There never was a beginning yet but it had a reference to an end, and the end therefore must give a character to the beginning. True, a person might alter his design as he proceeds, but then his beginning was not in keeping with the end he now has in view, nor is it the one that he would have adopted had he had the same end in view when he began. There is nothing more evident than that there must be an end in view to every beginning, and the beginning must be in keeping (however distantly) with the end proposed. The end may be very undefined, but nevertheless it was with reference to it that the work was begun or undertaken.
The servant of the Lord receives a commission from the Lord to do a certain thing; he may not be able to comprehend the full result of his work, but in order to be true to the result, he must be true to the commission. The first thing after the servant's appointment, is his commission. If he be ignorant of what he is to do, he must of necessity be defective in all his services.
Every real servant now is appointed, he is called of the Lord and gifted. A gift is a specific line of service, and as each servant waits on the Lord, he receives instruction from Him through the word in order that he may please Him who hath chosen him.
No one is an evangelist unless he be gifted by the Lord for that ministry. This is the first thing, and one which no one taught in the word will deny; the next thing is the commission which the evangelist receives from the Lord. Now here I apprehend arises all the imperfection and weakness in preaching the gospel in this day. Every servant is only really useful and efficient as he is the bearer of his Master's mind. Whenever he fails in truly representing the Lord's mind, he fails in his commission, however great his power as an agent. To "please him who hath chosen him", is the first and chief quality of a
servant. It is not enough that he have ability; ordinarily speaking a servant might have every qualification, and yet be unsatisfactory, because he pays little attention to his Master's wishes. The most gifted evangelist, however great his power and ability, will fail in his service unless he knows what his Lord desires that he should effect by his preaching. It is therefore of great moment that he should learn from the Lord what he is to do.
In preaching the gospel you must either derive light as to your commission from the Scriptures before the Lord's ascension or after it. Before the ascension there was salvation for the soul, but there was no assembly, and the evangelist who now relies on the measure of light there was before the ascension for his guidance, is behind the mark, and however gifted he may be, he is defective in the Lord's mind, and is doing the Lord's work negligently; not intentionally, I fully admit, but in a day like this it is of the last importance to be able to discern the one perfect way. There cannot be two. Being near the right way, or having any amount of zeal or success, will not compensate for disregard of His mind or for ignorance of His wishes. To say "Corban" to the Lord is profane or worse, and yet the one who shelters his ignorance or argues for it, because of his or others' zeal or success, is literally doing so.
The gifts were given after the ascension of our Lord and therefore the evangelist now, if he be instructed by the Lord who has conferred the gift on him, must have a distinct end before him, and one according to the mind of Christ. The evangelist either falls back to the light before the ascension of Christ, and then he does not connect his gift with the source of it, and is behind the testimony, or, knowing that he is an evangelist by gift from an ascended Christ refused on earth, he seeks to turn souls from "darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they might receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me"; that is, in a glorified Christ.
If the salvation of the perishing soul be the one end before the mind, then the beginning and every part of the evangelist's services more or less express this end. But if Christ, and being united to Him in glory be the end, (as it assuredly must be when the evangelist knows that he has been sent by a Saviour ascended to God's right hand, to preach the good tidings of His finished work,) then the beginning and every part of his work bears the stamp and colour of this truth, and souls who receive his message are enlightened accordingly. If the evangelist derives his gift from an ascended Christ, surely if he keep this one simple thing honestly before him, he must study the mind of his ascended Lord and look for souls here who will believe in an ascended Christ, and in believing receive the Spirit who unites them to Him now absent.
The assembly came in consequent on the rejection of Christ, at first indirectly though surely; that is, while there was an offer to Israel of the Lord in glory in the earlier chapters of the Acts, up to the stoning of Stephen, yet all the time the assembly was the only one true gathering point.
Saints now are baptized by one Spirit into one body; the weakest member is necessary, and the safety of the soul is not the end of the gospel now, but that believers should be united to Christ the Head in heaven, and to one another on earth by the Holy Spirit. It is of immense practical import whether the evangelist apprehends what is the mind of his Lord in conferring on him the gift of an evangelist; because however earnest and faithful he might be, he cannot do his duty to souls, or please the Lord otherwise. If he in his own heart limits the end and finish of his work to the salvation of the soul, he cannot seek for anything beyond, until the limit in his mind be altered. If the preacher in knowledge and purpose be not beyond remission of sins, there may be converts as there were at Ephesus, where they had not advanced beyond Apollos who had preached to them, "knowing only the
baptism of John". When the Spirit of God blesses the word spoken, the blessing is according as it has been set forth. This is what is called in 1 Corinthians 3 "man's work", which may be either wise, foolish, or wicked. The work done is in keeping with the teaching of the servant. Souls may and do receive help or light in other ways from the Lord, but there will always be found a distinct correspondence between the teacher and the taught. Hence the disciples at Ephesus who were converted by Apollos were no farther on than their evangelist when Paul met with them. I adduce this to show that if the groundwork be not laid, if there be dispensational darkness in the evangelist, it must damage and hinder the converts. I am sure that no preacher can lay the foundation of unworldliness, nor can he have it in his own soul, unless he knows that he is united to Christ in glory and that he derives his gift for service from an ascended Lord upon whom he waits, knowing Him where He is, and receiving instructions from Him, according to the nature of the sphere from which He communicates them, and therefore in keeping with His present testimony.
