SCRIPTURE
STUDIES
VOLUME FIVE - THE
ATONEMENT BETWEEN GOD AND MAN
STUDY IX
THE BAPTISM, WITNESS AND SEAL
OF THE SPIRIT OF AT-ONE-MENT
Spirit
Baptism, One Only—in Three Parts — The Significance of this
Baptism — “The Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven” — Another Baptism of the Spirit Promised “Upon all Flesh”
— Its Significance — Prayer
for the Spirit — The
Witness of the Spirit — Its Importance — No Peace With God Without It
— Few Know Whether They Have It or Not — “‘Tis a
Point I Long to
Know” — How to Recognize the Spirit’s Witness — Differences of Administration
— The Spirit’s Testimony — “Sanctified by the Spirit”
— “Filled With the Spirit” — The Seal of the
Spirit — “The Promise” which
it Seals — Unto the Day of Deliverance — The Highest Attainment to be Sought—and Retained.
“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
they 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.” Acts 2:1-4
THE DAY of Pentecost was a most notable one in the
history of the Gospel Church. It
indicated that our Redeemer had appeared in the presence of God for us, as
our great High Priest; that he had offered before the Father the merits of
his sacrifice, finished at Calvary fifty days previously; that the Father
had accepted the sacrifice fully; and consequently that the apostles and
believers who had accepted Jesus, and who were desirous of approaching to
the Father, [page 210]
and becoming sons
of God (John 1:12), were now recognized as such—the holy Spirit thus
testifying their acceptance: hence it is termed the “Spirit of
adoption” into the family of God. It
was appropriate that so important a matter should be clearly demonstrated:
it was not only important that the apostles and believers should receive
the holy Spirit, the Spirit of divine favor, in their hearts, but that
they should have an outward manifestation which would be a satisfactory
proof, not only to themselves but to all subsequent believers, that God
had fully accepted the Church as sons and joint-heirs with Christ.
But nothing in connection with this narrative in any sense of the
word necessitates the thought of a personal holy Spirit, separate from the
Father and the Son. Quite the
contrary: the fact that the holy Spirit was received in them all of itself
implies that the holy Spirit is not a person, but an influence, a power
exerted by a person—the power or influence of God exerted in and upon
his newly adopted children. This is further evidenced by the fact that the
various powers and talents of the apostles were energized, quickened and
enlarged by this influence. The Apostle explains that it was here that our Lord Jesus
“gave gifts unto men”—spiritual gifts. (Psa. 68:18; Eph. 4:8)
The great gift of his own life had already been given, and
constituted the redemption
price for the whole
world—and a portion of the ransomed myriads, a little flock, having been
especially given to Christ to be his joint-heirs and associates in the
Kingdom, and the selection of this little flock having already begun, as
represented in those who waited for the Pentecostal blessing, the time had
come for their recognition. It was the Father who there recognized the
Church of Christ, in the sense that the impartation of his holy Spirit, as
an influence and power, implied the reconciliation of believers; so that
they were no longer treated as sinners and aliens, nor even as servants;
now as sons they were made “partakers of the heavenly gift.”
We are informed that this holy Spirit, holy influence, holy power,
which emanates [page 211] from its fountain or source, the Father, was poured
out, nevertheless, appropriately by God’s honored representative,
through whom every Blessing of God has come and will come, namely, Christ
Jesus our Lord and Head.
The Apostle Peter, speaking under the inspiring influence of the
holy Spirit, explained the matter, that it was of
the Father and by
the Son, saying, “Jesus—being by the right hand of God exalted, and
having received of the Father the promise of the holy Spirit, he hath shed
forth this which ye now see and hear.” (Acts 2:33)
Accordingly, there can not be too much stress laid upon this
baptism of the holy Spirit, seeing that it marks the acceptance of the
Church, and that without it we would have no proof of the acceptance of
our Lord’s sacrifice and of our justification.
However, we must most emphatically object to the common but
erroneous and thoroughly unscriptural idea which prevails amongst many
very earnest Christians, to the effect that frequent baptisms of the holy
Spirit are to be expected and sought.
Such an expectation not only is unwarranted by any promises given
us in the Word of God, but is thoroughly at variance with the divine
arrangement therein laid down. It
should be noticed that the Scriptures mention only three baptisms of the
holy Spirit; and the necessity for each of these, and for no more, is
manifest—the three being parts or divisions of the one baptism.
(1) The baptism of our Lord Jesus. (2)
The baptism at Pentecost. (3) The baptism of Cornelius, the first Gentile
convert accepted as a “son.” Let
us examine these baptisms of the Spirit in this order.
(1) Not only was our Lord’s baptism of the holy Spirit necessary
to himself, that he might be a partaker of the divine power; as the divine
agent, and as the earnest of his inheritance, his begetting to the divine
nature; but it was proper also that there should be such an outward
manifestation or recognition of him as would permit others to know him as
God’s Anointed. The
manifestation was that of a dove descending and lighting upon him.
Nor are we given page 212]
to understand that the people in general witnessed
this manifestation of divine favor; the understanding rather is that John
the Baptist, who was at the time doing a reformatory work in Israel, and
who was recognized as a prophet, a servant of the Lord, alone witnessed
the descent of the Spirit upon our Lord, and he bore testimony to the
fact. The statement is, “And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven,
like a dove, and it abode upon him; and I knew him not [knew not that he
was the Messiah]: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said
unto me, Upon whom thou shall see the Spirit descending and remaining upon
him, the same is he which baptizeth with the holy Spirit.
And I saw, and bare record, that this is the Son of God.” John
1:33
(2) The baptism of the Church at Pentecost, as John here explains,
was to be done by Christ, “he which baptizeth with the holy Spirit.” Peter confirms this, as we have seen, declaring that Christ
did shed forth his holy Spirit. He
alone can so baptize, because he has redeemed the world, bought all with
his precious blood; and because no man cometh unto the Father but by him,
and because the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment
unto the Son; and because the Son, highly exalted, acts as the Father’s
representative, to introduce into full fellowship with the Father those
who come unto the Father by him. We have already seen that this baptism of
the Church with the holy Spirit was necessary, as a testimony, as a
witness, in the same manner that it was necessary that the baptism of the
Spirit upon our Lord Jesus should be witnessed and testified.
The rushing wind filling the place, and the “cloven tongues of
flame” which “sat on each of them” (probably the eleven apostles
only—designating them as the Lord’s special representatives and the
holy Spirit’s mouthpieces—see verse 14), were not the holy Spirit, but
merely manifestations
to their senses representing the invisible.
Similarly the dove which John saw was not the Spirit but a
manifestation [page 213] to his senses. The
dove, the emblem of peace and purity, fitly represented the fulness of
Jehovah’s spirit of love in Jesus; as the cloven tongues fitly
represented the mission of the apostles to be, under the holy Spirit, to
testify as “witnesses.”
Acts 2:32; 3:15; 5:32; 10:39,41; 13:31
(3) A special manifestation of the divine power in connection with
the acceptance of Cornelius, the first Gentile convert, was necessary;
because hitherto Gentiles had been outcasts, unacceptable to God even as
servants; consequently it would not occur to the Jewish believers that the
Gentiles would be accepted into the high position of sons of God, unless some pointed manifestation of divine favor
to that effect were granted.
As already seen, it was not the divine program that any Gentiles
should be accepted until the end of the “seventy weeks” of Jewish
special favor, three and a half years after Pentecost;*
hence the fact that converts from among the Gentiles were to be
fellow-heirs (on an equality) with converts from among the Jews, could not
be indicated in the baptism of the Spirit at Pentecost.
And in view of the deep-rooted prejudices of the apostles as well
as other Jews, it was most appropriate that the acceptance of Cornelius
should be manifested
to the senses of the Apostle by the same
evidences given at Pentecost. Nor
is it necessary to suppose that the “cloven tongues of flame” sat on
Cornelius: in common with the converts from Judaism, he probably received
some of the “gifts” which came upon all
at Pentecost.
—————
*See SCRIPTURE STUDIES, Vol. II, Chap. 7.
How else could we have ever known that the Gentiles were accepted
of the Lord? If the baptism
of the Spirit and the Pentecostal blessings had come only upon the
believers who were of the natural seed of Abraham, it might have left us
in doubt all the way down through the Gospel age, as respects the standing
of the Lord’s people who by natural progeniture were Gentiles.
