Bible, to look for it; and so of a hymn; but this is clearly the only object
one can rightly have, in turning over the pages of either when assembled on the
ground of mutual dependence on the Holy Ghost for mutual edification.

Then, secondly, if this were well understood, it would follow, as a matter of
course, that when any one was seen opening his Bible or his hymn-book, it would
be known to be with the thought of reading a portion of the word, or giving out
a hymn. The word, "Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry
one for another" (1 Corinthians 11:33), would then quite preclude the thought of
anyone else taking part in the meeting, till the brother who had evinced his
thought of doing so had either carried it into effect or laid it aside. — This
brings me fairly to the subject of mutual dependence, on which we may well and
properly meditate for a little while. The question as to the Corinthians, in 1
Corinthians 11:1-34, was not as to ministry, but as to eating the Lord’s supper.
The question of ministry comes on in 1 Corinthians 14:1-40. But the moral root
of the disorder in both cases was the same. They failed to discern the body of
Christ, and so each was occupied with his own individual self. "For in eating
every one taketh before other his own supper." (1 Corinthians 11:21.) The result
was, "And one is hungry, and another is drunken." The principle of self was here
permitted to produce fruits so glaring and so monstrous, as to shock one’s
natural sensibilities. But if I come to the meetings, and sit in the meetings,
thinking only of the chapter I am to read, the hymn I am to give out, the part I
am to take, self is as entirely in spiritual things the hinge on which my
thoughts and solicitudes turn, as though, like the Corinthians in natural
things, I having a supper, brought it and ate it, while my poor brother who
could not afford this, went away without. It is in the fellowship of the one
body of Christ quickened, actuated, taught, and governed by the one Spirit, that
we meet together; and surely the thoughts of our hearts in thus assembling
should neither be the supper I myself have to eat, or the part I myself have to
take, but the wondrous bounty and grace of Him who has committed us to the
keeping of the Holy Ghost, who will not fail, if humbly waited on, to assign
each his proper place and part, without any restless anxiety in us to know what
it is. In the body of Christ each one is but a member and surely if the
Corinthians had discerned and realized this, the one who had a supper would have
tarried for those who had none, to share it with them. In like manner, if my
soul realizes this precious unity of the body, and my own humble place in it, as
but one individual member of it I shall not be in such haste to act in the
assembly as to prevent others acting: and if I feel I have a word from the Lord,
or a call from Him for some service, I shall still remember that others may have
the same, and so leave room for them: and most of all, if I see another with his
book open to read a portion or give out a hymn, I shall wait till he has done
so, and not be in a hurry to get the opportunity before him. "Tarry ye one for
another," will surely apply to this as well as to the breaking of bread. And in
the fourteenth chapter we find that when prophets were speaking in the meeting
by immediate revelation, there was to be so much deference of one to another,
that in the very act of speaking, if anything was revealed to another that sat
by, the first was to hold his peace. Besides, the general, moral bearing of such
a word as "Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak" (James 1:19) would
teach us thus to tarry one for the other.

Then, thirdly, the object of our assembly is edification. This is the point
pressed in 1 Corinthians 14:1-40. In 1 Corinthians 12:1-31 we have the body of
Christ in subjection to Him as Lord, and the witness here of His Lordship, by
virtue of the indwelling and inworking of the Holy Ghost, who divides to every
man severally as He will; closing with the catalogue of gifts, apostles,
prophets, etc., set of God in the church in their several places of use, or
service, for the whole. To covet earnestly the best gifts is enjoined, but a
more excellent way referred to, namely, the charity, or love, of 1 Corinthians
13:1-13, without which the most splendid gifts are nothing, and which must
regulate the exercise of all gifts if edification is to be the result. This
latter is the subject of 1 Corinthians 14:1-40. The gift of tongues was what
seemed to man the most wonderful, and the Corinthians delighted in displaying
it. Instead of love seeking the edification of all, it was vanity seeking to
display its gifts. They were real gifts — gifts of the Spirit. And here, beloved
brethren, is the solemn thing for us to weigh, that there may be the power of
the Spirit for service, without the living guidance of the Spirit in its
exercise. The latter there can only be where self is crucified, and Christ
everything to the soul. The object of the Holy Spirit is not to glorify the poor
earthen vessel which contains His gifts; but by the humble, gracious,
self-renouncing use of these gifts to glorify Christ from whom they flow; and
this is accomplished in the edification of the whole body.

How beautiful is this self-renunciation in Paul! Possessed of every gift, with
what singleness of heart he sought not to exhibit his gifts, but to exalt his
Lord, and edify the saints. "I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye
all: yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that
by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown
tongue." How forcible from the pen of such an one, those words of the Holy
Ghost, "Let all things be done unto edifying." "Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are
zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the
church."

Then again, every servant to be faithful must act under his master’s directions.
Hence the importance of what was so much pressed in my last, that if I act in
the assembly of the saints, it must be on no lower ground than that of a full
and solemn persuasion in my own soul before God, that it is my Master’s present
will I should so act. "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man
that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think;
but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of
faith." (Romans 12:3.) The measure of what I do is to be the measure of faith
God has given me; and God will take care that His servants know thus what He
would have them do. Nothing less than a firm and solemn conviction that it is
His will, can be a warrant for my acting in the assembly, or indeed anywhere
besides, as the servant of God. In the assembly, however, there is a divine
check or guard on the abuse of this principle, namely, the provision made in
such a word as "Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge."
(1 Corinthians 14:29.) It is for my own soul in the first place to judge, and
know whether the Lord calls me to speak or to act in the assembly; but when I
have so spoken or acted, it is for my brethren to judge, and in the vast
majority of cases it must be by their judgment that I abide. The case is a rare
one indeed in which I should be warranted in continuing to take a part in the
meetings, if my doing so were disapproved by the brethren.

It is quite evident, that if God has called me to speak or pray in the meetings
— if it be really from Him that my conviction of being led to do so proceeds —
it is as easy for Him to dispose and prepare the hearts of the saints to receive
my ministry, and unite in my prayers, as it is to dispose my own heart for such
service. If I am really led of the Spirit thus to act, the same Spirit who leads
me and acts by me dwells in the saints; and in ninety-nine cases out of a
hundred, the Spirit in the saints, will respond to ministry or worship in the
Spirit on the part of any. Ordinarily, therefore, if I found saints burdened and
troubled by my taking part in the meetings, instead of being edified thereby, I
should be warranted in concluding that I had mistaken my place, and that I was
not called thus to act. In the second place, suppose that what made the ministry
of any one for a time unacceptable was to be found in the state of the assembly,
not his own state: suppose that he is so much more spiritual than the assembly,
that they cannot enter into or appreciate what he ministers to them, what of
such a case as this? It is not a very common one, and when it does arise, it may
be for such a servant of Christ to enquire whether he has not to learn to be
like his Master, and to teach and "to speak the word unto them, as they are able
to hear;" whether he does not need a little more of Paul’s spirit, who could
say, "we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children;" who
says, too, in another place, "I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for
hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able."

If, with such discriminating care and tenderness as this, his ministry is still
not received, it must indeed be trying to the faith of such a servant of the
Lord; but seeing that edification is the object of all ministry, and that saints
cannot be edified by a ministry that does not commend itself to their
consciences, there could be no good in forcing it upon the saints, whether they
can receive it or not. The general weakness and disease of one’s body may
produce the dislocation of some particular joint. The body in such a case will
not be benefited by forcing the dislocated joint into action. It may be
deplorable that it cannot act; but the only way for its use to be restored is to
give it perfect rest for the time being, while the general health of the body is
sought to be restored by other means. So in the case supposed, continued
ministry where it is not received, even if the cause be the low state of the
assembly, only adds irritation to the generally bad condition of things, and
thus makes it worse. The servant of the Lord in such a case will find that to be
silent is his wisdom, or it may be to him the intimation of his Master’s will
that he should serve elsewhere. On the other hand, let me earnestly warn you,
beloved brethren, against what probably enough Satan may now seek to make a
snare to us, the spirit of criticism on what takes place in the meetings. His
effort is always to urge us from one extreme to another; and if we have erred on
the side of indifference, as though it made no matter what took place if only
the time was filled up, it is more than likely we shall now be in danger on the
other side. The good Lord in His mercy keep us. Nothing can be more deplorable,
as to the state of heart it indicates, and nothing can be a greater hindrance to
blessing, than a captious, criticizing spirit. We assemble to worship God and
edify one another, not to occupy ourselves in determining who ministers in the
flesh, and who prays in the Spirit. Where the flesh does manifest itself, let it
be judged. Sorrowful and humiliating work it is to discern and judge it, in
place of our own proper, happy privilege of mutually enjoying the fulness of our
blessed Saviour and Head. Do let us beware of a spirit of fault-finding. There
are lesser gifts, as well as greater ones, and we know who it is that has
bestowed more abundant honour on the parts that lacked. The actings of a brother
in the assembly are not of necessity all fleshly, because he acts in the flesh
to some extent. On this point, it would be well for us all to ponder the words
of one most highly honoured amongst us, "There is great need of this, namely,
that we attend first to the nature, and, secondly, to the measure of our gift.
While on this last, that is, the measure of the gift, let me say that I do not
doubt that many a brother’s gift would be recognized, if he did not go beyond
his measure in it, ’If he prophesy, let him prophesy according to the proportion
of faith.’ All beyond that is flesh, and putting himself forward, and this is
felt, and his whole gift rejected; and this because he has not known how to
confine himself to it; and therefore his flesh acts, and his speaking is
attributed to it — and no wonder. It is also true as to the nature of a gift; if
a man sets himself to teach, instead of confining himself to exhorting (if he
exhorts), he will not, and cannot, edify. I would especially desire the
attention of every brother who ministers in the word to this remark, which, from
lack of faithfulness in his hearers, may never reach him in any other way."

It is to brethren who minister that these words are addressed, but I quote them
to you, beloved brethren, that we may learn not to condemn everything that any
one says or does, because something of the flesh is discernible in it. Let us
thankfully own what is of the Spirit, distinguishing it from all else even in
the ministry or actings of the same individual.

There are still two or three points of minuter detail on which, in the
confidence of brotherly love, I would add a word or two. As to the distribution
of the bread and wine at the Lord’s table. It is, on the one hand, most
desirable that this should not be uniformly and exclusively by one or two
individuals, as though it were some clerical distinction; while, on the other
hand, I can see no warrant in scripture for any one breaking the bread, or
giving the cup, without giving thanks. In Matthew 24:26-27; Mark 14:22-23; Luke
22:19; and 1 Corinthians 11:24, we are told that the Lord Jesus gave thanks when
He broke the bread and took the cup; while in 1 Corinthians 10:16, the cup is
termed the cup of blessing or of thanksgiving. If, then, scripture is to be our
guide, how plain that any one who breaks the bread or takes the cup should at
the same time give thanks; and if any of us do not feel power to do this, may we
not rightly question whether we are called to distribute the bread and the wine?

Then as to rule or oversight in the church, and indeed as to the qualifications
to be looked for in any who act in ostensible service amongst saints, 1 Timothy
3:1-16 and Titus 1:1-16 ought to be prayerfully studied by all of us. There is
one particular in 1 Timothy 3:6, which it may be well to be reminded of. "Not a
novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the
devil." It is possible for the call of God and the gift of Christ to be found
with a young man like Timothy (or if we go back to the Old Testament, with a
Jeremiah); and "let no man despise thy youth" would apply to any such in the
present day, even as to Timothy of old. But it is to Timothy the words quoted
"not a novice," etc., were addressed. His youthfulness was to be no
encouragement to those to act who had neither the gift nor the grace which had
been bestowed on him. And there is even a natural fitness and beauty in the
young taking the place of subjection instead of rule, which seems to me to be
sadly overlooked sometimes. "Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the
elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility:
for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." (1 Peter 5:5.) The
Lord in His mercy, beloved brethren, grant us to walk humbly with Himself, and
thus may no hindrance be presented to the working of His blessed Spirit amongst
us.

Yours, in unfeigned affection,

W. Trotter.


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  CHAPTER 10: ON SEALING WITH THE HOLY GHOST
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On Sealing with the Holy Ghost

J. N. Darby. Our being sealed with the Spirit is too important a point to allow
it to settle down into the ambiguity and mist into which it is fallen in many
souls. The Scripture is plain and positive on the subject, and it constitutes,
not the foundation, but what is specifically characteristic, of the Christian
state. Details and experiences as to it may require detailed inquiry, and sound
and enlarged spiritual experience. But the presence, and as to the individual
the indwelling, of the Holy Ghost, constitute Christianity, and the Christian
state of the individual. When John the Baptist proclaimed Christ to his
disciples, he announced Him under two characters: "The Lamb of God, that taketh
away the sin of the world," and "He it is that baptiseth with the Holy Ghost,"
the last being evidenced by the Holy Ghost descending and abiding upon Christ
Himself. All the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in Him bodily, but He as man, and
He alone until redemption was accomplished, was sealed and anointed with the
Holy Ghost — in His case a testimony to His own perfectness; "and John saw and
bare record that he was the Son of God," John 1:29-34; Acts 10:19; John 6:27. So
He was led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. By the
Spirit of God He cast out demons. By the eternal Spirit He offered Himself
without spot to God. He spoke the words of God, for the Spirit was not given to
Him by measure. If it was by resurrection He was declared Son of God with power,
it was according to the Spirit of holiness.

I refer to these passages, and many more connected with the point might be
quoted, to shew the immense importance of this fact. His being sealed was the
testimony to His own perfectness; in us it is the fruit and seal of redemption.
But if it sealed the Person and character of Christ, and that it was by this
power He wrought as man, and we are made partakers of it consequent on
redemption, its importance, though not the foundation, can hardly be overrated,
and the connection of our position with Him is brought into a wonderful light:
he alone possessing it while He was alive here below, but competent to confer it
on us when gone on high, and redemption had qualified us for receiving it. The
coming or baptism of the Holy Ghost was consequent on the exaltation of Christ.
Christianity, which as I have said is characterised by His presence, could not
exist until Christ was glorified (John 7:39); and Christ when exalted received
the Holy Ghost as to the exalted man anew in order to its being sent down; Acts
2:33. This is confirmed as to its being sent by the words of the Lord Himself.
"It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter
will not come unto you; but if I go away, I will send him unto you," John 16:7.

Whither He went we know; John 14:4. The Comforter is sent by the Father in
Christ’s name (John 14:26), and by Christ from the Father; John 15:26. But these
are details. And this presence of the Holy Ghost was so real and distinctive a
thing, His personal presence definitely characterising Christianity as such,
that it is said in John 7:1-53, "The Holy Ghost was not yet, for Jesus was not
yet glorified." "Given" is added in italics, which is all very well for the
general sense; but I give what is literally said, that the full distinct force
of the words, the words of that Spirit, may be before us. Of course it is not
that the Holy Ghost did not exist: no Christian would think of such a thing. And
the Old Testament bears witness from creation on of the existence and operation
of the Spirit in all that God did upon the earth. But as the Son of God created
all things, still, as He Himself tells, did not come personally down here to
dwell among us till the incarnation, so, though the Spirit of God wrought from
the garnishing of the heavens, and the brooding on chaotic waters, He did not
come to dwell personally down here until there was a glorified Man sitting at
the right hand of God. As to the Son it could be said, "I came forth from the
Father and came into the world, again I leave the world and go to the Father";
so it could be said by Christ of the Spirit, "If I go away, I will send him unto
you, and when he is come," etc. He was promised in the Old Testament. The
promise was accomplished on the day of Pentecost, and Christianity exists.*

{*I do not doubt the Holy Ghost will be given specially in the beginning of the
millennium, but that is not our subject here; as now given, it connects us with
an absent, heavenly, and glorified Christ.} The texts we have briefly referred
to have brought before us some very weighty points. The Lord Himself was
anointed and sealed, and this given as a sign that He was the baptiser with the
Holy Ghost, and giving occasion to John the Baptist to bear record that Christ
was the Son of God.

Further, we have seen that until redemption was accomplished, and there was the
man that did God’s will, sitting at God’s right hand in consequence of it, the
Holy Ghost (spoken of as constituting and characterising Christianity by His
presence) was not yet. So the disciples of John at Ephesus, "We have not so much
as heard whether the Holy Ghost is." He was sent down the witness of Christ, as
man, being at the right hand of God. This is of all importance. The point of
departure of Christianity was man’s taking a new place in righteousness on high,
consequent on redemption being accomplished where sin and death and Satan’s
power and God’s judgment were; that Man being Son of God withal. Accordingly
Christ received as man the Holy Ghost on being exalted on high, not then for
Himself as when perfect on earth, but to confer on those who believed, putting
them in relation with Himself and what was heavenly on high.

Scripture is clear as to its being only for believers. John 7:1-53, already
quoted, states the fact: "the Spirit which they that believed on him should
receive." But it is stated more strongly in John 14:16-17, "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 [abideth] with you,
and shall be in you." We have there the Spirit as the constant portion of the
saints, sent consequent on Christ as man being exalted to the right hand of God,
whom He received anew on high to confer on His own, and who could not be thus
present down here until Christ was so exalted. The Son had been here, and was
here to be received by all who knew of Him. Men would not have Him, but that is
another thing; but the Spirit is not for the world. He may by God’s chosen
instruments announce the gospel to it. He was known by being with us ever, and
dwelling in us. Men were and are born of the Spirit, but the Holy Ghost Himself
coming down is another thing. This happened on the day of Pentecost. They were
not to go forth till then, but to tarry at Jerusalem till they were endued with
power from on high, to wait for the promise of the Father which they had heard
of Christ; Acts 1:4-5; Acts 2:1-47. Clean through Christ’s word, who had withal
already breathed on them that they might be partakers of His new risen life, as
God breathed on Adam, their understanding already opened to understand the
Scriptures, they were to wait for the Holy Ghost coming down upon them. The
world knew nothing of it, but in its effects. It was for those only who already
believed on Him, putting them consciously in the place in which He was with God.
That other Comforter, which in a certain sense took the place of Christ, though
only to reveal Him more fully, and as a heavenly Christ who had accomplished
their redemption, and through the efficacy of that, was the object of their hope
in glory, of which He was Himself the earnest and the revealer. This was for
those only who took part with a rejected Saviour, for believers. There were
those who believing had received life through His name, who lived, through
hearing, through grace. the voice of the Son of God. They must have been, to see
and enter the kingdom; the Jews must, to enjoy hereafter the earthly promises as
the Lord shewed to Nicodemus. But the Spirit was to come new when redemption had
been accomplished, and Christ exalted as man to the right hand of God, to take
the things of Christ and shew them to the disciples; and all that the Father had
was His, and to make them know that all He had as the exalted man was theirs.

All this is something quite different from my being born again, or even that
special quickening in the power of Christ in resurrection, with being born of
God by His word of truth (John 20:22), save as this was necessary to a person’s
receiving it, and that the same Holy Ghost operates in and by this life when He
dwells in us. Of the former I shall speak. The connection of the given Holy
Ghost with this life, when dwelling in our bodies, is manifest in Romans 8. That
life is not separated from its divine source, when He dwells in us, though His
personally dwelling in us as a divine Person is another thing, also spoken of in
Romans 8 as the Spirit itself. If He was our life in Person, He would be an
incarnation of the Holy Ghost in us, which is futile on the face of it. We are
born of the Spirit, but what is born of the Spirit is not the Spirit, though it
be spirit, that is, characterised morally by the same nature; John 3:1-36. In
this sense we are made partakers of the divine nature. The Colossians treats of
life and does not speak of the Holy Ghost; Ephesians does repeatedly, and we get
contrast with flesh characterising the epistle, and union with Christ and
sonship developed. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Ghost which we have of
God, and are bought with a price, hence to glorify God in our bodies. We have
thus the gift of the Holy Ghost before us, characterising by His presence
Christianity and the Christian. The difficulty which arises in people’s minds
has for its origin, that the effects of His presence necessarily connect
themselves with our experience. It could not be otherwise; the Holy Ghost could
not dwell in us without producing certain effects on our minds. It is a present
power when a believer is sealed working in us, and we are apt to judge of it by
looking at it in our minds, and confusion comes in. Seeing whether we are
walking up to the privilege is all right, but that is quite a different thing.
It is not a finished work like Christ’s outside of us, and having absolute
divine value in God’s sight, but a living power working in us, whose presence is
the seal, with which we are sealed.

It is of moment to distinguish between the sealing and the operation of Him who
is the seal when dwelling in us. God sets His seal on those who believe on the
ground of the perfect work of Christ, and His being glorified in consequence. Of
this John 7:1-53, Acts 2:1-47, and the day of Pentecost are witness. They were
believers, and for a good while, and they were to wait at Jerusalem to be endued
with power from on high. They believed on Christ as one dead, risen and
glorified, and that faith was sealed; but the work was fully accomplished and
Christ fully glorified, or the Holy Ghost would not have been there. The effect
was to follow. They belonged to God according to the perfect work of Christ, and
were sealed as such. So the redemption of Israel to God as a people was
absolute, independently of the exercises of the wilderness and Canaan. The
presence of the Holy Ghost was the immediate consequence of the perfectness of
Christ’s work and glory, where faith in it was, without any question of
experience or a work within, save that they believed. It was the seal of faith.
As a seal it had nothing to do with experience.

Here it may be well to notice the Epistle to the Romans, confusion as to which
produces confusion in the minds of saints. As is generally acknowledged now, and
certainly is the case, there are two distinct treatises in the doctrinal part of
Romans. That which speaks of guilt, and grace blessedly meeting it through
Christ’s death and bloodshedding, ends in Romans 5:11. In this part our actual
sins are the ground of God’s dealings. All have sinned. In the second part,
Romans 5:12-21, Romans 6:1-23, Romans 7:1-25, Romans 8:1-39, this is not the
case. Our state as in the flesh is spoken of, and then as in Christ or the
Spirit. "By the disobedience of one many were made sinners." The question there
is not the forgiveness of sins, but death to sin, as having died with Him. All
the development of this part is experience connected with self, and practical.
The first part is not, but the effect of a work done for us and outside us, and
God’s love now known as the source of it. Christ was delivered for our sins, and
raised again for our justification: therefore, being justified by faith, we have
peace with God. In chapter 5 we have the conscious happiness of the believer
connected with that work for us, and God known in love through it, but nothing
connected with our state of experience. Here, first, the Holy Ghost is
mentioned, God’s love being shed abroad in our hearts by it. The presence of the
Holy Ghost in the Christian is assumed. But it is the love of God known by it,
not, as in the second part, how and what it works in us, though it does surely
work in us when given; but to connect the second part of Romans with the first
as a continuous process is a mistake.

Guilt by our acts is a different thing from our state as children of Adam. In
one we are guilty, and (unless justified) come into judgment; in the other we
are lost. The effect of the work of Christ is to clear for ever all our sins
away. By one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified (eis
to dienekes). So that, once purged, we have no more conscience of sins. Blessed
is the man to whom God imputeth no sin. They are remembered no more, and as,
when He had by Himself purged our sins, He sat down on the right hand of the
Majesty in the heavens, we are, besides being purged, risen in Him in the new
standing which is the effect of His redemption for man.

Now the sealing of the Holy Ghost, based on forgiveness, gives the intelligence
and consciousness of this new position. The idea of God’s imputing guilt to us
is impossible (unless, perhaps, in some extreme case when delivered to Satan as
a chastisement). But that is not all. By the Spirit, by the gift of which we are
sealed, we know we are sons, crying, Abba, Father; Galatians 4:1-31. We know we
are in Christ, and Christ in us (John 14:1-31), and the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts; Romans 5:1-21; compare 1 John 4:1-21. And He is the
earnest of our coming likeness to Christ in glory; 2 Corinthians 5:1-21. The
Spirit may rebuke and humble us as to consistency with the place we are in.
Thank God He does. But He never can give a testimony in our souls contrary to,
or other than, the place where perfect redemption has placed us, that redemption
which has brought Him down to dwell in us. Such a thought would be making Him
give a false testimony. But the Spirit is truth.

"We have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the Spirit of
adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." It is not merely the fact of a new life
communicated, but the consciousness of the position in which redemption has
placed those who have that life. "I go to my Father, and your Father, to my God,
and your God." It is not only that the Son has quickened us, but that Christ has
finished the work given Him to do — is entered as man into a wholly new place
(where Adam, innocent, was not), and, being glorified, the Spirit gives us the
consciousness of the relationships into which He has brought us. And this place
is the fruit of a work done outside us, though those who partake in it must also
be born again, and is known through the Holy Ghost given as the seal of our
faith in that work, but of nothing else. But the question of experience does
come in in the word, and that connects itself with the difference of flesh and
Spirit. It behoves us to consider what flesh is. What it is in its evil nature,
I need not dwell on here; it is the evil nature in which we are, as born of
sinful Adam; but as regards our relationship another consideration comes in. In
this sense, What is it to be in the flesh? It is to be in relationship with God
on the ground of our natural responsibility as men, as children of fallen Adam.
It is, as to our moral state — which in itself is true — making the disposition
of God towards us to depend on what we are towards Him. Of this the law is the
perfect rule. It says, if conscience is awakened, I am such and such: God will
be so and so towards me. Grace is on the opposite ground: God has been, and is,
through Christ such and such, and I shall be so and so, as the fruit of it. But
this changes everything.

Take the parable of the prodigal son. When he came to himself, you hear much
about him; he owns his sin, that he is perishing, and sets out to his father,
for confidence (not peace) always accompanies divine awakening, but he says as a
consequence, Make me as one of thy hired servants. Arrived, with his father all
this disappears, and he with it, and his place is wholly what his father is to
him and does for him. When converted and in the right road, he had not yet the
best robe, nor his father on his neck, to make him in his own consciousness and
actual place what the father’s thoughts were towards him.

Now his whole condition was changed; it was what his father was for him, and had
done for him. The mind may get bewildered by false teaching, putting back under
law, where its true effect is not discovered. This was the case of the
Galatians; but they were therein fallen from grace, Christ became of none effect
to them. It was not a state of soul. They did not, in adding circumcision, think
of anything but adding, but the apostle saw plainly enough. It was not an
experience, a state of soul; it was Christianity given up altogether in its very
principle. They were, as to their minds, if not as to God’s, fallen from grace.

Hence, in Galatians, no kind words to begin with, no salutations at the end. It
was for the apostle, not a state of their souls, but Christianity given up; he
wished the doers of it cut off. If this system were true, Christ was dead in
vain, they who taught it were accursed. All that has nothing to do with
experiences and states of soul. It was making "Christ the minister of sin."
Through the redemption that was in Christ, the blessing of Abraham came on the
Gentiles, that believers might receive the promise of the Spirit. He then goes
on to shew how believers received the Spirit (they were sons by faith in Christ,
and because they were sons God gave the spirit of sonship), and specially
insists on the presence of the Spirit, and how they got it. There was the
liberty wherewith Christ has set us free. He was, as he expresses it, travailing
again in birth for them. They had got, not into a bad spiritual state as
Christians, they had in their minds given up Christianity. The question was then
the flesh and the law, man as he was and God’s rule for him, or Christ glorified
and the Spirit putting us consciously in His place and acceptance before God and
the Father by redemption. That this last was gone was not a bad state of soul,
as I have said, but Christianity given up, doubtless not in will there, but in
the thing itself; and this is our point now. The Holy Ghost was given, not in
respect of any particular state of soul, not even of being born again, true as
this was as to those to whom it was given; but simply in virtue of faith in a
Saviour who had died, and was risen and glorified, as indeed there was no other;
and if Paul had known Him otherwise — and as a Jew he had — he knew such no
more. The presence of the Holy Ghost was specifically and distinctively the
consequence of the glorifying of Jesus, who had accomplished the work that saves
us, in dying, shedding His blood for us as man, and rising again. Thus there is
evidently a double part as to Christ Himself, His suffering in obedience unto
death, drinking for us that dreadful cup, the thought of which made Him shed, as
it were, great drops of blood, and, as a consequence of that, His being
glorified. The former was the accomplishment of redemption demonstrated by His
resurrection, or our faith would be vain; if He were not risen, we should be yet
in our sins. He would be lying in death as another. Subjectively, man was in his
new state in Christ risen. Hence we read, "He was delivered for our offences,
and raised again for our justification." He has loved us, and washed us from our
sins in His own blood. The latter, His being glorified, is what He is entered
into and has obtained for us, but which, though happy meanwhile if we depart, we
shall not possess till He comes again to receive us to Himself. It is evident
from Scripture that the Holy Ghost came down when Jesus was glorified, His work
being accomplished; but when we by faith have part in the accomplished
salvation, but have not yet attained the glory, He is the seal of faith in the
one, and the earnest of the other. For in Christ all is accomplished, and He is
entered as our Forerunner; and the Holy Ghost sent down and dwelling and
ministering in us gives the full consciousness of the fruit of the one in
forgiveness, and of our place in Christ. He gives withal the consciousness of
being sons, and if sons, then heirs. Born again we must be to have the smallest
part in these things, but it is faith in Christ’s work which is sealed by the
gift of the Holy Ghost.

We have redemption through Christ’s blood, the forgiveness of sins; the Holy
Ghost is the earnest of our inheritance till the redemption of the purchased
possession. The. great general truth is that believers, and believers only,
receive it. If we look into details, and build on Scripture statements, we find
there must be faith in the work of Christ, as well as in His Person, in order to
a person’s being sealed. Thus, when the terrible conviction was produced in the
minds of the Jews that Jesus was the Christ, and that they had rejected Him, but
God exalted Him, they say, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Peter says,
"Repent, and be baptised, every one of you, for the remission of sins, and ye
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." They are to believe in the exaltation
of Christ, of which the gifts were the present proof, but they were to partake
in the effects of His work in order to receive the Holy Ghost. So, in Acts
10:43, it is the testimony to the remission of sins that is sealed by the Holy
Ghost coming. So Ephesians 1:13, it was the "gospel of their salvation" in which
they believed, so that, believing in Christ, they were sealed with the Holy
Spirit as earnest of their inheritance. That a person may be born again, and not
have received the Holy Ghost, is perfectly certain according to Scripture, for
"whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God," and this the
disciples did while Christ was on earth, but could not have the Holy Ghost,
which did not come until the day of Pentecost; though they had life, and were
clean through the word.

It is alleged the case was different — He was not come. Quite true, but they
were born of God. I refer to the fact that we may distinguish between the two.
And in Samaria, after the Holy Ghost was come, they believed and were baptised;
but the Holy Ghost was fallen upon none of them, which happened afterwards by
the laying on of the apostles’ hands. In the same way Paul, then called Saul,
was converted by the appearing of Christ to him on the way, and three days
afterwards Ananias was sent, that he might receive his sight, and be filled with
the Holy Ghost. A Christian, then, is one in whose body the Holy Ghost dwells as
in a temple, giving him consciously the place in which accomplished redemption
places him; but God, having wrought him for glory with and like Christ, while
the knowledge of his place in Christ is clear to his soul, this last, glory with
and like Him, remains a hope laid up for him in heaven. The Jews must be born
again to get the millennial blessings; John 3:1-36; Ezekiel 36:1-38. But those
who believe in Christ, not having seen Him, associated with Him while He is not
seen, sealed with the Holy Ghost, have their part with Him where He is not seen.
"He that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all of one; for which
cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren."

There are three great privileges which result from the presence of the Holy
Ghost, though all in us should flow from it. First, we cry, "Abba, Father,"
Galatians 4:1-31. We know we are children; Romans 8:1-39. Next, we know we are
in Christ, and Christ in us; John 14:1-31. Thirdly, the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts; Romans 5:1-21. His presence is the power of the blessing
with God, with Christ, with the Father. Compare 1 John 4:12-13. But it is not
promises, or accomplished millennial peace, blessed as that will be in its
place, but, God having wrought us for an eternal weight of glory, the revelation
of which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart
of man to conceive, but which God hath revealed to them that love Him.
Subjectively the new man is fitted to enjoy God Himself, but the sphere in which
his affections are developed is that which is done for him, and is revealed to
him, and here the work and sufferings of Christ, and the glories, and for us the
heavenly glories, which shall be revealed. Between the accomplishment of the
work, and our having part in the glory, the Holy Ghost has come down to seal us
as redeemed and justified, and to be the earnest of the part we have not, only
that "as Christ is so are we in this world," and conscious of it in living
faith.

Forgiveness, the Father’s love, our portion and place in Christ, with joy in
hope of the glory of God, such is the place and portion of those whose life
Christ is. Of this the Holy Ghost is the present power and revealer to the soul,
when faith in Christ and in His work has been sealed for the day of redemption;
or (more accurately) they, on the ground of that faith. The new man is capable
of enjoying divine and heavenly things, but cannot reveal them. If it be said,
They are in the word; agreed, but they are, when there, spiritually discerned.
The sealing of the believer with the Holy Ghost (on the ground of his faith in
the Person and work of Christ, who has accomplished the work of redemption, and
sits on the right hand of God, so that he knows the efficacy of that work, and
his place before God, as a son and in Christ) is a truth as clearly stated in
Scripture as can possibly be, and constitutes Christianity and the Christian as
a present state of things: certainty as to guilt removed, present sonship in
divine favour, and joy in hope of the glory of God. But here it is also founded
on Christ’s work as delivered for our sins.

Another point now comes in, the connection of this with the state or experience
of the soul. I do not now mean of guilt and imputation of sins: of that I have
spoken. Our conscience is purged through the blood of Christ; but what passes in
the soul? There is that which is never forgiven — sin, the principle in the
nature — which God must abhor, and the new nature abhors, and which we find in
us. I have already referred to the now well-known division in Romans 5:11, up to
which our whole state as to guilt, and the grace that meets it, is fully gone
into: propitiation, Christ delivered for our sins and raised, and peace with
God, present favour, hope of glory, His love shed abroad in our hearts for the
way by the Holy Ghost given to us, so that we joy in God Himself through Christ,
by whom we have received this reconciliation, we are reconciled to God, and joy
in Him. We have then another subject: one man, the head as to sin, One as to
obedience; the many connected with him constituted sinners by the offence of
one, and the many connected with the Other constituted righteous. This was
evidently a new ground and subject; personal guilt and judgment rested on what
each sinner had done. Here it was a race in a state of ruin by the offence of
its head. The law came in by the by so as to aggravate the sins by making them
transgressions, and to detect sin, the root principle, by its requirements when
the conscience was awakened.

It was not now the forgiveness of the sins of the old man, and cleansing from
them by grace, and so being brought into present favour on God’s part towards
us, but our being brought into a new state and standing before God in the second
Man — our being in Christ Jesus. In Romans 6:1-23 we get the doctrine; in Romans
8:1-39 we get our state as the result, we are in Christ, and Christ in us, heirs
of glory, and sufferers with Christ here. In Romans 7:1-25 we get the legal
process by which we acquire self-knowledge, in order to our morally consenting
to having Christ instead of ourselves. In this second part of the epistle it is
not Christ dying for our sins, but our dying with Christ. Remark here the
difference between Romans 5:1-21 and Romans 8:1-39. In Romans 5:1-21 (where
guilt had been displayed as universal, and the grace that met it in
propitiation, and Christ delivered for our sins, and raised again for
justification) all is divine favour and goodness, peace with God, such as He is,
as regards our sins, present grace or favour, hope of glory; it is love shed
abroad in the heart, and joying in Him. In Romans 8:1-39 it is our state, dead
with Christ, alive in Him, we in Him before God, so that there is no
condemnation, the law of the Spirit of life setting us free, the mind of the
Spirit, life and peace. In Romans 5:1-21 it was God’s love shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost; in Romans 8:1-39 He bears witness with our spirit that
we are children, He intercedes in us. It is our state towards God as in Christ,
not what God is towards us.

I have said that Romans 6:1-23 gives us the basis of this in doctrine. We are
baptised, our profession of Christianity is to Christ’s death, our old man is
crucified with Him, that the body of sin, as a whole in its concrete form, might
be destroyed. There is an end of our old Adam state by the cross. Christ died
(not here for our sins, but) to sin, and we are baptized to His death, are to
reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God, not in Adam, but in Christ Jesus
our Lord. All that is in the Father’s glory, what He is as displayed and
surrounds Himself with according to what He is, was engaged in the resurrection
of Christ; holiness, righteousness, majesty, love to the Son, recognition of
what He had done, supremacy above all evil in light and love, and Christ as man
rises by and into it, and that as having perfectly glorified God, where all was
exactly contrary to it. And we are alive in Him, have Him risen as the life
suited to it. We may have it in an earthen vessel, but it is our place with God.
In this the flesh has no possible part. As man, Christ entered into it through
death, closing (Himself ever sinless and apart) all connection with man as born
of Adam; a true real man and Son of man, but Head, as risen of a new race and
state. It is right to remark that He never united Himself to men — a common and
ruinous doctrine. "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it
abideth alone." He alone, as we have seen, was anointed of the Holy Ghost, and
sealed of God the Father, still a true man come of a woman, come under law, and
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and going with the godly remnant as associating
Himself with them. He was there a man amongst men, but that association was
closed by death, save as Lord over them. We are united to Him in His new and
glorious state as Head; Ephesians 1:1-23, Ephesians 2:1-22. But this is kaine
ktisis, a new creation. But to return to our direct subject.

"We are crucified with him." Here it is our "old man." We are still in the body,
but we are not on the old standing-ground with God, we have died out of it in
Christ, we are crucified with Him, we reckon ourselves as dead to sin here (to
the world in Colossians), and alive in Him to God; our old Adam standing before
God is gone by death, and we are in Christ, alive to God in Him, to give
ourselves up to God as those that are in Him alive from the dead, and free to do
so in this new life. We are not looked at as risen with Christ in Romans, but
justified, and Christ our life, as men living in natural life down here, only
Christ our life in it, in Him before God, not in the flesh.

Now the first part of the epistle brings us from conscious guilt into divine
favour and knowledge of divine love, as justified by Christ’s work; the second,
into the knowledge of ourselves as having died with Christ to our old state, and
being in Him before God. Our profession is not merely believing in Christ, but
being brought into His death, baptised to it as our portion. But the first is
complete and absolute. The doctrine of sealing is not found here; but the person
is sealed, a guilty person restored to God’s favour, and enjoying His love,
reconciled to Him, and delighting in Him. I repeat, the first part is complete
in itself; the man is a pardoned, justified man, enjoying God’s favour, His love
in his heart by the Holy Ghost given to him, and rejoicing in the hope of glory.
It is judicial. Eternal life is not a present existence, but given to those who
continue patiently in well-doing (indeed it is always a future thing in Romans,
where not merely a general fact of grace); only God commends His love toward us.
Our state and standing out of Christ and in Christ is another and distinct
point, but when in Christ the sealing of the Holy Ghost is here also assumed and
developed. It is specifically taught in Ephesians and 2 Corinthians, but always
as that of believers, that is, of those who have life already, and are washed in
the blood of the Lamb. Christianity is not known in its real character where
this is not. The starting-point of this, as to our standing, is — we have been
baptised to Christ’s death, our old man is crucified with Christ, so that we
should not serve sin. It is done with for faith, we are set free. But is there
no remedy, no ameliorating the old man, no power in the new to walk out of and
independent of it? There is no amelioration nor power in the new to go right by
itself, even when one wills it. If righteousness is to be had in our fallen Adam
state (in the flesh), then the law is the measure. But the flesh is not subject
to the law of God, nor can be — law, no doubt, in its spiritual character, for
law forbids lust, and the flesh lusts. To stand before God on this ground is
therefore a hopeless matter, but the question is, in this part of Romans, our
standing before Him. But we have the two points: we are born again; but this is
not enough, for the flesh is there, and what characterises the law is our
obtaining righteousness by what we are. But sin is there. But if not enough, it
is not all: our old man is crucified with Christ, we have died to sin in Him.
Thus for faith the flesh is gone in death, and Christ is come in life. Sin in
the flesh has been condemned in the cross, but death came to the old condition
of man; not that Christ, of course, had any sin, but He was made it for us. He
was on the cross "for sin." So that condemnation of sin in the flesh is passed,
and death, the power of Christ’s death, is come. I am now connected with a
Christ risen from the dead. My first husband, the law, ruled over me as long as
I lived; but I have died with Christ; by His death God condemned sin in the
flesh. That condemnation Christ took, and ended in dying; so by my death I have
ceased to be under law, have died out of the condition to which law applied, and
am not only alive in Christ, but connected with Christ risen in this new place
where sin and condemnation are entirely over and passed. My being quickened left
the flesh there, though I hated its fruits and workings, and as the principle of
law, and our mind under it, is that which God will feel as to us, is the effect
of what we are; the holier my desires, the more miserable I was; but having part
in His death, I reckon myself dead. The deliverance, then, is by the death of
Christ, that is, my being crucified with Him, and connected with Him as risen.
But how can I know this? By the Holy Ghost. In Romans 8:1-39 we are in Christ,
and Christ is in us (Romans 8:1, Romans 8:10). Now the knowledge of this is by
the Holy Ghost; John 14:20. We are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be
that the Spirit of God dwell in you. No condemnation, because we are in Christ;
and if Christ be in us, the body dead because of sin, its only product if alive;
yet we are alive, because the Spirit is life because of righteousness. And now
mark that in the parenthetical Romans 7:1-25, which treats of the bearing of law
on the question, we have two states of the soul, both when quickened, not of
progress or degree, but absolutely incompatible — so incompatible, that one
cannot exist if the other does, a relative position in one of which the soul is
connected with law as with a husband, in the other with Christ risen from the
dead. The soul has died in the first, so as to have done with it, died away out
of it, only as crucified with Christ, or it would have been condemnation as well
as death; 2 Corinthians 3:1-18; Galatians 4:1-31. We are dead to the law by the
body of Christ, that we might be married to another; we could not have two
husbands at once. Then we get the experimental effect of the law, as seen and
estimated by the light of Christianity. It awoke, and as an occasion provoked
sin. The experience of Romans 7:1-25 is not the cry of a man in it not knowing
what it is, but the estimate of it by one who can judge of it with spiritual
knowledge. We, we Christians as such, so the expression is ever used, we know
that the law is spiritual. As to the fact, no one was ever in such a state, the
will always perfectly right, and the doing always wrong. It is the working of
the law when the will is renewed, but the man is under law, and as to the
thoughts of his relationship with God he is in the flesh, loving obedience and
God’s law, but judging of God’s thoughts of him from what he is himself, which
is the opposite of grace. The law is seen to be spiritual in its requirements,
his conscience consents to it as good, his heart delights in it after the inner
man, but he does not succeed in keeping it. He is captive to the law of sin
which is in his members. To will is present with him, but how to perform the
good he finds not. Now this is experience looked at by a delivered person, but
of a person clearly undelivered, a person under law, a man when he was in the
flesh. He learns, thus looking at it, not guilt, but that there is no good in
him, that is, in his flesh; next, that it is not himself, since he hates it;
thirdly, that it is too strong for him — he cannot succeed in his will to do
right. It is a lesson of two things — that there is no good in the flesh when
estimated spiritually, and next, that we have no power. To distinguish the sin
from oneself is often a relief, but not deliverance. Now it is of all importance
that he should know, and experimentally know, what flesh is, and so what it is
to be under law; but God has no pleasure in keeping him there when he has
learned it. But it is not the Christian state. There is conflict to the end when
we are delivered, but then that is in the Christian: the flesh lusts against the
Spirit. Here there is no question of the Spirit, nor of Christ, save in
contrast, another husband, which you cannot have at the same time. As to this
the chapter is positive. We cannot have two husbands at the same time. If I have
learned the love of God in the gift of His Son, and my standing is there, divine
acceptance does not rest on what I am for God — under law it does. The chapter
is the estimate of the working of the law by one who has the Spirit, and can
say, "We know." He does not say, therefore, we are carnal, Christians could not.
If I am asked, Has he the Spirit? — Is he sealed? I answer, Decidedly not, he is
captive to the law of sin, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
liberty; and in Romans 8:1-39 he is made free, and not in the flesh. And if one
is led of the Spirit, he is not under law, but that is exactly what is described
in Romans 7:1-25, but described by one who, being out of it, can describe it by
the Spirit. Sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law,
but under grace. Though I have spoken of Romans 7:1-25 as parenthetic, and
justly (for it comes in between the doctrine of Romans 6:1-23 and the practical
state of Romans 8:1-39), yet, in a certain sense, Romans 6:1-23 closes the
doctrine of the epistle. Sin has not dominion over them, for they are not under
law, but under grace; so, yielded to God in obedience, they have their fruit
unto holiness here, and the end everlasting life. The wages of sin is death; the
gift of God eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Thus the two experimental states are gone into, under law, and in the power of
the Spirit in Christ. The complete contrast of the two is evident, not degrees
of progress, but contrast of state. The incompatibility of the two I have spoken
of, implied in the two husbands, the change being introduced by nothing short of
death, as an absolute cessation of the bond. But I now speak of the contrast in
the state itself. In Romans 7:1-25 he is in the flesh, in Romans 8:1-39 he is
not in the flesh because the Spirit of God dwells in him. The experience of
Romans 7:1-25 contemplates the law only; in Romans 8:1-39 he is dead to the law
by the body of Christ, and it is a question between the flesh and the Spirit.
Christ is in us, and the body dead, and the Spirit life in the delivered soul.
We have, then, first, in Romans 7:1-25, the two husbands contrasted — a renewed
man connected with law, and the same with Christ raised from the dead, the first
bond being absolutely severed by the death of the person in it. Then you have
the experience of the former, the renewed man under law, estimated by the
Christian intelligence of one out of it, and the flesh is judged, and the
incompetency of the renewed soul to overcome it under law. It needs a deliverer,
that is, God through Christ. We are alive in Him, and He in us, and have died to
sin, been crucified with Him. There is therefore now no condemnation for them in
Christ, for though flesh is in me, I am freed from its law through the law of
the Spirit of life in Christ, and I, as to my standing before God, have nothing
else than Christ as life in the power of the Spirit. What the law could not do,
nor I succeed in under it, because the flesh was not subject to it, God has
done; for it has judicially disappeared in the death of Christ as a sacrifice
for sin, and there it and I to sin died with Him. The old man is crucified and
gone in the cross: God has condemned sin in the flesh there. But here the power
of the Holy Ghost comes which dwells in us. It is a sum of our state in, already
in, verse 2. But the things of the Spirit and walking after the Spirit refer
directly to a divine Person and to a new nature; and to this, though not yet
separating Him from life as its power, the change from the old position of Adam
standing is distinctly referred. "Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if
so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you." It is not subjecting flesh, which
cannot be subject to law; but "if Christ be in you, the body is dead," according
to chapter 6, for alive in itself, it only produces sin; yet I am alive, "the
Spirit is life" as the power and producer of righteousness. And further to
complete the deliverance: "if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the
dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ [the head of his people] from the
dead will quicken your mortal bodies, by reason of his Spirit which dwells in
you." It is the Spirit of God, as contrasted with flesh — of Christ, as that
which we are as now livingly formed after Christ — of Him that raised up Jesus
(Christ’s personal name) from the dead, as accomplishing our final deliverance.
From this on the Holy Spirit is spoken of, not merely as a divine Person
dwelling in us, and so working on life, but as acting distinct from us. By the
Spirit we mortify the deeds of the body, we are led by the Spirit; He is the
Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself, it is said,
bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children, with the inheritance
in hope, and helps our infirmities in our patient passage till we are there; the
Spirit itself, when we do not know what to pray for as we ought, making
intercession for us, but in us, and that according to God: so real is this
presence with us.

There is, then, a deliverance* — not being born again, not forgiveness — though
both be true — but deliverance, in that we have died with Christ, our old man
crucified with Him, and He our life, in the power of the Spirit of God; and,
while His work is the basis, it is possessed and known, and our place in Him, by
the Spirit dwelling in us, which Spirit we receive on believing in the efficacy
of Christ’s work for the forgiveness of our sins. We are not in the flesh, but
in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in us. Scripture is as
clear as possible on the point. It is equally clear that one in Romans 7:1-25
has not this deliverance; the proof of it is very simple — he is seeking to be
delivered. It is not a repeated thing, but a state into which we enter: the
whole of chapter 8 is a proof of it; we are in Christ, have the Spirit of
adoption, the Comforter, which is not taken from us.

{*We have it here, and based on Christ’s death, and enjoyed by the Spirit. So in
Galatians 5:1, "the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free." So 2
Corinthians 3:1-18, "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."}

It is not being born again — that is a "must be"; not the revelation of grace
and salvation — this is by the cross. The visitation, as prophesied of by
Zechariah, was to give knowledge of salvation to the people by the forgiveness
of their sins.

It was the gospel of their salvation which led to the sealing of the Gentiles. I
have no doubt that He who began the good work will perfect it unto the day of
Jesus Christ. But the testimony of Scripture is constant. The prodigal came to
himself, was repentant, confessed his sin, and that he was perishing, and set
out on the road which, in fact, led him to his father; but he had not reached
his father, nor knew his mind, could not cry Abba Father, nor had he on the best
robe, which made him fit to enter into the house. It is in vain to say he was
not conscious of it; he had not got it. Christ was delivered for our offences;
but though He has made peace by the blood of His cross, we have it not till we
are justified by faith. It is alike important to see that it is completely made,
and that we have it not till we believe. Indeed, to say that we have peace with
God, and are not conscious of it, is nonsense. It dislocates, too, the
connection of the Spirit’s presence and Christ’s work. To be free, and at
liberty, liberty with God, crying, Abba, Father, and freedom from the law of sin
and death, and not be conscious of it, has no sense, though we may not be able
to explain how it is; but we have the joy, and know it. I attach no importance
to the word ’Christian’ — probably given by the world; but his body who is such
is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which he has of God. The comparison of some
passages in Romans and Galatians shews distinctly how this is a distinct state,
and not a mere progress in the condition of the soul, the liberty of sons, the
fruit of redemption, in contrast with bondage under law, even if born of God. In
Galatians 3:23 : "If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under law." Before
faith came we were under the law, a schoolmaster unto Christ, but after faith
came we were so no longer. We are all sons (not children, two things not
confounded by Paul) of God by faith in Christ Jesus. But the heir, so long as he
is a child, differs nothing from a slave, though lord of all. But when the
fulness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under
the law, that He might redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons; and because ye are sons, God has sent forth the
Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Romans 5:1-21 exhorts them to stand fast in this liberty; the flesh lusted
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; but if led of the Spirit,
they were not under law. Flesh was there, but their state and standing was
wholly changed; they were sons, free, led of the Spirit, not under law, because
Christ had redeemed them out of that state, and so the Holy Ghost was given to
them, if faith had come in. The state was the consequence of God’s Son being
come to redeem, and faith in that. Now look at Romans, in the delivered state —
Romans 8:1-39, As many as are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. We
have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. And how is this? We are
not under law, but under grace, reckon ourselves dead. (Compare Galatians
2:19-20.) Christ having died, we are delivered from the law, dead with Christ to
sin and the law too, married to another, Christ risen. We are in Christ: the law
of the Spirit of life in Him has set us free; for what the law could not do, God
has done, sending His own Son for sin. The consequence is not a law imposing
human righteousness, but the things of the Spirit our portion.

Though the flesh is in us, we are not in it, not in that standing before God, if
so be that the Spirit of God dwell in us, not if born of God; that they were
when undelivered. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, the
Spirit life; and then he goes to conscious sonship by the Spirit, and so, not to
one being born, but to the witness by the Spirit of being born of God (children,
not sons): we are heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. The principles of
the state in Romans 7:1-25 are the law, the flesh, sin, captivity to the law of
sin, undelivered, the will right, but no power to carry it out. The first six
verses give the two relationships to law, and Christ risen, death wholly closing
one, being the only deliverance from it. The principles of chapter 8 are, in
Christ (not merely forgiven, but in a new state), made free by the law of the
Spirit of life in Him, sin in the flesh condemned in His having died a sacrifice
for sin, not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, the Spirit of God dwelling in us,
the body dead, the Spirit life; sons, knowing we are such, suffering with
Christ, to be glorified with Him; Christ and the Spirit, not mentioned in the
first; the whole subject is the second husband, in the power of the Spirit in
the second. It is impossible that two standings and relationships can be more
distinct. Having believed in forgiveness by Christ’s blood, the believer has
received the Spirit, and knows by it where he is, as having died with Christ,
and being now in Him.

Bad teaching, which puts being born again (a vital and necessary truth, and
examining whether we be in the faith, a very natural thing then, but a mere and
entire misinterpretation of Scripture), instead of an accomplished and known
redemption by the work of Christ, having led many true hearts away from plain
Scripture truth, I add here what Scripture plainly states. If a soul can in
truth before God say, Abba, Father, that soul is sealed. If a person really
knows that he is in Christ, and Christ in him, he is sealed. If the love of God
is shed abroad in the heart, the man is sealed. (Romans 8:1-39; Galatians
4:1-31; Romans 13:1-14; John 14:1-31; Romans 10:1-21.) Other proofs may be given
of if, for the whole life of a man is, save particular failures, the evidence of
the Spirit of God dwelling in him; but I take the simplest and most immediate
evidence in a man’s soul purposely and such as are in terms stated in Scripture.
Now what hinders the simple acceptance of this truth is, that the full doctrine
of redemption is not believed. Forgiveness is looked at as forgiveness of so
much past sins,* of sins up to our conversion, what was really Jewish
forgiveness, which is contrasted in Scripture with Christian; Hebrews 9:1-28,
Hebrews 10:1-39. What Scripture calls eternal redemption is not believed in. As
to Christians in general, what it is to have no more conscience of sins, they
cannot tell you, or even of the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord imputes
no sin. No, all their past sins were forgiven when they believed, but sins
since? well, they must be sprinkled again, or the present priesthood of Christ
on high applies to it, neither of which is in Scripture.

{*Past sins in Romans 3:1-31 are the sins of Old Testament saints. It is clear
that at the moment I am forgiven, I can only apply it to sins already committed;
I have no other. But this does not touch the question of the extent and bearing
of Christ’s death, which was before I had committed any. It is confounding the
Spirit’s work and Christ’s.}

Ask them what it means, when it says that by one offering He hath perfected for
ever them that are sanctified; they cannot tell you: each sin, after its
commission, has to find its forgiveness as and when it may; and people are
taught that it is a very dangerous doctrine to think otherwise. Now there is an
interruption of communion; there is a gracious washing of the feet with water;
but when I have believed in Christ’s work there is no more imputation of sin, I
am perfected as to conscience. We have boldness to enter into the holiest by the
blood of Jesus. He who bore our sins, and put them away long ago, is there. We
must not confound the work of the Spirit, which makes me own my faults, and the
work of Christ, finished and effectual once and for ever. He bore my sins when I
had not committed one of them, and if forgiveness, in the sense of
non-imputation, has to be gained now, it would be impossible; for Christ would
have to suffer for them as the apostle says, "For then he must often have
suffered from the foundation of the world." Hence he who has not the sense of
redemption in his soul by faith, and he who really has, are by current teaching
put on the same footing, though one has the Spirit of adoption, and the other
has not — one looks for mercy, not yet obtained by faith, and the other, with
God, cries Abba, Father; but both are taught to suppose sin imputable alike, and
to search if they are children, and the delivered man is thrown back by false
teaching under law in Romans 7:1-25. If you can really cry, Abba, Father, you
are surely sealed; but then no sin can be imputed to you, or Christ is dead in
vain. Judaism was, as to that, better than this half Christianity. There, if a
man sinned, was a sacrifice, and his sin was forgiven. Here, once, perhaps,
pardoned for what was gone before, he has nothing but uncertainty for all that
follows. But Christ has obtained eternal redemption, and blessed is the man to
whom the Lord imputes no sin. And the work being complete, and he who is
sanctified perfected for ever, the worshipper once purged has no more conscience
of sins, and Christ is sitting down on the Father’s throne because all is
finished. Of this the Holy Ghost is the witness; being born of God is not.

There is one text as to which it may be well to add a supplementary word: "If
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his," Romans 8:9. "None of
his" alarms people; it is simply that he is not yet His, any more than the
prodigal was in a son’s place till he reached his father.

Romans 8:1 puts us in Christ, this verse Christ in us, which is the Christian
state, according to the promise in John 14:1-31. It is not the state of soul
which is a question here, but the fact of Christ being in us, as Romans 8:2
proves, connecting it withal with Romans 6:1-23. He that is joined to the Lord
is one spirit. This cannot be till we have that Spirit. We are not till then in
the Christian state as belonging to Christ in fact, even if on the way, like the
prodigal. The Christian is always looked at as born again, forgiven, and sealed.
That is the Christian state — till then he is not in it. The indwelling of the
Spirit is part of the Christian state, as Galatians, Romans, 2 Corinthians 5, 2
Corinthians 1:1-24, and a multitude of other passages, shew.

There is one other passage I would refer to, as sometimes cited, "Whosoever
shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God."
Now, first, the sealing of the Spirit is not the subject here, nor is being born
again. It is assumed and referred to in Romans 3:24 : only there the Spirit’s
testimony to dwelling in Him, and He in us, is only applied to His dwelling in
us, as even gifts of all kinds might shew. But obedience marks the Christian,
keeping His commandments, and this involves dwelling in God, and God in us, the
consciousness of it being by the Spirit given to us. So Romans 8:4. So in our
Romans 8:13, but the terms varied, He hath given us of His Spirit: the terms,
indeed, of the prophecy, but here of moment, as connecting us with God in His
nature. John is not occupied with the administrative acts, such as sealing, by
which our relationships are known. He dwells in the nature of God, and communion
with it. He is light, so are we. He is love, and he who dwells in love, dwells
in God, and God in him. Our koinonia is with God, and we walk in the light, as
God is in the light, in love, as Christ loved us. I do not doubt it is through
the Spirit, but what John is full of is our being in God, and God in us, as a
present thing, not our being sealed for the day of redemption — a day not come
yet; and it is of His Spirit, so that we should dwell in and have communion with
Himself. This is not sealing, though it be through means of it, that is, of the
gift of the Holy Ghost. Romans 5:1-21 is nearer to it, and there it is by the
gift of the Holy Ghost, but an effect of it, not the thing itself. When a man is
quickened, and trusts in the blood of Christ, and is sealed with the Holy Ghost,
then he enters into the fulness of God, of all that is in Him, his new nature
innately enjoys, is innately capable of enjoying all that He is; the Holy Ghost
is the revealer of, and spiritual power to realise, what is revealed, and thus
we enter into that fulness, our conscience being perfect through the blood of
Christ.

Thus entering into what the Holy Ghost brings us into, we dwell in God, and God
in us. And this is the position of every Christian, of whoever believes that
Jesus is the Son of God. But these are looked on as sealed, as this passage
itself shews. With a parenthesis to detect evil spirits, the view of the
Christian state begins, 1 John 3:23 externally, 1 John 3:24 internally, 1 John
4:7, and following. It is not the habit of John to treat the divine
administrative process of God’s ways, but the nature of God, and the fulness
that is in Him, and our connection with it in its character and power. This
process the reader will find in Ephesians 3:14-19. It is the full blessing into
which we are brought by the Holy Ghost with which we are sealed. Ephesians is
the realisation of it. There is another point important in this passage, the
force of "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God." Here a man is
openly in the place of a Christian; but it is in no way the fact of His Person,
in contrast with His work. In the passage itself, the whole of what He was, has
done, is now in glory, is brought into view: nor in what follows is it simply
that we are quickened, but that he that hath the Son hath life. The whole
mystery of godliness, as regards us, viewing Christ as a Man in glory, who once
came down, and finished the work, and is gone back to the Father. Ephesians
3:9-10 we have the Son sent to be life to us, and propitiation for us; in
Ephesians 3:12, God’s love is perfected in us now; in Ephesians 3:17 He is
viewed as the glorified Man, and as He is, so are we. It is evident that this
takes in the whole history of Christ in saying Son of God. But the way in which
John speaks of Christ goes further: He is truly a man "come in the flesh," but
God in His Person. We know Him that is true, and are in Him that is true, that
is, in His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, He, outos "is the true God, and eternal
life."

Read the verses from Romans 2:28; Romans 3:3 : is He spoken of as God, or as
man? As both in one half-verse He appears; we are born of Him, so sons of God,
but the world does not know us, as it did not know Him. It is one Person who is
God and who is Man, according to the aspect in which He is looked at, and
believing in His Person is the secret and foundation of it all; but a divine
Person who came down, is God, finished the work, and is gone up, a true man who
has died, but Son of God. So we enter into all the fulness of God, dwelling in
Him (being in Christ), but according to all that He has displayed Himself to be
in His ways with us in Christ, and blessed it is. But this is different from the
administration of those ways, even the sealing with the Holy Ghost, by which we
are capable indwellers.

Paul gives us this administrative and judicial dealing of God. There is no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, by faith in Christ the Son, who
has wrought redemption. We are sons, not merely children, and so the Spirit of
His Son is sent forth into our hearts. John goes on to what this brings us into,
in its fulness in God, as revealed in the Son. All belongs in God’s mind, the
nous of Christ, to every believer, as the best robe, and the shoes, and the ring
to the prodigal; but we enter into them by being sealed with the Holy Ghost, and
are able to do so, being strengthened by Him according to Ephesians 3:1-21. And
now the matter stands thus: dispensationally it was when the Son of God had
come, been crucified, accomplishing redemption and gone on high; then, and then
only, the Holy Ghost came down, the public seal and testimony that He was the
Son of God, the glorified Man on high. So with the indiveph idual, when he
believes that the work is accomplished, in the efficacy of that work, he is
sealed with the Holy Ghost, giving the assurance of our place by what Christ has
done, and the earnest of what He has obtained for us, having put away our sins,
and done away the whole of our old standing with God, flesh and law, and entered
as our Forerunner into glory as man, in virtue of redemption.

Now when Christ is at all truly preached, even where the efficacy of His work is
not clearly applied, still what has that efficacy is placed before the soul as a
truth. According to ordinary evangelical ministry, people are told they must be
born again — quite true — and to examine themselves if they are; and if the
value of Christ’s blood is spoken of, they are carefully warned and guarded,
lest they should have any false confidence, not to deceive themselves, etc. The
effect is, that the mass (where the word reaches the soul) remain in the spirit
of bondage, and searching their own state to see if God can accept them; the
ground may be laid, but are they fit for heaven? the efficacy of the blood being
a resource at the end of their career, many truths for living by, as men say,
one to die by. A few, in whom the Spirit of God made it a felt need, do realise
forgiveness as a present thing, and even that of attainment; consequently, being
sealed, they cry to God, Abba, Father, but remain in the spirit of bondage after
all, thrown back on their self-examination, and the judgment, they can form of
themselves, not here fully seeking to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of
Jesus Christ our Lord, in true holiness and divine life, but turn even this into
a question of fitness, that is, of righteousness, and true holiness is lost, as
is divine righteousness. Acceptance, save as a thing in the air, is not known.
And such is the state of the Christian world. Let watchfulness, diligence of
heart, the fear of God, working out our own salvation with fear and trembling,
be pressed on the redeemed and saved with all diligence, but on such as such,
and when they are such. For though we have the assurance of being kept and
confirmed to the end by divine power, yet if we are redeemed, and because we
are, we have the wilderness to pass, where all is sifted and tried in us (John
10:1-42; 1 Corinthians 1:1-31), but where the true believer relies on the
faithfulness of the living God, who withdraws not His eyes from the righteous,
as he does on the perfect work which redeemed and saved him (so that he is not
in the flesh) and brought him into this place of testing. In result, then, the
pattern and the model of the Christian’s place is Matthew 3:16-17. The heavens
are opened to him; He is sealed and anointed with the Holy Ghost; and the Father
owns Him as His beloved Son. Only Christ was in this place as man in His own
excellency. For us redemption was needed; for except a corn of wheat fall into
the ground and die, it abides alone: but if it die, it brings forth much fruit.
Hence, our faith must rest, not only on His Person, but on His work, to find
ourselves in that place. And this is what the truth of the matter is as to
delay. It is not delay in sealing, when faith in Christ’s work is there — I see
no ground for that — but delay in the heart’s believing in its efficacy,
appropriating faith in Christ’s work.

_________

I allow myself to add a line on another subject, as misrepresentation has gone
forth. I insist that when Christ’s presence is spoken of, with two or three
gathered in His name, it is Christ — not the Holy Ghost. The difference is very
real: the Holy Ghost was not incarnate, was not made flesh for us, did not die
for us, and in this respect cannot be the object of the same affections. On this
I have constantly and uniformly insisted. What gave occasion to the contrary
representation was, as far as I can ascertain, a bad translation of a French
tract; where evidently it was said Christ was present en esprit, spiritually
(not corporeally), and this has been translated by "the Spirit."


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 11: ON THE PRESENCE AND ACTION OF THE HOLY GHOST IN THE CHURCH
========================================================================

On the Presence and Action of the Holy Ghost in the Church, in answer to the
work of Mr. P. Wolff, entitled, "Ministry as opposed to Hierarchism and chiefly
to Religious Radicalism,"

Valence, 1844

J. N. Darby.

Preface

Introduction Fundamental Difference between Calvin’s System and that of Mr.
Wolff Mr. Wolff’s Judgment of the Rochat System Example of the Same Spirit with
Regard to Evangelists Another Example with Regard to Teachers On the Pretended
Connection of Political and Religious Ideas Mr. Wolff’s Pamphlet - Defending
Ministry Chapter 1 Priesthood and Ministry Chapter 2 Vocation to Ministry
Chapter 3 Name of Bishop Chapter 4 Vocation of Bishop Chapter 5 Bishop is
Established of God Chapter 6 Human Vocation of Bishop Chapter 7 Election of
Bishop Chapter 8 Imposition of Hands Chapter 8 Ordination of the Evangelist
Chapter 8 Ordination of the Bishop Chapter 9 Twofold Vocation of the Elder
Chapter 10 About Evangelists Chapter 11 Concerning Teachers Chapter 12
Classification of Ministries Chapter 13 Perpetuity of Ministry Chapter 14
Apostasy of The Church Chapter 15 Exercise of a Gift Chapter 16 Gifts Have All
Ceased Chapter 17 Sacraments Chapter 18 Pastors Chapter 19 Missionaries Chapter
20 Clerical Usurpation Chapter 21 Study For Ministry Chapter 22 Altered Ministry

Conclusion

Preface This answer to Mr. Wolff’s pamphlet upon Ministry was written
immediately after the publication of that work. The author of the answer having
been absent from the country for eleven months, the manuscript remained in the
hands of a friend until his return. Since then, evangelistic labours and other
occupations, still more important than controversy, have retarded the
preparation of the manuscript for the press, to which it is at last given up. In
this interval the Evangelical Society of Geneva, and the Lay Society of the
Canton de Vaud, have recommended Mr. Wolff’s pamphlet in their reports; so that
the approbation which is given to this pamphlet, pretty plainly marked by facts,
is now avowed. This renders my task more painful, but less difficult; for I can
treat the writing which I am answering, not as that of a young student who is
making, so to speak, his first campaign, and whom one would desire to spare, but
as a work sanctioned by grave men who must have weighed things, who must have
felt their own responsibility towards the Church of God, when they publicly
recommended a treatise upon a subject so serious as that of ministry. It is to
be supposed that they have examined the reasonings and the proofs advanced as
having been taken from the word of God; and, by recommending this work to the
whole Church, they have made themselves responsible for its contents. The Lay
Society, it is true, is careful not to take the responsibility of all the
contents of the work; but, desiring the refutation of the system which it calls
"Plymouthism," it points to Mr. Wolff’s pamphlet as answering this end. (Sitting
of the Committee of June 9th, 1843: Bulletin, No. 5, pp. 155, 156.) The Report
of the Evangelical Society of Geneva makes no such reserve. These are the words
(p. 35): "Others have combated this [Plymouthism] with advantage; more
particularly a student of our school of theology, in a work whose scriptural
arguments cannot be shaken."

There will be found, in the body of this answer, inconsistencies in the feelings
which I have expressed with regard to that work. Sometimes my heart has spoken
in favour of the writer; sometimes I have not been altogether able to contain
the indignation which I felt in seeing the way in which the word of our God has
there been treated.

I have left these inconsistencies such as they are, because it was the true
expression of what I felt. But now that this work must be regarded as the
statement of the feelings of the Evangelical Society of Geneva, or at least of
its leaders, and that they have put their approbation upon these arguments by
calling them scriptural, the reserve which the circumstances of a young man
called for no longer exists. Looked at as coming from the hands of learned,
grave, and pious men — men in a responsible position — men who, in other
respects, I esteem and love — this work coming, I say, from their hands,
requires to be put in its true light. I have not in my life (and I have been in
painful controversies) seen such a pamphlet. Of what are these gentlemen
approving? It is a temerity which erases with a dash of the pen all that has
been written on ministry from the time of Chrysostom until our own; there are
self-contradictions of the grossest kind, provided that in both cases these
opposed sentiments serve to establish at all costs a system that one loves; it
is profound unbelief as to the presence and operations of the Holy Ghost; it is
a contempt for the word, such as I have never seen the like of in any
controversy; it is assertions boldly made as to the contents of the word and the
use of words to give the advantage to the views of the author, which, when one
examines the passages in which the word is found, are not supported by a single
example, and which must have weight with those who do not know Greek, and who
would not suppose — God be thanked for it — that things are affirmed in spite of
all truth and of all honesty.

All is levelled to the present system in the desire of saying, We are rich.
Ministry is not the exercise of a gift; no gift exists; nevertheless, the Church
enjoys all its blessings! And why all this unbelief, and this lack — what shall
I say — of conscience? It is this: having too much light to go on at ease with
the deadness and the errors which they acknowledge in the systems that surround
them, they have too little faith to free themselves from a yoke under which they
groan in the work they are doing. They have resolved to flatter the flesh as
well as the forms of the systems which shackle them, in order that these systems
may lend them the liberty of following out the work which they do not dare to do
without that. As to the pamphlet which is before us (every one will judge of it
when he has read the following pages), I can only see in it the public statement
of the infidelity of the professing church of these last days — a contempt for
the word of God, which deserves to be branded in a much more powerful way than I
could do it — assertions the most false, which it is impossible to attribute to
the ignorance of those who recommend this work; and which proves a use of the
word which (if one must attribute such a use of it to the force of party spirit)
marks, in a terrible manner, what the estimation is in which the word is held,
when it is a question of the interests of a party. These are strong expressions.
I should not have used them, if it were only a question of an opinion on
ministry, or if they were not Christians who had made themselves responsible for
them: but it is a question of the whole basis of the hopes and of the activities
of the Church of God, and of the authority of His word, which are sacrificed
without hesitation to the interests and to the pride of an irritated party.
Weariness of controversy almost stopped my pen. I thought that tears would be
more suitable than an answer. But there are souls who have a right to the
explanations that are necessary for exposing what the bold assertions are worth
which characterize the pamphlet patronized by the Committee of the Evangelical
Society of Geneva, and of what weight is the authority of those who can
patronize it: and I have deeply felt that he who uses the word in such a way, by
concealing himself under Greek, does not deserve to be spared, when presented to
us by men quite capable of appreciating the use and the consequences of it. The
more they are esteemed (and in many respects they deserve to be so), the more
necessary it is to expose the roots of bitterness which they wish to sanction.
If it were a Peter who had become guilty of that which draws others away into a
path of dissimulation, it would be so much the more necessary to resist him to
his face.

INTRODUCTION

I do not expect to see principles which are of faith adopted by those who have
not faith to follow them. Neither do I think that, at this moment, it is
controversy that leads souls to enter the path of faith. It is the time for
walking in it by the grace of God, and not for talking about it. The
circumstances which surround us, and the progress of evil, call for that which
God alone can give, a firm and active walk in the path in which faith alone will
find means to exist; for events press upon us every day more and more.

If I answer Mr. Wolff’s thesis upon ministry, it is because it is a subject of
the greatest importance, and because it will furnish the opportunity for
developing the truths which are now most precious to the Church.

If Mr. Wolff’s pamphlet were only the production of the student whose name is
attached to it, I should probably have said nothing about it. Let us do justice
to the writer. It is a work which displays a tolerable amount of diligence, and
shows an application the fruits of which at such an age do honour, according to
men, to the writer, and are worthy of a more advanced period of life. If
anything here or there betrays youth, that will not be a subject of reproach
with me. That the activity of a youthful mind should have produced, as he says,
a new system, does not surprise me. That, in the eyes of its author, it should
be a system before which all that has been said upon ministry in all ages of the
Church, passes away like a shadow — that the author should manifest a certain
self-confidence, this may be natural to the ardour of youth. I shall not stop at
it. He may dispose in twelve lines of all that has been written on ministry from
Chrysostom to Mr. Rochat, confessing that he lacked the means of enlightening
himself, not having been able to found anything upon the works of his
predecessors; and he may deal thus in order to introduce a system of which "the
systematic whole is entirely his own": I have no feeling against him on that
account. I only recall it because of the importance which this fact acquires,
when one reflects that such a judgment is approved by the party to whose
jurisdiction the writer, so to speak, belongs. It is at least clear, according
to this, that every system of ministry hitherto acknowledged, all the principles
upon which ministry has been based, have been obliged to fall before the light
which has entered by means of the discussion which has taken place on this
subject. In order to combat what is advanced, it was necessary to set aside all
that had been said on ministry by all theologians, both by those of primitive
times, and by those of the Reformation and modern times. I acknowledge, however,
that Mr. Wolff’s treatise is the cleverest and the gravest that has appeared in
the controversy begun upon this subject. This pamphlet, appearing at the moment
of such a controversy, is evidently more than a student’s thesis; while it is
one fruit of his labour, it is the expression of far more than that. Puffed in
the journals of his party, printed with encouragement and the concurrence of
persons of that party who seek to profit by its publication, and spread it
abroad by their friends and their agents, this opuscule must be considered in
the main, as the expression of those who propagate it; for one must not
attribute to them the dishonest tactics of a corrupted Christianity, which would
like to profit as much as possible by a work, with liberty to disown it
afterward, if one saw itself in danger of being compromised by its means. My
intention is to bring to light, for upright souls, the principle of this
pamphlet, and to point out the force of certain reasonings, which have a hold
upon the flesh and may act upon it, and which are calculated to trouble simple
hearts. The evident and even avowed object of this work is to attack what I
shall allow myself to call the new light which God has sent, and to maintain,
such as it is, all that exists. In order to this, he borrows all that he can of
this light, so that in many respects I find myself agreeing with the writer.
After all, this is the road that many are following now. They borrow all the
light that they can without troubling themselves to walk in the path of faith
which this light has revealed. In order to sustain at all costs existing things,
it became necessary to sacrifice all the principles of ministry established by
the Reformation. We must not mistake. When the author says of Calvin’s system on
ministry, "good as a theory based upon the experience of the Church," that is
tacitly saying that this system is not based upon scripture; for he overthrows,
without warning his readers of it, all Calvin’s system in the body of his work.

Sufficiently young only to be enamoured of his own ideas, he has not been able
to keep silence about it, as one may see in his preface. All his system is his
own. He has not been able essentially to base his work upon the works of his
predecessors. The thoughts of Calvin were in effect based in great measure upon
the Bible: but, as Mr. Wolff says, his theory, or rather his practice, was based
upon the experience of the Church. A man of sufficient integrity of heart by
grace deeply to honour the word, and energetic enough to create a system, Calvin
acknowledged, in many respects in theory, the truth as to ministry. In practice,
he formed for himself a system adapted to circumstances and to his own
character. More light has entered; the word has been searched; the energy of the
Holy Ghost is at work; and what he created as a system answers no longer, either
to the creative energy of its author, or to the need produced by the Holy Ghost.
Those who, led by the Holy Ghost, have searched the word, have, while following
the word and the principles and truths that Calvin himself found there, found
themselves outside his system in several particulars. They followed the word and
not the system. From that time, war has been waged against them. They were
innovators, etc.

Meanwhile a class of persons has formed itself (the party with which Mr. Wolff
is connected), a party which wishes to attach itself to Calvin’s ecclesiastical
system and to profit by it as much as possible, because this does not require
faith (for a Socinian does it as well as themselves), and at the same time to
introduce a spiritual activity subordinate to that system.

Mr. Wolff is a partisan of this new system; but he has been consistent. He has
felt that, in adopting the principles which Calvin drew from the word, it would
be impossible to maintain his system. He therefore denies those principles. His
object is to justify at all cost what is being done. I shall give sad proofs of
this presently.

Let us first state this important fact that, in order to combat those who follow
the word, he has felt himself obliged to set aside all the principles of the
reformers on ministry. He has felt that, once admitting what they had drawn from
the word, it would be necessary to go still farther and to abandon their
practical system; but this requires faith.

FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CALVIN’S SYSTEM AND THAT OF MR. WOLFF

Calvin’s theory is based upon the existence of gifts; the theory approved by the
party which Mr. Wolff represents is based upon this — that gifts have absolutely
ceased. It is evident that a system which is based upon gifts, and another which
founds itself upon their absence and which makes of that absence its fundamental
principle, are two thoroughly opposed systems. One may, in order to spare the
flesh, practically follow the same forms, but the principles are completely
opposed.

Calvin divides the gifts into ordinary and extraordinary, as the basis of the
difference between the present and the apostolic condition of ministry. Mr.
Wolff affirms that all the gifts were extraordinary, and that Calvin’s whole
system is false with regard to this, and that ministry has undergone no
modification. Calvin’s system is founded upon the difference between charges and
gifts; consequently, he distinguishes between a bishop and a pastor. Mr. Wolff’s
whole system is based upon the identity of the bishop and the pastor. If bishop
and pastor are not the same thing, all his system falls at once to the ground,
because in that case the pastor is a gift given by God, and he has need neither
of the imposition of hands, nor of being established by man. If the author can,
on the contrary, identify them, he will in this case apply all that is said of
the bishop in the epistle to Timothy to the pastor as well as to the bishop.

I do not enter into the detail of differences, for Mr. Wolff’s system changes
all the Calvin system. I only call attention to the great principles, or rather
principle, by which they diverge. Calvin admits that gifts are needed for
ministry; Mr. Wolff absolutely denies all relation between these two things.
"Ministry," he says, "is exercised without gift." He is consistent: he felt that
it is impossible to reconcile the existence of gifts with the system of his
party and with Calvin’s ecclesiastical system. Calvin admitted the things that
he found in the word, then added traditions and customs. He created a system
which the light that then existed bore with. The party which now opposes the
light is bolder; feeling that they cannot reconcile them, and determined to
remain attached to existing things, they confess this unbelief on this point,
and set aside at once, the gifts, the Holy Spirit, and the word which speaks of
them.

Ministry, according to them, has no connection with the gifts of the Holy Ghost.
It is good at least to be clear as to the true foundations of the system which
opposes the brethren. It is merely a question of purely natural gifts; the Holy
Ghost has nothing to do with it, absolutely nothing. It is not (mark this well)
a conclusion which I draw; it is the avowed basis of the whole system. A man
must be regenerate by the Holy Ghost in order to be a minister, as he must to be
a Christian; but as to his ministry itself, the Holy Ghost has nothing to do
with it. These are Mr. Wolff’s own words (p. 68): "It is only because their
ministry is not a gift of the Holy Ghost, that ministers are ambassadors of
Christ."

I fully admit that he is perfectly consistent. At the close of the Jewish
dispensation, the forms (such as priesthood, etc.), and the power (Christ, who
was without forms) are found in opposition. The same thing is true now: faith
chooses power and eternal things; unbelief always attaches itself to forms. The
Reformation, so precious in many respects, mingled together some things which
were of God and others which were of man; the manifestation of the energy of the
Holy Spirit disentangles them. Those who have not faith to lean upon God alone
now throw themselves boldly on forms and applaud the avowal which flows from
youthful candour, or from a certain self-complacency. This avowal is, that power
does not enter into their plan. They are ministers, or rather their ministers
are ambassadors of Christ, because their ministry is not a gift of the Holy
Ghost! Is it necessary to write any further for simple souls who walk in faith?
No. But unhappily there are not wanting persons who seek to embroil others, nor
persons who, attaching themselves a little to the light, a little to their own
fleshly ease, are ready to fall into the snares that human reasonings may spread
for them.

I only desire that great attention should be paid to what the thing has come to.
God has permitted it to be said loudly; one can no longer mistake. Mr. Wolff is
perfectly right: we must deny the existence and the operation of the Holy Ghost
in ministry, or abandon the whole system. Things are coming out every day more
distinctly. Such an avowal as the one of which we have been speaking is more
than I should have dared to expect for helping souls to see things clearly, and
to make them understand that the true question for each one of them is this: Do
I believe that the Holy Ghost acts in ministry, or not? Such is the question
which arises between our brethren and their adversaries — such is the question
which agitates Christendom.

We shall see what are the grave consequences of this question; but it is very
evident that the position taken by those who embrace Mr. Wolff’s system is to
deny the operation of the Holy Ghost in ministry and to resist His energy
wherever He may be at work; and this is what I have seen becoming continually
more distinctly marked.

MR. WOLFF’S JUDGMENT OF THE ROCHAT SYSTEM

I have said that the object of Mr. Wolff’s pamphlet is to maintain existing
things, and to oppose our brethren. He says of Mr. Rochat: "a scriptural
system." This is good, because Mr. Rochat opposes the brethren, and maintains
more or less a clergy appointed by men. It matters little who appoints them, as
Mr. Wolff says elsewhere, provided that it be men, and that there be no gift.

But, at the same time, although it may be convenient to establish a unity of
opposition to our brethren, in order to maintain a clergy appointed by men, in
some way or another he must, in another part of the pamphlet, destroy all this
in order to maintain with exactness the system of the party. The following are
the terms in which, after having called Mr. Rochat’s system a scriptural one (p.
9), Mr. Wolff expresses himself with regard to the very same system in page 37
of his work, "I must add here that an election by a church, in Mr. Rochat’s
sense, cannot agree with a divine vocation of the bishop"; and lower down, "If a
church, when it needs a pastor, sets about voting, by means of which the member
who receives most suffrages is constituted a bishop, that bishop has received no
vocation from God; he is established in the name of man, and by man only. This
result is inevitable."I am therefore obliged, according to Mr. Wolff, to suppose
it a very scriptural thing, that the one who is bishop over the flock of God
should be established without any vocation from God. It matters little. There
are thirty-seven pages between these two sentences, and in each place these
contradictory statements are made in order to sustain what is existing in his
party.

EXAMPLE OF THE SAME SPIRIT WITH REGARD TO EVANGELISTS

After having secured the distinction of an official evangelist, in order to
support the clerical principle, Mr. Wolff extols (p. 43) the employment of those
who have not received this charge by the imposition of hands. But why so?
Because "they are employed at the present time." They ought not to be called
evangelists; because "we must carefully distinguish between what is a
ministerial charge, and that which is only a testimony rendered to the gospel,
voluntarily preached by a zealous and able Christian" (p. 43). But alas! they
are so called. This title, therefore, may still be preserved, provided that it
is explained, and that one avoids a confusion which would be dangerous for the
Church, between those who do the work, and those who are charged by men to do
it. I say, those who do the work; for we must suppose that these men who
evangelize thus approved, are sent of God. Hence, in our days we see many of
these who are sent by men, but "they have not received the imposition of hands."
The whole thing, then, is to distinguish the clergy.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE WITH REGARD TO TEACHERS From page 45 to page 48, Mr. Wolff
absolutely denies the charge of teacher in the Church. But he fortunately
corrects himself (p. 49) by adding these words, "That which has just been said
with regard to teachers must be considered as in no wise affecting the degree of
doctor of theology that the universities confer." It would be difficult to
understand how it did not affect it. If I have rightly understood, this doctor
is a kind of pastor, who, by means of the students, extends his functions to a
larger portion of Christ’s flock. But we have had enough of this adulation of
everything which supports the interest of a class and of a party, at the expense
of faith, of the action of the Spirit, of the word, and of the truth. ON THE
PRETENDED CONNECTION OF POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS IDEAS The thought of the
influence of political over religious ideas is a vulgar one, though well
calculated to exercise an influence over those who are, after all, governed by
political motives of a special kind; but it will have no hold upon those who are
guided by the Holy Spirit and who seek His teaching in the word. For the rest,
it is a very superficial idea. I notice it, because the true Christian is so
characterized by a spirit of submission and of obedience, that sincere souls
might be troubled by it; and this is how Satan seeks to take advantage of the
spirit of obedience, in order to lead the Christian to obey man. No one who has
read history a little but is aware that there is not a single accusation brought
against the religious movement of our days, that was not brought against the
Reformation, and that every movement of the Spirit of God, acting, as it does,
upon the inert mass which renders it necessary, is treated by those who love to
sleep, or at least to remain on their bed, as a spirit of innovation and of
radicalism. Everyone who asserts the rights of God in presence of those who are
in possession of an authority which despises those rights, will be necessarily a
despot and a radical in their eyes. This is an old accusation, and one which
always comes from the wrong side. When Pontius Pilate could find no fault in
Jesus, the priests and the rulers insisted the more, saying, "He stirreth up the
people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place,"
Luke 23:5. What do they say against Paul and Silas at Philippi? "These men,
being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city," Acts 16:20. And at Thessalonica?
"These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also," Acts 17:6.

I exhort those who are simple, not to make themselves uneasy about a political
principle or any other, but peacefully and firmly to follow the path in which
the Holy Ghost leads them, walking by faith, and remembering that these
accusations (for in how precious a way the word provides for every need of God’s
children!) — that these accusations, I repeat — are always found in the Bible to
proceed from the enemies of the truth.

Moreover, this appearance of discernment and of philosophical depth is nothing
but the superficial spirit of unbelief. God has at all times so prepared the
suitable circumstances, for the impulse His Spirit should give. The
circumstances for the Reformation were all prepared beforehand. They were
equally all prepared for Christianity. The blindness of philosophy sees only
these circumstances, and does not discern the power of God which is acting in
them.

Unbelief is always the same; but those who act by faith know very well that they
are led by something very different from circumstances; and often, in their
simplicity, they do not know that circumstances favour them, save by the promise
that all things shall "work together for good to them that love God," and "who
are the called according to his purpose," and such are by no means the weakest.
If I must speak "as a man," I say, that the man of one idea generally does more
than the one who knows how to philosophize about everything. The energy of the
one, and the abstraction of the other who judges everything, very rarely meet.
For the rest, the application of the pretty common and true principle, that
Christians in general alas! yield more or less to the influence of that which
surrounds them, is somewhat badly made. As to the brethren whom the author
attacks, he is singularly mistaken; for in England, on the contrary, they are
accused of being all aristocrats, and the system is accused of being made for
aristocrats who are discontented with nationalism. Philosophers look upon them
as a reaction from the extreme democracy of the English dissenters.*

{*The following is a specimen. "This system has great natural attractions. An
aristocratic atmosphere exists in it; a sort of Maddra climate, which suits the
delicate lungs of good society — of gentlemen, ladies, etc."}

If the Spirit does but act, it matters little: God produces effects of His
grace, and the world judges them, passes on, and perishes in its wisdom. Some
Christians perhaps yield also to the philosophical and systematizing influence
of the age. I hope our brethren will avoid this, as much as they avoid politics.
Scientific reasonings upon what is passing do not save souls, neither do they
lift up Christians who have fallen. We are the servants of God: God will
prepare, and God will direct, all the circumstances; we need not even occupy our
minds with them, save in order to admire in it the good hand of our God. Our
part is to follow the impulse of the Holy Ghost, and to be guided by the word.
The truth is, that the democratic and radical principle (that is to say, the
will of man) is found both in Presbyterianism and in Dissent.* When the Holy
Spirit acts, He knows how to touch all the chords of the human mind and to adapt
Himself to them in grace, reserving for God all His rights and all His
sovereignty; but God alone knows how to do this: it requires power.

{*The thing is evident. The democratic principle is this, that men have a right
to choose their own magistrates, the people being the source of power, though
choosing them according to certain qualities of which they are the judges. That
is the principle of ministry among Presbyterians and Dissenters. They add, in
one form or another, some kind of investiture for the exercise of functions.
Whoever insists upon the gifts of God is evidently upon totally different
ground; there is no question of politics in gifts which come from heaven.}

What we must seek for is the power and grace of the Holy Spirit, and not be
either democrats, or aristocrats, or despots; but we must be what is divine, and
walk according to the principle of the grace of Christ, in whom the sovereignty
of God and the heart of man unite, and are at peace. God’s will is not that
things should go on without this, for they would be going on without Him.

Let us examine the contents of the pamphlet.

CHAPTER 1 ON THE INTRODUCTION OF MR. WOLFF’S PAMPHLET; IN WHICH, WHILE DENYING
THE CONTINUANCE OF GIFTS, HE ASSERTS HIS INTENTION OF DEFENDING MINISTRY FROM
THE ATTACKS DIRECTED AGAINST IT, AND FROM ALL THE VARIOUS MODIFICATIONS MEN HAVE
SOUGHT TO MAKE IT UNDERGO. In the introduction, the writer declares that his
object is to defend the primitive state of ministry against the modifications of
all kinds, which people have sought to make it undergo. At the same time, let us
remember, the writer affirms that all gifts have absolutely ceased to exist.
This is already rather strong.

Ministry exists absolutely without modification; but all gifts have ceased to
exist. How then could ministry subsist without modification? In the days of the
apostles, as well as now, gifts had nothing to do with ministry!

Let us take the list of gifts preferred by Mr. Wolff himself, the list given in
1 Corinthians 12:28. "God hath set some in the Church, first apostles,
secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of
healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." This list mentions
apostles, prophets, teachers, governors. These are evidently gifts; hence all
this had nothing to do with ministry! The prophet might edify, comfort, exhort;
but that was no ministry. What does the word of God tell us? We read there, that
the Lord put Paul "in the ministry" (1 Timothy 1:12); and Paul says of himself,
etc., "Who then is Paul . . . but ministers?" (1 Corinthians 3:5). He approved
himself in all things as God’s minister; 2 Corinthians 6:4. If he was "made a
minister, according to the gift," he says, "of the grace of God given unto me by
the effectual working of his power," Ephesians 3:7. In spite of all that,
according to this system, Paul, as apostle, was not a minister of the word. On
the contrary, "it is" (says Mr. Wolff, p. 68), "because his ministry was not a
gift of the Holy Ghost, that he was an ambassador of Christ." This we can
understand, that his ministry was the exercise of his gift in responsibility to
Christ, and not the gift itself; but I think one could hardly believe that in
all the apostle says of his ministry in the passages quoted, and in so many
others. besides, he never speaks of his apostleship, and that this is another
thing, altogether distinct; he spoke of his ministry and not of his work as an
apostle. Reader, can you understand that? There was no connection between his
ministry and his apostleship; so that, his apostleship being a gift of the Holy
Ghost, it could not be a ministry! The ministers of Satan might be false
apostles (2 Corinthians 11:13; 2 Corinthians 11:15); no matter for that: the
true apostles are not ministers of Christ. There exists no connection between
the apostleship and the ministry! The writer, p. 67, insists on the word gift,
declares it impossible that it can be connected with the idea of ministry, and
grounds his reasoning on this. In the passage quoted above (Ephesians 3:7), it
is grace (charis) and not gift (charisma), a word on which the writer insists,
p. 70. But in 1 Peter 4:10, we read: "As every man has received the gift
(charisma), even so minister the same one to another" — literally, exercise this
ministry "as good stewards of the manifold grace (charis) of God." In Romans
12:1-21 ministry — if even one alleged it meant serving tables — is called a
gift (charisma), according to the grace (charis) given. In 2 Corinthians 3:8, so
far is it from true that the word separates ministry, as being from Christ, from
gifts, as being from the Spirit, that there the ministry of the gospel is called
"the ministration of the Spirit." In Acts 1:17 the apostleship is called "this
ministry." So also, in Acts 1:25, "That he may take part of this ministry and
apostleship."

It will be objected here that the gift of apostle was not yet given. This is
true; the gift was necessary for the accomplishment of the ministry. But the
apostleship, which is here called ministry, is called gift (charisma) in 1
Corinthians 12:1-31; so that the distinction between gift and ministry is
completely false, unless the writer means that the apostles exercised their
apostleship or ministry without gift, in the face of the words of the Lord, who
told them to tarry in Jerusalem, until they were "endued with power from on
high," that is, with gifts for that ministry. See also Acts 6:2-4; Acts 20:24;
Acts 21:19, etc., and Romans 11:13, where Paul says, "I speak to you Gentiles —
I magnify my office" — ministry (diakonian). See 2 Corinthians 4:1-18, 2
Corinthians 5:1-21, 2 Corinthians 6:1-18, and 1 Corinthians 4:1-21.

After these quotations, one can simply leave to the confusion it deserves, a
theory which, in order to justify a ministry without gift, has been willing to
affirm that ministry has undergone no modification, and to deny all connection
between gifts and ministry even in the days of the apostles. In the case of the
apostles themselves, we have seen that it is completely false, and that (instead
of its being true that the minister could not be an ambassador for Christ if his
ministry were a gift of the Holy Ghost, and that ministry was exercised without
gift), the word, on the contrary, affirms that the apostleship was a gift and a
ministry;* and that the apostles could not be ambassadors of Christ, that is,
exercise their ministry, until they were endued with power from on high, that
is, until they had received the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost; which Mr.
Wolff himself calls, by way of distinction, the gifts. We have seen at the same
time that Peter extends this principle to every gift, whatever it may be; and
that each one, according to the gift he had received, must exercise his
ministry. Mr. Wolff applies this passage to what was properly called a gift p.
73).

{*The apostleship was a gift and a ministry, and this, it must be said,
according to Mr. Wolff himself (for his contradictions are rather humiliating).
Mr. Wolff gives the passage in 1 Corinthians 12:1-31 as a list of gifts which
excludes ministry, and the apostle and the prophet are found in this list; he
gives Ephesians 4 as a list of ministries, and the apostle and the prophet are
found there also. (Mr. Wolff’s pamphlet, pp. 11, 58, 71. No. 5.)}

We have anticipated a little; but all this is the whole subject. We have been
brought to this point by the introduction itself. There the writer declares that
his task is to shew "that ministry has undergone no modification"; and his
system, for the demonstration of this, is, that ministry is exercised without
gift, and that there is no connection between gifts and ministry. ON MR. WOLFF’S
CHAPTER 1, ENTITLED, PRIESTHOOD AND MINISTRY.

I will say but few words on this chapter. It is not true that in both covenants
the title of priest is given to all the faithful. It is singular that opposition
to the light always shews itself united with the desire of lowering the
distinctive privileges of Christianity. The nation of Israel was called a
kingdom of priests because of their nearness to God as a nation, but without a
distinction of believers or unbelievers; whereas, in the present covenant,
believers are called priests because of their nearness to God in heavenly
places, a nearness infinitely above what belonged to the Jews; and even what
will belong to them during the millennium. As to the word ministry in Greek,
what Mr. Wolff says is entirely incorrect: it is a sample of the way in which
the word is used in this pamphlet.

First, when he says that we find the word used in two distinct senses: in a
general way for all that is outward ministry, administration, etc.; then in a
special way to designate a special service; and when he says afterwards that
"when we find this term used absolutely, it always designates the ministry of
the word"; all that is false, though convenient for the end he has in view. What
does he mean by this, at the same time, in a special and absolute way? And if it
be not his intention to put the absolute use in the category of special use,
then absolute and general become the same thing, and the contradiction is
flagrant. For how can it be, as Mr. Wolff says, that when it is used in a
special way it is called the ministry of the word, if, whenever it is used
absolutely, it signifies the ministry of the word? It is evident that one of
these phrases contradicts the other; one says, that in a special sense it is
called the ministry of the word, the other, it has this sense when it is not
called so. The fact is, that ministry of the word is found but once; and that in
that case it is contrasted with the absolute use of the word in the sense of
serving tables (Acts 6:1-5). All this proves that Mr. Wolff only thinks of his
system, and in nowise of the word in the Bible, save to pick out of it what may
suit him, if one does not take the trouble to examine things for oneself. The
Greek word is simple enough: it is one who serves, any servant who was not
properly a slave; diakonia is any service whatever. It was very natural to use
this word in speaking of evangelical service; but the word is used in the New
Testament as elsewhere, to signify service; this service might be the ministry
or service of the word, or of tables, or of angels, or any other service of
whatever kind. The word is used in an absolute way with respect to service of
angels in Hebrews 1:14. In 2 Timothy 4:11, it is said of Mark, "He is profitable
to me for the ministry"; here it does not appear that it is merely a question of
the ministry of the word; we see the use of this word diakonos with respect to
Mark; when Paul and Barnabas departed from Antioch, they had Mark to "their
minister [here, hupereteen]"; it was not, I suppose, to preach to them. At some
later period perhaps he may have purchased to himself "a good degree," in the
ministry, a more honourable service in the family. When Paul says (2 Corinthians
11:8), "I robbed other churches, taking wages of them to do you service"; it is
evident that it is in a figurative sense, however absolute, and it does not
refer to the ministry of the word as such. He had been servant of the
Corinthians, and others had paid his wages. In Romans 12:7, we find the word
used absolutely, together with, and as distinguished from, divers ministries of
the word; and in 1 Corinthians 12:5, it is used for all services, of any kind,
done to Christ. The only time when it is used with the expression "the word," it
has its usual sense modified by the expression "word," as it might be by any
other. That is, "that service was occupied with this," in contrast with serving
tables. But the service of tables was just as much a special service as that of
the word; only of a lower character evidently in the administration of the
family. And the fact is, that the only time this expression "ministry of the
word" is found, the word ministry is used in an absolute way to signify the
service of tables (Acts 6:1); and it is thus explained, in Acts 6:2; then Acts
6:4, the ministry of the word is contrasted with it; but it is added, "of the
word"; and thus this word is not used in an absolute way with respect to the
word, but on the contrary with respect to tables.

It appears to me, that it is limiting the thing, as the word does not limit it,
when they pretend to confine the work of the ministry to the ministry of the
word: for instance, Ephesians 4:12. Moreover, it is affirming what ought to be
proved. At all events, in most of the passages, it is not so, as we have just
seen. Angels have not the ministry of the word; and ministry is contrasted with
that of the word in Acts 6:1-5 The fact is, that what Mr. Wolff says is
absolutely false and contrary to the ordinary known use of this word in the word
and outside the word. If we consider attentively the use of the word diakonos,
minister, he who does the service, this will come out with still greater
evidence. For the word diakonos used absolutely one may consult John 2:5; John
2:9; Matthew 22:13; Matthew 20:26; Matthew 23:11, and the parallel passages;
also John 12:26. This idea of servant must naturally be modified (as the word
’service’ (diakonia); see 2 Corinthians 3:1-18), according to the person whose
servant one is, or the service one has to fulfil; one may be minister of God (2
Corinthians 6:4), of the gospel (Ephesians 3:7; Colossians 1:23) of the Church
(Colossians 1:25), etc. The word, taken in its general use, has its general
acceptation of servant (Romans 16:1-27; Php 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:8; 1 Timothy 3:12).
Finally, the word diakonia has the general sense of service, and has to be
modified in its application by words which are added — of the word (Acts
6:1-15), of death, of righteousness, of the Spirit, etc. (2 Corinthians 3:1-18).
There is not one passage which shews that the absolute sense signifies the
ministry of the word, but quite the contrary.

CHAPTER 2 OBSERVATIONS ON MR. WOLFF’S CHAPTER 2, WHERE HE SPEAKS OF THE VOCATION
TO MINISTRY

It is true that the substantive "vocation" is applied to the effective calling
of God in a general sense:* but called (as an adjective) is applied in the same
sense to Christians and to ministry. In Romans 1:1, we read that Paul was called
an apostle; and in Romans 1:7, that the saints at Rome were called. The same
term is applied to the vocation of apostleship, and to the vocation to
salvation.

{*I say in a general sense, because the only application in this sense refers to
the Jews; and it is quite false to say that vocation (klesis) signifies the
effective calling. This word signifies, as in French, a calling, vocation.
Undoubtedly, God calls the elect (Romans 8:1-39); but so little is it true that
this word signifies the effective calling which God addresses to all His elect,
that it is only once found used in this sense, and nine times in a more general
sense. As in French, the ordinary sense of this word in Greek expresses the
character or condition which one is called to maintain or embrace (that is, the
vocation). The elect have a heavenly vocation; Christians ought to abide in the
vocation wherein they were called. And to shew with what levity the word is used
here, the only time when the word is used in the sense of calling according to
the immutable purposes of God, it applies to the Jewish nation; namely, in the
passage, "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance." It is a general
principle as to the calling of God; but, in Scripture, this word is never
applied to an inward and effectual call in the heart. In general, as regards
Christianity, this expression is, as a verb, contrasted with election. Thus in
the passage, "Many are called, but few are chosen," the chosen or elect are
called. Moreover, here are the passages in which this word is found: Romans
11:29; 1 Corinthians 7:20; Ephesians 1:18; Ephesians 4:1, Ephesians 4:1-32; Php
3:14; Hebrews 3:1; 2 Timothy 1:9; 1 Corinthians 1:26; 2 Thessalonians 1:2; 2
Peter 1:10.} This chapter of Mr. Wolff presents to us all that is false and
ridiculous in the principle of his pamphlet. Ministry is exercised without gift;
such is the principle of Mr. Wolff. These two things, ministry and gift, are
totally distinct. Ministry, he says, is connected with the Lord Jesus; gift,
with the Holy Ghost. And yet Mr. Wolff speaks here of the ministry of the
prophet, which, we must therefore suppose, was exercised without gift. A
singular ministry this! — that of a prophet without gift; a ministry the
vocation of which was from God alone. So that, in this case, we cannot speak of
an outward vocation. It would be very difficult to conceive what could be the
ministry which a prophet exercised without gift.* The case is more striking than
that of an apostle, because the office of the prophet was not so varied as that
of the apostle. The only thing the prophet did was to prophesy. Of two things,
one, according to Mr. Wolff’s system: either they prophesied without gift; or
else, exercising a gift, it was no longer a ministry.

{*And one must remember that ministry is "essentially different" from them (i.e.
from gifts) "by its nature, its origin, and its object" (Wolff, p. 66).}

One might perhaps have found the means of escaping this contradiction, by saying
to oneself (as I endeavoured to do myself in order to find some explanation), It
might be that the prophets exercised their ministry when they spoke to comfort
and edification, and that it was a gift when they revealed the future. Not so.
All was gift — and miraculous gift; for what is said in 1 Corinthians 14:1-40,
on edification through prophecy, is quoted by Mr. Wolff as a proof that prophecy
was a miraculous gift, the signs of which, when exercised, shewed that all
pretension to possess it now was merely a delusion (p. 73, No. 12). So that, in
the case of a prophet, a person was called to a ministry by God alone; but then,
at all events, it was wholly a gift, and the exercise of this gift is no
ministry at all.

All that can be said on such confusion is, that, the object being to strengthen
that which exists, without real fear of God, the consequences necessarily become
apparent, if the word is consulted. God has not permitted it should be
otherwise. Here the contradiction is ridiculous. The division of vocation to
ministry, which Mr. Wolff establishes, is not even exact. As an instrument, a
person might receive his vocation by means of an angel, as well as by means of
men. Under the Old Testament it was much more the case. There is something
similar in Revelation 1:1 : "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave . .
. and he sent . . . by his angel unto his servant John."

We have, then, to remark, on this chapter, that prophecy, which was wholly a
gift in all its parts, is acknowledged to be a ministry, and that consequently
ministry was the exercise of a gift, because the prophet did exercise his gift
when he prophesied, and if that was not his ministry, it is very difficult to
know what was his ministry as prophet; this is a positive contradiction of
chapter 5.*

{*In a word, according to Mr. Wolff, the prophet exercises a ministry which he
has immediately received from God (pp. 14, 50); prophecy is a gift (p. 71); but
ministry is not the exercise of a gift.}

One remark more on this chapter. Whoever is somewhat familiar with the word of
God would have supposed that, after having spoken of apostles and prophets,
coming to evangelists and teachers, one would have again found the list of
Ephesians 4:1-32, or at least some other list taken from the word of God; but
not so at all. All lists are given up, because what is now in existence is the
only object that one has here in view, and the train of thought in the word is
of small import. Thus, after apostles and prophets, we have bishops, evangelists
and teachers, because such do exist, but such an enumeration exists nowhere in
the word; and the bishop is not found in any list whatever among all those
contained in the word of God.* This already presents something equivocal. They
are compelled to abandon the Holy Ghost’s way of thinking and teaching, so as to
carry their point, even to include in the list what is never found there in the
word of God, what the word never places there, and to make up for themselves
another list, totally different from every list which is found in scripture.

{*It is an invention of Mr. Wolff to support his system, and slyly slipped in
here, that one may receive it and get accustomed to it without heeding it.} I
repeat, when, to support a system, one is thus compelled to abandon the word of
God, that alone is a sad thing.

CHAPTER 3 ON MR. WOLFF’S CHAPTER 3, CONCERNING THE NAME OF BISHOP, ELDER AND
PASTOR.

Mr. Wolff supposes first that there is the ministry of a bishop, properly
speaking; but he does not say if it is a general administration or a ministry of
the word. Nevertheless, as the writer here uses this term in an absolute way,
and as, in that case, according to him (p. 13), the word "ministry always
designates the ministry of the word," it seems to me that it is in this latter
sense what he calls the ministry of the bishop* must be taken. But he lays down
all this — without any proof — at the basis of his system. Mr. Wolff ends his
chapter 2 by saying, "we shall first treat of the bishop"; without even
mentioning where he finds, according to the word, that it is a ministry. In that
case, this false basis once admitted, the only thing that remains, is to shew
the identity of the word ’bishop’ with other terms; this appears simple, and it
would be hard to know why there is such haste to bring forward that point. But,
in effect, the whole of Mr. Wolff’s system rests on this basis.

{*In effect, I do not believe that the ministry of the bishop is confined to the
ministry of the word.} The apostle had said, Christ "gave some, apostles; and
some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers."
According to Mr. Wolff himself (p. 50), it is a classification of ministry, and
he gives it with others in the place we quoted. But the bishop is to be found in
neither of these classifications, and, for the system, God’s classification does
not suffice; a classification must be made on purpose, striking out the pastor
from the list of the word, and inserting the word ’bishop’; and then, as a
consequence, it must be shewn that pastor and bishop is the same thing. And
wherefore all this? Because in Ephesians 4, the ministries are gifts given from
on high, and one has to get rid of the pastor as being a gift given from on
high.* The pastor, then, is laid aside, and hidden behind the bishop, for whom,
says Mr. Wolff, it is but another name — a function of his — and the bishop who
is not in the list, the bishop who, according to the word, is not a gift, but a
charge, is carefully and with great effort presented to view, to shew that the
pastor is nothing else but the bishop.

{*The list of Ephesians 4 is treated as a mere classification of ministry (p.
50).}

Whence so many efforts to change what is simple? Christ ascended on high and
gave gifts unto men: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Why
avoid so carefully the plain testimony of the word? It is a bad sign; it is more
than a bad sign. The revelation from God has authority; it is perfect, and it
cannot be altered without introducing error. The pastor is given by the Holy
Ghost in the list of gifts.* One cannot make Ephesians 4:11, to be a
classification of ministries to the exclusion of gifts, erase the pastor and
substitute the bishop in his stead, without betraying oneself as supporting a
bad cause, based on something else than the word of God, a cause which cannot
bear the testimony of the word, such as God has given it to us. I may be told
that no allusion is made to Ephesians 4:11 — they have made a list for
themselves. First of all, this is not true; it is the list of Ephesians 4:11,
with the substitution of the bishop for the pastor. And if even it were a list
made up for the occasion, how comes it that the lists and classifications which
God gave do not suit our adversaries, and that they must have fresh ones? The
reason is very simple; their system is not taken from the word of God.** They
wanted to get rid of the gifts, and the pastor is a gift given from on high. And
why get rid of gifts? Because, "to pretend to the present existence of these
gifts is to set up by the side of ministry a rival power which impedes it"
(Wolff, p. 69).

{*I am well aware that the word translated "gifts" in Ephesians 4 differs from
the one translated "gifts" in 1 Corinthians 12:1-31. In the tract, "On
Ministry," I have shewn the true difference. Farther on, I will speak of it in
this one; but it matters not as to the change introduced here by Mr. Wolff.}

{**There is still further confusion with regard to this list: Mr. Wolff says,
page 47, No. 5 and 6, that the name of teacher does not designate a particular
charge, but a function of evangelists and bishops, and that (No. 5) the term
"teacher" includes the two charges of evangelist and bishop. Thus, according to
Mr. Wolff’s system, the list which God gave us in Ephesians 4 is altogether
erroneous; bishop takes the place of pastor, this latter word, according to Mr.
Wolff, p. 15, being merely the ideal expression of what a good bishop should be,
and the word teacher embracing the two, both evangelist and bishop, p. 47, No.
6. It is shameful thus to treat the word of God!} Such is the sad part which the
gifts of the Holy Ghost are made to play, according to that system.

But, one might say, in the days of the apostles there were, according to your
system (p. 77), gifts, and by the side of these gifts a ministry, entirely
distinct, it is true, but which subsisted at the same time (p. 69), which was
neither destroyed by means of them, nor "compelled to throw itself into clerical
despotism, to maintain its rank and dignity." This is an evident difficulty.
Here is the way in which they seek to remove it. There was among these gifts (p.
77) "the gift of discerning of spirits, which could judge of these gifts and
assign to them their proper importance and place." Where is all this to be found
in the word? "The prophet had to be subject to this"; and it is added (p. 74),
"how much more the other gifts." All this is an invention of the writer’s
imagination. The apostle, settling the order of service, says, "Let the prophets
speak two or three," he refers to prophets, "and let the others judge." Not a
word about him who had the discerning of spirits. The apostle laid down the rule
for this, as for every other arrangement in the Church, and those who spoke
acted according to those directions. The idea of the writer is subversive of the
apostolic authority. He who discerned the spirits did just what those very words
express; he judged if it was by a demon or by the Spirit of truth that any one
spoke.

Having based his system on a principle which is false, the consequence and the
errors which flow from it are endless. The writer tells us against that the only
time the word ’pastor’ is found in the New Testament, it presents itself as the
ideal expression of what a good bishop should be. But this "only time" is very
awkward for him; it is the passage we have quoted. Christ, having ascended on
high, gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. This is what
Christ gave. How this word ’pastor’ is the ideal expression of what a good
bishop should be, one cannot say; but the writer cannot deny that the pastorship
connected with the doctorship is a ministry, unless a passage of the word of God
is not to be received as evidence. As "in this enumeration of the charges of
ministry there is no mention of the elder, or the bishop, nothing can prevent
assigning the denomination to the bishop" (p. 15). What a mode of reasoning!
Because God has not named a charge in a list of gifts, one of these gifts must
be that very charge! The grand argument by which Mr. Wolff seeks to assimilate
and confound the pastor given from on high (Ephesians 4:11), with the charge of
bishop, a charge unto which the apostle or his delegate can appoint, is, that it
is said to the bishops of Ephesus, "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to
all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed
the Church of God," Acts 20:28. That the bishop is exhorted to feed, that I do
not deny; but if such a gift be useful in the charge of a bishop, it does not
follow that all those who possessed it were in that charge, and still less than
that charge was the same thing as the gift. I can exhort my clerk to write well
and to count aright, and he must know how to do these things in order to be a
clerk; but it does not follow that every writer and book-keeper is a clerk. That
charge supposes confidence, which extends to many other things: the handling of
money and goods, intercourse with buyers, etc. Thus a man may be a pastor and be
lacking as to many things requisite in a bishop, and may never have been
invested with this charge. A man may be lacking as regards authority for
governing, in discernment, oversight, the gravity necessary to act upon
thoughtless minds in the details of life; or a personal knowledge of souls; and
at the same time he may be capable of feeding souls with very great success,
without being invested with the charge of bishop. That gift, that of feeding,
may, together with other qualities, fit him for the charge of bishop; but a
charge with which one is invested is not a gift given by Christ ascended on
high. The falseness and the futility of this reasoning, which tends to justify
the alteration they have introduced in the list which God gave us, are proved by
a similar passage, John 21:15-17, where it is said to Peter, "Feed my sheep" and
"Feed my lambs." Do they mean that, because of these exhortations of the Lord to
Peter, apostle and bishop were the same thing? It is of no use saying that he
called himself "an elder." He does it in effect, as a touching testimony of
affection and humility; but do they mean that apostle and bishop are the same
thing? Well, if the conclusion is evidently false in this case, it is equally so
in the other, which is perfectly similar. See again 1 Corinthians 9:7, where
Paul applies the word ’feedeth’ to himself. He is never called an elder.

Moreover, Mr. Wolff is, in this respect, in contradiction with himself. He says
(p. 14), that "the names of bishop, elder, and pastor, refer to one and the same
charge"; and, on the contrary, he says (p. 15, 40), that "the function of pastor
is connected principally with the episcopate"; and he gives as a proof of this
that an apostle who was not a bishop calls himself a co-elder. This is very
slight ground for denying that a thing called "gift" by the Holy Ghost is a
different thing from a charge, of which the passage makes no mention. The last
proof the writer gives, to establish the identity of pastor and bishop, consists
in the denial that there is a particular ministry of pastor" (p. 16), and saying
that it is only the ministry of one who was, at the same time, pastor and
teacher; and then he concludes that "the name of pastor is in this passage
nothing but one among many functions, attributed to one and the same ministry."

We must always remember that there is not a word of all this in the passage,
which presents to us a list of gifts and not of charges, by Mr. Wolff’s own
avowal, although he contradicts himself. I say, by Mr. Wolff’s own avowal,
because he admits that the outward vocation was wanting in the prophet, who,
consequently, had not, nor was, a charge. This is what I admit, that here, in
Ephesians 4:11, the Greek supposes doctorship and pastorship to be connected;
but that is all, absolutely all; and without a single word being said about the
attribution of a charge. I say that doctorship and pastorship are here
connected, because such a phrase in no way supposes the union of these things in
every case; it only shews that they are joined together in this case. Of this we
find one of the strongest proofs in the expression, "The God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ." The Greek form is exactly the same; but if these things can
never be connected but with the same person, then the Son is no longer God. This
remark overthrows all the reasoning that Mr. Wolff gives here, as well as that
of page 47 of his pamphlet. Here again is another example which applies directly
to the point in question. The same Greek form is found in Ephesians 2:20, where
it is said, "Upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets." The form is
absolutely the same, and I can apply to it the phrase of the writer (p. 47). "It
is only through error or through ignorance of the language that people can have
seen in apostle and prophet two different ministers." But everyone knows quite
well that they were different, though connected in certain cases. So that the
writer’s reasoning as regards the pastors and teachers is false, and according
to his expression (p. 47), "it is only through error or through ignorance of the
language that he could say all that he has said." He has met with a rule laid
down by Greek grammarians, which I admit as a general principle, a rule applied
very extensively by Middleton and another English writer, Veysey, but
particularly in the famous work of Middleton. But a little knowledge, people
say, is a dangerous thing. Mr. Wolff has not had patience enough to examine
carefully for himself the application of the rule, and he has applied it
altogether wrongly. The fact is, that Mr. Wolff’s system cannot hold good in the
face of Ephesians 4:1-32. This chapter, for his system, is a classification of
ministries; but to come to that one must introduce the bishop. On the other
hand, to say nothing of apostles, prophets who are mentioned there are for him a
gift, and an extraordinary gift too. So that he must lop off prophets, and then
expunge pastors from this classification of ministries, and bring in bishops in
their stead. When once this is done, teachers still remain, but they are not a
ministry; so that this title too must be eliminated and looked upon as a
qualification of pastors and evangelists. Here is the process. He easily
disposes of apostles and prophets — they are ministries established by God
alone. That is soon said. But as to gifts, this they cannot be — they are
ministries. But, finally, he is not willing to consider them: in effect it would
be rather inconvenient, since he is compelled elsewhere to make them to be
gifts. As to pastors, it is an easy matter. Bishops are employed in feeding,
therefore pastor and bishop are the same thing; we will put in bishop instead of
pastor, and we have now two parts of the system of our day — evangelists, and
bishops or pastors. But there still remain teachers in the list, and this is not
a ministerial title now. Well, the gordian knot must be cut. It will be neither
gift nor ministry, but a qualification of the evangelist or of the pastor. And
thus is the revelation of God cut down to the measure of man’s will and of man’s
sin; and man will be content with this. In fine, according to Mr. Wolff, bishop
was a charge and not a gift; and these are, according to him, two things
essentially different: a gift cannot even be a charge, and the charge can exist
without gift (p. 67). But it is quite certain that pastor is a gift. In the
passage, Ephesians 4:11, the apostle speaks to us of gifts which Christ gave
when He ascended on high. This evidently is a way of presenting gifts under the
most important point of view. Christ, for the good of the Church and the
perfecting of His saints, gave these gifts when He ascended up into glory unto
His Father. There is no question here of any intervention of man to confer a
charge; these are things from on high, which are to be exercised for the good of
the Church. It is a question of the body of Christ, and of the joints of supply
in that body — joints among which one may be more important than another, but
which are all looked at under the same point of view. "Unto every one . . . is
given grace." It is not a question here of a charge conferred by men, but of
grace given according to the measure of the free gift of Christ. Is it possible
to be plainer or clearer on the nature of the thing itself?

Now Mr. Wolff admits that, in effect, there is no outward vocation for some; he
cannot deny it. But does he not perceive that all here are absolutely in the
same category and included in the same definition? And it is for this case alone
that he chooses to substitute a charge. But the passage gives them all as being
of the same nature, and in the same case, and in the same moral order. It is
wresting the word in order to take out one of these "gifts" so as to stamp upon
it another character and change its nature. The answer is "he gave": it is a
gift. Why do violence to the passage in order to make of the thing a charge
under another name? Besides, these gifts, pastors and others, are placed in the
body as joints of supply, according to the gift of Christ to each. This is never
said of the bishop, who, in effect, was a charge, and not a gift, according to
Mr. Wolff’s distinction. The bishops (and not a bishop, for there were always
several) were local charges; they only acted within the precincts of the
particular church where they were found. The bishop was not a gift, nor a joint
of supply in the body according to the measure of the gift of Christ, but a
local charge, for which, among several other things, the capacity to feed was
suitable. The pastor was a gift, a grace; he was given from on high as a joint
of supply in that body; he was to act according to the measure of the free gift
of Christ, which was bestowed upon him. The pastor is never presented as a
charge established by men, although the bishops who were, according to God,
established by men, with a special object of local oversight, may have enjoyed
this gift and used it in their locality. These things are connected by one end,
as the authority conferred upon the apostles by Christ was connected with what
was given to them, and the gift rendered them competent to exercise that
authority. For the apostle, although directly from God, was also a charge, and
that, we may say, given by Christ as man, acting with authority in the
government of the Church; and the charges of authority flowed from that. The
pastor is a gift in the body; the bishop, a charge in a particular church.

If I am asked why I believe that, I repeat, Because God has said it in as many
words in the word, and He has done so in the plainest and clearest manner. So
that one must alter the lists God gives us, suppress the fact that the passage
(Ephesians 4:11) is a list of gifts, and fall into the grossest contradictions*
about ministries, charges and gifts, to enable him to get out of it.

{*Mr. Wolff calls the "ministries" the functions which are found in Ephesians
4:11, among others, prophecy; and he says that ministry is exercised without
gifts. He affirms (p. 70) that prophecy is a gift, and that it no longer exists
because it is a gift. We have seen that this contradiction is very cleverly hid
by the warning that, apostles and prophets being acknowledged as coming from God
alone, he will say nothing about them.} The apostle, by way of comparison,
applies the word ’feedeth’ to his own ministry also; 1 Corinthians 9:7.

Hence, according to God, the bishop is a local charge established by men,
doubtless, according to the direction of God, by the Holy Ghost (Acts 13:23;
Titus 1:3); and the bishop must possess divers qualities enumerated in the word.
There were several in each church. The pastor, on the contrary, is a gift given
by Christ when He ascended up on high. The pastor is placed as a joint of supply
in the body of Christ. He is therefore responsible for the exercise of this
function, as for a talent entrusted to him; Ephesians 4:11. Woe to the pastor
who does not feed! The bishop may be called to feed and to teach also — as a
quality of charge. Historically I do not doubt, that, as man has ever more and
more eclipsed the action of the Holy Ghost in the Church, the gift has by
degrees been lost in the charge, but this does not change anything in the word;
and we live in times, where one must have recourse either to the word or to
popery.

If any one would know the history of local pastors, here it is. At first (and
that even till rather recent dates in certain countries) the presbyters or
elders (for it is the same word) from the central town where they resided,
visited the villages around, in order to perform the service and edify the
faithful. Gradually the villages wished that one of the presbyters should settle
in their midst. This took place; and thus a parish was formed. From the same
source came the origin of patronage, or the right of appointing, in the middle
ages. The lord of the place promised to endow the presbyter, if he came to
reside near him in his village. The right to choose the presbyter was then
granted to this lord; and, in imitation of the Jews, tithes were granted. Those
who have observed the ways of a separated flock in a large town, will feel no
difficulty in understanding how villages were served, and the natural progress
in the establishment of parishes — the village flock wishing to have in their
midst the appointed minister. Ecclesiastical laws, feudal laws, and other
circumstances greatly modified all this, no doubt; but historically the progress
is very evident. For us, this in nowise alters the truth which is in the word,
and in nowise modifies the duty of acknowledging that which it contains and the
ways of God which it declares, and of abandoning, if God gives us light, the
tradition of men. The increasing corruption of that which attaches itself to
those traditions demands imperatively that the faithful should be decided in
this respect, if their desire is to be saved, or at least not be saved as
through fire. It is sad preoccupation, to attach oneself to the hay and stubble
men have built on the foundation, which is Christ.

CHAPTER 4 ON MR. WOLFF’S CHAPTER 4, CONCERNING THE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS ON THE
VOCATION OF THE BISHOP. In all the rest of the pamphlet we must expect to find
the bishop and the pastor confounded; this will create much difficulty; but we
will try to get out of it.

"The bishop," says Mr. Wolff, "can only, it is evident, receive his vocation
from God, or from man, or from both together. Hence three different systems."

"In the first system," says Mr. Wolff, "the pastor holds his ministry from God
alone; men are not to come in, in any way; this is the system of the Quakers, of
the Irvingites, and of those called Plymouth Brethren."

All this is false. Firstly, the Quakers have elders who form a separate class,
and who adjoin to themselves such or such other grave person to be elder with
them, but with the consent of the assembly. Those who speak or feed may, or may
not, be elders. Even their ministers (for the Quakers also distinguish between
elders and ministers) are recognized by the elders after a certain time for the
probation of their gifts, and they always remain subject to the judgment of the
elders.

Secondly, the Irvingites have an angel, a sort of head pastor, and six elders
besides, when the rules are followed. All are established by men (namely, their
apostles), and they hold to that like papists.

Thirdly, those whom the writer calls Plymouth Brethren (as far as I can dare to
speak for them) believe that, as the bishop was established by the apostles, he
cannot be established in our day with the same formal authority. They leave the
pastor where God placed him, that is, as a gift given by Christ when He ascended
up on high and received gifts for men. In the second system, says Mr. Wolff, the
bishop holds his ministry from men alone, and he attributes this system to
Limborch and Neander. As to Limborch I know nothing of him. As to Neander,
except the direct appointment by men, he is just what people call a Plymouthian,
and therefore Mr. Wolff says of him (p. 9): "a new theory, original, wholly
destitute of proof." In the third system, which Mr. Wolff calls mixed, "the
bishop receives his charge by a twofold vocation from God and men." As regard
this point, or this system, we must always bear in mind that the ecclesiastical
system of the Reformed Church of France, etc., distinguishes between the bishop
or overseer, and the pastor, so that what the writer says is not at all the
system of Calvin — a system based on this, that the ordinary gift of pastor,
which is distinct from the bishop, still subsists. According to Calvin, for the
Church to exist, it is absolutely necessary there should be gifts now. And Mr.
Wolff, on the contrary, says (p. 78), "If there are gifts at the present time,
unless they are all there, ministry cannot be maintained in the Church."

He goes still farther. This doctrine of Calvin,* he says, "is one of the
principal sores of the Church; every church where it may be received will become
only a volcano" (p. 70). If a minister believes in gifts, Mr. Wolff advises him
to resign his charge. "It can no longer be allowed now for a minister to remain
uncertain on this point."

{*We say, this doctrine of Calvin (namely, that there must be gifts), because,
in the system of Calvin, there are gifts recognised; but Mr. Wolff, without
naming Calvin, judges the system of that servant of God in these words: "To
pretend to establish gifts, without miracle, is to parody them" (p. 69).}

Finally, after having destroyed all the scriptural bases of the system of
Calvin, in his desire to confound those who in their weakness rest upon God and
the word, the writer goes on to establish this last system, which is his own.
But what animosity of opposition does not this pamphlet manifest. To get rid of
the activity of the brethren, their adversaries think proper even to undermine
all their own house. As blind as Samson, without having his strength, they bring
down the house upon their own heads, without touching those they wish to
destroy. These, taught by the word as to the ruin which is coming, are already
gone out of it.

CHAPTER 5 ON MR. WOLFF’S CHAPTER 5, WHERE THE WRITER SHEWS THAT THE BISHOP IS
ESTABLISHED OF GOD. In general I agree with the writer that the bishop was
established of God. But we have to call attention to the confusion between
pastor and bishop — a confusion in consequence of which the passages he alleges
are, for the most part, wrongly quoted. The passage, Hebrews 13:17, "Obey them
that have the rule over you," does not speak particularly of pastors, but in
general of those that rule — an expression, moreover, which does not prove there
was a charge. Hence it is in no wise said that they must give account to God for
the souls they feed, God having entrusted these souls to them. They watch over
the souls, "as they that must give account." It has often been remarked that
"give account for them" is not a faithful translation. We have already
considered the passage, Ephesians 4:11 : the bishop is not named there.

Acts 20:28. This passage is very clear, as proving that the bishops at Ephesus,
and therefore elsewhere, were established of God; but here again is a confusion
the importance of which is great enough. The writer will have it that, because
the Greek word translated established or made — is used in Acts 20:1-38 and in 1
Corinthians 12:1-31, the establishing is the same in both cases. But he has not
perceived that, in the first of these passages, it is a question of establishing
certain persons in a charge; and, in the second, of establishing the charge or
the function itself. It is one thing to establish a professorship in a
university, and to endow it, and another thing to set or establish an individual
in the functions of rector of the same university. In the passage, Acts 20:1-38,
God had set or established certain persons in the charge of bishop; and in 1
Corinthians 12:1-31 God had set or established in the Church certain gifts,
certain joints or members of the body. He has constituted the body thus. So that
there is no analogy whatever between these two passages as to sense.

Hence the writer has quoted no passage which speaks of an immediate or inward
call. There is on the part of God the appointment of certain persons; but this
is not an inward call. What the writer gives us is nothing but reasoning which
ends in very little. One passage only declares that the Holy Ghost had placed
certain persons in the charge of overseer; and this I fully admit; but it is not
said there was an inward call. And I make the remark, that it is not even said
that God set or established bishops in His Church; this is nowhere said. Nowhere
either is it said, that God, according to that power which creates and orders,
has set such a function in the body. This is said of gifts, comparing them with
the eye, the ear, etc., which God has set in the natural body. When He set
certain individuals in such a charge, it was, in that case, sanctioning the
existence of that charge; but the word of God does not go so far as to say that
God has established the charge itself. A charge is not of the same nature as a
function in the body. The fact is, that a bishop was a local government; it was
not the impulse of the Holy Ghost acting in the way of gift; it was a charge to
which one was appointed. The Holy Ghost had established certain persons in that
charge. And here is the importance of this remark. It was not something that
existed in the individual who acted in such or such a way. It was a charge —
outward as to oneself — which one could desire, and for which certain qualities
were necessary. Hence, one could be appointed to that charge, and the vocation
from God was not, in that case, His own power acting in the way of gift (a power
which He had divided, which the Holy Ghost had divided); but that vocation was
merely the appointment, on God’s part, of an individual to the charge in
question, and his being established in that charge. Hence, when it is a question
of a charge, we have the only true vocation from God — namely, His appointment
of the individual. The Holy Ghost established him in that place, in that
function; He did not establish the function itself, save by the act of
appointing the individual. It need not be added that the Holy Ghost appointed
persons having suitable qualities.

What we have then to inquire into is — how God established these bishops. It is
thus that we shall discover what that vocation is that is received of God. Of
this we have very plain instances in the word. A man is not established of God
in a charge through a quality only; this may render him fit for the charge; but,
as Mr. Wolff says, he must be regularly installed in that charge; he is not a
bishop, he is not established as bishop, either by God or by men, before that,
whatever may be, moreover, his qualities. Accordingly Christ appointed and sent
the twelve, to whom, at a later period, after His ascension, He gave gifts,
necessary for the charge of apostle, as He had, during His life here below,
given that which was necessary to render them messengers of His glory as Messiah
on earth. But He had appointed them in His stead. The apostle Paul, specially
charged with such a function, appointed elders for the government and oversight
of each church. He sent Titus invested with his authority to do the same at
Crete. Thus, at least, God established them. This is all that the word
positively says on the subject. Am I thinking that the authority of God was
wanting there? In no wise. I say that God had established these bishops
according to the authority conferred upon Paul by the Lord; an authority which
he exercised through the power of the Holy Ghost, as he says on another
occasion: "When ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our
Lord Jesus Christ." The Holy Ghost had established elders by his means.

Whatever be the means, that which we find in the Bible, and that which I
consequently ask for, is, that the Holy Ghost may establish persons in those
charges. For do not come and tell us that the Holy Ghost established the charge,
and that it must be continued. That is not what the word of God says. It says
that the Holy Ghost established the persons who were invested with it in the
charge we speak of. That is what I ask for in those who pretend to be invested
with it now. If the simple fact that they are in it were sufficient, without
asking who set these persons in that charge, this fact would suffice just as
well for the Romish priests as for any others. They would be established by the
authority of God, by the Holy Ghost, and they ought to be recognized. It would
be complete popery, in its real principle, namely, the authority of God attached
to a man, without proof — the authority of the Holy Ghost attached to the
possession of a charge, and not the legitimate possession judged by the proof of
the authority of the Holy Ghost. That is what concerns the establishment of the
bishop by God Himself.

I now ask for the proof of the establishment of the individual in the charge on
the part of God. In the case of a gift, it is no longer the same thing; for it
proves itself. But a charge of authority needs to be legitimated. One has no
right to say that the Holy Ghost established bishops. The Holy Ghost did
establish certain persons as bishops. Shew me this and I shall be content; but
it is your task.

Mr. Wolff owns (p. 37) that the election by the church excludes the vocation of
God. But, to be consistent, you must shew me some one established by a
perceptible intervention of the Holy Ghost (otherwise the choice by anyone else
excludes it equally); but this they do not pretend to. Or else, you must shew me
someone established according to the word by some supreme authority. But in the
word this is found to be attributed only to the apostles and their delegates.

If it be objected that it is written, "Obey them that have the rule over you . .
. for they watch for your souls"; and, "know them which labour among you";* I
reply, I consent to this, and I do still more than consent (for the word of God
does not need the consent of man). May God lead His children to do so! Such is
my prayer.

{*This passage does not prove that the Church recognised those who had laboured,
but quite the contrary; for there would have been no need to take cognisance of
those who laboured, if they had been publicly and officially recognised by the
Church. It would have been an exhortation altogether out of place.}

I bless God that there is in His word ample provision for times when a state of
disorder prevents every thing from being outwardly legitimated. The heart of man
is put to the test in a most precious way. Those who are humble will discern all
that is of God, and submit themselves to it; the flesh will rebel against
everything. But when, by using the phrase "The Holy Ghost has established,"
people seek to force upon me that which man has established, and to determine an
order of things as obligatory, in circumstances where God demands patience and
humiliation, I require from such to produce their evidence. Such a pretension
must be legitimated; otherwise, I dishonour the Holy Ghost, whose authority and
name are introduced to uphold that which is only from man, which is only an
authority, a ministry, without gift. But it is necessary, and it is the least
that can be required, that an authority without gift should produce the clearest
evidence that it is established by the Holy Ghost, before one can own in it such
an authority. This is what I have not seen as yet. And when this pretended
authority is used to hinder the activity of love, or to arrogate to itself the
right of ruling it, as it were ex officio, and to deny any gift whatever, the
thing becomes most serious. Is it of God? Now this is a question of the utmost
gravity. But here is a person who desires that charge, who possesses all the
qualities which the word demands, who is blessed of God in it: for my part, I
would support him with all my might, and so much the more because he cannot
legitimate his vocation in an outward way, nor say, "The Holy Ghost has
established me," and appeal to evidence. But let him abide in sincerity, in that
position of acknowledged weakness, because we will both of us, then, rest upon
God, and the strength of God will be there. If, on the other hand, I have
laboured in a place, if God has blessed me there, if He has gathered many souls,
if He has Himself raised up true bishops, who work together and help and teach
and watch over souls; and if I have to labour elsewhere, would I scruple to
exhort them, nay, to beseech of them, in the bowels of Christ, to watch over the
souls which God had given me in that place for my reward? If I have love for
souls, if I love Christ, and if I am led by the Holy Ghost, I could not act
differently. If these same persons sought to place themselves in a position
where it would be a question of a right, all the work of love would be
thoroughly destroyed.

Whoever cannot feel the difference between such conduct, and the fact of
insisting on a ministry without gift, I pity him.

Let us remember also, that elders (of whom there were always several established
in each church by the side of gifts) are quite a different thing from a young
man who leaves an academy, having perhaps natural talents, perhaps piety, but
not one of those qualities required by the word of God for elders. The elders
which the word depicts are quite a different thing from the young ministers whom
Mr. Wolff presents to us in that sad picture in which he sums up their features
by saying, "After suitable study, all preach without gifts." See the last page
of his pamphlet. To recognize a labourer according to his gift in his field of
labour is a positive duty; he who does not will suffer for it. This is what
religious societies are not doing in their pretensions to direct the work. They
respect ministers whom they know to be not established of God; they often allow
souls and their own work to pass into a system which they believe to be not of
God, and they oppose every other labourer who is not subject to them.

CHAPTER 6 ON MR. WOLFF’S CHAPTER 6, CONCERNING THE HUMAN VOCATION OF THE BISHOP.
In this chapter Mr. Wolff shews that bishops were established by ministers. I
have nothing to add to what I have already said, except that it is very
convenient to speak of bishops established by ministers, because we have
ministers now. Whereas the word of God speaks only of elders established by
apostles and their delegates. Give us then, for the establishment of elders,
either apostles or their delegates.

CHAPTER 7 ON MR. WOLFF’S CHAPTER 7, CONCERNING THE ELECTION OF THE BISHOP BY THE
FLOCK.

Here again the writer spares me the trouble of saying much. His desire is, at
the beginning of the chapter, that the flock should take a part in the
nomination of the pastor, and that the ministry should have the right of
presenting him. He states all this, without caring much to see what is found
about it in the word.

All the system which chooses to appoint pastors in such a way is so much outside
all that is found in the word, that I have nothing to say on the subject. I have
already explained the origin, historically, of this custom. The flocks which one
has in view being in fact unconverted for the most part, it is still less
needful I should speak of it. "We cannot but approve of such a custom" (p. 20).
It would be convenient to free oneself from the government and consistories, and
to follow the liberal influence of the age. All that is outside my task. I have
already discussed the subject of all the remainder of the chapter, in the same
sense as Mr. Wolff.*

{*See "Remarks on the State of the Church, in Answer to the Pamphlet of Mr.
Rochat" (Ecclesiastical, 1, 405-413.)}

CHAPTER 8 ON MR. WOLFF’S CHAPTER 8, CONCERNING THE IMPOSITION OF HANDS. In this
chapter Mr. Wolff asserts that there were in the apostolic Church two kinds of
imposition of hands; the one, miraculous, which communicated extraordinary
gifts; the other, ordinary and without miracle, which was conferred by all
ministers.

I agree also with the general idea of this chapter, namely, that there was an
imposition of the hands of the apostles which was special to them, and which, in
general, distinguished the apostle. Long since have I written, and even acted,
in making this distinction. But there are ideas in this chapter of Mr. Wolff,
which require to be discussed, not only because of their importance, but also
because those ideas bear on subjects, with respect to which Mr. Wolff, while he
has received certain views which the brethren whom he opposes have had long
since, has nevertheless fallen into the confusion out of which these truths
should have brought him. It is comforting, however, to have at least a certain
ground, where there is some light in the understanding, and on which scriptural
argument can have a hold. When I say that Mr. Wolff had understood certain views
which the brethren whom he opposes received long ago, I do not mean that he has
borrowed them. I know not where he found them; but I am glad to bear witness
that there is a very respectable production on the precious word of God. I will
explain where it appears to me there are serious gaps in the system which the
writer thinks he has found there; but, at least, he has searched the word on the
subject, and this is always worthy of respect.

We must here notice a striking part. The moment one searches the word, it comes
out that theology and theologians are worth nothing at all. As to the two kinds
of imposition of hands (the difference of which forms the basis of the writer’s
production, and he is right in the main) "old theologians did not distinguish
between them" (p. 27); "hence the vagueness and obscurity into which of
necessity they fell" (p. 29). And the writer adds, "This confusion in the ideas
has produced two results, both equally sad."

Poor theologians! Even when, at any cost, they will uphold the imposition of
hands which is practised in our day, for that is always the object, at least
they are compelled to throw aside all the system on which it is founded. In
short, it is impossible to search the word without putting aside all the
theological system on ministry. This is a singular confession, when one chooses
to support that system. It is true, that it is impossible to read the word and
to follow, even one moment, the system of theologians, the established system,
as to the ideas. It is what I have felt myself.

Here now is what Mr. Wolff condemns as one of the sad results of the confusion
he spoke of. I am almost afraid I may be accused of irony in quoting, however
seriously, what he says. "Some have thought they saw in ordination something
mysterious and sacramental, I know not what magical transformation, which must
stamp an indelible character on the man who undergoes it; and clerical pride has
favoured that error" (p. 27). Such is one of the results of the theological
system on the imposition of hands.

Further, the distinction adopted by the writer, and which old theologians had
neglected, is, he says, of "so much importance, that it is only in this that I
can see the means of restoring to the ordination of the minister all its
dignity, by keeping it pure from superstitious ideas."

Here, then, we have all the old system on this subject entirely condemned. Is it
surprising that others, who have searched the word before Mr. Wolff, have
condemned it also? And it is not merely a question of some flaw in the theory;
the ordination of ministers is tainted with "superstitious ideas"; and "clerical
pride has favoured that error," the distinction which alone could keep it pure
not being found in theology. And if, on one hand, this was true, as I fully
believe it was, and if the thing has gone very far on a very serious point,
which is nothing less than the ministry which God has established in His Church;
and if, on the other hand, I have found, like Mr. Wolff, that, according to the
dissenting system, the bishop or the pastor is absolutely without vocation from
God, is it surprising that I should have withdrawn far away, on the one hand,
from those superstitious ideas favoured by clerical pride; and, on the other,
from a system which establishes pastors or bishops without any vocation from
God? That is what I have done, because I believe what Mr. Wolff believes. I know
not whether he has hitherto received or not an ordination conferred according to
those superstitious ideas. If he has, I hope God may grant him more light. If in
keeping away from both these things, I subject myself to the accusation of
belonging to a new sect, I must bear it with patience: it is clearly what is
demanded by light and a good conscience; and then the blame of men becomes of
very little weight. Moreover, I am not the first who is of a "sect" which is
"everywhere . . . spoken against." May God give unto us, if we have not the same
gifts, the same courage as unto him who endured such contempt from those who,
calling themselves Jews, were, most of them, liars. As to the imposition of
hands, I do not at all reject it, provided it is left in its proper place. But
this I ask, if an upright man, whose desire is to act according to the word,
having the convictions expressed by the writer of the pamphlet, would not have
withdrawn from national ordination, and from dissenting ordination? — from one,
because tainted with superstitious ideas, and founded on an error which is
favoured by clerical pride; from the other, because applied to men who have
received no vocation from God; yet in spite of all, acknowledging that, on both
sides, there are individuals blessed of God? Then, having seen that theologians
had based everything on a false system, he would have waited in order to see
clearly the will of God, instead of building up again the things which the word
of God had overthrown.

I have been present at the imposition of hands done with simplicity, when it
went not beyond the light I had; I was present and felt much joy. But I think
that ministry can be exercised without it, without any human vocation being
necessary; and I found this on Acts 8:4; Acts 11:21; Php 1:15, etc.; because I
see from those passages, that they preached, that they evangelized, that they
announced the word (I will not even mention here either the prophets or Paul),
all the words which can express in the highest way the act of announcing the
word being used, without the idea of ordination; and it is said that "the hand
of the Lord was with them"; and because I see and believe what Mr. Wolff
carefully avoids seeing, and what he wants to fashion according to his own mind,
namely, that the ministries which concern the edification of the Church are
gifts; and if they are not called charismata they are none the less gifts which
Christ gave. And I bless God for it; because His work is not hindered, nor
clothed with superstitious ideas, although man has marred the outward order
established by the apostles.

What I desire is, that ministry be independent, and that it enjoy its true
dignity, as being of God, and dependent upon God; that it be the Holy Ghost who
may direct both the work and the workmen; and that in the Church of God money
may become servant (deacon) — and this is a great privilege — not the master of
ministry.

Let us always remember that the ordination of young students, who have just left
an academy, is as far as can be from the establishment of elders in the Church;
that there is no similarity whatever between the two things; and that what "is
practised now" has introduced into the ministry founded on that system, a mass
of Socinians, Rationalists, and Arians, and conferred upon them all the rights
of ministry.

Mr. Wolff was educated at a school formed by men whom the ministers, ordained
according to that system, had expelled from their midst because they believed in
the fundamental basis of Christianity. To see oneself reduced to the necessity
of choosing between such a state of things and a system which, if it be more
scriptural in its forms, establishes its charges in such a way as excludes the
vocation of God, or to place oneself outside of all — is one of the most
striking proofs of the state of failure in which the Church is.

Now what is the place given to the imposition of hands? This is shewn to us in
Hebrews 6:1-20. The imposition of hands has its place there, as one of the
elements of the beginning of Christ; an expression which, in effect, connects
this ceremony with things that existed before the gift of the Holy Ghost. It
seems to have been a very ancient ceremony, everywhere used as a sign of
blessing. The case of Joshua may be added to those pointed out by Mr. Wolff.
This ceremony was at all events used as a sign of blessing, for healings, for
children, for those who served the tables, and many others. We must not, I
think, confound the case of the sacrifices with this imposition of hands. The
imposition of hands on the victim identified the victim with the sinner, or the
worshipper with the victim; that is what we see in Hebrews 7:7. In that case, he
who laid his hands on the victim was not a superior who blessed, nor a brother
who "recommended" another "to the grace of God," Acts 14:26. He who offered a
burnt offering laid his hands on the victim, and was thus presented to God
according to the acceptance and sweet savour of the victim. In the offering for
sin, the sin of the guilty one was laid upon the victim, which, thereby, became
sin in his stead. Neither in the one nor in the other of these cases was it a
question of blessing; nothing was conferred. In the burnt offering there was not
even transmission. In that case, the imposition of hands expressed an idea of
representation. If one means to say that he who receives gifts or a charge must
represent him who conferred them, in this very general sense one might recognize
a certain analogy between the imposition of hands on an offering, and the
imposition of hands on a man to confer a gift or invest with a charge. But in
healings and in the case of children this idea also is lost. For the rest, I am
not anxious to dispute anything here. The idea is rather vague and imperfect;
but it does not affect the question we are treating. A brother, who has been
dead many years, sought to establish, in a short publication, this analogy, and
the connection between Hebrews 6:1-20 and the sacrifices; but it seemed to me
that there was a certain confusion of ideas between blessing and identification
or representation. All acts of power, in blessing, presented themselves under
the form of imposition of hands — healings like all others; but then there was
no representation. In the case of the burnt offering, nothing was transmitted;
the imposition of hands expressed another idea.

I admit that, in the order of the Church at the beginning, the Holy Ghost was
conferred by the imposition of the hands of the apostles: this is incontestable.
It was, in my judgment, a sign of apostolic power. But the writer has thoroughly
overlooked the bearing of this fact, and in making gifts to cease (the
possession of which he connects with the imposition of the hands of the
apostles), he brings in the cessation of the presence of the Holy Ghost in the
Church. This I will now establish.

Mr. Wolff says (p. 270), first, that one must distinguish between the gift and
the gifts of the Holy Ghost. In this he is perfectly right: this is what the
Irvingites did not do, neither also has the writer of this pamphlet on ministry
done it himself. Hence I am anxious to call attention again to the point, that
all that is found in Ephesians 4:1-32 is there called gift, not ’charisma tou
pneumatos,’ but equally gifts; the word used indicating, according to Mr. Wolff,
a free manifestation of the Spirit (p. 72, 5°).* {*"To each is given," 1
Corinthians 12:7; "to each was given," Ephesians 4:7.}

Let us now examine the very grave subject of the gift of the Holy Ghost; for it
is certain that, if Mr. Wolff is right, we must give up not only the gifts but
the gift of the Holy Ghost.

It is possible, according to his system, that we may not have to give up the
life which the Spirit has communicated to us, the life according to the power of
the resurrection of Christ: but we must give up the gift of the Holy Ghost as
seal, and not the gifts only.

According to Mr. Wolff, p. 73, No. 16, and p. 37, the gifts communicated by the
imposition of the hands of the apostles were an extension of the gift they
received at Pentecost. In effect, we see one and the same result in what comes
to pass on the day of Pentecost, at Caesarea (Acts 10:1-48), at Samaria (Acts
8:1-40), and at Ephesus (Acts 19:1-41). Those who received the gift "spake with
tongues, and prophesied." Whether at Caesarea, where the Spirit works in a
special way, as a testimony of the admission of Gentiles; or at Samaria, where
He is communicated through the imposition of the hands of the apostles Peter and
John; or at Ephesus, where He is communicated through the imposition of the
hands of the apostle Paul — a proof of his apostolic rights; it is evident that,
in all these cases, it was an extension of what came to pass on the day of
Pentecost. But what took place on the day of Pentecost was the gift of the Holy
Ghost Himself; it was the promise of the Father; it was the Comforter sent by
the Son from the Father, and by the Father in the name of the Son; it was the
Spirit of truth, to reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment, to communicate the things of Christ to the Church; for it was the
Spirit whom Christ sent when He went away (John 15:1-27; John 16:1-33; Luke
24:49). It was that other Comforter, who was to abide for ever with the
disciples; John 14:1-31. But the gift which the apostles communicated or
transmitted was only, by Mr. Wolff’s own confession, "an extension of that gift
which the apostles themselves received at Pentecost" (p. 31). It is not a
question of giving up gifts and saying they no longer exist; but one must say
that the Spirit, who was to abide for ever with the disciples, has no longer an
existence on earth. It is the gift that it lost, not the gifts; for the
imposition of hands was a transmission of what had been received. Now, that
which had been received, was the Holy Ghost the Comforter, the Spirit of truth;
this it is, then, that has been lost. It is evidently of the utmost gravity;
and, at the same time, nothing is more simple. The imposition of hands
transmitted that which the apostles themselves had received at Pentecost; and
this it is which would be lost. But it was the promise of the Father, the Holy
Ghost Himself, that the apostles had received. It is this, then, which is lost,
according to Mr. Wolff! What shall we say of those who, to sustain what is
practised in the present day, treat with such inconceivable levity the basis of
all power, of all testimony, of all manifestation of the glory of Christ, of the
existence of the Church — that is, the presence of the Holy Ghost Himself? of
those who recommend and carefully circulate a tract, which absolutely takes away
from the Church the Holy Ghost, such as He was given at Pentecost, the
Comforter; and who do so, either through partiality for the clergy, or through a
sad preoccupation which prevents them from perceiving what they are doing? Are
we really come to this, that those who think they are pillars of the Church give
their approval to that which denies the presence of the Comforter; and, while
denying it, seek to persuade us that the Church enjoys "all the primitive
blessings"? The gifts were only "the manifestation of the Spirit." How much we
have lost in this respect, alas! is but too evident. All that was, under the
apostolic administration, a public sign of the presence of the Holy Ghost to the
world — that was directed and even conferred by that ruling ministry — all this
is lost. It is that very thing on which I insisted, as being a proof, among
other things, of the state of failure in which we are; but to say, on that
account, that the Holy Ghost no longer exists in the Church, except as grace of
life-and that is what this pamphlet says — is to deny the basis of all Christian
hope; it is that which at the same time shews what is. at the root of the
question discussed, and that all is lost on the side of those who think to
uphold such a system.

I do not conceal from myself that what I say is very strong language. I do not
deny that some few have, through ignorance, maintained what I denounce; but the
principle here professed takes absolutely away all source of power in the
Church, all testimony rendered by the Holy Ghost. It puts out the Holy Ghost, as
having no existence in the unity of the body. It is to deny, in its principle,
the existence of the Church, and the glory of Christ, and all testimony to be
rendered to Christ on earth; for there were only two testimonies: one, that of
the twelve, because they had been with Christ from the beginning (and we may add
to their number Paul as to the heavenly glory); the other, the testimony of the
Comforter sent by Christ from the Father, of the Spirit of truth "which
proceedeth from the Father," John 15:26-27. As to -the testimony of the twelve,
we have it no longer personally; and, according to Mr. Wolff, we have not the
Comforter either; for that is what the apostles received on the day of
Pentecost. If you think that we have the word, as taking the place of the
apostles and of the Holy Ghost, say so at least, that we may know what to abide
by; and deny openly — not the gifts but — the presence of the Holy Ghost in the
Church. Say, it is no longer true that there is one Spirit and one body. You no
doubt admit grace to believe; but as to that one Spirit, it is no longer any
question of Him. What an awful confirmation of the failure of the Church!

Let us now examine the passages quoted for the miraculous imposition of hands;
and we shall see that it is a question of the reception of the Holy Ghost
Himself, as well as of a particular gift sometimes conferred in that way; and we
shall see at the same time by these passages, and by others that we are going to
quote, that the reception of the Holy Ghost is never confounded with the faith
which the Holy Ghost may have produced in the heart.

Acts 19:2. The apostle says, "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?
And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy
Ghost" — or rather, "if [the] Holy Ghost was [come]" — that is, if that baptism
of the Holy Ghost, of which John had spoken, had taken place. It is clear then
here, that, although the gifts of tongues, and of prophecies, etc., did manifest
the presence of the Holy Ghost, they had not in any way received the Holy Ghost
as the Comforter sent by the Son.

Acts 8:15-17. "Who" — Peter and John — "when they were come down, prayed for
them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost (for as yet he was fallen upon none
of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then laid they
their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost." We may well suppose
that the Holy Ghost manifested Himself as elsewhere, since Simon perceived it;
but it is not directly referred to. One thing is clear — that the disciples had
not received the Holy Ghost before.

Acts 10:44. In the case of Cornelius, the Holy Ghost, without imposition of
hands, "fell on all them which heard the word": a proof that (although the
imposition of hands, according to the ordinary administration at the time of the
apostles, was the means used for communicating the Holy Ghost, that the
manifestation of power might be there), nevertheless God was sovereign in this
respect. It shews, moreover, that when once the Holy Ghost was in the Church, He
was to abide there for ever, and that the means of His manifestation was a
secondary point. The Holy Ghost was there, ever abiding there; He did not
content Himself with only giving unto individuals to believe; but He abode in
the Church as in a temple, acting sovereignly for the good of the body,
according to the will and the wisdom of God. That all the means of the
manifestation are in a state of disorder, that the state of ruin in which we are
throws obscurity on all these things, this it is on which I have insisted; but
to use it in order to deny the presence of the Comforter is to do the work of
the enemy; it is the spirit of unbelief and of impenitence.

Other passages present this subject to us under another light also, proving to
us that the result of this doctrine is to deny the Holy Ghost, as seal of the
promise to the individual; for this presence of the Holy Ghost is something
added to faith.

John 7:38-39. "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which
they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet
[given]," etc.) Galatians 4:6. "Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the
Spirit of his Son into your hearts."

Ephesians 1:13-14. "In whom ye also [trusted], after that ye heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, after that ye believed, ye
were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our
inheritance."

We see then in these passages that the seal of the Holy Ghost is added to faith;
and if we have not that Holy Ghost of promise, we neither possess the Spirit of
adoption, nor the rivers of living water, nor the earnest of our inheritance. It
is not here a question of gifts; it is not a question of power in the Church. If
we lose what was transmitted by the apostles — what they received on the day of
Pentecost — then, that which we lose is the Holy Ghost of promise, who is
received by all those who have believed; it is the source of all joy and energy.

Whatever may have been the manifestation that is wanting now; whatever may have
been the apostolic administration which transmitted the gift, if the thing
transmitted is wanting to us, it is not a question of gifts; it is a question,
both for the Church and for the believer, of the Holy Ghost Himself. What the
apostles transmitted was the Holy Ghost, and not merely gifts. If we lose that,
where is the Church? and where is the Christian? See 2 Corinthians 1:21-22. OF
THE ORDINATION OF THE EVANGELIST.

There is one thing more to notice on this chapter. The prophets laid their hands
on Paul and Barnabas at Antioch, when these were set apart for their work among
the Gentiles. Reader, you will no doubt think that Paul and Barnabas (for he
also was called apostle) acted as apostles in this mission; that what Paul did
in all the churches to order what concerned their walk, that all his remarkable
labours in Asia Minor, in Macedonia, in Greece, were apostolic labours — the
work of an apostle. Not at all; that cannot agree with Mr. Wolff’s system,
because the imposition of hands, in the ordinary sense, must always be "from the
higher to the lower, never from the lower to the higher. Everywhere the minister
lays his hands for a charge either for an inferior or equal to his own, and
never for a higher charge" (p. 32). That is all very well; but moreover, says
the writer,

"The blessing must always, in its importance and effects, be proportionate to
the elevation of the one who gives it. Hence, when it is Jesus Christ who
confers the imposition of hands, it operates miracles, it heals the sick, it
raises the dead. When it is the apostles, they share with simple believers the
miraculous gift which was laid on their heads at Pentecost" — a fresh proof, it
may be said by the way, of what we have said; for it is certain that it was the
Holy Ghost Himself, the Comforter, who came down, so that it is this which is
lost — and not merely gifts. The writer confounds the special form of
manifestation, and the administrative means of transmission, with the presence
itself of the Comforter. "Finally," he says, "when it is a question of the other
ministers, they invest the candidate with the charge they received themselves."

Thus the ministry which Paul exercised was not in the least the ministry of an
apostle.

You may suppose that the conclusions I draw are forced. Listen rather to Mr.
Wolff on Acts 13:1-3 : "Paul and Barnabas," he says (p. 28, 2°), "were marked
out by the Holy Ghost to receive the charge of evangelist, which was to be
conferred upon them by their colleagues." Thus all the labours of Barnabas or of
Paul were in nowise an apostolic work. This is rather strong. "But," says Mr.
Wolff, "the text expressly tells us that it" — the imposition of hands — "was
only conferred upon them with a view to their charge as evangelists." This I
have not found. It is quite true that the apostles did not disdain (very far
from it) this solemn recommendation to the grace of God for the work (for it is
thus that the Holy Ghost designates this imposition of hands, Acts 14:26); but
to say that it was simply an ordination from the higher downwards! an ordination
to the charge of evangelist, this, assuredly, is rather strong. But there is
still another difficulty. "As to the other ministries," says Mr. Wolff, "they
invest the candidate with the charge they have received themselves" (p. 32).
This is indeed very convenient, in order that pastors may make pastors of
certain young students who are candidates; but Barnabas, Simeon, etc. (Acts
13:1), were prophets who had received a vocation from God alone, and not a
charge; and Paul and Barnabas depart as evangelists. So that, according to Mr.
Wolff, the prophets had invested the candidates with a charge which they had not
received themselves.

I hesitated a little, lest it should be dishonouring the precious word of God to
introduce all this, as shewing what a terrible mess is the result of the desire
to authorize that which is practised. If I have been wrong, may God deign to
forgive me, for it is very painful. But such absurdities and such contradictions
are always the consequence of having adopted a system, and then seeking, at any
cost, to establish it by the word. If the word has been dishonoured, it is the
system that dishonoured it, and not I. OF THE ORDINATION OF THE BISHOP.

We have only one point more to treat, as regards the imposition of hands.

We have seen what is alleged for the ordination of evangelists. We have seen the
preaching of the word without ordination presented under every form (Acts 8:4):
they spoke, they evangelized or announced the word (lalountes), Acts 11:19; both
words are used in Acts 11:20. In Php 1:15 they preach, they are heralds
(kerussousin)--a word habitually used by Paul for his own ministry and by which
he indicates his own function. The only case alleged of the ordination of an
evangelist being the mission of the two apostles at their departure from
Antioch, there only remains to be examined the ordination of the bishop.

It was necessary for Mr. Wolff to point out the two ordinations, of the bishop
and of the evangelist, because this answers to the evangelists and to the
pastors of the present day. Having seen what is said about one, let us see what
there is about the other.

I admitted the difference in point of fact between the imposition of hands by
which the Holy Ghost was communicated, and the imposition of hands which was
ordinarily practised (although, as a division, it is inexact). I acknowledge
that when it is a question of the imposition of hands by Timothy, it is not a
question of the gift of the Holy Ghost; but I stop there. All the remainder of
Mr. Wolff’s page 34 only contains arguments which are utterly groundless.

First, all this reasoning is founded on the idea, that the imposition of hands
was only practised for evangelists and for bishops, which is entirely false. For
it is never said that hands were laid on evangelists, and it is quite certain
that hands were laid on deacons, at least in the case of the seven in Acts 6.

Secondly, Mr. Wolff (p. 34), in favour of the imposition of hands on the bishop,
alleges the injunction given to Timothy, to "lay hands suddenly on no man," 1
Timothy 5:22. But almost the whole of the epistle comes in between the rules for
choosing elders and 1 Timothy 5:22; and all kinds of subjects are treated
between the two passages.

Thirdly, the passage, 1 Timothy 5:22, does not immediately follow after some
exhortations about the elder;* but it applies to Timothy’s personal conduct. I
think it probable that hands were laid on elders; because I see that this
ancient sign of blessing and of setting apart for a charge was universally used;
and that, among other things, the epistle treats of the charge of elder. But so
little is it true that it is impossible to apply to any other than the bishop
the imposition of which this passage speaks, it is very evident that it is a
direction for Timothy’s conduct in every case in which he might be called to lay
hands on any one.

{*It may be applied to deacons as well as to elders. The rules for the choice of
deacons are nearer to the passage than the rules given for the choice of elders;
but, as I say in the test, it is a general rule for the conduct of Timothy, and
may apply to every possible case of imposition of hands.} In favour of the
imposition of hands having solely the bishop for its object, Mr. Wolff alleges a
second passage, namely, 1 Timothy 4:14 : "Neglect not the gift that is in thee,
which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the
presbytery." His reasoning on this second text may lead to a conclusion more or
less just, but which only serves to establish the fact that the word of God
never says that hands were to be laid on the bishop. It may be supposed, and one
may reason about it with pretty much probability, but the word does not say so.
All that Mr. Wolff dares to affirm on this passage is that it alludes to it; but
we have only this reasoning of Mr. Wolff, "If the elders laid their hands on
Timothy, it must be supposed that they had themselves received the imposition of
hands." But all this does not affect the question, which consists in inquiring
who appointed these elders.

CHAPTER 9 ON MR. WOLFF’S CHAPTER 9, ABOUT THE TWOFOLD VOCATION OF THE ELDER. On
the subject of the twofold vocation of the bishop, I find nothing whatever that
is scriptural in Mr. Wolff’s system. What is called inward or immediate vocation
is not to be found in the Bible in the case of the bishop. The Bible supposes
that a person may desire to be a bishop, but that is all. Where that desire
exists, not a word is said about an inward vocation as a quality requisite for
the charge. If a young man desired to be a minister, according to the present
system (and it would be very difficult to find the least analogy between that
and the choosing of bishops in the New Testament), the first thing which an
evangelical friend of the young man would ask him is, "Do you feel yourself
called of God to the ministry?" Not a trace of such an idea is in the epistle to
Timothy: "If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work," and
thereupon follow the requisite qualities, without a single word about inward
vocation. It was a charge entrusted to persons who were qualified. But the
confusion is the natural consequence of the confusion which is made between the
pastor and the bishop; it results from having denied all the gifts and excluded
them from ministry, and from the will to maintain, at any cost, the existing
system and the flesh which rests there. A second remark presents itself here.
Mr. Wolff says (p. 36), "that it is God who gives, who sets the bishops in the
Church; it is men, the ministers, who establish them." But in the word of God
the expression "given" is never used in reference to the bishop; never is it
said that God, that Christ, gave bishops.* Never is the word ’set’ used as to
the charge. The Holy Ghost had put certain persons in that charge. In Acts
20:1-38 it is nowise a question of an inward vocation, but of the simple fact
that the Holy Ghost had placed them there; and Mr. Wolff himself acknowledges
that a person is not set in a charge by an inward and immediate vocation. Hence
it is not true that God sets bishops in the Church; but He sets persons in the
charge of bishop in a flock.

{*The expression in 1 Timothy 3:1 is sufficient in itself alone to shew the
difference that exists between the gift of pastor and the charge of bishop. If
God gave a pastor, he who was such by the grace of God had not to desire that
gift, that function; he had it. Neither was it a question of judging of the
qualities of the individual, in order to know if he was fit for that place.
Christ had already judged that, when He had bestowed on him the grace to be
pastor. But as to the episcopate, a person desired a charge, a certain position
in a church; and the person to whom that care was entrusted was to begin by
examining if the one who desired it had the requisite qualities. Could this be
applied to what is said in Ephesians 4:1-32? When Christ ascended, He gave
pastors and teachers. If anyone desired a gift, he had to apply to the One who
gave; and if anyone aspired to a charge, he was to subject himself to an
examination, that it might be known if he possessed certain qualities required
for that charge.}

All that Mr. Wolff says on this subject is therefore altogether false from one
end to the other; it is a theory or arrangement for sanctioning that which
exists without any scriptural foundation — a theory, which, after all, is a
thing quite different from the theory itself, which makes bishops of young
students who have none of the qualities which God demands.

Mr. Wolff says that the word of God contains nothing against the Church’s
choosing among those who have already been called to the ministry, or among
those who are ready to be received. There is in such expressions a boldness
which really demands something more than the brief remarks I can give here; it
is sought to justify oneself by adding to the word of God systems and thoughts
of which not one trace is found there. Where is there to be found in the word of
God a single trace of choosing among those who are already called to the
ministry — unless it be in the case of those who said, "I am of Paul, and
another, I am of Apollos"? The apostle or his delegates appointed certain
persons having certain qualities to a certain charge: was the Church afterwards
to choose among them, or even to choose others, leaving them aside? Is it not
true that the apostle appointed such a person bishop in such a town? And how, if
the Church took no active part in the vocation of the bishop, could it choose
among those who were called? It is very convenient to say of any one that he is
called to the ministry, because this is done now; but where is that to be found
in the word? No one in that case was called to the ministry; but the bishop was
established in a special charge. In the case of the bishop, it was a question of
a local charge; and Mr. Wolff admits that at that time there were ministries of
apostles and of prophets, whose vocation was from God alone. Could the churches
choose according to their will among the apostles and prophets? In all this
portion of the pamphlet there feigns, in order to flatter that which exists, a
contempt for the word of God, which one would do well to weigh before the Lord.
God will judge. When the writer speaks of the candidate for ministry, what does
it mean? Was a person candidate for the function of apostle or prophet? Was a
person then chosen by such or such a church? For these were ministries. And when
the apostle chose and established bishops in each town, even if there were men
who desired that charge, were these churches (one knows not where) choosing
amidst a company of young ministers the one who suited them? It is wrong, very
wrong, thus to treat the word of God.

Finally, whether one takes ministry as being the exercise of a gift, as was the
case with the apostles or prophets (for it is absurd after all to pretend to say
that the prophet exercised a ministry without gift); or looks upon it as a
charge, as was the case with the bishops established by the apostle, by Timothy,
or by Titus; the idea of choosing among candidates or among those called to the
ministry, is equally foreign to the word, excluded from the word. And the idea
that a young candidate or an ordained minister should go and make himself heard,
that the population of a place may choose him, is certainly not to be found in
the word of God.

I cannot admit that a bishop is not a bishop without the imposition of hands. I
have already said that, reasoning from analogy, it is probable that hands were
laid on one who was to be bishop. But if the apostle had appointed certain
persons bishops, and had established them by his own authority, they would be
bishops. It is not a question of the distinction between desire and reality, for
a man might have desired to be appointed without being appointed, not having the
requisite qualities. It was only a question of this fact: had they been
established by the apostles or by some other competent persons? To insist on the
imposition of hands as to the bishop (a thing which is not said in the word),
then cleverly to add (P. 38, 2°), "Thus he who will be pastor without receiving
the imposition of hands, has not really received any charge; his ministry ought
not to be received by any church" — this is nothing but a conjuror’s trick. For
after all the pastor is not named anywhere except in a list of gifts. Such is
the fact; and not a word of what is said of the bishop and of his charge is
applied to him in the word. As for the testimony drawn from Acts 13:1-52 (p. 38,
3°) we have already found the reasoning of the writer to be entirely false. Thus
all the high words he addressed to the brethren at the close of the paragraph
are not worth much.* The man who thinks that Paul and Barnabas received the
collation of the charge of simple evangelists from prophets and teachers at
Antioch, and who makes this the basis of his reproof, needs in effect to cry out
very loud in order to make himself heard.

{*"Is it not scandalous," says Mr. Wolff, "to see in the midst of Christians
some would-be strong minds resisting, freeing themselves from, duties recognised
by the Church at all times, and rebelling against an institution to which the
Holy Ghost Himself consented to subject Himself?"} That in the present system
"ministry is debased, so as only to see in it an altogether human order of
things," this I acknowledge. Has one any trouble in recognizing the picture we
find in page 41?* Where did Mr. Wolff find the original of that portrait? Will
he have us to remain in a system which thus degrades ministry?

{*"When the divine vocation in ministry is lost sight of," says Mr. Wolff, "then
one sees, as in some churches in our day, the imposition of hands conferred upon
those who have no intention of devoting themselves to the service of the Church,
or sought after by candidates without any certainty of ever having a charge to
fill. To confer such an imposition of hands, or even to seek after it, is a
monstrosity. It is to disown the inward vocation and the rights of God; it is
making light of the most holy institutions; it is to debase ministry, so as only
to see in it an altogether human state of things."}

CHAPTER 10 ON MR. WOLFF’S CHAPTER 10, ABOUT EVANGELISTS.

After having, in support of election by men and ordination, assimilated the
pastor to the bishop, Mr. Wolff puts on the same line and in the same condition
the pastor and the evangelist, in order that the election and the ordination
which he connects with the first may be indispensable for the second. The
charges of evangelist and of pastors," says Mr. Wolff, "are so much of the same
nature . . . that they may often be blended together, and that one may pass from
one to the other," etc. (p. 44). The grand principles having been discussed, I
will try to be brief, on this point. The author has placed himself here in a
complete confusion, which I shall only have to point out.

First, Mr. Wolff will have it that those whom the Spirit of God calls apostles
can be nothing but bishops or evangelists.

What connection is there between a bishop and an apostle or sent one? This it
would be difficult to discover. Moreover it is a merely gratuitous assertion. I
allow myself to consider as being apostles those whom the word of God calls
apostles, that is, as having been especially sent by the Lord, although it may
not have been, as to all of them, with the same authority.

Secondly, Mr. Wolff confounds the messengers of the churches (2 Corinthians
8:23) with the messengers of Christ. As to the application of the other
passages, it appears to me more than uncertain. When Paul says "us the
apostles," it does not mean, necessarily, Silvanus and Timothy, who were with
him. Even if it be so (and I am not anxious to dispute it), it is never said
that their functions were those of an evangelist.

Thirdly, as to 1 Corinthians 12:28. In spite of Mr. Wolff’s assertion, the
evangelist is not named here. In fine, having done with this confusion, I
acknowledge that the evangelist was a gift of God according to Ephesians 4:11.
As to the vocation which, according to Mr. Wolff’s assertion, the evangelist
receives from men, I stop here. We have seen that all, according to their
ability, preached; and that the mere fact that Paul wished Timothy to accompany
him does not shew that he was called to a special charge as evangelist, and
shews still less that all evangelists had received a vocation from men.

Paul tells Timothy to do the work of an evangelist; and this seems to me rather
to contradict the idea that a special vocation as evangelist had existed long
before. Timothy, at that moment, was a delegate of the apostle for a special
object; and Paul exhorts him to do also the work of an evangelist. This is most
simple, but agrees very little with the notion of an evangelist specially
appointed to that. We have already considered sufficiently the case of Paul and
Barnabas.

I admit that all those who bear testimony according to their ability, are not,
properly speaking, evangelists. The evangelist is a gift (Ephesians 4:11); but
the imposition of hands on an evangelist is never mentioned, either as necessary
for his work, or in any respect whatever. We find ever and again in the author
the desire to sanction at all costs the present order of things. An evangelist,
according to him, partakes so entirely of the same nature as the pastor, that he
may settle in a place, after having formed a flock; but I shall say nothing
about it, for the reason — that there is not a syllable about all this in the
word. If he who acts thus has both gifts, it is all well; if not, it is very
wrong. To understand the way in which Mr. Wolff draws conclusions from the word,
I also beg of the reader to compare the quotations which he has made from Acts
18:26; 1 Corinthians 16:19, and Romans 16:3, with a view to shew that Aquila was
in turn pastor and evangelist, having, we must suppose, received the imposition
of hands. Perhaps we ought to suppose he had received it twice; for nothing
authorizes us to suppose that ministry was conferred by wholesale, as it is
practised now. A special charge was conferred, those who received the collation
of the charge being solemnly recognized by competent authorities, as being
called to it of God. For otherwise, it would be a question, not of various
ministries or of vocation, but of ministry in general, without a special charge.
This is what is practised in our day. One man, after having been recognized as
fit to be a bishop, goes on to present himself, upon his own authority, as
evangelist; another, after having been ordained as evangelist, goes on to
assume, upon his own authority, the charge of bishop in a locality which pleases
him. We must remember, that, according to Mr. Wolff’s system, it is by no means
a question, in ministry, of the exercise of a gift, but of a charge which is
only received by the imposition of hands. A man evangelizes without a gift, a
man is a bishop without the requisite qualities, a man preaches without a gift,
and if any one has been ordained as evangelist, according to this chapter 10, it
becomes no longer a question either of the choosing of bishops by the apostle,
or of their appointment by him or his delegate; all that disappears. A man
abides in the place where he has evangelized and becomes a bishop, "having
undergone," as Mr. Wolff says, "I know not what magic transformation, which
stamps him with an indelible character, something mysterious and sacramental."
After that, the charge is no matter; the qualities demanded in the word are no
matter. Pastor and evangelist are charges which are "so near akin," that a man,
when ordained for one, may establish himself in the other.