It is impossible to separate from the world unless one knows what it is to be heavenly. Nothing can divert the heart from the earthly side of things but the Spirit of God leading it into association with Christ where He is. It is not to a believers' meeting that we go to look for it, nor a meeting of any kind however rightly constituted. If the heart has found its true bond to Christ, it will soon find the right meeting or way of meeting. Often the question of hell or heaven is settled for the future, when the question, Is it earth or heaven now? has never been raised; and the real reason, let servants fail to see it as they may, why there are so many advocates for the gospel without the assembly is this, that you can hold on with the world and in an earthly position and pursuits, and still earnestly seek to save souls from hell, which could in no way be done if your aim were to connect them with
Christ in heaven, in order that they might be not of the world because He is not of it; and the fact is patent, that the most acceptable evangelists of the day are those who have never broken with the world. No one can truly or consistently maintain the truth of the assembly without in some degree breaking with all earthly things. The very constitution of the assembly requires it. It is heavenly in its hopes, and it is spiritual in its power and support; and it is impossible to be truly and sincerely a member of the body of Christ on earth, and not see that it is only as you are heavenly and spiritual that you are in any measure true to this transcendent calling. This highest order of mutual relations, and this entirely new kind of unity, where each member affects the other, can only be known and understood in the assembly, and as understood, it exacts new and peculiar vital sympathy, in the heart, for Christ's people on the earth, never known nor ever intended to be intelligible otherwise. I distinctly and sorrowfully insist that the great cause of the weakness in principle, etc. in the young converts of the present day is mainly attributable to the little reference made by the preachers to the Lord where He is, and from whom they have received their gifts; consequently, they go back to the Scriptures previous to the introduction of the assembly for instructions as to their commission, and hence all their work bears the stamp of their ignorance or indifference. Painful language this is, but necessary in such a day as this. May the Lord rouse them to a true sense of what becomes them, and show them that if they are sent by the Head of the assembly, they must distinctly and carefully accomplish the mission of an ascended Christ refused by men.
The first and greatest desire of our Lord for His disciples on earth, was that they should be one after the same manner of unity as exists between Himself and the Father. The oneness of all saints in mind and judgment would have been the most impressive evidence to the world; hence He says, "that the world may believe that thou hast sent me". Nothing could so much arrest, and tend to convince the mass of men in general, as the astounding, novel, unheard-of fact, that one mind and judgment was maintained by all believers in Christ; there could be no greater evidence that the one God ruled and guided each; that man with all his peculiar feelings and self-concentration had given way, and that one holy, comprehensive mind and judgment directed and governed each and all. The old saying, 'every man for himself', is entirely contravened by the great truth that the saints should be perfectly joined together in the same mind and the same judgment. It is plain that with God there cannot be two opinions about anything, and therefore if there be difference of opinion in men, there must be a departure from the divine mind on either side, or, as is oftener the case, on both sides. It is therefore a very grave thing to differ in opinion from a saint, for it must be either that I am advocating what is not of God, or that he is. There should not be such a thing as agreeing to differ, though there may be a tolerance of difference of judgment.
Once it is admitted that it is the natural mind in us which hinders the true and clear acceptance of God's mind, there is at least an opportunity afforded for exercising oneself before the Lord as to the correctness of one's views and opinions. We learn from John 17 that we are either of the world or of the Father. If we are of the Father our opinions must be in perfect harmony; no one could see differently from another;
some might see more than others, but all would see in the same direction. There may be different sizes of the same kind of tree, but that is quite another thing to there being different trees with different ways and rules of growth, etc. If we had no judgment of our own, and if our minds were like a tablet on which nothing was ever written, and on which nothing could be written but the word of God, we could not have any mind but the mind of the Lord; and this is the great end of the Scriptures; it is not merely that they give us light about certain things, but they form us into the mind of God about everything. You will never find that you learn the Lord's mind from any number of subjects which you may have studied in the Scriptures; you must study the revelation of God as one whole, and as you take it in, your mind begins to regard things as He does. Isolated subjects or doctrines to any extent can only inform you respecting themselves, and though quite necessary they are of comparatively small moment to the great importance of being in the current of God's judgment about everything; and this wondrous favour you can only obtain, by getting a full apprehension, if not comprehension, of all the revelation which He has been pleased to give us. A student of geography must learn the globe before he can determine the latitude of any particular country, so must the christian student learn the scope and intent of the Bible, before he can truly and fully define particular subjects or doctrines.
There are, I may say, four causes for the difference of opinion which, alas, is so wide-spread among us, and so humbling to us all. What can be a more humiliating picture than to see members of the one body, each of whom is a temple of the Holy Spirit, holding and advocating with all the earnestness of their abilities, opinions directly at variance with one another?
The first cause is ignorance. I think many are not sufficiently enlightened as to the word of God so as to be able to see or to accept what others see to be positively
revealed. Thomas is an instance of ignorance when he said, "We know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?" Nicodemus was ignorant; the eunuch was ignorant, and Apollos was ignorant. There is one distinct mark about one who is simply ignorant, and that is, he likes to be informed, and is really receptive; in those cases, and I suppose in every case where there is a sense of ignorance, light is in mercy supplied through some means. Mere ignorance, where there is not will, is no hindrance to the Spirit of God; hence the apostle says, "Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you", Philippians 3:15. Many are ignorant now of dispensational truth, and they argue that what was approved of by God at one time for His people is consistent for the present time; and surely nothing could cause a greater difference of opinion than darkness as to the varied dispensations from Adam downwards in contrast with a clear apprehension of them. One sincere believer will argue for war and earthly glory because David was a great soldier and a mighty king, whereas another, who sees the rejection of the King of kings, will know that all man's glory has passed away and that the only true greatness now is through the Spirit of God. The difference of opinion between two who hold to each of these creeds, must be so wide, so opposed, that there could be no point of agreement anywhere. They differ so essentially that everything said or done bears the mark of the difference, and yet the mass of believers is in this ignorance of dispensational truth at this present moment. The rejection of Christ is not seen, and there are very few who really and simply see the present period to be characteristically the assembly period; they do not deny the assembly, but they do not see that it was formed and disclosed consequent on the rejection of Christ by man upon earth, so that the assembly must be characteristically heavenly and not earthly.
Now the reason why this ignorance is not enlightened and corrected is, that with the mass it is not simply ignorance as it was with Nicodemus, Thomas, or Mary Magdalene; it has grown into prejudice, which is another cause for the difference of opinion. Prejudice springs from being educated in a religious system. The conscience has been under the conviction that it is subject to the only true religion, and hence, the nearer the religion comes to the truth in external form and ceremony, the more difficult it is to free the conscience of that bias which I call prejudice. It is an immense thing to liberate the conscience from any religious imposition or ordinance founded on the authority of God's word. This was the prejudice of the Jews, and it ruled them to such an extent that they thought they did God service in killing the christians. "They have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge". It is not merely the details of a religion which it is difficult to eradicate, but whatever has laid hold of the conscience as a special claim, is clung to with tenacity. And thus it is with believers; what circumcision was to the Jews, so to many christians at this moment is the law, as the rule of life, as well as the two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's supper, in various modes of administration. Prejudice judges everything, even the word of God, in the light of the religious dogma which governs the conscience, and there is no breaking down prejudice but by really setting aside man in death. Hence the apostle Paul, a man of the greatest prejudice - one who could say "after the .. . straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee" - was called out to be the witness in divine power of complete superiority over all prejudices.