But by the baptism of the holy Spirit coming upon Cornelius, the
Lord made fully manifest [page
214] the fact that there was no longer any difference
between Jew and Gentile, bond and free, male and female, so far as
acceptance with him in Christ was concerned.
None are acceptable of themselves, in their own
unrighteousness—hence only those who come unto the Father through the
Beloved One are accepted in him. 1 Cor. 12:13
Aside from these three baptisms of the holy Spirit there is no
other reference to the subject in the Scriptures: consequently the thought
of many of the Lord’s people, that they must expect, labor for and pray
for another or repeated baptisms of the holy Spirit is quite unwarranted.
Such baptisms are wholly unnecessary, because the one baptism at
Pentecost, supplemented by that upon Cornelius, fills every requirement.
Those baptisms came not merely upon the individuals who enjoyed the
blessing, but representatively were for and upon the Church, the Body of
Christ, as a whole. The fact
that this representative work for the Church was made in two parts—upon
the first Jewish believers at Pentecost, and upon the first Gentile
believers in the house of Cornelius, is only in harmony with our Lord’s
statement on the subject to Peter, before his crucifixion, saying, “I
will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Matt. 16:19)
A key signifies power to unlock, to open; and keys, in the plural
implies that more than one door was to be opened.
As a matter of fact, there were just two doors, and just two keys;
and the Apostle Peter used both keys—doing the opening work to both Jews
and Gentiles, as the Lord had predicted.
He used the first key at Pentecost, where he was the first, chief,
principal speaker, who introduced the new dispensation of the Spirit to
the three thousand who at once believed and entered the door. (Acts
2:37-41) Again, when the due
time had come for the Gospel to be preached to the Gentiles, the Lord, in
accordance with his choice, sent Peter to do this work, telling Cornelius
to send for Peter, and telling Peter to go to Cornelius, and to speak the
words of the Gospel to him and his household.
On this occasion Peter used the second key, [page 215]
opening the Gospel door before the Gentiles, God
witnessing to the fact by the miraculous manifestations of his holy Spirit
upon Cornelius and the other consecrated believers from among the Gentiles
with him.
The proper thought respecting the baptism of the holy Spirit is
that of an outpouring, a shedding forth, an anointing, which, however, is
so complete (covering
every member of the body) as to be properly designated an immersion, or
“baptism.” And this same
anointing or baptism continues upon the Church down through the
age—covering, permeating, sanctifying, blessing, anointing, from then
until now, each one who comes
into the anointed “body.”
And this will continue until the last member has been received and
fully anointed. The Apostle
John speaking also of this baptism, styling it an anointing, says, “The
anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you.” (1 John 2:27;
Psa. 133:2) He does not say, the numerous anointings which you have
received, but the anointing, the one
anointing, more being quite superfluous and out of harmony with the divine
arrangement.
From the divine standpoint the entire Church is recognized as
one—as a whole, for, “As the body is one, yet hath many members, so
also is Christ...Ye are members in particular of the body of Christ.” (1
Cor. 12:12,27) In harmony
with this thought the Scriptural presentation of the matter is that
although the Lord considers us individually, and in many respects deals
with us individually, yet our standing before the Father is not so much as
units, but as members or parts of a unit, which unit is Christ, head and
body. Hence we are informed
that after we have believed our next step is to get into the body of
Christ—to be baptized into his body.
We will not here discuss the subject of baptism in general, leaving
that for future consideration, but we note the fact that believers are
invited to be baptized into Christ, in order that they may come into or
under his baptism of the holy Spirit.
The holy Spirit not being a person, but a holy [page 216]
Spirit or power possessed by the Church, all who
would have this blessing must come into relationship with this Church, Christ’s body.
It is not to be obtained otherwise.
Nor do we mean by this a membership in an earthly Church—a
Methodist body, a Presbyterian body, a Lutheran body, a Roman Catholic
body, or any other body of human organization. We mean a membership in the
ecclesia,
whose members can be assuredly recognized only by their possession of the
holy Spirit of love—attested by its various fruits and witnessed to as
we have seen foregoing.
Whoever becomes truly united with Christ, and thus truly united
with all the members of the body of Christ, needs not to pray for present
or future Pentecostal blessings, but may look back with joy and confidence
to the original Pentecostal blessing and the blessing upon Cornelius, as
the evidences which the Father gave, through Christ, of his acceptance of
the Church as a whole: and with the divine arrangement all should be fully
content. We do not say that
our Lord is wroth with those who, with mistaken thoughts, ask, contrary to
his will, for numerous Pentecosts: rather, we will suppose that he will
have compassion upon their ignorance and misdirected prayers, and without
altering his own plans and arrangements will pour them out a blessing—as
much of a blessing as their erroneous expectations and neglect of his Word
will permit—accepting the groanings of their spirits for heavenly
communion.
It is strange that these dear friends who continually pray for
baptisms of the Spirit have never noticed that the apostles did not pray
for future Pentecosts, neither did they instruct the Church so to pray. Do such friends think themselves wiser than the inspired
apostles, or holier than they, or more anxious to be filled with the
Spirit? We will trust that
they have no such egotistical and presumptuous imaginations, and that
their feelings are merely those of ignorant children, who thoughtlessly
and sometimes peevishly tease indulgent parents for unnecessary and
unpromised blessings and mercies, which cannot be granted them. [page 217]
The
General Baptism of the Spirit
“Afterward
I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh.” Joel 2:28
The holy Spirit is to be the channel of reconciliation between the
Almighty and the race of sinners redeemed with the precious life of
Christ. As the object of the
sacrifice of Christ was to open up the way by which God could be just, and
yet be the justifier of all who believe in him, and who seek to come unto
the Father by him, so his work, as the glorified Mediator, is to bring
back into full fellowship with God so many of the redeemed race as are
willing to return when granted full knowledge and opportunity.
We have seen that this work of bringing back the members of the
fallen race into harmony with God is divided into two parts: (1) the
Church of this Gospel age, and (2) so many as will, of the remainder of
mankind, during the coming Millennial age.
We have seen that the basis of harmony is not that God condones
sin, and excuses it, and permits us to return to his favor as sinners, but
that the sinners are to put away their sins, accept heartily the divine
standard of righteousness, and to come back into full harmony with God; so
that they will seek and attain, through appointed channels, and under the
supervision of Christ, the heavenly Father’s holy Spirit, mind, will,
disposition—receiving it as their own mind, will or disposition, and
thus be transformed by the renewing of their minds.
This, which we have seen is God’s program for the Church, is also
declared to be God’s program, through Christ, for the reconciliation of
the world unto himself during the next age.
Not one iota of the divine law will be modified; sin and
imperfection will not be excused and counted as perfection and
righteousness.
The world of mankind will be in the hands of the Christ for
reformation and restoration to the image of God, lost through father Adam
through transgression; and as a part of the means for bringing the world
back into harmony [page 218]
with God, the influence of Satan, which now is upon
the world, binding and blinding mankind, will be removed (2 Cor. 4:4; Rev.
20:2), and thereafter, instead of the world being under the influence or
spirit of deception and error and ignorance and superstition, it shall be
under the influence or Spirit of truth and righteousness and love.
Instead of outside influences being a pressure upon the hearts of
men, to fill them with anger and malice, hatred, strife and selfishness,
this influence or spirit will be restrained and ultimately destroyed, and
the contrary influence or Spirit of righteousness, goodness, mercy,
sympathy, love, will be developed. Thus, through Christ, the holy Spirit of God will be poured
out upon the world of mankind—first, in giving them enlightenment;
secondly, in giving them help, assistance, strength, to overcome their own
inherited tendencies; and third, in instructing them and leading them back
to the image and likeness of God, lost through father Adam’s
disobedience.
While these prospective privileges and blessings for the world are
glorious, and rejoice our hearts far beyond anything that the Lord’s
people have seen in times past, they nevertheless offer no comfort to
enemies of the Lord, or to those who, when they have the opportunity,
refuse to receive of his holy Spirit, and to be filled by it.