I do not know how this strikes the minds of others; but for me, there is
something that is most shameful in this servile adulation of what now exists. I
admit that there may be skill enough in this, and a certain cleverness; but in
the face of the word, and the immensity of the interests which are found in it,
thus to be able to use skill to flatter all that exists — and that in the face
of the word of God, the testimony of His love — what shall I say? . . . Each one
will judge according to the value he may attach to that word and to the grace of
Him who gave it.

It is quite true that the church of Jerusalem was a centre, that it exercised a
certain authority and a certain oversight; at least it was so during a certain
time, the apostles being there. But that Barnabas had received a mission as
evangelist or pastor, is what we see nowhere. It is true, that he was sent to
Antioch by the Church, which took an interest in what was going on there; and
when he arrived there, he exercised his gift, he "exhorted" those who had
already been evangelized; that is what we find in Acts 13:23, in the passage
quoted by Mr. Wolff, page 44. Guided by the same interests and the wants that
existed, Barnabas goes to seek Saul. In that, he used his Christian liberty, as
Paul did when he took Timothy with him. When Mr. Wolff says that the functions
of evangelist are described at length in the pastoral letters of Paul, I hardly
know what he means. Nothing is said in the epistles of Paul of the functions of
an evangelist. He writes as apostle, he commands as apostle: he shews what he
was as apostle, and especially as apostle. Does Mr. Wolff wish to deny his
apostleship or to bring down his apostleship to the level of an evangelist, in
order to exalt the authority of modern evangelists, as he has done by his
pretended ordination to the charge of evangelist at Antioch? I repeat, I hardly
know what he means, if it be not that; for otherwise the apostle never speaks of
an evangelist except to name that gift (Ephesians 4), or to exhort Timothy to do
the work of an evangelist (2 Timothy 4:5).

CHAPTER 11 ON MR. WOLFF’S CHAPTER 11, CONCERNING TEACHERS.

First of all, I admit that there is not in the Church a charge of teacher. In
the word, the teacher is presented as a gift.* It is only those who will have
doctors of theology like Mr. Wolff, who think that doctorship is a charge. Mr.
Wolff, who denies (p. 45) that doctorship is a charge, says (p. 49), that a
professor of theology ought to consider himself as a functionary in the Church.

{*But, then, it must not be said that there is a charge of pastor; for these two
things are found in the same category, and connected with the same demonstrative
pronoun, Tous de.} When men choose to make all ministries to be charges, or a
clergy, and deny at the same time that ministry is the exercise of a gift, they
must naturally imitate Mr. Wolff, and seek for information as to those charges.
It is not surprising that the author, after having called prophecy a ministry,
and denied at the same time that ministry was the exercise of a gift, should
meet with difficulties in this respect. But as for the person who, resting on
the ground of the word, finds there — in Ephesians 4:1-32 — that the teacher is
a gift connected with that of pastor; who sees in 1 Corinthians 12:1-31 that God
has set teachers in the Church; who reads in Romans 12:1-21 that he who has the
gift of teacher is to be occupied in a modest manner with the accomplishment of
the duty connected with the exercise of that gift: the person, I say, who sees
all this, does not find much difficulty as to such a simple thing.

All that Mr. Wolff says on the subject presents such confusion, that it is
impossible to get clear of it; for he makes the teacher to be a sort of quality
which pervades every charge; but in the passages already quoted, the word of God
presents to us the doctorship as a gift. It is not only a doma, but a charisma;
and, according to Mr. Wolff, gifts have absolutely ceased in the Church.

It is therefore somewhat bold to quote Ephesians 4:1-32 and 1 Corinthians
12:1-31 as lists of ministries, and even to tell us (p. 46), "It is therefore in
this last passage that we are compelled, by exegesis and grammar, to recognize
the proper classification of ministry"; since he affirms that ministry is not
the exercise of a gift, and that both these passages present a list of gifts; in
Ephesians 4:11, they are called domata, and in 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, they are
charismata. See 1 Corinthians 12:30-31.*

{*That is, for a writer who says that ministry is never the exercise of a gift,
and that ministry cannot even exist now, if there are gifts, a list of gifts is
the proper classification of ministry.}

Hence in our turn we might ask ourselves, which was the ministerial charge —
with imposition of hands — formed by the different kinds of tongues, and by the
gifts (charismata) of healing? If one did not trouble the Church by such
contradictions — if one did not seek to weaken faith, a confusion of that sort
would only excite compassion. I question whether such a mode of treating the
word and the Church might not rather call for severity. The blame lies in a
greater measure with those who encouraged the young man who is the author of
such a pamphlet, than with him whom they have put forward, applauded and
encouraged in such a work. It is the abettors of the thing who are the most
guilty.

I have already answered the remarks on the union of pastors and teachers which
the writer presents in this chapter. In result, admitting there was no charge of
teacher, as there was of bishop and of deacon, it is very evident that in the
teacher was a gift which might be possessed by an apostle, or by a bishop, or
any other, or by a man who only had this very gift of teaching.

CHAPTER 12 ON MR. WOLFF’S CHAPTER 12, CONCERNING THE CLASSIFICATION OF
MINISTRIES.

I have not much to say on this chapter. I will state my thoughts on the subject
he treats when I shall speak of gifts.

We have already seen that ministry is the exercise of a gift: even deaconship
(diakonia) is called a gift (charisma). I am not speaking of the charge of
deacon, but of the service of ministry called diakonia (Romans 12:6-7). The only
remark which I have to make here is, that the things which Mr. Wolff will
classify here as ministries are presented as gifts in the chapters of the word
which are quoted — Ephesians 4:1-32, domata; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, charismata;
although, according to Mr. Wolff, ministry be not the exercise of a gift.

I shall add, that I do not deny the distinction between a foundation-ministry
and a propagation-ministry — I would rather say of building on the foundation; 1
Corinthians 3:10. Moreover, the two words are found in page 51; and I
acknowledge that this ministry was to continue from age to age.

It is at least fourteen years ago that I insisted on these very things with Mr.
Irving, before the system to which he gave his name was manifested.

CHAPTER 13 ON MR. WOLFF’S CHAPTER 13, CONCERNING THE PERPETUITY OF MINISTRY.

Mr. Wolff says that ministry will continue to the end of the dispensation; that
the apostles and prophets who are the foundation abide, govern, preach, and
prophesy by means of their institutions and their writings, and there is no
reason for ceasing to establish evangelists and bishops. That ministry must
exist is a point on which we agree.

But, first of all, where did the writer find, as a classification, and as a list
of ministries, this catalogue: apostles, prophets, evangelists, and bishops? It
is a purely arbitrary list, it is in nowise scriptural. Such an arrangement of
ministries is nowhere to be found in the word.

It is well to remember that, to establish his system, Mr. Wolff is always under
the necessity of altering that which is found in the word.

Further, I deny that the Church possesses every ministry, and that it has, as
Mr. Wolff says, apostles and prophets. That, as foundations, they have
accomplished their work, that their writings are of authority in the Church, we
all know; but there was in them something else, namely, the exercise of their
authority in power, and this was attached to their person. They, the apostles,
commended themselves by the power of God. They knew that after their departing
grievous wolves would enter in. What would have mattered their departing if all
their ministry still subsists? If wisdom in action, influence, promptitude,
discernment of the machinations of the enemy, and the testimony borne to Christ,
if all did really subsist as during their lifetime, the Church would be in a
state far different from that in which it is found.

It is a sweet and precious thought that God is sufficient for the Church, in His
grace, at all times; but to say that the ministry of the apostle always
subsists, is to say that the revelation of certain rules constituted the whole
of that ministry, and that there was in the apostle neither personal power nor
personal authority: it is to disown the importance of the presence and power of
the Holy Ghost. Mr. Wolff himself says that the effect of the gift of prophecy
was such that unbelievers acknowledge that God was there, but that it is no
longer so now. How then can he pretend that the ministry of the prophet still
subsists? Perhaps he will say that when the prophet prophesied, he was not
exercising a ministry, but his gift; but he cannot expect that men of good sense
will attend to such absurdities.

CHAPTER 14 ON MR. WOLFF’S CHAPTER 14, CONCERNING THE APOSTASY OF THE CHURCH.

I have already written enough on this subject to spare myself the trouble of
saying much about it here, and to spare my readers the wearisomeness of a
repetition of what I have said elsewhere.

I must state this, that I in nowise accept the picture as here given of my
opinions. Mr. Wolff says that "in our days, an opinion such as would prosper
amid ruins has a great chance of success." This is very extraordinary if there
are no ruins and if everything is firmly established, as is asserted. If we are
in the midst of ruins, this can be understood; but how comes it that an opinion,
such as would prosper amid ruins, has in our days a great chance of success?
Alas! conscience, the heart, fear even, speak too loudly not to be heard at
times, in spite, and in the midst, of cunningly devised systems.

I beg leave to say, that the writer is greatly mistaken in what he asserts on
the doctrine of the Irvingites. They did not teach the existence of apostasy,
but that the Holy Ghost had left the Church and had returned there.
Ecclesiastical authority was their idol.

It is, I think, because it has not been recognized that the Church should be
visible, that things go on so badly.

Mr. Wolff and others besides him strongly oppose the idea, that the Church
should be visible. The Church was at the beginning, and ought always to have
been, the manifestation of the glory of Christ by the Spirit; it has almost
entirely ceased to be so, and those who have Christ’s glory at heart will feel
it. The glory of Christ will be fully manifested in the glorified Church; but
the Church ought to have manifested it here below.

Moreover, this is the universal order:

Man responsible, man according to the counsels of God; Israel responsible, and
Israel according to the counsels of God; the Church responsible, and the Church
according to the counsels of God. We might even add, Christ responsible, and
Christ according to the counsels of God. In every case, except that of Christ,
man has failed in the responsibility in which God had placed him; but this has
only the more glorified the faithfulness of God in the accomplishment of His
counsels; this does not prevent God’s being righteous in His government, where
man has failed. (See Romans 3:1-31.)

I do not feel the need of following out the reasonings (p. 55) by which they
have sought to make of the Church a counterpoise to the pastor, as if it were a
constitution from carnal men. It is just this habit, merely carnal, of the age
and of the country, which has done so much harm to souls and to flocks. To my
mind, the flock which feels that its business is to be a counterpoise to its
pastor, is in a sad state. I am not surprised at many things that have happened,
if such principles are approved of. For the rest, all that is merely ad
captandum, to catch flies; but alas! all that is based upon the rejection of the
Holy Ghost. At the beginning, the Holy Ghost was leading on together all
believers as being of one heart; but flesh needs a counterpoise.

I do not believe, as Mr. Wolff makes me say (p. 55), that bishops were
functionaries specially destined to the outward service of the Church; besides,
it is rather an obscure expression.

It is a fact, that it is not given to every congregation to have a pastor (this
is counted among the practical changes which, it is pretended, we have provided
for in our theory); it is a fact, I say, and a subject of prayer that it may
please God to grant a remedy wherever it be needed. In effect, I do think that
bishops were established in a charge, whereas in the word of God ministry is
connected with a gift. I think that the bishop was attached to a particular
church, which was not necessarily the case with a pastor, because the latter,
according to the word, was placed as a joint of supply in the body. To say that,
less the miracles, such a pastor was an apostle,* only shews in the writer the
ignorance of what an apostle was. An apostle founded the churches which the
pastor only fed; he made ordinances for all the churches, with the authority of
Christ; he chose bishops, he governed all the churches after they were formed.
If one did not know how simple souls are confused through bold assertions, when
the word seems to have been examined, there would be no need of replying to such
accusations, except that I have always remarked the efforts of my adversaries to
bring down the idea of the Church, of apostleship, and of everything to the
level where they are themselves, in order to quiet their conscience at the
expense of the glory of Christ and of the manifest proofs of the love of God
towards us.

{*It is singular enough that Calvin says, "Yet the pastors have a charge quite
similar to that of the apostles, save that each pastor has to govern a church."
In that which is similar, in what I have said, I think I had the same thought as
Calvin; but as to revelation and the power of making ordinances, the difference
was absolutely complete.} Mr. Wolff undertakes to prove four things:

First, That the word apostasy (2 Thessalonians 2:3) does not in any way refer
either to the Church or to the dispensation (p. 57).

Secondly, That Romans 1:1-32, above all Romans 1:22, only concerns the Christian
individually; that it is quite a personal thing (p. 57).

Thirdly, that the present state of the Church proves quite the contrary of an
apostasy (p. 58).

Fourthly, That the notion of a visible Church is "nothing else but that of the
papists" (pp. 59, 60).

We shall, in a summary way, touch upon these four points, and shew, First, That
the word ’apostasy’ (2 Thessalonians 2:3) does refer to the dispensation.

Secondly, That the passage, Romans 11:22, does concern the dispensation, and not
the Christian, the child of God individually.

Thirdly, That the present state of the Church, on Mr. Wolff’s own avowal, does
prove a state of ruin.

Fourthly, That the notion of a visible Church is perfectly scriptural.

1. — The word ’apostasy’ does refer to the dispensation.

It is false that, as Mr. Wolff pretends in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17, there is a
reference to the son of perdition only.

We find mentioned there:

First, A system of iniquity which was already working in the days of the
apostle. And if it was already working, I ask, Where? Was it in China, or in
Africa, or in what was called the Church?

Secondly, An apostasy is mentioned; and Thirdly, The manifestation of the
lawless one. The son of perdition, the man of sin, is presented as a different
thing from the apostasy. It is written, "Except there come a falling away
[apostasy] first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." And,
although the manifestation of the son of perdition follows the first event that
breaks out, the verses we read afterwards shew a power of Satan, to the
influence of which shall be given up all those who have not received the love of
the truth. Is that a solitary word? Happily, in spite of the folly of some, the
thing comes too strongly home, for all to listen to that which almost all,
nevertheless, would like to say, "We are rich"; but this expression describes in
a few words the pamphlet of Mr. Wolff.

I recommend those who distrust the "Plymouthians" to read in the "Essay on the
Kingdom of God," by Mr. F. Olivier, who cannot be suspected of Plymouthism, from
page 12 to page 69; or, rather, I invite the admirers of Mr. Wolff’s principles
to be so kind as to read 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17 from one end to the other, and
to decide afterwards if there is only one word on the point in question. For the
rest, when it comes from God, one word often says a great deal at once; and if
the word ’love’ in God’s mouth tells more than volumes could contain, the word
’apostasy’ speaks loud enough to those who feel for the beauty of the Bride of
Christ and the glory of His name, from whatever quarter the apostasy may come
in.

2. — Romans 11:22 does concern the dispensation.

I have sufficiently, in other writings, examined Romans 11:1-36 — a passage
always applied by Christians to Gentiles, or, at least, to the Gentiles of the
West, until the consequences of this were felt. The person who can believe that
in this passage it is merely a question of an individual threatened with the
same fall as that of Israel, and of the fall of someone who stands by faith (for
then it is not a principle on which men are standing, but already a reality in
the heart of the individual), the person, I say, who can believe that the fall
of Israel as a dispensation is applied as a threat to an individual who is
really standing by faith, I must leave under the effects of his views.

Where, says Mr. Wolff, is it spoken of the Church of the dispensation? Paul
answers, "I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the
Gentiles." Is not that the dispensation? He speaks of the reconciling of the
world in contrast with Judaism: is this not a question of the dispensation? He
speaks of the lump being holy by means of the firstfruits; he speaks of a wild
olive tree graffed in: is an individual the wild olive tree? And if he addresses
himself to the individual conscience, it is to the Gentiles as enjoying the
privilege of the dispensation, and not as to an individual he is speaking. Could
he have spoken thus to a Jew? Clearly not. It is therefore perfectly certain
that it is not here an entirely personal matter. Is the apostle speaking of an
entirely personal matter when he concludes by saying, "For I would not,
brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery . . . that blindness in
part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in"?

What the author says (p. 58, 2°) about two apostasies is so thoroughly absurd
that I do not know how to take it up. Does he to such a degree count upon the
credulity of his readers, or is it that his ignorance of the word has betrayed
him? "He speaks," he says, of two apostasies; "and this would prove that there
is no general apostasy, and then, that an apostasy does not destroy the Church
for ever, since the first serves as a warning to avoid a second?" Is it
possible? But, finally, there are two apostasies. Can one simply read Romans
11:1-36 without perceiving that it is the Jews who are fallen? I could not have
supposed (I think I must say so) such blindness. What are the branches which
have been the object of God’s severity? Well, according to Mr. Wolff, this
passage speaks of a past apostasy of the Jews (that is the first), and then of a
future apostasy of the Gentiles (and that is the second); and the first serves
as a warning to the second. In this, Mr. Wolff, at least, sees clearly. He
speaks of two apostasies, of a past apostasy, and of a future apostasy; and "the
first serves as a warning to avoid the second," that is all perfectly well. But
then it is perfectly clear that the first, of which the apostle speaks, was of
the Jews, as a dispensation cut off. Well, the second is of the Gentiles; and
this also is very clear, for he says, "I speak to you Gentiles." The Gentiles
are threatened with the same thing, if they do not continue in the goodness of
God; if that apostasy, even, takes place for the Gentiles only, Mr. Wolff cannot
very rightly boast of it; there was no need of speaking of the Jews as a nation;
the thing had already befallen them.

3. — The present state of the Church does prove a state of ruin. As to what the
writer says, page 59, I only see in it the spirit of Laodicea. If Mr. Wolff
takes the trouble to read Acts 2:1-47 or Acts 4:1-27, he will understand the
difference between our position and the one which is depicted in those chapters,
without dreaming of taking advantage of the state of the Church of Corinth, a
state which hindered the apostle even from visiting that church. For the rest,
he has been unfortunate in alluding to Sardis, which according to many
enlightened Christians is a prefiguration of protestantism; for — O! that
consciences would awake! — the Lord says to that church, "Remember therefore how
thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt
not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I
will come upon thee."

Mr. Wolff may be content with such a state of things; but I do not think that
the man who takes to heart the words of the Lord would seek an excuse in the
face of such a threat from His mouth.

Moreover, it is not a question of the apostasy of a church, but of the state of
the dispensation and of the Church. Faith ever identifies the glory of God and
the people of God; it can present unto God His own people with unlimited
confidence, resting on the ground of the faithfulness of God, and cannot bear
with that which dishonours God in His people. Thus does Moses refuse to receive
the glory of becoming the new stock of the people of God; he appeals to the
glory of Jehovah Himself who had brought forth His people out of Egypt, praying
even to be blotted out from the book, rather than the people; but when he was
come down and when he saw the sin of his people, he said, "Consecrate yourselves
to-day to the Lord, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother." Then he
took his tent "and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp." Those
who "sought the Lord, went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation,* which
was without the camp."

{*This name was a rather remarkable anticipation of the tabernacle which was to
be pitched by God’s command.} 4. — The notion of a visible Church is scriptural.
The word of God, it is said, does not intend any visible Church; that is to say
that the word of God does not intend the manifestation of the glory of God and
of His light in the Church (such is the doctrine opposed to us). It consents to
this, that the Church should be one in glory, but not on earth. Here below,
there are only churches.

One thing is certain, that, if this principle be true, all the National
Churches, the Lutheran and the Presbyterian, are a public lie against the word
of God; their unity is a human invention; they are not churches. The word of
God, according to the pamphlet, only recognizes the Church in glory, and local
churches as at Corinth, or at Sardis. The thing is most simple and very evident:
all the conclusion one has to draw from such reasoning is that those who
patronize and circulate this pamphlet are disposed to use every means to oppose
the truth which condemns their want of faith.

What is most painful in all this is, that they are content to sacrifice the
glory of God in the Church, as well as their own system, if only they can
persuade souls not to receive the light. Their system is not of faith. The light
of faith once set aside, they hope, yet with little confidence, to uphold it
against the attacks of unbelief. But it is sad to see a system, which gives
itself the name of the Church of God, exposed, like the Jews, to the hatred and
contempt of the Gentiles, on the one hand, and, on the other, having against it
the testimony of Christ and of His apostles — a system which denies its own
privileges — a system subject to Caesar, which will neither acknowledge its
bondage, nor follow the testimony of faith, which is the only means of
deliverance — a system which is ripening for judgment, because it denies the
power and the rights of the Holy Ghost. I have discussed this subject elsewhere.
The heart and conscience must acknowledge that the Church ought to be one, so as
to be able to glorify the Lord on earth; a spiritual man will own this without
any need of reasoning. But one must produce testimony from God for those who
will not have it so, and in order that those who desire nothing but the glory of
Christ may be strengthened and be able to close the mouths of adversaries. I do
not call adversaries all those who hold contrary opinions. There are many
children of God who are ignorant of the truth on this subject; there are also
many who deceive themselves and who, dazzled by the pretension of those who
oppose the truth, are carried away unwittingly. Mr. Rochat (who, with the
Dissenters, opposed this truth) has acknowledged it publicly. He has
acknowledged this sense of the word ’church,’ namely, the aggregate of the elect
on earth at a given period. I am content with that definition. Only such an
expression brings out the cause of the opposition to this truth — that if the
word ’church’ has such a sense, it is certain that, in that sense, the Church is
in a state of ruin. And here I do entreat Christians to give serious attention
to this, that when our adversaries accuse me of denying that there is a Church
on earth, it is by denying themselves that there has ever been one: if there
was, then it is certain that all is in a state of ruin. They admit that there
were Churches, but they say that there never was a Church. They feel that, if
once this were admitted, the truth respecting our state must necessarily be
admitted also; but, satisfied with themselves, they deny the existence of a
Church of Christ on earth, rather than confess their sin. On some objections to
the word ’ruin’: —

These objections, so many times repeated, seem to me puerile and only betray a
conscience which does not like to face the question. The word ’ruin’ is used in
a moral sense, as well as in a material sense: and it is evident that such is
the case, when it is applied to the Church. If I say that a man is ruined, the
man still exists; if I say his reputation is ruined, it is not that he has none,
but that it is a bad one. If I say that a thing has been the ruin of such a man,
it is clear that I speak of the moral effect of such or such a thing, and that I
do not mean that the man is no longer in existence. Moreover we have seen that
Mr. Wolff himself uses the word.

Hence, when I say that the Church is ruined, or when I speak of the ruin of the
Church, it is saying that the Church is not at all in its normal state; it is as
if, for example, I said that the health of a man was ruined.

Those who oppose this, not being willing to acknowledge the state of misery in
which we all are, yet feeling that if the Church in its unity was at the
beginning the depositary of the glory of Christ it is so no longer, boldly deny
that it ever was. Let us, then, go over a few passages on this important
subject. Here is what Mr. Wolff himself says, "We will not stop to refute this
notion of the visible Church, this notion being nothing else but that of
papists," etc. "As to us, it is enough for us to know that it is spoken in
scripture of a Church (in the singular) which God has purchased with His own
blood," etc. "This Church has certainly never apostatized; it has never been
either outward or visible. When it shall be complete, it will be visible in
heaven This Church is always called in Scripture — in the singular and
absolutely — the Church. By its side, we find churches, such as the church of
Jerusalem, the church of Laodicea, the church that is in the house of Philemon,
or in that of Priscilla and Aquila, etc. Those churches are visible, outward,
independent of each other; but there is no mention whatever of their unity in
one body. We deny that in Scripture a third church is ever mentioned. The
Church, and the churches: such is the only distinction it admits. I know that
the idea of a visible Church, the body of Christ, is necessary to the invention
of the apostasy, and that it serves as its basis."

First, we again find here the entire overthrow of all ideas of nationalism.
There is a Church which has never been either outward or visible. The churches
are independent one of another. "In effect, wherever there is ever so little
spiritual activity, the old systems must fall.["] But this is singular, that the
great champion of the independent churches, Mr. Rochat, is compelled to own that
there is a third sense of the word ’church’; and that Mr. F. Olivier, who also
opposes the views that Mr. Wolff combats, has been obliged to acknowledge the
apostasy in his pamphlet, and that he has given on the subject the most striking
and painful details: only he wants one to say "kingdom" and not "church"; but he
is agreed as to the thing itself. For my part, I insist on this point, namely,
that the kingdom cannot apostatize because of the king; but let us now pass on.
The apostasy, according to Mr. Olivier, exists.*

{*We might add, and also according to Mr. Gaussen; for in his pamphlet, "The
Sovereign Pontiff and the Church of Rome, pillars of the truth," etc., he
applies 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17 to the papal system, as does also the French
Reformed Church. Thus according to him, the apostasy is come; and we must pay
attention to this, that it is not a question of the apostasy of a particular
church, but of the apostasy which is to bring down judgments which will be
executed at the coming of the Saviour. One may consult also "Abridged History of
the Church of Jesus Christ," etc., Geneva, 1832, vol. 1, pp. 51-133, where it
will be seen how the writer speaks of the Church, both in the text and in notes
L.M., pp, 100, 100.}

I now come to quotations. The reader will think perhaps that Jerusalem,
Laodicea, the house of Philemon, are just thrown out without design. Not at all;
this book is full of art. It is said of the church at Jerusalem, "The Lord added
to the church daily such as should be saved." If the church at Jerusalem was not
a particular church, as the writer would lead one to suppose by introducing it
thus as if by chance, we should have here a most positive passage as to the
Church, as one and visible here below. Laodicea is chosen, because it is said of
that church, "I will spue thee out of my mouth"; and if this were anything more
than the rejection of a particular church, it would be the Church rejected on
earth. I have sought to be charitable: but this pamphlet is full of similar
stratagems. The church in the house of Philemon, in order to be enabled to apply
the church titles and functions to every small assembly. Translate: "the
assembly in thy house," and these mysterious ideas of organization will soon
disappear.

Let us now consider what concerns the church of Jerusalem. We must remember that
the Church, which is one, according to Mr. Wolff will only be so in glory: "It
has never been outward nor visible. When it shall be completed, it will be
visible in heaven." The Church therefore does not exist; that is very clear.
There is only the gathering in of the members one by one. It does not exist; one
may lay it aside, save in the cases where the word speaks of it prophetically,
or anticipatively, in hope, realized in spirit; but all action applied to a
church on earth does not apply to it. For instance, it is clear that Hebrews
12:23 applies to it anticipatively; it is of the whole assembly, which will be
visible in glory, that the word speaks anticipatively. And this assembly,
according to me, was also manifested on earth, but I admit the application given
by Mr. Wolff. That does not remove any difficulty, for here is what is said of
the church at Jerusalem: "All that believed were together, and had all things
common . . . . And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."
There is a Church which was one and a visible church; that is very clear; but it
is not said that the Lord added to the church of Jerusalem such as should be
saved (this is the expression used to designate the spared ones among the Jews,
"the remnant according to the election of grace"); but He added them to the
Church. We must recollect that there were persons "out of every nation under
heaven"; but that Jerusalem was still the centre of the operation of the Holy
Ghost. It was there God had begun to gather together the elect; they had been
gathered together nowhere else. God, in His sovereign providence, gathers
together Jews from all sides, and by the power of the Spirit He forms, unto the
name of Christ, an assembly where are found the twelve apostles. Can any one
believe that, when the Holy Ghost calls this the Church, He is only speaking of
a church which is independent of other churches? No, where else is it said, of
any particular church: "the Lord added to the church . . . such as should be
saved"? We can understand it when God, ready to judge the Jews and Jerusalem,
transferred His elect, daily, into another system, into the Church. Some time
after, this body sends out decrees everywhere: does that look like the
independence of the churches, of which Jerusalem was only one? Finally, it is
not said that God added to the church of Jerusalem, but "to the church," to a
church (in the singular), and in an absolute way to the Church according to the
writer’s own expressions (p. 60). The passage, Acts 20:28, which the writer
quotes in favour of his opinion, can hardly bear the interpretation he puts upon
it; for it would be difficult to say how the elders feed the Church, if the
Church was not outward, nor visible, and if, indeed, as a Church, it had even no
existence. If (as Mr. Wolff says here, p. 61) Acts 20:28 applies to what is
composed of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven, it was not
therefore the flock at Ephesus; and he owns this: "It is a church," he says, "in
the singular," a church which is not visible, but which will be visible in
heaven. But, in that case, how can it be fed on earth, if it did not exist
there? For that is the Church which has to be fed, which Christ has purchased —
that Church, in the singular. Consequently it was on earth, and it was a flock
of God with which the bishops could be occupied according to their position. But
there are passages which are too evident for it to be necessary to employ much
reasoning. Paul gives directions to Timothy, "that thou mayest know," he says,
"how thou oughtest to behave thyself" — rather "how one ought to conduct
oneself" — "in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the
pillar and ground of the truth," 1 Timothy 3:15. This cannot be said of a
particular church, unless it be as an opportunity, as it happened with regard to
Ephesus; Acts 20:28. Certainly it is clear that it is not a question of
Timothy’s conduct in the Church gathered on high in glory. Therefore, the Church
in the singular, the house of God, the pillar and ground of the truth, was
really something owned of God on earth. In Ephesians 4:4 we have one Spirit and
one body; Christians being "builded together," Jews and Gentiles, to be "an
habitation of God through the Spirit." Such is our calling. But, in that case,
"the whole body fitly joined together and compacted" "maketh increase" by the
working of the members, "according to the effectual working in the measure of
every part . . . unto the edifying of itself in love." Here then is, expressly,
the unity of the body on earth.

1 Corinthians 12:13. "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body." In 1
Corinthians 12:27-28 : "Ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
And God hath set some in the church, first apostles . . . after that miracles,
then gifts of healings." Here is the Church in the singular in an absolute way.
It is very certain that the apostles were not all in the church of Corinth, and
not less certain that the gifts of healings were not in heaven. This is a
passage which requires no reasoning. The unity of the body, of the Church, on
earth — this is what the passage affirms most expressly.*

{*The reader may further consult Matthew 16:18; Galatians 1:13; Ephesians 3:10,
Ephesians 3:21; ch 24, 29, 32; Php 3:6; Colossians 1:24.}

John 17:1-26. The Lord asks that those who should believe through the words of
the apostles might be one, "that the world might believe that the Father had
sent him." Then He adds, without praying: "And the glory which thou gavest me I
have given them; . . . that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world
may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."
Here we have the glory presented as a means of their being made perfect in one,
and as a means of making known to the world that the Father has sent Jesus, and
that He loves all those that Jesus has saved, as He loves Jesus Himself. And
Jesus prays also that they may be one--those who believe through the word of the
apostles, that the world may believe. This must evidently take place on earth,
as the glory will take place in heaven. The writer of the theses has felt all
the importance of this question. If the unity of the Church on earth is a truth,
he understands that he cannot deny the present state of things; but it is
evident that to escape the effect of such a truth, and the judgment which such a
truth pronounces on their position, those persons deny a truth which is
positively proclaimed in the word — and one of the most important truths.

Mr. Wolff passes over 2 Timothy 3:1-17 and the epistle of Jude, without stopping
to consider them, saying, that in those passages, it is so far from being a
question of the apostasy of the Church, etc. (p. 60). It does not seem to me,
that to say that perilous times should come, when men would have a form of
godliness while denying the power thereof, is to say nothing of the fall or the
ruin of the dispensation. The first of these passages is a description of the
general state of things in Christendom, a state which proves that those who
profess Christianity are become corrupt, like the heathen of old; for what is
said of Christendom (2 Timothy 3:1-17) is very similar to the picture which
Romans 1 aces of the corruption of the heathen. As to the epistle of Jude, what
it says of some persons who had already crept into the Church, and who were to
be the objects of the judgments of Christ on the ungodly, seems to me rather an
important circumstance. It is rather a serious revelation, which shews that it
was in the bosom of the Church that the objects of the most terrible judgments
of God were found. It appears that Mr. Wolff attaches little importance to this;
but it is, alas! to attach little importance to the glory of God in His people.
Such is the awful evil which these pamphlets disclose. As to the progress of the
evil, of the mystery of iniquity, this is what I have to say about it. One may,
indeed, present the difficulty, that it is Christendom, and not the Church, that
is in a state of ruin.

Here is my answer: The evil has begun in the Church; Christians have, in
principle, fallen into Judaism. The door has been opened to false brethren; and
this, by degrees, has formed Christendom! Thus the Church has lost its unity,
its power, and its holiness, and has ceased to bear witness to God in the world;
and what is called "the church" is now the centre and the power of evil and
corruption in the world. After all this, there will be an open revolt, and the
lawless one, the man of sin, will be manifested. Thus the fault has begun with
the Church, with Christians. Moreover, although Christians may separate
themselves from this evil (2 Timothy 3:5), this does not prevent the state of
things, the dispensation, from being entirely marred, nor God’s putting an end
to it by His judgments to make room for Christ and His glory. Thus, although the
elect are glorified with Him, it is none the less true that all will be cut off
here below. It was thus that God put an end to the kingdom of Saul to make room
for David; and to Judaism to make room for the Church, although, at all times,
He has saved the elect. The gates of Hades shall not prevail against the Church;
but it is the resurrection which will be the proof of it; for the Son of the
living God is mightier than he who has the power of death. This does not prevent
God from removing His elect to heaven, in order to send His judgments on the
inhabitants of the earth — to destroy those who corrupt the earth. The
repentance of a particular church is not the restoring of a fallen dispensation,
as Mr. Wolff pretends (pp. 63, 3°, 64, 4°), alleging even the example of the
Jewish dispensation in its falls and restorations; for, after all, as we see,
they are reduced to speak of the fall of a dispensation. The writer even goes so
far as to say (p. 64, 4°) that "every time there were men who feared God, they
restored the whole dispensation, and partook of all its blessings." This is
inconceivably bold. Did the faithfulness of some men fearing God restore the
unity of the kingdoms of Israel and of Judah? Did it throw down the golden
calves? Did it identify the Israelites with the temple and altar of God? Never.
Did the piety of Josiah turn away the wrath of God from Judah? No: after the
account of what Josiah did, when he "turned to the Lord with all his heart, and
with all his soul, and with all his might" (2 Kings 23:25), it is added (2 Kings
23:26), "Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great
wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the
provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal." Was the whole dispensation
restored? Or did the men who feared God partake of all the blessings of the
dispensation, when they said, like Isaiah, "We grope for the wall like the
blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noon day as in the
night. We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment,
but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us. For our
transgressions are multiplied before thee," etc.? (Isaiah 59:10-12). Did the men
who feared God partake of all the blessings when Jeremiah said that he who
should flee to the Chaldeans would save his life (Jer. 21:19)? Were all the
blessings of the dispensation enjoyed when there were seven thousand who had not
bowed the knee to Baal? Was it so after the Babylonian captivity, when there was
no longer the ark, no longer the Urim and the Thummim? For it was only later
that God put an end to all hope, when they had rejected the testimony of the
Messiah. Does any one dare to say that the Jews enjoyed all the blessings of the
dispensation, when, according to Mr. Wolff, Jesus acknowledged it with all its
institutions? Was that enjoying all the blessings of the dispensation — to be
subject to the Gentiles, and to have been delivered by God into their hands?
(See Nehemiah 9:36-37.) Was that enjoying all the blessings of the dispensation
— to buy the high priesthood for money?

I am not surprised that one who could speak of the Jews as enjoying all the
blessings of the dispensation, finds the Church in as good a position as at the
beginning. Mr. Wolff’s parallel is correct enough. As for me, I see but one
thing — the faith of the godly woman who spoke of the coming of Jesus "to all
them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem." It appears that, on the one hand,
these persons who looked for redemption in Israel knew one another, and that, on
the other hand, they knew the ruin and judgment which had fallen upon Israel;
because the Israelites also thought that they were enjoying all the blessings of
the dispensation, and because they thought they were rich and had need of
nothing. Thus it was that the light which had come in grace was found to be for
judgment. In this sense, Christ overthrew the Jewish dispensation; but whose was
the fault? Who was it, on the one hand, that said, "For judgment I am come into
this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be
made blind"? And who was it, on the other, who judged that they might get rid of
Jesus, in order to avert the consequences which their folly in acting thus has
brought down on their head? When there is a conflict, in faith alone is there
wisdom. But I admit that one who finds that Israel enjoyed all the blessings of
the dispensation even unto the coming of Christ, and that the history of Israel
is a proof that a dispensation cannot fail or be cut off — that one, I say, who
can assert that Israel is a proof of this — Israel deprived of everything —
Israel, on whose forehead God has written "Lo-ammi," not my people — that such a
one may very well believe the same thing also of himself and of the Church of
God. But how can I depict my grief in insisting on these things! I feel that the
more earnestly the light is presented to them, the more those whom I love (for
whom I could say with Paul or Moses, Blot me out rather from Thy book; for I
cannot refrain from seeing that what is now a fallen dispensation was once the
beloved bride of Christ — that it is always such as to its responsibility and
its duty) — I feel that the more earnestly the light is presented to them, the
more it is pressed upon them, the more deeply will they sink into darkness. But
what is to be done? Can we leave those who love the light without a warning when
the judgments are approaching? We cannot. May God grant us only to conduct
ourselves by His Spirit in love, and with such patience as is never weary
towards them, and to commit everything else to Himself! The writer does not stop
there; he adds (p. 64, 5°), that to speak of the ruin of the dispensation, is to
be guilty of an insult against God and other things besides; but it is quite
unnecessary to answer such reproach.

God, having placed man under responsibility, will cause the lie of man to abound
unto His glory — I have no doubt of it; but nevertheless He will not fail to
judge man’s wickedness on that account. There was only a very small number of
the elect who enjoyed the first blessings of Israel, and, certainly among the
ten tribes, they were not enjoyed. And what do we see in the Church? Already, in
Paul’s day, he said, "All seek their own, not the things that are Jesus
Christ’s," Php 2:1-30. And he knew that evil would enter in after his departure;
Acts 20:1-38.

According to Mr. Wolff himself, there remains not a single gift. It is at least
very singular, if we enjoy all the blessings of the dispensation, that not one
gift remains.

Finally, the writer goes still farther, and says (p. 65, 6°), that "if the
dispensation is ruined, we are without any commands or any directions from God;
we have no longer any right to the use of the sacraments, or to the common
worship of the faithful. Nothing remains to us of the dispensation but its
ruins. There is not in Scripture one single precept, not one single commandment
of the Lord, which can be applied to us, and that we are bound to obey. We can
neither attain to the holiness to which the first Christians were exhorted, nor
bear any responsibility," etc. It may be that the writer cannot find anything,
if everything is not there. For my part, I believe that "the secret of the Lord
is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant." I believe that
ministry subsists, and that, although there is nobody who can order or settle
everything as an apostle would do, it is none the less true that "where two or
three are gathered together" in the name of Jesus, He is "in the midst of them";
and that the word of God provides for the wants of His people in their present
state, as in every other state. When, by His judgments, God had deprived Israel
of the prophets and of the Urim and the Thummim, the writer might have expressed
the same complaints and reproach; but this reproach I find very ill placed in
the mouth of one who declares that not a single gift remains to the Church. This
would lead one to suppose that, in the writer’s opinion, gifts were not a means
of sanctification. But there are precepts for the "perilous times" as there were
for the times of blessing, when "great grace was upon them all," when none said
"that aught of the things which he possessed was his own," Acts 4:1-37. God
never forsakes His people.

CHAPTER 15 ON MR. WOLFF’S CHAPTER 15, WHERE HE SHEWS THAT MINISTRY IS NOT THE
EXERCISE OF A GIFT.

I have already replied to this chapter. I only need to recall the passage of
Peter, "As every man hath received the gift [charisma], even so minister the
same [diakoneo] one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."

Mr. Wolff says, "Ministry is not the exercise of a gift." The word declares in
as many words (1 Peter 4:10), that ministry is the exercise of a gift. Mr. Wolff
quotes this passage as speaking of gifts properly so called, in order to shew
that such a gift cannot exist now; but there must be a singular preoccupation of
mind not to see that ministry and gift are absolutely identical in this passage.

Further, all the passages quoted by Mr. Wolff, as giving us classification of
ministries, are, in the word, lists of gifts (domata) (Ephesians 4); charismata
(1 Corinthians 12:1-31). The idea of a maximum of ministry, of gifts, is to me
quite new. Indeed it was perhaps the principle of dissenters to choose the
person who, in their eyes, had the most gifts. It may so happen that inferior
gifts are not exercised, when there are superior gifts; and it may so happen for
better or for worse. "The spirits of the prophets" were "subject to the
prophets," however miraculous even the gift might be. To suppress an inferior
gift is an evil; but if, in a given case, there be, according to the Spirit, on
such or such an occasion, more edification in a superior gift, the rule of the
word is "Let all things be done unto edifying." The fact that Paul spoke during
the whole night does in no wise shew that there were no gifts at Troas; any more
than his discourse at Miletus shews that the bishops of Ephesus had none. In the
case of the bishops it was not a question of gifts, except in a practical way
that of feeding: but this does not affect all other ministry. The notion of a
person returning from a place as bishop, because he had exercised his gift where
it might be profitable to brethren, is nothing more than the dream of the
writer.* The bishop is a charge, and, according to the writer himself, a charge
and a gift are two distinct things. A church cannot limit the number of its
ministers, because the ministers are not its ministers but those of Jesus
Christ, exercising their gifts as service in the body. The word of God gives
rules for the edification of assemblies, that all may speak, and all may be
edified. As to this, it matters not if it be pastor or prophet, it is a question
of abstract reasoning on the inconvenience which might result from several
gifts.

{*It is a dream he would wish us to realise (p. 44).} To say that 1 Corinthians
12:4-5; 1 Corinthians 12:28, distinguishes between gifts and ministry, is a sad
specimen of interpretation. We shall speak of this when we discuss the cessation
of gifts.

CHAPTER 16 ON MR. WOLFF’S CHAPTER 16, WHERE THIS WRITER PRETENDS TO PROVE, BY
TWENTY-FIVE REASONS, THAT THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST HAVE ALL CEASED. The
writer begins his demonstration by rather a remarkable avowal. It is, that the
existence of gifts by the side of ministry is impossible — at least by the side
of such a ministry as Mr. Wolff will have. In order that his ministry may exist,
it is necessary that gifts should have absolutely ceased. I believe it. It is on
this point the popish system (that is, a ministry which has God’s authority,
having its vocation from Him, without dependence on the Holy Ghost, and without
flowing from His energy, without partaking either of His gifts): and so true is
this, that if there were gifts, it would no longer subsist. It is important well
to understand this position. The basis of the whole pamphlet is the absolute
incompatibility of ministry (according to the system of Mr. Wolff and his party)
with the existence of the active energy and the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Yes,
the writer says so (p. 69): "To pretend to the present existence of gifts is to
establish by the side of ministry a rival power which hinders it, which
enervates it, and which, by placing itself above it, ends either by killing it,
or by forcing it to throw itself into clerical despotism in order to maintain
its rank and its dignity." What a confession! But at least we can bless God that
He has been pleased to compel our adversaries thus to avow what is true as to
their system. The Holy Ghost must be excluded! This is what decided me on that
point many years ago; but I did not expect to find a public avowal of it. The
writer seeks to avoid setting everybody against him by admitting brotherly
exhortation; but even this resource the word takes from him; for exhortation is
a gift (charisma) according to the word (Romans 12:6-8). This subject is most
important, and it is worth while examining it somewhat thoroughly.

According to Mr. Wolff, the source of error about gifts (p. 70, 1°) is in this,
that the gift of the Holy Ghost has been confounded with the gifts or graces of
the Holy Ghost.

I admit the difference which exists between the gift of the Holy Ghost and the
gifts of the Holy Ghost, but not in the least for the reasons given by Mr.
Wolff; reasons which appear to me false and contradictory, and which overthrow
the whole teaching of the word of God on the subject. When one speaks of the
gift of the Holy Ghost, it is the Holy Ghost Himself who is given. The
expression itself is only found once, in a direct way, in the word; nevertheless
it is alluded to elsewhere. When one speaks of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, one
speaks of what the Holy Ghost has given. As, for instance, 1 Corinthians 12:8,
"For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of
knowledge by the same Spirit," etc. These are evidently gifts of the Holy Ghost,
and not the gift of the Holy Ghost, that is, the Holy Ghost given. But Mr. Wolff
confounds all that.

I admit that charisma is used for the gifts bestowed by the Holy Ghost; but this
word is used in a much more general way. Hence Mr. Wolff contradicts himself by
saying exclusively, as we shall see; but we shall speak of it farther on. Let it
suffice for the present that I admit the use of the word charisma, not as the
only word used for gifts, but when it is a question of gifts: these gifts are
the gifts of the Holy Ghost.

Let us see now what is absolutely lacking to us according to Mr. Wolff’s system,
who will have it that gifts no longer exist. With this object let us examine the
things to which the expression applies in the word. In Romans 12:1-21 we find
the following enumeration: prophecy, ministry or service, teaching, exhortation,
ruling, shewing mercy. I stop there, because in what follows practical grace
takes the place of gifts by a kind of imperceptible transition. "Let love be
without dissimulation," is what follows; but all the things I have quoted are
charismata. These things no longer exist in the Church according to Mr. Wolff.
In 1 Corinthians 12:8-11 we read that it is by the Spirit that are given the
word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, the gifts of healing, miracles,
prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues, the interpretation of tongues: it is
the Spirit who worketh all these things. Lower down (1 Corinthians 12:28),
apostles, prophets, teachers, miracles, gifts of healings, helps, governments,
tongues — all these things are gifts. Consequently, according to Mr. Wolff, all
these things are wanting to the Church.

We read (1 Peter 4:10-11), "If any man speak . . . if any man minister," or
exercise ministry. These things also, speaking, exercising ministry, are gifts
(charismata). Consequently these things are wanting, according to Mr. Wolff.

Let it not be supposed that I am forcing anything. The writer (p. 71) quotes
these passages, save 1 Peter 4:11, as speaking of the gifts which no longer
exist. He adds (p. 74) that "whoever may speak in the church has certainly not a
gift, because of this." Not only then there does not exist, and cannot exist,
either miracles or tongues; but further, there cannot exist either teaching or
ministry (or service), or exhortation, or ruling, or faith, or governments, or
word of wisdom, or word of knowledge, any more than apostles or prophets; one
cannot speak nor serve either, for if any one speaks, he is bound to do it as
having a gift (charisma). In spite of all that, we are told that where there are
a few faithful men, one enjoys all the blessings of the dispensation! !

Such is, if we take the words and the passages according to Mr. Wolff’s
interpretation, the effect of his principles. But further, there is a passage
where it is a question of gifts, a passage which Mr. Wolff has omitted — it is
Ephesians 4:1-32. It is true that the word charisma is not found there, but it
is equally gifts, and gifts presented in the same character as in 1 Corinthians
12:1-31, presented under a very important aspect, as being members of the body
(Ephesians 4:1-32). There is one Spirit and one body, and Christ having ascended
up on high, gave gifts unto men (domata): apostles, prophets, evangelists,
teachers, and pastors. Perhaps Mr. Wolff wishes these to be ministries, but the
word calls them gifts (domata), and not ministries. And it is a question of the
one body which answers to the one Spirit (v. 4), as well as in the passage, 1
Corinthians 12:1-31; the Church being the habitation of God through the Spirit
(Ephesians 2:22). Thus — always according to Mr. Wolff — there are neither
pastors nor evangelists either, if gifts no longer exist, It is of no use saying
they are admitted as ministries; the word of God only presents them to us as
gifts; we are here not to invent a system, but to receive what the word reveals
and declares. That is what Mr. Wolff pretends he is doing. In that case, I ask
him in what passage these things are presented as ministries and not as gifts
(except, that what is true, and what he denies, the word of God, in the most
positive manner, presents ministry as the exercise of a gift). Let a person read
Romans 12:1-21, 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, Ephesians 4:1-32, and 1 Peter 4:10-11;
and then let him tell us if these things are presented as gifts or not; if they
are gifts, we must no longer, according to Mr. Wolff, seek them at the present
day in the Church, gifts having ceased. But there is something to point out as
to the use of the words. First, the word charisma is used very generally in the
word for a free gift, as in Romans 5:15-16, where it is used indiscriminately
with dorea and charis and dorema. The difference is this, that charisma and
dorema signify rather the thing given: dorea and charis, the former the free
character of the gift, as with an intention to express that it is a gift; the
latter, charis, expresses the grace, the principle by virtue of which one gives
freely.

There is something more. Mr. Wolff distinguishes (p. 70, 1°) between "the gift
of the Holy Ghost, which every Christian receives when he believes, and the
supernatural gifts which are produced by the same Spirit."

Although a person now may receive the Holy Ghost at the very moment he believes,
it is nevertheless evident that the disciples, who had believed, had not
received the Holy Ghost during the life of Christ here below. We read in John
7:39, "This spake he of the Spirit which they that believe on him should
receive"; and Peter says to the Jews, "Repent, and be baptized . . . and ye
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." I suppose that this is to receive the
Holy Ghost when one believes. Now this is dorea, the gift of the Holy Ghost; but
this word is used to designate the gift of the Holy Ghost which Cornelius
received (Acts 10:45), of which gift Peter says that it was the same thing which
they had themselves received at Pentecost (Acts 10:47). It is certain that when
the Lord (John 7:39) speaks "of the Spirit, which they that believe on him
should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet," He does not speak of grace to
believe, but of what came to pass on the day of Pentecost, of what happened to
Cornelius, to those of Samaria, of the gift concerning which Peter said, "The
promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as
many as the Lord our God shall call." But, in all these cases, it was receiving
the Holy Ghost after having believed. (See Acts 2:31; Acts 10:46; Acts 11:17;
Acts 8:20.) But all that, according to Mr. Wolff, was only miraculous gifts,
gifts that were independent of the gift of the Holy Ghost. It matters not that
the Lord spoke "of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive."
It matters not that Peter said, "Ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
It matters not that in Acts 8:1-40 it is said, "For as yet he was fallen upon
none of them"; and that Simon saw that "they received the Holy Ghost" thus, that
"the Holy Ghost was given" thus. It matters not that Peter called it "the gift
of God," dorean. It matters not that this gift was "the promise of the Father"
(Acts 1:4; Acts 2:33), even the Comforter, of whom He had spoken who was now
ascended to the Father. (Compare Ephesians 4:1-32; Acts 2:33; John 16:1-33; Luke
24:49.) It matters not that this Comforter was to ABIDE FOR EVER with the
Church, and that the promise was for as many as the Lord should call; Acts
2:1-47 All that was only miraculous gifts, independent of the gifts of the Holy
Ghost; and consequently all has completely and equally ceased. Those are the
only passages which speak of the gift of the Holy Ghost, of receiving the Holy
Ghost. Page 73, 15°, Mr. Wolff disposes of the passages in Acts 10:45; Acts
11:17; Acts 2:4, Acts 2:33, Acts 2:38. Page 71, 6°, he disposes of Acts 8:1-40 :
all that, according to him, was independent of the gift of the Holy Ghost, it
was miraculous gifts. But the fact is, that we must in the same way dispose of
the seal of the Holy Ghost (Ephesians 4:30; Ephesians 1:13): for it is the Holy
Spirit of promise. See Acts 2:33; Acts 2:38; Acts 1:4; Luke 24:49.

Let us remember that, although Mr. Wolff disposes of these passages as referring
to miraculous gifts, they are the passages which speak of the gift of the Holy
Ghost, dorean, which he distinguishes (p. 70, 7°) from gifts, charismata, and
which also, at the same time, are not the gift of the Holy Ghost, but the gifts
which have ceased. That is, the whole system is false from one end to the other,
and is nothing but confusion. It was the Holy Ghost who was received, whatever
might be the manifestations of His presence.

I admit the difference between the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the gifts which
the Holy Ghost gave; but I affirm that what was given at Pentecost, at Samaria,
at Joppa, was the gift of the Holy Ghost who was promised: I affirm it, because
the word of God says so in the passages quoted.

Having proved the falsehood and the contradictions of Mr. Wolff’s system, I will
shew what the word of God says on the subject — a subject of great importance.

First, although the Holy Ghost has acted from the beginning in creation,
although He has from that time acted in the soul, acted in the prophets and
others as a divine Being, as God, using them as His instruments, He had not
descended to take His place and dwell on earth, as He has done in the Church.
The glorification of Christ, of the Son of man, was necessary for that. This is
what is said in John 7:39; John 14:1-31, John 15:1-27, John 16:1-33; Luke 24:49,
and in the beginning of Acts, as, for instance, Acts 2:33, a passage already
quoted: Christ glorified, ascended on high, sends from the Father, and the
Father sends, in His name, that other Comforter who was to abide for ever, the
Spirit of truth, the Holy Ghost. This Comforter, witness of the glory of Christ,
was the seal of faith in that glory, and the revealer of all the truth. Himself,
the God of love, and fruit of that love for the soul, shed it abroad in the
heart; it was the Holy Ghost Himself who was given, the Holy Ghost who had been
promised, and who was the seal of faith, the seal of him who believed (John
7:1-53; Ephesians 1:13; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22.) That it was the Holy Ghost
Himself who was thus given, is what is proved by the passages quoted from John
and Luke, and by their accomplishment in the beginning of Acts.

We have seen that this gift was to abide for ever, and that it was for as many
as the Lord should call. We may add that we are builded together to be the
"habitation of God through the Spirit," and that the Spirit dwells not only in
the individual, but in the body;* a truth Mr. Wolff has entirely lost sight of,
except to deny the unity which results from it. See Ephesians 2:21-22; 1
Corinthians 3:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 4:4.

{*[The reader will find in the author’s later papers a correction of the phrase.
Church here would be more exact than "body." This dwelling of the Spirit is in
relation to the assembly viewed as God’s habitation, house, or temple, rather
than as the body of Christ. — ED.]}

Let us now see what are the effects of the presence of the Holy Ghost, of that
glorious gift of God. Let us remember that the word of God only speaks of the
gift of the Holy Ghost, in speaking of the Comforter, of what came to pass on
the day of Pentecost, and of that which corresponds to that day.

First, "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is
given unto us." The little children in Christ have the unction of the Holy
Ghost, and know all things; 1 John 2:1-29. I suppose it will not be denied that
this is the Holy Ghost. We are anointed, sealed, and we have the earnest of the
Holy Ghost in the heart; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22. We possess Him — that Comforter
— as the earnest of the inheritance; we are sealed — we are "sealed unto the day
of redemption," Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 4:30. He is a Spirit of adoption in
our hearts, so that we enjoy our relationship with the Father; Galatians 4:6.

He gives us the certainty that we are in Christ; 1 John 3:24. He lusts in us
against the flesh, and produces fruits; Galatians 5:17; Galatians 5:22. He sets
free, quickens, puts to death the deeds of the body, leads, cries Abba, Father;
He bears witness Himself that we are children, and sympathizes with our
infirmities; (Romans 8:1-39). He leads us into all the truth, communicates unto
us that which is of Christ; He is the same who was to shew the things to come
(John 16:1-33), the Comforter.

He it is — and the same He is — by whom the apostles received spiritual things,
were able to communicate them, and by whom, thereupon, others were able to
discern them; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 2:15. And here observe, that it
is the same Spirit whom the apostles received in order to know the things of
God, and by whom others have discerned them; that is, the apostolic gift of
revelation and of communication, and the gift of spiritual understanding in the
simple believer.

He is the same Spirit who unites the body (1 Corinthians 12:13); we have all
been baptized in the power of one Spirit, to be one body. This is what must be
given up, if one has to give up the gift of the Holy Ghost (dorea), the gift Mr
Wolff calls "miraculous gifts."

No, it will be told us — no: the miraculous gifts alone are denied. But I reply
that the Holy Ghost whom we have received, the dorea, is what Mr. Wolff calls
"miraculous gifts"; that is what was given to the hundred and twenty at
Pentecost, what was given to Cornelius, etc. It is He who gave to the apostles
to know the truth, and who gave to others to discern the truth — He who was in
all the believers the earnest of the inheritance — who was the Holy Ghost of
promise, that is, the gift (dorea) given at Pentecost.

He who led into all truth was the same as He who shewed the things to come. The
fact is, that it is the Holy Spirit Himself, the third Person of the Trinity,
who came down from heaven, as the second did at the time of the incarnation of
Jesus Christ. What He does is another thing, which follows after the fact of His
presence. If He sheds abroad the love of God in the heart, or if He causes some
to speak divers tongues, it is always the same Spirit; or if His presence proves
the sin of the world and the righteousness of God, it is always the Holy Ghost
Himself who is there — who produces spiritual fruits, or who acts in whatever
way it may be; who gives liberty and causes to abound in hope. Jesus Christ
Himself was brought again from among the dead by the same Spirit, who was the
Spirit of holiness in Him; our dead bodies will be raised on account of His
Spirit who dwells in us; Romans 1:4; Romans 8:9-11. The epistle to the Galatians
presents to us in a very distinct way this gift of the Holy Ghost, which marks
the present dispensation in all its forms, its moral and miraculous effects. He
who is led by the Spirit is not under law. The fruits of the Spirit are love,
faith, peace, etc. If one walk in the Spirit, one does not fulfil the lusts of
the flesh. The Spirit lusts against the flesh; Galatians 5:18; Galatians 5:22;
Galatians 5:26. At the same time, we are told that we have received the Spirit,
not by works of law, but by the hearing of faith; Galatians 3:2. He who
ministered to them the Spirit, and worked miracles among them, did it, not by
works of law, but by the hearing of faith. Christ had borne the curse, in order
that "the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles," and they "might
receive the promise of the Spirit through faith," Galatians 3:14. Here we
clearly see what Spirit was received through faith. There was only that Spirit
received through faith, who was followed with miracles and who was thus
recognized. Stephen, full of the Holy Ghost, and thus fitted for the service to
which he was called, bears an irresistible testimony, on account of "the wisdom
and the Spirit by which he spake." Was it another Spirit who rendered him fit
for the service of tables (Acts 6:3), and by whom he confounded his adversaries
(Acts 6:8; Acts 6:10)? or is it not true that those who have served well
"purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is
in Christ Jesus," 1 Timothy 3:13? And if Timothy had received a gift by the
putting on of hands, a charisma (2 Timothy 1:6), he must stir it up, because
"God hath not given us the Spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a
sound mind." Are we to give up also power, love, and a sound mind? Compare
Romans 8:15. This is what Mr. Wolff (p. 72, 9°) puts in direct contrast with the
Spirit who sanctifies. When Timothy is exhorted to "keep, by the Holy Ghost
which dwelleth in us," that good thing which was committed to him, was it a
question of something different from the Holy Ghost given — the Comforter? If we
wait "through the Spirit" (Galatians 5:5), it is by this same Comforter who is
given.

If we examine the epistle to the Ephesians, we find one and the same Spirit
presented also as working in every way, among the rest in that which Mr. Wolff
(p. 72, 10°) declares to be merely miraculous, and this, moreover, I do not
deny. He is (Ephesians 1:13-14) the earnest of the inheritance, the seal of
those who have believed, the Holy Spirit of promise. He is the Spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of Christ (Ephesians 1:17). They had, Jew and
Gentile, "access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:18); they were,
Jews and Gentiles, "builded together for an habitation of God through the
Spirit" (Ephesians 2:22); that is to say, God dwelt there, through the Spirit,
as in a tabernacle. It was the same Spirit who revealed to men the mystery by
the holy apostles and prophets. It is this same Spirit who strengthens in the
inner man, that Christ may dwell in him by faith (Ephesians 3:5, Ephesians
3:16). There is "one body, and one Spirit" of unity (Ephesians 4:3, Ephesians
4:1); but "unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the
gift of Christ" (doreas)--the word used for the gift of the Holy Ghost at
Pentecost. It is the same Spirit whom we must not grieve (Ephesians 4:30). We
ought (Ephesians 5:18) to be "filled with the Spirit . . . singing and making
melody in your heart to the Lord." But here we have, very probably at least, an
act which is accompanied with that which was miraculous — "psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs"; yet, are we forbidden to be filled with the Holy Ghost, and to
sing in our hearts, because the miraculous act has ceased? for one must go as
far as this. The word is "the sword of the Spirit": we must pray "in the Spirit"
(Ephesians 6:17-18). Here then we see one and the same Spirit acting and
manifesting Himself in every way — a Spirit whose presence answered to the
presence of God in the tabernacle, and who acted in knowledge, in prayer, by the
word, in unity, giving sometimes a psalm or a spiritual song; but it is always
the same Spirit, the Person of the Holy Ghost as present, and revealing the
presence of God in the Church. I have said enough to shew how the word of God
speaks on this subject; I can now briefly state what the word of God presents.
The Holy Ghost has come, in person, on earth in the Church; He is present in
Person; He is some one who can be grieved. He is present in two ways — in the
individual and in the Church: "Ye are the temple of God, and . . . the Spirit of
God dwelleth in you," 1 Corinthians 3:16. "Your body is the temple of the Holy
Ghost," 1 Corinthians 6:19. He is, Himself, the gift (dorea) of God, sent by the
Son, sent by the Father. Therefore, while He is God, we do not find that prayer
is addressed to Him: not that all praise be not due to the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost, but because He is always looked upon as on earth, as the Son was there;
and He does not glorify Himself, but He glorifies the Father and the Son, and He
is the source of all prayer and praise to the Father who gave Him, and to the
Son who is glorified.

But, just as the Holy Ghost is the gift, so also, as the sovereign Spirit, as
God, He gives, He "divides to every man severally as he will"; and there we find
the gifts, the charismata. These may vary ad infinitum, may be more definitely
marked, or modified, or lost. In this sense, practically, the Spirit may be
quenched in the manifestation of His gifts, or the exercise of these same gifts
may be despised. But the Holy Ghost Himself is there unto the end, not only as
the sanctifying Spirit, as if it were something different, or, so to speak,
another Spirit: it is the Holy Ghost Himself who maintains the rights of Christ,
who represents Him, who is the other Comforter sent by the Father and by the Son
(and it is not only in individuals, but in the Church) who acts in the Church in
righteousness, but as sovereign also. The manifestation of the Spirit may take
place in such or such a way; but it is the Holy Ghost who is there, who
manifests Himself. And this presence of the Holy Ghost was so really the
presence of God in the Church, His tabernacle, that when Ananias and Sapphira
sought to deceive the disciples, the apostle said, "Why hath Satan filled thine
heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? Thou hast not lied unto men but unto God." And
God, as we know, exercised judgment as in His own house, and both the man and
the wife, who had agreed together for that, fell down dead. Was this a question
of gifts only, or of the presence of God in the Church by the Holy Ghost? In
effect, one of the functions of Jesus Christ, announced by John the Baptist,
was, to baptize with the Holy Ghost; this came to pass on the day of Pentecost;
Acts 1:5. Has the Church then entirely lost the baptism of the Holy Ghost? It
was, according to Mr. Wolff, the communication of gifts. It is then that the
Church was endued with power from on high. Is that power entirely lost? It is
very clear that it is not only a question of gifts, if all this be lost, but of
the presence of the Holy Ghost Himself in the Church. And mark here that, in
speaking of gifts, it is said (1 Corinthians 12:13), "By one Spirit we are all
baptized into one body, whether we be Jews," etc. We see clearly by this
expression in what way gifts were connected with Him who, by His presence,
constituted the unity of the whole body, and the existence of the Church as
established here below, and in fact for ever. The Holy Ghost having come from
God, at the same time being God, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts.
Being sent by the Father, He is a Spirit of adoption. Being the Spirit of
Christ, He forms our affections and our walk according to the pattern of Christ.
Sent, because the Son of man, rejected on earth, was received at the right hand
of God, He is especially the witness of the glory of the Son of man, and of the
grace that can flow out to the world as following after His glorification. Hence
He comes on all flesh, and not only on the Jews; so that here grace and gifts
are identified, for instance, in the tongues. The Holy Ghost overflows the
narrow limits of Judaism, and, extending to the judgment of Babel, He reveals to
all nations, to each in its own tongue, "the wonderful works of God." It was a
gift, but it was also a remarkable testimony to grace. Miracles bear the same
testimony; they shew that God in goodness had come into the midst of the evil,
and both overruled and cast out the power of the prince of this world; for such
was the effect of the presence of the Holy Ghost. It was God who in grace had
come into the midst of the world, having the Church as the vessel of His power,
and thus acting in man, and acting there in testimony to the glory and victory
of Christ as man. We see in Acts 2:1-47, Acts 4:1-37 the union of all this, and
that in the normal state the presence of the Holy Ghost produced grace, unity,
power, and joy. God was there, and the evil hid itself, as vanquished before His
presence — a presence which, identifying itself with the new man, with the
Christian, occupied with the state of things in which sin had plunged the old
man; and the effect of this was, as in Samaria, quite natural (although the
malice of the heart opposed it): "there was great joy in that city." But the
object was not only to bear testimony (that the world might believe) to the
grace of God and to the victory of the Son of man over the power of Satan — a
testimony borne in the aggregated Church by sovereign grace, to the glory of the
Son Himself, who was not ashamed to call His brethren those who were sanctified.
The Church itself was also the object. God had given His beloved ones to Christ.
Christ had undertaken their salvation. He "loved the church and gave himself for
it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or
wrinkle, or any such thing." Thus He nourisheth and cherisheth it as His own
flesh. It is not a question of manifesting His rights and His glory to the
world, although His glory be found there, and will at a future time be found
there in a far more evident way (to wit, when the whole Church will have come
unto perfection); neither is it a question of the operation of God properly
speaking, in testimony, in the midst of evil. It is a question of the affections
of Christ for the Church, and the care He takes of it in His faithfulness. It is
a question of cleansing it by the word, in order to present it to Himself in
glory, and cause it to grow up into Him in all things while it is down here.

Hence (although it is painful for me to be so didactic and methodical on a
subject so precious and so full of strength and joy; but it is in order to be
understood by those who are occupied with it) it follows that the Holy Ghost
acts in three ways.

First, He is God present and working in power.

Secondly, He manifests, by His operations, the glory of the Son of man, and thus
the relation of God in grace with the world.

Thirdly, Christ Himself nourishes and leads by His Spirit the Church, His body,
for the edifying of it in love. The first two of these three things are found in
1 Corinthians 12:1-31. God, by the Spirit, is there, in contrast with the demons
who, as instruments, governed and seduced the world; but then it is a question,
first of all, of acknowledging Jesus (and Jesus as man) to be the Lord, faithful
to God, the conqueror of Satan. It is for this that God is acting in the world;
as it is what makes an essential distinction between the Holy Ghost and demons.
No one, speaking in the power of the Spirit, can say, Anathema Jesus; nor say,
through a demon, Lord Jesus. Besides that, "there are diversities of gifts"; but
not many spirits, as was the case with the demons, of whom there were many.
There is one Spirit. There are diversities of services, but one Lord, He to whom
the Holy Ghost bore witness. "There are diversities of operations, but it is the
same God which worketh all in all." That which was an operation of God was, at
the same time, a gift of the Holy Ghost, and a service done to the Lord whom
that Spirit glorified and whom the God "who worketh all" had made "both Lord and
Christ," and placed at His own right hand in glory; Acts 2:30-36. The identity
of the operation of God and of the Holy Ghost is seen by comparing Acts 2:6 and
Acts 2:11. If the Holy Ghost works and speaks in us, He works and speaks to
render testimony to Christ, the Lord; and thus He causes him who speaks to act
and to speak as servant or minister of Christ (not to be independent, because he
has the Spirit). Therefore, the apostle says, Many members "are one body, so
also is Christ." The members are directed by the head; the head uses the
members. Therefore is it said (2 Corinthians 3:8) "the ministration of the
Spirit." The Holy Ghost gives the gift, and the individual thus made competent
exercises his ministry, according to the passage of Peter, which we have already
quoted, "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same" — or
exercise ministry therein "as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."

Therefore, uniting the three things, as in the passage we are considering, the
apostle says (2 Corinthians 3:5-6), "Our sufficiency is of God; who also hath
made us able ministers of the new testament [covenant]; not of the letter, but
of the Spirit," etc.; and (2 Corinthians 3:3) "Ye are the epistle of Christ,
ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God."
Was not the apostle acting in his own gift of apostle when he did this? If not,
do pray tell me what he did with his gift? No: it is evident that the object of
the Holy Ghost was to give the link of these three things: the Spirit acting in
gift, the operation of God therein, and the service or ministry to the Lord.

Further, it is not as concerning the Persons in the Trinity that all this is
presented to us, but it is the order of the acting of God, of the Lord, and of
the Spirit, looked upon as acting on earth. If the Lord and the Spirit had been
spoken of, one might have supposed something inferior to God; for the heathen
were accustomed to spirits of Python, etc., and to lords in great number.
Therefore does the apostle insist upon there being but one Spirit who gives
divers gifts, and not many spirits; one Lord who governed all that and was Head
in all that — the Lord whom the Spirit glorified; lastly, he insists on this,
that it was God Himself, the one true God, who worked in all that. And mark that
the writer himself calls our attention to the use of the word spiritual gifts
(pneumatika) in 1 Corinthians 12:1 : "A name," he says (p. 70), "which is
assigned to them exclusively." He mistakes in saying "exclusively," for the word
is often used for the things of the Spirit in general. See Romans 15:27, 1
Corinthians 9:11; 1 Corinthians 2:13, in which last passage I would translate
"communicating spiritual [things] by spiritual [means]"; or "[the things] of the
Spirit by [words] of the Spirit." But here the things of the Spirit are gifts.
Now, treating of these things of the Spirit, he speaks of the ministries of the
one Lord. How then can one say that these ministries were not among those things
of the Spirit? And here I recall what I have already pointed out in part,
namely, that in 1 Corinthians 12:4; 1 Corinthians 12:9 it is a question,
according to Mr. Wolff, of gifts properly so called (p. 70); the repetition of
the same subject in 1 Corinthians 12:28 is a classification of ministry (P. 50);
and (p. 71) 1 Corinthians 12:28 is a catalogue of gifts, and gives us five. In
this chapter, therefore, as on the other hand it is God who works, all the
beauty and ornament of Christ in His body on earth was connected with the
presence and operation of the Holy Ghost. The operation of God, the lordship of
Jesus, the service of the believer, and the gifts of the Holy Ghost, were
identified in the unity of the body, in the service of each member, in the
diversity of gifts which were the manifestation of the Holy Ghost. We have in
all that a dissertation on the things of the Spirit, the pneumatika. But it must
not be thought that the action of the Holy Ghost consisted solely in fresh
revelations; the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom were gifts of the Holy
Ghost as well as a prophecy properly so called. As Paul says also in 1
Corinthians 14:1-40, "If I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I
profit you except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or
by prophesying, or by doctrine?" It is sometimes supposed that there must be a
fresh revelation if the Holy Ghost is working in the one who speaks; it is not
so at all. "He that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and
exhortation, and comfort."

We saw that there is another object, to wit, the nurture and increase of the
Church. Here then, it is no longer the beauty and ornament of the Church before
the world, even by the gifts of the Holy Ghost, nor the operation of God in
testimony, but the care Christ takes of His own body, of His flesh; Ephesians
4:1-32. "He ascended up on high . . . and gave gifts [domata] unto men." Here
the act of giving and the gifts are specially connected with Christ, who, as
Head, nourishes the body. It is not a question of adorning the aggregate, or of
acting in virtue of the rights of Christ, but of the relationship between the
body and the Head. It is gathering and nourishing the Church, and not acting by
the members of the Church, by particular acts of power. The epistle of the
Ephesians presents two great subjects as to the Church: First, the coming glory
of the Church, a thing which is secured; it will enjoy the glory in the heavenly
places with its Head. In spirit, it is seated there in Him. Secondly, Besides
that, it is the "habitation of God through the Spirit" here below.

Two things flow from that: unity in humility and the Spirit of peace; grace
given to every one according to the measure of the gift of Christ. But the gifts
here given, the apostle, the prophet, the evangelist, the pastor, and teacher,
have all for object the formation, establishment, and edification of the body.
And we must here observe that it is functions or permanent gifts that are given;
it is a pastor, it is an evangelist. It is not a gift of such a character given
to an individual thus gifted by Christ ascended on high. The pastor himself, the
apostle himself, is the gift. Christ received the gift having ascended up on
high, and He manifests it in the function of the individual; and the gift is
here connected with continual service, and is not merely a manifestation of
power. In 1 Corinthians 12:1-31 it is rather power given for service, power
which might be used through vanity, as it really happened. Here the member
serves by the gift, which only acts in the blessing of the body.

I have spoken on this more fully elsewhere, and I only recall the great
principle for the aggregate. In Romans 12:1-21 the Spirit of God presents the
gifts (charismata), that those who possess them may use them humbly, confining
themselves to what they possess, and may be occupied with that. 1 Peter 4:1-19
speaks of them, that each one may use them in giving all the glory to God,
acknowledging that all came from Him. As to this passage (1 Peter 4:1-19), I am
agreed with Mr. Wolff that it is a question of a gift; and the translation,
"according to the oracles" is not the word of God, but a sense people chose to
give it. "If any man speak [let him speak] as [announcing] God’s oracles." But
it is of no use saying, as Mr. Wolff does, that this only applies to gifts, and
not to that which one now says in the Church. The answer is easy. This passage
forbids speaking in any other way, and forbids it with this object, "that God in
all things may be glorified." The apostle does not allow that anyone should
speak without ascribing the thing to God; and without speaking as announcing the
words of God. If any one speak, let him speak thus.

It would be a singular commentary on this passage, to say, This means that, if
any one speak by the Spirit, then he must speak by the Spirit: otherwise he may
speak as much as he likes, without troubling himself about it; inasmuch as a man
is a minister, he may speak without thus ascribing all to God. In 1 Corinthians
12:1-31 we have therefore the presence of the Holy Ghost as one in the Church,
then the operation of God, then the gifts as manifestation of the Spirit. In
Ephesians 4:1-32 we have the gifts which Christ received, which are being
exercised in the edification of the body. In Romans 12:1-21 we have all that is
done for good in Christians service treated as gift. Lastly, 1 Peter 4:1-19 we
have the obligation of thus ascribing all to God.

Now God may withdraw as He pleases gifts which He distributes as He pleases
(that is, some of those which are only a testimony rendered to the Church before
the world); but Christ nourishes the Church according to His faithfulness, and
this rests on another basis. This also may be weakened if the Holy Ghost is
grieved. Nevertheless, the Holy Ghost Himself remains in the Church for ever.
And this calls forth an important remark as to this question, whether the evil
is without remedy. All the strength and energy of the Church being derived from
the presence of the Holy Ghost, the comparison of what the manifestation of the
Holy Ghost was at the beginning, and the forgetting of His presence now, will
lead us to feel all that is humbling in our state, and to understand the
sentence of God unto cutting off, and not unto restoration. But the thought that
the Holy Ghost abides for ever with the Church gives us an unlimited source of
hope — that God will do all that is necessary for the blessing of the Church in
the state where it is. And as it is the presence of God Himself, one can put no
limit to what He could do. But what He will do will be according to our need and
our state, and not as though He Himself ignored the state which the presence of
His Spirit leads to feel, as though nothing had happened. Hence I fully believe
in the cutting off of the dispensation, because of the failure of the Church;
but I put no limit to what God, meanwhile, may do in grace towards believers.
Only, it will be according to the truth, as to their state, and according to the
faith which recognizes that.

I shall follow briefly Mr. Wolff’s remarks. Page 70, 1°. It is Mr. Wolff who
mistakes; charismata and pneumatika are not used exclusively for spiritual
gifts, as we have shewn in quoting the passages where those words are found. The
versions are not mistaken. The expression "the gift of the Holy Ghost" is only
found once in the Bible, and it simply means the Holy Ghost given. The
expression, "the Holy Ghost which is given" is found elsewhere; but it equally
refers to the idea of the presence of the Holy Ghost. For instance, "He
therefore that despiseth [his brother], despiseth not man, but God, who hath
also given unto us his Holy Spirit." And, "Hereby we know that he abideth in us,
by the Spirit which he hath given us. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try
the spirits, whether they are of God," 1 John 3:1-24, 1 John 4:1-21. We see
evidently that it is a question here of the Holy Ghost as present, from whom one
ought to distinguish the evil spirits which acted in the false prophets.

If I consult Mr. Wolff, he applies the thing referred to in the passage (namely,
what was given at Pentecost) to miraculous gifts. All this paragraph therefore
is false; it is Mr. Wolff who confounds the gift and the gifts.

Page 70, 2°. Be it so: three quarters of the gifts are lost; but then how can it
be said that all the blessing remains to the dispensation?

Page 70, 3°. I do not say that some gifts are miraculous and others not; but the
word distinguishes between gifts which were the signs of power to the world, and
the gifts which were for the edification of the Church; and also, between the
gifts that laid the foundation and those that built upon it. Mr. Wolff admits
it. That is the reason why some may subsist, and others not. For the rest, the
word calls gift (charisma) all that in which the Holy Ghost acts in blessing in
the Church. This is what Mr. Wolff has not observed at all.

Page 71, 4°. I again repeat, if that beauty, that diversity, that harmony, as
members of a body, are entirely lost, how is it that we are not in a state of
failure and ruin? How can one conceive this?

Page 71, 5°. I find a variety of gifts now very evident, although it is not a
variety such as existed at the beginning. The result of Mr. Wolff’s system
having prevailed practically in the Church is, that all the gifts are confounded
and their distinction lost; but it is very easy for a spiritual man to
distinguish between a man who has a gift for teaching, and another who has a
gift for exhortation, or another who has a gift of evangelist. For the rest, the
system in vogue hinders the development of gifts. This is not surprising, when
men, "having studied, all preach without gift" (p. 94).

Page 71, 6°. It is not said that the disciples in Samaria received gifts besides
the gift of the Holy Ghost. It is said that they had been baptized in the name
of the Lord Jesus, but as yet the Holy Ghost "was fallen upon none of them."
Nothing more positive or clearer. That the Holy Ghost acted in their heart to
produce faith there by the revelation of Jesus, I do not deny; but in the word
of God this is never called the gift of the Holy Ghost. Not a word is said about
receiving the Holy Ghost till after having believed; the contrary is expressly
stated.

Page 72, 7°. That the gifts were the manifestation of the Holy Ghost, of this
gift of the Holy Ghost, is perfectly true. This being acknowledged, the word of
God calls gifts of the Holy Ghost, not only signs of power, but according to the
godliness and truth which grace produces, every instrumentality of blessing
which was found in the Church: exhortation, the word of wisdom, the word of
knowledge; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; Romans 12:1-21. What has given rise to all the
difficulties on the subject is, the want of godliness, which does not own the
only source of all these graces.

Page 72, 8° and page 73, 14°. I repudiate the neological tinge of Neander. On
the other hand, Mr. Wolff mistakes if he thinks there is no connection between
the gifts conferred and the vessel which contains them. The tone of his
fourteenth paragraph is far from proper. When the man who left his house gave
gifts to his servants (Matthew 25:1-46), he gave gifts to every man according to
his several ability. God prepares the vessel as well as places the gift in it;
Acts 9:15; Galatians 1:1-24. Paul was "a chosen vessel"; he was set apart from
his mother’s womb; but he had not yet received the gift.

Page 72, 9°. This requires no remark; the confusion which is found there having
been already pointed out, namely, that Mr. Wolff speaks as if there were two
gifts of the Holy Ghost.

Page 72, 10°. Faith indicates a special gift, that special energy of faith which
is not found in all. I see nothing that limits it to the first ages. There are
persons endowed with much more faith than others; 1 Corinthians 14:15-16. He
speaks of foreign tongues which served as signs to unbelievers (1 Corinthians
14:22), signs which are distinguished from that which was for the edification of
believers.

Page 73, 11°. What do these words mean: "The Holy Ghost was miraculous enough?"
Can one say that God is miraculous — that a Person of the Trinity is miraculous?
That the Spirit whom they had received did act in a miraculous way, and that
this was distinct in many respects from His sanctifying action, I do not deny;
but it was the same Spirit who acted, though in a different way. Only one must
distinguish between the new nature, and the Holy Ghost who produces it and acts
in it. The union is intimate; but they can be spoken of separately, for the
Spirit is God. I can say, "He that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit." I can
say, "The Spirit . . . beareth witness with our spirit." I can say, "He that
searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit," and add, "because
he maketh intercession for the saints according to God." The new nature is not
God; it worships God. But God has intimately united Himself to it by the Holy
Ghost: it abides in God, and God in it. But the most miraculous gifts, when God
Himself was speaking, as in the case of prophecy, were subject to the order of
God in the Church, because they were entrusted to the responsibility of man, and
acted in man as servant of Christ.

Page 73, 12°. I think that this effect has often been reproduced more or less
perceptibly.

Page 73, 13°. I am perfectly agreed that if a man speaks, he ought to speak as
announcing the oracles of God; 1 Peter 4:1-19. Hence, I am very much blamed for
having asserted the truth as to that passage. But the thing being thus, it is
absolutely necessary that Mr. Wolff’s ministers without gifts should be silent,
because the apostle says, "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God
. . . that God in all things may be glorified." Not the least idea that one
might be allowed to speak otherwise, for then God would not be glorified. The
ministry Mr. Wolff proposes to us is precisely the thing condemned by this
passage.

Page 73, 15°. True, the centurion and his friends received the Holy Ghost as the
apostles did at Pentecost, but it is the only gift of the Holy Ghost which they
received. They did not receive another sanctifying Spirit; the Holy Ghost had
produced faith. I believe it; but they did not receive, either before or after,
the Holy Ghost in another way.

Page 73, 16° and page 74, 17°. In general, I agree with these two paragraphs;
but the Holy Ghost who was given has not left the Church — I mean the Holy Ghost
given on the day of Pentecost. Here Mr. Wolff confounds the gifts and the gift.
That the extraordinary administration of these things by the hands of the
apostles has ceased, I do not deny. That the order, the testimony, the power of
the Church in the world, are weakened by it, and have by degrees become as it
were destroyed, I confess with humiliation. But the Holy Ghost who was given on
the day of Pentecost, of which these things were only an extension — the Holy
Ghost abides. He is sovereign, He is mighty; and the gifts for edification have
not ceased. If the gifts which were signs have disappeared with the apostolic
age, the testimony of the Church to the world, in its power and its unity, has
also by degrees disappeared with these manifestations of the Holy Ghost.

Page 74, 18°. Mr. Wolff, as we have already remarked, is completely mistaken;
the discerning of spirits was not regulating. "Let the other judge," it is said
(1 Corinthians 14:29), when gifts were exercised. The rules for the exercise of
gifts are given in this passage; and there is no question of the gift of
discerning of spirits: a responsibility moreover which is attached to every
Christian (1 John 4:1-21), although there are no doubt persons specially gifted
for that.

Page 74, 19°. This is an extraordinary confusion. First, women had gifts as men
had; certain gifts, according to the express promise of God by the mouth of
Joel; but the exercise of gifts was regulated, for men and for women, by the
Holy Ghost, who had given them, and who had the right to regulate the use of
that which He had entrusted; this He has done through the authority of Paul.

Page 74, 20°. The bishop was only a charge; but, as a quality of a bishop, a
gift (charisma) is required — that of being "apt to teach"; perhaps one might
add that of pastor. But the qualities of bishops do not in any way affect the
question of gifts, which were found, according to the writer himself, by the
side of ministry.

Page 75, 21° and 22°. Mr. Wolff here arranges things in a very convenient way,
provided one considers the power of the Holy Ghost as being of no importance in
the Church — that power which, for instance, made men to fall down on their
faces, and confess that God was there — a power which, according to Mr. Wolff,
has entirely ceased. Prophecy which was "to edification and exhortation and
comfort" is lost, according to Mr. Wolff; this, according to him, explains
everything else. The loss of all that matters nothing; tongues even — so
remarkable a sign by which God acted on those outside, for their conversion, and
for the establishment of Christianity in the world, all that is lost. No matter,
according to Mr. Wolff. What a distressing and heartless system! — this system
which explains everything, and feels nothing! One half of Christendom invaded by
Islamism, the other by popery! no matter. Protestantism declining, and in most
infidel; the gifts all lost: it is all one. For, according to Mr. Wolff, if
there are a few believers, as in the Jewish dispensation, all the blessing
remains to the Church. That the sovereign goodness of God has given to us in His
written word a sure and complete revelation of His thoughts is precious beyond
all that man could say or be able to say. And in the failure and ruin of
everything as to power manifested in the Church, this has a value and a wisdom
to which an adoring sense of that goodness is the only true response. This is
the chain which, by the truth, links us to Him; this is beyond all price — God
has revealed Himself therein. That this word is the only guide, as a written
rule; this is a thing to which we cannot too firmly cleave; this it is that has
the authority of God. Nothing can be added to it, nor taken from it. But does
this touch the effects of the power of the Holy Ghost? Far from it; we need the
Holy Ghost to understand even, and to use, that word. It is the sword of the
Spirit to reach the heart. If gifts only consisted in revelation, and in signs
to prove it, there would be something to say; but it is not so. All that was
done in the Church, was, as we have seen, by the Holy Ghost: and the presence of
the Holy Ghost had in nowise for its only object the confirmation of revelation.
He was to abide for ever, and, by the gifts of teaching, of exhortation, of
wisdom, of knowledge, to edify and comfort the Church. For the rest, in the word
it is never said that the gifts confirmed the canon of Scripture; they confirmed
the word spoken by the mouth of those whom Christ had sent. Miracles are not
attached to Luke, to Mark, to the Acts, nor declared to be the means of
recognizing the inspiration of any book whatever. The books of the holy
Scriptures have not had this outward confirmation. If it be otherwise, let it be
shewn. That the doctrine which is found there was confirmed, when it was
preached viva voce, this I acknowledge. The warrant for the inspiration of
Scripture does not therefore rest on gifts, whether in apostolic times, or now.
That the authors were inspired, I fully acknowledge. That the Holy Ghost is the
author of it every Christian believes; but I do not know where that infinitely
precious work of the Spirit is called the exercise of a gift. The epistles may,
in part, be considered as the exercise of the apostolic gift perhaps: but in
general the inspiration of the written word, that work of the Holy Ghost which
guards the pen and the thought of the writer, is a special work. Hence we must
not confound revelation with the action of the Holy Ghost in the gifts.
Sometimes the Holy Ghost spoke in the way of revelation; but His action for the
most part was a different thing from that; it consisted in exhortation,
teaching, wisdom, knowledge — things which did not require fresh revelations.
Besides, the Holy Ghost never contends with Himself. To those who have received
the holy Scriptures as inspired, a spirit which would refuse to submit itself to
the written word, would by that very thing be proved to be an evil spirit; and
all that it would seek to add would, by the help of the Holy Ghost, be proved by
the word to be false, because the word is perfect. This was even true of
Christianity in the face of the Old Testament: it rested upon the written word,
and presented what had come to pass as the fulfilment of what was foretold,
teaching none other things than those which Moses, the law, and the prophets had
said, and approving those who (if it was an apostle who preached) "searched the
scriptures daily, whether those things were so." And the Lord Jesus Himself
preferred the authority of the written word, as an instrument, to His own words:
"But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?" But the
exercise of gifts, making use of the word, explains it, applies it to the soul,
exhorts, speaks with wisdom, and only recognizes the revelation by resting upon
it: but they are equally real gifts of the Holy Ghost.

If, as Mr. Wolff leads one to suppose, the New Testament becomes useless through
the gifts which explain and use it, how much more would the Old become so
through the apostolic gifts.

Page 76, 23°. It is no question of being on the level of, or above, the word.
The same Holy Ghost, who gave the word as the whole truth to the Church, uses
and applies it by means of gifts which He gives Himself.

Page 76, 23°. Agreed. The minister must declare his mind, and say that all his
hope for his ministry is in the absence of all gifts. If the Holy Ghost acts, he
must abdicate his charge. But what an avowal! Does this ministerial system
banish shame, as it banishes the Holy Ghost? At least let us take account of the
avowal, that the system of a clergy, which hides itself under the name of
ministry, that what the party calls the ministry, can only subsist by denying
absolutely every gift of the Holy Ghost. That the pastor has received no
authority for regulating or for restricting the gifts of the Holy Ghost, is only
confusion, supposing the gifts to exist; and if they do not exist, there is no
need of regulating them. Supposing they exist, they are all regulated beforehand
in the word: witness 1 Corinthians 14 for instance. When Mr. Wolff says,
speaking of the pastor, that "if he reserves to himself a worship where he alone
speaks, he is a usurper," it is merely throwing dust in people’s eyes. I
understand quite well that Mr. Wolff wishes that — denying gifts — the pastor
who has none should reserve to himself all that he is pleased to attribute to
himself. What is merely from man, man can regulate; but it is very simple, that
in the exercise of his gift everyone is free save the discipline according to
the word. In the case of all being assembled, the word has regulated the course
to be followed: if anyone has received a gift, he is responsible to Christ for
the exercise of that gift; and responsibility is always individual. If, as an
evangelist, I go out to preach by myself, or if two go together, they do not
encroach on the rights of anybody. If I gather people who come for that purpose,
and teach them in the exercise of my gift, I encroach on the rights of no one:
every one is free to do the same. If any one does it in a spirit of schism,
outside the unity of the Church, it is an evil which changes nothing as to the
principle. If when brethren are assembled — all for the common service, I
arrogate everything to myself, then indeed I do encroach on the rights of the
Holy Ghost; but in the case of the individual exercise of my gift, I am only
trading with the talent I have received, and that is what each should do on his
own account, and he owes it to Christ.

I admit that teaching is a gift. I admit also that ruling, or presiding, as some
versions translate, is a gift; but in the word this is never applied to an
assembly, as would appear to be the case, if we kept to the French version
generally used. They are the gifts (charismata) according to Romans 12:1-21.
That the administration of the sacraments is a gift, this is a reverie of Mr.
Wolff’s. I have already remarked that Mr. Wolff is entirely ignorant of the
principles of the Quakers. They have their elders who are in charge, and besides
that a ministry. There are also some among them who exercise a gift before being
yet recognized as ministers.

CHAPTER 17 ON MR. WOLFF’S CHAPTER 17, WHERE HE ASSERTS THAT "TO TAKE AWAY FROM
THE MINISTRY THE RIGHT TO ADMINISTER THE SACRAMENTS, IS TO INFRINGE UPON THE
CHARGE ITSELF AND TO COMPROMISE ITS EXISTENCE.

It is remarkable enough that the writer has been unable to quote a single
passage of the word of God to establish that the administration of the
sacraments must be performed by the ministry. Taking away from it gifts, and
attributing to it the right of taking possession of the outward forms — these do
very well together: but it is very singular that it never entered the mind of
the apostle to propose, as a remedy, the system of the writer. Very far from
this, in an epistle which formally treats the subject of the Lord’s Supper, the
Holy Ghost does not give the slightest hint that the ministry presides; but
quite the contrary. The state of things which is described there excludes all
idea of such order; and never, in applying a remedy for it, does the idea
present itself of making the minister preside: for it is singular that, in the
epistle to the Corinthians, where the interior of the administration of a church
is given to us, no mention is ever made of the elders. There were some, perhaps;
but if there were, the Holy Ghost passes over it, authorizing us to act even
when there are none. I exhort those brethren who are occupied with this to weigh
such a fact taken from the epistle to the Corinthians. As to the quotation given
by Mr. Wolff of Acts 6:1-4, it is so much outside the subject that I need not
dwell upon it. The man who can mistake the daily administration of help to
widows for the Lord’s Supper may very well suppose all he likes; and in Mr.
Wolff’s interpretation, Acts 6:1-4, supposes that the apostles had abandoned the
administration of the table of the Lord as being of slight importance, and that
the deacons, and not the elders, are to preside there. What is said in paragraph
4° of page 81, is therefore unworthy of an answer. To say that the word of God
which accompanies the outward act is more important than the Supper itself is to
exalt a discourse without gifts above the remembrance of Jesus instituted by
Himself. Moreover, where did the writer find this — "the word of God which
accompanies the sacrament"? Besides, it is very certain that in the primitive
Church there was nobody established to speak a word; for the prophets spoke as
God led them, according to the rules given in 1 Corinthians 14:1-40. For an
apostle to break the bread, when he was present (Acts 20:11), was a very natural
thing, and appears to me very suitable; but I do not see that this proves that
the ministry had the exclusive right so to do. As to baptism, the apostle
expressly says that the Lord had not sent him to baptize. It is very certain
that Acts 10:48 is very badly rendered by "He took measures," etc., and that
Acts 17:26, where it is said that God had determined certain things, proves the
inaccuracy of such a way of translating. The reader who does not know Greek may
consult Matthew 1:24; Matthew 21:6; Luke 5:14 — "Moses commanded"; Matthew 8:4;
Mark 1:44; Acts 10:33 — passages which, with the two quoted here, are the only
passages where this word (which signifies "to command") is found in the New
Testament. In result, Mr. Wolff, who does not produce a single passage to prove
that the ministry did administer the sacraments, admits that simple believers
may do it in cases of necessity. We see that what existed at Corinth excludes
the idea of such a custom; and when there was a state of disorder, when the
opportunity presented itself of reminding them in what order did consist, or of
establishing order if it had not yet been done; and if such order as this would
have been the remedy according to God, not a syllable about it is said by the
apostle — by the word, but means altogether different are used to remove the
scandal. We find that, to support his system he is obliged to confound with the
Lord’s Supper the administration of help intended for the widows. A cause which
is thus maintained is not worth much. That in a large assembly the Supper be
administered by brethren who enjoy the consideration of all, by an apostle when
there was one, is just what suits order; and I have no fault to find with such
an ordinance. There is not one expression in the word of God to lead one to
suppose that there was any need of a minister for the Supper or for baptism — we
even see the contrary — and now I use the word ’ministry’ in the sense of the
pamphlet, and in whatever sense people may like to use it.

CHAPTER 18 ON MR. WOLFF’S CHAPTER 18, WHERE HE MAINTAINS THAT "NO ONE IS PASTOR
WHO IS NOT COMPETENT TO TEACH AND PREACH."

If Mr. Wolff is overthrowing the system which Calvin and others find in the
word, that is a question which concerns those who build upon it; but — I must
say so — I find a thorough difference in the way in which Calvin and Mr. Wolff
respect the word. As to the translation of 1 Timothy 5:17, which he pretends is
false, I am bold to say it is not false at all. I have examined twenty-two
passages of the word of God where the Greek word kopiao is found, and the result
of this examination is, that the translation, in my eyes, is very good. The word
is used in two ways: to suffer from the effects of labour, and simply to labour.
Wahl’s Lexicon (the most accurate I know for the word of God) does not even
present the sense chosen by Mr. Wolff. In Galatians 6:6 Mr. Wolff sees an elder
who receives payment! But there is not a word in it about elders or a payment
properly so called. I cannot conceive the desire of debasing ministry which is
constantly found in this pamphlet. A minister who is paid without gift — such is
the idea Mr. Wolff forms to himself of ministry. It appears to me very sad. The
apostle asks for liberality "in all good things" towards those who teach: this
is a precious thing. But why seek to attach an idea of payment, and to destroy
that of love, and of honour, of attachment, and of affection? Mr. Wolff has not
been bold enough to translate the Greek word by "salary"; he has translated it
by "honour"; and I think, with Calvin, Luther, and the English translators, that
he is right. This is incontestable — that the apostle meant that when it was a
question of choosing a bishop, one should be chosen who was "apt to teach." To
say that there were no other bishops, is that which 1 Timothy 5:17 leads us to
doubt.

It is singular that Mr. Wolff dares to say that the administrative functions are
not mentioned; for the apostle speaks of the government of the family by the
bishop as a sign of certain suitable qualities.

CHAPTER 19 ON MR. WOLFF’S CHAPTER 19, WHERE HE WILL HAVE IT THAT MISSIONARIES
ARE TO BE SENT BY MEN.

We have seen that, in the passage, Acts 13:1-3, it is a question of the apostles
and of the one who said of his apostleship "not of men, neither by man," and who
had already laboured for a long time before this. We have also seen that they
preached and evangelized without any mission from man; so that Mr. Wolff’s
assertions are absolutely false. It is rather too strong to quote Acts 13:1-52
in order to shew what an evangelist was, and what an apostle was not. The
quotation from 2 Corinthians 8:23 is inconceivable. Paul speaks of Titus, but
not at all as a messenger of the churches, and it was only a question of a
collection. The apostle refused to take the money without having with him some
brethren from the churches, that the ministry of the word might not be suspected
even in this respect. (See 2 Corinthians 9:5; 2 Corinthians 8:19-21)

Barnabas indeed was sent to Antioch by the church in Jerusalem — the special
position of which we have seen, all the apostles being there. But he was not
sent there as an evangelist; it was to visit on the part of that church —
motherchurch and metropolitan (for it was such), the believers who had already
been brought to the knowledge of the Lord by the means of those who had preached
without having been sent by anything except persecution. When he came, and had
seen the grace of God, he was glad, and exhorted them to remain firm; and other
persons were added. Thus, the first church of the Gentiles and the church in
Jerusalem — preeminently the church where everything had begun — were
identified. Barnabas acted according to his gift; and, using his liberty, he
brings Paul there. There was not that jealousy which speaks of its field. The
church in Jerusalem sends Barnabas where others had laboured, and Barnabas feels
himself most happy to find Paul. They had all but one object: Christ and the
good of souls. But as to the mission of Barnabas, it is clear he was not sent as
an evangelist, for he was sent to Christians. As to schoolmasters, they are most
useful in their place; but everything in this pamphlet has its source in the
things which are done, and with the desire of upholding them whatever they may
be. Except this, it is very evident that the schoolmasters have no connection
with the subject we are treating. I suppose that Mr. Wolff will not prevent a
schoolmaster from opening a school on his own account: in doing so, I do not
think he would place himself on a level with apostleship, although he was not
sent by men.

CHAPTER 20 ON MR. WOLFF’S CHAPTER 20, WHERE HE SEEKS TO JUSTIFY CLERICAL
USURPATION. As to that clerical usurpation of which Mr. Wolff speaks, I have not
much to say about it. When one man will be minister, and demands that every
other labourer should be subject to him; when he has been named according to a
system which is not of God, when he demands from the other labourers, in the
same field, a subjection which the apostles did not demand, and when he does
this because an authority which God does not own as regards the affairs of His
Church, has appointed and established him, then there is clerical usurpation.
Besides, I deny that the minister is called in Scripture, elder, bishop, pastor,
leader; and I ask for a passage which shews the contrary. Mr. Wolff produces
none.

It is not honest to quote Ignatius; because, if Mr. Wolff has read him, he must
know that Ignatius uses the word ’bishop’ in quite a different sense, and says
that one ought to obey the bishop as if it were obeying God; the elders, as if
it were Christ; and the deacons, as if it were the college of apostles.

I acknowledge, that in general, things ought to be done under the direction of
those who lead, in order that everything may go on in unity and for the good of
all.

CHAPTER 21 ON MR. WOLFF’S CHAPTER 21, WHERE HE SAYS IT IS "IMPORTANT AND
NECESSARY TO STUDY FOR MINISTRY."

I do not feel the need of answering the chapter on studies; the man who denies
gifts, and sees nothing but man in ministry, must naturally cling to this.

God can use learned men or ignorant men. He uses learning as he uses money — the
man who seeks it will find his soul dried up, just like the man who seeks to get
rich. God, moreover, chooses the foolish and weak things of this world to bring
to nought the wise and mighty things. I do not think that the pursuit of
learning by a man already called to the ministry will help him in his career. He
that is not called, cannot study for the ministry; but all these reasonings flow
from this: taking no account of the presence and of the importance of the
operation of the Holy Ghost. Moreover, a student, a candidate, evidently bears
no resemblance to the bishop described to us by the apostle. The emulation of a
young man who studies Greek and theology has hardly the imprint of those
qualities required by the Spirit of God for elders. In fine, according to this
system, one must at all events have a ministry, and if one cannot find competent
men, incompetent men must be appointed — for a ministry is needed.

CHAPTER 22 ON MR. WOLFF’S CHAPTER 22, ENTITLED, "HISTORY OF THE SECTS WHICH HAVE
ALTERED MINISTRY."

I am not anxious to take up the history of sects. The Papists might add to the
list, and prove that protestants, with a ministry, are fallen into socinianism,
neology, and all kinds of divisions and errors. But if those who had no ministry
— which moreover was not the case in some of the examples presented by Mr. Wolff
— have disappeared, those who have one, on the other hand, have remained, and
remain to this day; and for centuries the established ministers have taught the
mass of the people errors, heresies, superstitions, blasphemies, unbelief,
self-righteousness, and with all their might have kept the mass of the people
far from God. Blessed indeed if any one, armed for martyrdom, dared to go out,
though unsent by man, and seek to deliver those souls from under the ministry
which ruined them! I do not think that the supporters of ministry without gifts
gain much by comparing the evil done by those who reject a ministry from man,
with the evil done by those who will have it and who adopt it. Where the Spirit
of God acts, there will be good; where He does not act, all possible
ecclesiastical arrangement will not prevent the invasion of the evil.

Mr. Wolff admits that the Montanists, who received a ministry, introduced
clerical despotism and several errors of doctrine. The brethren of Rhynsburgh
separated because of a point of doctrine.

I have already remarked that Mr. Wolff is completely mistaken about Quakers.
Gurney himself is an innovator among Quakers, and judged as such by the
"Conservatives" — an epithet which indicates the old Quakers. Here is the
doctrine of the Quakers: — The Holy Ghost is in every man without exception. If
they listen to His voice, they are justified by degrees. The Quakers reject
justification by faith; a great number even reject the resurrection of the body.
They reject the sacraments. They have a recognized ministry, and elders. They
prefer their inward light to the written word: they hold absolutely that the
Scriptures are not to be called the word of God, and only receive, as coming
from God, that portion which may have been applied to them. There has lately
been a revival among them, and several have sounder views; several even have
left the society. The elders are appointed and established; they have an
elevated seat, facing all the others; and nowhere else is a more complete
authority exercised. The members of the flocks have an extraordinary fear of
them. In many respects there is not more authority among the Roman Catholics
themselves. As to practical customs, the Quakers have several things which are
very estimable. I do not think I have represented their system falsely; for I
have known, loved, and respected very sincerely, several from among them.

It would be difficult to find between two bodies a more complete contrast than
between the Quakers and those called "Plymouth Brethren," if one except the fact
that they believe that ministry is of the Holy Ghost; but even in this they act
altogether differently. When Mr. Wolff takes on him to say that the brethren
have introduced modifications in the sacraments, he would have done better to
say what they are: this he has not dared to do. The accusation of having done
so, without even pointing out in what they have done it, simply proves ill will
towards them.

CONCLUSION

We are come to the conclusion — deeply grieved, for my own part, to see such a
production issuing from the hands of a young man I love. The skill I do not
deny; but the spirit which reigns in it, the way in which the word is used there
to serve a system, have produced an exceedingly painful effect. Neither have I
any doubt that a serious contest is engaged on the subject of ministry. As to
the fact of having for avowed enemies those who hold those opinions — full of
unbelief and of contempt for the word — which this pamphlet fully brings to
light, it has quite another effect from frightening or deterring me. It is a
contest, on one side, between respect for the word, faith that owns the Holy
Ghost, and the desire that ministry be free and powerful for God, while freely
serving men; and, on the other, the making ministry to depend upon men, and of
attaching to it (without there being gifts) an authority as from God, an
authority such as to give the right of excluding all possibility of the action
of the Holy Ghost.

Mr. Wolff avows it, and declares that, if there is a single gift, his ministry
can no longer subsist. My desire is that each soul would reflect as to the
position in which such a doctrine places the Church and Christendom.


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  CHAPTER 12: ONE BODY AND ONE SPIRIT
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One Body and One Spirit

W. Kelly. The will of God is that His church should be one, not in spirit
merely, but also in an embodied form, so as to exhibit its unity in each place,
and its unity throughout the world (John 11:52; John 17:11; John 17:21; Acts
2:11; Romans 12:1-21; 1 Corinthians 1:1-31; 1 Corinthians 10:1-33; 1 Corinthians
12:1-31; Ephesians 2:1-22; Ephesians 4:1-32; 1 Timothy 3:15). This He will
accomplish in perfection at the coming of Christ (John 17:21; John 17:23;
Ephesians 5:27; Hebrews 12:23; Revelation 19:7; Revelation 21:9). Meantime it is
incumbent on all believers to seek this holy and manifested union, and to put
away everything that hinders it. We may be weak in meeting our corporate
responsibility, as we are in answering our individual calling to holiness. Still
in both respects, and in spite of all difficulties, our duty remains clear,
paramount, and inevitable. But this is not by the mass of Christians maintained
as a sacred, irreversible, point of doctrine and practice.

Popery owns it, but after a carnal manner.

All the Protestant national bodies have asserted, and acted on, the assumed
title to accommodate their modes of government, rites, ceremonies, etc.,
according to the will of their rulers, whether they be within or without the
so-called churches. These, consequently, vary in different ages and countries.
The dissenting bodies, again, have been formed, generally speaking, either
according to the self-devised plan of some individual mind, sometimes without
even the idea of the church of God occurring to its founders; or according to
partial views of scripture truth, which scatter the faithful instead of uniting
them. The chief error of nationalism, in this or in any other country, is the
latitudinarian opening of the door to receive into the most solemn acts of
worship and Christian fellowship the whole population, i.e., in principle,
irrespective of looking for the gift of the Spirit. That of dissent, on the
contrary, is the sectarian closing of the door on real Christians who cannot
utter the Shibboleth of the party; and thus many brethren are excluded. In a
word the characteristic evil of the latter is, that they do not treat as
Christians many who are known to be such; whereas the equally characteristic
evil of the former is, that they do treat as Christians many who are known not
to be such at all. The one system makes the limits broader, the other narrower
than God’s limits. In either way the proper scriptural idea of the church is
practically destroyed: dissent virtually affirming that it is not one body, but
many; while nationalism virtually denies that it is the body of Christ. God
would have His children not to be separate, but to gather together to the name
of Jesus. Now this is evidently set aside when you separate any who ought to be
united, (viz., all believed on proper grounds to be true Christians), or when
you associate as brethren in Christ with any who ought to be separate (viz.,
those who are plainly of this world,* or who, if they profess Christ, deny Him
in evil doctrines or works).

* The Evangelical Alliance — which I believe to be a result, however imperfect,
of the testimony at home and abroad to the present ruin of the church — is, in
fact, an acknowledgment that there is no such union avowed and acted on in
modern Christianity. It is really therefore, a confession on the part of its
members that they feel dissatisfied with their respective systems: for
obviously, if any one system among Protestants had been according to the mind of
God, there would have been no need of the Evangelical Alliance. Now it is
remarkable, and ought to be known more widely, that the most able and spiritual
of its Continental advocates has publicly allowed, not only that he regrets the
constitution of the Alliance, but that the above ground is a better one. Compare
pp. 12 and 38 of the "Alliance Evangelique (Section de la Langue Francaise,
Paris, 1847)." "Cela dit, si l’on nous demande: n’avez vous pas des doutes sur
la convenance d’une base dogmatique? ou tout au moins, ne regrettez vous pas que
tel ou tel article ait trouvé entrée dans cette base? Nous répondons: oui, dans
ces deux cas, et surtout dans le second. Nous avons lutté même pour notre part
contre les articles en question. Mais la grande majorité de l’assemblée ayant
été d’un avis contrairs au nôtre, nous nous sommes rendus, soit parce que nous
estimons possible que d’autres voient mieux que nous, soit aussi parce qu’à
defaut de ce qui nous paraît le meilleur nous sommes d’avis de ’retenir ce qui
est bon.’"

It may be replied perhaps, that though this was, beyond all legitimate question,
the order of the Holy Spirit in the early days of the church, times and
circumstances are altered now. Gifts of healing, working of miracles,
diversities of tongues, no longer exist as they once did. All this is freely
admitted. But we ask, Is there such a body as the church* any longer on the
earth? If there be, the Spirit of God is Himself personally on earth as truly,
though not so manifestly, as at the commencement; for He it is who is the
formative agent and guide of the church. It was He that baptised Jews and
Gentiles into one body. It was He that was to abide for ever. The church,
properly so called, began then as an accomplished fact (see Acts 1:5, and 1
Corinthians 12:13); for one speaks not of the hidden purpose of God. Pentecost
first saw her dowered with the promise of the Father.

* When we speak of the ruin of the church, it is not meant that the church does
not exist upon the earth. On the contrary, if it did not exist upon the earth,
it could not be in any such condition. The phrase is similar to that which is
applied to a man of broken fortune. Men say, "He is a ruined man." Of course it
is understood that the man exists. So it is with the present state of the
church. That state doubtless occasions difficulties; for many things are not as
they ought to be, nor as they once were. But the word and Spirit of God are for
eternal service, and suffice for every emergency. "If therefore thine eye be
single, they whole body shall be full of light: but if thine eye be evil, thy
whole body shall be full of darkness." The humble and obedient heart will never
lack divine guidance.

Believers of course there had been before, as we know, from Abel downwards; but,
though quickened of the Spirit, they were not baptised of Him, they had not Him
dwelling in them, like the saints after Pentecost. This was the precious
privilege, for which it was expedient that Christ should go away: "for if I go
not away, the Comforter (or Advocate) will not come unto you; but if I depart, I
will send him unto you" (John 16:7). It could not be till Jesus was glorified
(John 7:39). But when sent down from heaven, the Spirit of truth was to be in
them, and to abide with them for ever. " And I will pray the Father, and he will
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
14:16-17).

It is the owning, then, of the Holy Ghost as Christ’s vicar, as the really
present, sole, and sufficient Paraclete or Advocate in the church during our
Lord’s absence, which is our special responsibility, and ought to be a leading
feature in our testimony as Christians. This cardinal truth of the presence of
the Holy Spirit in and with the church has these two immensely important
consequences: —

I. It is not by baptism, infant or adult ;* it is not by the adoption of this or
that article or creed; it is "by one Spirit," the Holy Spirit of God, "we are
all" (i.e., all of us believers) "baptised into one body" (1 Corinthians
12:1-31, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13). It is, if one may be allowed so to say
reverently, the highest qualification which God can impart — the baptising by
the Holy Spirit Himself of the blood-washed believer — which introduces into the
one body, the body of Christ. But this is the privilege of all true Christians.
Nothing therefore short of a platform such as in principle to admit all
Christians, and Christians only, can satisfy faith, because nothing short of
this satisfies the Spirit of God. When it is said, "Christians only," it is
meant, so far as man guided by the word and Spirit of God can discern. If they
are hypocrites, they will be made manifest in His own good time.

* It is not denied that baptism was the outward sign or manifestation of a
confessor of Christ. Only it is important to remember that a believer was not
baptised as a member of any particular assembly. Recognised by baptism as a
confessor of Christ, one naturally sought communion where one happened to be, if
there was an assembly there; and the Lord’s supper was the constantly-recurring
outward pledge and symbol of union and communion. "For we, being many, are one
bread, one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread " (1 Corinthians
10:17). It may be added here, that those who preached in no way regarded baptism
or the Lord’s supper as rites to be administered necessarily by them. Thus Peter
commanded Cornelius and his friends to be baptised in the name of the Lord (Acts
10:48); and Paul writes, "Christ sent me, not to baptise, but to preach the
gospel" (1 Corinthians 1:17). He says this markedly as to the Corinthians, and
many of them, we know, believed and were baptised (Acts 18:8); so that other
brethren must have acted in this service. As to the Lord’s supper, the same
thing is as plain, if not more so. In fact the idea of an authorised person to
break the bread does not occur, nor anything that I know which gives a colour to
it, in the New Testament. See Acts 20:7, also 1 Corinthians 11:1-34, where if
under any circumstances, there might have seemed the need of some restraint; for
the Corinthians had turned the table to fleshly licence. But while the Spirit
reproves the evil, and presses the holy and solemn character of the feast, He
leaves the manner of its celebration as unrestricted as ever. It is the saints
as a body who are in His view, and not a privileged class who claim the
administration as their right. Circumstances apart, as for the example in the
case of a novice, any brother was competent to baptise or to break the bread.

2. After the apostle has discussed the confession of the Lordship of Jesus by
the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3), which is the foundation of everything
here, he shows that there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit;
diversities of services, but the same Lord; and diversities of operations, but
the same God working all in all. Then in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 he enters into
the detail of these manifestations of the Spirit. It is given to each for common
profit; whether the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, etc.: different
manifestations, "but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit,
dividing to every man severally as he will." Now, while it is confessed that
some or many of the exterior gifts are no more found, it must be here affirmed
that this does not in the smallest degree negative the truth that the Spirit
Himself does abide. But if He abides, has He resigned His functions? If even in
these days, when pride cannot cloak the spiritual declension it so vainly
strives to deny, if still one Christian has "the word of wisdom," and another
has "the word of knowledge," is it from the Spirit of God, or from some other
spirit? "What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is
in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God" (1
Corinthians 2:11). Can it be mere man’s wisdom now? or is there such a thing as
the teaching of the Holy Spirit?

It may be assumed, I trust, that the Christians who read this paper believe that
there is still real power to evangelise the world and to edify the church. If
so, whence comes it? The natural man knows nothing but natural things, and can
neither receive nor communicate the things of the Spirit of God. Real, spiritual
power is of Him. Who of us believers is not a witness that this power still
continues? Weakened and blunted, alas! it is; for He who works is grieved with
all the sin, and confusion, and desolation around Him. But He does abide, and
His power abides, and the way in which He acts, according to the scripture
cited, is "dividing to every man severally as he will." Clearly then He uses
whom He pleases. It is no humanly divided caste that He employs to be the narrow
and exclusive channel of His blessing. No: He does not vacate His sovereignty.
It is not the pleasure, therefore, of a preacher, nor of a synod of preachers,
nor of a congregation, nor of a sect, nay, nor of the true church, much less of
a worldly power. It is the Spirit of God. And He divides as He will. Again He
divides to each, or every man (i.e., inside the church), not this or that
particular gift; but He does divide something for the common good — "to every
man severally as he will."

Hence the order and action of the church, as described in scripture, depend upon
the presence and the operations of the Holy Ghost. And if He be allowed free
scope to work, it is, if we are in truth to follow God’s word, according to the
pattern of "many members, yet but one body." He acts in he unity of the whole
body. After this manner we shall find His testimony regulated, as is plain from
the Acts and Epistles: and this, whether inside or outside the church. As for
the testimony to those without, compare Acts 8:1; Acts 8:4; Acts 11:20; Acts
18:24-28; and Php 1:14. The mass or main part of the church, scattered abroad
upon the persecution that arose about Stephen, went everywhere preaching the
gospel. Among them Philip was conspicuous in Samaria and elsewhere. If it be
said that he was officially set apart, the answer is, It was to serve tables,
not to preach the word of God. The office was instituted that the twelve,
relieved from care touching this business, might give themselves to prayer and
the ministry of the word. If Philip preached with power, if Stephen disputed
with irresistible wisdom, and if both wrought miracles, none of these things was
in virtue of an appointment which related simply and specifically to the daily
ministration. Compare Acts 6:6 with Acts 4:35. Further, others of those
dispersed "travelled as far as Phoenicia, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the
word to none but unto the Jews only. And some of them were men of Cyprus and
Cyrene, who, when they were come to Antioch, spoke unto the Grecians (or rather
Greeks), preaching the Lord Jesus." Did these brethren assume what was
unjustifiable? Were they reproved even by the church at Jerusalem, ready as many
there always were to censure what seemed irregular? "Then tidings of these
things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem; and they sent
forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch; who, when he came and had
seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of
heart they would cleave unto the Lord. For he was a good man, and full of the
Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord" (Acts
11:22-24). At a later period "Apollos spoke and taught diligently the things of
the Lord:" and this, when he knew only the baptism of John. Instructed more
perfectly, through the instrumentality of a believer and his wife, who were as
unauthorised as himself, he is soon found more active and honoured than ever:
"he helped them much which had believed through grace; for he mightily convinced
the Jews, and that publicly, showing by the scriptures that Jesus was the
Christ" (Acts 18:1-28). At Rome, the most in the Lord, waxing confident by the
bonds of Paul, were much more bold to speak the word without fear. It is true
the motives of all were not good; but this is a danger which no human
restriction could ward off. Alas! motives baser even than these were necessarily
introduced, when the so-called ministry of Christ became synonymous with a
regular, respectable, and in some cases lucrative profession. It was not so in
apostolic days; yet even then, there were those who preached Christ of envy and
strife, as well as others who preached of good will. What then, says the
large-hearted apostle? Does he propose to fetter that blessed liberty, because
it was now abused by these unholy feelings? Nothing of the sort.
"Notwithstanding every way," says he, "whether in pretext or in truth, Christ is
preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and I will rejoice." (Php 1:18)

I need not quote other scriptures less direct, but equally showing that
doctrine, not ordination, is the divine test for rejecting or receiving those
who profess to be ministers of Christ. It is clear that several passages have
been adduced which prove that such Christians as can are at liberty, not to say
are bound, to preach the gospel. Not one text can be brought forward which
contradicts, limits, or qualifies the principle. Scripture never prescribes a
human commission as a necessary preliminary to that work. On the contrary, the
parable of the talents in Matthew 25:1-46 teaches, by its solemn judgment, the
danger of waiting for other warrant than the fact that the Lord delivers to the
servants His goods, wherewith they are responsible to trade. To doubt the grace
of the Master, to fear because one has not the authentication of those who
presumptuously claim and trifle with His right, to bury the talent in the earth,
is to act the part of the wicked and slothful servant. For the Lord of the
harvest, to use another parable, has alone the title to send forth labourers
(compare Matthew 10 and Romans 10). In a word, the question is not whether all
Christians are qualified of God to preach the gospel, but whether those who are
so qualified may not preach without waiting for any human authoritative call.
Scripture, we have seen, decides that they may. As for the testimony to those
within, 1 Corinthians 14:1-40 shows plainly, that the only restriction upon the
exercise of gifts by brethren was this: " Let all things be done unto edifying."
Women were positively forbidden to speak in the churches. Elsewhere they were
responsible to use whatever gift the Lord imparted to them, subject to His word.
Thus Priscilla, no less than Aquila, takes Apollos and expounds to him the word
of God more perfectly (Acts 18:26). And the four daughters of Philip did
prophesy (Acts 21:9), but not in the assemblies: the Spirit forbad that (1
Corinthians 14:34-35). A woman was not suffered to teach nor to exercise
authority over the man (1 Timothy 2:12). But all the brethren, as a whole, were
exhorted thus — "follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather
that ye may prophesy." And of course they were to exercise their gifts as God
empowered them, so that all things were done decently and in order.

Hence it is that James says (James 3:1), "My brethren be not many masters"
(i.e., "teachers"), an exhortation as entirely out of place in modern
arrangements, as it was suitable, wholesome, and needed in their case whom he
addressed: an exhortation which manifestly implied that there was an open
ministry, which might very possibly be abused by the flesh, but which the
Spirit, instead of closing or restricting, turned to the good of their souls by
pressing upon them their direct responsibility to God. On the other hand, the
entire family of God are exhorted not to believe every spirit, but to try the
spirits whether they are of God because many false prophets were gone out into
the world (1 John 4:1). Even the elect lady (2 John 1:10) is told that if any
come and bring not the doctrine of Christ, he is not to be received. Those who
hear, as well as those who teach, have need to take heed. Responsibility is
maintained on all sides: from this none can escape. In Romans 12:1-21 we have
the same thing, though from another point of view. "For I say, through the grace
given unto me, to every one that is among you, not to think of himself more
highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt
to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all
members have not the same office; so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and
every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the
grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, [let us prophesy] according to the
proportion of faith; or ministry, [let us wait] on our ministry; or he that
teacheth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation; he that giveth,
[let him do it] with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth
mercy, with cheerfulness." God’s dealing to each was looked to, and not a mere
human commission to one, or to a few. Hence faith came in, and each is exhorted
to think soberly of himself, and to use what God has given him instead of
pretending to more. We see not one member absorbing all the gifts, or hindering
others, but many members, and yet but one body, having gifts differing, and
exhorted to employ them, not merely through love, because we are every one
members one of another, but because of the grace given on God’s part. So in
Ephesians 4:4-16 : "[There is] one body and one Spirit. . . . But unto every one
of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ . . . . ,
from whom the whole body fitly joined together, and compacted by that which
every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of
every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."
Colossians 2:19 is to the same effect: . . . "the Head, from which all the body
by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth
with the increase of God."

Again, 1 Peter 4:9-10 makes it a matter of positive obligation that "as each one
hath received the gift," even so they should minister the same one to another.
Thus, and thus only, should they be "good stewards of the manifold grace of
God." "If any one speak, let him speak as oracles of God: if any one minister,
let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be
glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and
ever. Amen." Can anything more clearly show that mere human acquirement is of no
value, while the idea of human restriction is perfectly shut out? Whatever came
from God and nothing else, was to be used and received without further sanction,
that God might be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. From these
scriptures we learn also that the gifts from above were for the blessing of the
whole body of Christ: not one for one particular section of the church, and
another for another; but all open to the whole church, and the whole church open
to all.

Thus, according to the divine plan, if I am a member of the church at all, I am
a member of the church everywhere. If I go to any quarter of the world where
saints call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, I am a member, not by
permission nor by courtesy, but by the universal recognition, on the part of
believers, of the title which grace has given me. Baptised by the Spirit, I am a
member of Christ’s body, wheresoever I may be. In apostolic days that
membership, and none other, was known throughout. There might be differences of
view. There might be need of the word, "Whereto we have already attained, let us
walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing." Some might eat herbs, and
some might eat meat; but the Spirit said, and says, "Receive ye one another, as
Christ also received us to the glory of God." Now the glory of God is
identified, not with some, but with all the members of the body of Christ. If
the weakest member therefore were excluded, save in case of necessary scriptural
discipline, so far would that glory be forgotten or despised; and those guilty
of such exclusion ought to be avoided, as causers of divisions and offences
contrary to the doctrine which we learned. As is the ground of membership, so it
is of ministry. It is of God’s Spirit. If not, it is nothing or worse, and ought
to be so treated by all those who honour God rather than man. If a Christian be
an evangelist, he is so everywhere, and not restricted to this or that district,
congregation, or chapel. If he be a teacher or a pastor, or both, he of course
exercises his gift where he usually resides. But then he is not the teacher, but
a teacher:* and he is a teacher in the church, and not in a church. "We," says
the apostle, writing to far distant saints whom as yet he had not seen — we,
"being many are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." He is
not speaking of what was to be in heaven, but of what actually was on earth, the
unity of Christ’s body here below. "Having then gifts differing," etc.

* In the church at Antioch there were at least five prophets and teachers (Acts
13:1). So (1 Corinthians 3:1-23). in meeting the carnal, because exclusive,
preference of one servant of Christ above another, the apostle presses the broad
and blessed truth, "All things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas,"
etc. It was a sectarian spirit in respect of those who ministered that Paul
rebuked.

It is the same principle in 1 Corinthians 12:18-28 : "But now God set the
members each one of them in the body, as it pleased [him]. And if they were all
one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one
body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of you. Nor, again,
the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the
body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: and those members of the
body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant
honour: and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness; but our comely
parts have no need. But God hath tempered the body together, having given more
abundant honour to that part which lacked: that there should be no schism in the
body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And
whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be
honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and
members in particular. And God hath set some in the church; first, apostles;
secondarily, prophets; thirdly, teachers; after that, miracles; then gifts of
healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." "God set some in the
church," not in a church. Viewed as churches, apostles could be in but few.
There were none in the church at Corinth when Paul wrote. Teachers stand clearly
on the same base: apostles in the church, teachers in the church.

Again, in Ephesians 4:11-16, whether apostles, or prophets, whether evangelists,
or pastors and teachers, they are given of Christ, not to be the solitary
officials of a denomination, but "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work
of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come," etc.
Verse 16 tells us that it is "the whole body fitly joined together," not broken
into sects; the whole body "compacted by that which every joint supplieth,
according to the effectual working in the measure of every part": a practical
thing, and not a mere theory, a thing meant to be in the church while on earth,
and not at all referring to heaven. We shall not need such ministration there.
In this passage there is also, I would notice, a warrant to faith for expecting
the continuance of the gifts of Christ till His body be completed. And of a
truth He has never failed during all the long years of ruin in which His gifts
were well-nigh smothered, as they were too really and painfully misused. For I
fully recognise that there have been even in popery, in her clergy and laity,
those who had gifts of God’s grace to build up His own people, and to spread
Christ’s name among sinners. But, at the same time, I as utterly deny that they
were Christ’s gifts in virtue of the commission which popery conferred, any more
than that others were not His gifts for the want of such a commission. The same
remark, I need hardly add, extends still more widely to modern Protestantism.
Would to God that the tender love of Christ, in thus cherishing the church as
His own flesh, might touch a chord in all His members, that together we might
weep over our common sin, and that together we might rejoice, extolling the
grace that has abounded but the more!

There is, however, a distinction to be observed, which cannot be forgotten
without injury. When the body came together as such, the assembly was under the
guidance of the Holy Ghost. It would have trenched upon the right of Christ for
any individual, however gifted he might be, to absorb the regulation of it into
his own hands. The Giver is there, and He is looked to, not the gifts merely.
The order of such an assembly is definitely laid down in scripture (1
Corinthians 14:1-40). "Ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and
all may be comforted." "If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual,
let him acknowledge that the things I write unto you are the commandment of the
Lord. But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. Wherefore, brethren,
covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. Let all things be done
decently and in order.

It is quite a different principle which governs a servant of the Lord in the
exercise of whatever talent has been entrusted to him. He owes an immediate and
individual responsibility to Christ to trade with it. He may preach to the
unconverted, or he may instruct more perfectly the children of God, or both, if
he possess both gifts. He owes it to his Master to exercise all he has received
for the good of souls, hindering and hindered by no one else. Every servant, be
his gift great or small, has the same liberty and the same responsibility. Two
or more may see it good to associate in the ministry; but let us remember that
if Paul chose Silas, recommended to the grace of God, Barnabas took Mark; and we
do not read that he was thus honoured of God in confirming the churches (Acts
15:36-41). Liberty is not licence. The servant is free of man, but bound to obey
the Lord; and his brethren are no less bound to judge his disobedience.

These gifts, let it be borne in mind, must be kept distinct from local charges,
such as the elders* or presbyters of scripture, which are ever regarded there as
the same with the bishops, or overseers, as indeed Cranmer and others allow,
whose practice was totally different. The charges had to do with some one
church, and were appointed by an apostle, or by a delegate possessed of a direct
and special commission from an apostle to that end. Such a delegate was Titus.
But scripture nowhere intimates that authority for appointing elders was meant
to continue. We have seen that the gifts of Christ were to be "till we all
come," etc. But scripture never confounds them with local charges, although both
clearly might co-exist in the same individual. We know this to have been
Philip’s case, who was one of "the seven," and an evangelist besides.

* In Acts 11:30 they are mentioned for the first time in connection with the
church at Jerusalem. They are prominent at the council in Acts 15:1-41; but not
a hint is dropped in the Acts touching their appointment, if they really had any
outward authorisation. James 5:14 mentions the elders; and Peter (1 Peter 5:1)
and John (2 John 1:1-13 and 3 John 1:1-14) call themselves elders, but do not
speak of official establishment. This appears to be confirmed by the way in
which the elders are in one place contrasted with the "younger" (1 Peter 5:1; 1
Peter 5:5). Experience is in question, and moral weight to guide.

Pastorship, to come still closer, is a gift (Ephesians 4:11), eldership is a
charge; but the gift of feeding the flock of God, so far from being incompatible
with the office of an elder or bishop, was evidently one of the most important
qualifications sought in those who desired that good work. Thus Paul (Acts
20:28) exhorts the Ephesian elders to take heed to themselves, and to all the
flock over the which the Holy Ghost had made them overseers (bishops,
?p?s??p???), to feed the church of God which He had purchased with His own
blood. "Feed the flock of God," said another apostle, "which is among you,
taking the oversight thereof (?p?s??p???te?) not by constraint, but willingly;
not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over their
allotments,* but being ensamples to the flock" (1 Peter 5:2-3).

* Into this wrong Christendom has long grievously fallen, nationalists or
dissenters, and in so-called Catholic times. Their ministers and pastors do
regard the parish its congregation, etc., as their allotments. "Do you belong to
the Rev. So-and-So’s church? I am of such anothers’." Thus is "the flock of God"
overlooked and nullified. In the First Epistle to Timothy (1 Timothy 3:1-16) we
find aptness to teach and ability to take care of the church of God among other
requisites. Titus too (Titus 1:5-9) was told to ordain such as held fast the
faithful word, as he had been taught, that he might be able by sound doctrine to
exhort and to convince the gainsayers. But it would be too much to draw thence
that all the elders necessarily laboured in the public ministration of the word.
They were appointed to exercise a godly fatherly care over the church; but
labouring in the word and doctrine was not an indispensable adjunct. Hence the
apostle says, in 1 Timothy 5:17, "Let the elders that rule well be counted
worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine."
In one way or another, all elders were assumed to feed the flock; but there
might be elders who did not serve, at least publicly, in the word: a principle
recognised in the Presbyterian system.

Another remark is to be made on the question of rulers. Paul, in writing to the
saints at Rome, exhorts "him that ruleth" to do it with simplicity. Now all the
evidence we have goes to show that there was no official nomination as yet, if
ever at Rome. Peter’s primacy there is a dream, scripture affirming in a
positive way that he was distinctively the apostle of the circumcision, as Paul
was of the uncircumcision. Now the latter had not yet visited the faithful in
the Gentile metropolis. Accordingly there is not a word which supposes elders to
have been appointed there. Nevertheless it is evident that those at Rome, like
the rest of the church, had gifts of grace in their midst — prophecy, ministry,
teaching, exhorting, ruling, etc. These they might possess, and they are
exhorted to use diligently; but not a word is said about elders. It has already
been observed that at Corinth no elders are even implied, and yet the brethren
were besought to submit themselves to such as addicted themselves to the
ministry of the saints, and to every one co-working and labouring.

Again, in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, "We beseech you, brethren, to know them that
labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem
them very highly in love for their work’s sake." Do not the exhortations "to
know" them which labour and rule and preside (the same word as in Romans 12:8),
suggest the thought that it was not a class officially appointed? Office must
have been self-evident, and therefore would render needless an exhortation to
recognise such labourers. The esteem and love was for their work’s sake. An
official place was not alluded to. In Hebrews 13:7; Hebrews 13:17; Hebrews
13:24, certain chief men are named (?? ????µe???, leaders or guides); but there
is nothing indicative of exterior appointment. It is probable that they were
persons whose age, character, and gifts, gave them a certain place. See Acts
15:22.

Now if any one in our day could give satisfactory (i.e. scriptural) proof that
he was an apostolic delegate, his appointment of elders ought to be respected;
and respected I have no doubt it would be by all (at any rate) whose eye was
single to the Lord in the matter. If such proof be wanting, they ought to be as
decidedly disowned. If then in scripture we see not elders appointed by any save
apostles or their delegates, can nationalism or dissent justify their respective
appointments by the word of God? Apostolic succession seems to be the only
consistent plea in its pretensions as to this: in its pretensions, I say, for
reality it has none — it is Christianity Judaised, or rather it is Judaism
Christianised (see Bingham’s Eccles. Antiq. b. i. ch. v.). The case of Paul in
Acts 13:1-52, which is sometimes referred to in proof of the necessity of a
human commission, proves in fact the contrary. It would be strange indeed if it
did, seeing that in Galatians 1:1 he takes such pains to insist that he was an
apostle, "not of men (i.e., as the source), "nor by man" (as the channel). He
had been preaching for years, before this separation by the Spirit to the
special work recorded in Acts 13:1-52, Acts 14:1-28. Further, those who fasted
and prayed and laid their hands on him and Barnabas had been cherished and
taught by them, as by those who were over them in the Lord. To such an
imposition of hands I know of no objection. It pretends to confer neither gift
nor authority, but is a simple commendation to the grace of God, which it would
seem might be repeated (Acts 15:40). Is there one feature in common with the
ordination of our day and for ages? Is it possible that Christians, in order
more thoroughly to justify a modern ordination by Acts 13:1-52, have pretended
that Paul was only an inferior apostle, a messenger of the church — like
Epaphroditus (Php 2:25)? But see Acts 14:4; Romans 1:1; 1 Corinthians 1:1; 1
Corinthians 9:1-6; Ephesians 1:1; Colossians 1:1; Galatians 1:2; and 2 Timothy
1:1; Titus 1:1; where, if we may so say, the highest form of the apostolate is
claimed, and its entire independence of man.

It is too often forgotten that Matthias was chosen Jewishly, by lot, before the
Holy Ghost was sent down from heaven to baptise the believers. The church,
properly speaking, was not yet manifested. His election therefore can furnish no
precedent for a state of things which was changed and governed by the presence
of the Spirit. Nor do we read of the use of lots ever afterwards. The Moravian
system, with its usual and blind servility, has tried to copy this and other
forms which were peculiar to Jerusalem. In the instance of Timothy, there were
prophecies going before (1 Timothy 1:18), and an actual gift imparted by
prophecy, with the imposition of the hands of the presbyters (1 Timothy 4:14),
and by the imposition of Paul’s hands (2 Timothy 1:6): a case which it is not
only impracticable to imitate without an apostle and duly chosen presbytery, not
to speak of prophecy, but which is a mischievous pretension, unless there is the
power to bestow the gift which was bestowed then. May God deliver His people
from saying, "I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing!"

Lastly, in 2 Timothy 2:2 it is evident that the question is one, not of
authority to appoint successors, but of communicating the things which Timothy
had heard of the apostle by many witnesses. It was not to consecrate a clergy,
but to commit sound doctrine to faithful men who should be able to teach others
also. On the other hand the dissenting principle of electing a pastor is purely
human, derived not even from Judaism, much less from Christianity. Hear the
testimony of one who was himself thus chosen, the author of "Spiritual
Despotism" (p. 153). "It is not without some amazement that we find a
congregational church, on the modern scheme, proceeding in the momentous act of
creating or electing to itself a pastor and teacher, without being able to
allege from the New Testament any law or licence to that effect, or any one
example, satisfactory or unsatisfactory . . . . . . . . On secular principles
nothing can be more simple or reasonable than that those who pay should command;
and in the present temper of mankind, especially in certain circles, it may be
nearly impracticable to secure submission to any other law. Nevertheless this
serious question returns upon us, Is this the law or this the principle
recognised as the basis of church policy in the New Testament? We are compelled
to answer, It is not."

Yet some have professed to see it in Acts 14:23; "When they had ordained (or
chosen, as seems better) them elders in every church." But this proves not that
the church, but that they (i.e., Paul and Barnabas) chose the elders. Some argue
from the etymology; but usage, not etymology, is the only safe guide. The word
(?e???t????) meant originally to stretch out the hand. Hence, it was applied to
voting in this manner, and by an easy transition to choosing without reference
to the manner. Thus in Acts 10:41 the same word, compounded with a preposition,
is applied to God’s choice, where the notion of the church’s voting is of course
excluded. When it was a question of a gracious and prudent use of tables, or the
like, as in Acts 6:1-15 and 2 Corinthians 8:19, the assembly, or assemblies, did
choose; though even in Acts, if the multitude of the disciples looked out seven
faithful men, it was the apostles who appointed them over their business. In
short, when God imparts a gift, He chooses; when the church gives what she can,
she may employ what instrument seems to her fitting. As she cannot bestow a
ministerial gift, neither ought she to choose, but to receive all those whom God
has given for her good. As to elders, then, an apostle chooses (Acts 14:23) or
leaves a delegate for a season during his own life to appoint them (Titus
1:5-9), or describes to another the requisite qualities (1 Timothy 3:2-7). In no
case is the church invited to select them. The saints had no such authority,
even in their brightest days. No epistle addressed to a church touches the
question, and fitly so. It was not their mission. Titus was left in Crete
expressly to set in order what the apostle had left undone, and to appoint
elders in every city, as the apostle had appointed him and none else.

Afterwards he was to come to the apostle in Nicopolis (Titus 3:12). You cannot
have the one without the other. This is the sum of what scripture states, unless
we add the "angels" of the seven churches in the Book of Revelation. But "angel"
is neither a gift nor a charge, but a moral representative of each church, and
only introduced for special purpose in this great prophecy. Hence all systems
with almost equal unreality try to fit in the "angel" to suit their aim. It
applies in fact to no such thing, but to the introduction of a judicial book.
The apostle looked, and taught the church to look, for the coming of the Lord as
their immediate hope. This of course stimulated and in no way hindered present
care for the sheep; but it was inconsistent with perpetuating official organs
for ages to come. Accordingly we find no such arrangements in the Epistles. But
as for gifts they rest on quite another ground; not upon apostles who might be
removed, but upon Christ, who never ceases to be the head and source of
nourishment, and cannot but love and cherish His body the church. These gifts
never needed man’s sanction, even when apostles lived. Christ dealt them without
the intervention of any; so that what Paul said of his own apostolate might be
said in principle of them all, "Not of men, nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and
God the Father, who raised him from the dead." I speak of course of the manner
and source of the gifts, not of their measure. As regards discipline, it is of
the utmost importance to bear in mind that it does not depend on gifts, offices,
or any other thing than the blessed fact that the body, the church, is Christ’s
body, is gathered in His name, and has the Holy Ghost present to guide and
energise its movements. He is, we may say, the soul of this holy and heavenly
body. Hence the fullest directions respecting discipline, either in putting away
or in restoring, were given to the Corinthian church, where it would seem there
were at the time no elders. That there might be and were churches without elders
is manifest from Acts 14:23 and Titus 1:5. The churches existed before any such
charges were appointed. Elders were desirable no doubt for the administration of
a church, but by no means indispensable to its being. Certain it is that at
Corinth elders are not alluded to, and the disorders which broke out there are
pressed home on the entire body. Nor does the Spirit, in correcting the abuses,
suspend their functions as a church until elders were duly appointed. On the
contrary, whether it be the extreme and solemn act of excision, or the worthy
celebration of the Lord’s Supper, it is the body which is addressed, rebuked,
and charged with ceasing to do evil, and learning to do well, in all these grave
particulars. And this is the more striking, as it is clear that there were among
them those who came behind in no gift (1 Corinthians 1:7); that, at any rate,
the household of Stephanas addicted* themselves to the ministry of the saints,
and that the believers in general are besought to submit themselves to such. It
is not the labourers, I repeat, but the body which is appealed to in matters
which the common consent of a fallen church has made the peculiar and
distinguishing province of the clerical or ministerial order.

* The word is ?ta?a?, and means that they set, appointed, or devoted themselves
to the ministry. It is one of the words sometimes translated "ordained." Let
those who have not scrupled to ridicule "self-appointment " weigh this passage,
and remember that what they despise, as some carnal Corinthians may have done,
the Holy Ghost by the apostle distinctly and unqualifiedly commends. If they
will obey God, let them be subject to such.

Doubtless where overseers were, as at Philippi or Ephesus, they in their
exercise of a godly care would naturally and justly have a large share of the
practical details; and the more so as an appeal to the church is the last and
most painful resort (Matthew 18:15-17), the urgent object being to restore the
soul, if so it may be in the Lord. But the known sin of a Christian affects the
conscience of the body, for it is one body; and if not judged, a little leaven
leaveneth the whole lump. If the offender mourn and depart from the evil after a
godly sort, he is restored, and all rejoice; if he continue in that which
dishonours Christ, the body must be cleared at all cost. "Purge out, therefore,
the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ
our Passover is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast, not with old
leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, . . . . For what have I to do to judge
them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that
are without God judgeth. Put away from among yourselves the wicked person."

Further, scripture even more sternly deals with false doctrine; because it is
subtle, more poisonous in its effects, and touches the Lord Himself more
directly than a bad walk. It is ever a work of the flesh, and may be
emphatically of Satan far more than a mere carnal spirit of action. (See
Galatians 5:9-21; Romans 16:17-18; 1 Timothy 1:18-20; 1 Timothy 6:3-5; 2 Timothy
2:23-26; 2 Timothy 3:6; 2 Timothy 4:3-4; Titus 3:9-11; 1 John 4:1-6; 2 John
1:10-11; Revelation 2:14-15; Revelation 2:23-24). As it is the body which puts
away, so it is equally for the body, under His direction Who dwells therein, to
restore. God may use the instruments He sees fit to rouse the body to a
remembrance of Christ’s holiness in excluding a wicked person (1 Corinthians
5:1-13), and of Christ’s grace in forgiving and restoring a repentant brother (2
Corinthians 2:1-17). In either case it is the conscientious action of the body
which the Lord expects. If everything fail to awaken — if, in spite of patient
testimony, the assembly persist in doing or cloaking evil, and so in tarnishing
the Lord’s name, the claim to be His body becomes null and void. It is an
entirely corrupt lump, from which the Spirit, who loves Christ, would have us to
separate, instead of wasting our energies in the effort to amend that which is
irremediable, and only waiting for the judgment of the Lord.

There remains but one more difficulty for us to state and seek to remove. It has
been supposed that the assertion of the failure of the church forces us to say
that we in these last days cannot have recourse to the Epistles to the
Corinthians, etc.; and so to fall back upon the promise — "Where two or three
are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst." The present pamphlet
of itself is a sufficient answer to as hardy a charge as could well be made. It
has been proved that nationalism and dissent cannot defend the principles of
their membership or of their ministry by such scriptures as 1 Corinthians
1:1-31, 1 Corinthians 3:1-23, 1 Corinthians 10:1-33, 1 Corinthians 11:1-34, 1
Corinthians 12:1-31, 1 Corinthians 14:1-40, 1 Corinthians 16:1-24; Ephesians
4:1-32, etc. The great truth of the church as being God’s habitation through the
Spirit, Who is the sole energy and distributor of the gifts of Christ in the
unity of the whole body, is recognised by neither; it could not be practically
owned for one moment without condemning both in all their varieties. Are all our
brethren responsible to own this truth whatever may be the results of their
confession? If they are not, let it be openly said. But if the church once
lived, rejoiced, suffered, in realising the blessedness of such a place, where
and what are we? Are we not to feel, are we not to confess, are we not to have
done with, all the evil known to us, which has overspread the professing body
and made it a witness against Christ, not for Him? If I find myself honouring as
the church of God a society or system whose laws are inconsistent with the
leading scriptural principles of that church, am I not to confess my sin, and
come out from the unclean thing? or am I to abide and sin on, that grace may
abound? This is the true question.

It is now admitted by almost every Christian of moderate spirituality and
intelligence, that the existing ecclesiastical condition, national or
dissenting, is not to be defended, if we compare it with the word of God. Not
merely in the detail is it wrong, but in its fundamental principles. Hence it is
that some eminent names in the religious world boldly avow that the word of God,
though perfect as regards individual justification, leaves men to their own
discretion in the formation and government of churches: virtually they say we
ought not to have recourse to such Epistles as 1 Cor. etc. for the present
direction. One party is satisfied with things as they are; another yearns for a
church of the future, wherein man may have things on a grander scale. But if the
saint of God shrinks from so fearful a principle as casting away the word of God
which displays and demonstrates the infidelity of the church to its calling,
what is he to do? Can a Christian hesitate? Is he not at once to cease from the
evil he feels, and to humble himself before God for the failure of himself and
the church? And if he knows two or three disciples meeting in Christ’s name and
opening the door wide that the Holy Ghost may act holily and fully, according to
the blessed word He has written and by whom He will, will he not gladly find
himself there? Instead of using Matthew 18:20 as a licence to do what is right
in their own eyes, will they not thus gathered, learn to their joy that Jesus is
ever faithful? Will they not bless God for the authority and sufficiency of His
blessed word? and, if there be any difference, for the proved comfort and living
applicability of the very scriptures, which their adversaries say they cannot
have recourse to? Will they not afresh thank Him for the Holy Ghost, Who loves
to act in the body as well as in the members, to the glory of the Lord Jesus?

It is God we need, it is the living God we have to do with, and not principles
merely. His presence only can give power and blessing, even when the principles
are right in themselves. This is what we seek, knowing that the coming of the
Lord draweth nigh.

W. K.


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  CHAPTER 13: OUR FUTURE GLORY, AND OUR PRESENT GROANING IN THE SPIRIT.
========================================================================

Our Future Glory, and Our Present Groaning in the Spirit.

Romans 8:18-27.

W. Kelly.

It is comforting and instructive to notice the way in which the expected glory
utterly outweighed the sufferings in the mind of the apostle. It is not that he
did not suffer — we must suffer, and sufferings are not pleasant; but suffering
is soon over! "I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy
to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." It is not merely
that he knows he will then get rest and glory; but what a sense of the glory he
has now, with his sufferings, of what he here calls the manifestation of the
sons of God! Like a person you may have seen in the world, so filled with the
bright hopes of to-morrow, that he is getting through today as fast as he can.
It is "The glory which shall be revealed in us." It is our glory and yet God’s
glory. He counts it but fair that, if we are in sufferings, we should be in the
glory too. " If so be we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified
together." If ours is the suffering, it is also in respect of ourselves the
glory is to be revealed. While Christ (the Son) reflects the glory of the
Father, the woman (the Church) reflects the glory of the man. Then there is the
sense too, by the power of the Holy Ghost, of its belonging to us — that it is
really our own. If a man has the sense of its being his, there will not be the
turning his back on what he knows to be his own, but the getting towards it as
fast as possible. If his heart is in that state, filled with the Holy Ghost, he
will pass on through the world, as an angel would pass through it. Do you think,
if Gabriel were sent on a message into this world, he would desire to stop here?
No, he could not stay where all is defiled. It is this "present evil world;" so
he does not linger, but is in haste to get through. But it is a much higher
principle we enjoy than can be enjoyed by an angel, and so there never can come
out of an angel’s heart the same song of praise that comes from the believer’s
heart. Though it has been lately remarked, that the angels are never said in
Scripture to sing, they are said "to speak" — "to say" — "to talk," but they do
not "sing." There could be no harmony in an angel’s song compared with ours,
their hearts not being exercised with trials like ours. Never having sinned,
they cannot know what the joy of salvation is; or what it is to be strengthened
when weak, or lifted up when failing, or comforted in suffering. They laud, and
praise, and bless God; but they cannot know the new song that they sing who
passed through it all. The four living creatures rest not day and night, saying,
"Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty;" but their subject is creation - "for thou
hast created all things; for thy pleasure they are, and were created."
(Revelation 4:1-11) But in Revelation 5:1-14 it is redemption - "And they sing a
new song, saying, Thou are worthy: for thou hast," etc.

Then you see how strong St. Paul’s personal realization of it was; he says, "I
reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us." How much he must have had the
glory present to his soul, to prefer it to "present things!" Now, he had
suffered much; but it only brought the glory the brighter before him, and shows
how the glory of the cross filled his soul. The words "this present time" are
striking. His mind is full of the future — absorbed with to-morrow — like the
boy at school looking for a holiday, who can think of nothing else. The glory is
so present, that he calls it but momentary — "Our light affliction, which is but
for a moment." For if you talk to one whose mind realizes eternity, about this
present evil world, eternity is too big to allow of room for any thing else. We
never realize eternity, till we fill it with the Father’s love and Christ’s
glory. If we think of it otherwise, we only look into a mere vacuum. We are
confounded on the one hand, and filled with glory on the other. Finding
ourselves in the glory of God, we hardly know how to grasp it — "a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory." It is a blessed thing that it is ours,
so that we can get near it in that kind of way. "The sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in
us;" it is not to become proud with the "glory which shall be revealed in us;"
it is not a change of time, but the glory is present to his mind, and he
realizes the glory. Then he opens it out doctrinally: "For I reckon" — not "we
teach" — "that the sufferings of this present time," etc. — the present
sufferings had lost their hindering power, because he saw the power of God in
them and endured afflictions according to the power of God. He does not say it
is received, but "revealed in us." It is wonderful how the Holy Ghost uses that
word "us." It is the common course of all the promises of God, "to the glory of
God by us." "That ye may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the
breadth, and length," etc. The great thing is to get the heart into conscious
association with all this fair scene. And if we have our hearts always occupied
with Christ and glory, there will be such a sense of it that we shall be always
there. So that if I look at the stars in the heavens — though I admire them and
gaze on them with wonder and delight — they do but remind me at once that I am
one with Him who created them.

It is amazing how the soul becomes soft when happy in the Lord! How it removes
all roughnesses. Saints cannot quarrel about being happy in the Lord, though
they may quarrel about doctrine or discipline. We ought all to look onward, and
have the heart filled with the glory. The effect of this is to put us into
suffering, though we can say it is not worthy to be compared with the glory that
shall be revealed in us. It is not the divine essential glory, of course, but
the manifested glory, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Verse 19 shows
the sons exhibited in the family glory. In the world it is known by the dress of
the children what is the wealth and grandeur of the father. It is the parent’s
pride and delight to deck them out and show them forth. Well, God has children,
and He must display His sons in His glory. When He transfigures them, He
manifests them. It is then, and not till then, the creature is introduced into
the liberty of the glory of the sons of God. This, as far as creation goes, is
not intelligent, for it has been brought by man’s sin, unwillingly, into all
misery and bondage. It must also wait, for it will not be brought back until man
has been. If a chain were suspended from the ceiling, and the first link be
broken, which connects it with those below, the whole chain would immediately
fall to the ground. When man fell, all creation was involved. It has often
struck me how as all the misery of the creature, sickness, bodily suffering,
etc., came by man, so all the deliverance comes by man. There will be a blessing
on the fruit of the ground and not a curse, by and by, certainly in Jerusalem.
The Cain-curse it is that was taken away by the flood, as Noah (i.e., "this
shall comfort us"), the name given by Lamech to his son, seems to imply. It is
not that they get rid of labour, but they get comfort in it. No doubt there will
be very great fertility and fruitfulness; not that there will be no labour
needed there, but they shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant
and another eat; but they shall build houses and inhabit them, and they shall
plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. "The wilderness and the solitary
place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the
rose." It is clear that "the creature" goes beyond our bodies; the creatures
outside our bodies are groaning. There are two curses spoken of. The first was
spoken to Adam, the second to Cain. The first was on the earth in general, but
the second did not extend beyond the family of Cain. The two curses are very
different. Cain was a tiller of the ground — "Now art thou cursed from the
earth. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not yield unto thee her strength."
It is true Cain had the earth, after it was cursed, after he had killed Abel.
The two presented, as heirs of the earth, were Cain and Abel. These were two
parties, and they soon showed who should get on in it — the righteous man or the
vagabond — for Abel is slain; but Cain takes possession, builds a city, and
makes progress in it. God blessed Israel in the earth; but what do we see? The
godly forced up to heaven, because the ungodly were in prosperity, and this,
too, while prosperity was the mark of God’s favour to the righteous; and so
David says, "This I understood not, till I went into the sanctuary of God."
Well, they will have the heavenly blessing. The temporal promises were not even
possessed by Abraham. God’s temporal government was blessing on the earth. (See
Ezra, Nehemiah, etc.) Solomon did not get higher than earthly blessing. The
prophets rise up to heavenly blessing; not that they reach to the heavenly Bride
— the body of Christ; for the Church never was the subject of prophecy or
promise. The Church is founded on the defacing the difference between Jew and
Gentile. Now to have attempted to deface the Jew before, would have been wicked.
It was done in the cross. Meanwhile the Christian suffers. But, see how the
energizing power of the Holy Ghost fills him with this "earnest expectation." He
so sees the love of God and thought of God in the thing that is coming, that his
neck is stretched out, as it were, looking for it. God is a faithful Creator,
and so He will bless according to God. The intelligence does not know the
remedy, though the heart feels the groaning. Paul knew God in the sorrow
pressing on his spirit. If he links it with the glory, it never can come till
the manifestation of the sons of God, when the creature itself also shall be
delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the
children of God. It is not liberty by grace, but the liberty of the glory; "for
the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who
subjected the same." My will was concerned in it; if it had ruined itself
willingly, it would have remained; but God is there, and He is good. The
creature offended; then the Holy Ghost inspires the whole creation with hope, so
that all are looking out for the manifestation of the children of God. That is
what they wait for. They groan, but not intelligently. We have the key to the
groaning. The text may be read thus: "For the earnest expectation of the
creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God, in hope that the
creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the
glorious liberty of the children of God; for the creature was made subject to
vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him that subjected the same." There is a
parenthesis. If it had chosen all, then there would have been no hope of
recovery; but it is "waiting in hope," and not only they, but we ourselves also
wait, because we have the creature about us; "even we ourselves groan within
ourselves waiting for the adoption." "The Spirit itself maketh intercession with
groanings which cannot be uttered; and he that searcheth the heart knoweth what
is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints
according to God." It is recorded in the history of the experience of an old
saint, that he had lain a whole day groaning, without uttering a word, and, at
the close of the day, there came out simply, "My God!"

"The creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption."
Everything connected with it — sickness, death, suffering. It was "made subject
to vanity." He calls it all vanity. Take the flogging of horses in an omnibus to
see how fast they can go, or how many they can carry, calculating the cost, what
they shall gain by the journey, and the like. What is all this but "creature"
groaning and vanity? Unless God sustained them, how could even the angels bear
to look on and to witness it all? Look at what is called military prowess. Think
only of 20,000 men being killed by their fellow men in a single fray! Man walks
in a vain show, and toils for death; thus spending all his strength to die! The
creature is subject to vanity, and cannot get out of it, until brought into the
liberty of the glory of the children of God. There is more villainy and misery,
I suppose, in Manchester or London, than anywhere in the world, even where men
are still in a mere state of nature. Blessing of another nature, doubtless,
comes in; but that is another question. Civilization has pushed men even to the
extremity, so that they are at their wit’s end — up to such a point that there
must be a break out at last, which men will find out to their cost. Luxury,
indulgence, and pride have crept in, living for comfort, without any regard or
care for the poor: men everywhere are feeling it, and evil passions are breaking
out and showing themselves in various forms. God has mercifully spared this
nation, because they do care more in this country for the poor than in any
other; there are poorhouses, or unions, hospitals, and infirmaries. This is not
the case in other countries of the world, where the people are kept down by mere
power or influence, by the priests or the army; only let these be removed, and
all goes. Men are saying, Peace, peace, and all the while trembling with fear,
looking for those things that are coming on the earth, for come they must; and
God alone knows what will turn up in a year’s time. It is not because "signs"
are not properly meant for us, that we are not to discern the signs. The Lord
said, rebukingly, "How is it ye do not discern the signs of the times?"

"The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together." How astonishing
it is that Christians can go on trying to better the world, with so many
positive texts of Scripture against them! "The whole creation groaneth," etc.
What an amazing difference! He is speaking of "the weight of glory" which shall
be revealed in us; and then at once turns and says, What a groaning creation I
am in! It is his realizing the glory that fits him to enter into the sorrow of
the groaning creation around. Christ, coming in glory, lifts him above it all.
When Christ was here, every outgoing of His heart was stopped (except that grace
would make a way): they turned away from Him and rejected Him; though He had
cast out a whole legion of devils out of their land, they could not endure His
presence, but "besought him to depart out of their coasts." The groaning goes
beyond the saints — the whole creation groans. If I have the Holy Ghost, I may
be full of joy and full of hope; but this does not hinder my groaning as a
creature; the more I joy, the more I feel this wretched body is an earthen
vessel that cannot hold the treasure. We have but the "firstfruits of the
Spirit." We have already the sprinkling of the former rain; when we get into
glory, then will come down the latter rain.

There is no groaning in my connection with God; it is all rejoicing, and nothing
else, in that respect. "Rejoice in the Lord always." I am not waiting for the
redemption of my soul (that is the state of the quickened man in Romans 7:1-25),
but for the redemption of my body; we have redemption by blood already, but not
so as to glory; we are quickened in our souls as His children, but God will
never have us as He wills until we are conformed to the image of His Son — this
cannot be to what Christ was in the grave, but to what He is now. Christ is a
glorified man. (There is no such thing as a glorified spirit, as some speak;
there may be a glorious spirit, but a glorified spirit — what is it? who can
tell?) Just as the coming of the Lord, as a hope, had been suffered to drop out
of the Church, so the hope of being conformed to the likeness of Christ has been
allowed to vanish. Now the evil of this is, it dissociates from Christ the
spirit in heaven and the body in the grave; it is as Christ was before He rose;
but the moment I get my mind filled with the thought, "I am to be conformed to
Christ as He is in glory," it associates me with Him now. The thought of His
coming makes me happy. There is such a thing as delighting in God; but Christ
fills up the scene between. He may make the person of the Lord precious to me —
not merely His work but Himself; and then I shall not be talking about the
immortality of the soul! (however true this may be, as indeed it is, but my body
is mortal), I shall be waiting to have "this vile body changed and fashioned
like his glorious body." There is no hope but that of being conformed to Christ.
Death is not a hope. "Our conversation is in heaven," and there we hope to be.
My hope is to be with Him in heaven, bodily. I have all for my soul now in
Christ.

"We ourselves groan within ourselves." It is very experimental to see all this
groaning, provided I see the hope that enables me to go on. The Lord groaned
deeply at the grave of Lazarus, but He had power to carry it in spirit to God,
and was strengthened. He came to the place of death and found all sealed up, and
a stone laid upon it; and He groaned in spirit. Men put away their dead as
loathsome — to get rid of them quickly. The apostle had received the Spirit of
adoption. Christ was "declared to be the Son of God with power by the
resurrection from the dead;" so we are declared to be sons, and are waiting to
be raised up bodily by Christ. We must never confound the groaning here spoken
of, with the groaning of the soul for its own salvation, which we have already;
but the redemption of the body is our hope, for Christ is made unto us of God,
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Redemption comes last, as
in itself comprising all, and not of the soul only. When they talk of hope among
men, there is uncertainty always attached to it; as, one may ask, Do you expect
to get this, or that? The reply is, I hope so; but meaning to imply uncertainty
as to its being realized. Now this can never be the case with regard to our
hope, for there is no uncertainty if God has said it. The full result is
salvation; I have only the earnest of it now. I must wait patiently for it.
Abraham had not a place to put his foot on, though God had given him the whole
land: "He looked for a city," etc. When hope is settled, you go on quietly
today, expecting Him to come. The Holy Ghost has fixed our hearts on this hope,
and we are waiting for it. Whilst we groan, the Holy Ghost itself groans, so
that while it is a groaning creation, that is not all. If you groan, your
groanings are according to God, and are as divine as your hopes, though in a
different way. But as the Son became a man, and, as a man down here, had these
feelings, so the Holy Ghost (He does not become a man) dwells in me; and these
groans are precious, because in these groans it is the positive intercession of
the Holy Ghost; and "He who searcheth the heart, knoweth what is the mind of the
Spirit," so that if God searcheth my heart, He finds the Holy Ghost there.

It is wonderful how God has insinuated Himself into every thing: filling us with
His hopes, His sorrows, and affections. If it is God who listens, it is God He
hears. How thoroughly He is come in to possess man’s soul! It is God’s love
outside us, and His love is shed abroad in our hearts. We dwell in God, and God
in us. He has given us His thoughts and feelings, so that we are wrapped up in
God, "Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts." God’s love! if it
is not His love, it is of no use; if it is not in me, it has no reality.
Scripture sometimes speaks as if it was of us, and at other times as of God.
Thus it is my heart groans, while it is said, "The Spirit maketh intercession" —
Oh! the wondrous ways of God! "Have I been a wilderness to your" It is a great
comfort to know they are not selfish groans in me, because while I am groaning
with all around me, I might have the thought, "Take care there is no unbelief
there," but it is the Spirit’s groan in us. Selfish groans we find in Romans
7:1-25. There it is all I, I, I, — no Christ, nor Holy Ghost, until the end of
the chapter. Romans 8:1-39 is full of Christ and of the Spirit.

W.K.


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  CHAPTER 14: PERSON AND WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
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Person and Work of the Holy Spirit (by S. Ridout)

Lecture 1. The Holy Spirit in the Dispensations: —

Before Christ, the Present Age, the Millennium.

"O Lord, we know it matters not How sweet the song may be; No heart but of the
Spirit taught Makes melody to Thee.

Then teach Thy gathered saints, O Lord, To worship in Thy fear; And let Thy
grace mould ev’ry word That meets Thy holy ear.

Thou hast by blood made sinners meet, As saints in light, to come And worship at
the mercy-seat, Before th’ eternal throne.

Thy precious name is all we show, Our only passport, Lord; And full assurance
now we know, Confiding in Thy word.

O largely give, ’tis all Thine own, The Spirit’s goodly fruit:

Praise, issuing forth in life, alone Our living Lord can suit."

It is interesting to note that there is reference to the Holy Spirit in one of
the earliest and one of the last verses in the Bible. In Genesis 1:2, we read,
"The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters;" and in Revelation 22:17,
"The Spirit and the Bride say come." The first passage shows us the
superintendence of the Spirit in the preparation of the earth for the habitation
of man. Typically we see His work in regeneration; — all is waste and desolate,
and the Spirit of God moves upon the face of the waters. In Revelation, the
Spirit utters the longing with which the Bride, the Church, unites, "Come Lord
Jesus." Here the look is onward to the coming of our Lord, and so on through
eternity. Thus the Spirit begins the work of God in our souls and carries it on
to the time of full fruition, to eternity itself. Can we then overestimate the
importance of the subject which is before us at this time — the Person and work
of the Holy Spirit?

Strange as it may seem, we are met at the very outset by a question which we
must answer before we can take up what is properly before us tonight. Men have
asked, "Is there such a person as the Holy Ghost?" Is not all reference to a
person in Scripture simply a striking way of referring to the attributes of God?
Is not the Spirit simply an all pervading, divine influence?

Now we need not be long detained upon this matter, but we must speak in no
uncertain way. This question involves a denial of the very being of God, and
therefore must be treated as all other unbelieving questions. God has been
pleased to reveal something of the infinite depths of the mystery of His Holy
Person to us. He is — in Christianity — revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We must tread softly here, for we are on holy ground. There are depths which we
cannot fathom, but we can at least look and wonder, confess and worship. A
denial of either of these divine Persons is a denial of God. If it is shocking
for a person to deny the divinity of Christ, it is none the less so for him to
deny the personality of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, you will frequently find these
two forms of unbelief together. But let us look at a few passages from the word
of God which show beyond a question the personality of the Holy Spirit.

"Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there, if I make my bed in hell, behold
Thou art there" (Psalms 139:7-8). Here one of the attributes of God — His
omnipresence — is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. Indeed, He is spoken of as God —
"Thy presence."

"Christ, who through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without spot to God"
(Hebrews 9:14). Here we have another attribute — that of eternity. The Spirit of
God is ever existent. "Lord Thou hast been our dwelling place in all
generations. Before the mountains were brought forth or ever Thou hadst formed
the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting Thou art God"
(Psalms 90:1-2). Such language could only be applied to the Eternal, and is
suggested by the phrase, "the eternal Spirit."

"The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God the things of God
knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God" (1 Corinthians 2:10-11). Omniscience, an
other attribute of Deity alone, is before us here as belonging to the Spirit. He
knoweth, and searcheth all things, knoweth the end from the beginning, for He is
God.

"The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me
life" (Job 33:4). God the Creator is almighty, omnipotent. None but Him can call
into being. When therefore creation is ascribed to the Holy Spirit, it in the
strongest way teaches both His personality and His Deity.

Thus the Spirit is omnipresent, eternal, omniscient and omnipotent. He is God.

Let us turn to a few more passages showing more particularly His personality.
"Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? . . . thou hast not
lied unto men but unto God" (Acts 5:3-4). Men cannot lie to an influence, or
deceive what is not a person. A divine being had taken up His abode in the
Church, which He formed at Pentecost, and it was to Him that Ananias had lied.
So in like manner, when the saints were waiting on God at Antioch, preparatory
to the first expansive work of the Church, it was the Holy Ghost who said,
"Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them" (Acts
13:1-2). This but illustrates the personal oversight and direction of the
sovereign Spirit as described in 1 Corinthians 12:11, "All these things worketh
that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will."

Without pausing to dwell upon the special significance of the passages, we might
also notice how the personality of the Holy Spirit is emphasized in the
exhortations, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God" (Ephesians 4:30), "Quench not
the Spirit" 1 Thessalonians 5:19), "Praying in the Holy Ghost" (Jude 1:20).
These are but a few of the passages abounding in the Scriptures, which are
bereft of their meaning if the blessed Spirit of God is not a person. Any
student of Scripture will think of many other passages equally clear.

Coming now to what is our subject this evening — the Holy Spirit in the
Dispensations — it will hardly be necessary to more than remind you that there
are dispensations in the history of God’s ways with man. A dispensation is God’s
manner of dealing during any period of time. For our purpose at this time it
will suffice to include these in three general divisions, marked most clearly in
Scripture. We have the ages before Christ, the present or Christian period, and
the future or Millennial age.* All God’s counsels centre in Christ, and until He
came and accomplished His work, all God’s ways were of a preparatory and
anticipative character. The law had a shadow of good things to come. God could
and did bless individuals, give revelations of His will, and intrust a testimony
to a special people, but everything looked onward; the heir was yet a child,
under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the Father. During this
period the Holy Spirit’s work was, of course, in accordance with the purpose of
God. He was, as ever, the executor of the divine will.

{*While the first period, from Adam to Christ, has evidently three divisions —
the age of promise, from Adam to the flood; the age of Government, under Noah
and his successors; and the National age from the call of Abraham and the
establishment of Israel as a nation, until Christ — yet for our purpose these
three divisions may be considered as one, with common characteristics.}

We may class what we have to say of this first dispensation under three general
heads: The work of the Spirit in the individual, His prophetic work, and the
types of fuller and more abundant work in time to come.

God has ever, and will ever, so long as His day of patience lingers, work in the
souls of individuals. The verse which we have already quoted shows us, though
typically, that when the ruin had come in and man was morally waste and
desolate, the blessed Spirit of God began His work. He broods amid nature’s
darkness, over the heart of man, and light shines into the soul through His
instrumentality. Thus the first glimmers of faith in Adam giving his wife her
name — the mother of living, amid a scene of death, — or in Abel bringing his
sacrifice to God, witness of a divine work in the soul, of faith and a new life
produced where absolute death had come in through separation from God.

We are not speaking of the character of this new life, but of the fact. Did
Enoch have life when he pleased God? did Noah when he prepared the ark? did
Abraham when he left kindred and country at the call of God? Doubtless their
intelligence was limited, and the character of their walk and testimony
correspondingly modified. But can a man walk with God unless he has life? Can a
man believe God and not live unto Him? So when our Lord spoke to Nicodemus of
the new birth, He was talking of what any spiritual mind would acknowledge. When
we come to Ezekiel we will see passages to which, no doubt, our Lord directly
referred in that memorable interview; but who that realized what the fall meant,
the separation from God and moral death resulting, could doubt that a new life
was needed?

Thus new birth, in the individual, is the first work of the Spirit of God of
which we speak. Let us thank Him for the gift of life by the Spirit. It is the
common blessing of all dispensations. Revelations vary, modes of dealing change
— ever accomplishing the counsels of Him who is perfect in wisdom; but the
common life produced by the Spirit of God is in the whole family — before
Christ, now, and during the Millennial age. Abraham was, and is, the father — in
moral relationship of all them that believe.*

{*I add a further word to avoid any possible misunderstanding of what is so
unmistakable. We are not speaking of intelligence, nor of position. The greatest
possible difference exists as to these. Old Testament saints were not in the
Church, were not indwelt by the Spirit, were not linked with Christ in glory,
doubtless were not consciously justified and in the light before God, as we,
Christians, are. But they did have life, — for death is the opposite of life —
and surely they were not dead and under wrath. That Christianity is "more
abundant" life, all will admit. It is the full unfolding of the blessed purposes
of God’s love. But let us recognize the common family tie.}

Passing now to another and quite different feature of the work of the Spirit in
Old Testament times, we find a large number of most interesting instances of
which we will take a few.

Exodus 31:2-3. "See I have called by name Bezaleel and I have filled him with
the Spirit of God, in wisdom and in understanding, and in knowledge and in all
manner of workmanship," &c. God had given Moses the pattern of the Tabernacle,
had described the materials of which it was to be made and its parts in minute
detail. To carry out, to execute these plans, He specially qualified two men,
giving them His Spirit to endow them. I believe it is a great mistake to think
that these men were simply skillful workmen, or even that we have here a
recognition that God is the giver of all ability. There is something special
here, and when we remember what the Tabernacle was to show forth, we are not
surprised. It was said of the Spirit by our Lord, "He shall glorify me," (John
16:14). The Tabernacle was intended to set forth the glories of Christ, and need
we wonder at the special endowment and supervision of the Holy Spirit, that
every part might perfectly express the thoughts of God. I love to think of the
Holy Spirit directing these men, so that all — boards and sockets, curtains,
veil and furniture — might speak of the person and work of the blessed Lord.
Here there was a directing, supervising work of the Spirit for a special
purpose.

Let us look next at a very different kind of passage: Numbers 24:2. "And Balaam
lifted up his eyes and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their
tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him," &c. The history of Balaam
furnishes food for solemn thought. He had no love for God, nor for the people of
God. He loved money and all that goes with it. He was willing to do anything for
money. Here we see him desiring to be the tool of Balak, king of Moab, and to
curse Israel for him. It meant a reward and honor for him, and eager was he to
do his work. But Balaam knew that he could do naught but by the Spirit of God,
yea and that he must speak standing by the altar and the sacrifice. What a sight
the bitter relentless enemy of God’s people, king Balak, eagerly waiting for the
curse to fall upon them; the willing tool, Balaam, desiring to be permitted to
blast them with God’s malediction — but the sacrifice and the altar, speaking of
redemption for a sinful people. Do you wonder that no curses, but blessings
only, fall from the lips of Balaam? that the Spirit of God compels this wretched
man to speak the truth? "How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed? or how
shall I defy whom the Lord hath not defied?" Beloved brethren, every one,
whether Satan or his tools, must pronounce his curse upon the people of God
standing, as it were, by the cross. All our blessings come from that cross, and
Satan’s futile rage cannot reverse it.