The third cause is expediency. This often occurs where there is neither ignorance nor prejudice, and simply arises from looking at things in relation to man instead of in relation to God. James from expediency pressed and induced Paul to show his zeal for the law, Acts 21:20. Usefulness is generally grounded on expediency, which
urges the claim of need, apart from the mind and pleasure of the Lord. This was Martha's mistake, her work was a useful and a necessary one seeing as man sees; but she consulted her own mind and not the Lord's. It is amazing the divergence of opinion which must exist between a Martha and a Mary; the more expedient the thing seems to be, the more difficult it is to renounce it for the word of God. Nothing seemed more natural than that David, sitting in his own house of cedars, should want to build a house for the Lord; and though it was good that it was in his heart, yet the word of the Lord countermanded it. It would be as difficult to effect an agreement between the man of expediency and the man of faith who is simply led by the word, as to make a man looking eastward see what the man looking westward sees. The man of expediency can always reason well, and has plenty of evidence to establish his argument. The man of faith sees what God says, and waits in patience to fulfil His mind, but there can be no oneness of judgment between them.
The last cause whereby the mind is warped and hindered from judging according to God is covetousness. Covetousness is desiring something for one's own gratification. There is the idol in the heart, and all truth is qualified or reduced in order to spare this idol or taste. We find in Ezekiel 14:4, "Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols". If I come simply to the word of God I shall always find that the thing which most hinders me is the one which the word most rebukes; but if I am determined at all cost to save my idol, whatever it be, I must limit the action of the word, and this limitation will inevitably run through every subject in the word which I take up. Have we not discovered how differently and boldly we insist on a passage, when a covetous course has been surrendered,
which was garbled and glossed over formerly? The covetous man not only differs from the fearless asserter of the full truth, but he shuns the teacher, as the Galatians and all that were in Asia shunned Paul. There is always a twofold action of the word of God; one is deepening in your soul the truth you have truly and simply received, the other is correcting, and exposing either the working of the flesh in you, or its tendency; and when the heart is simple it likes both; and thus it is led into the mind of the Lord, and all who are so must have the same mind and the same judgment.
May the Lord exercise our hearts and consciences, that we may not be harbouring anything which is a hindrance to oneness of mind and judgment, for His name's sake.
The power of man became distinct and disconnected from the power of God the moment Eve, urged on by her own will, put forth her hand in selfishness to take of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There were then three powers on the earth; the power of God, the power of Satan, and the power of man. The power of God acting when and how it listeth; the power of Satan limited to evil; and the power of man defined by his own natural strength unless he became the agent of either of the other two.
Thus man on the earth was continually reminded of his powerless condition, - and his end, death, was the crown of it. And as he became conscious of his powerlessness, (for his mind gave him a station beyond his means to support,) he in unbelief had recourse to Satan, who in malice was ever ready to help him to do evil.
No man intentionally, unless very debased, could turn to Satan for help; but Satan, knowing the helplessness of man, had provided expedients, which would allure him in the hour of difficulty or temptation. Witchcraft and everything of that class were the devices by which Satan
allured man in the hour of his impotence to turn to him while to the degraded man he came, and offered to help him to accomplish his evil purposes by entering into him.
When God set up man again upon the earth (Genesis 9), He gave him an increased power which I may call the sword, because it was to control; there was nothing of the ascending character in it. At any rate this new power is confined to man and all below him; it does not bring him nearer to God, while, if used for himself, it has the effect of making him more independent of God.
There was always in the converted soul another power, the power of faith; and this power preserved a line of its own witnesses. Abraham was a witness of it. And often we find that the power of government, and the power of faith, or the unseen power, were vested in one and the same person, as in Joseph, Samuel, or David.
There were, all through man's time - the old dispensation - wonderful instances of the actings of the unseen power. Eve built; Enoch translated; Babel confounded; the judgments executed on Egypt; the deliverance of Israel from Egypt; the way made through the Red Sea; the passage of Jordan; the preservation of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in the midst of the fiery furnace: the history of the returned captives; and many other instances too numerous to recount.
Thus there was the power of Satan to do evil, and exercised in that line only. There was the natural power of man, and the sword given to him by God in order to subdue and to maintain order. And there was the unseen power of God working through faith in the souls of men.
Now, as to the power of Satan, no one would admit that he was under it. Alas! we know that many are; but it is not a power which any one would willingly boast of. But the power which God gave man in order to subdue and to rule is, on the contrary, one which every natural man covets, and more or less seeks for. God often did, as I have said, connect faith - His own power - with the same person in whose hands He had placed the
sword. But at the captivity of Israel the sword, in judgment on Israel, was handed over to the gentiles; and hence, subsequently, the only true power of the godly remnant was the unseen power - faith reckoning upon God, like Daniel in the lions' den, etc.
Now when Christ came, there was the power of Satan as it had been from the first; the sword was in the hands of the Romans; the Jews had the oracles of God and were in their own land, but having forfeited the sword they were powerless unless they had faith in God.
The Man Christ Jesus was the wondrous perfect expression of the unseen power of God in Israel, when they had no other power unless Satan's, by which they were afflicted; and they were ruled over by the power of the sword in the hand of the Romans. He was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power, and went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him. He was the first Man in whom the Holy Spirit abode, as it was said to John Baptist: "Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding on him, he it is who baptises with the Holy Spirit". This was what would specially mark Him:
- a new power descending and remaining on Him, a Man among men, and not this only but "he it is who baptises with the Holy Spirit".
Christ was rejected by the Jew, who said, "This is the heir; come, let us kill him", and who induced the Roman governor to crucify Him, saying, "If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend;" the Jew with the law of God said, "By our law he ought to die", and the Roman soldiers crucified Him. Thus the law and the sword were both used to exterminate from the earth the blessed One who went about correcting every evil, and removing every suffering which He came in contact with, by an unseen power. Devils were driven out, lepers cleansed, storms calmed, multitudes fed, the dead raised up; and yet no one could see this power.