It will be poured out for all flesh, but it will be necessary for
those who would enjoy it and be profited thereby to avail themselves of
its privileges: just as it is necessary for believers of this Gospel age,
who would come under and be blessed by the holy Spirit, to make use of the
means; to consecrate themselves and to eat the truth, that they may have
“the Spirit of the truth.” When
the great Prophet and Life-giver, the great Priest after the order of
Melchizedek (Christ, head and body, complete), stands forward to bless the
world, it will mean a blessing for all who will receive the words of that
prophet, and obey them, and obtain the blessing of eternal life, by
obedience; and it will mean the destruction by the Second Death for all
those who refuse to hear him, as [page 219] it is written, “Every soul which will not hear
[obey] that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people.” Acts 3:23
Joel’s prophecy, it will be noticed, is stated in the reverse
order to that of its fulfilment; the blessing of all flesh is stated
first, and the blessing upon the Church last.
No doubt this order of statement was of the Lord’s design, so as
to cover or hide some of the glorious features of this great promise,
until the due time for it to be understood. (Dan. 12:9,10)
Although it has been read over for centuries, it could not open up
and disclose all of its wonderful treasure until God’s “due time”
had come. Throughout this
Gospel age the Lord has poured out his Spirit upon his servants and
handmaidens only; and blessed has been the experience of all those who
received it—all who were immersed into the body of Christ, and made
partakers of his anointing as sons; and it was to this feature that the
Apostle Peter referred in his discourse at Pentecost.
He quoted both parts of the prophecy, but, under the guidance of
the holy Spirit, he did not expound or illuminate the first part; because
the time for it to be understood had not yet come. Hence, instead of
explaining the difference
between the holy Spirit upon the servants and the handmaidens during this
Gospel age (“in
those days”), and the holy Spirit upon all flesh “afterward,” in the next
age, he merely says, referring to the holy Spirit upon himself and the
other believers, “This is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel”—a part of
that, the beginning of that which was spoken.
It will not all be complete until the pouring out of the Spirit
upon all flesh, which is not yet. Moreover,
the prophet mentions other things, which are not yet fulfilled.
He refers to the darkening of the sun and the moon, and the coming
of the great and notable day of the Lord, which are events now nigh at
hand, the great day of wrath, which intervenes and separates between the
outpouring of the holy Spirit upon the Church, “the servants and
handmaidens,” in these days, and “all flesh,” afterward. [page 220]
As we have seen, there will be no difference between the Spirit of
God, as it will come upon the world in the next age, and the Spirit of God
as it comes upon the Church in this age, because it is the same
Spirit of truth, Spirit of righteousness, Spirit of holiness, Spirit of
sanctification, Spirit of harmony with God—the Spirit or influence which
God will exert in favor of righteousness and goodness and truth.
Nevertheless, it will not mean the same thing in every particular then
that it means now. To receive
the holy Spirit of God now, and to live in harmony therewith, means
necessarily a conflict with the spirit of the world, which abounds on
every hand. For this reason
it is that those who receive the holy Spirit now, and who walk in harmony
with it, are instructed to expect persecution and opposition from all who
do not have the Spirit—the vast majority.
To receive the holy Spirit in the future will not mean persecution,
because the order, arrangement, government, of the next age will be very
different from the present one: whereas the prince of this world is Satan,
the prince of the world or age to come will be Christ; and whereas the
majority of mankind are now under the influence of Satan, willingly or
unwillingly, knowingly or unknowingly, in the next age the whole world
will be under the influence of Christ and his righteous government.
And the Truth will then be made free and common to all, from the
least unto the greatest. Since
the law of the next age will be the law of righteousness, truth, goodness,
and will be ruling,
as the Kingdom of God, those who come into harmony with that government
and its law, and who have the Spirit of Truth, will not suffer persecution
as a result thereof, but, on the contrary, will experience favor and
blessings and make progress in proportion as they receive of that Spirit
of holiness.
The possession of the holy Spirit, during the Millennial age, will
not as during this age signify a begetting of the Spirit to a spirit-nature, nor will it signify
an acceptance to joint-heirship with Christ in the Kingdom.
That promise [page 221]
belongs only to this Gospel age, to the servant and
handmaiden class, who receive the holy Spirit and are actuated by it
during this age, when, in consequence of the present prevalence of evil,
they are obliged to suffer for righteousness’ sake;
and upon whom, therefore, “the Spirit of glory and of God resteth.” 1 Pet. 4:14
The possession of the holy Spirit during the Millennial age will
simply signify that the recipient has come into harmony with Christ, the
Mediator, and is to that extent in harmony with God and in line with the
blessings which God has provided for mankind in general, which blessings
are not a change of nature, to the
divine, but a restitution to all that was lost through the failure of the
first Adam. (Acts 3:19-21) The possession of the holy Spirit by such will
be an evidence that the work of regeneration
by the second Adam to perfection of human nature “bought” for them by
the great sin-offering has commenced in them; and that if continued it
will ultimately bring perfection of restitution to the human likeness of
the divine Father.
We are to remember that the blessings which Christ will give to the
world during the Millennial age, as the regenerator of the world, are the
blessings which he bought for them by the sacrifice of himself.
As he gave himself, as “the man Christ Jesus,” a corresponding
price for the man Adam, upon whom the condemnation came, so it was the
manhood, rights, privileges and life and kingdom of Adam that were
purchased by the great sacrifice for sins; and these purchased things are
the things which are to be restored
to the regenerated world, through their regenerator or father, Christ
Jesus our Lord, the second Adam. Eph. 1:14; Acts 3:19-23
The fact that our Lord Jesus was not the second Adam while in the
flesh, but is the second Adam as a spirit being (since his resurrection),
would not imply that he, as the second father of the race, would give to
mankind spirit life or spirit being in their regeneration.
On the contrary, we are to remember that the thought conveyed by
the word “father” [page 222] is merely
“life-giver,” without respect to the nature. Thus in father Adam’s
creation he is called a son of God, because created in the moral likeness
and image of God, and not as implying that he was created in the divine
nature; for we know that he was of the earth, earthy, while God is a
spirit. The principles
underlying this power by which God, as the life-giver, has become the
Father of all creation, through his active agent, our Lord, is more
particularly shown in a preceding chapter, under the caption, “The
Undefiled One:” we merely call attention to the matter here, to guard
against misapprehension. God’s
purpose in connection with the creation of the world, and man as its
inhabitant and lord, and the lower animals as his subjects, has not been
changed by reason of the permitted disobedience and fall: the original
plan remains as at first. After
the evil attempted by the Adversary shall be ultimately expunged, the
divine plan, as originally designed, will be fully accomplished through
Christ. The Church of this
Gospel age, which shall, as we have seen, be highly exalted and glorified
as the Bride and joint-heir of Christ, is an exception to the restitution
of mankind: it is called out or selected for a special purpose, and is
particularly tried and tested, fitted and prepared for high exaltation,
joint-heirship with Christ—a change from the human nature to a nature
above the angelic nature—“far above angels, principalities and
powers,” partakers of the divine nature.
But while we ought not to pray for unpromised new baptisms of the holy
Spirit, we are taught most positively to seek and pray for the Spirit as a
satisfying portion.
Praying
for the Holy Spirit
“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your
children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to
them that ask him.” Luke 11:13
Although “all things are by the Son,” yet here as everywhere [page 223]
he gives the glory and honor, as the fountain of
blessing, to the Father. The
entire work of redemption and reconciliation is the Father’s
work—through the Son. And
our Lord declares that it is the Father’s good pleasure that we should
have more and more of his Spirit of holiness.
He bids us seek for and ask for this, as the great supreme
blessing. As for earthly blessings, our Redeemer tells us that our
Heavenly Father knoweth what things we have need of—he knoweth better
than we know what earthly blessings will be helpful, and which would be
injurious to us. We need not,
therefore, as do the unregenerate and the heathen, think of and pray for
earthly blessings; but rather, as those who have come into the
relationship of sons, and who have full confidence in the Father’s
provision, we may expect that he will give what is best, and we may rest
ourselves content in that promise and faith.
The Heavenly Father is pleased to have us desire and ask for more
and more of the holy Spirit—a disposition more and more fully in harmony
with his Spirit: and all who thus desire and ask and seek it shall obtain
their good desires; the Father will be pleased to so order the affairs of
such that hindrances to the Spirit, whether in them or in their
environment, shall be overcome, that his loving Spirit may abound in
them—that they may be filled with the Spirit. But in this there is no
suggestion of necessity for fresh baptisms of the holy Spirit: the baptism
came at the beginning, and now all there remains to do is to open the
sluices in every direction, so as to let the holy Spirit of love and truth
penetrate into and permeate every action, word and thought of our beings.