Notice how remarkably the Spirit of God works here. Balaam is not regenerate,
and he is linked with the enemies of God and yet the Spirit puts a word in his
mouth and compels its utterance. That word is as true as any that inspiration
ever uttered — blessedly true — and yet spoken by the unwilling lips of a wicked
man! What an illustration of the mighty irresistible power of that Spirit, and
what a joy to know that the power is for and not against us. Alas! poor Balaam!
he may speak by the Spirit, but be a stranger to the Spirit. He falls among the
enemies of God, having done his utmost to defile those whom he could not destroy
(See Revelation 2:14).

Other similar instances occur where unregenerate persons were made the
instruments, for the time being, of the Spirit of God. 1 Samuel 11:6, "And the
Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings and his anger was
kindled greatly," etc. I have selected this passage as one of many showing the
work of the Spirit in leading to definite action. Throughout the book of Judges
it is of frequent occurrence, when God was about to deliver his people. We would
fain believe that many upon whom the Spirit thus came were children of God.
Alas! no proof of that exists as to king Saul — a man of unbounded opportunities
who departed from God, persecuted the man of God, and passed, at last, out of
the world by his own hand, after having consulted a witch. But there can be no
question that the Spirit made use of king Saul to conquer the enemies of the
Lord. Who are the mightiest foes when the Spirit of God takes hold of one? "When
the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of God lifts up a standard against
them." The power of the Spirit is here seen. So also when Saul would pursue
David, he sends messengers (1 Samuel 19:18-24) to take him but when these see
the prophets at Ramah and hear their words, the Spirit of God falls upon them
likewise and they are compelled to own His power. Even Saul himself must yield
to this and himself become for the time the pliant instrument in the hands of
the Spirit. But this just leads us to the border land of the Spirit’s work in
prophecy. It would be farthest from the truth to think that He ordinarily used
enemies, or those not born again. On the contrary, without doubt, His usual
channels of communication were children of God, who bowed in soul to the
message, were in the current of His purpose, and thus appropriate instruments of
His will. We must then look a little at prophecy in Old Testament times.

While there was, much in common between the judge and the prophet, we think of
the former as an administrator chiefly, while the work of the latter was mainly
to convey the mind of God to His people. Prophecy takes its rise, as a
distinctive thing, upon the failure of the priesthood. Peter notes this in one
of his pentecostal addresses, naming Samuel as the first (Acts 3:24). We cannot
here speak in detail of that dark and humbling page in Israel’s history, when
the lamp of the Lord burned so dimly in His house at Shiloh and finally went out
in the gloom — the ark of God in captivity, His priests slain for their failure
and sin, and "Ichabod," descriptive of that place where the glory once abode.
Eli had failed, though he loved God, but his sons knew not and loved not the
Holy One. Never again did God’s throne return to Shiloh. "He forsook the
tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which He placed among men . . . . He refused the
tabernacle of Joseph and chose not the tribe of Ephraim," (Psalms 78:60; Psalms
78:67). Typically, the ark returned to Mount Zion as God’s rest forever (Psalms
132:3; Psalms 132:14). But not yet has the glory truly taken up its abode there,
and will not till the true King comes of whom David and Solomon were but types.

It was in this interval between the priesthood and the king that the prophet
arose. And for Israel his work continued until John the Baptist. "The Law and
the prophets were until John" who while a prophet was more than that, because he
was the messenger sent before the face of the Lord. But we cannot speak in
detail of the work of the prophet save as it bears upon our subject. The Spirit
of God came with a special message when the ordinary channels of communication
between God and His people had become choked. Ordinarily, the priesthood was for
the maintenance of relationship. But when that failed, the people were cut off
from all intercourse, save where individual faith doubtless laid hold upon Him.
The Lord’s sacrifice was abhorred and His people scattered as sheep.

We see the sovereignty of God, as well as His love, in calling out vessels of
His choice to meet the need. This is emphasized in the selection of the child
Samuel, sought of God as he was about to fall asleep. A sleeping child! what
more unlikely instrument, in human judgment, for the Spirit of God. So all along
in subsequent history. God chose His messengers as it pleased Him — often the
most unlikely, as in the case of Amos.

Then, too, the message of the prophet was remarkable. I do not think you will
find the prophet attempting to restore things to their former condition. We may
take it as almost an axiom that God never restores a ruin. There were two things
however which the prophet did declare: first, he brought home the sin of the
people and laid it upon their conscience, and often for the time being there
would be a measure of repentance and a postponement of the threatened judgment.
But the second part of the prophet’s work was to point forward to the only true
remedy, the coming and reign of Christ. To the eye of sense the work of the
prophet was hopeless and gloomy in the extreme. Without specifying, a few
chapters in Isaiah, Jeremiah or Ezekiel will confirm this. But if the gloom
rested upon the scene close at hand, the glory of God lighted up the future. The
weary prophet might and did scan the pages of his message with the earnest
inquiry when the morning would break, with the reply that it could only come
when Christ came.

Now all this varied and rich ministry was the work of the Spirit of God. There
is a remarkable passage in 1 Peter which confirms this: "Of which salvation the
prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that
should come unto you: searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ
which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of
Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed that not
unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported
unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent
down from heaven" (1 Peter 1:10-12). Here we are told the Spirit of Christ
foretold His sufferings and glory — a glory not yet revealed for Israel and the
earth. The prophets longed to know when these things should be (see Daniel
12:8), and to them it was revealed that they would take place when Christ came.
Thus the Holy Spirit was engaged during this time in telling the people their
sins and then pointing forward to the glory of Christ’s kingdom. Of course, I
need hardly say the prophets knew nothing of the Church, that mystery hidden in
the bosom of God, but only of the kingdom, whose establishment still waits.

This, most fragmentary, view of prophecy must suffice us for the present. At any
rate we see what place the blessed Spirit of God occupied in it. All was
preparatory and predictive. Into details, as I said, we cannot go. The history
of Elijah and Elisha in Israel, and of the various servants of God in Judah, as
recorded in the books of Chronicles, will show how varied this service was. The
Holy Spirit was, if we may use such language, bridging the time between the
failed priesthood and the coming King, who should as Priest upon His throne
unite in unfailing blessedness both offices (see Zechariah 6:13). But we must
turn to the closing feature of the Spirit’s presentation in Old Testament times.

We can hardly speak of the types of the Spirit as a part of His work, but it is
at least a part of the way in which He is presented to us in the Old Testament,
and this seems to be therefore the place for a glance at these types. When God
breathed into man the breath of life (Genesis 2:7), we seem to have a figure of
the Spirit breathed into the new man. Certainly our Lord’s action in breathing
upon His disciples, was a reminder of this, and His words leave no doubt as to
His meaning: "Receive ye the Holy Ghost" (John 20:22). He was the giver of the
Spirit. Man is but the receiver. And does not this inbreathing of the Spirit
suggest that He is to control the entire life of the new man? But we come next
to a clearer type of the Spirit — the dove in the ark (Genesis 8:7-12). This
need not detain us long, for all is familiar and clear here. The flood speaks of
the judgment coming upon all men for their sins; the ark, of Christ the only
shelter from the judgment. He has gone through the flood of wrath, and as the
ark touched Ararat, the new earth, so Christ risen has passed into the new
scene. But His people while still prisoners of hope, can know nothing of what is
theirs in Christ risen. Therefore the Spirit, — the dove is given to make us
know what is ours. The dove is sent out thrice to make known the state of what
was not visible. On his first flight he finds nothing but a scene of desolation,
and in contrast to the raven, who will feed upon the refuse of what has been
judged, he returns to the Ark. The Spirit of God can find nothing in a world
under judgment to rest upon, and returns, as it were, to Christ. It is as though
He said to us, You will find nothing in all this world for your heart to rest
upon; Christ is all. On the contrary the raven, type of the flesh, chooses
anything but the restraint of the ark; just as the flesh cannot endure the
presence of Christ.

Next, the dove brings back something from the new earth — an olive leaf, pledge
of fruitfulness after the judgment. So the Spirit is for us the earnest of our
inheritance — the foretaste and the pledge of what is to come. The olive leaf
itself suggests the fruits of the Spirit — the olive producing oil — which are
in connection with the new creation. Thus the Spirit would occupy us with "the
things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." The dove
lastly flies off into the regenerated earth, and thus Noah knows that the waters
have departed. I need hardly say how the time is soon coming when the Spirit,
who now fills the heart with longing for the coming of the Lord, will with the
Church pass into that inheritance of which He is now the earnest. No one can
fail to notice too the appropriateness of the dove as a type of the Spirit. Love
and sorrow are the characteristics of the gentlest of birds, and fittingly set
forth the infinite tenderness and love of that Holy Person, who rested upon the
"Man of sorrows."

Exodus 13:21 gives us another type of the Spirit. Israel have been sheltered by
the blood of the Passover Lamb in the land of Egypt, and have set out on their
journey to the promised land. Before they cross the Red Sea, the Lord leads them
by a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day. In like manner are
those who have found shelter behind the blood of Christ, accompanied all their
journey through. This Shekinah-cloud is ever with them, as the Holy Spirit
abides with us forever. Let us notice too how His presence is manifest — in
contrast with the surroundings; by day there is a cloud casting its shadow over
them; in the darkness of the night a bright pillar of fire shines through the
"encircling gloom." So is it with the Spirit and the believer. In the day-time
of life, when the sun of prosperity shines brightly, the Spirit would ever
remind us not to trust in these uncertain things; the world is a place of change
and its brightest scenes are but the harbingers of coming sorrow. But in the
night of affliction, when sorrow falls like a dark pall, and we see nothing here
to rest upon, how brightly does the Spirit shine ever leading us on to the abode
of God who is light.

We find the Spirit presented in still another type in Exodus 27:20-21. Here it
is the oil for the lamps, a well-known emblem of the Holy Spirit. We can barely
hint at the fulness of meaning here. The tabernacle, as we said a little while
ago, with all its furniture, speaks of Christ. Altar of incense and table with
showbread, tell of His varied characters and offices. Particularly, the golden
candlestick, with its seven branches adorned with almond blossoms and fruits,
tells us of a Risen, divine Lord, the giver of the Spirit. Now all this beauty
would be invisible but for the oil by which the lamps illumine every thing. Thus
the Spirit enables us to see the beauty of Christ, and to engage intelligently
in His worship. The oil comes in another way in anointing. Priests and kings
were thus set apart for their work, and this reminds us how God anointed the
Lord Jesus with the Holy Ghost (Acts 10:38). It is beautiful to see too the oil
poured upon a cleansed leper (Leviticus 14:14; Leviticus 14:17). The same Spirit
who came upon Christ, anointing Him for service comes upon the sinner cleansed
by His precious blood. But we must now pass to the second portion of our
subject, the Spirit during the Christian dispensation. As we are not to dwell
upon the former age it was well to devote more time to it in this introductory
lecture. In like manner as all our subsequent evenings will be devoted to the
Spirit in the present age, our consideration of that part will be
correspondingly brief.

There are just two lines of truth here that I wish to dwell upon tonight,
believing them to give largely what is the specific and special work of the
Spirit at the present time. They are the Baptism and the Indwelling of the
Spirit. When John the Baptist, the forerunner of our Lord, was preaching
repentance and making disciples — baptizing them in water, as a badge of
discipleship and a sign of the death they deserved, he said to the expectant
multitude, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh
after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall
baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire" (Matthew 3:11). The Lord Jesus is
the one who baptizes with the Holy Ghost. While the baptism with fire
unquestionably points on, as the context shows, to the final judgment of
sinners, yet even now the Spirit of God brings the truth of judgment home to the
soul. Thus, anticipating judgment, the soul bows to the sentence of God and
accepts His salvation. Thus there is a modified baptism of fire at Pentecost,
indicated by the tongues of fire. But it is of the baptism of the Spirit that we
are speaking now. After His resurrection our Lord refers to John’s prediction as
being near fulfilment. "John truly baptized with water but ye shall be baptized
with the Holy Ghost not many days hence" (Acts 1:5). Thus all during our Lord’s
earthly ministry, the Spirit had not been given in the way here described.
Turning to Acts 2 we find the wondrous outpouring of the Holy Ghost, the baptism
promised and waited for. This marks the beginning of the Church, the body of
Christ, as our next quotation will show. "For by one Spirit are we all baptized
into one Body whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and
have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:13). The Church
is the body of Christ, it is a unit. In contrast to previous national or social
distinctions, the Spirit unites all its members into one living organism. The
Spirit sets the various members, with their various functions, in the body
according to His sovereign will. Thus there are many individual members, yet but
one body.

What is involved in all this it will be our privilege to see later, if the Lord
please. Just here we wish simply to note the special work of the Spirit in this
baptism. This marks, as we were saying, the beginning of the Church. Persons who
have not understood this fact have spoken of the Church as beginning with the
call of Abraham, or with the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. They would apply
the glowing predictions of the prophets as to the future glory of Israel to the
spiritual prosperity of the Church. Not only does the utmost confusion result
from this, but positive injury is done to the saints of the present age, by
linking their hopes and interests with the development of an earthly Kingdom,
instead of showing their destiny as members of the Body, the Bride of Christ, to
be heaven and its glories. The Baptism of the Spirit then was foretold by John
the Baptist, reaffirmed by our risen Lord, and on His ascent to the right hand
of God, it then began. Since that time every believer is baptized by the Spirit,
introduced into the Church, the Body of Christ. The second and only other
characteristic feature of the Spirit’s work during Christianity, to which we
will refer tonight, is the Indwelling. All Christians are familiar with that
wondrous discourse of our Lord in John 14:1-31, John 15:1-27 and John 16:1-33.
Two great facts are spoken of repeatedly — His own departure to the Father, and
the coming and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Previously, in John 7:1-53, the
Evangelist had stated that the Holy Ghost was not given because Jesus was not
yet glorified. In speaking of His departure to the glory, our Lord links with it
the promise of the Spirit. He should come in an especial manner and dwell in
them, never to depart. This blessed Comforter, or Advocate, would testify of
Christ, would bring all things to their remembrance and show them things to
come. Of such immense importance was the coming and indwelling of the Spirit
that our Lord tells His disciples that it was expedient, advantageous, for Him
to go away in order that the Spirit might come. Had He not said it, who could
have conceived the possibility of there being any privilege greater than
personal contact and association with the Lord Himself. But when we compare the
disciples, with their partial and earthly conceptions before Pentecost, and
those same disciples after the descent of the Spirit, we see how true were our
Lord’s words.

We will look at but two phases of the indwelling of the Spirit, individual and
corporate: "Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is
in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a
price?" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Here the body of the individual believer is
called the temple, the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit. What a fact! God the Spirit
dwelling in us. That holy presence, that divine Being! What place can sin have
in connection with such a presence? Not only are the grosser forms of evil,
spoken of in the immediate context, excluded by such a fact, but the unclean or
selfish thought, the idle word — what place have they in the temple of God? What
grace too this is, when we think that these bodies were once the abodes and the
servants of sin. Dear brethren, how feeble is our conception of the presence of
this blessed, heavenly Guest! May we realize it more fully.

Other passages furnish another wondrous thought of the indwelling of the Spirit.
"In whom ye are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit"
(Ephesians 2:22). The subject here is not the individual saint, but all who are
upon the foundation of which Christ is the corner-stone. These all form the
temple or house of God, which is growing (without sound of hammer, under the
silent working of the Spirit) into a holy temple in the Lord. The topmost stone
will soon be laid, and amid universal joy the Church, the heavenly temple or
dwelling place of God, will be manifested in glory. But meanwhile the whole body
of believers is looked upon as a temple, a habitation for the Spirit of God.

It ill becomes us to be censorious, but, beloved brethren, when we think of the
Church in the mind of God, and as even now indwelt by the Spirit, and then look
about us at the rent and divided state of the saints, can we fail to ask where
is the temple of the Spirit? Where is that one Church, the habitation of God?
Surely no group of saints in the divided state amongst us, could lay claim to
being the temple of God. Such arrogance brings its own rebuke. But, oh! shall we
not weep as we think of the purposes of God, and at the wreck of things as left
in man’s hands? But though we are in the midst of ruins, God’s truth remains,
and the blessed fact that the Holy Spirit dwells in the whole Church corporately
is as true now as at Pentecost. That the Church has lost incalculably by failing
to realize this fact, and to own the presence and control of the Spirit, it is
scarcely necessary to say. Think of God the Spirit dwelling in, presiding over
the whole testimony on earth! Think of His directing all worship, energizing all
service, ordering all discipline. What room for forms, human directors, and
human contrivances? And let us be well assured of this, that where there is
faith to count upon God and obedience to His truth, the presence of the Spirit
in the Church will be found to be no mere doctrine, but a blessed reality, even
to two or three who acknowledge His presence. Only let Him be supreme, let Him
control absolutely, by the word of God, and saints of God will find what a
stupendous fact we have been considering.

These then are the two characteristic features of the Spirit’s work at this time
— Baptism and Indwelling. The first shows us the formation of the Church, the
Body of Christ, as distinct from every other work of God, and the latter shows
us the power for walk and order both in the individual and the Church as a
whole. This must serve but as the introduction to what will further engage our
attention.

It now remains for us to consider the distinctive features of the Spirit’s work
during the Millennium, the period of Israel’s glory and of Christ’s reign upon
the earth.

We will begin by quoting a passage which is of double interest, as linking
together the two dispensations, or rather as giving what is common to both.
Peter began his address at Pentecost by quoting a passage from the prophet Joel:
"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all
flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream
dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon
the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit . . . and it shall come to
pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for
in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and
in the remnant whom the Lord shall call" (Joel 2:28-32).

Now it may be said that Peter’s quotation of this passage and his application of
it to the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost disproves what we have been
saying of the unique character and destiny of the Church. Is it not after all
identical with Israel? A few considerations will clear this up, and show that
Israel and the Church are absolutely distinct. You will recall the predictions
and remark of our Lord as to John the Baptist. It was said that he would go
before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elias (Luke 1:17). Our Lord in
speaking of him said, "Elias is come already and they knew him not" (Matthew
17:10-12). He had previously declared, "If ye will receive it, this is Elias,
which was for to come" (Matthew 11:14).

Now, here it is perfectly plain that John was in his person and ministry a
fulfilment of the promise as to Elias. If they had bowed to his message and
accepted him, they would have found that the kingdom of Christ would have been
introduced and the day of the Lord ushered in. But they had no heart for John
and did to him as they listed. In just the same way, the outpouring of the
Spirit at Pentecost was, to all intents, had the nation been ready to bow to
God, the fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy. Students of Scripture have frequently
remarked how lingeringly God bore with the Jews all through the first seven
chapters of Acts. Until Stephen’s death, we might say, the Lord was ready to
return to the repentant nation. Alas! the nation was not ready to have Him, and
so the counsels of God went on to their fulfilment as to the Church. Had they
received the truth as a nation, the prophecy of Joel would have been completely
fulfilled as it was, that fulfilment, for Israel, remains until a future day.
Then upon Mount Zion, God’s earthly centre, there will be deliverance, and
through the remnant who turn to Him blessing shall flow out to the nation and
the world at large. The Millennium, then, will be marked by the outpouring of
the Spirit upon all flesh in connection with a display of special prophetic
gifts and judgments upon the enemies of Christ. You will note this is not
baptism into one Body, nor Indwelling. Several passages will go into detail.

Those of you who are familiar with the subject of the arrangement of the books
of the Bible according to their numerical structure* will remember that the
prophet Ezekiel was the third of the prophetic books, which also themselves form
the third group of Old Testament books. Three is the number of sanctification,
and of the Spirit. In the prophets as a whole, and in Ezekiel particularly, we
find these marks. Sanctification and the Spirit are a Prominent theme. We will,
therefore, turn to that prophet.

{*The reader is referred to "The Numerical Structure of Scripture," by F. W.
Grant, also to a series of lectures entitled "From Genesis to Revelation," by S.
Ridout.}

"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean . . A new
heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will
take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of
flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes
. . . And ye shall dwell in the land" (Ezekiel 36:25-28). All God’s dealings
with the nation previous to this had been on the basis of law — with many
merciful modifications and provisions — and as men in the flesh. They had failed
again and again, for "they that are in the flesh cannot please God." But there
will be a new order in the Millennium. The new covenant will be in operation,
and its terms are, the law in their hearts and the Spirit given. (See, besides
the portion we are considering, Jeremiah 31:31-34.) The remnant of Israel will
be a regenerate, a holy people. Blessed fact! A new born nation!

It is evidently to this passage in Ezekiel that our Lord refers in His interview
with Nicodemus. He, as a teacher in Israel, should have known the necessity of
New Birth — born of water and of the Spirit.

There seems also to be an allusion to the next chapter (Ezekiel 37:9; Ezekiel
37:14), in our Lord’s reference to the wind blowing where it listeth. What is
prominent in that chapter is the resurrection of the people from their graves,
nationally speaking, and their restoration to the land and their reunion into
the twelve tribes. Time would fail to dwell upon the beauties of that wondrous
chapter. I commend it to your careful study together with other similar
prophecies. It must suffice us now to know that the Spirit presides over all
this blessed work of national resurrection, remission, restoration and
regeneration. "And I will put my Spirit in you and ye shall live, and I will
place you in your own land" (Ezekiel 37:14). With the Spirit among them, all
born of God, and Christ over them and the sanctuary of God in the midst of them
forevermore, well may the city and the land be called "Jehovah-shammah," the
Lord is there.

Another chapter demands our attention before we close, Ezekiel 47:1-23. The
sanctuary has been rebuilt — in prophetic view — and the glory of God which left
at the beginning, has returned to its final resting place (Ezekiel 43:2-5). We
are now to see the display of the Spirit and the blessings He brings.

Waters issue from the sanctuary and run eastward down to the Dead Sea. Water is
a type of the Spirit of God in His life-giving activities, through the word of
God. Life and blessing, through the Word and Spirit, flow forth to carry healing
to the desolate places of the earth. Where ever the waters flow, life springs
up: the bitter waters are healed and fish abound in the very lake of death. The
Gentiles receive life and blessing through the Spirit and word of God. The
Spirit is poured out from on high and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field
(Isaiah 32:15). And as the stream flows on, it deepens: first it reaches only to
the ankles; further on the waters rise to the knees, then to the loins, until
their mighty depths cannot he fathomed, "Waters to swim in." Thus the blessing
of the Spirit widens out in the Millennium until the knowledge of the Lord
covers the earth as the waters cover the sea. Need we wonder that this picture
furnishes the imagery for higher blessing yet, and that the last vision revealed
to John’s eye was that of a stream of water clear as crystal with the tree of
life upon its banks? After all the earth is to be but a reflection of the glory
of the heavens. This onflowing stream suggests the conversion of the Gentiles.
It is a mistake to expect the conversion of the world in this age: the Lord is
taking out of the Gentiles a people for His name, to form His heavenly bride,
but it will be only in the coming age that "a nation shall be born in a day."

Thus we have, imperfectly indeed, taken a survey of the subject of the Spirit in
the Dispensations. How vast, how important a subject it is! I will leave three
words with you as hinges upon which all that we have said turns. Before Christ,
the Spirit’s work, as well as all God’s ways, was one of preparation; after the
descent of the Spirit at Pentecost, and in connection with the Church it was a
time of realization. All is now real. During the Millennium, when Christ will be
displayed in glory as King of His people and over all the earth, it will be the
time of manifestation. May He, that blessed One of whom we have been speaking,
be unhindered in His work in our hearts and ways, in fulfilling our Lord’s
promise, "He shall guide you into all truth." The Church.

"Father, oh how vast the blessing When Thy Son returns again!

Then the Church its rest possessing, O’er the earth with Him shall reign.

Israel. For the fathers’ sakes beloved, Israel, in thy grace restored, Shall on
earth, the curse removed, Be the people of the Lord.

Revelation 7.

Then, too, countless myriads, wearing Robes made white in Jesu’s blood, Palms
(like rested pilgrims) bearing, Stand before the throne of God: —

These, redeemed from ev’ry nation, Shall in triumph bless Thy name;

Ev’ry voice shall cry, ’Salvation To our God and to the Lamb!’"

Lecture 2. The Holy Spirit in Salvation — Conviction; Regeneration; Sealing;
Assurance.

"O Lord, how blest our journey, tho’ here on earth we roam, Who find in Abba’s
favor our spirit’s present home! For where Thou now art sitting by faith we’ve
found repose, Free to look up to heaven, since our blest Head arose. In spirit
there already; soon we ourselves shall be In soul and body perfect, all
glorified, with Thee:

Thy Father’s love sustains us along the thorny way, Thy Father’s house the
dwelling made ready for that day. The Comforter, now present, assures us of Thy
love;

He is the blessed earnest of glory there above: The river of Thy pleasure is
what sustains us now, Till Thy new name’s imprinted on ev’ry sinless brow.

Lord, we await Thy glory; we have no home but there, Where the adopted family
with us Thy joy shall share. No place can fully please us where Thou O Lord, art
not; In Thee, and with Thee, ever is found, by grace, our lot."

Salvation is a term of quite varied meaning in the Scriptures, ranging from the
deliverance out of any special strait, as Paul out of prison (Php 1:9), the
victory over the daily trials and temptations, the redemption of the body, and
of the spirit. God is the Saviour of all men — in that He preserves and sustains
all flesh. We have the Father as Saviour in that it is His grace and love that
gave His Son, and chose us in Him. The Son is Saviour because He laid down His
life for us, accomplishing a work which has both glorified God and met our every
need. The Spirit is Saviour by virtue of the work of regeneration and all that
is connected with it, including the seal and assurance of salvation. This last
is what will occupy us tonight.

Before, however, we come to our subject, there is a work of the Spirit in men
which, for want of a better term, we may call ineffectual. By ineffectual it
need hardly be said that the result only is looked at. It does not result in
salvation. There can be no thought — which would surely be blasphemy — of
inability on His part; but man hardens his heart and refuses to yield. And yet,
even in this God’s righteousness is vindicated. As the apostle says, "We are
unto God a sweet savor of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish:
to the one we are the savor of death unto death; and to the other the savor of
life unto life" (2 Corinthians 2:15-16). Solemn thought! Every mouth will be
closed and all the universe will bow before God. Well may the apostle add, "Who
is sufficient for these things;" not only the service with its arduous trials,
but the solemn and eternal results.

We will turn first to a passage in the book of Genesis, Genesis 6:3, "And the
Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man." It seems that from the
fall to the flood God left man completely to the light of nature, his own
conscience and the strivings of the Holy Spirit. No government was established —
apparently crime went unpunished — and there were none of the restraints,
religious and civil, which He later established. Man was left to himself, save
that there was the constant witness of the deity and power of God in His works,
and of His goodness in His providential care. Doubtless there was the history of
the first sin and its awful consequences, and the mysterious promise of future
deliverance through the woman’s Seed. Added to this was the faithful testimony
of a man like Enoch, who told of approaching judgment upon the ungodly (Jude
1:14-15).

These were the instrumentalities used by the Spirit of God in striving with
man’s conscience: the fall, sin and the judgment of God; His power and goodness
leading men to repentance, and the promise of the woman’s Seed. There was also
the witness of death, well calculated to call upon man to prepare to meet his
God. All this work of the Spirit was upon man’s moral nature; it was the
persuasion, as of a man, only with divine wisdom and yearning, to lead him from
the paths of folly.

What was the result of this striving? The earth was utterly corrupt and filled
with violence. Every imagination of men’s heart was only evil continually.
Judgment begat no terrors, mercy and goodness produced no softening: they went
on as ever, eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the flood
came and destroyed them all.

Without doubt this striving of the Holy Spirit has continued and will continue
till the close of the day of grace. New revelations have been given, new
restraints imposed — lawlessness has been limited by government. Above all the
Cross has come in as the revelation of the justice and love of God — His love to
a guilty world. Thus the material, if we may so speak, has been increased, but
the striving of the Spirit has gone on ever since; with what result our next
quotation will show.

"Ye stiff-necked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the
Holy Ghost; as your fathers did so do ye" (Acts 7:51). Stephen had been
reviewing the history of Israel under the promises and revelations of God. He
had shown that at every fresh step in the unfolding of His purposes of love, God
had been met with opposition. Moses had been sent, the people had been brought
out of Egypt, had been set in the land, the tabernacle had been established as a
divine centre, the kingdom set up under David, a temple built by Solomon. Each
step had been taken after failure on their part to enjoy what had been
previously bestowed, and each step afforded but fresh occasion for them to
resist the Holy Ghost. They despised Moses; they set up the golden calf; turned
back, in heart, to Egypt; failed to drive out the Gentiles in the land, when
brought there by Joshua; despised the Lord’s offering, and compelled Him to
forsake the tabernacle at Shiloh. When the temple was built and Solomon’s reign
of glory had been inaugurated, deeper apostasy marked both king and people, and
the darkness deepened till the nation was carried away to Babylon.

Thus the people resisted the strivings of the Holy Spirit. Of course, there were
individual exceptions, and multitudes in total who yielded. But the nation as a
whole is described as resisting the Spirit. The same has been true under
Christianity. Added light has been given, and greater inducements than could
have been conceived to lead men to accept the love of God. And yet the Spirit is
resisted today as He was in Noah’s day and in Stephen’s. Every testimony of God,
every providential act is used by the Spirit, but how often in vain. Never is
there a special season of effort for souls, never a marked interest and much
blessing, but it is accompanied by this awful resistance of the Spirit.

Next to resistance of the Spirit we will look at a still darker form of evil —
the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be
forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be
forgiven unto men" (Matthew 12:31).

It was but the next consistent step for a people who had always resisted the
Holy Ghost to go further and blaspheme Him. As this is a subject but little
understood, and one which has been the source of much suffering to sensitive
consciences, it is well for us to see clearly what "the unpardonable sin" is. It
is often explained in a way which contradicts the gospel itself, and throws the
precious truths of grace into the utmost confusion. A little careful reading of
the connection of the passage will show what this awful sin was. I say was, for
in a very real sense it is impossible for this sin to be committed now. Our Lord
had been casting out a demon, had been showing the power of the Spirit of God,
through whom He performed all his miracles (see Acts 10:38). Beholding this
power used to destroy the works of the devil, in the face of this witness, the
leaders ascribed it to the devil. "He casteth out demons by Beelzebub." In Mark
it is said "because they said He hath an unclean spirit." Thus the rulers called
the Holy Ghost the devil. What was left for a people who confounded God and
Satan (awful thought), what forgiveness could there be for those who, not in
ignorance, but wilfully and deliberately thus acted? But you will perceive that
this peculiar form of blasphemy was necessarily confined to the time when our
Lord was upon earth. His works had to be seen, His power over Satan clearly
manifest in the miracle, before this climax of wickedness and enmity could find
expression. None could commit the sin against the Holy Ghost now. But ere we
close this part of our subject, there is a solemn passage which applies to
Christianity as the previous one did to Judaism. "He that despised Moses’ law
died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment
suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of
God . . . and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace" (Hebrews 10:28-29).
This is one of those passages, peculiar to the epistle to the Hebrews, which
refers to the sin of apostasy, giving up Christ and going back to Judaism. In
Hebrews 6:1-20 where a similar passage occurs, the apostle enumerates some of
the blessings enjoyed by those who made a profession of Christianity. Among
other things he says they "were made partakers of the Holy Ghost." A careful
study of the passage, as well as the general subject of the epistle, will show
that the blessings enumerated were external and not vital. Thus the partaking of
the Holy Ghost did not mean baptism or indwelling by the Spirit, but
introduction into the full blaze of Christian light, participation in the
ministry of the Spirit in the Church, witnessing the powers of the coming age —
in short, enjoying all the marvelous blessing into which Christianity introduced
out of Judaism.

Now, when one had received all this light, and had professed to follow it, but
had his heart unmoved, unbroken, and finally turned back into that from which he
had been rescued, he was like ground which in response to rain from heaven
yielded but thorns and briars. What hope could there be for such an one? He had
trodden under foot the Son of God and openly insulted, as the word is, the
Spirit of grace.

It is not my purpose to take the edge off the warnings of God’s word, but it is
well for us to clearly understand them. Open and deliberate apostasy is here
meant, and not falling into sin, grievous and awful as that is. It is a
distinct, deliberate and final trampling upon Christ, and is therefore closely
allied with the sin against the Holy Ghost. It was a sin to which the Hebrews
were peculiarly exposed, I would almost say exclusively, and one possible
chiefly when the energy of the Spirit was unchecked, in the first bright days of
His work. Now, alas! worldliness has so crept in that there is little need for
Satan to lead men to apostatize; he lets them remain in the professing Church
and carry the world into it. In those days the lines were sharply drawn and a
man was either for Christ or against Him.

Thus we have seen four phases of ineffectual work on the part of the Spirit,
because of the awful wickedness of man’s heart. He strives, but is resisted; He
was blasphemed, and openly insulted. Passing now to brighter themes, can we not
say with the apostle, "But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you and
things that accompany salvation?" The first work of the Spirit which is
effectual for salvation is the conviction of sin. There is a remarkable passage
which so clearly presents this work of conviction by the Spirit, that we must
examine it with some care. Our Lord, in His closing address to His disciples, to
which we have already referred more than once, after telling them (John 16:7)
that it was expedient (to their advantage) that He should leave them and go to
the Father, in order that He might send them the Spirit, describes the work of
this blessed Person in the world and in saints. As to the saints, we will take
that up at another time, merely noticing as we pass that the great work is to
guide them into all truth. But as to conviction of the world we will notice how
complete it is. I quote the entire passage.

"And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness,
and of 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 16:8-11). It will be noticed that the entire work
of the Spirit, so far as the world is concerned, is conviction or reproof. The
light can only make manifest the works of darkness. Until those works are seen
and judged, the Spirit can only maintain that testimony, there can be no work as
"Comforter." In fact, the word so rendered is hardly that, but the same as the
one rendered "Advocate" in the first epistle of John. It is one who undertakes
the whole work for another, an agent, if we may use such language. Are we wrong
in thinking of the Spirit as our Lord’s advocate or agent here, in His absence,
carrying on His work, fulfilling His will? Undoubtedly He is also the advocate
for His people too, looking to all their interests and ministering to all their
needs. In this way He might be designated "Comforter." But in relation to the
world He represents Christ. Just as our Lord, when He was here, by His testimony
convinced the world of sin — "Me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the
works thereof are evil" (John 7:7) — so now the Spirit as His representative,
continues this work of conviction in the world at large and in individuals. This
conviction is threefold — of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. Three is the
number of complete manifestation, and the result of this conviction is to
manifest man fully as he is. No hiding-place is left where he can escape the
solemn conclusion pressed upon him by the Spirit of truth. The light manifests
him, reproves him, showing him his present state as a guilty man and the future
of judgment looming dark in the not very distant background. From the fall,
without doubt, the Spirit of God has been convincing men of sin. He never left
Himself without a witness, and what we have seen of the striving of the Spirit
shows how conscience was constantly appealed to. But when Christ came, the
manifestation of the character of God — going about doing good, in meekness
testifying of righteousness and of love — the sin which had up to that time
found expression in the lusts of self-will, all comes to a centre. Sin will now
be shown as such in one act. Men might argue that in spite of this or that
wrong, they were not bad at heart — just as they argue today. But now God gives
the opportunity for man to show what he was. "If I had not done among them the
works which none other man did, they had not had sin; but now they have no cloak
for their sin" (John 15:22). In the days of "moderatism" in the church of
Scotland, a preacher in the morning said, "If virtue were to appear upon the
earth incarnate, ravished by her beauty men would fall down and worship her." In
the evening a servant of Christ, occupying the same pulpit, during his discourse
said, "Virtue incarnate did come to earth, and men’s cry was, ’Away with Him,
crucify Him.’" And surely this is true. Christ has come, and into His bosom has
gathered all the hatred and wickedness of a world without God. The spear that
pierced Him represents man’s hatred, man’s sin. Blessed be God it opened the way
for all the infinite love of God to flow out.

So, now, the Spirit in His work of conviction, brings this one fact to bear upon
man’s conscience. What has he done with Christ, what has been his thought of
Christ? Take an average congregation of hearers; we could not preach to them as
murderers, thieves, or grossly immoral. Much of this would fall off from their
armor-encased consciences and hearts. But when the personal claims of Christ are
presented, when they are asked whether he is to them individually the object of
faith and love — all other differences vanish, every man is alike convicted of
sin.

Here is common ground for all — the lofty moralist, the delicate, refined woman
and the gross sensualist — all are alike concluded under sin, because they have
not believed in Christ, Unbelief makes common company of all men. They would not
have recognized the common tie in any other way. They can look down upon those
inferior in position and lower in morals, but here they are together — all alike
in this one fact which God has made the pivot. But we must guard against a
misapprehension which has obtained in some quarters, that now unbelief is the
only sin of which men stand guilty before God. Surely in a world reeking with
every form of iniquity, it will hardly be necessary to deny this. The argument
is, that when our Lord died, He bore and put away all sin, that God does not
look upon men as sinners because of what they have done, but simply because of
their rejection of Christ.

Surely when the Spirit of God now convicts of sin He does not do less than He
did before the cross. The rejection of Christ does not obliterate but emphasizes
every other sin committed. Here is a possible atonement for heinous sins: the
atonement is rejected and this makes the sins all the more heinous. In the final
judgment, the books are opened, in which the record of the life has been kept.
The book of life is also opened, and thus we see men are judged both for what
they have committed and for their unbelief.

Now, it is the special work of the Spirit, through His instruments, those whom
He fills, to bring home to the world its guilt in the rejection of Christ.
Looked at in another way, it is the sins we have committed which crucified the
Lord. In a very real way the convicted soul realizes this, and amid all the
cries of hatred and rage and scorn in the rabble that stood around the cross he
can distinguish his own voice. Thus the Spirit convicts of sin. In the case of
the Jews, there had been the direct and actual rejection, "We will not have this
man to rule over us."

Next, the Spirit convicts of righteousness. I think this is very little
understood; the words are very simple and we are apt to use them without
attaching any special meaning to them. What is it to be convicted of
righteousness, and how does the Spirit convict the world of this? Already His
work has been, as we have seen, to convict the world of sin. Manifestly, it
would be a contradiction to suppose that the Spirit proved to the world its own
righteousness. It has none — only sin.

He convicts of sin, "because I go to my Father and ye see me no more." The whole
world is lying in the wicked one — it has no righteousness. The sentence of God
is, "There is none righteous; no not one." But the Spirit brings a solemn
reminder of where righteousness is. Once it was upon earth, in the person of the
blessed Son of God, who always did His Father’s will. But we look for it here in
vain. All has lapsed, so far as the world is concerned, into the unrelieved
darkness of sin. How this links with that previous conviction of sin, Christ is
no longer here.

Thus the world is convicted of righteousness in the fact that Jesus is now with
the Father. They treated Him as a malefactor, as a blasphemer against God, as a
plotter against the stability of government. That was their estimate of Christ.
But God has raised Him from the dead and placed him at His own right hand. He
has lifted Him out of the lowest shame in which man’s estimate had put Him and
exalted Him to the highest place in Heaven. The righteousness which the world
would not have, God has received into heaven and enthroned it there! What an
awful conviction. God could not righteously leave His Holy One under the
imputation of guilt. He must declare His righteousness, and so He is raised from
the dead by the glory of the Father. What a vindication of the Lord! What a
condemnation of the world! Well might the apostle give the resurrection of
Christ as God’s assurance of coming judgment (Acts 17:31).

There is another and blessed side to this at which we can but glance. If, after
His work of sin-bearing was complete, God has raised His Son and glorified Him,
is it not a proof that God has in righteousness accepted that work? And that now
He can righteously forgive the sinner who believes in Jesus? So He is just, and
the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus. Thus God’s righteousness is
manifested in the resurrection and seating of Christ in glory, and that
righteousness is for, not against, every soul that believeth in Jesus. But this
emphasizes afresh the guilt of a world which rejects Him. It cast Him out when
He came, and now, having no righteousness of its own, it still refuses Him who,
if it would receive Him, would be made righteousness for it. For a world that
has refused Christ and has no righteousness of its own (righteousness on the
throne being the proof of its guilt) there is but one thing left — judgment. So
the last convicting work of the Spirit is to bring home the fact of judgment
upon the consciences of men. This He does, not merely by warning of a judgment
in the future — "as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the
judgment" — but He brings home the fact that judgment has already been
pronounced and inflicted — in the mind of God — upon the prince of this world.

It is not some obscure person who has thus been judged, but the ruler and prince
of this world — Satan himself. Little did he think in his plottings, entering
into Judas, bringing together all the powers of darkness, that he was but
hastening his own doom, and that in the very hour of his greatest apparent
triumph, the judgment of God had fallen upon him. True, he was bruising the heel
of the woman’s Seed, but his own head was crushed by the mighty Victor. But how
much this means for the world. If the prince has fallen under judgment, how can
his subjects hope to escape? If the mighty strong man who held all the world as
his "goods," has succumbed to the power of a stronger than he, where will poor,
puny man hide from the awful doom that awaits him?

Thus the cross declares the judgment, both of Satan and of the world. Not an
uncertain thing, as we have seen, in the future, but an accomplished fact in the
head and representative of all, the one whom the world had chosen for itself.

Here, again, however, for faith, the very conviction of judgment brings the
promise of deliverance. Is the ruler — the one who held me in bondage — judged?
Has he, who had the power of death, been annulled? Then is there not deliverance
for me, if I do but accept this judgment of the cross and flee, in faith, to the
One there smitten for me?

Thus we have the full conviction of the world by the Spirit — of sin,
righteousness, and judgment. After this conviction, self-righteousness cannot
lift its head. Man without excuse stands, as it were, in eternity and before
Almighty God. God the Holy Ghost has brought him there, and the work of
conviction is done. Nothing is left but the blackness of darkness forever, or,
blessed be God, full salvation. May I speak of a fact too common, alas, to have
escaped your observation? We are living in times of superficial conviction.
Souls are not plowed up by the Spirit of God, as He would do. Men say, "Peace,
peace," too easily. The sinner is not made to realize the awfulness of his
position — a guilty, lost and helpless soul on the brink of eternity. I know
this is not considered popular preaching, and that it is hardly thought proper
or wise to speak of the hell of eternity that awaits Christ-rejectors. As a
result, the work of conviction is very superficial, and, even when real, of but
shallow depth. Souls must be convicted of sin if they are to receive the gospel.
That gospel is not a mere piece of logic to be reasoned about: "All men are
sinners; Christ died for sinners; therefore He died for me." Cold, heartless,
lifeless acquiescense in this is not faith, nor salvation. It is the awakened
soul that realizes what it is to be lost that can appreciate, as cold water to a
thirsty man, the gospel of the grace of God. Men trim down the solemn fact of
man’s sin, and thus the Spirit’s work of conviction is hindered. What wonder
that the professing church is full of unsaved souls. But let us take an example
of this convicting work of the Spirit. I think you will find without forcing,
the three features, conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment. It is the
first gospel sermon preached, after the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost, by
Peter. We might use his own language, "preached with the Holy Ghost sent down
from heaven."

First, as to conviction of sin, he brings home to them the fact of their
rejection of Christ: "Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and
slain" (Acts 2:23). Here the Holy Ghost brings home the fact of their sin. It
was not now a question of this and that transgression, but they had refused to
believe on Christ — had rejected Him.

Next, he convicts them of righteousness, because Jesus had gone to the Father:
"Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not
possible that He should be holden of it . . . Therefore, being by the right hand
of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost,
He hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear" (Acts 2:24; Acts 2:33). How
clearly God had manifested His righteousness, and vindicated His beloved Son in
thus raising and exalting Him to the right hand of power. Not so prominently,
but still clearly there, the Spirit of God had brought home to them the reality
of judgment: "I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth
beneath, blood and fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into
darkness and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord
come" (Acts 2:19-20). All nature would quake in the presence of its Judge, and
this judgment was imminent.

Thus we have the threefold conviction of sin, and what was the result? "Now,
when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and
to the rest of the apostles: Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Blessed work!
Is there not joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that
repenteth? and here were three thousand souls crying under conviction — the
mighty work of the Spirit of God. Blessed and easy work now for Peter to set
Christ before them, and to assure them of free forgiveness in His name, and of
the gift of the Spirit. They believed his word and confessed Christ.

Now, this brings us to the next division of our subject: regeneration or new
birth. We have dwelt at length upon conviction, but I shall not regret it if it
deepen in our souls a sense of the immense importance of this, if souls are to
be born to God. Let me quote from Scripture:

"He came unto His own and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him
to them gave He power (or the right) to become the sons (or children) of God,
even to them that believe on His name: who were born, not of blood, nor the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:11-13). We have just
seen the convicted Jews receiving Christ. Here we are told that such reception
constitutes new birth. Souls are born again, born of God, as His children, who
receive the rejected Saviour.

Connected with this passage is the familiar proof text as to new birth. "Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom
of God" (John 3:3). He is incapable of seeing, or apprehending the precious
reality of God’s spiritual Kingdom, because he has not been born again. "Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the Kingdom of God" (John 3:5). He has no right, no authority,
to enter a scene for which by nature he is unfitted. He must be born of water —
surely not baptism. Who could conceive of literal water imparting a nature or
giving a title? Ritualism has read baptism into the third chapter of John, and
the Lord’s supper into the sixth chapter, where eating Christ’s flesh and
drinking His blood is spoken of; and in neither is there a hint of baptism or
the Lord’s supper. Born of water is, as we shall see in a moment, born of the
Spirit by the word of God; and eating Christ’s flesh and drinking His blood is
actual appropriation by faith of the value of His atoning death. But such is
ritualism in all its forms — it robs us of divine realities and leaves us forms
instead; forms all the more misleading for the unstable, because they were
instituted by our Lord, and, in their place, are of priceless value. But let us
return to the expression, "born of water and of the Spirit," for just here we
will find help in understanding new birth. Water is a constant type in the Old
Testament of the Spirit Himself, but always of the Spirit in the vehicle He
uses, if I may use such an expression. There are in the New Testament several
passages which, taken together, make very clear what this vehicle is.

"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of
God, which liveth and abideth forever" (1 Peter 1:23). Here new birth is
ascribed to the living word of God. "Christ also loved the Church and gave
Himself for it that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the Word" (Ephesians 5:25-26). Here the cleansing and sanctifying action of
water is said to be "by the Word." Thus, most clearly, water is a type or symbol
of the word of God, and by it souls are born a new.

It is evident that our Lord refers in this passage to the use of water as seen
in Ezekiel 36:25, "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be
clean; from all your filthiness and from all your idols, will I cleanse you."
The cleansings under the law were ceremonial and external, and therefore
unavailing. The prophet declares, and our Lord repeats, that this was to be
real. A cleansing, not by purifying the flesh, but by a new birth, through the
Spirit of God.

Returning now to John 3:1-36, we understand our Lord to teach that new birth is
absolutely essential for entrance in the Kingdom of God, and that this birth is
by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the word of God received by faith. For
we saw that those who believed on His name were those who were born of God. Here
we see the beautiful suitability of our Lord’s presenting His cross and Himself
as the object of faith to a man like Nicodemus, outwardly moral, but who needed
new birth, and this new birth must be by the Spirit’s power making use of the
gospel of the grace of God. So far, all seems and is clear. It is only when men
begin to reason about God’s truth that a haze falls over it. Does new birth
precede faith, or does it follow it? Such questions seek to separate what God
has indissolubly joined together. That there are mysteries here, none would
question. Does not our Lord say: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou
hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it
goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8)? Here is mystery,
and there must be in divine things. God is sovereign, and His work must be to
some extent inscrutable to finite minds. But we must not reduce to the compass
of logic these mighty truths. Surely, it suffices to say new birth is a
sovereign act of God, that He is first in it, and that it is by the Word through
faith. Can we go further and ask what is the character of this new birth?
Undoubtedly we may, when we simply follow Scripture. What, then, is new birth?
Looking to the close of the third of John we read, "He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life," and this statement is repeated again and again
throughout this Gospel, so much so, indeed, that we may safely say eternal life
is the theme of John.

Birth is the beginning of man’s earthly life — looking upon the impartation and
birth as parts of one whole. A child begins, for us, to live when he is born, he
receives life at his birth. So, following the analogy, at new birth the man
receives life — spiritual life; he begins to live to God, and is now His child.

Connecting this with the verse just quoted, and remembering that faith is an
integral element in new birth, we have the simple and self-evident fact that new
birth is the impartation of spiritual life, of divine, eternal life, to the
soul. I need not add that eternal life does not mean merely immortal existence.
Life, in John, is not mere existence. All men are immortal by their very
constitution. To say that a man is dead in sins does not mean that he has ceased
to exist — far from it — but that he has no relationship with God.

Let us turn to another scripture that completes the thought: "Whosoever is born
of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin
because he is born of God" (1 John 3:9). How beautifully clear is this! God is
the author of new birth. Is He the author of sin? When we ascribe moral
character to a life or a person we speak of it as nature. Here we are told that
as born of God we have a nature sinless and incapable of sin. The soul is born
of God; the divine seed is permanent, and it is incapable of being corrupted.
New birth, then, is the impartation of a sinless nature.

You have heard of the familiar illustration which is used to explain the
existence of the flesh, the old nature, in the believer also. A nursery-man
plants, we will say, a quantity of peach seeds. They grow up, but are seedlings,
merely natural growth with a positive tendency to degeneration. For him these
trees are worthless, unless they are, as it were, born again — that is, they
must have a new nature, a new life imparted. He goes to a tree of approved
quality, and from it takes buds which he introduces into the life of the young
trees. When vital connection is established, he calls his trees not by the name
of seedlings, but by the name of the tree from which the bud was taken. They
have become partakers really of the nature of that tree, and though but a tiny
bud is all he has to show for it, they are thus called by that name.

We know further, that he soon cuts away the old and worthless part of the tree,
leaving the bud to develop and bear its proper fruit. It cannot bear any other,
and the whole tree is known by the bud; everything else is an excrescence, to be
cut off. Should new shoots start out from the natural root, they have the
character, the nature of the original seed, and would bear worthless fruit. This
illustrates our Lord’s words, "that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and
that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

One further passage claims our attention in connection with the subject of new
birth. "According to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and
the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus
Christ our Saviour; that being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs
according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:5-7). I have quoted the
connection as showing that the subject before the apostle includes more than new
birth, going on to heirship, and taking in justification. The word here is not
the same as in the third chapter of John. It is the same word as is used in
Matthew 19:28, where it refers to the Millennium, the new surroundings for God’s
regenerate earthly people. Thus the cleansing in Titus is one which implants a
new nature, and looks on to the full surroundings of the new creation. It would,
I should say, include new birth and more.

I will merely, ere leaving this branch of our subject, remind you that this new
birth is no light thing. It is not profession, nor is it merely repentance, but
it is actual birth. Then, too, it is the sovereign, gracious act of God. It is
not of the will of man, but of God. "Of His own will begat He us with the word
of truth" (James 1:18).

We now come to the subject of sealing, which we may well connect with what has
gone before, for God does not leave His work without His stamp upon it. In the
passage just quoted from Titus, you notice that we have not only the renewing of
the Holy Ghost, but the shedding or pouring out of the Spirit. This leads us to
what is now before us.

You have also noticed the prominent place that faith occupies. I need hardly
mention this: "without faith it is impossible to please God." I will now quote a
scripture, which, beginning with faith, passes on to something else: "In whom ye
also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption
of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory" (Ephesians 1:13-14).

Faith, here, has come by hearing the word of truth. The gospel of their
salvation was preached and accepted and Christ was trusted in. The souls were
saved — justified and accepted before God. He now gives them the Holy Spirit, as
promised, as a seal upon the work of Christ. The Spirit comes thus upon every
believer, as the divine mark that he belongs to God.

It is beautiful to see how the sealing and the earnest go together. The same is
seen in another scripture: "Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of
the Spirit in our hearts" (2 Corinthians 1:22). The seal is the first thing the
saved soul gets, and the inheritance is the last — for that is "reserved in
heaven for us." But the Holy Spirit, a living, divine person, links these two
together.

Another passage in Ephesians illustrates this: "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of
God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30). How
often is that verse misquoted and misunderstood by the saints of God. It is made
to teach the very opposite of what it means, and simply by the addition of a
single word, "away." "Add thou not unto His words lest He reprove thee and thou
be found a liar" (Proverbs 30:6). By the addition of this one little word this
verse is made to teach that by sin we can grieve away the Holy Spirit, and this
is embodied in verse and sung by multitudes: —

"Return, O holy Dove, return, Sweet Messenger of rest!

I hate the sins that made Thee mourn, And drove Thee from my breast." Could
anything be more opposite to the truth? The Spirit abides with us forever, and
the very verse tells us that we are sealed "unto the day of redemption." Sad
indeed it is to grieve, by bitterness or malice, that Heavenly Guest, but sadder
far would it be if He were to leave us, for that would mean the denial of
Christ’s work, and our eternal undoing.

Blessed be God! He abides with us forever, and binds together, by His presence,
the first acceptance of light with its final consummation in glory.

He is called, as we have seen, the earnest of the inheritance. In a passage
which looks on to the resurrection glories, the apostle says: "Now, He that hath
wrought us for the self-same thing is God, who also hath given unto us the
earnest of the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 5:5). An earnest is both a pledge and a
foretaste of the inheritance. It was a part payment, which, being accepted, was
a pledge that all would be given. To give and receive earnest-money bound both
buyer and seller. So the sealing of the Spirit binds — may we say? — our blessed
God to fulfil His promise. How poor such language is and yet it shows the
security of the weakest believer, who now can sing: —

"And we to the end shall endure, As sure as the earnest is given;

More happy, but not more secure, The spirits departed to heaven." But more: the
earnest was a part payment in kind. The full payment would be of the same
character as the earnest. So we are said to have received "the first-fruits of
the Spirit" (Romans 8:23). Greatly rejoicing, and yet now for a season in
heaviness through manifold trials, as Peter says. The first-fruits of the Spirit
remind us of those fruits of the land brought by the spies to their brethren yet
in the wilderness. To faith, those fruits were the pledge that the inheritance
was theirs but they were also a sample of the fruits yielded by that good land.
So now, the Spirit is the foretaste, here in this wilderness world, of the joys
and delights of heaven. Every view of the love of God, every unfolding of His
grace, every manifestation of the beauties of Christ, all the sweets of "the
fellowship of kindred minds" — these and all else of the precious witness of
that Holy One, are foretastes of the coming feast. These Eshcol grapes are but a
cluster of fruit from the tree of life in the midst of the Paradise of God, the
tree that grows by the River of water of Life, in the Heavenly City, our home.

"Eshcol’s grapes the story tell Of where our path doth lead." But let us return
for a little to this type of sealing, to gather more clearly its meaning and get
more of the comfort of it. Looking through our Bibles for Scripture examples, we
meet with several that certainly are most suggestive. When Esther had obtained
grace at the hands of king Ahasuerus, and was to undo as far as possible the
evil which Haman had already been authorized to inflict upon her people, she was
authorized to write a letter in the king’s name and seal it with the king’s
ring, permitting the Jews to resist to the utmost all assaults upon them. This
seal gave the full authorization of the king to the letter. It might be written
in the faint, trembling hand of the woman, or in the strong hand of Mordecai,
but what gave it authority and value was the seal of the king. A gentleman of
wealth desires to give a check. His bookkeeper has left the office, and he gets
an office boy to fill out name and amount on the blank form. The boy brings the
check, written in his cramped, unsightly style, to the master, who signs it with
his name. Is the check any less valuable because written by the boy? Would it be
worth more if written in the firm, elegant hand of the bookkeeper? Not a cent
more. The name of the gentleman authenticates it and imparts to it its full
value, for which all his deposit in bank is responsible. So with the seal of the
Spirit. We are, in one way, but poorly written epistles of Christ. With some of
us the handwriting is cramped and blotted, and with others faint and trembling;
but, blessed be God, His signature is ever the same, the Holy Ghost Himself!
This authenticates us. Who dare say we do not belong to God; that we are not
Christ’s? It is only of those who have not the Spirit that it can he said, "If
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" (Romans 8:9). But, as
we have seen, the Spirit’s seal is given upon faith in Christ. A beautiful
illustration of this occurs in the Levitical ordinances of the Old Testament. In
the consecration of the priests and in the restoration of the leper, the blood
of sacrifice was put upon ear and hand and foot, marking the whole man as
redeemed (Leviticus 8:23; Leviticus 14:14). After this application of the blood
they were sprinkled with oil — type of the Spirit. Particularly in the case of
the leper, we are told that the oil was put upon ear and hand and foot, upon the
blood. So the Spirit of God seals us because of the blood, the work of Christ.
It is not a matter of personal worthiness or of personal faithfulness, but of
the value of the work of Christ. Have we rested in that? Then we are sealed —
divinely authenticated as belonging to God — by His Spirit. This gives special
meaning and beauty to the words of king Ahasuerus, which I am glad to quote,
because the book of Esther is much neglected by the Lord’s people. "For the
writing which is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s ring may
no man reverse" (Esther 8:8). Think of that, ye trembling saints. Ye are sealed
with the King’s seal, confessed and owned as His. A seal also secured from
molestation. When Darius issued his hasty edict, based on pride, and Daniel came
under its provisions, he could not alter it, for it was signed with his name
(Daniel 6:9). Therefore Daniel had to be cast into the den of lions, and the den
was closed and sealed with the king’s own signet (Daniel 6:17). This was to
guard the den from all molestation, whether by friend or foe. No one could
tamper with Daniel. What a comfort it is to know that we are thus guarded from
all molestation by the presence of God’s seal, the Holy Spirit. Everything that
comes to us is of His permitting; nothing else can touch us. We are a garden
enclosed, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed (Song of Solomon 4:12), for the
Lord’s own use. This thought is carried further in another scripture — the
sealing of the 144,000 of Israel prior to the great tribulation (Revelation
7:1-17). The awful hour of trial was to try the dwellers upon earth. It was to
be a time of trouble such as had never been seen in the earth; these saints were
to be subjected to all manner of persecution, but not a hair of their heads was
to perish, for they were sealed with the seal of the living God.

We, too, have been sealed, and through every form of trial, temptation, assault
— yea, failure — we are kept inviolate. Satan may be permitted to sift us as he
did Job and Peter, but the seal of the living God is the pledge of our being
brought safely through all "unto the praise of His glory."

Once more, the seal was the sign of secrecy. A book sealed could not be opened
and its contents read — as in Revelation 5:1-2; Revelation 10:4; Daniel 12:4;
Daniel 12:9. So also the Lord’s people are, in one sense, a special people. They
are God’s "hidden ones." The apostle writes of them, "Therefore the world
knoweth us not, as it knew Him not" (1 John 3:1). The world thinks it strange
that we "run not with them to the same excess of riot" (1 Peter 4:4). The world
cannot understand the secret of our joy, of our strength, of our growth, of our
separation; for we are sealed, marked as peculiarly belonging to and understood
by our blessed God. Thanks be to Him for His seal. "The Lord knoweth them that
are His." Let us let the world read the other side of that seal (see 2 Timothy
2:19). The seal is, as we have seen, God’s authentication of His people. It is
His side, as it were. In beautiful symmetry, we have our side — the witness of
the Spirit — and with this we close. Sealing is largely for others — for God,
may we say; assurance is for us.

I will scarcely do more than quote several passages of Scripture consecutively,
with little comment, for I think they will carry their meaning home without
words of mine. Turn first to Romans 8:15-16. "For ye have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption,
whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit,
that we are the children (not sons here, as is usual with Paul) of God." The
Spirit bears testimony along with our own spirits. He has begotten us as
children. We are born of the Spirit. He does not leave the child’s feeble voice
alone. We might often be tempted to doubt the testimony of our own renewed
hearts, for the testimony is ofttimes very feeble; sometimes it is but the cry
of the child — "an infant crying in the night, and with no language but a cry."
But the Spirit unites His mighty testimony with the feebleness of ours. He bears
witness with our spirits that we are the children of God, and gives His value to
both testimonies. Can we then doubt? The spirit of bondage to fear has left us,
and in the consciousness of our sonship and as born of God, we turn in the
spirit of adoption to Him, saying in the home language (Hebrew) Abba, that is,
Father. How sweet is that word to the Father’s ears. Do any of you that is a
father ever forget the thrill when you heard your babe’s first lisping of that
word? "Because ye are sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your
hearts, crying Abba, Father" (Galatians 4:5). But the testimony of the Spirit
goes further than the assurance of sonship. Let us read another verse: "Now we
have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God" (1 Corinthians
2:12). Here the full treasure-house of God’s gifts of love are thrown open to
us, and as we in wonder gaze at one and another the Spirit assures us they are
all ours. We know the things that are freely given to us of God; we understand
them, and have the full assurance that they are ours. But how does the Spirit
bear this testimony? A passage in 1 John shows us (1 John 5:7-13) which I will
read from the Revised Version, as giving us what is known to be the true text,
into which some additions have crept in our ordinary versions. "And it is the
Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are
three who bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and the three
agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater:
for this is the witness of God which He hath witnessed concerning His Son: He
that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in him(self): he that
believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he hath not believed in the
witness that God hath borne concerning His Son. And the witness is this, that
God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son
hath the life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life. These
things have I written unto you that ye may know that ye have eternal life, even
unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God."

What a holy, blessed scripture! The witness of the Holy Spirit, the Truth, with
the water, His work in regeneration, and the blood, Christ’s work for us. He
unites His witness to give us complete certainty. We receive human testimony not
half so well authenticated; shall we doubt the witness of the God of truth and
make Him a liar? God hath borne witness concerning His Son, that every one who
believes in Him hath life. The believer has the witness in his own spirit, but
here is the added testimony of the God of truth. He that hath the Son hath the
life. And all this is written in the word of God for our assurance. It is not
left to changing feelings, or dubious experiences, or faltering footsteps, in
the Lord’s path. These could never give assurance. But the living word of the
living God, brought home to the soul by the Holy Spirit — that is the witness of
the Spirit; and that gives assurance.

Thus, beloved brethren, we have traced in a weak and partial way what I have
called the Spirit’s work in salvation, or, if you please, the effectual work of
the Spirit. We have seen it begin in the deep work of conviction of sin,
righteousness and judgment, leading the trembling soul to turn with repentance
and faith to that Saviour whom he had so long despised and rejected. We saw that
this faith marked the new birth of the soul. This new birth we saw to be
characterized by the impartation of a life from God with a sinless nature. We
next saw that every believer received the seal of the Spirit — the pledge and
sample of our inheritance until the day of redemption — God’s mark of ownership,
of protection through all this life, and of separation from the world. We have
just concluded, by dwelling upon the witness of the Spirit to us, that we are
the children of God. May we not take to our homes and wherever we go that sweet
assurance? If there be one doubting believer — strange combination! — will you
not now take up the Spirit’s word, and cry "Abba, Father."

"Father, we commend our spirits To Thy love, in Jesus’ name, Love which His
atoning merits Give us confidence to claim.

Oh how sweet, how real a pleasure Flows from love so full and free!

’Tis a vast exhaustless treasure, Saviour, we possess in Thee! From the world
and its confusion, Here we turn and find our rest, — From its care and its
delusion, Turn to Thee, in whom we’re blest. By the Holy Ghost anointed, May we
do the Father’s will, Walk the path by Him appointed, All His pleasure to
fulfil."

Lecture 3. The Holy Spirit in Sanctification — Indwelling; Communion; Anointing;
Prayer; The Walk in the Spirit.

"O gracious Father! God of Love, We own Thy power to save, — That power by which
the Shepherd rose Victorious o’er the grave.

Him from the dead Thou brought’st again, When, by His sacred blood Confirmed and
sealed for evermore, Th’ eternal cov’nant stood.

O may Thy Spirit guide our souls, And mould them to Thy will, That from Thy
paths we ne’er may stray But keep Thy precepts still. That to the Saviour’s
stature full We nearer still may rise, And all we think, and all we do, Be
pleasing in Thine eyes." Our subject tonight is, "The Holy Spirit in
sanctification," and it will be well for us before entering upon our theme to
note the various uses of the word sanctification in Scripture, and its
significance in connection with what is directly before us.

We will read first a verse from the tenth chapter of Hebrews, Hebrews 10:10 :
"By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all," also Hebrews 10:14 : "For by one offering He hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified." Here, sanctification is declared to
be by the one offering of Christ in death; it is perfect and eternal in its
efficacy. If by "perfect sanctification" this were meant, we would all express
our belief in it; yea, we would as believers in the Lord Jesus claim to be
perfectly sanctified. But evidently this sanctification is outside and not
within ourselves. It is a sanctification by position. We were formerly aliens,
away from God, and under the guilt of all our sins. Through the blood of Christ
our Lord we have been made nigh — taken from our position of distance and set
apart to God as belonging to Him. This is the general theme of Hebrews, together
with priesthood. Thus you have, "He that sanctifieth and they who are
sanctified" (Hebrews 2:11). "For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes
of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh,
how much more shall the blood of Christ, . . . purge your conscience from dead
works to serve the living God?" (Hebrews 9:13-14). So also even the apostate is
spoken of as having been sanctified by the blood of the covenant (chap. 10:29),
that is he was set apart, outwardly in his case, as belonging to a people
connected with the blood of the covenant. The allusion is to the blood of the
first covenant, spoken of in Hebrews 9:19-20. In Exodus 24:8, we see that Moses
did this in connection with the legal covenant; the People engaged to be
obedient. Under grace there is a new covenant and a better sacrifice, even the
precious blood of Christ. It sanctified, or set apart, men to God. Where the
faith was real, the sanctification or setting apart was real; and where it was
mere profession, a dreadful responsibility was incurred. In the Old Testament,
this use of sanctification was constant. Israel was a sanctified people, in the
sense of being set apart as God’s. Even where true grace has wrought, the
sanctification by blood does not refer to its work in us, but for us. Thus the
precious passage: "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin,"
does not refer to inward purity, but to the removal of guilt, so that the soul
is without spot or stain. But we are also said to be sanctified by the Spirit.
Thus, "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through
sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:2). "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit
the Kingdom of God? . . . and such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye
are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the
Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Now these passages, while referring
to sanctification by the Spirit, contemplate new birth, rather than the
subsequent life of the believer. In Peter the work of the Spirit is connected
with, or follows after, the Father’s election. Sanctification, or new birth, is
unto obedience. That is, we are born again — set apart to God by regeneration,
in order that we may now walk in obedience, and it is this that was contemplated
in the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus. As obedient, we are in a position to
enjoy what is meant by sprinkling — the atonement. How many of God’s children do
not enjoy this. So in the passage in 1 Corinthians: "Ye are sanctified," is
evidently the work of new birth, as justification is on the ground of Christ’s
work. Every child of God is sanctified in this way, by the Spirit’s work. The
ordinary designation of believers is, "saints," or sanctified ones. They are
saints by calling, by blood and by new birth. Thrice perfectly sanctified, by
the work of Father, Son, and Spirit. We would not speak of them as saints
because of their walk, because that is not perfect, and is variable in different
persons. They are "sanctified in Christ Jesus."

There is, however, another use of the word sanctification, and that is to
describe the practical daily life. The standard is Christ Himself, and who that
knows Him would say that he had been fully conformed to the Lord’s image? If a
Paul, with his devotedness, love, and apprehension of Christ could say, "Not as
though I had already attained, either were already perfect," how much more
should we. We are perfectly sanctified by the blood of Christ, setting us apart
to God in all its value; perfectly sanctified by new birth, in which we have
received a new and sinless nature. But there is a practical work in us which is
progressive. And this is the work of the Holy Spirit. Such scriptures as the
following contemplate this progressive sanctification: "Of Him are ye in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom — even righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30); "Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word
is truth" (John 17:17). It is with this that we are to be engaged tonight.

I will first call your attention to the truth of the indwelling of the Spirit —
a subject upon which we touched in the first lecture, as being one of the
characteristics of the Spirit’s presence and work during the present
dispensation. It is for us now to go more fully into detail, for in this
indwelling of the Spirit lies all the possibility for practical sanctification.

There is a passage in the Old Testament which is beautifully typical of this
sanctification by the Spirit’s indwelling. "This shall be a continual
burnt-offering . . . at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before
the Lord, where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee. And there I will meet
with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory"
(Exodus 29:42-43).

We have already seen that the cloud or Shekinah, the visible emblem of the
presence of God, was the type of the Holy Spirit. This cloud led them through
the desert, and after the tabernacle was erected, it descended, and filled the
sanctuary. The tabernacle was sanctified, set apart for the service of God, by
this glory. Everything that was inconsistent with that glory was put out, and
the whole house was ordered according to the requirements of the holiness of
God. You will also notice that this glory took up its abode in connection with
the burnt-offering. Christ’s work is the basis of the Spirit’s presence.

Thus the believer, as temple of the Holy Ghost, is sanctified by that presence.
He is marked out as belonging to God, and everything inconsistent with His holy
will should find no place in the heart or life. We see then how the truth of the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit must occupy a prominent place in any consideration
of the subject of His sanctifying work.

Read, if you please, the following: "And I will pray the Father, and He shall
give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever even the Spirit
of truth" (John 14:16-17). We have already considered this indwelling as
contrasted with the visitations of the Spirit in the previous dispensations.
What is for our special attention now, is the permanence of this indwelling: "He
shall abide with you forever." All is stability and permanence in the new era of
reality, for all is based upon a finished redemption and Christ taking His place
on high. The law must be set aside, for it was "weak through the flesh." Its
ceremonies were but shadows of good things to come. Man in the flesh was under
trial, in the sense that he had not been judicially pronounced worthless. But
when Christ died, He not only provided a perfect atonement, but by His death
sentence was pronounced upon the whole human race. Sin in the flesh was
condemned; our old man was crucified with Him, and its worthlessness declared.
Now, "if any man be in Christ there is a new creation, old things are passed
away, behold all things are become new." I do not touch the fact of the presence
of the old nature, and the deeds of the body to be mortified; but there is a new
man, who has life eternal. Everything here is of God, and the Spirit will have
no occasion to leave for there are no conditions upon which He remains, save the
fact of accomplished redemption. Did you ever think of the awful dishonor done
not only to the Spirit of God, but to Christ by the denial of the perpetuity of
this abiding? If the Spirit could leave, after having taken up His abode in us,
it would involve a denial of the work of Christ. His work would have ceased to
avail before God. It would drag Christ from His throne in glory, if the Spirit
could depart from a believer.

It cannot be too clearly understood that this indwelling is not because of
anything in us, either at the beginning, or at any stage of the Christian life.
From first to last, the Spirit dwells with us because of the unchanging value of
the work of Christ. Cease forever to dishonor the value of that work by doubting
the presence of this Holy Person. Your feelings, your faithfulness have nothing
to do with this basic fact. But what holy ground we are upon here! If Solomon
could ask the wondering question: "But will God in very deed dwell with men on
the earth?" when His visible glory filled the temple (2 Chronicles 5:14; 2
Chronicles 6:18), what shall we say when the living God in the person of the
Holy Ghost comes to abide in us? My brethren, I am persuaded we little realize
what this means. If we did, what lowliness would mark us; what abhorrence of
sin, what quickness in the fear of the Lord, and the detection of the most
subtle forms of evil, what reverence. Who can describe the sanctifying effect of
simply a deep realization of the stupendous fact. I can but speak of it, and
pray that all of us may know practically what the consciousness of this abiding
would bring.

Let us turn to another scripture: "Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is
come, He will guide you into all truth; for He shall not speak of (or from)
Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear that shall He speak; and He will show you
things to come. He shall glorify me; for He shall receive of mine, and shall
show it unto you" (John 16:13-14). I do not question that this promise had its
first fulfilment in the inspiration and guidance of the apostles. But to limit
it to this would be to rob us of the preciousness of the greater part of this
discourse. In fact, it is impossible to conceive of this. Fruitfulness and all
else spoken of in the fifteenth and other chapters, surely is not limited to
apostles. This scripture teaches us the character of this indwelling of the
Spirit, how He operates. I will ask you to notice particularly that He works by
the truth. He guides into all truth. God is light, and when He takes up His
abode He must enlighten. "Holiness of truth" is an expression in the epistle to
the Ephesians that suggests how it is secured. It is by the truth; even as our
Lord prayed, "Sanctify them through Thy truth, Thy word is truth."

It is the spirit of man that understands, and this is the highest part of his
being, controlling all the rest. This is God’s order, and when the Spirit
engages in His sanctifying work, it is through the action of truth. You will
notice that again and again; we will return to this fact. Spiritual intelligence
is the very corner stone of piety. The dictum of Rome, "Ignorance is the mother
of devotion," is as far removed from truth as it is possible to conceive. The
lines of teaching as to the Spirit’s work cross and recross, and we will find
that the points of intersection are at truth. The truth of God is embodied in
His word. In that we have the full revelation which He has been pleased to make
of Himself and His counsels, centering in Christ. This is not the time to enter
upon this subject, but I am increasingly convinced of its overwhelming
importance. The word of God — the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments — is
the vehicle of the Holy Spirit, the instrument which He uses. The spiritual
condition of a person may largely be gauged by his estimation of the word of
God. If that be neglected, or thought lightly of, no matter how high the
pretensions, how ecstatic the feelings, how deep apparently the piety, there is
not much true work of the Spirit of God. He ever honors the word of God.

Joshua is a figure of Christ, but we might say of Christ in us by the Spirit,
for he led Israel in person. The Spirit it is who leads us into the practical
enjoyment of our portion in Christ. This portion is described in the word of
God. May we not say that, for faith, the believer’s portion is the word of God?
And is not the constant word of the Spirit "There remaineth very much land to be
possessed"? Ah, what a fulness there is in that Word! Let us not be slothful in
making it our own, under the guiding energy of the Spirit of truth.

"Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free," will be our
connecting link with the next scripture I wish to read. The truth emancipates.
"The law of the Spirit, of life in Christ Jesus, hath made me free from the law
of sin and death" (Romans 8:2). Here we have the emancipating power of the
indwelling Spirit.

You who have studied the epistle to the Romans are aware that this eighth
chapter occurs in the second portion of the book. The first deals with the
question of sins, our actual trespasses, and of our justification from them all
by faith without the deeds of the law, on the ground of the sacrifice of Christ
our Lord. We have peace with God, access to His presence and joy in Him. In the
second portion of the epistle, from the middle of the fifth chapter through the
eighth, you have the subject of sin, the principle of evil which controls the
natural man. As linked with the first Adam, head of a fallen race, we have
inherited a nature alienated from God and prone to corruption. It is also a
blessed fact that we are now linked with a second Man, Head of a new race, and
have life in Him. But here is sin — is it to reign in me? Here is holiness — is
it not for me? The sixth and seventh chapters develop the truth that
emancipates. The cross is the end of me judicially; "Our old man is crucified
with Him that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not
serve sin" (Romans 6:6). Thus we are dead to sin in the death of Christ, and are
to reckon ourselves so, and alive unto God in Christ Jesus. God has put the
stamp of death upon me as part of the old creation, so that faith can now say,
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet no longer I, but Christ
liveth in me" (Galatians 2:20). But this death puts me out of the reach of law,
not only as that which condemns, but as a rule for man in the flesh.

Into the struggles of the seventh chapter I do not enter, beyond stating the
bare fact that so long as the soul seeking holiness turns to the law it finds
the bonds of sin drawn tighter, for "the strength of sin is the law" (1
Corinthians 15:56). The law cannot afford help; sin, by the commandment, becomes
exceeding sinful, but there can come no help from the knowledge of this. The two
natures are recognized, and two laws, but still no deliverance, and "Oh,
wretched man that I am I" is the bitter cry. But the way of escape is seen, and
the life in Christ Jesus is a life of liberty. This we reach in the beginning of
the eighth chapter. Here is freedom; no longer a hopeless, unavailing cry, but
the calm after the storm, and it is the Spirit who has given that deliverance by
the truth. Instead of the law we have the Spirit, and all through the eighth
chapter it is the Spirit. Thus we have deliverance by the Spirit. "Where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

Once more, let us note another feature of this indwelling. "Whosoever drinketh
of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I
shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be
in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:13-14). In
the previous chapter our Lord uses water as a type of the Word — the Word used
by the Spirit — for cleansing the soul. That cleansing is not the "putting away
the filth of the flesh," the reforming of the natural man, for the sow that is
washed returns to her wallowing in the mire. But the cleansing is that of a new
life, a new nature — a new thing entirely, and therefore perfect and complete.

Here, in the interview with the woman of Samaria, the water is used as a type of
the Spirit, but as that which ministers life, and refreshing. "We have been made
to drink into one Spirit." The figure is different, but equally clear, and most
precious. I cannot do better than to trace this figure in the Old Testament, as
seen in Israel’s history. This will enable us to see the beautiful
appropriateness of the figure used by our Lord with this poor sinful woman. But
first let us listen to His words just prior: "Whosoever drinketh of this water
shall thirst again." On every fountain — broken cisterns, are they not? — of
man’s digging we may write these words. No matter where man turns for
refreshment, he fails to find that which can truly quench thirst; pleasure,
reputation, power, wealth — whatever the heart of man craves — can never
satisfy. As in the book of Ecclesiastes, those who have most diligently drawn
water out of these wells have been constrained to confess "vanity of vanities."
Let us as Christians take note of this and refuse that which does not satisfy
even the world. Whom have we, Lord, but Thee, Soul-thirst to satisfy?

Exhaustless spring! the waters free!

All other streams are dry."

You remember that shortly after Israel’s emancipation from Egypt, when scarcely
had the echoes of the song of triumph died out, they had to face the question of
thirst. There was no water in the desert, the very place where without it they
must die. So they murmur and begin to learn something of the trials by the way;
but Marah and Elim teach them some lessons — true refreshment and sustenance
come by way of the cross. But they seem not to have learned this lesson fully
till they come to Rephidim (Exodus 17:1-16). Here the rock is smitten and the
waters flow out. I need hardly point out the lovely type. "That Rock was Christ"
(1 Corinthians 10:4). Christ, smitten of God for our sins, sends forth the Holy
Ghost for our refreshment. The Rock smitten insures safety and the abundant
supply for all our needs in the wilderness, through the Holy Spirit.

We link with this the similar scene in the book of Numbers (Numbers 20:1-29). In
the wilderness of Zin the water fails, and God tells Moses to go out and speak
to the rock. A hasty word, a failure to obey God, a marring of what he intended
to teach us, and Moses shut out of the land — these are the results. But by his
very failure the lesson is simply emphasized. Once the rock was smitten; that is
never needed again. "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many." No
need for that to be repeated, "then must he often have suffered." All that is
necessary ever after is to "speak to the Rock." It is through the ministry of
the Word that Christ is ministered in the refreshing power of the Holy Spirit.

Lastly, near the close of the journey (Numbers 21:16-18), we have the well, of
which God said: "Gather the people together and I will give them water." They
sing a song at this well — "Spring up, O well, sing ye unto it" — for joy and
praise follow the opening up of channels for the Spirit to flow forth. This well
is dug with the staves of the princes — pilgrim wands opening up the refreshing
streams.

Thus the refreshing power of the Spirit all through our life is set forth in the
water. To the woman of Samaria, seeking satisfaction in the pleasures of sin and
the world, He promises not only the gift of a draught of water, but a well
springing up evermore. As in new birth we have the bestowal of life by the
Spirit, so here we have Him dwelling in us, maintaining and developing the life.
In Psalms 110:1-7 it is said of our Lord: "Thou hast the dew of Thy youth." His
vigor and freshness are perennial, eternal. To Ephesus it was said: "Thou hast
left thy first love." They had lost the freshness that marked the early stages
of the divine life in the soul. Of how many, beloved brethren, must this be
said! No outward fall has marred their testimony; they are above reproach, and
in many ways commendably zealous; but there is no "dew." Truth has taken clear
form, doctrines can be distinctly stated, a keen scent for error is present; but
oh, where is that freshness which ever marked our adorable Lord?

Therefore, ere leaving this part of our subject I have dwelt upon this. We have
a well in us, an inexhaustible supply.

"Within us dwells that well from heaven, The Spirit of our God." But as in
Isaac’s day the Philistines choked the wells which his father Abraham had dug,
so now formalism chokes the upspringing of the Spirit, and we lose the
refreshment the blessed Spirit of God would ever give. The Spirit is in us, just
as the water is in the wells, but the stones prevent our getting at it for
practical uses. There is nothing for us but to return to the first love, to dig
again, to open up again the channels for the welling up of the Spirit. God does
not give His Spirit by measure, and if we are straitened it is in ourselves.

Thus we have looked at four features which characterize the indwelling of the
Spirit; first, the permanency of it, "He shall abide with you forever"; second,
the enlightenment of it, "He shall guide you into all truth"; third, the liberty
of it, "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the
law of sin and death"; and lastly, the freshness of it, "a well of water
springing up unto everlasting life." Surely, with such abounding fulness, our
sanctification should be deep and full and complete.

"Lord, ’tis enough we ask no more;

Thy grace around us pours Its rich and unexhausted store, And all its joy is
ours." As I have already said, we will find many of our lines of search
intersecting, and I feel this is especially true of the subject of communion. In
one sense we hardly need devote a special section to it, for it permeates our
entire subject; and yet it is a word of such frequent use, and withal so little
apprehended, that a few words as to it will be in place here.

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the
Holy Ghost be with you all" (2 Corinthians 13:14). "If there be therefore any
consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit .
. . fulfil ye my joy" (Php 2:1-2). Here we have the expression, "communion of
the Spirit," and it evidently has an important significance. The word occurs in
a number of passages through the New Testament, and in various connections. Thus
we have fellowship or communion (the same word in the Greek) of God’s Son, of
His body and blood, of His sufferings; with the Father and His Son. Here
evidently the thought is sharing in the benefits, or in the experiences, or in
the companionship. Similarly we have the same root used in such passages as
"they were partners with Simon," "partakers of the altar," "companions of those
who suffered," "partaker of the glory," "partakers of the divine nature." The
liberality of the saints was called fellowship.

Now the meaning all through is clear and consistent. Communion means sharing or
participating. So the communion of the Holy Spirit means sharing or
participating in His thoughts, affections, purposes. I may sit on the same seat
with a person on a train, riding miles side by side, and yet have no communion,
because we are strangers. Or I may know him to be an ungodly, worldly person,
and therefore have no communion with him, because we have nothing in common. On
the other hand, I may meet a perfect stranger, and in a few minutes find we can
enjoy full communion, because he is a child of God and one who loves His word.
We have a common life and common objects, and that makes communion.

Thus we have life by the Spirit and a common object with the Spirit — Christ; so
we share and participate with Him in our little measure. That I believe to be
the main factor in communion. Many Christians have a very unhealthy, distorted
idea of communion. They think of a dreamy sort of life, elevated far above its
common duties and affairs, the soul in rapt gaze looking heavenward, the body
chiefly prostrate in the attitude of prayer. This thought has peopled the
convents and monasteries with those who thought communion too holy a thing to
come even in outward contact with this world. But even where such extremes are
not reached, how many twist the thought of communion into a certain state of
feeling, or into certain strange and rare experiences. Many would say they have
no time for communion; business or family cares press too much. But how
unhealthy all this! How forced and unnatural! Whereas the communion of the Holy
Spirit is simply sharing in His thoughts. If the word of God engages us, if the
love of Christ attracts us, if the will of God controls us, that is
participation with the blessed Spirit. We are often too much engaged with the
results of communion, rather than the fact. Joy, freedom, exultation — all flow
from communion. The great thing is to be practically sharing with that blessed
One what He is ever ministering to our souls. When we come later to look at the
walk in the Spirit we will look at the practical side of this communion and the
hindrances to it. Let it suffice here to say that there is never any excuse for
the Christian not to be enjoying this communion of the Spirit. The busiest are
not debarred from it, and it is the strength of the weakest. Love is the
atmosphere of communion — the love of God. And this love is shed abroad — poured
out — in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). Let our hearts expand under
the warmth of that infinite, tender love; let them revel in it, be at home in
it; "keep yourselves in the love of God." That is communion. Fear is cast out;
sin can have no place in the life where the love of God is enthroned. Remember,
it is His, not our love. Our next subject is the Anointing of the Spirit, under
which a number of Scriptures demand our consideration. Let us first trace the
Scripture use of the term. I might say, first of all, there are two words, one
in Hebrew and one in Greek, that are the chief words used respectively in the
Old and New Testaments. They are the words of which our terms Messiah and Christ
are the English equivalents. And this will, I think, give us the first great and
prominent thought of anointing. Messiah or Christ means the Anointed One. Other
words are used both in Hebrew and Greek, but they are of secondary prominence,
and, so far as I am aware, are never used in the way we find the others. This
certainly is suggestive.

"Thou shalt take the anointing oil and pour it upon his head and anoint him"
(Exodus 29:7). This is the anointing of Aaron to be high priest. "And thou shalt
take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is therein; and
shalt hallow it and all the vessels thereof, and it shall be holy" (Exodus
40:9). This is the anointing of the tabernacle and all its furniture. The same
was to be done to the altar of burnt offering and the laver to sanctify them.
"Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren:
and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward" (1 Samuel
16:13). Here it is as king he is being anointed. "And Elisha, the son of
Shaphat, shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room" (1 Kings 19:16). This last
is striking as being the only case where the anointing of a prophet is spoken
of. Elisha was a successor to Elijah, and so was to be officially designated. As
a rule there was no successor to a prophet; he was called of God for a specific
purpose, and none could take his place.

These various instances, which are samples of their kind, give us the
significance of anointing. It was setting apart to a specific position or
office. Thus the priest and king were anointed, set apart to their respective
offices. A similar thought lies in the anointing of the tabernacle and its
furniture; it was set apart, sanctified, for the special and exclusive service
of God. Christ is both Priest and King. "He shall sit a priest upon His throne."
Thus doubly does the title Messiah or Christ belong to Him.

Passing to the New Testament, I quote from Acts 10:38 : "God anointed Jesus of
Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good and
healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him." Here we
have not only a definite and official designation of our Lord, but, it is added,
"with power." May not the horn of oil in the anointing of David have suggested
the power? The word for power here is not the one usually to be rendered
"authority," but is the ordinary one for strength or might. Thus our Lord was
not only designated, but qualified, for His work.

Turning now to the saint, we have first a general statement that he is anointed.
"Now He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God"
(2 Corinthians 1:21). This is not apostolic anointing, but, as the term "with
you" shows, common to all saints, as in the next verse. We have nothing definite
here save the significant expression, "stablisheth us with you in Christ." The
connection is suggestive: all in Christ are anointed — officially designated as
His. But there is something more specific in our next quotation "But ye have an
unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things." "But the anointing which ye
have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but
as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie,
and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him" (1 John 2:20; 1 John
2:27). Connected with this unction from the Holy One is the knowledge of all
things. You will observe here a point of intersection with the other lines of
this truth, and it is in connection with the word of God. "He shall guide you
into all truth." Possessing this knowledge, the saint is able to discern error,
and he needs no one to teach him.

I need hardly say this does not refer to Christian teaching. The text has been
abused by some to deny the need of God-given teachers. This is not the thought
at all. But we have received an anointing from God — we need no human teaching,
only divine. Some one comes to you and claims to have discovered some wondrous
truth in Theosophy, Spiritism, Christian Science. You are not to be tempted to
inquire; the unction you have already received teaches you. There is nothing
beyond that.

Notice, too, it is the babe who has this unction. It is no question of
attainment, or even of experience; it is a divine instinct enabling us to detect
and refuse error. We recognize it as not truth, for it does not give us the
Christ of God; therefore we reject it. This anointing abides in us and teaches
us to abide in Christ our Lord.

Gathering up these thoughts, we shall find, at least so far as we have gone, a
distinct meaning of the anointing of the Spirit. For Christ, it was His official
designation for the place to which God had appointed Him, Priest and King, and
his qualification in power for the place. For the saint, it is the distinct
designation, in the gift of the Spirit, that he belongs to God, and a
qualification to live here in separation from all evil. By the fact of my
anointing I am set apart to God. I am His for the service to which He has called
me. The anointing oil is upon me, and abides. Nor is this a mere past, formal
act; but a living Person who guides, teaches, empowers me for everything I meet.
Above all, the Holy One teaches me to abide in Christ, to cleave fast to Him. As
I have said, there are other words, both in Old and New Testaments, translated
"anoint," whose use is also suggestive. We have, for instance, "Thou anointest
my head with oil" (Psalms 23:5). See also 2 Chronicles 28:15, where the captives
of Judah are reclothed, fed and anointed, and then returned to Jericho to their
brethren; Ezekiel 16:9, where God’s adorning of Israel is spoken of. Also Isaiah
61:3, where the "oil of joy" is given instead of mourning, reminding us of the
oil which maketh man’s face to shine. All these and many others are most
suggestive; adornment, honor, joy, are all the results of our having been
anointed by the Spirit. I only suggest a few passages; others will occur to you,
and the concordance will show more. The Holy Oil is upon us, dear brethren, and
we are not our own. I leave the question of service for another time.

There are just three Scriptures as to prayer in connection with the Holy Spirit
that I wish to read. First, however, I will ask if you have ever noticed that
there is no instance in Scripture of prayer to the Spirit. That He is divine, is
God, we saw at the outset; and yet He is never addressed in prayer. Now, there
is a divine reason for this which is clear and beautiful when once you see it.
The Spirit is here; as to His work, He is in us. He forms and guides our
prayers; He is in them, and therefore they are not addressed to Him. Once this
fact is grasped, and we will see the unscripturalness of addressing the Holy
Spirit. He is the one who, as it were, is speaking in us. Let it not be thought
for a moment that this degrades this blessed Holy One. We know He is divine, is
omnipresent. We know when we address God, He is God. But I speak of His
distinctive places and work in this present dispensation. He dwells in the
Church, and in the believer. He is the power for all service, prayer and praise,
but not the object.

Read first, Romans 8:26-27; "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities:
for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself
maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that
searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, that He maketh
intercession for the saints according to God." Christ is our intercessor on
high; "He ever liveth to make intercession for us;" and the Holy Spirit is our
intercessor down here. You have been struck with this double provision. The
gifts of the Spirit, in 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, are in Ephesians 4:1-32 the gifts
of Christ on high. In the first case it is administration; in the latter,
source. In somewhat the same way, Christ is before God maintaining us through
all our journey, in all our weakness. Our great High Priest ever liveth, and, in
the beautiful language of the type, bears His people, graven in the jewels of
His own glory, upon His shoulders of strength and His heart of love. That is the
heavenly side. On earth there are sighs and groans as we feebly and in much
ignorance lift our hearts to God. But there is a mighty intercessor within,
leading us unconsciously to prayer. And our blessed God understands these
inarticulate groanings. Have you ever felt your inability for prayer? Words have
failed, and under the pressure of a groaning creation in which we live you have
been mute. You had no words to frame the deep yearnings of your heart over a
lost world — over a Christless crowd passing on to eternity; or other loads
pressed heavily, and as you have bowed before God there was more groaning than
speaking. Well, beloved, these were doubtless the intercession of the Spirit,
leading you out in prayer beyond yourself, and giving voice in a language
understood by God alone. The Spirit helpeth our infirmities. What a comfort! He
is the helper. The weakest of us can pray with such assistance. And God, who
searches the heart, knows the Spirit’s desires, even if the saints in their
infirmity have not given clear utterance to them. He knows that the Spirit
maketh intercession according to God.

"But ye beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the
Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God" (Jude 1:20-21). Here we have
prayer in the Spirit — in the wisdom and power of the Spirit. In Jude everything
is in ruins; apostasy, the history of which he traces from the fall of the
angels to the present, has set in. False professors, a blot upon the Church,
have crept in — the days of Enoch and of Noah are repeated. In the midst of all
this chaos the saints are to stand firm. Because of the love of many waxing
cold, all the greater need for them to keep themselves built up and established.
In this steadfastness there are four features — building themselves up on their
most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keeping themselves in the love of
God, and looking for the coming of the Lord. Here prayer is a most important
part, but it is prayer in the Holy Ghost. There is all the reality which the
Spirit gives, as well as the intelligence and discernment which He affords and
there is the persistence. If there is to be stability, it must be in the power
of the Spirit of God. All else will fail — human strength and human wisdom all
falter here. But He who has this living link with God perseveres unto the end.
There is a vast difference between formal prayer and praying in the Holy Ghost.
None but those indwelt by the Spirit can truly pray. In Romans our infirmities
were dwelt upon, and the Spirit helping them. In Jude stability was the
prominent thought in view of abounding evil. We reach another stage in Ephesians
6:17-18 : "And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always
with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit." Here it is conflict. The entire
passage gives the familiar picture of the Christian engaged in conflict with the
hosts of evil. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. It is no human adversary
whom we are called to withstand, but Satan and the wicked spirits in heavenly
places. These would rob us of the enjoyment of our portion, either keeping us
from taking possession of it by faith or snatching it from our grasp after we
had laid hold of it. In this conflict there are various weapons of defense, and
one of offense, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word, or saying, of God.
When mention of the word of God is made it is quickly followed by prayer, for
the two go together. You remember, in the "Pilgrim’s Progress," how, in an
apparently hopeless conflict with Apollyon, Christian betakes himself to a
weapon called "all-prayer," and the enemy is forced to take his flight. Ah,
brethren, if we are to be victors in this unequal contest, it is in the power of
the Spirit. There must be dependence and prayer. Coupled with it is watching and
intercession for all saints. It is only in the power of the Spirit that we can
thus fight or pray. Left to ourselves, we would fall an easy prey to this mighty
foe. But thank God that in the very time of greatest weakness the Spirit leads
out our hearts in believing prayer.

Prayer in the Spirit! Do we pray thus? Are our seasons of private prayer, or
public, under the particular guidance and power and faith of the Spirit of God?
How little true prayer there is, and yet how many words! The Lord stir us up to
know this three-fold blessedness of prayer in the Spirit, our infirmities
helped, our faith established, and our courage emboldened to take fast hold of
the living God, while we use the sword of the Spirit. The last division of our
subject tonight will be the walk in the Spirit, under which we may gather some
of the fragments which have been thus far overlooked or neglected. The walk in
the Spirit is what characterizes the Christian, and is in contrast with the walk
in the flesh. "They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh,
and they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit." Broadly, we may
say every Christian is marked thus. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ —
that is, not the disposition of Christ, but the Holy Spirit given to the
believer — he is none of His. The remainder of the eighth chapter is devoted to
the walk in the power of the Spirit. The body is dead because of sin. It has
been the servant of sin, and its natural appetites have been followed; the body
is now looked upon as a dead thing whose appetites and lusts are no longer to be
provided for. We are to mortify — put to death — the deeds of the body. On the
other hand, we have a living principle within. "The Spirit is life because of
righteousness." There is a new nature controlling the spirit, the highest part
of man, and the result is a practical walk in righteousness. Moreover, the Holy
Spirit dwelling in us is the pledge of the renovation of the body. It will be
raised up at the Lord’s coming, or, should we be living, changed and so
conformed to His blessed likeness. What a triumph of grace! Our poor bodies,
with the proofs of the fall upon them, will be redeemed from the bondage of
corruption, and along with a groaning creation be brought into the liberty of
the glory of the children of God.

Meanwhile we are led of the Spirit, have the witness of the Spirit, can pray in
the Spirit, and are quietly waiting for that hope — the coming of our Lord.
Whatever our ignorance may be, we know that all things work together for our
good. Yea, we can look back into the past eternity and link our predestined
conformation to the image of His Son, with its actual accomplishment in glory
yet to come. And between these we have the love of Christ, from which nothing
can separate us. Such, beloved brethren, is a meagre glimpse at this wondrous
8th of Romans. Blessed be God for such a pathway of liberty until we behold the
face of Him who loves us. From what we have been dwelling upon you will rightly
conclude that the walk of the child of God should be, so far as sin is
concerned, one uninterrupted progress from strength to strength. The pathway of
the just is as the bright light which shineth more and more unto the perfect
day. Such, indeed, is the provision of grace, and such in some measure is the
experience of His people. Alas! we must turn for a little from this brightness
to inquire why it is not always thus with all His saints.

Recurring to a passage we were considering under the subject of new birth —
"that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit
is Spirit" — we find that the impartation of the new nature does not obliterate
the old. To be sure, we are known by our new nature — the old man is crucified;
but there is the presence of the flesh, which is incapable of alteration.

One of the great mistakes made by the saints is this effort to sanctify the
flesh. The apostle goes into it in Colossians 2:1-23 : "If ye be dead with
Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are
ye subject to ordinances . . after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which
things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship, and humility and neglecting
of the body (not in a certain honor), to the satisfaction of the flesh." Such is
the rendering of a very correct version,* and it affords a most striking
illustration of the result of all efforts to improve the flesh. All keeping of
ordinances — "touch not, taste not, handle not" — are satisfying to the flesh.

{*New Version of the New Testament, by J. N. Darby.}

We can make the flesh moral — we can even make it religious — but we cannot make
it please God. Thus the seeker after holiness in the flesh may starve or mortify
his body and merely please the flesh — puff himself up with pride. "They that
are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts" (Galatians
5:24). A crucified thing is not to be bettered or sanctified. We are, on the
contrary, to abstain — hold off — from fleshly lusts that war against the soul
(1 Peter 2:11). To strive against it is but to repeat the hopeless struggle of
the seventh of Romans. The only remedy is the walk in the Spirit, with the flesh
in its true place — "no confidence in the flesh." But through carelessness we
fail to "mortify the deeds of the body;" we give room to the flesh, and even
make provision for it to fulfil its lust. As a result, the Holy Spirit is
grieved. Mark, he is not grieved away — that could never be; but He can no
longer occupy us with our Lord; He must occupy us with our failures. You will
notice that grieving the Spirit is connected particularly (Ephesians 4:30) with
those forms of fleshly indulgence most common among Christians — malice, strife,
bitterness, an unforgiving spirit. Ah, upon how many has the sun gone down in
this wrath! — their day of communion exchanged for the night of a grieved
Spirit. Other and grosser forms of fleshly indulgence are specified, but any,
even the slightest yielding to that, grieves the Holy Spirit of God. And what a
mercy it is that this is the case. How many a child of God has been brought to
himself by the consciousness of having grieved the Spirit. His peace is gone,
his communion has ceased, he is miserable until he judges the evil, confesses
and forsakes it. Instead of going on in carelessness, only to fall deeper and
deeper into sin, he is made to feel the seriousness of that which blocks the
intercourse between the Spirit and himself.

It is as though a guest in our house were compelled, because of some insult, to
keep to his own room and avoid intercourse with the family. He remains in the
house, but he cannot enjoy the unhindered fellowship there was prior to the
cause of estrangement, until all has been judged and confessed. Doubtless none
of us realize how often we have grieved the Spirit by our careless ways, and
correspondingly have hindered the communion we otherwise would have enjoyed; and
perhaps we still less realize how much we owe to the patient faithfulness of
that Holy One in showing by His grief where we have drifted. But think, beloved
brethren, of that word "grieve." Is not the grief of Christ our Lord over our
sin sufficient? "The Lord hath put Him to grief" when He bore our sins. Is it
possible that we should now cause pain to the blessed Spirit of God? Oh, how it
should make us hate and abhor all forms of sin!

I do not dwell here upon the full provision of our blessed Advocate with the
Father, and of the feet-washing — removing the hindrances to communion by the
action of His word. Here doubtless we have the work of the Spirit in applying
the word to heart and conscience. The sin is judged, confession made, and joy is
restored.

There is one remark to make, however: That is a poor kind of Christian life made
up of perpetual failures and restorations. How abhorrent the thought that
grieving the Spirit is a necessity! How dreadful to hear it spoken of without
regret or shame! God keep us all from spiritual hardness. No, dear brethren, a
walk in the Spirit does not mean a grieving of the Spirit.

I do not think I can do better in this connection than to read the passage
applying to this from Galatians 5:16-25 : "This I say, then, walk in the Spirit
and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against
the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to
the other; so that ye cannot (rather, may not) do the things that ye would. But
if ye be led of the Spirit ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh
are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such
like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that
they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they
that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we
live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."

We all know that since the fall the ground produces thorns and briars, and many
are the expedients that have been resorted to to get rid of them. Experience has
taught the farmer that there is but one way to do this. He may plow and harrow,
but for every root he breaks two plants will grow up, and his field will become
a briar patch. Let him instead sow the field with grass seed, and as the grass
grows up it will drive out the briars. This is overcoming evil with good. It is
also equivalent to the walk in the Spirit. Let the positive things of Christ
fill the heart; let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, and we will have
little room and less inclination for the lusts of the flesh. May our gracious
God lead us into the liberty and joy of these things.

I am quite aware that what I have said on the Spirit for sanctification will
seem very incomplete and unsatisfactory for those who believe that there is a
certain definite experience through which a saint passes into a wondrous life of
enlarged liberty. Now, I have said that there is such a fact as deliverance by
the law of the Spirit of life in Christ. But this is not sufficient for many.
They claim, with more or less objectionable statements, that something is
necessary on the part of the believer, and that is usually defined as a full
surrender. Let the believer make the surrender, and he will experience the
blessedness of the new life. Such terms as "a baptism of the Spirit," "the
second blessing," "higher life," "perfect love," "perfect sanctification," "a
Spirit-filled life," have been applied to this experience, but under whatever
name it is an experience, and it is made dependent upon the surrender of self,
as it is called.

Now, while I do not doubt that many a child of God has received distinct and
marked blessings at certain stages of his life, I believe it is a great mistake
to construct a theory out of it. Many a devoted Christian has enjoyed the
liberty of the Spirit under some such name as I have indicated above. But,
notice: It occupies us with self instead of Christ. It may be a very lovely
self, but self-occupation never helps the soul. It begets a subtle pride. There
must be a fresh, daily feeding upon the manna. Again, it tends to divide God’s
people into classes; some have experienced the blessing and others have not.
Now, while it is perfectly true that there are various stages of maturity in the
Christian life, and while Scripture speaks of "fathers, young men, and children"
(1 John 2:1-29), yet it is not in this way of attainment. People do not set
themselves to be fathers, etc. It is matter of growth. Further, I am convinced
that surrender is not what God calls for first, nor in this connection. You will
find that where these systems call for surrender, God’s word puts the cross.

Ah, beloved, it is not a surrendered self, but a crucified self that the Spirit
of God fills and uses. The sixth of Romans comes before the twelfth. In the
latter we have the surrender, but it is not to get, or to attain; it is because
he has entered into what is his; he has accepted the precious and wondrous fact
of his death with Christ, and of the Spirit’s presence and power. A crucified
man has no experience to speak of. To him Christ is all. How different — how
radically different from every form of sanctification that devout minds have
ever devised! With this I close. Keep the cross before you, dear brethren. Let
us ever say with the apostle, "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." Not surrender, but death — an accomplished death — in the person of
Christ. Thus we pass dry-shod, as the type has it, out of the Egypt of bondage
to sin, into the Canaan of the liberty of the Spirit. And still with the sense
of all the wondrous fulness of blessing in Christ, we will say with the same
dear servant of Christ we have just quoted, "Not as though I had already
attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may
apprehend that for which I was apprehended of Christ Jesus."

"To me to live is Christ."

"Saviour, we long to follow Thee.

Daily Thy cross to bear, And count all else, whate’er it be, Unworthy of our
care.

We are not now our own, but Thine, The purchase of Thy blood, And made, by grace
and love divine, The sons and heirs of God.

Thy Spirit, too, the present seal Of all the Father’s love, Dwells in our souls
and does reveal, The glorious rest above.

Thy life is now beyond the grave; Our souls Thou hast set free;

Life, strength, and grace in Thee we have, For we are one with Thee.

O teach us so the pow’r to know Of risen life with Thee; Not we may live while
here below, But Christ our life may be."

Lecture 4. The Holy Spirit in the Church — Baptism of the Spirit; Unity of the
Spirit; Gifts of the Spirit; Worship by the Spirit.

"O Jesus, Lord, ’tis joy to know Thy path is o’er of shame and woe, For us so
meekly trod:

All finished is Thy work of toil, Thou reapest now the fruit and spoil, Exalted
by our God.

Thy holy head, once bound with thorns, The crown of glory now adorns;

Thy seat, the Father’s throne:

O Lord, e’en now we sing Thy praise, Ours the eternal song to raise —

Worthy the Lord alone! As Head for us Thou sittest there, Until Thy members too
shall share In all Thou dost receive:

Thy glory and Thy royal throne Thy boundless love has made our own, Who in Thy
name believe.

We triumph in Thy triumphs, Lord;

Thy joys our deepest joys afford, The fruit of love divine.

While sorrowing, suff’ring, toiling here, How does the thought our spirits
cheer, The throne of glory’s Thine."

Unlike the subjects which have in the past two lectures occupied us — the
Spirit’s work in the individual — we come tonight to look at His work
corporately, in the Church as a whole. I may be allowed to make one or two
preliminary remarks. It is a sad fact that selfishness creeps into everything
with which we have to do. Even spiritual concerns are not exempt from this. So
it is by no means an uncommon thing to find Christians taking a deep interest in
the Spirit’s work in them individually, and yet apparently unconcerned in His
work corporately. And yet one consideration should waken every Christian heart
to the keenest interest in the line of truth now before us. It concerns Christ’s
glory, it occupies His thoughts and His heart. Could there be a stronger
inducement to lay aside any want of concern we may have had in this matter, and
to search the word of God with the desire and purpose to seek His truth as to
His Church, and to walk in that truth? If we approach the subject in this way,
without prejudice and indifference, we will find help, I am assured. Our subject
is, "The Spirit in the Church," and I desire first to put before you, as briefly
as may be, such scriptures as will enable us to have a distinct conception of
what the Church is. Vagueness here will mean vagueness and uncertainty all
through. I will give these scriptures exclusively from one brief epistle, that
to the Ephesians, thus showing how the Spirit of God has brought these truths
together.

"And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all
things to the Church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in
all" (Ephesians 1:22-23), In the verses just preceding, our Lord had been set
forth as quickened and raised up from the grave, and then placed at God’s right
hand, "far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every
name that is named." It is Christ glorified, after redemption has been
accomplished through His death, that is given as Head to the Church which is His
Body. Here we have the beginning marked, for the body could not exist without a
Head, and Christ was made Head of the Church when He was glorified. We will find
this confirmed when we come to the baptism of the Spirit. I merely mention it
now. In answering the question, What is the Church, we turn to a glorified
Christ at God’s right hand and say, There is the Head. The Church is His body,
the fulness, or complement of Him who in His divine being fills all things.
Think of the link here: how complete, how intimate. We shall find it is so
intimate that in one place at least (1 Corinthians 12:12) Christ and His Church
are spoken of under one name, "So also is Christ." It reminds us of that
expression in the book of Genesis, where speaking of the creation of the man and
the woman, we read, God "called them Adam." But if the Church is thus linked
with Christ, it partakes of His life in resurrection, it is a part — reverently
be it spoken — of Himself, in the sense that its place, portion and destiny as
well as life, are indissolubly linked with His. "Because I live ye shall live
also." We will speak more of the Body under the baptism of the Spirit, so I
leave it for a time and quote another scripture.

"Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ,
which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now
revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles
should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in
Christ by the gospel. . . . And to make all men see what is the fellowship (or
dispensation) of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been
hid in God" (Ephesians 3:4-9). Here we are expressly told that what the apostle
had received was a mystery, a secret of the heart of God. Particularly we are to
understand that it had never been revealed in other ages, in Old Testament
times. The prophets here spoken of are not Isaiah and the rest, but the New
Testament prophets; for as you notice they are mentioned after, and not before,
the apostles. Besides, the connection shows the same thing.

Now what is this wondrous secret which God had reserved till the consummation of
the ages? The passage shows us clearly: "That the Gentiles should be
fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise by the gospel."
This is the Mystery. Old Testament prophets had foretold the time when the
Gentiles should receive blessing at the hands of Israel, when "from Mount Zion
should go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." But Old
Testament prophets say not a word as to what we have here — a joint-body and
fellow-heirs, Jews and Gentiles absolutely united and identified and marked out
for a heavenly, not an earthly inheritance.* Here then is the setting aside, for
the time, of Israel, and the introduction of an entirely new thing. Let this be
clearly grasped, or the Church will not be seen.

{*For a full treatment of this subject, the reader is referred to a paper by the
late Richard Holden, entitled, "The Mystery"; to be had of the publishers.}

It is in beautiful accord with what we have already seen, that the chosen vessel
to reveal this mystery should be the apostle Paul. The very manner of his
conversion gave a suggestion of the entire character of his ministry. It was
Christ in glory who appeared to him in the noontide of his enmity and
persecution. Christ the glorified Head of the Church called to this bitter
enemy, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me." Thus at the very moment of his
awakening Paul learned two things; that Jesus was glorified, and that His people
were in some marked way identified with Him. Those familiar with Paul’s
subsequent history, and his writings, know how this revelation on the road to
Damascus colored his entire after life. But how is this new thing formed?
Judaism had existed from the establishment of the nation and the giving of the
law. The very constitution of that nation was based upon a complete separation
from the Gentiles. The Passover, the national feast celebrating redemption, was
exclusive. "No stranger shall eat of it." The possession of the land, the
inheritance promised, necessitated the destruction of the nations occupying it.
The whole after-history of the nation is largely a record of their failure to
maintain this absolute separation. Any league was absolutely forbidden by the
law. All the ordinances emphasized this isolation. The Gentiles were "the
uncircumcised"; to associate with them was defilement. The bitterest humiliation
to Israel was subjection to a foreign power; their lasting shame was the
Babylonian captivity and subsequent Gentile domination, and their brightest
hopes were centered about the overthrow of the Gentile, breaking his yoke, and
the establishment of the nation in its former glory, as in the days of Solomon.

Now, all this separation was not a human, but a divine, "middle wall of
partition." Doubtless prejudice and hatred, never contemplated in the law, came
in, for the pride of the natural heart is only too prone to cherish such things.
But, apart from all this, Judaism was as distinct and separate from everything
Gentile, and that by divine ordinance, as it is possible to conceive. On the
other hand, words fail to describe the state of the Gentile; ignorance of God,
gross idolatry, and the grossest moral corruption formed the very fibre of his
being. The first chapter of Romans paints the picture in all its blackness, but
none too black for the truth. Read the Roman satirists for a description of the
moral state of the mistress of the world; study Greek and other mythologies to
see whither man’s religion led him, and you will see that words fail to describe
a state which was the common character of the Gentile world. But the cross comes
in. Jew and Gentile are alike under sin, the Jew with and the Gentile without
law. Let us read another passage from Ephesians, — Ephesians 2:13-17 : "But now
in Christ Jesus ye (Gentiles) who sometime were far off, are made nigh by the
blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken
down the middle wall of partition; having abolished in His flesh the enmity,
even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself of
twain one new man, so making peace; and that He might reconcile both (Jew and
Gentile) unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby and
came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh."
This remarkable passage confirms what we have just been seeing. The Gentiles
were afar off, without God and without hope in the world. The Jews were, in
point of privilege, nigh. "For what nation is there so great, who hath God so
nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him for?"
(Deuteronomy 4:7.) The law of commandments contained in ordinances was the
witness of the separation — the enmity — existing between Jew and Gentile. So
long as they stood in the flesh they were alienated, and rightly, by this law.
But the Jew could not boast, for he needed the death of Christ as much as the
Gentile. Grace has reconciled both Jew and Gentile by the cross, that witness of
all men’s sin, and slain an enmity of sin which separated from God, as well as
an enmity by nature with one another. They are reconciled, not merely to one
another, but to God, by the cross; and peace is proclaimed alike to Jew, near,
and Gentile, afar off.

You notice two expressions, "one new man," and "in one body." The "one new man"
is doubtless the new creation in Christ, "where there is neither Jew nor Greek."
If any man be in Christ there is new creation; old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). The cross has swept
away the natural man, with natural distinctions, in God’s sight, and left
nothing but a new creation, where "Christ is all." Further, this reconciliation
is in one body," the Church. Jew and Gentile are both in the new man, and thus
the one body is formed. All else is set aside by the cross. You will see the
bearing of all this a little later. But I must ask you to notice the clearness
and beauty of these wondrous scriptures. Surely we can have no question as to
what the Church is.

I will ask you to look at two more scriptures in Ephesians, which will, I think,
complete the thought of the Church, as there presented. "And ye are built upon
the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the
chief corner-stone, in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto
a holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation
of God through the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:20-22). The "body" suggests the link of
life with the risen Lord, and the grace that has so united us. It also suggests
the vehicle for the activities of divine love. The "house" is looked at, in the
passage I have quoted, in two ways. It is built upon the foundation, fitly
framed together and growing unto a holy temple in the Lord. It is not yet
completed, but will in the glory form this habitation. But it is also spoken of
as a present building and a present habitation of God through the Spirit. In
this aspect of the Church we have, I think, the side of order, government,
discipline the holiness that becometh God’s house. Thus the Church is not only
the body of Christ, but the habitation of God. What privilege! What
responsibility!

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church and gave
Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the Word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having
spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without
blemish" (Ephesians 5:25-27; also Ephesians 5:28-32). Here we have the
affections of Christ brought out, and the Church is looked at as His wife.
First, He gave Himself for her, and at last He will present her to Himself a
glorious Church. The type will then be fulfilled of Adam and Eve. The allusion
to this is so evident that I merely refer to it and pass on. In heaven the
Church will be displayed as the bride, the Lamb’s wife, and this marks the close
of the Church period. She will be complete when the Lord comes, for then she
will be forever united to Him in glory.

Thus we have seen the Church as body, house and bride. What varied
relationships! What a privilege to be a member of that Church! If you have taken
in the truths of these passages we have been considering, you have some
knowledge, at least, of what the Church is. This should be sufficient, and one
shrinks from descending from these delightful themes to answer a few of the
misconceptions as to the Church. These I will consider very briefly under the
question, What the Church is not.* It is not, and we have already seen why,
Israel in any way. Certain scriptures have been used to teach this, and I will
refer you to one or two. With the proper

{*For a full treatment of this and other related questions the reader is
referred to a book understanding, it will be seen that they are in perfect
accord with all that we have had before us. entitled "The Lord’s Coming, Israel
and the Church," by T. B. Baines.} The ordinary teaching is that God’s Church is
one in all ages; that it began with Abraham and continues through the present
dispensation and the Millennium, including every saved soul to the last. It is
said that the Jewish church was in a broken and fragmentary condition when our
Lord came to earth, but that he repaired and re-established it upon the firm
basis of atonement. In proof of this the following scripture is cited, being
itself a quotation from the prophet Amos: "After this I will return, and will
build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down, and I will build
again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: that the residue of men might
seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon whom My name is called, saith the
Lord, who doeth all these things" (Acts 15:16-17). This scripture occurs in the
account of the meeting at Jerusalem regarding the effort made to compel Gentile
converts to keep the law. This was rejected absolutely by the assembly. It was
shown that even under the law and in the prophets God had purposes of blessing
for the Gentiles. The passage quoted from Amos illustrates this. But the passage
most clearly refers to the restoration of the Jewish nation under the reign of a
king of the house of David. In other words, it looks forward to the Millennium,
when the "Gentiles shall come to Thy light." But you find not only here, but in
various places throughout the Acts, things looked at from a Jewish standpoint.
As has been frequently noticed, the Acts is not a history of the Church as such,
but of the transition from Judaism into Christianity. God patiently waited upon
and pleaded with His beloved earthly people. Then, too, when we remember that
this decision was reached at Jerusalem — it was before the destruction of the
city — we will see the consistency of looking at everything from that
standpoint. James is simply showing that the Gentiles have a place in the
purposes of God’s grace, and must not be debarred from that grace by the law. He
does not quote this scripture to prove that the tabernacle of David had been
rebuilt — unquestionably it is not yet rebuilt — but to show that Gentiles come
within the blessed purposes of God’s grace. In other words, the Church is not
alluded to in the passage. The same largely applies to the entire book of Acts.

Considerable use is made of another passage, from Romans, — Romans 11:16-24, the
olive tree and its branches. From this it is argued that the olive tree is the
Church, the natural branches are Jews, and the wild ones Gentiles. But notice
how such handling of God’s word obscures all true understanding of Scripture.
Are true members of the body of Christ broken off? and in turn is the position
of others only conditional upon their faithfulness? So also all that we have
been learning from Ephesians would be destroyed or annulled. But how simple it
all is when we see not the Church, but the privileges of grace. The olive tree
is the line of privilege throughout the world’s history. This began with
Abraham, was continued in his successors, who, however, were "broken off"
because of their unbelief, and has now passed on to Christendom, with multitudes
of Gentiles enjoying the privileges to which they had been previously strangers.
All is clear. The Church is not touched, but profession and responsibility are.
Unfaithful Christendom will be "broken off," and repentant Israel be again
restored. In concluding (for we must hasten to our main theme), I will put side
by side two scriptures that give us the destiny respectively of Israel and of
the Church. Their absolute unlikeness will surely convince any that Israel and
the Church are as distinct in the mind and ways of God as it is possible to
conceive. For Israel: "And it shall come to pass in the last days that the
mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains,
and shall be exalted above the hills; and all the nations shall flow unto it.
And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of
the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways,
and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the
word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall
rebuke many peoples: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their
spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more" (Isaiah 2:2-4). For the Church: "And
there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the
seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, and I will show
thee the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great
and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending
out of heaven from God, having the glory of God; and her light was like unto a
stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. . . . And I saw
no temple therein; for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
And the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for
the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof" (Revelation
21:9-11; Revelation 21:22-23).

Such is the destiny of the Church — heavenly glory with Christ. It is for us now
to trace the wondrous organism of that Church, in particular connection with our
general theme — the Holy Spirit.

We begin with the Baptism of the Spirit. You will remember that in speaking of
two characteristic features of the Spirit’s work in Christianity we took baptism
and indwelling. Indwelling has already occupied us; it now remains to consider
baptism.

I think you will find, in taking up the teaching of Scripture upon the subject
of baptism, that it nearly always, if not entirely, signifies introduction into
a place. "They were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea" (1
Corinthians 10:2); that is, they were brought out fully into relationship with
Moses as their leader, and the cloud and sea marked this connection. It was in
contrast with their previous servitude to Pharaoh. So with all other baptisms.
John’s was not, as many may think, Christian baptism at all, but the badge of
discipleship for those who heard and bowed to his message. They owned their sin
and their desert of death, and in token of it were buried by baptism. Thus they
were marked as John’s disciples (John 4:1). They were not Christians, for they
knew not Christ, but their baptism with water set forth discipleship to John, as
penitents who bowed to the sentence of death. Acts 19:1-6 shows this was not
Christian baptism, for it was repeated, upon the confession of faith in Christ.
But we have water baptism in connection with Christianity. No candid and
impartial person who reads intelligently the book of Acts, together with the
frequent references throughout the epistles, could fail to see that water
baptism has a distinct place in the Christian economy. I quote a sample text
from the Acts. "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the
same day there were added about three thousand souls" (Acts 2:41). These were
Jews. Later, at Samaria, Philippi and wherever the gospel was received, Gentile
converts received water baptism also. You see, this baptism was the badge of
discipleship. It marked the new position they occupied of avowed allegiance to
our Lord. They were therefore baptized in or unto His name, unto Him.

Coming now to baptism of the Spirit, we have simply passed from the realm of
profession to the sphere of reality. "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into
one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have
been all made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:13). Here the baptism
of the Spirit marks our introduction, or, I should better say, effects it, into
one body, the Church of which we have been speaking. It has not put us into
profession, but into the real Body.

It is the greatest mistake to think of water baptism as putting us into the
Church. How could water, dear friends — mere water — put us into a divine
position? How empty are the claims of ritualism here! But do not many who abhor
ritualism fall into the very same error by claiming that baptism introduces into
the Church? Closely connected with this is a similar expression — joining the
Church. This is equally unscriptural. Do you think God has left the momentous
question of membership in the Church of Christ to the voluntary choice of the
young believer? Absolutely impossible.

But, it will be said, we only mean that they should unite with some one of the
many branches of the Church of Christ. Pardon me, beloved brethren, where in
Scripture do we find such a thought? Where is there provision for many branches
of the Church, save, indeed, as each believer is an individual branch? Now, I am
not playing upon words when I say that Scripture does not ask or provide for a
voluntary joining the Church. Ah, no! God joins us by His Spirit: "He that is
joined to the Lord is one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:17). The moment one believes
upon the Lord Jesus he receives the Spirit, and by that very fact is united to
the Church, the body of Christ. Thus he is joined — united — to the Lord. How
unlike God it would be to leave to the new-born soul anything so momentous as
membership in the Church. But it will still be pressed, that the new convert is
expected to select some church — some body of Christians — and "unite with the
church of his choice." This will occupy us later. I merely ask the question now,
how does it happen that there are these various churches, and what about the
Church of God’s choice? Is not membership in that enough?

Baptism by the Spirit, then, is universal for all saints. It is immediate upon
believing. In Acts 2:47 we have it in connection with Jews. "And the Lord added
— and this was His manner of adding, as the thirty-eighth verse of the same
chapter indicates — to the Church* daily such as should be saved." Cornelius
furnishes an example from the Gentiles, "And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost
fell on them, as on us at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord,
how that He said, John indeed baptized with water but ye shall be baptized with
the Holy Ghost" (Acts 11:15-16).

{*I retain this clause with strong support from MSS., as it evidently is the
meaning, even if we read with other MSS. "added together."}

"Into one Body." We have already seen how this is the characteristic name of the
Church. "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of
your calling" (Ephesians 4:4). Here the unity of the Body, the Church is
associated on the one hand with the One Spirit who has formed it, and on the
other with the one hope — the heavenly glory to which it is destined. The entire
chapter, 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, should be read as showing the relation of the
Spirit to the Body. Next to its unity, is the diversity of its members and their
mutual dependence the one upon the other. Each member has its own function, and
how clear it is that each individual is here contemplated. None is so
insignificant as to be omitted, and each has his place in the Body according to
the sovereign will of the Spirit of God. The more uncomely parts are more
essential, and upon them greater care has to be bestowed. A man protects his
lungs carefully, while his face is exposed to the air. Sickness in one member
means sickness of the body. I do not say, if my lungs or my heart are affected,
that this or that special organ is sick, but I am sick. So, if "one member
suffer, all the members suffer with it." The body is the vehicle, we might
almost say, for the spirit. So the Church as the body of Christ is the vehicle,
— may we not say? — for the activities of Christ. He uses the Church, through
the indwelling Spirit, to perform His work in the world, to represent Him. "As
My Father sent Me into the world so send I you into the world." It is through
His members that the Lord acts in saving souls, in building up saints and
nourishing and caring for His Church.

There are three ways of looking at membership in the Body; as linked with
Christ, "we are members of His body" (Ephesians 5:30); as linked with all
saints, "we are members one of another" (Romans 12:5); as individuals, "we are
members in particular" (1 Corinthians 12:27). Here we have three lines of truth:
connection with Christ, with one another, and individual responsibility.

Every believer is a member of this Body, as we have already seen. There is but
one Church — the body of Christ. What awful presumption then to hear persons
speaking of this or that organization, even if composed of Christian people, as
the Church. Every saint on earth is a member of the Church, and it is nothing
but the worst kind of sinful pride to exclude a single one, in our thoughts of
the Church.

Thus we see that the baptism of the Spirit means His putting us, when we have
believed, into the company of all saints, uniting us to Christ, and giving us
our individual place in that one Body. Do you, dear brethren, desire any other
church membership?

We come next to the unity of the Spirit, closely connected with what we have
been already saying of the unity of the body, but distinct from it. I quote the
expression from Scripture: "Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:3). It is by the Spirit that the reality of divine
things is brought home to us. Without Him all the precious facts as to the
Church the body of Christ, with its various members and their functions, would
be meaningless and inoperative. Thus, the unity of the Body is a divine fact,
but without the unity of the Spirit, it would have no power in our lives, and
there would be no testimony to its truth.

There is a practical unity produced by the Holy Spirit among the people of God.
This is when He is permitted to impress the truth of the one body upon us, and
to lead us to act in accordance with divine principles. Thus all saints are
members of the one Body; no one can question that, no one can undo it. But when
we ask Are all saints keeping the unity of the Spirit? our sorrowful answer must
be, How few. With most, alas! what concerns the glory of our Lord, and practical
obedience in carrying out His will, has little weight. They seem never to have
realized that Christ has a Church on earth, established upon principles of His
truth and ordered according to His will revealed in His word. As a result they
are incapable of entering into the unity of the Spirit. As in the days of the
Judges, every one does that which is right in his own eyes. Is it not a fact
that ecclesiastical disobedience is lightly thought of? I mean, a disregard of
the truths of God’s word as to His Church. The conscience of the saints is
shocked, and rightly so, at any moral delinquency, any lapse into fleshly ways,
measured by ordinary standards. But are we equally shocked by a deliberate and
persistent ignoring of the unity of the Spirit? That blessed One bears patient
witness to the oneness of the Church; its heavenly, separate character; its
divinely provided order; and saints of God establish churches, devise order, and
choose methods according to their own devising. Is that an endeavor to keep the
unity of the Spirit? But let us take a scriptural example.

"God is faithful, by whom ye were called into the fellowship of His Son Jesus
Christ our Lord. Now I beseech you brethren by the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among
you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same
judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which
are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say,
that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas;
and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye
baptized in the name of Paul?" (1 Corinthians 1:9-13.)

Now here is an instance of failure to keep the unity of the Spirit. Let us look
at it with some care. In the first place, in writing to the assembly at Corinth
as representing the entire Church, the apostle uses unequivocal language as to
its oneness. "Unto the Church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are
sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place
call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours." That is, the
Church of God is one, composed of all who are in Christ, saints by their calling
— including all such in every place.

Next, he dwells, at the beginning of the passage we have quoted, upon the
faithfulness of God, by whom they had been called into this holy fellowship, and
who would preserve them unto the end. This is a great comfort in the midst of
the abounding unfaithfulness of man — God never fails. But this only brings out
into more glaring relief man’s unfaithfulness. The apostle had learned, from
credible source, that a sad state of contention existed among them, and that so
far from keeping the unity of the Spirit, by being perfectly joined together in
the same mind and judgment, division threatened. So that he was compelled to
entreat them, by the One Name common to all saints, that such a state be brought
to an end.

He then goes into details. Corinth, and all Greek cities where philosophy had
sway, was familiar with various schools of thought, each with its special
leader, and his followers, who would say, "I am of this one, and I of that." Now
the saints had transferred this human state of things into the Church of Christ,
and were arraying themselves under certain leaders, thus forming parties and
sects. Whether they made use of the honored names of Paul, Apollos, and Cephas —
against their will and without their knowledge — or whether the apostle added
these names by way of illustration, does not affect the point. From 1
Corinthians 4:6, it would seem that he had simply transferred the application to
himself and Apollos, as examples. The real party leaders were not named — but
the principle was held up for examination in the apostles themselves, "that ye
might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one
of you be puffed up for one against another." The lesson is thus made all the
clearer. No one could question the devotedness of Paul, Apollos, and Cephas. If
forming schools and sects with such worthy names was wrong, then all
sectarianism was wrong. When we come then to examine sectarianism, we set aside
as already evidently evil, all party-making resulting from envy, jealousy and
other petty worldly causes. Such things are, alas, not uncommon, but all would
condemn them at once. But many will say that it is wrong to class all
sectarianism with spite and quarrels, and with this I agree.

Paul was called and peculiarly gifted of God to unfold the truths of
Christianity. No one familiar with his epistles can fail to see this. Doctrines
abound throughout all his writings. He was thus the great doctrinal teacher.

Apollos was a man of fervent and devout spirit. He was "an eloquent man and
mighty in the Scriptures" (Acts 18:24). Instead of his bodily presence being
weak and his speech contemptible, he was a most convincing preacher. Further,
from what we are told of his work, he watered, that is confirmed and
established, those newly converted. He was thus a most valuable man.

Cephas, or Peter, stands for church order and pastoral work. He was commissioned
thrice to tend and feed the lambs and sheep of Christ’s flock. To him, not
exclusively, had been committed the keys of the Kingdom of heaven. He thus
stands for order and administration.

Now all three of these are divine provision for the Church. It needs teaching
and instruction; it needs awakening and establishing; it needs care and
shepherding. We can, however, knowing the natural heart of man, understand how
certain minds would be more engaged with doctrines, others with the activities
of service, and still others with order and government. But suppose the one who
is much engaged with doctrine begins to despise the others; and the one who is
devout and earnest speaks contemptuously of doctrine; and the follower of order
becomes such a stickler for it that he can see nothing else. What will be the
result? "I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ." Even
Christ’s holy name would be made a shibboleth. Is not this the history, largely,
of the sectarianism of the present day? As I said, I do not charge the baser
motives, of envy and strife — but simply the forcing of any one side of divine
truth to the exclusion of all else. Suppose a company of Christians set
themselves so exclusively to the study of doctrine, that they not only neglected
service and order, but actually excluded all who did not act as themselves.
Would they not be a sect? And suppose they draw up a most scriptural statement
of doctrine and compelled all to sign that creed; would they not be a sect? What
other creed do we need beside the word of God? Is it not gross dishonor to the
word of God to prepare a substitute for it, intimating that its statements are
not sufficiently clear cut, or definite? In like manner could not an
evangelistic revival be made the basis of a sectarian movement? Everything that
would not bend to the methods of work, or that sought to turn saints to the
study of Scripture as well as to seeking for souls, would be resented and
stigmatized as "not according to us," and therefore a division must result. So
also church order might be unduly pressed to the exclusion of all else. Thus the
good that God has given, might result — shall I not say has? — in the abuses we
see about us, the multitudinous divisions of Christendom. Do I speak of what is
unknown to you? Are not your own hearts burdened with what is our common sorrow
and shame? What Christian will seek to defend sectarianism? I am simply, beloved
brethren, speaking of what we all deplore. I call it by its scriptural name — a
failure to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. As to remedies, I
know of but one — obedience to the word of God. Beloved and honored saints have
sought, and are seeking, to devise a basis of union upon which all saints may
come together. Any would agree to a union on the basis of their own creed or
church party; some have suggested a temporary union, a sort of yearly laying
aside differences and meeting on the broad basis of evangelical Christianity.
But why once a year? if right, why not permanently? Church unions,
undenominational societies, — these simply accentuate the sad fact; Christians
are divided, else there would be no need to talk of uniting. Let us rather,
beloved brethren, cut at the root of it all, by forsaking what is not according
to the word of God, and in this endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit, we
will find God is ever as good as His word. Our Lord’s wish that we might be one,
will be realized, and the world will be constrained to own the truth.

You will bear me witness that I speak in love and in no spirit of criticism.
These things are too sad to find fault about, and who of us is blameless? It is
rather for us to pray one for another, that this precious unity of the Spirit
may be understood and kept.

Need I say there is no thought either of the salvation or of the personal
devotedness of beloved saints who have ignored this truth? Far, far be such a
thought. As a matter of fact the vast bulk of the Church is involved, and
salvation rests, thank God, upon the solid Rock, Christ Himself. Multitudes by
their devotedness and piety would put to shame others more intelligent, and yet
with all their piety and devotedness they seem to take no interest in this most
important subject. Why, oh why is this? We have failed to realize the unity of
the Spirit — hence these carnal divisions. But we leave this part of our
subject, simply entreating you if you have heretofore neglected it, to take it
up with the prayerful desire to know and do God’s will in this as in all else.
What glory to the Lord and what happiness to your own hearts would result, even
if it were a cross.

We come now to the gifts of the Spirit, which opens up another most instructive
and important subject, demanding our careful attention. "Now there are
diversities of gifts but the same Spirit . . …for to one is given, by the
Spirit, the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge, by the same
Spirit; to another faith, by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing,
by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to
another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another
interpretation of tongues: but all these worketh that one and the self-same
Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will" (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). The
remainder of the chapter, particularly the last few verses, is also helpful
here; while we have a similar enumeration in Ephesians 4:8-16. There, the gifts
are those of the Lord from on high, "He ascended on high and gave gifts unto
men"; here, they are bestowed and operated through the Spirit, the Lord’s
executive upon earth.

There is also this difference, that in Ephesians the enumeration of gifts
includes what we may call the ordinary work of gathering in and building up
souls, while in Corinthians we have the miraculous element as well. This is in
keeping with the operations of the Spirit, who is sovereign and works as and
where He sees the necessity. On the other hand the Lord has bestowed the gifts
which are of permanent value for the edification of the Church. In this same
epistle (1 Corinthians 14:1-40) we are told that the gift of tongues is not for
ordinary use, but as a special sign. The same is true, I doubt not, with the
other supernatural gifts, of miracles and healing. They are the sign-gifts for
the special authentication of the messenger. I do not dwell, therefore, at
length upon these sign-gifts, not only for the reason already stated, as to
their being more particularly connected with the founding of Christianity, but
because they, as distinct signs of divine approval, would ill accord with the
present state of division in the Church. God cannot authenticate what is
contrary to His will; and while I do not doubt He meets faith in the individual,
and even heals the sick in answer to the prayer of faith, I do not judge that
Scripture warrants us to look for these special manifestations in a day of ruin
and declension like this. And who of us would desire it? Do you covet, beloved
brethren, a gift of tongues, or of working miracles? Do you not rather long for
a fuller knowledge of the truth of God and greater wisdom and power in declaring
it? God’s truth abides, and the upbuilding of souls on their most holy faith and
the care for Christ’s beloved sheep is of more permanent value than the most
marvelous sign-gifts, good and needful as those are in their place. The gifts of
the Spirit, then, which more directly concern us are those enumerated in
Ephesians: "He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists;
and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting the saints to the work of the
ministry, for the edifying the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-12). Here again
the apostles and prophets have done their work in laying the foundation
(Ephesians 2:20). We have, too, their inspired writings with us. This leaves the
normal gifts of the Spirit for ministry classified under the general heads of
evangelists, pastors and teachers. The evangelist gathers in souls from the
world by the preaching of the gospel; the pastor looks after the lambs and sheep
of Christ’s flock, and the teacher unfolds the word of God for their
instruction.

There is also what I may dwell upon more fully at another time — the ordinary
gift of prophesy — the gift of speaking a word in due season, answering to
exhortation. Indeed, the gifts are enumerated in even a less formal way in
Romans 12:6-8, where the different gifts of teaching, exhorting, ruling, giving
and others are distinguished in a beautifully simple manner.

These, then, are the activities produced in the various members of the Body of
Christ by the Holy Spirit, dividing to each severally as He will. All have
different gifts — different endowments of the Spirit. Another lovely passage
occurs in the fourth of Ephesians, where we have each joint and band of the body
serving as a link to carry blessing and edification from Christ, the Head, thus
making increase of the Body unto the edification of itself in love.

You may not be gifted as a public speaker — comparatively few are — nor would a
multiplicity of public speakers be for the profit of the Church. But that is
only one channel of service. Who can enumerate the countless varieties of
Christian activity? We serve unconsciously when we are holding the Head.
Recurring to a former quotation, you may have noticed a slight variation from
the ordinary version, "for the perfecting of the saints to the work of the
ministry." So Ephesians 4:12 should be rendered in accordance with the change of
preposition. The general gifts of a more public character are for the purpose of
perfecting or preparing saints for their work. Thus the evangelist, when used of
God in the salvation of a soul, has by that very act prepared another channel of
gospel testimony; the pastor, in caring for a sheep of Christ is preparing that
one in his turn to exercise care; the teacher who unfolds God’s word is putting
the key into other hands, who will pass on the precious things to still others.
What a beautiful scene of activity, all actuated and controlled by the blessed
Spirit of God, and love, the very bond of perfectness, knitting saint to saint.

I desire to connect with this a passage from I Peter which shows the authority
for all ministry. "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the
same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man
speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it
as of the ability which God giveth; that God in all things may be glorified
through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 4:10-11). Now, here the possession of the gift is
the authority for its use. To have the gift is to be a steward with the
responsibility for its faithful use. You know what was said to the man who hid
the talent in a napkin. Possession entitles — nay, commands — me to use what has
been committed to me. This applies not only to the ordinary ministry of the
Word, as oracles of God speaking with conviction, but of all kinds of service.
As with Paul, every one of us can say "Woe unto me !" if I fulfil not the
service entrusted to me. When we remember who has endowed us, who dwells in us
and in the Church — the blessed Spirit of God — we see the reason for this. He,
the sovereign Administrator, is present, in full charge, endowing, sending forth
and sustaining His instruments for service. What more do we need?

Let us now place alongside of this the ordinarily accepted theory of ministerial
ordination. I begin by the full admission that the apostles and their
representatives ordained elders. Acts gives us several instances of this
ordination, and Titus 1:3 and 1 Timothy 3:1-16 furnish instruction as to it. But
let me state that I do not know of a single passage where ministry of the Word
was attended by ordination. Nowhere do we find an evangelist, a pastor or a
teacher ordained as such. This is most clear and most important, for the modern
idea is that these are the very men to be ordained.

Ordination applied only to rule. It was an apostolic act conferring, by divine
direction, special authority of oversight and rule upon elder men in the various
assemblies. This was connected, let it be always remembered, with the
prerogative of an apostle. In one sense they are right who claim no true
ordination without apostolic succession. The difficulty is, who and where are
the successors of the apostles? Rome claims lineal descent from Peter, and
insists that all that was committed to him is now hers to administer through the
pope. I do not enter into the blasphemy of their claim for the pope. Peter
himself was never the "vicar of Christ." The Holy Ghost is the only vicar of
Christ, and it comes perilously near blasphemy against Him for any one to
arrogate to himself such a title. But Rome is consistent in so far as she claims
that apostolic authority alone can ordain. And, as a matter of fact, every one
who pleads for ordination unconsciously makes the same claim. For what is
ordination but derived authority? One man receives his authority from his
predecessor, he in turn from the one who preceded him, and so on back to —
where? Most certainly the only established succession is through Rome. Do you
covet the authorization of the woman upon the scarlet-colored beast?

It matters not whether this succession comes through individual bishops or
through presbyteries, the principle remains the same. Ordination and succession
are indissolubly linked. More than this, man’s ordination is a flagrant denial
of the precious fact we are considering. The Holy Spirit, a living divine
person, dwells in and presides over the Church of Christ. He especially inspired
apostles for the work of establishing assemblies. Who now is going to claim
apostolic authority?

Oh, when we think of His sovereign will, His mighty power exercised in
selecting, calling, equipping, sending forth and sustaining a servant of Christ
in His ministry, and then think of man putting his approval upon this by
ordination! Is it not solemn? The moment you put man, no matter how able and
gifted, between the Spirit of God and the Church, you deny the great fact of
Christianity — the presence of the Spirit in the Church. The greater always
approves what is done by the lesser, but this would be to make man approve what
the Spirit does. But let me be careful to say that I am not here raising the
question of personal piety and devotedness in those who exercise the
prerogatives of ordination. Without doubt there are many consecrated men who
firmly believe they are carrying out the will of God in perpetuating this system
— men who could well command our respect and admiration for their zeal and
piety. This is not a personal matter; it is far higher than that. Is the blessed
Spirit of God to be ignored and set aside under the plea that many godly men
have failed to see the truth?

I know, too, that the plea of "regularity" and "order" will be raised; but,
again, is God the author of confusion? Can the Spirit not be trusted to maintain
the dignity of God’s house, in which He dwells? Ah! beloved brethren, unbelief
lies at the root of most of this human arrangement. David’s new cart and Uzzah’s
restraining hand were well-meant devices to secure the orderly procession of the
ark to its place, but they did not secure what they were intended for. Let us
trust more implicitly — let us prove our gracious God — and we will ever find
the presence of His Spirit a blessed reality. But I take up the last phase of
what we shall speak of at this time — the Spirit in connection with the worship
of the Church. Of individual worship I do not now speak, though it is closely
connected with corporate worship. The Spirit of adoption, of prayer, of joy, is
surely the Spirit of praise, whether in the individual or in the company of
saints. There are five features of worship to which I wish briefly to call your
attention — the place of worship, the power for worship, the manner of worship,
the material for worship, and the time for worship. Let it be remembered that
special reference is not to the individual, but to the Church.

"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest, by the blood of
Jesus, by a new and living way which He has consecrated for us, through the
veil, that is to say, His flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God;
let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith" (Hebrews
10:19-22). The epistle to the Hebrews is, as you know, chiefly devoted to
bringing out the contrast between the Jewish and Christian economies. Under the
law there was a class priesthood and a worldly sanctuary. We have just seen that
a special class of men with special prerogatives is unthought of in
Christianity; so also is the thought of a special sanctuary. Now Christ is the
substitute for the Aaronic priesthood. What takes the place of the temple? Let
the same epistle answer. "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made
with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to
appear in the presence of God for us" (Hebrews 9:24). In the passage previously
quoted it is declared that we have boldness to enter into the holiest, that is,
into heaven. But we are upon earth; how can we enter into the holiest? It is by
the power of the Spirit of God, who has come down and makes real for faith all
that Christ has secured for us. But what a priceless boon is this! Boldness to
enter into a place of worship whither Christ has gone for us — to enter into the
presence of God by the Holy Spirit ! Yes, such is the happy privilege of every
saint.

Now, let us put this fact alongside the thought of the vast majority of the
Lord’s beloved people. I dismiss the superstition of Rome and its imitators in
ritualism who profess to believe that God indeed dwells in their buildings made
with hands, and who, in wretched consistency, have their altars and perpetual
fires — yea, and sacrifices. I say we dismiss all that as unworthy the
consideration of a sober-minded Christian. But what is the ordinary thought
about the place of worship? Is it not in some sense the house of God? Is it not
consecrated, and is it not more or less sacrilege to use it for any other
purpose? I say not a word about neatness and comfort, but if there is not
something peculiarly sacred in the building, why this resemblance to Rome in the
architecture? Why this constant reference to the place of worship? Is it in
accord with the divine fact that our place of worship is by the Spirit of God in
the very sanctuary? Do we need anything to accentuate that fact, and, if so, is
it to be adornment and reminders of an earthly sanctuary? Does all this sound
forced? Ah! brethren, what is the tendency of all this church architecture? Does
it make us more heavenly? Does it suit our pilgrim profession? Does it impress
the world that we go to the holiest for worship? The beauties that attract us
are seen by the eye of faith alone, and they are the glories of a sanctuary
which no human hand has built. Let nothing mar our thought of that. Let the
places where we assemble for worship be simple and unpretentious and which can
in no way convey the impression that there is such a thing as an earthly
sanctuary.

What is the power for worship? "We are the circumcision who worship by the
Spirit of God" (Php 3:3, R.V.). "God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must
worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). You remember that our Lord in
this memorable conversation with the poor, sinful Samaritan woman set aside both
"this mountain" (Gerizim) and Jerusalem as places of worship. In their place he
put nothing of earth; only spirit and truth was to mark all worship — it was to
be according to the nature of God. This connects, therefore, with what we have
already said as to the place of worship.

Now, the Spirit not only introduces us into the heavenly sanctuary by faith, but
He is Himself the power for all worship. We worship by the Spirit of God. In
Judaism, under the law, there was an elaborate ritual, with minutely prescribed
forms. All this has been set aside. The one sacrifice of Christ has forever
displaced the many offerings of the law, and in place of incense, priestly
robes, timbrels, harps, and all manner of instruments, we have the Holy Spirit
as the power for all our worship, which is in spirit — not form — and truth.

Need I enumerate how much this displaces? If we say everything of the flesh, it
will surely not be too strong. Does not every Christian feel sad at the thought
of unsaved, worldly persons, who spend the week in singing at places of worldly
amusement, coming and for hire leading the praises of saints? Can Pharaoh or his
hosts assist Israel in celebrating a deliverance to which they must be
strangers? But, along with such glaring abuse, much else will fail to stand the
test of divine truth. I do not specify — God forbid that I should hold up these
things which are our common sorrow. Fain would I weep over all this ignoring of
the blessed One who is patiently waiting to lead on our praises without help
from the flesh. Your own conscience can make further application. Let us pray
for one another, that we may know more of this worship by the Spirit of God. As
to the manner of worship, time forbids scarcely more than the quotation of a
single verse, which, however, is quite clear enough: "How is it, then, brethren?
When ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a
tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto
edifying" (1 Corinthians 14:26). The entire chapter is devoted to the spiritual
manifestations and operations in the assembly. Incidentally, as we might say,
the subject of worship and the manner of it is brought in. No mention is made of
one presiding. Everything is left free for the Spirit of God to use whom He
will. If there is no provision for ordaining a special class of men for
ministry, still less is there for worship. We are all priests — a holy and a
royal priesthood. For one or several persons to preside at the worship of an
assembly of saints is to lose sight of the ever sufficient presence of the
blessed Spirit. We need not fear confusion. If faith and obedience are tested,
that is always well and who that has tasted the sweetness of simply letting the
Spirit lead our praises through whomsoever He will, would return to the
constraint of using but one man, no matter how gifted and devoted, under the
plea of order? Do not all Christians feel the need of liberty for the Spirit,
and are not meetings "thrown open" just because of this felt need? Why should
any meeting of an assembly of saints be "closed"? I say nothing of a meeting
which an individual teaches or evangelist may call on his own responsibility at
that, of course, he must preside to give out his message. But when the assembly
meets, none but the Spirit of God should be free to use whomsoever He may
please. He gathers the saints, not to worship under human leadership, but to
offer their own worship in the holiest.

I do not exactly like the expression "material for worship," and yet it will not
be misunderstood. Under the law, the material for worship was the sacrifice. Now
the sacrifice has been once offered, and all that we can render is the fruit of
our lips, confessing the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I quote a Scripture
which I believe to be the guide here, furnishing us with the center around which
worship clings, and from which it radiates: "The cup of blessing which we bless,
is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it
not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread (or
loaf) and one body, for we are all partakers of that one loaf" (1 Corinthians
10:16-17). Just as all Israel’s feasts of joy centered around the sacrifice, so
do all ours around the memorial of our Lord’s one finished sacrifice. The Lord’s
Supper is not the "means of grace" we would selfishly make of it, though most
blessedly does it ripen and mature the Christian character when rightly entered
into; nor is it in any sense the sacrifice ritualism would make of it. But it is
the only feast of Christianity. We have set before us the emblems of our Lord’s
death, and as we recall that death we have Him before us — His person, His love,
His grace — all the infinite fulness of Himself. As we thus dwell upon Him, led
of the Spirit of God, praise finds its impulse and ascends as a sweet savor of
Christ unto God.

Thus the Lord’s Supper furnishes, if we may so speak, the material for worship.
I do not limit that worship, but do claim, according to Scripture, that it
should have the commanding place. Is it not unscriptural to relegate it to a
secondary place, after the morning sermon? Does not this grieve the Holy Spirit,
who would ever make Christ first?

One word must suffice as to the time of worship. Here again I speak only of what
is characteristic. "And upon the first day of the week, when they came together
to break bread" (Acts 20:7). Here was an apostle, yet they came together, not
primarily to hear him, but to break bread. It was on the first day of the week,
their usual time for thus remembering the Lord. It is no inference, but a simple
statement that they met on the first day of the week to break bread. In other
words, the weekly worship of the saints of God clusters around the Lord’s table.
Here is no room for superstition. Its frequency (every week) does not — cannot —
make it common, for where the Spirit of God leads there must be perennial
freshness. Thus He would make Christ chief, and on the day that recalls His
resurrection would lead out our hearts in happiest praise. Ah, brethren, do not
think it is in a spirit of pride or consciousness that I speak thus. But oh!
that the Lord’s precious people entered into these things more fully! What joy,
what power — above all, what honor to Him would result!

I have now gone over our assigned subject in its various departments. How
fragmentary and incomplete it is, I well know. But I commend to your prayerful
study this entire subject of the Spirit in the Church. We are fellow Christians,
members of one Body, indwelt by one Spirit; we are taught of God to love one
another and to mind the same things. Let a common purpose animate us. Let us
more than ever before seek the Lord’s mind as to these things. Surely He would
lead us and bless us. May it be so indeed!*

{*For more extended examination of the entire subject of the Church, the reader
is referred to "Present Things," by F. W. Grant, and "Outlines of Scripture
Doctrine as to the Assembly," by S. Ridout.} "The holiest we enter In perfect
peace with God, Through whom we found our centre In Jesus and His blood:

Though great may be our dullness In thought and word and deed, We glory in the
fulness Of Him that meets our need.

Much incense is ascending Before th’ eternal throne;

God graciously is bending To hear each feeble groan; To all our prayers and
praises Christ adds His sweet perfume, And Love the censer raises, These odors
to consume.

O God, we come with singing, Because Thy great High-Priest Our names to Thee is
bringing, Nor e’er forgets the least: For us He wears the mitre, Where
"Holiness" shines bright For us His robes are whiter Than heaven’s unsullied
light."

Lecture 5. The Holy Spirit for Power — Filled with the Spirit; Confession;
Boldness; Guidance; Ministry.

"Love divine, all praise excelling, Joy of heaven, to earth come down!

Bless us with Thy rich indwelling, All Thy faithful mercies crown!

Saviour, Thee we’d still be blessing, Serve Thee here, as soon above, Praise
Thee, Saviour, without ceasing, Glory in Thy dying love.

First-fruits of Thy new creation —

Faithful, holy, may we be, Joyful in Thy full salvation, More and more conformed
to Thee!

Changed from glory into glory, Till in heaven we take our place, Then to worship
and adore Thee, Lost in wonder, love, and praise!" The subject which occupied us
two evenings ago was the Spirit in sanctification, and on the last evening it
was the Spirit in the Church. In these we considered the Spirit’s work in the
individual and in the entire body of believers respectively. We were more
particularly engaged with what was subjective in both. Tonight we take an
outward look; it is the outflow of divine life that is before us, and whether in
individual or Church it is of the greatest importance. What are we — what is all
knowledge without power? In all probability, the first conception man has of God
is that He is a Being of power. Even the heathen, though they early lost sight
of His holiness and truth retained, and in a sense do still, the sense of His
power. When God revealed Himself to Abraham it was as "El Shaddai" God Almighty
— even before the meaning of His Covenant name, Jehovah, was made known (Exodus
6:3). Thus power was one of the first attributes of God revealed, and with every
fresh revelation of Himself, there will be a fresh manifestation of His power.
God’s power reaches out, as it were, and lays hold of man.

We will, as has been our custom throughout, present little else but the
Scriptures upon this subject, simply linking them together with a few words of
explanation. For what can speak more clearly than the pure word of God itself?
We will first speak of the Spirit for power, then for guidance, and lastly a
little as to ministry.

There are four general heads under which I will collect the Scriptures as to
power: The promise of power in the gift of the Spirit; filling with the Spirit
for power; the manner of His working; and the conditions upon which we are to
have this fulness.

First, as to the promise of power. "And, behold, I send the promise of My Father
upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power
from on high" (Luke 24:49). Similarly, "But ye shall receive power, after that
the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the
earth" (Acts 1:8). In these two passages we have the distinct promise of our
Lord, after His resurrection, that the disciples should receive the Spirit,
promise of the Father, and should thus be endued with power from on high, which
would enable them to be witnesses, bearers of the gospel, first in Jerusalem and
then in ever widening circles until they reached the uttermost ends of the
earth. They were to tarry at Jerusalem until they received this power. And we
know they did this, continuing in expectant prayer from the time of our Lord’s
ascension until the day of Pentecost; and the power came in connection with the
promised gift of the Spirit.

Perhaps I had better here speak of this tarrying. Many earnest seekers for power
have taken it as the example for us now, and have practised and taught that we
should tarry, waiting on God for a distinct enduement from on high. With many
this is even confounded with the baptism of the Spirit, sealing and all the
rest; while some who are clear enough as to there being but one baptism for the
believer, so soon as he accepts Christ, still think that there is a special
outpouring of power for the waiting, praying saint. Far be it from me, dear
brethren, to cast a slight upon faith and prayer. God forbid. And without
question God does answer the sincere prayers of His people, even when not
intelligently offered. But our object is to get clear and scriptural conceptions
of the truth, which will surely help and not hinder faith and prayer. Are we
warranted then by this scripture in expecting a definite and well-known
enduement in answer to distinct waiting and prayer for it? The answer seems most
clear and simple. What were they waiting for? not power primarily, but the
descent of the Holy Spirit, and with Him came power and all else. Now we have
seen abundantly that the Spirit has come from heaven once for all; that He comes
to every believer, once for all, sealing, baptizing, indwelling. What then are
we to tarry for and pray for? not surely for that Spirit whom we already have.
Prayer and waiting always have their place, but not in connection with the gift
of the Spirit, nor can this passage be used in the way mentioned. But to return
to our main theme. The power was promised by our Lord, and they were to wait for
it. I quote a few scriptures to show how fully He fulfilled His promise — merely
indicating the presence of the power. "Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this?
or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had
made this man to walk?" (Acts 3:12). "And when they had set them in the midst,
they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?" (Acts 4:7).
Peter and John had found a poor crippled beggar — lame from birth — laid at the
beautiful gate of the temple. What a striking picture of the helplessness of the
law to deliver man. Here under the very shadow of the temple, with all its
gorgeous adornment and splendid ritual, lay a man helpless from birth. He begs;
how can he give that which the law demands? But power comes to him through these
two men. He is delivered from his helplessness, and walking, leaping, and
praising God, in the ecstasy of a newly found blessing, he enters into the place
of worship. Surely a power had been put forth, and all the people had to
acknowledge it. Even the priests were compelled to recognize the fact, and ask
“by what power," and, as though fearing to speak the Name — "by what name have
ye done this?" Here, then, is the promised power shown in the miracle, but that
was only a type of delivering power from sin and all else. Nor was this confined
to a few. All might not work miracles, but all had divine power for the work for
which they were used.

I mention but one other verse in this connection, merely dwelling now upon the
fact that power was characteristic of the new work, by the Spirit. "And Stephen,
full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. . . .
And they (the opposing Jews) were not able to resist the wisdom and spirit by
which he spake" (Acts 6:8; Acts 6:10). Here both in extraordinary work, and in
the usual testimony of the truth, we see the power vouchsafed. May we not truly
say that power was the mark of all that time? Of Stephen it was said that he was
full of faith and power; it is also said that he was full of faith and of the
Holy Ghost (Acts 6:5), and thus we can take up the subject of filling with the
Spirit for power. This is an expression of frequent use in connection with the
Holy Spirit, and it will be of much interest to trace it through some of the New
Testament Scriptures. There are three or more effects of this filling: we have
filling for service, filling for joy, and filling for testimony. I do not mean
that these are mutually exclusive, on the contrary they are closely linked
together, but each of these features is prominent in certain scriptures.

"For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine
nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his
mother’s womb" (Luke 1:15). This is said of John the Baptist. Now we know he was
not in the Church, but the forerunner of our Lord. He was not sealed with the
Spirit nor baptized by the Spirit, but he was filled with the Spirit. Filling
has to do with power and service, and John was endowed for his service from
earliest childhood.

"And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan and was led by the
Spirit into the wilderness" (Luke 4:1). It is not ordinarily remembered that our
blessed Lord was filled with the Spirit for service — in some sense as His
people have to be. It becomes us to tread with unshod feet when we come near the
person of our holy Lord; but if we speak reverently, we will be helped by a
clearer understanding of His perfections. "The Word was God." Our blessed
Saviour was eternally divine, the Son of God, equal with the Father in glory,
power and being. He was, and is "God over all blessed forever." Then He was also
Man. "The Word became flesh." He was conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost.
Thus His human nature was due to the direct act of the Holy Spirit. In type this
is seen in the meat-offering, where the fine flour was mingled with oil. (See
Leviticus 2:4, etc.) But when the meat-offering was baked, prepared for man’s
use, it was also anointed with oil. This typifies His anointing by the Spirit
and preparation for His public ministry. In the thirty years of retirement at
Nazareth, our Lord was the perfect One, truly and absolutely the Father’s
delight; but when He came forth to serve, the Spirit was sent, not only as the
seal of approval upon Him for what He had been during His retirement, but to
empower Him for His special ministry. Our blessed Lord’s life we must remember,
was one of perfect dependence; He did not use His divine prerogatives directly,
but did all by the Spirit of God who filled Him. Thus we read, "how God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power; who went about doing good"
(Acts 10:38). Thus our blessed Lord was filled with the Spirit for service. Of
Stephen we have already spoken. He was a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost
(Acts 6:3; Acts 6:8). But I want you to notice the service for which Stephen was
thus fitted by the filling of the Spirit. The poor of the flock needed to be
fed, not alone with the bread of life, but with bodily food as well. Now it is
freely conceded that all spiritual service must be rendered through the Spirit’s
power. And in the churches, the spiritual office-bearers are selected for their
piety and general devotedness. But when it comes to what are termed temporal
affairs, the same care is not taken. In these things any person of good moral
character, though he may not be a professing Christian, is encouraged to take
part. If he has good business capacity, that is the main qualification.

First of all, let us remember that God never accepts the services of an unsaved
man. Until he bows to the grace and love of God and accepts the free gift of
salvation, he cannot render any service in any connection. There is no such
thing as "temporal affairs" in the Church of Christ. All things are sacred. What
an object lesson! A man must be filled with the Spirit rightly to minister to
the necessities of the saints. Let us remember this. At the close of his brief
career, we are again told that Stephen was full of the Holy Ghost. It was after
his fearless arraignment of the Jews, and their conviction of resisting the Holy
Ghost, that we read, "But he being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly
into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of
God" (Acts 7:55). The Spirit opened his eyes to heavenly glories, and while the
stones were crushing the life out of his body he beholds Jesus in the glory and
soon departs to be with Him. But I have referred to this as linking together, by
this one term, the lowliest service and the highest glories. He was filled with
the Spirit for attending upon the widows; he was full of the Holy Ghost as he
gazed upon Jesus in glory. Well do we know it was all one in the eyes of our
blessed Master who said, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of
them, ye have done it unto Me." In the same way we have Barnabas spoken of: "He
was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost, and much people was added unto the
Lord" (Acts 11:24). This is the result of the ministry of a man full of the
Spirit. Power is exhibited in results, and one may be coldly accurate without a
particle of spiritual strength, and no blessing resulting from constant labor.
The reason is evident: for believers to be added to the Lord, the servant must,
in some measure at least, be full of the Spirit. Thus we have three instances of
the fulness of the Spirit for service, and our blessed Lord’s which I had rather
speak of singly, though He humbled Himself to take the servant’s place, and like
His servants, engaged in His Father’s work in the power of the Spirit of God.

We have next several scriptures where being filled with the Spirit is connected
with joy and praise. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: and she spake
out with a loud voice and said, Blessed art thou among women" (Luke 1:41).
Similarly, at the close of the chapter we read, "And his father Zacharias was
filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied saying, Blessed be the Lord God of
Israel" (Luke 1:67). Here again we have as you notice, filling with the Spirit
before Pentecost, showing how distinct it is from sealing and baptism. In the
cases of Elizabeth and Zacharias it was evidently similar to prophesy; indeed it
is said of Zacharias that he prophesied. It was a special visitation of the
Spirit, endowing them for the time with the faculty of expressing their joy and
praise in inspired language. This emphasizes what we have already seen as to the
filling. There was something special which gave occasion to it, as appears from
nearly all the scriptures we shall examine. In a few cases we have the word
"full" of the Spirit, but in most it is "filled." The difference seems to be
this: "full of the Spirit" indicates the habitual state of soul — one constantly
controlled by the Spirit, as our blessed Lord, and in their measure Stephen and
Barnabas. "Filled with the Spirit" is very frequently, as I have already said,
for some special service, prophesy, or testimony. I do not think that the
opposite to "filled" is necessarily "empty." For instance, as we shall see
presently, the apostles were filled again and again. It would not be a fair
inference to think that in the interval they were in a lower spiritual state,
but that special power was given as special emergencies arose.

Returning for a moment to Zacharias and Elizabeth, how beautiful it is to see
this outburst of praise, under the impulse of the Spirit of God. It was upon the
occasion of Mary’s visit to her that Elizabeth breaks out in joyful strain, and
it was after long silence, caused by his own unbelief, that Zacharias has his
mouth opened to set to his seal that God is true. But all centers about Christ.
He is the centre of all true joy, the object of the highest praise.

Passing now to the book of Acts, so full of illustrations of our subject, we
read, "And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost" (Acts
13:52). The connection here is of much interest. They had, after faithfully
preaching the gospel at Antioch, been expelled from the city. This is what the
servant of Christ may expect, according to his Master’s word. But what was the
effect of this persecution upon the minds of these devoted servants? Were they
depressed and discouraged? Did they meditate giving up and returning to their
homes? Ah no! they were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost. Thus the night
only causes the pillar of fire to gleam out brightly. "We glory in tribulations
also." The word used here for "filled" is different from the one usually so
translated, though a similar root. It occurs here and in the next scripture I
shall quote, and in both cases I think you will notice a shade of different
meaning from the ordinary word. That, as we saw, seems to be for special
emergencies; this would not exactly be that here. The joy was to be, surely, a
constant thing, though specially manifested as occasion required. It is the
usual word for "filled with wisdom" and similar expressions, describing a
habitual state, but capable of particular application.

We see the same in the following scripture: "Be not drunk with wine wherein is
excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord"
(Ephesians 5:18-19). Without question we have here a warning against actual
drunkenness; but I am sure you will agree with me that far more than that is
suggested. Wine is that which exhilarates the natural man. It is a stimulant. It
is also a type of joy. Here then we are warned against mere earthly joy,
anything that merely exhilarates the natural man.

We have it in type in the history of Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1-20), the
priests who offered strange fire to the Lord, and who fell under the penalty of
God’s anger. You will observe in that chapter, in immediate connection with the
sin of the priests, that God prohibits any priest from using wine or strong
drink when engaged in worship. The inference has been drawn, not without great
probability, that these priests were under the influence of wine and thus
offered strange fire.

Applying it to ourselves, how often is there the mere exhilaration of nature in
the professed worship of God. How often is feeling, excitement, fleshly energy,
made to take the place of the Holy Spirit. It seems that this is the very
connection of the passage. They were to sing and make melody in their hearts to
the Lord. Filled with the Spirit there would be neither room nor need for the
empty frivolities of nature; the joy of the Lord would eclipse it all. And this
brings me to say a few words as to praise, which will serve as a connecting link
with the next branch of our subject. When our blessed Lord, by His Spirit, was
expressing the sorrows of the cross in the twenty-second psalm, He answers His
own question — "Why hast Thou forsaken me?" — in the words, "Thou art holy, O
Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel" (Psalms 22:3). It was because of the
holiness of God, who cannot endure sin, that He was compelled to forsake the
spotless sin-bearer. But another thought is added, God inhabits, or dwells amid,
the praises of His people. He must be known in such a way that His very presence
produces praise. Most beautifully does this accord with the former fact. Our
Lord was forsaken, in order that redemption might be accomplished, and as a
result praise issue forth from hearts forever delivered by grace. God must have
a willing and a joyful people, and it is only as this is the case that there can
be power. So we read, "Judah is My lawgiver" (Psalms 108:8). Judah means praise.
It was the leading tribe of Israel, occupying the forefront in the march through
the wilderness (Numbers 10:14), and taking the lead in the conflicts in Canaan
(Judges 1:1-2). The kingship belonged to this tribe — in the family of David —
and Jerusalem, the city of the great King, was upon its border. But the
significance of the name suggests what we have been seeing already. "Judah is My
lawgiver." Praise, flowing from a satisfied heart, occupied with the glories of
God— this is His sceptre! What a rule, where not compulsion, but joy has sway,
and the only constraint is that of love.

Thus to be filled with joy and praise by the Spirit is the only way of securing
a bold and faithful testimony for Christ. The singers are to be in the forefront
of the battle. The joy of the Lord is our strength, and it abides. When the
emergency arises, the strength is there, and the victory is assured. This brings
us to dwell for a little upon a third feature or object of being filled with the
Spirit — to give boldness for confession and testimony. We will read Acts 2:4;
"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other
tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." The promised time had come and the
Spirit had been poured out. His presence was visible and audible, though more
yet, it was personal and abiding. It is noticeable and significant that the form
in which the Spirit appeared in coming upon the disciples and upon our Lord was
entirely different. Upon Him He came as a dove; upon the disciples, as a tongue
of fire, upon each one. The reason is simple and beautiful. The dove in
Scripture is the bird of sacrifice. In the burnt-offering more particularly it
was used. Further it was the bird of love, and of sorrow. Our blessed Lord was
taking His place publicly as the sacrifice. He was, we may say, at His baptism
offering Himself to God. What more fitting than that the eternal Spirit through
whom that offering was to be exhibited, should come upon Him in the form which
set forth the sacrifice, the love which led Him to it, and the sorrow over the
sins of men which made it necessary. With the disciples it was different. The
service to which they were called was chiefly testimony, and so, most fittingly,
the Spirit of truth comes upon them as a tongue. The fire speaks of the holiness
of God in judgment, and you will remember the Spirit’s work in conviction
included the judgment. But the beautiful part of it is that, if men bow now to
the judgment of God and accept His salvation, they will be saved from judgment
to come.

Thus this filling with the Spirit was directly connected with the testimony
which they all began immediately to give, in the various languages of those who
were assembled. As has already been remarked this manifestation of the Spirit’s
presence must be distinguished from the presence itself. He is always present,
but He does not always manifest it — may we not say He never now does so? — in
the supernatural gift of tongues. Extravagant claims have been made to this
gift. But in all cases the "tongue" is some unintelligible jargon. Here,
however, the tongues were the well-known languages of the various nations
represented at Jerusalem. The wonder of it was that untutored men, heretofore
ignorant of the languages, should be able to declare in them "the wonderful
works of God."

I do not limit His power, but for reasons already given, I do not expect — would
you desire it? — to see this manifestation at the present day. But, thanks be to
God, we have the living Person who has united us to a glorified Christ, and who
is as ready as at Pentecost to fill us with all boldness for testimony, as for
all else.

I will ask you to contrast the apostle Peter before and after the gift of the
Spirit. You well know the sad details which culminated in his open denial of his
Lord — the sleep in the garden, the following afar off, the sitting down in the
judgment hall to warm himself at a fire kindled by Christ’s enemies. Ah, dear
brethren, let us beware of fires, of warmth and comfort and pleasure, created by
the enemies of the Lord Jesus. How many young Christians have forgotten this,
and paid most dearly for it. Peter identified himself with the world. He is now
ashamed to identify himself with a rejected Master. Look at him — at yourself,
too — in the priest’s palace. A little girl can make him tremble; he is ashamed
to confess that Holy One who was Himself making such a good confession, and at
last the cock crew. Truly a strange contrast; it seemed blackest night, so far
as Peter was concerned, but already it was dawn, for with that cock’s crow Peter
reached the end of himself. But look at this same man fifty days later, now not
with a maid to face, but the whole mass of Christ’s rejectors. Without a tremor,
he, the spokesman for all, stands up and lays at their doors the awful crime of
Christ’s death: "Ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain."
What made this difference? Was it merely that Peter was restored in his soul?
Ah, he was filled with the Spirit, and knew no fear.

Let us trace it a little further, in Acts 4:1-37. In reply to the question of
the priests, which we have already looked at, as an admission on their part that
a mighty power was at work, mark the noble boldness of Peter’s reply: "Then
Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and
elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the
impotent man, by what means he is made whole; be it known unto you all, and to
all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye
crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here
before you whole" (Acts 4:8-10).

They were compelled to own the courage of this reply: "Now when they saw the
boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant
men, they marveled." They recognized them as Galileans, companions of Jesus, but
whence this power? Ah, they knew not of the presence of that Spirit who fills
the faintest with a boldness none can deny. But they are not softened. Their
wretched pride would make even acknowledgment of the power of God but a fresh
occasion for forbidding Peter and John to speak again in this name of Jesus.
Here is simply another opportunity for the apostles’ boldness to show itself:
"Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God,
judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard" (Acts
4:19-20). Not for one moment would they give place to man when God was in
question. The Holy Ghost cannot be cowed, dear brethren, and when one is
speaking as led by Him, he has all the power of God on his side. What are chief
priests and scribes and elders to one who has the Spirit of God with him? But
now we see another side. These same men, victors in the presence of the enemy,
return to their own company. Is it with flying colors and boasts of what they
had said and done? Ah, no; but they return to Gilgal. They ,realize that the
power was not their own, and that they are as weak as ever. So they pour out
their souls unitedly, imploring the help of Him who was the Almighty and who had
foreseen this very raging of the people. They ask Him to behold the
threatenings, and to grant unto them that "with all boldness they may speak thy
Word." Quickly comes the response: "And when they had prayed, the place was
shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God with boldness" (Acts 4:31). Now, this
is an illustration of what we have seen as to filling with the Spirit. It is a
special manifestation of His power for special cases. You would not say the
disciples were in a wrong state prior to this response, or that they had lapsed
from a previous good state. On the contrary, they are evidently in the enjoyment
of uninterrupted communion, as shown by their lowly, dependent spirit.

You will notice also that they did not pray to be filled with the Spirit; they
prayed that they might speak the word of God with all boldness. Now, this, I am
sure, is of great importance, and in keeping with the entire subject. We never
find the disciples waiting for an enduement of the Spirit or anything of the
kind after Pentecost. They had the Spirit; He dwelt in them; they were full of
the Spirit, so to speak, and needed but to realize the necessity constantly for
the power of God. Then, as the occasion arose, the Spirit took possession of
them and used them as the instruments of His mighty energy. Is there not much
instruction for us here? But we will look at a few other similar uses of
filling. "Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost, fixed
his eyes on him, and said, O full of all subtlety and all mischief, thou child
of the devil," etc. (Acts 13:9). Paul had at his conversion been filled with the
Spirit (Acts 9:17). This seems to have answered to the Pentecostal filling of
the others, for he straightway began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is
the Son of God. Here, again, we see him filled, as he meets this enemy of the
truth. This Bar-Jesus was evidently a Jew, and type of the whole nation, who
persistently resisted the truth of God. But Paul goes further than Peter and
John, in that he not merely withstands, but pronounces judgment upon the false
prophet. This judgment of blindness is a striking illustration of what has
happened to the nation — blind for a season. He was filled with the Spirit as he
thus withstood Satan’s power, another illustration of what we have already seen.
What boldness! what faith it involved! And yet the power was not his own. In the
next chapter (Acts 14:3) we see this boldness as marking his entire ministry at
Iconium, where there was special opposition. "Long time, therefore, they abode,
speaking boldly in the Lord." A humility similar to that which we have already
remarked is seen in the apostle’s request for the prayers of the saints.
"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit . . . and
supplication for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be given unto me,
that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, . .
that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak" (Ephesians 6:18-20). It is
beautiful, thus to see the apostle not counting upon his having been again and
again filled with the Spirit for special testimony, but asking that he may with
all boldness, as always, so now also magnify Christ in his body (Php 1:20). You
notice, again, that he does not ask them to pray that he may be filled with the
Spirit, but that he may speak the Word with boldness.