Now Christ being exalted to the right hand of God,
sent down the Holy Spirit to dwell in those who believe in Him; and this is the unseen power which is to comfort our hearts in His absence (John 14:26), and which is to bear witness of Him in the presence of the world which is a coalition of all the powers that are upon the earth.
The unseen power is the Holy Spirit; and now it is not only Satan's power which should be refused by a saint, but the power which God gave man must also be refused; (that is to say, he must not wield it, though he is to submit to it, as to "the powers that be",) because man did not use the sword for God, but was found in concert with the prince of this world. And yet in Christ's death the prince of this world was judged; by a Man in death, Satan was vanquished; Jesus entered into death "that ... he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil".
Now then we have, first, the unseen power here with the saints; secondly, Satan's power (though broken by the Lord Jesus Christ) is here, and that in a double way; openly like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour; and secretly with wiles to entangle and hinder those devoted to the word of God; and thirdly, the power of the sword is still here, that which God gave man to preserve order and the like, but which has joined hands with Satan in the death of Christ, and these two last, together constitute the world. Natural power, conferred power, Satanic power, all exerted their forces against Christ, the one Man who alone maintained for God here in the flesh, in spite of all the powers combined. Every power on the earth opposed to the utmost; one Man only was superior to all in an unseen power.
Now if this unseen power, which is the Holy Spirit, be not our power in anything and in everything, we must fall back to the other powers.
Here let me distinguish between the arbitrary use of one's own natural powers, in what is called self-reliance, and the use of those powers, whether of mind or body, under the direction and sway of the Holy Spirit, as a
horse is under the rein of the rider. It is plain that the only power on earth for God is the unseen power, and it remains for us to ascertain how we can distinguish the acting of this unseen power, from the acting of the natural or worldly man.
A believer does not lose his natural powers and gifts, but the difference is, that he has received a new nature and an entirely new power, and as he walks according to the new nature by this new power, he yields himself to His counsel and dictation, and not to his own.
Natural power never can effect anything but by a work; unseen power accomplishes everything by a word, "He spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast". Man can accomplish nothing noiselessly and without display! "The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: God uttered his voice, the earth melted".
The word then is the great distinctive mark between the invisible power and the visible ones. Hence the spiritual man depends on the word of God, not upon any activity or exertion of man's natural powers; he is used by the Spirit to set forth and express truly the word of God, and thus "by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe". It is the "still small voice" that is the divinely effective agent. And it is evident that the more the servant of Christ will coalesce with or seek countenance from the other powers the less will he be opposed by them, so that a success may attend his labours which may not be a genuine one. For example, Satan offered to countenance Paul and Silas at Philippi. Had they accepted it their success would have been more visible; but when they refused it their power was an unseen one, and their success though small was genuine, and of God.
One word in conclusion as to the different way in which this power acts in the bright morning of a dispensation and in the faithful residue when all is in ruins. Israel's first conflict in the land was marked by a most conspicuous intervention of the unseen power. The walls of Jericho fell down flat. For the remnant of the same people in a
later day, the unseen power was just as great, but not so conspicuous in result. In Samuel's time it was prayer, after every kind of human means had been even in a measure successfully used by the judges. Prayer effected what the ox-goad, the nail, the jaw-bone of the ass, and the strongest of men had failed to effect.
The captivity returned to Jerusalem shorn of all earthly power, yet the word of the Lord is "my spirit remaineth among you; fear ye not". It is made manifest to individual faith, but not conspicuously, as it was before failure, and this is the great distinctive difference in the manner of its acting.
With the assembly it has been the same. At Pentecost there were great gifts, and great display of the unseen power. To Paul deserted by all, it was "the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me;" "and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen".
We do not seek what we do not need. Where there is no felt need of divine power there is neither a seeking after it nor a preparation of heart for it. It is therefore according to the sense of our powerlessness on the one hand, and our faith in God on the other, that we seek and obtain power from Him. If we are not powerless we do not require power; what we do not feel our need of we do not seek, nor would it be valued were it conferred. The awakened soul feels the need of a Saviour; he knows he cannot save himself, and the more simply and deeply he feels this, the more truly and fully does he lay hold on His arm who alone can save him. We see in the case of the palsied man (Mark 2), that he who bodily exemplified the greatest weakness, most fully unlocked the heart
of Christ, and commanded the resources of His power. "When we were ... without strength, ... Christ died", etc. The maintenance of power of any kind on my own side must necessarily militate against my desiring it from Him, while it would check Him from offering me what I would not prize, and really have no room for.
The great faith of the syrophenician woman consisted in her taking the place of nothingness, admitting her powerlessness and insignificance, while suffering from Satan's power and while in the presence of the Lord. We have the same principle in Romans 7"O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" The point of utter helplessness is reached and then the heart is prepared for the perfect relief in Christ, and can exclaim, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord". This Job reached when he cried out, "I know that thou canst do everything". "Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes". Paul learnt it yet more deeply; after his time in the third heaven he found that by himself he could do nothing, but that the strength or power of Christ was made perfect in his weakness.
First, then, we have it established that weakness must be admitted and felt before power is sought for or obtained. Secondly, we proceed to examine the manner or way in which we get power; and then, thirdly, we shall see how the power will demonstrate itself.
I am weak, and I feel it; well, then, there is no getting power apart from Christ: "without me ye can do nothing". Everyone believing on Christ is safe from judgment; everyone believing on Him risen is brought into deliverance; but power does not necessarily belong to either of these two classes.
Hearing wondrous things in heaven is not power, as we see with the apostle (2 Corinthians 12). Learning from the most perfect teaching does not confer power, as we see with the two disciples going to Emmaus (Luke 24). Power is only acquired by conscious connection with the
source of power. Happiness and intelligence in themselves are not power. Either may make me feel that I want power to retain or to use them, but my power depends upon my abiding in Christ, and unless I know Him as the exalted Man at God's right hand of power, and that I am united to Him there, I can have no effective power here. That is, though I may have an easy conscience, and intelligence of Scripture, yet I am not master of my circumstances, whatever they may be, because I have not power. I may deplore my deficiency and my loss, and see painfully by spiritual sense what I need, but this only proves that I have not got it. I am here in a scene where everything is against God, where a coalition has been formed between man and Satan to acquire the rule of everything, so as eventually to reach a point where in the excellence and abundance of all earthly acquisitions, a man can openly and avowedly exalt himself against all that is called God or worshipped, and this will be the pinnacle of Babylon's greatness. This is the scene in which we are, and we can have no power except as we are drawing from Him who has been rejected from this scene, but has been exalted to God's right hand "far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come".