We need divine aid, the operation of the Lord’s wisdom and
providence, to show us what clogs the sluices and to help us to remove the
obstructions.
The Spirit of holiness in abundance can only be received by those
who earnestly desire it and seek it by prayer and effort.
The mind or spirit of the world must be driven out of our hearts,
in proportion as we would have them filled with the holy Spirit, mind,
influence. Self-will must
also give [page 224]
place. And
because it is in proportion as we are emptied of all things else that we
are ready to receive of his fulness, therefore the Lord would have us come
into this condition of earnest desire for filling with his Spirit of
holiness, that we may be willing and anxious to displace and eradicate
every other contrary influence and will.
This evidently is the thought of the Apostle, in his prayer for the
Church at Ephesus, that “Christ [the Spirit of Christ] may dwell in your
hearts by faith [that figuratively he may sit as king, ruler, director of
every thought, word and deed]; that ye being rooted and grounded in love
[the holy Spirit or disposition] may be able to comprehend with all saints
what is the breadth, and length, and depth and height, and to appreciate
the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled with all the fulness of God.”
(Eph. 3:19) He who is filled
with the Spirit of Christ, and with a full appreciation of the love which
he manifested, will have the Father’s Spirit in full measure.
Nothing in the scripture under examination can in any manner be
construed to imply that the Heavenly Father would be pleased to have his
children ask him for another God—a third person of a trinity of coequal
Gods. Such a thought is repugnant to the passage and its
connections: and those who entertain such an erroneous view must
necessarily be blinded to that extent to the true beauty and force of this
promise. It would be strange
indeed if one member of a coequal trinity of Gods referred to another as
able and willing to give the third as earthly parents give bread, fish and eggs to their children.
(See preceding verses.) The
entire passage is consistent only when the holy Spirit is properly
understood to be the divine mind or influence bestowed variously for the
comfort and spiritual upbuilding of God’s children.
Our text institutes a comparison between kind earthly parents
giving natural food to their children, and our kind [page 225]
heavenly Parent giving his holy Spirit to them that
ask him. But as the earthly
parent sets the food within the reach of his family, but does not force it
upon them, so our heavenly Parent has set within the reach of his
spiritual family the good provisions of his grace, but he does not force
them upon us. We must hunger
and thirst for them, we must seek for them, not doubtfully, but with faith
respecting his willingness to give us good gifts.
When, therefore, we pray for the holy Spirit, and to be filled with
the Lord’s Spirit, we are to look about us and find the provision which
he has made for the answer to these prayers, which he has thus inspired
and directed.
We find this provision in the Word of truth; but it is not enough
to find where
it is: if we desire to be filled we must eat; assuredly we must partake of
the feast or we will not experience the satisfaction which the eating was
designed to give. He who will
not eat of a full table will be empty and starved, as truly as though
there were no food. As the
asking of a blessing upon the food will not fill us, but thereafter we
must partake of it, so the possession of the Word of God, and the offering
of our petition to be filled with the Spirit, will not suffice us; we must
eat the Word of God, if we would derive his Spirit from it.
Our Master declared, “The words
that I speak unto you, they are Spirit and they are life” (John 6:63);
and of all who are filled with the Spirit it is true, as spoken by the
prophet, “Thy words were found and I
did eat them.” (Jer. 15:16; Rev. 10:9)
It is absolutely useless for us to pray Lord, Lord, give us the
Spirit, if we neglect the Word of truth which that Spirit has supplied for
our fulfilling. If we merely
pray for the Spirit and do not use the proper means to obtain the Spirit
of truth, we will continue to be at most only “babes in Christ,”
seeking outward signs, in proof of relationship to the Lord, instead of
the inward witness, through the Word of truth, which he has provided. [page 226]
The
Witness of the Holy Spirit
“The
Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of
God.” Rom.
8:16
Few doctrines are of more importance to God’s people than this
one; because on it depends to a considerable extent their possession of
“the peace of God which passeth all understanding.” (Phil. 4:7)
How can they have “full assurance of faith” (Heb. 10:22) if
they lack the witness of the Spirit testifying to their sonship—to their
adoption into the family of God? Yet
how few have the slightest conception of what is meant by this expression
“witness of the Spirit,” or what kind of experiences should be
expected and looked for as constituting the Spirit’s witness to our
sonship.
The question is therefore a very important one—How does the holy
Spirit witness to us respecting our at-one-ment with the Father—that we
have become sons of God, and that under divine providence we are being
prepared for the glorious things which God hath in reservation for them
that love him, and who are to be joint-heirs with Jesus Christ our Lord,
in the Millennial Kingdom? On
few subjects have Christians in general felt more disturbed than on
this—the witness of the Spirit. Not
knowing what the witness of the Spirit is, many of the best of the
Lord’s people must confess that they know not whether they have it or
have it not. Others, more
full of assurance than of knowledge, claim that they have the witness of
the holy Spirit, and refer to their happy feelings as the evidence.
But soon or later such, if candid, must confess that the
“witness” they rely on is a most unsatisfactory one: it fails them in
the times of greatest need. When all men speak well of them, when health is favorable,
when they are financially prosperous, when friends are numerous, they feel
happy; but in proportion as some or all of these conditions are reversed
they feel unhappy: they lose what they suppose was the “witness of the
Spirit,” and cry in anguish of soul: [page 227]
“Where
is the blessedness I knew,
When
first I found the Lord?”
Such are deceived and misled by their feelings: they feel
themselves happier and think themselves drawing nearer to God at times
when really they are, under the Adversary’s leading, going straight into
temptations. This accounts for some of the frequent and sudden “falls
from grace” which some experience and which astonish themselves as well
as their friends. Deceived by
an unreliable “witness” they felt secure, were off guard and fell an
easy prey to temptation at the very time they felt “so happy in the
Lord” (?). Again, the
trials and disappointments of life designed to draw us near to our Father,
and to make us most appreciative of our Savior’s loving sympathy and
care, are partially lost upon this class; because losing the witness of
their feelings, which they falsely consider the witness of the Spirit,
they feel so bereft, and so hungry and thirsty for a return of the good
feelings, that they lose many precious lessons obtainable only when
leaning confidently on the Lord’s bosom and communing with him, whilst
passing through life’s Gethsemanes.
Another class of Christians learning the unreliability of the
“witness” of feelings
seem to conclude that God has denied (to them at least) any reliable
evidence of his favor—any sure “witness” on the subject of their
acceptance as “sons” into his family.
Their doubts are expressed in the well-known hymn:
“‘Tis
a point I long to know—
Oft
it causes anxious thought:
Do
I love the Lord or no?
Am
I his or am I not?”
This uncertainty arises in part also from a misapprehension of the
doctrine of election: and yet these friends are quite correct in
concluding that their changeable [page 228]
feelings could not be a proper criterion by which to
judge of their sonship. Others,
because the Scriptures declare, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on thee,” judge of their sonship by their peace of
mind: but when they look at the heathen and at the worldly, and see that
many of them apparently have peace of mind too, their view of the
Spirit’s witness proves insufficient to sustain their hopes, or to give
them assurance. Then the dark hour comes, and they say, How easy a matter
to be deceived, and are in torment lest they have grieved the Spirit—for
“fear hath torment.”
Persons of large credulity (misnamed faith)
will imagine they hear the Spirit’s “whisper” to an inner ear and
they congratulate themselves accordingly—even though they should
subsequently ascertain that the information “whispered” was absolutely
untrue. Other Christians of
more logical mind, who cannot thus delude themselves, are perplexed that
their friends should so confidently assert the witness of the Spirit,
while they themselves have no such assurance.
The difficulty lies largely in the erroneous view that the Spirit
is a person, and which seeks to apply personality to its witnessings. When the fact is recognized that the Spirit of God is any
power or influence which God may be pleased to exercise, the subject is
clarified and the “witness of the Spirit” becomes a matter easy of
distinguishment. It will be a
blessing to those who have this witness to know it of a surety: and it
will be a blessing to those who have not this witness to ascertain their
lack; so that they may fulfil the conditions and obtain the witness,
without which none are authorized to consider themselves sons of God, in
acceptable standing with the Father.