Now, this brings us to see the manner of the Spirit’s working, which will also
furnish a reason why we are not to ask to be filled with the Spirit. I turn to a
familiar passage in the gospel of John: "He that believeth on me, as the
Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But
this spake He of the Spirit which they that believe on Him should receive, for
the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified"
(John 7:38-39). This is the last of the three passages in the gospel of John
that speak of the Spirit under the simile of water. We have new birth by water
in John 3:3; John 3:5; we have the well of water springing up unto everlasting
life in John 4:14; and here you have the rivers of water flowing out. The volume
has, as it were, increased until it cannot be confined within. It must find an
outlet.

Now, new birth, as we saw, is the impartation of life to the soul; the well of
water speaks of that full supply of the Spirit for all our needs, and here the
stream reaches to those without. How amazing the contrast with the natural man!
Man is ever craving, ever hungering; he is seeking selfishly to satisfy his
hunger and thirst. This was what the woman of Samaria was doing, and our Lord
tells her whoever drank of human wells would thirst again; they could never fill
their craving with earth’s wells. Here, however, the craving has not only been
met, but there is such an abundance that the outflow goes to the needy ones
outside. It is a beautiful picture of the Spirit’s ministry. The first thing, I
think, that strikes us is the absence of all effort; or, perhaps, to speak more
correctly, the very opposite of effort. Effort would have to be put forth to
check the outflow. You may rest assured that any thing requiring urging or
goading is not the mark of the Spirit. Whenever a service or testimony is
entered upon in imitation of others, or in dependence upon the arm of flesh, it
is not the Spirit filling and overflowing. He never needs, if I may use such
language, the assistance of man. But how much restless Martha service this cuts
off at once! How much of the planning and contriving, the studying of "methods
of work" and much else would slip from us as Saul’s armor did from David, were
this outflow unchecked! For we must face that. We are told to "quench not the
Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:19), and immediately following it, "Despise not
prophesyings." It is possible to hinder — to quench the Spirit. Just as in
private communion we may "grieve the Spirit" by bitterness and anger, so we may
quench the Spirit by despising His work, and thus putting obstacles in His way.
Those very expedients of which I was just speaking, are they not, in most cases,
the efforts of unbelief to go on without the Spirit, and therefore despising
Him? Let us see to it that no barriers are put in His way, and soon will there
be a realizing sense of the fulfilment of this precious promise of our Lord’s.
But let us recur to the subject of filling in connection with this outflow. I
think that the thoughts of most of us are very vague, if not mystical, as to
filling. Have we not some material, physical thoughts, and do we not forget that
filling, when applied to a person, is very different from the use of the word in
connection with a material substance? This last may be used as an illustration,
but must never go beyond the point intended to be illustrated. Thus, in the
beautiful simile we have been looking at, water is the type of refreshing — of
that which meets the desires — the thirst of man. So far we use the figure. When
we come to speak, however, of a Person filling us — a Person, as it were,
flowing out, we must ask ourselves how a person fills. I am quite aware that we
can easily get beyond our limits here, but a few simple thoughts may prove
helpful. God fills everything; He is omnipresent. So is the Holy Spirit. Christ
has ascended up that he might fill all things (Ephesians 4:10). We have no
material thoughts in connection with these profound truths. By God’s
omnipresence we simply understand that He is Himself, in His divine
completeness, everywhere present. He puts forth all his power throughout
infinity constantly. So when we speak of Christ filling all things, we think
simply that His glory, honor, power are to be everywhere manifest.

Thus, when we speak of being filled with the Holy Spirit, we simply mean that He
has complete, entire control of our whole being. He occupies the entire man. An
illustration may help here. We speak of a family filling a house, and we mean
they have entire and undisputed control of it. In fact, we can speak of an
individual as filling the house, when he makes his presence and influence felt
everywhere. We could carry the illustration further. A person is received as a
guest into our home. He is a person of beautiful character, and singularly
helpful. He is received into our guest-rooms, but is tacitly excluded from the
more private parts of the house, where the work is done. Such a person would be
said to be dwelling in our home, but you could not say he was filling the house.
He is limited to certain parts of it. Perhaps he feels he is not welcome in the
very part where his help would be greatest.

But, at last, through a fuller acquaintance, a sense of confidence, a
realization of help already, and, above all, an increasing sense of utter
incompetence in ourselves, we admit him, gradually, perhaps, to all the house.
He makes his presence and his help felt everywhere. He fills the house.

I need scarcely apply the illustration. The Holy Spirit has taken up His abode
with us forever, not only as guest, but, did we know it, as sovereign disposer,
ruler and guide. And yet, with what divine tenderness — gentleness — does he
dwell in us! He allows us to treat Him as a guest — yea, as we would treat no
other guest. He permits us to thrust Him out of the way, perhaps; at any rate,
to exclude Him from the every-day part of our lives. However, a sense of the
blessedness of His presence, of His help where we have yielded up to Him, above
all, His own power working through these means and making us realize our
helplessness, compel us at last, step by step, perhaps, to give Him His place in
all things. He fills us. This will explain the exhortation of the apostle to
which we have already alluded: "Be filled with the Spirit." We are not to "give
place to the devil"; we are to give place to the Spirit — to let Him be
ungrieved, unchecked in His complete administration of our entire life. We can
see thus the constant fulness of the Spirit, and the special filling for this or
that service. In one sense, we are to be always, as we have seen, full of the
Spirit; in another, as occasion arises for testimony or service, we see that
fulness manifested in the special filling and overflow of which we have had
examples.

We are now prepared to look at our last point in connection with the Spirit for
power — the conditions upon which we are to enjoy this power; and to this I ask
your prayerful attention. Here, as everywhere, I simply present the word of God.

Let us see what this power is, slightly different and yet not to be severed from
the Spirit’s, and therefore in place here. The apostle prays that the Ephesians
may know "what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe,
according to the working of His mighty power which He wrought in Christ, when He
raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand" (Ephesians
1:19-20). Now, here is a stupendous statement. We see Christ in His tomb raised
and elevated to the throne of God. Could any power be greater? And yet this same
power has wrought to us-ward, not merely for our benefit in Christ, but we, too,
have been quickened — raised with Christ — as the second chapter shows. The
power that wrought in Him has wrought in us. How amazing!

Look next at the vessel in which this power is displayed. "But we have this
treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God, and
not of us" (2 Corinthians 4:7). The verse preceding, in connection with this
one, recalls what was doubtless in the Spirit’s mind — the earthen pitchers of
Gideon’s men, in which the lights were concealed. They were then to break the
pitcher and the light would shine out. Beloved, I want you to notice that what
was necessary for the display of the excellency of the power was not an adorned
pitcher, not a surrendered pitcher, not a discarded pitcher, but a broken
pitcher. Let us see how Paul treated his earthen vessel. It was a goodly one to
look at — a beautiful Hebrew vase, with delicate tracery and ornamentation upon
it. "If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh,
I more: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of
Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law a Pharisee; concerning
zeal persecuting the Church; touching the righteousness which is in the law
blameless." Surely, a goodly and beautiful vessel to admire. What did Paul do
with it? He broke it to pieces. "What things were gain to me those I counted
loss for Christ." But, you say, this was for salvation. Notice, however, the
continuance of it: "Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord" (Php 3:4-8).

Returning to second Corinthians, we see a further illustration of the same, in 1
Corinthians 12:1-31. In 1 Corinthians 11:1-34 he had narrated the various
sufferings he had passed through in carrying out his ministry. He does this, as
he says, foolishly, not to boast, but for their sakes, to show the emptiness of
the false boasts of some who were seeking to subvert them. In the twelfth
chapter he tells of his experiences as a man in Christ, caught up into heaven,
there beholding things impossible to be uttered. Think of the privilege — the
honor of being thus permitted to behold the glories that shall be! And yet, dear
brethren, it was simply as a man in Christ he was introduced into these scenes.
His title was that he was in Christ; and is not that our title? and by the
Spirit have not the spiritual glories of our place in the heavenlies been
unfolded to our minds? So that the lesson which follows is for ourselves. May we
mark it well.

"Lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the
revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan
to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure" (2 Corinthians 12:7). Here
is a man who has seen the glories of heaven. He comes to earth, and what does he
find? Not glories and honors, but the thorn in his flesh, Satan’s messenger. He
is to learn that the only vessel out of which such glories can shine is a broken
vessel. Otherwise he would be puffed up by the revelations. And there is great
danger lest the precious truths appropriate to us as men in Christ may simply
feed our natural pride. Hence, in order to rightly enjoy and truly give out
these truths, there must be that which answers to the thorn in the flesh. The
vessel must be broken, and it is the cross, learned in its reality, that breaks
the vessel.

Let us dwell upon this. The cross is the secret of power. The cross is what we
can glory in. It sets us aside, breaks us to pieces, writes upon us the sentence
of death, in order that the power of Christ, through the Holy Spirit, may rest
upon us. The one who has learned death, who has the sentence of death in
himself, is the one who will have power. We can thus understand the Lord’s word
to Paul: "My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in
weakness"; and his reply — may it be ours as well! — “Most gladly, therefore,
will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon
me."

You speak of conditions upon which power will be given you. You are to make a
complete surrender of your will, strength, time, talents — all that you are and
have to be put upon the altar. But who makes this surrender, and what is the
altar? If you make the surrender, it is self surrendering self, a most subtle
form of self-righteousness. But when we see it is the cross of our Lord — that
cross by which I am, I was crucified, in His death; that "I am crucified with
Christ" — when we see this, I say, we find that it is not a question of
surrender for me, but of the cross which has set me aside, that Christ may be
all. Anything short of the cross but fosters pride, and pride in its worst form.
But we look a little further. We have seen the nature of the power — the same
which wrought in Christ; we have seen the suited vessel for the display of this
power — a vessel broken by the cross that the light may shine out. Now, let us
see the working of that power in us practically. "Now unto him that is able to
do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power
that worketh in us, unto Him be glory," etc. (Ephesians 3:20-21). This is the
doxology following the wondrous prayer of the apostle — a prayer for the very
thing we are speaking of, power. He asks that they may be "strengthened with
might by His Spirit in the inner man." He sets no limits to the fulness of
blessing, except the fulness of God! Then we are assured that the power which
worketh in us is all-sufficient to do exceeding abundantly above all our desire
or thought. We have the power; we do not have to get it. But let us remember
ever that this power is not ours. It is the power of Christ. Further, this power
is never bestowed upon us, if I may so speak, in bulk. We have not a great mass
of power given to us; we have no storage batteries, to use an illustration
familiar to us. We have not strength in ourselves for a single moment. More than
this, I am sure we are not to expect to be conscious of power. We will be
conscious of weakness, and the Spirit’s power works through our weakness. We
never feel as spiritual giants, ready to perform wonderful feats of strength.
Ah, no! such was not Paul. His speech was not with enticing words of man’s
wisdom. His bodily presence was weak, and his speech contemptible; but the faith
of those who heard him was established in the power of God.

God’s great men are servants; God’s mighty men are weak; God’s noble men are
base and despised — that no flesh might glory in His presence.

Such, beloved brethren, I believe to be the teaching of the word of God upon
this all-important theme. It has been put briefly and meagerly, but if you are
convinced that the way of power lies in just the opposite direction from that
which is ordinarily supposed, I shall have hope that you will go on to learn the
secret of it — "Not I, but Christ."

I add an illustration, which may simplify the subject and make it practical to
the youngest saint: A train is drawn into the station by an immense engine, and
comes to a stop. We are told that this engine is capable of drawing the heaviest
trains at the rate of fifty miles an hour. At present it is standing quite
still. We go up to it and try to push it along; we try to force the wheels to
revolve; we call ten, twenty, a hundred, to our assistance, but the train stands
motionless. All the men who could get their hands upon it could do no more than
push it along at a snail’s pace for a few feet. But now the engineer takes his
place, and, with one hand upon the lever, he opens the throttle-valve, and the
train glides lightly out of the station and flies, tireless, with the speed of
the wind, along the hundred miles of its appointed journey. What a mighty hand
the engineer has! Ah, no! but he has released the mighty power in the engine,
but held back by the throttle. Steam was the power that was working in, and he
removes the hindrance to its working out. The resurrection life of Christ, in
the power of the Spirit of God, is the "power that worketh in us." When that
power is checked from entering into our daily life we come to a standstill — the
Church of God comes to a standstill. All the power of all the saints upon earth
cannot push it forward. We may resort to all sorts of expedients — "methods of
work" and what not — but the snail-like progress of things shows how unavailing
it all is. But now the Spirit of God, if we may use such imagery, as the
engineer, applies the lever — the cross of Christ — and the throttle is removed.
What is that throttle? It is self in all its forms; not naughty self merely, but
religious self as well. The cross has brought in the sentence of death upon me,
and when the blessed Spirit of God applies that, all His own energy and power
passes into our every-day life, and we shall speed along as on the wings of the
wind — "mount up with wings as eagles, run and not be weary, walk and not
faint." Was any new power obtained? No, but "the power that worketh in us" was
permitted to work out as well.

You may apply the illustration to questions of detail as well, no doubt. The
Spirit of God may be laying upon your conscience some specific obstruction, some
self-will, disobedience, association, sin. By all means, yield to what He says.
But after all, the cross is the lever, and self — all self — is the obstruction
that stands in the way of a divine energy that dwells in every child of God.
Does it not make you weep to think of all this hindered power in the Church of
Christ? Sad it would be if we had no power — if we had to call it down from
heaven. But to be indwelt by the Spirit of God — omnipotent power — and yet to
be idle and helpless! Oh, beloved brethren! Let us awake; let us make sharp
knives — yea, let us know the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings, that thus also
we may learn the power of His resurrection. May our God awaken us, for the
responsibility is ours; we must enter into these divine facts for our own souls.
Soon, soon would shouts of victory and rejoicing sound throughout the army of
the Lord. To complete the subject laid out for us, it remains now to look a
little at guidance. Misdirected energy is sometimes more fatal than quiescence.
The swifter the train is moving, the more harm would result from its leaving the
tracks. It is impossible to think of the energy of the Spirit without His
guidance also. A few passages will suggest a line of research which will prove
interesting and helpful.

"And as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me
Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them" (Acts 13:2). The
occasion was momentous. It was the first regular going forth from the assembly,
of messengers who would carry the gospel to Gentiles, as well as Jews. There are
doubtless features here which are apostolic only, and yet, in the main, it is a
simple picture of the spirit of prayer, self-denial, dependence and fellowship
which should mark the Church of God at all times. There may be, and, in the
highest sense, are, no "prophets" who can prefix the infallible "thus saith the
Lord" to their specific utterance; but we have the "thus saith the Lord" in His
all-sufficient and infallible word, and we have the same sovereign Spirit, who
surely can make known His will. The one feature I wish you to notice is the
sovereign direction of the Spirit. They were all waiting upon God in the
exercise of their various gifts, making faithful use of the opportunities at
hand, when the Spirit shows them an open door. Twice is fasting mentioned, and
it must be specially significant. I do not speak of the mere abstinence from
food, but of that spirit of earnest longing, of self-denial, of absorption,
which lies back of the actual neglect of food. Fasting is not an end, scarcely a
means to an end, but an indication of the purpose of a soul that has lost its
natural inclinations in the one mastering desire. It is to such souls, emptied
of self, that the Spirit makes known His will.

How little there is of that among God’s saints. How little conviction of the
direction of the Spirit of God. New work is undertaken, special meetings are
held, various activities started, but has it been "the Holy Ghost said"? If
there were more the attitude of these servants, would not the Spirit still
definitely make known His will? They go forth, guided, helped, sustained by that
blessed One. We have seen His energy in Paul on this very journey, and the joy
filling their hearts in the privations endured. In line with this work of
direction is the other side of the Spirit’s work in guidance. We read they,
"were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia," — the small
province of that name on the west coast of Asia Minor, in which were situated
Ephesus and other large cities. Then they attempted to pass into Bithynia, but
the Spirit suffered them not" (Acts 16:6-7). Here we have the Spirit hindering.
It is not providential hindrance, but a distinct prohibition clearly made known.
Here again you will say, this was supernatural, and therefore not for us. While,
however, we do not expect miraculous interposition, yet will not the indwelling
Spirit make known His will? If there is the dependence upon God, the looking to
Him for guidance, will He not give it? The reason for this hindering is soon
apparent: a fresh start was to be made: the gospel was to be carried into
Europe; and the next chapters give us the wonderful history of that journey from
Troas to Philippi and the cities of Greece. Later on, Paul did a great work in
Ephesus, now the Spirit hinders and forbids in order that they may go further.
This I think will explain how they were "forbidden." They had Asia on their
mind, but were conscious of no freedom to go. There was no joy, no sense of the
Spirit’s guidance. So they must wait until clear, nor do they have to wait long,
and the larger purpose of God is soon revealed.

Here again, we must confess little experience. We are so full of impulse, of our
own thoughts and plans that there is not the quiet waiting upon God for His
mind, and so we lose the sense of His approval, and the power of His Spirit.
Need we wonder that little fruit attends our labors? And yet, do we not all know
something of this hindering? There is a sense of constraint and uncertainty that
surely should call us to further waiting on God. This is for the individual
servant, and for companies of saints as well. Often doubtless, the Spirit would
hinder us from a special line of service to turn us to another or in order to
exercise the hearts of others, that the fellowship of all might be heartier, and
the blessing correspondingly larger. "Wait on the Lord." The subject is full of
interest and profit, and needs our constant and prayerful attention.

I quote a familiar passage to show that this guidance is not for the few merely,
but the common privilege of every child of God, "As many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Romans 8:14). Here the badge of
sonship is the leading of the Spirit. Primarily, of course, it refers to leading
in paths of holiness, of assurance and all that we have already looked at — the
opposite of the flesh. But can we exclude the widest use of the term? "He
leadeth me in paths of righteousness," does not exclude the service to which the
Lord calls us, nor anything where we need His guidance.

What a comfort then to have the leading of the Spirit in all that we do; not to
be left to sight, "for we walk by faith, not by sight." Not to be left even to
the example of godly saints, helpful as that is, but to be led by the blessed
Spirit, in each detail of life, in the use of time, as to our intercourse, as to
duties, as to expenditure of money, as to service — all that we need, — to be
led of the Spirit of God. What a comfort! Are you thus led?

I quote another scripture bearing upon guidance, and a wholesome corrective of
that tendency to mysticism so attractive to many. "He that is spiritual
discerneth all things" (1 Corinthians 2:15). The Spirit of God has in His Holy
Person the intelligence of God; that is what is emphasized in Him. You will
understand that I do not mean, of course, to limit this attribute to Him, or to
make it more prominent than other attributes as of love and power. But the
chapter from which I have quoted emphasizes knowledge, intelligence, as the
characteristic of the Spirit. "The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep
things of God." So in one led of the Spirit, intelligence in divine things will
be prominent. He will discern, understand what the will of the Lord is. Here we
are at the mercy of no vague impressions which we are blindly to follow. Our
patience and faith may be tested by the lack of guidance, as we have seen; but
we will not be left to uncertainty, or to unintelligent impressions. Paul’s
vision of the man of Macedonia formed the basis of a clear discernment of what
the mind of the Spirit was. But to be intelligent in the things of God means to
have a knowledge of His mind as given in His Word. To discern, we must have
those principles of truth only found in the Scriptures, and the spiritual man is
ever a lover of the word of God. With that Word dwelling in him, not in a coldly
intellectual way, but as controlling his thoughts, enlightening his conscience
and guiding his affections, he has placed at the disposal of the Holy Spirit,
the instrument by which he will be made of quick understanding. He will know the
mind of the Spirit and thus be guided. How immensely important is this.

I add a word which seems in place here. Nothing is more repulsive to a truly
spiritual mind, and grieving to the Spirit of God than a lofty assumption of
spiritual guidance. A sanctified walk is ever a walk of retirement. The man who
is most subject to the guidance is the one who will lay the least claims to
being guided. He will be very slow to say, "The Lord led me here, or there."
Guidance is largely for the closet and as we look into the eye of God. There are
things to be enjoyed rather than talked about. How sad to hear these sacred
themes chatted about in a familiar way as though one had a remarkable
experience, which had now become a sort of second nature to which he was quite
accustomed. Such practices degrade these high and holy themes to us, and they
lose their power over our souls. Is it not true, dear brethren, that for most of
us guidance is the result of painful exercise, in which we have been compelled
to see and confess much of pride and self-will, and other faults which we would
not like to speak of publicly? Our God is holy. Oh to realize that more deeply!
How subdued and chastened we would be. We would not talk very much about our
guidance, but better than that we would be guided. "The secret of the Lord is
with them that fear Him."

I had mentioned ministry in the power of the Spirit as a closing subject for
this lecture, but that has practically been our theme all through. Little
remains that I can say. All ministry is by the Spirit of God. I have already
spoken of ordination, and will not recur to it here. The Spirit calls, selects,
and sends forth whom He chooses. He also abundantly sustains and guides them. Of
preparation for ministry I need say little. The main preparation is in the
secret life and with the word of God. An education, even an intellectual
knowledge of Scripture, is not preparation for the ministry. Far be it from me
to decry true knowledge. Let us covet to know more and more. Let us seek ability
to read the Scriptures in the original tongues; let us study history,
archaeology — everything that can illustrate the truths of God; let us know more
of that world of nature all about us, that speaks of God and of Christ to the
attentive and devout soul. But these are not necessarily the preparation for
ministry. The Spirit of God may use any and all of these, but He and He alone
can prepare a man for ministry.

How often has He done a vast work in the conversion of souls through some
"unlearned and ignorant" man. How often has the humble artisan a deeper, broader
knowledge of divine truth than the learned professor. Surely God will stain the
pride of man, He will not let us boast. It ever remains that the Holy Spirit
amply qualifies every vessel whom He may choose for the ministry. Do not be
afraid that the ardent young evangelist, on fire with love to God and souls,
will fail to be used because his grammar is not perfect and he knows but "one
thing." Ah, brethren, the man who knows one thing is the man who will speak in
the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. But on the other hand every true
minister of Christ will hunger for greater fitness, and a fuller knowledge. It
will be, however, knowledge of the word of God which he craves, and to that he
will give time and prayer beyond all else. I need hardly refer to educational
institutions most of the secular, and alas many of the religious, are in the
hands of the enemy. Where infidelity is taught, where the word of God is
dissected and criticized — these are not places for godly youth to learn the
truth and ways of God. If they go there, it should be as doubly armed against
all the subtlety of the enemy. Sad, indeed, it is to give such a warning; sadder
still the necessity for it.

Then too, as to reading of truly helpful books, of association with Christ’s
servants, of individual study under the eye of some one of experience — all this
is of the greatest value and help, when once the one great fact is learned — the
absolute necessity of the Spirit’s presence and power. This is not the place for
discussion of these matters. We do not find them treated in Scripture, though
much is scriptural in them. My conviction is that large numbers of students in
one institution, with nothing to engage their activities save study, will not
develop so rapidly and so surely as smaller companies gathered less formally,
for briefer seasons and with much work for the Lord interspersed between the
times of study. We are living in days of great institutions, richly endowed,
with brilliant professors and attractive courses of study. The danger is lest
the Holy Person of whom we speak be forgotten. Let us pray that it may not be.

I have been speaking of preparation for ministry; the same principles apply in
its exercise. Liberty must ever be left for the Spirit of God. Settled
pastorates, as they are called, do not seem to be of His appointment, as a rule.
The scriptural examples would point rather to a passing from one place to
another of those with special gift, that room be left for the exercise of less
prominent ones. The evangelist does his work and passes on to another field of
labor; so with the teacher; leaving behind them others stirred and helped for
exercise of similar gifts. Thus an assembly would profit by the varied gifts of
the Spirit, one after another, and all would receive profit, while the
activities would not be narrowed down to a few, to the weakening of the many.
This but touches a subject I must leave to be pursued elsewhere.

I have been speaking, in ministry, of what is ordinarily understood by the term.
It is hardly necessary to say that it includes all true service, the lowliest
and most obscure, as well as the greatest. The ministry of women has a place and
an importance as well as that of men — and every activity of the body of Christ
is included in the term. All that is needed is, as I have endeavored to show, to
be a broken vessel that the Spirit of God may use us.

I close with a thought as to gospel ministry to the unsaved. That has marked the
Holy Spirit’s work from the beginning and will do so till the Lord come. Any
testimony which ignores this, or makes it optional will cease to have the Lord’s
approval. The gospel spirit is the spirit of Christ. I do not now speak of the
evangelist, but rather of us all. Do we love souls? do we long to see them
saved? then we will all be ready to give the gospel to others. This readiness
shows the state of soul. It is hard to speak of Christ if we are not in
communion; it is hard not to speak of Him when we are. How this searches us.
This is what is needed — hearts for the salvation of souls. Oh for us all to be
soul winners! We would not wait for an evangelist; we would not wait for
meetings. At work, in casual intercourse, by a little tract — in countless ways
we would be seeking to win souls for Christ. Dear brethren, let us pray that the
Spirit of God may arouse us to this — His great work in the salvation of souls.

"’PRAISE ye the Lord,’ again, again, The Spirit strikes the chord; Nor toucheth
He our hearts in vain;

We praise, we praise the Lord.

’Rejoice in Him,’ again, again, The Spirit speaks the word, And faith takes up
the happy strain; Our joy is in the Lord.

’Stand fast in Christ,’ ah, yet again He teacheth all the band!

If human efforts are in vain, In Christ it is we stand.

’Clean ev’ry whit;’ Thou saidst it, Lord; Shall one suspicion lurk?

Thine, surely, is a faithful word, And Thine a finished work.

Forever be the glory given To Thee, O Lamb of God! Our ev’ry joy on earth, in
heaven, We owe it to Thy blood."

Lecture 6. The Holy Spirit and the Scriptures — Inspiration; Enlightenment;
Prophecy.

"When Israel, by divine command, The pathless desert trod, They found,
throughout the barren land, A sure resource in God. A cloudy pillar marked the
road, And screened them from the heat; From the hard rock the water flowed, And
manna was their meat.

Like them, we have a rest in view, Secure from hostile powers;

Like them, we pass a desert too, But Israel’s God is ours. His word a light
before us spreads, By which our path we see; His love, a banner o’er our heads,
From harm preserves us free.

Jesus, the Bread of life, is given To be our daily food;

Within us dwells that well from heaven, The Spirit of our God.

Lord, ’tis enough, we ask no more;

Thy grace around us pours Its rich and unexhausted store, And all its joy is
ours." Our subject this evening is such a large one, that we can at best but
glance at its various parts, getting in this way at least an outline. I think we
may divide what is to be before us into three main parts — inspiration,
enlightenment, and prophecy. These will give us the Spirit in connection with
the word of God under three aspects: inspiration speaks of the divine authorship
and perfection of the Word; enlightenment, its unfolding to our understanding;
and prophecy, its application to conscience and heart for practical uses. This
will appear as we proceed.

First, then, as to inspiration. There are two scriptures which will furnish us
with material here. I will quote them first: "All Scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly
furnished unto all good works" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).* "Knowing this first that no
prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost" (2 Peter 1:20-21).

{*I have retained the rendering of our Authorized Version as giving the meaning
of the original as nearly as any. The omission of the verb "is" is common enough
as any student of the Greek Testament knows, and is evidently to be supplied in
translation in order to convey the meaning of the original. It seems to me that
the rendering of the Revised Version is unfortunate, as implying, to the casual
reader, that some scriptures are inspired and others may not be. There is no
such thought in the original, entirely the reverse, nor did the Revisers intend
to convey this thought. The Authorized Version, and the margin of the R.V. are
correct translations of that portion. As to whether "all" or "every" should be
used, the general meaning is not affected whichever is taken. The identical
expression is used elsewhere when "the whole," "all" is evidently the meaning.
See Acts 2:36, "the whole house of Israel;" Ephesians 2:21, "all the building."}
From these two passages we learn first, that all Scripture is of divine origin,
it is inspired; secondly, that it was given for a purpose, our profit and the
unfolding of the mind of God; thirdly, that the Spirit of God, as Author, made
use of human instruments in giving us the word of God. We will then carry on our
investigations as to inspiration under these heads: its infallible perfection,
the purpose for which it was given, and the instruments used.

Let us turn now to Scripture, and see how it speaks of itself. "God, who at
sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son" (Hebrews 1:1-2).
Here we learn that, no matter what the dispensation, or who was the instrument,
God spake. The Scriptures are the voice of God, the word of God. Let us settle
this as the great foundation fact. It is God and not man who has spoken. I say
it deliberately, weighing the statement carefully, that this is the great basis
for all our knowledge of the word of God. It is His word. He who fails to see
this has no foundation for his faith. This great fact eclipses all other facts,
however true they may be. We lose sight, for the time being, of time, manner,
and instruments: the Lord hath spoken. This controls the entire subject. If God
has spoken, it were blasphemy to think He had spoken imperfectly; that He has
left His words to be mixed with error, to be sifted out by the skill of man. Has
He spoken so that He cannot be understood? Thus this great fact of divine
authorship settles completely a vast mass of questions which unbelief alone
could raise. For it is unbelief and nothing else which intrudes its
rationalistic theories into this great question. "God spake all these words."

Further, if God has spoken, He has done so with a purpose in view, and in a
manner consistent with His character, His wisdom. He has not thrown the material
together in a hap-hazard way. If His world, down to the arrangement of its
smallest atoms, the growth of its minutest life-germs, is a perfect expression
of design and conformity to order, surely His word which He has "magnified
above," or as it has been translated, "according to all His Name," is no less
perfect. We will look at this more fully later on. I speak of it here as part of
the foundation of our most holy faith. We have a divine, a perfect Book because
it has proceeded from a perfect, a divine source. This explains why the babes
know so much more than the wise and prudent. They have accepted the truth that
God has spoken, and therefore, they do not "stumble at the word." Much of it
they do not understand, but they expect that in an infinitely perfect word. They
do however understand more than the wise, for the simple reason that they
believe God. A subject mind and heart is after all of the greatest value. The
meek He will guide in judgment." But with what reverence and godly fear should
we take up this holy revelation. It is the word of God. Well may we stand in
awe, with prostrate hearts, and awakened consciences. Privilege it is,
unspeakable blessing too, to have this precious book; but let us never forget
Whose book, Whose word it is.

It is said we are living in a Bible age. The open Book is all about us. It is
being read and studied as never before. For this we can thank God; but, beloved
friends, I will not conceal from you the fact that, as never before, we are
living in an age of unbelief in the Bible. I do not now speak of the world; we
expect nothing but unbelief and enmity from that which "lieth in the wicked
one." Infidelity has long since ceased to be merely characteristic of avowed
unbelievers; in the bosom of the professing church we find it now. Paine, with
his "Age of reason" was once looked upon with horror, as a typical infidel.
Alas, Paine’s teachings are now heard from many a professor’s chair and from
many a pulpit. Do I exaggerate? Oh, brethren, look abroad, read the openly
avowed views of many of the religious leaders in college and pulpit, and answer
for yourselves. Hear what they have to say about the word of God; see what
Higher criticism has left of that perfect Word, and go to your closet and weep.

I speak of this, seeking to check the tide of feeling that struggles for
expression, in order to emphasize the point upon which we are dwelling: God has
spoken; He has spoken in a way consistent with Himself, His wisdom and
perfections. This we hold fast, remembering that to yield here one iota will be
to let in the thin edge of the wedge. By God’s grace we will not allow it for a
moment. But I turn to another scripture. "Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith,
Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts" (Hebrews 3:7). A
passage is quoted from the book of Psalms (Psalms 95:7-11), and its Author is
the Holy Ghost. In this particular psalm, the human author is not mentioned, but
the divine One is. The instrument, as it were, is eclipsed. Frequently, as we
shall see, the human authors are mentioned, but by no means is this always the
case. A large number of the Psalms are anonymous; nor are we sure as to who
wrote many of the historical books. Is there not instruction in this very
omission? "The Holy Ghost saith" — if He has not been pleased tell us by whom,
does it weaken His message? If we receive a message from one well known, through
one whom we do not know, but who is merely a messenger, does it invalidate the
message? But how blessed and yet solemn is this fact; this Book, which we can
hold in our hands, and carry about with us, has been written by God the Holy
Ghost. But this expression shows how God has been pleased to give us His Word.
"God spake," but it was through the Holy Spirit. He, as we have frequently seen,
is the divine executive. He is not Himself visible, nor does He ordinarily work,
as we might say, in a visible way. His methods are spiritual and moral. He uses
instruments. This brings us to the word that naturally expresses His work in the
production of the Scriptures, inspiration. The Scriptures have not been written,
as the ten commandments, "with the finger of God." Our holy Book has not fallen
out of heaven, or been dug out of the earth. Blasphemous impostors, such as the
founder of Mormonism, may claim to have discovered "golden plates," inscribed
with strange and heavenly characters, which he was enabled to read by means of a
marvelous pair of glasses — the Urim and Thummim! But all such grotesque and
blasphemous foolishness is utterly foreign to the thought of inspiration. "All
Scripture is given by inspiration of God" — God-breathed. Just as He breathed
into man’s nostrils, and he became a living, intelligent being, in the image of
God, so, with all proper limitations necessary, the Spirit has been breathed
into the Word, or has breathed the mind of God into what is thus His own voice
for man.

Man is ever occupied with methods, ever asking how has God acted. This may be
proper when asked with reverence, but first of all, we must believe that God has
acted. When we come later on to speak of the human instruments, we will endeavor
to gather what God has been pleased to reveal as to this; here I simply remind
you that as it is the Holy Spirit who has inspired the Word, we may expect that
He will make use of such means as He has always done.

We turn to another passage in this epistle to the Hebrews, from which we have
already twice quoted: "The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the
holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet
standing" (Hebrews 9:8). Here we have the Spirit again spoken of as Author,
though the human instrument is in this case well known. Moses gave minute
directions as to the construction of the tabernacle, and the ritual of worship.
He committed it all to writing, which we have to this day. But here we see Who
made use of Moses — the Holy Ghost. But I want you to notice something else.
Godly persons will heartily agree with what has been said as to inspiration, and
infallibility, and yet they will often overlook what lies at the very basis of
inspiration — the purpose of the Spirit of God. For instance, we see in this
passage not merely that the Holy Spirit has secured an absolutely accurate and
perfect account of the tabernacle, but that His purpose in this record was to
show, for instance, that the way into the holiest was not yet manifest. We shall
presently see, when coming to the purpose of God in inspiration, what an immense
field of truth this opens up. To me there is something pathetic in the loyalty
of very many of the saints of God. They accept inspiration, and with their whole
hearts bow to Scripture; they had rather be burned at the stake than give up
faith in the least jot or tittle of the written Word. Bless God for such
loyalty! but how sad it is to see these faithful ones ignorant of the purpose of
God in giving us the Scripture.

I quote a few other scriptures as to authorship. "Now the Spirit speaketh
expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, etc." (1
Timothy 4:1). I think we have here a link between other scriptures, and that
which was flowing from the pen of the apostle at this time. The Spirit had
frequently spoken of this departure in the latter days. In one of his earliest
epistles the apostle had spoken of it (2 Thessalonians 3:2). Peter and John give
their testimony (2 Peter 3:3; 1 John 2:18-19). No thoughtful reader of Scripture
can fail to see that this is the uniform testimony of the Spirit of God, “He
speaketh expressly." Paul as he writes to Timothy, simply serves as the channel
for this fresh testimony of the Holy Spirit. The word "expressly" is
interesting, as showing the distinctness and definiteness of the word of God.
There is nothing vague or uncertain about it. Every statement has a definite
meaning, which can be ascertained. It is a reproach to think of the Word as many
do, meaning anything you want it. It is not unbelievers alone who think, if they
do not say, "You can get proof for anything out of the Bible." This has given
rise to creeds. Man must say “expressly" what the Spirit of God has not made
sufficiently clear. Of course, this would be disclaimed, but why, let us ask,
should there be a human statement of doctrine if the divine one is sufficient?

You cannot trust the word of God too implicitly. You need not fear that it will
prove inaccurate in some minor detail. In that sense there can be no minor
details. As a matter of fact, these minute details are gems of exceptional
beauty. In this connection a verse from the first epistle to the Corinthians is
of interest: "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit
which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of
God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth,
but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual" (1
Corinthians 2:12-13). This last clause has been rendered more correctly
according to the original, Communicating spiritual things by spiritual means."*
The context bears this rendering out beautifully. The apostle had received truth
from the Spirit; he communicated it in the words taught by the Spirit, thus
employing a spiritual medium for spiritual communications.

{* See J. N. D’s Version of the New Testament, with accompanying note.}

But, dear brethren, how this settles completely the question of verbal
inspiration. You have heard the statement that the Scriptures contain the word
of God, implying that they contain other matter also. Here we are assured that
the vehicle is as inspired as the message. If you will allow a homely
illustration, it is not as if a person in the country, desiring to send in some
produce into the city, had put it into a wagon passing by, already containing a
considerable quantity of other things. In such a case at the journey’s end, the
contents would have to be distinguished and separated to their respective
owners. But, thank God, you do not have to sift out God’s truth from something
that is not that. You do not have, as a certain popular but unsound writer has
put it, to separate the chaff from the wheat. It is all wheat, and nothing needs
to be eliminated. The words are those taught by the Holy Ghost. So far we have
been considering the divine authorship of the Bible. We have seen that it is God
who has spoken, the Holy Spirit who has inspired this Book; that this was not
merely to secure accuracy of detached parts, but for the purpose of unfolding a
divine plan; that this inspiration is therefore express and minute, as well as
general, and that it reaches down to the very words. Necessarily in speaking
thus of the authorship, we have touched upon features of the Book itself, but I
want now to look more closely at the testimony for the absolute perfection of
Scripture. It grows out of the fact of its authorship. If God is its Author, as
we have seen, it must be perfect; but we are not left to reason about it.

"The Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). As we have had frequent occasion
to remark, the connection of passages is of great interest, and oftentimes
furnishes the key to the special application or meaning. It is so here. Our Lord
is quoting what some might be tempted to call an obscure passage from the Psalms
(Psalms 82:6). It is to the effect that judges in Israel, because they stood for
God’s authority and were the executors of His Word, were called "gods" — "I said
ye are gods." They were His representatives. Now, our Lord says this Scripture
cannot be broken — cannot be set aside. It is simply an obvious explanation, men
might say, of no great importance, and yet our Lord declares it cannot be
ignored. It is a part of a perfect whole. So He goes on to apply it to His own
position; how much more was it true of Him whom the Father had sanctified and
sent into the world.

How solemn for men, professed believers, to attempt to "break," to mar, a single
line of that holy Word. It would be wisdom, compared with this, to break a
delicate and beautiful vase, under the plea that you recognized the beauty of a
part of it — to rend out a delicate shade in a rich fabric, while professing to
admire all the rest. Every word and syllable is woven into this Scripture, and
you cannot rend any without tearing the whole asunder. Think of this when you
hear men pleading that a single line or word should be eliminated as imperfect.

Connected with this is a similar Scripture: "Verily, I say unto you, till heaven
and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till
all be fulfilled" (Matthew 5:18). This reminds us of another passage in the
119th Psalm: "Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven." How careful our
Lord was to magnify the word of God — to guard against the thought that He had
come to deny it or set it aside, save as it was fulfilled. The "jot and tittle,"
as you know, were the smallest marks in the Hebrew alphabet, the jot, or yodh,
answering to our "i" — a very small letter in Hebrew — and the tittle not a
letter at all, but a small mark to distinguish one letter from another; so that
we might paraphrase it, "not a dot to an ’i,’ or a cross to a ’t.’ "

Here is where our Lord stood, whether in conflict with Satan, as in His
temptation, or in presenting the truth of God. He ever magnified the written
Word.*

{*It is interesting to see this in its immediate connection in the Sermon on the
Mount. Our Lord goes on to speak of a number of the legal ordinances which He
apparently contradicted. It was said by, or to, them of old time, "Thou shalt
not commit adultery;" "Thou shalt not kill." He applies these laws to the inner
man, thus enforcing them in a far stronger way. As to oaths, He knew well man’s
inability to perform His vows, and so warned against doing that which the law
could only condemn. He Himself was to undertake a vow and to pay it to the very
last requirement, thus fulfilling the law of vows. The law of retaliation, in a
legal, not a personal way, had doubtless been abused by those who were only too
ready to give "an eye for an eye." Our Lord takes the personal element out, and
puts in its place that grace and mercy which have been shown to the child of
God. Thus He did not make void the law. I might add that when it came to His
taking the place of the offending sinner, the basis of strict justice was
maintained, and He had to bear all the wrath of a holy God against sin — to be
made a curse for us.

It will be found thus that our Lord never contradicted the law, in the sense of
declaring it was wrong. He corrected man’s abuse of it, and added other
principles. In some cases He showed that commands were of a partial and
temporary character. For instance, in the matter of divorce, Moses was quoted as
sanctioning a man’s putting away his wife. Our Lord shows why Moses permitted it
— "for the hardness of your hearts" (Matthew 19:3-9). The law restrained the
lawless and selfish lust that would have asserted itself at all costs, and
required that the divorce it permitted should only be carried out in a strictly
legal way, calculated to limit its abuse. Thus far the law went — "it was weak
through the flesh." Our Lord does not contradict this, but adds to it, by
forbidding all divorce, save in one instance. It will be found that this
principle permeates the entire New Testament. The law is ever magnified.}

We have a most beautiful illustration of our Lord’s jealous care for the
fulfilment of the very smallest statement of Scripture at the close of His life.
He is hanging upon the cross. Competent authorities tell us that death by
crucifixion was not only excruciating, but that intense thirst was one of its
most painful features. Without doubt, our Lord had this thirst in all its
intensity, for He had refused any stupefying draught. He says, "I thirst" — just
what any sufferer in a similar position would have said; but why does He say it?
Was it to relieve His own sufferings? "After this, Jesus knowing that all things
were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst"
(John 19:28). In the 69th Psalm, the Spirit of God had prophetically declared
for Him: "In my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink" (John 19:21). Everything
had been accomplished — His betrayal, trial, rejection by His own people, His
disciples scattered, the mocking of the Gentiles, the scorn and railing — He is
about to yield up His Spirit to His Father; but one small prediction remained,
and for that reason He permits His intense suffering to be known. Blessed Jesus!
"That the Scriptures might be fulfilled." The evangelist, as He goes on with the
narrative, shows the same fulfilment of Scripture — "a bone of Him shall not be
broken," the true Passover Lamb, and "they shall look on Him whom they pierced."
These might be called incidentals, in no way necessary for the general accuracy
of Scripture; but you will find there are no such things as incidentals in the
word of God.

How all this accords with our theme, the literal inspiration by the Holy Spirit.
He presided over all. He uttered the predictions in Old Testament type and
prophecy, and He records their fulfilment in the New. Accept this truth of the
Spirit’s inspiration, and the word of God becomes luminous. We see its priceless
value even to minutest details, and we will handle it reverently.

Permit me to detain you a little longer on a few of these minute details. Turn
to Galatians 4:22-31. Here we have allusion to what seems in Genesis to be a
very simple matter — Abraham’s relations with Hagar. But the apostle tells us
that the Spirit of God had some other end in view than the narration of an
interesting episode in the patriarch’s life: "which things are an allegory;" and
the apostle proceeds to show the secrets hidden by the Spirit in that narrative
— the relationships of law and grace. But notice the details: There are two
covenants, Hagar answering to Sinai and the legal covenant with Israel, and this
answering to "Jerusalem that now is," in bondage. The naturally barren Sarah is
made a joyful mother; the child of the bond-servant is cast out — Scripture is
quoted both from Genesis and from Isaiah, and all connected with what seems a
simple piece of Old Testament history. Nor dare we think that this is an
exceptional case. Other instances will occur to you, such as 1 Corinthians
10:1-33, Hebrews 7:1-28, Romans 4:1-25. These all are evidently but samples of
an accuracy that pervades the entire volume, for we are told that "all these
things happened unto them for types" (1 Corinthians 10:11). We are to take all
Scripture, and find, by patient, prayerful study, an accuracy of detail that is
simply perfect.

Just look at the use made of the singular, rather than the plural number: "He
saith not, And to seeds, as of many, but of one, And to thy seed, which is
Christ" (Galatians 3:16). It would be called the extreme of fanciful
interpretation if we were to adduce such points, and yet this is the method of
the Spirit of God, who thus shows that Christ was in His mind from the
beginning. But it may be objected that there is in Scripture very much that is
not true, and how can that be inspired? Undoubtedly we have, for instance, the
falsehood of Satan to Eve, "Ye shall not surely die"; his temptation of our
blessed Lord; his misquotation of Scripture, and so on. We have also the
utterances of enemies to God and to His people. Pharaoh’s contempt, Goliath’s
challenge, are instances of this. Further, we have the well-meaning but mistaken
expressions of men who thought they were honoring God, as the three friends of
Job. Job himself is a striking instance of one who knows God, uttering things
that he knew not. At the close of his experience he confesses this; so that it
would be folly for us to endorse as true what Job had condemned as wrong. I will
remind you that many quotations are taken from the book of Job by
annihilationists to prove the nonexistence of the soul after death; but when you
remember they were the utterances of one speaking in unbelief, apart entirely
from dispensational questions, it will be seen how unwarranted such use is.

We can go further, and freely admit that the entire book of Ecclesiastes is
written from the standpoint of earthly wisdom. In it we see the struggles of a
mind looking closely at life, without the aid of revelation. He says many wise
things, many true things, but all is, as I said, from the standpoint of sight,
of earth. For instance, could we quote as a divine truth such a statement as
this? "That which befalleth the sons of men, befalleth beasts: as the one dieth
so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no
pre-eminence above a beast: for all is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 3:19). Is this the
language of God — of faith? Surely not. But then, says the objector, what
becomes of your theory of verbal inspiration? The mistake is in confounding
infallible inspiration with the contents of what is revealed. To illustrate, a
man might be a perfectly accurate reporter, able to take down every word of an
address. It would be a great mistake to confound his report of the address with
the contents of the address. The report might be a faithful representation of
what was said, but what was said might be far from true. So the blessed Spirit
of God has given us an inspired report of what Satan and these others have said;
but what a mistake to confound this accuracy with an endorsement of what was
said.

Further, the Spirit has recorded these things in their proper setting. He had a
definite purpose, for instance, in presenting the report of the various
conversations in Job, and everything is so given that we get a perfectly true
representation of what was said, and are prepared for the final outcome. The
same could be said of the book of Ecclesiastes. It is as though the Spirit of
God had said, I will give you a specimen of the best reasoning of the wisest of
men. It is no garbled report, but a perfectly true picture of his mind. But you
can always see what is of this character, and that which is the direct
revelation of the mind of God. All taken together gives us the perfect book that
He would have us know, enjoy and obey.

While upon the subject of the infallible inspiration of Scripture, I will say a
few words upon the texts, versions, etc. To be very simple, you know that until
a late date all copies were made by pen. The accuracy of these copies depended,
of course, upon the care of the copyist. But, even with the greatest care, it
was impossible, humanly speaking, to keep out all errors. We find, therefore,
that among the hundreds of manuscripts there are a large number of small
variations. Most of these scarcely affect the meaning at all, being slight
omissions or insertions of letters, small words, etc. Other cases occur where
the meaning of a certain verse may be altered; but I think I am safe in saying
that in no one manuscript is there embodied a false doctrine, or a true one
eliminated. It is certainly a great mercy of God that He has preserved His truth
uncontaminated through all these centuries. The version ordinarily in use was
made from a text based chiefly on manuscripts of a late date. Since that time
much earlier manuscripts have been discovered or examined. Other things being
equal, the earlier the date of the manuscript, the greater its accuracy. Careful
study examines all the manuscripts and reaches a text which is best supported by
the oldest and most reliable authorities. Our knowledge of the text has
therefore improved since the King James version was made.

Then, too, as was to be expected, a continued study has given a clearer
understanding of the original languages, and this has enabled students to get a
clearer meaning from obscure passages in the original. This will explain what is
meant by a Revised, or New Version, many of which have been made, and some of
which are helpful in Bible study. But I wish to make two remarks. First, with
all the aids of better knowledge of the original and of earlier manuscripts, it
remains a fact that this version which we hold in our hands — the Authorized
Version — is marvelously free from blemishes. To all intents and purposes it is
a faithful representation of the original Scriptures. The simple, untutored
Christian who knows nothing of Hebrew and Greek can take it up with confidence
as the perfect word of God. No vital truth is clouded in it as a whole. What a
comfort this is! And I believe we can see in it a proof of the providential care
of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit during times of great darkness and of
persecution.*

{*This most interesting subject would carry us far beyond our limits. The reader
is referred to "History of Bible Translation," by Conant, to be had of the
publishers, for a further discussion.} My other remark is one of sorrow. All
examination of the originals, collecting of manuscript readings, versions, etc.,
is a proper and most useful employment. It is usually called "textual
criticism," or a judgment as to the text, based on the various readings, etc.,
of different manuscripts. In contrast with this, there is another form of
judgment, miscalled "higher criticism," whose purpose it is to judge of the text
by its contents, and to accept or reject it according to certain standards
adopted by the critics. In this way, judging, and most often mistakenly, by
differences of style, new words and supposed doctrines or opinions, the books of
the Bible have been cut to pieces. The Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch is
rejected, its date of composition made much later, and practically the Spirit of
God is ignored and despised. I have no hesitation in declaring this form of
criticism, as usually pursued, to be a work of Satan. It is not within our
sphere to examine it. I can only say it has laid its unclean hands upon well
nigh every portion of God’s word, and as a result has robbed those who are
ensnared of a faith in that Word.

Higher criticism is the fashion of the day, and yet, like all fashions, it
constantly changes. The critics cannot themselves agree, and, while one is more
rabid than another, all unite in a denial of that which we have seen lies at the
very foundation of a true faith — a belief in the infallible inspiration of the
word of God. There are some persons of apparent, and, one would fain hope, of
true piety, who allow the thin edge of the wedge of unbelief to be introduced.
Such persons are but baits to lure the unwary into the snares of the enemy.
Their sincerity and earnestness make them all the more dangerous. A deceiver who
is also self-deceived is the most dangerous of all deceivers. But it is time for
us to return to the thread of our theme, and to take up the next point in our
subject. We have been dwelling upon the perfections of the word of God, as
having the Spirit of God for its author, and as without any blemish or
imperfection. Our next inquiry should be very helpful: For what purpose was this
Word given, and is there a clearly defined purpose running through it? Let us
look at a few passages.

"Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him: but for
us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him who raised up Jesus
our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offenses and raised again for
our justification" (Romans 4:23-25).

What I want to notice here is the purpose of the Spirit of God in writing in the
book of Genesis (Genesis 15:5-6) that Abraham was justified. I begin with this
because of its great simplicity. Why was this written? For our sakes. Your faith
and mine, dear brethren, is just as dear to God as Abraham’s. God has recorded
His appreciation of that for our sakes.

Simply apply that principle as broadly as Scripture will let you. You come to a
promise — to a statement of the blessedness of the believer, of present grace
and of future glory — and you can say, "It was written for my sake." It reminds
one of the gleaner Ruth gathering in the fields of Boaz, and little realizing
that the handfuls of golden grain she was gathering had been "let fall of
purpose" for her. It seems to me that this is a helpful and sanctifying thought.
It makes the Bible a personal book — one in which I have a very direct interest.
I fear there is too little of this personal appropriation in our reading of
Scripture. We will presently see a wide purpose of the Spirit of God in the
Scriptures, but let us take the comfort of this personal thought first. Nor is
this merely for what we might call our assurance. "Whatsoever things were
written aforetime, were written for our learning, that we through patience and
comfort of the Scriptures might have hope" (Romans 15:4).

Here the purpose is wider; the purpose of these Scriptures is our learning — our
instruction in the ways of God. The very connection shows us an application of
the 69th Psalm to Christ, written for our learning, that we might not be
unskilful users of the Word.

Further, it was to be applied to the conscience as well. "Now all these things
happened unto them for ensamples (or types), and they are written for our
admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come" (1 Corinthians 10:11). You
will remember that in a Scripture already quoted we saw that all Scripture was
profitable; among other things, for reproof and correction. Faithful are the
wounds of a friend, and our God loves His people too much to let them go
unreproved when they need it. "As many as I love I rebuke and chasten" are words
which are some of "what the Spirit saith unto the churches." Ah, if God’s people
would but hearken to these admonitions of His Spirit through the Word! How much
would we be spared of chastening and sorrow, and how quickly would joy replace
our groaning!

Thus in this personal way we find the purpose of the Spirit of God in the
Scriptures to be our assurance, our instruction and our admonition. Let us now
look beyond ourselves.

Every book by an intelligent author was written with a definite purpose. That
purpose may have been more or less worthy — it may have been to amuse, or to
instruct; it may have been to establish a theory, or to move to action.
According to the skill and ability of the author, every part of the book would
be in consistent accord with its main purpose. Lastly, that purpose would not be
fully understood until the contents of the book were all known.

Now transfer this self-evident truth, in a reverent spirit, to the word of God.
The Spirit of God is its author; therefore there must be a divinely perfect
purpose and a divinely perfect skill in unfolding that purpose. Every part of
the book will be in perfect accord with that purpose; there will be no jarring —
no inconsistency. We will not expect to know fully what that purpose is at
first; we will not expect to have it entirely unfolded in the earlier portions.
As we grow more and more familiar with its contents, we will find the purpose of
the Divine Author more and more clearly developed.

I could wish I were more able to present this commanding thought in a worthy
way. I can but hope to give you a glimpse of it, praying that this may awaken in
your soul an insatiable longing to know the purpose of the Spirit of God in
giving us the written Word.

There is one fact that must be before us, and more particularly in the Old
Testament. The Book is a record — a history of things as they are. There is no
forcing of events in an artificial or unnatural way. The characters are
described without the least effort at what might be called "dressing up" for
appearances. In this the absolute truthfulness of God’s word is in striking
contrast with ordinary biography. In these latter, the subject appears simply in
what is best. To judge from the narrative, one would gather that there were no
faults to record. But when we come to the Scriptures, the very men whose faith
is our example are shown as they were. Noah’s faith in preparing the ark is not
allowed to conceal his drunkenness after he came forth from it. Again and again
are we told of the faith of Abraham; nor are his acts of unbelief overlooked.
The same is true of Isaac and Jacob. Moses, the great leader and lawgiver,
closes his life under the chastening hand of God, not permitted to enter the
land. David, the king, the man after God’s heart, is seen to be subject to like
passions with ourselves. His sins are recorded with the same detail as his acts
of faith.

Turning to the nation of Israel, the same features are present. The impression
one gets from reading of their rise, development and subsequent history is the
reverse of admiration. Unbelief, self-will, vacillation and apostasy are written
large over well nigh every page of their history. "It is a people that do err in
their heart, and they have not known my ways." Under whatever form of rule —
divinely called leaders, judges, kings — the result was the same.

Now, this is most remarkable, particularly when we remember that, humanly
speaking, the narrators were describing their own shame — they were writing the
history of their own nation. It was not from lack of patriotism, for you find
many instances of that all through. Our wonder is increased when we remember
that these were various authors, writing at widely separated periods, and in
diverse styles; but this faithful delineation of faults and failures is their
general characteristic.

Look at the prophets, for instance. Their hearts are breaking with their message
of woe, but not a single sin do they hide. They would die for their nation, but
they will not lie for it. The explanation of this is perfectly simple, when we
remember the Author of the Book and His purpose. That purpose was not to glorify
man individually or as a nation, but to unfold the thoughts and counsels of God
regarding man in the condition in which he was found. The one solemn fact
confronting omnipotence itself was that He had to deal with sin — with sinful
men. He might, we might well conceive, have let judgment, swift and final, fall
at once upon our guilty parents in the Garden of Eden. But His counsels of grace
were not to be thwarted. Those counsels centered in His beloved Son, and must be
fulfilled. Man is a free moral agent, and thus responsible. He is away from God,
and must be brought back. He is not to be forced back against his will, nor will
this wondrous work be effected without fullest opportunity to manifest the utter
and hopeless alienation of man.

Therefore he is left largely to himself, and soon shows that murder and violence
are all he is capable of. The flood checks this, in mercy hindering for a time
his awful lawlessness.

God puts him under government, under Noah, and that man may not think this was
effectual to bless and help, He shows us the first ruler incapable of governing
his own appetites. Finally order is changed for the confusion of Babel and the
scattering of the nations. Such is government in man’s hands.

He now calls out select individuals, to whom He entrusts His truth until the
time arrives for the establishment of a chosen nation. What are Abraham and the
patriarchs without the restraining mercy of God? They emphasize the one need of
faith — the obedience of faith — and their very falls emphasize it more
strongly. With the nation of Israel, still greater privileges are given, and the
fall is correspondingly more hopeless. Miracles are shown before them — the love
and care of God in providing for their needs is manifest. They are brought out
from bondage, guarded as the apple of His eye, and brought into the land. Hedged
about from the nations, ministered to in countless ways, recovered times without
number when they forsook Him, of what use were their privileges? The captivity
of the ten tribes, and, later, of the two, tell that both kings and people had
utterly departed from the Lord, "until there was no remedy." Is not the purpose
of God manifest in all this — to show the utter and hopeless ruin of man, and
the absolute need of a divine Redeemer? This is what any thoughtful reader will
gather from the perusal of the Old Testament. Did time and our main subject
permit, I would speak of the giving of the law, and show for what purpose it was
given. The apostle dwells upon this in the epistle to the Galatians. Man is
constantly excusing himself, constantly demanding other and greater privileges,
more light, better opportunities. The heathen may say, "I did not know the will
of God, or I would have obeyed." So the law is given, with the result that it
simply brings out the hopeless enmity of the natural heart.

I have intentionally dwelt first upon the dark side. The purpose of the Spirit
of God in the Scriptures is manifestly, as well as declaratively, to prove, in
every possible condition, the one solemn fact that man is a guilty, helpless
sinner. He lets man speak for himself, narrating infallibly his works, words,
ways and motives. The result is, man proves himself to be what God declares him.
This conviction is pressed upon us with irresistible force as we read our
Bibles. The more familiar we get with their contents, the clearer this divine
purpose shines through. "The Scripture hath concluded all under sin."

But, blessed be God, He has had other purposes in view, even the salvation of
men through the work of Christ, His Son. So as you read this inspired Word you
find, from the early beginning, intimations of this grace. The coverings of
skins for man’s nakedness, Abel’s sacrifice, the ark; the sheltering blood of
the Passover lamb, the deliverance through the Red Sea — all suggested a
redemption of which they were but the pictures.

These types of redemption are not thrown in at haphazard, but are placed at the
pivotal points in the history of individuals and of the nation. The reader has a
growing conviction that, to have to do with God, one must approach Him by
sacrifice; to be shielded from judgment, one must have the blood sprinkled; to
pass out of bondage into liberty, one must enter into what witnesses of death.
Look at the entire Jewish ritual. It is access by blood — worship by sacrifice.
It is through sacrifice that the love, care and mercy of God flow out. Thus we
see the purpose of the Spirit of God in the Scriptures.

Look, too, at the individuals who are raised up as deliverers or leaders. Look
at the official dignitaries. All speaks of a divine purpose. These men are types
of a Coming Man. Their very weaknesses and failures only emphasize the fact that
they are "not the Christ." Moses is rejected at first, later to become leader of
the people out of bondage. But, as type of Another, he speaks of a better
deliverance by One not a servant, but a Son over God’s house. He directs their
eyes from himself to a greater Prophet whom the Lord would raise up. Aaron is
priest, but increased familiarity with Scripture shows him but as a type — all
the clearer upon the foil of his many weaknesses — of God’s great High Priest.
Garments and work, down to the minutest details, speak of some one infinitely
more capable to act as Mediator between God and man. David is king, but the last
sweet notes on his harp tell of that other King, who would be as the sun on a
cloudless morning. All — all points onward to the coming of a Person whom
leader, priest, king or prophet suggested, and yet made you feel the increased
need of.

Take the dispensational ways of God, as recorded for us in that Holy Word. Do
you not see a manifest purpose from the beginning? "That in the dispensation of
the fulness of times He might head up in one all things in Christ, both which
are in heaven and which are on earth" (Ephesians 1:10). The more deeply you
plunge into the study of prophetic and dispensational truth, the more impressed
do you become with this divine, intelligent purpose of God to make His Son the
centre of all blessing, and of the Holy Spirit in giving us a divine narrative
of this purpose.

I have been speaking of what runs through the Book as a whole — one steady,
consistent onward movement. Casual readers may notice what has been called "the
progress of doctrine," but the devout student will be more and more impressed
with the perfect knowledge from the beginning of the Divine Author, withholding
full statements till their proper place, but giving from the beginning
intimations and glimpses of what was before Him at all times. The types of
Scripture, clear, consistent, beautiful — ever leading us on further toward
their fulfillment — are but fresh instances of all this. In fact, dear brethren,
one must pity from the depths of his heart those who are ignorant of this
wondrous indication of purpose running through every fibre of the Book.

Look at its structure — at the groups of single books into evident classes — at
the significance of their various details — and your reverence will be deepened.
Moses and the prophets as men will not absorb your attention; but you will
realize that the Holy Spirit of God has produced for us this perfect picture of
the divine mind.

I could speak of the unity of doctrine; also of the entire and absolute absence
of contradiction in this Book. Who but a divine and controlling mind could have
secured such results? There are new revelations, new orders of government — a
complete flashing forth of the full light in the New Testament — but never a
single word of contradiction. Is not that divine, and does it not tell of a
divine Author?

You may have been struck with the character of the quotations of the Old
Testament in the New. Infidelity might boast that they are not exact verbal
quotations, and so argue that they indicated imperfection. But examine these
quotations, and what will you find? Some fresh and added truth now ready to be
revealed. Take a familiar illustration. In Psalms 40:1-17, our Lord, by the
Spirit, says: "Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou
opened" (Psalms 40:6). Here the opened ear evidently suggests that perfect
obedience of our Lord. He had the wakened or opened ear, to hear, as one who is
taught. Let us now read the quotation in the tenth chapter of Hebrews:
"Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared me"
(Psalms 40:5). Here, in place of the opened ear — obedient to the least whisper
— the Spirit gives the added fact, appropriate to the New Testament, of the
incarnation of the Son of God. His whole earthly life was one perfect act of
obedience. The body of His humiliation was but the vehicle of a perfect
obedience to His Father’s will.

I speak of this to show the freedom of the Spirit in making use of His own
words. At the fitting time he makes use of what He had previously indited, and
adds fresh and appropriate truth to it. But I must close this part of the
subject, again entreating you to study this Book with the one great desire to
learn the purpose for which it was written. I have simply given a few of the
great features; minute details would show the same. You can place the minutest
portion under the microscope of the most searching inquiry, if it be only
reverent, and find faultless perfection; you may sweep its infinite heavens with
the telescope, only to discover divine harmony. Could there be anything else
when God, the Holy Spirit, is its author?

It may be asked, How do we know that the Book is complete? If the Spirit of God
is in the Church, why may He not give further revelations? One scripture answers
that question, and disposes of all such blasphemous imitations as the book of
Mormon, for instance: "Whereof I am made a minister, according to the
dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil (or complete) the
word of God" (Colossians 1:25). The body of revelation was completed with the
scriptures of Paul. No further unfolding of truth remains. In that which set
forth the glories of Christ, and the Church as His body and bride, God’s
counsels are fully brought to light. Peter and John, in rounding out their
ministry doubtless did write later than Paul, but they were simply finishing a
ministry already begun, and adding no fresh line of truth. All was complete and
all remains for us to read and ponder, to wonder at and praise God for, while we
ourselves are transformed by its truths.

Having thus, weakly enough, dwelt upon that which is of greatest importance, the
divine authorship of the word of God, and its absolute infallibility, I feel no
hesitation in turning to what we may call the human element in it. As I have
already mentioned, this term is ordinarily used to imply a certain measure of
imperfection, and as though we could divide the Word into two parts, inspired
and uninspired. I trust it is not necessary, for those of you who have followed
me this far, to say any more upon that point. We are fully persuaded that
absolute and inerrant perfection marks every page. But for this very reason, we
can with the fullest confidence take up the human side of the Bible, and learn
some profitable lessons. We have already seen that the Spirit of God in the
Scriptures gave us a perfectly accurate picture of the various characters
described in it. In making use of the instruments through whom He spoke, He left
them men, — endowed with their natural, and with their God-bestowed gifts — but
simply men. The Book is intensely human; it is not merely written about men, but
by men.

I would here recall a comparison, doubtless familiar to many, between the Word,
the Son of God, and the written Word, the Scriptures. The first great fact to
grasp is that “the Word was God" — the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Until
that is absolutely clear in the soul, it is worse than foolish to speak of His
humanity. Any one who denies in the fullest sense His deity, is unworthy to say
a single word about His humanity. But when it is perfectly clear that He is God,
we can then, to our comfort and profit, dwell upon the fact that, "the Word was
made flesh." So also in regard to the written Word. So long as there is a
question as to its absolute perfection, we must refuse to consider the "human
element," for it would but foster the spirit of unbelief. But once clear that we
have nothing but "the word of God," and we can with the utmost freedom dwell
upon the features which bring out the human side.

You will not misunderstand me when I say that, in one sense, the Bible is all
human. All the instruments used in its production were men. No angel or
spiritual being was used for this purpose, but "holy men spake as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost." You find in its varied pages accurate pictures of the
times of the writers; we are in Babylonia, in Egypt, in Palestine, as the case
may be. We are living in the times of the Pharaohs, of Solomon’s far reaching
empire, or of Nebuchadnezzar’s Gentile supremacy. In the New Testament, we are
under the Roman yoke, and Greek civilization and culture are apparent. If I may
so say, there is no precocity in the writers. Moses does not tell us of
scientific discoveries in Astronomy, nor Job of the steam engine. Each writer is
as artless and simple and natural as it is possible to conceive. And yet there
is the conviction of each that God the Spirit is guiding, moving, and dictating.
These may not be called scientific books, as we ordinarily use that term, but
they are not unscientific in the sense of being inaccurate. Nothing contradicts
the latest discoveries in the natural world. Without question, the Bible is a
moral book, dealing with moral questions, but you will not find inaccurate
statements in it upon any subject. It is silent upon that which man is left to
find out for himself; but upon the great question of sin and God’s remedy for
it, and God’s purposes — here, where science must be silent, the word of God is
eloquent. No doubt a careful and reverent study of Scripture will constantly
bring out beautiful harmonies between its statements and the facts of nature,
for are they not — nature and Scripture — but two volumes by the same Author?

But, as I was saying, you find the human authors of the various books of the
Bible to be men, men of the times in which they write. You find them, too,
capable of feeling of a very intense character. Witness the tears of Jeremiah,
the indignation of Isaiah, the sarcasm of Elijah, or Malachi. Go with Paul into
the sanctuary, and hear his breathings of praise and worship. These are no mere
automata, unintelligent, and uninterested in what they say; farthest from it. To
be sure you will find them conscious of being used to utter things the depths of
which they have not themselves fully fathomed, as the prophets "enquired and
searched diligently, searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ
which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of
Christ, and the glory that should follow" (1 Peter 1:10). They had further
revelations as to these things, and fully realized they were uttering the mind
and words of God. We are brought up against that fact constantly. Thus the fact
of their being men never interferes with their being just the instruments of the
Spirit of God. And what varied instruments! Here is Moses, the man learned in
all the wisdom of the Egyptians. Here is David, the Royal Shepherd, with the
echo of the sheepfolds, and the clash of battle still sounding through his
psalms. Here is Isaiah the poet, taking loftier flights than ever poets dreamed
of; and Amos almost uncouth in his bluntness, but striking just the note
required. Peter the fisher, and Paul the scribe; Matthew a tax-collector, and
Luke a physician. Each writes in his natural style, but each is after all only
an instrument for another Hand to play upon, making not only individual harmony,
but as an orchestra, uniting in a chorus, which speaks of the glories of the
Christ of God.

Dear brethren, how the sovereignty of the Spirit of God shines out here! How the
instruments are only that, simply yielded up for the Spirit of God to use. And
this is the way Scripture speaks of them.

"Men and brethren, this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy
Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas" (Acts 1:16). Here, we
see the prediction concerning Judas, written centuries before. David was the
instrument, but it was the Holy Ghost who spake. He foresaw with divine
precision the treachery of one whose heart remained unmoved by association with
our Lord. He would have it recorded long in advance, that it might be seen it
was no chance which happened, but the permission of a well-known sin. David knew
what it was to have a friend turn traitor; he had tasted something of the
bitterness of that cup, but it was not simply of Ahithophel that he wrote, —
"Yea mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath
lifted up his heel against me" (Psalms 41:9). Our Lord quotes this as fulfilled
in the treachery of Judas. He was admitted to the nearest confidences, entrusted
with the "bag" and its little store.

David doubtless was conscious that he was describing more than the treachery of
his friend, as we see from a quotation cited in Acts 2:30-31, "Therefore being a
prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit
of his loins, according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ to sit on his
throne; he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ." Thus we see
that David was conscious that he was an instrument in the hands of the Spirit of
God, to declare beforehand the purposes of God regarding Christ, both the
permission of the wickedness that brought Him to the cross, and the grace that
in that very way effected our redemption. The expression quoted says, The Spirit
by David; our next one reverses this, "David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The
Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on My right hand, till I make thine enemies thy
footstool. David therefore himself calleth Him Lord" (Mark 12:36-37). I think
there is a beautiful fitness here in this order, for it is David owning Christ’s
Lordship. So it is "David saith." But he speaks in or by the Spirit; he is led
and guided by the Holy Spirit to declare the Lordship and glory of the Messiah.

Again we have David’s own acknowledgement that he was but the instrument of the
Spirit, “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue" (2
Samuel 23:2). Here again the immediate connection shows that it was concerning
Christ that He spoke. All God’s counsels center in Him. I do not mean to limit
the inspiration to these direct predictions; far from it. Every word, whether
for the individual or the nation, is always perfect. But Christ is the centre of
God’s thoughts, and it is the great work of the Spirit to point to Him.

Leaving David, we find the same statement as to the prophets; "As He spake by
the mouth of His holy prophets which have been since the world began" (Luke
1:70). Whoever spoke for God was simply and only His mouthpiece. The human
element in inspiration is simply God’s making use of human instruments perfectly
to convey His thoughts. As to how He used them, we have been seeing a little.
There was perfect naturalness. The Spirit spake by David; David spake in the
Spirit. Look at the book of Psalms, and you will see how unconstrained were the
instruments. You hear the "sighing of the prisoner," the sad confession of sin,
the pleading for mercy, the humble gratitude for all blessings, the happy
outbursts of praise for deliverance, and the joyful acclaim, in which all nature
joins — "Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord." How varied the tones,
and yet what perfect harmony. For the simple reason that every instrument is
used by the Holy Spirit of God. To me there is not only a charm in dwelling upon
this side of the subject, but it seems to me to add to our thought of the
sovereign power of the Holy Spirit. He uses free agents; He has them utter, in
language appropriate to themselves, thoughts whose general meaning they grasp;
they are affected by feelings natural to their position. And yet all is
absolutely divine. The result is, we have a Book which is the wonder of the
world, the comfort of the saints, and which unfolds the mind of God.

I need hardly refer to the divine wisdom and suitability of all this. This Book
touches us at every point of our experience— sin, sorrow, trial; gratitude, joy,
worship — every conceivable experience of the child of God, every condition of
conscience-stricken guilt, is met here. It is met not with the dark outline of
the picture merely, but that picture instinct with hope and with life. The
Spirit of God is breathing through it all. I see myself pictured not merely as a
poor sinner groveling in the dust, but as such at the feet of infinite love, hot
tears, given of God, telling out my shame and my sorrow, and sweetest fragrance
telling out the grace and love of Him who meets me as I am. Oh, beloved, I bless
— I praise God for this wondrous human-divine Book! I weep with Jeremiah, I
exult with Isaiah; but in and with the weeping and the exultation I feel and
know the calm of the Mighty One who is speaking for God in every word.

Such, in some partial way, is the thought of the human element — the
instruments. In somewhat a similar way as when, fully persuaded of His deity, we
are led out in fuller worship by a contemplation of our Lord’s humanity, so when
we have in our inmost souls bowed to God’s perfect Word, we are refreshed and
helped by looking at the human instruments He has been pleased to make use of. I
commend this subject to your prayerful study.

We have now done with this side of our subject — the Holy Spirit in inspiration.
We have dwelt upon the perfection of the Scripture, upon the purpose of the
Spirit in giving it, and upon its adaptability to our use by the human
instruments through whom He has spoken. We now pass to another branch of the
subject, upon which we will dwell far more briefly — the enlightenment of the
Spirit in the use of the Scriptures.

We have in our hands a perfect, an infallible Book. Every word has been inspired
by the Holy Spirit. How are we to understand — to make use of it? Bearing in
mind that the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, we see
that something more than mere natural intelligence is needed. You may know the
languages accurately, be able to make nice distinctions in Greek particles and
tenses, and yet be utterly in the dark as to the meaning of this Holy Word. A
glance at many of the learned commentaries will illustrate this. History,
archaeology, science are levied upon, and a wealth of sidelight is thrown upon
the narrative; but, alas! no sunlight. You will understand that I value the
side-light, but only after I have the sunlight. We can thank God for everything
in the way of geography and history that illustrates Scripture, but this is not
illumination. Learning, I want to say distinctly, is not an enemy to the truth,
but a servant. There are some devout students who realize this, and who bring
all human knowledge to the feet of Jesus. Such men will be used of God.

It is under the plea of the need of a God-given interpreter that Rome has taken
the Bible away from the common people. She says the Church alone can interpret
Scripture, and that for the average Christian to attempt it will result in
error. She points to the infidelity and manifold divisions of Protestantism as a
justification of her stand.

Now I am not, of course, justifying Rome in taking away the key of knowledge;
but does not the infidelity of much of that which professes to interpret
Scripture — German rationalism, copied in England, Scotland and America — show
where mere human learning will lead? I say as boldly as Rome, we do need a
divine teacher to illuminate this Word for us; we are not competent to learn it
by ourselves. Even where there is no rationalism, this free and independent
handling of the word of God leads to all kinds of crude and unsound views and
divergent opinions. We do need — we must have an infallible guide to explain to
us what the Bible teaches. Who and where is he?

Rome says the Church teaches; the priest alone can expound Scripture; the popes,
the councils and the fathers have settled its meaning. But if I turn to these
sources of light, I find them utter darkness. Not only does the greatest
confusion prevail — divergence of opinion between fathers and councils and popes
— but Rome has blotted out the simplest and most precious truths of the word of
God. She has branded as damnable heresies the precious truths of justification
by faith, the finished redemption of Christ, and of access into the very holiest
by His blood, without priest or ritual. She has marred the Bible and insulted
the Holy Spirit by incorporating the Apocrypha with the word of God, mixing
human productions full of error with the divine. She has illustrated to the full
the parable of the woman hiding the leaven in three measures of meal. Wherever
the Church takes the place of teacher that is what she does — introduces error
into the pure truth, and so corrupts all.

No, dear brethren, Rome offers no corrective for the error we all deplore. We
need a God-given teacher — an infallible guide — to enable us to understand our
Bibles. Who is he? The Holy Spirit. The Author of the Book is its expounder. How
precious, and how like the grace of God that this should be!

Let me illustrate. Two disciples of Jesus were on their way from Jerusalem to
Emmaus. The shadow of the cross, unrelieved even by a hope of the resurrection,
hung darkly over their path. Their faith only manifested itself in a sorrow well
nigh hopeless. And yet these men had not only the Scriptures, but the
predictions of our Lord as to His death and resurrection. But "as yet they knew
not the Scriptures that He must rise from the dead." Jesus is already risen, and
is about to manifest Himself to them; but first of all He will give Scripture
its proper place, and illuminate its pages for them. Before they can see Him
they must understand the Scriptures. His theme is, "Ought not Christ to have
suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?" Beginning at the beginning,
with Moses, "He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning
Himself." Of that wondrous exposition we have no record save its effect upon
these cold-hearted disciples. "Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked
with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?" (Luke 24:25-32).
Do you wish you had been there to have heard? Ah, brethren, though Jesus has
gone on high, He has sent His representative to carry on this very work of
unfolding the meaning of the Scriptures. It was said of our Lord, "Then opened
He their understandings that they might understand the Scriptures"; and in close
connection with that, He gave the promise of the Spirit (see Luke 24:45; Luke
24:49). He carries on this work of unfolding the word of God, of which our Lord
has given samples. Remembering, too, our Lord’s words, "it is expedient for you
that I go away," we can safely say this work of the Spirit in enlightening our
minds and guiding us into all truth is more effectual even than if our Lord had
continued here as expounder, and for the simple reason that He was external and
expounded to them, while the Spirit is within, and acts directly upon the mind.

We see, in Peter’s discourse and the general testimony all through the Acts,
that the Spirit was illuminating the Old Testament Scriptures. Here, at the
beginning, we have this illumination in connection with inspiration, as showing
God’s gracious provision for founding His Church. But you can see that this
illumination was not to be confined to these inspired men, but was and is the
common privilege of all saints.

Just as in our Lord’s parables, He does not explain all, but gives sample
explanations of a few, in order that, by exercise and diligent search, under the
guidance of the Spirit, the others might be understood also; so the use made of
Old Testament Scripture by inspired men is to serve as a model for all saints,
who, in dependence upon the Spirit, study the Word.

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of this illumination. Without it
the Bible is a closed book practically, with little to charm the reader, because
of his inability to grasp its meaning; with it the pages of Scripture become
luminous, and its beauties grow upon us as, with wonder, we explore its
exhaustless treasures. Instead of taking it up as a duty and reading the
appointed chapter with little profit, we find it difficult to lay the Book down.
No romance could so attract — no human production could so absorb. To what is
this secret due? To the holy light that shines upon its truths and into our
hearts by the Holy Spirit.

Beware, dear brethren, of handling this Book in a coldly intellectual way — of
reading and studying it in reliance upon your own wisdom. Remember the words of
the apostle, which apply as truly to the natural mind in the saint as to the
sinner: "Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath
revealed them unto us by His Spirit. . . But the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he
know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 9:`-17, 1
Corinthians 10:1-33, 1 Corinthians 14:1-40).

Spiritual discernment of what is revealed is the result of the Spirit’s
illumination. Without this, not even its inspiration could make the truths of
God’s word known. How completely dependent are we, then, upon the Holy Spirit.
In the chapter from which I have just quoted we are told that the truths of God
are revealed by the Spirit, communicated by the Spirit, and received in the
power of the Spirit. This enlightenment of the Spirit enables us not merely to
understand detached texts and portions of God’s truth— not merely to have clear
views upon certain doctrines —but to gain familiarity with the entire Book; to
fall into the current of its thoughts — all, in fact, suggested by the words,
"rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15).

I have already dwelt a little upon the purpose of God, as unfolded in His word.
This enlightenment of the Spirit will enable us to understand and trace out that
purpose. We will see the development of God’s ways with Israel and His counsels
as to His earthly people; we will see how blessing is coming to all the nations
of the earth in connection with Israel. We will learn that the Church, the body
and future heavenly bride of Christ, is entirely distinct from the earthly
people. We will fall, into the current of prophetic teaching, and that which to
most is a confused mass of well nigh contradictory statements will become
luminous.

Under this divine enlightenment, we will trace the wondrous truths of God’s
word, from the germs in the earliest books on to the full fruitage in the life
of our Lord and distinct statement of the epistles. We will take up the types of
Scripture, and find an absorbing delight in discovering the secrets which God
has hidden for us. What shall I say? The enlightenment of the Spirit puts us in
a new world — the world of divine realities — and the things of this present
world seem small in comparison. As a result, practical sanctification is
secured. A man whose whole life is spent in the realities of divine things is
likely to be transformed by them. But this brings us to our last subject, which
I have called prophecy. You will understand that I do not refer here to what is
ordinarily termed that, whether prediction or any divine oracle. I use the term
now as we find it in 1 Corinthians 14:1-40 : "Ye may all prophesy one by one,
that all may learn and all be comforted." "He that prophesieth speaketh unto men
to edification, and exhortation and comfort" (1 Corinthians 14:4, 1 Corinthians
14:31). This is the special application by the Spirit of God of truth suited to
the special need of the saints. The principle is evident, and we can apply it to
the entire body of Scripture.

We have a perfect Word, and have been enlightened to understand it; but we still
need to have it applied to mind and heart and life. The word in season is the
word of prophecy. Let me illustrate: The account of Abraham and Hagar is
divinely inspired; it is a perfect revelation of God’s thoughts upon a certain
theme. Further, we have been enlightened to get the meaning of the narrative; we
see the two covenants of law and grace, the futility of nature’s efforts, the
power of God in linking us with the heavenly city, and so on. We see it, and are
able to talk clearly about it all. But we need to have the Word brought home to
our need. Are we carnal, seeking nature’s strength for God’s things? Are we
legal, turning again to the "weak and beggarly elements" of a carnal
commandment? Then the Spirit of God would apply to our conscience the truth He
had made us see, and the result would be our practical deliverance.

We are to be not merely students of the Word, but obedient to it. This is
effected by allowing the Spirit to apply it. There is nothing more deadening
than to be engaged with truth without its acting upon the conscience. To traffic
in the holy things of God for mere pleasure or worldly profit is awful to think
of. Even where this extreme is not reached, we all need to remember that it is a
solemn thing to have to do with God, and to have conscience open that the Spirit
may make practical what we have been learning.

I need hardly add that this ministry in the power of the Spirit is distinct from
inspiration. This is ignored by some, who thus put on the same level the sayings
of uninspired men and the revelations of the Spirit of God. I believe Scripture
itself corrects this by giving us an example where we have side by side the
inspired Word and the word of prophecy. It is all the more remarkable because
both utterances are from the same person and at the same time. I refer to 1
Corinthians 7:1-40.

I will quote first a few passages in which the apostle clearly disclaims
absolute divine authority for what he says: "But I speak this by permission, not
by commandment" (1 Corinthians 7:6); "Now concerning virgins, I have no
commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy
of the Lord to be faithful" (1 Corinthians 7:25). "But she is happier if she so
abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God" (1
Corinthians 7:40).

Compare with this, in the same Scripture, the following statement: "And unto the
married I command, yet not I but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from the
husband" (1 Corinthians 7:10). Passing back again, "But to the rest speak I, not
the Lord" (1 Corinthians 7:12).

Here, then, we have, in divine wisdom recorded in God’s word, side by side,
infallible commands and the judgment of a spiritual man. When it is the Lord
speaking, the apostle tells us, and distinguishes this from his own judgment.
And yet he spoke as a man guided by the Spirit. It is this last general guidance
by the Spirit for our profit and edification that is the prophecy that always
abides in the Church. Inspiration has ceased, because the word of God is
complete, and there is no further need for it. But there is constant and daily
need for this practical speaking by the Spirit of a word in season.

There are those, doubtless, who have a special gift as exhorters — men who know
what is the need, and apply the word of God to that need. The "word of wisdom"
would seem to be of this character.

Then, too, the blessed Spirit speaks to us in private, in our own reading of
Scripture, or by bringing to our recollection just the word needed for our help
— doctrine, reproof or correction. Let us see to it that we ever read God’s word
with the desire that it should search us. This is the application of the water
to our feet, that we may abide in holy fellowship with the Lord (see John
13:1-38.) In a similar way we find the Scriptures are the weapon of offence in
all spiritual conflict. In the familiar passage in the sixth chapter of
Ephesians, after enumerating the various parts of the defensive armor — girdle,
sandals, breastplate, shield, and helmet — the apostle adds, "the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God." A closer rendering would doubtless be, "the
sayings of God." This would suggest the word for the occasion, as when our Lord
met and overcame Satan by the suited word. What a comfort it is to know that the
Spirit is ever ready to give us the word we ought to speak, in all conflicts
with the adversary, whatever may be the form in which he may appear! How many
well-meaning efforts to contend for the truth fail because the wrong weapon is
used! Instead of using with perfect confidence the divinely appointed weapon,
resort is had to human arguments and methods, too often with disastrous results.

Notice, it must be the proper portion, the saying that is applicable to the
need. How much exercise this means how much previous study of scripture, and
what dependence upon God. May we learn to be not unskillful users of the word of
righteousness. There is no weapon like that, and with it the weak and ignorant
may confound the wisest.

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable." Is it so to
us? Are we becoming sanctified by the truth? There is one proof — obedience. "If
a man love me, he will keep my word." Obedience, dear brethren, is that to which
we are called. Of what avail is knowledge, and even miraculous power, if
obedience to God’s holy will in love is not our daily practice? The Lord lay
this upon all our hearts.

Thus we have reached, in our way, the end we had put before us. We have seen the
Holy Spirit as Author of the Scriptures, giving us an infallibly perfect Book;
we next dwelt upon His enlightenment of our minds in opening up the contents of
this wondrous Book; and, lastly, we have glanced at His work of applying to
heart and conscience that Word, that it might be assimilated in our lives.

How complete and how varied is His work in connection with the Scriptures! Is
anything lacking? Could we ask or desire more? Surely we can say we are not
straitened in Him, but only in ourselves. It is the narrow heart, full of its
own thoughts and its own will, that "limits the Holy One." May He, the Author of
God’s perfect word, be unhindered in His work of opening its beauties to our
gaze and of applying its truths to our conscience.

"Father, we own Thy sov’reign claim, And bless Thy Son’s most precious name,
Whom Thou for us hast given Who bore the curse to sinners due, Quickened our
ruined souls anew, And made us heirs of heaven.

’Tis by the Holy Ghost alone That Christ, the Lord, is made our own, The gift of
grace divine: But since to us, in His blest face, There shines the glory of Thy
grace, We know that we are Thine.

Oh, while we here together join, Before the throne of grace divine, Bow down a
Father’s ear; Our hearts have listened to Thy Word, Thy name we praise with glad
accord, Reveal Thyself as near."

Lecture 7. The Holy Spirit and Christ — Before His Incarnation; During His
Earthly Life; the Present Dispensation; the Coming of the Lord.

"Come, let us sing the matchless worth, And sweetly sound the glories forth,
Which in the Saviour shine: To God and Christ our praises bring: The song with
which high heaven will ring, "Praises for grace divine."

How rich the precious blood He spilt? Our ransom from the dreadful guilt Of sin
against our God;

How perfect is the righteousness, In which unspotted beauteous dress His saints
have ever stood!

How rich the character He bears, And all the form of love He wears, Exalted on
the throne! In songs of sweet untiring praise, We e’er would sing His perfect
ways, And make His glories known. And soon the happy day shall come When we
shall reach our destined home And see Him face to face;

Then with our Saviour, Lord, and Friend The one unbroken day we’ll spend In
singing still His grace."

It is the special beauty of the truth of God that it never leaves us satisfied
with itself, but brings us to know and enjoy a Person. Thus, without any special
premeditation, I find that our closing lecture is appropriately upon the
relationship of the Holy Spirit to the blessed Son of God. And I am sure that
this is the desire of the Spirit. His work here is expressed in one sentence,
"He shall glorify me." He does not merely enlighten us, but He introduces — may
I say? — us to One in whose company we shall spend eternity.

I think it fitting, too, that our present subject should follow the previous
one. All the perfections of the written Word are to exhibit those of the
Personal Word. The Scriptures have Christ for their theme, and in all
enlightenment and all application to heart and conscience this is ever before
the Spirit — to glorify Christ.

How suggestive is the thought — in itself what a model does it put before us!
The blessed Jesus humbled Himself, walking in all lowliness from the manger to
the cross, bearing His own cross at the last; but it is the delight of the
Spirit to unfold the glories which the Lord veiled, to make Him pre-eminent who
emptied Himself. And so, as led of the Spirit, our one thought in all ministry
is to exalt Christ — our one business to learn more of Him.

Indeed, as you will see, all our previous subjects converge here. I will briefly
run over what has been before us from the beginning to show this. Our first
subject was, The Holy Spirit in the Dispensations, and these we divided into the
three general ones, before Christ, the present or Christian age, and the
Millennium. The Spirit’s work prior to our Lord’s first coming was necessarily
one of preparation — preparation for Christ. During the present age, while our
Lord is exalted, His work is to make us realize the fulness there is in Him. In
the Millennium, when our Lord will be manifested as King over all the earth, His
word will be one of open and manifest blessing. Thus the Spirit reflects the
thoughts of God as to Christ in each age of the world’s history.

We see the same in what occupied us next — The Holy Spirit in Salvation.
Conviction of sin, we saw, was be cause of the world’s rejection of Christ. New
birth was marked by faith in the Lord Jesus. Sealing was upon that faith; was
simply the record of God’s appreciation of those who believe. Sealing is never
connected with attainments or experiences; never made to depend upon the extent
of our knowledge of truth. Where there is faith in the Person, there God sets
His seal of ownership upon the weakest and most ignorant believer. Assurance is
simply bringing home to the soul the perfection of Christ’s work and His love.
Thus in salvation the Spirit glorifies Christ. The same is true in the
sanctification of the believer. We find that the Spirit comes as the
representative of our absent Lord. He takes up His abode in us, leads our hearts
out to share the thoughts of God as to Christ, sets us apart as belonging to
Him, and enables us to walk as glorifying Him. Here, again, it is Christ whom
the Spirit exalts. In all Church truth the Spirit gives the Headship to Christ.
In baptism He puts us into the Body of which Christ is Head; the unity of the
Spirit is to make practical the unity of the Body; the gifts of the Spirit are
from Christ in glory, administered down here; worship is exclusively to the
Father and the Son.

I might repeat the same in what occupied us next — The Spirit for Power. Paul
calls it "the power of Christ," and connects it, as we saw, with the risen and
ascended Lord. And we have just noted the connection between the Scriptures and
Him who is called the Word. So it is no exaggeration to say that the one work of
the Spirit in every connection is to present Christ before us — to magnify Him
in our eyes, in order that our lives may be conformed to Him and the praise of
heaven be anticipated.

It is my purpose tonight to trace out, with the Spirit’s help, some of the more
manifest relations between Himself and our Lord Jesus, and, for convenience of
arrangement, I will arrange what I have to say chronologically. We will look
first at the Spirit and Christ before His incarnation; secondly, during His life
upon earth; thirdly, during the present dispensation; and lastly, the outlook
into the future.

There is a striking Scripture that illustrates this intimate relation prior to
our Lord’s coming to earth. "Quickened by the Spirit: by which also He [Christ]
went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient,
when once the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark
was a-preparing" (1 Peter 3:18-20). This passage has been greatly misunderstood,
and even where it was not used to teach error, its true force does not seem to
have been apprehended.

It has been thought to refer to what was done by our Lord after His death: that
He descended into the unseen world, and there "in spirit," in His disembodied
state, preached the gospel to the spirits in prison. Apart from its grossness,
such a thought is not only utterly foreign to the Scriptures, but serves as an
apparent basis for the doctrine of purgatory and future probation, which, I need
hardly say, are most dangerous errors.

All, however, is clear when we see the true meaning. The people of God are in
the midst of all forms of persecution and suffering, subjected to the mockery of
an evil and thoughtless age, just as Noah had to listen to the scoffers in his
day; as our Lord, too, suffered, not merely this persecution, but for sins, too.
That suggests the cross, the only place where He suffered for sins, and His
death. He died, as to His earthly relationships — as to His humanity. This is
the meaning of "in the flesh." He died as man. But he was quickened in the power
of the Spirit, and is alive forevermore. The apostle returns to his theme, the
sufferings of the Lord’s people in a mocking age. It has ever been the same. In
Noah’s day there were the scoffers; but Christ went, in that day, and preached
by the Spirit — the same Spirit in or through whom He was quickened. He is
present with us now, just as He was present in Noah’s day — by the Holy Spirit,
who represents Him. The Spirit spoke in Noah; He speaks through His instruments
now, and it is Christ speaking in both cases by the Spirit.

Noah’s case is cited as being at the close of a time of forbearing, and just
preceding the judgment. "The world that then was" answers to the world that now
is. (See 2 Peter 2:6-7). What happened in his day will finally happen with the
world. The men who heard Christ preaching through the Spirit in Noah are now in
prison. They heard the preaching and rejected it. So will it be in a day soon
coming. Therefore, let the suffering saints be steadfast; they are part of a
great testimony of Christ which the Spirit of God has been presenting from the
beginning. Rejectors will soon see their folly; meanwhile let Christ’s example
be before us. Let us suffer for righteousness, He having once for all suffered
for sins. But it was not merely to explain a passage that has been misunderstood
that I have quoted this Scripture, but to show the relation between the Holy
Spirit and Christ in all time. Christ went, in the Spirit, in the days of Noah,
and preached to the men whose spirits are now in prison. The Spirit was His
representative and executor. The same apostle, you will remember, speaks of the
Holy Spirit in prophecy as "the Spirit of Christ" (1 Peter 1:11). We have
already examined this passage, but I want you now to notice the expression, "the
Spirit of Christ." A vast amount of Old Testament Scripture is what is called
"Messianic"; it refers to the Messiah, or Christ. The Holy Spirit spoke in the
prophets, and He spoke for, and, in very many cases, as Christ. That is, we have
not merely the inspired predictions as to the sufferings and future glories of
our Lord, but you have these sufferings, as it were, made visible and present.
It is the Spirit of Christ who speaks, the Holy Spirit bringing Christ vividly
before us. But illustration will make this plainer.

"My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" (Psalms 22:1). These are our Lord’s
own words on the cross, centuries later, and the entire Psalm evidently refers
to what Peter has called "the sufferings of Christ and the glories that should
follow." But you notice it is Christ Himself who is speaking all through that
Psalm, not merely the Spirit. We hear His cry of anguish; we see "the assembly
of the wicked" enclosing Him, and hear their taunts: "He trusted on the Lord
that He would deliver Him; let Him deliver Him, seeing He delighted in Him." All
is vivid, personal, real. We see Him delivered, at the moment of extreme
forsaking, from the horns of the unicorn, and we hear His song of triumph. It is
Christ, I say, who is speaking. But it is the Spirit who makes such a wonder
possible. This is but one case. Turn to Psalms 16:1-11. We hear a voice — a
familiar voice of love, dependence and obedience. "Preserve me, O God, for in
thee do I trust." We see Him walking His lonely, separate path, associating with
a feeble remnant, whom He calls "the saints that are in the earth, and the
excellent in whom is all my delight." We follow Him, as, with perfect
satisfaction in Jehovah as His portion, He faces even death, in the confidence
that the "path of life" lies through it, and that God will not suffer His "Holy
One to see corruption," but will bring Him into His presence with fulness of
joy.

Now, this is not David, save as the instrument of the Holy Spirit. It is Christ
Himself presented as speaking, through the divine power of that Spirit who sees
the end from the beginning. And so I might go on, quoting one Psalm after
another to show not mere inspiration, but, if I may so speak, impersonation. It
is a wonderful subject, to trace Christ speaking throughout the Psalms by the
Spirit. You will find this, manifestly in such Psalms as Psalms 40:1-17, Psalms
69:1-36, Psalms 109:1-31. In Isaiah 40:1-17 we see Him as the burnt offering,
raised up from the dead; in Psalms 69:1-36, as the trespass offering, suffering
for wrong not His own; in Psalms 109:1-31, He is suffering at man’s hands. There
are many other instances of the same, both in entire Psalms, as Psalms 17:1-15
and Psalms 18:1-50, or in smaller portions. Besides these, there are the other
Messianic Psalms, to which I do not now refer, as Psalms 2:1-12, Psalms 8:1-9,
Psalms 45:1-17, Psalms 110:1-7, where Christ is not entirely the speaker, but
the subject.

We have thus a mass of material in illustration of what is suggested by this
expression, "the Spirit of Christ." We find the Holy Spirit so closely and
intimately identified with what our blessed Lord was to do and be when here upon
earth that He anticipated these things. His purpose was so to present it that
not merely should a correct prediction be given, but the setting as well, in
which all that occurred should be presented.

I feel at a loss to express this as I would like. I shrink from using language
too human, lest it should seem like an irreverent intrusion into divine
mysteries. And yet in a spirit of childlike confidence we may make use of what
is revealed. Does it not show that all God the Father’s counsels centered about
His Son — that all the Spirit’s work was to exhibit Christ? What ineffable love
between the divine Persons of the Holy Trinity! We can at least worship as we
bow our hearts. We tread His courts with unshod feet and chastened thoughts, but
we dare not refuse the thoughts revealed by God Himself. "Thou lovedst me before
the foundation of the world" gives a glimpse of Godhead glory that seems to link
closely with that word, "God is love." But I pass to another line of truth — the
Spirit and Christ, in His incarnation and during His earthly life. We will let
Scripture speak to us. "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of
the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that Holy Thing which shall be
born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). Read also Matthew
1:20. From these Scriptures we learn that our adorable Lord’s humanity was due
to the power of God through the Holy Spirit. He came voluntarily, became flesh
voluntarily, and here we see the share — may we say? — of Father, Son and Spirit
in connection with His incarnation.

We pass on to His entrance into public life at His baptism, and here we see the
Spirit anointing Him, not only for service, but as the Priest and sacrifice who
was saying, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God." I have already referred to these
passages, and will not quote them again (Luke 3:21-22; Acts 10:28).

Everything our Lord did as man was in the power of the Holy Spirit. It was by
Him our Lord cast out devils (Matthew 12:28); through Him He offered or
presented Himself without spot to God. His baptism and anointing set Him apart
thus to God, to accomplish His will. Everything is in intimate connection with
the Holy Spirit.

It is of great interest just here to notice how beautifully this is intimated in
the type. In the meat — or, as the Revised Version renders it, meal-offering we
have (in Leviticus 2:5) cakes of fine flour, mingled with oil and anointed with
oil. The fine flour is, as you know, a type of our Lord’s perfect humanity. It
is, we might say, Christ’s flesh — not in the sense, of course, of His body. The
mingling with oil tells of what we have already seen, our Lord’s miraculous
nativity, by the power of the Spirit. The anointing with oil in like manner
reminds us of our Lord’s public recognition in the anointing of the Spirit at
His baptism. The meat offering was both mingled and anointed with oil.

What absolute perfection all this suggests in the perfect Man. How opposite to
the natural man, who was completely estranged from the only source of power. How
completely, too, it disposes of that blasphemous suggestion. — sometimes made in
ignorance, but none the less blasphemy — that our Lord was capable of sinning.
It reminds one of the Pharisees suggesting that our Lord wrought His miracles
through the power of Satan. Could the Holy Spirit commit sin — yield to
temptation? God forgive those who make the suggestion, and purify our minds from
any such unholy speculation.

But, returning to the descent of the Spirit upon our Lord at His baptism, we
have what I will call your attention to again, for it is most striking. I mean
the form in which the Spirit appeared. He descended in bodily shape like a dove.
The symbolism here is simple and clear. The dove was the bird used in sacrifice
— "two turtle doves." It is also the bird of love — "My love, my dove," as in
the Song of Solomon. With equal clearness, it is the bird of sorrow — "We
mourned sore as doves." Sacrifice, love, sorrow — these the dove symbolized. But
why, then, is the dove used as a type of the Spirit?

It only shows the beautiful accord of all Scripture. The Spirit has ever
presented Christ, and not Himself.

He would show us who the One is, marked out in this wondrous way. He is the
sacrifice, whose love brought Him down from heaven, and whose sorrow over man’s
sin made Him a mourner. In looking at the dove we do not think so much of the
Spirit as we do of Christ. "He shall glorify me."

Another type shows the link with our Lord’s death. In the familiar passage
describing the cleansing of the leper (Leviticus 14:1-57), we have the
ceremonial preliminary to his reception into the camp. The priest was to take
two birds, and kill one in an earthen vessel over running water. The bird of
heaven speaks of Christ, who came down from heaven; the earthen vessel speaks of
the prepared body, His incarnation; the running or living water reminds us, as
we have frequently seen, of the word of God as used by the Holy Spirit. You will
remember we spoke of our Lord’s determination to fulfill the least scripture
prediction concerning His death, and how thus He spoke of His thirst. The
passage we are looking at embodies this thought. In His death, the Holy Spirit
was united with Himself in carrying out every particular that had been foretold.
Thus the Spirit was with Him up to that awful moment when, forsaken of God, He
entered alone into the darkness of wrath, drinking the last bitter dregs of the
cup of wrath deserved by us. The Spirit was the agent in His resurrection, as we
have been reading, He was quickened in or by the Spirit. So also it was through
the Holy Ghost that He gives special instructions and commands to His disciples
after His resurrection (Acts 1:2). This is most interesting and remarkable. The
Spirit was with the risen Lord as well as before His death, which seems to
suggest that unhindered and unreserved divine fellowship which shall exist for
all eternity, not only between the persons of the Godhead, but — blessed be His
name — with all the redeemed as well.

Thus we can trace the link of the Spirit with our Lord all through His earthly
life — His conception, baptism, anointing, sacrificial death, and His
resurrection. What perfect and holy intimacy. And what privileges it suggests
for those who have in infinite grace been born again, baptized, indwelt, and
anointed by this same Spirit. But we pass on now to the present dispensation —
the dispensation of the Spirit, and to this our Lord’s words just quoted
particularly apply. We find that it is still Christ, none but Christ who is
presented as the object. Look at Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost; what is
the theme? not primarily the Holy Spirit, but Christ. It was Christ they had
rejected, Christ, God had exalted, Christ through whom forgiveness of sins and
every other blessing was offered. Is it not wonderfully simple? The same is true
all through the Acts, and all through the epistles, the one commanding theme,
presented in all the energy and power of the Holy Spirit, is the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is Christ in glory now, at God’s right hand — the heavens opened for
faith and the way into the Holiest manifest. But Christ is all.

Another type illustrates this strikingly. We had occasion at the beginning to
remark the superintendence of the Spirit over the construction of the
Tabernacle. The Tabernacle is, I need not say, typical throughout, and in every
way of the Person and work of Christ. I do not here speak of curtains and boards
and those parts not directly connected with our theme.

Let us look at the candlestick. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak
unto Aaron, and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamp, the seven lamps shall
give light over against the candlestick. . . . And this work of the candlestick
was of beaten gold; unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof, was beaten
work: according unto the pattern which the Lord had showed Moses" (Numbers
8:1-4).

All are agreed that the light, supported by the oil, is a type of the Holy
Spirit. But of what or whom is the candlestick a type? Gold is a figure of
divine glory, the seven branches, of divine perfection. But you will remember
that these branches were formed by representations of the buds and blossoms of
the almond-tree. This tree was the first to bloom in the spring; its name is a
reminder of this, "the hastener." Further Aaron’s rod that budded and bore
blossoms and fruit was an almond-rod.

All this is beautifully typical of our Lord in resurrection-glory. He in His
resurrection is the antitype of Aaron’s rod, and thus proves His exclusive right
to the everlasting priesthood, "not after the law of a carnal commandment, but
after the power of an endless life" (Hebrews 7:16). The candlestick thus tells
of the glory of a risen and ascended Christ, the Son of God. This accords with
all that we have heretofore seen of the Spirit’s work. We look at the passage I
have just read from the eighth of Numbers. The lights — the Holy Spirit — were
to give light over against the candlestick — the perfections of Christ risen. In
other words the one distinct work of the Spirit is thus to exhibit the
perfections and glories of Christ.

You will find that thought all through the tabernacle. There was no other light
there but the light from the candlestick, and under its beams all the glories of
the sanctuary were visible. For us, blessed be God, holy place and most holy,
are one — the light that illumines our sanctuary shows the way into the holiest
of all made manifest. It is by the Holy Spirit we recognize how true all is for
faith. "Through Him (Christ) we both have access by one Spirit to the Father."
But think, dear brethren, of the absorbing interest of the Spirit in presenting
Christ and His glories for the worship of faith. The soft light from the
candlestick brings into lovely and harmonious view, not only the beauties of the
light stand, but of altar and table as well. Christ is glorified.

I am reminded of how this connects with the passage in 2 Corinthians 3:1-18. The
apostle is there describing the "ministry of the Spirit," in contrast with that
of law — death, and condemnation. He declares that under this ministry, he can
use great plainness, in contrast with Moses who was obliged to conceal the glory
of his countenance from the children of Israel. We on the contrary, have an
object before us, who has no veil on His face, and in that face we see the glory
of God. It is a glorified Christ, whom the Spirit presents! No wonder there is
great plainness of speech. No wonder there is liberty. Ah, "we see Jesus crowned
with glory and honor." But there is more than this: we behold this unveiled
glory of the Lord, and are changed into the same image, from glory to glory,
even as by the Lord the Spirit." Occupation by the Spirit with the glories of
Christ, has a transforming, sanctifying effect. We are changed into the same
image. Think of that, ye followers after "perfect sanctification." Do you desire
the Spirit’s way of holiness? Let Him unfold before your gaze the beauties of a
risen Christ. He will not occupy you with yourselves save to make you abhor and
loathe yourselves, but with the "chiefest among ten thousand." And as you gaze,
the image of that One will be taken in your heart, you will be transformed into
the same image.

There is another way in which we can see this relation of the Spirit and Christ
connected, yet somewhat in contrast with what we have just been looking at. It
too is a type. "And it came to pass that at even the quails came up and covered
the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. And when the dew
that lay was gone up, behold upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small
round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. . . . And when the sun
waxed hot, it melted" (Exodus 16:13-14; Exodus 16:21).

Dew, moisture, is a reminder of the freshness of the Spirit. The manna, I need
not say, is Christ, the bread of God from heaven, to be our food. It is Christ
come down, Christ in all the circumstances of an earthly life, to sustain the
life of His people. It is connected with the quails, who, in their death for
man’s food, suggest Christ’s flesh and blood. (See John 6:1-71.) Here then we
have, not a Christ in glory, but a Christ humbled — all that is in His blessed
person to support and nourish us during our wilderness journey.

But, you will notice, it was in connection with the dew that the manna came. It
is the Holy Spirit who makes Christ our food; and may there not be fitness in
the withdrawal of the dew that the manna may be seen? The Spirit ever presents
Christ and none but Him. However the same causes which removed the dew, caused
the manna to melt. The sun of this world soon drives away, so far as our
enjoyment is concerned, that which should be our food. But you notice again how
the Spirit is linked with our blessed Lord. Is Christ the food of your soul? is
He precious? Then you know to Whose gracious ministry this is due. "He shall
take of mine and show it unto you." May the blessed Spirit be unhindered in His
holy work of feeding our souls with the things of Christ. I might remark in
passing that the word of God is the treasure house of all this wealth. The
Spirit uses that to bring home to our hearts the things of Christ.

Once more, let us note a ministry of the Spirit in connection with Christ in
this dispensation. We have seen Him showing us the beauties of Christ where He
now is; we have also seen Him feeding our souls with the manna down here. There
is another thought: "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy
Ghost" (1 Corinthians 12:3). Here we have the Lordship of Christ emphasized. As
He has His place at the right hand of God, so the Spirit never rests till Christ
is enthroned in the heart of the saint.

You notice the title, "Lord." It is one thing to know the Lord Jesus as Saviour,
as the one who has borne my sins in His body on the cross, it is quite another
to enter fully into the fact that He is Lord. We may dwell with comfort upon the
fact that He is our great High Priest, sustaining us and sympathizing with us;
we may revel in all that He is for us — every child of God does, in measure.
But, beloved brethren, do we say, and mean in the depths of our souls, "Lord
Jesus"?

"Lord" means master, sovereign owner, One whose right it is to give His word,
and it is ours to obey. Ah, He has served us, He lives now to serve our needs,
but He claims, yea the Holy Spirit claims for Him, absolute, implicit,
unwavering obedience.

Let us dwell for a moment upon this most important point. We are not the center
of God’s counsels — Christ is. He has made Him both Lord and Christ. When He
highly exalted His Son, and gave Him a name above every name, it was that every
knee should bow to that name, own that sovereign authority.

We are called and chosen through the work of the Spirit, and the sprinkled
blood, — See 1 Peter 1:2 — to a life of obedience. Let us mark it well,
obedience is that to which we are called. "As obedient children," says the same
apostle. What is more painful than to see a disobedient child. And you will
notice that this disobedience does not come out boldly and refuse some positive
command, but inserts its own will in the place of the parent’s. The child uses
its own judgment, it does not think there is any harm in thinking or doing
according to its own judgment, and the result is, the parent’s will is ignored
and despised. Is not that a worse form of disobedience than if the child
absolutely refused to obey? Perhaps that refusal would bring a correction that
would recover the child, while the gradual substitution of its own judgment for
the parent’s, saps the whole foundation of family government. So is it in the
things of God. There is a gradual substitution of man’s thoughts and opinions
for the simple, "thus said the Lord." The result is not merely that there is
this or that command ignored, but human thought and human will substituted for
the will of God. Therefore the Spirit of God ever leads to the recognition of
the sovereignty of Christ.

I need not say this Lordship applies to every department of the life, individual
and corporate. Nothing is too trivial to ignore His mind in, and nothing in
which He has not His desires for us. Let us pause here, dear brethren, and ask
ourselves how far we are seeking to be "obedient in all things." How much that
now occupies us would be dropped, how many paths now walked in would be
forsaken, how many duties now neglected would be taken up, did this one word,
obedience, describe us.

You will notice that the Lordship of Christ is referred to in that chapter which
is devoted to the constitution of the Church. We all own Christ as Head of the
Church, do we own Him as Lord of the Church? If so we will be as ready in church
matters to refuse what is contrary to His will, and to follow what is according
to His will, as in private life. Every provision of His word, such as we went
into when looking at what is known as Church truth, is absolutely binding upon
every one who names the name of the Lord. May the Holy Spirit be unhindered in
pressing this upon the conscience of each of us.

We have thus seen that Christ Himself is ever the theme of the Spirit — showing
us His glory, feeding us with Him, leading us to own Him Lord. "Christ is all."
We come now to the close of a ministry which has occupied us thus far, and we
ask what remains? what does the Spirit set before us as to the future? Is He as
clear in pointing us forward to Christ? Ah yes, His ministry is ever the same,
it is Christ all through, Christ as His people’s one hope.

It is not for us now to take up what is known as prophetic truth. I take it for
granted that you accept what is known as the premillennial coming — that Christ
will come for His Church before beginning the judgments which are to usher in
the thousand years of peace. What I want to do tonight is to show how the Spirit
of God ever engages us with the coming of our Lord.

Look at the young converts at Thessalonica, with scarcely more than a few weeks’
instruction; they were taught "to wait for God’s Son from heaven, even Jesus" (1
Thessalonians 1:10). Their future prospects were all connected with that event,
with that Person. They were not waiting for judgments, surely not for
improvements in this world, but were waiting for a living, loving Person. Who
taught them thus to wait, who sustained them in this hope? "For we through the
Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith" (Galatians 5:5).
Righteousness by faith is the theme of Paul. As Justification it is the present
possession of every believer. But there is a hope connected with it — a hope
that is attached to it. We have justification as a present blessing; we do not
hope for that. But we are in the midst of a groaning creation; we have not yet
the inheritance for which we hope. "For what a man seeth why doth he yet hope
for?" But the Holy Spirit sustains us in waiting patiently for the hope attached
to righteousness by faith, and that hope, we just saw, was the coming of God’s
Son from heaven. This is a hope that maketh not ashamed, because the love of God
is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost (Romans 5:4-5). God’s love is now
poured forth in our hearts by the Spirit. We know His love, are established in
it, and thus, as John says, "love with us is made perfect." This gives
confidence for the future, boldness in view of judgment, for it can have no
terrors for those who are sheltered from it. We rejoice in hope of the glory of
God. Thus the Spirit makes the future bright and attractive. Every earnest that
He gives makes us but hunger for the fullness. All speaks of Christ, and what we
know of Him here quickens the longing to see Him face to face.

Therefore, in beautiful accord with this desire, we have the longing expressed
in words: "The Spirit and the Bride say come" (Revelation 22:17). Almost the
last word in the book of inspiration is the cry of the Spirit. But this verse
has been strangely misunderstood and misapplied. It has been almost universally
thought to be an invitation to the sinner to come to Christ. The term "Bride"
would surely give a strong hint that this could not be. Whom would the Bride
long for but the Bridegroom? So, too, when we see in the immediate connection
our Lord’s assurance, "Surely I come quickly," with the response of the Church,
"Amen, even so come Lord Jesus," there can be no doubt as to the meaning of the
words we are looking at.

But, in beautiful consistency with this, the gospel is again offered. The Bride
is saying, "Come," but whoever heareth the gospel can add his voice to the
others; it is only the unbelieving rejectors who have no desire for the coming
of the Lord. Is there still a thirsty one who lingers? Let him come now, as the
gloom settles into blackest night. Let the call of the Bride for Her Lord mingle
with the invitation to sinners to the very last: "And let him that is athirst
come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." But I want you
to notice the remarkable expression, "the Spirit and the Bride." Without doubt,
as we have seen, the Spirit forms the desire in the hearts of the saints for
Christ to come. But it is not here merely "the Spirit in the Bride," but a
distinct longing on the part of the Spirit for that one event for which all
things wait. And this connects with what we have seen before, the closest
intimacy, the divinest affections of the infinitely perfect persons of the
Godhead. What is the desire of the Holy Ghost at this moment? The coming of
Christ. What is the desire of every Spirit-taught saint? The longing, the
yearning of the Spirit! His own personal desire! I confess, beloved, it is a
revelation to me — one that should hush all imagination, but should awe our
souls as we behold the love of the Spirit and His desire for Christ to be fully
glorified. With the Spirit and taught by Him, the Bride, the Church, for which
Christ died, utters her longing. She is homesick, not merely for heaven, but for
Him who has made it heaven for her. All her longings for holiness, for
deliverance from a groaning creation, for the unity of His Church, for reunion
with loved ones who have gone before, for a body freed from the sickness and
weakness brought in by sin — all is focused in the longing for Himself. Even
glory has no attraction, save as He is the centre of it. Even the "beauty not
our own" in which we will be clad cannot win her heart from Him.

"The Bride eyes not her garment, But her dear Bridegroom’s face."

It is the One whom her soul loveth — tell her of nothing else. It is Himself she
desires. Could anything, beloved brethren, be more divinely simple and beautiful
than the way this is set before us in the supper of our Lord? Christ is there
personally, by the Spirit, and commemoratively in the bread and wine. We see Him
in death working eternal redemption for us; but it is not primarily or chiefly
of redemption blessings that we think as we linger in thought over Gethsemane
and Calvary. No, it is Christ Himself the Spirit sets before us as we show His
death, and every heart is melted into adoring worship as with Thomas we say, "My
Lord and my God." But "as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do
show the Lord’s death, till He come." As we look back on Calvary, we also look
forward to His coming. How perfectly His grace has linked those two events
together. He left nothing undone at the cross; nothing to be worked out in an
interval before He could come; no work of purifying — of making us faithful, as
rounding out His work. No, that work is so complete that nothing is left but to
look and long for His coming.

"See, the feast of love is spread;

Drink the wine and eat the bread, Sweet memorials, till the Lord Call us round
His heavenly board;

Some from earth, from glory some —

Waiting only "till He come."

I do not know that I could more fittingly close this evening, and the entire
subject that has occupied us, than by giving you a glimpse of a lovely picture,
with which many of you are already familiar. For you it will have added charm;
for familiarity with divine truths should ever increase our love for them.

I mean the story of Isaac and Rebekah, as you have it in the twenty-fourth
chapter of Genesis. Isaac is the centre of all — his father’s endowment and
counsels as to his future; the servant’s mission; the winning of Rebekah, and
her journey to him, ending in the marriage. Isaac is the theme. We can go back
further — to the sacrifice of this "only son whom thou lovest," and see the
correspondence throughout.

God gave up the Son of His bosom to death, and raised Him up by His glory from
the dead. He has "made Him heir of all things," having put all things into His
hands and seated Him at His own right hand. But it is God’s purpose that His Son
should have a Bride — to be associated — amazing grace! — in the glory which, as
Son of Man, He has gained. But He will not subject His Son again to ignominy and
reproach; He shall not again come in lowliness to earth. So the Spirit, as
Messenger, is sent from heaven, where Christ is, to earth, to win for Him the
Bride. I do not question that in Abraham’s servant you have the Spirit as He
operates through human instruments. You will notice how everything is provided
from on high — raiment, jewels, camels — speaking, doubtless, of God’s fullest
provision for our meetness and endowment and home-bringing. It is from Isaac’s
kinsmen that the bride is to be selected. So it is from the whole family of the
regenerate of all times that the Church — believers of this Christian
dispensation — is taken. The meeting is left to the sovereignty of God, for
every individual in the Church is "chosen in Him (Christ) before the foundation
of the world." It is at the well, a fresh type of the Spirit, and the word which
He uses, that Rebekah is met, and it is there at the first interview she
receives the present, which is a foretaste of all her future endowment.

I have always felt the correspondence between this scene at the well and that
other in the fourth of John. Outwardly most unlike — the one a guilty sinner to
be convicted of her sin and saved from it; the other a chaste virgin, to be
espoused to one husband. How dissimilar! And yet, dear brethren, is not our
heart telling us that these two are one and the same? that this guilty sinner it
is who, cleansed and renewed, is one day to be presented as the chaste bride of
the Lamb? Oh, the wonder of grace! "Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for
it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word,
that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or
wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish
(Ephesians 5:25-27).

You notice the order here. Christ’s love is the source, His sacrifice of Himself
the ground upon which He could save her. As a result, he can sanctify and
cleanse her with the washing of the Word — new birth and all else. All is to
culminate in the glorious presentation to Himself of a bride who will be —

"Meet companion then for Jesus."

Such is grace, beloved brethren, grace shown to me and you. "What shall we say
to these things?"

Tracing the picture further, we see the oneness of purpose of the messenger.
Rebekah is made to declare her family, and he is made a guest at her home. He
will not rest until he has declared his message and received the answer. Well is
it for the instruments of the Spirit when they yield themselves to His — I was
going to say — eager importunacy. When all is settled and the earnest is given,
there is no lingering on the part of the messenger. "Send me away to my master,"
is his word; and when they would detain him for a few days, he replies, "Hinder
me not." Ah, brethren, the Spirit does not wish to be detained here; His word
ever is "Hinder me not." Is something holding you here — some "harmless thing" —
some dalliance with this world’s pleasures? Ah, you are hindering the Spirit of
God. Think of it when you are tempted, Lot-like, to settle down here, or, like
Demas, to depart from the path of testimony and service. And so Rebekah sets out
to go to one whom, having not seen, she loved. It was voluntary on her part.
"Wilt thou go with this man?" she had been asked, and had replied, "I will go."
She forsakes all for the one to whom she has been espoused.

Let us pause a moment and ask ourselves, how is it practically with us? Is all
relinquished to go to meet Christ, and do our glad hearts reply "I will go" to
the thought of setting our faces heavenward? The Lord grant it may be so with
us.

Full provision for the way is made, not at her cost, and she can forget what is
behind in the prospect that is before. Dreary wastes lie between the place she
has left and her future home — a long journey — but she is carried by a power
not her own, and doubtless the way is beguiled by her learning from her guide
more and more of him to whom she goes. How simple it all is! The Spirit of God
leading the willing heart on to meet the Lord. And where are the thoughts of the
heavenly Spouse? Has He forgotten her for whom He has sent? How could He?

"There amid the songs of heaven, Sweeter to His ear Is the footfall through the
desert, Drawing ever near."

He waits, he longs to see us. It is the time now of His patience, but what a joy
it is to Him when our hearts are truly yearning to see Him! But the time is not
long, and soon the bride sees one walking in the fields whom her guide tells her
is his master. It was the last act of this faithful servant ere giving an
account of all to say, "It is my master." What joy will it be to the Spirit of
God, not merely to have told us of Christ all our pilgrim way here, but ere long
to say to us, "This is He."

"Who is this that comes to meet me On the desert way, Like the morning star,
foretelling God’s unclouded day?"

Oh, beloved brethren, what a meeting! What joy, what worship! Is it for this we
are waiting and enduring the sufferings of the "little while"? What recompense!
"The Lord Himself"; to behold Him, to be like Him, to be with Him. This is the
end of all the Spirit’s work. Blessed consummation! It is Christ first, and
Christ last.

"Christ is all."

Amen.

"Lord Jesus, come, And take Thy rightful place As Son of Man, of all the theme!

Come, Lord, to reign o’er all supreme, Lord Jesus, come.

Lord, Jesus, come!

Crowned with many crowns — The Crucified, the Lamb once slain, To wash away
sin’s crimson stain, Lord Jesus, come!

Lord Jesus, come And take Thy Father’s gift — The people by Thy cross made
Thine, The trophy of Thy Love divine!

Lord Jesus, come!

Spirit and Bride; With longing voice, say, ’Come;’

Yea, Lord, Thy word from that bright home Is, ’Surely, I will quickly come! ’

E’en so, Lord, come."


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  CHAPTER 15: REMARKS ON THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY GHOST IN THE CHRISTIAN.
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Remarks on the Presence of the Holy Ghost in the Christian.

J. N. Darby.

I desire to make a few remarks* of a practical tendency and of deep interest, on
the effects of the presence of the Holy Ghost in the Christian.

{*This paper forms a sort of Appendix to the Edition in French of "The
Operations of the Spirit."} The Spirit of God, as dwelling in us, may be
considered in two aspects: for He unites us to the Lord Jesus, so that His
presence is intimately connected with life, that life which is in Jesus; John
14:19-20; Galatians 2:20. "He that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit"; and
further, His presence is that of God in the soul. The scripture, speaking of Him
in the first of these characters (which is sometimes linked to the second), says
(Romans 8:2; Romans 8:9-10), that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
frees us from the law of sin; so that the Spirit is life because of
righteousness. It is, however, also said (Romans 8:9), "if so be that the Spirit
of God dwell in you"; and then His in-dwelling and action are blended, since
(inasmuch as both are manifested by the formation of the character of Christ in
the soul) "the Spirit of God" becomes "the Spirit of Christ." The "Christ in
you" of Romans 8:10 expresses the idea more clearly, especially as the apostle
adds, "if Christ be in you, the Spirit is life." But in Romans 8:16 the Holy
Ghost is carefully distinguished from the Christian, for "He beareth witness
with our spirit." In Romans 8:26-27 the two characters of the presence of the
Spirit are there remarkably shewn out in their mutual connections:* for "the
mind of the Spirit," known to God, who searches the heart, is the life of the
Spirit in the saint. But, on the other hand, "the Spirit helpeth our
infirmities," and "maketh intercession for the saints, according to the will of
God." The reason of all this is simple. On the one hand, the Spirit is there and
acts with power according to the mind of Christ; on the other hand, and in
consequence of this operation, the affections, thoughts, and works, are
produced, which are those of the Spirit; but yet they are also ours, because we
are partakers of them with Christ, "our life" (Colossians 3:2-3), for "God hath
given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath
life."

{*This is largely unfolded in the Second Part of "The Operations of the
Spirit."} But the effect of the second aspect of the presence of the Holy Ghost
is yet more important. The Spirit is the Spirit of God; He is God, and is,
therefore, the revelation of the presence and power of God in the soul — a
revelation known through and in a new nature which is of Him. Consequently, that
which is in the nature and character of God is developed where God dwells, i.e.,
in the soul of the saint; not only is it produced in the new man, the creation
of God, but it fills the soul, because God is there, and there is communion with
Him. For instance, the new nature loves, and this love is a proof that one is
"born of God," and knows God. But this is not all; there is, moreover, the
in-dwelling of the Holy Ghost — that is to say, the presence of the God who
communicates this new nature to us. Therefore we read (Romans 5:5) "the love of
God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us." We
are loved — we know it, and have the proof of it in the gift of the precious
Saviour, and in His death for us (v. 6-8). But there is something more; the
perfect and infinite love shed abroad in our hearts (poor vessels as they are),
and the Holy Spirit, who is God, is there (and is free to be there, because we
are purified by the blood of Christ) — He is there to fill these vessels with
that which is divine — the love of God. It is also added (Romans 5:11), that we
joy in God. Therefore, looking at the presence of the Spirit as demonstration of
power in the soul, the apostle John affirms that "hereby we know that he abideth
in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us," 1 John 3:24. But, as this might be
applied merely to the varied energy of the Spirit in the soul, it is stated,
farther on, that "love is made perfect in us," namely, the love of God to us.
Here it is no longer a question of us, of our affections, of our thoughts; but
the soul is filled with the fulness of God, which leaves no room for anything
else; there is no discord in the heart, to spoil the essential character of
divine love. God, complete in Himself, excludes all that is contrary to Himself;
otherwise He would be no longer Himself. To avoid mysticism (the enemy’s
corruption of these truths) the Holy Ghost adds by the same pen, "herein is
love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us" (1 John 4:10); and the proof
of this is based on that which is above all human thought and knowledge, namely,
on the acts of God Himself in Christ. On the other hand, the presence of the
Spirit is not given him as the proof of God’s dwelling in us, two things which
are identical, but it is written, "hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he
in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit." This presence of God in love not
only fills our narrow souls, but places us in Him who is infinite in love.
United to Christ by the Holy Ghost, one in life with Him, and the Spirit acting
in us, "we dwell in God, and God in us." Therefore it is said that "God has
given us of his Spirit"; that is to say, God, in virtue of His presence and of
His power, makes us morally partakers of His nature and character, by the Holy
Ghost in us, whilst giving us the enjoyment of communion with Himself, and at
the same time introducing us into His fulness.

I would here just point out the distinctive characters of the epistles of Paul,
Peter, and John. Paul was raised up in an extraordinary manner for the especial
purpose of communicating to the Church the order, method, and sovereignty of the
divine operations; and to reveal the place which the Church holds in the midst
of all this, inasmuch as she is united to Christ, and is the marvellous object
of the counsels of God in grace; as the apostle says (Ephesians 2:7), "that in
the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace, in his
kindness toward us through Christ Jesus," or by His dealings with regard to the
Church: the wisdom of God, the righteousness of His ways, and the counsels of
His grace on this subject, are largely and (as all revelation) perfectly set
forth in the writings of Paul. John takes up another point, that of the
communication of the divine nature, what that nature is, and, consequently, what
God is, whether in His living manifestations in Christ, or in the life which He
communicates to others. Without this community of nature communion were
impossible; for darkness can have no fellowship with light. But, as we have
already seen, the apostle goes still farther: we dwell in God, and God in us, by
the Holy Ghost; and thus, as far as we are capable of it, we enjoy what God is
in Himself, and become the manifestation of Him (the limit to this manifestation
being only in the vessel in which God has taken up His abode). How great are the
varied riches of the goodness of God! This communion with Him, which raises us
as far as possible towards the fulness of Him who reveals Himself in us, is
certainly something very sweet and precious; but the tenderness of God toward
us, poor pilgrims on the earth, and His faithful love, so needed in our weakness
to carry us onward to the goal, are not less so. The testimony of Peter, in his
first epistle, treats of that which God is for the pilgrim, and of what the
latter should be for God. The resurrection of the Messiah has set the pilgrim on
his road; and thereon are presented the faithfulness of God, and the
encouragement which His power gives to our hope by this resurrection of Christ
the Son of the living God, though rejected of men; and lastly, the apostle
speaks of the walk, the worship, and the service which flow from it.

John presents to us that which is most exalted in communion, or rather in the
nature of communion; consequently, he does not touch on the subject of the
Church, as an object of divine counsels, but of the divine nature.

Paul treats of that which is perfect, not in respect of communion, but of
counsel. In his writings God is glorified more especially as the object of
faith, though he speaks of communion too (Romans 5:5). Where, in the same
chapter (Romans 5:11), he speaks of God as the one in whom the Christian is to
glory he places Him before and not as in us — as the object for faith to lay
hold of and not as dwelling in the heart. This divine and infinite blessing —
this love perfected in us, communicated by the presence of the Holy Ghost, and
realized by our dwelling in God and He in us — has led some to think that, when
this point is attained, the flesh can exist in us no longer; but this is to
confound the vessel with the treasure placed in it, and of which it has the
enjoyment. We are in the body which still awaits its redemption: only God can
dwell in it, because of the sprinkling of the blood by faith. This sprinkling
does not correct the flesh, but only renders testimony both to the perfection of
the expected redemption and to the love to which we owe it. When in real
enjoyment of God, we may for a moment lose sight of the existence of the flesh,
because then the soul (which is finite) is filled with that which is infinite.
But even in these moments of blessedness one cannot doubt but that the flesh is
an obstacle to the larger and more intelligent action of love. Paul, caught up
into the third heaven (a privilege which the flesh would have used to puff him
up with, and which made a thorn needful), is a proof to us that grace does not
change the flesh. Alas! even the joy of which we are speaking, without watchful
dependence upon Christ, gives dangerous occasions of action to the flesh,
because there is so much littleness in us, that, forgetting who gives the joy,
we lean on the feeling of the joy, instead of dwelling in Christ, the
Fountain-head of it. Nevertheless, it is certain that the love of God, made
perfect in us, is a reality, and the Christian is called to know God, and to
enjoy Him as dwelling in Him.

I have but one more remark to make. When we are full of the love of God, we
enjoy it with a power that hinders our seeing anything, especially the objects
of the goodness of God, save with the eye of divine love. But where there is a
real knowledge of the existence and nature of this love of God, the walk will
also be characterized by faith in that love, even though the heart may not
realize the whole power of it; and, thus, we shall dwell in God and He in us.
But since this fulness of joy can only be realized by the action of the Spirit,
it is easy to understand that, if grieved, He will become a Spirit of reproof,
judging the ingratitude with which such love, as the love of God is requited,
instead of filling the heart with that love; though it is impossible for Him to
cast a doubt upon it. It is evident that the love made perfect in us is the work
of God; and this it is which forms the joy — the whole of the state. That which
the Holy Ghost sheds abroad in our hearts is the love of God; and this love,
powerful in our hearts, cannot but shew itself externally. That which I have
said does not, properly speaking, belong to the operations of the Holy Spirit,
but the subject is of the greatest importance. And this importance, which is
that of the fruits and grand results of the presence of the Holy Ghost (for by
it the love of God and of Christ is glorified, as far as it is possible here
below), seemed to render a few remarks upon this subject desirable. May God
bless them to the reader! May it please Him to realize in us the things of which
I speak on the subject of revelation, and may He so bless as that the truth may
have its full weight on the soul; so that we may know, with all the beloved
Church of Christ, what it is to have the Holy Ghost dwelling in us according to
the power of the love of God!


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  CHAPTER 16: THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST.
========================================================================

The Baptism of the Holy Ghost.

W W Fereday From the Bible Treasury Vol. N1, page 213. This is an expression
very frequently heard at the present time; but often used, alas! with a painful
lack of divine intelligence. Some will tell us that they have recently
experienced it as a kind of second blessing; others are crying to God
constantly, both individually and collectively, for it, both for themselves and
for the church at large. But what saith the scripture? The baptism of the Spirit
is first mentioned by John the Baptist in Matthew 3:11-12. "I indeed baptise you
with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I,
whose shoes I am not worthy to bear, he shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost
and with fire: whose fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly purge his floor
and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with
unquenchable fire." John’s work was of a highly important character. He was
Jehovah’s messenger, sent before His face (for it was no less a person than
Jehovah Who was coming into the world) to prepare His ways. He declaimed sternly
against the moral state of Israel and called for repentance and submission.
Israel was not in a fit condition to receive the One that was coming. Though
their national hopes were centred in Him, they were not ready for Him, and in
spite of the Baptist’s testimony, they discerned Him not, but refused Him and
cast Him out to their own ruin. Therefore is God doing a work of another
character in the world. The kingdom stands over, awaiting Israel’s repentance
and acknowledgement of Messiah; and God is gathering out those who are to be the
heavenly joint-heirs with Jesus, baptising them by one Spirit into one body, as
the apostle speaks. In John’s Gospel the Baptist speaks of the twofold work of
the Lord Jesus; He is the Lamb of God, the taker away of the sin of the world,
and the Baptiser with the Holy Ghost. As to the first, he said, "Behold the Lamb
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). It is not that He
was doing it when John spoke: the word is characteristic — He is the taker away.
The work in virtue of which sin shall be entirely removed was accomplished at
Calvary; but sin still remains in the world, consequently the verse in its full
application looks onward to the new heavens and the new earth, wherein
righteousness will dwell. But the second work of the Lord Jesus is especially
before us just now. "John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from
heaven like a dove and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent
me to baptise with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the
Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which baptiseth with the
Holy Ghost " (John 1:32-33). The Lord Jesus was Himself sealed with the Spirit
as man below; risen and in glory He is the Baptiser with the Holy Ghost. That
this was not accomplished until He was glorified is plain from Acts 1:5, Acts
11:16. In the risen state, alluding to John’s words, He said, "Ye shall be
baptised with the Holy Ghost not many days hence" (Acts 1:5). John added, "and
with fire," but this the Lord omits, as having no fulfilment yet. Fire is an
emblem of divine judgment, as the forerunner himself explained; and Christ is
the divinely appointed administrator of it. Israel is "His floor," and at His
return He will purge it, dealing with the apostate mass of the nation — the
chaff to be burnt with unquenchable fire, and blessing the remnant — the wheat
for the garner. It is a serious mistake that the baptism of fire is in any way
going on now. It is judgment pure and simple, but this is the day of grace. It
has often been observed that when the Lord read in the synagogue (Isaiah
61:1-11), He broke off in the middle of the second verse "the acceptable year of
the Lord," leaving the words "and the day of vengeance of our God," for a day
yet to come (Luke 4:18-19). Some may have found difficulty in the fact that the
Spirit’s descent was accompanied by tongues of fire. There is a great contrast
between the form of a dove as in the case of the Lord Jesus, and tongues of fire
resting upon the disciples. The form was suited to the character of the
recipients and to the character of the testimony they were to bear. The Lord’s
testimony was marked by grace. He came not to condemn the world, did not cry out
and shout, nor break the bruised reed or quench the smoking flax. Of such
unassuming patient grace the dove was the suited emblem. The work of the
disciples was of a very solemn, though blessed character. They charged sin home
upon men, the word of God by their means, judging everything before it, while
conveying eternal blessing to every soul who believed the gospel. They were to
be witnesses — hence "tongues"; the testimony was to branch out to the Gentiles
— therefore "cloven"; they were of "fire" for the reason stated. But this was in
no way the baptism of fire as careful investigation of the passages will show.
The baptism of the Spirit was accomplished on the day of Pentecost. According to
the promise of the Lord Jesus He came from the Father to abide in and with the
saints for ever. He came to form a new thing in the earth — the church, the body
of Christ. There was no such thing until the Lord took His seat on high and the
Spirit descended. An earthly people were called and blessed temporally, but
union with Christ in glory was quite unknown. By the Spirit’s descent the
waiting disciples became what they were not before. Previously they were
believers with Jewish hopes, after His coming, they were members of Christ’s
body, made one with Him, the glorified Head, by the baptism of the Holy Ghost. I
do not say that they understood it all at first; indeed it is plain they did
not. The truth of the one body — the mystery — was not declared until Paul was
raised up; but the body existed from the day of Pentecost. It was for Paul to
write, "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of
that one body being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are
we all baptised into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free;
and have all been made to drink one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:12-13). What a
place for the Christian! Accepted in His acceptance, loved with the love
wherewith the Father loves Him, blessed with His blessings. The saints were
baptised with the Holy Ghost from the first and thus became the church, the body
of Christ; and this is never repeated. Every fresh believer is brought to share
in the blessing by the reception of the Spirit consequent on faith in the
Gospel. Baptism in water introduces into the outward place of profession (true
or false); the baptism of the Spirit brings the believer into the unity of
Christ’s body, with all its privileges and blessings. How deplorably has all
this been overlooked and slighted. The church has forgotten her true
relationship with Christ and has lapsed into the world. True, the Lord in His
mercy has drawn attention in these last days to precious truths long buried and
ignored; but how many, even now, are in the dark as to it all, and cry to Him
for what He has already given — the Spirit from above! That the church needs
afresh to avail herself of the Spirit’s presence and power we fully believe; but
that the church needs a fresh baptism of the Spirit, as many say, is darkness
and error as to one of the most vital truths of the present dispensation.

W. W. F.


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  CHAPTER 17: THE HOLY GHOST.
========================================================================

The Holy Ghost. His Coming. His Personality. His Activities.

"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even
the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me."
John 16:26. By J. T. Mawson.

It is important to see that the coming of the Lord Jesus into this world
introduced an entirely new era in the ways of God with men, and that this new
era is marked by the presence of the Holy Ghost in a way that was never known
before. In Old Testament days the Spirit of God visited the earth and energized
men for certain great exploits, or moved them to write the Holy Scriptures, but
He never dwelt here as He does now. John 7:39 will be sufficient to prove this.

"But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive:
for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet
glorified."

Mark what is here stated. Believers on Jesus were to receive the Spirit; but for
this they had to wait until Jesus was glorified, and He could not be glorified
until His death and resurrection were accomplished. The order of events was as
follows:

1. The Incarnation of the Eternal Word, the only begotten Son of God (John 1:14;
John 1:18), for the declaration of what God is.

2. The death of Jesus, by which the love of God has been fully revealed and
sinners redeemed (1 John 4:9-10).

3. The resurrection of Jesus, the signal proof of the completeness of the work
of redemption and God’s seal upon that work.

4. His ascension to the right hand of God; the undeniable evidence of God’s
perfect delight in Him and in the work that He had finished.

5. The descent of the Holy Ghost; to gather men out of this world and unite them
to Christ, so that He may have His church for Himself and reap the full harvest
of His travail and death. The two great facts of this present period are that
the MAN CHRIST JESUS sits on the throne of God in heaven, and that GOD THE HOLY
GHOST dwells in men on the earth. THE COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. The Lord Jesus
often talked with His disciples about His death and resurrection, but they
always failed to understand Him; they expected to see Him sit upon the throne of
David and make Israel glorious in the earth. So that when He allowed men to put
Him upon the cross, and died without resisting their violence, these poor
disciples were dismayed and heart-broken. They thought that the Lord had been
utterly defeated and that His mission was a complete failure and that all their
hopes were for ever blasted. But just as the rising of the sun at morn flings
back the gloom of night, so the resurrection dispelled the darkness into which
the death of Jesus had plunged them; their doubts and misgivings vanished when
they saw the Lord, and they knew that what they thought was defeat was glorious
victory. As He instructed them in things concerning Himself from the Old
Testament writings (Luke 24:1-53) they must have realized the blessed fact that
He had gained more glory upon the cross than He could have done had He taken the
throne, and that only by that death of suffering and shame could God’s purpose
of blessing be brought about in the midst of the children of men.

It is scarcely needful to call evidence as to the Lord’s resurrection, but as
the coming of the Holy Ghost was entirely dependent upon it, it will be well to
note that He was seen and handled and heard by many of His disciples on many
occasions after He rose from the dead. They had looked into His grave, and found
it empty, they had handled Him and found that He had a body of flesh and bone,
which no spirit has; they saw in His body the wounds which were made at the
cross, and never afterwards did they doubt the fact of His glorious bodily
resurrection; it became the central fact of their testimony. To deny this is to
attempt to overthrow Christianity, for it is written: — "And if Christ be not
raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17).

If Christ is not raised, it is proved that He was unequal to the task which He
undertook, that our sins were too many, and death too strong for Him, that God
Himself has been defeated, and that the devil has gained a supreme and final
victory. If Christ is not raised the work of redemption is not accomplished, and
consequently the presence of the Holy Ghost in men is an absolute impossibility,
for He can only dwell in those who are redeemed. But now is Christ risen from
the dead, and in that resurrection we see the mighty triumph of God, and the
irrefutable pledge of blessing for men.

It was on one of the occasions on which the Lord revealed Himself to His
disciples after His resurrection that He spoke very definitely to them as to the
coming of the Holy Ghost. In Luke 24:49, it is recorded that He said —

"And, behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in
Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high." And Luke, who also wrote
the Acts, tells us in the 1st chapter, 8th and 9th verses of that Book, that He
also said —

"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye
shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria,
and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

"And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a
cloud received Him out of their sight."

Now these disciples, believing the word of the Lord implicitly, abode together
in Jerusalem, and continued in one accord in prayer and supplication, awaiting
the fulfilment of the Lord’s promise.

They had grasped the fact that they were to represent the Lord during His
absence and to spread the fame of His mighty victory; they were evidently also
conscious of their own inability for this great work, and so they waited in
earnest supplication upon the Lord for the coming of Him by whom they were to
receive power, that in His strength they might go forth and bring men as
captives to the feet of Jesus.

Turning to Acts 2:1-47, we find there the account of the coming of the Spirit.

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in
one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty
wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

"And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon
each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak
with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance."

Peter explains all this to the multitude that gathered together, in verse 32.

"This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.

"Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the
Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see
and hear." This is the account of the actual coming of the Holy Ghost to take up
His dwelling place upon earth, and He remains with us to-day. His presence has
never been withdrawn. THE PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Before dealing with the mission and activities of the Holy Ghost on earth, let
us see what the Bible says as to His Person. We often hear Him spoken of as an
influence, or a power, but this is certainly not the teaching of Scripture. It
is true that He exercises an influence, and is the power by which God operates
in the souls of men, but He is a Person, and not only a Person, but the third
Person in the Godhead — the Holy Ghost. In Matthew 28:19 we read —

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," The Holy Ghost is co-equal with
the Father and the Son. THE FATHER is the source of love and life, the spring of
all good and blessing for men. THE SON is the perfect expression of the Father,
the Revealer of all this good and blessing to men. THE HOLY GHOST is the One
who, by His power and wisdom, interprets that which has been revealed, and makes
the revelation a reality in men. The three Persons in the Ever-blessed Godhead
work together for the salvation of men, and if we keep in mind the three
prepositions "for," "to," and "in" in this connection, they will help us to
understand the relative position of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost in the carrying
out of this gracious purpose. THE ACTIVITIES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

We will now turn to John 3:3.

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto Him, How
can a man be born when he is old? can he enter a second time into his mother’s
womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man
be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."

Two things stand out clearly in this statement. (1) The badness of men by
nature. (2) The goodness of God in undertaking to make a new start in them for
their blessing. "Ye must be born again." This is an absolute necessity, and this
statement gives the lie direct to the vaunting boast that good dwells in every
man and merely requires development.

Let us note the fact that these words were not spoken to an outwardly gross and
vicious man. Nicodemus was a model for his fellows, upright and correct in his
conduct, but with startling clearness the truth is set before even him: flesh is
flesh, there must be a new start. "Ye must be born again."

We are told that what humanity needs is to be cultured, educated, religionized;
that men ought to be placed in better environment, their standard of life
raised. It is argued that a change from the slums to garden cities, that
suitable recreations and the like, will bring them up to the platform that will
make them satisfactory to themselves and their fellows, and pleasing to God.
Well, I for one would like to see all slums disappear, and the lot of man made
easier; the miseries and hardships of multitudes can give no pleasure to the
Christian; but these things are the foul brood that sin has begotten in the
world. Man has a fallen sinful nature, and to make him more comfortable in this
world and to change his environment will not change that. We must not lose sight
of the fact that the fall took place amid the most beautiful surroundings that
human eyes have seen on earth, and that the foulest crime that ever stained the
sad annals of humanity was perpetrated in a garden. It was in a garden that the
traitor kiss was put upon the cheek of Jesus, and the man who did that dastard
deed had been in company with Him for three years. He had been taught, and fed,
and protected by Him, and in spite of these circumstances and conditions, the
best that man could have, his heart remained unchanged. And the truth must be
told, though it may hurt us to hear it, the heart of Judas was but a sample of
yours and mine.

If you demand my authority for such an assertion, I will turn you back to
Jeremiah 17:9.

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know
it?" Or further back still, to Genesis 6:1-22.

"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

It is useless to plead that great progress has been made since those far-off
days, for the Lord Jesus said "That which is born of flesh is flesh." "Ye must
be born again."

All are corrupt alike by nature, from the mansions of Mayfair to the hovels of
Shoreditch; from the highest grade of society to its lowest dregs; flesh is
flesh, and nothing but this absolutely new start which God’s Spirit alone can
produce, can make men acceptable to God. "Ye must be born again." The truth as
to the fall and the utter badness of the heart is not pleasant to the
unregenerate man; it suits the pride of his heart better to believe that he has
descended from the ape, and that the ape arrived through various stages of
evolution from the lowliest form of life, for then he can reason that if he has
made such wonderful progress, in the past, the future is big with possibilities.
But, alas! it is the Edenic lie, "Ye shall be as gods," which he has believed.
This is the will-o’-the-wisp that is leading him through the night of his
ignorance, to the black doom of eternal despair. Happy is the man who accepts
God’s truth as to himself and owns that he is a fallen sinner, for then he is
ready for the unfolding of God’s great plan for his blessing. On the side of
God’s goodness in this matter we have "the water and the Spirit." The water
certainly is not baptism, it is that which cleanses — not the guilt of a man,
the blood does that — but which gives him a new and clean nature; it is the
truth of God applied to his heart, which produces repentance in him, and makes
him turn from his evil way to God. It makes him hate the sins which once he
loved, and long after those things in which he once found no pleasure. In short,
it is the introduction of an entirely new nature, not produced by the will of
man, but by the word of God which liveth and abideth for ever. Psalms 119:9 will
be sufficient to prove this interpretation of the use of water.

"Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according
to Thy word." And Ephesians 5:26 is even clearer still.

"That He might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water by the word." And
speaking to His disciples in John 15:3, the Lord said —

"Now are ye clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." The water is
the word. The truth of God is applied in convicting power by the Spirit of God
to the consciences and hearts of men, for just as He moved upon the face of the
waters in the days of creation, so He moves now upon the souls of men to bring
form out of chaos, to make the light shine where the darkness has reigned, and
to bring life out of death. He is the untiring Servant of God in this gracious
work, and happy is the man who yields to His influence and power.

Having quickened the soul out of death, the Spirit of God turns the eye to
Christ as the only hope and Saviour; and faith in Him settles the question of
guilt for ever, for God, "is just, and the Justifier of him that believeth in
Jesus." It is verily a glorious day for a man when he casts himself unreservedly
upon the Lord Jesus Christ, for then a complete change of ownership takes place,
he is no longer the slave of Satan, but he belongs to the Lord, and as a result
receives the Spirit of God.

Two passages from the Epistles will make this clear. Ephesians 1:13-14.

"Christ, in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed
with that Holy Spirit of promise."

Also 1 Corinthians 6:19.

"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in
you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a
price: therefore glorify God in your body." In these two passages three
important questions are answered.

1. Who are indwelt by the Spirit?

2. When are they indwelt?

3. Why are they indwelt?

WHO?

"The immanence of God in humanity," is a favourite phrase in the mouths of some,
and by it is meant that God dwells in, and manifests Himself through all men.
But Scripture teaches the very opposite. Notice the Lord’s own words in John
14:17.

"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."

How clearly the distinction is here made between the world of men and the
believing "YOU." Those who are addressed in the verses quoted had "heard" and
"believed the gospel of our salvation"; they are addressed as "saints," and
"faithful in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 1:1-23). They are "sanctified in Christ
Jesus" (1 Corinthians 1:2) and are included in the "us who are saved," verse 18.
In 1 Corinthians 2:14, we read —

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned." But nothing could be plainer than 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.

"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not
deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate,
nor abusers of themselves with mankind, "Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."

Now mark well the next verse.

"And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."

These are they who were indwell by the Holy Ghost, their bodies had become the
temples of God, but they had first to be washed, sanctified, and justified; in
this way they were prepared for this wondrous indwelling.

"Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" (Romans 8:9).

WHEN? The "When" of the indwelling is equally plain; it was "after that ye
believed", or ’having believed’ (N.T.) ye were sealed by the Holy Spirit of
promise. This is plainly illustrated by the case of Cornelius and his household
in Acts 10:43-44. For while Peter bore testimony to Christ in those blessed
words: "To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His Name, whosoever
believeth in Him shall receive the remission of sins," the Holy Ghost fell upon
all who heard the word. Faith came by hearing, they believed the glad tidings,
and were at once sealed by the Holy Ghost, as belonging to the Lord. When a man
thus believes the gospel, and surrenders himself to the Lord Jesus to-day, he
become His property in deed and in truth, and receives the Spirit at once. When
a farmer buys sheep in the market he puts his own mark upon them, he does not go
about marking other men’s sheep, but he stamps those that his own money has
purchased. In like manner the good and great Shepherd marks off His own sheep by
the indwelling of the Spirit.

WHY? Of equal importance is the "Why?" of the indwelling, and for this we must
look at 1 Corinthians 6:19. It is here that the Lord’s rights are emphasized.
Are you a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ? Then you are God’s property. "Ye
are bought with a price," and the greatness of that price no mind can grasp, no
tongue can tell. The love of Christ was so great, His desire to possess us so
strong, that He endured the speechless pangs of Calvary and shed His precious
blood. More than this He could not have done, and no lesser price would have
availed.

Now every believer on the Lord Jesus Christ is the rightful property of God. A
man has money to invest, and with it he purchases a row of houses; as soon as
they pass into his possession, he advertises that the houses are "To let." He
has purchased that property to let it out to others. But here is another man,
who also purchases a house, but instead of advertising for tenants, he resides
in it himself. Now judging by the conduct of some Christians we should be led to
the conclusion that God had acted according to the former, for they have given
much room within their hearts and lives to the world, the flesh, and countless
other things. But the truth is that Christians have been chosen, purchased, and
redeemed by God, that He might dwell in them Himself, and by the Holy Ghost He
has taken possession of that which He has purchased. It is His will and His
right to occupy us altogether. He would have us, spirit, soul and body, yielded
up to His control. This is the "Why?" of the indwelling. He claims our bodies as
His temples. THE COMFORTER.

We will turn again to the Gospel of John, for the Spirit is mentioned more often
in that Book than any other, except the Acts of the Apostles. The reason for
this is that a very full unfolding of Christianity is set before us in it. It
will pay you well to search out all the times that the Lord uses the personal
pronoun "My" in John. You will find it to be the characteristic word of the
Gospel. He says, "My Father," "My Father’s house," "My Father’s name," "My joy,"
"My peace," "My glory," "My love," "My name," and so forth. From these blessed
possessions He derived infinite joy, and true Christianity simply means that
those who are His own — those whom He can call "My sheep," "My friends," "My
brethren," — share these things with Him, for He gives not as the world, but
shares all He possesses with His loved co-heirs. But these things cannot be
understood and enjoyed apart from the Holy Ghost, hence the place He occupies in
the Gospel. In John 14:26 the Lord Jesus says —

"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 15:26.

"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even
the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me."

John 16:7-15.

"It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter
will not come unto you. . . Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He
will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; . . . He shall
glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shew it unto you."

Every word that fell from the lips of Jesus is of the utmost importance, and I
would ask you to note particularly how He speaks of the Holy Ghost. He does not
speak of Him as the Comforter merely, but "Another Comforter." That means, on
the face of it, that He was to take the place of One who had already acted the
part of Comforter. That One was Jesus Himself.

He had been their Teacher, Guide, Protector, and Friend. He had guarded them in
danger, comforted them in sorrow, and made Himself altogether indispensable to
them. Now it was expedient for them that He should go away, then the Holy Ghost
would come and fill the Lord’s place in all this wondrous activity of love. And
this brings before us in a vivid way the character of the Spirit of God. We are
apt to dwell upon the fact of His holiness, and it is most necessary that we
should, for He is the Holy Spirit of God; but do not let us forget His love and
tenderness. We see in Jesus the embodiment of tenderness and love, for every
beautiful grace dwelt in Him; but in all this He was the perfect expression of
the character of God. Now the Holy Ghost is God, so that dwelling within us is
One who, though intensely holy, is exactly in character what Jesus was when here
on earth. He is with us as the Comforter. How shall we illustrate this blessed
office?

Upon the curbstone yonder there stands a timid little girl; she must cross that
crowded thoroughfare, but she is filled with fear at the sight of the whirling
traffic. She dare not venture alone, and she looks about for guidance and help.
Presently there comes along one whose face gives her confidence, and he, seeing
her standing there, divines her need, and taking her small hand in his strong
palm, he leads her safely through all the dangers and sends her on her way,
light of heart and happy. He is a comforter. That is the place that the Holy
Ghost takes with regard to us, and it will be with exceeding joy that He
presents all the blood-washed ones at last to the One who bought them in the
eternal glory of God. By Him they are kept through faith unto salvation. But the
Holy Spirit is not only here to guide and lead God’s people through all the
difficult ways in life: He is with them to minister constant comfort and joy to
their hearts by unfolding the glories of Christ. If a beam of sunlight is
allowed to shine through a transparent prism, it is decomposed into its
constituent rays, and we are able to admire its glories in the red, green, blue,
gold, and purple. Now the Bible is the prism through which the Holy Spirit makes
the glory of Christ to shine, and as we are taught of Him, we are able to
discern the golden ray of the divine glory of Jesus the blue ray of His heavenly
character and grace — and the red ray of His suffering and death; and as we are
engaged with the all-varied glories of Him who is so precious to us, we are
comforted, helped, and greatly rejoiced. The natural man cannot see or know
these glories, it is the work of the Holy Spirit to reveal them to us, as is
plainly stated, in 1 Corinthians 2. It is in this way that He turns the
affections of God’s people from the trifles of earth, and fixes them upon the
glorious and ever blessed Man who sits at God’s right hand.

OTHER RESULTS OF HIS COMING. The Holy Ghost is also the Spirit of sonship. Those
whom He indwells are the sons of God. This is plainly put in Paul’s letter to
the Galatians.

"For ye are all the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:26).

"And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Galatians 4:6).

Suppose the King pardoned a poor criminal, lying under a death sentence, that he
set him at liberty, and finally took him to the royal residence at Windsor. We
can understand how grateful the man would be for His Majesty’s clemency, but we
can also see that he would be very uncomfortable in the palace, he would be more
at home in the prison than there, for he has had no training for court life. But
if the King could give him the spirit of the Prince of Wales, everything would
be changed, he would then be able to enter into the King’s ways and thoughts,
and he would be perfectly at home in the presence of his benefactor. Now what
the King could never do, God has done. He has given the Spirit of His Son to all
who have truly believed in Him. Apart from this they could not have been at home
in the Father’s presence, but since they have received the Spirit of His Son,
they in measure are able to enter into the thoughts of the Father, they can
appreciate and reciprocate His great love, and understand that they are placed
in His sight in all the favour and love that belongs to His dear Son, and this
will be their joy in heaven for ever.

Now mark well the character of God’s love. It is so great that He will have us
who are saved with Himself in heaven for ever. But He loves us so much that He
will not keep us waiting until we get to heaven to enjoy it; He has given to us
His Spirit, that the ineffable bliss of heaven might fill our hearts now.

Now it is evident that as the Lord alone could accomplish the work of
redemption, so none but the Holy Ghost can give effect to that work in the souls
of men. The work of God is beyond the power of men; the power of the Holy Ghost
is alone competent for it. The things of God are beyond the range of the wisdom
of men; the wisdom of the Holy Ghost alone can search them out and reveal them
to us, and no man can understand them apart from the teaching of God the Holy
Ghost.

If this were understood, Christians would be delivered from reliance upon the
strength and wisdom of nature, and become useful vessels in the hands of the
Spirit. They would be satisfied with that which was from the beginning, and be
able to detect and reject as spurious every doctrine that is not of God.

Thus far we have confined our thoughts to the individual aspect of the Holy
Spirit’s indwelling, but it is also most important for us to see that His
presence on earth has bound all God’s people into one compacted whole. This must
be so if one Spirit dwells in all. Hence we read in 1 Corinthians 12:12 — "For
by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body."

Every one who has truly believed the gospel, which proclaims the forgiveness of
sins to men, is indwelt by the Spirit, and by this same Spirit is united to
Christ the glorified Head of the body, and every member thus united to Christ is
necessary to all the rest. Each has his place in this wondrous unity, even as
the members of a human body have each their place and function in the body in
which they are placed. But space fails for further reference to this great
aspect of the truth, but if you will prayerfully consider 1 Corinthians 12:1-31,
where it is unfolded for us, you will be convinced of its importance.

Oh, that this truth may lay hold upon heart and conscience in these days of
cliques, and sects, and divisions, and that all of us who love the Lord might
have grace to depart from iniquity, and endeavour to keep the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are
called in one hope of your calling.

Finally —

"Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption.

"Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be
put away from you, with all malice:

"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:30-32).


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  CHAPTER 18: THE HOLY SPIRIT
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The Holy Spirit

N. Anderson.

There are nine references to the Holy Spirit in the gospel of John — from John
1:1-51, John 2:1-25, John 3:1-36, John 4:1-54, John 5:1-47, John 6:1-71, John
7:1-53. It is not until we reach John 14:1-31 that we see clearly the distinct
Personality of the Spirit.

See the following Scriptures as to:- The Truth of His Person.

Genesis 1:2; Isaiah 48:16; Matthew 28:19; John 14:16-17; John 14:26; John 15:26;
John 16:7-8; John 16:13-15; Acts 5:3; Acts 5:9; Acts 13:2; Acts 15:28; 1
Corinthians 12:13; 2 Corinthians 13:14. The Witness of the Holy Spirit John
15:26; Acts 5:32; Romans 8:16; Hebrews 10:15; 1 John 5:6-12. The Spirit as Seal,
Earnest, Anointing.

Luke 11:13; Acts 19:2-6; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Ephesians
4:30.

Type of Anointing.

King: 1 Samuel 10:1; 1 Samuel 16:13.

Prophet: 1 Kings 19:16.

Priest: Exodus 28:7; Exodus 28:21.

OWNERSHIP is connected with SEALING.

POWER is connected with ANOINTING also KNOWLEDGE (1 John 2:27).

PLEDGE OF COMING GLORY is connected with EARNEST.

WASHING relates to NEW BIRTH.

BLOOD SPRINKLING relates to REDEMPTION.

OIL relates particularly to THE HOLY SPIRIT.

SEALING follows BELIEVING, NOT knowledge nor experience. These are the fruit of
the Spirit’s work in the believer. The work of the Spirit —

1) In bringing about NEW BIRTH is distinct from and precedes His INDWELLING.

2) SANCTIFICATION OF THE SPIRIT is unto THE BLOOD OF SPRINKLING AND THE
OBEDIENCE OF JESUS CHRIST (1 Peter 1:3).

3) Through the Spirit alone can the deeds of the flesh be mortified (Colossians
3:5).

SEALING — when does it occur?

We repeat that it occurs on believing the gospel of your salvation (Ephesians
1:13). In Acts we have an example of this (Acts 19:1-7). SHOULD WE PRAY TO THE
HOLY SPIRIT? NO!

All approach to God, whether for prayer or worship is BY the Spirit.

It would be nonsensical to speak of praying IN the Holy Spirit TO the Holy
Spirit. Scripture speaks of worship BY the Spirit of God (Php 3:3 N. Trans.). It
also speaks of praying IN the Holy Spirit (Jude 1:20). Thus Scripture never
speaks of worship or prayer TO the Spirit. SHOULD WE ASK FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT
TODAY? NO! The word in Luke 11:13 was spoken by the Lord to His disciples before
He had died, risen again, and had been glorified. See in connection with this,
John 7:38-39. Perhaps while the 120 were meeting during the ten days between our
Lord’s ascension and the descent of the Spirit, many prayers may have arisen
from their hearts asking God for the promised Comforter. But NOW HE HAS COME!
ARE THERE CHRISTIAN BELIEVERS WITHOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT TODAY? WOULD Acts 19:1-41
SUGGEST THAT ALL BELIEVERS DO NOT HAVE THE SPIRIT? The answer to these two
questions is definitely — NO! The disciples in Acts 19:1-41 whom Paul found were
not Christian believers. They had received the testimony of John the Baptist —
they knew only John’s baptism! They were on the ground of the godly remnant of
Israel which had believed the testimony of John Baptist — they were looking and
were ready for the coming of Christ! But He had already come! Paul instructed
them as to this blessed fact and put them on Christian ground by baptism — new
ground for them, and there and then they received the Holy Spirit. Let us
remember that Scripture most definitely teaches that, ". . . by one Spirit are
we all baptised into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be
bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Corinthians
12:13). This took place on the day of Pentecost as detailed to us in Acts
2:1-47.

SIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST (Matthew 12:31) — CAN WE COMMIT THIS SIN TODAY? NO!
For this was committed by the Jews in attributing the power by which our Lord
performed His miracles in exorcising demons to the prince of devils (demons?) —
Beelzebub. Christ is not on earth today, nor is He directly performing these
works today. Hence it is impossible to commit this sin against the Holy Ghost.
It has been suggested that the Jews committed this sin in stoning Stephen, Acts
7:1-60. The Scripture said, "Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers
did so do ye" (Acts 7:51). The testimony of God did not specifically turn from
the Jews in Acts 7:1-60. Paul said in Acts 13:1-52, "It was necessary that the
Word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing yet put it from
you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles"
(Acts 13:46). There is no word here about blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.

While such a sin is impossible today we are none-the-less exhorted to ". .
grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption" (Ephesians 4:30). Also, "Quench not the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians
5:19). The first of these exhortations would apply to us individually, while
this second would apply to us collectively. Let us see to it that we live our
lives in subjection to the Spirit and that Assemblywise we accept the teaching,
for instance, of 1 Corinthians 14:29 — as to the order of the Assembly meeting.
Where the Spirit presides and where liberty is afforded Him for the ordering of
the gathering according to divine teaching, to the honour of our God, and
consequently to the edification, and exhortation, and comfort, of the gathered
saints.

Please read, prayerfully, the fifth chapter of Galatians in regard to the
individual recognition of the Spirit’s indwelling and activity, also the
fourteenth of 1 Corinthians as to the recognition of His indwelling the
Assembly, and the consequent order of such a gathering when saints meet together
to the Name of our Lord.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 19: THE HOLY SPIRIT
========================================================================

The Holy Spirit

W W Fereday. HIS DIVINE PERSONALITY. HIS INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. HIS
QUICKENING WORK. A WELL OF WATER.

RIVERS OF LIVING WATER.

ADVOCATE AND TEACHER.

"RECEIVE YE THE HOLY GHOST." THE DAY OF PENTECOST. IN THE FLESH AND IN THE
SPIRIT. THE ANOINTING, SEAL AND EARNEST. THE ONE BODY. HIS WORK IN THE ASSEMBLY.

Preface.

These papers were written nearly 30 years ago as articles for a Magazine, now
extinct, and they were afterwards reproduced in booklet form. Their simplicity
and brevity made them acceptable and helpful to many, and the desire has
frequently been expressed for a new Edition.

It is earnestly hoped that this re-issue will he blessed to the present
generation of readers. No one will question the importance of the subject to all
who love our Lord Jesus Christ.

Oxford,

August, 1923. HIS DIVINE PERSONALITY.

Man by all his searching cannot find out God; but what God has revealed in His
word concerning Himself is for our adoring contemplation and study. But we do
well to engage in such studies with reverence and godly fear. If there be a
right attitude of soul toward God, and due subjection of spirit, our souls will
be nourished, and our worship deepened; but if the mind be allowed to stray in
any measure, or if we go in any wise beyond what is written, we are in jeopardy,
as many have proved to their sorrow.

Scripture is most plain, whatever unbelief may say, that there are three
distinct persons in the Godhead, equal in power, majesty, and glory, each taking
His own part in all that is done, whether in creation or redemption, yet ever
acting in perfect unity and communion.

It is interesting to observe that the Trinity was first clearly revealed at the
baptism of the Lord Jesus. When coming up from Jordan, after having fulfilled
all righteousness, the Father opened the heavens to Him, and expressed the
delight of His heart in Him, and the Spirit descended in bodily form as a dove
upon Him (Matthew 3:16-17)

What can be clearer to a simple mind than this! The Father speaks, the Son
receives His testimony, and the Holy Spirit descends to seal and anoint Him.
Three persons, yet but one God.

It is proposed to deal somewhat, if the Lord will, with the person and work of
the Holy Spirit, particularly with His gracious operations during this period of
privilege while the Lord Jesus is hidden in heaven at God’s right hand. The
personality of the Holy Spirit has been called in question by not a few, some
speaking of Him as though He were a mere influence; others alas! sinking in
their ideas lower still. Many also who truly love the Lord Jesus, and desire to
have right thoughts, are often very vague as to the person and work of the
Spirit of God. On this occasion, I shall do little more than bring together some
of the Scriptures which distinctly assert His personality and deity. We will let
scripture speak for itself to our souls. Could the following be said of aught
but a person! "I will send Him unto you." "When He is come." (John 16:7-8) "He
shall testify of me" (John 15:6). "God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son
into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Galatians 4:6). He is represented too,
as striving with man (Genesis 6:3), revealing things to the saints (1
Corinthians 2:10; Luke 2:26), and He it was who sent forth Barnabas and Saul
from Antioch to evangelise the Gentile world (Acts 13:2). Can any of these
things be said of a mere influence! Moreover, He can be resisted (Acts 7:51),
vexed (Isaiah 63:10), grieved (Ephesians 4:30) lied to (Acts 5:3), and, solemn
to say, blasphemed (Matthew 12:31)

Further; Scripture declares He took a part in the birth, death and resurrection
of the Lord Jesus. The angel said to Mary, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,
and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that Holy
Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35).
The Spirit of God was thus the antitype of the oil which formed one of the
ingredients of the meal offering, as it is said, "mingled with oil" (Leviticus
2:4).

Concerning the cross, we read that Christ "through the eternal Spirit offered
himself without spot to God" (Hebrews 9:14). Then, after having been put to
death in the flesh," on the third day He was "quickened by the Spirit,"
"declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by
the resurrection of the dead" (1 Peter 3:18; Romans 1:4). The last passage, I
may say in passing, includes doubtless the resurrection of others as well as the
Lord Jesus, as Lazarus, etc. But all these Scriptures speak to us of a person,
beyond all dispute; and a divine person too, as I shall now proceed to show. The
word of God declares His creatorship, His omniscience, His omnipresence, His
sovereignty, and His equality with Father and Son.

(1) His creatorship. He had a part with the Father and the Son in all that was
done; else what is the force of the passage, "By his Spirit he garnished the
heavens"? (Job 26:13) As to the inferior [orders of] creation we read, "Thou
sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created" (Psalms 104:30). And to go back to
the earliest record, the very first mention of divine activity in the six days’
work is, "the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters" Genesis 1:2).
What can be plainer!

(2) His omniscience. We read that "he searcheth all things, even, the deep
things of God" (1 Corinthians 2:10). We cannot do this. The Apostle shows that
we should never have known God’s depths had not the Holy Spirit come from heaven
to be our Instructor.

(3) His omnipresence. David said, "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or
whither shall I flee from thy presence?" (Psalms 139:7). He felt that wherever
he went, below or above, whether in darkness or light, the Spirit of God knew
all his movements, and discerned the thoughts and intents of the heart. And in
the present period of grace, does not one Spirit dwell and act in all the saints
of God the world over?

(4) His sovereignty. 1 Corinthians 12:1-31 speaks of His manifestations in the
saints for their mutual profit and the Lord’s glory, and there we read,
"dividing to every man severally as he will." This is a plain assertion of His
sovereign action, and they are the losers who fail to understand and act upon it
in faith.

(5) His equality. Though a distinct person, in no sense is the Holy Spirit
inferior to the Father and the Son. All are co-equal and co-eternal. In
concluding his second epistle to the Corinthians the Apostle links the Holy
Spirit with God and the Lord Jesus Christ, in his salutation. And the departing
Lord, in giving instructions to His disciples, bade them "teach all nations,
baptising them in [unto] the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost" (Matthew 28:19). Are not these divinely formed links? Who would venture
to join with the Father and the Son one who was not divine? Faith may therefore
rest assured that the Holy Spirit, whereof we speak, is a person, and properly
and essentially divine. HIS INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES.

We have seen that the Spirit of God is a person, and that He is divine in the
fullest sense of the term; we will now look at His gracious operations with
regard to the Scriptures.

It is an unspeakable mercy in such a scene as this, with the Babel of human
opinions on every hand, that our God has given us a perfect revelation of His
mind and will in His own precious word. Where else could we turn for divine
certainty? Where besides is there a solid rock for our feet? And whither, if not
to scripture, could we turn for a sure and settled resting place? Possessing the
word of God, we are thoroughly furnished; we have food for our souls, and light
for our path.

Scripture is the work of the Holy Spirit. He it was Who guided each writer,
whether in the Old Testament or the New, filling and taking possession of the
vessel, holding in check all that would be of man, that we might have the mind
of God in its perfection and purity without adulteration or alloy. Let us hold
this firmly. Lack of decision is serious in such a matter. This is a day of
loose thoughts as to Inspiration. Never was Satan more determined to wrest the
Scriptures from souls than at the present time. Ritualism on the one hand places
a priest between the word of God and the soul; Rationalism on the other, throws
doubt on all that is revealed. Both systems, though in different ways, would rob
us of the priceless treasure God has given.

1 Corinthians 2:10-14 furnishes valuable instruction concerning the connected
subjects of Revelation and Inspiration. The Apostle reminds us of the word of
Isaiah that "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him;"
adding, "but God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit." Here he asserts
divine revelation is the source of the vital truths he taught. See also
Ephesians 3:3-5 : By revelation he made known unto me the mystery (as I wrote
afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the
mystery of Christ) which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men,
as it is now revealed unto his holy Apostles and prophets by the Spirit." The
Apostle was the administrator of blessings not made known by God until his day.
Such a truth as the union of the saints with the glorified Head in one body was
hid in God until the Lord Jesus went on high and the Holy Ghost came down. Paul
was the honoured vessel used for its communication — he had "visions and
revelations of the Lord." It was his to fill up the word of God, i.e., to
complete the subjects of which it treats (Colossians 1:25-26). Now no one can
reveal the things of God but the Spirit of God. The Apostle asks, "What man
knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the
things of God knoweth no one but the Spirit of God." As no one knows my things
(or thoughts) but my own spirit, until I utter them or reveal them, so no one
knows God’s things but God’s Spirit.