It is as we are identified with Him who is beyond, above, and apart from, every evil force here, that we are really in divine power beyond, above, and apart from them all. How else could we be? "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it". All my blessing depends on Christ's work for me, all my power here depends on His being in me; that is, that I am here in His name, Himself characteristically. Many a saint is baffled and tried because he finds out in some emergency that he is not able to cope with it; he has no power and is really like other men. Now the reason of this is, not that he is not at peace in his soul, nor that he is
lacking in vivid apprehension of the truth, but it is because his eye is not on Christ at the time, he is not consciously associated and identified with Him who is above it all and who has been taken away from this scene.
The way to secure power now is after the same manner as Elijah's reply to Elisha indicates when he asked for a double portion of his spirit: "If thou see me ... taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so". It is not said that Elisha saw Elijah more than once, but once he touched and reached the spring of power, and really had known it, it was known for ever, while the mode of appropriating it remains unchanged also. That is, the power does not work in me now apart from Christ; but as my eye in faith is on Him I am endued with His ability to act in my circumstances as He would act in them. I am never independent of Him, blessed be His name. It is joy to the heart devoted to Him to hear Him say, "Without me ye can do nothing".
Peter walked on the water to go to Jesus; he was above the winds and the waves - in figure above and beyond all the evil forces here, and so long as his eye was on Jesus he walked by the very same power as Jesus; he walked really as Jesus walked at the time, but seeing the wind boisterous he was afraid - his eye turned to another direction, and the power was forfeited - lost, because his link with the One superior to all power here was lost.
This is the secret of our power now; no one can have power, divine power, amidst the various godless powers here, unless, and as he is walking in the clear positive unfaltering sense of his union with a glorified Man at God's right hand in power. Thus when all the force of evil in religious guise bore down on Stephen, God prepared him for it, constituted him superior to it all, by connecting him through the Holy Spirit with Jesus in the glory of God. He "being full of the Holy Spirit, having fixed his eyes on heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus". Many, I am persuaded, mistake happiness or intelligence
or good conduct for power. Presently I shall explain what power is, and how it works; but first, I am sure it is of the deepest importance to understand how it is acquired, and that it cannot be enjoyed practically apart from Christ Himself; it is His power that worketh in us, and, as the apostle says, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me". It is an immense help, and a clue to still greater, when I know that all my ability to act for Christ here depends on my conscious identification with Him where He is, not where He was for me; though as I receive power from Him I walk here even as He walked; His life is manifested in me.
Now this leads to the inquiry how power shows itself - how it works. It is evident that if power cannot be in exercise in me but as I, in conscious union with Christ in glory, am drawing it from Him, the power must put me in conformity to what Christ would do; be it in things small or great, it would enable me to meet everything here as He would meet it; to walk on the water; face the enraged religionists of the hour; and be superior to my own circumstances in a prison for Him.
Power is not so much seen in exploits as in the manifestation of Christ's life at the moment. It is quite possible to present a truth or truths to the conveniences of others, and yet that person to be lacking in Christ's mode of behaviour in his surroundings at the moment. The power of Christ is required when there is nothing but winds and waves, and this is secured only by faith in Him at the time. Now it works contrary to everything here; it has an entirely new way of doing everything. It does not only renounce the way and manner of men, and the motives which sway them; but it introduces an entirely new way. It is divinely beautiful and simple - Christ-like. It disowns and discards the counsel and ways of men; while it insists on and maintains what is of Christ, it necessarily condemns and ignores man in his motives and principles of action - literally puts him to
death; but as there is this power, the life of Jesus is manifested in my body.
Many a one sees light who is not in the power of it; he cannot distinguish other objects in the light of it; he is like the blind man when he saw men as trees walking (Mark 8), he has received light, but not enough of it to enable him to see everything clearly. It was in the second touch of our Lord that the full power of light was communicated.
How many are so far enlightened as really and truly to see; but how few see everything in the light of the truth, and how much easier it is for the teacher to give souls an elementary idea of the greatest truth than to carry them on into the depths, and judgments, and conclusions which that truth, held or known in power, would impart.
We get such expressions as "Strengthened with might [power] by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith", Ephesians 3:16,17. And again, in Colossians 1:11, "Strengthened with all might [power], according to his glorious power" - or the dominion of His glory - "unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness". The power shows itself in making me superior to all the forces here which would act upon me, and in setting me so free of myself, so silencing the flesh, that there would be nothing to impede the expression of Christ living in me. It would not be seen so much in works that would attract or strike the public eye as in the quiet, self-possessed tenor of my course which would make my antagonists to stagger and be confounded, and which sensibly would contribute to every saint, even the least spiritual - a certain conscious, moral influence, which no one possesses but as there is known practical power in oneself, because I never can have moral weight to repress in another that which I have not repressed in myself. When the truth is not in word only, but also in power, I am detected by it; that is light which "doth make manifest"; and I am
formed by this power of the Holy Spirit in the new life which has superseded the old. Now for this, the teacher or guide, in order to be so efficiently, and an ensample, must increase in power, or he will not help on others, and in his ministry he will never lead on souls beyond a point.
May we learn truly that the secret of power is having the heart kept by the Spirit in conscious identity with the exalted Christ, and that the power shows itself in placing me superior to myself, in spite of every force here, in the way and manner of Christ, so that its work is novel and magnificent.