But what a joy and peace divine comes to those who have the true
witness—to those who have the correct experiences and who have learned
how to read them! It is to
them indeed joy in sorrow, light in darkness, comfort in affliction,
strength in weakness. And the
full and explicit directions on [page 229]
this subject, as on all subjects, are found in that
wonderful book, our Father’s Word—the Bible.
In it and through its testimonies God’s Spirit witnesseth with
our spirits.
“How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in his excellent Word.
What more can he say than to you he hath said:
You who unto Jesus for refuge have fled!”
How
to Know the Spirit’s Witness
A man’s mind or spirit may be known by his words and conduct; and
so we may know God’s mind or Spirit by his words and dealings. The testimony of his Word is that whosoever cometh unto him
(by faith, and reformation from bad works and dead works, through Jesus)
is accepted. (Heb. 7:25) Hence
the questions to be asked of themselves by those who are seeking a witness
of the Spirit respecting their sonship are:
Was I ever drawn to Christ?—to recognize him as my Redeemer,
through whose righteousness alone I could have access to the heavenly
Father, and be acceptable with him?
If this can be answered in the affirmative, the next question would
be:
Did I ever fully consecrate myself—my life, my time, my talents,
my influence, my all—to God?
If this question also can be answered in the affirmative, the
inquirer may rest fully assured that he has been accepted with the Father,
in the Beloved One, and recognized of him as a son.
And if scrutinizing his own heart’s desires and sentiments he
finds it still trusting in the merit of Jesus, and still consecrated to do
the Lord’s will, he may allow the sweet confidence and peace which this
thought of harmony and relationship to divinity brings, to fully possess
his heart. This conviction of
the Lord’s grace toward us in Christ constructed from facts of our own
experience, built upon the unalterable character and Word of God, is not [page 230]
mutative, not changeable, as it would be if built
upon the shifting sands of feelings.
If doubts or fears intrude in some dark hour, we have only to take
the “Lamp” (God’s Word) and examine afresh the facts and the
foundation, and if our hearts are still loyal to the Lord, faith, joy and
peace will instantly return to us; if we find our faith in “the precious
blood” crumbling, or our consecration slipping away, we know the true
condition of affairs, and can at once make the proper repairs and thus
re-establish our “full assurance of faith.” (Heb. 10:22)
But be it noticed that each one who would have this assurance must “set to his seal that God is true” (John
3:33): that our Lord changeth not, but is “the same yesterday, today and
forever.” The Lord’s
people may therefore rest assured that having once come into the
conditions of divine favor, they may continue under those conditions so
long as their hearts are loyal to God and their desires in harmony with
his will: so long as they are at heart obedient to the divine
commands—briefly comprehended in the word Love—to God and men. Heb.
11:6; 13:8
Whoever has taken the specified steps has the assurance, the
“witness” of the Word of God, that he is a child of God; and this,
during the Gospel age, signifies that he is a branch of the true vine, a
probationary member of the true Church. (John 15:1)
To such the Word of God witnesses
that they have joined the true Church, which is Christ’s body. This
witness is given to their spirit, their mind, by God’s Spirit, which
testifies through his Word. And
the same Spirit of Truth assures such that if their hearts continue
faithful to the Lord to the close of their probation—if they willingly
and gladly take up the cross daily, seeking as best they are able to
follow in the Master’s footsteps, their probationary membership in the
Church of Christ will shortly be changed to actual membership—after they
have finished their course, and been made sharers in his resurrection, the
first resurrection. Phil. 3:10
However, the Spirit of God, through his Word, witnesses [page 231]
with equal clearness that it is possible for those
who have already become branches of the true Vine to be cut off, if
unfaithful—if they fail to bring forth the proper fruits of the Spirit
of love. “Every branch in
me that beareth not fruit he [the Father] taketh away, and every branch
that bringeth forth fruit he purgeth [pruneth] it, that it may bring forth
more fruit.” The Spirit of
God, through his Word, thus testifies or witnesses to us the rule of our
heavenly Father’s dealing with his sons — chastisements, pruning, taking
away of the dross, and a development of the fruit-bearing qualities.
Hence, to have these experiences, after having become identified with the
“Vine,” is to have the witness of the Spirit that we are still in the
“Vine,” and still recognized as “branches” of it—still under our
Lord’s care and discipline. On the contrary, if any one lack these
disciplines, prunings, etc., after having become identified with the Vine,
he lacks this “witness of the Spirit,” and correspondingly has reason
to doubt his acceptance with the Lord. Heb. 12:7
If we were all perfect, absolutely perfect, and had been proven so
by tests, the case would be different; God would then love us for our
perfection and harmony with himself; then chastisement and bitter
experiences would be signs of his disfavor.
But as it is, we all know that all are imperfect, that we all come
far short of the divine standard; and that our new hearts, our new wills,
our transformed minds or spirits, alone are acceptable with God—and that
through the merit of Christ, and in a probationary sense, with a view to
our testing, development and final perfecting.
Only in proportion as we learn to appreciate the divine
perfections, and our own deficiencies, can we appreciate the many and
important lessons to be learned, and the necessity for the trying
experiences we are required to undergo in order to develop in us the
divine likeness.
The Scriptures inform us that the Heavenly Father is preparing a
glorious spiritual Temple, in and through which the world of mankind is to
have the privilege of coming [page 232]
to at-one-ment, reconciliation with himself.
We see in the Scriptures the great Architect’s ideal in respect
to this temple—that the ideal of the whole was represented in the person
of our Lord Jesus Christ, its chief corner stone, and “top-stone,”
“laid in Heaven.” We can
see the better what is required of all those who will be acceptable to God
as the “living stones” of that Temple—to be builded together with
Christ the Head, “for an habitation of God through his Spirit.”
And we discern our own roughness by nature, our inharmony with the
graceful lines of the Temple, delineated in its “top-stone.”
We can readily discern that much chiseling and much polishing are
absolutely necessary to us, if we would be fitted and prepared for the
place in this Temple to which, through the grace of God, we aspire.
And hence those who find that they are not receiving the blows from
the Lord’s hammer and chisel, lack this “witness” which the Spirit
of God through his Word testifies must come to all the living stones of
his Temple: and which even the grand Top-stone did not escape.
If divine providence does not mark out for us a “narrow way”
with a certain amount of difficulty and adversity—if we are simply
permitted to rest without afflictions, trials, etc., then we may know of a
surety that God is not dealing with us as with the living stones which
shall form part of the Temple—the sons—because we lack this
“witness” of our acceptance and preparation.
A realization that such is our condition ought to send us promptly
to the Lord to inquire why we have no tribulations and adversities, and to “examine
ourselves” whether or not we be still in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5); and
whether or not we are still endeavoring to walk faithfully in the
footsteps of our Master, in fulness of consecration to the Father’s
will. But if we have this
“witness” of chiselings, polishings, prunings, disciplines,
chastisements, let us take them patiently, joyfully, appreciatively, as
evidences of our Father’s love essential to our attainment to our high
calling—in full accord with the Spirit’s testimony or witness—that
we are sons of God, “heirs of God, joint-heirs with Jesus [page 233]
Christ our Lord, [only] if so be that we suffer with him,
that we may be also glorified together.” Rom. 8:17
The
Spirit’s “Differences of Administration”
“Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom
he receiveth. If ye be
without chastisement, then, are ye bastards and not sons.” (Heb. 12:8)
Afflictions and troubles come upon the world, as well as upon the
Lord’s saints, but these are not
marks of sonship, except to those fully consecrated to the
Father’s will and work. The
Spirit and Word of God “witness” only to his sons.
Nor are the prunings and chastenings in the Lord’s family always
the same. As earthly children require different kinds and degrees of
discipline, so with God’s children: to some, a look of disapproval is
sufficient; to others a word of rebuke is necessary, while still others
must be scourged, and some repeatedly. An earthly parent rejoices most in
the obedient and promptly submissive child, for whom the word or look of
reproof is sufficient to prune away the evil; and so also our Father in
Heaven declares his approval of those who “tremble at his word.” Isa.
66:5
Such cooperate with God in the development of their own characters,
noting their own defects and seeking to correct them—hearkening for the
Father’s voice of direction, instruction or loving reproof, and ever
seeking his approving smile: their sentiments are well described by the
words of the poet:
“Sun
of my soul, my Father dear,
I
know no night when thou are near.
O
let no earthborn cloud arise,
To
hide thee from thy servant’s eyes.”