Nothing can be more degrading than the notion that God cannot reveal His mind to
man. This is to lower God painfully. If the creature can communicate his
thoughts to another, is it to be supposed that the Creator cannot do so?

Some men speak much of reason in connection with the word of God, but where is
their reason to suppose such a thing of our God? The truth is that the Spirit
has revealed the mind of God, and we have it in the Scriptures. Thus the
apostolic writings are the standard whereby truth and error may be tested. As
John says, "We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God
heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error" (1
John 4:6).

But, as is often remarked, revelation does not go beyond the person receiving
it; to pass the truth on in its perfection, to others requires divine
Inspiration. Such is man, that even the favoured recipients of divine
revelations could not be trusted to communicate them to others without marring
them.

Here, therefore, the Spirit of God comes in again. Hence Paul tells us, "which
things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which
the Holy Ghost teacheth, communicating spiritual things by spiritual means" (1
Corinthians 2:13; compare J. N. Darby’s translation). This is inspiration.

Here, too, we may see how far inspiration extends; concerning which many have
vague thoughts. Some have taught that the doctrines of Scripture are inspired of
God, but that the writers were allowed to express them in their own language;
others, as Burnet, that the reasoning so often found, particularly in the
epistles, was left to the writer; and yet others, as Paley, think them to have
used their own illustrations, and to have selected their own O.T. references to
confirm their words.

All such thoughts are below the truth, and the Scriptures are injured thus by
those who sincerely desire to be its friends. The fact is, nothing was left to
the vessel — the words, not merely the truths or doctrines, were given by the
Holy Ghost. Were it otherwise, we could have no divine certainty. Where should
we draw the line between the human and divine? And is it likely that all would
agree as to the line to be drawn? Not that a human element is altogether denied.
Paul has his style, and Peter his; for the Spirit took up the men as He found
them; nevertheless, every word thus written was from Himself. No one would be so
foolish as to contend for the inspiration of a translation, unless it were the
Trent fathers. In such efforts there may be (and are) blemishes, for God does
not work perpetual miracles; and here the study of languages comes in as an
important and valuable work. All that is asserted is, that the original
writings, as sent forth by Matthew, etc., were inspired every word by the Spirit
of God.

Just a few scripture proofs. As to the Old Testament, Peter says, "Prophecy came
not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved
by the Holy Ghost." Also, he tells us that the Spirit of Christ was in them,
testifying beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should
follow (2 Peter 1:21; 1 Peter 1:11). Paul says in Acts 28:25, "Well spake the
Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers," etc. Joel is quoted in Acts
2:17, as follows, "And it shall come to pass in that day, saith God. In Acts
3:18, we are told that God showed by the mouth of all His prophets that Christ
should suffer. As to the Psalms, we find, "Who by the mouth of thy servant David
hast said" (Acts 4:25). And the Psalmist said of himself, "The Spirit of the
Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue" (2 Samuel 23:2). The Books of
Moses are declared to be divinely inspired in such passages as Matthew 15:4,
"For God commanded, saying," etc. The New Testament, as well as the Old, is
vouched for in the general statement of 2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is given
by inspiration of God." The word "Scripture" I admit, merely means "writing,"
but it is the technical term for the sacred books, and understood as such. We
are quite understood when we say "the Bible," which, after all, simply means
"the Book." Consequently whatever comes under the heading of "Scripture" is
inspired of God. Thus Paul’s writings are vouched for, including (and I suppose
specially referring to) the epistle to the Hebrews, in 2 Peter 3:16. Paul calls
his epistles "Scripture" himself in Romans 16:25-26, where read "prophetic
Scriptures," not "the Scriptures of the prophets." And in Timothy 5:18, he
quotes from Luke 10, and says "The scripture saith." The book of Revelation is a
singular one among the New Testament writings, but its character is clearly
indicated in chapter 1:2: John "bare record of the word of God, and of the
testimony of Jesus Christ — all things that he saw." Omitting the "and" before
"all things," we learn that the visions vouchsafed to John were the word of God
and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Let none, therefore, despise the book because
of its symbolism.

These are but a small part of the proofs. Let the diligent soul search it out,
and the more deeply the subject is investigated, the deeper will be the soul’s
confidence in God that He has given us by His blessed Spirit His unerring word
in all its fullness and beauty. In conclusion, one more thought remains to be
noted in 1 Corinthians 2:1-16. We have seen that the chapter speaks of
Revelation and Inspiration; it also lays down that the help of the Holy Ghost is
needful in order to receive and understand the things that have been given. This
is why enemies stumble. Man’s wit fails here. His learning is at fault, his
powers are unavailing, apart from the Holy Ghost. "The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can
he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." The soul must be born of
God, and the Spirit must be the teacher; then all is simple and plain. He has
come down from above to guide the saints into all the truth, and He never
disappoints or fails the humble waiting soul. HIS QUICKENING WORK

We have had before us the personality of the Holy Ghost and we have also
considered His gracious work with regard to the Word of God. Now we will enquire
into His work in the soul in producing new life towards God, where once sin and
death reigned. This is unfolded very simply in John 3:1-36. Nicodemus came to
the Lord by night. He had been outwardly convinced by the miracles which the
Lord was performing, as were many others in Jerusalem at that time (John 2:33).
He came "by night," feeling instinctively that the world and Jesus were opposed,
and that to be seen going to Him would bring down persecution, or at least
reproach upon himself. He opened by saying, "Rabbi, we know that thou art a
teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that Thou doest, except
God be with him." The Lord met him instantly with the solemn statement, "Verily,
verily, I say unto thee except a man he born again, he cannot see the kingdom of
God."

How deeply humbling! What a check upon the thoughts of the ruler of the Jews! We
learn here the solemn fact, that man in his natural condition, cannot perceive
or understand the things of God. Privileges or advantages make no real
difference. Nicodemus had many. He was not a profane or immoral man, nor was he
even a Gentile. He was a Jew of high position as a teacher among his fellows,
acquainted with the letter of Scripture, and, we have no reason to doubt, moral
and religious. What fairer specimen of humanity can be supposed?

Saul of Tarsus was just such another. Read his account of himself in Php 3:1-21.
Possessed of every natural, dispensational and religious advantage.

Some, perhaps, would have understood the matter better if the Lord had spoken of
the new birth in John 4:1-54 instead of John 3:1-36. In John 4:1-54 He is seen
dealing with an openly wicked woman at the well of Sychar. Not there, but here,
does the Lord say, "Ye must be born again."

All must learn sooner or later that man’s nature is altogether antagonistic to
God, — altogether bad and corrupt before Him. It is not only that men have done
bad things, but the very nature is bad beyond repair. Few accept this. We hear
much in these days of improvement of man, of the raising of the masses, etc.,
but all this only shows that men have not accepted the verdict of God about
themselves. If they did but bow to it, they would be thankful to be objects of
God’s sovereign grace and love. But it remains true, in flesh dwells no good
thing. Its mind is enmity against God, and they that are in the flesh cannot
please God (Romans 7:18; Romans 8:7-8). This admits of no appeal and no
modification. A man must be born again, or he can never see or enter the kingdom
of God. But how is this brought about? Nicodemus could not tell, nor can many in
this day, but the Lord Jesus explains. "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except
a man be born of water and of the Spirit," etc. Here we have it in a few words.
It is the direct work of the Spirit of God, acting by means of the word of God
upon the soul. Perhaps I need hardly say that "water" here is the figure of the
word of God. Some have imported the idea of baptism into this chapter and the
Lord’s Supper into John 6:1-71. But Christian baptism was not instituted until
after the Lord’s resurrection, and the Lord’s Supper not until the night of His
betrayal. Consequently neither can possibly be found in the early chapters of
John’s Gospel. The water is a symbol of the word of God, which the Jewish
teacher should have understood from such Old Testament passages as Ezekiel
36:25, and Psalms 119:9. Christians have the thought confirmed in Ephesians 5:26
and John 15:3. The Spirit of God brings the word to bear upon the soul,
convincing it of sin and revealing the Saviour dead and risen. To this the soul
believingly bows, and thus a positive new life and nature is imparted. As we
read in 1 Peter 1:1-25. "Being born again, not of corruptible seed but of
incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth and abideth for ever." This is
not an improvement of the old nature. By no means. That remains as evil as ever,
to be kept under by the soul that has learnt deliverance through the death and
resurrection of Christ. It is a life imparted that had no existence in the
person before, enabling him now to sorrow for sin according to God, to believe
the gospel, to love the Saviour, to pray and worship, and to love the ways of
holiness and truth. It partakes of the nature of Him Who is its source — "That
which is born of the Spirit is spirit." This is not peculiar to Christianity.
Ever since sin came into the world, men have been thus graciously wrought upon
by the Holy Spirit. What is peculiar to this period is the Spirit’s indwelling,
of which we shall speak in another chapter; but His quickening operation in the
soul is true at all times, irrespective of dispensational differences.

Still, the Lord says more in John 3:1-36 than could have been made known in Old
Testament times; He speaks of eternal life. He had come from heaven to make God
known and to show what suits Him and His presence, and He was the manifestation
of eternal life. Eternal life was in Himself; yea, He was it, a life heavenly in
its source and character, of which heaven is proper and suited sphere, but which
is the enjoyed portion now of all who believe in the Son. The Son has been
uplifted that life might be bestowed upon all who trust His name. It is not
hereby denied that saints of old time had eternal life. But the life was not
made known in its full and heavenly character until the only begotten Son came
forth from the Father into the world. A WELL OF WATER. In John 4:1-54, the
Spirit of God is presented under a figure. The Lord Jesus speaks of Him as a
well of water within the believer, springing up into everlasting life.

It is to be observed that this instruction was given by Him, not in Jerusalem to
a Pharisee, but to a woman of Samaria, by the well of Sychar. To the Pharisee,
He said the solemn word, "Ye must be born again," and then proceeded to unfold
the meaning of the new birth and the Divine Person by Whom it is brought about.

Here the circumstances are altogether different. The Lord is seen outside the
circle of Judaism for the moment, and among the despised Samaritans. Why?
Because of the enmity of the Jewish heart. He knew they were aware that His
disciples were making and baptising many on His behalf; and knowing this would
draw forth hostility, He withdrew from their midst. He went towards Galilee, and
must needs go through Samaria. There He met the woman and ministered blessing to
her soul, which resulted in blessing for many others also. If some reject His
grace, their unbelief does not dry up, but diverts, the channel: others get it.

It is a picture in some sort, of the Lord’s position at the present time. He is
away from Israel because they have rejected Him and He is showing grace to the
stranger. Here we come in. It is a lovely scene: a weary man by a well, yet
withal, God manifest in the flesh, asking drink of a woman of Samaria. Why?
Merely to satisfy His own need? Oh, no: He saw her need and meant to satisfy it
out of the bounty of His grace. She had tried the world, but had found no rest
for her heart. She had drunk deeper than most, but had proved it all to be
vanity and vexation of spirit. She had found death in the pot at every turn. The
Lord meets her; He begins gently and graciously — "Give me to drink," — words as
marvellous as "Let there be light." The Eternal Son asking drink of an outcast
like her! She was surprised. To her He was a Jew; she a Samaritan. The two races
had no dealings. The Jews hated the Samaritans as imitators of their worship and
aliens in their land. He answered, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it
is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him and
he would have given thee living water"(John 4:10). "The gift of God!" What glad
tidings for a sinner! Not the law of God, which exacts, and curses all who fail
to render its requirements; but God revealed as a giver. "It is more blessed to
give than to receive." This is one of the first and greatest principles of
Christianity. Do you know Him thus, dear reader? Or do you regard Him as an
austere Person, reaping where He has not sown, and gathering where He has not
strawed? (Matthew 25:24) If so, you are a stranger to our God. He delights to
give, He has given His Son, He gives eternal life to all who believe, and all
things besides (John 3:16; Romans 6:23; Romans 8:32) And do you know the Son?
The Lord said, "and Who it is." She did not know. She thought Him a mere Jew,
until He proved Himself to be the Searcher of her heart. These are two essential
principles of Christianity — God known as a giver, and the knowledge of the Only
Begotten Son.

Well, the Lord speaks of the gift of the living water. The woman did not
understand. Her mind was so full of earthly things that she could not get above
them. She spoke of the well, its depth, and His lack of a pitcher. How true it
is that the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God! (1
Corinthians 2:14) He referred to the gift of the Holy Ghost, soon to be the
enjoyed portion of all who believe in His name. This is quite a distinct thing
from quickening. The Spirit first acts on the man, implanting a new life, as
John 3 shows; then after faith in the gospel, He takes up His abode within, and
that for ever. This is peculiar to Christianity. The Spirit was not thus
bestowed until Jesus was glorified, however He may have wrought in men from the
first. This is a day of wondrous privilege. Would that all our hearts grasped
it! Redemption being accomplished, the Son is in heaven, glorified as man at the
right hand of God, and the Spirit is here, God’s priceless gift to all who
really believe in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Let us look further. "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him
shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well
of water springing up into everlasting life." A thirsty Christian is an anomaly.
The Spirit is the seal to us of fullness of blessing. Having come from the glory
into which Christ has gone, He assures us of sins put away, of righteousness
completed, of acceptance, of sonship to the Father, and of liberty of access to
the presence of God on high. All that was merely promised of old, as
righteousness, salvation, etc., is ours now. The work is done, the Holy Ghost
has come, all is made good to the souls of those who believe. How can we then
thirst? I find a good deal of thirsting in the Psalms and in the Prophets; but I
do not turn there for proper Christian experience. It is the language of souls
under law, before redemption, and before the accomplishment of God’s promises of
grace. Those who are sealed with the Spirit of God have nothing left to desire,
save to enjoy simply and fully what has been given. But more — the Lord speaks
of a well of water springing up into everlasting life. It is the Spirit acting
as a living power in the Christian. As water always rises to its own level, so
does the new man, led by the Spirit, ever rise up to God. What holy exercise
should we be capable of apart from the Holy Ghost? He is the power of worship.
He leads the soul beyond such systems as Jerusalem or Gerizim, up to the Father
(where He is), in worship in spirit and in truth. The Father seeketh
worshippers. Wondrous thought! Once He sought us as sinners. Having found us as
such, He now seeks us in a new way. Do we respond? The Spirit is the power of
prayer. "We know not what we should pray for as we ought"; hence we read of
"praying in the Holy Ghost" (Romans 8:26; Jude 1:20). He identifies Himself with
us in all our circumstances, forming our thoughts, and drawing us forth suitably
in prayer and intercessions.

How could we bring forth fruit without Him? (Galatians 5:22-23.) Or how could we
serve effectually apart from His power? (Romans 15:19). In every way He acts
within us on earth to form us after the pattern of Christ, that we may be to His
honour in this scene.

RIVERS OF LIVING WATER. In John 7:1-53 the Spirit of God is brought before us
again under the figure of Living Water, but the circumstances and instruction
for our souls are different. The feast of Tabernacles had come round, and all
were going up to Jerusalem to keep it. It is noticeable in John’s gospel that
the feasts are always called "the feasts of the Jews" (John 2:13; John 6:4; John
7:2; John 11:55), whereas in Leviticus 23:1-44 they are declared to be "the
feasts of Jehovah." This altered way of speaking of them is not without meaning;
they had become mere forms; they were no longer occasions when loyal hearts
gathered up to God’s centre, because moved by a sense of His goodness. This had
faded completely, and the feasts had degenerated into merely ritualistic
observances. There was no longer anything in them for God. The Lord’s brethren
urged Him to go up to the feast, to avail Himself of the opportunity of making
Himself known to the world (John 7:1-5) They had no faith in His person. They
saw not in Him the sent one of the Father, here for the accomplishment of the
Father’s will and glory. Their counsel was purely carnal; what else could be
expected from them? The Lord did not go up when others did, but in the midst of
the feast He went up, as it were in a private way. He went up, not to join in
the hollow rejoicings of the season, but to meet the longing of any individual
seeker who might happen to be among that religious crowd. The feast of
Tabernacles was a memorial of Israel’s passage through the wilderness, and
typifies the coming kingdom of Messiah when all Israel shall be restored, and be
found in the land of their fathers, filled with the goodness of Jehovah. How
solemn therefore, that the Lord Jesus should have to take His place entirely
outside of its celebrations!

God hates mere forms. He cannot bear men who honour Him with their lips, while
all the time their hearts are far from Him. Thus it was at Jerusalem. The feast
was running its course; ritual was in full swing; all were filled with
rejoicing; but the Son of God held Himself entirely aloof.

"In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If
any man thirst let him come unto me and drink" (John 7:37). It is possible there
were some thirsty souls in the throng. Hearts in whom divine craving has been
created by the Holy Spirit cannot be satisfied with the mere forms of religion.
These satisfy flesh. Too often they serve as a veil to hide from the soul its
true condition in the sight of a holy God. Flesh loves religion, and the more
pompous it is the more it is loved. But true hearts want something more; whether
they know it or not, Christ alone can satisfy them. Here we see the rejected
Jesus outside all the display and religiousness of the hour, inviting any
thirsty souls to come to Him and drink. What these could not find in mere
religion, they would find in Him. And is it not so to-day? Can all the carnal
forms and display of Christendom slake the thirst of a soul who is feeling after
God? Nay, they keep the soul at a distance; they cast a cloud over it, and
plunge it into distress and doubt. But Jesus can satisfy every longing. He is
still outside. Those who really seek Him must go forth to Him without the camp,
as Hebrews 13:13 speaks. Having found Him the heart is divinely satisfied. It
never thirsts again. How can one thirst, knowing deliverance and acceptance,
being assured of the Father’s love, enjoying liberty of access to God through
the rent veil, filled with the Holy Ghost, and taken up with Christ? The Lord
adds more. "He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake He of the Spirit which
they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given;
because that Jesus was not yet glorified" (vv 38, 39). Here we have more than
satisfaction for our souls, the gift of the Holy Spirit as an overflowing power.
Observe, there could be no such thing until Jesus was glorified. He had received
the Spirit personally at Jordan, as an expression of the infinite delight of the
Father in Him; but He must go into death and accomplish redemption ere He could
receive the Spirit in a new way for those who believe in His name (Luke 3:22;
Acts 2:33).

Having thus the Spirit of God, we are responsible to be channels of blessing
while passing through this arid scene. But I must be satisfied myself, yea, more
than satisfied, ere I can impart to others. I cannot give away if I have not
enough myself. What a test for all our hearts! Have we enough? Have we found in
Christ risen and glorified sufficient to satisfy every desire of our souls? He
was enough for Paul, everything else in comparison was as loss and dung (Php
3:1-8). "Freely ye have received, freely give." All around are needy souls. The
world cannot meet their need, religion cannot meet it; those who have the truth
can, by presenting Christ in all the glory of His person and the efficacy of His
work. But it must flow from the inward parts, or but little blessing will
result. That which comes from the head, while it may please the ear and charm
the intellect, leaves the poor famished soul where it was before, unsatisfied,
unfed. May the Spirit of God work so uninterruptedly in us all, ministering
Christ to our souls, that we may overflow in happy, holy service, to the Lord’s
glory, and the blessing of man.

ADVOCATE AND TEACHER. In John 14:1-31 we are in a sensibly different atmosphere.
The Lord uses figures no longer, but speaks directly of the Spirit of God as a
divine person, Whom He would send from the Father after His own ascension on
high. The communications of John 13:1-38, John 14:1-31, John 15:1-27, John
16:1-33 are always precious to the believer’s heart. The Lord was just about to
leave His own. The hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto
the Father. Before doing so (and His pathway lay through death), He gathered His
disciples around Him in Jerusalem, and put the facts of their new position
before them, or as far as it was possible to do so at that time. He promised to
return and introduce them into the Father’s house. He promised to manifest
Himself to them in a spiritual way, as a result of their keeping His word, and
(what is particularly before us now) spoke to them of the other Comforter, Whom
He would pray the Father to send.

John 14:16-17. The Spirit could not come until Jesus was gone. He was not given
to all Old Testament believers, as now to all who are Christ’s. Redemption must
be accomplished, and Christ must be glorified as man at the right hand of God,
ere such a gift could be granted to the saints. The work is done, Jesus has
gone, and the Comforter is present. The word rendered "Comforter" here
(Paraclete) is the same as that rendered "Advocate" in 1 John 2:1. It means one
who takes up the cause of another, and who pledges himself to see us through all
our difficulties. What a provision for our souls in such a world as this? The
Spirit has come to abide for ever, in contrast with the Lord Jesus, Who was only
with His disciples for a short time and then returned to the glory. The world
cannot share in this. Some have taught otherwise, but the scripture is very
plain to a simple mind. The Spirit has not become incarnate, like the Son,
therefore the world cannot see Him, neither does it know Him. "But ye know him,"
the Lord says, "for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." This is true
Christian knowledge and experience. But how many fall short of it! How much real
unbelief there is abroad as to the personal presence of the Divine Spirit! Many
in this day pray for His outpouring, or for a fresh baptism, while others dread
lest He should leave them because of their shortcomings and failures. But He is
to be with us for ever; the righteous basis being the sacrifice of Christ.

John 14:26. The Lord promised the disciples also that He should be their
Teacher, and bring all things to remembrance that He had said to them. Much that
the Lord told them they could not understand then, but when the Spirit came,
what a flood of light was thrown back upon all the gracious communications of
the Lord Jesus!

John 15:26-27. Coming from the glory, He would bear witness to Christ. He would
bear testimony to the glory into which He has entered for us, that our souls
might be formed by it. What could we know of this but for Him? What could
Rebekah have known of Isaac and his father’s house, had not Eliezer told her,
who came from thence? The Spirit loves to bring before us the blessedness which
is now His, and to assure our hearts that all is ours because we are in Him
before God. He would use the disciples also. They knew all the facts of the
Lord’s life and should bear testimony to all the things they had seen and heard.
We know how this enraged the Jewish rulers, in the Acts of the Apostles.

John 16:7-15. Now the Lord goes a step further. "Nevertheless I tell you the
truth. It is expedient for you that I go away." Filled as they were with Jewish
thoughts, this was inexplicable to them. His going away seemed rather
incalculable loss. They looked for a kingdom of glory on earth, for the
restoration of Israel’s scattered tribes, and for all that the Old Testament
prophets had spoken of to the fathers. They knew not yet that His death and
resurrection would inaugurate a new order of blessing, heavenly in character, of
which the indwelling Spirit is the Divine Seal. God has brought in an altogether
better thing than the kingdom, though He will not disappoint faith as to that in
its day. Souls who believe in the Son while He is thus hidden in heaven, are
privileged to know the blessedness of accomplished redemption, of sonship with
the Father, and of union with the exalted Lord as members of one Body. All this
could not be known until Jesus went away and the Spirit of God came down. His
presence here is solemn as regards the world. He convicts it of sin, of
righteousness, and of judgement. The world’s greatest sin is its rejection of
Christ; and this the Spirit presses. Righteousness is only to be seen in Christ
at God’s right hand — there is none here. Judgement has been pronounced, because
the prince of the world is judged, and the world and its chosen prince are to
share it together. Judgement is not yet executed, but will fall when God’s
present purpose of grace is completed. As regards the saints, the Spirit is the
guide into all truth. He is the Spirit of truth. The Lord had many things to say
but the disciples could not bear them then. They were not in a position to enter
into the circle of truths which we call Christianity, until the Spirit came. But
now we are fully furnished. We have the complete word of God, Paul being used to
complete its subjects, and we have the Holy Spirit to unfold it to our hearts.
Why is it, that in very many cases the souls of the Lord’s people are so lean?
Why do such a number fail to apprehend the mind of God as unfolded in the
Scriptures? Because man is so generally looked to, to the overlooking of the
Spirit of God. He may use means to lead on our souls; indeed this is His usual
method. Gifts have been given, teachers among others, that we may grow up into
Christ in all things; but such must ever be regarded as but vessels of the
Spirit. The Spirit is the true Guide; our dependence must ever be upon Him.

"RECEIVE YE THE HOLY GHOST." The Lord was now risen. His mighty work was
accomplished. He was now alive from the dead to die no more. He had laid down
His life for God’s glory and for our redemption, and had taken it again in
resurrection. God had shown Him the path of life, and He was soon going into His
presence, where there is fullness of joy; to His right hand, where there are
pleasures for evermore. But first, the Lord shows Himself to His own. Mary
Magdalene has the joy of hearing His blessed voice once more, causing her to dry
up all her tears, and changing her lamentations into divine rejoicing (John
16:20-22).

It was the first day of the week. The Sabbath (an high day just then with the
Jews) He had spent in the grave. Now He comes forth to inaugurate a new order of
things on the ground of His precious and perfect sacrifice. The old order was
now judicially done with; God no longer owned it. Judaism was an empty house.
The Lord finds His own gathered together (John 20:19-23). They feared the Jews,
and so assembled, as it were, in secret. Contrast with this their boldness in
the presence of the enemy after the descent of the Holy Ghost. But the Spirit
had not yet come, hence we observe only the weakness and timidity of poor human
nature. The doors were shut. The Lord came and "stood in the midst, and saith
unto them, Peace be unto you." Precious words from the lips of the risen Jesus!
Glorious proof that all the work was done! "He Came and preached peace." He had
drunk the cup of wrath for them (and for us), little though they understood it
at the time. He had stood in the breach, and met and endured in His most holy
person all that was due from a righteous God against sin. All this being past,
every question having been righteously settled, He is able to speak "peace" to
His own. And not only so, but He showed them His hands and His side. The
memorials of Calvary were not effaced, nor will they ever be. The adoring
disciples could see with their very eyes something of what the Blessed One had
passed through in deepest love to their souls. His incarnation was not
sufficient to make peace. Death must be endured, His blood must be shed. He has
made peace by the blood of His cross (Colossians 1:20).

"Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me,
even so send I you." This is not needless repetition; He was giving them a
commission now. His Father had sent Him into the world for His glory, and to
bear witness to the truth. His work was done, and He was about to resume His
place at the Father’s right hand. But He never leaves Himself without a witness;
therefore the disciples must take His place in this scene. Mark carefully their
place and ours. Taken out of the world, heavenly persons because associated with
Christ, sent into the world to bear witness for Him. Such is our place and
business here: would that all our hearts realised it more! In connection with
the commission, then, the Lord says, "Peace be unto you." Amid all the
disturbances and trials of this hostile scene, we are privileged to enjoy, not
only peace with God as to our sins, but the peace of Christ filling our hearts
(John 14:27; Colossians 3:15)

"And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye
the Holy Ghost." What is this! Clearly not yet the gift of the Spirit as a
divine person to abide with them: for He said to the same disciples some days
later, "Ye shall be baptised with the Holy Ghost not many days hence," "ye shall
receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you"; and He told them not
to depart from Jerusalem, but to "wait for the promise of the Father" (Acts
1:1-26). The Spirit came from heaven in fulfilment of this on the day of
Pentecost; not before. To understand these words of the Lord in John 20:1-31 it
is necessary to refer to Genesis 2:7. There we have the Lord God first forming
the man’s body of the dust of the ground, then breathing into his nostrils the
breath of life. Here then, we have the Lord breathing His own risen life by the
Holy Ghost into His disciples. They were converted men before, beyond all
question; now they partake of the great blessing peculiar to Christianity, the
risen life of the victorious Son of God. Let it be distinctly understood that
all the saved from the very beginning of time have had divine life in their
souls communicated to them by the Holy Spirit, but it could not be said of
saints before the cross that they were partakers with a risen Christ. This is
"life more abundantly," as the Lord speaks in John 10:10. The possession of this
places us in Him beyond death and judgement. It is a life that Satan cannot
touch, and that we cannot forfeit. It is heavenly in its character, and eternal
in its nature. Heaven is its proper and suited sphere. The difference between
the Spirit as life and His personal indwelling may be seen in Romans 8:1-39. In
Romans 8:1-11 we have Him presented as characterising our life and relationship
to God, instilling Himself into all our thoughts and feelings; in Romans 8:12-27
He is spoken of as a distinct person dwelling within us, bearing witness with
our spirit that we are the children of God, groaning within us, and leading us
out in prayer according to God. The words of the Lord in John 20:23 should be
carefully weighed. "Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and
whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained." This is supposed by some to
mean priestly absolution. Need I say that there is no such thing in
Christianity? A priestly class now is a denial of the work of Christ. All
believers are equally priests unto God (1 Peter 2:5; Revelation 1:6). The Lord’s
words refer to reception and discipline in the assembly, and should be compared
with Matthew 16:18-19; Matthew 18:18; Matthew 18:20. When the assembled saints
receive a person, whether out of the world, or for restoration after exclusion,
they "remit" his sins; and when one is put away, as the wicked Corinthian, they
"retain" his sins. But this is administrative for the earth, and must be
distinguished from the eternal forgiveness of the soul. THE DAY OF PENTECOST.
This was a wonderful day in the history of the ways of God. Redemption was now
accomplished. Christ was glorified as Man at His right hand. The moment had come
for God to give effect to His counsels formed before the world was. Accordingly
the Spirit of God descended according to the promise of the Lord Jesus. The
disciples are shown as a waiting company. They had been bidden to tarry in
Jerusalem until endued with power from on high. The day of Pentecost had come,
and they were gathered together with one accord in one place. It was the first
day of the week, the formal meeting day of those who believe in Jesus, being the
day of His glorious resurrection from among the dead.

While the disciples were assembled, "suddenly there came a sound from heaven as
of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon
each of them" (Acts 2:2-3) Such was the manner of the descent of the Holy Ghost.
Never had He come from heaven to dwell in and with the saints before. He had
wrought in them, of course, producing in the first instance a sense of sin, then
faith in the living God; but He had never been given of God as His seal upon
any. He had come upon certain persons (as prophets, etc.) at times for special
purposes, but the time had now come for something beyond all this. During the
present period He dwells within every believer, making his body His temple. The
blood having been shed and sprinkled, the oil has followed, to use the language
of the type (Leviticus 8:1-36.)

"But," it may be asked, "why should He come upon the disciples in the form of
tongues of fire, when He descended upon the Lord Jesus as a dove?" The answer is
to be found in the character of the recipients and the testimony they were
called to bear. The Lord was here as the expression of God’s grace and love. He
came not to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Personally He was the meek and lowly One: what more apt emblem of this than a
dove? As for the disciples, their testimony was of a very solemn, as well as
blessed, character. The word of God through them, while it brought peace and
blessing to all who received it, nevertheless judged all before it, and gave no
quarter to anything of the first man. Their testimony was to branch out to both
Jews and Gentiles, hence "cloven tongues." The first effect of the Spirit’s
presence was that they "began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave
them utterance." Thus did God surmount the confusion brought in at Babel
(Genesis 11:1-32), though the time had not come to do away with it altogether.
He intended the gospel for every creature. The law was given in one language,
and to but one people; but the gospel of God’s grace, God’s precious testimony
concerning His Son, could not be thus limited. Gentiles and Jews were equally
needy, and all should have the offer of the Saviour. This, however, the early
Christians were slow to learn. They were ready enough to preach Christ to the
children of Israel; but God had to specially intervene to make Peter open the
door to the Gentiles, even though the commission was clear and plain (Acts 10;
Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8). So slow are the hearts, even of the Apostles, to take in
the extent of God’s thoughts of grace. The tongues, I need hardly say, were
miraculous. Peter and the others had not learned these languages, yet they were
suddenly able to speak them. Who but God could have wrought this? It astonished
the multitude. Being the feast of Pentecost, Jerusalem was full of Jews from all
parts of the Roman empire, and they heard these men, who were manifestly all
Galileans, declare in their own tongues the wonderful works of God. Some were
honest, and enquired concerning the marvel. Cavillers were not wanting, as
always, who attributed it to wine. The early hour of the day (the third) should
have preserved them from such an insinuation, as Peter soon pointed out.

It was not fleshly excitement; it was divine power. A Divine Person had come
down from the glory into which Christ had so recently entered; and was here to
bear testimony to Him and His finished work. Thus it was that day. Peter was the
chosen vessel. He had but recently denied his Lord with oaths and curses, but
grace had fully restored him; and he was bold as a lion. He could even charge
the Jewish people with the very sin of which he himself had been guilty (Acts
3:14). So reassuring is the grace of the Lord. Peter reminded the multitude of
the prophecy of Joel. God had spoken of an out pouring of the Spirit, before the
great and notable day of the Lord: need they wonder therefore at what had
occurred. Then he brought home to their consciences their dreadful sin with
regard to Jesus. They had rejected and slain Him, but God had raised Him up, and
exalted Him. This he proves conclusively from their own Scriptures; for Peter
could see the bearing of all these passages now that the Holy Ghost had come.
The result we know. Three thousand persons were saved and added to the little
band. Thus was the church of God commenced, though the truth concerning it was
not unfolded until Paul was called, some time later. IN THE FLESH AND IN THE
SPIRIT.

Romans 8:1-39 is the climax of a very important body of instruction. Most
readers have doubtless observed that the Epistle is divided into three parts.
Part 1. consists of Romans 1:1-32, Romans 2:1-29, Romans 3:1-31, Romans 4:1-25,
Romans 5:1-21, Romans 6:1-23, Romans 7:1-25, Romans 8:1-39, and brings out the
fullness and the completeness of God’s salvation. Part 2 embraces Romans 9:1-33,
Romans 10:1-21, Romans 11:1-36 and is dispensational, explaining God’s present
dealings through the gospel, in view of the special promises made to Israel. The
remaining chapters (Romans 12:1-21, Romans 13:1-14, Romans 14:1-23, Romans
15:1-33, Romans 16:1-27.) are practical, pressing upon the recipients of God’s
mercies a becoming walk below.

Part 1. is however subdivided. In Romans 1:1-32, Romans 2:1-29, Romans 3:1-31,
Romans 4:1-25, Romans 5:1-11 the Apostle takes up the question of sins, and
shows our complete justification from them all through the death and
resurrection of Christ; from Romans 5:12-21, Romans 6:1-23, Romans 7:1-25,
Romans 8:1-39 it is more a question of sin; and our complete deliverance from
both our old standing and former bondage is shown in the risen Christ. We were
once in Adam (Romans 5:2-21.), and were then lying under death and condemnation;
we were once under the bondage of sin (Romans 6:1-23.) as truly as Israel of old
were under the hand of Pharaoh in Egypt; we (or at least Jewish believers) were
once under the law, with all its solemn consequences for our souls (Romans
7:1-25.). But from all this we have been delivered. We have passed out of our
old position by death, and we are now before God in the risen Christ. This
Romans 8:1-39 brings before us fully. "There is therefore now no condemnation to
them which are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). The added clause mars the beauty
of the Spirit’s words. Our standing is not dependent on our walk in any way,
though our enjoyment of it is. "In Christ" describes our new position before
God, through grace. We have in Him a life which death cannot touch, and which is
beyond all condemnation. We have all the advantages of His risen position. All
that is His in virtue of His accomplished work is ours also. The same divine
favour and love which rests upon Him, rests upon us also who are in Him.
Marvellous place to be brought into! Mighty change from our former place in the
first man, where all consequences brought in by Adam’s fall were ours, because
of our connection with him as our head. Adam became head of a race after the
fall, and all therefore have his position, with everything that attaches to it;
Christ became head of a new race after His resurrection, and all who are in Him
share the blessedness that is His, our sins having been put away for ever, sin
having been condemned in His death and righteousness established. But if "in
Christ" expresses our new standing before God, "in the Spirit" characterises us
now as men walking below. Romans does not regard us as in heavenly places, as
Ephesians, but as those who are set free to walk to the glory of God on earth.
"In the flesh" characterised our former state. The flesh was the source of all
our thoughts and actions. Flesh is antagonistic to God and they that are in it
cannot please Him. The mind of the flesh is not subject to the law of God
neither indeed can be. The sure result of following its course is death, as the
Apostle speaks, "For to be carnally minded (or the mind of the flesh) is
death...if ye live after the flesh ye shall die" Romans 8:6, Romans 8:13).

We are not in the flesh now (Romans 7:5; Romans 8:9), although the flesh is
still in us. It is no longer a controlling power; it does not characterise our
lives as once. Faith treats it as a condemned thing, and allows it no place. If
it acts, it leads us from the Lord into some by-path of sin and sorrow. We are
not now debtors to it, to live according to it. "Ye are not in the flesh but in
the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have
not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Romans 8:9). The Holy Spirit is
God’s great gift to every believer; and it is He, in contrast to the flesh, who
now gives character to all our walk and ways. He gives us the happy knowledge
that Christ is in us — as He Himself said, "In that day ye shall know that I am
in my Father and ye in me, and I in you" (John 14:20). He forms all our thoughts
and desires, teaches us how to pray, enables us to bring forth fruit for God,
strengthens us for all our conflicts with the enemy, and sustains our hearts
along the road by His gracious ministry of Christ to us. He is our Leader, and
by His power we are enabled to mortify the deeds of the body.

Every soul will do well to enquire of itself before the Lord how far this is
practically realised. It is one thing to know and accept it as doctrine, quite
another to walk in the power of it. Every Christian lives in the Spirit or he
would not be a Christian, but every Christian does not necessarily walk in the
Spirit (Galatians 5:25) And we should not forget, too, that it is perfectly
possible for a true believer to sow to the flesh and not to the Spirit. Lot is a
painful instance of this in the Old Testament. This brings us under God’s
governmental dealings. "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap"; and
this is as true for the Christian as for others; although it is not possible,
through God’s grace, to lose the eternal life, which he possesses in the Son
(Galatians 6:8).

"The mind of the Spirit is life and peace" (Romans 8:6). The secret, therefore,
of a peaceful walk is to follow the gracious leading of the Divine Indweller. If
flesh is habitually judged and mortified, and the Spirit of God allowed His true
place, our souls thrive and grow. Things that would disturb and cause bitter
sorrow, do not intrude themselves then. The Spirit has not to be occupying us
with ourselves and our state, but is free to lead us on to a fuller knowledge of
Christ, which is His delight. The Apostle, in Romans 8:1-39,aces the Spirit’s
gracious work in us and for us, onward to the resurrection. "If the Spirit of
him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell you, he that raised up Christ from
the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in
you" (Romans 8:11). Our bodies being the temples of the Holy Spirit, the God Who
raised up Jesus will not suffer them to remain in the grasp of death. "Because
of his Spirit" (for so the sentence should read), He will raise them up at the
appointed hour, and conform us to the image of His Son. THE ANOINTING, SEAL AND
EARNEST. In 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, the Spirit of God is brought before us under
three striking figures. "Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and
hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the
Spirit in our hearts." The Apostle is setting forth the settled place of
blessing into which God has introduced every believer in Jesus. We are no longer
in Adam, exposed to death and condemnation, but in Christ, and in Him we find
every purposed blessing made everlastingly good. But so abounding is the grace
of our God, that over and above all this, He has given us the Holy Spirit as the
anointing, the seal, and the earnest. He dwells within us.

(1) The anointing. The Lord Jesus received the Spirit in this way when walking
as a man on earth as we read, "Thy holy child (servant) Jesus, whom thou hast
anointed"; "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power"
(Acts 4:27; Acts 10:38). This was an expression of divine delight and
complacency in Him personally. The Father saw in Him perfect dependence and
faultless obedience; the Spirit was sent down upon Him in token of His full
approval and complete satisfaction. He was the true meal offering "Anointed with
oil" (Leviticus 2:4). Believers are anointed with the Holy Ghost on an entirely
different principle. It is not because of what God sees in us, but because of
what His eye sees, and what His heart has found, in the risen and exalted
Christ. One grand result of the anointing is, that we have fellowship with the
mind of God. The Holy Spirit introduces us into the circle of the thoughts of
God, as revealed in His word. It is not enough that we should be born again, the
Spirit must be possessed ere any advance can be made in the things of God."
Hence when the beloved Apostle warned the babes against the many antichrists
that were even then abroad in the world, he refers them to two things as
safeguards. (1) Apostolic teaching: "Let that therefore abide in you which ye
have heard from the beginning" (1 John 2:24) (2) The anointing: "The unction
which ye have received of him abideth in you," etc. (1 John 2:27). Souls who
avail themselves thus, and abide in the circle of the Spirit’s instruction, are
preserved from all the many efforts of the enemy. Our hearts are then in the
enjoyment of what the Spirit imparts; and thus are in a position to reject the
devil’s counterfeit. There may not be ability to expose the error that is
presented, but it is known to be not the truth, and that is sufficient for the
simple soul (compare John 10:5). In considering the anointing, we are reminded
of our kingly and priestly place. Both kings and priests were inducted into
their office in this way. Both dignities are ours through divine grace.
Believers are "a holy priesthood" now, with title to draw near to God through
the rent veil; and in the approaching day we are to reign with Christ, when all
things are given into His hand by God. Suffering is our appointed lot meanwhile.

(2) The seal. "Who hath also sealed us." The Lord Jesus could say of Himself,
"Him hath God the Father sealed" (John 6:27). The same is true of all who
believe, through His death and resurrection. Sealing follows faith. This is
quite plain in Ephesians 1:13. "In whom after that ye believed ye were sealed
with that Holy Spirit of promise." Thus we note two distinct operations of the
Spirit of God: first He works in us to produce faith in God and in His Son; then
He is given as God’s seal. Believers are thus marked off as belonging to God.
Our connection with the world has been broken, the fetters which once Satan
bound upon us have been severed, and we are now the possession of our God (1
Peter 2:9). Do all our hearts respond loyally to this? Are we yielded up, body
and soul and spirit, to Him, for His service and glory? Alas, there is not a
little keeping back of part of the price. How much self-will works, how strongly
the world is clung to by not a few of those who really belong to the Lord Jesus!
Let each one of us own more thoroughly His gracious claims, and surrender
ourselves entirely to Him.

What immense comfort that this Divine Seal will never be removed from any, even
the feeblest believer. Many are defective as to this point. Many fear that the
Holy Spirit will really be withdrawn, because of their faulty ways and walk. Not
so. God gave me His Holy Spirit well knowing what I should turn out to be, and
gave Him not because of what He saw in me, but because of what He saw in Christ.
This will never change. But a careful holy walk is nevertheless due from us.
"Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption" (Ephesians 4:30)

(3) The earnest. "The earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." This is in view of
the future inheritance. God intends to give everything in heaven and in earth to
His beloved Son. The usurper may hold at present part of His dominions, but
divine power will shortly wrest them from him and give them over to the Lord
Jesus. He will share this universal inheritance with us; such is the purpose of
His heart. But it cannot be given to us yet. There are purposes yet to be
accomplished, and enemies to be put down. The Spirit of God dwells therefore
within us as the earnest (or pledge) of all that is to come. He is the earnest
of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession (Ephesians
1:14; 2 Corinthians 5:5). Thus we wait in confidence for God to make good all
His word. As the seal, the Spirit is the token of God’s claim on me; as the
earnest, He is the token of the claim which divine grace has given me on God.

He is not the earnest of divine love, nor of relationship. We know and enjoy
both now. We are already in a circle of boundless unchanging love, for all the
affections of the Father’s heart rest upon us in Christ Jesus; and we are
already children of God. But the inheritance is not yet ours, for it has not yet
come into the hands of Christ, hence the earnest of the Spirit. He waits at the
right hand of the Father; we wait in this scene for the same appointed hour. The
Holy Ghost is the present blessed link between us the Him. THE ONE BODY.

We have had before us the work of the Spirit of God in the individual believer;
we will now consider His gracious operations with regard to the church of God.
There are not only blessings and responsibilities of an individual character,
which every believer should know; there are corporate ones also. The reception
of the Holy Spirit introduces the believer into the wonderful unity spoken of in
scripture as "the body of Christ.’ Of the truth concerning this, the Apostle
Paul was the honoured administrator. Neither John nor Peter tell us anything in
their Epistles about the church. The conversion of Paul — then known as Saul of
Tarsus — was of a very remarkable character. He was not brought to the knowledge
of Christ through the preaching of the gospel (God’s usual way of working), but
was arrested by the Lord Jesus on the Damascus road when actively engaged in the
persecution of His saints. On that memorable occasion Paul learned among other
things, the following weighty truths; (1) that Jesus of Nazareth, Whose name he
so cordially despised, was a glorified Man in heaven; (2) that He owned His
saints on earth as part and parcel of Himself. The Lord did not speak of them as
His disciples, nor even as His brethren, but as "Me" (Acts 9:4). This then was
the vessel chosen of the Lord to unfold to the saints the great purpose formed
in the divine heart concerning Christ and the church, before the foundation of
the world. It was not made known in Old Testament times, as we read, "Which in
other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto
his holy Apostles and prophets by the Spirit" (Ephesians 3:5). It was "hid in
God," not even in the Scriptures, as some have affirmed; although, now that the
truth is revealed, faith can turn back to the Old Testament writings, and
observe many striking pictures of it. The body of Christ is dealt with
especially in Ephesians and in 1 Corinthians. In the former we get the heavenly
order; in the latter, the earthly. In Ephesians we have the divine counsels, and
our many blessings in association with the risen Head in heaven; in 1
Corinthians we have rather our responsibilities as members of Christ and of each
other, called to walk together below.

Notice carefully that Christ became Head of the body, the church, in
resurrection (Ephesians 1:20-23). Union in incarnation is never taught in
scripture, but the very opposite. It was impossible that the holy Jesus should
unite Himself to sinful and fallen humanity. The corn of wheat must fall into
the ground and die, or for ever abide alone John 12:24). God be praised, He has
died, putting away all our sins by His one sacrifice, and is now in glory as
Man, against Whom no charge can be laid. Hence, in virtue of the presence of the
Holy Ghost on earth, every believer is one with Him on high. In this wondrous
circle of blessing the distinction between Jew and Gentile has no place. The
former was outwardly nigh to God, having the sanctuary, the law, etc.; the
latter was afar off from God, having no part in the promises, and no hope
(Ephesians 2:12). Now the wall of partition is broken down. The God Who raised
it has demolished it, the enmity between Jew and Gentile is slain through
Christ’s work, and every believer in Him is brought into a wholly new place of
blessing. We have been made nigh through the blood, we have access by the Spirit
to the Father, and share with the exalted One all that has come to Him as result
of His toil. What a position for the Christian! Blessed as Christ is blessed,
loved as He is loved! Accepted too in His acceptance. Would that every saint
entered into it in simple faith. We should not then see true souls going
mourning all their days, as so frequently is the case.

Now turn to 1 Corinthians 12:1-31. Here we have the side of responsibility. This
epistle presents to us the church of God, not as blessed in the heavenly places
in Christ, but in its practical working on earth. The Apostle uses the
expression, "the Christ," to describe the Lord and His saints (ver 12). How
wonderful! It helps us to understand the "Me" of Acts 9:4. This unity he shows
to be due to the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Faith does not unite us to Christ;
the Spirit is the bond. It is important to see this clearly. This helps too as
to the limits of the body of Christ. It began when the Holy Ghost descended at
Pentecost; it will be completed when the Spirit of God leaves this scene at the
Lord’s coming. Believers neither of preceding nor succeeding dispensations come
into it. They will have their own portion of blessing of course; but they have
no part in the church of God.

Then we get practical exhortations (1 Corinthians 12:1-31.) The Apostle lays
down that every member has his place assigned to him by God, and there is to be
no discontent(1 Corinthians 12:14-18). The ear, the eye and the foot have their
own proper functions. All are necessary. There are no irresponsible members in
Christ’s body. Not only is there to be no discontent, but contempt is forbidden
(1 Corinthians 12:19-25). The more gifted must not slight others, as though they
are of no value. None can be dispensed with. The feeble furnish occasions for
the exercise of love and patience (Romans 14:1-6) and the "uncomely" are to be
cared for also, the blemishes being graciously covered, not exposed. All round
there is to be godly care and affection, and a holy recognition in every way of
the profound and divine fact that we are all members one of another, as of the
risen Head above. The Apostle concludes the section with, "Now ye are the body
of Christ, and members in particular" (1 Corinthians 12:27). In the early days
of the church, all this was understood, at least in measure, and acted upon in
faith; but what can we say now? For many dreary centuries the great truth was
completely lost, and to-day how few enter into its meaning in power! We hear
much of "bodies" that men have formed, and of persons being members of them; but
how feebly is it grasped that there is still "one body and one Spirit" on earth!
Where this is learned from God, separation from all that is of man must ensue.
Not that the church of God can now be reconstructed as at the first; but the few
who are content to be together in simplicity as members of Christ’s body, in
dependence on the Holy Ghost, will never fail of blessing. The Lord knows how to
minister to, and sustain His own. The one body finds its great expression in the
breaking of bread. "We being many are one loaf, one body; for we are all
partakers of that one loaf" (1 Corinthians 10:17). Anything like sectarianism
has no place here. As members of one body it is our privilege to meet, and in
that simple character to remember the Lord until He come. HIS WORK IN THE
ASSEMBLY.

There are two main branches of the Spirit’s work amongst Christians; (1) in the
individual believer, and (2) in the assembly of God. The latter is not so
commonly apprehended as the former. Very many believers understand His blessed
operation in the individual, but few comparatively enter into the meaning and
blessedness of His action in the church of God. We find the two things clearly
marked in 1 Corinthians 6:19, we read, "Know ye not that your body is the temple
of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your
own?" The connection shows that believers are here addressed individually, for
the Apostle is exhorting to personal holiness. Then in 1 Corinthians 3:16, we
read, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God
dwelleth in you?" Here he addresses "the church of God which is at Corinth" (1
Corinthians 1:2) hence the instruction is of a very different character.

It is a vital truth of Christianity, that the church is "an habitation of God
through the Spirit" (Ephesians 1:22). Of old, God dwelt in the tabernacle in the
midst of His redeemed people, and later in the temple which Solomon built for
His name. But there was always distance between God and the people. The veil
shut God in, and the people out. There was no drawing near to God within the
sanctuary (Hebrews 9:8). But mighty changes have been wrought through the
accomplished work of Christ. Not only is sin put away, so that a purged
conscience is the birthright portion of every believer, but the Spirit of God
has come down from heaven to form the church and to dwell in it. As we read "Ye
are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them and
walk in them" (2 Corinthians 6:16). God the Holy Ghost dwells in the church, to
guard the lordship of Christ, and to lead out the saints in all their exercises
towards God. This is very little understood. It was thoroughly believed in the
first days of the church of God. The shaken building (Acts 4:31) and the deaths
of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11) were striking proofs that a divine Person
was really among them. And though we have no such outward signs now, His
presence is as real and true; faith has but to act upon it.

He is the assembly’s all-sufficient Leader and Guide. When together for worship
or prayer, what further need is there for anyone to regulate or superintend?
Such human provisions were only made when the truth of the Spirit’s presence
became weakened in men’s minds. In 1 Corinthians 12:10-11, it is laid down that
the Spirit distributes to all the saints severally as He will. There is great
variety, and all is needed for general edification and blessing. The modern idea
is concentration, not distribution, as if it were possible for one member of
Christ’s body to have everything requisite for the help and advancement of all.
Those who act on such principles most assuredly suffer deeply in their souls in
consequence.

1 Corinthians 14:1-40 is of great value concerning the maintainance of order in
the assembly of God. Everything is to be done for edification, this being the
golden rule that is laid down. For this reason those in Corinth who possessed
the gift of tongues were not to exercise them unless an interpreter was near by.
We read of prayer, singing and prophecy. Verse 26 would seem to show that there
was considerable eagerness in the Corinthian assembly to take a part in the
public gatherings of the saints. But the saints are not bidden to keep silence
and to fall back upon an official leader; they are simply told, "Let all things
be done unto edifying." Liberty is allowed as of God, but apostolic counsel is
given in order that liberty may not degenerate into license. The only persons
who are to keep silence in the church are the women, and this on natural as well
as on other grounds. When the Spirit of God is really looked to and trusted, the
saints will not come together in vain. However few and feeble they may be, the
Divine Indweller will not fail to give them through one vessel or another what
their souls desire and need.

What real unbelief has long existed in Christendom as to all this! By some, the
Spirit of God is prayed for, as though He had not yet come; by others His
presence is recognised as doctrine, but that is all. All this is serious
dishonour to God, however little intended. Let it be our earnest and unceasing
prayer that God may graciously arouse the whole church to a deeper sense of the
reality of the presence of the Holy Spirit, and to more simple reliance on Him
for all the need of our souls until the Lord Jesus come.


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  CHAPTER 20: THE HOLY SPIRIT AS SEEN IN JOHN'S GOSPEL
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The Holy Spirit as seen in John’s Gospel John 1:29-39; John 3:1-16; John
4:13-26; John 14:15-27; John 16:7-16; John 20:17-23.

Reading with G. Davison extracted from "Precious Things" 1956-1990 The subject
for our consideration is the Holy Spirit as brought before us in the gospel of
John. We hope to take in almost the whole of the gospel by referring to the
ministry of our Lord as given to us in the first twelve chapters, then His
communications to His own in view of His departure, which cover chapters
thirteen to sixteen, and lastly His breathing on them in resurrection as
recorded in John 20:1-31. In this way we hope to consider the main features of
the Lord’s ministry and its ultimate effect on the disciples. In the section we
have read we begin by considering the descent of the Spirit upon the Lord Jesus,
marking Him out Son of God, thus confirming the testimony of John the Baptist,
and showing the introduction of the new order which had its beginning in the
ministry of the Lord as anointed publicly by the Spirit. Whilst this gospel
especially keeps before us the fact that the Son of God was moving here to
accomplish the will of the Father, yet He is seen in Servant character as giving
effect to the details of the counsel of the Father, which involved the securing
of a company capable of taking in the revelation He would give, and able also to
answer to it. Would there be some reason why the Spirit is seen here in the
character of a dove, whilst in Acts 2:1-47 we have the character of fire?

Men of this world have adopted the dove as an emblem of peace, but we gather
from the record of the dove sent forth from the Ark that Scripture uses it as an
emblem of purity. It is well known that the first use of any type in Scripture
determines its use throughout the Scriptures. The raven suggests what is impure,
but the dove suggests purity. The day had dawned in which God was going to give
the Spirit to others, but the One to receive it first, in this way, was the Son
of God. We must remember that others would receive the Spirit while still marked
by sin within, hence witness is borne that Christ was sinless and pure. With Him
therefore the Spirit was seen in the character of a dove, but with others as
fire. There was something in all others which was never found in the Son of God,
hence the Spirit came upon them in a judicial character, dividing in them
between the new nature and the old in view of the testimony. Is this anointing
of the Lord referred to in John 3:34, "God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto
Him"? Not exactly! You will note that "unto Him" is in italics. It was of course
true of our Lord, but not only of Him. It is rather the character of the order
introduced by the Son of God, that those who are to share in it will also
receive the Spirit. It is in contrast to Old Testament days when God gave a
servant a measure of spiritual power to accomplish some work for Him, but did
not give to any in that day the indwelling of the Spirit. Today as the result of
the work of Christ the Spirit is given as an indwelling power to every saint,
and we hope to see later that He will be in our hearts for ever.

What is conveyed by "The next day"?

It is worth noting that in the section which we have before us two references
are made to that day. First, the work of the cross by "the Lamb of God", then
the incident of the two who followed Him. The first reference to "the next day"
covers the pathway of our Lord to the cross, while the second event of that day
rather suggests the result as seen in the two who followed Him. As often pointed
out, it is the work to which prominence is given in the first reference, but it
is the Person Himself who is in view in the second. Hence these two events,
happening on the same day, give us a complete picture of Christianity from the
coming of Jesus until a company is permitted to dwell with Him "that day".

What do we learn from the other two days?

It seems obvious from the events of "the day following" that the future call of
Israel is in view. In the first day John is given an unmistakable sign from God
and from heaven as to who this Person is, but in the day following it is the One
"of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write". Thus Israel will
recognize Him in the future day, when the history of the first day has come to
an end, which as we know, will be at the rapture. Just as clearly the third day
of chapter 2 has the establishment of the kingdom in view, with the suggestion
that Gentiles will then be included in the blessing; the mention of Galilee
would indicate this. We may mention at this point that the three appearings at
the end of this gospel are in line with these three days. We see that the Son of
God will eventually take His place as Head over all, whether it be the Assembly,
Israel, or the nations. We may add that this is in line with the indication of
His work as "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world".

I suppose this section is suggested as having the Spirit in view, but does not
the whole chapter cover the ground now being spoken of?

It does! For it opens with a reference to the Word before time began, and ends
with the Son of Man in the kingdom in the world to come. In between these two
points we have reference to the various families which will share in the
blessing of the kingdom.

John seemed to know already that this Person Whom he was told to point out was
Someone greatly superior to himself. Would he have this made known to him by
God?

He must have done, although until the Spirit descended upon the Lord he did not
know Him. In regard to John’s knowing the pre-eminence of the Lord, it is
interesting to see the bearing of the word "before" in John 1:30. It is the
first part of the word used later in the epistles for firstborn, and would
indicate that the Lord was not only before John as a matter of time, but also in
rank. No doubt the emphatic "was" has time in view, but here is One of whom John
could testify "He was before me", and it seems to indicate His precedence in
both time and rank.

Why was John given this ministry of baptism?

Baptism is indicative of death, and for those whose hearts were right it meant
that they accepted the condemnation of God upon them because of the state of the
nation. It is evident that only those who submitted to this baptism would accept
the One whom John heralded. Ultimately they would come into the baptism of the
Spirit mentioned in John 1:33. John baptized with water in the way of
preparation, and the consummation is seen in the Lord’s baptizing with the Holy
Spirit.

John bears record that he actually saw the Spirit descending upon Him, so there
could be no mistake.

Five times in John 1:1-51 we read that John bore witness. First in John 1:7-14
and is mainly occupied with the Lord’s coming into the world. Then John 1:15-18
mention another witness -which is mainly concerned with His pathway. In John
1:19-31 we have his witness concerning the death of our Lord, and in John
1:32-33 we have his witness as to the results of His resurrection. Finally, in
John 1:34, John sums up by affirming that the Person of whom all this is true,
is the Son of God. In the section before us we have witness borne to both the
death of our Lord and the effects secured for us in His resurrection, for
baptizing with the Holy Spirit could only take place in resurrection. We have
often heard that the outstanding effect of the coming into Manhood of the Son of
God is finality, for He is the One who will bring all to fruition. He Himself is
not a type of anything, but the fulfilment of every type, every promise, and
every prophecy. This shows the importance of the testimony of John.

Referring to type and prophecy, does not the presentation of the Son as the Lamb
of God bring Him before us as the One who would effectively deal with the
question of sin? Our minds turn instinctively to Genesis 22:1-24 when we read
this section. How clearly we see there a foreshadowing of these verses when
Abraham said, "My son, God will provide Himself a Lamb for a Burnt Offering; so
they went both of them together". It is well to add the second half of that
verse, for it brings out remarkably the community of interest between the Father
and the Son, and would intensify the fact that sin was to be dealt with
universally and for the glory of God Himself. We cannot doubt the Burnt Offering
character of this presentation — "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
sin of the world". He is the One who will so effectually deal with the
outstanding question of sin that it will ultimately be removed from the universe
and the whole scene filled with the glory of God. We often point out that it is
not merely dealing with our sins, but dealing with the question of sin in its
entirety on the behalf of God as well as on behalf of His creatures. Who but One
who is co-equal, co-eternal with God could do such a work? It may be more
literally rendered "Who beareth away" — the thought of sacrifice being in view.
Abel’s offering was doubtless a lamb, for he was a keeper of sheep, and here
again we see the first occurrence of a type giving its full force throughout.
Both Abel’s lamb and the offering of Genesis 22:1-24 would leave no doubt as to
the thought of that which is sacrificial.

Later we have the Lamb in Egypt and I suppose this would also be in view here?
No doubt! For whilst we stress Genesis 22:1-24 on account of the lamb there
being for God, Exodus 12:1-51 would provide for the faithful in Israel a type of
Him who would effectually meet their need. To use well known terms, perhaps
Genesis 22:1-24 would have propitiation in view, and Exodus 12:1-51
substitution. Certainly we know both were accomplished by the Son of God when He
dealt with the question of sin.

Why does John say twice, "I knew Him not"?

He was to have this knowledge given to him by a divine sign, not by some other
means such as family links. That would be why he dwelt in the wilderness until
the time of his showing to Israel. The Son was to be made known by the Father in
the particular way indicated, and John says he knew Him not until this sign was
given. Is the descent of the Spirit here the sealing by God to which our Lord
referred in John 1:27?

It is! The Lord there was exhorting them to believe on Him as the One whom the
Father had so manifestly indicated as the Giver of eternal life to those who
believed on Him. He calls Himself there the Son of Man. It may be that when He
speaks of Himself as Son of Man it refers to Him as here to carry out the will
of God in relation to mankind; whilst as Son of God He carries out that will for
the pleasure of God. It is recorded that the Spirit descended from heaven, and
this would indicate that what was being done had heaven in view rather than
earth. It will reach out to the whole universe as we have seen, but heaven is in
view first, and from hence the Spirit came. Does the Lord receive the Spirit
here with a view to giving it to others? Not exactly at the outset! But that
eventuates as the latter half of John 6:33 suggests. First it would perhaps
indicate that all the Son is doing is in the energy of the Spirit, as being here
for the accomplishment of the pleasure of the Godhead. Do we not have the
Godhead seen in this connection?

Yes! It appears to be the first time the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are seen in
unity, and the fullness of the Godhead is disclosed as being triune. It has been
pointed out in this connection that the Father was heard but not seen; the
Spirit was seen but not heard, and the Son was both seen and heard as in Manhood
He made all things known. It involved the dwelling of the Spirit in our Lord as
this passage clearly records, and had in view His movements here in Servant
character for the accomplishment of the pleasure of the Godhead. The teaching of
Colossians has primarily in view the reconciliation of all things by the blood
of His cross, but it would appear to be at this point that each Person of the
Godhead is seen in connection with the Son as here in Manhood.

We do not have the voice of the Father mentioned in John’s account. Why is that?

What is in view here is to call attention to the Son. In the other gospels,
where the voice of the Father is heard, it is to call attention to the fact that
the Father found His delight in the Son, whether as the King or as the Servant,
or as the lowly subject Man; but here it is right that we should note that
attention is called to the Son as the One who would bring to fruition the
counsel of grace which had in view the family of God being brought into
blessing. This will occupy us in our further readings.

What is meant by this word "baptizeth" (John 1:33)? Is it the same word as that
used of the baptism of John?

It is the same word, but having something quite different in view. The word
means "to completely submerge". We usually say of baptism that two thoughts are
connected with it — dissociation and association. It involves in figure passing
from one state to another. As a figure, the baptism of John severed the people
from the guilty nation, and prepared them to receive the Lord as their Messiah.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit brings us into a wholly spiritual sphere where
that which is natural and fleshly cannot enter. This involves being born of God,
a subject we hope to consider in our next reading. This would be the outstanding
proof that He is the Son of God, for who but One Who is Himself God could bring
men completely under the power of the Spirit of God? I suppose this looks on to
Pentecost.

It does! And so introduces the circumstances prefigured by the two who followed
Jesus. We noticed the two events recorded on "the next day", and it is well to
bear in mind that the two events are connected. If we take the two who followed
Jesus as indicative of the introduction of Christianity by the Spirit at
Pentecost, we see from this connection that what the Spirit brought to pass in
the disciples was the continuation of that which came to light in our Lord while
in this world. We know from the later chapters, John 13:1-38, John 14:1-31, John
15:1-27, John 16:1-33, that the Spirit was to be given to make good in them all
that came into manifestation in our Lord when in this world. It shows how great
this day is in which our lot has been cast. Would not the very fact that in this
second half of the next day John looked upon Jesus "as He walked", confirm what
you say that it is the continuation of that which came to light in our Lord
walking in this world.

I believe so! Note also that "John stood". I think it indicates that his
ministry had reached its proper end, and he now stood whilst Jesus walked. hence
it is right that the two who heard John speak should leave the man who is
standing to follow the One who is walking. It would be the normal effect of the
ministry of John, who later said "He must increase, but I must decrease", John
3:30. There may be some point in the fact that in verse 36 it does not say "John
bore record", but that he "saith", and they "heard him speak". His witness ended
when he had indicated Jesus as the Son of God, but as has often been pointed
out, it was the contemplation of his own heart which drew this statement from
his lips. Someone called it a soliloquy, and the word used would allow for this.
Would it involve that if we, today, seek to follow Jesus as indicated by these
two we, too, need to be occupied with Jesus "as He walked"?

While we have more brought to light today as the result of our Lord’s ascending
to the Father, we must ever remember that the nature, character and disposition
of God came to light in the Son of God in this world, and not after He ascended
back to where He was before. "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father" was
what came out down here, and we do need to contemplate Jesus as He walked if we
desire to see this in all its fulness. Would not the fact that He drew them
aside, and into the place where He dwelt, involve the further light and liberty
which could only be available after He went back to the Father?

I am sure it would! But we see how ready the Lord was to answer their request
and draw them into the secret of His own enjoyment of the love of the Father.
They were disciples of John; they had been prepared by baptism and obviously had
been instructed by John, and in the normal leading of their own exercise they
were ready for the moment of transfer from John to the Lord, and thus into the
intimacy of the divine circle into which only He could bring them. Need we say
again, only in His company can we have experience like this. Many saints of God
move on with clear conscience and with simple faith and confidence in the Lord
and yet seem to miss the greatest of all blessings — that of dwelling with Him
in spirit in the place where He Himself dwells. Is this open to all?

Surely it is! But we must remember it is only in the company of the Lord that it
can be realized. They began by following, then they made this request of Him. It
is open to us all to ask for further light and experience. There are two things
in view, "come and see". The first would have in view abstraction from the
circles in which they daily moved, and the second would involve occupation with
the sphere into which He introduced them. So we read, "They came and saw where
He dwelt". We must be free in spirit, in mind and heart from the one sphere of
things, in order to be fully occupied with the other.

What is the meaning of this word, "Rabbi" or "Master"? In this case it means
"Teacher". They obviously had in mind that He could teach them something of
which they had as yet no knowledge, and we cannot doubt that in the "seeing"
they had something unfolded to them which confirmed them in the knowledge of Who
He was. It so affected Andrew that he went at once to find Simon to bring him
into the company of the Son of God.

What did they see?

We could not venture an answer to that! All it says is "they . . saw where He
dwelt"; just what was disclosed to them it would be difficult to say. Even in
our own experience we get visions of things in our souls which it would be
difficult to put into words, but these visions do deepen within us the sense of
His greatness and glory and the desire to be more and more in His company. This
word "dwell" or "abide", is a characteristic word in the gospel occurring about
forty times. It ought to be our habitual exercise to keep in constant touch with
The Teacher, and so be free to be led by Him into the presence of His Father.
Later in the gospel we learn that this is the realm of eternal life, and these
two were led into it by the Son of God at that moment. Do you mean they would
know what eternal life was and were in the enjoyment of it?

No! What was said was that we so know it now, but I do not doubt it was into
that circle they were brought, though we do not know the terms of what they saw.
To be secluded with the Son of God in His own sphere in the home of life, of
light, and of love, is to know the three elements of eternal life. It is in this
home we enjoy fellowship with the Father and the Son, and we know from the
epistle of John that that is where eternal life has its relationships and
enjoyments. We must ever remember that Scripture never severs these things from
the sphere to which they belong. We are very apt to take up these things in a
detached way, but they are set in attachment to Christ where He is, and we see
the clear evidence of that in this incident. That is why we have the word "this
life is in His Son". We cannot detach it from Christ, and can enjoy it only in
communion with Himself.

What is indicated by "the tenth hour"? The margin reads "That was two hours
before night".

It would appear that the marginal annotators were reckoning time by the Jewish
method, which was the tenth hour from sunrise. The other three gospel writers
use Jewish time, but John uses Roman time, counting from midnight and noon as we
do. If this is not seen, a difficulty will appear in John 19:14 where it states
that our Lord was still in the hall before Pilate at the sixth hour, while the
other gospels tell us that He was on the cross at that time. Other references in
this gospel bear this out. Probably this "tenth hour" was ten o’clock in the
morning. We understand that from ten o’clock until two was the time of the
siesta. (A dictionary gives "siesta" as "the sixth hour"). It was the time when
they retired from the heat of the sun during midday. Apparently Andrew still had
time to go and look for Simon ere the day came to a close. Would it not suggest
that we, too, can draw aside into His company, away from the rush and turmoil of
the day? Does it not seem as though the Lord would indicate to us that we must
be drawn aside from the busy life we are largely compelled to live if we are to
be in a restful state to contemplate the unfolding of the things which belong to
the Father and the Son? How much more in this increasingly active world we are
compelled to live in. Few of us have time to be drawn out of the vortex of this
busy world to sit in His company and, like Mary, to hear His word. However, the
fact remains that if we do desire to be there, we must make time and allow the
Lord to lead us in Spirit into that circle "where love’s treasures are
displayed". When the Lord turned He did not ask them "Whom seek Ye?" but "What
seek ye?"

Perhaps they were more occupied with the place than the Person. No doubt they
were quite sure of the greatness of His Person, but desired that this wonderful
Person might lead them into the circle where He dwelt. It would again intensify
the fact that only such an One as He could lead us into that circle.

There can be no doubt, either, of the effect it had upon these two. If we do not
know in terms what they saw, it so impressed Andrew that he went immediately to
find his brother Simon to bring him there as well. Surely if we dwelt there more
we, too, should be more anxious to bring others to where they also could obtain
such blessing.

We may add that John also in his epistle presses that very point when he says,
"And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour
of the world" (1 John 4:14). Dwelling in communion with the Son will add power
to our testimony to Him, and would have an effect upon those to whom we speak,
for the testimony would be in the warmth of divine affection.

Just one more question ere we close. Do these two who followed Jesus suggest the
Assembly? We often hear it spoken of as a nucleus of the Assembly, whatever that
may mean. The word nucleus really means a centre around which other things
revolve, though some have used the word when they mean a beginning. Christ is
the Centre of the Assembly, not any two disciples. We may however speak of them
as the beginning of the Christian company, for from this point others began to
gather around our Lord. The change of Simon’s name to Peter would have this in
view, but it will be well to keep in mind in our readings on this gospel that
John does not speak of the Assembly as such, nor of the various features of the
Assembly, such as the Body of Christ, or the House of God. The body could only
be formed after Christ was in glory, and the truth of it is taught in the
epistles by Paul; but we do have suggestions both of the Assembly and the House
in the other three gospels. John rather deals with the family and the flock of
God.

What of John 12:1-50 where "they made Him a supper"? Have we not often heard
that taken up as the Assembly responding to the Lord at the Lord’s Supper?

It certainly is a lovely picture of loving hearts responding to the Lord. What
we are dealing with at the moment is not applications but the teaching of this
gospel. That the family and the flock are both composed of the people who form
the Assembly is known to us all, but it is well to keep each feature in its own
connection. Life, light, and love are the features which mark the company as
presented by John, not administration and discipline as in the Assembly and the
House. We cannot separate these things, but we can indicate the main teaching of
any book or epistle. We shall see as we proceed in these readings that John
speaks of divine life and nature made available through the incarnation of the
Son, and we all need to be brought into the living gain of it.

John 3:1-16 In our reading yesterday we were occupied with our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, as anointed with the Holy Spirit in view of His service
for God in this world. As thus anointed He revealed God in His nature, character
and disposition as a God of love bent upon the salvation of His creature. This
involved the Son of God’s going to the cross as the Lamb of God to deal with the
question of sin, in view of ultimately clearing the universe of its every trace.
In the coming into Manhood of the Son of God both life and light were seen to be
in Him, and both became available to men as a consequence. Thus the kingdom of
God was revealed in Him; but although it was fully revealed, man in his natural
state was unable either to see it or enter into it. In this gospel, the state of
man as both dead and in darkness is emphasized. As morally dead, he does not
want God, and as in darkness he does not know God. If men were to enter this
kingdom an entirely new work of God must take place in their souls. This work is
variously referred to as "born again", or "born of water and the Spirit", or
"born of God". This work of God is the subject we are now considering. The
opening verse of this chapter stands in contrast to the closing verse of John
2:1-25. Many believed on Him when they saw the miracles, or signs, which He did;
convinced by these miracles they would have followed Him, but we read "But Jesus
did not commit Himself unto them, because He knew all men, and needed not that
any should testify of man; for He knew what was in man" (John 2:24-25). There is
no moral or spiritual foundation in the soul of any man to which God will commit
His spiritual blessings; all need to be born of God. Do these verses suggest
that Nicodemus was in some way different from those persons referred to at the
end of John 2:1-25?

They do! For the chapter should really open with "But there was a man". This is
in line with John 1:11-12, "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.
But as many as received Him", etc.. These were distinctive persons, of whom we
are told in the next verse that they were born of God. Is the Lord meeting
Nicodemus on Jewish ground? The necessity of being born again was pressed on the
Jews lest they should think that they had right to the kingdom as of the stock
of Abraham. The phrase "born again" does not appear to be used in reference to
Gentiles. Of course, we need to be born of God if we are to see or enter the
kingdom, but "born again" has special reference to Jews as such. It is doubtless
on this account that the three negatives are brought into John 1:13. "Which were
born, not of blood" — that is, not of the nature of man, "nor of the will of the
flesh" — that is, flesh was not the agent used to bring it about; "nor of the
will of man" — that is, man was not the source of it. What is insisted upon in
the verse is "Which were born . . . of God". Was Nicodemus speaking for others
as well as for himself?

It appears to be so! For the Pharisees were convinced that our Lord was the Sent
One of God, as He could say to them, "Ye both know Me, and ye know whence I am"
(John 7:28).

What are the effects in the life of a person when new birth takes place?

New desires after God, coupled with the sense of having sinned against Him,
which lead one to seek the forgiveness of sins and desire to be in possession of
salvation! Is there a difference between being "born again" and "being saved"?

One is preparatory to the other! In this chapter the two outstanding blessings
of the kingdom are salvation and eternal life, but we could neither see nor
desire these blessings till we were born of God. Is being born of the Spirit the
same thing as being sealed by the Spirit?

No! But the one leads to the other. There must be the initial work of new birth
in our souls, and this appears to be enlarged as we go on, but it must be there
first, as our Lord said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of God". This word "again" means "anew", or "from the outset", and is the
initial work in our souls, sealing would be its completion. Is there not such a
thing as instant conversion? The work of new birth must be there first, however
short or long the period may be before the one born anew enters the kingdom. The
point here is not as to any length of time but the absolute necessity of this
work in the soul if one is ever to see the salvation offered to him in the
kingdom. I doubt if any man thoroughly understands that he is lost before this
initial work takes place. Men may have the sense that they are not right with
God, but to have the deep conscious knowledge of being lost is one of the first
effects of being born of God. It was this which gave each of us to see our need
of salvation; we knew we did not possess it, but we kept on until we found it.
Then, after receiving salvation, we were sealed by the Spirit, which would be
the completion of the work. Let us never think that when God begins a work He
will not finish it, but it is the beginning which is in view here, and it leads
on to believing in the gospel of our salvation.

We had no more to do with this new birth than we had with our natural birth.
That is very evident here! Indeed, one has grown to be very thankful that it was
all of God in His sovereign love. As being all of Himself, it is bound to be
perfect and abiding. Would you enlarge a little on the thought of the
sovereignty of God? Some have thought that they were born again after believing
the gospel.

How could that be when our Lord says they could not even see the kingdom until
they were born anew? Paul evidently had some such thought in mind when he said,
"For God, Who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our
hearts" (2 Corinthians 4:6). All began with divine intervention, not by human
appropriation. Do any other New Testament writers speak of new birth?

Yes! Both James and Peter refer to it. James perhaps uses the stronger terms,
and leaves us in no doubt that it is sovereign. "Of His own will begat He us
with the word of truth" (James 1:18). It was not when we willed to be saved, but
when God willed. Peter has more before him the thought of agents -the Spirit and
the Word; while John has both the source, as in James, and the agents, as in
Peter, but also adds what it is as seen in result. "That which is born of the
Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6). If the kingdom is spiritual, then we must have a
new spiritual nature in order to enter into it.

Why did our Lord speak of seeing the kingdom in John 3:3, and then of entering
it in John 3:5?

Seeing was the initial effect in us, and led us to accept the Word of the
Gospel, but I have come to regard entering the kingdom as being sealed by the
Spirit. Both the water and the Spirit were necessary in order to bring about
this work, but how could anyone be in the kingdom before being sealed by the
Spirit? This may not be generally held as the meaning of this verse, but I have
come to regard it as being so, and offer it for consideration. There is
obviously a reason for the change from seeing to entering, and this involves the
reception of the Spirit, for as in the kingdom we are in possession of salvation
and eternal life. Could we have either apart from having the Spirit in our
souls? The persons mentioned at the end of John 2:1-25 saw the Lord as a worker
of miracles only. The spiritual kingdom manifested in Him was beyond them. All
they could see was the great effect of these works; what was spiritual was
utterly beyond them although it was demonstrated before their eyes. That is why
we are told that both light and life were brought into this world by the Son of
God as coming into Manhood. Men were both morally dead and in the dark, and
needed to be born of God so that they might both see and live. Unconverted men
do not believe they are blind, and certainly do not believe that they are dead,
but we know that we were in such condition before the work of God in our souls.

Say a little more about the agents which God uses in this work — the water and
the Spirit.

Water is a well known reference to the Word in its cleansing efficacy. Whenever
we have water in movement in the Old Testament the Spirit is in view, as in the
smitten rock and in the springing well. This is referred to in John chapter 4.
When water is used in its cleansing character, as in the laver and in the water
of separation, the Word of God is in view. Hence these two agents would suggest
that the Spirit uses the Word to cleanse us in the springs of our being by
begetting a nature which sin can never defile. So much so that John in His
epistle speaks of the believer as one that cannot sin. We know he is viewing
this work in an abstract way, but the new nature in a believer cannot sin. We
see how the Word is typified by water in our Lord’s own words to His disciples,
"Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you" (John 15:3).
When the thief on the cross said, "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy
kingdom", was he thinking of this kingdom? Not in the aspect which is in view
here. The kingdom is spoken of under at least ten different titles, and no doubt
the malefactor had the kingdom of God in its earthly display in the world to
come in mind. In John 3:1-36 the Lord was speaking of the heavenly and spiritual
side of the kingdom. It is of course the same kingdom, for there is only one,
but it is not always viewed in the same way. This kingdom is now established in
the power of the Spirit, and has the character mentioned in Romans 14:17, "For
the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy
in the Holy Ghost".

Speaking again of the word which the Spirit uses, can we always be sure when
that word was spoken, or when it was received by us?

I am sure we cannot! Someone has said the Word of God is productive, referring
to the Sower with the seed, but it is only productive in an honest and good
heart, and such a heart is found in one born of God. Some Word of God has
entered our hearts, it may have been in our early days. This gave us an honest
and good heart, and the time came when we believed the gospel, but it was God
who had prepared our hearts for its reception.

Why did the Lord say that Nicodemus ought to have known this? To what was He
referring?

It is generally understood to be Ezekiel 36:25-30. Indeed, had we mentioned that
point earlier, we should have seen the import of the water and the Spirit, for
both are referred to there. The sprinkling of the clean water in the day to come
will be through the prophetic word of the remnant. This the Spirit will use to
prepare them for the reception of the New Covenant, and along with that they
will receive the gift of the Spirit, and will thus receive power to walk in the
good of the spiritual realities mentioned. Whilst it was that chapter which the
Lord had in mind in speaking to Nicodemus, the Spirit and the Word are with us
today, not to prepare us for a place in the land under the New Covenant, but to
bring us into the present enjoyment of eternal life in fellowship with the
Father and the Son. Nicodemus as the teacher in Israel ought at least to have
known of the necessity of such a work if man was to be blessed of God. In line
with what you are saying, were the Old Testament saints born of God?

They were! But they did not see the things which we see. You remember that the
Lord told His disciples that very thing, for this was an aspect of the kingdom
the Jews knew nothing of, nor did they know the greatness of the Person Who
brought it in. Does not John in his epistle speak on this line?

You have in mind his reference to Abel as the first of the line of those born of
God. He is used by the Spirit to indicate the three salient features of those
born of God. They are righteousness, obedience, and love. He speaks of new birth
some ten times in his first epistle, thus indicating the features of the family
of God, and he mentions Abel as the first of the children of God. Need we add
again that while he was one of the children of God he did not know what we may
know, nor did he possess the blessings that are available to us. Yet he was
certainly born of God, as all who stood in divine favour were. When do you think
Nicodemus entered the kingdom?

I would not venture an answer to that. He is referred to three times in the
gospel, in John 3:1-36, John 3:7 and John 19:1-42. Perhaps the first feature of
the children of God was seen actively in him in John 7:1-53 when he said, "Doth
our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?" (John 7:51).
Righteousness was beginning to assert itself in him. Later when he came out
definitely on the side of the Lord and assisted in His burial, love was in
evidence. Can we doubt that he was then in the kingdom? We must of course
remember that all was in prospect when the Lord was speaking to him in John
3:1-36, for the blessings bestowed upon those entering into this kingdom could
only be true of them after His resurrection, and by the gift of the Spirit.
Nevertheless the teaching is here, and it is certainly seen functioning today.
Would Nicodemus be looking for the kingdom in the same aspect as that in which
the thief on the cross was viewing it?

He must have been! And perhaps thought of obtaining a place of eminence in it.
So far as the earthly side was concerned he was of the right birth according to
flesh, but he was favoured to hear of the kingdom in an aspect greater than that
presented by the prophets. He had to learn that flesh could have no part in
this, however good and of the right generation that flesh might be. No one can
transmute flesh into spirit, and hence he has to learn that in order to enter
this kingdom he must be born again. We might have pointed out earlier that this
word "again" is the same word as that translated "above" in John 3:31, and has
the thought of being something entirely new from an entirely new source, and not
derived from "our father Abraham", however much Nicodemus might have prized it
as such.

If new birth is a sovereign work of God, why do we continue to preach the
gospel?

Let us hear what Peter has to say on that matter! He tells us, "Being born
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which
liveth and abided for ever . . and this is the Word which by the gospel is
preached unto you" (1 Peter 1:23; 1 Peter 1:25). Again, we have the Lord’s own
word, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that
is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). So we go on preaching the Word, and the
Spirit continues to use it, although we may not know how or when He does so. The
effect is evident when the gospel is believed.

It may help to point out that the word "ye" in John 3:7 is plural, and others as
well as Nicodemus were in mind; that would confirm what was said as to Israel,
who are undoubtedly in view in Ezekiel 36:1-38. Would it be right to preach new
birth in the gospel or rather to preach "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ"?

Why contrast these things? If the Lord spoke to Nicodemus about new birth why
cannot we do the same? We have often contrasted this with what was said to the
woman in the next chapter, but what the Lord said in both chapters is right in
its place. Surely we may preach from this chapter, not from design as the Lord
did, but because it is laid on our hearts to do so. We should not hesitate to
tell people that they need to be born again. In any case, they do need to be.
Nicodemus was doubtless making a move towards God, and he was told by the Lord
that entirely new conditions were necessary before he could receive the blessing
which He had come to offer. The fact that Nicodemus did not understand it did
not make it any the less a necessity, and it is just as essential today if men
are to be brought into blessing.

What do we receive upon entering the kingdom?

Liberation from the bondage of sin, which is salvation; and the conscious
knowledge of relationship with the Father and the Son, which is eternal life!

What about the forgiveness of sins?

There is no doubt that we have forgiveness, but it is not the teaching here.
Salvation is an absolute necessity if we are to enjoy eternal life, and that is
why it is spoken of here. We do not have the word forgiveness in this gospel,
although remission is once referred to. That truth was given to the apostles to
administer in the laying of the foundation of Christianity. The last word the
Lord said to His disciples ere turning in mind to the Father was, "I have
overcome the world" (John 16:33). In John 17:2 He says, "that He should give
eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him". Comparing this with 1 John 5:5,
we read "Who is he that overcometh the world?", and then the apostle goes on to
speak of the three witnesses in order to assure us that we have eternal life.
Does it not seem to show that if we are to enjoy eternal life we must overcome
this world? I am not speaking of the possession of eternal life, but the
enjoyment of it. No doubt that is why salvation is spoken of as being a
necessity if the other outstanding blessing of the kingdom is to be enjoyed, for
as another has said, "eternal life is an out-of-the-world condition of things".

We sometimes sing, "Thou dost make us taste the blessing, soon to fill a world
of bliss", Is that what we have now in the kingdom? The kingdom of God is the
sphere wherein the will of God is supreme, and as having bowed to His will the
benefits of the kingdom are ours! So that everything in the kingdom is
spiritual? As presented here, yes! We have already quoted Romans 14 in
confirmation of that.

Why does the Lord go on to speak of the Brazen Serpent?

New Birth is a work done in us, and the Brazen Serpent speaks of a work done for
us. The work in our souls would not have availed to bring us into that kingdom,
had not the question of sin been settled at the cross. That work gave God the
liberty to bring us into blessing, and accomplish His will righteously. Have we
not often heard these two truths put together? "Ye must be born again", and
"even so must the Son of Man be lifted up". We are born of God by the work of
the Spirit, and are brought to God by the work of the Son. Consequently we have
salvation and eternal life. Do you consider eternal life to be a heavenly
matter?

I do! For the Lord spoke of it after referring to what is heavenly. New Birth
will yet prepare Israel to enjoy eternal life on the earth in the world to come,
but we have been born again to have eternal life in heavenly conditions and
relationships. That is why the Lord speaks of eternal life after telling
Nicodemus He was going to speak of heavenly things. The Brazen Serpent was
introduced at the end of the wilderness journey, not at the beginning. Would
that have a bearing on the Lord’s speaking of it here?

I am sure it would! The Brazen Serpent came in to prepare them to cross the
Jordan, and it was the new generation that went over, so we come in on the line
of the new generation and go in to possess the heavenly inheritance which is
seen here as the circle of divine life, and light, and love. In type, the Brazen
Serpent was the judgment of God on the root — sin. As a result, a new nature is
formed in us, and in this we are in touch with God, and by it we live in the
enjoyment of all that Christ has brought to us. It was first revealed in His
life in this world, then He went to the cross to deal with sin, so that we might
be brought into the circle where love’s treasures are displayed. At the
beginning of this meeting you distinguished between new birth and salvation. Now
you are distinguishing between salvation and eternal life. Could we put these
together in this order, first new birth bringing us into salvation, and as the
result of salvation we are brought into eternal life? In the well known verse,
John 3:16, "should not perish" is certainly first stated, then "but have
everlasting life" follows. I would suggest that instead of one being the outcome
of the other, they all stand together as the complete effect of the work of the
Spirit in our souls and the work of Christ upon the cross, to bring us into the
kingdom and thus into these blessings. It is right to distinguish these
important truths one from another, but it may be dangerous to separate them.

We get in John 3:15 the words "eternal life", and in John 3:16 "everlasting
life". Are these different, or do they mean the same thing?

They are both the same word! We may add that eternal life is the power by which
we live in communion with the Father and with the Son, but while it is of this
character it is nevertheless everlasting, that is, it will never end. Salvation
delivers us from the power of this world, and eternal life empowers us to live
in a new spiritual world. New of course to us, but not new in itself, for it is
the realm in which the Son has ever lived in unbroken communion with the Father.
We have now been brought into this realm, where we are enabled to live to the
Father and to the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. May we know what it is to
live there continuously.

John 4:13-26.

We have already seen that the Spirit working in our souls is the only power by
which we can enter the kingdom of God. We further saw that the matter was not
complete until the sealing of the Spirit, when the fruit of what is fundamental
is seen in a new nature capable of apprehending the things of God, and
ultimately, based upon that foundation, we find ourselves at liberty and at home
in the divine circle. It is as sealed by the Spirit that we enjoy the blessing
and liberty for which new birth prepares us. In the section which we have read,
the gift of the Spirit, as additional to new birth, is brought before us leading
us, as we shall see, into the full enjoyment of eternal life, and into what is
perhaps the highest point of our calling today — the worship of the Father in
spirit and truth. The chapter itself is well known to all; we have selected the
portion relating to the Lord’s dealings with the woman of Samaria, and that
which came to light as a consequence.

It is apparent that this incident is outside the confines of Judæa.

I think so. We may wonder, and yet not wonder, at the way the Lord speaks in
John 3:1-36 and John 4:1-54. To Nicodemus (whose name means "Champion of the
world") who was "the teacher of Israel", the Lord opened up the question of new
birth; whereas to this woman, who was doubtless much further down morally than
Nicodemus, He speaks of the blessedness of worshipping the Father in spirit and
in truth. If we look at these incidents from the divine standpoint, we shall
understand the divine wisdom manifested in dealing with them. The fact that this
question of worship was raised in Samaria (which is distant from Jerusalem)
indicates how detached the worship of the Father was from the system of Judaism.
The presentation of the Spirit in this chapter is that of living water. Again
there is the assumption of some knowledge of Old Testament teaching. We read in
Numbers, "Sprinkle water of purification upon them", and we have gathered from
the types that where water in its cleansing efficacy is used, that is clean
water, the Word of God is typified. On the other hand, where water is seen in a
living or moving character, the Spirit of God is typified. We have that which
answers to the Brazen Serpent in John 3:1-36, and the answer to the Springing
Well in John 4:1-54. It is only when the complete setting aside of man after the
flesh is realized that the introduction of that which is altogether spiritual
can be appreciated. New birth entirely displaces man after the flesh, and the
foundation that is laid in one born of God has in view the reception of the
Spirit as living water. Did you say that you connected this with the sealing of
the Spirit?

It is really the gift of the Spirit, whether we view it as the Sealing, or the
Anointing, or the Earnest. We are using the term "the gift of the Spirit" as
referring to a divine Person resident in us. In new birth we do not quite get
the full truth of the Spirit as a divine Person dwelling in our souls; it is
rather the work which leads on to that. The work is not completed until we have
the Spirit as a divine Person dwelling within and that is what is before us in
this chapter.

We are conscious of new birth, but are we conscious of being sealed by the
Spirit? When "sealing" is mentioned the Spirit Himself is referred to, He is the
Seal. New birth is something that the Spirit of God produces, but the sealing is
the Spirit of God Himself dwelling in each one of us as the Earnest of the
inheritance. It has been said that the seal is a mark, but it is more than a
mark, it is the Spirit Himself. We are sealed by His Spirit.

We read in Ephesians 1:13, "After that ye heard the Word of Truth, the gospel of
your salvation . . . ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise". Does that
bring us to the point in Romans 8 that we see what entering into salvation
really is? In Romans 8:1-39 the truth is presented on our side for our
deliverance and for liberty to walk in the things of God; here it is presented
on the divine side in order to produce in us something for the pleasure of God
Himself, the worship of the Father.

I can see from Romans that God moves towards us in grace for our blessing; here
the Spirit is not only bringing us into liberty and the consciousness of
blessing, but is producing vessels capable of moving here for the pleasure of
the Father.

You do not think that any time elapses between the receiving of the gospel of
our salvation and the sealing of the Spirit? The Word is "After that ye have
believed". How long after has often been debated. I doubt if we could know that
our sins are forgiven apart from the Spirit of God, because it is the Spirit who
gives us assurance as dwelling in our souls. It has been said that it depends
upon what you believe. What Scripture simply states it, "After that ye have
believed", and we are bound to agree that whatever may have been proceeding in
our souls, liberty and enjoyment can only be known as the Spirit of God takes up
His abode there.

These things may take place in us long before we are aware of them. When we read
the Word of God we learn what God has done, and that He has given us His Spirit
so that we may enter into these things. John 3 would show what the Spirit of God
has been doing in us, but in this chapter we have Him as indwelling, and we are
thus enabled to have our part in the service of worshipping God.

Three things are apparent in the verses we have read — Judaism in responsibility
and what it was capable of producing; Gentiles in infidelity and what they had
produced; and thirdly what the Spirit of God produces. It is not now a question
of "this mountain", or of "Jerusalem"; there is a completely new order with a
new divine centre.

There is nothing really for God except that which is produced in us by the Holy
Spirit. Divine teaching gives us the light of what is ours, in order that we
might more intelligently enjoy it and respond to it. The Lord gives it to us by
the Holy Spirit, and then shows us from the Word what He has given to us by the
Spirit.

There is one more point that may help. We understand food to be that which
sustains; whereas drink has the imparting of satisfaction in view. So we have
the Lord’s Words, "whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again", it
could not give complete satisfaction; "But whosoever drinketh of the water that
I shall give him shall never thirst". The contrast is between material things
and spiritual things; material things come very far short of satisfying. However
much we may accumulate in the way of material things they cannot, in themselves,
give satisfaction.

We have often spoken to one another of what we call "the region of satisfied
desire". We reach that sphere as appropriating this living water which springs
up into everlasting life.

Perhaps we spend too much time over the explanation of these truths instead of
appropriating them in the Spirit’s power. The blessed God is seeking
worshippers, and He gives us the Spirit as the power which enables us to respond
to His desire.

We cannot doubt that the gift of the Spirit is in view, although the word speaks
rather of the effect. John 4:14 really reads, "shall become in him a fountain of
water". That is what will be produced; it is not exactly a well, it is a
fountain springing up, radiant, fresh, spontaneous, springing up into eternal
life. The Spirit is in us, but He is here to lead us into something further,
that is into the realm where the Father is known as revealed in the Son, and
where we are brought into communion with both the Father and the Son. The object
of the Holy Spirit is to attract and attach us to heavenly things.

We learn these things slowly, but we find that along with the many blessings
presented to us in the New Testament, the objective sphere to which they belong
is also mentioned. Take, for instance, the truth in relation to quickening;
Scripture does not just say that we have been quickened, but adds that we have
been quickened with Christ, which shows the objective side of the truth. We have
spoken of being sealed by the Spirit, and the first chapter of Corinthians shows
that in that sealing we are firmly attached to Christ. It is important to see
the objective side of the truth, and that while we have the subjective power of
the Spirit, it is that we may know the blessedness of being attached to this
divine circle where the things of God are known in the Son.

Why do you stress the word, "it shall become in him a fountain of water"?

What is in mind is the effect that will be produced as the result of the Spirit
dwelling in us. He would bring us into this wonderful circle of eternal life.

We might have Mount Gerizim on the one hand, or Jerusalem on the other, one a
system where God is not known at all, and the other a system where God was but
partially known; in neither place could there be known this wonderful light and
life and freedom. It is ever the product of the Spirit of God, and enjoyed only
in an entirely new position. The fountain suggests life and refreshment, and
that surely is what we need in a world where everything is marked by death and
barrenness. True satisfaction can be produced only by the Holy Spirit who dwells
in us, therefore do you think we should press the point of the Spirit being in
the believer?

We often speak of the difference between what we possess and our enjoyment of
it. The Old Testament speaks of a day to come when Jacob "shall possess their
possessions" (Obadiah 1:17). These things of which we speak are true of every
saint of God, but how many of us know them and enjoy them is another matter. As
having the Spirit we have the divine power within us in order that we might move
intelligently in that spiritual sphere to which he would lead us. Does the
thought of springing up into eternal life suggest that heavenly things have been
made available to men, and that a response in worship is secured to God? That
is, they spring up to the source from whence they came. That is why we
introduced the thought of the objective side of eternal life; God does not give
us anything in a detached way at all; everything that He has given to us is to
attach us to the scene from whence it comes. That is surely true of all the
blessings God has given to us. As we consider further the details of the
chapter, we see that there is much more involved than this woman’s moral
condition, and the way in which the Lord meets it, important as that is. The
Lord is using the opportunity to present deeper things. Her state is manifested,
and she realizes how unfit she is for what the Lord is making known to her. He
was reaching her conscience as she says "I perceive that Thou art a prophet".

Apparently she had some desire for what the Lord spoke of. There seemed to be
something that had won her heart to the Lord Himself. Does the fifteenth verse
suggest that she had perceived that the water the Lord spoke of was different
from the water she had come to draw?

She is slowly learning, but her one desire at the moment was to find water that
would so satisfy that she need not draw from the well again. What I like to take
out of this verse is that the Lord had first of all created a desire in the
woman’s heart, and then He showed her how that desire could be satisfied. Do you
think the gift mentioned in John 4:10 is the gift of the Spirit?

I thought it was! "If thou knewest the gift of God". Some may say that it
involves the Lord Himself. We could not have the Spirit apart from the coming of
Christ, but the gift here, as in line with the teaching, would doubtless be the
Spirit of God.

We get both in the verse, "and who it is that saith to thee"; that is the Lord
Himself. He is the only One from whom this gift is obtained.

It would seem that this woman was not entirely ignorant of God. Perhaps she knew
something of a demanding God, but a giving God was new to her, as it was at one
time to all of us.

We do not know the kind of worship which was practised in Mount Gerizim; we do
know the kind of worship which went on in Jerusalem. It may be, as you say, that
she had been accustomed to a system of demand which all were utterly unable to
meet. Now she is in the presence of One Who has the supply of something
infinitely greater, and He creates a desire in her heart for it. I feel sure, on
the ground of what we saw in our previous reading, that a work had begun in this
woman’s heart which led her on step by step until at last she was found in the
company of the Saviour of the world. The desire is produced, and then the
fountain is reached.

One of the first effects of being born of God is that we are awakened to our
lost estate. John 4:19 shows that the word was reaching her conscience. Is this
a matter which involves having to do with the Lord privately as this woman did?

Indeed it is individual! That is the thought which runs through these chapters;
Nicodemus in the dark alone with the Lord; here this woman is alone by the well
with the Lord; and these are matters which none of us can truly learn except as
alone with the Lord Himself. Is it important to notice the change in the place
of worship?

Yes! The two things that come to light in relation to worship are the change of
place, and the change of character. A worship of God by the use of material
means was seen in Judaism, but it brought no satisfaction either to God or man.

Why do you think it mentions in John 4:21, "Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh",
and in John 4:23 it mentions, "the hour cometh, and now is"? The Lord was
speaking of what was coming, but in so far as He was concerned in His own person
it had come. We know that this teaching had the day of Pentecost in view when
the Spirit Himself actually came, but the new system was being brought into
being by the Son of God Himself. He was the beginning of it. The introduction of
the name of Father would be a new thing to this woman!

It would! And referring again to what has been said as to worship by material
means, we see today those who will go back to what is external ceremonial in the
worship of God. There can be no satisfaction in it, either for God or for the
saints.

True worship must be in the Spirit. There is no substitute for the Spirit of
God.

There is not! And if we abandon what is spiritual we are bound to bring in a
substitute, and it is useless so far as the worship of God is concerned.

"The hour cometh, and now is"; has that any reference to the two days the Lord
spent there (John 4:40)?

We have often connected the two, but I believe it covers the whole period we are
in today. The first two chapters of John are introductory, and the last two
chapters are supplementary. The three days of the first two chapters have an
answer in the three appearings in the last two chapters. You will find the
dispensational setting in those chapters but in this day, which we can rightly
call the Spirit’s day, the greatest result is being produced by the Spirit in
the light and liberty of the knowledge of God as Father, and in consequence true
worship is produced. In John 9:1-41 the place in which the man who had been
blind worshipped, was outside of Jerusalem.

Very good! He was outside the place of merely ritual worship, but he found the
Person who alone could speak of worship which is in spirit and in truth.

Now it is important to see that the Lord did not introduce the subject of
worship in John 4:1-54, it was the woman who introduced it. Her conscience had
been reached, and almost instinctively it occurs to her that God ought to be
worshipped. I believe this thought lies in some measure in the heart of every
man, whether they respond to it or not.

We often meet those who talk about worship, but have no true idea of what it is.
The truth is brought to light by the Word; it is the Word that searches this
woman, but it is not searching her merely to condemn her, it was to extricate
her from the place in which she was, and bring her into something infinitely
better. We can, each of us, thank God for the measure in which this is so with
ourselves. When the Lord confronted her with things that she would have liked
kept dark, and told her all things that ever she did, she says, "Sir, I perceive
that Thou art a prophet". That would be the result of divine revelation.

Yes! God is careful in His selection of worshippers. There must first be the
removal of all that which would hinder, and we see this in the Lord’s dealings
with this woman. God’s ways are wonderful. Not only are worshippers in mind, but
that which is to characterize true worship is coming to light. The word "true"
means "genuine"; it is a word much used by John, the genuine Light; the genuine
Bread, and the genuine Vine.

It is sometimes said that the highest form of worship is in silence. The
conclusion most of us have come to is that worship does not necessarily consist
in what is said, but in the attitude of heart. But if the heart is filled with a
sense of worship we could hardly understand the lips being silent. Doubtless
there is often with the sisters, who are enjoined to be silent, a very real
spirit of true worship. In John 12:1-50 we do not read of Mary saying anything,
but the whole house was filled with the fragrance of her appreciation of Christ.
In 2 Chronicles 29:1-36 there is a scene recorded in which "all the congregation
worshipped" (2 Chronicles 29:28); it ends with the whole company falling on
their faces and worshipping. "The king and all that were present with him bowed
themselves, and worshipped" (2 Chronicles 29:29). They were filled with a sense
of the glory of God.

It is an appreciation of the worth of the Person which produces worship. The
woman said, "Come, see a Man, which told me all things that ever I did; is not
this the Christ?" She appreciated who He was. The man in the ninth chapter when
conscious of being in the presence of the Son of God "worshipped Him".

Two important things are brought together in this chapter — spirit and truth.
There were those in the Old Testament on whom the Spirit came, but they never
reached the height of worshipping the Father "in spirit and in truth". John in
his writings often uses the word "truth". It is a word which would convey the
thought of divine revelation . There are only three things, so far as we are
aware, that are said to be The Truth. The Lord Himself said, "I am the way, The
Truth and the life" (John 14:6); then in John 17:17 speaking to the Father He
says, "Thy Word is Truth"; and in John’s first epistle John 5 we read "The
Spirit of Truth". These are the three things that are said to be "Truth", and
they would involve the revelation of divine Persons.

We have been dwelling on the details relating to the woman, and how she was
searched; do we not also see the way in which the Father is revealed to her?

Some contend that the Father only is to be worshipped, but is not the Son to be
worshipped too?

We all agree with that! We see from John 5, that the Son is to be honoured as
the Father is honoured. The man in John 9 fell down at the feet of the Lord and
did Him homage.

It has been said that the Lord leads our praise to the Father. Can it be equally
said that He leads our worship to the Father? In the epistle to the Hebrews we
have the true worshippers mentioned. We are, through grace, among the true
worshippers who once purged have no more conscience of sins. We certainly could
not be there except as in company with the Son of God. My difficulty is this —
you have One worshipping the Father who is equal with the Father; could the Son
be spoken of as worshipping? The Son abides in Manhood, and we read "In the
midst of the church will I sing praise unto Thee" (Hebrews 2:12). In the
temptation in the wilderness did not the Lord as in Manhood apply the word to
Himself, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve"
(Luke 4:8)? Is it not in relation to Christ in Manhood in connection with the
Assembly, that we have the expression, "Unto Him (God) be glory in the church by
Christ Jesus"? Does it not suggest that glory will always reach the Father
through the Son?

We are dealing with what is perhaps a rather difficult question. There are
things connected with the Lord in Manhood which are beyond our finite minds; for
instance, why should the Lord pray? But that marked Him here as in Manhood.
Would you not think that the Lord’s present place in glory somewhat alters that?
We cannot think of the Lord in glory praying for His own personal needs as He
did on earth; His testimony in glory seems to have altered that, and personally
I cannot see that the Scriptures support the thought that He worships the
Father.

We have carefully stressed the point that the Lord has come into Manhood; He has
taken a place in subjection to the Father that He will never surrender
throughout all eternity, and hence when we see Him as identified in this way
with the Assembly, we must note what Scripture says. In fact He says it Himself
prophetically, and it is quoted in Hebrews 2:1-18, not in relation to Christ as
in this world, but as in the glory, "In the midst of the church will I sing
praise unto Thee".

Although I cannot explain the verse quoted from Hebrews, I would still hesitate
to say that the Lord is a worshipper of the Father. He was the dependent,
praying Man here, and His trust was in God. But I would not say that of Him in
His present position. The Lord does praise God as we see from Matthew 11:1-30,
but perhaps worship is another matter.

We must make it perfectly clear that we are viewing the Lord in Manhood, not as
in co-equality with the Father in Deity.

What is the difference between what we have in John 4 and Philippians 3, where
we read "We are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit"?

Philippians stresses the contrast between the formal worship of Judaism, and the
true worship which is by the Spirit of God. In our chapter the power that
produces the worship is in view.

God whom we know as Father, is said to be spirit (verse 24) hence "They that
worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth". And then there is one
further point. The only One who could possibly make this known is He who said "I
that speak unto thee am He". If when the Lord said "The hour cometh, and now
is", it was at that moment only true so far as He Himself was concerned, yet the
blessedness of it is to be known and entered into today in the power of the
Spirit of God.

John 14:15-27.

We saw in our first reading something of the greatness of the descent of the
Spirit of God to abide on the Son of God for the purpose, no doubt, of the
revelation in His perfect Manhood of God as Father. In John 3:1-36 we saw the
work of the Spirit of God on our side, preparing us for the reception of and
response to the truth that has come to light in the Son of God, and bringing us
into a realm wherein we have salvation and eternal life. Then in John 14:1-31 we
considered the Spirit in the character of "living water", an evident allusion to
the springing well in Numbers 21:1-35. He, the Spirit of God, has the power to
lift us out of man’s world and its material systems and make us know what it is
to live in that spiritual sphere where the Father and the Son are at home. In
the section we have now read, where we have the last words of the Son of God ere
He left this world, we have the Spirit brought before us as the Teacher, both in
regard to that which came to light in our Lord while He was in this world, and
also to the further truths that could only be made known after He had taken His
place in heaven above. Hence the Lord is here preparing His own for His
departure, and for the coming of the Holy Spirit who would continue that which
came to light in the Son, in order that it might be made good in the hearts of
the saints. Would the words "another Comforter" give us to understand that the
Lord was going away?

Yes! The word "Comforter" is "Paraclete", which means "One that is alongside to
help". The Lord had been with them visibly to instruct and guide them into
divine things; when He left this scene another divine Person came, the Spirit of
God not seen but dwelling in them, that He might continue the work that the Son
of God had begun in them when He was here in this world.

John 14:1-14 give the objective side of the truth as seen in the Son of God; the
subjective side seems to be in view in the verses we have now read. The first
statement is "If ye love Me, keep My commandments". That is, the proof of our
love to Him is seen in a walk corresponding to His own desires for us. Whilst we
often regard this special commandment as distinct from the ten commandments in
Exodus 20:1-26, yet we must ever remember that His injunctions are binding upon
us, and we are willing that they should be so. Love would always command such
things as would not harm us, but would give us delight in the doing of them.

John in his epistle gives the double affirmation as to how we know Him, "Hereby
we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments". Is there any
difference between the Lord’s commandments and His words?

Yes! There are certain things that are communicated to us as divine
enlightenment, and there are other things communicated to us by way of
commandment that are binding upon us if we are to enjoy in its fullness the love
and the blessedness of this divine circle. There must be obedience to Him and to
what we know to be His mind, as well as the receiving of divine communications
by way of enlightenment. We may seek to take the edge of this word
"commandment", but if the Lord’s love appeals to us as it ought to do, every
request that He makes would be binding upon our affections. We may call it the
compulsion of divine love. The Lord had the disciples themselves before Him at
this point; this was something new in regard to the things of God. That is so!
"I will pray" (John 14:16) is the word used in John 17:1-26, where the Son is
praying to the Father. It is not the word which implies the begging of a favour,
but is rather the asking of a person of status equal to that of the one from
whom he asks. "I will ask the Father"; it was something necessary for the
fulfilment of divine counsel. The Lord is seen here as moving in the realm of
the accomplishment of the Father’s will, and with a view to that will being
accomplished it was necessary that the Spirit should be given in the absence of
the Son.

It is important to realize Who it is that asks. In verse 16 the "I" is emphatic;
the Lord alone could introduce this new thing.

We see the absolute necessity for the coming of the Holy Spirit if what we have
in these chapters is to be carried on in the power of God; it could not be done
otherwise. That would be why it says "That He may abide with you for ever".

It was a necessity so far as the Son was concerned that he should leave this
world and go back to the Father, as we read in the beginning of John 13; but the
Spirit abides with us in order that He may make good in us that which came to
light in the Son, and which could only be fully known after He had gone back to
the Father. Is it not in contrast to the Old Testament where David said, "Take
not Thy Holy Spirit from me" (Psalms 51:11)?

What marks the present day is that the Spirit has come to take up His abode in
the saints in relation to an external condition of things. He is said to be "the
Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not". Men
of the world are not born of God, hence they are absolutely bound to the
material sphere. Whilst it does not say that we see Him, it does say we "know
Him". There is already in our souls that which is the work of the Spirit, and as
He takes up His abode in our hearts as the Comforter, we are conscious that He
is there, we "know Him".

"He abides with you and shall be in you" (John 14:17 New Trans.). Does that
refer to the present time and does it also continue for ever? The time would
come when the Son would be in them, but that time had not then come; the Son
could be in them only in the power of the Spirit. Nevertheless, the Lord does
speak of the Father and Himself manifesting Themselves to the saints. Such words
are not spoken of the Spirit, He is here in our hearts and He is here to stay.
When the Lord said "I am coming to you" (John 14:18 New Trans.) it suggests that
He is to be characterized by this attitude of coming to His own and making His
presence known to them, as He surely does on occasions like the present.

One of the outstanding characteristics of the day in which we live is that the
Spirit of God has come into our hearts and He will never leave us. The Lord had
been in their midst, and He was about to leave them. In fact He is today in
heaven above, but He comes into the midst of His own as assembled together, and
that I understand is the bearing of the expression "I am coming to you". The
disciples did not actually receive the Spirit of God as indwelling until
Pentecost, did they? That is right in the corporate sense, but He did breathe on
them in resurrection (John 20:1-31). What we have in our chapter is that the
Lord was about to leave them. He said, "I go to the Father"; but having gone to
the Father He would send down the Spirit and the Spirit would not leave them. I
believe that in the power of the Spirit dwelling in their hearts they would
become sensible as to visitations from the Lord. "I will not leave you orphans,
I am coming to you". He is to be characterized a making these visitations. Would
such coming be realized in the power of the Spirit? That is one of the great
advantages we have in the gift of the Spirit of God, we are made sensible of the
Lord’s presence amongst us. When would you say that this "I am coming to you"
commenced?

I think it commenced in Acts 2:1-47. When they came together to break bread they
had the realization of the Lord’s presence with them in their midst. The coming
referred to is, I believe, collective. Only in the power of the Spirit do we
have the realization of the Lord’s presence with us as we are assembled
together. In John 14:19 we have the expression "Ye see Me", and also "Ye shall
live"; and at the beginning of John 14:20, "Ye shall know". There is no doubt
that the disciples did actually see the Lord raised again from among the dead,
and we also have received divine illumination in relation to the Lord’s being so
raised.

It is true that the Lord Himself comes to us, but it is only in the power of the
Spirit of God that we realize that He is there. The Spirit is not here to draw
attention to Himself, but to make us conscious of the Lord’s presence. In that
way He is here as serving the Lord, even as the Son was here as serving the
Father.

We need to distinguish between the Spirit’s dwelling in each of us individually,
and His service in making us, as together, conscious of the Lord’s presence with
us.

God said to Moses, "My Spirit shall go with thee", he was to realize that God
was present with him, although not visible to him. Paul on one occasion, when
things were very dark, said "Nevertheless the Lord stood by me"; he was
conscious that the Lord was there.

Those incidents relate to individual service and testimony, but what we have in
this section is a company to whom the Spirit of God has come, so that in
relation to that company the interests of the Father and of the Son might be
maintained in the hearts of the saints.

John 14:21 would suggest that the gain of these manifestations is consequent
upon our having and keeping His commandments.

Yes! There is what is collective in His coming to us, but there is also that
which is individual. It is not every individual that gets a manifestation, nor
is it every company that is conscious of His visitation. If we are keeping His
commandments, and are moving in subjection to His will, assembling together
according to His mind, then we shall be conscious of His presence with us, but
not otherwise, although we still have the Spirit indwelling each of us as
believers. In John 14:17 we have the introduction of the Spirit as the Spirit of
Truth. The Spirit is thus seen in relation to the Truth in order to make it
attractive and intelligible to the saints. The things mentioned in John 14:20
are available for our enjoyment today. Would reference to "at that day" suggest
that what we enjoy now was not enjoyed by the disciples? The fullness of it was
not known at that precise moment because the Spirit had not yet come, but He is
here today. "At that day" refers to the wonderful day which began at the coming
of the Spirit as seen in Acts 2:1-47. Thus we have the preciousness of the three
things mentioned in that verse, "I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you".

How do we enjoy the presence of the Father and the love of the Father?

Because we are in the Son who is in the Father. It is the making good to us of
all that has come to light in divine revelation. "In My Father" carries with it
the thought of relationship. The Son would draw us into the conscious enjoyment
of the Father’s heart and the Father’s own presence. We are in the Son Who is in
the Father.

We have a very important clause at the end of the 19th verse, "because I live ye
shall live also". The expression "but ye see Me" would suggest that the
disciples were able to realize what follows in perhaps a much fuller way, but we
may thank God that the spiritual answer to every one of these things has been
made good in our souls in the Spirit’s power.

Whilst eternal life is not mentioned here we have it in substance, do we not?

I am quite sure of that! It would be conveyed in the words that we are in the
Son, and that the Son is in us.

John 14:21 would refer to what is individual. The company would be in view in
John 14:15-20, and the Lord’s presence among them. They would be capable of
realizing His presence by the Spirit dwelling in them. Now we have a further
thought regarding the individuals who compose the company, and a further
blessing is in view, but once again it is conditional. "He that hath My
commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me". It has been said that
if John 14:15 is the outcome of love, John 14:21 is the proof of that love. The
one who keeps His commandments is the one who demonstrates that he loves the
Lord, "He that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me".
Then we have the additional word, "He that loveth Me shall be loved of My
Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him". This is
definitely individual. At the end of the chapter the Lord Himself manifests His
love to the Father by keeping His commandments.

There is something very blessed in these verses. In John 1:1-51 we have the two
disciples who enquired where the Lord dwelt, and the Lord said, "Come and see",
and they dwelt with Him that day. But here the result of loving Him and keeping
His words is seen in the Father and the Son making Their abode with us. The
reference to the special manifestation mentioned in John 14:21 raise a question
with Judas (not Iscariot), "Lord, how is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto
us, and not unto the world?" The Lord answered "If a man love Me, he will keep
My words; and My Father will love him, and WE will come unto him, and make Our
abode with him". That is intensely individual, and it is clear that the gain of
keeping His commandments as the proof that we love Him, is in those spiritual
manifestations which we should not otherwise obtain. Would you say that John
14:23 is of deeper gain than John 14:21? In John 14:21 we have the Lord
individually manifesting Himself, whereas in John 14:23 both the Father and the
Son are mentioned.

If the Son makes Himself known to us, He will also bring the knowledge of the
Father with Him. We learn the Father only through Him. What we have here is not
so much on the objective side, it is rather illumination in the heart of the
believer who is in a suitable condition for the experiencing of this abiding,
and for the conscious enjoyment of eternal life. In John 15:1-27 the Lord says
to His disciples "For all things that I have heard of My Father I have made
known unto you".

There again we have the objective side of the truth.

If we consider the chapter before us, how much enlightenment have we in relation
to it? The truth is there for everyone of us. Are we close enough to the Lord
and walking in subjection to His will, so that these things may open out in
illumination to us as we enjoy communion with the Father and with the Son?

We must emphasize that the disciples needed to have their feet washed and Judas
had to go out from the company!

We must agree with that! It was when Judas went out that the Lord began to open
out these wonderful things. There must be the right conditions, otherwise we
certainly shall not know the blessedness of these manifestations. Was Judas at
this feet washing?

Apparently he was! But it was after he went out that the Lord began to open up
His mind. Feet washing was useless to a man like Judas, but it is an absolute
necessity for us.

I am a little concerned lest we suggest that what the Lord promises here cannot
be accomplished unless we are in a right state. Can we think that believers, in
whatever condition they may be, perhaps linked in practice with the ungodly
things of this world, will receive these spiritual manifestations?

I am speaking of that which God will do; I have discovered that whatever God
wants from me He Himself provides. If it is a question of love for the Lord, He
sheds abroad His love in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which He gives to us, and
thus enables us to be found in a state to which he can manifest Himself. The
word of the Lord in John 14:24 is clear, "He that loveth Me not"; He is speaking
to the Christian company, not to the world. Then on the positive side He says
"If a man love Me, he will keep My words; and my Father will love Him". We must
accept these statements in their reference to us in the condition in which we
may be found.

It is evident that we cannot enjoy these things except as being in the Spirit,
but we must also remember that this is a positive statement, "If a man love Me,
he will keep My words". Do "commandments" and "words" convey the same thought?

One involves the other; there are the communications of divine thoughts, but
when we allow them to govern us in our affections and we walk in subjection to
them, then we get further enlightenment, the conscious sense of the company of
divine Persons and a fuller realization of eternal life. The slow progress made
in the apprehension of these things is often because we are not sufficiently
obedient to the will of God. The Lord was addressing men whose affections were
toward Him; Judas had gone out, and true-hearted believers were evidently in
view.

There is the emphasizing of the fact that it is "He that hath My commandments,
and keepeth them" who will enter into the enjoyment of these manifestations. In
Corinth the saints were in a very bad condition, yet there is no suggestion that
they had not received the Spirit; and there is no suggestion that the Spirit
would be taken from them; whatever may be the state of the saints of God, the
Spirit of God still abides with us, but in order to have the gain of His
presence we must be in a suitable state.

We read in John 14:26 "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the
Father will send in My Name". We have often noticed that in John 14:1-31 the
Father sends the Spirit; in John 15:1-27 the Son sends Him, and in John 16:1-33
He comes of His own volition. This again shows how divine Persons work together.
Here it is the Father who sends Him, but He sends Him in the interests of the
Son, "in My Name". "He (emphatic) shall teach you all things, and bring all
things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you". The Lord said to
them, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now".
There were things that could not be made known until the Son was in glory; but
whether it was what did come out in His life down here, or that which is
administered from the glory, the Spirit brings "all things" to our remembrance,
as divine enlightenment.

We do well to notice that this divine Person is so often spoken of as the Holy
Spirit. This would guard the fact that the Spirit of God can operate in the way
this chapter speaks of in holy conditions only. He is never poured out upon the
flesh of man. The Spirit is here to produce the character of Christ in the
saints. There are many ways in which the Spirit is described, but He is always
the same Holy Spirit of God. The Spirit will produce the conditions of which we
have spoken so much.

Yes! That is the reason for His being here, conditions in which He can minister
these precious things and make communion with the Father and with the Son a
blessed reality to our souls. It is not merely a question of knowledge, there
are many simple souls who make little progress in knowledge, but they may have a
very warm love for the Lord, and as obedient to the light they have they may get
precious manifestations of Himself.

What we long for is to see the effects of the work of the Holy Spirit in the
people of God. These results cannot be reached on the line of natural effort,
they are promoted by love.

It is blessed to realize that in spite of the public failure amongst the saints
of God, and the perilous condition in the world around, it is possible for us to
enjoy the presence of divine persons in the power of the Spirit now; it is one
of the highest privileges that we have as we journey to the glory. Thus, as we
read in our last verse (John 14:27), we can go on in peaceful conditions in the
enjoyment of the love of God. "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid". The Lord had to go away but another divine Person, co-equal with the
Father and with the Son, now dwells in our souls for the accomplishment of the
Father’s will.

John 16:7-16. In John 14:1-31 we considered the service of the Holy Spirit as
the Teacher bringing us into the power and blessing of the realm of eternal life
in communion with the Father and the Son. In John 16:1-33 the Spirit is again
brought before us as the Teacher who produces in the saints a testimony in this
world where Christ has been rejected. In John 14:1-31 He would lead us into the
knowledge of these divine things so that we might have them in power in our
souls in relation to the divine circle; whereas in John 16:1-33 it is that we
might bear witness to them in this hostile world that has crucified Christ. The
disciples were doubtless feeling that they were going to suffer a great loss
when the Lord left this world, and so He would assure them that instead of His
going away being a loss to them, it would be a gain. "It is expedient (or,
profitable) for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not
come unto you". In what way was the coming of the Holy Spirit more profitable
for them?

They could not have had apprehension and enjoyment of these things apart from
the Spirit’s work in them. Had Christ remained with them, the truth concerning
Him must have remained objective, but it would be made living and real in their
souls by the Spirit indwelling them. In the power of the Spirit they would
understand in a far deeper way than before what the Lord had said to them while
He was with them. In John 14:26 we read, "He shall teach you all things, and
bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you"; and in
John 15:26, "He shall testify of Me". Then there are the additional things that
the Lord made reference to in our chapter, which could only be established and
become known by the disciples after He had gone back to the Father (John
16:8-12).

We sometimes hear perfectly godly people say that they wish they had been here
when the Lord was on earth; but such have not grasped the power and blessedness
of the things that are to be known in relation to a risen and glorified Christ
by the power of the Spirit.

It is well to see the importance of what the Lord says here. He is not merely
sending the Spirit, but the word is, "I will send Him unto you". A vessel was in
view to which the Spirit would come. He dwells in believers today, and nowhere
else is this divine teaching known.

Why is it that the first statement in connection with His coming relates to the
world (John 16:8)? As we have said, in John 14:1-31 His coming is more to keep
the saints in touch, we may say in simplicity, with the inside circle, whereas
here His coming is to give them power for testimony in the world where Christ
has been rejected. The world is very much in view here, because there are two
sides to the Christian calling — identification with the Son where He is, and
representation of Him where He has been. Hence we need to see the Spirit’s
attitude in these verses.

It has been pointed out in regard to this passage, that it is not quite that the
Spirit of God bears testimony, but that the fact that He is here, and Christ is
absent is in itself a testimony to the truth that the world has rejected Him.
The Holy Spirit does, however, dwell in believers, and if conviction is to be
brought to the world it must come through them. Hence, as believers, we occupy a
very privileged but very serious position. The Lord said in John 5:1-47, "My
Father worketh hitherto and I work". Now the time had come when His work was
completed, and the work of the Spirit of God was to commence. That is a most
important verse. "My Father worketh hitherto", covers the history of the Old
Testament; "I work", was the testimony of Christ in this world; now the day of
the Spirit has come and His movements characterize the day in which we are now
living.

Again, in John 5:43 we read, "I am come in My Father’s Name"; then in John
14:26, "The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My
Name" In the thought of the "Name" we have the interests of the Person who bears
that Name, and as the Son was ever here in the interests of the Father, so the
Spirit is here altogether in the interests of the Son. It is a most precious
thing to see one divine Person serving Another, and that the Spirit is here in
the character of a Servant.

If the Spirit of God is to bring conviction to this world — and obviously it is
through the Christian company — is it not of vital importance that we should be
intelligent in these things? Could not the Acts of the Apostles be called the
Acts of the Holy Spirit?

I think so! It is a divine Person who is moving here on behalf of the Godhead;
for if we speak of the Son serving the Father, and of the Spirit in the capacity
of Servant in relation to the Son, we can be perfectly sure that it is the
pleasure of the Godhead which is being effected.

We must avoid underestimating the activities of divine Persons. Do you think it
is possible for a person to be convicted without human agency?

We are not safe in putting limitations upon God. I quite agree there is a danger
of our doing it. We read in Romans 2:14, "For when the Gentiles, which have not
the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the
law, are a law unto themselves; which show the work of the law written in their
hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile
accusing or excusing one another". Paul is referring to the Gentiles who had no
law whatsoever, and yet had the testimony of creation. Apparently there were
those who evidenced the work of the law written in their hearts, although they
had never heard of the law which was written by Moses. Is there then the
testimony we are reading of here through the believer in the power of the
Spirit, and also the testimony of creation?

I think so! There may be thousands of people in this world today who have never
heard of the name of Moses or of the Name of Jesus. Are these people to go into
perdition because of that? There may be those reached in a way which is beyond
our understanding, and it would appear that Romans 2 has this in mind.

"The heavens declare the glory of God . . There is no speech and there are now
words, yet their voice is heard" (Psalms 19:1-2 New Trans.). Thus the testimony
of creation, in the goodness of God, goes "to the extremity of the world",
whilst at the moment we have the testimony of the Holy Spirit to the work and
the resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the greatest
day in which one could possibly live, the day of the Spirit. We have the
greatest of all testimonies carrying with it the greatest of all blessings. Do
you think that the Spirit sometimes works in the conscience without human agency
or a knowledge of the word? That may be, but it would not be normal in a
favoured land like this, where the testimony in the gospel is rendered.

There is another important verse in the first of Romans, "For from the world’s
creation the invisible things of Him are perceived, being apprehended by the
mind through the things that are made, both His eternal power and divinity — so
as to render them inexcusable" (v. 20 New Trans.). Is it suggested that the
world is affected by the demonstration that is given in the power of the Spirit?
This world is bound to be affected; this town is bound to be affected by the
fact that there are believers living in the place.

How does this demonstration "of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" come
about? The Lord Himself tells us in John 16:9, "Of sin, because they believe not
on Me". The Spirit is here to bear witness to this; His very presence here bears
witness to the fact that Christ is rejected, and when we contact unconverted
people in this world we also are aware of the fact that they have not believed.

There is a sphere in which the testimony of Christ is being rendered in the
world into which Christ came, and from which He was cast out. A brother once
happily said, ’before Christ left this world He formed a world of His own’, and
it is to that circle that the Spirit of God has come in order to continue a
testimony which is a rebuke to the world.

Why do you think it is that unconverted people are unhappy in the company of
even one believer?

God in His mercy is offering untold blessing to men, and the devil is blinding
the eyes of those that believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel should
shine in and they should be saved; under his influence they resent the truth.
True believers are marked by loving righteousness and hating iniquity, and that
is very quickly detected by men of the world, and it is a rebuke to them. The
men of this world put Christ upon the cross, and in their thoughts the matter is
closed, but to their dismay the testimony to Christ is here in His people and
God will maintain it in the power of the Spirit. Would it be true to say that
the greatest sin today is unbelief?

It is! Man will not be judge merely because he did not believe the gospel, but
unbelief is nevertheless the greatest sin of all. At the judgment of the "great
white throne", the word is not "whosoever was not found written in the book of
works" but, "whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into
the lake of fire". Would you say that men will be held responsible as to whether
they accept or reject the testimony of the Spirit, even as they were judged by
their attitude to the testimony of the Lord in His day?

I think so! In this very gospel, which was written some time after the Lord had
gone back to heaven, we read "he that believeth not is condemned already".

Now the second thing mentioned is that the Spirit brings demonstration of
righteousness, and the Lord says, "Because I go to My Father and ye see Me no
more". The world would not have the Son, so the Father takes Him out of the
world back to the glory. And how right it is that this should be! The testimony
now is to a glorified Christ.

Why does it say, "Ye see me no more", not "they see Me no more"? His interest
was in the company that had moved with Him. He says in John 16:16, "A little
while, and ye shall not see Me; and again, a little while and ye shall see Me".
That refers to the short period of His life here after resurrection. Then He
left the world entirely, and they were left to bear witness to the fact that the
One the world had crucified had been raised from the dead. They saw Him as thus
raised; they also saw Him go up to heaven, and afterwards they saw Him no more.

What are the things that they could not bear at that time (John 16:12)? The
truth as to the Lord’s present glorified condition, the unfolding of the full
revelation which came out through Paul including the truth that a vast company
of sons, all conformed to His own image, will surround Him in the glory of God
for ever.

"Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged". We need to include in
our testimony to men that this world is under the judgment of God, and the only
escape is by faith in the One whom the world has rejected, but who is now in the
place of power at God’s right hand.

It mentions that "the prince of this world is judged". This world has come under
the domination and rule of Satan; if he as ruler has been judged, what is the
portion of those in his kingdom of darkness but judgement too? The Lord’s words
are "Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be
cast out" (John 12:31).

These would be the leading features of the testimony. We do not suggest that the
Spirit says these things, but His presence here demonstrates them, and because
of this demonstration by the Spirit, we have the light and the power to bear
witness to them.

Nothing could be more valuable in separating us from the world than the
consideration of such Scriptures as these; there is always a tendency for us to
be drawn back into the world, and when we see the solemnity of these verses we
feel thankful to God that we have been delivered from it. That is the impression
we get when reading the book of the Revelation; if this is the judgment that God
will bring upon this world, we do well to let this have its due effect upon us,
leading us to view the world as a judged system now, and thus detaching our
affections from it.

Mr Darby’s hymn shows us the way in which we arrive at this:

"’Tis the treasure we’ve found in His love That has made us now pilgrims below."
The more we are led to value the divine circle where grace has set us, and the
more we know the power of divine things, the less shall we want to do with this
world, or with any of its affairs.

John 16:13 commencing with the word "Howbeit", would bring the positive side of
the truth before us. "When He" (the word "He" is emphatic) "the Spirit of truth
is come, He will guide you into all truth". The judgment of God lies upon the
world, soon to be executed; but if we are not being formed in the positive truth
of the divine circle we shall not bear an effective testimony. The truth of what
we have been considering so far would detach us from the world, whereas what we
have in John 16:13 onwards would attach us more definitely to the things of God.

We do well to consider the power and resources of the Spirit of God as the One
Who guides us "into all truth". There is no feature of the truth of God into
which He is not capable of bringing us. In John 14:26 we read that the Spirit
will teach us "all things". In John 16:1-33 we have "He will guide you into all
truth". It appears that progress in these things is not automatic, we need
teaching and guidance. Then we read "For He shall not speak of (or, from)
Himself". Even as the Son did not speak from Himself, but whatsoever the Father
gave Him to say He said it, so also the Spirit does not speak from Himself "but
whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak and He will show you things to
come". These wonderful things are beyond our comprehension, but the blessed
facts are there. The Son Himself was here serving in love, and now the Spirit
comes with precisely the same objective in view. The Authorised Version gives
the idea that He would not speak about Himself; that is quite incorrect, for He
speaks much of Himself. The word conveys the meaning that He would not speak of
His own accord". The fact that the Spirit has recorded these things involves His
speaking about Himself, but He had come to glorify Christ, "He shall glorify Me,
for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show (or, announce) it unto you". At the
end of John 16:13 it says, "but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak;
and He will show you things to come". Much has been revealed to us in the
apostolic ministry since the Lord went to heaven; is that what the Lord had in
mind in saying this?

It has been said the words "Bring to your remembrance" would perhaps refer to
John’s gospel; "He shall take of Mine", to his epistle; "Show you things to
come", to the book of Revelation. But of course we cannot confine these
statements to John’s writings; the Spirit’s teaching is seen in the ministry of
all the apostles. In regard to the various activities of the Spirit — His
teaching, His guiding, and His showing — there is the need on our part of
submission. To be guided we must follow the Guide, and to be subject to the
Guide involves that we have teachable hearts.

Also we must give Him time to teach us. If we speak from hearts which are in the
enjoyment of His leading and teaching what power there will be in the testimony!
One of the greatest dangers today, and doubtless Satan is behind it, is that we
do not find time to sit down and read our Bibles. We have a thousand and one
things to do, and that `one thing’ for which the Lord commended Mary is often
missing. That is why we made the suggestion that we should give the Spirit time
to teach us these things. The disciples had the benefit of the Lord’s being with
them, and the Lord is now preparing them for His departure and tells them of the
activities and services of the Spirit of God. If we were acquainted with the
resources we have in the Spirit, and availed ourselves of them, other things
would be displaced. In John 16:15 we have a most wonderful statement — "All
things that the Father hath are Mine". This would show the immense resources
which are available to the Spirit in His ministry to the saints.

We see something of the wonder of the position into which we have been brought.
"All things that the Father hath are Mine; therefore said I, that He shall take
of Mine, and shall show it unto you". In the last verse in our section we read,
"A little while, and ye shall not see Me" — He was going to the cross; "and
again, a little while and ye shall see Me" — they were going to be witnesses of
His resurrection; and thirdly, "Because I go to the Father" — they were going to
be witnesses of His ascension. They had seen Him in this world; they were to see
Him in resurrection, and they were to see Him going back to the Father. This is
the company to whom the Spirit of God would come, giving them power to be living
witnesses of these matters. They could bear first hand witness as having
actually seen these wonderful things.

What follows shows that the disciples did not grasp the significance of the
Lord’s words. In John 16:19-20 He graciously explains that their time of sorrow
and weeping, which they experienced when He was taken from them in death, would
be "turned into joy". As empowered by the Spirit they would bear witness to what
they had seen before His death, witness to what they had seen when He came forth
from among the dead, and witness to the fact that they had actually seen Him
ascending to the Father.

John 20:17-23. In these verses we have the last mention of the Holy Spirit in
the gospel by John, and they will thus provide suitable consideration for our
final reading in this series. We have considered the truth of the Spirit in
relation to the incoming of our Lord in testimony for God in this world; we have
also thought of Him as the Teacher and Guide in relation to the things that are
ours now that Christ is raised from among the dead. In the verses now before us
we see the Spirit in connection with the imparting of new life to the disciples,
associating them with Christ as raised from among the dead, that life flowing in
the company, uniting them in what is perhaps the first picture of the saints of
God as seen standing in the blessing of what Christ had secured. We hesitate to
suggest that they formed a nucleus of the Assembly, for John does not speak of
the Assembly, of the Body or of the House. What we have here is rather the
family of God, and the brethren of Christ. Yet it is that company which had its
beginning at that moment to which, in the goodness of God, we belong today. Our
attention has been drawn to Mary at the tomb, in her sorrow at the thought of
having lost her Lord. In one sense that was perfectly true; she had lost Him in
the way in which she knew Him previously, but she is about to find Him in an
entirely new way as brought into relationship through Him with the Father. This
could never have been known before.

Why did the Lord allow the women in Matthew to hold Him by the feet, but did not
allow Mary to touch Him?

Mary was to learn that a new relationship was being established, something much
more blessed than that which she had so much enjoyed before Christ died on the
cross. The women in Matthew’s gospel had tangible proof that the Lord was raised
from the dead. Indeed we know that He said to Thomas, "Reach hither thy finger,
and behold My hands; and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into My side".
These were highly favoured people, they had had links with the Lord prior to the
cross; but He was now unfolding to them eternal relationship which could not
have been known before. We have never known links with Christ before His death,
but we can thank God that we know something of the blessedness of these eternal
links. In John 20:17 the Lord said, "I am not yet ascended to My Father".

Yes! It is not now His place in the midst of Israel in which Mary had rightly
apprehended Him, but it is the new place He would occupy in which He would
attach His own to Himself. We are reminded of what the Lord said in John
12:1-50, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone". Mary knew Him as "Rabboni" (her Lord or Teacher); He was indeed that,
but now she is to be brought into a sphere where she would know Him in a deeper
and more intimate way, as in association with Himself in entirely new
conditions.

Seeing that the Lord had not yet ascended to His Father, and the Holy Spirit was
not yet given, how could He speak of His disciples as "My brethren"?

We read in Hebrews 2:1-18, "He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are
all of one; for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren". The work
being accomplished, redemption having been wrought, and God having been
glorified, He can now take account of His own as in the value of His redemptive
and sanctifying work, and can address them as "My brethren". All needed to be
made good in their souls by the Holy Spirit, but the ground had been established
by the work of the cross. The Lord retains His own unique relationship with the
Father in saying, "My Father, and your Father; and to My God, and your God"; He
does not speak of our Father and our God. There must always be that relationship
between the Father and the Son which is peculiar to Themselves.

Why does it say in Luke, He was "carried up into heaven", whereas here He
Himself says "I ascend"?

Luke regards the ascension as the answer of the Father to that lowly life of
absolute perfection; He would exalt Him. In John it is more the dignity of His
own Person that is before us.

Whilst the ascension is in mind throughout John, yet we do not get the
historical record of it, why is that?

It has been pointed out that the two gospels which do not give the details of
the ascension are Matthew and John, Matthew has in view the establishment of the
kingdom, whilst John deals with the realm of eternal life into which we have
been introduced. The word which Mary conveys to the brethren indicates wonderful
balance of thought. There is the blessed intimacy of knowing God as our Father,
but there is also the holy reverence due to Him as God.

We understand that when the name of Father is used in the gospel it speaks of
His counsel of grace in relation to the children, whilst as God He must ever be
the Object of our adoration and worship. We have been brought into relationship
with God, and we bow before Him, and own His rights over us. Yet the God whose
claims we own has graciously revealed Himself to us as Father. The expression
"counsel of grace" has been used. Do we get grace spoken of in John’s gospel
except in the first chapter? Is it not love all the way through? The meaning of
the word grace is "free favour". The love of God is behind any favour that He
bestows upon us. It is true that love is more prominent in this gospel; grace is
more connected with Paul’s ministry.

Mary Magdalene, having received this wonderful communication from the Lord,
carried it to the disciples. The word to her was "Go to My brethren". We do well
to preserve in our minds the dignity of these expressions, and not to fall into
the careless way in which some speak of the Lord as "our Brother" etc.. We can
never be wrong in seeking to maintain the true dignity of the things of God.
Could we have a little more on this matter of brethren? The Lord says in Mark,
"Behold My mother and My brethren; for whosoever shall do the will of God, the
same is My brother, and My sister, and mother" (Mark 3:34-35). The Lord is
indicating the formation of new relationships, not now relationships to Him
after the flesh, but in regard to a new sphere that was coming to light. I think
the Lord uses the term "brethren" there in a moral sense. They were drawing
attention to natural relationships and, using the thought that was in their
minds, He calls attention to the fact that something new was coming to light. In
Matthew 13:1-58 the Lord speaks of "the children of the kingdom"; this would
refer to the new relationships He had been speaking of.

Elsewhere the Lord spoke to His disciples of their heavenly Father; what we have
in John 20:1-31 would be something quite different.

It has been said that God takes that name in relation to the kingdom, because
the kingdom of heaven involves the acceptance of the rule of heaven which is
centred in God the Father in heaven. It is connected with the rule and will of
God. But the thought in John 20:1-31 is much more intimate, and refers to a
relationship with Christ in the power of His life as risen again from among the
dead. The message carried by Mary, and the subsequent coming together of the
disciples, seem to indicate a new starting point in their movements. "The same
day at even" would suggest that the old order had passed and an entirely new day
had dawned, "the first day of the week" — a day coincident with the resurrection
of the Lord. It is on this entirely new ground that they assemble together,
having a knowledge of God in the new relationship which had been made known by
Mary’s message to them.

What is emphasized here is "The same day at even". It was the first day of the
week, but it was the same day. That is, whatever is coming to pass is related to
the resurrection of Christ out from among the dead. It is this completely new
beginning of things that we have today in Christianity. There were, of course,
the forty days in which the Lord moved among His disciples, but it is this
entirely new era to which we belong. What we have here would perhaps link with
Leviticus 23:1-44, where they were to count fifty days from the waving of the
sheaf; that which came in fifty days later was directly linked with the morning
of the wave sheaf which typifies the resurrection of Christ out from among the
dead. It is spoken of as the "new meat offering", and here we see the beginning
of the "new meat offering" — the new Christian company.

We may regard this first coming together as being more on family lines, although
we sometimes refer to it as a picture of the saints gathered on a Lord’s Day
morning. There is no objection to that, because it is those of the family of God
who gather together on such occasions. The Spirit is not regarded here as having
come down from heaven, as we see in Acts 2:1-47, but rather as the in-breathing
of life from Christ is resurrection, directly associating the disciples with him
in the power of His own life. The name of Father is seen in various connections.
For instance, we have the expression "the Father of glory". That would suggest
origin or source. The Father is the Source of all. We have already sought to
distinguish between the term "heavenly Father" — referring to the position God
occupies in the Kingdom as the One in supreme control — and the name "Father" —
referring to the relationship which we now have with Him in the power of the
life of Christ, which is obviously the bearing here. Is it right to use the
expression "Heavenly Father"?

It depends on the connection in which it is used; but there is a higher thought
in our chapter. I see no objection to addressing God as Heavenly Father, but it
is not the height of John 20:1-31. For instance we could have no objection to
using the so-called Lord’s prayer within certain limits and in a proper
connection, but we could not use it as coming together in assembly; it is not an
assembly prayer, but everything therein can be used in its right place. The Lord
Himself speaks of His Father in heaven on more than one occasion. But not after
His resurrection surely? It would imply the thought of distance; whereas we know
God now as our Father in nearness. The term "Heavenly Father" or "your Father
which is in heaven" does imply that I am still on earth and that He is in
heaven. The thought of distance is there; it may not be any moral distance, but
that we are on earth and the Father is in heaven and we are here in relation to
His will. But John 20 suggests our being introduced into present conscious
nearness of relationship with God as Father.

We do not have the term "Heavenly Father" in the epistles.

No! That is why we say it is not in connection with the Assembly; we are
associated with Christ in glory, and any thought of distance between ourselves
and heaven has been entirely removed. The Lord, moving here subject to the will
of God as the Messiah in relation to the kingdom, used terms designed to impress
the disciples with the need of reverence and recognition of the fact that they
were dwelling on earth, and the Father was in heaven. When the Lord used those
terms it was at a time when it was a question of the establishment of the
kingdom on earth; now the matter is reversed, "I ascend unto My Father". Man is
to be in association with Christ in heaven, and we see from the John 14:1-31
that we shall actually be there. We must always remember that any thought of
man’s going to heaven awaited the accomplishment of the work of Christ. The
truth of that does not come out even here, it is in relation to the mystery that
the truth of man’s being destined for a place in heavenly glory with the Son is
seen.

We read in John 20:19, "The disciples were assembled". Who were they?

I think it was the eleven; there may have been others there. Luke records "the
eleven gathered together, and them that were with them" (Luke 24:33). Would not
John 20:23 refer to the eleven only? That verse is definitely apostolic. Whilst
there may have been others present, it was obviously to the eleven that the Lord
said those words.

Why did the Lord make brief appearances only? We might perhaps have thought that
He would have remained with them for the full period in order to strengthen
them.

It has been said that He was in an out-of-the-world condition of things although
actually still in this world. Those brief appearances were the witness to them
that He was raised again from among the dead. His links with them were no longer
earthly but heavenly.

It is good to see that the Lord’s first word is "Peace be unto you"; that would
set them quite calm in their spirits.

It is important to see who was present on this occasion in view of what was
committed to them. From the other gospels it does seem that there were others in
the company at the moment, but whether all took place on the same occasion may
be questioned. The matter of the remission of sins (John 20:23) makes the
question as to who was present of vital importance.

Doubtless that was limited to the apostles. I do not think it was transmissible.
On the day of Pentecost, after the Lord had gone to glory, Peter stood "with the
eleven"; it does not say that he stood up with the one hundred and twenty.
Doubtless they were there, but he stood up with the eleven, hence we conclude
that John 20:23 is limited to the apostles. This was not restricted to Pete
alone. We do find Peter exercising this authority in the case of Ananias and
Sapphira, but Paul also speaks of committing one to Satan. It is purely
apostolic authority which the Lord gave to them, but it was certainly not
limited to Peter. Matthew 18:1-35 would show that in some measure this feature
is in the assembly administratively today. With regard to the Lord’s breathing
on them and saying, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost", would that be the only way in
which the disciples could have any part with Him in resurrection? The life in
which the Son of God was as raised from the dead, was the life in which He had
ever lived, but it was now made available to the disciples as He breathed into
them. It was a new life so far as they were concerned, but not a new life in
itself, it was the life in which the Lord Himself had ever lived. It is the
eternal life that was with the Father, breathed now in the power of the Spirit
into the disciples.

What was the life that the Lord Jesus laid down?

We are now touching rather difficult ground. The life that the Lord laid down
was that in which He lived here in subject responsibility in Manhood, a life
that He did not take at all in resurrection. Eternal life could never be given
up at all, hence the two sides are given to us, one in John 6:1-71, where we
read "Which I will give for the life of the world", and then in John 10:1-42, "I
lay down My life, that I may take it again". The latter we have here, and this
spiritual and eternal life was breathed into the disciples by the Lord Himself.
This is a matter which was dealt with most fully by J. N. Darby in his tract "A
man in Christ". It is one of the most difficult passages in John’s gospel. The
life that the Lord lived in flesh and blood condition was given up at the cross,
but the One Who gave up that life did not give up His own personal life, He
carries that through death and it has become available to us in resurrection.
Was this in-breathing provisional?

It was the quickening voice of the Son of God bringing them into direct
relationship with Himself, not now as Messiah but as raised again from among the
dead, it was the quickening voice of the Son of God in relation to new
conditions. Had they any more in their apostolic position than we have now? In
Acts 2:1-47, we have the anointing of the Holy Ghost in regard to the testimony
and then in the verse in 1 Corinthians 12:13, "By one Spirit are we all baptized
into one body". That, I think, is additional to this in John 20. We too have
come under the quickening voice of the Son of God, and the gift of the Spirit
links us with the Christian company to which we belong. Would you explain why
you speak of "life in resurrection", but not "resurrection life"?

It is to guard the fact that the life of the Son of God, of which John speaks in
his epistle, "was with the Father, and was manifested unto us". It was seen in
the life of Christ down here, and it then became available to the disciples in
resurrection. I am really quoting a letter of Mr. Darby in which he said
resurrection life is a short enough term because we understand what we mean by
it, but it does infer that this was some kind of life that came into being in
resurrection only. But it was the life in which the Son of God ever moved and
lived, and it now becomes available to His own in resurrection. We can only
derive it from Christ because He is raised again from among the dead, but it is
His life that we have, it is a life which was laid down and taken again — laid
down in one condition and taken up again in this new condition, and made
available to us in our day. In John 11:1-57 the Lord says, "I am the
resurrection, and the life". That is what He is in His own Person, He
demonstrated it in His resurrection from among the dead and it is made eternally
good for all who belong to Him.

"Receive ye the Holy Ghost"; is that the same thought as "the Spirit of life" in
Romans 8:1-39?

It is the only new life that we can possibly have; it is of course quite new to
us, and the only way that we can have this new life is in the power of the
Spirit of God in our souls. In 1 Peter 3:18, we read that the Lord Jesus was
"put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit".

I think we must guard the fact that death does not touch anyone’s personality,
much less that of the Son of God; the person does not die, it is the condition
in which the person is. This is one of the most difficult things to explain or
understand. Perhaps the most helpful remarks on the subject are found in a
footnote to John 11:1-57 in Mr. Darby’s Synopsis.

"It has been pretended that these thoughts affect the divine and eternal life
which was in Christ. But this is all idle and evil cavil. Even in an unconverted
sinner, dying or laying down life has nothing to do with ceasing to exist as to
the life of the man within. All live to God, and divine life in Christ never
could cease or be changed. He never laid that down, but in the power of that,
laid down His life as He possessed it here as Man, to take it up in an entirely
new way in resurrection beyond the grave"

We must guard the fact that when a person goes into death, that person is as
much alive in another sphere as he had been in the previous sphere, otherwise we
shall arrive at the annihilation of the soul completely. Paul could say, "To
depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better". He would be very much alive
as with Christ, but the condition in which he had lived down here would be
ended. In speaking of these things in relation to our Lord we feel we are on
delicate ground, and one hesitates to say too much, but I believe that the
condition into which He came was given up by Him at the cross, and was not taken
up again; but the life in which He lived in that condition He did take again,
and that is the life imparted to His own in this chapter. With regard to the
statement "whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them", there is no
suggestion of persons confessing their sins to and receiving absolution from the
apostles? This is administrative, and not the forgiveness that only God Himself
can give us. I do not think it refers to the eternal forgiveness of our sins
before God. We must remember that there was a special administration in the
hands of the apostles, none could be converted without listening to and
believing their testimony.

Matthew 18:1-35 shows that there is an administration in the hands of the
Assembly today. If a company of saints is desirous of maintaining the truth as
to true Christian conduct, it is responsible before God to exclude any who walk
contrary to the truth. In regard to any excluded in such a way, mercy was to be
shown in view of their recovery.

We have been touching a very delicate theme, and we cannot pretend that we
understand much about it, but we believe all is based on the fact that the
chapter shows a company in the life and power of the Son of God as raised from
the dead, a company capable of things it had never been capable of before. Would
you say a word on John 20:10 — "He showed unto them His hands and His side"!
Would it not be the evidence that the One they knew in resurrection was the same
blessed Person Who had died for them upon the cross? It would surely bring His
love before them, and a completely new order being opened out, but it is the
same blessed Person Who is opening it out.

It certainly had a most wonderful result, "Then were the disciples glad, when
they saw the Lord".


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 21: THE HOLY SPIRIT'S SERVICE.
========================================================================

The Holy Spirit’s Service.

F. A. Hughes.

MAY/JUNE 1977 The truth relating to the Holy Spirit of God — His deity, His
work, His abiding presence with believers — is one of the most important
subjects of the holy Scriptures. Sometimes referred to as "the third Person in
the Trinity," He is nevertheless possessed of full Deity — He is God. He has His
place in the first sentence of the Scriptures. "In the beginning God" (Elohim —
Hebrew plural indicating "three"), He "garnished — (Made beautiful) the heavens"
(Job 26:13). He is the Source and Power of the new life in the believer; He
helps in our warfare with the flesh (Galatians 5:17); He helps us in our
infirmities and in our prayers (Romans 8:26); He is the strength and support of
even the smallest of God’s children against the power of Satan (1 John 4:4); by
Him we are "sealed" and "anointed" and have the "earnest" of the inheritance; we
belong to God; we have power to walk in the dignity and fragrance of Christ
Himself, and the light of the glory to come illumines our path. By Him the love
of God has been deluged into our hearts, and He enables us to respond to that
love as we say from those full hearts — "Abba, Father" (Romans 5:5; Romans
8:15). He "abides" with us — the Comforter — alongside to help at all times. The
above but touches the fringe of the many blessings enjoyed by believers in the
gift of the Spirit of God, the importance of which gift is so markedly stressed
by the Lord Jesus Himself in His "Upper Room" ministry in John’s gospel. Happy
indeed and fruitful the life in which He has undisputed control.

Features of the Holy Spirit’s activities particularly, but not exclusively,
relevant to the present day may be briefly considered. Whilst all around we see
disintegration and moral breakdown, "Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for
looking after those things which are coming," how blessed to have the sure
testimony of God by His Spirit regarding "things to come." We have no need to
speculate, the ministry of the Spirit in the Epistles and in the book of the
Revelation gives to the believer a clear unalterable view of God’s present and
future dealings with the world and its course. John 16:7-15 is replete with
encouragement — sin dealt with, righteousness manifest in Christ at God’s right
hand; the prince of the world (Satan) judged! The ground thus cleared in the
affections of the believer for the Holy Spirit to engage in that which is so
infinitely precious to His own heart — testifying to all that stands related to
the things of the Father and of the Son, and thus glorifying Christ in the
hearts and minds of His own! Precious service indeed! This testimony abides and
will abide, lighting up the darkest hour with divine glory and power. As engaged
with and beholding the glory of the Lord we shall, "by the Spirit of the Lord,"
exhibit features of Christ Himself — the most potent testimony to men around us.
In Romans 8:14 we read "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are
the sons of God." There is a dignity in these words almost beyond expression.
Quickened by the Spirit we are no longer debtors to the flesh, in which we could
never please God. The Spirit of God is the power by which we mortify the flesh,
and we are thus enabled to walk in communion with God Himself, a life which
answers in a practical way to the truth of our adoption as sons, and in which
there is pleasure and joy to the heart of God, and responsive affection in ours
as we say in the liberty and joy of His presence "Abba, Father." This precious
service of the Holy Spirit will result in a walk of dignity and testimony before
men, but above all else, beloved, there will be joy in the heart of the Father
as He takes account of those who walk before Him as displaying in some measure
the features so perfectly seen in Christ as Son.

We are conscious of the increasing power of evil in man’s world, and his total
inability to deal with it. How thankful to know that one result of the Holy
Spirit’s presence is His ability to restrain evil (2 Thessalonians 2:7). However
great the power of violence and corruption, all is under divine control, and the
truth of this ministers comfort and assurance to the believer. He who is
competent to give the saints victory in their conflict against the power of sin
and Satan is the One who exercises divine control over all the evil extant
today, and will do so until the coming of our Lord, a truth so apparent in the
Thessalonian epistles. A most blessed aspect of the Spirit’s ministry is given
to us in 1 Peter 4:14. Faithfulness to a rejected Christ will of necessity
involve its measure of suffering. How precious the content of this Scripture —
"If ye are reproached in the Name of Christ, blessed are ye, for the Spirit of
God rests upon you" (J.N.D.). The word "rests" implies the thought of
"refreshment," thus the dark hours of persecution are lighted up with rays of
divine glory comforting and refreshing the soul with a foretaste of its eternal
joy and portion — even the day of God itself.

"And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come." This last reference in Scripture
(Revelation 22:1-21) to the Holy Spirit carries its own charm and sweetness.
Responsibly the church may have sadly failed, its responsive love to Christ
often weak indeed; but how precious to contemplate a moment when the affections
of the saints are in full accord with the desires of the Spirit Himself, hearts
and voices mingling together in true desire for the coming of Christ. What a
moment of joy for the blessed Spirit of God! His service complete and true
bridal affections produced and seen in the hearts of those to whom it is His joy
to "glorify Christ."

We have but touched the fringe of this holy subject; may we give the blessed
Spirit of God His rightful place in our hearts and lives, ever remembering that
He is the Holy Spirit, the power within us enabling us to appreciate and answer
in a practical way to that atmosphere of holiness and joy which characterises
the thoughts of God.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 22: THE NEW BIRTH AND ETERNAL LIFE.
========================================================================

The New Birth and Eternal Life.

John 3:1-36 Lecture 1 of ’The New Testament Doctrine of the Holy Spirit.’

W. Kelly.

John 3:5. The subject of which I propose to treat will demand, as the course of
lectures may call for it, the development, according to God’s word, of many
operations of the Holy Ghost only experienced under Christianity, which were
unknown in the times which preceded the death and resurrection of our Lord
Jesus. But I rejoice to begin this night with that which spreads itself over the
entire dealings of God in His mercy towards His saints at all times. That is, we
enter on what is not special, save only as the knowledge of God Himself must
distinguish souls in a lost world where grace chooses and saves - what is not
special in the sense of being brought out and enjoyed, under peculiar
circumstances and at a particular period, in the ways of God with man. On the
contrary, what comes before us now is universal for God’s children, was found in
the earliest days since sin entered into the world, was never superseded, nor
can be, till the last trace of sin is gone for ever. It is the one fundamental
want for every soul of man who is brought out of the condition of fallen man -
the common lot of man appointed, as we know, to die, and after that to judgment.
God would make Himself known, would reveal Himself; it might be only partially,
after sundry measures, and in many manners, as the apostle tells us in Hebrews
1:1-14; but, whatever the measure or the mode of His revelations, God has always
wrought in sovereign mercy to souls, and He has given of His own nature to those
who believe here below. This is what is meant by being born again. Nor was there
ever a time when it was more necessary than now, not only to assert what is
special, but to cleave to that which is universal in the sense just now
explained. Let us maintain then that which never changes; while, at the same
time, we leave ample space for whatever it may please God according to His own
wisdom to bring in, amplifying, clearing, brightening, deepening, and that in
every possible form. There is progress, I need not say, in the way in which God
does manifest Himself; at any rate, till Christ appeared, and His work was
accomplished. Not that I speak of progress since, but that, in the unfolding of
the word of God from the beginning, there is most manifestly an enlarging view
given of the divine ways - given until God, and not merely His ways, were fully
manifested.

Across the whole course of these varying dispensations, as I gladly allow, we
have this great blessing enjoyed. And the reason is manifest: a God of goodness
on the one hand, and lost man on the other. "My Father worketh hitherto," said
the Son, also working in grace. Conscience may give its intimations of a God and
His judgment; but the mind of man never can rise above the fact, or rather the
inference, that there must be a God. God Himself is never thus known. Mind, as
such, is incapable of finding out God; and, in point of fact, that which gave
scope to the reason of man was his ruin. He reasons about God because he has
lost God; and all that reasoning can discover in any of its processes is not
what is, but simply, granting this and that, what must be. But a God that simply
must be is awful to a conscience burdened with its guilt. The God that must be
for him - that is, for a sinner - must be a judge; and if God be the judge of
sin and of sinners, what must be the sinner’s lot? If the righteous even with
difficulty be saved, where shall the ungodly appear?

Now, in the face of all this, God has not merely given a revelation, made
promises, given even still more distinct prophetic delineations of what He meant
to do: this He has done from the very first; but there was always more than
this. And it is of very great consequence to souls even now to recognise that it
is not only a direction of the soul of the believer toward God by faith, but
that there is, and has always been, far more. It is not too much to assume that
those who listen to me here have no need to be told what that link really is. I
do not refer now to the new fact that God has sent down the Holy Ghost; but I
say, that while there was always faith, there was always more than faith. It is
a very imperfect and even pernicious view, that souls simply look to God.
However true this is, it is but a part of the truth. Besides the look of faith,
besides the laying hold of the word of God by the operation of the Spirit in the
soul, there is such a thing as spiritual life; and there always was such a
thing; for it is the necessary condition of having to do with God. There always
was, as there is, a positive new nature given to the believer; that is, it is
not merely a question of faith, but of a new life. Faith, of course, is the only
means whereby this new nature is imparted, as I shall hope to show; and faith is
the true means for the soul to assure itself that it is thus born of God. There
may be other evidences to other eyes and hearts; but faith is that which is
intended of God to give its possessor the certainty that he is born of God.

Now this truth and indispensable necessity, although always made good in
believers, it is evident before Christ was very feebly understood, and, in point
of fact during Old Testament times, was rather implied than explicitly taught.
It may be presented in figure, and there may be moral expressions; but nowhere
is there a distinct statement of a new birth, save as a predicted privilege. The
consequence was, when Nicodemus came to our Lord Jesus, arrested by that which
he had seen, but, at the same time, with the sense of a deeper want in his soul,
though totally ignorant of what he wanted, he was taken aback and confounded by
our Lord’s strong assertion to him, that except one were born again, he could
not even see the kingdom of God. The Jews had quietly settled down in the
conviction that the Messiah could and would do everything for them. Nor were
they, in one sense, wrong. When He came, even the Samaritans were satisfied that
Messiah would show or teach them all things; and the Jews knew that it was not a
question merely of teaching, but that He would do all things; He would bring in
everlasting righteousness, seal up the vision, anoint the most holy, deal with
sin, iniquity, everything. They knew most imperfectly how it was to be done.
Still there was a vague, general, yet, at the same time, sure conviction on the
mind of every Jew, except, we may say, the infidel portion of them, that the
coming of the Messiah would be the turning-point of the world, and would be more
especially the incoming of all promised and expected blessing for Israel. Hence
it was most startling to hear so solemn an announcement from One now found
present in their very midst, whom His forerunner, John the Baptist, declared to
be the Messiah, from One who had manifested by miracles that He was really a
teacher come from God at the very least. Yet this very One stopped Nicodemus at
the threshold with the most cutting declaration of a necessity that he had never
apprehended before, and this put in so broad a manner as to make it as absolute
for a Jew as for a Gentile. "Except a man be," etc. No exceptions were
entertained, no exemption was allowed, for the chosen family of Abraham. It was
a divine requirement for those near, as well as the remote. "Except a man be
born afresh, he cannot see the kingdom of God." The consequence is, that
Nicodemus puts, as we know, a most unintelligent question to our Lord, how such
a thing could be: "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second
time into his mother’s womb and be born?" But at least his question proves that
"born from above" is not at all the true meaning of the verse. Had the Lord
given Nicodemus to judge that this was the meaning, such a question could not
have been proposed. No; He meant to be born afresh, born from the very outset,
so to speak. It appears to be the strongest possible expression of this; at any
rate, I do not know a stronger one in Scripture. This accordingly brings out
from our Lord Jesus the statement on which I desire to enlarge a little
to-night: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." He that sees the kingdom
enters the kingdom; but there is no seeing nor entering, unless there be this
new birth. What, then, is its source and character? Our Lord here explains. He
does it, as is habitually done in His discourses to the Jews in this Gospel,
after a figurative sort. In the chapter before, when there was a question about
the temple, He adopted that figure for His own body - Himself. In the chapter
that follows He takes up another from the circumstance of the wants of the
Samaritan woman; and a well of water becomes the image of that infinite blessing
on which we shall hope to dwell a little by-and-by; and so I might go through
the Gospel, and prove that this adoption of some well-known figure startles by
the very fact that it is a figure, but by no means obscures; for this is never
the object of figures in Scripture, or in any honest writing. The true object is
rather to compress into one word the truth which might otherwise need to be
expanded into many words; so that a word becomes what may be called an
image-word of truth, and therefore bright with the light of God. And so, I doubt
not, it is in this case. Now these images were used in the Old Testament
prophets, and used too in connection with this very blessing. This was therefore
what furnished occasion to the Lord, with a justice that appealed to Nicodemus’
own conscience, to censure him who stood in the relation of teacher to Israel
(for this is the meaning); not, I apprehend, in some special manner as the
master, but the usual article of contrast with Israel as the scholar. Our Lord,
then, does tacitly refer to passages in the Old Testament which ought to have
made His allusion and meaning intelligible to Nicodemus. Take Isaiah 44:1-28 for
instance. Had not God there promised to pour water upon him that was thirsty?
Had He not promised to pour His Spirit upon the seed of Jacob? Had He not still
more plainly declared, in Ezekiel 36:1-28, that when He gathered Israel into the
land, He would there take away their stony heart, and put into them a heart of
flesh, sprinkle clean water upon them, and put His Spirit within them - the
precise two elements of our Lord’s statement? Thus in this place the Saviour
does most clearly keep in view these Old Testament figures. Indeed, it was not
some absolutely new privilege; it was, on the contrary, only the assertion,
according to His own special dignity and glory, of a universal need in a manner
suitable to Himself. That is, the Lord does give the whole scope of truth as to
this found throughout the Scriptures, but then He brings it all to a point, and
clothes it with that force which was proper to the Son of God, if He took the
place of a teacher upon the earth. How could He, if He taught, merely teach as
another? "Never man spake like this man." Therefore, even while He is only
taking up, so to speak, what was found before (at least in prophecy), and what
ought thence to have been known from of old, nevertheless He gives it a
characteristic depth in the form in which He presents it to Nicodemus. Hence it
is no question of being sprinkled, or having a new heart given, or "a new spirit
put within," but, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit" - an
incomparably momentous, primary, and practical truth.

I deny not that there are other truths more apt to draw out the affections, and
to fix them on the person of the Saviour, bringing the soul into full liberty,
peace, joy, as well as power here below. Surely there are; but none has so much
the character of a foundation, save only Christ and His work in which God
Himself was glorified, and glorified too in such a sort, that He could thus
righteously bless and give His own nature to a poor sinner. With His own divine
perfectness the Lord here, in a single word, changes all, so to speak; for while
the truth is adopted from others, nevertheless there is a new beauty, and there
is such divine energy given to it, that we can well apprehend how glorious the
person must be that utters the truth after such a sort. "Except a man be born of
water and of the Spirit." It is in truth a new nature; it is that which has no
foundation in man, no source save in God; it is God Himself who has His own
kingdom; it is God Himself that is the centre of it, who fills it in the person
of Christ His Son, and, therefore, who should give a new nature. For what nature
could be suitably presented? It must be, and it is, the divine nature. "Except a
man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of
God." And thus, then, we come to the terms.

I have drawn attention to the force of being "born anew" found in the earlier
statements. Next, the briefer expression in the third verse is expanded in the
fifth. But now, if we look at the manner in which this birth is characterized,
it is "of water." Water, in Scripture, is habitually employed as the figure of
the word of God applied by the Spirit. It may be used also for the Spirit
Himself in His own power; but still I need not point out the close connection
there is between these two thoughts. However, here we have the Spirit
distinguished from it, and this shows us at once the reason of the difference.
The water is mentioned because God would draw attention to the character of what
is applied, to what deals morally with the man. He might not at first be aware
that what made him sensible of his uncleanness was the Spirit of God. There must
always indeed be in the soul, whenever the Holy Ghost thus acts, a consciousness
that there is a dealing of some sort. In a word there never is or can be
unconsciousness where there is a real operation of God. But then a man might in
nowise comprehend that it is the Spirit of God; but this he knows full well,
that the word judges him - that it brings him in as guilty and altogether unfit
for the presence of God. Thus, "wafer" is the expression of the word dealing
morally with the soul, convicting the man of being unclean, and not merely,
cleansing. It is a question at first of the impartation of a new nature that the
man had not before. And as we have found the outward, so we have also the inner
character of this divine action: "Except a man be born of water and of the
Spirit."

It may be well, at this point, to refer to a few texts of Scripture which show
that, in different ways, this is the unquestionable meaning of the passage. Take
the apostle Paul, in the epistle to Titus, chapter 3, where he says that God
saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. I
purposely go no farther than this, because the next verse does convey a fuller
character of blessing than what our Lord here expresses. So far there is a most
evident link with our passage, even if the washing of regeneration be supposed
to present another application of water, or another figure; still regeneration
is in manifest harmony with the truth which our Lord had before Him, and was now
pressing on Nicodemus. Again, when we turn to the epistle of James (James 1:18),
"Of his own will begat he us," we find a beginning of a life that was not
possessed before. It was not merely that God had so enlightened us; it was not
merely that there were thoughts, views, truths, communicated to the mind, but
there is a new kind of life or nature which the soul never had before. "Of his
own will begat he us by the word of truth." Not only have we the begetting on
God’s part, but also the word of truth, the instrumental means. It clearly
connects itself with the "born of water" in our verse of John 3:1-36 Again we
read in the first epistle general of Peter, (1 Peter 1:22), "Seeing ye have
purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit [born of water and
of the Spirit] unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another
with a pure heart fervently; being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." The new
birth is by God’s word.

Texts need not be heaped up on a point which, it is to be presumed, will be
familiar to most here, but I thought it well just to give enough to show how it
runs through the inspired writers of God’s latest and fullest revelation. I have
therefore purposely chosen passages from different apostles. It is a common
truth whether Gentiles or Jews be written to, and whether Paul, or Peter, or
James be the writer. It is the same fundamental need of souls; but, in point of
fact, it found its richest and fullest expression, its most definite and at the
same time profoundest form, from the lips of our Lord Jesus. For such seems to
me beyond doubt the divine communication in John 3:3; John 3:5.

Another truth of great importance is annexed to it. Not only is there a new
nature; namely, as communicated by God’s word through the operation of His
Spirit, indispensable always, as we see, for man’s entrance; but besides that,
as the nature of man never can be etherealized, so to speak, never can be so
improved or modified as to rise up into any acquaintance with the things of God,
never can be changed into divine nature by any spiritual process whatsoever; so,
on the other hand, the new nature does not deteriorate, can never be reduced
into "the flesh," or the nature of man as he is. As our Lord says, on the one
hand, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh," so on the other, "that which
is born of the Spirit is spirit." It partakes of the character of its source.
Here we find that the great living agent, and not merely the instrument, is
brought before us. This I conceive to be most important. Had there been the
presentation of the water, or the word simply, it would have left the door open
to the mind of man - which, after all, is really included in "the flesh" - and
its pretensions would have led to a subtle kind of rationalism. But not so;
"that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." The word of God unquestionably is
what He uses; but still man is not born of the word in the strict sense; it is
by it, but not of it alone; it is of the Spirit, if you look to the real active
personal source.

"Marvel not," then, He says, "that I said unto you, Ye must be born again." Here
He presses the truth home in the most distinct manner - not merely on man - as
the want of all men who would enter God’s kingdom, but now "Ye must be born
again." This eminently leads Nicodemus to put his next question. "Jesus answered
and said unto him," (in answer to "How can these things be?") "Art thou a master
of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We
speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our
witness." Obviously this is a statement of the utmost value, as showing the
place of our Lord Jesus in this chapter. He speaks as One who is familiar with
God; not merely as One who acted from God, but who pronounced with His
authority, speaking as One who is absolutely and perfectly at home with God. "We
speak," says He, "that we do know;" and the word implies intimate knowledge -
intrinsic personal knowledge; not that which was given, which a prophet might
utter as presented to him, had he the means of revelation, but as One who knew
God and His glory consciously. Such seems the reason why He says in this verse,
"We speak that we do know." God alone, He who was God, could thus rightly speak,
and none other. In the consciousness of this divine knowledge therefore Jesus
speaks. At the same time also He gives His testimony as to what He had seen. It
was not only One who came from God, and so went to God, but also One who while
He was God speaks of scenes of glory in which He had been. He was with God as
well as was God; He had looked round upon that which was suitable, if I may so
say, to the presence of God; He was thoroughly acquainted with it all, not only
what suited God Himself, but also the sphere where God dwelt.

Accordingly, from this perfect knowledge of God and familiarity with heaven He
makes the declaration: "We speak that we do know, and testify that we have
seen." For this very reason man had no relish for it - nay, not only man in
general, but the Jews had not. Their place was the earth, and their constant
idea, founded upon the testimony of God, as Jews, was God revealing Himself
here; God blessing here; God putting down evil here; God delivering His people
by judgments here. But now there was One in their midst who differed essentially
from all that had ever been upon the earth, who was properly and exclusively the
Son of God. But here, so to speak, He takes, if it be possible, a place closer
than simply as One whom the Father owns upon earth, as beloved and a son to Him;
because you can conceive such a thing possible without His being absolutely God
in the fullest sense. But there is the union in Christ’s person, not only of the
relationship which He holds as the object of the Father’s delight, but of the
very nature of God Himself. Consequently there was not a thought in the Godhead
apart from Him, if indeed rightly we can speak of thought as belonging to God;
for, in point of fact, it is a wrong expression. God does not think - man does;
but God knows. So Jesus, the Son of God, had this absolute knowledge entirely
apart from revelation; He had this absolute knowledge of God, of that which was
in keeping with God’s presence, and nature, and kingdom; and accordingly here
upon earth He also communicates this. What a place to be in! What communion to
be brought into, beloved brethren, in the midst of this sea of sin and iniquity,
in the midst of men rising up, proud in their own poor thoughts, and evermore
proving that they are fallen and far from God - to have Him thus presented whom
man would fain, and does, deny to be God!