The good of power is to make me equal to the occasion, but then it is of great moment whether I regard the occasion as man does, or as God does. It is possible to meet a crisis in a way commendable, in the judgment of men, which would not be at all acceptable to God. When Moses killed the Egyptian, he was equal to the occasion according to man's judgment; but as it was not according to the mind of God, he had eventually to succumb and fly. In order to be equal to the crisis according to the mind of God, I must enter it from God's side and not from man's. The mere fact of being able to make a stand, as the children of Benjamin withstood the power of Israel for a time, is really no evidence that you are in the power and counsel of God. We are set in an evil world where man has departed from God, having used the power with which God had entrusted him, to crucify the Lord Jesus Christ. Unless we understand the nature of our circumstances here, we cannot in any measure comprehend how we are to meet them for God, nor can we be prepared to do so. We are here to live Christ, in the place, and among the people where He has been rejected; and the difficulty is ten-fold increased by there being, instead of avowed hostility to Him, a universal profession of His name. No one can properly or truly act for Him in any
circumstances, unless he knows the relation in which those circumstances stand to Him. The saint is set here for Christ, and as everything, whatever its name may be, is really in opposition to Him, he never can discover his true course, by (as a great general would) obtaining information from anything transpiring around, as to how he is to be master of his position - I must therefore in order to be a man for the crisis come into the circumstances, not only with the power of God, but assuredly from God; that is, I must be so formed in God's presence with that which suits God, and savours of Him, that when I take my stand in the scene here, I am not swayed by anything here, but I am set and empowered to insist on, and maintain that which is due to God; and thus only am I equal to the occasion for God.
The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God. The moment the eye rests on the circumstances here, then the tendency is to borrow from natural things, in order to overcome natural things. We must not answer a fool according to his folly; we must come from God. It is the very opposite to human generalship; we are to know nothing of what is here, but what is of God, and whatever is due to God, on that we are to insist. Peter, although enlightened with the revelation of one of the greatest of truths, (Matthew 16:16, 17), savoured of the things which be of man, and not the things which be of God, when he chided the Lord for speaking of His death. As a man, and among men, I know of nothing but human ways and means of doing anything; when I am enlightened by grace and my heart is turned Godward, I may have zeal like Peter when he cut off the ear of the high priest's servant, but I am not a man for God in the crisis when I use carnal weapons to repress carnal evil. I have come from man's side into it, and have looked at it as man and not as God sees it. No amount of human energy, however successful at first, will eventually maintain for God, for it will surely come to nought. It is really so simple, that it ought not to require
exposition, that in a scene where everything is organized in opposition to God, the saint in order to walk in it for God, must come, not only with the heart for God, but he must be so distinctly imbued and coloured with the mind of the Lord, from association with Him, that he comes into this scene to insist on, and maintain, a novelty even - the ways and walk of the perfect Man in heaven, in contra-distinction and separation from the man here; - free from any bias or direction from what is here and with the simple purpose of acting in it according to God. Just as a ray of light enters a dark room, to establish itself irrespective of all that had previously occupied the room, so is it with the man who comes from God; he has a mission of such distinct importance, that morally he is to "salute no man by the way", Luke 10:4. The Lord was the light that shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. He was the Son of man which is in heaven. He came from God; that is the entire secret, in order to be for Him in any emergency. I have no power but as I abide in Christ, and I have no proper plan, and no skill for the exercise of the power imparted, but as I am moulded into His mind, from association with Him in His own things, His word instructing me; and as I am thus moulded, I come not only with the spirit of power but also that of love and of a sound mind to act here for Him.
Abraham was imbued and coloured with the counsel of God, respecting himself, through the teaching of Melchisedec before he encountered the king of Sodom, and therefore he was enabled quickly and positively to refuse all the offers of the king; he was a man for the crisis, while Lot, though a saint, returns with his goods, etc. to Sodom. The latter was doubtless thankful for the mercy vouchsafed to him, for truly there was more attention visibly paid to him in his need and suffering, than there was to Abram. This teaches us how to acquire wisdom and strength to rise superior to things here which would influence and pervert us. Moses in
connection with the testimony of the Lord (Exodus 32), comes from the presence of the glory of the Lord to witness the apostasy of the whole congregation of Israel. He insists on what is due to God, and faces the whole army of Israel without fear or compromise. He exclaims, "Who is on the Lord's side?" he is not afraid of them that kill the body, he thinks not of the imprudence of his course; he stands for God, and is as bold as a lion; he is a man for the crisis, and pitches the tabernacle of the testimony outside the camp.
Samuel came after the judges. After every kind of human expedient - a knife, a hammer, an ox-goad, a jawbone of an ass in the hand of the strongest of men which had proved only temporarily effectual - he by prayer effects the desired end. "The Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the coast of Israel: and the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel". God answered his prayers in a very remarkable manner. "The Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel".
I must add a word on Stephen and Paul. It is of all importance that I should know that my ability to be for the Lord in the crisis depends on my own state with the Lord at the time; so that it is what I am that determines what I shall do, and my own state is the first thing to be secured. Stephen, "being full of the Holy Spirit having fixed his eyes on heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus"; he is prepared now to encounter the combination of the greatest evil here bearing down upon him; he makes no display of power, he assails no one, and there is nothing visibly marvellous, and yet never was there such a man for the crisis, or a man so superior to his circumstances: he is tranquil and unmoved, so superior to everything which most bitterly affects man, that he makes those who are battering him to death the objects of his consideration. Never in a mere man was seen before such a witness on this earth of power
according to God, with love and a sound mind. Stephen properly closes up all hope for an earthly polity, during the absence of Christ, leaving his last moments here as a legacy to the assembly because then was opened out the new line, and how the Spirit of God would sustain the saints by association with Jesus in heaven.
Now with Paul another thing is taught, even that when left alone, deserted by those who evidently were not men for the crisis, he whose earnest expectation and hope was that "in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death", even he can face the array of the great Roman power and succeed in proclaiming the truth of God because the Lord stood with him. Thus we see that the man who is simply for God in the most broken condition of things here, is supported by the Lord; and though he be forsaken by all, even by his own friends and supporters, yet by him will the preaching be fully known, and all the gentiles shall hear. Stephen in his last hours shows us the way to leave this scene; Paul, in his, shows us how to be in it.
Every position or vocation, according to its importance, has its own responsibilities. If it confers much, then much must be required. If a standing were conferred without a state, it would be a mere empty title; there would be no real elevation or inherent dignity. With man it is too often the case that standing confers nothing, though the intention of all title or position is to recognize and reward desert; and where this is the case, the standing is conferred as in keeping with the state. Now with God there is no standing of any kind conferred, but with distinct and precise instruction as to the state which should flow and be derived from it; so that a person practically drops from, or denies his standing, if he have not the state which is in keeping with it.