This is the class of whom the Apostle writes, who judge themselves,
and who, therefore, need less chastening of the Lord. (1 Cor. 11:31)
To be of this class requires fulness of [page 234]
consecration; and these are and will be the
overcomers, who shall be deemed worthy of joint-heirship with Christ Jesus
their Lord in his Kingdom. To
this class, obedient and watchful, the Lord says, “I will guide thee
with mine eye,” “Thou shall guide me with thy counsel and afterward
receive me to glory.” Those
who can be guided only by continual scourging are not of the overcoming
class, and will not be accounted worthy to be of the Lord’s Bride, and
have such a “witness” from the Lord through the Spirit of the Truth.
Psa. 32:8; 73:24; contrast Rev. 7:9,14.
Nor are chastenings always proofs of faults, or a “witness” of
the Lord’s disapproval. On
the contrary, as with our Lord, so also with his faithful followers,
divine providence leads the faithful and obedient into the path of
suffering and self-denial, not as chastisement of a contrary will, but as
tests, by self-sacrifice, of the measure of love and devotion to the
Father’s will, and to the cause of righteousness. As our Lord was
chastened for our transgressions, not his own, when he bore the sins of
many, so his followers in many respects suffer, not for their own
wrongdoings, but by reason of the wrongdoings of others, for they are
called as the Apostle declares, to “fill up that which is behind of the
afflictions of Christ, for his body’s sake, which is the Church.” Col.
1:24
What
the Holy Spirit Witnesses
In the light of the foregoing, let each of the Lord’s professed
sons examine himself whether or not he have “the witness of the
Spirit,” that he is one of the children of God: and let us repeat the
examination frequently, and thus “watch” and keep ourselves in the
love of God, rejoicing in the witness of his Spirit.
Are we being pruned continually?
Are we passing through such experiences, great or small, as are
removing [page 235]
from us more or less rapidly the fleshly tendencies,
which war against the soul—anger, malice, hatred, envy, strife,
selfishness, rudeness, and all things contrary to the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus—the Spirit of love?
If so, to the extent that we can realize this pruning work in
progress, we will no doubt be able to recognize growth in the proper
direction—in meekness, patience, gentleness, brotherly kindness, love.
Whoever, after a careful examination along these lines, marked out
in the Lord’s Word, can realize such experiences in progress may know of
his continued acceptance with God, because he has this witness of the Spirit.
Again, the Spirit witnesses that “Whosoever is born [begotten] of
God, sinneth not.” (1 John 5:18) The
child of God may be overpowered by his old nature (reckoned dead,
but not fully, actually so); he may be overtaken in a fault, may err in
judgment or in word, but he will never willingly transgress the divine law. So then, if our hearts can respond that we delight to do
God’s will, and would not willingly violate or in any manner oppose
it—that we would rather have God’s will done, and his plan fulfilled,
even though it should dash our fondest hopes and break every tender
tie—then we have this witness that our spirit or mind agrees with the
witness of the Spirit of the Truth here recorded: and this is a witness,
not only that we were once accepted into God’s family, but that we are
there still.
The Spirit witnesses, through the Word of God, that those who are
the Lord’s people are separate from the world—that their hopes and
aims and general spirit, disposition, are different.
“If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but
because ye are not of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”
“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution.” John 15:19; 2 Tim. 3:12
Can our hearts testify that these words properly represent our
experience in life? If so,
the Spirit (mind) of God is thus again witnessing with our spirit (mind)
that we are his. Nor should
we forget that the world spoken of by our Lord includes [page 236]
all the worldly-minded ones, in whom the spirit of
the world has a footing. In
our Lord’s day this was true of the nominal Jewish Church: in fact, all
of his persecutions came from professors of religion.
Hence, we must not marvel if all who are walking in our Lord’s
footsteps should have a similarly disappointing experience, and find that
the spirit of the world, in its most antagonistic form, will be manifested
in a quarter where we might naturally expect it least—amongst those who
profess to be the children of God. It was the chief religionists of our
Lord’s day who called him Beelzebub, a prince of devils.
And the holy Spirit witnesseth through our Lord’s Word, saying,
“If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more
shall they call them of his household.” (Matt. 10:25)
If, therefore, we have been evilly spoken of, because of our
identification with the Truth, and our service of it, we have in this an
additional evidence or witness of the Spirit that we are in the right
pathway.
Had our Lord Jesus joined hands with the popular leaders in the
Jewish Church, and abstained from speaking the truth in love, abstained
from pointing out the false doctrines of his day, he would not have been
“hated,” nor “persecuted”; on the contrary, he probably would have
been “highly esteemed amongst men.”
But, as he himself declared, much that is “highly esteemed
amongst men is an abomination in the sight of God.” Luke 16:15
Had our Lord simply kept quiet and refrained from exposing the
hypocrisies, shams, long prayers and false teachings of the Scribes and
Pharisees, they no doubt would have let him alone, would not have
persecuted him; and he would not have suffered for the Truth’s sake.
So also it is with his followers: from a similar class, the Truth
and those who have the Spirit of the Truth, and who follow the Lord’s
instruction, letting their lights shine, will now incur hatred and
persecution. And if some, for these reasons, and while doing their best to
speak the truth in love, suffer therefor, [page 237]
happy are they, for as the Apostle said, “The
Spirit of glory and of God resteth on you.”
They have this witness of the Spirit to their faithfulness in the
narrow way. 1 Pet. 4:14
Again, the holy Spirit witnesses, through our Lord’s testimony,
that whosoever is ashamed of the Redeemer and of his Truth which he
taught, of him will the Lord be ashamed when he comes to make up his
jewels. (Mark 8:38) Whoever, therefore, finds his heart so in love with
the Lord and his Word that he takes pleasure, on every suitable occasion,
in acknowledging Jesus as his Redeemer and Master, and to faithfully
present the Word of his testimony, so long does such an one have this as
another witness of the holy Spirit that he is a child of God, and an heir
of the Kingdom. Such have reason to rejoice in the Master’s promise that
they are just the kind whom he will be glad to confess before his Father
and before the holy angels. But
if any have not this witness—if, on the contrary, their hearts witness
that they are ashamed of the Lord, ashamed to confess themselves his
followers, ashamed to own his “brethren,” the members of his body, and
ashamed to confess the doctrines which he taught—any who have these
experiences have the witness of the Spirit that if this condition of
things be not altered the Lord will be ashamed of them at his second
coming, and will not confess them before the Father and his holy
messengers.
Further, the holy Spirit witnesses that, “Whosoever is born
[begotten] of God overcometh
the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even your faith.”
(1 John 5:4) Let us examine our hearts, our spirits, our minds, in the
light of this testimony of the holy Spirit.
Are we overcomers, according to this standard?
The standard is that to be the Lord’s we must be out of harmony
with the world, in conflict with it—its aims, its hopes, its ambitions.
The thought of conflict is contained in the expression,
“overcometh the world.” And
we can readily see that no one can be an overcomer of the world who is in
sympathy and affiliation [page 238]
with it, and its general spirit of selfishness,
pride, ambition, etc.
Before we decide positively whether we are overcoming the world or
not, let us notice that we are not to overcome the world by flattery, nor
by joining with it in its follies and attempting to give these a thligious
twist; nor are we to overcome the world by engaging in some moral or
religious work, such as teaching a Sunday- school class, or helping the
poor, or joining a sectarian church.
In none of these ways does the Lord indicate or “witness” that
we can overcome the world. His
statement is positive, that the victory which overcometh the world is our faith. The Spirit thus witnesses that to be overcomers we must
“walk by faith,
and not by sight.” We must
look not at the things that are seen—popularity, worldly show,
denominational greatness, etc.—but must look at the things which are not
seen—the spiritual and eternal things. (2 Cor. 4:18)
We are to have the faith expressed by the poet’s words:
“I would rather walk in the dark with God,
Than go with the throng in the light.”
Furthermore, the holy Spirit witnesses to us, through the Word,
that if we are the children of God we will not be ignorant of things
present nor of “things to
come,” because we will be enlightened and taught of God, through
the Word of his grace—the Word of his Spirit.
As we mature, “grow in grace,” we will desire and seek and
obtain, in addition to the milk of the Word, the “strong meat” which
the Apostle declares is for those of fuller development. (1 Pet. 2:2; Heb.