While I am on this subject, - which is one of the deepest possible interest, -
that it was only He who was man that could make known God to man, I am persuaded
that it is not in the nature of the Godhead, so to speak, simply as such, to
make itself known to man; and that the blessed scheme of God Himself, which was
His way of saving us, is just as necessary in order that we should know Him, as
it was for saving us. We are more apt to look at the incarnation of the Word, at
the Lord Jesus Christ here below, as a means of our being, delivered, and at the
fruit of His work in atonement: we are apt to think less of the infinite
privilege of knowing God; but, after all, to know the only true God, and Him
whom He has sent, is everlasting life. Now, for this very reason God is never
called the Truth, nowhere in Scripture, nor anything like it or equivalent. It
is a favourite expression of rationalism and infidelity, and for this reason,
that man of himself sets up to know God, but never does know Him; and
rationalism, by the very fact that it is the pretension of man to know God of
and in himself, never can; for God is only known in Christ, and for this reason
I do not know God, just because I am not God. Unless I be a partaker of the
divine nature, I cannot know Him. That is the reason why I have been insisting
upon this truth of the new birth. It is not faith merely, though of course there
is faith, and faith is the only possible way of being brought into the
possession of this nature. Again, it is not only the word, but by the Holy
Ghost’s application of the word, and bringing us in utterly lost as far as we
are concerned. Hence also it is really the partaking of a new nature by virtue
of which we know God. Now, I say, as long as it was simply God acting, or if it
had been merely this, there never could have been such a participation of His
nature; for a Being solely divine could not thus give of His own nature to man
unless He had revealed Himself in man; and it was as looking forward to Christ,
and always presenting Him as the object, that any soul ever did partake of the
divine nature, - that any soul ever was born of God. I need not say that the Old
Testament saints were thus born of God. Hence our Lord Jesus is not speaking
prospectively, but, in point of fact, absolutely, as is His manner in John
unless there be exceptions expressly named; that is, He looks prospectively and
retrospectively, looks right through the whole course of time into the kingdom
of God. And this is the passport into it: a man must be born of God or, as it is
explained here, born of water and of the Spirit.

Now the way in which this is done is by God’s good pleasure, of His own
sovereign love and wisdom, to bring Himself, so to speak, into the nature of man
- to reveal Himself in man, as well as to man; that is, He Himself remains in
another condition, and man is perfectly incapable of being brought into it
unless in this blessed way; but now He revealing Himself in a man, I, a man, can
know Him. By the working of the Holy Ghost, according to His own word, I can be
brought into vital association with that blessed Man who is God. And thus it is
that the profoundest truths of God, and those that might seem to have no
immediate connection with that of which we have been speaking, are proved to be
essential; as they are all riveted together in the faith of the children of God;
and, while they are admiring the wonderful way in which God has been pleased to
send His Son born of a woman - only thinking of it as a necessity for putting
away sin - they may learn that it is as necessary for any real knowledge of God
and communion with Him. I can know nothing, enjoy nothing of God, as I now know
and enjoy Him under Christianity, unless He be pleased to reveal it through the
man Christ Jesus. That is, according to the language of the day, so long as He
is simply the absolute, I cannot. Will He deign to become relative to me? Will
He come down into the condition in which I am? For this is the simple meaning of
such out-of-the-way language. This seems to be precisely the need our Lord here
has in view. He asserts in the strongest way that which pertains to Him as God:
"We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen." But then He had come
down here to speak to man, and accordingly it became a question of witness. He
bears testimony to the truth that it is the sole means by which man is brought
into this blessedness which we now enjoy: man must be born of water, and of the
Spirit. But what was the reception it met with from man? Man perceived his own
things round about him, where he had been born and bred. He did not care for the
things of God; nay, he was an enemy to God. Away from God, he disliked to hear
of His things, and of the sphere in which they only should appear. Such was the
tendency of man as he is by nature: "Ye receive not our witness." And it is
remarkable that this is found immediately after what might appear to be a very
easy reception in the chapter before ours, where, as we all know, they believed,
seeing the signs He wrought; but there was no reception of His witness. There
was an acceptance of the facts - that is, they acquiesced in what they could
see, and what they could judge. And man always thinks the better of himself on
account of this, because receiving simply on evidence puts man in the position
of a judge: he conceives, he infers, he concludes, and is all the bigger a man
because he does. It is something that falls in with the pride of man, who sets
himself up in the judgment-seat, even where a miracle of God’s power is in
question; whereas here it is God’s witness. Who does not know every day this
very thing? As long as souls are unexercised, they do not trouble themselves
about that which they hear; when men are in earnest, they question, or at least
sift and weigh. The twofold fact of either resisting obstinately, or of what you
may call an otiose reception of a testimony, equally proves that there is no
real work in the conscience. The reason of this is simple. If the thing sunk
into the heart as that in which it was deeply concerned, there would be at once
activity there. It might appear to be even too good; but, for all that, the
heart would be deeply moved, and the very anxiety would lead a person to examine
farther. At the same time there would be the desire that it should be true
wherever God was welcome to the soul, and this is the form the gospel takes:
when a person is utterly dead in trespasses and sins, the testimony of God
produces no effect. It is as easy to slight it on the one hand, as to profess it
on the other, The effect of indifference is, that you will find easy profession
or open hostility to the truth. In short, men lapse into the form either of a
mere profession of faith on the one hand, or open infidelity on the other; they
are just two forms at bottom of the same thing in the human mind, totally
different in appearance, but in truth equally unbelief. Whereas, wherever a soul
realizes the importance of it - and this must be so for the simple reason that
to have what may be called this easy-going faith in the presence of what Jesus
witnesses to us is utterly impossible - the truth, where it is believed in, must
move the heart. It is impossible that if, justly condemned and feeling that hell
must and ought to be my portion, I believe that God’s grace in Christ has
delivered me from it, so that I now look assuredly to go to heaven with Jesus;
it is impossible for one who believes this to look coolly on it all. Therefore,
when you find this kind of inert common-place traditional faith, receiving
things with the utmost rapidity, and with no real action on the conscience and
heart, it is quite evident that there is no vital work of God: it is a mere
human conviction or feeling in the mind, and consequently good for nothing. Our
Lord puts the case according to His own divine knowledge of testimony, and tells
us of the resistance or indifference it encounters from man. But along with this
He hints at higher things: "If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe
not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you heavenly things?" This leads us to an
important point that modifies what had been laid down. If any here should find
it outside their ordinary thoughts, I trust they will weigh the words of our
Lord; for it is His truth, not human speculation, that I would press. Our Lord
Jesus had spoken in the strongest way of the absolute necessity of the new birth
for every or any man that enters the kingdom of God. This we must take both
backwards and forwards throughout the whole course of the dealings of God. Now
there is new language. From the moment that He presents Himself as bringing in
this full divine testimony which man does not receive, He speaks of the blessing
in a far richer and more precise style. All who are to be in the kingdom of God,
whether in the earthly or in the heavenly things, whether below or above, when
that kingdom is established and displayed in both its parts, all within it must
be born again. But while a soul that receives the gospel now is born of God, it
is very far short of expressing the full truth merely to speak of it as new
birth. It is not so that Christ puts the matter in the very discourse in which
He insists most on being born of the Spirit. "If I have told you earthly things,
and ye believe not [for which it was an essential condition to be born of God],
how shall ye believe, if I tell you heavenly things?" Connected with these last,
He says, "No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven,
even the Son of man which is in heaven." Thus He confirms what has been said
before, that He is presenting Himself as most truly man, the rejected Christ,
the Son of man, but as certainly God. Heaven was that to which He belonged, or
rather it to Him. This was an entirely new realm, and the surroundings are as
new. As born of a woman, born under law, even He was seen and known on earth,
and in time, yet spite of all His grace, power, and glory, man would not have
Him; but He who was now manifested in the flesh here below was really the
only-begotten Son in the bosom of the Father, and claims even as the rejected
One to be the Son of Man who is in heaven.

Observe the language carefully. It is not merely that He had been in heaven, for
that is altogether short of the truth; He is there; it matters not when or where
He is viewed - He is always the Son of man who is in heaven. His being the
humbled man only gave occasion to a new glory for God and man, as it was the
turning-point of a fresh and fuller knowledge of God by man. There was One who,
Himself the Infinite, entered into what was limited, in order that they, men as
they were, should enter into the knowledge of God, and see the Father in Him.
They must be met by the word; they must hear One who is man, as He is God. It
was grace, but it was truth; it was the only way in which the truth could be
revealed. Before this there was only a partial manifestation; but the wonderful
thing is that the full manifestation of the truth is found in man - One who is
divine, but none the less man. Nothing therefore can be farther from the fact
than the thought, that because Christ is come in the flesh, appearing in a
limited sphere, the truth cannot be known In point of fact, till the Word was
made flesh, the truth could not be fully revealed. It is precisely in the
combination of seemingly incompatible elements united in the person of Jesus
that the truth appears. For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by
Jesus Christ. He alone is the One who conciliates God with His righteousness
saving in grace, who at the same time humbled Himself and glorified God to the
uttermost. It is this blessed man who is the pattern of all lowliness, who,
nevertheless, blots out all the glory of man in one word like this: "No man," He
says, "hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven." Nor was
it merely that He came down. Others might be caught up, as we know, by an act of
power; but He could take it for His own proper portion, walking into it as
simply as possible when the hour came. More than this, as we have seen, He is in
heaven. It was not merely a question of going there, He was "the Son of man who
is in heaven." This therefore attaches to Him as a divine person, and could be
said of none else; and more than this, it attaches to this one divine person,
and to none other. As a man, I cannot rise above the things of man: such are the
limits of the human spirit; it cannot per se reach up to God, or the things of
God, who alone can reveal Himself - alone does reveal Himself in the Word, the
Son, and this only efficaciously by the Holy Spirit. This is the reason why the
Spirit of God is said to be the truth, as well as Christ; the one as objectively
viewed, the other as inward power. The Lord Jesus, then, having brought in His
own divine person after this manner, next discloses the need of a work to be
done, in order to give God a righteous title to bestow the blessing of His own
nature on sinful man. Accordingly this He does thus: "As Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but" - what? be born again? No -
"have eternal life." Manifestly there is a difference, and of the most weighty
and suggestive character. There is no need of strong language to set it forth;
for indeed it cannot well be exaggerated. Again, I am not in the least denying,
if one were born of God or afresh in the Old Testament times, that he has divine
life, or that this life is eternal. Therefore you will understand that in no way
is the fact questioned that all the saints, from beginning to end, have life
everlasting. Still, we are bound to believe that the Lord is wise, and had an
all-sufficient reason for introducing at this point so marked a difference. For
now, for the first time, after having already asserted the universality of being
born again, when He comes to express the application of this truth to the
believer, founded on redemption, observe, founded on His own death as the Son of
man lifted up on the cross, He will not describe it simply as a new birth, but
gives it another style and quality in His expression of it. Of course, He, the
Son, is the quickener of all saints, and therefore it is to me no question
whether the Old Testament saints have not been quickened as really as ourselves:
assuredly they must be and were. I hold, that there never was but one Saviour,
and consequently that the new birth, which all need for God’s kingdom, is ever
the impartation, by the Spirit, of the life which is in the Son of God.

Nevertheless, I maintain with equal certainty, and on the positive authority of
the word of my Saviour Himself, that He, when pleased to describe our place,
refuses, if I may so say, to merge it merely in what belonged to all at all
times. Thus, even to this universal and common truth, in its application to us
since redemption, He gives an uncommon expression. How marvellously, then, the
Spirit of God has shown, in this simple way, the honour that He puts on Christ
and on redemption, when He brings near this glorious fact, this work worthy of
God - the greatest, so to speak, in which God ever showed Himself forth, even in
speaking of what is universal (in the sense of attaching to every child of His,
in all ages and dispensations). Nevertheless, now the Saviour presents it in
this new title and greatly enhanced quality. If we search into the Old Testament
we may find eternal life spoken of, or what is tantamount to it; for we do not
stand upon technicalities, but speak of things in a practical point of view - we
speak of a reality which our Lord utters, and has kept in the inspired record as
of the utmost importance for all of us to take heed to. I say, then, that the
Lord does not vary phrases needlessly, but that if He gives another form, He
means that we are to take notice of the difference. Have we meekness of wisdom
if we do not? This appears to me the sum of what we read in the Old Testament.
Eternal life is spoken of in Daniel 12:1-13, for instance, and "life for
evermore" comes before us in the end of Psalms 133:1-3; but we may remark this
in those two expressions of "life for evermore" and "eternal life" - they are
bound up with the hope of Messiah’s presence and reign, when He brings in the
kingdom of God as a matter of visible display. But the wonderful truth that
appears in John is, that the glory of the Son’s person, being now manifested,
brings us into the blessing entirely apart from all such future display. We wait
for nothing else: the reason is, because we have Him. Consequently, although the
kingdom may not yet be come in this sense, although there be not yet the
establishment of public blessing, although in fact the Jews, instead of being
blessed, are still subject to the curse under which they put themselves, "His
blood be on us and on our children," and wrath come upon them to the uttermost
(that is, the complete putting off of the promises, as far as they are
concerned, for the time; and the postponement of the kingdom), in spite of all
this, we are ushered even now into an unbounded scene of rich and divine
blessing, and for this reason, because we have Christ, and have Him thus and
now.

What makes the thing so touching, as well as instructive, lies in this, that we
have now the comfort and joy of personal association with Himself. If only "born
again," surely it is a great mercy; but it does not give anything of the sort. I
find this indispensable qualification for God’s kingdom from and through Christ
doubtless; but it does not associate me in terms with Christ. Nobody could speak
of Christ being born again: the man who did so would be a blasphemer, and must
deny the person of Christ. Therefore, in speaking or hearing of "born again," if
this was merely the expression, it rather keeps one from realizing
identification with Christ; for it would remind us of the essential difference
between what man acquires by grace and what was in Christ. But the moment He
speaks of eternal life, I share in this at once. My portion in Him is eternal
life; for He is that eternal life which was with the Father, so that instead of
dissociation in the manner in which the Lord speaks of my participation in the
new nature, this blessedness is now presented after a sort which is true of
Christ Himself. Not merely is it a question of being brought into a common
position, so to speak, of the body and the Head, which is not the point here
(for there is always a deeper thing than this in John, who I believe in
strictness does not treat of our corporate place): the point with him is
community of life and nature, rather than the oneness of the body. At any rate,
such is exactly what we find here; that is, we now know that Christ speaks of
His own manifestation here, His own bearing of divine testimony, and this not as
a mere instrument according, to God, but a personally divine testimony; for this
is the scope of verse 11 - "We speak that we do know, and testify that we have
seen." Thus we see the fulness of the blessing made ours. He is not content with
saying, Ye must be born again. This was always, and must be, true; but now, who
can deny that, although it was the same blessing substantially, the character in
which He clothes it and brings it to my soul carries its own witness of the
truth, that I receive by grace what He has and is? He, the Son, is the eternal
life, as well as true God. But what availed it, as far as we were concerned,
that God was thus manifested in Him here below? He abode alone; and man, too,
abiding outside Him, was dead as well as in impenetrable darkness. He, the
Saviour, died and rose; and I receive Him, and know that "he that hath the Son
hath life," and that this life is eternal life. But if I merely look at the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ as the necessary basis of divine righteousness,
whilst it was also the fullest display of pity for me a guilty and needy sinner,
this of itself would never settle my soul in perfect peace before God, still
less would it give an adequate knowledge of Him. Therefore comes out another
expression, repeating, it might seem, the same result, as in verses 13, 14, but
really from a yet higher source; "for God," says the Son, "so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life." There had not been a word about God’s "love"
before, any more than about "the world," in this discourse; it was purely the
intervention of the Son of man, and this, of course, in view of what was
absolutely necessary. Just as a man must be born anew to enter the kingdom, so
He must be lifted up on the cross, if there was to be an efficacious work in
righteousness for the sinner. But now there is far more; for that never could
satisfy God’s love, - who is most defectively known if there be no more than a
"must be." Not so. Let me see what He is; let me know what He feels; let me have
the witness of His own grace in Christ. Is it a boon wrung out from God? Far be
the thought! Does He, is He, not love? Let me listen more to that which Jesus
tells us, who knew as none but He could know or tell. Yea He, the Son, knew Him
perfectly, and would make Him known as He is and feels even about the world. And
so, therefore, He adds, crowning this blessed revelation in Himself of God’s
grace and truth, shown in His work as in His very person too, - crowning it, I
say, with a declaration truly divine: "God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life."

How blessed, my brethren, to have this eternal life; and to know that we have
it; to have it, too, not merely as that which is to come to us as the hard-won
spoil of redemption, but also as the free and full - and spontaneous fruit, so
to speak, of His love, given us in Him who was Himself the most intimate object
of the Father’s love. Thus to those who deserve nothing less God would display
what He is in the best gift even He could give; not merely because I could not
be blessed otherwise, but because He would according to His own heart bless me
to the full. He has given me that life, which is never said to be in any other,
in His Son, which in Him I see to be absolutely perfect, which having in Him I
am capable of fellowship here below with Himself.

Surely, however blessed it is to have our sin and misery met, it is incomparably
more to have the positive side of the blessing, to have that in which He Himself
can and did delight in Jesus as He beheld Him walk in all dependence and
obedience, in light and love-the more wondrous because in man on earth. It is
that life which reciprocates His mind and feelings, enters into all His joys,
takes part in all the grief with which He looks upon rebellious man and a ruined
world, and now, alas! we must add a guilty Christendom. "In Him was life." How
blessed now for us to have in Him that very life already proved, spite of all
and in the midst of all, to rise up to all that is in God; and yet exercised in
every circumstance that can befall the heart of man! And this, brethren, is
what, as possessed of eternal life in Christ, we are now partakers of in the
grace of our God; for the life which we now live in the flesh, we live by the
faith of the Son of God, founded on His redemption in love. It is, as a
Christian, no longer the old I, but Christ that lives in me: such is its source
and character. Christ, too, is the object; but along with the object there is
life, and this life is in Himself, in the Son of God, even eternal life. The
Lord bless His own word, giving our souls to hold fast every truth that we have
known, but to learn that God is still active in His love, and would impart
greater freedom and fulness to us in realizing a growing sense of association
with Christ. Assuredly this has been the secret; if indeed we have made already
any real advance, it has always been in this direction. Such are our best
blessings; such, I am persuaded, they will prove throughout all eternity. May
we, meanwhile, be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, that
Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith, being rooted and grounded in love, that
we may be able to comprehend the glory before us, and know His love that passeth
knowledge, and so be filled with all the fulness of God.


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  CHAPTER 23: THE NEW TESTAMENT DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
========================================================================

The New Testament Doctrine of the Holy Spirit. by William Kelly The New Birth
and Eternal Life. The "Well of water springing up into everlasting life."

"Rivers of living water." The Paraclete, or Comforter.

"Receive ye the Holy Spirit" The Gift of the Spirit and the Gifts. In the Spirit
and the Spirit in you.

"Baptized by one Spirit into one body" The Spirit in the Apocalypse as compared
with the Epistles.

"An habitation of God through the Spirit."

Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, Appendix. The New Birth and Eternal Life.

John 3:1-36 Lecture 1 of ’The New Testament Doctrine of the Holy Spirit.’

W. Kelly.

John 3:5. The subject of which I propose to treat will demand, as the course of
lectures may call for it, the development, according to God’s word, of many
operations of the Holy Ghost only experienced under Christianity, which were
unknown in the times which preceded the death and resurrection of our Lord
Jesus. But I rejoice to begin this night with that which spreads itself over the
entire dealings of God in His mercy towards His saints at all times. That is, we
enter on what is not special, save only as the knowledge of God Himself must
distinguish souls in a lost world where grace chooses and saves - what is not
special in the sense of being brought out and enjoyed, under peculiar
circumstances and at a particular period, in the ways of God with man. On the
contrary, what comes before us now is universal for God’s children, was found in
the earliest days since sin entered into the world, was never superseded, nor
can be, till the last trace of sin is gone for ever. It is the one fundamental
want for every soul of man who is brought out of the condition of fallen man -
the common lot of man appointed, as we know, to die, and after that to judgment.
God would make Himself known, would reveal Himself; it might be only partially,
after sundry measures, and in many manners, as the apostle tells us in Hebrews
1; but, whatever the measure or the mode of His revelations, God has always
wrought in sovereign mercy to souls, and He has given of His own nature to those
who believe here below. This is what is meant by being born again. Nor was there
ever a time when it was more necessary than now, not only to assert what is
special, but to cleave to that which is universal in the sense just now
explained. Let us maintain then that which never changes; while, at the same
time, we leave ample space for whatever it may please God according to His own
wisdom to bring in, amplifying, clearing, brightening, deepening, and that in
every possible form. There is progress, I need not say, in the way in which God
does manifest Himself; at any rate, till Christ appeared, and His work was
accomplished. Not that I speak of progress since, but that, in the unfolding of
the word of God from the beginning, there is most manifestly an enlarging view
given of the divine ways - given until God, and not merely His ways, were fully
manifested.

Across the whole course of these varying dispensations, as I gladly allow, we
have this great blessing enjoyed. And the reason is manifest: a God of goodness
on the one hand, and lost man on the other. "My Father worketh hitherto," said
the Son, also working in grace. Conscience may give its intimations of a God and
His judgment; but the mind of man never can rise above the fact, or rather the
inference, that there must be a God. God Himself is never thus known. Mind, as
such, is incapable of finding out God; and, in point of fact, that which gave
scope to the reason of man was his ruin. He reasons about God because he has
lost God; and all that reasoning can discover in any of its processes is not
what is, but simply, granting this and that, what must be. But a God that simply
must be is awful to a conscience burdened with its guilt. The God that must be
for him - that is, for a sinner - must be a judge; and if God be the judge of
sin and of sinners, what must be the sinner’s lot? If the righteous even with
difficulty be saved, where shall the ungodly appear?

Now, in the face of all this, God has not merely given a revelation, made
promises, given even still more distinct prophetic delineations of what He meant
to do: this He has done from the very first; but there was always more than
this. And it is of very great consequence to souls even now to recognise that it
is not only a direction of the soul of the believer toward God by faith, but
that there is, and has always been, far more. It is not too much to assume that
those who listen to me here have no need to be told what that link really is. I
do not refer now to the new fact that God has sent down the Holy Ghost; but I
say, that while there was always faith, there was always more than faith. It is
a very imperfect and even pernicious view, that souls simply look to God.
However true this is, it is but a part of the truth. Besides the look of faith,
besides the laying hold of the word of God by the operation of the Spirit in the
soul, there is such a thing as spiritual life; and there always was such a
thing; for it is the necessary condition of having to do with God. There always
was, as there is, a positive new nature given to the believer; that is, it is
not merely a question of faith, but of a new life. Faith, of course, is the only
means whereby this new nature is imparted, as I shall hope to show; and faith is
the true means for the soul to assure itself that it is thus born of God. There
may be other evidences to other eyes and hearts; but faith is that which is
intended of God to give its possessor the certainty that he is born of God.

Now this truth and indispensable necessity, although always made good in
believers, it is evident before Christ was very feebly understood, and, in point
of fact during Old Testament times, was rather implied than explicitly taught.
It may be presented in figure, and there may be moral expressions; but nowhere
is there a distinct statement of a new birth, save as a predicted privilege. The
consequence was, when Nicodemus came to our Lord Jesus, arrested by that which
he had seen, but, at the same time, with the sense of a deeper want in his soul,
though totally ignorant of what he wanted, he was taken aback and confounded by
our Lord’s strong assertion to him, that except one were born again, he could
not even see the kingdom of God. The Jews had quietly settled down in the
conviction that the Messiah could and would do everything for them. Nor were
they, in one sense, wrong. When He came, even the Samaritans were satisfied that
Messiah would show or teach them all things; and the Jews knew that it was not a
question merely of teaching, but that He would do all things; He would bring in
everlasting righteousness, seal up the vision, anoint the most holy, deal with
sin, iniquity, everything. They knew most imperfectly how it was to be done.
Still there was a vague, general, yet, at the same time, sure conviction on the
mind of every Jew, except, we may say, the infidel portion of them, that the
coming of the Messiah would be the turning-point of the world, and would be more
especially the incoming of all promised and expected blessing for Israel. Hence
it was most startling to hear so solemn an announcement from One now found
present in their very midst, whom His forerunner, John the Baptist, declared to
be the Messiah, from One who had manifested by miracles that He was really a
teacher come from God at the very least. Yet this very One stopped Nicodemus at
the threshold with the most cutting declaration of a necessity that he had never
apprehended before, and this put in so broad a manner as to make it as absolute
for a Jew as for a Gentile. "Except a man be," etc. No exceptions were
entertained, no exemption was allowed, for the chosen family of Abraham. It was
a divine requirement for those near, as well as the remote. "Except a man be
born afresh, he cannot see the kingdom of God." The consequence is, that
Nicodemus puts, as we know, a most unintelligent question to our Lord, how such
a thing could be: "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second
time into his mother’s womb and be born?" But at least his question proves that
"born from above" is not at all the true meaning of the verse. Had the Lord
given Nicodemus to judge that this was the meaning, such a question could not
have been proposed. No; He meant to be born afresh, born from the very outset,
so to speak. It appears to be the strongest possible expression of this; at any
rate, I do not know a stronger one in Scripture. This accordingly brings out
from our Lord Jesus the statement on which I desire to enlarge a little
to-night: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." He that sees the kingdom
enters the kingdom; but there is no seeing nor entering, unless there be this
new birth. What, then, is its source and character? Our Lord here explains. He
does it, as is habitually done in His discourses to the Jews in this Gospel,
after a figurative sort. In the chapter before, when there was a question about
the temple, He adopted that figure for His own body - Himself. In the chapter
that follows He takes up another from the circumstance of the wants of the
Samaritan woman; and a well of water becomes the image of that infinite blessing
on which we shall hope to dwell a little by-and-by; and so I might go through
the Gospel, and prove that this adoption of some well-known figure startles by
the very fact that it is a figure, but by no means obscures; for this is never
the object of figures in Scripture, or in any honest writing. The true object is
rather to compress into one word the truth which might otherwise need to be
expanded into many words; so that a word becomes what may be called an
image-word of truth, and therefore bright with the light of God. And so, I doubt
not, it is in this case. Now these images were used in the Old Testament
prophets, and used too in connection with this very blessing. This was therefore
what furnished occasion to the Lord, with a justice that appealed to Nicodemus’
own conscience, to censure him who stood in the relation of teacher to Israel
(for this is the meaning); not, I apprehend, in some special manner as the
master, but the usual article of contrast with Israel as the scholar. Our Lord,
then, does tacitly refer to passages in the Old Testament which ought to have
made His allusion and meaning intelligible to Nicodemus. Take Isaiah 44:1-28 for
instance. Had not God there promised to pour water upon him that was thirsty?
Had He not promised to pour His Spirit upon the seed of Jacob? Had He not still
more plainly declared, in Ezekiel 36:1-38, that when He gathered Israel into the
land, He would there take away their stony heart, and put into them a heart of
flesh, sprinkle clean water upon them, and put His Spirit within them - the
precise two elements of our Lord’s statement? Thus in this place the Saviour
does most clearly keep in view these Old Testament figures. Indeed, it was not
some absolutely new privilege; it was, on the contrary, only the assertion,
according to His own special dignity and glory, of a universal need in a manner
suitable to Himself. That is, the Lord does give the whole scope of truth as to
this found throughout the Scriptures, but then He brings it all to a point, and
clothes it with that force which was proper to the Son of God, if He took the
place of a teacher upon the earth. How could He, if He taught, merely teach as
another? "Never man spake like this man." Therefore, even while He is only
taking up, so to speak, what was found before (at least in prophecy), and what
ought thence to have been known from of old, nevertheless He gives it a
characteristic depth in the form in which He presents it to Nicodemus. Hence it
is no question of being sprinkled, or having a new heart given, or "a new spirit
put within," but, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit" - an
incomparably momentous, primary, and practical truth.

I deny not that there are other truths more apt to draw out the affections, and
to fix them on the person of the Saviour, bringing the soul into full liberty,
peace, joy, as well as power here below. Surely there are; but none has so much
the character of a foundation, save only Christ and His work in which God
Himself was glorified, and glorified too in such a sort, that He could thus
righteously bless and give His own nature to a poor sinner. With His own divine
perfectness the Lord here, in a single word, changes all, so to speak; for while
the truth is adopted from others, nevertheless there is a new beauty, and there
is such divine energy given to it, that we can well apprehend how glorious the
person must be that utters the truth after such a sort. "Except a man be born of
water and of the Spirit." It is in truth a new nature; it is that which has no
foundation in man, no source save in God; it is God Himself who has His own
kingdom; it is God Himself that is the centre of it, who fills it in the person
of Christ His Son, and, therefore, who should give a new nature. For what nature
could be suitably presented? It must be, and it is, the divine nature. "Except a
man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of
God." And thus, then, we come to the terms.

I have drawn attention to the force of being "born anew" found in the earlier
statements. Next, the briefer expression in the third verse is expanded in the
fifth. But now, if we look at the manner in which this birth is characterized,
it is "of water." Water, in Scripture, is habitually employed as the figure of
the word of God applied by the Spirit. It may be used also for the Spirit
Himself in His own power; but still I need not point out the close connection
there is between these two thoughts. However, here we have the Spirit
distinguished from it, and this shows us at once the reason of the difference.
The water is mentioned because God would draw attention to the character of what
is applied, to what deals morally with the man. He might not at first be aware
that what made him sensible of his uncleanness was the Spirit of God. There must
always indeed be in the soul, whenever the Holy Ghost thus acts, a consciousness
that there is a dealing of some sort. In a word there never is or can be
unconsciousness where there is a real operation of God. But then a man might in
nowise comprehend that it is the Spirit of God; but this he knows full well,
that the word judges him - that it brings him in as guilty and altogether unfit
for the presence of God. Thus, "wafer" is the expression of the word dealing
morally with the soul, convicting the man of being unclean, and not merely,
cleansing. It is a question at first of the impartation of a new nature that the
man had not before. And as we have found the outward, so we have also the inner
character of this divine action: "Except a man be born of water and of the
Spirit."

It may be well, at this point, to refer to a few texts of Scripture which show
that, in different ways, this is the unquestionable meaning of the passage. Take
the apostle Paul, in the epistle to Titus, chapter 3, where he says that God
saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. I
purposely go no farther than this, because the next verse does convey a fuller
character of blessing than what our Lord here expresses. So far there is a most
evident link with our passage, even if the washing of regeneration be supposed
to present another application of water, or another figure; still regeneration
is in manifest harmony with the truth which our Lord had before Him, and was now
pressing on Nicodemus. Again, when we turn to the epistle of James (James 1:18),
"Of his own will begat he us," we find a beginning of a life that was not
possessed before. It was not merely that God had so enlightened us; it was not
merely that there were thoughts, views, truths, communicated to the mind, but
there is a new kind of life or nature which the soul never had before. "Of his
own will begat he us by the word of truth." Not only have we the begetting on
God’s part, but also the word of truth, the instrumental means. It clearly
connects itself with the "born of water" in our verse of John 3:1-36 Again we
read in the first epistle general of Peter, (1 Peter 1:22), "Seeing ye have
purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit [born of water and
of the Spirit] unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another
with a pure heart fervently; being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." The new
birth is by God’s word.

Texts need not be heaped up on a point which, it is to be presumed, will be
familiar to most here, but I thought it well just to give enough to show how it
runs through the inspired writers of God’s latest and fullest revelation. I have
therefore purposely chosen passages from different apostles. It is a common
truth whether Gentiles or Jews be written to, and whether Paul, or Peter, or
James be the writer. It is the same fundamental need of souls; but, in point of
fact, it found its richest and fullest expression, its most definite and at the
same time profoundest form, from the lips of our Lord Jesus. For such seems to
me beyond doubt the divine communication in John 3:3; John 3:5.

Another truth of great importance is annexed to it. Not only is there a new
nature; namely, as communicated by God’s word through the operation of His
Spirit, indispensable always, as we see, for man’s entrance; but besides that,
as the nature of man never can be etherealized, so to speak, never can be so
improved or modified as to rise up into any acquaintance with the things of God,
never can be changed into divine nature by any spiritual process whatsoever; so,
on the other hand, the new nature does not deteriorate, can never be reduced
into "the flesh," or the nature of man as he is. As our Lord says, on the one
hand, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh," so on the other, "that which
is born of the Spirit is spirit." It partakes of the character of its source.
Here we find that the great living agent, and not merely the instrument, is
brought before us. This I conceive to be most important. Had there been the
presentation of the water, or the word simply, it would have left the door open
to the mind of man - which, after all, is really included in "the flesh" - and
its pretensions would have led to a subtle kind of rationalism. But not so;
"that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." The word of God unquestionably is
what He uses; but still man is not born of the word in the strict sense; it is
by it, but not of it alone; it is of the Spirit, if you look to the real active
personal source.

"Marvel not," then, He says, "that I said unto you, Ye must be born again." Here
He presses the truth home in the most distinct manner - not merely on man - as
the want of all men who would enter God’s kingdom, but now "Ye must be born
again." This eminently leads Nicodemus to put his next question. "Jesus answered
and said unto him," (in answer to "How can these things be?") "Art thou a master
of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We
speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our
witness." Obviously this is a statement of the utmost value, as showing the
place of our Lord Jesus in this chapter. He speaks as One who is familiar with
God; not merely as One who acted from God, but who pronounced with His
authority, speaking as One who is absolutely and perfectly at home with God. "We
speak," says He, "that we do know;" and the word implies intimate knowledge -
intrinsic personal knowledge; not that which was given, which a prophet might
utter as presented to him, had he the means of revelation, but as One who knew
God and His glory consciously. Such seems the reason why He says in this verse,
"We speak that we do know." God alone, He who was God, could thus rightly speak,
and none other. In the consciousness of this divine knowledge therefore Jesus
speaks. At the same time also He gives His testimony as to what He had seen. It
was not only One who came from God, and so went to God, but also One who while
He was God speaks of scenes of glory in which He had been. He was with God as
well as was God; He had looked round upon that which was suitable, if I may so
say, to the presence of God; He was thoroughly acquainted with it all, not only
what suited God Himself, but also the sphere where God dwelt.

Accordingly, from this perfect knowledge of God and familiarity with heaven He
makes the declaration: "We speak that we do know, and testify that we have
seen." For this very reason man had no relish for it - nay, not only man in
general, but the Jews had not. Their place was the earth, and their constant
idea, founded upon the testimony of God, as Jews, was God revealing Himself
here; God blessing here; God putting down evil here; God delivering His people
by judgments here. But now there was One in their midst who differed essentially
from all that had ever been upon the earth, who was properly and exclusively the
Son of God. But here, so to speak, He takes, if it be possible, a place closer
than simply as One whom the Father owns upon earth, as beloved and a son to Him;
because you can conceive such a thing possible without His being absolutely God
in the fullest sense. But there is the union in Christ’s person, not only of the
relationship which He holds as the object of the Father’s delight, but of the
very nature of God Himself. Consequently there was not a thought in the Godhead
apart from Him, if indeed rightly we can speak of thought as belonging to God;
for, in point of fact, it is a wrong expression. God does not think - man does;
but God knows. So Jesus, the Son of God, had this absolute knowledge entirely
apart from revelation; He had this absolute knowledge of God, of that which was
in keeping with God’s presence, and nature, and kingdom; and accordingly here
upon earth He also communicates this. What a place to be in! What communion to
be brought into, beloved brethren, in the midst of this sea of sin and iniquity,
in the midst of men rising up, proud in their own poor thoughts, and evermore
proving that they are fallen and far from God - to have Him thus presented whom
man would fain, and does, deny to be God!

While I am on this subject, - which is one of the deepest possible interest, -
that it was only He who was man that could make known God to man, I am persuaded
that it is not in the nature of the Godhead, so to speak, simply as such, to
make itself known to man; and that the blessed scheme of God Himself, which was
His way of saving us, is just as necessary in order that we should know Him, as
it was for saving us. We are more apt to look at the incarnation of the Word, at
the Lord Jesus Christ here below, as a means of our being, delivered, and at the
fruit of His work in atonement: we are apt to think less of the infinite
privilege of knowing God; but, after all, to know the only true God, and Him
whom He has sent, is everlasting life. Now, for this very reason God is never
called the Truth, nowhere in Scripture, nor anything like it or equivalent. It
is a favourite expression of rationalism and infidelity, and for this reason,
that man of himself sets up to know God, but never does know Him; and
rationalism, by the very fact that it is the pretension of man to know God of
and in himself, never can; for God is only known in Christ, and for this reason
I do not know God, just because I am not God. Unless I be a partaker of the
divine nature, I cannot know Him. That is the reason why I have been insisting
upon this truth of the new birth. It is not faith merely, though of course there
is faith, and faith is the only possible way of being brought into the
possession of this nature. Again, it is not only the word, but by the Holy
Ghost’s application of the word, and bringing us in utterly lost as far as we
are concerned. Hence also it is really the partaking of a new nature by virtue
of which we know God. Now, I say, as long as it was simply God acting, or if it
had been merely this, there never could have been such a participation of His
nature; for a Being solely divine could not thus give of His own nature to man
unless He had revealed Himself in man; and it was as looking forward to Christ,
and always presenting Him as the object, that any soul ever did partake of the
divine nature, - that any soul ever was born of God. I need not say that the Old
Testament saints were thus born of God. Hence our Lord Jesus is not speaking
prospectively, but, in point of fact, absolutely, as is His manner in John
unless there be exceptions expressly named; that is, He looks prospectively and
retrospectively, looks right through the whole course of time into the kingdom
of God. And this is the passport into it: a man must be born of God or, as it is
explained here, born of water and of the Spirit.

Now the way in which this is done is by God’s good pleasure, of His own
sovereign love and wisdom, to bring Himself, so to speak, into the nature of man
- to reveal Himself in man, as well as to man; that is, He Himself remains in
another condition, and man is perfectly incapable of being brought into it
unless in this blessed way; but now He revealing Himself in a man, I, a man, can
know Him. By the working of the Holy Ghost, according to His own word, I can be
brought into vital association with that blessed Man who is God. And thus it is
that the profoundest truths of God, and those that might seem to have no
immediate connection with that of which we have been speaking, are proved to be
essential; as they are all riveted together in the faith of the children of God;
and, while they are admiring the wonderful way in which God has been pleased to
send His Son born of a woman - only thinking of it as a necessity for putting
away sin - they may learn that it is as necessary for any real knowledge of God
and communion with Him. I can know nothing, enjoy nothing of God, as I now know
and enjoy Him under Christianity, unless He be pleased to reveal it through the
man Christ Jesus. That is, according to the language of the day, so long as He
is simply the absolute, I cannot. Will He deign to become relative to me? Will
He come down into the condition in which I am? For this is the simple meaning of
such out-of-the-way language. This seems to be precisely the need our Lord here
has in view. He asserts in the strongest way that which pertains to Him as God:
"We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen." But then He had come
down here to speak to man, and accordingly it became a question of witness. He
bears testimony to the truth that it is the sole means by which man is brought
into this blessedness which we now enjoy: man must be born of water, and of the
Spirit. But what was the reception it met with from man? Man perceived his own
things round about him, where he had been born and bred. He did not care for the
things of God; nay, he was an enemy to God. Away from God, he disliked to hear
of His things, and of the sphere in which they only should appear. Such was the
tendency of man as he is by nature: "Ye receive not our witness." And it is
remarkable that this is found immediately after what might appear to be a very
easy reception in the chapter before ours, where, as we all know, they believed,
seeing the signs He wrought; but there was no reception of His witness. There
was an acceptance of the facts - that is, they acquiesced in what they could
see, and what they could judge. And man always thinks the better of himself on
account of this, because receiving simply on evidence puts man in the position
of a judge: he conceives, he infers, he concludes, and is all the bigger a man
because he does. It is something that falls in with the pride of man, who sets
himself up in the judgment-seat, even where a miracle of God’s power is in
question; whereas here it is God’s witness. Who does not know every day this
very thing? As long as souls are unexercised, they do not trouble themselves
about that which they hear; when men are in earnest, they question, or at least
sift and weigh. The twofold fact of either resisting obstinately, or of what you
may call an otiose reception of a testimony, equally proves that there is no
real work in the conscience. The reason of this is simple. If the thing sunk
into the heart as that in which it was deeply concerned, there would be at once
activity there. It might appear to be even too good; but, for all that, the
heart would be deeply moved, and the very anxiety would lead a person to examine
farther. At the same time there would be the desire that it should be true
wherever God was welcome to the soul, and this is the form the gospel takes:
when a person is utterly dead in trespasses and sins, the testimony of God
produces no effect. It is as easy to slight it on the one hand, as to profess it
on the other, The effect of indifference is, that you will find easy profession
or open hostility to the truth. In short, men lapse into the form either of a
mere profession of faith on the one hand, or open infidelity on the other; they
are just two forms at bottom of the same thing in the human mind, totally
different in appearance, but in truth equally unbelief. Whereas, wherever a soul
realizes the importance of it - and this must be so for the simple reason that
to have what may be called this easy-going faith in the presence of what Jesus
witnesses to us is utterly impossible - the truth, where it is believed in, must
move the heart. It is impossible that if, justly condemned and feeling that hell
must and ought to be my portion, I believe that God’s grace in Christ has
delivered me from it, so that I now look assuredly to go to heaven with Jesus;
it is impossible for one who believes this to look coolly on it all. Therefore,
when you find this kind of inert common-place traditional faith, receiving
things with the utmost rapidity, and with no real action on the conscience and
heart, it is quite evident that there is no vital work of God: it is a mere
human conviction or feeling in the mind, and consequently good for nothing. Our
Lord puts the case according to His own divine knowledge of testimony, and tells
us of the resistance or indifference it encounters from man. But along with this
He hints at higher things: "If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe
not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you heavenly things?" This leads us to an
important point that modifies what had been laid down. If any here should find
it outside their ordinary thoughts, I trust they will weigh the words of our
Lord; for it is His truth, not human speculation, that I would press. Our Lord
Jesus had spoken in the strongest way of the absolute necessity of the new birth
for every or any man that enters the kingdom of God. This we must take both
backwards and forwards throughout the whole course of the dealings of God. Now
there is new language. From the moment that He presents Himself as bringing in
this full divine testimony which man does not receive, He speaks of the blessing
in a far richer and more precise style. All who are to be in the kingdom of God,
whether in the earthly or in the heavenly things, whether below or above, when
that kingdom is established and displayed in both its parts, all within it must
be born again. But while a soul that receives the gospel now is born of God, it
is very far short of expressing the full truth merely to speak of it as new
birth. It is not so that Christ puts the matter in the very discourse in which
He insists most on being born of the Spirit. "If I have told you earthly things,
and ye believe not [for which it was an essential condition to be born of God],
how shall ye believe, if I tell you heavenly things?" Connected with these last,
He says, "No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven,
even the Son of man which is in heaven." Thus He confirms what has been said
before, that He is presenting Himself as most truly man, the rejected Christ,
the Son of man, but as certainly God. Heaven was that to which He belonged, or
rather it to Him. This was an entirely new realm, and the surroundings are as
new. As born of a woman, born under law, even He was seen and known on earth,
and in time, yet spite of all His grace, power, and glory, man would not have
Him; but He who was now manifested in the flesh here below was really the
only-begotten Son in the bosom of the Father, and claims even as the rejected
One to be the Son of Man who is in heaven.

Observe the language carefully. It is not merely that He had been in heaven, for
that is altogether short of the truth; He is there; it matters not when or where
He is viewed - He is always the Son of man who is in heaven. His being the
humbled man only gave occasion to a new glory for God and man, as it was the
turning-point of a fresh and fuller knowledge of God by man. There was One who,
Himself the Infinite, entered into what was limited, in order that they, men as
they were, should enter into the knowledge of God, and see the Father in Him.
They must be met by the word; they must hear One who is man, as He is God. It
was grace, but it was truth; it was the only way in which the truth could be
revealed. Before this there was only a partial manifestation; but the wonderful
thing is that the full manifestation of the truth is found in man - One who is
divine, but none the less man. Nothing therefore can be farther from the fact
than the thought, that because Christ is come in the flesh, appearing in a
limited sphere, the truth cannot be known In point of fact, till the Word was
made flesh, the truth could not be fully revealed. It is precisely in the
combination of seemingly incompatible elements united in the person of Jesus
that the truth appears. For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by
Jesus Christ. He alone is the One who conciliates God with His righteousness
saving in grace, who at the same time humbled Himself and glorified God to the
uttermost. It is this blessed man who is the pattern of all lowliness, who,
nevertheless, blots out all the glory of man in one word like this: "No man," He
says, "hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven." Nor was
it merely that He came down. Others might be caught up, as we know, by an act of
power; but He could take it for His own proper portion, walking into it as
simply as possible when the hour came. More than this, as we have seen, He is in
heaven. It was not merely a question of going there, He was "the Son of man who
is in heaven." This therefore attaches to Him as a divine person, and could be
said of none else; and more than this, it attaches to this one divine person,
and to none other. As a man, I cannot rise above the things of man: such are the
limits of the human spirit; it cannot per se reach up to God, or the things of
God, who alone can reveal Himself - alone does reveal Himself in the Word, the
Son, and this only efficaciously by the Holy Spirit. This is the reason why the
Spirit of God is said to be the truth, as well as Christ; the one as objectively
viewed, the other as inward power. The Lord Jesus, then, having brought in His
own divine person after this manner, next discloses the need of a work to be
done, in order to give God a righteous title to bestow the blessing of His own
nature on sinful man. Accordingly this He does thus: "As Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but" - what? be born again? No -
"have eternal life." Manifestly there is a difference, and of the most weighty
and suggestive character. There is no need of strong language to set it forth;
for indeed it cannot well be exaggerated. Again, I am not in the least denying,
if one were born of God or afresh in the Old Testament times, that he has divine
life, or that this life is eternal. Therefore you will understand that in no way
is the fact questioned that all the saints, from beginning to end, have life
everlasting. Still, we are bound to believe that the Lord is wise, and had an
all-sufficient reason for introducing at this point so marked a difference. For
now, for the first time, after having already asserted the universality of being
born again, when He comes to express the application of this truth to the
believer, founded on redemption, observe, founded on His own death as the Son of
man lifted up on the cross, He will not describe it simply as a new birth, but
gives it another style and quality in His expression of it. Of course, He, the
Son, is the quickener of all saints, and therefore it is to me no question
whether the Old Testament saints have not been quickened as really as ourselves:
assuredly they must be and were. I hold, that there never was but one Saviour,
and consequently that the new birth, which all need for God’s kingdom, is ever
the impartation, by the Spirit, of the life which is in the Son of God.

Nevertheless, I maintain with equal certainty, and on the positive authority of
the word of my Saviour Himself, that He, when pleased to describe our place,
refuses, if I may so say, to merge it merely in what belonged to all at all
times. Thus, even to this universal and common truth, in its application to us
since redemption, He gives an uncommon expression. How marvellously, then, the
Spirit of God has shown, in this simple way, the honour that He puts on Christ
and on redemption, when He brings near this glorious fact, this work worthy of
God - the greatest, so to speak, in which God ever showed Himself forth, even in
speaking of what is universal (in the sense of attaching to every child of His,
in all ages and dispensations). Nevertheless, now the Saviour presents it in
this new title and greatly enhanced quality. If we search into the Old Testament
we may find eternal life spoken of, or what is tantamount to it; for we do not
stand upon technicalities, but speak of things in a practical point of view - we
speak of a reality which our Lord utters, and has kept in the inspired record as
of the utmost importance for all of us to take heed to. I say, then, that the
Lord does not vary phrases needlessly, but that if He gives another form, He
means that we are to take notice of the difference. Have we meekness of wisdom
if we do not? This appears to me the sum of what we read in the Old Testament.
Eternal life is spoken of in Daniel 12:1-13, for instance, and "life for
evermore" comes before us in the end of Psalms 133:1-3; but we may remark this
in those two expressions of "life for evermore" and "eternal life" - they are
bound up with the hope of Messiah’s presence and reign, when He brings in the
kingdom of God as a matter of visible display. But the wonderful truth that
appears in John is, that the glory of the Son’s person, being now manifested,
brings us into the blessing entirely apart from all such future display. We wait
for nothing else: the reason is, because we have Him. Consequently, although the
kingdom may not yet be come in this sense, although there be not yet the
establishment of public blessing, although in fact the Jews, instead of being
blessed, are still subject to the curse under which they put themselves, "His
blood be on us and on our children," and wrath come upon them to the uttermost
(that is, the complete putting off of the promises, as far as they are
concerned, for the time; and the postponement of the kingdom), in spite of all
this, we are ushered even now into an unbounded scene of rich and divine
blessing, and for this reason, because we have Christ, and have Him thus and
now.

What makes the thing so touching, as well as instructive, lies in this, that we
have now the comfort and joy of personal association with Himself. If only "born
again," surely it is a great mercy; but it does not give anything of the sort. I
find this indispensable qualification for God’s kingdom from and through Christ
doubtless; but it does not associate me in terms with Christ. Nobody could speak
of Christ being born again: the man who did so would be a blasphemer, and must
deny the person of Christ. Therefore, in speaking or hearing of "born again," if
this was merely the expression, it rather keeps one from realizing
identification with Christ; for it would remind us of the essential difference
between what man acquires by grace and what was in Christ. But the moment He
speaks of eternal life, I share in this at once. My portion in Him is eternal
life; for He is that eternal life which was with the Father, so that instead of
dissociation in the manner in which the Lord speaks of my participation in the
new nature, this blessedness is now presented after a sort which is true of
Christ Himself. Not merely is it a question of being brought into a common
position, so to speak, of the body and the Head, which is not the point here
(for there is always a deeper thing than this in John, who I believe in
strictness does not treat of our corporate place): the point with him is
community of life and nature, rather than the oneness of the body. At any rate,
such is exactly what we find here; that is, we now know that Christ speaks of
His own manifestation here, His own bearing of divine testimony, and this not as
a mere instrument according, to God, but a personally divine testimony; for this
is the scope of John 3:11 - "We speak that we do know, and testify that we have
seen." Thus we see the fulness of the blessing made ours. He is not content with
saying, Ye must be born again. This was always, and must be, true; but now, who
can deny that, although it was the same blessing substantially, the character in
which He clothes it and brings it to my soul carries its own witness of the
truth, that I receive by grace what He has and is? He, the Son, is the eternal
life, as well as true God. But what availed it, as far as we were concerned,
that God was thus manifested in Him here below? He abode alone; and man, too,
abiding outside Him, was dead as well as in impenetrable darkness. He, the
Saviour, died and rose; and I receive Him, and know that "he that hath the Son
hath life," and that this life is eternal life. But if I merely look at the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ as the necessary basis of divine righteousness,
whilst it was also the fullest display of pity for me a guilty and needy sinner,
this of itself would never settle my soul in perfect peace before God, still
less would it give an adequate knowledge of Him. Therefore comes out another
expression, repeating, it might seem, the same result, as in John 3:13-14, but
really from a yet higher source; "for God," says the Son, "so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life." There had not been a word about God’s "love"
before, any more than about "the world," in this discourse; it was purely the
intervention of the Son of man, and this, of course, in view of what was
absolutely necessary. Just as a man must be born anew to enter the kingdom, so
He must be lifted up on the cross, if there was to be an efficacious work in
righteousness for the sinner. But now there is far more; for that never could
satisfy God’s love, - who is most defectively known if there be no more than a
"must be." Not so. Let me see what He is; let me know what He feels; let me have
the witness of His own grace in Christ. Is it a boon wrung out from God? Far be
the thought! Does He, is He, not love? Let me listen more to that which Jesus
tells us, who knew as none but He could know or tell. Yea He, the Son, knew Him
perfectly, and would make Him known as He is and feels even about the world. And
so, therefore, He adds, crowning this blessed revelation in Himself of God’s
grace and truth, shown in His work as in His very person too, - crowning it, I
say, with a declaration truly divine: "God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life."

How blessed, my brethren, to have this eternal life; and to know that we have
it; to have it, too, not merely as that which is to come to us as the hard-won
spoil of redemption, but also as the free and full - and spontaneous fruit, so
to speak, of His love, given us in Him who was Himself the most intimate object
of the Father’s love. Thus to those who deserve nothing less God would display
what He is in the best gift even He could give; not merely because I could not
be blessed otherwise, but because He would according to His own heart bless me
to the full. He has given me that life, which is never said to be in any other,
in His Son, which in Him I see to be absolutely perfect, which having in Him I
am capable of fellowship here below with Himself.

Surely, however blessed it is to have our sin and misery met, it is incomparably
more to have the positive side of the blessing, to have that in which He Himself
can and did delight in Jesus as He beheld Him walk in all dependence and
obedience, in light and love-the more wondrous because in man on earth. It is
that life which reciprocates His mind and feelings, enters into all His joys,
takes part in all the grief with which He looks upon rebellious man and a ruined
world, and now, alas! we must add a guilty Christendom. "In Him was life." How
blessed now for us to have in Him that very life already proved, spite of all
and in the midst of all, to rise up to all that is in God; and yet exercised in
every circumstance that can befall the heart of man! And this, brethren, is
what, as possessed of eternal life in Christ, we are now partakers of in the
grace of our God; for the life which we now live in the flesh, we live by the
faith of the Son of God, founded on His redemption in love. It is, as a
Christian, no longer the old I, but Christ that lives in me: such is its source
and character. Christ, too, is the object; but along with the object there is
life, and this life is in Himself, in the Son of God, even eternal life. The
Lord bless His own word, giving our souls to hold fast every truth that we have
known, but to learn that God is still active in His love, and would impart
greater freedom and fulness to us in realizing a growing sense of association
with Christ. Assuredly this has been the secret; if indeed we have made already
any real advance, it has always been in this direction. Such are our best
blessings; such, I am persuaded, they will prove throughout all eternity. May
we, meanwhile, be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, that
Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith, being rooted and grounded in love, that
we may be able to comprehend the glory before us, and know His love that passeth
knowledge, and so be filled with all the fulness of God. The "Well of water
springing up into everlasting life."

John 4:1-54.

Lecture 2 of ’The New Testament Doctrine of the Holy Spirit.’

W. Kelly. The preceding chapter presented, in connection with the subject now
before us, the Holy Ghost operating on man — that new birth, not of man’s
nature, as men falsely say, but of God, though in man, that birth of water and
of the Spirit, without which none can see or enter the kingdom of God. A nature
which is of God is alone fit for the kingdom of God. A divine nature alone is
capable of knowing and enjoying God; and no bliss that is outside man, no work
(infinitely precious as it might be) that is wrought for him, could of itself
solely suffice for the presence of God. It might vindicate God as to sin, and
even glorify Him infinitely. Such, we know, is the case with the work of our
blessed Lord Jesus Christ; but I am bold to say, that nothing simply external to
man, were it alone, could fit man, being a sinner, either to know God now, or to
enjoy Him hereafter. But the same grace of God, which gives Christ for the
accomplishment of the work of redemption, reveals Christ by the Holy Ghost
through the word, and thus the soul is born of water and of the Spirit. More
than that: now, since redemption, he is entitled to know it in its fully
revealed form, in the highest character of expression which suits even the Son
of God Himself. That is, it is not merely being converted or born again, but
having eternal life. I do not in the least deny that to be born again is
substantially to have eternal life. I am only accounting for, as we ought in my
judgment to account for, the language of the Lord, which, instead of resting in
the most general expression, or in the assertion of the universal necessity of
being born again, deigns to give us the blessing since the cross enunciated in
that character which suits Himself; for He is eternal life, even that eternal
life which was with the Father, and was manifested to us. Thus grace has wrought
worthily of the Son of God. But now we come to another part of the subject. It
is not the wants simply of man, nor the necessity for a nature which he has not,
and which comes from God alone. When God sends His beloved Son into such a world
as this, He never limits Himself to that which is indispensable to His presence.
He acts as God; He imparts not only the nature itself, but a suitable power to
work in it; He gives that which is the strength of its action, and the spring of
joy proper to the divine nature. In a word, it is not eternal life only, blessed
as this is, and, as we have seen, the richest form of expressing the new birth;
but He gives the Holy Ghost. Now, the circumstances were, as they always are,
suitable to that which God was unfolding. In the former chapter, the appeal of
man was made with no common earnestness, in spite of the difficulties that
seemed to be great, and no doubt were, as far as his mind could judge. But now
there was a further step of grace in the path of the Son of God: He was
virtually rejected. Instead of men believing upon Him because of the miracles
that He did, the jealousy of the Pharisees was excited, and the Son of God in
sorrow turns His back upon that Judea to which He came from God. He felt it, as
He always did. It could not be otherwise; it ought not to be otherwise. Love
could not but feel, for it was not merely that He was rejected; He felt for them
forsaking their own mercies, rejecting God Himself — rejecting Him, their
Messiah; but this very rejection leads Him to the manifestation of such grace as
was unheard of in Judea A woman of Samaria, no meet company (one might think)
for the Messiah, a poor female of the town of Sychar, evidently ruined even in
human judgment, meets Him alone at the well of Jacob, where sat Jesus wearied
with His journey, who opens soon the pathway to her heart.

Jesus asks a drink of water. He ever comes near, not as the Messiah, though the
Messiah, but as the Son of God who needed no glory, who did need to show grace;
for man was lost, and God yearned over lost man; and there was but One that
could meet the need — it was He. And so in His own love He stoops and asks. What
would He not do to reach her heart? And the woman was astonished; for the Jews
had no dealings with the Samaritans. To her He was but "a Jew," and herself "a
woman of Samaria." How short of the truth on either side! But said He, "If thou
knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink,
thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." She
knew it not. She could hardly be said to know the law of God, though she might
speak of it; but as to the gift of God — who had ever heard of such a thought?
Who, in favoured Israel, had realized the truth that God gives? That to which
she clung yielded a quite contrary view of God: human religion regards Him as a
receiver. It is true that she was but a sinful and lost woman; but such an one
may have religious pride, and share the jealousy of that which had superior
claims. At any rate, to her spirit — nay, even to those who ought to have known
far better — God is always a claimant, and not one who gives as only God can
give. Man’s mind never rises above this; least of all in that which he seeks for
his soul. He may know the effects of divine wisdom and power, but God Himself is
unknown, and never can be known, save in Christ, His Son. This she had not yet
learnt. Not a suspicion had she who it was that said to her, Give me to drink.
If she had known who He was, God, as a giver, must have been distinctly and
gloriously before her soul. But grace was far from her thoughts; it was a Jew
that asked of her a drink of water. She knew not the dignity of His person who
was now a man on earth among men; she knew not that He was the Son, the
only-begotten Son; she knew not the glory of Him who never proved His glory more
than when He thus stooped down to sinners and their need; for what is there
deeper on the part of God, or of God’s Son, than this expression of grace,
stooping down in love — not in condescension, but in real goodness?
Condescension is but patronage, human and worldly; and to me there is something
repulsive in the notion, save for the little stage of man. There is no such
thought, nor could be, in Him who is true, and alone manifested divine love — a
love that had no motive outside itself, which was love in its own nature. And
this Jesus was, and was now on earth to show it. What was there in any way or
degree to attract in such an one as she? It was God giving; it was the Son
humbling Himself; in outward form, no doubt, asking, but asking that He might
give, making her little gift of water but the occasion of that gift of living
water, of which, if one drank, he should never thirst any more. This was indeed
a new sound to her — this "living water."

I call your attention first of all to the expression. To be born of the Spirit
is totally distinct from the gift of the Spirit. There is no connection whatever
between the two thoughts. The one, of course, is just as true as the other. The
first had always been. The Spirit of God had surely and unfailingly wrought in
souls ever since sin came into the world; but the Spirit of God was never given
till the Son was manifested, till God Himself took the place of a giver, and the
Son took the place of humiliation in love to sinners, and asked the neediest of
souls to give Him to drink, awakening confidence by His perfect grace. It is the
great truth which everywhere shines out in this gospel; only thus and then could
the living water be given. And you will mark, Christ is the giver. It is not a
question of Himself, nor is it simply eternal life; we have had this fully, and
Scripture repeats not itself. Although we most surely have absolute harmony in
all the parts of the truth of God, still here we are on new ground in presence
of another character of need altogether, deeper wants bringing out deeper grace.
It is not a choice doctor, but an outcast and wretched woman, good for nothing
in the eyes of any in this world. Such was the one to whom the depths of grace
in the Son of God were more or less unveiled. The woman, it is true, made it
palpable that as yet she was wholly unprepared for the inestimable gift. Wonder
not at this. I do not think that any one, fairly reading John 3:1-36 with John
4:1-54, could boast of the learned Nicodemus any more than of the ignorant woman
of Samaria. In the former scene the truth insisted on was, if possible, still
more incumbent on man to know. How much had the teacher of Israel known of it?
How far did he take it in then? In the later incident, the gift of living water
was a truth that no one antecedently could have known. So far from being a
matter of common need and urgently responsible knowledge, how could it be
conceived? When had ever been given such a revelation of God and of His grace as
Jesus had brought before this woman in John 4:10? Where had there ever been such
a display of divine grace as God thus giving, the Son thus bowing down in love
to one outside all righteousness, and the Holy Ghost this living source of
refreshment for the heart? The woman however falls back upon that which is the
constant resource of nature in this world, that is, tradition — "the well of our
father Jacob." It was an effort to escape from that which was too vast and deep
and divine for her to take in. Jesus had left the place where His people dwelt
under the shadow of God-imposed ordinance. Higher purposes were in
accomplishment. Our gospel does not trace Him as come to bring out what was
destined for the land of promise; for, after all, what is the promise? It is
measured grace. He was come in immeasurable grace, for all was lost, where there
ought not to have been an object to be the hiding-place of the soul. But where
will not a sinner find one? She retreats behind this covering of pride, even for
a woman of Samaria — "the well of her father Jacob." He had drunk of it, and his
cattle, as well as his children: who was it then that Jesus made Himself? Oh,
the withering unbelief of the heart, so quick to darken the rich grace of God!
Jesus, however, patiently bears with her folly, and says to her, "Whosoever
drinketh of this water" — albeit Jacob’s well — "Whosoever drinketh of this
water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give
him shall never thirst." More than this, "the water that I shall give him shall
be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." This supposes
everlasting life; but it supposes a divine source of joy which everlasting life
in itself never is nor can be. On the contrary, it would destroy all the truth
of this new and divine nature to maintain that the life itself was a spring.
Such is not the nature of life; it is essentially dependent; but here I find a
spring, a continual source of supply. That is, it is not merely a new creature
which, by the simple fact that it is a new creature and of God too, leans on Him
whence it comes, and finds its support and strength in Another; but here there
is a living source of joy. The very figure of the well aptly conveys as much,
and much more, when we think of that which lay couched under the phrase "living
water." For it is not some absolutely indispensable requisite for relation with
God which we have here. Alas! what would in this case have been the sad truth of
all that had ever lived up to this time?

It was a new privilege; it was a fulness of joy that was only appropriate
according to the ways and counsels of God, when the Son came. It was impossible
that God should not adequately mark the coming of His Son, and His own
manifestation in His Son’s presence here in grace, as well as the accomplishment
of the infinite work of redemption. Not that this work is spoken of here; but
still it is involved in His humiliation. It is impossible, I repeat, that God
should not mark this greatest of all things before His mind and heart with some
fresh blessing, some deep accession of joy to the believer. Those who know Him
ever so little will confess that it could not be otherwise. Man may wish to
level the fair scenes in the ways of God, and to blot out the landmarks He has
made — always bright tokens of goodness in this world, always full of wisdom and
blessing; but let man level as he may, and let his will intrude even into the
things of divine revelation, God’s word stands and shall stand for ever. God’s
design is to make everything for His Son’s glory. And so when the Son came, it
is not merely that a new nature was given; this had always been in grace, that
souls separated to His name might be born anew meet for His presence. But now,
besides this nature and His looking on to the mighty work which would justify
Him in the passing over of sins — now the new birth for the believer is brought
to light in its true nature and value, eternal life in the Son. But we have seen
there is even more than this. There is a divine power for him who receives
everlasting life, a well of water in him, as it is said here, springing up into
everlasting life. Thus, clearly, it is not only the fact but the power of
eternal life; and this not so much in a nature conferred, as in an unfailing
flow connecting with the source. I admit the personality of the Spirit is not
yet brought out here: this would be treated in due season. We have this truth
afterwards, and it will come before us suitably on another occasion, I trust.
But here we have each intimation exactly according to the mind of God and the
accuracy of divine wisdom. We have not the question of a person yet: when the
blessed Son of God goes away, and this is intimated fully, then another person
comes and takes His place; and so the whole scheme stands out beautifully and in
order. What now we find is power, rather than personality; but an inward power
for him who has the everlasting life, in order that his soul may feel the full
joy of grace. Of this then the Lord speaks when He says, "Whosoever drinketh of
the water that I shall give him," etc.

Now let us turn for a moment to what man is since the fall, and to what God is
as He has revealed Himself in and by the Son to a poor fallen creature, if ever
there was one. What was the change that took place when man fell? When Adam was
made, had he any thirst in the spiritual sense of the word? None whatever. For a
sinless being there was no question of thirsting. This was a defect in the
creation which our God did not and could not attach to it, when all was very
good. I do not believe it was so even speaking physically; but I am sure, that
in the sense in which our Lord discoursed, Adam had no craving after a food he
did not possess; he was incapable of the thirst in question, because it supposes
that the heart is not satisfied, that there is nothing around to satisfy it,
that there is a continual desire after what it has not found nor can find. Not
such was the condition of Adam then in innocence, made upright by the hand of
God. His creature-satisfaction no doubt broke out, not certainly in spiritual
worship, but at least in thankfulness to God. He enjoyed the goodness and wisdom
of God in countless good things around and beneath himself. He sins, falls, and,
along with the knowledge of good and evil that he acquired there came in this
desire after what never could satisfy. And this accordingly is the condition of
every fallen being. Put in its best shape, it is hope; for man does and cannot
but hope: frequent and bitter disappointments of this world may crush the
spirit; yet even so who does not know how it survives, still hoping against
hope? But this it was that came in with the fall; for the best form you can give
it, in the point of view now brought before you, is hope as a constant pressure
towards activity. Man, as was said in Scripture, is become as God. And so there
was this desire to be some one — somebody — in this world, in fact, virtually to
take the place of God Himself. Of course, the daring aspiration has checks from
God, and even yet has not shown itself fully; but it is in the heart, and sure
to do its best — really its worst — when God withdraws all hindrances, and Satan
works all out. The time is coming, and coming fast; but from the first day of
sin to this, it has been just this desire after what man has not got stirring
him to activity in a lost world.

Contrariwise, Jesus comes and gives, not only eternal life, but the "living
water;" and there is at once an adequate object for the heart, which there never
was before, with fresh power to enjoy it. Of old, even that which awakened the
heart still took the character of hoping for that which was in prospect. There
was trust in God and in His promises, so to speak; but now a mighty change took
place. Christ was come; the hoped-for One was present. God Himself was here in
the person of that Man sitting thus weary by the well of Sychar, the lowliest of
men; none the less, but the more from the very depths of His lowliness, showing
Himself to be the true God in His love. For God in His gift would give nothing
less than God. Not only would He give the nature which is of God, but a divine
power to be in man of enjoying this nature and the relationships proper to it,
the object suited to it, the worship and the service in accordance with it.
Herein we find at once what meets the fall and its consequences, according to
God; what meets it not in the meagre way of simple adaptation to human ruin, a
bare remedy or a repair, but in such a sort as to prove and display God Himself,
giving the fullest scope to the resources that are in Him. It is the revealed
grace of the Son in the power of the Spirit. It is Christianity in some of its
simplest, highest, weightiest elements: a divine person come down in perfect
love, if a Jew outside Judaism, with a guilty Samaritan woman before Him, asking
not for His own sake but for hers, seeking the least thing she could give in
order to arrest her attention, that He might bless her with His own greatest and
imperishable blessing, and this now and for ever. It is not only a new nature,
but a present power for and in man, but from God, and in itself most strictly
divine. And this is just what we now have to rejoice our souls in. He has given
us the Spirit of God; He has accomplished His word. God has sent the Spirit of
His Son, as it is said, into our hearts, crying, "Abba, Father;" "the love of
God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." Not
merely is there eternal life, but, over and above the gift of that life, the
Holy Ghost Himself is given to us. And mark, then it is we find that the
believer shall "never thirst again." This is not said simply of one born afresh,
nor even where we hear of eternal life alone; nor was it true in fact when souls
were born again and no more; for up to the time of God’s giving in Christ and by
Christ the Holy Spirit of grace, there was a craving after the things of the
world; and God Himself did not wholly condemn this in a certain sense, but
allowed it — it might be for the hardness of their heart. But still a man might,
so to speak, have this world and have the next too — that kind of thing which
even now we know men, grievously blinded as to the truth and ignorant of
Christianity, think to be possible. Believers were not then treated as
absolutely dead to flesh and world. In the Old Testament we find no such
language even in the saints of God; we find it not in the fathers any more than
in the children of Israel; we find the reverse more particularly in the whole
form of the Jewish estate — a hope first in One that was coming, but at the same
time no present deliverance from the course of the world as a judged system.
There were actings of faith full of interest to us, in which saints rose above
all that surrounded them by God’s grace; and so it is that God instructs us by
that which we are told of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph,
Moses, and so on. But for all this, I speak of what is a plain fact in the midst
of these things; for along with a hope that had not yet the object revealed to
it, still less the infinite work of redemption accomplished, and laid as a basis
for faith, there was also a measure of cleaving to what was found here on earth,
which was not yet utterly and in every respect a judged thing.

Now, if the heart is not satisfied with Christ, how is it? It is because the
Holy Ghost is not given to us; it is because I have Him not filling my heart to
overflowing with the grace of Jesus; it is because, though divinely attracted to
Christ, I have no rest in Him — am still occupied with myself, grovelling in the
mud of my nature, instead of being taken up by the power of the Spirit with that
Christ who is my life. Thus I am not satisfied with Him only; I am also
hankering after what is trash, what is worldly, what is carnal. What is the
consequence? It may be, and indeed is, most sorrowful that it should and must be
so; for God in Christ in the fulness of grace is not enough! The possession and
knowledge of a privilege constitutes an added responsibility, but the first
thing is for faith to enter in and possess. Nor will He permit that our hearts
should be occupied with these things merely as a matter of testimony, but of our
own soul’s delight in the object by the power that He has given to us. But still
what I do affirm now is this — that Christianity is perfectly brought out, and
it is brought out, too, according to the wisdom of God; for, first of all, the
divine nature is revealed in the person who is its fulness and complete
expression, and, more than this, the power to enjoy is given. The consequence is
that, while the heart finds in the revealed object that which alone is adequate
to satisfy, because He is a divine person, and moreover the Son of God who loved
me, the power of hope is not lost. For I have also a hope — not now a mere hope
as it was when of old there was nothing else, but in such a world as this, being
still in the body, God does not give it up for us, who need such a stimulus.
There is no thirsting again when in the Spirit we enjoy Christ, but there is
hope still; but then He whom I hope for is the very same that I possess. The
Christ I long for is the Christ I actually have, and I shall never find in that
blessed One a whit of difference. I shall know Him better and praise Him more,
for I shall be in a condition where my infirmities are gone, and my very body
will be incorrupt and glorious, and nothing shall annoy, distract, or obscure;
but I shall find Him the same Christ who loves me perfectly now. Is it not
blessed to know that this is even now true to our souls — that we have Him here
as certainly as we shall have Him above? Thus while there remains in one sense
the profit of something to be sought after, in another just as true our hearts
have real rest as far as their object is concerned. We have not lost hope as a
power for activity, rightly called forth and exercised in a ruined world. This
would be indeed a loss, whilst we are here below. But hope must pass away. In
heaven it is no longer a question of either faith or hope, as we know, for they
always suppose an imperfect fallen condition, as far as things around are
concerned; but then the way in which we have the hope is, that we have in Christ
revealed to our faith the perfect object for a renewed heart, and that we are
ourselves blessed according to the perfectness of the work that He has done, so
that conscience as well as affection have perfect rest. At the same time the old
creation remains, and we in the body in the midst of it, so that we have in hope
a blessed spur to the activity of love. May I not ask, Is not all this worthy of
such a God as ours? And is it not God acting according to His perfect love with
His children, whom He has thus blessed with and in Christ His own Son? But there
is more than this. I need not enter upon that which has been often before us,
and which it would be a joy to press, were it a question of the need of a soul
in its unconverted state. I pass over, therefore, that which evinces the
necessity of reaching the mind through an awakened conscience. It is blessed, no
doubt, that there should be the proof of love before this, for I apprehend
conscience cannot bear to be probed unless there be a previous testimony of
love; but who will maintain that any testimony of love could of itself suffice
for a sinner? There must be a dealing with the conscience; and so we find it
here. But what it is of moment now to draw attention to very briefly is the
connection of this blessed power of the Spirit — the divine spring of joy in the
soul — with that worship on which the woman, little knowing what she was about
to draw out, questions the Saviour. She did so, indeed, as a speculation,
perhaps even as a palliative for a conscience that was wounded, and that did not
yet thoroughly bow before God; but whatever may have been the motive, the mixed
motive, as I presume it really was (which, alas! we know too well), this woman
does at least bring out for our edification a blessed and most important bearing
of the gift of the Spirit. For indeed we are not only objects of divine love; we
are not only possessors of eternal life and of the Holy Ghost, but there are
worthy ends in it according to God; and that which claims our notice here is, I
apprehend, the highest one necessarily — what goes up, not what comes down. We
have our place of worship, we have our place of service; and worship and service
are just the two forms in which the Holy Ghost, acting in us as the water
springing up into everlasting life, leads our souls. The worship of God Himself,
our Father, is first and supreme. It must and ought to be so: how could it
rightly be otherwise? But still we are in this world where souls are perishing,
and if not perishing, how many are most needy, and call for our service! I speak
now of the children of God, and repeat that expression in the actual state of
Christendom — it is penury indeed for them. And so accordingly the ministry of
grace has its just application here below. In the foremost place, then, for the
saint, and as the sole topic I wish to dwell on now in closing to-night, stands
this connection of the Spirit with worship as explained by Christ. "Our
fathers," says the woman, "worshipped in this mountain," (for she had her
opinion, and a very decided one,) "and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place
where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour
cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship
the Father." Thus, in the presence of the Son, not only false systems disappear,
but even that which, as partial revelation, had its warrant from God: not only
the mountain of Samaria, but Jerusalem itself. How comes this? It was even so.
How could Jerusalem possibly hold its place in the presence of the rejected Son
of God? The city of the great King! Had the great King been received as such, He
would have taken His seat in that city according to the terms of ancient
promise. But this was exactly what had been refused; and now His back was
turned, as He Himself is despised by those who took the place of being the best
and wisest there. This only brings out the fulness of divine grace, and,
moreover, attests that fulness of grace here, as always, is attached to the
fulness of glory. Such flagrant sin touched the glory and gave occasion for the
grace of God. Do not mistake. There is no indifference in God, who resists every
sin done against Christ, in the very love that He bears to His guilty people, as
well as that which cannot suffer the dishonour of His own Son; so, if it were
only in the interests of the Church here below, He refuses to make light of the
smallest blot or stain, or allowed affront put on Christ. Besides, man,
religious man, had proved, and would yet more prove, the utter hollowness of
ordinances to meet his wants or God’s glory. This woman had heard of what might
be expected of the Messiah at His coming. Little did she know that He was
speaking to her. There was no pomp nor judgment. As King, He of course might
have sent forth armies, and burned up Jerusalem. But as the Son, He need say
nothing now but these words: "The hour is coming, and now is," &c. He that had
made everything by a word blotted at once out, as it was suitable He should do
by a word, the place of Jerusalem from the earth as the centre of divine
worship. Again, I say, not only the false systems, but even the partial
revelation which merely dealt with man on the earth — what was suited, if one
may thus speak, more justly to the first man — was doomed, and vanishes away,
that the Son might abide — the Son of God. "Ye worship," He says, "ye know not
what: we know what we worship; for salvation is of the Jews." There was
presumption and ignorance in Samaria; nor does the Lord disguise the advantage
every way of Israel. But it may be remarked, that Jesus never says so except
outside: He vindicates the Jews when He was in the midst of their rivals, and
Himself rejected. What grace! But the time was come for more; and you will
always find something tantamount in the wonderful ways of God. The rejected Lord
does not deny what had honour, even though active against Himself. He does not
slight the line of promise; He does not forget in the smallest degree the great
and profoundly interesting fact on which hung the blessing of all that had ever
been blessed in the earth — "Salvation is of the Jews." But He does say, "The
hour cometh" — yea, He enforces it and presses it out even to this moment, as it
were, that was arrived — "and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him."
When God gave His law, He gave what was according to the relationship in which
His people stood with Himself, as well as suitable, inasmuch as it was a moral
dealing with the flesh in those that, as a people, had nothing else. But this is
just the mighty change, now that Messiah is come and rejected, and the Father is
calling and forming sons by Him the Son — nay, more than this, is giving them
the Spirit of adoption, the Spirit of sonship, that the true worshippers might
worship Himself in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship
Him.

What, then, mean the sights and the sounds of this earth which now come before
God in His professed worship? How stands the worship of the multitude now, of a
nation, be it what or where it may? A flat and flagrant contradiction to His
face of the Son of God; and not merely of Him, though surely this were enough to
grieve deeply the heart that loves Him, and fears His name. But God’s word shows
how serious a thing it is to trifle with that which so nearly concerns the Holy
Ghost. He is the present witness of the Son of man, rejected of men but exalted
of God, who therefore attaches so much the more value to His name, because He is
despised for His grace and humiliation; and the Spirit is contemned, because He
witnesses of a Son of man contemned of men. What a demonstration of that which
God is, and what an evidence of man! And now this day on which we are cast sees
men rushing on madly, as if they were filled with evil spirits, whose only wish
was to smite afresh the Son of God, and to do despite to the Spirit of grace.
The most outrageous forms of superstition are followed greedily and taken up,
and not merely by those that are accounted ignorant, but by many who plume
themselves on their knowledge, refinement, acquaintance even with the Bible
itself. Yet, in the presence of such a testimony as our chapter — the words of
Jesus Himself, these legend-mongers take the place of being the people of God,
yet worship God in such a sort as to prove them but worldly sects crusading
against the Spirit of God, and going forward in bold and blind and utter
contempt of all that our Saviour here lays down.

None but a possessor of eternal life is competent to worship; but even so it is
in the power of the Holy Ghost given. Thus it is one who, having the Son, has
life; it is one who has the Holy Ghost as the spring of joy within, and owns the
Father. There is no other worship that is now acceptable. The Father seeks none
other; He does seek these. Let me appeal to you that are sitting around me at
this moment, Are you thus true worshippers? Joy ever seeks communion. Sorrow may
pour itself out alone into the only ear that is adequate to give sympathy, to
succour as none other can, and to deliver as He only does; but joy finds itself
the richer, because it is a sharer of itself with others. And when do you first
find this out? Never before the Holy Ghost is given.

Thus, you see how all truth hangs together. As long as souls were simply born
again, one might be here and another there; and so in the hope of their hearts,
and in the desire of Christ’s coming, they poured out often a lament to God, and
sighs and groans rose up over the delay, and earnest cries that the time might
hasten when the promised One should appear. But He is come in divine grace, He
has put away our sins, and along with this He has given us eternal life; and,
moreover, there is power according to the gift of God, the power of drawing near
in the Spirit to the Father; for it is through the Spirit that Jew and Gentile
who now believe have access to Him. It is according to the necessary character
of the truth that there should be communion of joy, and consequently communion
of worship. Thus it is, therefore, that along with this blessed truth (as we
shall find, and I hope to expound some other night) there is ample provision for
common praise. There is the gathering of souls together; not only the blessing
of each where it is, but now (and now for the first time in the world’s history)
there is the singling out in this world, and the gathering together, the
seeking, as it is said here, of the true worshippers, that these worshippers
might themselves pour out their thanksgiving and adoration in common. Why?
Because they have one Spirit, who accordingly unites them to the praise of God’s
grace, separate from all that are not true worshippers.

Up to this time worship had been mingled. The Samaritans worshipped they knew
not what. For the Jews it was God, Jehovah the God of Israel, it was the
Almighty Lord God of hosts that they worshipped; but still there was one here
and another there, and there was no attempt to bring out and join together, and
it could not be so until the Son came, and the mighty work of redemption was
wrought, and the Holy Ghost was given. The partition-wall yet stood. But now
Christ is come, and what is it then to go back? What is it to distrust the
Spirit of God? What is it to apostatize from grace and truth? Oh! be assured, it
is coming — that falling away; and I warn you most solemnly, I warn you that
have to do with others in responsibility, never let your children, even though
unconverted, have anything to do with the false worshippers of this world. I say
not that men as such are competent to worship, but that they are beyond a doubt
responsible to feel that they are not true worshippers. I do say that you are
wrong in giving children a rein in any respect, because they are unconverted, to
mingle with the world and religiously take its course. I beseech you to watch
carefully, and never to allow any plea on the score of curiosity, or some other
reason of a natural sort which may possibly be found, for there is no one so
clever as the devil in furnishing good reasons for bad things; but, beloved
friends, treat it always as the deceit of the one that seduced Eve, whether
under the smallest pretence for good that is to be got, or for any reason under
the sun, you are called to do anything that is not God’s will. "The hour cometh,
and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father." Is there any
worship but this that God allows?

I admit that His grace enters where you could not, neither ought to go; I allow
that it can work anywhere; yea, I know not why it might not work even when the
sacrifice of the mass is offered for the living and the dead; for it is not sin
that could hinder the grace of God. Surely, if sin could have hindered the Son,
here was an instance; but it was because there was sin, it was to meet and
deliver sinners out of sin, that the Son of God thus came. And so, I doubt not,
it is, or at least it may be, in the Spirit of grace. But, I beseech you, let
none suppose that grace means tolerating or dealing lightly with evil: there is
nothing so sternly and thoroughly condemnatory of it. There is nothing that at
the same time can avail to deliver; for while Another bears the judgment, the
guilty one is saved in real divine love — and this not in death only, but in the
power of His life as risen from the dead. Thus the Holy Ghost strengthens in
good, as He is the energy of blessing and gives delight in it. Thus He is the
only real power against evil in this world.

Here is that which may well act on the conscience of a saint. Have you ever
worshipped God your Father in spirit and in truth? Or have you been content
hitherto to mingle with the world and take part in its music, its architecture,
its ritual? You know well that anybody can take part in these things. An
instrument of man’s device that has no heart nor conscience does take a part,
and a very lively part; and so naturally the world is welcome, and, in point of
fact, worships. It is absolutely bringing back again the very substance and
means of idolatry. Indeed, the apostle discerned this in the Galatians
(Galatians 4:1-31) when they took up Jewish forms. But what would he have felt
and said at the state of things now found — what is actively going on? And what
makes it so especially solemn at this time is that it advances daily. And this
will never cease till the awful close, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed
from heaven, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and
that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Are we not saved to worship
now, and this in spirit and in truth?

I beseech my brethren in Christ, on the other hand, that it may be their hearts’
joy, when assembled for the purpose, to rise up into worship, and not to content
themselves with mere speaking about it. Sometimes there seems too much of this
when we meet to praise the Lord. It is rather something said or prayed about
worship than actually adoring Him. I may talk about worship in my prayer or from
the word of God, perhaps even in the very hymn. Beloved, worship is not talking
about worship. We do not come at such times to expound or enforce the matter:
this may be all well to set forth at another time. If we are there to worship,
let us be found engaged in the thing, adoring Him who should be before every
soul to praise and magnify and delight in. Christian worship is the outflow to
God of hearts that have seen and found their joy and satisfaction by the Holy
Ghost in the Son and in the Father. The heart which has not a want that is not
satisfied in the Christ we have found (given of God now in the midst of such a
world as this) desires to praise, and cannot but praise, in fellowship with all
that are thus blessed. It refuses to be associated with that which, being
ignorant of grace or even sin, can have no communion with the Son and with the
Father; it demands that the power which carries on the worship should be
according to the will of God, who has sent the Holy Ghost down from heaven for
the purpose. And who that knows such a power to conduct the children aright in
worship could be content with any leader save the Holy Ghost acting sovereignly
in the assembly by whom He will? The consequence is, that Christian worship
always has for its central object the Son of God revealing the Father, and
necessarily supposes the special gift of the Holy Ghost as the power in us of
enjoying God, and of praising Him adequately. It is only for the true
worshippers who know the Father. It is a low character of worship to be merely
occupied about ourselves and one another, and ever singing about our own
privileges.

Even edification, however precious, is not worship: it has the saints for its
object, not the Father and the Son. Teaching is admirable in its way, of course;
and I do not deny that, if we are really occupied with the Father of our Lord
Jesus in adoration, there will be refreshment and edification; but it remains
ever true, that the proper aim of worship is our common praise going up to God,
of ministry is the grace and truth of Christ coming down, and so building up the
saints. Even thanksgiving, though a real part, seems to me the lowest form of
Christian worship; and for this reason, that it is not so much the expression of
our joy in God as in what He gives to us. Now, though this abides, and it is
right we should ever feel what He has done for us and given to us, we are
entitled as His children, and are so richly blessed as Christians, that we may
yield our hearts to the Spirit’s revelations of what our God is in Himself, and
so rejoice before Him. All has its place, and room is left for the state of
souls, and the actual guidance of the Holy Ghost.

Another thing too, brethren, I may just observe by the way is, that the Saviour
does not speak simply of worshipping "the Father." He tells us that "God is a
Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
Assuredly Christian worship is not formal, but it is not the less real because
it is spiritual. There are occasions when the Holy Ghost would make the worship
to be especially directed towards the Son as an object, and there are occasions,
I need not say, when the Father is more prominently before the assembly. One
knows times also when the Lordship or the grace of Jesus might predominate, or
when the most striking thought before us is our rest in God Himself as such. I
do not mean any one of these varieties taken exclusively, but I do say that the
fact might be felt, that some one of these or of other presentations of our
blessedness was giving tone and character to the worship. Form, of course, is
blind to these differences, and would blot them out. Indeed, where the gift and
presence of the Holy Ghost is not entered into, souls are not in a condition to
understand or appreciate this.

Surely, too, all is perfect grace; and I hardly know anything that demonstrates
how blessed we are more than this, that not only can we rejoice in our Father,
but joy in God, as it is said in Romans 5:11. Reconciled to Him, and knowing His
love by the Holy Ghost given to us, we have our boast in God as God, and for
this simple reason, that all the nature of God, His whole moral character, has
been so perfectly vindicated and satisfied as to our eternal blessing in Christ
Jesus our Lord, that we know there is nothing in Him that does not range itself
righteously for us now and evermore. He, who hates evil and has a perfect
abhorrence of it in His nature, altogether intolerant of what He and we know to
be still in us as a fact, has nevertheless been so absolutely glorified in
Christ on our behalf, that He can rest in nothing but love, and we can go forth
to Him in unceasing joy and praise. Not that we are spared from needful dealing:
this, of course, would be loss indeed, and dangerous for us as we are in the
body, and here below; and we have it from Him in the character of Father. The
chastening we meet with now is from our Father. (Compare Hebrews 12:1-29 and 1
Peter 1:17.) Undoubtedly our Father is God, but it is well to distinguish nature
and relationships; and this is the way of Scripture. Most needful it is that we
should know this near relationship of Father, which, as we are told by John,
characterizes the very babes of the family of God. But it is of the utmost
moment also to know that it is the triumph of redemption to set us in peace with
God as such, and to make us boast in Him, now that all His nature can rest for
us in Jesus, and in us by Jesus.

Thus we can delight that He is our Father, and justly so; only there is a danger
of being shut up to this, and losing sight of our deep and perfect rest in God
as such. (1 Peter 1:21.) Now I say that, where the heart has not submitted to
God’s righteousness, does not know fully the depth of redemption, there is more
confidence in the relation of "Father," than in having to do with "God." There
is a want of appreciation of the work of Christ, and it may be, also an
inadequate sense of His glory, And as there is a defectiveness in the faith and
state of the heart, so this betrays itself in lack of liberty and fulness in
worship, as of course, too, in the practical walk; for these things hang
together. "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have
grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for
our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:28-29.) For "Jesus also, that he might
sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go
forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach For here have we
no continuing city, but we seek one to come. By him therefore let us offer the
sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving
thanks to his name." (Hebrews 13:12-15.)

I do not apologize for these general remarks of a practical nature as to
Christianity and Christians, any more than for some of a similar nature with
respect to worship. They all tend to show how our blessings and responsibilities
connect themselves with the gift of the Spirit — not merely the new birth, as
always, but the gift of the Spirit consequent on the Son’s manifestation and
rejection now. This blessing, that we have seen to be dependent on the presence
of the Son in lowly love here below, is given by Him in virtue both of His glory
and of His humiliation. In the chapter before, the being born again had nothing
whatever to do with any particular time, and is fully described by our Lord as
the universal necessity for God’s kingdom, before He utters one word about His
presence in this world, much less about redemption. In point of fact, no
intelligent believer doubts it was true from the fall onwards, and that the Old
Testament saints were born of water and the Spirit no less than those of the New
Testament; but here we find ourselves in the presence of blessing which awaited
His coming, and is given in the full grace of God; for truly our fellowship is
with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. It was also contingent on
redemption; but redemption is not directly brought into the passage, I suppose,
because the object is to present more undividedly the grace of God as He now is
known, the glory of the Son (whatever, yea in, His humiliation), and the
consequent gift of the Spirit to the believer.

"Rivers of living water."

John 7:1-39.

Lecture 3 of ’The New Testament Doctrine of the Holy Spirit.’

W. Kelly. Our subject of tonight cannot be severed from what we have had in
previous chapters, from the whole of the circumstances in this chapter, and
above all from the manner in which our Lord here comes into view. Indeed this is
the secret of anything like an assured knowledge of the divine truth. It is not
given us formally, but lovingly; it forms a part of those revelations of God,
not to speak of the steps of His ways, which have Christ as the one great object
before them, at least before Him. God would make everything to be for Christ;
and where the soul is by His grace rendered simple, — not forcing truth, not
taking it out of its own station in the divine route, not severing what God
causes to flow from Christ and to exist for His own glory in Him. The progress
may seem some what slower, but in truth there is no progress otherwise. How and
whence can there be solid blessing for the soul unless it be thus gathered from
God? And not only this, but God’s objects are kept before our eyes. Thus the
truth is not only divinely received, instead of acquiring knowledge after a
human sort, but our hearts are formed according to the scope of His word, and we
are brought thereby into the current of God’s aims and purposes. If we thus look
at the chapter read, we soon discern that our Lord’s declaration about the Holy
Ghost has a character entirely different from that which has been already
examined in chapters 3 and 4 of this gospel. There is an evident advance, and
this, as always, is associated with the unfolding of Christ. I do not doubt
that, as God reveals more and more of Him, there is a corresponding progress in
the heart’s acquaintance with Him, and there is a proportionate increase of
strength ministered by the word of God. First of all we had that which is
necessarily foundation truth as to this subject; and this both in what is common
to all saints of all times, and in what is a revealed peculiarity since Christ —
common as to the great substance of it, peculiar as to the form which the
blessing assumes now that God has revealed His Son. This foundation was laid in
John 3:1-36; and here I must briefly call attention to the evidently and
perfectly beautiful order of the gospel; for we have Christ, the Word, traced
from eternity, wherein He was alone with God, down to the kingdom — the full
manifestation not only of His personal glory, and this in relation to man and
saints as well as God, but also its display in this world, and the effect of
this display upon souls pursued down the stream of time to the millennial
period, when He shall both diffuse joy by His own power where emptiness and
dearth had been, and clear away all that which is offensive to God by the
judgment He will personally take in hand, where man had defamed and perverted
the house of His Father, even at Jerusalem. This it is plain brings us down
regularly to the kingdom in which Christ will establish God’s glory here below.
Then comes the question, How is a soul of man to have part in this kingdom of
God? John 3:1-36 meets this great question, and accounts also for the fact, that
all through God had those He was preparing to have part in the kingdom that was
coming. Having shown this, He also discloses the specially blessed form which
the impartation of this nature assumes when He Himself, the Son of God, is
revealed. There is no divine attribute or mercy to us that does not shine with
increased lustre when Christ appears. Being the true light, whatever might be
the blessings tasted before, as I need not say there were many, still let those
blessings only come within the range of the light of Christ — and which of them
does not present itself as an entirely new thing? — so rich, so sweet, so
blessed is the new texture and shape with which He clothes all, even though it
may have been substantially true before. All the saints of God, from first to
last, were necessarily partakers of a new and divine nature, capable of
fellowship with God: now they know it to be eternal life, their actual portion,
in His Son. But this is far from all our portion even now; for, as we saw in
John 4:1-54, the humbled Son of God (in the hour that was coming and now is)
gives the Holy Ghost — not a new birth as born of Him, but Himself — to be in us
a power of fellowship with the Father and the Son. Christ was the promised One,
but they would not have Him. The consequence is, that even promises, however
blessed, give place to the revelations of the deep eternal glory of His person.
Consequently, rejected though He be in a lower glory, the only effect is to
bring out the higher glory — I may say all the glory of the Son of God, but of
the Son of God revealed in perfect grace upon the earth. Hence, not sought out
by some great Jewish doctor, but Himself meeting with a poor worthless woman of
Samaria, the Lord leads into the wondrous grace and truth of the Holy Ghost, as
given by Him, that the believer even now may have fellowship with the Father,
and with His Son Jesus Christ. The new birth in God’s mercy had always been
true, and must ever be true, so long as He calls out souls; because man is a
sinner dead and unclean, by his very nature incapable of inheriting the kingdom
of God. But now we have a transcendent privilege over and above that kingdom,
and awaiting nothing whatever. And the reason is manifestly because the Son of
God was there, and rejected of Israel, God would put honour on Him: everything
must bow to His Son; nothing could be too good for Him to bestow. The Son of God
coming in grace and humiliation, was only so much the stronger reason why it
should be, and forthwith. Hence the heart enters by the perception of the Son’s
glory into a taste of the Father’s love in the power of the Holy Ghost, whom
Jesus gives as the revealer of all that love and glory.

Accordingly this inestimable boon is the real spring of proper Christian
worship, which displaces the old things ordained previously of God, as well as,
of course, the will-worship of men.

Now we enter on another topic. The Lord Jesus is shown us here walking no more
in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill Him. It is not merely that the leaders
were jealous of Him, but now the people even — at least the people in Judea
proper, for they are clearly meant. Their hatred was complete: only they lacked
opportunity. They would be satisfied with nothing short of extinguishing this
light of God as far as they could. But with the feast of tabernacles just at
hand, His brethren call on Him to go into Judea, that His disciples also might
see the works that He was doing. The Lord had been gradually driven away from
the place of honour, of antiquity, of everything that boasted itself in
religion. His works were now mainly in Galilee. His brethren were dissatisfied.
They would gladly gain renown by the Lord Jesus; they wished to profit by His
mighty deeds for this world. No man that did what He did but must seek, as they
supposed, to do it openly. "If thou doest these things, show thyself to the
world." It was man’s thought; and so much the worse, because it came from the
lips and heart of the brethren of Jesus after the flesh. But what had our Lord
just shown in the chapter before? He had struck at the root of all such
expectations; for the multitude had then wished to make Him a king. They had
reaped present relief by the Lord, who had made them bread; and this had
reminded them, it may be, for the Jews often spoke of these things, of the
expectation of the Messiah according to Psalms 132. They wished to hurry on the
kingdom; for surely here was the King. Our Lord absolutely refuses; and when the
people still persist in addressing themselves to Him, He takes advantage of the
miracle He had wrought, to point out to them the real object of His mission,
which, in this gospel, is never the hope or thought of His being received as
Christ. Of course, it was known to God from the beginning, that the Jews would
reject the Messiah; and so even the prophets foretold clearly and fully. The
offer was made, and man was put to the proof; and in his failure God did not
fail to work greater things. It was not that He did not give the amplest
evidence of His Messiahship, but the gospel of John looks at Him according to
the divine nature and His everlasting personal glory. He was a rejected one.
Deeper counsels were in accomplishment then, even redemption by His blood.

Man understands not, cannot and will not learn, if One were on earth who is
really the King, if this was the land, and they the people, that anything could
be wanting. These surely are the elements for all that is good — the true King,
the real people, the actual land — if it be a question of all the circumstances.
But how comes this? God is not in their thoughts; sin is unjudged before Him.
Contrariwise, Jesus only sought the will and glory of Him that sent Him.
Therefore the kingdom now would have been an utter offence to Him. The kingdom
with man in sin? with God’s glory unvindicated? Impossible that Jesus should
take such a kingdom! And therefore it is that the very point of our Lord’s
discourse was this — that instead of rising up to take the kingdom, He came down
to do the will of Him that sent Him; and this will is to save — to receive
whoever came, no matter how repulsive he might be to Himself. For He came not to
seek His own will, or to choose any persons who might be agreeable to Himself.
It was a question of eternal life now, and resurrection at the last day. When
men were startled at these wonderful truths, He brings out a still deeper one —
He was come to die. He came to give His life for the world, as He says. And more
than that, — except they eat His flesh, and drink His blood, there would be no
life in them. Thus it is the substitution of a descended and suffering Son of
man for the expectations of a king, to bring in ease, plenty, and enjoyment
here.

Observe that in John 5:1-47 He is the Son of God as working in communion with
the Father, and so giving life. If people do not receive Him, they shall be
judged by Him; for He is also the Son of man, to whom the Father commits all
judgment. In John 6:1-71 a yet deeper thing appears. It is not the Son of man
judging, but the Son of man coming to die, giving His flesh to be eaten, and His
blood to be drank. There is nothing so blessed, so truly disclosing what God is,
what Christ is, in perfect self-abnegation, and in a love that proved itself
divine even while He was most evidently man. Who else came to die? All the
long-looked-for royal glory of the Messiah fades, and is completely put aside
for death; and this because, first of all, God must be magnified, sin judged,
man blest perfectly according to God, even now entering into communion with
God’s mind about the whole scene, communion with Christ Himself in His
self-renouncing love and devotedness. This, I suppose, is what is meant by
eating His flesh, and drinking His blood. It is not merely that He dies as an
offering for them; there is more than that. There is communion with His death;
there is entrance by faith into the death it writes on the whole scene, and even
the promised glory of the Messiah for the time is eclipsed. I do not in the
least deny that by-and-by He will take that glory and reign. Of course we all
know, this is but deferred, and that Jesus will take it after even a more
blessed sort, and founded on an immutable basis; but it is plain that, for the
present, death is what was before Jesus, and this, with its results, He lays
before the listening people. His death having been thus brought in as the Son of
man, and this, too, as the ground of communion with His own now — for they must
eat His flesh, and drink His blood, or otherwise they have no life in them — we
find in the next chapter (John 7:1-53) the feast of tabernacles, which typified
the sure prospect of glory according to the promise of God. The brethren of the
Lord, then, pressed His manifestation of Himself. Surely, thought they, now is
the time! The Lord declares the solemn truth, that their time is always ready.
They were of the world; they spoke of the world, and the world heard them. But
as for Him, His time was not yet come. Oh, beloved brethren, when we think for a
moment Who it was that uttered these words, when we remember that it was One who
had made the whole scene, the rightful Heir of all promises, who was entitled to
take all, to enter upon all, to enjoy all, what infinite grace is such language
as this, "My time is not yet come"! At the same time, what condemnation of the
sinner in "your time is alway ready"! what sentence of death on all the thoughts
of man! Man’s time is the present — is therefore always ready. This is his one
thought; for he loves to magnify himself. This is the life he lives in; this the
spring of all his activities. What makes the Lord’s way to be the more blessed
is, that there was no question of power in Him. His brethren, as we are told,
did not believe in Him; but they were assured enough of His power. Not believing
does not mean that they doubted His ability. Believing is not the same thing as
confidence in His capacity to do what He pleased; but not believing was betrayed
in there being no sense of what was due to God, no apprehension of His glory, no
just judgment of man’s estate, no perception of grace in Christ, no feeling of
the contradiction of all that was around to Jesus Himself. But He who had all
the requisite power, who in an instant could have changed the face of things,
awaits the right hour. His time was not yet fully come. The brethren go up to
the feast, and there we find the thoughts of men reveal themselves as to Jesus;
and the Jews exposed their unbelief even as His brethren had done before. They
murmur, they reason; but it was only the thoughts of men; it was only the dreams
of those who were without conscience toward God. Man’s mind never reaches up to
God’s love. Human ideas are human ideas and nothing else. There is no force in
them; they are as powerless as the being from whom they spring, and they bear
the stamp of death and of lovelessness upon them. But in Jesus it was not so.
Power there was, we know, but there was what I dare to say was incomparably more
blessed than power; He was divine in His love. He came, already tasting in
spirit that utter humiliation that was before Him; and when men sought to kill
Him, assuredly He was not without deep reflections of what He was about to
encounter and endure. A single eye sees clear. What was withholden from His
gaze? It was not unpondered, still less was it unlooked for; but for all that
Jesus hastens it not. There was calm waiting on God; there was nothing like
rushing into the scene alike of danger to Him, of sin against, and of man’s
ruin; there was no despising what the world was going to do; for, alas! indeed,
it was Satan’s short-sighted success and man’s own most destructive folly,
supposing that the One was thus got rid of who troubled all here below. But
love, God Himself who is love, was in all His thoughts, in all His feelings.
Accordingly Jesus waits till the feast was begun; and when they were fairly
keeping it, He goes up and presents Himself there, cost what it might

First of all He announces that He was about to depart. Let me call your
attention to this; for it is of all importance as a basis for the action of the
Holy Ghost, of which I am about to speak tonight. The gift in question supposed
the death and departure of Jesus; it supposes that He was going where man could
not follow, where the Jews must be left entirely behind. In the last day,
accordingly, the great day of this feast, itself the last feast of the Jewish
year, Jesus stood and cried, etc.

Now let us reflect for a moment what this feast meant. It was that which was
kept, as most of us know, in remembrance of the fact, that the people of God,
having once been in the wilderness, were now gathered into the pleasant land. It
was celebrated after the harvest and the vintage — the well-known signs in
prophetic Scripture of the execution of God’s judgment in both its forms. There
is a judgment that first decides between the good and the bad; and this is the
harvest. Next, there is a judgment that falls unsparingly on what is altogether
evil and hostile to God; and such is the vintage. God thus always kept before
His people an intimation when, or at least how, they were to expect deliverance.
It was a vain thought to look for present glory according to God before judgment
was executed. Judgment must have its full course, and glory afterwards fills the
scene. But this feast, as we know, was not like an ordinary one of Israel; it
had this extraordinary trait, that it was not bounded by seven days even, or
that which sets forth the course of earthly time. There was a supernumerary day.
There was not only the full week, that shows the ordinary cycle of human events,
and even that blessed time of rest at the end, to which, according to the word
of God, His counsels for His people and the earth turn. For God never gives up
from His mind and purpose the rest that remains for the people of God. But it
was not, in fact, on the seventh day, but the eighth, that Jesus took His stand.
This was the day not of creation goodness, but of resurrection glory. On that
day, then, Jesus stood and cried, saying, "If any man thirst, let him come unto
me, and drink."

Nothing can be more evident to a spiritual mind than the force of all this,
which I have been endeavouring to present just as it comes before us in the
chapter. Clearly it is not the Spirit of God, as He always wrought on souls even
before Jesus came; neither is it the Holy Ghost given as power of communion with
Jesus when He is come as the Son of God. Here we have an hour that was not come,
nor could come, till Jesus went away. Here we have a blessing that is not in any
possible degree or form enjoyed by a human heart till the Lord Jesus died; nay,
till He rose and went up into glory. But the point that our Lord is here
bringing out so forcibly and with such astonishing wisdom in all the
circumstances of the chapter is this, — that the glory of Jesus at once — not
the kingdom as yet, but while He is on high — brings into the scene the Holy
Ghost given here below as all-overcoming and overflowing streams of blessing now
conferred on him that believes. It is not what we have had already, but
different from that. And no wonder; for what does God feel and do about the
death of Jesus? What sign, what worthy token does He give of the value of that
unfathomable humiliation to which His Son went down? The grace of the Son
delighted to give freely the Holy Ghost to the believer, in order that he should
enjoy communion with the Father and the Son who gave Himself. Who otherwise
could taste or in the least enter into the love, and delight in the dignity of
His person? It would be to put ourselves upon a par with Him, could we pretend
to have communion with the Son by anything that pertains to us; for even a new
nature would not suffice. The Holy Ghost is the only adequate power, as we have
already seen. But here it is not in the quality of Son of God, but distinctively
and emphatically as Son of man — as One who has been rejected to the uttermost —
as One who died, rose, and was glorified in heaven. All this, mark, is when the
judgment is not yet executed; not a blow fallen on man; not a single act of God
in the way either of separating the good to Himself while leaving the rest, or
of pouring out unsparing vengeance on what was religiously hateful to Him.
Before any of these judicial dealings on God’s part, the Son of man departs from
the world, leaving it entirely undisturbed; goes up into heaven, and from the
heaven into which He has gone sends down the Holy Ghost to be a divine link
between him who believes upon earth and Himself, that glorified man at the right
hand of God. Thus, it is now the joy of the heart, by the power of the Holy
Ghost, triumphing in the exalted Saviour, and then testifying far and wide.
There is the One that I possess, and know to be my life. To purchase and cleanse
me He died. He has now broken with this scene, having been rejected by the very
people who ought to have received Him. The earthly promises have lapsed entirely
for the time, though their centre and object and founder awaits another day to
establish them gloriously; for nothing ever changes or fails that God is pledged
to, though as far as man is concerned, all for the present is ruined in His
cross. But God only uses the interval to bring forward an incomparably higher
thing. Instead of the Christ, yea, instead of the Son of man, bringing in His
universal reign — instead of any other glory connected with the earth, there is
a new order of things for which man is totally unprepared. While I am on earth —
and how blessed this is! — He sends down the Holy Ghost from Himself in glory,
that I may be acquainted, as it were, with the scene into which I am going; that
I may be habituated to it while I am on earth; that I may have the Holy Ghost,
who knows it so well; that I may have Him linking up every interest, every
affection, every thought and expectation of my heart with Him who is there. This
is what the Lord Jesus sets before us in this passage: "In the last day, that
great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst." No
matter what is to follow for others, He begins with the reality of man’s need
for himself. In the things of God, what is more ruinous than theory? It is of
all importance to beware of a mere plan or system of truth. We have souls, not
minds only, though, when we have been brought to God in truth of heart, I admit
that we may enter and delight in the precious things of God. But there must be
reality — "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink." It supposes that
man begins, as he ought, at the beginning of his soul’s destitution according to
what God sees him to be, who surely gives him in Christ the answer to his real
wants; for if He produces a sense of the wants, it is for the express purpose of
satisfying them in His own grace. "Let him come unto me," says Christ, "and
drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, Out of his belly
shall flow rivers of living water." Thus the thirsty soul does drink; and there
is the heart’s satisfaction in that which the Holy Ghost ministers. But it does
not rest there, and for this simple reason, — the humbled One that died in
rejection, but in atonement, was now risen from the dead and glorified in
heaven, whence is He the source of power — power of the Spirit — that carries,
as it were, all before it. It may be a barren and miserable wilderness. This but
enhances the wonder of it. The scene is not changed. The world, far from being
made better, is manifest and judged in its true character as it never was judged
before. The evil of man here below remains; the hostility of the world to God is
unchanged; the total absence of one feeling in unison with God had been fully
proved in the death of Christ. Yet, in the midst of such a state, the Holy Ghost
is given, not only as a well of water for the believer himself, but as rivers of
living water for others all around. How blessed are God’s ways and words! How
worthily of Himself He meets the evil of the world, and the apparent triumph of
Satan! The enemy is never more thoroughly defeated than when he seems to have it
all his own way. The downfall of the Son of man, as it seemed to His enemies,
was just the path in which He would finish the work of redemption, and, founded
upon it, would enter into a new scene, from which He would give the believer
present association with Himself, by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, and
issuing in streams of refreshment for this dreary desert world.

Let me impress some serious questions on the souls that are here this night. How
is it that Jesus appears to you, and how is it that you are related to Him, now
that He is in heaven? Have you simply a hope that you are going to be there?
This to the believer is a hope, and as blessed as it is sure; and more than
this, — we shall be with Him for ever. But is there only a hope? Is there
nothing now for the heart? Is there no present power linking us with Jesus where
He is? This seems to me what our Lord was here making known to His own. Jesus
would not have us simply yearning for the day of glory; He would even now give
our hearts the taste of it; He would even now make the strength and the joy of
it our own; He would even now carry us out through this world as those who are
not receivers but givers, and givers according to God’s richest mercy; for such
it really is. These believers, who had come to Him in their deepest distress,
who had drunk where all was utter weariness and want before, find that although
He is gone, although disappeared from the earth, He has left them rich indeed,
beyond all thought of man heretofore, though in outward circumstances more
exposed and desolate than ever. Thus all the portion stands in the clearest
contrast with that which even saints or prophets knew or looked for here below.
Take, for instance, those in Old Testament times, and how sharp and decisive the
lines of divergence. Look at the yearnings of heart in the Psalms; search into
the prophecies of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, or any other: is this their state? Why not?
Not that they were not blest; not that they lacked honour from God, some of them
being the vessels, as we know, even of inspiration itself. Yet for all that,
when their actual experience is looked at, these saints of God, with bright
visions of the future, had for the present no such power either of worship or of
testimony.

I do not mean to say that the Christian does not know deeper sorrows now than
ever an Ezekiel or a Jeremiah knew. I am far from saying that Christ, the great
sorrower and sufferer, spares us communion with Himself; for I am sure He does
not; nor would our hearts desire to lose the communion of whatever of His
temptations our little hearts are able to bear. But of this be assured, that the
deepest enjoyment of Christ, and of our union with Him, goes along with the
deepening of the world’s rejection of God’s people, along with our being
thoroughly cast out as evil, scorned as men never were of old; for nothing that
assailed a Jew is to be compared with that which comes upon a Christian. And the
most painful part of it is, that the more one drinks into the place of a
Christian — that is, really, the place of Christ; for it is the Holy Ghost
associating us with Christ which is the whole matter of Christianity — the more
a soul by the power of the Spirit enters into his place with Christ, the more
thoroughly is he despised by this world. But then what glory, joy, and
blessedness!

How is it that Christians are often cast down? I mean not so much pressed sore
because of the toils, and the sorrows, and the griefs of the way, but downcast
in heart as before God in their thoughts of the Lord, and forgetful of their
associations with heaven. Why is there a cloud, a dimness, a want of the full
and fresh joy of Him they belong to, and where they belong to, filling the
heart? It is precisely because they fail to look up now into heaven by the
Spirit, and so fail to look down on the world as a wilderness, however much the
streams of living water may flow through them. They forget what Jesus has given
them; they look on earth as a desirable place. Why should not Christ be exalted
here? Why should not He and we have a name of glory here now? Not so: His hour
is not yet come; nor is ours either; for we are one with Him. Here man’s hour
was to Him scorn, rejection, and death. This was His place. Ours, too, is to be
nothing here; it is to be utterly despised now, and hated of men. This was
Christ’s lot on earth. Is there anything better in this world? Is there any even
to compare with what Christ Himself had? He knew it as none ever can; but at
least we may by His own grace be attached and cleave to Him, and so be drawn
into and appreciate it in our small measure. For this seems to be just what the
Holy Ghost is here given for. Observe in this connection the expression, "Rivers
of living water." The power of the Holy Ghost fills the heart with the glory
into which Christ is gone. What can more precisely suit the wilderness when the
wilderness proves most arid? When all around is utter barrenness, and there is
not a single creature well of water to draw from, not a green spot to refresh
the eye, not a palm-tree to find the least rest under? When a true sense of the
desolation here below has entered into the heart, this is what fits and
strengthens the soul according to God. Therefore do I raise the question, If in
John 4:1-54 we have the Holy Ghost associating the believer with the Son and
with the Father, which thus carries him into worship, what is the new and
special blessing here promised? Undoubtedly it is connected more with service
than with worship. "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water," is
suggestive rather of that which goes out abundantly; but assuredly it does
suppose the believer by grace in an absolute superiority to the wilderness
through which he is passing. There is a communicating power to others from that
Spirit, who fills himself intimately with One who is Himself in rest, and gives
His rest to the heart, making heaven to be a home very near, into which grace
has given him the entrée because of Christ who is there. Thus the Holy Ghost so
knits him now with the Lord Jesus, that all this world has to offer is but the
vainest bauble. There is also the consciousness, on the other hand, of riches
which man’s heart cannot conceive, and which, if we know them to be ours, we
know all to be the fruit of nothing but our Saviour’s grace to us. In short,
what we have here is not so much the Spirit of the Son leading us to delight in
His person and grace, as well as in the Father’s love, but rather the power of
the Holy Ghost imparted by the Man who is exalted into God’s glory, giving our
own souls the consciousness of that glory as ours in Him, and filling us to
overflowing in communications of Him to others here below. This may remind one a
little of the difference (though it be another subject, no doubt,) between "the
holy priesthood" and "the royal priesthood" in 1 Peter 2:1-25. Let us refer to
it for a moment, in order to make the point before us a little more sensible.
The apostle Peter speaks of us there as invested with this double priesthood.
Surely it is not a needless repetition in any respect. There is no vague heaping
up of epithets, but rather a distinct perception of our place as brought nigh to
God. What, then, is the function of the "holy priesthood "? Offering up
spiritual sacrifices. As so consecrated one draws near to God, and accordingly
we then hear of these sacrifices in relation to Him. But, on the other hand, we
are also said to be a kingly priesthood; and there the object is no longer the
sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, but to set forth the excellencies or
virtues of Him that has called us out of darkness into His marvellous light.
Thus the one exercises itself in our praising God through our Lord Jesus; the
other sets forth His worth among men, as One who has dealt with us after a sort
which God alone could plan or effect. This conscious dignity the Christian does
well to have before him ever in this world. To seek earthly glory is, in fact,
the real degradation of a Christian.

Unquestionably many a Christian is called to pass through this world, earning
bread for himself and his family. And it is well that it should be so. Few of us
can bear not to be occupied thus. Nor is there any reason why our blessed Lord
should not be served thus with all the heart, why there should not be a true and
energetic and affectionate service rendered to His name, while the hands thus
provide (whether for the family or for individual need) what little is required
here below. But then the believer does it simply as a bread-trade — nothing
more. The moment you give it the dignity of a profession, and regard it as
something of honour in the world, you are lost to the testimony of Christ on
high. I do not deny that the grace of God may call persons actively engaged in
that which is highly esteemed among men. You have known, of course, of men thus
called of God, while they were entering on or engaged in that which the natural
heart values. And you may have seen some under such circumstances exhibit very
great simplicity there. I am not saying now that it is wrong to have what men
call a profession; I am using the heavenly glory of Christ to judge the spirit
in which all that is in the world is ordered; and I do warn you against the
vain-glory of men in these things — the desire and hankering after earthly
distinction, the valuing of things for self and family — carried away in our
thoughts and feelings by that which the world thinks of them. As Christ’s hour
was not yet come, so neither is ours. If we are His, we have nothing to do with
anything, even the pettiest shred, of this world’s glory. Be assured, it is only
a patch of dishonour for the child of God now. It matters little what the
world’s prize may be. Why should we want it? Are not all things ours? Shall we
not judge the world — aye, angels? I do not dwell on the fact, that these
present objects so often bear the very stamp of their own insignificance and
worthlessness upon them, that their sages confess that the good is in the chase,
not in the game. Who does not know that even a "ribbon" is enough reward for
some men’s life-long exertions! These otherwise are sensible men. What would not
the richest and noblest do or endure for a "garter"?

Suffer me, then, to press the importance to the Christian of watching against
the world, and of looking to Christ on high, in taking up whatever he does,
whether for himself or for his children. I do not mean anything so preposterous
as that Christianity calls on all believers to seek one dead level of
occupation, or that there is any faith in one’s abandoning the circumstances in
which one is called, if one can abide therein with God, or in seeking an
occupation that is entirely unsuitable. This I do not call faith but folly. But
giving full weight to all this, let me press, that if anything, no matter what
it may be, is to be done day by day, whether it be making a shoe, or making a
deed, there is but one worthy motive for the Christian — doing all to the Lord.
If assured that we are doing His will, we can do either the one or the other
with a good conscience and a happy heart. The ruinous thing for the Christian is
to forget that we are here to do God’s will, and to be witnesses of a rejected
Christ glorified in heaven. But what is the world’s greatest desire? Pushing
forward, doing something great; and what we to-day achieve made a stepping-stone
for something more to-morrow. All this is thoroughly a denial of the Christian’s
place, and proves that the heart’s desire is in the current of the world. It may
be natural for a man to wish to be something easier and greater in the earth;
but, beloved, where is the heart’s allegiance to Christ? Is it so, that after
all one prefers the first Adam to Christ? This is really the question:

"Do I value most the first Adam or the Second?" If my heart is given to the
Second man, am I not to prove it in what I do every day? Is the honour of Christ
only for the Sunday? Surely this is not fealty to our Chief! Have you then been
called by the grace of God to have His Son revealed in you while in a position
which the world counts mean and dishonourable? Be it so. What more admirable
opportunity for the faith which judges by Christ in glory whether you can thus
abide with God? I do not ask you to follow this man or that, but to search the
word of God, and judge how far in your position you can honour Christ as He is.
For are we not to be His epistle, known and read of all men? Is it not thus that
the rivers of living water flow from Him out of us? Believe me, there is nothing
of Christ in clutching what one has got, upholding one’s rights and dignities,
even if ever so real in the world’s eyes, and resenting every inroad and
liberty, in an age which slights authority. Quite as little of Christ is there
in him of low degree, who keenly seizes opportunities to urge his way steadily
forward to what he values in this world. On the other hand, whether you are high
or low, as men speak, you have an opportunity of approving what you think of
Christ. Whatever the trial may be, it is but a little offering to show what
Christ is in our eyes. But for guidance there is no criterion but God’s word.
Vain and foolish is our wisdom in such things: it is a question of the will of
the Lord. Everything turns upon this. The whole matter for Christian conscience,
no matter what the position of the believer may be, comes to this, that each of
us has an opportunity of doing His will, of being His servant, of showing that
we value Him infinitely above the world. My blessing is, no matter what the Lord
gives me to do, therein to be content. Of the circumstances which are best for
His glory, and for me His servant here below, He is the only good judge. Let me
value them simply as an opportunity of setting forth His praise, prizing most of
all what the world hates. As to any occupation, I must repeat, that high or low
in men’s eyes, it should be in mine nothing but a bread-trade. Undoubtedly the
world dislikes this. What! an honourable profession only a bread-trade? Exactly
so; a crucified Saviour now in glory makes short work of the world and all that
is in it. Take an example. I am going to work as a shoemaker. Is it my aim to be
the best shoemaker in London? Suppose me a doctor: do I covet the largest
practice in this city? Is there anything of Christ in these wishes? Is this
practically to own the glorified Jesus? Am I really taking up my work from Him
and doing it for Him? Our hearts know well, if the Lord actually gave us
anything to do for Him, how love would express itself in doing the work well.
Far be the thought that Christians should count it a virtue to be loose and
negligent in the way they discharge their business! Certainly there is nothing
that becomes a man, not to speak of a saint, in being a sloven. The point of
faith, whatever we may have to do, is this, — that, be it a little thing or the
greatest, it is all done for Him.

Thus we testify, even in daily conversation, too, that we are not living to self
or the world, but to Him who died and rose; and we shall surely have the power
of the Spirit with us in all. Sweet testimony, though in the otherwise
perishable things which pertain to this world; but it is a testimony which shall
not pass away. We are but passing through a strange land: our home is with
Christ; but we are where the Lord has called and put us for the present. Here we
stay as long as He bids us work for Him; we journey at the commandment of the
Lord; at the commandment of the Lord we abide. And so it is we are for Him to
dispose of. We are in the wilderness; but meanwhile, instead of only drinking of
a rock outside, we have a well within, yea, rivers of water flow out of us. It
is the joy of Jesus reproducing itself here below — the power of the Spirit of
God giving the heart now its present delight in Him above. There is the
abounding sense that we belong to Him who is there now. All the glory of this
world is judged as the meanest trash — as only the delusive tinsel of the devil
to amuse a judged and perishing world.

Beloved, I would ask how far your souls are seeking this, and this only. I would
ask myself the same thing. I desire grace from God that none of the truth which
He is pleased to bring before us may degenerate into words of barren knowledge.
Pardon me if I feel that none have to watch against this danger so much as
ourselves. The mercy of God has been awakening His children, has called, or
rather recalled, them to this truth, and much more — to the faith that was once
delivered to the saints. It is an immense blessing, but along with it is just
the responsibility and the danger. Who are most exposed to losing it and of
becoming its bitter foes? Those who having known truth like this cease to live
in it and to love it. How can it be lived in, unless Christ and not self be the
object of our souls? Substitute for Him any thought of our ease or reputation,
and all is defiled, all becomes polluted in its very spring. The Lord only knows
what might be the end of such folly, save only for the grace of God which, as it
took us up when there was not one right affection towards Him, and maintained us
despite all our wretchedness, so can intercept the full results of our
unfaithfulness and ingratitude. That blessed God who has Christ before Him, and
has now the glorifying of Him by us in hand, does at the same time allow a
sufficient play of moral responsibility in proof of what unbelief does even with
a saint. But He can and does restore. May we count on His grace to keep as well
as restore, while discerning His judgment of things and persons, and treating
unsparingly all that which slights His word, and takes advantage of grace to
deny the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord make and keep us lowly!
May He so give us to see Himself in glory that all which is of this world may be
ever judged in our eyes as awaiting only the hour of the harvest and of the
vintage which is not yet come. Our joy is come in His glorification meanwhile,
and in the Holy Ghost given to us before that hour. Jesus we know in heavenly
glory, and that He has already sent down the Holy Ghost to bring us into the
present power of glory. May we be vessels of His testimony; it may be, needing
to be broken that the rivers may flow out the more freely, but nevertheless
channels through which the rivers of living water flow, to the praise of His own
grace and glory! The Paraclete, or Comforter.

John 14:26; John 15:26-27; John 16:7-14.

Lecture 4 of ’The New Testament Doctrine of the Holy Spirit.’

W. Kelly.

We enter on a sensibly different province of truth, relative to the Spirit of
God, in the chapters of which a few verses have been read. It is no longer a
question of the new birth, nor yet of the Holy Ghost as the power of fellowship
with the source of grace — fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus
Christ. Nor is it, again, the Holy Ghost as a power that flows from within
outwards, giving the true testimony of a world-rejected but heavenly Lord before
the hour comes for Him to show Himself, and them along with Him, to the world.
These are the three subjects, as far as the Spirit of God is concerned, of John
3:1-36, John 4:1-54, John 7:1-53.

What, then, is the great commanding truth which our Lord brings before us in the
chapters now read? What is it that most prominently strikes the mind subject to
the word of God, as one hears or reads these passages? There may be differences,
and there are, in every one of these communications; but nevertheless they have,
whether John 14:1-31, John 15:1-27, or John 16:1-33, one grand truth in common,
which has not been presented in any part of the gospel before, of such immense
value in itself, of such immensity, too, in its consequences, that we should in
no way have been able to gather it from any of the previous communications of
our Lord. The common principle in these chapters (John 14:1-31, John 15:1-27 and
John 16:1-33) is this, — that it is not merely a source which imprints its own
character on the new life that is given to the believer, nor a power working,
whether inwardly or outwardly, and this in worship as well as testimony, but
there is much more. We have the testimony of Christ strongly marked in these
chapters; but there is another truth that rises above not only what we have had
in the early part of John, but also which stands out in every one of these
communications that come before us now. There is a divine person prominently
brought before us. It is not merely a source or a power, but a person. And the
occasion evidently accounts for this difference. The Lord Jesus was leaving —
that blessed person who had called them to Himself, who had been forming their
hearts during His earthly ministry by revealing the Father to them. The scene
was about to close in His death, wherein God should be infinitely glorified. As
He says Himself, "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God" — not merely the
Father (the Father was glorified, but there is more conveyed in this truth, and
another thought altogether) — "God is glorified in him." Sin was against and
before God; consequently, it was impossible for God to overlook it. The moral
nature of God must break forth in all its strength and indignation against sin.
Jesus, the Son of man, the rejected Christ, takes the sin upon Himself, and
becomes responsible for the iniquities of His people. Hence, in the cross, God
acquired a glory which He never had before, and which it was impossible that He
should ever receive again. God was glorified infinitely, and for ever. The
consequence is, that, from that moment right out into eternity, the grand, and
at the same time precious, task lies before God of displaying, in every possible
form, His estimate of the infinite suffering in which Jesus has glorified Him.
The immediate result of that work was, that Jesus, being raised from the dead by
the glory of the Father, takes His place at the right hand of God in heaven.
Nothing else would have been for Him an adequate witness of the value of the
cross. There are results which shall be accomplished in their day; there is no
blessing that God ever has given, or ever will give, apart from the cross of the
Lord Jesus. But, at the same time, the cross has so perfectly met all God’s
justice, holiness, majesty, and love, all His character, in short, as well as
His affections that God now has simply before Him, as far as Christ and those
who receive Him are concerned, the happy task of gratifying,, His own nature to
the full in the blessing according to all that is in His heart. This it is that
alone accounts for all that He is now doing. In virtue of this, not only does He
put Jesus at His own right hand, but sends forth the gospel — a thing He never
did before — sends it to every creature. Thousands of years had rolled over this
world (and God is the same God), yet had He never sent out such a message to
man. There might be this gospel or that, good news to Abraham or to the children
of Israel; but there never was the glad tidings of His grace spread abroad to
every creature before. It was not God began to be love: Jesus Christ or His
cross never produced love in God. It is the distinctive character of love in
Him, that it is increase, uncaused, and unmoved by that which is outside itself.
It is in His own nature. Love would be and was there if there had been no object
of it, for objects do not make love; but at the same time, in the sovereignty of
God, His love goes out: and to the neediest, the most deplorably guilty, the
most distant from Himself, the most hostile, He can afford to show love. It is
the cross of Christ which vindicates Him in so doing. But this is not all. Jesus
disappears from the world. It must be so. The world was not good enough for Him.
Not even anything that God could do in it, no accomplishment of providence, no
bestowal of the throne of David, nor yet the universal dominion of the Son of
man over all nations, tribes, and tongues would have been a sufficient reward on
God’s part for the cross of the Lord Jesus. Accordingly, God takes Jesus to His
own right hand in heavenly glory; and this, it is evident, gives occasion to the
wonderful teaching of John 14:1-31. First of all, our Lord presents the
certainty of His coming back again; for if He was going there, it was no
abatement of His love. He went to prepare a place for them. As surely,
therefore, as He went to the Father’s house, He would come again, and receive
them unto Himself; that where He was, they might be also. He had manifested the
Father to them; He had shown Him here. They had known, or ought to have known,
not only that the Father was in Him, but that He was in the Father. He was a
divine person; He was the Son. This, of course, was in itself independent of His
work; but at the same time, it gave infinite value to that work. Now, He goes
farther, and shows that, during His absence in the Father’s house, He makes a
provision suitable to His love, and worthy of the cross — an unheard of
blessing, transcending anything that had ever been known by man upon the earth
before. He opens it thus: "If ye love me, keep my commandments." He would not
have them spend their breath and affections in unavailing regrets for His
absence, but prove their love in a real and substantial way — "keep my
commandments." On the other hand, He would prove His love in a
characteristically divine way. "And I," says He, "will pray the Father, and he
shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even 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." Farther down He adds what makes the personality so very evident — "The
Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name."
Remark the words "will send in my name." It is not merely "will give;" for we
can understand the giving of mere power; we can understand a divine source of
blessing springing up within; we can understand infinite supplies of blessing
flowing out. But here there is much more. It is unequivocally a divine person,
"whom the Father," He says, "will send in my name; He shall teach you all
things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto
you." On this let us for a few moments dwell, considering what it is, or rather
whom, God has given to us — whom the Father has sent in the name of the Son, the
Lord Jesus. I do not deny that the Holy Spirit is sometimes presented under the
figure of being poured out, or that which is shed forth. It is familiar to all
and unquestionable. In such figures the thought is clearly the profusion of the
blessing, the rich and lavish extent, if I may so say, of what God the Father is
giving for the glory of His Son. But besides the riches of the gift, and the
abundance of the grace, here we have an altogether different thought. Here we
have distinctness and definiteness to the very last degree. And no wonder. It is
a person — not merely power. It is no question of fulness of blessing only, but
of a divine person. Accordingly the language employed seems intended of the Lord
to enforce and point to this grand truth, which, alas! He knew would be so
readily forgotten by the Church of God.

I admit also as certain, that by-and-by men here below shall receive another
outpouring of the Holy Ghost. I admit the latter rain, even as the former. I
admit the accomplishment of the beautiful type of Exodus 28:1-43, where the
sound of the bells goes forth, not while the High Priest is within the holy
place, not merely when He goes in, but also when He comes out again. And so, as
one testimony was rendered when the High Priest went in, there will be another
testimony of the Spirit when the High Priest comes forth once more. Just as when
Jesus went into the heavens, there was the sound given forth by the power of the
Spirit; so when He comes out again, there will be a new form and fulness of the
Holy Spirit’s blessing diffused upon all flesh, as it is said in the promise;
the only difference being, that the future thing will surely not be for the same
body that has received the first blessing of divine grace from the Holy Ghost,
but, as we know, the ancient people of God shall be the object. God will revisit
Israel in grace; not, of course, confining the blessing to Israel, but even as
God now has been pleased to seek out of every nation under heaven, so, only more
largely, will it be in the days of Christ’s second coming and reign over the
earth. In all this it might seem that we are only on vague ground; and if this
were all, we should be far from clear light as to the Spirit of God. Even so I
know not that it would be lawful to speak of the influences of the Spirit as
some now do. We are in the presence of an infinitely greater and commanding
truth, but it is the very truth of which the Lord Himself speaks here. For
indeed it is not a question simply of influences for the good of the soul, nor
of springs of divine favour, nor of powers that flow in or flow out to any
imaginable extent. Above and better than all this is the glorious fact, that now
for the first time, and, as I fully believe, according to Scripture, for the
only time, the personal presence of the Holy Ghost is known on the earth — the
Holy Ghost actually come down from heaven, and here below as the fruit of
redemption and of the Lord Jesus Christ’s departure to heaven.

It is admitted fully that, along with this personal presence, there is a
plentiful dispensing of power, as we have said. Nor do I doubt for a moment that
by-and-by, when the Lord Jesus comes from heaven, there will be a larger
effusion, a still more extensive spread of God’s blessing all around; but where
do we read of His sending the Spirit for that time? Where do we read of the
Father sending the Comforter in the name of Christ the Son? In no other period.
It is here, and now only. I mean not that these are the only Scriptures that
refer to it, but that these are the only times and circumstances and conditions
in which the word of God puts not only the gift of the Spirit and His
outpouring, but the mission of the Spirit. It is a question here, I repeat, of
His own personal descent from heaven; and nothing can be plainer from our Lord’s
own words, as will be proved as we pass on. The key to all these statements lies
in this: — the presence of the Comforter. That personal presence of the Holy
Ghost, which is here spoken of, is intimately connected with, as it is founded
on, His own personal absence after redemption. On the other hand, the bright day
of the Lord that is coming will be marked, not by Christ’s absence, but by His
presence; not by His being in heaven, but by Himself coming to reign over the
earth; and it has no such personal presence of the Spirit attached to it.
Greater powers there may be in a certain way, — larger, if not deeper; but it
will be another state of things altogether, and one of the most striking
differences is found in a fact which may be passingly stated here; namely, that
the Holy Ghost in that day will not lead a single person to worship God in the
holiest of all. This state of things ceases. The veil is no longer rent in the
millennial day, when the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be over the
earth. Possibly such a statement as this may sound strong, and interfere rudely
with doctrinal prejudices. To some theologians what could be more shocking to
hear than that, after the work of redemption, there ever could be a recurrence
to an earthly sanctuary, and a separating veil, and a human priesthood, and
outward sacrifices over again? But in my judgment nothing is more certain, if
indeed we bow to the Psalms and prophets, than such a state of things on earth
under the millennial reign of the Lord. Gentile doctors may explain it — or
rather attempt to explain it away — as they will; but there the fact stands
before them in the word of God imperishably, in the prophetic word evidently
unaccomplished. It is in Scripture very particularly bound up with this mark,
that when that day does come, and God renews His dealings with His ancient
people Israel, there is no Pentecost among the renewed feasts. There is the
Passover, as well as the feast of Tabernacles; but there is no feast of weeks.
This evidently falls in with what I have been saying, that there will be a most
copious effusion of the Spirit; so that even some outward gifts, communicated on
the day of Pentecost and afterwards, should be designated powers of the world to
come. Why are they called "powers of the world to come"? Because they are a
sample of that energy which will work in unhindered effects then, making the
vast universe to know the mighty deliverance which the Saviour has accomplished
for "all things," as well as for those that believe. The powers that were
conferred by our Lord through the Holy Ghost, after He went up to heaven, are
rightly therefore called "powers of the world to come," such as healing
diseases, cleansing the lepers, raising the dead, giving the blind to see and
the lame to walk, and the like, because they were expressions of that power
which will be known far and wide in the great day of the Lord’s reign, when He
will heal all their diseases just as truly as He will pardon all their
iniquities. Then He will bring in and unite both blessings. It is clear that
this is altogether a different state of things from what we know now.

Accordingly, now there is this surpassing privilege that God gives to make known
His exceeding value for and delight in the work of the Lord Jesus. How comes
this? That work without doubt has in God’s sight unending and infinite worth.
How comes it that there should be now such an impressive and altogether divine
estimate of it? The reason I believe to be this. The day that is coming will be
the accomplishment of promise and prophecy. The time is arrived for making good
what God positively brought out in that form of detailed blessing that was given
to His people on earth. They were an earthly people; and accordingly the
promises in their literal bearing regarded them as such. Hence it is, that when
that day comes, it will be of that which God definitely put before them, it will
be of the earthly people and the earth (and especially the land of Israel) as
the centre of their fulfilment. But God never limited Himself merely to the
accomplishment of what He has promised; and, in point of fact, so far from your
getting at the depths of God’s grace, by grasping at the promises, as people
say, on the contrary, one only gets to the limits, so to speak, of that which
was suited to a man on earth, or a people on the earth, or the earth itself; but
as surely as the heavens are higher than the earth, so the grace that lay, as it
were, unmoved in His own bosom, that which never was measured out in promise nor
defined in prophecy, must be according to the depth of the goodness of God
Himself. And therefore it is on one side that He retained this blessed reserve;
not, of course, for the purpose of hiding it always, but nevertheless it was
hidden from ages and generations — "hid in God," as He elsewhere says. Now on
the other side the secret is hid no more, and this because God can freely act
now. He has the world-rejected Christ at His own right hand; and at the very
sight of Him as He comes there, if one may so say, fresh from the cross, as
there He comes bringing all the value of redemption into His presence, God gives
not according to the measure of an earthly people’s need, or according to that
which is suitable to this poor world, but what was worthy of Himself and of
Christ. He gives what would be an honour in heaven itself. What can attest or
prove this more than sending down the blessed Spirit, who knew heaven so well,
and could enter into and reciprocate all the feelings of God the Father about
the Son and about redemption? Hence it is we enter with such fulness into this
infinite blessing.

Accordingly, therefore, with all this weight of truth before us, these depths
that were as yet unfathomed of divine grace, the Lord Jesus Christ speaks to His
disciples. He would lead them into the counsels and reveal to them the mind of
God the Father, the grace of the Saviour-God; but the means by which He pledges
His name, and promises on His Father’s part to more than make up for His own
loss to the saints, is by the presence of "another Comforter." But I apprehend
the word "Comforter" sometimes fails (perhaps to most fails) to give an adequate
notion of what it is that our Lord Jesus really meant us to gather from thus
speaking of the Holy Ghost. We might very naturally draw from it, that the term
was in relation to sorrow, that it intimated a person who would console us in
the midst of the distresses of this lower world. And, indeed, the Holy Ghost
does console us and comfort us. But this is only a very small part of the
functions here conveyed by the word "Paraclete." This is the expression, if one
would give an English reproduction of that which is in point of fact the very
word our Lord employed. But the meaning of that word "Paraclete" is not merely
"Comforter," but one who is identified with our interests, one who undertakes
all our cause, one who engages to see us through our difficulties, one who in
every way becomes both our representative and the great personal agent that
transacts all our business for us. This is the meaning of the Advocate or
Paraclete or Comforter, whatever equivalent may be preferred. Manifestly, then,
it has an incomparably larger bearing than either "advocate" on the one hand, or
"comforter" on the other: it includes both, but takes in a great deal more than
either. In point of fact it is One who is absolutely and infinitely competent to
undertake for us whatever He could do in our favour, whatever was or might be
the limit of our need, whatever our want in any difficulty, whatever the
exigencies of God’s grace for the blessing of our souls. Such the Holy Ghost is
now; and how blessed it is to have such an One! But remark here, that it never
was known before. I have already hinted, and indeed plainly expressed the
conviction, that it will never be known again, fully allowing that there will
be, as to extent, a larger outpouring of blessing in the world to come. But the
personal presence of the Spirit here below as an answer to the glory of Christ
at the right hand of God! . such a state of things never can be repeated. While
the High Priest is above, the Spirit sent down gives a heavenly entrance into
His glory as well as redemption; when the High Priest comes out for the earthly
throne, the Spirit then poured out will give a testimony suited to the earth
over which the Lord will reign.

If we bear this in mind, what a solemn impression is given as we look over
Christendom! I have no doubt of the fact; but if it be so, it is a pregnant one,
and full of serious reflections. It is always the great test-truth, if I may so
express myself, which is the first to disappear, and, I think also, the last
truth to be recovered, once it is lost; for it is invariably what most reflects
God’s glory. What can be, then, dearer to the Spirit, who is here to glorify the
Son in glorifying the Father? And what should be of deeper moment to the saints?
Wonder not if Satan strains every nerve and practises all his wiles to blot and
misrepresent, to pervert or corrupt where he cannot destroy. If I judge
Christendom by such a standard as this, what must be the sad conclusion? If one
thing more than another ought now to characterize the children of God
everywhere, what should it be according to these words of the Saviour? The
presence, the personal presence, of the Holy Ghost; the certainty that this
divine person is come to replace Himself. Granted that sense does not see Him,
and that mind cannot enter in, as it is said here of the world. Evidently, if it
were a question of either sense or mind, the world might be adequate. But
contrariwise "the world seeth him not, neither knoweth him; nevertheless ye know
him." We know Him, and know Him also to be present, first, on the simple word of
the Lord Jesus; but, secondly, too, from the conscious enjoyment of the presence
of the Holy Ghost.

I must begin by simply receiving Him on the word of the Lord; but when I do
receive the truth into my soul, am I without the sense of His presence? Am I
without the taste of the joy of the Holy Ghost being either in me or in the
assembly of God? Surely our hearts can attest far otherwise. Therefore it is
never confined simply to belief. "Know ye not," says the apostle, "know ye not
that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost?" That is, it is not merely a
matter of faith. First of all, I do not doubt that a soul is brought into the
blessing by the faith of Christ, and nothing else; but to leave no room for the
enjoyment that is found in Him subsequently, to reduce all to a bare matter of
acceptance on God’s word of the Lord Jesus, would be indeed a poor witness on
our part to the power of the indwelling Spirit, or to the revelation of the
Saviour’s grace. What would be thought of one who had nothing to assure him that
his wife really was thus related to him, except the fact that her name was so
entered in the registrar’s office? It would be an extraordinary and a sorry pass
to which things had come. And do you suppose that the Holy Ghost, a divine
person sent down expressly to give us the power and joy and blessing and
refreshment of the grace of God in the knowledge of Christ — do you suppose that
this is less real for the new man, than the comfort of a companion that God has
given a man for all that pertains to this present life? Far from us be such a
thought; and therefore it is, I repeat, surely a matter to be noticed and
weighed. No doubt, if my soul, when awakened, only accepts the bare word of God
in the gospel, and cares for, looks for, no more from Him who is here to glorify
Christ, I must not wonder if I stop short of enjoyment which others taste; for
the Holy Ghost resents such despite to His grace, such contentedness to know the
least possible of Christ. There must be loss, if I will indeed be obstinate
enough not to look for aught more. As far as it goes, it is in principle
rationalistic, thus turning the very word of God into a mere letter; the heart
refusing to go onward into the enjoyment of His blessed presence and power,
simply because the gospel of salvation was believed on the word of the Lord. On
the contrary, we find particular pains taken to show that individually there is
a divine consciousness by the Spirit’s power of our relationship to God; also,
in the assembly of God, I am entitled not only to believe that He is there, but,
believing, also to taste the sweet and mighty effects of His presence. Hence it
is that in Romans 8, which refers to what concerns the soul’s new standing in
Christ, it is not merely said that the Holy Ghost dwells in me, a believer, but
that He "beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.’ Does
this mean no more than that a man believes the gospel? Matter of faith of course
it is; and with this we must begin — with bare faith in God’s testimony of His
own grace to our souls — a faith that rests on nothing else on not a single
emotion or experience of any kind, but God’s word in the glad tidings of
salvation by Christ. But suppose I settle down that this is all to which grace
now entitles me, is this not a mistake on the other side almost as bad as to
confound faith with feelings, or with experiences? Where faith is real, it leads
into a deep experience, both for the soul and in the Church of God. However,
this may suffice for the subject on which I am now treating. It seemed to me the
more incumbent to refer to it, because the return from the ordinary muddle of
inward evidences to simple faith exposes souls to limit everything as to the
Holy Ghost to the bare word of the Lord. This is true as a ground-work; but we
should look for more. And we must beware, in avoiding one error, not to fall
into another and an opposite one. That the Lord sends me the word of life, I
accept entirely as the starting- point of the Christian. It is a blessed and
admirable thing that the Lord gives us to know, when hard pushed, it may be, by
the adversary — to take the gospel on His naked word. But as surely as He who
comes down and really dwells in us is a divine person — to suppose that He does
not give the sensible enjoyment of His presence in our souls, and in the
assembly of God, is a very great mistake indeed in my judgment.

First of all, then, the Lord prays the Father, as He says (for He takes a
mediatorial place in this chapter), "I will pray the Father, and he shall give
you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever." We are thus in
presence of a grand truth as to the Holy Ghost. Not only was He given, but
besides, when He comes, He abides for ever, as it is said, "that he may abide
with you for ever." There is not a word about anybody else; it is the Christian
that is in question here. Throughout these chapters of John we have invariably,
as the anticipated basis, redemption accomplished on earth, and Christ exalted
in heaven. These are accordingly the limits of the blessing here. It is not so
much redemption indeed, in any of its manifold applications, but that truth as
the ground of Christ’s glorification on high, and of the Holy Ghost’s coming
down to the earth. Accordingly, here the Spirit is promised, not to be a visitor
for a time, as the Lord Jesus was, but in contrast with that transient stay,
"that he may abide with you for ever." This at once leads one to feel how solemn
is the sight which everywhere meets our eyes in Christendom. If there be one
truth more than another that has been abandoned, it is this personal presence of
the Holy Ghost. There is no adequate testimony to it whatever; and this is not
said unadvisedly. I say it not merely of that great city which reigns over the
kings of the earth, but of smaller cities that kings have built themselves to
reign over, or those yet smaller cities their subjects love to reign over as
rivals and an improvement upon both. I say it of the Protestant bodies, no
matter what, no matter where, national or dissenting. It is a remarkable fact,
that if you look at their confessions of faith, many of which were drawn up when
men, no doubt, were far more simple and thoroughgoing than they are now — at the
time of the Reformation, or at any subsequent great crisis — if there be one
truth more especially absent from every one of these confessions that has come
under my own observation, it is the testimony to this truth. You will find other
truths: the necessity of being born again, the value of the work of Christ, the
glory of His person as God and man. Not that they deny that the Holy Ghost is a
divine person — surely they do not. But I am not speaking of His personality, or
deity either, but of His personal mission to the earth, and of His presence now
with Christians, both individually and collectively — the presence of the Holy
Ghost sent down from heaven. Is it to be found anywhere acted on or confessed?
Where is it set forth? I have never met with any approach to it, even in my
reading; and of course I do not wish to give anyone the impression that I have
not read a good deal upon the subject. I have searched diligently for it, and I
have desired to learn what is really held by Christians universally; but never,
in any one confession, creed, article of faith, or rule, have I discovered the
smallest expression of that which is evidently the great characteristic truth of
Christianity — that truth which ought to be continually sounding out, and
continually in practice within the Church. Is it not, then, a solemn
consideration that this, the glory of the Christian, the strength of the Church
of God, and the especial privilege for which it was expedient that even Christ
should go away, is never attested in any one system of Christendom known to me?

It will be said that there are excellent persons, and good preaching, etc., at
any rate among orthodox persons. Is this denied? Does it supply the lack?
Perhaps it may be urged by some that at least the society of Friends, or
Quakers, as they are commonly called, do make a great deal of the Holy Ghost.
They are the very class which, with all respect to themselves personally, are,
in my judgment, and unwittingly on their own part, most ignorant of the truth of
the Holy Ghost’s presence. The reason is manifest why they are so thoroughly
distant from, and so antagonistic to, the truth of the personal presence of the
Holy Ghost. Their doctrine, which I surely ought to explain after having given
so strong an opinion about that society, — Quaker doctrine is wholly
inconsistent with the truth the Lord lays down here. They hold that the Spirit
of God dwells in every man without exception; that, whether a Jew or a Turk,
whether an infidel or a believer, not a single soul is without His indwelling.
The consequence is that they cannot believe in any special personal presence of
the Holy Ghost; for they conceive that as it has always been, so it is the
essential means whereby he who makes a right use of it can be saved. Thus
evidently along with this error goes another: they make justification to be
gradual and progressive, not complete by faith of Christ and His work, but in
proportion as men follow the inward light. I do not speak of all the members of
that society: no doubt gospel truth has penetrated among not a few of them; and
there are those (I do not care to name such now) who have lately preached
without as well as within them, and are much to be respected, and have been
somewhat used of God to the conversion of souls. But what they received for
their own souls, and preached to the blessing of others, was not the proper
doctrine of the Friends as set forth in the remains of their founders or
Barclay’s Apology, but a certain measure of evangelical testimony which
penetrated their enclosure, and was thence given out to others. But as to this
doctrine, the fundamental tenet of the Friends is, that the Holy Ghost is given
to every man without exception, that he, making right use of that manifestation
of the Spirit, may have his soul saved at last. Now is not this the very
antithesis of the truth of God? For Scripture does not say that the Holy Ghost
is given to every man in the world, but teaches that the manifestation of the
Spirit is given only to every man in the Church. The Christian alone has the
Holy Ghost. Not even the Old Testament saints knew this; nor will the millennial
saints, as I believe, possess it as we do now, though there will be an
outpouring on all flesh, we know. Even the people of Israel will not have Him as
we now, blessed as they may be by- and-by, and endued with powers as extensive,
and, indeed, outwardly transcending, I presume, anything ever known in the bosom
of the Church For the millennial day will see the most marvellous displays of
divine power that have ever wrought among men permanently in this world. I doubt
not at all that the efforts on which man so prides himself now, — his
inventions, his electric telegraphs, his railways, his steamships, etc., will
disappear from the world to give place to what will incomparably surpass them;
for God will never allow that man is able to exceed Himself. He will not leave
room for the delusion that a day of sin, self-will, shame — a day when Jesus is
rejected and the Spirit slighted — is to furnish the due materials for the reign
of His Son over a reconciled earth. Who that knows the character and word of God
can admit the possibility that He will let Israel, under their Messiah, be
indebted to the monuments of rebellious Gentiles, when He sets His people up,
and causes the light to shine, and the glory of Jehovah to arise upon Zion?
Impossible, to my mind, that God should make use of these effete means of man in
that bright day. Just as Jericho of old must fall, and all the ancient centres
of the holy land must give place, and God would mark out new ones for His
people, so in the day that is coming, I am persuaded, the Holy Ghost will teach
man how infinite is the power that He will put forth in the earth; for this will
be the peculiarity of it: the Holy Ghost then will act on the earth and for the
earth. Of course there will be no suspension of what He undertakes; but the
display of the power will be suited to the Lord as then reigning over the world,
and the objects the Holy Ghost will have in hand.

Now the Holy Ghost works after a different way, and to other ends. There was a
great manifestation of power in apostolic days; but the great starting-point was
the Holy Ghost sent down by Christ glorified at the right hand of God, and
giving to souls vital association with Him who is there. This, too, ever goes on
while Christ is on high. It is the heavenly One making us heavenly by the Holy
Ghost, the divine link between Him and them upon the earth. This is what our
passage speaks of here (and accordingly we have the believer contrasted with the
world). He, says Christ, is "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot
receive." The false doctrine I have referred to insists strongly that the world
does receive the Spirit, and that it is in no way peculiar to the believer in
point of fact. Here, on the contrary, it is a special possession of the Spirit;
it is His personal presence which only the Christian possesses, which the world
cannot receive, "because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know
him." It is exclusively the privilege of the believer here below; "for he
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." Instead of merely giving them a
transitory taste of blessedness, the Spirit dwells with them; and more than
this, instead of merely dwelling with them, "he shall be in them." There is this
double truth, the dwelling with and also the being in. These two things are of
importance. From the time that He comes down He dwells; yet not merely does He
dwell with them as One outside of them, which is true in an assembly of saints,
but He was to be in them. That He dwells with us is of immense moment for the
believer to hold — that the Holy Ghost does not merely visit occasionally, but
really dwells with us, and that we may look to Him, knowing that He really is
here. But besides, as the Lord adds, He shall be in you, intimating that there
would be the closest possible presence of the divine Spirit "in" as well as
"with" those He was coming to; and this "for ever." The effect is next shown. "I
will not," says He emphatically, "leave you orphans" (that is, by His departure
from them); "I will come to you." "Yet a little while and the world seeth me no
more, but ye see me; because I live, ye shall live also." Is not the Holy Ghost
forming us into a body, uniting the believer to Christ as the head? There is
more than this. Community of nature is here taught; and not the unity of the
body, as we have in the epistles of Paul. "Because I live, ye shall live also."
Nothing can be more intimate than this. Further: "At that day," says He, showing
the manner of it, "ye shall know that I am in the Father, and ye in me, and I in
you." But "that day" is come. This again shows how totally this presence of the
Holy Ghost differs from His outpouring in the millennium. Will this verse be
true of the saints then? It is clear that nothing of the kind will appear. I do
not deny that suited blessings will be given in the mercy and power of God; far
from it. I do not deny that there will be divine goodness working in the people
of God, the objects of His grace. Surely it must be so. But it is plain to me,
that the state of things, taken as a whole, here described by the Lord, will be
perfectly impossible in the millennium. "At that day ye shall know that I am in
my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." This is only applicable now. The basis
on which it depends has been accomplished now, and now only. Christ has taken
His place above, not merely in heaven, but, as He says, "in my Father." "At that
day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me" while He is there, and,
at the same time, "I in you" while we are here. It is evident therefore that
this (verse 20) is the decisive proof that our Lord makes the wondrous gift of
which He speaks here contemporaneous with His presence in heaven. Then only is
made good our association with Himself on high by the Holy Ghost sent down. When
our Lord Jesus Christ leaves heaven, and takes the kingdom, all these elements
will be changed, and there will be a new state of things in accordance with the
new position which our Lord is to take. The Holy Ghost acts or is given always
in relation to the place of Christ. During His personal absence there is the
personal presence of the Holy Ghost; and as His own personal presence
characterises the age to come when He returns again, the action of the Holy
Ghost is necessarily modified by that new and fruitful fact. On the latter
verses I shall not dwell, having wished, first, to present as distinctly as
possible the truth, and to this end comparing what now is with what has been, or
may be in the days that are coming, so as to bring out the peculiarity of our
blessing. Faith always enters into the present mind of God, His counsels and
ways, from looking at Christ. Therefore it is that, where Christ’s presence at
the right hand of God in heaven is kept steadily before the soul, every thing
falls into its place. Where this is not the great key-truth of our souls in
relation to God as well as to the world, all is lost — I mean, all that is
distinctive of us as Christians. Of course, there may be faith in Christ for the
forgiveness of sins, and for a measure of peace with God; but I am not speaking
of the soul’s comfort, nor even of our being brought through this world and
saved for ever and ever by Christ. My thought is of the glory of God, and of
that which suits His affections; of that which is good and holy, full of
strength and blessedness for the Christian in relationship with God. Assuredly
none of these things can be, unless the eye of faith is guided, and continually
fixed upon Christ where He is. To have the eye continually directed toward Him
where He is secures the free work of the Holy Ghost in the soul; and hence it is
you find that those who do not believe in the personal presence of the Holy
Ghost here below have no right apprehension of Christ Himself as the Head of the
Church in heaven. They do not deny, nor so much as question in the least, that
He is at the right hand of God. They formally proclaim that they believe in the
Holy Ghost, the communion of saints, and so on. But it is no question now of
repeating the words of a formulary; nor am I confining my remarks to any
particular system, because, in my opinion, the dissenting societies are every
one of them founded with aims and views wholly irrespective of the Holy Ghost’s
presence and operation in the assembly. Thus the present state of Christendom,
in every form of it, whether national or dissenting, is founded on unbelief in
the main distinctive truth of the Church, as far as the Holy Ghost is concerned.
This is of capital importance to impress on the children of God. The question is
not whether or where they may have got good for their souls. The Spirit of God
blesses in the midst, and often in spite, of these systems. There are those dear
to Christ in every one of them; there are in all not only living members but
ministers of Christ, as I firmly believe, wherever the grand foundations of
Christ’s person and work are acknowledged in any measure. But it is another
thing altogether to say, "Am I where the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven can
act freely, according to the intentions of the Lord and the word of God? Am I
where He is believed to be present? Is the meeting, the assembly, of which I
form a part, the expression of the presence of the Holy Ghost?" I do not speak
of preaching now, nor even of meetings for instruction, whether in the form of
lectures, or of reading the word of God together All these things have their
place; but there remains distinct the great central occasion where the Church,
the members of Christ, gather round the name of the Lord Jesus. Now, on such
occasions, is this leading truth before our souls, that we have One who is
competent for every difficulty; One who cares for the glory of Christ; One who
(for the love He bears Christ, and the value He sets on this work, and His grace
toward us who, by His own power, have received Christ, and rest upon His work,)
maintains our interests, looks after us, gives all our joys, helps us in our
sorrows, fortifies us against the wiles of the devil, enables us to be simple,
lowly, truthful, faithful, by His own grace, and deals with us by the word of
God where we are letting slip either what is due to Christ’s person, or to the
truth of God?

Now, I maintain, that of all truths none can, as far as the Christian body on
earth is concerned, take precedence of this for urgency and moment. The reason
is quite simple. If men believed there was a divine person sent down from
heaven, and that He was really present with us, to be looked to as directing the
assembly, working by whom He would, do you think that this would not be the
great prominent fact? I do not mean His merely operating; for the Holy Ghost may
work in a Wesleyan chapel, or by an Anglican clergyman. I entirely admit that,
without the operation of the Holy Ghost, none could be converted, or get any
truth from the word of God. Thus the operation of the Spirit is like His own
sovereign grace; or, as the Lord compared it, to the wind, blowing where it
lists. This is altogether another thing from the recognition of the presence of
the Holy Ghost, and His acting freely and sovereignly by such of the members as
He is pleased to employ in the Christian assembly. Do Christians believe that
there is such a presence of the Spirit to be counted on? Surely the word of God
is plain; and this is what the saints of God are called to own, and find their
blessing in. Can this be fully known except where there is faith in it? I do not
mean that every individual Christian has got a right measure of faith — perhaps
not one of us has; we are all too feeble about this and every other truth.
Therefore, of course, the assembly of God does not mean to claim all it desires
for each of Christ’s members. It is not that all have arrived at that fulness of
confidence and simplicity of reliance on the presence of the Holy Ghost that
becomes us, especially as this is, we may say, one of the highest truths, though
after all a very simple truth; for, as is usual, the highest truths are apt to
be most simple when seen. What, for instance, can be simpler than Christ at the
right hand of God in heaven? Yet, after all, is it not the kernel of the
mystery, the choicest blessing of God in Him? So I know nothing plainer, yet
profounder, than the presence of the Holy Ghost on earth — the answer to that
great truth of Christ at the right hand of God. At the same time, however simple
it may be, it is most weighty. Every Christian, no matter where, should be
instructed in this great truth; and I conceive we have a serious charge from God
to labour for the instruction of the children of God wherever we meet them, as
they have received Christ, that they should really believe also in the presence
of the Holy Ghost on earth. But holding this, I do not admit it to be of God
that every one who is received should be required to possess previous
understanding or exercised faith in His presence. There are many individual
members of Christ who are but feeble in it, and do not enter into its
preciousness in any appreciable degree. But so long as the meeting as a whole,
is guided by the Spirit; so long as there is a recognition of His presence,
without any known, fixed, or sanctioned hindrance to Him; so long as there are
no human devices or rules of men, or other arrangements which interfere with the
action of the Holy Ghost according to the word, there, I am persuaded, all
children of God are bound to be, and may be, thoroughly happy. Possibly, no
doubt, mistakes may be made — we are all liable to err; but our comfort here is
to know that we have One present who is alone equal to the correction of all
errors, and who, in His own grace, has come down from heaven for the express
purpose of seeing to the saints. Therefore, we need never despair, no matter
what the difficulties; we should never give up our soul’s confidence that the
Holy Ghost, who is present with and in us, will see to every hindrance and
danger. Let our faith only be towards Him; let us only call on the name of the
Lord; let us only be sure that He is here for the purpose — I will not say of
honouring our faith, but, what is surer and better, for glorifying Christ. This
can never fail. At the same time, if there be faith in His presence, as that
which after all is the great thought of the meeting as a whole, though not
necessarily of every member of it, divine power will be there. But unless the
meeting be so far governed by this great truth, it is evident there may be all
kinds of human rules brought in which contradict the action of the Holy Ghost
there. Details as to this we find in the epistles, and some, at least, will come
before us, as I trust, on another occasion. I only refer to the subject to
connect it with John 14 passingly, as showing the all-importance of this great
truth of the personal presence of the Holy Ghost.

Allow me to repeat my question here. Supposing a Protestant Christian, or any
other you like, believed a divine person to be present, do you think all would
not take shape and be governed by so immense a truth? If it were only an earthly
sovereign among men, I should like to know whether you or I would be anxious to
appear to take the lead in any place where the ruler might be there for the
purpose? Is it too much to say, supposing the king passed through his dominions
or entered any scene of his government, that the duty of a subject, even the
highest, would be so much the more to pay him honour? At least such is my
opinion. And I think nothing temporally is happier, speaking as a man now, than
for a people to feel, and own, and respect the rights of the sovereign. I fear
to too many it is a mere name, and that every trace of authority, even revealed
truth, is coming to little better in these days — everything, both outward and
inward. But wherever there is the real understanding and the right feeling of
what the will of God is in the matter of earthly authority, it is manifest that
no man or woman who had the sovereign in their own house — mark, even in their
own house — could overlook such a fact, and behave as if he were not there.

But, beloved, when we think of the Church of God, it is not our own house, but
God’s; and what is due there? Surely, if anybody may act there in full right, it
is One who is God. Accordingly it is too plain and palpable to be mistaken, that
there is not, nor can be, faith in the presence of the Holy Ghost, without
giving Him the place of precedence, and expecting His action in the various
members according to Scripture. Indeed this is rarely pretended; for it is
argued that in former days in the Church there were miracles, and apostles, and
so on, but that all is changed now; so that these Scriptures are practically
obsolete. Thus, when these people talk of the Holy Ghost, mostly they mean such
great powers and wonderful officers as once existed; but as for a divine person
for the first time deigning to come down and to be present on earth, and to act
in the midst of the assembled saints of God, — the assembly that comes together
to worship the Lord, and take His supper, or any other of the acts of Christian
worship or edification, it is not believed. And the proof that it is not
believed is, that every arrangement is made by man to take care that the
machinery shall work just as if He were not there. They hope that God will bless
the means used, will work by the instruments they arbitrarily set up; but the
object is to make all things go on thoroughly well to the evident ignoring of
His own personal presence there. Now no man would act thus who had the thought
even of an august human personage present. This would cause a change of tone.
There would be a line of conduct entirely different from ordinary habits. No man
would walk about his house so much at ease if he knew that the King was there;
at least I should not admire the man who would, he would seem to me uncommonly
full of himself. At the same time it is evident, that if there was the sense of
a divine person present, all reverence, all the sense of His love, all that
could be done to be subject to His direction there, would be the simple
expression of one’s faith.

Therefore it is, I feel, that owing so much as we do to the Lord, we need look
well to it when we come together, that we act as those who believe in the
presence of the Holy Ghost. Let us try our ways and deportments. Even small
things betray how far we have faith in His real presence. Still more let us take
heed if we venture on a hymn, or pray, or say a word, or whatever the act may
be. The Lord grant that we may not bring into disrepute that precious truth
which He has given to our souls! I am persuaded that no attacks, no reproaches
from without, no persecution of enemies, no detraction of false brethren, no
scorn of the world, can ever cast down those who have faith in the presence of
the Holy Ghost. But of this I am equally sure, that our own practical unbelief,
our delinquencies, our frequent grievous shortcomings, may and do open the door
for the enemy; and these things more than any other circumstances are used of
Satan to stumble such as are looking on in the present agitated and chaotic
state of Christendom, anxiously looking out here and there to find some haven of
rest in the midst of their trouble. And I do strongly press it on my brethren —
for we all have a part, and, I do believe, not brothers only, but sisters also.
I beseech them then to remember to what a place of dignity and responsibility
they are called. Let them look well to it that their spirit, their very looks,
their behaviour, their words, if indeed they do say anything, may never be
inconsistent with faith in the presence of the Holy Ghost. A very few words
before I close on the other two chapters. The end of John 15:1-27 presents the
Holy Ghost, the Comforter, in a slightly different way from John 14:1-31. "When
the Comforter is come" — again I call your attention to the strong impression
that it is a personal Being who comes — "When the Comforter is come, whom I will
send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from
the Father, he shall testify of me; and ye also shall bear witness, because ye
have been with me from the beginning." The particular point that I apprehend is
taught here is this — the heavenly character of the Holy Ghost’s testimony. In
John 14:1-31 the Spirit brings to remembrance what Jesus said; in John 15:1-27
He testifies of Christ Himself, and they testify because they have been with Him
from the beginning. What the disciples saw, when they were with Him from the
beginning, was, of course, the earthly side, and the Holy Ghost comes and gives
His heavenly supplement. Thus, it is the Holy Ghost who comes from heaven, who
knows the place and the glory of Christ, and who is sent expressly, not merely
to help them in the remembrance of what they saw and heard upon earth, but to
bring down, for the knowledge and joy of their souls, what He alone could tell
them of the heavenly glory of Christ. In a word, therefore, we have the Holy
Ghost here regarded as the bringer of fresh knowledge — of a new and heavenly
testimony of Christ, they, of course, not losing the previous earthly testimony,
in which the Holy Ghost indeed also strengthened them to bear witness of Christ.
In John 16:1-33 we have still more advance as to the Spirit of God. Our Lord had
told them in John 14:1-31, that instead of sorrowing because He was going away,
they ought to rejoice; a word of wondrous grace, because it shows how highly the
Lord thinks of our love, and how He counts upon our unselfish delight in His own
blessedness and glory. Surely it was a blessed transition for Him to step from
the deepest sorrows and sufferings of the cross into the presence of God the
Father in heaven! No wonder, therefore, that the Lord counts on their sense of
all, and that they would rejoice because He was going to the Father, though a
great loss in itself to them. But now He takes up the other side, and says they
ought to rejoice for themselves, too, as it were. Sorrow had filled their heart;
He says, "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go
away." John 14:1-31 says it is expedient for Him; the sixteenth chapter shows it
is expedient for them; and for this reason, that if He did not go, the Comforter
would not come — clearly proving what has been already stated, that there is a
necessary absence of Christ from the earth in heaven in order for the Holy Ghost
to descend. "If I go not away, the Comforter will not come; but if I depart I
will send him unto you." Thus, we find the personal mission of the Holy Ghost,
though in different connections, common to all these chapters. "And when he is
come, he will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment." Here
we have, first of all, His relation to the world. The Holy Ghost, in most
important respects, takes the place of the law. In the dealings with Israel the
law was the great reprover; now it is the Holy Ghost, who, instead of being
limited to a particular people, is come to reprove the world, no matter where,
no matter in what state; it might be moral, or religious, or zealous for the
law; but He reproves the world of sin — not merely of sins, but "of sin." It is
the state here below of sin. Again, He convinces them, it is added, "of
righteousness and of judgment." "Of sin" — not because they broke the law, but —
"because they believe not on me; of righteousness" — not because I have kept the
law for their righteousness, but — "because I go to my Father, and ye see me no
more." Righteousness now is inseparable from Christ; He is the only
righteousness that is valid for a soul in the sight of God. One does not speak
of what may be of social worth, what has its place on earth, or among men here
below — all this, of course, has its proper place; but now eternity comes into
view, and accordingly Christ is the only life, or way of life. Hence, not to
believe in Him is fatal, no matter what else there may be. So, again, no matter
what apparent righteousness there may be, there is no other righteousness at all
for God. And even so it is not as displayed here below, but Christ glorified at
the right hand of God the Father. This is righteousness, that the Father had put
the earth-rejected Christ there. In Christ, who Himself receives honour from the
Father on high, do we find the righteousness we are made by grace. (See 2
Corinthians 5:1-21)

Then there is another and very solemn addition to the verse — "and ye see me no
more." The world has lost Christ. He came, and this not to judge, but to bring
in blessing. He had all power, and could have introduced the kingdom, as far as
His power and glory were concerned. But the state of the world in relation to
God was such, that to have done so would have slighted sin, and slurred over the
glory of God that had been totally compromised. Therefore, in point of fact,
although the Messiah came, and there was no defect in Him — although man was
responsible to receive Him, nevertheless, man being guilty before God, it was
quite impossible, morally, that the kingdom could be established then. It would
have been a denial of man’s ruin and of God’s glory, and neither could be on the
part of Jesus. Therefore it is that Jesus never presents Himself, as has been
observed in this gospel, as the Christ. Others may so speak of Him, but He never
speaks of Himself as Messiah (save as acknowledging the truth when it was
confessed); and for this simple reason, — in the gospel of John He has ever the
consciousness of being a rejected Christ, yet withal God Himself, the Son.
Hence, therefore, although He may be on earth, and accomplish prophecy, and
others call Him Christ, the Son of David, and so on, yet He styles Himself the
Son of man, who, in His own glory, is the only-begotten Son of God. There is
everywhere the calm distinct sense of His own personal glory, which no rejection
or shame could possibly interfere with for a moment. Accordingly our
characteristic and proper blessings are built upon His rejected but most
glorious person (see Matthew 16:1-28), and are the answer to His glory as the
exalted man in the resurrection power of the Son of God.

Thus, then, the Spirit of God takes a function at this present time towards the
world, suitable to Him to whom He bears witness, making the Scriptures, as it
were, the text on which He preaches of Christ. The world accordingly, not
believing in Christ, is convicted of sin; and such, too, is His demonstration of
righteousness and judgment. The righteousness is out of sight, and so slighted;
the judgment, too, is not executed here below, where the world has its own way;
but the cross as well as exaltation of Christ is the standing proof that the
prince of this world is judged in God’s sight. This world, as such, has never
been worth a believing man’s heed since the cross of Christ. Up to that time
there had been long and gracious patience on God’s part: since then God regards
it as His enemy; it is what the intelligent saint knows to be the deadly enemy
to God; and just as flesh found its character. so the world also; both were
decided by the cross of Christ. To the world the Spirit keeps up this testimony;
and how? Not according to the doctrine which supposes all the world to have the
Spirit, but by the express contrary, by being outside the world. If the world
believed in Christ, the Holy Ghost would dwell there; but, being unbelieving,
the Holy Ghost is outside it; and consequently He is a reprover of the world,
and not one who dwells in it as a Paraclete. Such alone He is among the saints
of God.

Accordingly another point follows — how the Spirit deals with the disciples.
This, being wholly different, is described in a new manner: "I have yet many
things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit
of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth." The Holy Ghost will bring
all things to remembrance. It is not merely testifying to Christ in His heavenly
glory, but now there is no limit; it is Himself personally come, with and in the
saints, as we saw. Accordingly He leads them into all truth. Here Christ says,
"He shall not speak of himself." Bear in mind, this does not mean that the
Spirit shall never speak about Himself. I suppose there are many who imagine
such to be the meaning of the clause; but I must assure them that they are
mistaken. The Holy Ghost speaks a great deal about Himself in the epistle to the
Romans, in the epistles to the Corinthians, in the Ephesians, in the Galatians.
I may say, that in almost all the epistles the Holy Ghost gives us a vast deal
of instruction about Himself. This, then, is not the meaning at all, but that He
does not speak from His own independent authority. He is acting in communion
with the Father, and for the purpose of glorifying the Son. Accordingly this is
what evidently falls in with the context — "He shall not speak of [or, from]
himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak." He comes down to do
honour to Christ: what He hears from the Father, as well as from the Son, this
He tells us. He has on earth been pleased to take, if we may so say
reverentially, a place subject to this design; even as the Son took a place here
below subject to the Father. The Son was divine equally with the Father;
nevertheless, He came simply to do His will as a servant on earth. So the Holy
Ghost deigns now to be the servant of the Father’s purposes and the Son’s glory,
even as the Son was the minister of the Father before.