It is not possible that God would appoint me to a standing which would subject me to ridicule or censure, because of the disparity between my name and my power; that is, He would not set me in high rank without any means or qualities to maintain it. No, according to the position in which God sets His people, He has from the very first given them power to be in keeping with it. Man in accepting the law assumed a position for himself, and failed in maintaining it; but according to whatever position God calls His people, so does He enable them to be; that is, He gives power in order that their state should be in keeping with their standing. He does not make their standing depend upon their state, because then the standing would be not of grace, but of works; but the standing is only enjoyed in proportion as the state belonging to it is maintained; for thus alone can there be ability to appreciate it.
When God called Abram saying, "Get thee out of thy country ... unto a land that I will shew thee", and he, in obedience to it, came into the land of Canaan, unto the plain of Moreh, we read (Genesis 12:7), "The Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him". Here there was a state corresponding to the standing. Abram occupies the place which God had pointed out to him. By faith he went out, not knowing whither he went, and when he reaches the true spot, his faith is crowned by the special manifestation of the Lord: and he builds an altar unto the Lord who appeared unto him. The appearing of the Lord declared that he had reached the standing, and his state is formed by it, and is in keeping with it. Now if he had not by faith accepted the standing, he never would have known the grace which met him there, and which fitted him for being there, according to the mind of the Lord. The Lord vouchsafed His presence to cheer and to form him in this new standing; and he can go forward, fit for the place in which God's favour had
set him. But when Abram becomes occupied with the famine in the land, he declines in state; he forgets how the Lord had appeared unto him; the state goes first and then the standing. Thus we see that in order to preserve the standing in its worth, you must have the state which is in keeping with it. A rose tree is not only placed by a gardener in a favoured spot, but by its beautiful bloom it proves itself qualified to be there. Of how little worth is size or mind to a man, if he lack the health which would impart value to both.
It is simple and yet very important that we should truly accept the standing to which God is pleased to call us, but then unless the state which is becoming to that standing is maintained by us, we shall lose practically all the advantage of the standing. A flowerless rose tree is surely very unsuited for a fine garden. Position confers nothing upon any one unless he can enjoy it, and to enjoy it he must maintain it. When Israel got into the land, if they had not been able to overcome the enemies in it, their position there would have been a mockery. Thus although according to the purpose of God we are seated together in heavenly places in Christ, yet we have to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might; we have to put on the whole armour of God that we may stand against the wiles of the devil. Let any one neglect to put on the armour, and what benefit will he derive from his high calling? The higher a man's position, the greater his fall when he is counted unworthy of it, and proved incompetent for it. A saint owning his heavenly position is subjected to greater dishonour if he does not maintain the state suited to it. If he be overcome, his fall is the greatest, because his height was the greatest. There is little use in obtaining any benefit, if I cannot keep it; and it cannot be kept, but as my state is true to
it. The whole mistake of the Galatians was losing the state which belonged to their standing in the Spirit, and when they lost the state, they gave up the true standing, and turned to circumcision and the law. Had they walked
in the Spirit, they would not have fulfilled the lusts of the flesh. The apostle has to remind them, "If we live in the Spirit", that is your standing, "walk in the Spirit" - that is your state. They tried to get a standing by a state - by circumcision - and in doing so they surrendered their true standing, which if preserved would have ensured for them the highest state; but the state was given up, and the standing was surrendered, and the benefits lost; and so it is in every instance.
If the children of Israel did not remain faithful to the Lord in the land, if they were careless in their state, their standing was forfeited. "If thou do at all forget the Lord thy God ... ye shall surely perish", Deuteronomy 8:19. "And then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain ... and ... ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you", Deuteronomy 11:17. Though in the place of the greatest favour, in the highest standing, yet if their state did not answer to it, they should be deprived of rain, etc. - of all advantages connected with the place - all was forfeited because they were indifferent as to their state. When Peter left the ship to go to Jesus (Matthew 14) he accepted his true standing, but when he turned his eye to the winds and waves, his state was not in keeping with his standing and he began to sink.
There is a tendency to err on both sides. Some will not accept their standing, they really have not faith in God, they cannot see why they should be placed in so high a position. This was Israel's unbelief at Kadeshbarnea, when they heard of the giants, and the cities walled up to heaven. It is always looking at men and their works, which hinders a saint from accepting the position to which God has called him. It is God who has appointed it for him, so that it is simply a question whether God who calls him to it is greater than all that man could do to obstruct. Hence the apostle warns the Hebrews lest there should be in them an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. It is called the day of
provocation when Israel refused to go up and possess the land: how much more now when a saint refuses to accept the heavenly calling! He may allege that there are many difficulties in his way, but the fact is, he is more occupied with the difficulties than with God; and in his heart he has turned back unto Egypt. In 1 Corinthians 10 the apostle places "neither murmur ye" the last in the list, and the worst. I suppose he then gives the moral order, though it is not the chronological order, because when any one refuses to accept the position to which God calls him, there must be an end of all progress. If a horse will not stand on his legs how can he draw? If a bird does not use its wings, how can it fly?
On the other hand, with the increase of knowledge of the text of Scripture, there is great danger of giving a conscientious assent to the standing, particularly when insisted on by those really enjoying it, without a due sense of the state which the standing entails. This danger is to be chiefly apprehended, when the acceptance of the standing has relieved the heart of legal efforts to reach it, for then a delightful sense is made known to the soul; the standing that I pined after is discovered to be really mine, by the grace of God, and I enjoy for the moment unspeakable joy. I had been struggling in vain to reach it by seeking to have a state worthy of it; but after having found that the standing is mine, independently of my efforts, if I in any degree become indifferent about my state, and base my happiness and power on the bare fact of having ascertained my standing, I shall find ere long that I am nothing better than a miser, with means for a great position, but from want of making proper use of them, really worse off than I was when labouring to acquire them, and I am an object of mingled pity and reproach.
Finally, the one seeking to reach a standing by his own efforts, is like one attempting what is entirely beyond his power - trying to fly without wings - an attempt which must end in failure; while the one who is
satisfied with his standing, and indifferent to his state, is in danger of what is expressed in that word, "his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened".
It is evident that there must be only one true way of seeing everything as it is in itself. There may be endless relations in which any particular thing stands with respect to other things; but there must be only one light in which everything is seen by God. I may truly see how a thing relates to me but then I am regarding it from my own point of view, and exclusively in its relation to myself. The great question is, not whether I see a certain thing, and how it stands in relation to me, but do I see it as God sees it, and as it stands in relation to Him? The tendency with man is to judge of everything as it affects himself, and because this is a veritable judgment - that is, it is real in his own mind, it is difficult to alter it, for he cannot alter it sincerely, until he changes his position. He judges as it refers to himself, this is the light in which he sees it; and this is so real to him that it must continue, until he sees it from a new point of view, and then it will be again real to him though quite different.