5:13,14) The development in the graces of the Spirit, faith, fortitude,
knowledge, self-control, patience, piety, brotherly kindness, love, will
bring us into closer fellowship with the Father and with the Lord Jesus,
so that the Lord will be able and willing to communicate to us more and
more clearly a knowledge of his gracious plans, as well as of his own
gracious character. [page 239]
Referring to this growth, the Apostle Peter says: “If these
things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall be neither barren
nor unfruitful in the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ; but he that lacketh these things is blind, and
cannot
see afar off....For if ye do these things ye shall never fall; for
so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the
everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Pet. 1:5-11.
Compare John 16:12,15.
Each should ask himself whether or not he has this witness of the
Spirit, this testimony to his growth as a new creature in Christ Jesus,
and whether or not he is developing and maturing the kind of fruit here
specified. Let us remember
also that our growth in love and in all the fruits of the Spirit is
dependent largely upon our growth in knowledge; and our growth in
knowledge of divine things is dependent also upon our growth in the fruits
of the Spirit. Each step of knowledge brings a corresponding step of duty
and obedience, and each step of duty and obedience taken will be followed
by a further step in knowledge, for so, the Spirit witnesseth, shall
be the experience of all those who shall be taught of God in the school of
Christ. If we have this
witness of the Spirit of growth, both in grace and in knowledge, let us
rejoice therein, and let us follow on in the same pathway until it shall
bring us, under divine guidance, to that which is perfect, both in
knowledge and in grace.
The
Holy Spirit’s Future Testimony
The holy Spirit will witness to the reconciled world of mankind in
the next age, very similarly as to manner, but very dissimilar as to
facts. Those possessing the
Spirit will no longer be the few special servants and handmaids, but as
the Prophet Joel declares “all flesh.” (Joel 2:28)
The Spirit’s “witness” will no longer be “whosoever will
live godly shall suffer persecution”; for no persecution will then be
permitted. [page 240] It will no longer “witness” to a “narrow way”
of sacrifice, for the day of sacrifice will be past: “A highway shall be
there” and it shall be without stumbling stones. (Isa. 35:8; 62:10) It
will “witness” that “Evildoers shall be cut off: but those who wait
upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.” (Acts 3:23; Psa. 37:7-11)
It will “witness” blessings to the welldoer and punishments and
destruction to wilful evildoers. It
is the same Spirit of God but under differences of administration.
Having learned how the holy Spirit “witnesses” and what are some of its
testimonies through God’s holy Word, we do indeed find these very much
more satisfactory than all the doubts and fears inspired by mental and
physical conditions—feelings, falsely called by some the witness of the
holy Spirit. Nevertheless, we
should call attention to the fact that all Christians cannot have the same
witnessings from the Spirit of God with their spirits or minds.
All Christians of large experience and development should have
testimony or witness on all
these points, and on other points set forth in the Scriptures: but there
are young Christians who have not yet progressed far enough to have all of
these witnessings; some, perhaps, may be truly begotten of the Lord, and
as yet have but few of them. The
great Husbandman does not expect fruitage, neither green nor yet the
developed and ripe fruit, from the fresh and tender sprout of a branch.
The first witness that the newly begotten may have is, that they
are accepted with the Lord; that they are young branches in the true Vine;
and that the Spirit of the Vine is in them—the desire to grow and to be
like the Vine, and to bring forth fruitage.
Nor should it be long after the branch first shoots forth, before
the sign of leaves and the buds of promise for fruit will be discernible.
The newborn babe in the spiritual family manifests its relationship
to the older and more developed members of the family, not by its eating
of the strong meat, which might strangle it, but by desires for the
strengthening milk, to grow thereby. 1 Pet. 2:2 [page 241]
Those who find themselves possessed of any of the foregoing
witnessings of the Spirit should rejoice correspondingly; and every
particular they are lacking they should endeavor to cultivate and develop,
so that they may ultimately have the witness of the Spirit in their favor
on every point of the Scriptural testimony respecting the pathway and
experiences of the Lord’s faithful people.
Such will no longer need to sing—“‘Tis a point I long to
know.” On the contrary,
they will know, will have full assurance of faith, and will be rooted and
grounded and built up and established in the faith. This is the divinely arranged way: we wholly escape from
fear—from “Doubting Castle”—for our trust rests securely in the
divine promises, which never fail. This is as true in the time of trial
and adversity and darkness as when we are more particularly enjoying the
light of our heavenly Father’s smile.
The poet expresses the correct thought, saying:
“When
darkness seems to veil his face
I
rest in his unchanging grace.
His
oath, his covenant, his blood,
Support
me in the whelming flood.
When
all around my soul gives way,
He
then is all my hope and stay.”
Sanctified
by the Spirit
“But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are holy, in
the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Cor. 6:11
Sanctification signifies a setting apart or separating.
All who are sanctified, set apart, fully consecrated to God, must
first be washed or justified—either actually cleansed from sin, or reckonedly
cleansed—“justified by faith.” Actual
justification will be the route of approach toward God on the part of the
world during the Millennium, under the guidance and help of the great
Mediator, and as part of the process of the Atonement.
Reckoned justification, that is, justification [page 242]
by faith—is the arrangement which operates during this
Gospel Age, by which we who are sinners by nature, and in whose flesh
dwells no perfection, are reckoned clean, holy, justified, acceptable to
God through our acceptance of Christ as our Redeemer.
We believe the Scriptural testimony that “Christ died for our
sins, according to the Scriptures”; and believing this, and desirous of
escaping from sin, we are accepted of God as though perfect, sinless, as
justified through the merit of the precious blood.
Being thus justified by faith, we have peace with God, and can
approach him, and will be received by him, and can begin to do
works acceptable to the Father, through the merit of our Lord
Jesus Christ. The evidence
which we have of our justification and sanctification comes to us through
the Word, and is called the “seal” and “witness” of the Spirit in
us.
The power
which enables us to live up to our consecration vows is the holy Spirit or
holy mind of God, which we receive as a result of our faith in Christ, and
our consecration to be “dead with him.”
The Spirit of the Truth, which we obtain through the study of our
Father’s Word, in our Spirit of obedience thereto, furnishes us the
needed strength for overcoming the world and our own perverted appetites.
Accordingly, the text under consideration declares that all the cleansing
which we have experienced, all of our justification, and all of our
setting apart to righteousness, and our separation from sin—all the
victories and blessings in these directions have come to us through the
merit of our Lord Jesus, and by or through the channel of the Spirit of
holiness, the Spirit of God, which we have received.
Other scriptures are in full harmony with these findings. The same
Apostle Paul prayed for the Church, “The very God of peace sanctify you
wholly.” (1 Thess. 5:23) He
is not here contradicting the statement foregoing, that it is the holy
Spirit of God, which sanctifies. It
is God who sanctifies, and the medium, method or channel is his holy
Spirit and not another person. [page 243]
The Apostle Peter declares the Church to be “elect [chosen]
through sanctification [setting apart] of the Spirit unto obedience.” (1
Pet. 1:2) The thought here is
that those whom God now recognizes as his chosen ones, and who are
exhorted to make their calling and election sure, are chosen, not
arbitrarily, but according to fixed principles, viz., that if the holy
Spirit of God (influence of the Truth) operating upon them shall bring
them to the condition of full obedience (sanctification) to the Father’s
will and plan and providence, then they shall constitute the elect.
The Apostle Paul, in another of his epistles (Eph. 5:26),
attributes this sanctification and cleansing power in the Church to the
Word of God, saying, “Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for it,
that he might sanctify and cleanse
it with the washing of water by the Word.”
We are not to suppose that the Apostle is here contradicting his
previous statement, to the effect that God
sanctifies the Church, nor contradicting his other statement, that it is
the Spirit of God that
sanctifies the Church. Clearly
and unmistakably, his thought in every instance is, that it is the holy
Spirit of God, operating through the Word of his truth, that he has
designed shall produce in us cleansing, justification, sanctification.
Thus also our Lord Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them through thy
Truth: thy Word is truth.” (John 17:17)
Thus we see that the various scriptures upon the subject taken
together, teach that the sanctification of the Church is accomplished by
the Spirit of the Truth, imparted to the consecrated ones through the Word
of God which he provided for this very purpose.