Hence it is said, "Whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will
show you things to come." Nor is it merely to lead us into all the truth that
Jesus had revealed before. There were things we could not then bear. Also, He
speaks of "things to come" — an important word for souls that despise God’s
revelations of the future. It is not, I apprehend, merely that we have the
revealed word of God, but, by virtue of His revelation now complete, and having
the Holy Ghost Himself in us, the Church ought to be the interpreter of
everything around in this world. There is nothing that the believer is not now
competent by the Holy Ghost to understand, if he only use the word of God in the
power of the Spirit. The Christian has, in a certain sense, a prophetic as well
as a priestly place. He is called to discern the times; he may read what passes
in the world, and ought to do it. His senses, no doubt, may not be exercised to
discern good and evil; and so he may be dull of hearing, as the apostle
reproached the Hebrews; but I speak now of what, by virtue of the Holy Ghost, we
are regarded here as competent for.

"He shall glorify me," says the Lord. Here we find the prime object now made
most apparent, — whether it be revealing the truth, speaking what He hears, or
showing things to come; this is the centre around which, so to speak, all His
offices and His functions find their full operation. "He shall glorify me: for
he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you." For this and other
reasons, I believe, it is that we never hear, as far as I know, of the
government or rule of the Holy Ghost. Among some it is a common expression, and
commoner among intelligent Christians than any others; but I do not think the
better of it for this. The fact is, we cannot coin or consecrate a phrase for
the truth. The acknowledgment of the presence of the Holy Ghost is a truth of
the gravest character; but presence and sovereign operations are not the same
thing as rule. I believe I am subject to Scripture in this, as I certainly
desire to speak also with all worthy respect of those whose language in this
does not to my mind agree with the word of God. But I may observe that the
reason seems to be, that the Spirit is making good the lordship of Christ: He is
exalting Him, not glorifying Himself. Hence it is that the Spirit of God is
never presented as ruling the Church. It is perfectly clear and sure He is the
person who acts sovereignly. This I admit, and hold unqualifiedly; but when you
speak of "government," you assert something else, which does seem to me not
according to the exactness of truth, and which tends to displace the Lord from
His rightful position, and to disorder the relation of the saints towards the
Lord. The rejected Jesus is the one Lord in the official sense (for in another
the Father and Spirit are, as being God). The Holy Ghost is present to maintain
this, the will and truth of God. Hence He acts in the midst of the saints to
exalt Christ before our eyes. The Spirit works in and with and by us; but the
Lord Jesus is our Lord, and is so revealed of the Spirit to us, who, therefore,
puts us in the position of subjection to Him. He has taken the place of
glorifying Christ now, and imprints the character of His bondmen on us.

However, this is only by the way. My main object tonight is to leave the
distinct, and, I trust, full impression that these words of the Saviour are
intended to let fall on the heart, of the personal presence of the Holy Ghost
sent down from Jesus Christ at the right hand of God the Father. May this
precious truth not merely have increasingly a place in our hearts as
individuals, but more than ever be prized in the assemblies of God on earth. The
Lord keep a single soul from abandoning that truth, no matter what the
difficulty, as well as from practically acknowledging any assembly where the
Holy Ghost is not allowed His due place according to Scripture.

"Receive ye the Holy Spirit"

John 20:17-23.

Lecture 5 of ’The New Testament Doctrine of the Holy Spirit.’

W. Kelly.

If there is no part of Scripture, perhaps, which has not suffered from being
dislocated from its context, there are few portions which have been injured more
by this unnatural divorce than the one which I have just read. It is impossible
to enter into the force of the particular communications, the dealing of the
Lord with Mary Magdalene, and the words of the Lord as well as His acts on the
same day at even, unless we bear in mind that it is in the strictest connection
with His resurrection from the dead, and this, too, as the Son of God. It is by
raising dead men that He is defined as such. (Romans 1:4.) This emphatically is
the view the Holy Ghost takes of Him in this chapter — not as raising others,
but as rising Himself. The perfect ease of the circumstances, the undisturbed
clothes, laid not confusedly but in their due order, the napkin that was about
His head in one place, the rest of the linen garments in another, — these were
the evidence to any one, who looked upon them with the least discerning eye,
that all was done as peacefully, whatever the glory of it, as when a man rises
from the bed on which he has spent a night of rest. In truth, it was the Son of
God that had accomplished that work of grace on which He had been sent of the
Father. It was not merely as an object of God’s power raised from the dead. This
is true in its place and season, and elsewhere enforced. God did raise Him from
the dead; and Paul and Peter insist on it distinctly. But it is also true that
He Himself arose from the dead. "Destroy this temple," says He, even in an early
part of this gospel, "and in three days I will raise it up." "I have power," He
says again, in John 10, "to lay down my life, and power to take it again." At
the same time, He takes care to add, "This commandment have I received of my
Father." Thus there was not only the perfect blending of obedience to His
Father, but the divine power which determined Him to be Son of God by such a
resurrection. There was the very same power, only put forth still more
blessedly, in which He had raised the dead Himself, as for instance, Jairus’s
daughter, the widow’s son, Lazarus, and others. As He said, looking on to
Lazarus, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the
Son of God might be glorified thereby." So now He raises Himself. But even Peter
and John (and the latter is the one who records it) show how feebly the truth of
His resurrection, according to the Scripture, at first penetrated their minds.
John tells it, albeit to his own shame and Peter’s too, that they saw and
believed. They were true children of God, as we know; nevertheless they had but
poorly entered into the revealed mind of God. They had not apprehended the "must
be" of the Scriptures (Luke 24:44-46); neither had they yet beheld the grace or
the glory of God in the person of the Son of God as alone adequately expressed
in His resurrection. They saw the facts; they discerned the evidences; and they
returned to their own home; for such is the powerless result, even where such
facts are weighed by the mere human spirit, however just the conclusion that may
be drawn.

It was not so with Mary. She might be as little acquainted with the glory of the
resurrection, or the word of God about it, as Peter or John; but at all events
there was an answer to her heart’s wants in Jesus; and, consequently, there was
such a sorrow within, that she could not but hang over the place where His body
had lain: she could not be contented so easily as the two apostles. In point of
fact, there was no home for her in this world, and therefore it was that she
lingered over the empty tomb of the Saviour. And what brings out, too, the
perfect absorption of her spirit in her thoughts and love of Jesus was this that
when she looks again into that tomb which she had known to be empty just before
(for so she had brought the word, and truly), and now sees two angels in white
sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus
had lain, she feels and manifests no such alarm as the women described
elsewhere. Under ordinary circumstances, what surprise and fear such a sight
must have been to her! Our evangelist attributes to her no such emotion in the
smallest degree. Her heart was so possessed with the want of Jesus who was taken
from her, that the presence of all the angels, I may say, would have left her
comparatively unaffected. The two angels who were there say, "Woman, why weepest
thou?" And she tells out the feeling of her heart — "Because they have taken
away my Lord, and I know not where they have lain him. And when she had thus
said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus." But at first, not recognising the
Master, and thinking it was but the gardener, she answers His question too:
"Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will
take him away." One word breaks the spell, recalls her to the truth, and reveals
Himself. It was His voice, the Good Shepherd’s, calling His own sheep by name.
"Mary," says Jesus. She, at once turning herself towards Him, confesses Him her
"Master;" and then it is that we have the words on which I propose first to
dwell a little.

Let me observe that "Touch me not" is not by any means an adequate rendering of
the expression; and inasmuch as I am addressing those who are familiarly
acquainted with the Scriptures, and among them many individuals who, I presume,
have more or less the power and means of judging what I say, I feel the more
free to speak out plainly that which I believe to be the truth The fact is, that
the word which is employed here implies much more than simply a touch. It is the
verb which should be translated "handle." So, too, it should be in Colossians
2:1-23, to which I call your attention for a moment. The apostle refers to the
contrast between the dictates of tradition and ordinance and a dead and risen
Christ for the purpose of putting aside what only diverts from Christ. We have
done with such language as "touch not, taste not, handle not," which may suit
men alive in the world, not those dead in the Christ. But, as every one knows
who has considered at all the matter, the climax is really inverted in our
common English Bible. The order appears in a way exactly contrary to the truth;
for the real thought is, first of all, "handle not;" then, "taste not ;" and
finally, not even "touch." Thus, it is a descending climax, if I may so say, the
most familiar thing of all, the handling, being put first; then the tasting,
which might be considerably less; and, finally, not even a touch. This is the
manner of human safeguards; this is man’s way of preserving flesh in this world.
He has no other means. What device but this can nature adopt to keep itself from
being overwhelmed in an evil world — what but these various restraints and
negations of evil? Christianity is of a totally different nature. It is the
revelation of a Deliverer, God and man in one person, who comes into the world,
and dies to the evil in atonement, wins the victory over all, and rises
victorious into the presence of God, where He eventually brings all that are
His. This associates the Christian with Christ on the foundation of His work of
reconciliation to God, and His triumph at the right hand of God. Thus
Christianity is the practical carrying out of this into effect by the Holy Ghost
first in the souls of Christians, as by-and-by in their bodies also. And this
manifestly is the great doctrine of the epistle to the Colossians as well as of
Ephesians. What had those thus blessed with Christ and dead to the world to do
with such ordinances as "handle not, taste not, touch not"? That this account of
the word is correct I have no doubt whatever, as indeed it is one that would not
be disputed by any who are competent to judge of such a matter. It is, of
course, entirely apart from any views that might be considered by adversaries to
be peculiar (though I know not why such sounds should be heard: I cannot on any
account admit that a fair interpretation of God’s word should be treated as a
peculiar view). I hope it will not be regarded as a question of the number of
those who really accept it. But however this may be, what I am now saying would
be, and has been, admitted by persons of the most diverse views, provided they
really search into and examine the matter of which I now treat. If this be so,
the expression of our Lord to Mary Magdalene is not exactly given in "Touch me
not." It is rather, "Do not handle." He tells her not to yield to her impulse in
familiarly laying hold of His person. What confirms it is this, that the
particular part of the word (µ? µ?? ?pt??, and not merely µ? ???) supposes a
continuous handling of Him. In Colossians it is not so; there it is a single
act, which might be ever so transient. But here it is a continuous act; that is,
it would give this force, "Do not persist in clinging to me." Such is the idea
conveyed by the word and its form here. This appears to me to give much more
force and distinctness to the passage, because Mary of Magdala here represents
one who is still looking to Jesus according to the hopes of her nation, as well
as the desires of the heart; one who could not but sorrow over His bodily
absence, who would have had a mournful pleasure in thinking of His dead body
even still there. Thus we can readily understand the instinct, as it were, with
which she laid hold of the Saviour directly that she knew Him. But at once He
forbids it; and this is the more striking, because, as has been often remarked,
in the gospel of Matthew, when the Galilean women seized His feet, He does not
refuse it from them, but, on the contrary, accepted their homage. Nay, more, in
this very chapter of John, we see how the Lord invites incredulous Thomas eight
days after to reach his finger, and thrust his hand into His side.

Surely then we cannot fail to learn the weighty lesson that is conveyed under
actions so various and even opposite, performed nearly about the same time, the
Saviour refusing in the one case what He accepts in the other, and in a third
even demands. There was certainly some wise intent in His mind. Nor is it to be
allowed for an instant that our Saviour loved Mary Magdalene less than the
others who followed Him from Galilee. To what, then, are we to impute the
difference? and how are we to account for the fact, that the same Holy Ghost
should give in Matthew the acceptance of bodily homage, and in John this
renunciation of it? The reason is as simple as it is instructive. In the first
gospel we have, it is true, the rejection of the Messiah by His people the Jews,
and the purpose to which God’s grace would put that rejection, in meanwhile
sending out the gospel to the Gentiles, and calling disciples out from them all,
just because the chosen nation had refused their King. How blessed that God’s
grace refuses, as it were, to be inactive! It must go forth in the energy of His
own love, and if the Jews refuse, it is impossible that He should not take fresh
measures, and bring in even better blessings. If the ancient people forsook
their own mercies, there are others, poor and wretched, who had been left
comparatively unheeded by His love in times past. If they were so unbelieving
and ungrateful and blind to the day-spring from on high that had visited them,
and if they had consummated their unbelief in the rejection and death of their
own Messiah, God, who had turned that very rejection into the accomplishment of
redemption, sends out the glad tidings to all nations under heaven. Yet, with
all this development of the resources of grace to the Gentile, Matthew gives the
Galilean women holding Jesus risen and worshipping Him. What a testimony, that
though the Messiah was rejected by the nation, and though God would turn that
rejection to the account of His grace, there is the greatest care taken to
maintain the hopes of Israel on an immutable foundation. Granted that their
rejection of the Messiah was their ruin; but was this all? It was righteous; but
what would grace do? The time was coming when the mercy of God would turn their
impenitent hearts to Him whom they had too long scorned, and so bind their hopes
and weld them, so to speak, to the throne of the glorious Son of man in such a
manner, that when the moment came for God to judge the world in righteousness,
they would be received in grace. The chain of divine mercy would be found to be
so strongly riveted to the death and resurrection of the Lord, that, though
there might be a postponement of their hopes, there would be a basis never to be
shaken, and the grace of God will then bless them to the full extent of His
sovereign purposes in the latter day. This is to my mind fully intimated, as
elsewhere, so in Matthew. Hence, the final chapter of this gospel furnishes a
pledge of this, given not merely in word, as in the prediction of Matthew
24:1-51, but in the typical worship of Matthew 28:1-20. I believe that the facts
conveying this are before us in the action already alluded to. The Galilean
women are a kind of foreshadowing of a remnant of the Jews, who in the latter
day will be brought by grace and cling to Jesus, will seek and find in Him the
Lord, will look for Him and cleave to Him. Nor will the Lord reject their
worship, the form of it too implying His actual and bodily presence, after He
comes again and meets with His chosen people. The Jew, as such, is hardly called
on to "walk by faith, and not by sight," as a Christian is. For he will
literally see the Lord; as it is said in Zechariah 12:1-14, "They shall look
upon him whom they have pierced." But they shall look upon Him. It is not merely
believing; they shall look upon Him. Accordingly, the fact of these Galilean
women receiving the Lord and thus holding Him fast, and of His accepting their
worship, cannot but bring before us, in my judgment, the pledge of the Lord’s
great mercy towards a remnant of the ancient people in the latter day, when He
shall appear to reign over them here below. And for this reason it is, as I
suppose, that there is no ascension scene described — a great perplexity to
critics, but as plain as possible to the believer. His ascension inserted here
would have taken Him out of this connection, whereas, on the contrary, the
having Him here bodily in their midst, and not a word said in the chapter about
His departure to heaven, leaves Him to be, as it were, the everlasting joy of
those whose affliction He will have visited and banished in His mercy. But in
John 20:1-31 we have exactly the converse of this. We have a woman who was fully
imbued with Israelitish feelings, who evidences still a clinging to these
expectations, which the Jewish heart would naturally indulge in now that Christ
had reappeared from the grave, and with the more keenness, because the cross and
the grave had for a season deprived her of all hope. She accordingly was not for
letting Christ go. In this instinctive love she lays hold of Him, but He bids
her not thus to cling to Him; "for I am not yet ascended to my Father." It is
otherwise He is going to be known. He is about to quit the only scene which the
remnant of Israel would connect with the Messiah. That hope would not fade, but
bloom in its own time and place. But now He was taking a remnant out of Israel.
In point of fact, it was thus that Christianity began. "The Lord," it is said,
"added to the Church daily such as should be saved."

Mary Magdalene was a kind of sample of this. She was one that up to this time
had been cleaving to the hope that the Lord would come and bring in glory and
blessing here on earth in the midst of Israel. But the Lord let her know that
that is not the way in which He is pleased to bless now, nor is this the sort of
blessing that this gospel reveals. The way in which He was to be known by the
Christian is as ascended to His Father. Therefore it was unseasonable to think
of keeping Him here. Even if it could be, how far below that which He had in His
heart and was now intimating to the disciples through the astonished woman of
Magdala! So far from being more distant from the saints, on the contrary, there
is no such nearness as when we are united to Jesus at the right hand of God.
This may seem to be a strange method of effecting union. It is anything but
meeting the thoughts of flesh; but, in point of fact, flesh is not the means nor
the manner of our association with the Saviour. If we look at Israel, it is thus
after the flesh; for He was born of them, being a Jew naturally by descent and
birth. It is not thus the Christian knows Him, but expressly in contrast with
it; as St. Paul says, "Though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now
henceforth know we him no more." After a far better sort do we know Him. To know
Him here below, the Messiah, was true blessedness; and Christ gave in the case
of the Galilean woman a pledge of this as it will be accomplished in a day still
future But it is not, for all that, the pattern of the knowledge of Christ that
is found in Christianity. The essence of our privilege is, that when the work of
redemption is done, Christ takes His place as the heavenly man at the right hand
of God. Accordingly, Christianity is not merely blessing coming down into the
earth, though this was perfectly true, as preparing the way for itself. But the
scene and character of our blessing is heavenly — the person of that blessed One
who came down being now on high; and we know our blessing in Him there. There is
nothing more blessed as the manifestation of God than the Lord Jesus seen here
below. But the special position which gives our place and association with Him
is found only in Him on high, after He has done the work of putting away our
sins, and of vindicating God’s nature to His glory about everything that could
compromise His nature in this world. Christ is now gone up into heaven, and
there He is revealed to our souls, and there we, too, are united with Him.
Consequently, as He needs to go on high in order to it, so, too, the Holy Ghost
needs to come down. Hence the presence of the Holy Ghost on earth is the
necessary answer to the absence of Jesus at the right hand of God after
redemption; and these two are the great and necessary constituents of
Christianity.

Accordingly, then, our Lord in the spirit of this bids Mary Magdalene not to be
clinging to Him; for He was not yet ascended to His Father. Thus He was now to
be known. Thus the believers were to be put in relationship with Him, — taken
out of their old thoughts and expectations, and put in connection with the love
and glory into which He was just going, even the Father’s house on high.

Let me refer to a scripture in the Old Testament which may help to give a little
clearness as to the present work of God — a scripture, too, which is not always
understood If we turn to Micah 5:1-15, there is the well-known passage relative
to the birth of our Lord: "Thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among
the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to
be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
Here we have His human birth of Israel, as well as His eternal glory — One who,
though born of a woman and a Jew, was, nevertheless, "from of old, from
everlasting." Who this person is, there is not the smallest difficulty in
determining. It is the same that is described in the first verse. He is the
ruler of Israel of whom it was said, that they should "smite the judge of Israel
with a rod upon the cheek." Clearly it is the humiliation of the Messiah — One
born in Bethlehem — One belonging to Judah, and who, though here born, was
nevertheless from everlasting. He was divine as truly as He was human. We have
evidently thus, in that verse, a group of the most weighty and blessed truths
about Jesus Christ, which no wit of man could ever have anticipated, which God
in His own absolutely perfect knowledge gives beforehand in all simplicity and
fulness. This is what manifests the gravamen of Israel’s guilt; that He being
what He is in His own person, as well as their Judge, should be smitten, and
above all by them, with the rod upon the cheek. "Therefore," it is said in the
third verse, "he will give them up." This is exactly what has followed. The
smitten Judge of Israel has abandoned Israel for a season, "until the time that
she that travaileth hath brought forth." In Revelation 12 a woman destined to
great glory is seen bringing forth. Great is the purpose of God for the last
days. This is first presented; then the dragon falls, and the struggle for the
earth and about the earthly people goes on, when the Judge of Israel returns,
and the ancient people once more resume their place, but thenceforth under their
Messiah, here below. So here we learn of a return to Jewish purposes in the ways
of God for the latter day. How far have we got in fact? Christ has appeared and
been rejected by the Jews, whom He has given up. From the cross, not only are
they given up nationally, but God has been calling out from among them a certain
portion to be united with the Gentiles who believe as the body of Christ on
high. These are they who are said to be added together in Acts 2:1-47 — "added
to the Church* daily such as should be saved." But when the moment comes for the
accomplishment of God’s future and everlasting purposes for Israel on earth,
then, says He, "the remnant of his brethren [instead of being taken out as now
to form part of His Church] shall return unto the children of Israel." Now they
lose all their Israelitish character to form the one new man; then they will go
back again to the old plans and ways of God about His earthly people. Nothing
can, to my mind, be plainer than the wonderful way in which all truth, old and
new, harmonizes together. It is just the fruit and proof of having got hold of
the truth, that it gives us additional means of seeing new beauty and order in
that which, without this fresh knowledge, looks disjointed — an immense mass of
materials that we have no means of rightly assorting. But the moment that God
says to our souls on any part of His truth, "Let there be light," then, indeed,
we find all begins to change; and although there may be accessions of light,
still God in His own glorious way shows us how blessedly the new fits into the
old. Nor is any one thing so much a key-stone as that which seemingly has
brought in confusion, disruption, and the apparent breach of His purposes. But,
in point of fact, no purpose ever fails. There may be the need of waiting, and
long for the longing heart seems the delay. Unbelief seems to have it all its
own way; but faith alone is always right; and every word that God has spoken
shall be accomplished, every purpose infallibly effected, and this by Christ’s
death.

* Or, "together," if the various reading be preferred to the received text. Our
Lord here discloses in principle an entirely new thing, beginning with the Jew
who would feel it most. You will observe in the gospel of John how all is
connected with His person. It is not a question of dispensation, but of Himself,
and here in ascension. Indeed, there is nothing more important to understand,
after we rest on His redemption, if we would go on to enter into Christianity.
If you look at anything else, the persons connected with it are all
comparatively insignificant; but take away Christ out of Christianity, and what
is left? Besides, will the Holy Ghost put His seal on any dishonour done to the
Lord Jesus, or any omission of His person, any slight of His work, any
forgetfulness of His glory?

Jesus, then, makes first known to Mary that He was about to ascend to the
Father, and that, therefore, bodily homage was inconsistent with the manner in
which He would reveal Himself, as shown in this gospel. For John’s account, if
you look comprehensively at his testimony and take a general retrospect, you
will find to consist of two great parts. The first is the revelation of the
person of the Son of God, and of His work; the next is the revelation of another
person, equally divine, who, when Christ goes away, takes His place with the
disciples here below. Evidently in this you have Christianity; for you have
Christ Himself the object of faith, and the Holy Ghost the power for making good
the glory of Christ in the Church as well as in the Christian; Of these it is
particularly the Christian part which we have in the message Mary takes from the
Lord to the disciples. "Go to my brethren." Here we find the first distinct
putting of the Christian in relation to Himself. "Go to my brethren, and say
unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; to my God, and your God."
Thus, besides placing us in relationship to Him (a fact itself of immense
value), He assigns also their relationship to God. And this is not at all
according to the ancient forms of blessing. It is not the revelation of His
might as protecting His poor pilgrims upon the earth. The Almighty God is
nowhere spoken of. Neither, again, is there His governmental way in the midst of
Israel, where He was the Jehovah-God of that people. Here all is in relation to
Christ, who is going above. Therefore, says He, "Go to my brethren, and say, I
ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." How
blessed! What the Father is to the Son, He is to the sons. What He, who was His
Father, was as God to the blessed Man who had put away sin, such He is, and
nothing less to those whose sins have been put away. God was not only revealed
fully in relation to Jesus as God and Father, but such He is now to us by His
redemption and in resurrection.

I do not speak now of any vague knowledge of God as fatherly in His ways. We
know that when Israel shall be in great distress, Isaiah the prophet says for
them, "Truly thou art our Father, if Abraham acknowledge us not." This language
clearly is in no respect intended to describe their relationship, but to furnish
comfort, to them; just as one might say to a little ill-used orphan in the
street, "My child, you have been treated ill indeed; henceforth let me be a
father to you." This does not, of course, mean, nor would it be understood to
mean, in the strict sense, as when there follows a formal adoption into a family
as son and heir. It was only nationally Israel could claim such a place, as we
see in Exodus 4:1-31, etc.; but there is more than this here. For One had come
down to earth who was Son, and knew the Father as none other could know Him. One
had been here who was on earth, and in humanity, as perfectly the object of the
Father’s delight as when simply God in His presence. For never had He said a
word, never felt an emotion, never had a thought passing through His breast, or
a motive that actuated Him, which was not the perfect reflection of the goodness
of God Himself. Jesus alone answered morally in mind, in nature, and in ways, to
all that was in God; so that He looked down from heaven to find that one Object
ever for Him to delight in. There was not a creature in heaven that could detain
His eyes and heart for an instant. He looked down upon this world in the midst
of all its sins and iniquities, which were ever steaming pestilent vapour up to
heaven, and occasionally drawing down blows of stern judgment on guilty man. But
now, for the first time since the world began, there was not merely a catching,
as it were, some distant gleam of His glory, and God delighting in an Enoch or a
Noah, onward to that blessed One; but there He was Himself, so that heaven opens
and God the Father sends down the Holy Ghost, and, mark, on Him as man; for how
can it be otherwise? It was not a question of sending down the Holy Ghost on Him
as God; as man He was anointed of the Holy Ghost. "Him hath God the Father
sealed" — "the Son of man." And this is what is so blessed, that God Himself had
to look upon a man to find what for the first time met His every judgment and
every feeling — all the moral mind of God — all the affections of God. Of course
I speak now figuratively alone. And now over the Blessed One had passed an
immense change. A new scene is found, and the heavens are veiled in blackness,
and God Himself within that thickest darkness deals with Him. It was the very
hour when man was permitted, led on by the instigation of Satan, to rise up and
overwhelm the rejected Messiah; and in the midst of that scene God breaks forth
against sin (charged on His holy person as an offering for it) in all His
majesty and absolute abhorrence of evil. The dread reckoning time was come. The
divine judgment of all iniquity and indifference, of wrongs against man, and of
rebellion against God, fell on the Holy One. Thus it was not simply man’s hour,
nor was it only the power of darkness; but also and above all it was God’s hour,
when His unsparing holiness broke on the head of the Sin-bearer, even His own
Son, who gave Himself up, the responsible victim, the sacrifice, to bear the
judgment of our sins on the tree. The consequence was, that all that God could
feel, without a single mitigating circumstance to break the force, so to speak,
of His wrath and indignation, spent itself on the Son of God; and therefore is
this redemption through His blood absolutely perfect. God has not a single word
to say more — not an act further needed to vindicate His character, that has not
already fallen on the Lord Jesus Christ. Hence it is that the revelation of
God’s nature, and of the Father’s love, has no reserve. The holy character of
God has kept back nothing. All that He feels against sin has been expended on
the Lord Jesus. The consequence is, that everything that is in Him, as Father
and as God, now turns to be exclusively in our favour. For our evil having been
so perfectly judged, it is a question now for God, not merely as Father, but as
God, to show His perfect satisfaction in the redemption that the Lord Jesus has
accomplished.

Hence it is that our Lord Jesus speaks thus in the message to the disciples.
They had known Him turn to His Father when there was not a single person that
could sympathize with His sorrows, even while the Man of Sorrows in this world,
and not yet atoning for sin. They had known how before day-break He was with His
Father. They had known, too, how, when others slept, He was still before His
Father. They had known that not a single burden which met His eye, not a single
grief of men that passed before Him, but entered His heart here below, and led
Him out towards His Father. (Matthew 8:1-34) But another and deeper thing came
out now — what God felt against our sins imputed to Him, not against Himself;
for, on the contrary, He never was more the object of God’s ineffable delight
than at that very moment when He was bearing the judgment of our sins.
Nevertheless, God’s character was concerned that it should be no make-believe
suffering, but as real an endurance of divine judgment on His part who entered
that place before God and in behalf of us, as before it was a real enjoyment of
absolute communion with the Father through all His life.

It may thus be seen how blessed is that which we have in the message by Mary.
What He knew as Son of God, born into the world, He turns over, as it were, to
us. It is not, of course, that we could have that which pertained to Him as a
divine person. He is and was the only-begotten Son before all worlds. There
clearly we could have no place along with Him, because in this He is to us
simply an object of worship and loving service. But He, the Son before all
worlds, was born Son of God. He was Son of God as man here below, and this among
men it is the province of the evangelist Luke to trace. Alas! I, on the
contrary, was a child of wrath, and so were you. We were every one children of
wrath naturally. He was in His human nature, as well as in His divine, Son of
God. "That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of
God." With man as he is, there was no communion possible for God. On the
contrary, there was an absolute contrariety between Him and man in relation to
God. His relationship was one of perfect delight to God the Father. Man, being a
sinner, was in a condition of evil and wrath. But redemption delivers him that
believes from all the evil and all the wrath. If it has not done this and more,
how is it possible to trust the word of God? Where is the meaning of its
constant and solemn warnings to faith? If it has thus testified to me of the
cross, does my soul rest upon it? Am I satisfied on God’s authority that in His
sight there is no evil left on me as a believer in Christ — that it is all
blotted out and gone? I do not speak of it as a matter of experience. Of course,
all who have a conscience feel their evil, and we feel it the more because we
are believers. We must detest sin the more, the more we know His love. We should
judge all sin precisely because we are not going to be judged for it: if we were
judged, we must be lost for it. Thus, what Christ has done puts us who believe
in the position of judging it now. The Christian is responsible to pass, so to
speak, God’s sentence upon it now; in ourselves, of course, especially, but also
when we come across it in those who bear the name of Christ with whom we are
united as members of His one body. If evil be detestable anywhere, it is
especially so in the child of God. Now this is precisely where we need the
comfort of redemption and the power of the Spirit.

Accordingly we have to weigh what the Saviour here intimates. It is not merely
remission of sins, nor is it only that we are born of God. There are a great
many Christians who seem never to get beyond a certain measure of blessing, the
least which consists with living to God at all. But they seem never to apprehend
the new relationships of the grace in which they stand. The basis and form of
these relationships, both with God and Himself, we have seen in the previous
message. "Tell my brethren, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; to my God,
and your God." Thus I can look up as one that Jesus is not ashamed to call His
brother. I can look up and see His Father and mine, His God and mine, with the
absolute certainty that I am thus brought to Himself in all the value and
nearness of Jesus, and that the work He has finished and God has accepted is the
moral ground of my salvation and blessing. To this work God, so to speak, is now
in His grace to us doing justice. Is it too much to say decidedly that justice
would not be done to that infinite work of the cross, unless He so accounted us
according to the words of Jesus? Indeed, this was no hard-wrung return; for it
is what God Himself designed. He desired to have objects that should enter into
His love; and more than this, to have these relationships, and none less
established. He had beheld the Son a man on earth; and now He says, as it were,
"I must have sons; I must have souls, once sinners, made children to myself. I
had a people once, and they, in spite of untold goodness, were as wretched and
shameful as sin could make any; but now I will form to myself, as a new people,
a family not of the world, even while in it." This is what God is now occupied
with in His love through Christ the Lord — the freshly-accomplished work of the
cross, and the resurrection of which it is the occasion. But these are the
relationships in which those called are to stand. Jesus owns them as His
brethren, and this after His death and resurrection. Why not His brethren when
He was here below? Why is it that rationalism, why is it that legal religionism,
opposed as they may seem, always make our relationship to be with Jesus here
below? For this simple reason, that, whether it be religionism or rationalism,
they know not God, and judge not sin according to the truth. They talk much
about both, no doubt; but we know there may be a great deal said without the
reality; whereas all thoughts of God and of sin are totally short of the truth
until I bow to God’s judgment of sin in the cross. Therefore it is that the only
thing that makes it possible to have holy relationships with God according to
His mind, is that foundation which is laid in the cross of Christ.

See this in the case of that system known as Irvingism, if I may refer to such a
thing, and it may be wholesome in such days as these. It is not its frenzied
movements, its false prophecies, its ecclesiastical idolatry, that ought to be
so grievous to the child of God, though I need not say how pained one should be
at all these things in those bearing the name of Jesus. But what is it that
makes it so evil? Why, first and foremost, this — the dishonour done to the
person of Christ in order to make out union and sympathy with us. We being
sinful, and having actually sinned, it was supposed, in order to make Christ
united to us, that Christ must take our humanity in the fallen peccable state in
which it is in us. Such was Irving’s fundamental tenet; and this, as it
sacrificed Christ, so made redemption impossible. The direct consequence, apart
from such ruinous heterodoxy, was the abandonment of God’s judgment of sin on
the cross as the basis of salvation. Incarnation takes the place of atonement.
Jesus here below in this world was looked at as united with us, instead of
seeing us united with Him in heaven, which alone is Christianity, consequent on
the putting away of sin by His sacrifice. To confound incarnation with union is
confusion, and a device of the enemy. Nor is it found merely in a system so
extravagant as Irvingism; but in all sacerdotalism, Puseyism, "Ritualism," or
whatever persons may choose to call the system of earthly ordinances and
priesthood, which is not confined to any one particular section or country
either, but spreads everywhere, and will, I doubt not, lead to the final
catastrophe of Babylon. What, then, is the object of their regarding our union
with Christ to be His incarnation? Why is it that they should make His birth to
be the great pivot which determines our relationship? For this simple reason,
that, when Jesus was here below, He was under the law. He owned the temple, and
went up to the feasts, and owned sacrifices, and priests, and people. Just so;
those who uphold the systems I am speaking of want Christians, or the world at
least, to own temples, sacrifices, feasts, fasts, priests, and people, in the
present day. It is Judaism revived. They depart from the truth of Scripture, and
go back to the beggarly elements of the world, which prefigured Christ indeed,
but are now nailed to the cross; yet do they imagine that this resuscitated
round of figures and shadows is Christian worship, and that the state before the
cross is the way in which the Christian is united with Christ.

Scripture invariably founds our link with our glorified Head on His death,
resurrection, and ascension. Thus union with Christ is in no way a connection of
flesh, but of spirit. "He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit." Far from
being a question of "one flesh," this very Scripture puts it in contrast with
anything of the sort. "One flesh" has got a very bad character in that chapter.
In point of fact, the Lord’s association in flesh was with Israel, not with us.
His incarnation had also the deepest significance and most weighty ends; but
union, the union with Christ as the body of our head, is never represented as
its fruit. If Christ had not taken flesh, doubtless there could have been no
union; but Scripture teaches that our union follows redemption, and consists in
our being members of His body as now exalted in heaven.

Again, though as real a man as any other, He partook of flesh and blood in a
different condition from that of any other man. Undoubtedly, He partook of it by
the miraculous interposition of the Holy Ghost, entirely apart from sin —
"Tempted," it is said, "in all points like as we are, yet without sin." Not only
were there no sins, but no sin. There was no proclivity, no inclination, no
striving with sin in Christ — all was good and holy. I am thankful that the
ordinary creeds of Christendom — such as the Athanasian, and so on — own this
publicly, because, though they be only a human bulwark, the mass of men in these
lands hear so far what is true. They confess that the immaculate humanity of the
Lord Jesus Christ is of the substance and essence of all orthodox faith.

This, then, was necessary in order to exhibit a perfect man and divine person,
the Son of God, here below; but redemption was accomplished to bring us into His
relationship, as far as this could be. Nothing less than this was proposed and
done by redemption. For the righteousness of God, which, without the cross, must
have taken vengeance on us, now righteously puts us, as far as possible, in the
position of Christ before God. How good and wise is our God! How efficacious the
death and resurrection of Christ, raising believers in title (now enjoyed by the
power of the Spirit) to His own position as Son of God and risen man! It is not,
I repeat, that His place of Son, object of eternal worship to us, is forgotten,
but He gives us to be sons as objects of delight and affection in that nearness
of relation, as contrasted with being simply saints or members of a people with
special earthly privileges. This is what our Lord Jesus first lays down. But
there is more than this. The same day at even our Lord finds Himself in the
midst of His people gathered together. And this brings me to the point I wish to
speak of more particularly tonight. The first word He utters is peace, — "Peace
be unto you." Precious word! It was not remission of sins simply, blessed as
this may be, but "Peace be unto you." Peace is much more than sins forgiven; and
"when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side." He showed
them that which was the sign and witness of the shed blood of His cross, by
which He had made peace. "Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord."
But speaking to them again, He repeats the words, "Peace be unto you." Only this
second time, remark, it is not now so much personal as prefatory to their
mission; for He adds, "As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you." Thus the
first words of peace would be for their own enjoyment, as I conceive. The second
declaration comes as the introduction to their mission. It is this with which
they are sent to others. It is therefore repeated to them, that in the renewed
strength of this peace they may go forth. As the Father sent Him, so the Son
sends them; for He always speaks as the conscious Son of God in communion with
the Father. But there is a notable sign appended. "When he had said this, he
breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." Probably there
are many in this place who are not ignorant of the correspondence that has been
carried on but recently on this very passage. It has clearly proved the conflict
of opinion, even in leaders of the same religious system. Nevertheless, many
more now present will be surprised to learn the total uncertainty of professing
Christian teachers, and that they only agree in being all far from the mark.
You, who are accustomed to read the Scriptures in faith of God’s teaching by the
Holy Ghost given to you, will hardly conjecture the aberrations of Christian men
from the truth. We all know that in our day most flatter themselves that there
has been a great advance in the knowledge of the things of God. What means,
then, this inability to gather and give out with clearness the revealed mind of
God in a matter of such moment as these words of our Saviour? How is it that,
now eighteen centuries and more since, one hears no better than the crudities of
the fathers or the guesses of their children?

There are two contradicting theories which claim to be received: one, that our
Lord here establishes a kind of sacerdotal authority, by virtue of which those
whom He then addressed and their successors were entitled, in His own name, to
give remission of sins to every one who confessed his sins duly. I wish to put
the view as fairly as possible. They all admit, of course, that there may be a
failure in the conditions, and, after all, the remission come to nothing; but
still, where there is uprightness on man’s part, they hold that the Lord pledges
His part through His servants (that is to say, His absolution pronounced by
virtue of this commission through certain authorized channels to the end of
time). "No," says the opposite party, "nothing of the sort. There is miraculous
action here supposed. If men now-a-days profess to absolve people from their
sins, why not cleanse lepers and raise the dead? why not perform the other
miracles which the Lord empowered the disciples to work?" Now does it not seem
amazing that Christian men should broach theories so miserably short of the
truth of God as both of these? The one seems to me just as unsatisfactory as the
other. Even the latter view, which emanates from the Evangelical party, really
concedes what is worst in the former, while it falls into absurdity as well as
evasion of the truth, by bringing the performance of miracles into a passage
which alludes to nothing of the sort. For it is clear that the argument just
spoken of assumes that, if men could cleanse lepers and raise the dead, they are
competent to absolve sins. But I deny that it ever was the title of disciples to
grant such absolution as is contended for. Thus, whether we take the Tractarian
or the Evangelical theory, it is hard to say which is farthest from Scripture.
Do I then insinuate that the passage has no determinate meaning? Far from me be
such a thought. But that which gives a clue to the subject is the Lord’s
resurrection as here presented. If men knew Christ better, and the power of His
resurrection, they would understand that which is a fruit of it. Hence,
ignorance of resurrection privileges leave men, whether on one side of the
quarrel or another, in gross darkness as to the truth which is here revealed.
For let it be observed, that after our Lord sends the disciples out with peace,
He breathed on them. I am not aware of any action in the Bible to which this can
be supposed to refer but one; and with this it stands in marked and instructive
contrast. If we examine Genesis 2:1-25, a very striking difference on the Lord
God’s part appears in forming man as compared with any other animal. When He
made the various beasts, birds, reptiles, etc., each became, as it is said, "a
living soul" by the simple fact that it had been duly organized. But in man’s
case it was not so. Man was made out of the dust of the earth, as we know; but
he did not become a living soul by being thus fashioned. There was an essential
difference between man and every other such being then created.

It is not merely that all the rest of the animal kingdom were put under man here
below, but he alone had his life direct from above. "The Lord God breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." No other animal
became a living soul thus. Man and man alone enjoyed the breath of the Lord God.
Such is the true source of the immortality of the soul; and this is the reason
why man alone stands in direct moral responsibility to God, and must give
account of the things done in the body to that God who thus gave his soul and
spirit. In the case of a beast, though he has a spirit, it goes downward, not to
God, because God never breathed so into it. The living principle of a beast, I
mean, perishes, because it is a mere question of what is connected by God’s will
with its material organization, Therefore an irrational animal, when it dies,
perishes; but in man’s case there is a soul and spirit, which abide distinct in
origin from the body, having a far more intimate connection with God Himself.
Accordingly, therefore, the soul partakes of an immortality which the mere body,
alive here below in its own nature, does not possess. This was a question of the
will of God, but that was a thing which indelibly and intrinsically belonged to
the soul and spirit; and therefore it is that the body of man will be raised up
in the resurrection to be reunited to that soul and spirit, and so every one of
us shall give account of himself to God.

Now the Lord Jesus Christ stands before us, and in this gospel alone
characteristically unites these two characters He is man, and here He is the
risen man; but He is also the Lord God, even as Thomas immediately after says,
"My Lord and my God." He is One who, in His own person, united both divine
nature and proper manhood. He stands the risen man, "the second man," on the
first day of the week, and as the quickening or life-giving spirit, He breathes
into the disciples. That is, it is the Spirit of Christ Jesus risen from the
dead. It is the Holy Ghost accompanying this resurrection-life, and the power of
it, which the Lord, as the head of a new family, conferred upon the members of
it. They had believed on Him, and had life eternal. Now they had life more
abundantly.

Accordingly this is the all-important change that came in with the action of our
Lord Jesus Christ. I can conceive persons reasoning upon this subject, and
saying, "If people get eternal life, I do not see what great difference it makes
that it should be risen life — that this life in resurrection with the Lord
Jesus should so signally mark it." Very possibly you do not; but allow me to
tell you, that full victory differs from life struggling with death, life
struggling under ordinances, life struggling with the evil that surrounds it,
seeking after what is good, though failing, striving to avoid what is bad, and
constantly drawn somehow or another into it. This is precisely the state of man
where the delivering power was not. But it was closed for the believer, as far,
at any rate, as showing the new place into which the believer is put by the
death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The life that I receive now in
the Lord Jesus is life not under the law — life not having to do with the earth
or its ordinances. It is the life of One who has brought me into perfect peace
with God. It is the life of One who has put me in possession of His own
relationship with God. Accordingly, it is as giving this in its most condensed
form and its fullest power, that our Lord Jesus Christ thus breathes to show the
new character of life, so to speak, that they had — that the life that they
lived in the flesh was really by the faith of the Son Himself. "Not I, but
Christ that liveth in me." This, then, was given by the very fact that He thus
breathed upon them. It was a partaking of Himself as He then stood — a
participation in what He was, specially in the life that was in Him, after all
questions were settled, and perfect deliverance was won by Him and given to
them.

Hence it is that the apostle Paul, referring to this, says, "There is therefore
now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." Why? "For," says he, "the
law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin
and death." "The law of the Spirit of life," says the apostle Paul. This is the
very thing, as John tells us, that was here given. It was the Holy Ghost, but it
was the Holy Ghost as the Spirit of life. It was not the Spirit of power simply
working miracles, or any such energies — things which to men might appear to be
far greater. Much less was it anything so wanton as men taking the place of God,
and professing to forgive sins on the earth: no apostle pretended to it ever.
Nevertheless it is a real privilege, and as true now as on the day when Jesus
rose from the dead. What the Holy Ghost then did was simply communicating life
according to its resurrection power and character through Jesus Christ, the
second man risen from the dead.

This, then, I take to be the meaning of the expression, "Receive the Holy
Ghost;" for the Spirit of God always accompanies the life that Christ gives. It
is, no doubt, Christ who is the object of faith, and who is the giver of life;
but He gives life by the operation of the Holy Spirit. Whether given during His
lifetime or now, it was always the Spirit of life that accompanied that life,
and, consequently, this is put forth as the power of it. But He adds more,
"Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted; and whosesoever sins ye retain,
they are retained." Some will ask, "Well, do you believe that?" Assuredly I do;
and more than this, I believe that you Christians have got the power, and are
responsible to God to walk in it. Put this is a high claim, some will think —
this power of remitting sins and retaining sins. Without doubt it is so. But to
whom did the Lord speak on that day? Not to the apostles only, but to the
disciples. "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when
the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled." Surely if it had been
some restricted prerogative confined to the body of apostles, some care would
have been taken to make this appear. It is thus that even a sensible man acts.
If there were a special communication from the Queen to her cabinet ministers,
it would not be made to the House of Commons, or to the House of Lords either.
There would be no propriety in such a course. Whereas, on the contrary, if we
suppose a royal message were delivered to the House of Lords, or to the House of
Commons, to whom would this be understood to be addressed? If meant for the
whole house, it would be addressed accordingly. And so it is here. Our Lord was
speaking to the disciples; He was addressing the whole of them. The moment we
take the word as it is written, we see clearly that what He said applies to all.
Will any man say that the resurrection-life of the Lord Jesus Christ was only
for the twelve? Shall I be told that the peace the Lord gave so solemnly and
repeatedly was only for the apostles? Nothing of the sort (though, of course,
the apostles shared it, and it must have had a most valued place in their
souls).

There was indeed special authority from the Lord to form assemblies confessing
His name, and to rule them when formed, not to speak of powers which were
personal. There was a post of authority in laying the foundation; there were
acts initiatory and regulative, which Scripture assigns to the apostles. But it
is so little the aim or the character of John’s gospel to dwell on what was
official, that the very word "apostle" never occurs throughout its course. The
spirit, form, and substance of it are devoted to what is intrinsic and
essential, and what passes not away. More particularly, we shall have reason to
gather in a moment, that this very portion is the express setting of
Christianity on its proper basis, and stamps on it a very distinctive character
before God and man. For various reasons, therefore, I am persuaded that we are
not to look for the accomplishment of these words in anything that was personal
to the twelve, or to any others who should succeed them: still less are they to
be construed of the function of elders or presbyters, as if they were officially
entrusted with remitting and retaining sins, as is most deliberately assumed in
the standards of certain religious bodies. The truth is that the Lord Jesus has
the "disciples" as such before Him, and to them He imparts the Spirit; them He
thereon charges with this great commission. Does the inspired history, then, do
the epistles give no light how the apostles understood, and how we are to
interpret, Christ’s words? Take, for instance, those converted on the day of
Pentecost, and others whom the Lord added from time to time: by whom were their
sins remitted? They were not satisfied with individually believing the gospel;
they submitted their confession of the Lord’s name to those who were Christians
before them. And a most important thing this is. I am not entitled to set up to
be a Christian on my sole opinion of myself, on my judgment of the faith I
confess. I am bound to submit my pretensions to those who have been in Christ
before me. Miraculous as may be the call of St. Paul, even he was not exempt
from this; he was baptized by a certain disciple; he was subsequently received
by others. This is full of comfort, and it is real presumption to shrink from or
weaken it; because the more really a man has faith, the more willing he is to
let others examine it. Even the apostle Paul had to taste the bitterness of this
at first, for some were in doubt of him. Surely if this most honoured of
Christ’s servants had to bear with a little that was trying to him, it is not
for any of us to count ourselves too sure confessors of His name to yield for a
little our own importance, and, at the same time, to submit to that which is the
Lord’s will, and of vast moment for the blessing of the Church of God. Think how
the enemy might take advantage if you supposed it was a question of setting up
to be a Christian on one’s own sole and independent warrant. It is good to be
subject to one another, and this from the first, in the fear of God, who is
wiser than men, and has laid down His will through these words of the Lord
Jesus.

This, if we accept the apostolic writings as a comment, is the manner and
practical working of it. When one professes to turn to God in repentance and
faith; when he believes in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is not enough
that he should rest upon that blessed Saviour for the salvation of his soul. I
must "confess with my mouth, as well as believe in my heart." This confession
may and should, of course, go out as a testimony to the world; but it belongs to
those who are the confessors of His name to judge of it. I may admit something
that is derogatory to Christ; I may overlook that which is injurious to my own
soul, and offensively evil to others. Then comes in the all-important function
of those in the faith before, to which scripture attaches no small weight, and
regulates it for God’s glory, as we find the apostle Paul doing in Romans
15:1-33. I affirm, then, that the disciples, as the assembly of God, did warrant
the remission of sins in certain cases, and did retain sins in others. Since
they received heartily and simply, owning as the brethren of Jesus those that
before then had been wallowing, perhaps, in sin of every kind, and suddenly (it
might be, in an hour) turned to God, was it not of exceeding moment that there
should be a body in this world constituted by the Lord, having distinct
authority, as well as possessed of His own life, even the Spirit as the power of
more abundant life in resurrection? And that they should endorse the confession
of the true, while examining the pretensions of all who professed? It is not, of
course, that this could possibly be injurious to a real child of God, but, on
the contrary, be a great comfort, and an additional joy to his heart — the
welcome of others in owning him here below, as the angels, instead of man here,
rejoice over the repentant in God’s presence. But it would be a serious check
where there was any reserve, or where anything evil lurked underneath, or where
a desire might appear to bring in things privily.

We find that in this spirit, accordingly, the assembly of God did act. They
remitted and they retained sins I speak not now of the solemn case where a man
was struck dead on the spot, but of instances in which there was a putting away
of those that sinned, and their public restoration on their repentance. There
was the other case also, in which a man who had been received, and had his sins
thus publicly remitted, was put away as a wicked person. (1 Corinthians 5:1-13)
Thus the two epistles to the Corinthians illustrate both sides. "Sufficient to
such a man is this punishment, which was indicted of many. So that contrariwise
ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should
be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you that ye would
confirm your love toward him." (2 Corinthians 2:6-8) In these we have the cases
of remitting sins on the one hand, and of retaining sins on the other; and I
have no doubt that one of the reasons why Christians have failed to carry out
their separate place in this world, and thus to walk in their own joy and
delight, and as a rich means of blessing to others, is, that they have lost
sight of this responsibility, treating it as either ministerial, or as a power
long passed away.

Alas! the cause is as obvious as it is humiliating. The Church has not kept its
place of being a separate people, endowed with the love and glory of the Lord
Jesus. They have taken in all the world in the judgment of charity; but no
judgment of charity can avail unbelievers, nor is it in question for believers.
Thus the great public landmarks of grace and holiness have been broken down;
and, consequently, the very pretension to retain or remit sins, except for
superstitious people as a sacerdotal act, is scouted with contempt, if not
wholly ignored.

I maintain, on the contrary, that the Lord’s words make it to be of the essence
of the Christian congregation in this world to stand forth as publicly owning
what grace has done, by receiving those whose confession satisfies, and as
publicly refusing what does not approve itself to their conscience. Let me,
however, press with decision, that what we receive is not a certain amount of
intelligence. It is not for me to make light of spiritual understanding any more
than others. Unquestionably it has its place, season, and value; but of this we
may be assured, that what Jesus breathed on the disciples was not merely
intelligence, but His own resurrection-life. This, then, is what He would have
us own; this is what we are bound to recognize in those that come forward. "You
hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses." I do
not mean thereby that we are to sanction what is sinful along with life in
Christ. But we are bound to accept the sheep and lambs of Christ, and to be very
tender in dealing with mistakes, the fruit of a wrong position and of bad
teaching. Let us beware of playing into the enemies’ hands by even seeming to
mix up the ground of reception with points of attainment in practice or in
doctrine. Hold fast the grand, simple, but infinite fact, that Jesus breathes
the Spirit of His own resurrection-life on the disciples. We are to treat the
feeblest as a part of the Christian assembly. But if we receive on the one hand,
let us not fear to reject on the other, according as the confession may or may
not be suitable to the name of Jesus. If a man really has the resurrection-life
of Christ, look for holiness with a purged conscience; but also for another
thing, that Christ should be the standard of all his judgments, as He is the
source of all his blessings, and withal the object to be kept before his soul.
And, therefore, the name of Jesus, which is the sole and sufficient passport to
the simplest possessor of eternal life in Him, is the same name by which we can
reject the loudest pretension that compromises His glory. Let the Lord Jesus be
for us, as in truth He is, the perfect and only standard. If Christ is owned and
honoured, it is well and safe and blessed. The attempt to unite Christ with sin
is fatal. All thought of having Christ and playing fast and loose with His name
be far from us! What can be more offensive to God? Therefore, it is of
all-importance that we should steadily hold Him before our eyes, and avoid the
snare of building up the ecclesiastical plans and theories we have left behind.
I believe that all ecclesiastical theory is false, when in any measure allowed
to shroud the value of Christ; and I utterly refuse to treat ecclesiastical
mistakes as calling for such dealing, as would be demanded were it a question of
Christ dishonoured or positive known sin allowed. If there be so much as the
connivance at the holding of what is not of Christ — if one bring not the
doctrine of Christ, it is ruin. The man might appear to be as sound as an
apostle on ecclesiastical truth, and have every other New Testament doctrine at
his finger-ends. But what is the value of anything where the name of Christ is
put to shame? And where Christ is the object of the soul, though His confessor
may be uninformed, Christ has breathed His life there, and our course is clear
if we be subject to Christ. Let us welcome such a one to the heart in His name.
It is the Church’s business to take all such up, and to foster them; for how are
they to acquire more light, and where can they get the crooked joints adjusted,
if it be not in God’s Church? But if we hold aloof till they get all right, this
is alike an impossibility on their part, and to forfeit our own place of help
and duty. Methought that the Church of God was the pillar and ground of the
truth, and that there only can the truth be truly learnt where it is lived in;
and that those I have described, having received Christ, have Christ within and
Christ without. Do I want or boast of more? Why, then, should there be the
smallest hesitation? The Lord enable His own to be thorough in removing
difficulties, and hearty in welcoming souls where there is no question of
ungodliness in faith or ways. I do not say where the doctrine of justification
by faith is held. There is many a wickedness that consists with holding and
preaching even that doctrine. These words of our Lord Jesus Christ are a
standing rule, and we are responsible for acting on them. If we are met together
in His name, let there be a plain unswerving expression of our place and
privilege. Our action, our corporate action, should be as firm for the truth as
our individual walk — that we have and value Christ — that along with Christ we
are bound to remit sins, and, whenever there is anything inconsistent with
Christ, to retain sins. We disown the pretension of doing either as between God
and man: the Church never claimed such a right; the apostles never aspire to
such an action. But Jesus clearly called the disciples to discharge the
retention as well as the remission of sins; and this, as we have seen, was
verified in the Christian assembly which exercised both, not as an eternal
question between God and the soul, but administratively as a duty to Christ, of
receiving the true or rejecting the false, of putting away or restoring before
men. The Gift of the Spirit and the Gifts.

Acts 2:33-38.

Lecture 6 of ’The New Testament Doctrine of the Holy Spirit.’

W. Kelly. The time was now fully come. God had made Himself manifest. Israel
ought to have confessed today Messiah to be Emmanuel, even God with us. And
faith should have seen in Christ dead and risen how God is for us. But He was
now about to assume a new character, and to take an immense step in advance,
even God in us. This could not be without the shedding of the precious blood of
Jesus. Where that blood was sprinkled, the Holy Ghost could come and dwell. And
therefore they gathered together, according to the word of the Lord, expecting,
as He had said to them, to be baptized of the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

"When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one
place." God introduced this new thing in a manner suitable to His own wisdom.
Suddenly there came a sound from above, for it was the Holy Ghost coming down
from heaven, and God was pleased to vouchsafe an outward sign accompanying this
unprecedented fact — "a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it
filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them
cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all
filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit
gave them utterance." It is true that the Holy Ghost had descended before, but
this was to dwell in one man — the man Christ Jesus. In His case there was no
preparatory work; but the very manner of the descent of the Spirit, as well as
of that appearance which He chose to assume in descending on the Lord Jesus,
attested the immense difference between Him, in whom was no sin, and us, however
blest and delivered. But we are delivered from our sins and sin; and this mighty
work of God’s grace is through the suffering unto death under judgment of Him
who had no sin, and through the power of His resurrection. For Jesus the Holy
Ghost appeared in the form of a dove — a beautiful expression of self-adaptation
on the part of the Holy Ghost toward that man whom He could come to and abide in
without blood. That well-known emblem of purity the Holy Ghost could adopt in
thus coming down to be in the Son of man. But in man’s case — that is, the
believers who were assembled in Jerusalem awaiting power from on high, as the
Lord told them — the form was not as a dove, but tongues; cloven tongues, and as
of fire also, were the suited image. Cloven tongues, because God now would send
forth a mighty and far-reaching testimony. Whatever the responsibility of
Israel, whatever the witness to be borne in that land and to that people, God,
who knew the end from the beginning, had His eye on, and even in this very fact
looked to, the spread of the good tidings, and the going out to Gentile as much
as to Jew. The tongues were "cloven;" but they were "as of fire" also. There had
been the judgment of sin in the cross. There was that in man which needed to be
judged, and which, in fact, was judged of God already in Christ as the offering
for sin. Hence the tongue as of fire was the witness that (whatever might be the
display of the power of the Holy Ghost, and however evidently in the fulness of
grace) it was grace, here as everywhere else where sin is concerned, reigning
through righteousness by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Hence, then, the Lord was accomplishing that for which He had been preparing the
disciples. In the different tongues to which men of old had been doomed in the
just displeasure of God, His mercy was now about to reach them. The wonderful
works of God were thus to be proclaimed to every nation under heaven. This
attracted universal attention. All kinds of speculation as to this strange
unheard-of phenomenon filled the ears and minds of men. But Peter explains how
it was that which ought to be looked for according to the sure word of prophecy.
He does not affirm that it was the fulfilment of Joel’s declaration in its full
and precise force; but it was "that which was spoken," and no other kind of
thing. The fulfilment in any complete sense awaits another day. Nevertheless, it
was not what ought to bear an evil name among men, but was rather to be weighed,
accepted, and prized as of God. It was "that which was spoken by the prophet
Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of
my Spirit upon all flesh." It was only the principle of the prophecy; for, in
point of fact, although there were these various tongues spoken, and although
men were there from every nation under heaven, they were but Jews. Nevertheless,
the languages embracing Gentile tongues though the persons might be Jews, there
was in this the intimation to any discerning eye of what God was going to carry
out in due time. But there is a very important statement to be made at once,
made, indeed, according to God’s word, which we do well to heed and never to
give up. There was not one thing only, but a variety in the display of the
Spirit’s power put forth on that day. We are not to limit what the Holy Ghost
wrought to any one particular part of His operations. First and foremost, there
was the accomplishment of the promise of the Father. There was the great and
infinite truth of the Holy Ghost Himself sent down from heaven. Next there was
the special assurance of our Lord accomplished in His baptizing them of the Holy
Ghost, the effect of which was "one body." They might and did not yet know what
the one body involved; indeed, I think I might be bold to say there was not so
much as one believer who did. The doctrine of the body was as yet wholly
unrevealed; it awaited another ministration and a suited servant of God, who
speaks of himself as one born out of due time. In fact, it was not, and, one may
say, could not be, duly, according to God’s wisdom, revealed until the Jew had
rejected the testimony of His grace. Then when the Gentile was actually called
or in process of being called, the one body formed out of Jew and Gentile,
joined together by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, could be brought out
consistently with the ways of God. Still, that which was the power of this one
body, that person who alone was adequate to form, was actually then and there
given: "Ye shall be baptized of the Holy Ghost [without drawing out the
consequences of it] not many days hence."

Then, besides this, there were to be signs and wonders wrought according to the
prophet, and they were wrought. Further, there was the impartation of various
gifts from the Lord for His work here below. "When he ascended up on high, he
gave gifts unto men" — "some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some
pastors and teachers." This was clearly by the Holy Ghost, or, as it is written
in 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, "The manifestation of the Spirit was given to every
man to profit withal."

All these distinct things, not in the least degree to be confounded one with
another, were concurrently accomplished on that day. Further, the Spirit of God
was given as the indweller to each one that believed. This was clearly a
consequence of the same great truth. Thus we have what was individual and what
was corporate, what was universal and what was particular, all made good on this
day of Pentecost, but, nevertheless, each to be distinguished from the other.
The epistles take up some one, some another part of this vast subject. We shall
have a little more detail as to each on some future occasion; but what I wish
particularly to dwell on tonight is the grand truth itself of the gift of the
Holy Ghost, and this distinguished from any workings of His power by particular
members. These gifts differ, but the gift itself is and must be the same Holy
Spirit. There are many and wide differences elsewhere, but there can be none
here; and this is manifest when the truth is understood that we speak of a
divine person, who comes down to dwell in each Christian and in the Church. It
is evidently destructive of the truth for one to speak of differences in Him.
There may be a variety of forms and measures in which His power is displayed;
there may be and are different degrees in which the joy of His presence is
entered into; but the fact remains, (and what can be more glorious and blessed
than the fact?) that, as to Himself, He dwells equally in every believer who
rests now on finished redemption in Christ Jesus.

Besides, there is also, as we know, the circumstance of His being not only in
us, but with us. Accordingly, we find from the first and all through, that while
the tongues of fire rested on each, there was also a rushing mighty wind which
filled all the house. There was thus what may be called a double sign of the
presence of the Spirit of God, — that which abode upon each person, but also
that which in a general way filled the house where they were seated. Thus it is
that we may see every now and then in this book of the Acts, without going
farther, that the fact of the Holy Ghost being there, as well as the Holy Ghost
being in each of them, is kept before the mind. For instance, when the house
shook where they were, (Acts 4:1-37) what had this to do with the particular
fact that the Spirit of God was in this or in that person? The Holy Ghost was
there, and He made His presence felt in their midst. So, again, when Ananias and
Sapphira lied, who can say that it was to any one believer more than another? It
was "not to men," indeed, we are told, but "unto God," they had lied. But it was
God present in the Church. It was God who had come down, who could now
righteously, and according to His full grace, and the most blessed expression of
that grace conceivable now for the earth, dwell even in those that not only had
been sinners, but still had the deepest possible sense of what the natural evil
was which they had inherited from Adam. But yet, in spite of all this, in spite
of what they had been, and in spite of what they felt they were still, apart
from Christ, so blessed was the grace of God in the gift of Him, so rich the
manner of His love in the death and resurrection of the Lord, that the Holy
Ghost could righteously, and for the glory of the Father and the Son, come down
and be in them here below.

Hence it is we find all through that the Spirit of God is spoken of thus, not
only as one that really dwelt in each believer, but that was with them when
gathered together, or when acting in the work here below. Thus we read of the
Spirit (Acts 8:1-40) saying to the evangelist Philip for instance, "Join thyself
to that chariot." An angel of the Lord had previously told him the direction
that he was to take. It was not, however, the angel, but the Spirit that spoke
to him when it was a question of direct dealing with souls. The angel expressed
merely the providence of God shaping his path for him: this, of course, still
abides. We may not see angels or be conscious of their action, but it is just as
true now as ever it was. And so with the Spirit of God. We may not hear Him as
Philip did then; but the fact is as certain now as on that day. According to the
promise of Christ He works. He waits, of course, for a suited state, though it
be a state of heart which He alone can bring about; but He works as truly now as
ever. So we find, a little later on (Acts 13:1-52), the Spirit said, "Separate
me Barnabas and Saul" to the work that He had called them. Thus we have most
clearly the Spirit of God acting not merely in — for we are not told that it was
in Saul or Barnabas that He wrought; and indeed the impression, I think, that
one would fairly gather from the chapter is that it was outwards. That is, it
was a word about them, not so much a word to them, still less anything working
in them. We know, of course, that all these things are true in their season. The
Holy Ghost really was in them, and was there before; but still, the Holy Ghost
here displays Himself as a divine person who had come down, and was there giving
effect to the work of grace and to the glory of the Lord. And so it is to be
traced throughout the whole of the book, as we may readily see. So the Spirit of
Jesus on another occasion directed Paul where to go. (Acts 16) I need not,
however, multiply instances. But there is another point of immense importance
which is often a perplexity to souls, and that is, the difference of the manner
in which the Holy Ghost was conferred. Unbelief, especially where it takes the
form of superstitiously exalting man (as, indeed, it constantly has this
character, unless it take the still baser form of distrusting and denying
altogether what is of God), works actively on these materials. But whether
unbelief goes out in the exaltation of man as such, or in indifference to God
and open utter carelessness as to all that concerns the soul, in both ways it is
apt to take advantage of the various modes in which the Spirit of God was
conferred, to deny that you can have the Holy Ghost now as of old, or to claim
credit for some specific of religious quackery, in which alone one may
infallibly look for the gift of the Spirit.

Now I shall for these reasons review the great occasions which the Holy Ghost
records for our instruction, and hope to show, I trust plainly, to any man who
is subject to the word of God, that there is nothing capricious in the manner in
which the Holy Ghost was given, that there is nothing which gives the smallest
importance to man as such, that there is nothing to weaken the confidence of the
feeblest child of God, and that there is everything flowing from a full, or
comparatively full, acquaintance with the revealed mind of God to comfort and
steady the soul, enhancing our sense of His grace and wisdom; for we shall have
abundant proof of His holy considerateness in all possible circumstances. What
an evidence that simplicity in the things of God is the real secret of seeing
things clearly! For simplicity is not occupied with our own things, or burdened
by the thoughts of others, but has confidence in God, and knows that He has
always before Himself His own grand design of bringing glory to Christ, who
glorified the Father. On the first occasion, the day of Pentecost, we have much
the largest, and, in a certain sense, the richest form of the giving of the Holy
Ghost from above. Therefore we do well to take especial heed to God’s inspired
account of it We are informed by the highest authority, that Jesus "being by the
right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the
Holy Ghost, hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear." That is, there were
palpable tokens before them, and evidenced by them, of the accomplishment of the
promise of the Father. The promised Holy Ghost was not in itself a thing of
sense, but, nevertheless, there was external power which accompanied it. This is
of great importance to distinguish, because otherwise men are in danger, in
consequence of the absence of these outward signs, of overlooking and denying
that incomparable gift which was always above its effects. Whatever the
importance of these signs, they were but the accompanying voucher to man of the
gift and presence of the Spirit as a new thing upon the earth. But further, we
have considerable light as to this truth in the answer of Peter to the
distressed enquirers at Jerusalem. In agony as to their state, finding
themselves so plainly arraigned by the apostle as guilty of rejecting and
crucifying their own Messiah, and that too in the presence of a God who had
exalted Him to His own right hand, the apostle says to them, "Repent, and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Attentively weigh the words.
He does not call on them simply to believe. There is, I need not say, the wisdom
of God in using here the call to repent rather than to believe. There is nothing
in vain in Scripture. The converse we hear on another occasion, where the
apostles Paul and Silas called on the alarmed jailor at Philippi to believe
rather than to repent. Of course, my wish is not at all to produce the slightest
perplexity in any soul, but, on the contrary, to remove it from the weak, who
may see but do not understand this difference. It is not man that did or would
have set down these words. God has written thus, and He is always to be trusted.
We are not to suppose that it is a matter of indifference which is employed.
Freely is it allowed and insisted on that, without faith, there never can be
real repentance Godward. There may be a spurious faith, as there may be a
spurious repentance. Wherever there is the one by God’s power, there must needs
be the other. But still, every one knows from experience (and we see the same
thing in God’s own word — the key to all we know and experience) that there are
differences in the manner in which the soul feels and expresses itself before
God. For in one the deep moral work in the conscience more predominates; in
another, peace and joy in believing would be more apparent. But still, there can
be no real work in the conscience of spiritual value without faith, and there
cannot be faith according to God without a genuine work of the Spirit in the
conscience. If Peter calls on the Jews at Jerusalem to repent, so does Paul tell
the men of Athens that God commands all men everywhere to repent. On other
occasions both Jews and Gentiles were invited and urged to believe. The truth
is, both repented and both believed; but there is ever a meaning, and an
important meaning, where one is pressed rather than the other.

What was needed on this occasion — what was suitable according to God’s wisdom —
was the humbling of these proud Jews. Hence repentance, as that which puts down
flesh and treats man as good for nothing, is put forward. "Repent," says the
apostle Peter, "and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus" — that
very man whom you crucified and rejected. There is the only source of blessing
for any: He is the sole hope for your souls. They were brought down and made
willing. It was the day of His grace, if not yet of His power according to
Psalms 110:1-7. Grace had touched their hearts; it made them receive and endorse
God’s sentence against themselves. They could believe ill of themselves — the
very last thing a man is willing to believe. They were really brought to that
point that they were willing to believe themselves evil in the sight of God. He
therefore presses this home. He does not take pity on them because they were
justly pricked in heart, but he calls, so to speak, for the entrance of that
which would humble them still more before God. Peter could press it the more
readily, because he knew in Jesus such ample grace. As he says himself, "Be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ." The more grace is
proclaimed, the more we can afford to urge, and the more other souls can afford
to bear; a thorough-going sound repentance. And, indeed, we need to enforce it,
not leaving it vaguely and saying, "People must repent if they believe." This is
not the way God does leave it. He causes them to feel their real state before
Him. It is always a great blessing for any one, and if it be not charged home at
an early day, let me say by the way, that a most humbling and painful process
remains for the soul another day. For, instead of learning with simplicity what
we are at the start of our career, instead of having as full a sense of our sin
then as could be supposed compatible with so young a convert, there may be the
need of proving it by a deep fall, by open sin, by flagrant departure from God,
by a painful return, after having wandered the farther from Him, because there
was so little sense of sin at the beginning of our Christian confession. How
many a soul has known this! Perhaps I ought to add, that there are none, it
seems to me, in greater danger from this omission than those with whom we have
most commonly to do. The greater the sense of the Lord’s grace, if there be not
also a commensurate sounding of the conscience before God, the greater the
danger, and more particularly for the young. When in this case, then, the
apostle exhorted them to repent and be baptized every one of them in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, you will remark what follows, — "and ye
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Surely when they repented, it was not
without the Holy Ghost. When they received the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and found in Him remission, and were baptized thereon, — baptized in His name,
which, of course, would be altogether worthless in these souls now before the
apostle unless they believed in His name, — it will not be doubted that the Holy
Ghost must have given them repentance and faith in His name. Therefore it is
evident that the reception of the Holy Ghost as here spoken of, has nothing
whatever to do with the bringing men to believe and to repent. It is a
subsequent operation; it is an additional separate blessing; it is a privilege
founded on faith already actively working in the heart. So far is it from being
true that a man receives the gift of the Holy Ghost the moment he believes, that
it may be well doubted whether there ever was such a case since the world began.
I do not mean to deny that the gift of the Holy Ghost may be practically on the
same occasion, but never in the same moment: at least, I should like any one to
produce me one proof from the word of God, or one instance from practical
experience. I have never seen, nor ever heard of such a case, and (what is more)
I believe that Scripture precludes the possibility of it. The reason is quite
simple too. The gift of the Holy Ghost is grounded on the fact that we are sons
by faith of Christ, believers resting on redemption in Him. Plainly, therefore,
it supposes that the Spirit of God has regenerated us. We may find the
importance of this remark in looking at some of the epistles on another
occasion. Here I merely touch on the point, because it is very evidently
involved in this very verse. Thus the gift of the Holy Ghost is not in order to
repentance, nor to receiving Christ by faith. The truth is, that when the souls
did repent, and when they were baptized in His name for the remission of sins,
they received the gift of the Holy Ghost, as a subsequent privilege.

Another thing I would just observe, and one quite as momentous to bear in mind
as any other: "the gift of the Holy Ghost" never means the gifts. There are many
who confound the gift with the gifts. They are never mixed together in the word
of God; they in no way convey the same thought. There is even a different word —
not in our language, but in that which the Holy Ghost employed. The two things
are invariably distinct. Both might of course be given on the very same
occasion. A man might have the gift and enjoy the presence of the Spirit of God
in his soul. He might also be empowered of the Spirit to carry out the gospel to
the world, or be made a teacher or pastor in the Church. Still the gift of the
Holy Spirit is another privilege altogether. It is the Holy Ghost Himself given,
and not merely the power with which He invests a person for special purposes.
There might be this too; but the gift of the Holy Ghost was that common blessing
which was then and there conferred on every soul that repented and was baptized.
This is followed up immediately after by the glad reception, or, at any rate, by
the reception of the word; for "gladly" is of doubtful authority. "They received
his word." This is certain; and it may have been with solemnity, as much as with
joy, as the characteristic feeling; and they were baptized in the name of their
once despised Messiah. "And the same day there were added unto them about three
thousand souls." And these are found full of the grace and power of God, as
described in the latter part of the chapter.

Turning to the next great crisis, we have a wholly different scene. Stephen had
borne his testimony, the result of which was utter rejection on the part of the
Jews, — he full of the Holy Ghost, and they resisting Him. As their fathers did,
so did they. Stephen sealed his testimony with his blood, and the persecution
that broke out on him as its first victim scattered all the Church that was in
Jerusalem except the apostles. The very men who had been called of the Lord to
go out to all the world were the exceptions to the dispersion, and the only
ones. So remarkably slow is man, even in the best estate, to enter into and
carry out the purposes of God’s grace. But God would carry them out, even if it
were from a painful cause propelling. If love, if the power of grace, if the
sense of the need of souls and of the glory of Christ, did not rouse those that
were commanded, God would take care that feebler vessels, yet filled with the
mighty tidings of His grace, should shed the sweet savour in all directions; and
so they "went everywhere preaching the word." Among the rest, Philip, who had
been appointed by the apostles, as well as chosen by the people, to take care of
the daily distribution, now that this was summarily closed, gains a good degree,
and goes about preaching the gospel. He visits the ancient rival of Jerusalem,
even the city of Samaria. There the Jews, having entirely failed to establish
the authority of the law, shrank into isolation, and had no dealings with
Samaritans. They had not won their confidence, nor commended that form of
knowledge and of the truth in the law which had been committed to their charge.
But the gospel was now to prove its power where law had been unavailing; and
Philip preaches Jesus with such simplicity and force, and was so blest of God in
it, that the whole city was filled with joy. Even the most wicked man that was
there, long versed in the ways and wiles of the devil, was impressed by the holy
influence which, it is true, had not penetrated his conscience nor governed his
heart. But, at any rate, the current was too strong for him. Simon Magus bowed
to the truth of the gospel, intellectually, at least, and was baptized with the
rest. But, note it well, there was no gift of the Holy Ghost as yet to any
there. From such a fact we gather the clear distinction between the gift of the
Holy Ghost and His working or operation, which enables a soul to repent and to
believe the gospel. There is no question as to the mass of the Samaritan
converts that they were real believers, though Simon was not. Nevertheless, the
Holy Ghost "as yet was fallen upon none of them." It is not merely that they had
not spoken with tongues, nor that there were no wonders done, save by the
evangelist himself (verses 6, 7, 13). The Holy Ghost’s coming down is a totally
different thing, though accompanied by these outward expressions of His power.
They must never be mixed up together as if they were the same. The greatest
wound that could be inflicted on the standing capital truth of the presence of
the Holy Ghost would be received by confounding them; because, if this were so,
we have in this case no Holy Ghost any longer present, inasmuch as we have no
more such outward displays of power. It is evident, therefore, that it goes far
indeed in unbelief to mingle together signs and tokens by the Spirit with the
Holy Ghost Himself. I repeat, that it was not merely that the powers had not
been given, but the Holy Ghost had not yet come on them. The Scripture affirms
it, and so it is said here, "When the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard
that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:
who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy
Ghost: for as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in
the name of the Lord Jesus." At once we meet with a notable difference which
stands out in marked contrast with the day of Pentecost. Then, when they
repented and were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, the Holy Ghost came
upon them. Here He had fallen upon none, though they had believed and had been
baptized. How comes this? I am persuaded for a grave reason and worthy of God.
Had there been the descent of the Holy Ghost upon these believers at Samaria at
the preaching of Philip, such is human nature that I cannot doubt the ancient
rivalry of Samaria would have still remained. Samaria would have lifted up her
head once more, and the very grace of the gospel would have been a support to
her religious pretensions. It was true, Jerusalem had enjoyed this new and
singular blessing; but had not Samaria it also? Thus Jerusalem and "that
mountain’ would have still reared their heads in opposition to each other, and
the effect that God intended to produce by the presence of the Holy Ghost would
have been altogether frustrated. Instead of bringing about oneness in love,
instead of maintaining not only one head, but one energy, — one head above, and
one power below working in one body as an answer to the glory of Christ, — there
would have been a new Samaritan institution as well as a new society at
Jerusalem. God made this impossible — at least impossible to one who heeded His
ways. There was no appearance even of a sanction given to independency — the
most destructive principle possible to the truth of the Church of God on the
earth.

Accordingly, then, when the Church at Jerusalem, or, at least, when the apostles
heard of it, (for the Church was now scattered abroad,) they sent down two of
the chiefs, two that were pillars — Peter and John. They prayed; but there was
even a closer intimation of what God intended by this delay in the gift of the
Holy Ghost — there was the laying on of their hands; and this imposition of
hands was both an act expressive of blessing from God through the apostles, and
of identification, so to speak, with the work at Jerusalem. It was an
attestation before the whole world that God would suffer no such thing as
rivalry in His Church — that those who were the heads of the work in the one
were quite as indispensable in the other. Thus, then, God shows, as it seems to
me in this very fact, that although there is a difference in the manner of
giving the blessing, still that very difference is due to God’s wisdom and care
over our souls as really as in the gift itself. Of course, the gift of the Holy
Ghost is the main part of the blessing, but then there is always the goodness
and the wisdom of God in the smallest variation which His word puts before us.
Thus, although we have here a very marked difference from the day of Pentecost,
all contributes to prove how God loves us, how the Lord takes care of the
Church, how, even in the manner in which He gives this supreme blessing of the
Spirit of God, He proceeds in such a mode as to show, if saints are wise to heed
His ways and seek to understand the method of His gifts, how He would arm us
against our own nature.

There is another thing that comes before us in the next case. (Acts 10:1-48)
Here we have a third variety. The apostle Peter is at length summoned of God,
who was pleased to vouchsafe a two-fold witness of His purpose. Cornelius, the
Gentile centurion, while he fasted and prayed in Caesarea, had an angelic
visitor, who directed him to send for Simon Peter. As for the apostle himself,
he fell into a trance the day after at Joppa, and saw thrice a vision about this
great matter, that every word, as it were, should be established by three
distinct witnesses. Peter, yet more encouraged by the Spirit (Acts 10:19-23),
yields to the messengers of Cornelius, and goes. When he opens his mouth, he
calls their attention to that which was exceedingly prominent in his own mind;
for he had gone unwillingly at first — had even ventured, so to speak, to
dispute with the Lord in the vision of the great sheet. He had never, he said,
eaten anything that was common or unclean when the Lord commanded him to kill
and eat. But he had received repeatedly the reproof, "What God hath cleansed,
that call not thou common;" and at last he had profited by the lesson. "Of a
truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he
that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." In the first
instance, then, it is plain that the call did not go out to a pagan idolater.
Peter only speaks in this case of one that already feared God and wrought
righteousness. This was the case with Cornelius. He was not an unconverted soul,
but one who really feared God. He abounded in prayer and in almsgiving.
Certainly self-righteous prayer or alms could not have commended him to God.
Such things, when done as a means of rendering some atonement for the soul
before God, are (we know) among the unholy resources of unbelief. But Cornelius
was a God-fearing man — this really, and not in mere outward profession. He was
regenerate, and God had signified his estate and his acknowledgment of his
righteousness in the message of the angel, which it seems to me perfectly
impossible to understand as meaning that he was merely an outward professor of
the true God — the most hollow thing conceivable even in the sight of men, and
always an abomination in God’s eyes. As I read the account afresh, I am bold to
say his state was that which the Lord had wrought, and which He distinctly owns
as pleasing to Himself. And it was wise of the Lord and most gracious, that, in
going out to the Gentiles, He should begin with such an one as not even a Jew
could deny to be godly. It was, beyond a doubt, infinite mercy which was about
to save the evidently lost, the chief of sinners. But still the point here was
not awakening for the first time a soul from its death in sins, but rather
setting one already awakened on a known ground of relationship with God and
perfect liberty, so that none who feared God and His word could gainsay his
title. In most cases the two things might coalesce; but this was not the case
with Cornelius, who in due time, with his household, hears the word from Peter.

Observe, it was a word, too, that was not heard for the first time. "That word
ye know," says Peter, "which was published throughout all Judea." Plainly,
therefore, this centurion had not only feared God, and prayed to Him before, but
was aware of that which was preached through out all Judea. How was it that it
had not been received in its fulness and applied to his own soul? Just simply
because he was one that feared God and trembled at His word. It was not the
shape in which faith in God would work now, but it was right in its season. This
reverence for God would make him slow to anticipate His ways. "If God had sent
out his word for Israel," he would say, "I know it is sure for them; and blessed
are the people that have such a God! But who and what am I?" For this very
reason he waited till the word was sent to himself. This is just what the gospel
does now. It is the proclamation of the word of God’s grace to every creature;
but it was a new thing then. He was acquainted, of course, with the ancient
Scriptures, and did not doubt the promises. There was no question about them as
an abstract truth, or in their accomplishment by and in Christ for Israel. But
now the word was sent to him, Cornelius a Gentile, by the authority of God
through Peter. As we are told here, "While Peter yet spake these words," (more
particularly, I suppose, "to him give all the prophets witness, that through his
name whosoever believeth," etc.) this truth was fastened on his soul. At least,
this is direct testimony, and opens the door to any one according to all the
prophets: "Whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. While
Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the
word." What! Without baptism? without imposition of hands? without prayer for
them? Yes, without any of these things, without more ado, at once, even while
the very words are being preached by the apostle Peter, the Holy Ghost is given
to them all.

Here, then, is a new phase, altogether different, not merely from what was
witnessed in Samaria, but even from what had been experienced in Jerusalem.
There the Jew must be baptized, and only then he should receive the Holy Ghost.
It was not enough that he should believe the gospel; he must be baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, (baptized with water, of
course,) "and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." At Samaria, not only
had they been baptized with water, but there must be prayer and the laying on of
the apostles’ hands, without which the Holy Ghost came on none there. Here,
before baptism, and without apostolic imposition of hands, the Holy Ghost fell
on all of them. How came this to pass? The only wise and the only good God owned
these Gentiles in deep grace. The moment was come to carry out His mind more
fully, and the first display of His grace towards them was in this rich and
singular process. It might not be so public an occasion as when three thousand
souls were brought in. Still, what was seen then was the breaking down of Jews
that had been hard and high-minded against Jesus of Nazareth. To that name they
must bow, nay, they must be baptized in it; not otherwise could they receive the
Spirit. The Samaritans, again, had their special lesson, to counteract their
peculiar propensity, and to establish the grand principle of the Church or
assembly, (not churches merely,) which God was forming on the earth. But here
God would encourage and win the Gentiles that Peter himself had despised. For
after the Lord had told him that he was to go and make disciples of all the
Gentiles, he went not; after even the Church was driven to speak, he lingered.
They were slow (may I say?); they were staying behind the work of the Lord; they
had little entered into His mighty grace, so far transcending the thoughts of
His own children, but now manifested with little heart on man’s part, yet led on
by God’s hand (for it was scarce more than this until Peter was actually brought
to the spot). But when he preached at Caesarea, how God rebuked — though it
might be in the fulness of mercy — the slowness of His servant! When the words
fell from his lips, not even Jerusalem had ever seen such mercy, nor had Samaria
witnessed anything like it; for there had been, in God’s wisdom, a pause there,
and an imposition of apostolic hands before the full blessing was imparted. But
here was nothing of the sort. Here it was all of pure grace. Of course, there
was an antecedent work of the Spirit in their souls, giving them repentance
toward God and faith in Jesus. This is always necessary. But there was no
outward act to be done by others and submitted to by themselves. Baptism
followed as a privilege (as it really is) which could not be refused them. For
the Jew, for the Samaritan, humiliating elements were not absent. For the
Gentile, on the other hand, there was sweet encouragement. God was winning them,
and would stop the mouth of every gainsayer. He was giving, in the manner of the
gift, the most magnificent proof that, if He went out to the most distant, He
shows for that reason the more grace; — no mercy so rich as that which sought
and found the poor Gentiles. And mark it well, brethren, it is thus that we
receive the Holy Ghost. We come under the Gentiles. We are not Jews; we are not
Samaritans. Let others boast, if they will, of the Holy Ghost sent down from
heaven: would that they did boast of what was done on the day of Pentecost, and
among the Samaritans afterwards! No apostles were called to lay their hands on
the Gentiles. Peter, not a whit behind the chiefest, and one of those who had
laid his hands on the Samaritans, was there; but the fact of his presence at
Caesarea made the grace of God the more conspicuous. He declared the astonishing
news to all; but there was no room for him to do anything more. It was no
question of man’s preparatory action, either in laying on of hands, or even in
baptizing. Nothing of the kind was done before the Spirit was given, although
the apostle Peter was there to baptize and lay on hands if necessary.
Circumstances, therefore, did not prevent, had this been God’s order. Man, so to
speak, disappears in the overflowing grace of God. And how blessed that there it
is we find our blessing and proper place before God! In this God has given us a
full adequate answer to all the efforts of men, who insist on the necessity that
we should have apostles when there are none. Unbelief despised the apostles when
they were here; unbelief assumes their presence now to be indispensable, as the
sole channel for the impartation of the Spirit, when the channel is nowhere to
be found. How good of the Lord, that He should leave us in His own written word
the proof that these men understand not what they say, nor whereof they affirm!
Let others, if they will, put themselves back in what, no doubt, suits them —
the place of Samaritans or Jews. Let them say they are Jews when they are not.
But the Lord gives those who are content to own themselves mere sinners of the
Gentiles His richest mercy. Would that those who are still cleaving to forms and
ordinances, to channels of one human sort or another, might be brought down to
their true place, that (willing to be, as they really are, nothing) they might
be blessed fully according to the heart of God! Thus it was that God then
blessed; and thus it is that He ever loves to bless. It becomes us, then, to
make much of His grace. As the apostle said he magnified his office, so I think
we should magnify the grace that deals thus divinely with mere outcast Gentiles
as we naturally are. We may say much of Him who can thus afford to bless such as
we are; for if such was His blessing then, the ground is not changed, and such
it is still. I say not that there is the same kind of evidence, but that such is
the revealed principle of God’s blessing the Gentiles. How is it, if you bow to
the testimony of God going forth in the earth — how is it that according to
Scripture not Jews, but Gentiles, received the Holy Ghost? It was through the
preached word. Is it not now through the same medium — the word of His grace?

There may be, no doubt, a delay in some cases. You may find souls really touched
of the Spirit of God — I do not mean merely their feelings, or any passing
emotion, but a real work of grace in the heart and conscience — and yet the
person may have no peace, no settled rest and liberty, in the Saviour. This is
not uncommon. Are we, therefore, to deny a work of God? Are we to ignore this
part because there is not all we might and must desire? Are we to say that, if
there be not full deliverance before God, there is nothing at all? This I leave
to others; for myself I dare not think or say so. I entreat my brethren that
none among them may yield to such unbelief. I hope that no one here will think
it necessary to question the reality of God’s work in a soul, because it does
not yet enter into the full and simple sense of all Christ has done for it. We
may be sometimes in haste with souls, and may injure them deeply if we do not
accredit God’s work. But there is another point of danger also. Let us not rest
satisfied because a person is truly penitent, and looks to Christ, unless he be
brought into liberty. This is equally unbelief, and a want of acquaintance with
the word and grace of God. It is to stop short of the full presence and
operation of God’s Spirit in the soul. We must call things by their right names.
One may be but miserable through a sense of sin and anxieties which have not
found their answer by God’s grace in redemption. But still, when the heart
yearns after Jesus, although by no means in peace of conscience and still less
of heart, this we ought to call conversion, and to treat it as God’s own
gracious work. But to settle down in such a state would be equally wrong — to
suppose it enough because a soul turns from sin to God, because hating himself
he also looks to Jesus. For it is more a grasping after Him than any positive
peace in Him, and very far from the fulness of the blessing of the gospel. On
the contrary, we ought to press, that there is much more in Jesus than merely
what awakens the heart and touches the conscience, however real the sense of sin
may be, and desire after what is of God. We all, I believe, fail if we do not
insist that such an one is not yet in what Scripture recognizes as the true
Christian state before God. If His word supposes His children to be fully at
peace, aught we to be satisfied with anything less? A renewed mind, but still
under law, we ought never to recognize as the full result of the truth in Jesus,
though bound to recognize it as true so far as it goes. But there is much more
that God intends for His own — even such a place of blessing where doubts,
fears, anxieties, all melt away in the sense of the perfect grace which has
brought us nigh to Himself without a sin or a question before Him.

It is evident that, while there is conflict and inward trouble, the state of
feeling is that which was found in the Old Testament saints. The only difference
is, that they could not get beyond it. The time was not yet come. The Deliverer
was not there. The deliverance had yet to be wrought. The blessed ground which
makes it a matter of faith to receive peace through the grace of God was not
laid before them, and God’s ways cannot be anticipated. We cannot run before
Him. We may follow after Him, and should delight to see His goodness as it
passes before us; but we cannot anticipate God. But now salvation is come.
Christ has been here, and died and rose; yet still quickened souls do not always
apprehend the mighty results in a day. It may be, of course; and I do not doubt
we have still cases such as the Philippian jailor referred to. The very same
hour the man’s conscience was reached, there was a further work of God, which
left himself and his house rejoicing. As miserable as he could be just before,
in the same hour he was thoroughly happy by divine grace. So I do not in the
least deny that this may now be in the course of an hour, though far from
thinking that it is so common a thing as is supposed.

Take the apostle as an instance. Surely he was converted, if ever a man was, on
the road to Damascus, and in most extraordinary power too. Yet manifestly God
did not bring him into full liberty all at once. He was for days and nights so
exercised that he neither ate nor drank, but was blind; and all this was in
keeping with his spiritual state. He had really seen Christ in glory, and this
for his soul; but had he yet been brought into the peaceful enjoyment of all? I
do not doubt that there was another and an immediate work, the fruit of the
truth dealing with the inner man; still, until Ananias comes to him, when he was
baptized, he was far from full rest and liberty. The Holy Ghost, as we know,
filled him, and then, as it is ever, he enters consciously into the full
blessing. This does not take away from the fulness of the gospel any more than
from its freeness; but it leaves room for meeting the actual facts, and it
accounts for a state in which we find souls, which, after all, can never be bent
into a theory. There are stubborn facts which meet the eye every day, even
without looking for them, if we are in earnest about souls. Take notice of them,
no matter where, and you will learn that there is a real action of the Spirit of
God with the soul, and that one may even go on in this condition for days,
weeks, months, and years. It is not infrequently after this that the soul is
brought into perfect liberty before God. Where one enters into liberty, there
is, in my judgment, not life only, but the reception of the Holy Ghost.

Another word I would just say before leaving this part of the subject. Wherever
God does begin the work, He always finishes, though not all at once. That there
is no person, therefore, who ever dies with the work incomplete, is my firm
conviction, according to the word of God, and, of course, confirmed by all I
have ever known in experience. That is, whenever God creates anew, He most
surely gives them the Holy Ghost. I do not believe it is always at the first,
because, in fact, Scripture plainly to my mind proves the contrary; but he whom
God undertakes to bless now, will undoubtedly, sooner or later, be brought into
the full simple enjoyment of peace with Himself. I am not speaking, you will
observe, of intelligence. If this were the case, it would be indeed a most
sorrowful reflection how few are to be found. We all know how miserable truly
pious souls may be for years and years. But it has never been my lot to see one
of those who was not made happy before the Lord took them to Himself; and,
indeed, I have seen marvellous instances of the complete rolling away of all
anxieties and questions, which had clouded a lifetime, even where there was
life; and I do not doubt that others have seen as much, perhaps more. They have
seen the grace of God at length remove all clouds from the soul. But do they
associate this with its real cause? From what has been before me then, I
conclude that, whenever a soul is quickened by the Spirit of God, or converted,
which substantially means the same thing (only from another point of looking at
the work of the Spirit), it will eventually have the gift of the Holy Ghost; but
it may have to wait because of no present submission to God’s righteousness.

We may observe that on the occasion at Caesarea baptism follows. The apostle
Peter draws attention to the fact, that not only did the Holy Ghost fall on them
as on the Jews at Pentecost, but the people spoke with tongues; there were the
same undeniable tokens of that great gift. And this was of great importance, as
it stopped the lips of the brethren of the circumcision who accompanied the
apostle. When he heard them magnify God, "Then answered Peter, Can any man
forbid water?" He knew perfectly well how the prejudice of the Jewish brethren
would work. It was a new thing too — that Gentiles should be baptized with
water. "Can any man forbid water, that these should be baptized, which have
received the Holy Ghost as well as we?"

Observe another fact (which, indeed, Scripture abundantly proves elsewhere),
that baptism was never meant to be the prerogative of an official in the Church.
Peter was there. Had it been a question of superior dignity, surely an apostle
could have baptized them. The plain, simple inference of the language is, that
the act was not his personally. He took care that they should be baptized; for
he commanded them to be baptized; but it is nowhere said that he baptized them
himself. So Paul was glad to record about his work at Corinth, thanking God that
he had not baptized any, except a very few. Peter, I do not doubt, was here led
of God, although for a different reason, to abstain from baptizing. Had it been
otherwise, how men would have seized on the circumstance? what endeavours to
extract from it something to glorify man where God was working for His own
praise? But it was not so. Even the blessed apostle Paul was baptized by a
simple disciple; and surely, if there had been anything involved in the person
that baptized, we might expect it peculiarly guarded, when an apostle was the
subject. But Ananias, at God’s word, goes and says "Brother Saul," and baptizes
him at once. There was no waiting for an official personage. Is it not a
wonderful proof of men’s unbelief, that they should overlook and explain away a
fact so patent and overwhelming? Do moderns or ancients flatter themselves that
they can improve on Scripture? Do they know, or can they impart the will of the
Lord for His servants and the Church better than the inspired writers? There is
no warrant from God for making ministers of the gospel the only persons
competent to baptize. The greatest care is taken to prove the contrary; and this
too when it was no question of necessity. There was no need of seeking one in
high office for Cornelius: for an apostle was on the spot. Had due order,
according to God, called for any such form as men have urged since, why was it
omitted on so grave an occasion, which could not but be a precedent for all time
to come to those who are ruled by apostolic example? As Paul, so the Gentile
centurion and his household were baptized by those who, now-a-days, would be
designated as laymen. Apostles and evangelists sometimes did baptize; but it was
in no way regarded as an official rite: other brethren might and did baptize,
even when the apostle was present. But this by the way.

There remains but one case more, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, on
which I must say a few words for my present theme. "And it came to pass, that,
while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came
to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, Have ye received
the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as
heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then
were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. Then said Paul, John
verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that
they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ
Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and
they spake with tongues, and prophesied." (Acts 19:1-6.) This is an instance not
less remarkable than any we have examined, and quite clear in its import. The
apostle no doubt, perceived a certain want of ease in these "disciples," which
induced him to enquire whether they had received the Holy Ghost since they
believed. Then there is — certainly there was in the apostle’s mind — such a
thing as receiving the Spirit after believing. He does not question the reality
of their faith; he had reason to ask whether they had received the Holy Ghost
since. And their answer is equally plain: "We have not so much as heard whether
there be any Holy Ghost." They did not plead ignorance, as is sometimes
ignorantly inferred, of the Spirit’s existence. The question was about believers
receiving the Holy Spirit. This was an ancient promise; and John the Baptist
(with whom they had connection more or less close) did not more surely testify
of a Messiah quite imminent, yea, in the midst of Israel, than of His baptizing
with the Holy Ghost, and not with water only, as he himself did. In fact, every
reader of the Old Testament knew, not only of the existence of the Spirit, but
of God’s gracious promise, that He should be poured out in the last days; and of
all teachers John had most strongly pressed on his disciples that Messiah would
be the instrument of this wondrous work and favour among men. But they did not
somehow know that the promise was now in course of accomplishment, that
believers among Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles had already received the Spirit,
through the hearing of faith, and not through works of law. The apostle proceeds
to ask them unto what they had been baptized; which drew forth the reply, that
they knew no more than John’s baptism. This elicited a weighty explanation: John
had not gone farther than the baptism of repentance. He did insist on that
self-judgment which the Spirit alone produces in souls that bow to God’s word,
and which detects their moral ruin in His sight. The power which is founded on
redemption, which cannot dwell in him who is a sinful man till the blood is shed
and sprinkled as a groundwork, as it were, for His own indwelling power, (which
thereon links the ransomed and delivered soul with Him who has won the victory,
and leads it victoriously too through an evil world,) was not yet bestowed. John
could only tell the people that they should believe on Him who was coming after
him — that is, on Christ. Paul preached a Saviour who had already come, and had
effected redemption. "When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of
the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came
on them, and they spake with tongues, and prophesied."

Here again the external signs were not lacking; but they are confounded with the
gift of the Holy Ghost no more here than in any of the other instances. These
disciples were baptized with Christian baptism: the baptism of repentance did
not suffice for them. They were baptized unto His name who died and rose again.
And thereon they received the Spirit, but even then not without the imposition
of Paul’s hands. Thus, if God had put honour on Peter and John at Samaria, not
less did He uphold the apostolate of Saul of Tarsus. And it is to be observed
also, that as the two apostolic delegates had been thus owned, not in Jerusalem,
but in its religious rival, Samaria, so Paul laid his hands not on Gentiles
converted through his preaching, but on disciples already baptized with John’s
baptism.

There is nothing therefore in this to produce difficulty, or weaken the tenor of
what I have already sought to expound with all simplicity from the word of God.
The two instances where apostles, one or more, laid their hands on believers, in
order that they might receive the Spirit, were exceptional and ancillary to the
chief occasions where we hear of no such act done by the apostles. In one of
these, the greater, instances (the dealing with the Jews at Pentecost),
Scripture is entirely silent as to imposition of hands in any case; and there
assuredly was none to lay hands on those who first received the Holy Ghost that
day, whether the apostles or the rest of the hundred and twenty: God reserved
this gift that it should come direct from His own hand. In the other kindred
case, we know for certain that hands were not laid on the believers before the
Spirit was given them; and this is the more momentous to us, inasmuch as it was
the case of Cornelius and his household, under which type, of course, we, as
Gentiles, properly fall. The conclusion, therefore, is irresistible. Even if
apostles did exist, they are not needed to lay hands on us, or any other
Gentiles who believe, in order that we may receive the Holy Ghost. Not thus,
according to His word, did God give His Spirit to the uncircumcision. Believing
on Christ through their word, we have shared the blessing, even as our
prototypes at Caesarea. The Lord be praised, not only for His Spirit, but for
the written word, which makes manifest the folly of pretentious men, reprobate
concerning the faith, who seek to alarm the timid and to embolden the
superstitious. May we hold fast, according to the faith of God’s elect, the
acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness, in hope of eternal life,
which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. In the Spirit and the
Spirit in you.

Romans 8:1-27.

Lecture 7 of ’The New Testament Doctrine of the Holy Spirit.’

W. Kelly.

There are two main parts of the subject tonight which it is of great consequence
for the children of God to distinguish, in order that either one or other should
be rightly understood. One is to be in the Spirit. It is a condition that
supposes a total change of being; it means, in contrast with nature or the
flesh, a new state which souls enter now on the earth. Besides, there is the
actual personal dwelling of the Holy Ghost in the believer. This chapter most
clearly insists on both truths; and I shall endeavour a little to explain their
difference, as well as the conclusion from them both for the blessing of the
Christian to God’s own glory (and, of course, therefore by Christ Jesus), to
which all tend. In order, however, rightly to enter into the first of these two
truths, we must look a little at the general features of the epistle to the
Romans.

And, first of all, I would remark that the true key-note of the epistle is
righteousness, chiefly and foremost the righteousness of God (i.e. His habit or
quality revealed in the gospel and founded on redemption, in which God can be
perfectly consistent with Himself in justifying the guilty who believe in
Christ). Such divine righteousness, when we enquire how it is that God can thus
justify us, is by Christ Jesus the Lord. It is in virtue of His blood, of His
death; but not that only. It is there indeed most believers are apt to stop. We
may bless God that any sinners go so far. We may grieve for our brethren’s sake
that they go not farther; and this not merely for them, for their own lost
enjoyment, more particularly in the matter of liberty, but because every
defrauding of the soul of its proper blessing and full liberty before God is
just so much detracted from the glory of Christ, and entails proportionate
weakness in the service of Christ as well as in worship. We need not envy those
who think this a light matter; nor should we in any way sympathize with those
who count it the only desirable thing that a soul should just be saved from the
wrath to come. It would be true if man’s salvation were God’s end; but God never
proposes less than His own glory; and he who makes salvation the great question
proves that he is more careful about himself or his fellows than exercised in
what the Holy Spirit reveals about God and His Son. And, in point of fact, there
is always a just retribution; for there never was one since the world began that
had power of enjoyment in the soul, or had pleasure in glorifying God, or was an
overcomer of the world, or was simply and thoroughly a worshipper in the energy
of the Holy Ghost, who stopped short where man is apt to stay, and where human
theology habitually terminates. For theology consists of so many conclusions, is
a system of inferences, and never faith. It draws deductions from certain
principles that may be found in the word of God, and many of them true enough,
no doubt; but the very thing that makes it to be theology hinders power,
forfeits liberty, opposes the glory of God and gives an undue place to man by
making him the arranger of doctrine and head of a school. The consequence is,
that the children of God are stunted in their growth, and the Holy Ghost is
grieved at so much dishonour that is necessarily done to Himself, the only one
that is entitled to guide fully and capable of blessing all that belong to
Christ, to the glory of God the Father.

Let me call attention first to the obvious facts of the case that meet one in
looking at the epistle to the Romans. There is not a word said about the love of
God, nor a word more about victory for the believer, until the whole question of
righteousness is settled. This might not at first sight seem the readiest way to
give the heart ease, and peace, and liberty; but it is God’s way
notwithstanding. First and foremost we have that word, always so unbending and
withering to man, the "righteousness of God." And why so? His righteousness
keeps before man divine authority, will not let him forget His solemn title to
judge; for there was no question of righteousness until sin came into the world.
What was there for Him to judge till man had ruined himself, and creation
dependent on him as its head? All previously was very good. Thus judgment was
not the natural or normal relationship, so to speak, between God and man when
man was innocent, and God was simply a blesser of man in every kind of created
goodness. There man enjoyed, and the thanks of a creature altogether without sin
rose up to God. But the scene was soon changed and spoiled; and the conscience
which man acquired in the knowledge of good and evil, the knowledge of good that
was lost, and of evil that was the bitter gain of sin which had overcome him,
led man first to hide his own conscious nakedness, and then at the very sound of
the presence of God to retreat from Him. The conscience of man, alas! banished
him morally before ever the voice of God sentenced him judicially. Man felt he
had no longer place in the presence of God. The fatal consequence was manifest
from that day, though brought out gradually, as God was pleased, with increase
of light. Sin necessitated judgment.

Thus, evidently, if man was to be saved, he must be called, and this, moreover,
to glory and virtue, as it is said in 2 Peter 1:1-21 This is the character of
God’s call. It is to what man had not. It was not simply a sustaining and using
aright of what he had. He had lost his original tenure; yea, he had lost not
only what was put under him in untainted excellence, but the One who was above
him — God Himself (his own conscience bearing its sad and true witness).
Accordingly God calls in His grace; but He calls him by glory; He calls to
things unseen, and outside what was seen, at the same time acting by moral
motives as a restraint upon the evil that had now entered and gained dominion
over man’s heart. This, of course, is all brought out with incomparably more
force and fitness in Christianity; but still we find the principle of it true
from the moment that man fell. In due time, however, God gave promises, and
these, it is needless to say, powerfully acted upon those who had faith. In due
time also the law was given by Moses, and by that no small knowledge of sin
where the conscience was exercised; for it raised the question of man’s state —
a thing that the promises did not touch. The promises simply held out a good
that God would surely give in His own time. Their characteristic point was, that
they did not depend on man’s state, but on God’s gracious will and word.

Evidently, however, it would not be good for man, being a sinner, not to feel
his real state. Accordingly, after the promises, but before their
accomplishment, the law came in, acted as a probe, and brought out most plainly
that man was altogether evil and guilty, and, finally, that he had neither the
will nor the power to amend, however much he knew the evil of his ways.

Last of all came Christ, who submitted to the law, and might have taken up the
promises; for, indeed, He was the heir, as well as the faithful witness, the
only One who ever made the law lovely as a moral instrument, and responded
perfectly to that expression of God’s claim on man. He alone vindicated God, who
had given the law, in all His ways here below; but had he, therefore, taken up
the promises, and in connection with the law, it is very evident that not one
could have shared the inheritance along with Himself. A new thing, therefore,
appears in the cross of the Lord Jesus. He who had fulfilled the law, He who was
the heir of the promises, takes the curse instead of the crown — takes the
judgment of God instead of the kingdom of God. Then was done that most wondrous
of all deeds — the outpouring of all that God felt and could express against sin
on the person of Him who knew no sin; all that God could do in holy indignation
against evil on the One that had done no evil, neither was guile found in His
mouth. He who was His own Son, the object of His perfect delight and absolute
eternal favour, — He was given up to unsparing judgment, God Himself dealing
with Him as He never did with another, and never can with another again. The
very glory of the person of the only-begotten Son, which gave Him power of
endurance, made God’s wrath so much the more intolerable to be borne. The fact
that He was God, and in the relation of Son to the Father — that, therefore, He
both had the nature of God, and knew the love of the Father as none ever had or
knew — added ineffable poignancy to the sufferings of the Saviour in that awful
hour. But "it is finished;" and thenceforward God’s righteousness begins to be
(not promised merely, but) revealed. The subject may not be wholly traced out in
the epistle to the Romans; but, at the least, a very important part is given
there, especially that which is in view of man’s wants. In 2 Corinthians the
Spirit looks at another part of God’s righteousness, which we are made in
Christ. But the great point here is, that Jesus is glorified above in the glory
of God. Not that this is absolutely omitted in Romans; for, as we all know, it
is just alluded to very briefly in Romans 8:1-39, inasmuch as the design of the
epistle calls for fundamental truth, rather than the heavenly height to which
divine righteousness entitles. This would have interfered with the then current
of the Spirit, which was to bring out life in Him risen from the dead, rather
than to reveal the place of glory to which Christ is gone on high. But, beyond
doubt, the most indispensable requisite for the display and foundation of God’s
righteousness (as Scripture shows it, if looked at as a whole) is, that God
should enter the scene of death, where Jesus lay the sacrifice for sin, having
become responsible in perfect grace for us. Thereon He raises Christ up from the
dead, and, finally, sets Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places.

All this clearly was God’s righteousness because of the cross. It was what God
owed to Jesus; it was a debt which He could not but pay, both as God and as
Father; and this because Jesus was the man who had glorified Him to the
uttermost, so as He never had been glorified before, yea, even about that very
thing — sin — which was of all things the most hateful to God. He kept back
nothing; He endured all things; He held not fast the show of His glory, but put
it in abeyance. He committed even His very life into the hands of God. He put
Himself thoroughly, so to speak, into the hands of God, enduring everything that
was due to God for sin. The consequence is, that God, both as God and as the
Father, raised up Him that was the Son but a man, by His own glory (as we are
told in Romans 6:1-23). But even this would not have been a sufficient estimate
of what Christ had done and suffered in God’s eyes the cross deserved
incomparably more. Undoubtedly He died there, bearing our sins in His own body.
By the grace of God, He tasted death for every man. This annulled Satan’s power,
blotted out sin, brought infinite glory to God, who was indebted thereby to man,
the Son of man. Hence, as it is said in John 13:1-38, "if God be glorified in
him, God shall glorify him in himself, and will straightway glorify him."
Therefore, instead of waiting for the administration of the fulness of times,
instead of giving Him the whole earth and all the nations on it, God glorifies
Christ in Himself at once and on high. There is no delay nor change as to any
single thing of the earth. It was a question of God’s righteousness, of His
moral and heavenly glory; it was absolutely independent of all else. Neither the
race nor the world have any part in procuring it. God takes Christ up, and puts
Him on His own throne in the heavens. Who but God ever thought of such a plan?
There were, no doubt, inspired words in the Psalms and elsewhere, which, when
God had thus done, derived a meaning from it, and showed the divine intention
from of old; but still glorifying the Son of man in Himself is a form of
expressing the glory that He put upon Jesus, for which you might search in vain
the word of God, till He Himself declared it just before He went away. Nor was
this portion, glorious as it is, enough for God. It was personal to Christ, and
above all precious. Still, His work bore on others, and the epistle to the
Romans takes up this side of God’s righteousness (namely, the effect of His
righteousness as regards believers rather than as regards the Son). He suffered
on the cross, and He was exalted in heavenly glory; but what about the sinners
He died for? Would God leave them in their sins? How would this be treating
Jesus? What would be a due estimate of the work the Son of man had done for the
lost He came to seek and save? Had He failed or conquered in that mighty
enterprise? He suffered and died for them and their sins: what is the result?
This is answered in the epistle to the Romans, where we have the working out of
this truth for sinful man: "The righteousness of God toward (or unto) all, and
upon them all that believe." From Romans 3:1-31, whence these words are taken,
we learn that His righteousness meets sins completely. It is the "satisfaction,"
as the old divines were wont to speak, that was rendered about sin. Not that I
quite like the phrase or idea; but what we have there is clearly expiation or
propitiation for the sins of men. Romans 3:1-31 proves that Christ’s death or
blood in no sense stops with meeting the measure of man’s wants. All now is
according to the glory of God. Men "come short of the glory of God;" but if God
brought in His salvation, it must be to make man capable of standing in His own
presence on high, and not merely where he was before. This would be short of
God’s aims. Reinstating is not salvation. If salvation be wrought, it must be
not merely to put man back into the state wherein he was before the fall, but to
make him competent to stand in presence of the glory of God.

Accordingly, this is shown in Romans 4:1-25, Romans 5:1-21 in a more advanced
way; and by what means? The precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is not all;
but He was "delivered," as it is said, "for our offences, and was raised again
for our justification." Mark the connection: "He was raised again for our
justification." Some take it as because we were justified, which appears to my
mind far from sound doctrine. The effect of such a version or sense would be to
make our justification, like Christ’s blood-shedding, a past thing, and
independent of faith. It is never so treated in the word of God; and, indeed,
the next words, which open Romans 5:1-21, refute the thought. "Therefore," says
the apostle, "being justified by faith, we have peace with God," etc. There
could be no such "therefore," if we had been justified when Christ rose. The
work of redemption was, no doubt, wrought when God raised Him; and Christ passed
into that glorious condition of resurrection, showing the character of the
justification which would be given to him who believes in Him. But the words
immediately after prove that justification, in the very place where men would
separate it from faith, is indissolubly bound up with it. "Therefore, being
justified by faith, we have peace with God."

There it is, be it remarked, that we have, for the first time in the epistle,
the revelation of peace with God, and entrance into this grace wherein we stand,
and exultation in the hope of God’s glory. In Romans we are never (as in
Ephesians 2:1-22) regarded as even now, in a certain sense, linked with the
glory; but we are enabled here below to abound in hope of the glory to which we
are looking onward. Also, in the midst of the tribulations which also turn to a
matter of boast, we are said to have the love of God shed abroad in our hearts
by the Holy Ghost which is given to us. Thus, again, the first mention of God’s
love is after the righteousness of God had been as fully explained as this
epistle called for. That which I draw from this is, that God would give a deep,
solemn sense of sin to those in whom He was working graciously. More than that,
He would show them that after all He takes care of His own glory. I do not say
that this would be the way to deal with a poor anxious soul; but, in point of
fact, the Epistle to the Romans was not written to the anxious and troubled in
conscience. Here it is not a question of winning unconverted people to God. In
that case, nothing is more important than showing love, just as Jesus first
does; and as He wins the attention, He then awakens the conscience before
setting it perfectly at liberty, as we know, by the Holy Ghost, now that the
work is done. But in dealing with believers, and more particularly where souls
have entered into the blessedness of the gospel without any very deep work on
the conscience, it is of all importance that the righteous side of God’s
salvation should be maintained with all possible clearness, and that it should
be distinctly understood that the gospel is "the power of God unto salvation,"
because it is God’s righteousness. Such is the argument: of the apostle in
opening the discussion in Romans 1. When we search into this a little farther,
we find another question rise before us. In all this development of the first
four chapters, and, indeed, as far as the middle of Romans 5:1-21, the great
point before the mind is, sinners guilty, and God in His own way meeting them as
they were — in their sins. But then there is another thing that far more
troubles the soul that has been awakened and brought into peace, and that is,
not his sins, but his sin, not what he has done and been guilty of, but his
estate before God. For the most lamentable thing that he finds about himself is,
that, after conversion and finding peace, he makes discoveries of his
wretchedness and the inward evil of his nature which he could not have believed
possible in a child of God — which no man ever anticipates until he proves it in
his own person. The word of God may speak about it, but he passes it by and does
not dwell on it; and, in point of fact, nobody does understand it until it
becomes a matter of personal experience when the heart is really brought to God.

There is precisely where the Christianity of the day, and, indeed, of many a
past day for a long time, stops short of the revealed truth of God. It leaves
persons, I may say, half-saved. It leaves persons with partial thoughts of
Christ before their soul, but never with the proper, simple, clear understanding
and consciousness that they are in Christ. I do not mean that the expression "in
Christ" is not used, but that people, when they read such language as, "There is
therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus," for the most
part understand nothing more than that Christ died and rose again for them, and
that consequently they are cleared in the sight of God. But this is not the full
meaning of the text. The difference is that, from the middle of chapter 5 of the
epistle to the Romans, a new question is raised by the Holy Spirit of God — man
guilty, and the way in which guilt can be met and the soul can have peace about
it. All this has been closed; and this is the proper doctrine of the epistle to
the Romans. What follows directly after is rather a supplement to all, from
chapter 5 down to chapter 8. It is an added instruction of the Holy Ghost of the
deepest possible moment for the soul that has already found Christ. The point
that is handled here is, that not merely there is a Saviour, who died for my
sins, and rose again for my justification, but my old nature has been judged and
condemned in Christ’s death. "As by one man sin entered into the world," so it
is not a question of what I did. Wherever sins are treated of, we get personal
guilt; and it is to this that law applies, and to this that the judgment of God
applies for things done in the body. But grace gives us another thing besides.
If all my sins were blotted out and forgiven, I am in a state of things that is
a misery to myself and a deep dishonour to God. How has this come to pass? It
came in through one man — Adam; and as one man is the head of the evil, blessed
be God, there is another man who as certainly has brought righteousness to issue
— yea, grace reigning through righteousness unto eternal life — as the first man
brought in sin and death. This is deliverance. It is not sinners with the law,
but Adam at one extremity and Christ at the other. But how does this affect you
or me? No Jew could deny the effects for the race of Adam’s position. He might
boast about the law, but there was a world ruined before ever the law came in;
and the law, instead of repairing the ruin, rather and only fastened additional
fetters on man, and gave more complete proof of the extent of the ruin. It could
do no more. But now another man came, even Jesus. And how is Jesus spoken of
here? As One who passed through death into resurrection-life. The consequence
is, that from the middle of Romans 5 the Holy Ghost begins to discuss a new
question altogether — not justification by blood, but justification of life. And
herein lies the great deficiency of theologians. There is no understanding, as
far as I am aware, of "justification of life." Manifestly this is not a question
of what the Lord did. It is an estate or condition founded on redemption and
displayed in His resurrection. Works, however good, do not meet the exigency.
Christ did magnify God, as we have said, in everything; and this was absolutely
necessary for God’s glory, as it is a part of our deep blessing, because we have
indeed an entire Christ. Still, what Scripture brings out to meet the question
of our state of sin as men is not what Jesus was when here below, but what He
rose up into. Therefore, just as Adam only became head of a family when a sinner
(i.e. when he had accomplished, as one may say, the work of sin), so the Lord
Jesus only becomes Head, the recognized and revealed Head, "a quickening
Spirit," when He enters into resurrection. Only when He laid down His life in
death, He had finished the work that God gave Him to do. Then it was that the
corn of wheat, which fell into the ground and died, now risen, would bring forth
much fruit. This principle is applied in Romans 6:1-23 to the sin by which the
believer was troubled. The main point of the chapter is not that we are risen,
but alive, in Christ risen, to God. The argument of the apostle does not go so
far here as to regard the believer as risen with Christ, which is not the
doctrine of Romans. In Colossians he is viewed as so risen, in Ephesians he is
even seated in heavenly places in Christ; but in Romans the believer is never
regarded as risen; he is simply dead to sin and alive unto God. What is here
insisted on in regard to holiness of walk is that he should reckon himself "dead
unto sin, but alive unto God." But I cannot reckon myself dead if I am risen.
This is evident. It would be a contradiction in terms; so that the necessity of
the argument and the whole force of the epistle excludes this mistake; and a
very important point indeed it is and will be found in Scripture. But this does
give the believer a very wondrous deliverance practically; and I am entitled to
it from the first moment of my Christian career, when I own the Lord Jesus
Christ and am baptized unto His name.

What am I baptized unto? Unto His life — unto what He did? Not at all. I am
baptized unto His death. I begin at once with the great and infinite act of
divine grace in which He met me, and not merely my sins (for there I find His
precious blood); but He does not say unto His blood, but unto His death, which
is a larger expression and goes more deeply. This meets my condition as a sinner
— as a man alive to sin; and I want to find death to it all; I want to find
deliverance out of it; and the only possible deliverance out of a state of sin
is death. This is exactly what is wanted. It is not only that I am forgiven:
this is all very blessed and most necessary as a beginning; but it is not what
is called salvation, even if I look at the term as a purely personal matter.
There is more than this; for I want the application of His death and His life
beyond it, as well as of His precious blood; and this is what I have in Christ.
The glorious fact is, that I am entitled to account Christ’s death as meeting my
state with every root of evil; so that I have the comfort of knowing not only
that by His blood I am forgiven, but that by Him risen I am called and warranted
to count myself dead to all indwelling sin, which otherwise would be an
intolerable burden. Thus a double blessing is procured in the dead and risen
Lord Jesus. There is remission of sins, but also plenary ,deliverance. Only he
that has died is cleared from sin. The blood of Christ meets the sins; but I
wept the death of Christ in all its value for sin. This alone, therefore,
supplies the answer to our wants; for He that was dead in atonement is risen
into a new estate altogether, where no question of sin, or of anything requiring
to be done or suffered on Clod’s part, ever appears again. The entire
blessedness of Christ is for the believer, and, mark, from his baptism. Is it a
something that a man grows up into which gives a certain kind of value to
experience? This would be all sadly liable to turn to self-applause, and, from
the subtlety of the natural heart, would be the means of taking away from Christ
on the plea of honouring the work of the Spirit of God within. Alas! this is
precisely where (in spite of God’s care in Scripture, as in the facts of
Christianity) so many Christians slip aside; and would you know why? For this
simple reason: the world, the law, and the flesh go together. If I am simply a
man living in the world, I need a law to keep me in order, a rule to deal with
my nature — to reprove me here, and to strike me there.

Accordingly, when God concerned Himself actually with His people Israel, a
nation living in the world, He gave them His law, which acted as a curb or
restraint, a kind of bit and bridle on their rebellious flesh. It had to be
checked on the one hand, it had to be pushed on the other, so to speak. Thus it
was that the law dealt with man’s flesh; and this is what the law would essay
for Christians. But to go back to it now is just the denial of Christianity. I
have not the slightest hesitation in pronouncing, that some good men who in
grievous error would impose the law as a rule of life for the Christian mean
very well by it (for they aim at being pious); but I am well satisfied that the
whole principle is false, and that the law, instead of being a rule of life, is
necessarily a rule of death to one who has sin in his nature. Far from being a
delivering power, it can only condemn such; far from being a means of holiness,
it is, in fact, and according to the apostle, the strength of sin.

What I want first of all is deliverance. How is this deliverance to be found? By
death. Our death? Am I to die? This would be destruction, not salvation; and we
find it not thus in Scripture. Resting on His death, I can die daily; I can
submit to the scorn of the world according to the measure of my faith, and
expose myself to that which I know will bring separation and suffering from the
world; and it is the glory of a Christian to go forward humbly but boldly
withal, and at the same time entirely separate from the world, by a path which
is strewed with all bitterness of trial. But what is it I must start with? It
would become a matter of boasting, and reflect a certain degree of credit on
myself, if I had to die to my evil nature gradually. But it is not so; and hence
the importance of the truth set forth in Christian baptism. A man at the
beginning of his profession of Christ confesses His death and resurrection. I am
not going to discuss now any points that are disputed, but assume it to be an
initiatory institution. Differences on the subject there are, no doubt, as all
allow; but all should hold its initiatory character, as well as the truth which
it sets forth objectively. What does it signify? That the Saviour confessed is
not a living One, but dead and risen. "As many as are baptized unto Jesus Christ
are baptized unto his death." This is more than the sprinkling of His blood to
me, true and precious as such a privilege undoubtedly is.

Besides blood there is His death, which deals with my nature, and sets me free
before God in Christ risen. The more simply I take it the better. There is
nothing like simplicity in the things of God; and there is no faith so true as
that which takes His word on His own authority though we may as yet understand
little. If God tells me, a Christian, that I am dead, am I to believe it or not?
If, then, it is certainly true that I am dead, am I not to believe also the
inferences which His word draws for me — that my judgment has fallen on Christ,
and that He, risen, is the power and sample of my deliverance, and that as, for
man and the world, they have no claim on me, who now belong to Another, even to
Him who is raised from the dead? What claim can there be longer on a man that is
dead? Everybody knows that such an one is to be buried out of men’s sight. The
law passes completely out of application to the dead. Not that the law ceases to
retain its force; but it is for those alive under it. The law is all-important
in its proper sphere; but its power and sphere consist in dealing with men alive
in the world. Out of this I have emerged by Christ’s death and resurrection; so
that I am no longer living in the world as to my proper Christian life. To flesh
and world I have died; and this is what, in my baptism and profession of the
Lord Jesus, I began with. I was living as a natural man, but a dead and risen
Christ has closed all this for me. It is not only that I believe in Christ, and
know forgiveness by His precious blood; but I am entitled by God’s word also to
know and say that I am dead in the death of Christ. One is as much a truth as
the other. But the feeblest saint, practically mixed up with the world, feels
the need of knowing that which stays divine judgment, and hence clasps that
comfort to the heart in the hour of trial and sorrow. Why do they not equally
accept the other truth? Because they do not like to face the full grace of God,
nor the full responsibility of the Christian. The blood of the paschal lamb
sprinkling the door-posts was known even in the land of bondage; but the Red Sea
separated from it manifestly, that the people, now redeemed and outside, might
be only for the Lord. Then it becomes imperative that the Christian’s walk be in
the pure light of the grace of God. "We are not under the law," as Romans 6
insists, "but under grace." And this is a humble as well as holy walk, where
flesh counts for nothing; and there is not a word about the law, save indeed
expressly exempting the believer completely from its jurisdiction. It is not
made for a righteous man, which of course a believer is. It has its force
against the unrighteous; its application is to the wicked living in the world.
Against the evil of man, as such, the law bears its witness not in vain. They
are living in the pride of the world, in the profanity or the self-righteousness
of the flesh; and the law deals with such. That is, whether men give loose reins
to low flesh, or religious pretensions to high flesh, the law deals with them
all. But as for the Christian, he begins with death to his nature — as alive in
the world. I press again that this is the precise meaning (not of John’s, but)
of Christian baptism unto death. The Christian finds his blessing in that which
the natural heart finds so dreadful — in death; but it is in the death of Christ
he is a dead man before God, as he was dead in sins. Such is the first Adam
condition out of which the believer emerges by the faith of Christ, by whose
death he too has died to all he previously lived in, and now enjoys as part of
God’s grace toward him, to reckon himself "dead to sin, but alive to God through
Jesus Christ our Lord."

Such is one of the privileges, with a grave responsibility attached to it, to
which the Holy Ghost applies the death and resurrection of Christ. It is no
longer a question, it will be observed, of our sins, or of God’s washing us from
them in His grace by the blood of Christ. Sin, as such, the fleshly nature, is
met in Christ’s death, who, risen, communicates a new life, a spiritual nature,
in the power of His resurrection. That man is my Saviour, and that new nature is
exactly what I have got as part of the new creation; for "if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away, and behold all things
have become new." The second epistle to the Corinthians may carry the doctrine
farther, as remarked before, because it treats of the glory of Christ, and not
merely the application of God’s righteousness, as a basis of salvation, which is
the point of the epistle to the Romans.

Next we come, in Romans 7:1-25, to the question of the law; and though this be
not the time to discuss that subject fully, I may just observe that we have here
also alike thorough and divine clearance from this difficulty that we had in
chapter 6 from sin. "Wherefore," he says, "my brethren, ye also are become dead
to the law by the body of Christ." And how is this? The body of Christ is very
expressive; for nobody in his senses would use such a phrase as this to describe
Christ’s life here below. Apply it to His death, and all is quite simple and
consistent. "Ye are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should
be married to another." And in what condition? Even to Him who shed His blood
for you? Not so; but "even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should
bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh;" — then we are there
no longer. This is the point needed. But it will be found that, when those who
insist on the law as the rule of life for the Christian refer to this expression
of the apostle, they put quite a mistaken meaning on not being in the flesh, and
only mean by it our old unconverted state. But it goes farther. What experience
does the Holy Ghost bring before us in the end of this chapter? It is a man
wretched, but evidently converted. He has been given to turn to God. He abhors
sin, yet he is always falling into it; he loves holiness, but ever comes short
of it: in fact, he is every way miserable. He feels rightly as to all this, but
no effort to do good or shun evil avails. The evil is present, and the good
seems to elude his grasp: such is the experience of his heart. I am not speaking
of his outward life, because this is not the question here, but a deeper thing.
There may be no fall into open sin, but sin sadly works within. That which the
apostle here transfers to himself in application is the bitterness of a soul who
thought he had nothing but blessing, yet after all never realized himself to be
so unhappy in his life. In his unregenerate days he might have tasted the
unsatisfying pleasures of the world. Now he had turned his back on the world and
his face to God, yet never was there (he felt) so disconsolate a being,. The
misery increases till he bursts out into "O wretched man that I am! who shall
deliver me?" when the darkness yields to a better and calmer light than ever.
Thus it is the case of one who had seen Christ as the hope of his soul, who had
been born of God, yet, nevertheless, had no sense of deliverance. God lets him
feel his own inward evil till he looks quite out of himself to Christ as his
Deliverer, not alone from guilt or wrath, but "from this body of death." It is
not sins, it is sin, which harasses him so much the more because his conscience
is awakened. Being alive to what is due without adequately knowing grace or
redemption, God or his own heart, he suffers severely till he knows the reality,
nature, and extent of liberty in Christ. Accordingly, this is the very question
the Holy Ghost sets Himself to answer in the Scripture I have just now read. And
what is its purport? The first answer is, that God has already in His love
brought in a full deliverance for my soul; by-and-by He will bring in an equally
complete deliverance for my mortal body. Thus a real present deliverance of
grace comes first, and this becomes the pledge of all that follows in glory.
What is the nature, then, of the soul’s deliverance now? If I use the word
"partial" about what God gives now, it is only because there is the body as well
as the soul. As far as the soul is concerned, the emancipation is perfect; but
it is perfect only for the inner man, if I may so say, not yet for the outer.

Accordingly, the apostle brings this before us in the earlier verses of Romans
8:1-39. "There is therefore now no condemnation," because he looks to, rests,
and is in, Christ alone. This is, in part, the answer to the soul’s confession
of misery and cry for a Deliverer. Awakened to feel that it is not merely pardon
he wants, but deliverance from self, he finds that deliverance is in Another. He
had thought that, having found pardon in Christ, he must deliver himself by the
inward working of the Spirit of God; but he learned, when most wanting Him, that
the Spirit of God did not help him; he found, somehow or another, that the
Spirit of God was making him miserable with himself. The reason is manifest:
because he had put himself under law in the spirit of his mind, and the Holy
Spirit (just because He is the Spirit of God come down to glorify Christ) will
never give power, but rather make a man prove his weakness, as long as he is
trying to put law in the place of Christ. This is in no wise what the Holy Ghost
has come down to do. He came to earth from heaven to glorify the Lord, and not
the law. The lack of deliverance was learnt in groans; thence he is driven to
turn to the Deliverer; whereon, in spite of the old nature being still as bad as
ever, having thanked God, he concludes, "there is therefore now no condemnation"
— not for those for whom Christ died, but — "to them that are in Christ Jesus."
We are now by grace set in Another, even Christ risen, in order to give us our
status before God. Nothing can be more blessed.

Some may be helped to an understanding of it in part, even from a human
illustration. Take the case of a man who is worthy, whose honourable feelings
and whose resources (I speak after the manner of men,) are as great as his
worthiness, and he makes a choice. Being a wise and worthy man, he selects
wisely and worthily, and he is pleased to choose where others had not the heart
to choose. He does choose where nobody else could afford to do so; but having
chosen, what then? The person he has chosen, and who is married to him, was once
wretched and low, but she acquires the status proper to her husband, and all the
old antecedents, perplexities, and griefs completely disappear. Among men the
wife gets the name of her husband: her own name is gone for ever, and a new one
taken. We find it is thus with those who are in Christ Jesus. What is their
place? Where He is. Jesus walking on earth — is this my status? As the heavenly
and divine pattern, He may be followed, but He "abideth alone:" if that had been
all, I had been left out for ever. But Christ died, yea, rather, is risen again.
Then He can give me of His Spirit. This is what Christ does. His death has met
the evil doubly. The sins are gone, but the nature is also judged righteously.
Therefore God can reveal the new nature He has given, and vouchsafe another
position altogether. Christ risen is the sole Head of God’s family. I do not
speak of His body but of the family; for the epistle to the Romans, except in
the figure used so practically in Romans 12:1-21, does not go beyond that. But
here I have the family of God, and the condition, place, or standing of that
family before Him, resulting from the death and resurrection of Christ. "Behold
I and the children that God hath given me." Grace imparts Christ’s own status to
the whole family. And what is the result for them? "No condemnation." Christ had
suffered for the Christian; and, now that He is risen, the Christian is, as it
were, part of the righteousness of God, as is indeed yet more strongly said in 2
Corinthians 5:1-21. How could God demand justly a debt to be paid twice? And now
Christ has entered into this place where He could have others identified with
His own blessedness before God. This, and nothing less, is its character — "no
condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." And next the reason is given;
for, says the apostle, "the law of the Spirit of life," etc. Mark well that it
is not simply because His blood was shed. This alone would not suffice. However
efficacious for the consequences of the old estate, it would not give us the new
standing before God. Without His precious blood I could not be brought into this
new condition; but I want not only the blood that cleanses from the sins of my
past life, but also complete clearance out of the old condition, and a holy,
happy, settled place in the new creation. And what can do this? Himself dead and
risen. Just as He is the One that perfectly meets the sins, and, more than this,
that was judged for the sin; so He is the blessed ensample and power of the new
estate in resurrection. He is the head and source of all the blessing.
Accordingly, then, the apostle speaks of a "law of the Spirit of life." Hence it
was that, when Christ rose from the dead, having purchased with His blood the
best and most intimate blessings, He breathed on the disciples; His own blessed
person vouchsafed the sign of it. Judgment had fallen on Christ for us; sin was
put away, death vanquished. None of these has anything to do with the new life
in Christ. Not but that a believer may slip into sin, as he may also die; but he
neither sins nor dies from having the new life, but rather he sins because he
has indulged the old nature, and he dies because it pleases God that Jesus
should not come yet, and accordingly He calls him to be with Himself above
meanwhile. But the life that he gets from Jesus neither sins nor dies. It is a
holy life. And therefore, in virtue of its source and character, it may be said,
that "he who is born of God doth not commit* sin." So the Christian does not
die, as far as the new nature is concerned, even having eternal life in Christ.

* It means really practise sin; which the Christian does not. But observe, all
this deliverance is merely for the inner man; there still remains the need of
the outer. Although reconciliation is complete as regards the soul, it is but
partial as regards the rest of nature, and God will never be content with what
is short of His own counsels. He means to deliver wholly, and He will deliver
worthily of Himself, of the Holy Ghost, of Christ, and of His redemption.

Further, the apostle proceeds to give the reason why the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ has made the Christian free from the law of sin and death. For he
says, "What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh," God
has done. Observe how the law and flesh go naturally together. "What it could
not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh." He does not, of course, say, in sinful flesh; for
this it was not, yet certainly in the likeness of it. That is, it was not at all
in the circumstances of one who refused a place in a sin-stained world, but of
one who was made flesh, born of a woman — no doubt, supernaturally born so — who
should only be in the likeness of sinful flesh, but most truly born, or He else
could not have the nature of man. But He who was the Son of God nevertheless
becomes as truly man as He was God from everlasting, and dies in the nature
which He had assumed — dies for man, dies vindicating God for man’s sins; and
more than that, not merely for his sins, but for his sin.

I call your attention to it; for this is what was needed, and this is what is
asserted here. God sent His own Son in the likeness of flesh, of sin, and for
sin. It is not merely that there was an accumulation of sins, but it is the
nature which is in question here. I have as I need forgiveness for my sins; but
do you suppose I want God to forgive my bad nature? Why I do not forgive it
myself. No; I want that nature to be condemned, and myself to be delivered. And
this is exactly the character of the new estate which Jesus brings us into, and
puts us in before God. It is perfect liberty, as far as regards the soul; not
merely deliverance from what I have done, but from what I am. So that I am no
longer as a Christian man having to do with the responsibility that attaches to
mortal men, but am passed now into a new state, even while I am in the world.
Before quitting things here below, I have acquired by grace a new relationship
before God. And He that declares and brings out and illustrates this
relationship is Jesus in His presence. Such is the believer’s place through His
redemption, and it belongs to every Christian. The grave question is, Are we in
it in faith consciously? Who can doubt, from Scripture, that God really designs
it for His own now? But faith was to enter in, and to make it good, looking at
Christ. It is mere self-deception, and serious misunderstanding of the word of
God, to suppose that a man can be at the same time in the struggle of good and
evil described in the latter part of Romans 7:1-25, and all the while enjoying
the liberty of Romans 8:1-39. Together they are quite inconsistent. Can a man be
in bonds and free at the same time? They are equally a contradiction in terms:
only man sees the absurdity of it in nature easier than in grace. No man can be
at the same time wretched and happy. With one breath he cannot say, "Wretched
man," and "I thank God;" but he can well say, "I thank God" after he knew what
it is to be a "wretched man." But it is the fruit of a false system, itself the
fruit of unbelief, to assert that one can be made free from the law of sin and
death while one is "carnal, sold under sin." The law of the Spirit does not
reign along with the law that, when one would do good, evil is present. One may
know heaviness through manifold temptations with joy in the Holy Ghost; one may
be at peace with God, yet suffering deep grief on account of what the world is,
and what the people of God are. This gracious sorrow burdened our blessed Lord
here below, and drew out His groans; and we may and ought to know the fellowship
of His sufferings. All this I quite admit; but those were not the groans of one
who lacked the peace of God. Unbroken communion is precisely what the Lord
Jesus, in the days of His flesh, always possessed; as He said, "Peace I leave
with you; my peace I give unto you." Now we dwell in that peace made by His
blood, as it is brought out to us in the power of His resurrection. But then it
is when we have left behind the exercises under law of Romans 7:1-25. What I
complain of is, that quickened souls, who really look to Christ, take up the
law, and erroneously think it a duty to toil like a galley-slave at that oar of
bitter bondage, when God calls them into the liberty of Christ. They have not
died to law in their own souls. The death of Christ brings completely outside
that condition; just as really as a man in prison for debt remains no longer
under the power of the law when he dies. No doubt, as long as the man lives, the
law applies to him; but death makes it impossible for the law to hold him fast;
he is irrevocably gone beyond its reach. It is exactly so in the case of the
Christian.

Some speak as if it were all mysticism. No doubt, it is a figure of speech; but
it is a most expressive statement of a blessed reality. Those who do not believe
so in simplicity pay the penalty of their unbelief in the uncertainty and
powerlessness which attend it. Whenever there is an exercised conscience in one
who thus puts himself under the law as a rule of life, then he proves of
necessity the bondage of the law, which is the strength of sin, not of holiness;
and ends in defeat, not in victory. It is never thus that one finds strength;
for this is the fruit of grace, and not of the law. Hence, when a soul is thus
under law, the more the Spirit of God deals with his conscience, the more
miserable he finds himself; and this is the reason why the most conscientious
are often thus. Will any person dare to affirm that this is the ordering of God?
Is it of Him that a believer should be godly and conscientious, and yet without
peaceful enjoyment and rest in Christ? The reason which accounts for so strange
a state is, that such a man has not entered into the place of death to the law
in which Christ would set him.

Others, indeed, may venture to tell me that it is a false doctrine that Christ
died for sin as well as my sins, and that I am dead to sin as well as forgiven
my sins. I have heard such charges among those who ought to have known better.
But death to sin in Christ’s death seems to me a vital truth of Christianity. He
that would shut me up to forgiveness through Christ’s blood, who allows no more
in the work of Jesus than that He died for my sins, who denies that He has given
me besides this death to sin, has not realized the completeness of salvation or
the positive side of Christianity. It is a great mercy from God to know the
complete blotting out of all my evil works and guilt; but this alone is
comparatively negative. Hence so many children of God try to gather a positive
ground of righteousness from what Jesus did day by day in His walk on earth.
Now, there is the positive side as well as the negative: only it is found in
resurrection, not under law on the other side of the cross. And the Christian
will learn that he needs all that God has given him. He will learn that he needs
this precious truth too. To be dead to sin is a very substantial part of the
Christian’s blessing; and any man who does not know it omits a capital doctrine
of the positive side of Christianity, which is revealed from Romans 5:12-21,
Romans 6:1-23, Romans 7:1-25, Romans 8:1-39. Of course, I say nothing of
Colossians or Ephesians, which epistles one must never expect to be understood
by those who stand on legal ground. I limit myself to that which the Christian
wants as the liberty, if not the foundation, of his soul. Be it remarked, that
there is not a word about overcoming till we have entered here — not a word of
"being more than conquerors" till we come to this. There is neither the groaning
nor the joy of the Holy Ghost, the intimate working of God in his soul, till he
has got solidly founded on the precious footing where the death and resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ puts him. May God keep His people from abandoning that
which He has brought out for their deliverance and for practical victory?
Scripture is plain enough: the difficulty, as ever, lies elsewhere. The heart
shrinks from that which puts sentence of death on nature in all its forms. Are
the days evil? So much the more do we need to hold fast. Let me, in speaking of
this subject, press it on those around me to look at 2 Peter and Jude — two
portions of the word of God specially in view of a day of declension? Of
increasing wickedness, and even apostacy; and what do you find there? The saints
given up to decay as if it must be? Not at all. It is in these epistles above
all others that we are exhorted to growth and progress in the truth of God. Such
are the resources of grace for a day of deepening darkness. As to the point in
hand, may we treat as of the enemy, no matter what the form or pretension,
everything that would blot out so precious and, after all, so simple and
fundamental a truth bound up with our very baptism! What a warning, that men
should be so beguiled as to treat this as some strange doctrine!

How, then, may one describe this new condition in which the Lord Jesus puts the
Christian? According to the New Testament, there are not two, but three
conditions in which a man may be. I press this, because it is connected with the
faith as well as with practice. It is not true that a man must be a natural if
not a spiritual man. These are not the only alternatives. We find a third and
intermediate class between a natural and a spiritual man. The former is clearly
one who has unremoved sins, who is simply a child of Adam, without anything
whatever above fallen humanity. When God’s grace converts such an one, a new
nature is imparted, and, on the footing of redemption, he is brought to God. But
every man who is thus reconciled to God is not necessarily a spiritual man.
There is more than one cause that may hinder a believer from being what
Scripture calls spiritual. The spiritual are those who, as the apostle Paul
says, are "not in the flesh, but in the Spirit."

Again, the Corinthian saints (however grave their faults) were not by the
apostle said to be natural men. He lays down that "the natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God." He does not say so about the saints. But he
does tell them that they are children; that, instead of their being full-grown,
instead of his being able to speak to them of God’s deep things, he is obliged
to feed them with milk suitable to their estate. And what were they then?
"Carnal men." Hence men are natural, carnal, or spiritual. This is a very
humbling truth. I can understand men not liking it; and why? Because they fear
that they may not be accounted spiritual, if believers may indeed be carnal
without being natural men. Such persons prick up their ears on hearing any
action of God’s Spirit distinct from the new birth. They shrink back from the
sound of His distinctively Christian operations, as if the assertion of so
bright privileges were to deprive them of something they have not, instead of
making them feel the lack of what they should have. It is evident that, whether
carnal or spiritual, I ought, on the contrary, if there be anything wrong or
lacking, to own my state. Is not this the way to have the wrong rectified, and
the deficiency supplied of God?

Now, there are various causes that hinder the believer’s spirituality. The first
is, where he has never passed in the consciousness of his soul into the thorough
sense of nothing but evil in the flesh, and the faith that it has been all fully
judged in the death of Christ. Without this in substance, is it possible for one
to be truly spiritual? I doubt it gravely, though admitting freely how much a
deep sense of Christ’s love may effect in one who has not learnt this. But then
there is another hindrance which may operate — not the law, but fleshly wisdom.
There may be such a value given to man’s thoughts, such a lowering influence
consequently exercised over the spirit by heed to the philosophy of the world in
one shape or another, that one can only in such a state be carnal. The spiritual
manifest what God has made them to be in the Second Man, and desire not to
cultivate but to mortify what belongs to the first. Instead of pampering flesh
up, or admiring it, such an one treats it, on the contrary, as a dead thing. The
consequence is, that this does not fail to give him power over every such snare.

One danger — that to which Satan continually incites the children of God — is to
take all the comfort they can in Christ, while at the same time holding fast all
they wish of the world’s ease. It is evident that the heart and conscience of a
healthy believer must repel such ways and thoughts, as the very world does too;
for if a Christian is observed in any place where he ought not to be, others
will express (what one ought to have felt without such a hint) their surprise
that a confessor of Christ should be there. Is it not most humbling for a
Christian to startle the world after this fashion; allowing himself such a
licence as men generally feel to be unbecoming the Master’s name? The world is
sensitive as to consistency. They may tempt the Christian to share their
pursuits and pleasures; they may insist on the great importance that the
Christian should help to set the world right and show a good example, entering
into its assemblies, and taking part in its senates, sitting, on the judicial
bench, and exercising authority in every conceivable sphere. And, no doubt, it
is uncommonly pleasant to the flesh to be in dignity and power; but is not this
precisely what Christ formally, as well as in spirit and His own example,
interdicted? These things the Gentiles do and value; but Christ died and rose to
take us out of this present evil age. His grace makes us happy in our little
lot, and content with whatever estate God may have apportioned us. It is a most
bright and blessed thing in such a world as this to see a soul that so values
Christ, and so rejoices in the place that God has given him in Him, as to yearn
after nothing but His will and glory. On the other hand, as long as a man is
labouring under the law, he is always weak by reason of the flesh. He may make
resolves, but he does not keep them; he may ever so much strive, but there is no
power to attain. He is incessantly wrestling, but he is obliged to confess at
the end of each day that the things he would he does not, and the things he
would not he does. Thus he is always repenting and sinning, sinning and
repenting. Such is the invariable condition of a man under law. But can
intelligent men affirm that this is the condition of a Christian? I do not mean
to deny that the state of many a Christian resembles this; but it is wholly
irregular, and contrary to what Scripture supposes in every Christian. When I
urge that it is not a Christian condition, I do not insinuate that it is a state
in which no Christian may be found, but only that it is at issue with that which
our God gives to us and looks for in us. A child of God may be in a state which
does not answer to the grace shown him. If I take the epistles with simplicity,
it is impossible to avoid seeing that God intends me, by the working of the Holy
Ghost through the word, so to lay hold of the place which He has given me as to
enter into stable peace and real joy of heart. This is of the highest possible
moment for practical testimony; and God would have me, as being a vessel of the
Holy Ghost, to testify continually of Christ in this wretched world. This is the
main reason why His grace has so blessed us, and would have us to know and enjoy
it all. That of which I have spoken is what is meant by being "in the Spirit;"
and this depends on, and is proved by, the fact that the Spirit of God dwells in
us. It is not the Spirit acting on the soul to produce faith, but dwelling in
the believer. "Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the
Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is
none of his." This is the characteristic of the Christian. Without His Spirit,
one is not stamped with His essential character. The Holy Ghost, not mere flesh,
distinguished Christ from His conception, as He was sealed by Him in due time,
and acted always and only in the Spirit. So the Christian, as he lives in the
Spirit, is now called to walk in the Spirit. It is no question of not being lost
— this is not the force of the expression — but of being distinctively Christ’s
here below. "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the
Spirit is life because of righteousness." When a man is converted, but troubled
under law, he has no sense of such a place, and no power to count the body dead.
The Spirit is a convincer of sin, not strength to glorify God in peace while he
is thus. But when he gives all up to God’s sentence on the flesh, finding his
all in Christ, the Spirit does strengthen him inwardly. Thus he is not only
freed, but can use his liberty in practical power also.

There is yet more. "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead
dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your
mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." This is full deliverance even
for the body, and the complete answer to the question raised in the distress of
Romans 7:24. Thus the Holy Ghost, who witnesses of redemption, does not only
give me now my status in Christ dead and risen before God, but is the divine
pledge, as I look at Christ that this mortal body shall be instinct with that
life which I now enjoy in my soul; for I look not on Christ simply as God’s Son,
but see Him raised in righteousness, and by the Father’s glory. I say that in
grace He came down and died; in righteousness He is raised up and seated at the
right hand of God; and the righteous award for the infinite work He wrought in
grace overflows, so that God frees us who were once slaves of sin and Satan, but
now believers in Him, according to the liberty of Christ — first, for the soul
now; next, for the body when Christ comes to wake us up; and the Spirit is the
seal of the one, and the earnest of the other. Is Christ my portion? It is
Christ who determines the display of justification. It is really as perfect as
Christ before God. What a measure is Christ Himself before God! Therefore it is
that we are said to be made the "righteousness of God" in Him. Grounded on this,
the Holy Ghost comes down to dwell in me now, (not merely to act in me,)
anticipating the bright day of glory, and meanwhile just so far empowering me as
I treat the old nature as dead, and make Christ my all.

This, then, is the full answer to the cry for a deliverer. The soul is
emancipated first; the body shall be quickened later. Meanwhile, the Holy Ghost
takes His blessed place not only as to the soul, but also as to the body. When
the believer is raised up by-and-by, it will not be without the Holy Ghost; the
Son quickens, but by the Spirit, who takes His part in every atom of blessing
that body or soul receives. How sweet, how glorious, a thing it is to have the
Spirit of God, who thus identifies Himself with every part of the blessing! How
should we, therefore, feel at grieving "the Holy Spirit of God, whereby we are
sealed unto the day of redemption?" But this is not all. No doubt the Spirit of
God has not yet raised up our mortal bodies; notwithstanding He works in us now,
and sustains in our hearts the cry "Abba, Father." This is the first and suited
action of the Holy Ghost when deliverance is entered into by the believer. It is
necessarily Godward, and as the Spirit of sonship or adoption. Thereby the soul
rejoices not in the blessing merely, but in the source whence it came, and
accordingly "Abba, Father," is the word. Nor is it thus only that the same
indwelling Spirit works in us; and how? He gives the certainty that we shall be
delivered shortly; nay, more than that, He groans within us "with groanings
which cannot be uttered." There is perfect sympathy with all the state in which
we are now. The groans of the Spirit of God are not in any wise because I am not
delivered, but just because I am. It is true that I am only delivered in part,
not completely. Thus, if I groan in the Spirit, I groan because, being set free
in my soul, I feel the contrariety of my outward man, as well as of all things
around me, and my heart is looking onward to the day when creation itself shall
be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the
sons of God. I have got the liberty of God’s grace now, and I shall have the
liberty, even for the mortal body, of God’s glory by-and-by. And thus, then, we
have this blessed place of the Spirit of God, as will be observed, as a personal
Spirit distinct from the new nature; but at the same time the Holy Ghost gives
His name, so to speak, to the condition in which I am now put, as a delivered
soul, as a Christian, by virtue of the death and resurrection of Christ; and so
I am in the Spirit, and the Spirit dwells in me.

It will not, in this sketch, be expected that I should enter into all the
applications and practical uses of so great a truth. But I have desired
particularly to discuss the point that is commonly least understood — that is,
the Spirit as a condition in which we are now. I presume most here are more
familiar with the truth of the Spirit of God dwelling in us; but the other truth
is also of the highest interest and importance for the Christian.

"Baptized by one Spirit into one body"

1 Corinthians 12:1-31.

Lecture 8 of ’The New Testament Doctrine of the Holy Spirit.’

W. Kelly.

I propose to treat now of some of the mighty effects of the presence of the Holy
Ghost. One of these is here designated as His baptism, by which He forms a new
and united body, the body of Christ upon earth. Not only is this an exclusively
New Testament truth, but, even within the New Testament, the revelation of it to
us was confided to one apostle. No man can find it, save in the writings of the
apostle Paul. I do not mean, of course, that there was no such thing as the
Church of God, the body of Christ, before that apostle was raised up of God to
make known this great truth. I do say, that while the mystery of Christ and the
Church was revealed to God’s holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit, it was
revealed not by them all, but by one. This is a plain matter of fact. None of
the New Testament writers but Paul speak of the Church as Christ’s body.

Now there was a remarkable fitness in the history of Paul, as brought before us
in the sacred writings, for the work which God confided to him, as far as its
revelation to us was concerned. He had been an enemy so long as the testimony
even of Christ Himself glorified on high was confined to the Jewish people. He
was the witness of the martyrdom of Stephen; he was the active emissary of the
Jews in persecuting all — men and women — not merely in Jerusalem, but pursuing
them from city to city in their sad and, at the same time, blessed flight (for
God honoured it to win fresh souls to Christ). He, in the fulness of the hatred
he bore to the name of Jesus, had received, as we all know, letters from the
highest religious authorities of that day, in order to prosecute their
destruction the more energetically and, withal, piously. In the midst of this,
when God was changing the form that His ways took upon earth, so that the tide
of blessing was no longer flowing towards Jerusalem, but from it, when all that
then constituted true glory (for indeed all was of grace in Jerusalem) was
trampled down or dispersed, the Spirit of God points, as it were, outside, seeks
and blesses the old enemies of Jerusalem, not only works among the Samaritans,
(and we know what their jealousy was of Jerusalem,) but even a stranger from a
distant land is sought by the Lord, who is met in nothing but grace, in spite of
the grossest ignorance of that which God had just accomplished in Jesus, and
sent on his way rejoicing, — not up to Jerusalem, but returning to his distant
home from it.

It was at this juncture that it pleased God to deal with Saul of Tarsus on his
road to Damascus; for he too was going from Jerusalem, full of persecuting fury
against the confessors of Jesus, dark as night to the true grace of God; he, on
the mission of sorrow, shame, and death, such as the world could give; he, with
his commission such as Satan alone, borrowing God’s name, could instil energy to
carry out; he, nevertheless, with a good conscience as a man in the midst of all
this blindness to the truth, — he is struck down suddenly with a light brighter
than the sun at noon, but withal, even in that which blinds him naturally, was
enabled to see supernaturally the Lord of glory, to hear the voice of his Lord,
to know himself called, not as a saint only, but as an apostle too, not merely
to taste the grace of which he was to be so remarkable a witness, but to
minister with the Lord’s authority, not for that day only, but for all times,
not for one land, but for every country under heaven. That blessed man was
given, in the very words that converted his soul, the gem of that great truth on
which I hope to speak a little now. He learnt, to his amazement, from One that
he could not doubt to be the Lord, both that He was Jesus — wondrous knowledge
to burst upon his soul! — but that this glorified Lord, who was Jesus of
Nazareth that had been crucified, identified Himself with the objects of his
unrelenting persecution: "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest." The work was done —
not all at once, as far as regards the enjoyment of the soul, but surely, as
communicated in substance to one thus strangely converted. The first and last
that had ever been arrested by a revelation of Jesus, which revealed also in
principle the Church of God, was precisely the suited one to develop this and
enforce it practically, as well as in his writings, to lay the foundations of
the Church of God, to insist upon its heavenly character as Christ’s body, and
to do battle for God’s glory in it. This became his life; to this God henceforth
called him by Jesus Christ our Lord.

It was Paul who at once, after he was converted, began to preach the Lord Jesus,
not only as the Christ, but as the Son of God (Acts 9:1-43) — another great
point of his writings. I do not say that this is so characteristically, or at
any rate so exclusively, his as the body of Christ; but I remark it to show the
largeness in the ways of God displayed by the blessed apostle. Although the
Church of God rather attaches to Christ viewed as the exalted man, yet still He
who is the man exalted in heaven is the Son; and, (if I may be allowed such an
expression reverently) God does use the utmost care to enforce the relationship
of Christ to Himself, as well as that in which He stands to us in His place as
man at His own right hand. He accordingly was not led by the Spirit of God
merely to insist on what others had done before. He did not merely draw
attention to His being made Lord and Christ, as Peter did; he did not speak of
Him as God’s servant (pa?da), for such is the true meaning of the term that is
improperly translated "Son" in Acts 3:1-26, Acts 4:1-37. There was no preaching
as yet of Christ as the Son. As to Acts 8:37, in which the Ethiopian eunuch is
supposed to confess that Jesus is the Son, every person moderately acquainted
with these matters knows it to be spurious. But Paul, instead of limiting his
teaching to Christ as the man exalted above, preaches at once in the synagogue
that Jesus was the Son (????) of God. This I conceive to be well worthy of note,
as admirably exemplifying the largeness of heart wherever Christ, and Christ
seen above, is the object of the soul. One is free, then, to think of all His
glory; one delights in it; there is no hesitation in accepting the truth of God,
and the importance of the truth is realized by the soul.

If I look upon Him merely on earth, progress is incomparably slower. We find
this in the case of the other apostles even. How easily they mistook, how slowly
they received, how they had to be led on step by step! In the apostle Paul, no
doubt, the truth was allowed to settle down through conscience; for even he must
have it thus. No man otherwise can have it, or make it really his own in his
soul; and this because we are not merely men — we are sinners. The apostle Paul
himself, a man walking with as good a conscience as any man ever had since the
world began, — even he must learn the worthlessness of flesh, and must learn it
for and in himself. He must learn it by Christ, but he learnt it in his own
heart: still, thus learnt, the result is always bright. That which we are not
told had been said to him the Holy Ghost enables him to seize. I say not how it
was; for certainly the Lord Jesus had said nothing about it in what passed, as
far as we know; but he was given of God to know it. God does not direct our
attention particularly to Sonship in what passed between Christ and Saul. Still,
the fact is, that the two grand truths of Christ’s glory, as Son and as the
heavenly Head, became henceforth his testimony. It is not merely that He is
Messiah on earth: this was now no longer to be insisted on; the Lord Himself had
put an end to the preaching of it even before He left the world. (Matthew 16:20;
and especially Luke 9:20-22.) Then came a new thing.

After Jesus went up to heaven, He was made Lord and Christ. His being Lord is
the very simplest acknowledgment, the lowest form of the recognition of Christ,
that he who confesses Him can make, because it is simply the assertion of His
authority; and it is clear that authority, although most true, is after all the
lowest side of the truth in Christ. It does not bring out His grace; it does not
display His infinite glory. It is what He was made, not what He was and is in
Himself. It is not, therefore, what is proper and intrinsic, what is personal
and eternal, but a place that was given Him, which He assumed, which He was
exalted into. The apostle Peter and the others, as we saw, preach this. Then
Stephen sees Him after another sort. Thus, though it were by the full power of
the Spirit of God working on earth, still even so there was gradual advance, and
the discovery in his own person how totally rejected is the truth of God as to
the exalted Lord and Christ. He bears his witness that He was the Son of man
standing at the right hand of God. That is, just as upon earth the testimony to
the Christ-head, so to speak, of Jesus gave place to His being the rejected Son
of man, so the exalted Lordship of Christ, being Lord and Christ, gives place to
His being the Son of man in glory. Finally, Paul not only at once enters on the
truth that had been known before, but in the germ of it, at least, learns the
great mystery, that Christ and the saints he was persecuting were one; yet,
instead of being shut up in the narrowness to which we know our little hearts
are so liable, he, on the contrary, immediately preaches Him to be the Son of
God.

Now, I do think that this is a most blessed fact to bear in mind, more
particularly in its moral bearing upon our own souls, as showing how, when
things are viewed aright, when Christ Himself is viewed in heavenly light by the
teaching of God’s own Spirit, the fulness of the glory of His person is seen in
what is beyond. For His being the Son of God, if it less connect itself with us
in particular; is after all in itself a higher truth than any glory He could
have even as exalted in any way whatsoever at the right hand of God. Not that
one would too curiously compare or set one thing against the other: there is no
reason for; this; but we would assert and maintain the whole truth of Christ’s
glory. And I am persuaded we shall find that all power to apprehend, enjoy,
apply, and walk in all the rest of the truth, depends on the measure in which
the truth of His personal glory is felt and owned by our souls. Just as Christ
Himself becomes exalted before us, so all else, even things most distant, as it
were, the very skirts of His glory, will be found to be enlarged and brightened
according to that which we see here. So, on the other hand, all attenuating,
enfeebling, corrupting, and destroying of the truth of God will be found to be
traceable to men’s low and still lowering views of Christ Himself. It is well
that all this should be seen and appreciated. We shall find the bearing of this
in what is coming before us presently. For what is the Church? Is it not the
body of Christ? It is the answer produced on earth by the Holy Ghost to the
glory of that exalted man and head at the right hand of God. Hence it is that
you cannot separate these two. Now, the greater part of the children of God have
been entirely unexercised as to this place of glory into which Christ has
entered. The consequence is that the Church is unknown. They have ignored His
place before God. It is denied; the value of it is unknown; the singular glory
and blessedness of a man, exalted as He is in heaven, is just as feebly felt as
the misery of man now, were he the greatest of philosophers, poets, statesmen or
conquerors, sentenced, doomed, outcast from God on the earth. Even the children
of God look on present things as comparatively a scene to enjoy, as that of
which we must make the best. Consequently, the very truth of God, and the mercy
of God, are used to contribute as much as possible to what may be called earthly
ease and joy. What is only a vain search after pleasure is modified, no doubt,
in the Christian’s case: spiritual thoughts are there. But, still, how few
saints comparatively look always on this world as a judged and condemned scene!
It had been before God in manifold operations, and in testimonies continually,
until all was proved. Then came the Son, the man Christ Jesus. It was, alas! the
great struggle, so to speak, between God the Father, who had thus given His Son,
and the world, led on by the power of Satan. But God was not ashamed, and would
not shrink from what (we may say) was to Himself the infinite trial of giving
Him up, of allowing every indignity and wrong to be done to the One He loved
above all; and the Son of God Himself spared Himself no sorrow, no shame, no
evil that man could put upon Him. But indeed it was for this He came, and for
this it was needful in the ways of God that the world should prove its evil as
it had never done before; and so it did. Thus all the evil came out that God
might deal with it at one blow; that He might deal with it in a blow of judgment
— not on the world, but on His Son; that He might deal with it, therefore, in
absolute grace as far as this sinful world was concerned. Thereon all was
changed, and instead of its being man turned out of a goodly garden of delight,
adrift in what became a desert and godless world, man now, in the person of
Jesus, enters heaven itself, and sits down on the throne of God and glory. But
the moment God accomplished this, for which He was waiting, then, and not
before, there could be the formation of a body on the earth; for there must
first be an adequate head; and there was but one person that was adequate to be
the head, and that blessed One could not be head till He was man as well as God,
and, more than that, till sin had been judged, and grace in consequence could
have its full way. And, therefore, we see how blessedly all truth centres in
Christ, and in His cross, and in that place into which He has gone at the right
hand of God. Besides, there was another thing necessary; there was a suitable
competent power needed on the earth. And what power could this be? The same that
had always wrought in order to effectuate anything from God. It was the Holy
Ghost; but acting now in a new way, conformably to that in which God had
displayed Himself. He had shown Himself in the Son of God, and He would not
retire from it.

There was but one person even in the Godhead that could, as an object and image,
display God: it was the Son. It was always so. He who had revealed God, even
passingly, was the Son. He might as an angel, so to speak, appear, as in the
case of Abraham; still, it was always the Son. But if ever there was a power
that wrought, whether in a good man or a bad man, He that wrought divine things
by and in man on the earth was invariably the Spirit of God. Hence the Spirit of
God takes His place in this new work of God. The Son had entered as man into the
glory which He had before as God. He had gone up into the very presence of God,
and carried manhood, as it were, in His own person to His throne; so that there
was the wondrous sight of all in heaven subjected to a man. Then it was evident
what God had in His heart from what God was manifesting above. But who, I must
ask once more, could worthily tell this here below? Who could be a due witness
of this heavenly glory? He that knew it perfectly; He that alone was able and
willing to glorify Christ, and was wont to give man to do, learn, or enjoy
whatever God had before Him for man. It was the Holy Ghost; and He accordingly
comes down. And this is the fruit of His coming — He forms one body on earth,
not so many bodies. There is no such thought in Scripture. Is there such a
notion in the mind of any child of God here? Does He recognize Christian bodies
on the earth? What can be more false? I do not mean intellectually so alone. As
Christians, we would not waste time or breath on the mere wanderings of the
human mind. But I do say that a wrong to Jesus, a wrong to this most blessed
manner in which God is glorifying His Son by the Holy Ghost sent down from
heaven, is surely one which ought to act on the conscience, and shock the heart
of one to whom God has made known the glory of Christ by the Holy Ghost. Am I,
then, in the current of the working of God’s Spirit? or am I, on the contrary,
traversing God’s prime object in sending down the Holy Ghost, and exalting
Christ at the right hand of God?

Thus it becomes a question entirely above all ecclesiastical controversy. God
forbid that the children of God should occupy themselves with such trifles or
worse! But I do say, that if we know Him, if we delight in Him, if we walk no
more after the flesh, if, indeed, God has revealed His Son in and to us as He is
now risen and glorified, it becomes us to inquire whether we are obedient to the
heavenly vision, as the apostle was in his great measure — we in our little one-
— whether we are imitators of him as he was of Christ. Does not God call all His
children to be instruments of divine grace for His purpose of glorifying the
Lord Jesus? This must always begin with oneself: just as with the apostle Paul,
the truth sunk deeply into his own soul before the mighty work opened out all
around him. But whether it be in ourselves (which, of course, is the first true
effect of the revelation of Christ to us), or also in the desire to be helpers
of the joy of others, as servants of God’s will in magnifying the grace of
Christ, it does become us to search and see whether we can answer with a pure
conscience.

Now, what Paul was given to see, and what he has brought out fully in the
chapter from which I have read a verse, is, that the Holy Ghost is now come down
to work on earth in the Church — not merely in the saints individually (though
surely this also). But there is here below that which God calls His Church, the
body of Christ, and here identified with Christ. So true is this, that the
Spirit does not disdain to call the whole (that is, Christ and the Church)
Christ Himself: thus thoroughly do the saints form a part of His glory. And this
comes out in a very interesting manner, — humiliating indeed to us, but a
wondrous proof of the God with whom we have to do. It was the folly, and vanity,
and workings of other evil among the Corinthian saints, which formed the
occasion for the Spirit to instruct us thus largely about the Church, the body
of Christ. Their painful disorder called forth the application of God’s mind and
will, — their vain-glory too, that loved to display whatever of power they had.
And there was power; for it was no question of weakness. Many suppose that the
great reason why there is or may be disorder in the Church of God is because of
weakness; but weakness never ought thus to work. Disorder has nothing to do with
weakness. In fact, some of those who have caused the greatest disorder in the
Church have betrayed not so much weakness as strong flesh. There is always
insubjection to Christ, and very often the same vanity that was displayed in the
Corinthian saints. No one can fairly impute it to lack of power there. It was
the abuse of power, the ostentatious desire of showing what they possessed — in
few words, the severance of the power of the Spirit from the glorifying of
Christ. Disorder is the natural result. It matters not whether it be little or
more power, nor what the qualities possessed may be; if severed from Christ, it
is fatal, — fatal to His glory, fatal to the blessing of saints and other souls,
— most of all, fatal to him who is so misled of Satan. This was precisely what
was at work in Corinth at that time. How ought we not to bless God for the use
to which He has turned it in His mercy!

I can say but few words, compared with the demands of my subject to-night. Let
me just call attention to some of the leading points of the chapter as they
occur. "I would not have you to be ignorant concerning these spiritual things" —
these manifestations. "Ye know that when ye were Gentiles ye were* carried away
unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand
that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed." So such man
calls Jesus "Anathema;" no one puts Him under the curse (but on the cross). God,
we know, did it, when He died for our sins; but no man calls Jesus Himself
accursed by the Spirit of God. Nor can one say that Jesus is Lord, but through
the Holy Ghost.

* Such is the meaning of the true text,

Thus, there are two powers at issue in view of God and man. There is the spirit
that works in the children of disobedience; there is the Holy Ghost that works
in the children of God. In the one case there is the expression of the rising up
of man against Jesus; in the other there is the subjection of believers to the
Lord (for this is the great point pressed here — Jesus as Lord). The reason was
because these Corinthians were practically making the Lord’s Supper their own
supper, and the assembly their own theatre of display, as if the word went out
from them, instead of coming to them, with all other Christians, claiming their
obedience to God. In fact, the lordship of Jesus needs only to be urged when
souls are in a proud or negligent condition. The saint that enjoys Christ needs
no such pressure, would have none other lord, and delights in His grace. Of
course, it is always due by every soul; but evidently the assertion of it is
most needful where insubordination prevails, and flesh endeavours to exalt
itself against His will, as indeed was the case at Corinth. Therefore the
apostle starts with this grave fact, that the Church of God is where the Holy
Ghost maintains Jesus as Lord. This is the prefatory principle, meeting the
Corinthians exactly in their need, as the Spirit of God must do, if one may so
say. God deals, if at all, morally; nothing else would be worthy of Him or good
for us. God deals morally, though He would carry our hearts into the enjoyment
of Himself, where all thought of our ways may be dropped: yet is there nothing,
after all, which acts so powerfully on our ways to form them according to His
nature. The next thing noticed is that "There are diversities of gifts, but the
same Spirit;" and again, "There are differences of administration, but the same
Lord; and there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which
worketh all in all." It is clear that these three verses are of deep importance
for our practical understanding of that which the Lord lays down. The simplest
elements are here; yet the Church has practically forgotten them. They are the
smallest requirements that He could accept of, the only recognizable character
of God’s assembly, viewed in its working day by day.

First of these, then, "diversities of gifts" are spoken of. Wherever anything
assumes to answer to His Church on earth, there must be free room, not only for
gifts, but for diversities of gifts, in the same congregation. Where the gifts
are practically shut out, and the congregation really look to one or more
individuals only, no matter how gifted, the ground is proved by the first touch
of God’s word to be not of Himself. There are diversities of gifts, but the same
Spirit (not minister). I do not mean by this that there should be an effort to
give the semblance of many gifts at work. The Church of God is a real body; and
now we must add that its state is distressingly anomalous; but seeking
appearances, which would always have been unseemly, is now especially to be
deprecated. It is His assembly: we must take care what we do or seek there. He
formed it here for the Lord’s glory through the Holy Spirit, who is sovereign
and will surely maintain the rights of Christ. Be the manifestation great or
small, it is the fruit of His own working; but assuredly there are diversities
of gifts. In fact, especially as the assembly now is, there might be few —
perhaps none in a particular place, or only one or two might manifest gifts to
edification; elsewhere there might be many. The great point is that the door be
open for all He gives.

I repeat that "there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit." Whatever
denies this practically, or in principle, is not God’s Church, and has no claim
therefore on my allegiance or yours. Yea, I am bound to disown its pretensions.
Ought I to sanction or to abjure a departure from the Lord’s will in these grave
matters of the Holy Ghost? Ought I not to treat a congregation of real
Christians as a human association, if they fling overboard, e.g. such a word as
this? It is no question merely about the constituents, but of that which
regulates their action. If human rules, different from Scripture, and even
opposed, govern, is it not man’s Church? What has a Christian to do with any but
God’s Church? Who licensed man to meddle? Who called him to regulate it? To make
the Church was a great work even for God Himself. It needed the Son to go to
heaven after redemption was wrought, and the Holy Ghost to come down to the
earth for the purpose. The world He made by His word for the first Adam, though
in ultimate purpose, no doubt, for Christ, when He shall be displayed as King in
His glory. But even God Himself did not (and I think we may say with reverence,
could not) make the Church until He had the Second Man its glorified Head above,
and the Holy Ghost sent down to form the body below. Death and resurrection
alone could be an adequate basis; the risen ascended Lord Jesus alone the suited
head. Thus God’s Church on earth is not a governmental provision of religion for
a nation, nor a society framed to hold and carry out the plans and peculiar
views of the best of men. It is the body which the Holy Ghost has formed here
below for Christ, whom in its very first principle it confesses as Lord. But the
manner of the practical working is in diversities of gifts, though the same
Spirit.

Next, as we are told, "there are differences of administration, but the same
Lord." That is, the Lord employs one for one thing, and another for another; but
it is He who acts in this. The Spirit of God does not take here the place of
Lord, and I doubt very much indeed that this is a true way of looking at the
Spirit of God. Is it correct to speak of the rule of the Spirit? I admit most
entirely the power, and working, and sovereignty of the Spirit; and I suppose
that this last is what is meant by sound men when they speak of His rule. Still
there is a danger of slipping out of that form of sound words which the
Scriptures supply — not the letter, but the truth and principle of God’s word. I
am not contending about shadows, but about realities; and I am sure we shall
find the words of Scripture most aptly express the truths of Scripture. Hence,
when we slip away from words, we are in danger of weakening the truth itself.
Again, there has been a tendency more than once in the Church of God to set up
the Holy Ghost, as it were, in the place of the Lord The effect of this is, that
it takes us out of the place of subjection to the Lord as He is above. Now,
inasmuch as the Holy Ghost works in and by man, this, more or less, tends to put
man in the place of Christ Himself: Whereas, if we hold to that which Scripture
says and teaches, it is plain that the Holy Ghost Himself, in the working of the
Church, takes not so much the place of Head and Lord as of Servant, caring for
all and glorifying Christ, though He be divine. As the Son here below took the
place of Servant of the Father for the divine purposes, so the Holy Ghost,
although He be in His own person God, and therefore supreme, nevertheless
deigns, for the carrying out of God’s counsels, meanwhile to subject Himself to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus it is that He stamps the servant character as it
were, on the saint who is really animated by Him and led by Him to the glory of
Christ. That is, the Spirit constitutes him, in relation to the Lord Jesus, a
servant, even though his function may be ruling the Church of God. To do so is
not pride, but just the true place of a servant who is called to rule; he cannot
faithfully give up that will of his Master, nor need there be a particle of self
in thus ruling. Where self or man is the disposer, what value, authority, or
power can there be? But if a man be called to rule in any way, let the sphere be
little or great, he is as much a servant, nay, he is only a real servant, if he
carry out that which the Lord has given him to do. There is no assertion of self
here, but of Christ Himself, in thus serving Him, whatever his place or gift.
There are differences of administration, but the same Lord, even as there is the
same Spirit and diversities of gifts.