All who are thus sanctified are thenceforth “new
creatures in Christ Jesus,” and
are addressed as “them that are sanctified in Christ.” (1 Cor. 1:2)
Yet this sanctification in Christ is not aside from the Spirit of
God, nor aside from the Word of God; for it is by reason of our acceptance
of the divine plan and provision, by reason of our coming to the point of [page 244]
sanctification of the Spirit, that we are one with
Christ our Lord. And this is
further shown by the scripture which says, “Both he that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified are all of one [of one spirit, of one mind,
begotten of the Spirit of Truth], for which cause he is not ashamed to
call them brethren.” (Heb. 2:11) Thus
it is that we are “washed, sanctified, justified, in the name of our
Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God”—the Spirit of Truth.
Be
Ye Filled with the Spirit
“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; giving thanks always.” Eph. 5:18-20
The intimation of this scripture is that the Lord’s people may
have a greater or less degree or fulness of his Spirit.
To be his they must have some of his Spirit for “if any man have
not
the Spirit of Christ he is none of his.” (Rom. 8:9) It rests with ourselves largely with our use of the means
which God had provided, how fully we may be filled with his Spirit and
disposition, his influence—the Spirit or influence of his Truth, which
he has revealed for the very purpose of sanctifying our hearts and lives,
and separating us from those who have the spirit of the world.
Nothing in this and similar texts involves the thought of a
personal holy Spirit: quite the contrary.
If a person were meant, it would be inconsistent to urge the
recipient to a greater or less filling.
The person who could enter could alone have to do with the filling;
if he is great, he will fill the more, if small, he will fill the less.
The holy Spirit conceived of as a person, one of a trinity of Gods,
equal with the Highest, could not be supposed to get into the small
compass of an imperfect man, and then not even fill that little heart. But
when the correct thought of the divine power and influence is understood
the Apostle’s exhortation is thoroughly [page 245]
reasonable. We
should continue seeking to be filled with the holy mind or disposition of
our God, so beautifully exemplified in the person and obedience of our
dear Redeemer, his Only Begotten Son.
And this thought of being filled
with the holy Spirit is in harmony with the Apostle’s suggestion in
another place, that our mortal bodies are like leaky vessels, cracked,
marred, which God permits to be filled with his holy Spirit. The
Apostle’s suggestion is that in view of what we know of our own
imperfections, and our liability to let slip from us the holy influence,
inspired of God through the Gospel, we should give the more earnest heed
lest we should let these things slip from us, because “we have this
treasure [the holy Spirit, the renewed mind in harmony with God] in
earthen vessels.” (Heb. 2:1; 2 Cor. 4:7)
It behooves all who would walk in the footsteps of our Master, who
would share in the sufferings of Christ, and in the glory that shall
follow, to seek in the Lord’s way to be filled with his Spirit. To
this end we need to keep close to the Lord, and to the fellow-members of
his body—close in sympathy, in love, in cooperation; and we need also to
keep close to the Word, which is the fountain of the sanctifying influence
to the entire Church. “Sanctifying them through thy Truth: thy Word is
truth.”
It is in vain that we seek to be filled with the holy Spirit if we
do not give attention to the divine arrangement provided for this very
purpose. If we neglect the
Word of God we are neglecting this sanctifying power; if we neglect prayer
we are neglecting another privilege, and the helpfulness which it brings.
If we neglect to assemble ourselves with those who are the Lord’s
people, and in whom we see the “seal” of this Spirit, we will fail to
get the benefits and helps which “every joint supplieth”—including
the helps which God has promised to the Church as a whole, through various
members which he sets in the body for the exposition of his Word, and the
obtaining therefrom of its sanctifying power or Spirit. 1 Cor. 12:25-28;
Eph. 4:16 [page 246]
The exhortation, therefore, “Be ye filled with the Spirit,”
implies much: it implies that we should make use of the various
arrangements and provisions which the Lord has made for our spiritual
development. Though we cannot
have personal contact with the Lord, we may have intercourse through
prayer and through the members of his body, and through the Scriptures.
Though we cannot have actual contact with the Apostles, we may have
contact with their words. If
we cannot have actual contact and personal fellowship with the members of
the Church, we may have intercourse with them through the mails, and
through the medium of the printed page.
If we desire to be filled
with the Lord’s Spirit, we must obey these, his instructions.
The
Seal of the Spirit
“In whom [Christ] 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 the holy Spirit of the promise, which is the earnest of our
inheritance.” Eph. 1:13,14
Seals in olden times were used for various purposes. (1) As a
signet or signature, a mark of attestation or acknowledgment. (2) To make
secret, to render secure against intrusion—as in Matt. 27:66; Rev. 10:4;
20:3.
It is in the first of these senses that the Lord’s people are
said to be “sealed with the holy Spirit of the promise.”
The Apostle does not say, as some seem to suppose, that we were
sealed by
the holy Spirit as a person, the so-called third person of a trinity of
coequal Gods: he declares that we were sealed “with
the holy Spirit of the
promise”; quite a different thought, as all will perceive.
The holy Spirit is from the Father: he does the sealing through
Christ with
the holy Spirit, which itself is the seal. This is
attested by the Apostle (Acts 2:33), and is in full accord with the record
respecting our Lord Jesus, who was the first of the house of sons to be
thus sealed. We read, “Him
hath God the Father sealed”—with
the holy Spirit. John 6:27 [page 247]
The expression “Spirit of the
promise,” like other terms used in reference to the holy influence of
God, as the “Spirit of holiness,” “the Spirit of Truth,” is
descriptive: it shows that there is a connection between this sealing and
the promise
which God has given us. It is
an advanced evidence or attestation of God’s covenant with the
“sealed” one, that “the exceeding great and precious promises” of
the “things which God hath in reservation for them that love him
[supremely]” are true; and that he shall inherit those promised
blessings after he has endured faithfully the tests
of his love and devotion which God will apply.
The Apostle refers to this same sealing later on in the same
epistle, and there identifies the “promise” with the “day of
deliverance.” (Eph. 4:30) In
other words then, the seal of the Spirit of promise unto the day of
deliverance is but another form of expressing the thought—we (the
Church) “have the first-fruits
of the Spirit”—the hand-payment as it were, binding the contract or
covenant between the Lord and us, and assuring us that if we faint not we
shall inherit the promise to the full.
This seal of covenant relationship, of sonship and heirship, is not
an outward sign upon our foreheads; nor is it a mark or manifestation of
God’s favor in earthly affairs, in worldly prosperity; nor is it now,
nor was it ever, the “gifts” of healing, or of speaking with tongues,
etc., for many who possessed those miraculous “gifts” lacked the seal
and witness of the Spirit. Acts 8:13-23; 1 Cor. 13:1-3
The seal or pledge of the holy Spirit is in the heart of the
sealed, and hence it is that no man knoweth it save he that receiveth it
(Rev. 2:17), except as others may see the fruits of it in his daily life. “He who establisheth 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 Cor. 1:21,22
This earnest or seal of sonship is the Spirit of love which is
at-one with the Father and all his holy arrangements, crying out, Abba,
Father; I delight to do thy will, O my [page 248]
God. He
who has this seal or mark of sonship is he who not only seeks to do the
will of the Father, but doing it finds it “not grievous,” but
delightsome. 1 John 5:3
The Spirit of adoption or sealing as sons, the possession of the
first-fruits or earnest of the coming inheritance, is, then, one of the
most advanced “witnesses” of the Spirit—the very cream of Christian
experiences in the present life. Before
attaining this stage of experience we must receive our share of the anointing by coming into
the anointed body of Christ, the Church, by being begotten of the Spirit of
Truth unto sanctification of our spirits to know and do the Lord’s will.
This experience comes after we have been quickened
of the Spirit to the service of righteousness: it is an evidence, so to
speak, that we have passed from the embryo condition to one in which God
can consider us sons and seal us as such.
As all believers should seek to come under the anointing and
begetting influence of the holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of the
Truth—so all who have been thus begotten of the Spirit to sonship should
seek to attain that position of fulness of harmony with the Father that he
can acknowledge and seal. And
having attained this position, let all be careful not to mar or blur the
seal—not to quench or extinguish this precious treasure—not to turn
this spirit of love and joy in the holy Spirit of fellowship and communion
into a spirit of heaviness, darkness, grief.
Not to spoil this seal, but to keep it ever bright and fresh,
should be the constant effort of all who receive it.