Again, "there are diversities of operations," he adds; "but it is the same God
which worketh all in all." The Church is not a place where man has the smallest
title, or where there is any room for his will. If God is working there, it is
man’s place to retire, that God may really work according to His own will. What
a character this gives the Church of God! And I just pause for a moment to press
this upon those present, not on those to whom it may be altogether an untried
thing in experience, or even comparatively new. I would ask the brethren and
sisters here before me, Are these the truths that really fill our hearts? When
we enter, say, on each Lord’s day, when we come together on any occasion for
edification or worship, do we meet as God’s assembly, looking to the Spirit, the
Lord God Himself? Thus I press that it is either God’s assembly or nothing I am
aware there are those who think it presumptuous to call themselves God’s
assembly. Pray, what would you have them to be called? Would you like it to be
"man’s assembly," or no assembly at all? Would you like to break up all
responsibility of the saints of God on the earth? Could you bear calmly that
Jesus should have no glory by you, however poorly reflected it may be? — that He
should have no return of our hearts to His grace; that the Holy Ghost should be
thwarted, hindered, supplanted, now that He is pleased to have come down to
glorify Christ in the saints? Yea, after He has once more aroused the children
of God, and they have come out from their places of hiding and slumbering,
refusing to be diverted any longer from going forth to meet the Bridegroom? And
if they go forth, must they not give themselves up to do His will? and how do it
better than in that which is dear to Him? There is an object incomparably dearer
to Him than all that engrosses men around. What can all worlds be to Him,
compared with the love which He bears to His bride, the Church, which is His
body here below? Will this lower His glory in our eyes? will this enfeeble our
desire to obey, because we realize in ourselves that our place is to do His
will, subject to that which lies upon us for glorifying Christ? Far from us be
such a thought.

Let me just put it thus. Take, for instance, a wife. Supposing she has a wife’s
feelings, loving and right thoughts of her husband, and he is one that is not
only a husband in name, but worthy of all her love. I need not say how any such
comparison fails, when we think of Christ and the Church. But, still, they
resemble enough to raise the question, whether nearness of relationship weakens
love for an altogether worthy object? To ask such a question is to have it
answered at once. How grievous that such delusions should be tolerated for a
moment by children of God!

It is a lie of Satan, that to know God as our Father in Christ is to weaken our
obedience; so is it to deny the title of Christ’s members, wherever they may be.
Is it not plain, that to recognize them as His draws out mutual love, and gives
perseverance and confidence in seeking to serve them? Deny their place of
relationship, and with what different feelings you must deal with them! On what
ground would you ask them to abandon the ways and the systems of man? Why, save
on this basis, would you urge the blessedness of meeting on]y in Christ’s name
on earth, before we go to heaven, as part of that which God has called His
Church? How utterly repulsive to the Christian, that the world which is stained
with the blood- guiltiness of Christ’s cross should presume to meddle with the
body and bride of Christ! How nauseous to sink into a voluntary society, a sect
framed and governed according to rules of man’s device! If this be so, it is the
plain responsibility of every child of God to cleave only to what God has done
and revealed, not doubting the power and willingness of the Spirit to make him
faithful. But there is another truth, too, connected with this. I have already
shown, on a former occasion, the real and abiding presence of God’s Spirit on
earth. Consequently it is no question of forming a new Church, still less a
make-shift. It is our place to recognize what the Spirit has formed and never
abandons. It is our calling to act in faith on God’s word about it, clearing
ourselves from what it condemns, and seeking to be true to what God Himself has
given. Only two or three in a place might have faith so to feel and act (for the
ruin is very great); but were it only two or three even in a great city like
this, met together in the name of the Lord Jesus, even they should allow nothing
inconsistent with "diversities of gifts," "diversities of administration," and
"diversities of operations," instead of setting up all, so to speak, on the same
ground of human equality or the distinctions of self-devised order. God’s truth
and will can never lose their authority over His people by change of
circumstances. Clericalism and religious radicalism are equally and altogether
opposed to Scripture and the action of the Holy Ghost. They are different and
opposite forms of man’s will. The Church is a divine institution, where God’s
disposal must be supreme; and this the Holy Ghost alone can make good according
to the written word. All else is only man; and it matters little whether it be
man the leveller or man the exalter of his fellows, — either is only man. Who
but God has any real claim to deal with His Church? If it be only "our church"
or "your church," we or you, I grant, may lawfully alter or amend, narrow or
widen it, as we think proper. But were there only two or three saints who,
because of the word and Spirit of God, because of the injured rights of the Lord
Jesus, came out from that which has so long departed from the Scriptures about
God’s assembly, and set at nought the Holy Ghost, I am bound to own them as on
the true ground of God’s Church. Lowliness becomes them as well as deep
thankfulness; shame that they too should have joined in the general slight put
on God’s word and Spirit, desire for the blessing of all saints according to
God’s will, and a holy fear lest their own weakness or negligence should bring
dispute on their testimony. I do not mean, nor do I say, that such are the
Church of God; but I do call them, thus walking together, His Church. Were they
the only two or three saints in the whole world that were so met according to
the word, they would be the only thing of that nature here below. Thus it is not
the simple fact of being members of Christ’s body that constitutes the Church.
No doubt this is the personal title, and all Christians are members of Him, and
this constitutes their responsibility to abandon everything that falsifies their
relationship in conduct, position, and objects; but what constitutes God’s
Church here below is not that the individuals composing it are members of Christ
— though that, of course, is essential — but that they assemble and walk
together according to the word of God, the Holy Ghost being allowed His own
place of sovereign action for the glory of the Lord Jesus. It is only a
circumstance whether they be two or three, or as many hundreds, thousands, or
millions. The number of those who gather is a wholly subordinate point.

Again, though real members of Christ are contemplated, this alone does not at
all suffice. Thus there might be ever so many saints associated; but if they
arranged themselves or their meetings as they saw fit, apart from Scripture,
received such or such according to their wisdom, carried out their discipline,
owned this doctrine and not that, what would this be? A more or less excellent,
prudent, energetic society of Christians. Yet not merely all these things, but
any of them, being opposed to the word of God and the place of the Holy Ghost
acting in the Church — still more, all of them united — would destroy the
pretension to be God’s Church. They would have no real claim on God’s children
outside of them. Not the smallest recognition is due corporately, though they
would still be individually objects of love as Christians. None ought to deny
their proper place and relationship, which is indeed the true ground of appeal
to their consciences. The Church viewed as on earth is the assembly of saints,
where God acts by the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven; it is His assembly, and
not merely an assembly of saints. Of course, an assembly of saints is so far
well; but if only this, it can never aspire with truth to the place of God’s
Church. It is not theirs but His presence by the Holy Ghost which constitutes
them His Church. How precious that there should be on earth saints built
together for God’s habitation in the Spirit! But as with Christ the Son in the
days of His flesh, so now the Holy Ghost is not allowed His place. What a
thought to utter! and yet, is it not true and certain that the state of
Christendom now warrants the use of such words as "not allowed His place"? Can
you say that God has the full freedom of acting according to His own word? The
responsibility of this has been left to man; and how has he discharged it? It is
truly wonderful that just as God allowed man to do what he pleased with Christ,
so He allows man to show despite to the Spirit of grace, for the present
thwarting and defeating His glory in the Church. Both the one and the other were
committed to the responsibility of man. We know the day is coming when the
Church shall disappear from the world to join its Head, and enter into its
destined seat of glory along with Christ. Before the world, too, we shall shine
in due season. But what I press as the point of solemn consequence for God’s
people to feel now is this, how far they have received into their soul, and how
far they are really carrying out the truth of God as regards His Church. If you
say you have no particular care about it, and it is enough for you to think of
your soul’s salvation, I must ask you, Where is your heart for Christ and those
who are Christ’s, and for His glory in them? What a grovelling and selfish place
for a Christian to put himself in! It is, I admit, a natural result of the
teaching that prevails, which ignores the one body and one Spirit for our own
salvation and that of others. And it bears with itself its, retributive sting;
for those who accept such a scheme never seem to attain even that selfish end;
they are doomed to continual uncertainty as to their personal acceptance with
God, and find a relief in worldliness from their lack of settled peace. What a
contrast with God’s way, who saves with a perfect salvation, that we may be free
for all His objects, for His glory in Christ and the Church above all! Believer,
has God saved you to leave you apart from His own purposes, and without a care
for the glory of Christ? If God has shown you such infinite mercy, does not His
word, does not your heart under the Spirit’s leading, point to your owning and
serving Christ, learning and doing the will of God about that which is so dear
to Christ as the Church? I beseech you to consider the matter. But in this
chapter (1 Corinthians 12:1-31) there is far more than I have noticed. The
apostle speaks of the manifestation of the Spirit in various forms. It is given
to every man, not for himself, but to profit withal. "To one is given by the
Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same
Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another
discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the
interpretation of tongues." Thus the chapter embraces those gifts that went out
as a sign to the world. They were in the Church, in the various members of the
body of Christ; but still, it was not the profit of the Church only: there was
an outward mark to men also. Take, for instance, the tongues What a witness of
the considerate grace of God! What a witness of the love that no longer confined
itself to the chosen nation, but would meet men now in grace where they had been
placed already by His judgment after the flood! The wonderful works of God in
redemption are proclaimed by the Spirit to every nation under heaven in their
familiar tongues. But we have more than this. "All these," it is added, "worketh
that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will."
Thus carefully is maintained the sovereign action of the Holy Ghost. Whatever
may be the place of servant which He is pleased now to assume, still He is
sovereign, acting as He will; He is divine, He is God. "For as the body is one,
and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one
body: also so is Christ." Have you been brought to God? Have you believed in
your heart, and confessed with your mouth, that God has raised Jesus from the
dead? Then you are His to magnify Him who is your Saviour and Lord. Own Him only
as the Lord; own the Holy Ghost as the one that is actively working in the
saints, in God’s assembly here below. This I admit, that the Spirit of God,
freely acting in grace, does not confine Himself to the assembly as such; He may
act in, and does act by, members of Christ (and even others betimes), though
they themselves may not be faithful, nor in the place where God would have them
be. Hence I do not deny for a moment that the Holy Ghost works in both
nationalism and dissent, and not in Protestantism only, but in Popery and the
Eastern systems of Christendom. But he who values and understands Scripture must
see that all this conflict of Christian societies proves total departure from
God’s word as to His Church.

Thus national Protestantism is not only an invention of man, but comparatively
modern. Nothing of the sort existed for at least fifteen centuries after the
Church was formed. But go on. Let us look not merely at national bodies, but
where it is attempted to gather saints, on the basis of (let us suppose) a large
measure of truth: Is this God’s Church? Does the Church select particular
doctrines? Does it choose its own ministers in the word? When the Church takes
such a place, it quits subjection to the Lord in principle. It is the wife
attempting to play the husband, instead of obeying him. Nothing can be simpler,
if we hold fast what God Himself has laid down. The Church does not confer
mission, does not teach; but I admit entirely that it is bound to judge, and not
only in matters of moral evil, but also in doctrine, intolerant of all which
overthrows the holiness or the truth of God, and especially careful of Christ’s
glory. But this is very different from commissioning a clergy, or defining
articles of faith. Looking at the Church in Scripture, I see it charged with the
obligation of maintaining the truth, the pillar and ground of it here below. I
do not look abroad into the world to find the truth; I know that the truth is
found nowhere except in the Church I am speaking of the Church ordered under
apostolic care as it was. Its responsibility is not lost by its disorder.

Now indeed there is a state of things that painfully contrasts with what is
presented in the word of God. We see a number of bodies which call themselves
this kind of church and that. What is a child of God to do who desires to be
humble yet faithful to God? Judge where you are by the word of God, judge by it
what you are doing and what you are sanctioning by your assent or even presence.
Have you given up the fellowship of saints on earth? Do you hide behind the plea
that you have nothing to do with others — that all your duty is to walk well
yourself? Then you abandon the ground of God’s Church wholly. Be honest. Search
and see, whether you find yourself outside the bearing of the Scriptures that
treat of God’s assembly in its practical working, or whether they tally with
what you are doing. Is not the Holy Ghost so fettered by arrangements of men
that the diversities of gifts, were they ever so many and real, have no room to
display themselves? Is not the Spirit grieved by the counteraction? Is not the
Lord practically displaced by the Church (no matter of what sort) presuming to
appoint overseers, and even ministers of the word, instead of His servants going
forth on His own warrant, and trading with His goods? Somehow or other you have
got outside that which answers to the written word; you are off the ground of
God’s Church on earth. On the other hand, if faith emboldens you to be with only
two or three, where there is the joy of knowing that the word really applies and
directs, instead of pronouncing condemnation, how blessed it is and proves! For
them that honour God, He will honour in due time. Meanwhile divine light shines
on the path every time you meet together. It may show how feeble you are, and
how you fall short; still it is the right place and aim; it is where God wills
you to be, and graciously cares for you, supplies need, sends helps by the way,
gives now this servant, now that; for "all things are yours," and your soul
profits by the truth, and advances in the ways of God. If there be evil here or
there, it is detected and judged (the Holy Ghost working through the word to
that end). Then how sweet to know that we are doing in deed and in truth the
will of God! He that does it shall abide for ever. How happy the heart and
conscience that thus has the certainty of subjection to the Lord Jesus through
the dreary way!

Now, this was what the apostle desired for the Corinthians. They had practically
got the whole machinery into disorder, but he does not deny that it was God’s
assembly. There may be brought in any imaginable evil under the sun. Am I to
turn my back upon the assembly of God because of things unworthy, which I might
hear of in one or another? Surely this is not the path of the Lord, who tells us
how evils are to be judged and corrected, What we have to do, then, is to apply
the word intelligently, and deal with each source of scandal as it may arise. Of
course, indifference as to the will of the Lord is evil, no less than the evils
I feel in others; but it is as unscriptural to go out at once because of
another’s sin, as to wink at it or help it on. God’s assembly is and must be
intolerant of evil, because He is confessed to be there; but I must seek to
arouse conscience, and to act in obedience even as to this. In the Church (not
rushing out of it hastily) I can count upon God working in and by His saints;
and therefore, no matter what evil Satan may foist in, false doctrine or
immorality of the most flagrant kind, we are neither to be overmuch surprised
nor to refuse our aid to the Church, whose business is to do the Lord’s will
about all. I am to look to Him, and call upon Him, and count upon Him, and with
my brethren too, that all our consciences may be in activity — men, women, and
children — and we may have grace to cast out that which is offensive to God’s
glory, if nothing less can remedy the mischief.

Thus, it is not the fact of weakness, nor even the entrance of positive sin, no
matter of what sort it may be, which should lead us to separate, however great
the shame and sorrow to the heart. It is the refusal to deal with the unclean
thing; it is the practical rejection of the Spirit of God, rising up by the word
and rebuking the evil, which is so fatal. It is where the plain self-will of man
prevails and is sanctioned, preferring ease, quiet, and the appearance of unity,
though all that makes unity precious be gone; for what have we to do with unity,
if it be not formed and sustained according to the will of God? If it be not
that which the Holy Ghost puts His seal upon, if it be not for the maintenance
of the glory of the Lord Jesus, it is a horror and a sin, and has no claim on my
allegiance. And therefore nothing can be simpler, after all, than the
application of these principles, though unbelief loudly cries that there is no
hope, and that we are delivered to do these abominations. There are difficulties
found in the path of Christ; but faith overcomes. We know that the Church is
composed of men who, though in the Spirit, have nevertheless the flesh in them.
Consequently there are seeds of evil which Satan will endeavour to cause to
germinate, and shed their effects around, as banefully and antagonistically for
the glory of God as he can. With the Lord in our midst, we are not to be alarmed
at anything: still less are we to flee from that which is a post of honour and
blessing, as truly as of difficulty and danger. Let us gird up our loins, and
look to Him whose the Church is, and whose is all power and might. He will
manifest His gracious power on our behalf, and deal with what is hateful to
Himself. But what if subtle evil, especially against Christ (for this is Satan’s
aim), gain the upper hand in the assembly — what if remedy or judgment be
refused — what if, for any reason of its own, the Church reject as uncalled for,
unlawful and presumptuous, the attempt to call attention to the sentence which
God’s word pronounces on what is certainly opposed to His glory, and destructive
of truth and holiness? Evidently there we find ourselves, if it be so, on
slippery ground. But if the evil, flagrant as well as certain, be hid and kept
up, not judged, and that which took the place of God’s assembly shuts itself up
in deliberate self-will and rejection of the calls of the Holy Ghost to judge
what is contrary to Christ, then we must go out in the Lord’s name, sorrowfully,
it may well be, and with deep shame, and with feelings that ought indeed to
leave us a heart wounded and bleeding and broken before such grievous evil, but
at the same time with no hesitation of spirit, if we see without doubt the signs
and tokens of the very same evils which broke better hearts than ours before us.
I cannot but repeat that solemnly, in the strength of the Lord, we are to turn
our backs upon that which is so much the viler a pretender, because, having had
the light of God anew, it deliberately refused to act on it; because, having had
the grace of God afresh brought out, it is become obstinately deaf to His word,
and turns His mercy into licentiousness against Him. May the Lord deliver us
from such ways, and make us always sensitive to His glory and revealed will;
but, at the same time, first of all, ready to think ourselves mistaken, and
unwilling to believe that His assembly could basely betray His honour thus,
never acting in an individual case, still less with an assembly, until we are
forced to know the sad and humbling certainty that the saint or the assembly is
utterly faithless to Christ. Haste either to put away individuals, or to judge
that which has been owned as an assembly of God, is the last thing that ought to
characterize the child of God. Slow and painful should be such a discovery to
us, which we cannot refuse, because God, as it were, lays it on our consciences,
and then we may not close our eyes or decline to act firmly. This, I trust, may
help some to notice the working of God’s Spirit, not only as revealed in the
word, but as He would have it truthfully applied to deal practically with
present duties and difficulties. And now a few words just to call attention to
the great truth contained in 1 Corinthians 12:13, which was read, that "we,
being many, are one body." The Scriptures go further, and say, "By one Spirit
are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be
bond or free." Who can doubt that every child of God now, every one that is
called by God’s grace since the cross, is brought into the membership of this
body? Not one Christian is left out. I do not say that all saints enter at once;
but that there is not a single Christian who is not, sooner or later, baptized
by the Holy Ghost; and if baptized by the Holy Ghost, unto what end? Not to be
split into individualities. This was the state of saints in Israel of old, but
is the very thing the Holy Ghost is sent to take one out of. I do not, of
course, lose my blessing as an individual under Christianity — the very reverse;
but, besides, there is a ground which God has given us corporately here below. I
belong to the one body, the Church. I am baptized into that one body by the Holy
Ghost sent down from heaven. This is as much a matter of faith as that I am a
child of God. But if I am a member of the one body, am I acting as such? Do I
believe that it holds good now? Does it not depend on the unfailing presence of
the Holy Ghost? If it be real now, is it not incumbent on me to walk
accordingly? And how? Search and see by the word of God; try your ways; and I
have no doubt what will be the result to him who does so honestly — I do not
mean in human frankness, but in godly sincerity, and with that single eye which
seeks not its own things, but the things of Jesus Christ. Is it possible that
there should be any but one result for all the children of God who are guided by
His word and Spirit? There is no defect in Scripture, no failure in the Holy
Ghost.

I am aware that many will suppose that this is a bold insinuation, but I dare
say nothing less or otherwise. I should feel in doing so that I was slighting
the word of God, or practically denying the power of the Holy Ghost. It would be
the unbelieving admission that God’s revelation and present guidance are
insufficient. This seems to me truly a bold insinuation, which for my part I
utterly refuse. Is not God’s Spirit in us greater than he that is in the world?
I dare not allow that Scripture is the nose of wax which some papists and all
infidels pretend. And I affirm that the Christian, though having the flesh in
him, is not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, inasmuch as the Spirit of God
dwells in him. Were we simple and subject to Scripture, the Holy Ghost could and
would produce but one conviction. The only reason why Christians differ so
widely is because unjudged flesh prevails against the Spirit. I mean nothing
against other men; I say this against myself as surely, and, I trust, with as
deep a meaning, as against anyone who allows the flesh to have its way. I feel
that one cannot, ought not to, give up either the assurance of the Spirit’s
presence, or the sufficiency of God’s word, when wielded by the Holy Ghost. Is
not the Holy Ghost here, to use mightily that word for the glory of Christ in
the Christian and the Church, in proportion to faith? Therefore, what becomes
the child of God is to put aside all the rubbish of tradition, and the dead
weight of unbelief he knows, to quit that which he does or allows, or is in any
way connected with, that contradicts Scripture, and makes it impossible for him
thoroughly, and in all things, to carry out the word of God in the Spirit. The
rest of the chapter, on which I need not enlarge, teaches, first of all, that
the body is not one member. The variety of the members indicates how necessary
all are — a most important principle — the foot just as much as the hand. Not,
of course, that all are necessary for the same end, nor that all have the same
place or function; nevertheless they are all needful, great and small. In the
present weakness and distraction of the Church of God, the hand may be there and
the foot may be here — scattered instead of being gathered. Things are in a
dislocated condition, as far as regards the outward manifestation of the body of
Christ on the earth. Confusion and perplexity reign as the effects of this; but
God is always faithful, and still works by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,
who is sufficient for all circumstances. The Church may be weak, and ministry
may be no stronger; but is the Spirit of God weak? Thus it comes to be simply a
question of our faith in the reality of the presence and the operation of the
Holy Ghost. And He empowers and employs individuals as He wills for the glory of
Christ, but normally as members of His body; and it is of great importance that
there should be firmness in holding fast this truth, without forcing others
beyond their faith. But what can be more lovely on earth than this hearty
falling in with the various workings of the Spirit of God! He distributes a gift
to one which characteristically differs from another’s. There are not, and never
were two gifts exactly alike in the Church of God. Not more truly does each man
differ from his neighbour; and, as we all know, there is something that is
special to every man. The likeness may be strong, but there is that which stamps
one man which nobody else has or ever had. It is exactly so in the Church; God
needs this or that for the work He has given us to do. Flesh envies and is
jealous; but how sweet where the Spirit of God gives us faith to recognize these
varieties in the work of the Lord! On the other hand nature, wherever it is
allowed, invariably obliterates these divine traits; assimilates as much as
possible by some grinding process, so to speak, and thus injures the fine
lineaments and diverse workings of God’s Spirit. However, the details of the
chapter must be passed over. I have only desired to present, as far as I could
in brief, its leading thoughts.

There is another Scripture to which I must advert before closing — Ephesians
4:1-32. There again the body of Christ is prominent, but in a strikingly
different way; because the apostle looks at His body, the Church, not as the
scene of the Holy Ghost’s operation on earth (1 Corinthians 12:1-31), but as
linked up with its Head in heaven. So far is Christ from being described there
as the Head, though, of course, it was true, that the body on earth is itself
called "Christ." (1 Corinthians 12:12.) Instead of uniting in that way Christ
and the Church, looking at all as a field where the Holy Ghost carries out the
will of God, here it is another aspect. Christ Himself is ascended up on high,
and the body of Christ, though of course as to fact here below, yet as to
relationship is viewed as one with Christ above. If I look at Christ, therefore,
I am at once connected with heaven; if I look at the Holy Ghost, I am connected
with earth as the place where He Himself is at work for God’s glory in the
Church. Hence this difference runs through these epistles. Both views are true
and important. The one is not to be abandoned or neglected more than the other.
I do not say that they act equally on the affections; surely this is not so; but
they are both needful, both divine, and both revealed for our profit and
blessing. Thus what we find as the prominent topic in Ephesians 4 is Christ the
infallible source of supply to His body. He gave gifts to it — apostles,
prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers; but not a word about tongues, or
healings — the signs, of which we have so copious an account in 1 Corinthians
12:1-31, 1 Corinthians 14:1-40. In Ephesians all was directly the means of
nourishment to the body, and viewed as flowing from the care of Christ for His
own, rather than a testimony in God’s Church of power to the world There the
Spirit works mightily in what is called Christ; here Christ, as Head, personally
loves and cares for His body. Hence, too, Christ is as prominent in the one
case, as the Holy Ghost is the great energy in the other, working as He will in
these various manifestations that are given to each in the Church. Hence,
accordingly, in Ephesians, the great object is "for the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."
The right and due manner, in which God intended these gifts should be displayed,
is as members of Christ’s body. So in 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, it is not
independently of the Church of God, but as a member of the one body. It is true
even of evangelizing, were it the apostle Paul himself, however miraculously the
Lord had wrought in his call, as the Spirit did afterwards. When Saul and
Barnabas went forth, it was as recommended by the Church to the grace of God. So
they come back and tell the Church what God had wrought. It was in no way as
having derived their commission from the church which is not competent to choose
or send forth the Lord’s servant. This is of importance. We have only to compare
it with the source, call, and character of ministry as seen in the present day,
and the difference is as glaring as complete between ministry according to God,
and when corrupted by man. I do not deny that there are servants of the Lord
amongst ordinary official ministers; but, at the same time, there is that which
always and systematically dishonours the Lord as the sole source of mission, as
well as hinders the work; so that, far from being in regular order, you could
hardly find anything more anomalous here below. There are, I believe, true and
sincere servants of Christ among them; but then, in order to enjoy an official
place at the present time in Christendom, you must submit to have your call from
some church (so-called); that is, you must in effect be a party to the Lord’s
disparagement, and honour the church in its place of usurpation, in order to get
a ministerial commission. It is not a question of any one body: all agree in
this guilty substitution of the church for the Lord. It matters not if it be the
smallest branch of religionists: they are as stringent in their form of the
error as the Pope of Rome is in his. It is all the same principle, from the
Roman Catholic body down to the extravagant sect of Irvingites. There is not a
single exception, so far as I know, not even the Society of Friends. Although in
a certain way there is a recognition of the Holy Spirit, yet, as was noticed on
a former occasion, there is no body more a stranger to revealed truth on this
subject than that society.

I wish to hurt nobody’s feelings, but to speak the truth. Nor am I aware of any
"Friend" now present: if there be one, I hope he will bear with me in what I
must speak out as my testimony to the truth. Now I believe that the doctrine
that every man in the world as such has the Spirit of God is as utterly
destructive of the great truth that the Holy Ghost dwells in the Christian and
in the house of God as anything can be. I know nothing worse — no, not even in
Popery, because Popery does after a fashion bring in the name of Christ. It may
be only with a few drops of water; but still there is even in their fanatical
and intensely superstitious abuse of ceremonies, some sort of sense that man in
nature outside the Church is lost, and that under the name of Christ alone can
men be saved. So far there is that which redeems Popery itself from the slight
put on objective truth found among the otherwise respectable persons alluded to.
I have nothing to say against them individually, but I have everything to insist
against their opposition to the true grace of God in redemption, and the gift of
the Holy Ghost. Who can justly deny that this is a solemn charge if true?

God forbid that anyone here should use for self-complacency the fact of
returning to this great truth. On the contrary, it is our deep responsibility
Further, it is that which ought to make us truly ashamed, to think that we do
not present it with such power to the hearts and consciences of others as to
overwhelm them with anxiety, lest they should be outside God’s own way. I admit
that our want of spirituality and devotedness, our worldliness, and all other
sorrowful elements, which, either individually or publicly, have been amongst
us, are the greatest possible hindrances; for all the power of Satan along with
man could not overthrow us for a moment, if there were not want of faith or
faithfulness unjudged in ourselves. This is the real danger we have to fear, and
be ashamed of before our God. Let us only hold fast the blessed truth which God
has given us to witness to, as well as to believe. Slanders from without are
powerless, save with those who love what is evil. Let men say what they will,
but let us not tremble for a moment so long as our eye is single, and our heart
true to Christ Himself, and the Holy Ghost is confided in according to the word.

But, as in Ephesians 4:1-32, another fact may be noticed before I have done.
These gifts are till we al1 come to the measure of the stature of Christ’s
fulness. It is precisely here that much of the difference is seen between
Ephesians 4:1-32 and 1 Corinthians 12:1-31. There is no such assurance in
speaking about the signs. Thus I learn what ought, to an instructed eye, to
account for the fact that signs no longer appear. The Lord never pledged Himself
to continue healings, or tongues, or any such externals as were given to the
early Church; but the moment you come to what is necessary to edification, to
needful ministerial gifts of His grace for the calling in of fresh souls, or the
guarding and watching over those that are called, I have divine authority for
knowing that these are given "till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of
the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the
stature of the fulness of Christ." All that is for real good in present
circumstances abides for the Church of God even to the end. And now I close this
part of the subject, feeling how scantily I have dipped into it; but that I
have, at least, directed attention by God’s grace to that which will not fail
those who have faith in Himself. May we cherish faith in His word, looking to
please the Lord.


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  CHAPTER 24: THE PERSON AND DEITY OF THE HOLY GHOST.
========================================================================

The Person and Deity of the Holy Ghost.

J. G. Bellett.

Section 4 of: Musings on Scripture Vol. 3 My Dear Sir,

I felt myself much drawn to you from the little intercourse we had on Sunday, so
that the apprehension, as it grew upon me, of anything that might prove a
necessary hindrance to further intercourse, I need not say, was painful to me.

I have since further meditated on the subject that was then between us, and have
committed the guidance of my mind upon it to the Lord; but I feel only more
confirmed in the judgment which I then had, and I have remembered the words of
the apostle, "Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and hast been
assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them." — I desire now to write a
little on the subject, as I promised you.

I believe the glory of God as He is, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, might have
been learnt from the scriptures of the Old Testament. But I will instance only
Isaiah 6:1-13. There the Seraphim cry, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts!"
The New Testament scriptures show that Christ and the Holy Ghost might have been
apprehended in the vision and audience, which the prophet then had: for, says
St. John, referring to that chapter, "These things said Esaias, when he saw His
(i.e. Christ’s) glory, and spake of Him." And St. Paul, referring afterwards to
the same, says, "Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our
fathers." (See John 12:41; and Acts 28:25.) But I instance merely this place;
for I have no design to go into the divine testimonies to this truth which might
be derived from the Old Testament. But when the work of the Son was
accomplished, and He had risen from the dead, and was about to depart unto the
Father, the full manifestation of God was made, for then the due time for this
had come; and the commission to the apostles was this: "Go ye, therefore, and
teach all nations, baptising them unto the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost." And this was just the time, as I have observed (as
doubtless everything in scripture is perfect), for the revelation of this glory.
The work had now been done by the Son which had been given to Him by the Father
to do; and the Holy Ghost was about to be sent down to make that work effectual
in and to the church. Therefore the saints were now to be brought into the
knowledge of God, and baptised in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost. But so likewise is the church blest in Him, the benediction
pronounced upon the saints formally and fully running thus — "The grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be
with you all." And from these things, if we had nothing further, we know Him
"with whom we have to do," to whose name we have been thus baptized, and in
whose grace, love, and communion, we thus have our life and blessing. But there
is much more than this. The scriptures of the New Testament throughout assume
that which the form in baptism thus distinctly declares. There is not the
constant repetition of the already declared truth in a full formal manner; but
there is the constant assumption of it, and the presenting of it in its moral
power.

I will just instance the passages which, on the moment, without an effort occur
to me.

"For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." (Ephesians
2:18).

"And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and
toward all men, even as we do toward you: to the end He may stablish your hearts
unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ with all His saints" (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13).

"And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient
waiting for Christ" (2 Thessalonians 3:5).

"Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification
of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ (1
Peter 1:2).

"He saved us by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
which He shed on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour" (Titus 3:5).
In passages like these, the truth already declared in baptism is assumed and
shown farther out in its moral power and relation to us: and we learn that as
saints, we are vitally concerned in the actings of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost. And we are saints by thus knowing God (having fellowship with the
power and grace of our God) through His own actings — the only way in which He
ever can be known; for man’s thoughts will never discover Him, and will
therefore leave him but a worshipper of idols still. And this should teach the
church of God that she dare not recognise any one who does not thus stand with
her in the knowledge of God, to whose name we have been baptised, and with whose
blessing we are blest. I am confining myself here rather to the doctrine of the
word concerning the Holy Ghost; for that was the subject between us. We did not
so much speak as to the Deity of the Lord Jesus. As to the person of the Holy
Ghost, I would then further say, that a full revelation of Him is made, not only
in the Baptismal and Benedictory forms; but also, though in another manner, by
our Lord to His apostles in John 14-16, and there, too, I would again say, in
due time as we may thus see. When our Lord spake those words, it was just after
He had told His disciples that He was about to be withdrawn from them. Such a
declaration filled them (as it well might, for they had given up all
companionship with Him, not as yet knowing Him in resurrection) with sorrow; and
in these chapters He brings them the consolation. And the consolation He brings
them was twofold. —

1st. — He tells them that His present departure was not final separation, but
that He was going away only to prepare a place for them in the Father’s house,
and that He would return and receive them to Himself. This was great
consolation, but this was not all; for —

2nd. — He tells them that in the meanwhile, while He was thus absent from them,
and abiding with the Father, He would send the Comforter, the Spirit of truth,
to be with them, and that He would do wondrous and blessed service for them,
such even as His own presence with them could never accomplish. What this
promised service of the Holy Ghost for the church was, I will not here detail:
it is graciously spread out before us in these chapters of St. John, as well as
in the other scriptures of the New Testament. But here it stood revealed by the
Lord to His apostles, that the Holy Ghost was to be with them, and in them, when
He Himself had returned, and was for a while with the Father. Such is the
revelation of the person of the Holy Ghost to the saints, such the blessed
promise from the departing Son of God, that the Spirit of truth should come to
make effectual to their souls, the testimony which He the Son had given to the
Father, and to seal upon their hearts all the life, and joy, and power of that
calling, which had been prepared for them before the world was.

Here the church rests — here she abides in peaceful assured joy, knowing that
God in all His fulness is for her, that her security depends on no
creature-strength, but that God Himself began, did continue, and is now ending
her salvation; that what in covenant had of old been planned for her, God
manifest in flesh had wrought out, and God the Holy Ghost is now making
effectual, to the joy of all who believe. This is the blessed way in which, if I
may so speak, scripture vindicates the Baptismal form; this is the way in which
the name of God, there fully and formally published, is made known in life and
power.

I would further say, that without this there would be the giving of God’s glory
to another. For not only is equal honour required for the Son (John 5), but the
Holy Ghost stands with the Father and the Son, as we have seen, in the work
which is doing for poor sinners, the divine work of salvation. The subjection of
the Son to the Father, and again of the Holy Ghost to the ascended and glorified
Son of Man, is abundantly exhibited in scripture, and more than exhibited, for
we are instructed in the need of these things. The Lord says, "The Son can do
nothing from Himself;" and again, speaking of the promised Comforter, "He shall
not speak from Himself" (John 5:19; John 16:13); both passages intimating
distinctly these subjections. And we learn the need of this wondrous and blessed
economy. What could have cancelled the offence of Adam, the offence of a
creature seeking to be as God? What could have preserved the honour of the
throne of God while extending pardon to the seed of this Adam, but Jehovah’s
fellow being Himself smitten, and He that was in the form of God emptying
Himself? This we learn was the needed way in which God could be just and the
justifier of sinners (Romans 3:1-31). And what power less than that of God could
make the work effectual to us? Having begun in God, are we to be made perfect in
the creature? He that has been sent to be with the church, while travelling here
in weakness and patience during the dreary night of her Lord’s absence, is the
Spirit Himself the Lord, who during that night is sought unto and trusted in to
direct our "hearts into the love of God, and the patient waiting for Christ."

I know there may be perplexities in the thoughts of the saints at times on many
of the great matters of revelation, and Satan is busy to corrupt the mind from
the simplicity that is in Christ. But his advantages are gained, because he
finds something in us. I am conscious of this. It is the god of the world that
blinds the mind, it is the evil heart that departs from the living God. At the
root of many of our difficulties there is a real, though it may be undetected,
desire to keep God at a distance. Just (as has been observed by another), as
with the children of Israel in the wilderness. It was not because the manna was
not pleasant, for we are told it was as coriander seed, sweet as honey; but
still they loathed it; and why? It came from the hand of God — it brought God
too nigh to them. And in like manner, the world is at enmity with the doctrine
of the cross; and why? It brings God too nigh to us; it brings Him to us in such
an amazing light of love as overwhelms us; it is too much for the narrow heart
of man; it rebukes his selfishness, and he seeks relief from it in the law of
works. This is illustrated in the young man in Matthew 19. It was because he was
covetous, that he was asking, "What good thing shall I do?" And so the Godhead
of Him who now dwells in the church is a truth that in like manner brings God
blessedly nigh to us.

I have not here so much spoken of the person of our Lord Jesus, because, as I
have observed, this was not so much the subject of our conversation. But I would
just observe, that the revelation of the Son, with the Father and the Holy
Ghost, in the Godhead, is made to us also in the baptismal form; and in that
particular (as in the other which I have above considered) all subsequent
scripture vindicates that form, assuming the truth therein contained, and
showing out its moral life and power. The work which the Lord has accomplished
for the church, and the affections which the scriptures claim for Him from her,
bring her before Him as God her Saviour. Some speak of a subordinate deity, of
God in an inferior order; but the church knows no such mythology, as indeed I
cannot refrain from calling it. "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord;"
and "the Son of God is come to give us an understanding, that we may know Him
that is true; and we are in Him that is true, in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is
the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1
John 5:20-21). But the church has also learnt the subjection of the Son — that
He said, in the volume of the book (in purpose, before the world was), "Lo, I
come;" — that, like the voluntary servant in Israel (and how voluntary, if in
any sense He had been debtor as an inferior?), He has had his ear bored for
perpetual service (Exodus 21:1-36; Psalms 40:1-17; Isaiah 50:1-11). Blessed be
His name for such unsearchable riches of grace! But all this only verifies His
true deity, and verifies the revelation that He stands with the Father and the
Holy Ghost in that name which is God, unto which, to know, love, and worship
Him, we have been baptised.

I do not desire, dear sir, to multiply thoughts needlessly on this subject,
though (I confess to you) it is not grievous; for it is sweet occupation to go
over and over again those ever blessed revelations of Him who is ours in purpose
and everlasting love, who has displayed His full name to us. But my direct
purpose now is to show you the grounds why I assuredly judge that the church of
God must, in order to her fellowship, require a confession to the name of the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. This is God, because this is the
revelation; for without revelation of Himself He is not to be known. No thought
of ours will do anything more than (at their best) leave us refined idolaters.
God must witness Himself to us; and that He has done in His actings for His
saints in the work of their everlasting salvation; which actings have brought
out to them that blessed One with Whom they have to do, in Whose name they have
been baptised, with Whose blessing they are blest — Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

I would add here what I have omitted (for I have followed my thoughts very much,
as I was led, without order), that the Holy Ghost is not personally put before
us in the way that "the Father" and our Lord Jesus are in the New Testament
generally. For the Holy Ghost is now in the church, the life of her worship, and
the strength of her service; by His indwelling, He is making known to us the
glory of the ascended Son (or His Lordship), and the Fatherly character and love
of our God. Hence all the Epistles open somewhat in this way," To the church. .
. Grace, etc., from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ." But in the
Apocalypse, where the revelation was conveyed by the ministry of an angel, the
salutation runs thus — "Grace be unto you, and peace from Him which is, and
which was, and which is to come; and from the seven spirits which are before His
throne; and from Jesus Christ the faithful Witness, the First-begotten of the
dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth." But I will not go farther, dear
sir. I had thought to have sent you this on — , but I have been unexpectedly
interrupted. You will, I trust, believe that I have but the kindest thoughts
towards you. You may judge me, after reading this, to be narrow-minded and
bigoted, insisting on that which I have learnt by tradition from my fathers. But
I do pray that this may not be your last thought upon it, but that you may stand
in the confession of the name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, with those who
have, in every age of the Church since Jesus ascended and sent down the Holy
Ghost, approved themselves as the saints of God, and witnessed and lived for
their Lord in this evil world, and who have gathered all their joy and strength
for present service, and all their confidence and ground of hope for future rest
and glory, from the blessed and gracious God who has thus revealed His full name
to them, and given Himself to them and for them. Yours, very truly (in the
remembrance that Jesus is my Lord), J. G. B.


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  CHAPTER 25: THE SPIRIT OF GOD
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The Spirit of God

W. Kelly.

"The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, After me
cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. And I knew him
not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come
baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending
like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to
baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit
descending, and remaining upon him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy
Ghost" (John 1:29-33).

Two works of our Lord are referred to here — what may be called His great
earthly work, and His great heavenly work. On earth His work is — and what can
be so great? — to take away the sin of the world; not only the sins of us who
believe, but the sin of the world. Did you ever, by the way, know one that
quoted the phrase correctly? Have you ever seen it employed aright in any
liturgy that ever was framed? I do not recollect it so much as even once,
although familiar with rather many of such compilations. Evidently, the truth
intended is not before hearts, nor even understood, but confounded with
something different; and hence men cite the words falsely. This shows the
all-importance for the truth of cleaving to the only unerring standard, the
written word of God. Christ is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the
world; but the Holy Ghost in this connection carefully abstains from saying
"sins." It is constantly assumed, when persons read the passage, that Christ has
taken away the "sins" of the world. Now this would be another thing altogether,
and confounds the text with 1 Peter 2:24. When John the Baptist gave his
testimony, in pointing Him out to his disciples, saying, "Behold, the Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world," he did not mean that He was then
effecting it, nor yet that, when He died on the cross, the sin of the world
would as yet come to an end. Then and there no doubt He laid the basis for
taking it away. The only work which could ever take away the sin of the world
was the blood-shedding of the Lamb of God. Yet the sin of the world is not yet
gone. If sin were taken away out of the world, no wickedness could be known or
exist anywhere longer. There would not be an atom of evil left.

When, then, will the sin, that the Lamb died to take away from the world, be
clean and for ever banished from it? In the new heavens and the new earth,
wherein dwelleth righteousness. It will not vanish away till then. As believers,
your sins are undoubtedly forgiven, but this is another thing. Your sins are now
blotted out by the precious blood of Jesus if you believe on Him, "whereof the
Holy Ghost is also a witness to us" (Hebrews 10:15-17). Hence we read: "You now
hath he reconciled" (Colossians 1:21); but He has not yet reconciled "all
things" (Colossians 1:20). He has shed His blood for the purpose, and that blood
is beyond doubt a perfectly efficacious sacrifice, whereby all things are surely
to be reconciled to God; but they are not reconciled till He comes again. There
is still suffering, sorrow, and death; there is corruption and violence,
unblushing idolatry, and heartless infidelity; there is still every kind of
human iniquity and rebellion against God going on in the world as much as ever.
Yet the work which, as a righteous ground before God, will remove all this evil
out of the world, is done; and God has accepted it but not yet applied it to the
world, though He is so doing to believers. When the Lord takes the
world-kingdom, it will be richly applied and for a long while, but not in
absolute and everlasting fulness, till "the new heavens, and the new earth,
wherein dwelleth righteousness." Then there will be left remaining no more sin
nor effect of sin in the world. It will be completely gone. Then will it be
proved how true it is that Jesus is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of
the world.

I am aware that people lay stress upon the fact that John said, "which taketh
away," as if it were then going on; but this is a very ignorant way of using
Scripture. For instance, one goes into a druggist’s shop and gets there a bottle
of laudanum labelled "Poison." This does not mean that the poison is working
now. If the druggist says it is laudanum which kills a man, he does not mean
that it is then doing its work, but simply that, when it is applied to a man, it
will kill him. People confound what is called the absolute or ethical present
with the actual present. One is sorry to be obliged to use high-sounding words
about this matter; but it is difficult to convey what is wanted in simpler
language, and it is important that it should be conveyed accurately. Even
learned and devoted men — and you know very well that I do not wish at all to
question their ability — have sadly mistaken in this matter. But a man may be a
great scholar, and not wise in Scripture. Not a few of the greatest scholars
have been rather heterodox. Great learning does not necessarily give even good
sense. Further, a man may have both learning and good sense; and yet not be
spiritual. If you had ever such ability and attainments, you would still require
the teaching of the Spirit. Assuredly this is what one constantly finds if much
used to commentaries and writings upon the Scripture, as some Christians have
been in their time. You would find it dull work to pore over their discussions,
if you had reason to examine the folios and quartos that have passed through the
press; you would prove how very little Biblical learning has to do with the real
intelligence of the word of God. Learned as many of the writers of these
commentaries were — and some of them were also able men indeed — yet somehow or
other, when they took up the Scriptures, they failed to apply Christ as the one
key to unlock all. They rarely seem to speak out of the possession of the truth;
and this is the only way to understand the Bible. You can never understand it
unless you have Christ and Christ’s work, and its present result in power for
the soul, clearly before you, in order out of this to interpret the word of God,
which then to a large extent becomes an explanation in God’s own language of
what you have already got. You have already life in the Son of God if you are a
believer; you have by His blood the forgiveness of your sins; you have by faith
entered the family of God as His children, and have been sealed by the Spirit
till the day of redemption.

Let me bring the matter home to you. I had great difficulty in finding a few
verses of a Paraphrase which we might sing to-night in a certain connection with
my subject. Be assured that I do not wish to find fault — the very reverse. But
then I could not agree to sing what was not true. I should have liked to have
found something scriptural to celebrate about the Spirit; but I could not. I
found a prayer to seal us by His Spirit. But how could one sing that, any more
than, when I put my coat upon my back, I could ask a man to put it there? If you
are sealed, it is a fact, and it is a fact that abides. It is not an
uncertainty. It is not something that requires to be repeated. There is no such
thing as being again sealed by the Spirit. It is not a partial blessing, or
constantly in need of renewal, just as you have to take food every few hours.
This is not the case with the sealing of the Holy Spirit. It is a privilege once
given which continues, however important it is that we should not grieve Him but
be dependent on His action and be filled with Him. Clearly then he who wrote the
Paraphrase referred to was not aware of this; and the consequence is that he was
in no little uncertainty when he came to the Spirit’s operations. I see in the
LXth Paraphrase, and no doubt it is the same all through, "Oh, may Thy Spirit
seal our souls." I could not sing this, nor could I ask you to sing it; because,
if I believe the Scriptures, He has sealed my soul, and He has sealed yours if
you are now children of God in the liberty of Christ. If you are not in liberty,
you need to be sealed. It is the sealing of the Spirit that brings, not life
but, liberty into the soul. You recollect the apostle’s words — "Where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." Now, in a previous verse of the same
chapter he says "The letter killeth" (referring to the law), "but the spirit
giveth life." Thus, if one take up the Old Testament and abide in the mere
letter, no spiritual blessing is gained. If one take, for instance, the various
offerings and merely think of a Jew bringing his bullock or sheep, or perhaps a
pair of birds, to the altar, what is there in this to quicken the soul? Nothing.
The consequence then was that the Jews who simply brought their birds or beasts
to the altar lived and died Jews, and never went to heaven at all. But any of us
drawing from these symbols that there is Another who must settle his case with
God, that there was to be an unblemished One to take up the cause of the sinner
atoningly, and that this sacrifice is none other than Christ’s, passes at once
from dead offerings to the Lord made sin on the cross. There is the spirit that
quickens. When a man is quickened, he does not always receive liberty. I have
known a soul (who, I cannot doubt, being quickened, has gone for thirty or forty
years without being sealed at all) to remain still in great bondage of spirit, a
lady who passes too much of her time in capricious judgments, too harsh here,
too light there; the end of all which is that she finds the word a two-edged
sword, which, while it has an edge against other people, has also one against
herself. Constantly doubting whether such or such a person is saved, she goes
from one thing or person to another, but always comes back to herself, and never
yet has seen for her own soul that God rolled everything upon Christ, never yet
for her own need been able to rest on Him as the Lamb. The consequence is that
she is not what Scripture calls "saved." It is not that she doubts He is the Son
of God, but she constantly hesitates about her own interest in Him when it comes
to the point. She is like a person who would say, "I am not content with the
High Priest confessing the sins of the people. If I could only hear Him
mentioning my name and my sins, it would give me true comfort; but I only hear
about sins in general, which I cannot believe to be a confession for me." This
is not the faith of the gospel really. The word of God’s good news says,
"Whosoever," for He knew a great deal better than to indulge souls in such
delusions.

Supposing for a moment, that there was such a thing as naming anybody, do you
not know that there may be hundreds of the same name? Thus a person would on
this principle be always in doubt whether his own sins were really confessed: so
that, if one were to be indulged in a desire so selfish, neither he nor others
could ever get solid peace at all. Graciously therefore does God say
"Whosoever." Surely any of you that have had questions about your soul are
covered by the words "whosoever believeth." Again, "If any man thirst." Just see
the blessed ways God has taken to open the door and to bring sinners in. He
loves to save. It is the delight of God to reconcile to Himself. It is glory to
the name of Jesus when a poor sinner comes and casts himself upon His precious
blood. He is the Lamb of God, and the very fact that He is so is the best
possible ground for a soul to come now, no matter who he may be or what he may
have done.

It is not true that Christ has taken away — still less that he was then taking
away — the sins of the world; for if this were done, not a single soul would be
sent to hell. Everybody would be saved if all the sins were taken away. If faith
were still necessary in order to apply it, the believer would be comparatively
uncertain, or in danger of self-righteousness; for all his difference from a
lost soul must then lie in what is personal: God’s grace would be the same
absolutely for all. But this contradicts Scripture. The consequence of this
mistake is the more serious, because it leads to other and if possible worse
mistakes. In the Roman Mass Book they say "The Lamb of God, which taketh away
the sins of the world." Christ, according to their doctrine, has taken away
everybody’s sins; but nobody gets to heaven unless, besides that, he is faithful
to the church, and does what the priest tells him — unless he obeys not only the
commands of God, but also those of the church, availing himself duly of the
seven Sacraments. And so there is a hope that, being thus faithful to the
church, he may get to heaven at last. Is it not a very poor kind of salvation?
Is it God’s?

It is God alone that can save; none but a divine person. The church needs to be
saved, and therefore cannot save. The whole notion is radically false, and while
opening the door to the delusion that everybody’s sins are gone, it brings
everybody’s sins upon them after all, because if after being baptised they sin
again, Christ does no good to them, and the whole work has to be done over
again. Such is the doctrine of the Council of Trent, yea of East as well as
West. Indeed it has so affected other bodies that there is scarcely any
Protestant body in Christendom that has not been more or less injured by this
dangerous departure from the word of God. This shows the importance of even one
letter. The "sin" of the world is right — "sins" would not be true. It is never
said that our sins are gone except to the believer. Where it is written that
Christ bore our sins in His own body on the tree, it is the believer’s sins that
are referred to. There is no such thing as His bearing the sins of every person
in the world; but if you come out of the world, if you confess the Lord Jesus
Christ as Saviour, you find your sins are gone. Christ has done the work. God
gives you to know by His word and Spirit that you are forgiven. This is the
doctrine of Scripture, so that there is the fullest comfort — without reserve,
and without hesitation — in virtue of the mighty work of the Lord Jesus. But the
full effect of His earthly work will only be when every trace of sin is gone in
the eternal scene of righteousness and glory.

We come now to His heavenly work. What can it be? Many are not aware that Christ
has done a great heavenly work. I do not speak of His priesthood, nor even of
His advocacy before the Father. He is a Priest to give us sympathy in our
suffering, and He is an Advocate to give us restoration when we have sinned. For
alas! you know believers may sin, and do sin; and the Lord Jesus is Advocate
with the Father; as John says — "If any man sin we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." But there is another blessed work that John
refers to here in the verses we have read, and what is that? "The same is he
which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." Yet the Lord Jesus never baptized with the
Holy Ghost till He went to heaven. It is from heaven that He does so, and this
is clearly brought before us in the Acts of the Apostles, to which you can now
refer. You may see it for yourselves clearly promised for the last time in Acts
1:4-5, "And being assembled together with [them], commanded them that they
should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which
[saith he] ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall
be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." Do not suppose that this
was confined to the apostles, or to those who were Christ’s immediate disciples.
The apostles were prominently before His mind, but not exclusively.

Accordingly in Acts 2:1-47 we find that, when they were all with one accord in
one place, suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty rushing wind,
which filled all the house. Just as the wind did then fill the house, so the
Holy Ghost came to constitute them God’s house. Cloven tongues, like as of fire,
sat upon each of them. There was the personal as well as the general presence of
the Spirit of God. He did not appear like a dove, but like cloven tongues of
fire. He came like a dove on the Lord Jesus; for the Lord Jesus had no sin: not
a taint of evil was in the flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was a perfect man,
not even knowing sin; and, that this might be, He was conceived of the Holy
Ghost. If He had been born in a natural way, He must have had sin; but the power
of the Highest counteracted this, so that He should be born of woman, yet "A
body hast thou prepared me" without sin. This wonderful truth was set forth in
the meal offering, where the flour was mingled with oil, without leaven, which
represents the corruption of our nature. But there was no leaven in the
meal-offering. Oil, the constant symbol of the Holy Ghost, was mingled with the
flour to make the cake, and, when the cake was made, oil was poured upon it.
This was admirably fulfilled in our Lord Jesus. First, the Holy Ghost came upon
the virgin, and the power of the Highest overshadowed her; and next, when He was
about thirty years of age, the Holy Ghost descended upon Him without blood,
because He was without sin. And God the Holy Ghost comes down on us. But see how
strikingly our case resembles, and yet is differentiated from, our Lord Jesus
Christ. We are of a sinful nature, but born of the Spirit. There is by the word
of God the action of the Holy Ghost: we are born of water and of the Spirit. The
Holy Ghost does not come on us until we rest on Christ’s redemption. The problem
was, How could the Holy Ghost come and dwell in what was unclean? Now the
efficacy of the blood of Christ is to make us perfectly clean in the sight of
God. This is what redemption does. The precious blood of Christ "cleanseth us,"
it is said in Scripture, "from all sin." Do you believe it? Do you really bow to
what God declares, that "the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from
all sin"? We see the reason why the Holy Ghost was never before given to a
sinful man. I do not say He never operated on such; on the contrary He did so in
every believer since Abel. But He never was given, never sealed a believer, till
the blood of Christ left him without spot or stain. There is the Spirit of God
quickening the soul when a man is a sinner; and there is the Spirit of God now
sealing him, when he, a believer, rests on the work of Christ. So our Lord Jesus
told the disciples that they were to be baptized with the Holy Ghost. They were
already quickened, being for years true believers, but they were not yet
baptized in the Holy Ghost. But now He goes up to heaven to send down the Holy
Ghost; and this is most distinctly shown in Acts 2:32-33, "This Jesus hath God
raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore, being by the right hand of
God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he
hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear." The Holy Ghost was given to
Christ twice — for Himself while He was upon the earth, for us when He went to
heaven: and this is the reason why the Holy Ghost never leaves the church,
because He is given to the church in virtue of Christ, and not because of our
good behaviour. The Holy Ghost is given to Him, and it is through Him and
because of Him that the Holy Ghost always abides. If the Holy Ghost were to
leave the church, it would be as good as saying that Christ was no longer worthy
of the Holy Ghost abiding. God could not say so; and this is what makes the Holy
Ghost so precious. And so the Lord told them in the fourteenth chapter of John,
"He shall abide with you for ever" (John 14:16). To be sure there are people who
do not believe this. I do not know whether it is the case now, but some forty
years ago it used to be a regular practice for known evangelical men to put
forth a little document every year calling for united prayer that the Holy
Spirit should be shed forth again on the church — that we should have a fresh
effusion of the Spirit of God. Is not this a very serious thing? Suppose that
people were to begin to pray at the end of the year that Christ should die
again! Everybody would look aghast, thinking it a denial of the faith. But is it
less really preposterous, is it not equally unbelieving, to pray for the Holy
Ghost to be given again? He is shed, and being shed, He abides for ever. Do you
tell me, that the Spirit is to be shed again in this world’s history? I grant
it; but this will be for Israel, and for the Gentiles when Israel believes, as
it is beautifully shown in the High-Priest going into the sanctuary and coming
out. Perhaps you recollect that the bells which were on the vestments of the
High Priest gave forth a sound when he went into the most holy place, and when
he came out. The bells ringing when he went in would answer to the gift of the
Spirit of God to us, the church, when our Lord went up on high; and the bells
ringing when he came out, to the fresh testimony of the Holy Spirit when Israel
shall be brought in. But there is no such doctrine as the Holy Ghost shed
repeatedly for the church. When He was sent down, He was given to abide with us
for ever. I am aware of all the darkness in the middle ages — of the revived
superstition and the fresh and abounding rationalism in the present age;
nevertheless, the Holy Ghost abides. Yet I do say that the Holy Ghost abides,
because Christ said it, after He obtained eternal redemption, as it was because
of this that He went up into heaven itself. It was not a temporary redemption,
like that of the Jews, who were taken out of Egypt, but might be carried off to
Babylon. It is otherwise with the church of God. The Lord Jesus brought in
eternal redemption, and the consequence is that the Holy Ghost comes down and
abides for ever. So far our Lord’s case differs, on Whom the Spirit came down
like a dove, because there was a perfect absence of evil; no question of the
smallest sin or taint, or anything to indicate corruption in our Lord. This
could not be said about us, and therefore did the Holy Ghost descend in the form
which He assumed for the disciples, "like as of fire." Fire always marks the
judgment of God. The Holy Ghost could not have come upon the disciples if there
had not been God’s judgment dealing with their sin in the work of Christ. But
there was more than this. There appeared cloven tongues, because it was to be a
question of testimony. Not so in Christ’s case; for He is the One testified of.
We are called to be witnesses of Him. We know but are not the truth; He only and
emphatically is the truth to be witnessed to. Cloven tongues formed a beautiful
emblem of the power of the Holy Ghost put forth in making believers witnesses to
our Lord Jesus Christ. Cloven tongues — no longer one language as of Canaan, but
more, every tongue of every nation under heaven — point not to Jew only but to
Gentile, so that the expressiveness of the symbol seems unmistakable.

Such then is the fact: let us now enter a little into the doctrine. Notice,
first, that the Spirit of God, and we are speaking of the gift of the Spirit, is
never mentioned until a man has already believed. Always bear this in mind. The
new birth makes a man a believer; the gift of the Spirit comes when he is a
believer. The gift of the Spirit brings him into liberty — not into life. The
truth of Christ brings him life, and the Spirit of God takes His part in
quickening; but the Holy Ghost is given to him already a believer; and this
seals him in perfect liberty. For this reason you wilt observe that in the
earlier chapters of the Epistle to the Romans we have the sinner looking to
Christ and His blood, and not one word about the Holy Ghost yet, because the
idea is to present Christ, not to distract him with what works within him. The
Spirit does work in order that he may look to the true object, but the Holy
Ghost is never an object of faith, which Christ is. When a man has received the
gospel, when he rests upon the blood of Christ, the love of God is shed abroad
in his heart by the Holy Ghost given. This is the first mention of the Holy
Ghost in the Epistle to the Romans. We come to no less than the fifth chapter
before there is any allusion to the working of the Holy Ghost in the believer;
and then we hear of the love of God shed abroad in the believer’s heart by the
Holy Ghost.

"Perfect love casteth out fear." (1 John 4:18) But it is God’s. Whenever we turn
upon our own love, or take any satisfaction from it, it is a poor sign of state
or faith. Real love always has a high ideal of the object that is loved, but
never of itself. God’s love in Jesus is a perfect love, and casteth out fear.
There is no perfect love except the love of God in our case, not ours to God,
but His to us. His is perfect love, and only so; and this alone casts out fear.
I know that He loves me so perfectly that He not only gave His Son to come down
and bear my sins on the cross, but that I should be as He is in heaven. There
are two ways in which Christ shows perfect love: first, by coming down to bear
all my sins and stripes; secondly, by going up to heaven to give me His glory.
Meanwhile He sheds on me the Spirit, that God may dwell in me and I in God. Such
is the perfect love of God. Christ was carrying out God’s mind, God’s
affections, God’s great purposes; and all this is exactly what the Holy Ghost
bears witness to. "For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen,
unto the glory of God by us. Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and
hath anointed us, is God, who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the
Spirit in our hearts." (2 Corinthians 1:20-22)

Passing over some most instructive chapters in the Epistle to the Romans we come
to the eighth, where we are told — "There is therefore now no condemnation to
them which are in Christ Jesus." We need not read the next clause, because it
ought not to be there; and one may safely venture to predict that, when the new
version of the Scriptures comes out, none will find it there. [See now R.V.]
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus; for
the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of
sin and death." (Romans 8:1-2) This is the first reason assigned why there is no
condemnation — sin and death are no longer a law to the believer, because the
Spirit of life in Christ risen has liberated him. He has a new life; and the
Holy Ghost has been given to him. "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
hath made me free from the law of sin and death." The allusion is to what the
Lord did on the day that He rose from the dead. He told Mary Magdalene to go and
tell His disciples, "I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and
your God." (John 20:17) This was His message. He put the disciples, as far as
could be, in precisely the same relationship with God as Himself. He could give
them (not Godhead, but) the place He had as the risen man before God. Up to that
time the bearing of sin, and death in rejection and atonement, were always
before Him. Now everything evil was behind Him, and glory in heaven before Him.
Now He says, this is your position as well as Mine: "I ascend unto my Father and
your Father, and to my God and your God." And that message brought the disciples
together, "the doors being shut for fear of the Jews," and the Lord entered the
closed doors just as easily as if they had been open. (John 20:19)

You will notice that the first thing He did — after giving them the comforting
announcement of peace, peace for them, and peace for others — was to breathe
upon them. And what breath was that? His resurrection breath — life in
resurrection power — "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." (John 20:22) It was the
resurrection life of Christ breathed into the souls of the disciples. I do not
say that it was a thing that could be felt physically, or seen, of course. Such
is not the nature of the spiritual life. The wind may be a figure of it, but it
is not a material thing palpable in an outward way. Yet it is a reality — a
present reality — much more so than the old life, which itself is quite
impalpable. The wisest who cry up the present time are no wiser on this point
than the sages of former times. Yet life is not more momentous than wonderful;
and how solemn to think that, when it leaves the body, all efforts to restore it
fail! You may galvanise a dead body and make the limbs move, but electricity is
not life. Even in natural life you come to a barrier that no science can
penetrate — no microscope can discern, no tests can analyse; but there it is, an
inexplicable secret to man — a thing that shows the finger of God, where all the
discoveries of science only bring out more clearly the fact that man cannot
solve its enigma.

If such is the case with natural life, how much more so is it with the spiritual
— that life that comes from Christ and enjoys Him for ever! With this law the
Christian has to do, as the Jew with the ministry of death and condemnation
written on stones: "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me
free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:2) Death, of course, was the end
of the first man. The resurrection of Christ is the believer’s power of entrance
into the new condition where there is no change, or sin whatever. You may tell
me the Christian may sin, and quote passages from Scripture to prove that; but
they do not mean that the new life has sinned. It is because a man has not kept
the old life in order. The old man is like a wild beast, which you have to keep
like a wild beast under lock and key. We are responsible to do so. Nothing can
be more shameless than to hear a man who has broken out into sin say, "Oh, it
was not I that sinned, it was the weakness of the flesh." If you live in the
Spirit, you are bound to mortify the flesh with its affections and lusts. It is
unchristian-like for any man to excuse his wickedness by talking about the
flesh. No doubt it is the fact; but he is bound to keep the flesh under, and
there is power in the Holy Ghost given him to deal with the old man. In
Galatians 5:17, correctly translated, we read — "The flesh lusteth against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the
other; that ye may not do the things that ye would." Our version runs, "So that
ye cannot do the things that ye would"; but this is quite wrong. What the word
of God, properly rendered, says is good and true, "That ye do not the things
that ye would." The Holy Ghost is given to the believer, and the action of the
Spirit is directly contrary to the flesh, as the flesh is contrary to the
Spirit. "Lo, I come," said Christ — who indeed was the only one that could say
it unwaveringly — "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God"; but we are responsible,
being set apart for the purpose — sanctified unto obedience and the sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ. This does not mean that we are merely to obey and
that the blood of Christ repairs our disobedience. The meaning is that we are
sanctified to the same kind of obedience as Christ, whose blood gives us
confidence that our sins are by grace forgiven. The allusion in 1 Peter 1:2 is
to what took place at mount Sinai, when blood was sprinkled on the people, and
they said, "All that the Lord hath said will we do." But they did not. They were
disobedient; and the blood witnessed that they must die the death because of
their disobedience. We start with the precious blood of Christ, while at the
same time we are called to obey as Christ did; and what comes in to meet our
delinquencies is confession of our sins, or the washing of water by the word.
This is the meaning of the washing of the disciples’ feet by the Lord Jesus
before He went to heaven. It was to show His own here the work He is gone to
heaven to do for them. Peter at first refused to let his feet be washed, and
then, when corrected, asked that his whole body should be washed; but he was
wrong in both respects. He did not know, if one be already washed with the
washing of regeneration, that no more is wanted for the removal of subsequent
faults than to have his feet washed. In other words, the particular evil that
may be contracted in walking through the world requires to be removed. "He that
is washed (bathed) needeth not save to wash his feet." If at first wholly
washed, as every believer is, he needs only partial cleansing, in other words
the washing of his feet, when he subsequently does wrong. Peter did not lose the
benefit of being born of water and the Spirit when he afterwards sinned
grievously. If not a true saint he would have gone and hanged himself, like
Judas. Therefore the very thing the Lord prayed for was that his faith should
not fail. Judas, in the despair of his heart, went and perished miserably. Peter
did not, although he committed a great sin, because the Lord prayed for him, and
afterwards indeed took particular notice of him — "Tell the disciples and Peter"
— the only one mentioned, and why? Because he was the one that most needed it.
How gracious is the Lord! How full of tender mercy! He is the spring, the
unfailing Giver of all grace. Once in Him all your sins are gone, and yourself
brought nigh as alive to God. This is the true place of every believer. "The law
of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin
in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who
walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit." (Romans 8:2-4)

You observe two reasons are given why there is no condemnation. The first is,
that Christ gives a life which God cannot condemn; whilst the second is, that
God has already condemned (not merely the sins, but) the sin that gave them
birth. The whole of our evil is already condemned in the cross of Christ — the
wondrous Christ of God. These are the two grounds why there is no condemnation.
And the effect is that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us. Not in
any Jew, but in every Christian; for every Christian loves God and loves his
neighbour, and these are the two great moral aims of the law. How can a
Christian not love God, who first loved him? And does not the Christian love his
neighbour? Does he not go forth every day of his life to serve not only his
neighbour and friend, but even his enemy? This is what the Christian is called
to; and this is what every real Christian does, although not so fully as he
ought, "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Just so far as a Christian walks in the
Spirit is the righteousness of the law fulfilled in him. It is a remarkable fact
that the people who were under the law never kept it, and that those who are not
under the law are the only people that do keep it, and this because of the
delivering power that God has brought in through Christ.

Let me here recall to your notice the constant danger of a soul that has been
awakened, to mix up the work of the Spirit with that of Christ. It is always on
the look out for fruits. As you are, you had better say nothing about fruits
yet. If you seek to find fruits before you enter into peace with God, you never
can find peace. No man ever found peace with God by looking within himself; and
God never meant any to find peace save by turning to Christ. Do you not hear Him
saying, "Having made peace by the blood of His cross?" This is not within but
without you. It is something wrought for you by Christ, and Christ alone: and
the quickening of the Spirit is not to furnish ground for peace within you, but
to prove that you are nothing but a poor guilty sinner; thus forcing you out of
yourself to rest on the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The tendency of the
anxious soul is to look within, for confirmatory marks of the Spirit. But so
long as he does not rest on the work of Christ, he never can have peace. For
saints there is another danger. When you have peace, beware of separating, as is
too often done, the Spirit from Christ. Men say you need the Spirit of God to
sanctify you. Rather you need the Spirit of God constantly to direct your eyes
toward Christ. There are these two dangers then: one for a man who is just
awakened; the other for him who has found peace with God. The saint cannot go in
safety unless he has the Spirit of God fixing the eyes of his heart on the Lord
Jesus. This is the point the apostle refers to at the close of chap. 3 in the
Second Epistle to the Corinthians. But I would say a few words on a preceding
verse "Now the Lord is that spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there
is liberty"; (2 Corinthians 3:17) and I will show you how difficult it is — not
in reality, but in appearance — either to understand the Scriptures, or to give
them even a right outward form. People often think that if you have "spirit," or
any other word in a verse more than once, it must always bear the same meaning.
Here this is not the case. "The Lord is that spirit." How should "spirit" be
printed? I answer unhesitatingly, with a small "s." "Now the Lord is that
spirit." The "Spirit" would be downright heterodoxy. Who would tolerate such a
notion as that the Lord Jesus is the Holy Ghost? One can understand how in the
"Shepherd of Hermas" (a most offensive little treatise, and really heretical,
which in the second or third century used to be read in public worship) there
occurs a confusion and worse between the Lord Jesus and the Holy Ghost; but this
no where is or can be in Scripture. The fact is, that the meaning of the verse
is connected with what was quoted before. The apostle was contrasting the old
covenant with the new, and he says, "the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth
life." Christ, under the letter of the old, quickens; the letter of the old
without Christ does not. "Now," says he, "the Lord is the spirit," i.e., of the
old. The letter cannot quicken, but the spirit does. It is the Lord that is
meant by the Passover, Red Sea, Manna, etc., as also by the burnt, meat, peace,
and sin offerings; and so one might go through all the letter of the law. "The
Lord is the spirit"; and this is the reason why I should print "spirit" with a
small letter, though it is not so in my book. It may be different in your
Bibles. But if not, you must remember the copyists were not inspired, any more
than the printers, translators, or critical editors. The question is the bearing
of the truth of God; and I affirm that the doctrine which confounds the Lord
Jesus with the Spirit is not true. Is it not impossible, therefore, to print
"spirit" in that verse with a capital "S" consistently with truth? For this
would identify the second person of the Trinity with the third, which is wholly
untrue. But the moment you come to the next clause, "Where the Spirit of the
Lord is," you must have a capital "S," because the Holy Ghost is meant. The Lord
has gone on high, but the Holy Ghost is sent down below; and He it is who now
seals the believer, bringing him into liberty in Christ. Thus what the apostle
first lays down as a principle is that the spirit of the old forms of the law
always pointed to the Lord Jesus. "The Lord is the spirit." Then besides this,
the Spirit of the Lord is now come down from heaven to anoint the believer, and
seal him in virtue of redemption. Not a few passages might be quoted bearing on
the same point. I might go through almost the whole of the epistle with the same
result, each having its own special bearing, and all perfectly harmonious; but
this is scarce necessary.

What I want is to lay before your souls the truth of God as to this the great
Christian privilege. Have you not only Christ for your life, but the
consciousness that your body is the temple of God? I know there are many who
would think this a most extraordinary thing to claim. Let me tell you that — "If
any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his"; (Romans 8:9) he does
not belong to the Lord as a Christian unless he be sealed. He may be quickened,
born of God, and converted. But the proper power, the true distinctive mark, of
a Christian is that he is sealed with the Spirit; and the sealing of the Spirit
comes in answer to the redemption of Christ Jesus.

Wake up then, wake up, beloved children of God, to your great privileges! Those
who are ignorant of the gospel may call you presumptuous. In truth you can never
worship or serve God as you ought, if you do not enjoy your proper privileges.
You need to do so in order to be at home with God, to gain confidence in His
love, and glorify Him. The spring of all power to perform duty depends on the
simplicity with which your soul enters into your relationship with Christ. Even
in common life relationship affects, as it should govern, all our actions. The
duty of a servant is quite different from that of a master; and a similar rule
holds good in all our social relationships. There is a walk, and a worship too,
belonging to the children of God, and to none else. You cannot mix men of the
world with those that are of God without dishonouring Him. Indeed the effect of
such a union is ruin practically to the souls of both; because, as the child of
God cannot raise up the worldly to his own level, he must come down to the level
more or less of the worldly man; and this is why in many of the liturgies they
mingle both in an offensive alliance that suits neither, with language of a
wholly inconsistent kind. A Christian is not getting forward with God who tries
to please both world and church; if he follows God’s way, all will go well with
him. We are members of the family of God — heirs of God with Jesus Christ. Even
on earth the family life is the highest type of bliss for man. And God has a
family, in whose well-being He takes special delight. Suppose a person were to
go into a household, and, pretending himself a friend of the children, should
put it into their heads that possibly the chief of the house was not their
father, you would say, "What a villain he is, to try and spoil all the peace of
that family!" And if this would be bad in your families, to play a like part is
a great deal worse in God’s family. It is as insulting to God as it is injurious
to His children; and though people may do what they like with God for a while,
the day is coming when they will have to own their folly and sin.

I beseech you, therefore, to be faithful to the Lord. Let me urge on you, in the
name of the Lord Jesus to search and see whether these things are so. If you are
not children of God, the door is open, the way is clear, the Saviour is waiting.
If you simply come as poor sinners, the Lord will in no wise cast you out. But
come as sinners in the sense of your sheer need, in the confidence of His grace.
Do not come as if there were a doubt that had to be cleared whether you could
succeed or not; and the Saviour will meet and serve you at once. When the
Syro-Phoenician woman came, she spoke as a Jew. She cried, "Son of David." What
right had she to say, "Son of David, have mercy on me"? No more right than a
Frenchman has to repair to an English consul and ask his assistance; let him go
to the French consul. The Son of David was for Jews. When the two blind men so
appealed in Matthew 9, had they to wait for an answer of peace, when they
confessed their faith? When two more at the end made the same call near Jericho,
did the gracious One rebuke, or reply in grace? The woman of Canaan was wrong —
somewhat as worldly people when they say, "Our Father, who art in heaven"; for
He is not their Father at all, but will judge them by the Lord Jesus. But if a
person comes and says, "God be merciful to me a sinner," will He then say them
nay? The Lord would not at first answer the woman’s prayer, because she went on
mistaken ground. And when the disciples would have done with the case, ashamed
of her crying after them, He had to correct their impatience with His
maintenance of God’s order: "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house
of Israel." Then she said, "Lord, help me!" When she dropped to this, the Lord
answered her, "It is not meet to take the children’s bread and to cast it to
dogs." The moment she hears it, the truth flashes on her soul that she was not
of the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but a dog. She sinks to the lowest
place, and says, "Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from
their masters’ table." She took the place of truth, and got the blessing of
grace. The lack of this keeps many souls from obtaining the blessing. They are
unconsciously in a false position. They assume to be worshippers when they
should not. If they confessed themselves poor sinners needing to be saved, they
would find the Saviour at once. If you can and do say, Abba, Father, be assured
you have the Holy Ghost; and if not progressing in the Christian race, see and
judge what hinders you, and if you are not grieving the Holy Ghost; search the
word of God, and follow Christ! Amen.

W. K.


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  CHAPTER 26: THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH
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The Spirit of Truth

J. McBroom.

Contents THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH THE SPIRIT CONTROLLING ALL THINGS IN VIEW OF THE
INCARNATION THE SPIRIT IN RELATION TO THE INCARNATION, ATONEMENT AND
INAUGURATION OF THE NEW ETERNAL SYSTEM THE SPIRIT IN RELATION TO THE KINGDOM OF
GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT IN RELATION TO THE HOUSE OF GOD THE SPIRIT IN RELATION TO
THE ASSEMBLY AS THE BODY OF CHRIST THE WEALTH OF GOD THE DEPTH OF GOD’S WISDOM
THE DEPTH OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

Appendix

Note A Note B The Kingdom Note C The House of God Note D The Body of Christ Note
E The Rainbow To the Reader. This booklet is complement to two others, one, "The
Beauty of the Lord," and the other, "The God of Glory." It was felt that after
putting out a meditation upon God which necessarily led to the Father, and one
on the Son, our glorious Lord, a word was called for on The Spirit. In this way,
the three make a meditation upon GOD. In the New Testament we have the
revelation of God — Father, Son and Spirit — in the Son. It is there we learn
that God is ONE (1 Timothy 2:5) yet THREE (Matthew 28:18-19). One in Essence or
Essential Being; Three in Person. In the Old Testament The Lord our God is one
Lord (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) in contrast with Polytheism. In the New Testament HE is
One in contrast with Tritheism. Revelation may far outstretch our creature
thought, but never goes against, or clashes with it. We may apprehend but never
comprehend. We learn, therefore, that "God is One," is different in sense from
what He is as Three. The former being impersonal and expressive of Him in His
Eternal Omnipotence, Omniscience and Omnipresence. "Heaven is My throne, earth
is My footstool." The latter shows us that within that Essence or Substance
there are three Subsistances or Persons in holy and intrinsic relation dwelling
together in LOVE. This we also learn is the nature of God from Whom comes the
counsels of eternity, and follow on through Scripture to see how each One in the
Holy Trinity engages in relation to and with the Others in carrying into effect
the one eternal plan.

This, then, is the subject of the three booklets: and the Holy Spirit being the
One Who carries out the subjective work in our souls, we may expect to get with
Him this rich, deep and blessed fulness of revelation.

J. McBroom. THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH by James McBroom

Much is said in Holy Scripture concerning the knowledge of God, and nothing
within the range of human thought can equal It. In two former booklets entitled
"The God of Glory" and "The Beauty of the Lord," we sought to dwell a little on
God the Father in the one, and God the Son in the other. Seeing the Godhead
subsists in Trinity, we felt something should be said on God the Holy Spirit,
and we ask the reader to accompany us for a little, in a meditation on that
blessed Person. It is to Him we are indebted for the Holy Scriptures; the record
of the revelation of Who God is; and what He does, so that all we know, or can
know is from Him. Moreover, it is by His operation in our souls, we are made
capable of availing ourselves of the revelation He has given us. The Holy
Trinity is presented as Three in One. This, faith accepts, though it be beyond
creature comprehension. There is much we believe even in our creature
constitution which we cannot fully understand. While we are anxious to avoid
negatives here, it may be said that in applying numerals, it is not three in the
same way, or in the same sense as They are One — Three Persons in one Essence.
This, though beyond us, is not out of bearing with sense, as are some of the
delusions of the present day. But if God is one in Essence, there are within
that Essence, or Substance, three Persons, each standing in relation to the
other as Father, Son and Spirit. Essence gives us an impersonal thought by which
we can understand that He fills all space and permeates the universe with life,
glory, and majesty. Ephesians 4:6. "Heaven is My throne." Psalms 11:4. Acts
7:49. As such there is one mind, purpose, will and plan, hence, what is true of
One, is true of all Three. This explodes for ever what speculative theology has
pre-supposed namely, a conflict within the Godhead. To raise a moral question
like that would be equal to saying, that God can be at variance with Himself.

God is a Spirit, infinite, Eternal and unchangeable in His Being; full of power,
holiness, justice, mercy, goodness and truth. In His natural attributes there is
first His eternity. " Art Thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God?" Habakkuk
1:12; Inscrutability. "Even from everlasting to everlasting Thou art God."
Psalms 90:2; Omnipotence. "With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26.
"The blessed and only Potentate." 1 Timothy 6:15; Omnipresence. "Whither shall I
go from Thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up
into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Even there shall Thy hand lead me and Thy right hand shall hold me." Psalms
139:7-10. The moral attributes are descriptive of His nature and character and
come out fully in the working out of purpose in His time ways among men. Thus
Righteousness and Holiness describe His character and spring from His nature
which is love. 1 John 4:8-14. This last is absolute and exists eternally as
constantly reciprocated within the Godhead. He is also Light, but this is
relative as standing in relation to darkness and is the exposure of sin,
lawlessness and moral disorder. In the very nature of things, what is true of
One, is true of all Three as we have said, yet in the working out of the eternal
plan, each takes His Own place in relation to the Others. The Father is He by
whom every family in heaven and in earth is named; He worketh all things after
the counsel of His Own will; He is above all, and through all and as to His
children, is in you all. Ephesians 3:15; Ephesians 1:11; Ephesians 4:6. The Son
creates. John 1:3. Colossians 1:16. Hebrews 1:2; Redeems. Romans 3:24; Ephesians
1:7. Colossians 1:14; He is also the Judge. John 5:22. By creation He brought in
the platform upon which the plan would be wrought out. He became Man to cleanse
it and put it on the stable basis of redemption and finally, He will put down
all that is offensive and rebellious against God. The Spirit performs the
subjective work, working for glory and adornment. His part in creation was to
garnish it. Job 26:13. His work in the saints is to array them in the beauty of
Christ. Luke 15:22. Colossians 3:12-14. To accomplish this, He uses the word of
God. He takes up His abode in the believer and thus becomes the subjective power
for spiritual instinct; intuition; inspiration; revelation; and illumination. In
this way it is the Holy Spirit which qualifies the saints for service whether
for conflict in the kingdom; Levitical service in the testimony; or worship in
the sanctuary. He is the power which qualifies for all moral activities whether
estimates, values or measures. See Note A. In the counsels of eternity we have a
scheme which is the necessity of the divine nature. It is neither dictatorial
nor arbitrary. Nor can we say it is the result of a formal agreement between
divine Persons. An agreement reached by consultation supposes the probability of
a different conclusion. This could not be possible here. God being LOVE in
nature, the definite plan is the moral necessity of Who and what He is. Although
one in essence, He subsists in three glorious Persons, each having His own day
in relation to the eternal plan or purpose. All the time ways of God in the Old
Testament had these THREE DAYS IN VIEW. The first is the Spirit’s day. It began
at Pentecost and will terminate when the Lord takes the Assembly home. Then will
begin the day of the Lord, an event which runs right through the millennial age,
and which terminates in the beginning of the day of God which is eternity. All
the dealings of God in the Old Testament are included in His time ways and while
these days displayed Him before the eyes of all creation, in His nature,
character and being, He remained hid behind the veil. All therefore was
probationary, testing man in his responsibility as an intelligent moral agent,
while governmentally providing both the ground and the material for the
fulfilment of His purpose. All was preparatory to the fulfilment of these
counsels by the incarnation of the Son, Who, by His death at Calvary, His
resurrection and ascension, laid the basis for the accomplishment of these
counsels and made way for the coming of the Spirit to inaugurate the new day. As
we shall see, we are dependent on the Holy Spirit for all we know of God in His
word, but through a misunderstanding or a mistranslation of John 16:13, it has
been thought that the Spirit tells us nothing about Himself. Competent
authorities tell us it ought to read thus, "He shall not speak from Himself."
Compare this with John 5:19, "The Son can do nothing of Himself." Both texts
show the mutual activities of Father, Son and Spirit. From the above remarks —
which were necessary to guard us from Tritheism on the one hand, which is three
gods, or Sabellianism on the other hand, which is one god with three different
names — we now proceed to dwell on the office and work of the Holy Spirit. 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. THE SPIRIT IN RELATION
TO THE INCARNATION, ATONEMENT AND INAUGURATION OF THE NEW ETERNAL SYSTEM. On the
first page of the New Testament, the Holy Spirit comes before us as preparing a
body for the Son. In prophetic language the Son had said, "The Lord God, and His
Spirit, hath sent Me." Isaiah 48:16. The angel of the Lord said unto Joseph.
"Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is
of the Holy Ghost." Matthew 1:20. Previous to that, Gabriel appeared unto the
Virgin Mary and said. "And behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring
forth a Son, and shalt call his name Jesus . . . . . . The Holy Ghost shall come
upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also
that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."
Luke 1:31-35. In this the most profound of all miracles, the whole Trinity was
engaged, and its repercussion was felt universally in heaven earth and hell. Our
Lord was sent, sealed and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. He began His ministry
from the Jordan, associating Himself with a remnant of His people in the Baptism
of John. Here for the first time the whole Trinity are manifested and come
within the cognisance of human sensibilities. The Son is owned by the Father and
the Spirit rested on Him in the form of a dove. Observe in following this out,
that He was sent or driven by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of
Satan, and having bound the strong man there, He returned in the power of the
Spirit to begin His itinerations through the land. Mark 1:12; Luke 4:14. In this
service He declared the heart of God. God had been glorified in Him when, for
thirty years of private life, the beauty of a man shone under His eye. The words
of Psalms 16:1-11, are descriptive of the exercises of that time. He grew up
before Jehovah as a tender plant and a root out of dry ground. There was nothing
of an external nature to distinguish Him in the eyes of men. Isaiah 53:1-12. In
His public service which covered about a tenth of the time spent in private, all
was marked by the unction of the Holy Spirit. What He said and what He did, all
His words and works were the work of the whole THREE. Matthew 12:28; John 14:10;
Acts 10:38. This went on to the cross, where, through the eternal Spirit, He
offered Himself without spot to God. Hebrews 9:14. During His ministry, certain
ones had been brought back from the dead to life here again but His resurrection
was the triumph of good over evil. It was the establishment of a new creation as
part of divine purpose, and Scripture shows each member of the Holy Godhead at
work in that mighty act. This intimacy and co-working of divine Persons still
goes on as seen in His breathing into His disciples and saying Receive the Holy
Spirit. His last charge to them was given by the power of the Spirit and also
His last promise. John 20:22; Acts 1:2-5. Being now on the verge of the Spirit’s
day, let us glance back to the outset of God’s time ways and note how the march
of events was preparing for the coming of the Son which was followed by the
coming of the Spirit. Whether we take History, Prophecy, Providence or
Government, all was preparing for the accomplishment of His eternal purpose in
the Son. His ancient dealings with Israel in the law, both in the moral code and
in the ceremonial observances; the typical mysteries of the prophets, priests
and kings — all was working towards the point we have now reached. The Son would
be seen by the eye of faith, a Man in heaven in virtue of redemption and the
Holy Spirit on earth in relation to the counsels of eternity. In the Gospels,
Matthew goes back to Abraham and David, linking up the Son with promise and
royalty. Mark presents Him as Jehovah the servant prophet. Luke takes us back to
Eden, presenting the Son as the Second Man out of heaven. But John steps over
the whole of history into eternity to show the Son is God, come down to fulfil
His eternal plan. Hence in this Gospel, man is treated as a lost sinner from the
outset. The two basic facts of the Gospel are, the exaltation of Christ in the
rights of redemption, and the presence of the Holy Spirit on the earth. As it is
said, a Man in heaven above is a new thing in divine dealings and the Spirit
here to dwell in the believer a new thing as well. Instead of assuming a body as
the Son did, He takes up His abode in the souls of believers and builds them
together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. Ephesians 2:22. In the
Gospel God is working according to pattern and this shows that not only has He
been revealed but in the exaltation of Christ He has a complete answer to the
revelation. All this should be seen as accomplished in the ascension of Christ
from Whom the Holy Spirit came down to continue the work of affecting God’s
Purpose.

We might speak of the pentecostal gift in many ways but it may be better to put
it under three leading heads, namely, the Kingdom of God; the House of God; and
the Body of Christ. These three were formed simultaneously by the coming of the
Spirit. Believers stand in relation to the first in an individual way: in
relation to the second collectively; and relation to the third corporately — Jew
and Gentile as a joint-body in Christ. That the heavens do rule, man had to
learn in early days (Daniel 4:26), but the kingdom of heaven is the Spirit’s
domain. The kingdom of God was here in the person of the Son, but before it
could be established as the kingdom of heaven the King must Himself have gone
there. This is the sphere of divine rule on the earth, where the Lordship of
Christ is the bond and from which goes out the Gospel of the glory of Christ.
Within that kingdom, God has His dwelling place and, while Christ is Lord in the
kingdom, He is Head in the House. John 8:35; Romans 14:9; Hebrews 3:6. Needless
to say, we are far from material things here. The kingdom being spiritual, it
provides a bulwark for the house and in that way is protective of the holy
things of God — the precious things of heaven. Within that House is presented
the innermost treasure of all, namely the mystery, or secret, which was hid in
God — the truth of the Church as the Body and Bride of Christ. Moreover, it must
be seen that the saints form both the Church militant, and the kingdom as a
generation of faith. By the Spirit’s power they meet and defeat the opposing
forces of evil, just as they form the House of God and stand in relation to His
testimony in the world. In their relationship to Christ as members of His Body,
they stand united to Him in organic union on the one hand, and as members one of
another, one Body in Christ on the other. THE SPIRIT IN RELATION TO THE KINGDOM
OF GOD. The Epistle to the Romans is an elaborate exposition of the Gospel of
God. There we are told that the kingdom of God is not meat and drink but
righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:17. In this Epistle
there is an answer produced in the saints by the Spirit, corresponding to that
which was accomplished in Christ for God at the cross. Here the Blessed Lord
died, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. 1 Peter 3:18. He
bore our sins in His own body on the tree that we might have full and free
forgiveness, but, if we were to be brought into the joy of these things, the
Holy Spirit must work in us. The work of the cross goes much deeper than the
forgiveness of sins. It goes even to the fallen state in which we stood. It was
there in the sinless One, God dealt judicially, and condemned sin in the flesh.
This was the end of man’s responsible history and it is of solemn moment that we
should notice that man’s crowning act of guilt brought it about. What the Lord
did brought out God’s richest act of mercy but man’s part brought out sin at its
height. There, light and darkness; good and evil; life and death, came into
awful conflict. The Lord’s part was making atonement by bearing the judgment.
Man’s part was filling up his own guilt, while the Blessed God was judging and
condemning the whole state in the Person of the sinless One — His own beloved
Son — and giving to the whole creation a public expression of the awful, sinful,
God-defying state of the creature, while the whole guilty state goes down in
death and is left there. The resurrection bursts upon the scene and in the risen
One, we behold Man in His new estate according to the thought of God from
eternity to eternity.

Now while all this is objective and for the apprehension of faith, the Spirit’s
work is subjective. He came to work in us the deep thoughts of God, based upon
the work the Son had accomplished and, as we have said, His work is according to
pattern. Christ having set foot on earth, God will tolerate nothing less in
testimony, hence the transfer of the soul by the operation of the Holy Spirit
from Adam to Christ. The cross is the basis of His work in the human heart and
the new birth is His work in every dispensation, but the formation of a new
company in the nature, calling and relationship of the glorified Man, is that
which necessitates that He should take up His abode in the soul. He does not
dwell in man as in the flesh — a state already condemned — but in the soul as
previously prepared by Him in the divine operation of new birth.

All this calls for careful consideration for, as an intelligent moral agent, man
cannot be transferred out of the condition of estrangement from God, and brought
into intimate nearness like a mere material object. In the very nature of things
soul history and progress in relation to the divine claims must be attended with
pain. In the sovereign work of new birth when the Spirit says, "Let there be
light," the effect is repentance and produces the cry, "God be merciful to me a
sinner," as a result. Faith as the gift of God is now present and the Gospel is
accepted which brings about conversion and the knowledge of the forgiveness of
sins. This may come immediately after the initial work of new birth, which is
the divine order, or it may well be some time after, and in many cases, where
the truth is little known, souls are often left a long time struggling in a
condition analagous to that detailed in Romans 7:1-25. This interval may be seen
in a case like Cornelius the centurion, a pious man who prayed to God, to whom
was given a vision, followed by a visit from the Apostle Peter. Having received
the Gospel he was sealed by the Holy Spirit. Acts 10:1-48. The same thing may be
seen in Saul in the three days he was without sight, after the Lord had met him
on the Damascus road. Acts 9:1-43. Again, the twelve men at Ephesus who were in
the Christian company but had not yet received the Spirit. Acts 19. Now if any
man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His, or he is not of Him. Romans
8:9. This brings us to the peculiar favour and blessedness of the indwelling
Spirit. It is not that souls in the transitional state between new birth and
sealing do not belong to Him. The Old Testament saints belong to Him; so also
the disciples before the cross, but to be of Him is another matter. This can
only be true of those within the baptism of the Holy Spirit. To be in Christ,
free from condemnation and blessed with every spiritual blessing, is the portion
only of those sealed by the Spirit of God. It is no question of denying that
souls may be happy and in the hopes of heaven, for the Lord can meet them where
they are, but deliverance from the law, the flesh or sin, cannot be the
experience of souls in that state. The pity is that so few seem to enter into
what it is to be in the Spirit. Failing to see that God has not only dealt with
the sins but with the whole sinful state, many are left struggling with that
state in themselves and do not know the way out. Robbed of the holy joy of
deliverance in a new relationship of life and peace, pious souls spend their
days in bondage to sin, the law and the flesh and the world, not having the holy
freedom from these things which is their very birthright. It is here that the
verses of Romans 7:1-25, mentioned above call for a few remarks. The exercise is
personified in the Apostle and it simplifies matters if we distinguish between
the concrete and the abstract. "I am carnal, sold under sin," Romans 7:14, is
the expression of one who has light from God. He may, or he may not, have
received the Spirit but is in bondage to sin. He is now, so to speak, in the
tunnel of introspection which, though dark at this point, leads to further light
and eventually to an outlet of brightest sunshine. Next, through a process of
reasoning, he is able to distinguish between himself and sin which dwelleth in
him. This is a great step. It is really man before he fell in Eden and what he
became after. Then the next step is still greater for, through a further process
of reasoning, he can identify himself with the good. "I delight in the law of
God after the inward man." Romans 7:22. Apprehending this, he can take account
of sin in his nature as a foreign element which is irreconcilable and to which
the law applies all its positive and negative commands. The law — which is holy
— can only condemn this state. No discipline, education or reformation can help
such a state. The law pronounces his condemnation and claims his death. This
condemnation and death having been submitted to and borne by his substitute at
the cross, he accepts that death as his in the faith of his soul and is now able
to say, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Now he sees that although
sins law is still in the flesh, he himself is in Christ and free from
condemnation. Romans 8:1. This is a needful experience if we are to know the
blessedness of the christian calling. It is no imaginary thing, but a blessed
reality. The abstract nature of this is to be observed. While appreciating what
it is to be in Christ in a status and life which is of God and beyond
responsibility, he is conscious that only the grace of God can keep him. "So
then I myself with the mind serve God’s law, but with the flesh sin’s law."
Romans 7:25. N.T. This mixed condition that he is in, will go on till the end of
the pathway, but though that is so, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus has made him free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2. The uniform
working of life in the first Adam ever gravitates downwards in sin to death. The
uniform working of the life of Christ the Last Adam was ever upward. In that the
believer now is by the Holy Spirit. It is regrettable that many suffer real loss
by refusing to face the exercise of Romans 7:1-25. On the other hand, how
deplorable it is that it may be mentally acquired in such a way that we may be
able to speak of the deep things of God, while our practical condition is
morally akin to the man of the world.

Having arrived at the consciousness of being in Christ in holy freedom, we can
take account of the ground trodden in relation to the Spirit. Free from the
domination of sin and having yielded to the claims of law, we are now, in the
words of Romans 6:14, "not under law but under grace." The place of the Spirit
in all this is set forth in Romans 8:1-39. The Spirit is mentioned in that
chapter no less than seventeen times. As a consequence, there are four
statements in the chapter that call for consideration. "Ye are not in the flesh
but in the Spirit if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you." Romans 8:9. "
There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus."Romans
8:11. "If Christ be in you." Romans 8:10. The flesh is descriptive of man’s
state as a creature. It is that which gives colour to all our thoughts,
feelings, tastes and all that goes to make up life. The fall corrupted that,
hence all is contaminated. By displacing flesh, the indwelling Spirit becomes
our power for everything. So then, if we are in Christ before God for His
pleasure, Christ is in us before men for testimony — the indwelling Spirit being
the power for all. In the light of this why do we hear so little of the
knowledge of the Spirit? It is true that He is here on behalf of the Father and
the Son and that He does not make Himself an object. He comes before us in an
impersonal way by the use of the neuter pronoun "it" but He is God and we know
Him as knowing God. In plain words, all we know of God is directly from Him and
by Him. "Ye know Him" was the word of our Lord to His disciples. John 14:17.
Hereby we know the Spirit of God — every spirit which confesses Jesus Christ
come in flesh is of God. Now God is Love. The Holy Spirit is God hence, He is
Love. "Now I beseech you brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake and for the
love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for
me." Romans 15:30. How could He shed the love of God abroad in our hearts if He
were not love? He is the Spirit of truth, John 14:17. The Spirit of power 2
Timothy 2:7. Do we not gather from the words of the Lord Jesus that the Holy
Spirit will tell us more of what He Himself is?" It is expedient for you that I
go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I
depart, I will send Him unto you." John 16:7. In Him then we have the God of all
comfort. "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you." Isaiah
66:13. "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
mercies and the God of all comfort." 2 Corinthians 1:3. Inasmuch as the Spirit
is within us, we get made good to us and in us, all that God is, by God the Holy
Spirit. But He can sympathise, yea, and intercede for us. "In like manner the
Spirit joins also its help to our weaknesses; for we do not know what we should
pray for as is fitting, but the Spirit itself makes intercession with groanings
which cannot be uttered." Romans 8:26.

Then there is communion of the Holy Spirit. Think of the marvellous
condescension He shows to come and dwell in such close proximity with evil, for
we have to remind ourselves that, although transferred from Adam to Christ, the
law of sin is still in our members. Doubtless, this was the cause of His
appearance as cloven tongues of fire at Pentecost. He dwells in us in that which
He Himself has formed in us by new birth and here it is, His communion with us.
Surely in coming to our side, it is that He may bring us to His, in all the
blessed consciousness of divine favour within the sacred enclosure of His own
domain, where all things are of God. It is thus as the Spirit He enters into the
closest intimacy with us in our spirits. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with
our spirit that we are the children of God." Romans 8:16. But the Spirit is
sensitive. This we can understand, for distance is measured by nearness even in
human relationships. The more refined the sensibilities are, the more
susceptible we are to the chilling influences of man and the world. The Spirit
can be grieved and may for the moment be inactive but He is also jealous. Love
is always jealous. Many are the tragedies that follow it in human life To the
young men it is said, "Love not the world." How could the Holy Spirit go on
ungrieved in us if we let our hearts go out to anything in this poor world which
is not of God? "I The LORD thy God am a jealous God." Exodus 20:5. The Spirit
therefore can be grieved; quenched; lied to and even blasphemed.

Enough has been said we trust of the possession of the Spirit, to impress us
with the simplicity and beauty of life lived practically under His sway. Some
seem to think that walking in the Spirit — which is walking by faith — is
impractical and produces austerity and a tendency to frown upon the enjoyments
of daily life. A plea is sometimes made for the young in such words as, Do not
be a kill-joy. Nothing could be more deceptive and harmful. Nature’s. joys are
at their best ephemeral and leave us dissatisfied. Well we know they fade and
decay but the joys of the Spirit are pure; lasting; heavenly and eternal. "For
the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace and joy
in the Holy Ghost." Romans 14:17. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against
such there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23. This lovely passage falls into three
beautiful clusters of Christ-like features, each containing three and all
reflecting in a three-fold way The first three are Godward; the next three
manward, the last three personal. Can any one say there is either austerity,
legality or mere sentiment in this? On the contrary, it can be said there are no
more happy, joyous, genial people in this world. As led by the Spirit of God
they are sons of God and true geniality is seen in them with the absence of all
levity. Isaiah said, "Woe is me." Isaiah 6:5. Peter said, "Depart from me; for I
am a sinful man, O Lord." Luke 5:8. Paul said, "O wretched man that I am."
Romans 7:24. It is just there that this holy Person has deigned to take up His
abode. Not in what we are as flesh of sin, but in what He has Himself prepared
in His initial operation of new birth.

One other passage calls for a word before passing on. Being accused by the
Corinthians of unfaithfulness to his promise, the apostle takes occasion by the
charge to show on the one hand his own transparency, and on the other to speak
of the office of the Spirit in a three-fold way as the anointing, seal, and
earnest of all that is yet to come. Christ is the embodiment of all the promises
of God. Whoever else may vacillate, there is both stability and security in Him
"For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of
God by us. Now He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us,
is God: Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our
hearts." 2 Corinthians 1:20-22. In accord with what has been already said, this
passage supposes a previous work of the Spirit in the soul. These things come
before us in a perfectly orderly way in the cleansing of the leper. Leviticus
14:1-18. Washing with water prefigures new birth. Sprinkling with blood —
forgiveness of sins. Anointing with oil — the gift of the Spirit. We are God’s
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Ephesians 2:10. Here we
come to spiritual instinct, intuition and intelligence. " But the anointing
which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach
you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things and is truth, and is
no lie, even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him." 1 John 2:27.
Spiritual instinct is a most precious reality but it must be regarded with care.
It is one thing for a devout soul to do the right thing, in the right way, at
the right time, and not be able to give a text of scripture for it. It is quite
another thing for people to act by what they call the inner light which they lay
claim to, while ignoring the word of God. The act of Mary of Bethany when she
broke her box of spikenard and anointed her Lord, has earned for her undying
fame in the testimony. The Lord Himself vindicated her. But the claim of "Inner
light," which we hear so much of today, is a mark of one of the evils of the
last days.

"Who also hath sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." It
is clear that these different things are brought to pass in our hearts by one
and the same act when the Holy Spirit takes up His abode in us. By putting the
stamp of God upon us, the Spirit claims our persons for God. "Ye are not your
own? for ye have been bought with a price: glorify now then God in your body." 1
Corinthians 6:20, New Trans. "And has given the earnest of the Spirit in our
hearts." In this we have a token of the inheritance. Ephesians 1:14. This means
we are called to share with our Lord in all that He has acquired. All that range
of universal glory and blessing which He takes up by double claim namely,
Personal right, and the redemptive acquirement. In this way the Spirit is the
pledge and the present enjoyment of the thing pledged, while we await the full
result in the redemption of our bodies. He brings into the obedient heart the
enjoyment of what is future in communion with the Father and the Son. This leads
to the peak of christian blessing, namely, sonship, and associates us with the
Son before God in fulness of blessing. This we shall dwell upon in connection
with our next point, namely, the House or Dwelling place of God. See note B at
the close. 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 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. THE SPIRIT IN RELATION
TO THE ASSEMBLY AS THE BODY OF CHRIST. In approaching this part of the truth, it
is necessary to keep in mind what we have seen as to being "In Christ." Nothing
of an inferior nature could be united to Him, and the saints stand in the same
constitutional and organic connection with Him, as the human body to the moral
being within it. So close indeed is this link, that the Church is included in
the term "The Christ." "As the body is one — the human body — and hath many
members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also
is the Christ." 1 Corinthians 12:12. cf. Genesis 5:2, where both the man and the
woman are called Adam. " For by one Spirit are we all baptised into one body,
whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all
made to drink into one Spirit." 1 Corinthians 12:13. There may be an obscure
allusion here to the two ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper as some
have thought, but the truth itself clearly stated is that work of the Spirit in
which there can be no failure, where all is of God. We have already seen the
Headship of Christ in a racial way, but this is much more intimate, showing the
Assembly substantially and organically the expression of Christ the Head of His
Body. 1 Corinthians 12:12-13. But, while that is true, we do not get the Head of
the Body here. The Epistle being corrective, the Body of Christ is presented
here in its local setting and is thus but a microcosm of the whole. It is seen
as the vessel of the Spirit in view of ministry, hence, His sovereignty is
asserted. 1 Corinthians 12:8-11.

We have already seen in Ephesians 2:1-22, the saints as the family of God and
His dwelling place too. God being there, all His treasures are there — the
precious things of heaven. This simply means, that the blessings spoken of are
wrought into the hearts of His own by the Spirit. From all the blessings
enumerated there, the Spirit selects one, namely, the Body, and in a long
parenthesis occupying the whole of Ephesians 3:1-21, opens it out as the secret,
or Mystery, which had been hid in God through the ages. Remark that the Body is
not exactly the Mystery here, nor is it the Lord Himself; it is Christ and the
saints as one organic entity. In this chapter, Paul speaks of the administration
which had been given to him, towards the saints. By revelation the Mystery had
been made known to him, which in other generations had not been made known to
the sons of men. It was that the nations should be joint-heirs, and a
joint-body, and joint-partakers of His promises in Christ Jesus, by the Gospel,
of which he had become minister. Note here that the Gospel, namely, that by
which we have made the transfer from Adam to Christ as taught in Romans 8:1-39,
is the way in to this wonderful blessing, spoken of here as the Mystery and
explained to be Jew and Gentile one body in Christ. To Paul was committed both
the ministry of the Gospel and the ministry of the Mystery. Colossians 1:23-26.
The Gospel contains the unsearchable riches of the Christ. Ephesians 3:8. The
Mystery, that in which God has set forth His manifold wisdom, before the
heavenly intelligences, is the Church, the Body of Christ. This we are told was
the motive for creation. Ephesians 3:9-10. The Mystery was hidden throughout the
ages in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ, in order that now, unto the
principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church, the
manifold wisdom of God. That is, the variegated or many coloured wisdom of God,
according to the purpose of the ages, which He purposed in Christ Jesus our
Lord. This truth the Apostle tells us, completes the word of God. Colossians
1:25. Not only that part of truth which must come out before the inspired volume
could be closed, but that sector in the great circle of revealed truth which
gives completeness to the whole. Creation; Government; Providence; History;
Prophecy; Typology; things moral and spiritual; all were known, but like the
keystone to an arch, the Mystery being made known gave completion, symmetry,
beauty and order to all. It will be said that in the life and death of our Lord,
God was fully revealed. True, but He said to His own, "I have yet many things to
say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." John 16:12. The Spirit’s coming not
only gave them capacity to understand but also expanded the truth to the
unfolding of the whole counsel of God. But the Assembly, in virtue of being the
Body of Christ, is also His Bride. This takes our thoughts back to the beginning
and shows the link between the beginning and the end of Revelation. Adam was
alone and it was not good, so the LORD God made for him a help meet. But before
she could be presented to him, she must be taken out of him. For that the deep
sleep — which so aptly prefigures the death of Christ — was a necessity. In
taking up the inheritance which God gave him, she was associated with him in his
dominion. This leads to the institution of marriage which gives the true thought
of union. Two persons are united together in holy wedlock, but in the body it is
no question of being united. Each member is part of the one Body and in proper
healthy conditions, all work together in perfect unity. Speaking of this in
Ephesians 5:1-33, the Apostle says this is a great mystery but I speak
concerning Christ and the Church. The administration of the Mystery works out in
various ways. In the first Epistle to the Corinthians it is viewed as the vessel
of the Spirit locally: He distributing gift, according to His sovereign will,
for the manifestation of Himself in the Church as come together, before they had
the New Testament. In the Epistle to the Colossians, it is the Body universally
as composed of all saints in the baptism of the Spirit at any time on earth. In
the Epistle to the Ephesians, it is the whole vast Assembly as composed of all
the saints from Pentecost till the coming of the Lord. In Corinthians, the truth
was given as a correction of clericalism on the one side or radicalism on the
other. In the wisdom of God He permitted this disorder and so has furnished us
with this corrective instruction for all time. In Colossians, this truth was
given to counteract the dreams of the Gnostics, a class which rose up early in
opposition to the truth. In Ephesians, apart from anything which called for
correction, we have a treatise on the eternal counsel of God. In Colossians, the
Head and the Body form one entity but in Ephesians, as we have seen, we pass
from the thought of the Body to that of the Bride, that is, two entities.

Now we see the place the Holy Spirit had in all this. In the first Epistle to
the Corinthians He is mentioned twenty-four times, and ten of them are in 1
Corinthians 12:1-31. In the Epistle to the Ephesians, the Spirit is mentioned
thirteen times. In the Epistle to the Colossians, the Spirit is mentioned only
once. This will readily be understood if we reflect that the divine side of our
Lord’s Person is in view in Colossians. In Ephesians, it is the risen glorified
Man that is in view but in Colossians it is God the Son, the Creator. While the
Spirit gives the Subject, and the inspired account, He wisely and Divinely
stands aside that we may be led into the knowledge of the greatness and glory of
Christ. For much the same reason the Spirit is not mentioned in the Book of
Leviticus. As the Bride of Christ, the Assembly is now being prepared for the
marriage. Christ gave Himself for it. He will yet present it to Himself not
having spot or wrinkle. Not a mark either of defilement or old age but holy and
without blemish. This is the same word as in Ephesians 1:4. The actual
presentation is shown us in Revelation 19:7-9. Here we have the marriage of the
Lamb. After this, John is called to view the Bride the Lamb’s wife. Revelation
21:9. Here, the figure is changed and he beholds a city descending from God out
of heaven, having the glory of God. We have here the climax of the work of the
Spirit in that vast throng; a company in which each Person of the Godhead will
take a peculiar delight, because this company stands in relation to the Son. In
thus company, He who was the Man of sorrows but is now the Man of joy, will see
of the travail of His soul, and will be satisfied. The last view we get of the
Bride, is when she comes down from God out of heaven, a thousand years later.
Revelation 21:2. Here the figure is changed again and when called to see the
holy city, John sees her prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Previously, she had come out for display and administration which goes on
throughout the Millennial age, but here she is all for Himself. "Thine eye in
that bright glorious day, shall with supreme delight, Thy fair and glorious
Bride survey, unblemished in Thy sight." Display having been ended, the new Adam
and the new Eve go on into an eternity of bliss. Revelation 21:1-5. Meanwhile
the Spirit is forming in devoted hearts bridal affections for Christ, which
cause them to join with Him in saying, "Come, Lord Jesus." "And the Spirit and
the Bride say Come." Revelation 22:17.

We now turn to the special and peculiar work of the Spirit as we are promised in
John 16:1-33. "He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you." John
16:14. His glory — that is, the glory of the Son — is great in God’s salvation.
Psalms 21:1-13. It is the work of the Spirit to show us that glory. But here in
John 16:15, we are led in beyond that to His glory within the sacred circle of
the Holy Trinity. In seeking an answer to the question, What are the "things
that are mine?" we must distinguish between Godhead and Manhood in the Person of
our Lord, and view Him abstractly on the divine side as co-equal with the Father
and co-possesser of all things. In His official capacity as Administrator, all
things are given by the Father into His hands and all things are put under His
feet. In order, that this may be carried out, all power is given unto Him in
heaven and in earth. But here we distinguish between the glory of His Person and
the offices He fills; the difference between delegated authority and
proprietorship, and this leads to the wealth of God. Oh, the depth of wealth,
wisdom and knowledge of God! The material universe being the product of His
power, is a witness of His wealth, wisdom and knowledge. Look then a moment at
these things. THE WEALTH OF GOD. The heavenly bodies in their numbers,
distances, and rapidity of movement; the sea and all that swim therein and the
ships that float on its surface; the land with all its rivers, lakes, mountains
and hills. Then there is man, with all his monumental works of ingenuity, device
and splendour; all are His. A remarkable text comes before us here. "Whether
Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present,
or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s." 1
Corinthians 3:22-23. We are His both in body and in soul. "All souls are mine."
Ezekiel 18:4. "Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are
God’s." 1 Corinthians 6:20. "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the
cattle upon a thousand hills." Psalms 50:10. As to material wealth, according to
man’s estimate, "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of
hosts." Haggai 2:8. In the light of this, where is the millionaire today or the
man who pulls down his barns to build greater saying, "There will I bestow my
goods?" Can we wonder when the true provider says to him "Thou fool, this night
thy soul shall be required of thee." And what of the man clothed in fine linen
and purple, who fared sumptuously every day, while the afflicted beggar lay at
his gate seeking the crumbs. The love of money is the root of all evil and it
has filled the earth with wars, famines and many other evils which have turned
the fair creation of God into an inferno of diabolical intrigue, despite the
graciousness and beneficent goodness of God, the author and provider of all. But
if greed and selfishness mark us in nature with material things, it is not so
with the things of the Spirit. The moment a person gets converted he becomes
anxious for others to share with him in the good things. These things are
heavenly, spiritual and eternal as elements of the life of the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit; reciprocated between them long before creation; native to Deity;
inherent in the divine nature and subsisting in incorruptible and unfading
beauty. But while love and glory ever flowed evenly there, we can understand
that the Incarnation would give as it were, renewed impetus to that love. For
instance, there was no call for the Father’s voice to be heard in pre-incarnate
days saying, "This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased." The love, joy
and peace that ever was there, continued in undisturbed delight both causeless
and innate but now, when the Son has stooped to Manhood, there is a fresh cause,
a new motive, and a ground for comparison. The Son is the channel through which
all that is native to Godhead flows to man. "As the Father has loved me, so have
I loved you." Then, He is the object of His Father’s love in His path of
obedience. This love, He shares with His disciples. There is now a company on
earth sharing the Father’s love through Him Who was its ineffable Object in His
own rights but came near to men to make it available for them. Although this was
divinely perfect and of surpassing beauty, it had an end in view. The end in
view being the Cross there is thus yet a fresh impetus given to the Father’s
love. "Therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life." Loved as
the darling of the Father’s heart in eternity; loved as the devoted and
dependent Man on earth; loved more deeply still at the Cross — He brings His own
in to share with Him the inner intimacies of that same love. This is a deep that
knows no sounding; an ocean without a shore. It fills and satisfies the heart
while ever leading us on to new wonders and fresh glories. Our God is a giving
God. He gives to all men liberally and upbraideth not. Jehovah of hosts said to
Israel, "Prove me now herewith, if I open not to you the windows of heaven and
pour you out such a blessing that ye will not be able to contain it." Malachi
3:10. This is superabundance of blessing. "Not as the world giveth, give I unto
you," said the Son, and, the Holy Spirit distributes to every man severally as
He will. "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

Such thoughts are suggested by the words, "He shall take of the things that are
mine, and show them unto you." It is not merely a question of ink and paper, but
the soul being led through the various departments of Godhead wealth, into the
innermost knowledge of all that God is and has, that good, better, and best, may
be valued by us in the power of the Spirit of God. This produces a holy
discrimination which fills the soul with delight; calling each one to see the
tinsel of this passing show of vanity in the world, and leading us to the
deepest praise, worship and adoration. It is here the Giver begins to get. What
He gets, yea, what He seeks, is the overflow, and surely we can say, "Of thine
own have we given thee." THE DEPTH OF GOD’S WISDOM. When the first Epistle to
the Corinthians was written, the world had reached a very advanced state of
wisdom. But it was the wisdom of men who were ignorant of the wisdom of God, and
in their blindness, crucified the Lord of Glory. There were many schools of
philosophy, not only among the Jews but also in Greece and Rome. In this state
of ferment, this new company — the Assembly — had its beginning, and like a
mighty wave swept aside decadent Judaism, Roman imperialism, and Grecian
philosophy. As these powers began to wane in apostolic days, a new school arose
which spread over the whole ground of the testimony from Syria to Gaul. This was
a class that sought to mix certain parts of Christianity with the reasonings of
the schools of Greece, Rome and Judaism as well. Their knowledge of divine
revelation was speculative and they were known as Gnostics, or in other words —
the people who know. To such people, the preaching of the cross was foolishness.
But the foolishness of God is wiser than men. Bring in faith and philosophy must
go. Put the prefix con before science and you get conscience, which takes us
from intellectual to moral ground; from speculative dreaming, to stand before
divine holiness as naked sinners. What then?" Then said I, Woe is me! for I am
undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." Isaiah
6:5. So the apostle writes by the Spirit, "But we speak the wisdom of God in a
mystery even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our
glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they
would not have crucified the Lord of glory." 1 Corinthians 2:7-8. Moses was
schooled in all the wisdom of Egypt but when he had become great he refused its
rank, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to have
the temporary pleasures of sin. He esteemed the reproach of Christ greater
riches than the treasures of Egypt for he had respect unto the recompence of the
reward. Hebrews 11:24-26. Yet, before he could begin the work of his life, he
must spend forty years in the backside of the desert, educated by God Himself.
Joseph is also a fine example of this. He was destined to teach the statesmen of
Egypt how to rule and, in preparation for this, he had to be sold for a bondman.
"They afflicted his feet with fetters; his soul came into irons." Psalms 105:18.
New Trans. Daniel and his companions refused Babylon’s food and were ten times
better than all the scribes and magicians in learning and skill, so that in
matters of knowledge and wisdom, the king found them better than all others who
were in his land. In this way, wisdom is justified of all her children. "Thus
saith Jehovah: let not the wise glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty
glory in his might; let not the rich glory in his riches: but let him that
glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am Jehovah,
who exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth; for in
these things I delight, saith Jehovah." Jeremiah 9:23-24. But with our God, His
wisdom is controlled by His love in everything. That order is seen in the
symmetry, order and beauty of the creation. Everything created reflects Him, so
that the whole earth is filled with His glory; The apple tree produces apples
and not oranges; wheat produces wheat and not barley. So it is in the moral
sphere. If good for good may be seen on earth, evil for good is of the pit, but
good for evil is of God, and from heaven. How exquisitely blended is all this.
His wisdom ever waketh; He not only plans and works for our good, but He
actually takes account of and uses the creature’s worst act for that creature’s
blessing. Many examples of this might be given, but one will suffice. The
crucifixion of His Son was man’s worst act but God used it to bring in for man
His very best. By it, God in righteousness and holy love comes out in
forgiveness and richest blessing to the culprit. We see a beautiful picture of
this in Genesis 37:1-36, where, the sons of Israel, in treachery to their
brother, put him in the very place where he would be their greatest benefactor.
What more can we say? By His wisdom, our Lord — who is God over all — met, and
silenced all opposition, condemning the leaders of the people from their own
lips. "Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth
understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of
silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies:
and all the things that thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.
Length of days is in her right hand: and in her left hand riches and honour. Her
ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of
life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her."
Proverbs 3:13-18. Wisdom hath builded her house and she invites all to her
feast. Proverbs 9:1. But there are conditions. "With the merciful thou wilt show
thyself merciful, and with the upright man thou wilt show thyself upright. With
the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt show
thyself unsavoury." 2 Samuel 22:26-27. To be initiated into wisdom’s secrets
(Job 11:1-20), and endowed with her treasures we must be trustworthy. "Give not
that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest
they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you," Matthew 7:6.
Wisdom longs to divulge her secrets and share her treasures with us, but can we
be trusted to appreciate and value them? "I lead in the way of righteousness, in
the midst of the paths of judgment: that I may cause those that love me to
inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures." Proverbs 8:20-21. "Oh, the
depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God." Romans 11:33. THE
DEPTH OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.

Like His wealth and wisdom, this is infinite. He both knows and fore-knows; He
is both Prescient and Omniscient. His knowledge is linked with His Omnipresence
as related to the dimensions of space — above; beneath; around; and with the
three variants of time — past; present; and future. This also links with His
Omnipotence, for to know what will take place at a future time necessitates that
all is under His control. He telleth the number of the stars and numbers the
hairs of our heads. "He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed
the eye, shall he not see? He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct?
he that teacheth man knowledge shall he not know?" Psalms 94:9-10. "For whom he
did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son."
Romans 8:29. "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight:
but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to
do." Hebrews 4:13. But see how it works out in God incarnate — the Man of the
Gospels. He saw Nathanael under the fig tree, John 1:48. "Lord thou knowest all
things; thou knowest that I love thee," John 21:17. He knew the movements of
heaven, earth and hell. Luke 10:18; Luke 16:23-31. His eye was upon the fish in
the sea and He sent one to Peter with the money in its mouth to meet the
pressing need, Matthew 17:27. "For the LORD searcheth all hearts, and
understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts." 1 Chronicles 28:9. "For out
of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, etc." Matthew 15:19. He foreknows
and foretells. He told them that Jerusalem would fall to the Romans in
desolation, distress and wrath. Luke 21:20-24. This came to pass forty years
after the Cross. Many other things did He foretell which are about to be
fulfilled. Here again is a depth that knows no sounding.

It raises this question, How far do we know God? We are to grow by the true
knowledge of God. What solemnly concerns us, is not abstract truth, nor a range
of speculative dogma, but the thoughts of God. He shows Himself to us, not only
that we may know, but, what is more than this, that we may do, and above all
that we may be. No part of truth has quite accomplished God’s end when we have
understood it only. Every divine impression is meant to form us like Himself
that we may live in conscious conformity to His will. He has given us of His
Spirit that we might know; that everything that could cause unrest might be
removed; that every moral question might be settled; and that we might be in
holy intimacy with Himself. This links the wealth, wisdom and knowledge of God
with His love; and as responsive to that love, we are made conscious that every
blessed feature of His character and attributes comes under the sway of that
love which is the nature of God; and like the thimble in the ocean, we dwell in
God because we dwell in love. In this way, we have much more than the wealth,
wisdom and knowledge of God. We might go on indeed to speak of the depth of His
justice, holiness, goodness and truth, and we see them all focused for
expression, in the ministry of our Lord. Enough has been said surely to
challenge our hearts, as to how far we have been led, under the control of the
Holy Spirit, to gaze into the invisible, yea, into the depths of God. "All, all
within, beneath, around, above, speak but of Thee and tell me what I am, the
happiest of the happy, O Thou peerless One!" Pause a moment here. It is said
that if the sun were a hollow body, the earth could traverse its circuit within
its depth, with an immensity of space between itself and the inner surface of
the great luminary. But all illustrations fail here, since all things are of God
who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ.

One more scriptural illustration may be cited because of its significance, for
beauty and adornment in the physical scenery and its rich and manifold
instruction in the moral sphere. The heavens have been garnished in all their
deep grandeur of gorgeous adornment by His Spirit. The same blessed Person who
stamps the beauty of the Lord our God upon His saints. Job 26:13; Psalms 90:17;
Psalms 149:4. The rainbow — which is mentioned four times in scripture — is part
of this garnishing. It forms a link between the material and the moral and in
this way, it is an evidence of divine glory. Its appearance is a welcome
announcement that the storm is past and creation may again bask in the clear
sunshine. So we sing of Calvary — "The storm that bowed Thy blessed head, is
hushed forever now." Four times then is the rainbow mentioned in scripture and
it proclaims the DEPTH of the faithfulness of God. "And I will establish my
covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of
a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God
said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and
every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my
bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the
earth, and it shall come to pass when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the
bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is
between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall
no more become a flood to destroy all flesh." Genesis 9:11-15. In its unity and
variety of colour? the Rainbow adumbrates the manifold wisdom of God. The word
translated manifold is many-coloured or variegated. Thus we have in the various
tints, seen in combination, that which sets forth the glory of God and the
wisdom of God. Seven is the perfect number and all seven colours are combined in
the rainbow. They are, Crimson; Amber; Gold; Emerald; Blue; Purple; and Violet.
This is the perfection of beauty. "Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God
has shined." Psalms 50:2, The word translated here as " beauty " is sometimes
translated "glory." Thus for the words translated, "Worship the LORD in the
beauty of holiness," we have "Worship Jehovah in holy splendour." Psalms 29:2.
New Tran. Science has told us that the seven colours can be reduced to three,
thus constituting a perfect picture of the glorious Trinity from Whom everything
emanates. The various glories suggested by these colours, were manifested by the
Son in Incarnation and now, by the Spirit, are to be made known, through the
Assembly, to the principalities and powers in heavenly places. This leads to the
fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. As before said, three Godward; three
manward; and three personal. Surely these are graces to decorate ourselves with;
garments of undecaying beauty to be dressed in; things indeed against which
there is no law. See Note E. The Rainbow.

Now all this is seen in fuller relief in the Epistle of James 3:13-18. "Who is a
wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good
conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying
and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom
descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish." This is the
wisdom that knows not God and crucified the Lord of glory. " or where envying
and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is
from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full
of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the
fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." Here then we
have the answer to the colours of the Rainbow as set forth in the moral realm.
As the combination of colours in the Rainbow bespeaks the beauty and adorning of
the material creation in the hands of the Holy Spirit, so we have here in detail
the varied tints of moral colouring, in the moral realm which, by the operations
of that same Spirit, reflect the wisdom of God as revealed in grace, glory and
eternal counsel by, or through the Assembly, to the unseen ranges of heavenly
intelligences above.

"Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? On the top of high
places by the way, at the cross-paths she taketh her stand. Beside the gates, at
the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors, she crieth aloud. Unto
you, men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of man: O ye simple, understand
prudence; and ye foolish, understand sense. Hear, for I will speak excellent
things, and the opening of my lips shall be right things. For my palate shall
meditate truth, and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my
mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing tortuous or perverse in them. They
are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.
Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold:
for wisdom is better than rubies, and all things that may be desired are not
equal to it." Proverbs 8:1-11. New Trans.

Someone will say, All this is beautiful, but where can it be seen? It is
admitted that failure abounds on every hand, but nevertheless, there are those
who in simplicity and obscurity respond to God in sweet appreciation of what He
has done for them and in them, and what He is to them in Christ by the Spirit.
To deny this is to ignore the Spirit’s work so blessedly in evidence today in
many. It also ignores the truth that, whatever the failure, at any moment in the
history of the testimony, God secures an answer to all that He has given, by the
Spirit. For this, obedience is called for. "To obey is better than sacrifice and
to hearken than the fat of rams." 1 Samuel 15:22. Neither is there any
vacillating or uncertainty. "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the
doctrine whether it be of God." John 7:17.

Obedience leads to delight, and as taught by the Spirit there is enrichment.
This has often transported simple, unlettered men beyond the greatest thinkers
of the day who have refused the teaching of the Spirit. Moreover, growth in the
knowledge of scripture leads to advance in the knowledge of God and this is
growth which widens the outlook on life. Since the books of nature and
revelation are from the same blessed Source, the individual, however simple and
unlearned, acquires a working knowledge of things, and an outlook on life, which
leaves far behind leaders of thought who limit themselves to the passing things
of the day. He that created the universe and combines the whole sphere of
nature, upholds and rules public opinion as well, but He has also inspired and
given us a written revelation of Himself. This is the circle of truth of which,
as the Spirit of truth, He is the guardian, and into which He delights to lead
us. O depth of God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! And now a word as promised
on the subject of the blessing of sons. By associating us with Himself before
the Father in His own calling, life, and acceptance, the Son, as firstborn among
many brethren, has brought us into the highest of all blessings. He has
connected this, the House and family character, as so blessedly put before us in
the Epistle to the Ephesians, with the House of God, where all its spiritual
wealth is brought before us. With this in mind, we pass from the treasures of
John 16:1-33, "The things that are mine," into the sacred enclosure of John
17:1-26, and with holy and sacred feelings, listen to the words which flow from
our adorable Lord, concerning the most sacred of all the treasures of God —
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Here the Son, standing in time, gazes back into a
past eternity and forward into a coming eternity of bliss, crystalising all in
one eternal NOW, (John 17:5, John 17:24). On the verge of that dark hour which
must forever stand alone in the history of this world, He speaks (surveying all
that He has accomplished and as anticipating death and resurrection John 17:4)
of what He has given them John 17:8, John 17:14, John 17:22; of what He is going
to do for them John 17:2, John 17:19; of what He desires for them John 17:17;
and above all, of that oneness of life and nature which was theirs John 17:23,
which was seen for a time in practical expression in Acts 2:1-47, Acts 3:1-26,
Acts 4:1-37. If this outward unity has broken down — He would in His love bring
them right home and in such a way, that the world that had hated them on His
account would yet see them in the same glory with Himself, and loved with the
same love wherewith He was loved by the Father. All this is surpassed by the
desire that what, as creatures, we can never share, we might behold — His own
eternal glory in co-equality with the Father and the Spirit in all that
constitutes Deity in its holy relationships, and all brought into manifestation
in Him, a Man. The meetness, preciousness and mutuality of it floods the soul
with speechless delight as, by the Spirit, we sit before Him. Note the
connection with the THINGS that are mine in John 14:1-31 with what is here in
John 17:1-26. "I do not demand concerning the world, but concerning those whom
thou hast given me, for they are thine (and all that is mine is thine, and (all)
that is thine mine,) and I am glorified in them." John 17:9-10. The mutuality of
possession supplies the double motive for all being kept while in the world.
Though His, they belong also to the Father and both His and the Father’s glory
are concerned in their being kept. No petition of His can be denied and so they
shall be kept by the guardianship of the Holy Spirit — that blessed one who
supplies us with the grand doxology of Jude 1:24-25. "But to Him that is able to
keep you without stumbling, and to set (you) with exultation blameless before
His glory, to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, (be)
glory, majesty, might, and authority, from before the whole age, and now, and to
all the ages. Amen." New Trans. The holy domain of the Spirit is thus opened up
before the heart, where all things are of God and where Christ is everything and
in all. This is the Spirit’s realm, these the Spirit’s things, and all made
known by Spirit chosen words. "But we have received . . . the Spirit which is of
God; that we may know the things which have been freely given to us of God:
which things we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught
by the Spirit, communicating spiritual things by spiritual means." 1 Corinthians
2:12-13. In this way the youngest and the most simple are led on and are at home
with the oldest and the most deeply taught; all finding themselves at home in
that which is heavenly and eternal, apart altogether from that which is earthly
and natural, as belonging to a new creation in Christ Jesus. With this, the
highest and the richest of all blessing in view, the great Apostle can only
pray. "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father (of our Lord Jesus Christ)
of whom every family in (the) heavens and on earth is named, in order that he
may give you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power
by his Spirit in the inner man; that the Christ may dwell, through faith, in
your hearts, being rooted and founded in love, in order that ye may be fully
able to apprehend with all the saints what (is) the breadth and length and depth
and height; and to know the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge: that
ye may be filled (even) to all the fulness of God." Ephesians 3:14-19. New
Trans. A word of caution is called for. The corruption of the best is the worst
corruption of all. In Christianity we have God’s very best. The fatted calf; the
best robe; the Holiest of all. These, in figurative speech show this. But the
simple literary statements of Holy Scripture, concerning the Father and the Son,
and the counsels of God concerning the death, resurrection, and ascension of the
Son, and the coming of the Spirit — all show the depth and fulness of divine
revelation and the wealth of blessing for man today. The House of God — the
domain of the Spirit — and a new creation in Christ Jesus entered into by faith
are clearly the marks of the Spirit’s day. All this is beyond human nature, and
the moment we touch the super-natural there is danger. Foreseeing this, the Lord
has given us a written revelation in His word of Himself and of His doings. Thus
the believer is protected from every hostile element by the word of God, the
gift of the Spirit, and divinely bequeathed faith. By these the believer can be
preserved from many rocks and shoals which have been the cause of many sad and
melancholy wrecks. Unhappily with some, natural temperament has been allowed to
play a part, but happy are they who, through communion with the Lord, have
recourse to a self-knowledge which distrusts self and all human ability.
Critical minds would level all down to man’s thoughts, exclude the Spirit and
dishonour God and thus the blessing is lost. This is the leaven that has been at
work till the outer systems have become an inflated mass. Then again, there is
the sensational or sentimental temperament, which is a danger in the other
extreme. It is by these things that Mysticism, Pantheism and many other wild and
fantastic theories have deluded their victims and many well-meaning souls have
been deceived. Both classes may be seen in the Sadducees and the Pharisees or
Rationalists and Ritualists. The former is the modernist of today, and the
latter is seen in the resurrection by Satanic power of the ancient pagan
mysteries, seen today in such things as Millenial Dawn; Christian Science;
Spiritism, etc.

Well indeed it is for those who know the blessedness of being in Christ, a new
creation, and enjoying the wealth, wisdom and knowledge of God by dwelling in
Him. "And we have known and have believed the love which God has to us. God is
love, and he that abides in love abides in God, and God in him." 1 John 4:16.
New Trans. "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
communion of the Holy Spirit (be) with you all."

Amen.

J. McBroom.

Note A. The babes or young converts of 1 John 2:13; 1 John 2:18-27, are an
example of instinct by the Holy Spirit. They have an unction from the Holy One
and know all things. In this way they are fitted to meet the apostasy whether of
Judaism or Christianity. The intuition of the Spirit is seen in Mary when she
broke her box of ointment and anointed her Lord for His burial. The inspiration
of the Spirit is seen in the recording of Holy Scriptures; in the addresses of
the Apostles to their persecutors; and in their words of salvation to the
multitudes. Revelation must be distinguished from inspiration though both are by
the Holy Spirit. In the former we have what is positive and from God; in the
latter the Spirit’s record of history which includes both good and evil in
recording the words and works of nature and the doings of evil men. Illumination
is a beautiful word, describing how the Spirit enlightens our souls by His
communications, so that the believer in His hands, becomes a reflex of Christ
here among men. Luke 11:35-36, Php 2:15, 1 John 2:6.

Nature in its different departments of order and beauty is the work of the Holy
Spirit. The seasons come and go; suitable food is provided for all; time for
labour and for rest; strength and energy expended — rest and recuperation in
return, but all in view of the moral realm, God, Christ and new creation and
eternity. His control of the moral and physical realms in combination, is a
theme for reflection and profound thanksgiving. In our natural conditions it is
said, "In Him we live and move and have our being." He controls the heart, the
circulation of the blood, the lungs to breathe and the brain to think. Here we
pass from the physical to the mental and moral. Thought, with its flights in a
fraction of a second to the ends of the earth and even to heaven or to hell, is
a mysterious continuance. The Spirit is the power of our thoughts but we are
responsible for reactions. Here we must distinguish carefully, for He who
searches the depth of God, penetrates in us to the dividing of the soul and
spirit, of joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart. He is the power of speech but we must guard the tongue. One man may
rob or kill another and he is indebted to the Holy Spirit for strength to do it
but the deed is from a motive, springing from an evil source, which calls into
action the pangs of a guilty conscience.

Note B. The Kingdom. The kingdom of God and of Heaven is a sphere on earth where
the rule of God is maintained. It is not heaven nor in heaven as some have
thought. Since it had to be set up here by the Spirit, it must be different from
the rule of the heavens spoken of by the prophet, Daniel 4:26, which is true
from the beginning of time. Romans 14:17 explains it. Negatively — it is not
meat and drink, i.e., not concerned with temporal things. Positively — it is
righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is a sphere of good and
blessing where grace reigns through righteousness in contrast with the world
where sin reigns. Three things mark it. The Lordship of Christ; the will of God
which is salvation, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Thus the whole Trinity
is at work on behalf of guilty man. The saints are subjects of divine grace and
fitted to stand as good soldiers of Jesus Christ in the conflict which rages
with the fallen hosts who have their head-quarters in the heavenlies. They are
also consistent with the testimony of God’s grace which is the Gospel of the
glory of the blessed God. In fidelity to their Lord, the rejected King, they
stand for His inheritance during His absence and are provided with the whole
armour of God, in a power that is not carnal but mighty through God. It is true
that this kingdom is spoken of as a lodging place for mere christian profession,
and by the working of man’s mind, to the exclusion of the Spirit, it has become
an inflated mass. Luke 13:18-21. But it must be remembered that, though people
get much of the light and beneficence of heaven in this land by a nominal
profession of christianity, the real entrance into the kingdom of God is by
being born again. John 3:5. "Except ye be converted and become as little
children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3. It began
at Pentecost and goes on till all things are brought into subjection to God by
the Man of His purpose; all enemies put down and even death itself destroyed. 1
Corinthians 15:2-28. The kingdom is confined to the Assembly during the reign of
grace but when that company is summoned to be at home with the Lord, the
testimony will pass into other hands by the resumption of divine dealings with
Israel the covenant people. Judgments of various kinds both providential and
governmental shall then be executed, in view of the kingdom being established on
the earth in full regal display. Matthew 13:30; Matthew 13:41; Matthew 13:48.
Matthew 25:31-46. The kingdom today is a bulwark for the House of God and all
the treasures that are there — the precious things of heaven. As the warriors in
Israel stood for the protection of the Tabernacle, the Priests, the Levites and
the wives and children, so the church militant stands in the conflict for the
maintenance of all that is of God. The place of the Holy Spirit in all this can
be gathered from the place where the conflict is described and the way He is
mentioned there twice. "And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching
thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me,
that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make
known the mystery of the gospel." Ephesians 6:17-19.

Note C. The House of God.

It is important to see that the House of God is presented in a twofold way.
First, as God’s own workmanship by which He prepares a dwelling place for
Himself by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:10; Ephesians 2:22, This is seen in such
scriptures as Matthew 16:18. 1 Peter 2:5. "This is my rest, here will I dwell,
for I have desired it." Psalms 132:14. Secondly, it is seen here in relation to
man’s responsibility and his workmanship where failure has come in. 1
Corinthians 3:9-17. This, like the wheat and tares of the kingdom, shows the way
man has intruded into the holy things of God, ignoring the Spirit with the
result that all is lowered and debased. If any man defile the temple of God, him
shall God destroy. 1 Corinthians 3:17. Judgment must begin at the House of God.
1 Peter 4:17. We are dealing however with the dwelling place of God as composed
of all within the baptism of the Spirit, built of living stone, and instinct
with life — the life of the family of God. It is protected by the kingdom as a
bulwark and within its compartments or chambers are installed the precious
things of heaven. We have looked at these heavenly treasures in Ephesians 2, 3,
as wrought into the souls of the saints by the Spirit, for the pleasure of God.
The beauty and felicity of typical language greatly helps us here, for the
Palace is not for man but for the LORD God. Note the men who had charge of the
treasure and what the treasures are as combining together to express the
assemblage of glories that combine and shine in the Person of Christ. There were
chief men among the brethren. One was a wise counsellor, others were princes of
the sanctuary and others again, princes of God. 1 Chronicles 24:5; 1 Chronicles
26:14. New Tran. Such men would be entrusted with the manifold mysteries of God.
cf. 1 Corinthians 4:1. They had charge of the chambers or storehouses and all
the treasures of the House of God. These consisted of the vessels of service;
the fine flour; the wine; the oil; the frankincense with the spices. Then above
all this there were the dedicated things 1 Chronicles 27:27-30; 1 Chronicles
26:24-28. These dedicated things were the evidences of past victories, the
spoils won in battle and set apart for God and the glory of His dwelling place.
But if the pattern of heavenly things was set up in a panorama of splendour and
glory, what shall be said of the things themselves that are set up in a glory
that excels? The new order of things we are brought into today is heavenly and
eternal. It is a faith system, and no one can read the Epistles of the New
Testament intelligently without coming into contact with the princes of God to
whom were entrusted the instruments of the sanctuary, and the fine flour, and
the wine, and the oil, and the frankincense, and the spices. Nor can one fail to
see as taught of God, that these things bespeak the features of the Man, Christ
Jesus, in a scene of undecaying and incorruptible splendour, permeated by the
Spirit of God and where Christ is ALL and in ALL. And, by the Holy Spirit, these
features are inwrought in the saints today.

Note D. The Body of Christ. The truth of the Body of Christ leads into the
innermost treasures of the House and heart of God. Unlike the Kingdom and the
House, it does not admit on the part of man either responsibility or break-down.
Both the Kingdom and the House form part of the time ways of God and will go on
in this world after the Church is taken to her home in heaven, but the mystery
hid in God throughout the ages — fruit of God’s eternal purpose — the Church,
the Body of Christ, is unique and stands alone. It is of Himself in such a way
as to be substantially and organically, Christ. "So also is the Christ." 1
Corinthians 12:12. New Tran. The Church as the Bride of Christ is a further
thought and nothing inferior to Him can be united to Him. How then is this grand
conception of our God brought into effect? and how can those who were far from
God and living in sin be brought near, so near as to be part of Christ Himself ?
The answer is, that as Eve was taken out of Adam when he was in a deep sleep, so
the Church is taken out of Christ in death by the Holy Spirit, who undertakes
the subjective work of God. As we have seen, this blessed Person formed the body
prepared for the Son in which He glorified God in Redemption. The same blessed
Spirit also forms His Body the Church. This is done by forming in the believer a
new moral being which, in the language of Scripture is "Christ formed in you."
Galatians 4:19; Galatians 1:15-16; Galatians 2:20. From this is developed the
truth that the Church is the Bride of Christ. It is not as members of His Body
that we, His saints are united to Him. As such we are in Him, part of Himself.
It was as taken out of Adam that Eve was united to him. So, to be united to
Christ supposes the nuptial bond which unites the Bride to the Bridegroom as the
fulness or complement of Him who fills all in all. Hence it is that when we come
to Ephesians 5:1-33, where marriage is spoken of, the Spirit passes from what
the Church is as His Body, to what she is as His bride — the object of His
heart.

Note E. The Rainbow.

It is interesting and instructive to note the connection of the Rainbow with the
rain drops, as seen in the waterworks of nature. It illustrates the various
glories of Christ as reflected by His saints on earth. Jehovah said to His
servant Job, "Hath the rain a father?" as if to show that the mighty God fathers
even a drop of rain. Millions of tons of water rise from the oceans each day by
evaporation and are held in vapours in the clouds, till nature’s ruler has need
for them to water His garden. These clouds carry it as vapour, till it is
transformed to liquid again, to be poured out on the earth as from God’s bottles
in view of combining with the sunshine to bring forth bread for the sower. The
result is that countless myriads of drops of water are held in the clouds in
such a way that when the sun shines forth, they become reflectors of His
substance. It is not that one drop sparkles with one colour of the sun and other
drops with other colours but that each drop becomes a microscopic picture of the
whole so that all the colours of the great governing centre are reflected, that
we who cannot look into the sun with the naked eye, may behold his beauty on the
principle of reflection. Here then we have the beauty of moral design. As the
saints share in the light of the Son of God holding the Head, His life
circulates through their souls in such a way as to constitute them reflectors of
His glory, so that the aggregate becomes like a beautiful Rainbow expression of
the Heavenly One. See how this is put before us by the Spirit, in Colossians
3:1-25, "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of
mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one
another and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even
as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." Colossians 3:12-13. The source of these
seven graces is Christ and if we put them on, they are bound to make their
presence seen and felt, so that like the rain drops reflecting the sun’s
colours, we are reflectors of Him. But such things might be more or less
imitated by an amiable disposition, so it is added. "To all these (add) LOVE
which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of Christ preside in your
hearts, to which also you have been called in one body, and be thankful."
Colossians 3:14-15. New Trans. In this way the saints are brought into the
Kingdom of the Son of God’s Love, and decorated by the Spirit with inwrought
tapestry of skilful work as forming the House of God; the beauties and graces of
Christ so wrought in them by the Spirit, that they reflect Him here. Thus they
are the actual possessors of the precious things of heaven. May the Lord Himself
graciously help us to value them rightly, for His Name’s Sake.


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  CHAPTER 27: THE WORKINGS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
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The Workings of the Holy Spirit.

J. McBroom.

(Extracted from Scripture Truth Vol. 36, 1948-50, page 273.) The full blaze of
the Lord’s glory could not be manifested while He was on earth. A glimpse of it
was seen both by Peter and Thomas (Matthew 16:16; John 20:28), but how could the
disciples, or even those in the home at Nazareth, have lived had they known that
the eternal God was amongst them in that lowly One? It began to come out
immediately after the Spirit had come. Speaking of the Pentecostal gift, the
Lord had said, "When the Comforter is come . . . He shall testify of Me," and
again, "He shall glorify Me" (John 15:26; John 16:14). This immediately began to
be fulfilled in the new-born assembly, as the early chapters of Acts reveal. The
One whom ye crucified, says Peter, God has made both Lord and Christ. Then the
Apostles show from the Scriptures, which as illuminated by the Spirit, they can
now use with holy freedom, that He is the King, the Son of David, the Prophet
greater than Moses, the Priest greater than Aaron, till in Acts 7 Stephen
beholds Him in glory as the Son of Man.

There is progress in all this, bespeaking the official and mediatory glory of
our Lord, yet immediately Saul of Tarsus was converted he began to preach Him as
the Son of God. This is personal and shows His place with the Father and the
Spirit. The assembly had been constituted as the vessel formed by the Spirit to
contain and carry on these things. This involves for the believer the transfer,
in his soul’s consciousness, from what he is in the flesh and in nature to what
he is "in Christ." That the Gospel embraces a racial question is made clear by
the way the Spirit goes back to Adam in Romans 5:1-21. The death of Christ is
the divinely ordered way out of all our ruined state as in Adam, and a new
creation began in the resurrection of our Lord. Both the life and the
relationship and the associations belonging to that life, come out in John
20:17; John 20:22. As a moral being, placed in the conflict between good and
evil, man cannot be lifted out of one world into another as a mere material
object. Time and growth is called for, linked with the inner springs of the
soul. It is a most searching process, reaching to the deepest depths of our
being. That this might be simplified for us, the Apostle Paul is led to show it
as personified in himself. On the one hand he could say that concerning the law
he was blameless, but on the other hand he had to learn that the sting of the
law was in its tail, and that the last of the ten commandments claimed him, so
that he had to say, "Sin revived, and I died." That really is the way we must
all go if we are to participate in the blessedness of the new creation. If a man
must be born again, it proves that all that precedes in our natural state is of
no avail for God. Education, reformation, refinement, or whatever else may be
named, all are ruled out, and man as born into this world, with the heritage of
a fallen nature, called in Scripture, "the flesh," is incapable of pleasing God.
"The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be." What then? Christ as our Substitute has died, and if we
accept His death as ours all becomes clear and we come out of the dark tunnel of
introspection into the light of being in the risen life of our Lord. It should
be noted that no mere mental acquisition of these things will do: having the
light of deliverance apart from the deep soul-searching that it involves is the
cause of much of the superficiality and unreality that is so manifest today.
When this important landmark in the history of a soul is reached the individual
becomes conscious that he has a new spiritual being and he begins a new
spiritual history. Though still in the body, where still sin resides, he knows
that in the eye of God he has made the journey from Adam to Christ; he knows
what it is to be "a man in Christ," so that he traces up his spiritual pedigree
to Him as his Head in heaven. How perfect and admirable are the ways of our God!
Oh, what a change it would bring about in the lives of countless multitudes if
this transfer was accepted.

We are now intelligently on the ground of the purpose of God, and able to enter
into and enjoy the precious and heavenly things that belong to this new order.
There is not only our individual blessing but also that which is collective, as
embracing family affairs. The saints are the assembly of God, and they are
living stones in a spiritual house, the house of God where heavenly treasures
are found.

Here again we may be enriched by "the revenues of the ages," for in the typical
house we read of treasures, both the dedicated things and that which was taken
as the spoils of war. (See 1 Chronicles 26:20-28). We may take the spoils of
victory, which were found there, as typical of the way in which the whole circle
of truth is available for us today, much of it having been won by men of God
through many a conflict. The energy of Luther and many others may be recalled,
as well as the labours and conflicts of men used in the recovery of truth well
over a century ago. But there were also the dedicated things and these we may
take as typical of such spiritual realities as we have recorded in Ephesians
2:1-22. Here all is the fruit of Divine workmanship, for both Jew and Gentile
are made one in a new economy of grace and glory with the middle wall of
partition broken down. The distance is gone, and now there is the intimacy of
nearness in Christ Jesus, and all is righteously established in His shed blood.
Next comes the new man, followed by the truth of the body of Christ, in the full
light of reconciliation. Then crowning it all, and in the light of the Holy
Trinity, we have through the Lord Jesus access to the Father by the Spirit. And
there is still more, for the saints are seen as the household of God, as a
growing temple, and last of all as a habitation for God by the Spirit. Here
surely we are in the midst of the accumulated treasures of God’s house.

How infinitely blessed is all this! Surely Christianity is a faith system and
above all our senses, for God has by His Spirit revealed to those that love Him
things that eye hath not seen nor ear heard, and that have not entered into the
heart of man. Now we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit
which is God, "that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God
(1 Corinthians 2:9-12). From the group of things, mentioned in Ephesians 2:1-22,
the Spirit takes the church as the body of Christ and dwells on it in a long
parenthesis, which occupies the whole of chapter 3. The mystery, or secret of
God, which was hidden throughout the ages, includes Christ and His church, but
it is now revealed to His holy Apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This secret
made known to faith, which has been spoken of as "the masterpiece of God," is
defined in Ephesians 2:6, "that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the
same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ;" and the way into it is "by
the Gospel." The wealth of that Gospel shines in Ephesians 2:8 — "the
unsearchable riches of Christ." The administration of the mystery comes next,
and here we see its connection with the heart and purpose of God from all
eternity, for it is "to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers
in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God." In
these closing days there has been a ministry of the place of the church as the
house of God and the body of Christ, which has brought blessing to many. The
house is where God dwells and where His voice is heard, as we see in Acts 5:3-4;
Acts 13:2; 1 Timothy 4:1; Ephesians 2:22. It is where God rests, and
consequently salvation and blessing are found there, along with the holy joy
that belongs to the place, as we have prophetically announced in Psalms
132:13-16. In the New Testament we find it to be marked by both elevation and
illumination, for, "The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it . .
. the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof "
(Revelation 21:22-23). Truly it is the place, "Where all His brightness God
displays, And the Lamb’s glories dwell." Our Lord said, "The words that I speak
unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." If we read Scripture in this way
we shall not think of God’s present house otherwise than as a living structure,
composed of the saints who form Christ’s assembly. It was formed by the Holy
Spirit for God Himself, and will be His dwelling-place to eternity. In it shall
be glory to God by Christ Jesus to all eternity, as we see in Ephesians 3:21.

Nothing more clearly shows the sovereignty of God and His predilection for man,
as distinct from all other of His creatures, than the fact that He dwells with
and in man. It was ever His desire, but the entrance of sin, and the conflict
between good and evil, was allowed to hinder. But even this He has overruled to
accomplish His great end, by the redemption wrought out by His Son. God Himself
is the Architect of this house; Christ is the Builder; the Holy Spirit we may
with reverence liken to Cement, for He binds all together. Redeemed men are the
material; Christ being formed in them, they are living stones. They were given
to the Son by the Father in past eternal ages, and He presents them in His own
acceptance with the Father, and in His own relationship as sons. With this in
view we are already blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in
Christ, and made holy and without blame in love before God, and all this for His
own pleasure. Truly then the house of God is a great and blessed reality. The
reason perhaps why it is not better understood and enjoyed is our tendency to
materialism. But when Scripture speaks of "the house of Israel," or "the house
of David," we think immediately not of a material building or fine furniture but
of living people. So ought we to think of the house of God. The indwelling of
the Holy Spirit in the believer is a truth commonly acknowledged, but often it
is but little understood how we are transferred from Adam to Christ, so that
created anew we are united to Christ and linked up with that world of glory of
which He is the Head and Centre. We belong to a new race forming the family of
God, and as His household are to be representative of Him in this world; but how
could this be if we did not know Him?

God’s presence is our home, and we are taken there with a nature and
relationship suited to Him. Thus we have fellowship with the Father and the Son
in the holy intimacy that belongs to the Divine nature the blessedness of which
is beyond words to describe.

"O boundless grace! that fills with joy Unmingled all that enter there, God’s
nature, love without alloy, Our hearts are given even now to share."


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  CHAPTER 28: WHAT DOES THE COMING OF THE COMFORTER MEAN?
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What does the Coming of the Comforter mean?

J. N. Darby.

{Serving as a reply to the second article on "The Church in the Old Testament"
in "Our Banner" (an American Periodical), April 16, 1877.} {Bible Herald, 1877,
pages 223-256.}

I have no pleasure in mere controversy, and as I noticed Mr G.’s previous
article* on the church only at the request of those interested in the subject, I
take notice of his reply for the same reason, but only of what refers to the
main subject, which is all-important.

{*See Bible Witness and Review, Vol, 1, p. 240.}

I have no doubt, though unacquainted with him, that Mr. G. is a good man, and I
have no wish to violate in any way the amenities of Christian charity with one
who is a brother in Christ, as controversy tends to do. One should ask oneself
now "Is this what I should wish it to have been when I come before the Lord? "
If I should fail in this I must, anticipating, beg Mr. G. to forgive me. I have
no consciousness of an ungracious feeling, but Mr G. will not deny that "What is
the Church?" is an important question for us all.

I will reply, then, to his article in Our Banner of April 16, in what touches
that question, and even so, I do it reluctantly. Positive truth is happier
service. Mr. G. insists that the Church was Israel. That it was at first
composed of Jews no one denies. God, as I said before, waiting on Israel in
gracious patience, consequent withal on Christ’s intercession on the cross (Luke
23:34); the third of Acts, not the second, being the reply of the Holy Ghost by
the mouth of Peter thereto. This was not only addressed to Israel but about
Israel, calling them as a nation to repent and Jesus would return, the words of
the Holy Ghost answering to Jesus’ prayer "When the times of refreshing;" ver.
19, should be "so that the times of refreshing;" ?p?? ?? has no other sense in
Greek. The Jews’ repentance would be the occasion of God’s intervention in their
favour, and then the blessing and peace of the world promised in the prophets
would be established, commonly called the millennium. But in this case there was
no gathering. The Jewish authorities would not even allow the Apostle to finish
his speech. But Mr. G.’s argument as to Acts 2:1-47 has no force whatever. The
Apostle’s sermon was addressed to the Jews, to Israel, if you will, but what has
that to do with the Church being Israel? The effect of the sermon under the
power of the spirit was to gather out of Israel, three thousand, to form, so
far, the church - to begin it among that people, though the doctrine of it was
not taught till Paul’s time. He was a minister of the church to fulfil or
complete the word of God (Colossians 1:26). But to argue that the church was
Israel, because Israel was preached to, and many gathered out of Israel to form
it, has no possible force. If a missionary gathers a body of christians from
among the heathen in India, converted to God by grace, are they still heathens,
and christianity a continuation of their religion? No doubt they were by natural
birth, as the Jews were Jews, but to say that the church is heathen it absurd.
Those called out from Israel who were saved from that untoward generation, were
the church, or assembly of God. Israel remained Israel, and was, for the time,
hardened in the heart and cut off.

Mr. G. must allow me to complete the quoted prophecy of Joel, "The promise is
unto you and to your children." There Mr. G. stops. The Apostle adds "and to all
that are afar off, even to as many as the Lord your God shall call." Now that
God did not reject the Jews till they had refused to receive a glorified Christ,
as well as crucified a humbled one (a measure of sin and unbelief completed in
the stoning of Stephen, who sums up their conduct from Abraham to that day;
where also Paul, the minister of the church, first comes upon the scene), is
quite true, and hence that God waited and did not reveal all His counsels as to
the union of Jew and Gentile. But the language omitted by Mr. G. throws it open
in principle, and if it does not, why does he omit it? The promise was given to
Israel especially, but by adding all flesh, the prophecy was in prospect carried
out farther. It is the accustomed term for this in the Old Testament. "All flesh
shall see the salvation of God." "By His fire and by His sword shall the Lord
plead with all flesh." The "specially to Israel" does not exclude this. He was
to be a light to lighten (to reveal) the Gentiles, and the glory of His people,
Israel. Let my reader consult Jeremiah 25:15-33, where the Lord declares He will
plead with all flesh, beginning with Jerusalem (Jeremiah 25:18-29, see Numbers
16:22). So to Christ, power is given over all flesh. But let the reader only
take a concordance, and he will at once see the force of these words, its
absolute universality, and where needed, contrast with Israel. He will readily
understand why Mr. G. omits it, and what is far better, how God uses it, and
how, while preserving the promises to Israel, it extends blessing and judgment
to all, and putting the Jew first, goes out to the Greek.

Repentance and remission of sins were to be preached in His name, beginning at
Jerusalem. So even Paul, who knew no difference, for that all had sinned, yet
went to the Jew first, and also to the Greek, saying that Christ was a minister
of the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the promises made to the
fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is
written. Till the Jews rejected a glorified Christ the patience of God dealt
with them as a nation for repentance, and gathered the members of His assembly
from that people, calling then Cornelius by Peter, that all might be one, but
using Paul as the instrument for unfolding the doctrine of the assembly and the
ministration of the Gospel to the nations, a mission the others gave up entirely
to him (Galatians 2:1-21). Did Mr. G. see the Lord’s coming and the setting up
of Christ’s kingdom by power, I might go further into this. Let him here only
ponder this, that the little stone, cut out without hands, did not become a
mountain to fill the whole earth, till after it had executed judgment. The
knowledge of this would help in the understanding of Joel* and interpret many
passages now obscure and falsely applied by those who do not see it. But I must
now confine myself to my reply.

{*Thus in Joel it is before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes that
there is deliverance in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and with this chapter 3 is
connected.} As regards my alleged mistake of taking organization for privilege
(and christian privileges do occupy the greatest part of my paper), I shall only
quote Mr G.’s words, "To them (the Jews) pertained the adoption, glory,
covenant, giving of the law, service, and the promises (Romans 9:4). Nothing
more can be said of the church now." Any one can decide whether this applies to
organization or privileges, and whether it is not an assertion that they had all
that the church has now. As to the coming of the Holy Ghost, the most essential
point of all, I do mean to say that the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, did not come
till after Christ was glorified. The word of God is positive and express as to
this, and it is what is at the root of the question. What I have said about
this, or rather what the blessed Lord and the word have said of it is quite
plain. The Holy Ghost as God, is everywhere. "He inspired," I said, "the
prophets, and wrought all through the divine history." But and if Christ and the
divine word tell us the truth, we must so believe, the Comforter could not come
until Christ went away and was glorified. "Christ," I remarked, "had created the
world, but He did not come till the incarnation." "I came forth from the Father,
and am come into the world; again I leave the world and go to the Father"

I shall repeat what the word of God says on this point as it is the real and
vital question. It is a scriptural fact which constitutes Christianity, and the
denial of the plain scriptural statements on the subject, or the neglect of
them, is what has judaized Christianity, plunged the assembly of God into the
world, and made it as it now stands, the powerless prey to infidelity. The death
and resurrection of Christ are the foundations of Christianity, the presence of
the Holy Ghost as personally come into the world, that is, to believers in it,
is the essential living power and characteristic of Christianity and the
Christian. And I add now, that Christ glorified as man, received Him (the Holy
Ghost) afresh when so glorified, to shed Him forth on His disciples. Christ had
not received Him to this end till after His ascension, Acts 2:33 "Therefore,
being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the
promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear."

I am not going to reason as Mr. G. does, but to quote the word of God. Mr. G.
speaks of " pouring out," as giving in abundance, and that such only is the
difference. When was the Spirit of God poured out before Pentecost? But I will
quote the texts, and to them I can claim the submission of every child of God. I
have done so, but I press this point as a cardinal one, constituting
Christianity as revealed in the New Testament. In John 7:1-53 Christ not then
showing Himself to the world according to the yet unfulfilled type of the feast
of Tabernacles, says on the special, last (eighth) and great day of the feast, "
If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as
the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water,"
and the Evangelist adds: "This spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe
on Him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet (given), for Jesus was not
yet glorified." Compare Acts 2:1-47 already quoted. There is no question of a
greater or fuller measure. What is said is the Holy Ghost (p?e?µa ?????) was not
yet. That is, as come and dwelling in believers. So the baptizing with the Holy
Ghost was the second of the two great works of Christ. He was the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world, but He on whom, as man, the Holy Ghost
descended and abode, He it was who would baptize with the Holy Ghost. This took
place, as regards the one hundred and twenty, on the day of Pentecost, according
to Christ’s word (Acts 1:5 ), and Christ being exalted and glorified according
to John 7 shed forth the Holy Ghost according to the promise in Joel. The
difference of the Spirit in the prophets, and the presence of the Holy Ghost as
come down from Heaven, is clearly marked in 1 Peter 1:11-13 : "The Spirit of
Christ which was in them testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the
glory (glories) which should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto
themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto
you by them that have preached the gospel unto you, with the Holy Ghost sent
down from heaven." There was a testimony beforehand, by the Spirit of Christ in
the prophets, but with the gospel the things were, not brought, but reported
with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, and then we are told that the things
will be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ, for which we must wait.
The distinction, then, is perfectly scriptural, and the distinction made in
scripture, that distinction being marked by "sent down from heaven." But further
I add the positive texts (John 14:16), "I will pray the Father, and He will give
you another Comforter that He may abide with you for ever;" (John 14:25-26),
"These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the
Comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He
shall teach you all things." (John 15:26), "But when the Comforter is come, whom
I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth." (John 16:7),
"It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter
will not come unto you; But if I depart, I will send Him unto you, and when He
is come." And the Acts and Epistles confirm these plain testimonies. The former
I have quoted. I add (John 16:19), "We have not so much as heard whether the
Holy Ghost is." The same words as in John 7:1-53. So Ephesians 1:13, "In whom
also, after that ye believed ye were sealed by that Holy Spirit of promise" -
till Christ was glorified, promised, but not come; but now come, and given to
believers as a seal. Their unity was the unity of the Spirit; there was one
Spirit and one body. They were not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God by which
they were sealed to the day of redemption (Galatians 3:2), "They had received
the Spirit by the hearing of faith." (1 Corinthians 12:1-31), "All these worketh
that one and the self-same Spirit dividing to every man severally as He will."
"By one Spirit they were all baptized into one body." Christianity is the
ministration of the Spirit, in contrast with the law (2 Corinthians 3:1-18). And
it is a great mistake to suppose that miraculous gifts and prophesy were the
special and most important effects. The disciples were not to rejoice that
demons were subject unto them, but rather that their names were written in
heaven. Men might have supernatural power (1 Corinthians 13:1-13), without being
converted, and in the Old Testament we have instances of it, but if sealed with
the Holy Ghost, it was as believers, and for the day of redemption. They could
then (Galatians 4:1-31) cry Abba Father, being sons by faith in Christ Jesus,
they (John 16:1-33) know they are in Christ and Christ in them (1 John 4:13).
They know, and that by the Spirit given to them, that they dwell in God, and God
in them. His love is shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost given to them
(Romans 5:5). Their bodies are temples. The Spirit Himself bears witness with
our spirit, helps our infirmities; we are led by the Spirit, mind the things of
the Spirit: He which establishes in Christ, and has anointed us is God, who hath
also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts (2 Corinthians
1:21-22). He who hath wrought us for the self-same thing (the glory), is God,
who hath also given us the earnest of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:5). All this
is more than power and prophecy. It is the Christian state, and is contrasted
(Galatians 4:1-31) with the Jewish believer consequent on accomplished and known
redemption. The more the reader examines the Word, the more he will find the
presence of the Holy Ghost in the believer and in the assembly, essentially and
distinctively characteristic of Christianity.

I may notice one passage, as it makes a difficulty of some, John 14:17. It does
not touch the question, if we take it as Mr. G. and others do, namely, that the
Holy Ghost had come down on Jesus as man after His baptism, and dwelt with them
in that sense, but was not in them. This only confirms what I have insisted on.
The Holy Ghost coming and being in them was future: "and shall be in you." That
was not yet. But the truth is, I do not believe this to be the sense of
"dwelling" with them. The translators had an avowed and unhappy practise of
translating the same word differently in the same sentence, as in John 5:1-47 :
"judgment," "condemnation," "damnation," are one identical word in Greek. So
here "dwell" in John 5:17 is the same as "abide" in John 5:16. The Father was to
give another Comforter who was to abide for ever with them. Christ could not; He
was to go away to the Father. When sent, He was to abide with them, and be in
them. Christ was there with them, but He could not abide with them; was with
them, but not in them. This other Comforter would abide, and be in them. The
"cannot receive" of the world is as much the present time as "abide." It is when
sent. And the truth is, abides or dwells, is just as much future as present. It
depends on an accent (µe??? or µe?e?) and in the early MSS. there were no
accents. But taking it in Mr. G.’s sense, the Spirit was there in Christ as man,
and so with them, but in them was, on the contrary, future. The word of God,
therefore, testifies positively that the Comforter did not, and could not come,
till Christ went away and was glorified. There is nothing about any previous
pouring out, but a promise of doing it in the future. Nor does even shaphak mean
giving in abundance, particularly, but simply pouring out. Further, in speaking
of less and more, His personal coming is denied; a very weighty point. "When He
shall come." He is sent, comes, wills, distributes, works, and, I repeat,
Christianity is distinguished by that presence of the Holy Ghost the Comforter.
I repeat here the immensely important truth that God’s dwelling with man is the
consequence of accomplished redemption. He did not with Adam, nor Abraham, nor
other saints. When He had redeemed Israel out of Egypt He did. "He dwelleth
between the cherubim" (See Exodus 29:45-46). So the Holy Ghost could not come,
till man sat at the right hand of God, the glorified witness that an eternal
redemption was accomplished. Of this we have seen in John 7:1-53, Acts 2:1-47,
John 16:7, the positive testimony. The whole character of christianity depends
on it. We are not yet in the christian state and standing if we have not the
Spirit (Romans 8:9-11).

Mr. G. says that the work of instituting the church is nowhere ascribed to the
Spirit in scripture. That the church was not yet built or building when Christ
was on earth is certain, for He says, on this rock I will build my church. Till
Christ died the foundation was not laid. Here only is the church spoken of in
His lifetime and as a future thing. But He died to gather together in one the
children of God which were scattered abroad, and the two characters in which the
church is spoken of, body and house, are both attributed to the Spirit, baptized
by one Spirit into one body, and the habitation of God by the Spirit (Ephesians
2:22). "In whom ye are builded together for an habitation of God through the
Spirit (e? p?e?µat?). There is one Spirit and one body. For as the body is one,
and hath many members, and all the members of that one body being many, are one
body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body,
Jews or Gentiles, etc." (1 Corinthians 12:12-13). Even if we come down to the
low ground of external organization, Mr. G. says, "Christ instituted the Lord’s
supper, Christ instituted baptism." Well then, they did not exist before Christ,
as so organized. But when Mr. G. says, "Christ gave the organization of the New
Testament to the disciples," though the expression "the organization of the New
Testament" be somewhat unintelligible, will He tell us when He did so? I read in
1 Tim. of such organization, and historical facts elsewhere connected with it,
but for saying that any such were given by Christ, there is not a shadow of
ground.

If by organization He means baptism and the Lord’s supper, it is a proof that as
He instituted them, such organization did not exist before, and it was when the
Holy Ghost came they were carried out. Baptism to Christ’s death could not be
till He had died, and the Lord’s supper is a symbol of the unity of the body of
which an exalted Christ (Ephesians 1:19-23) is the Head. As to Christ not loving
the church till it existed, it is false doctrine. In its fulness and
completeness in God’s purpose it does not exist yet, at least we trust that
soul’s will yet be brought in. "Yet to be made and defiled," says Mr. G. Did He
not love the souls He saves now, before they existed? They were defiled in their
own nature, and of these the church is made up, loved before they existed,
defiled as sinners, and Christ died long ago for their purification, and they
constitute the church when sealed. Christ did love the church before it existed.
Did He only give Himself for what existed then? This is very sad. He gave
Himself for it that He might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water by
the word, that He might present it to Himself, a glorious church without spot.
What He will present to Himself certainly did not exist when He gave Himself for
it. There could be no church but by His giving Himself for it. Its cleansing, in
time, comes after this. He loved the church that He will present, glorious, to
Himself. This only shows how if one truth be given up, others, if touched, will
crumble with it. If Mr. G. had given himself the trouble of examining the Greek
in Ephesians 3:4-11, he would have found that as the English proves nothing of
the kind, in Greek there is no ground for what he says as to the Jews being the
body (a monstrous assertion, really) at all. The word is s?ss?µa, which could
not exist till both were formed in one, according to Ephesians 2:1-22, to make
of both one new man. The concluding remarks scarcely require any on my part.
There is not a word in scripture about any people using Melchisedec, not even
Abraham, though he owned his greatness. Abraham acted as priest for himself
continually setting up his altar, as did Isaac and Jacob, and the family altar
has been generally recognized by christians. There is not a shadow of any
assembly of believers, or professed believers, before the exodus. Melchisedec is
introduced as a mysterious personage whose priesthood and life were coincident,
not what priests were, or the great high priest is now, to intercede for the
ignorant or out of the way, or to offer gifts and sacrifices for sin as the
apostle insists; but to give, and to bless the Most High God, and Abraham from
the Most High God, when through His power he was already wholly victorious. And
if Mr. G. had taken the pains to read that one of the songs of Zion (Psalms
110:1-7) to which he alludes, he would have found that it was setting Christ at
God’s right hand till His enemies should be His footstool; and that the sending
the rod of His power out of Zion is future. Then His enemies will be made His
footstool. Hence when the apostle shows that there arises another priest not of
the order of Aaron, Christ being that priest, he makes the present exercise of
His priesthood exclusively according to the analogy of Aaron’s, though He be not
of his order (Hebrews 8:9), because Christ is yet sitting at the right hand of
God, and His enemies, if scripture is to be believed, not yet made His
footstool. A priest is not the priest of a church,* unless in popery, that I
know of. The essential character of the present time is that Christ is not
sitting on His own throne, but on His Father’s, at God’s right hand, till His
enemies be made His footstool, and the Holy Ghost sent down while He is there
"expecting," having by one offering perfected for ever them that are sanctified
through it. I do not admit that there was an order known as elders when Moses
returned to Israel in Egypt. There were elders, but no order known as elders. If
there were, let the institution be shown. There was one established when Jethro
came (Exodus 18:1-27, Deuteronomy 1:1-46), but this was subsequent; and a
special one of seventy (Numbers 11:17). But as to this I am quite indifferent.
The congregation was not formed, but they were a separated people, and if there
be no testimony of it, for aught I know there may have been some known elders,
but no such order is spoken of. Nor even in the New Testament is any appointment
of elders spoken of amongst the Jews.

{*The church is never spoken of unless in Hebrews 12:22, where the whole
heavenly and earthly order is spoken of. } But if there were a congregation
connected with Melchisedec, of which there is not the slightest trace, or that
there were elders in Israel organized as an order among the people, which is not
said either, what has that to do with union with Christ by the Holy Ghost, with
the glorious head of the body, or even with the habitation of God through the
Spirit, formed consequent on Christ having broken down the middle wall of
partition, and set aside Judaism? Were Melchisedec’s fancied congregation
members of Melchisedec’s body? Yet that is what constitutes the church in its
truest character: "the body of Christ."

How the habit of mere human arrangement blots out of the mind the divinely given
revelations of a glorified Christ at God’s right hand, and a body united to Him
by the Holy Ghost. A priest must have a church, an utterly unscriptural thought,
instead of a glorified Christ and union with Him by the Holy Ghost; Christ, too,
fancied to be exercising His power as King now, instead of sitting at God’s
right hand expecting till His enemies be made His footstool.

I trust no harsh word has escaped me. I do not deny it is an exercise of
patience to go over and over again what constitutes the characteristic existence
of the church, and christianity itself commencing from Pentecost. My only
consolation is that it brings out, clearer and clearer, for christians, great
fundamental truths of their own standing. If any man have not the Spirit of
Christ he is none of His.


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Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/anthology-on-the-holy-spirit/
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