Nothing is more patent or more remarkable than how differently people will see the same thing. Each one is convinced that he is right, and he is sincerely convinced, because he has judged of it from the way it stands in relation to himself, and of what it is really to him. The simple and all important point is to judge of everything entirely apart from oneself, and as God judges of it, for our thoughts are not as His thoughts. How differently one would speak of what is called a happy incident and a painful one, if one had seen that the first was a bait to the greatest sorrow, and the latter a check to an intended folly.
The real cause of our inability to see things as God sees them is in our own minds. The natural man understandeth
not the things of the Spirit of God, they are foolishness unto him. The first thing then in order to be able to judge of things as God judges of them, is to have the mind of the Spirit. It is the lack of the mind of Christ which is the cause of the inability of the best intentioned to judge as He judges. How can I see things as He sees them if I have not His mind? But "we have the mind of Christ"; and as we judge of things in His mind, we judge rightly. If there were no rival mind all would be easy enough: but the carnal mind hinders according to its strength, and if not subject to the Spirit of God it will lead contrary to God. Thus we often find that when there is most natural mind in a saint, unless it is under the control of the Spirit, there will be most error in divine judgment. It is not that having a dull mind makes a person judge better; but such an one will not be able to influence others so much as a man with a powerful mind. The natural mind can be, and is used by the Spirit of God to convey the light, and to communicate the thoughts of Christ. It does not enable one to grasp truth, though it does to communicate it to others. The natural mind cannot assist the mind of Christ; the superior must necessarily demand the subjection of the inferior. The thoughts spring from the mind; therefore the first thing to ascertain about any thought is, Does this come from the mind of Christ, or from the natural mind? The most acute natural mind cannot in any degree reach the mind of Christ, simply for this reason, that each forms a judgment from entirely different and opposite stand-points. The natural mind, however acute, makes man its centre, its point of departure and its return; the mind of Christ makes God the centre, everything springs from Him and concentrates in Him. Now it is on account of this rivalry between the natural and spiritual mind that it is said that the matured are those who by reason of habit "have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil". (Hebrews 5:14.) There is no ability in a man to see what evil really is in the sight
of God, until he has seen what good is. It is as he learns good, that he can distinguish it from evil, otherwise he is not skilful in the word of righteousness, he is a babe. It is therefore seldom, unless when walking in communion with Christ (which is common mind with the Lord) that one sees things at first as the Lord sees them. Man's mind cannot rise beyond himself, and this becomes very marked when he attempts to judge of divine things apart from the mind of Christ.
The mind of Christ is the new creation, and this is not helped by the natural mind, but by the Spirit of God; hence the mind of Christ will judge wisely for a saint, even as to natural things, and better than the natural mind, which will judge quite in a different way, and not at all according to the mind of the Lord. Thus there is a double gain when I am led by the Spirit of Christ; I can then judge of things for man in the smallest detail, as God has ordered them for him, whereas the greatest natural intellect can at best judge for him only in relation to himself as man.
The great proof of maturity is that a habit has been acquired of exercising the senses to discern good and evil; there is the consciousness that there is a rivalry; - "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 do the things that ye would", - that you may be superior to the flesh.
There are different ways by which we are drawn away and led to act according to our own mind, while we think we are acting according to the mind of God. The one great clue by which to detect this deception, is whether the judgment we act upon is favourable or easy for ourselves, or whether it does not consider enough for us, but leaves the issue, as human foresight would say, to chance, or, as faith would say, to God.
The word of God simply accepted, forms His mind in us; it must form our judgment, but is not to be used to support our preconceived judgments. Hence the interpretation
of the word betrays most distinctly the attempt of the natural mind to comprehend the mind of God. Every ignorance in doctrine or practice for which one uses Scripture, shows how one's thoughts are not as God's thoughts. If everyone saw only as much as he sees according to the mind of Christ, there would be no perversion, no erroneous interpretation authorizing strange practices.
This class is the most numerous, and the most difficult to convince of their mistake, for almost everyone, even Satan, endeavours to have a scriptural authority for his view of things. They assert they have authority from Scripture for what they desire, and even the desire they may have acquired in a natural way from the Scriptures. Eve is an example of this; she interprets the promise that her seed should bruise the serpent's head in a natural way, merely referring it to herself, and therefore she concludes that her firstborn son is the man.
Naturally she had some ground for this interpretation, for if there were no ground for it, there would be no difficulty in disabusing the mind of it; but the ground is one that no one skilful in the word of righteousness would admit, even that a child of Adam fallen, could regain what Adam innocent had lost; that one under judgment like Cain, could effect his deliverance when his father, though in innocence and safety, was not able to retain the place in which God had set him.
Now there was no exercise here; the promise of God was embraced because it offered something to meet the natural desire; there was no exercise of the senses to distinguish both good and evil. This kind of perversion is very common; we have an instance of it in the meaning put on our Lord's word, "If I will that he tarry till I come", etc. (John 21:22). "Then went this saying abroad ... that that disciple should not die". There was some ground for the idea, but from not carefully weighing the words uttered in simple relation to Him who uttered them, there was misapprehension, and thus is it
that there are endless misapprehensions of His mind, and His interests are overlooked for one's own immediate benefit.
Again, others accept the word, but will not follow it up, they introduce into it limitations of their own. Abram does not fulfil the call which doubtless he had previously accepted, until his father is dead (Genesis 11:31). Lot pleads for Zoar instead of escaping to the mountain according to the word of the angel (Genesis 19). Jethro induces Moses to surrender the responsibility which the Lord had conferred on him, under the impression that it was too much for him (Exodus 18). "Another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house", Luke 9:61. These are cases of limiting, or only accepting part of the divine precept, with the idea that one can act up to only part of the word of God, and not the whole of it. But in every case a loop-hole is secured, where one can gratify one's own feelings, and so far supersede the mind of the Lord; the senses are not exercised to discern both good and evil.
Again, others openly avow their inability to accept what the word of God plainly enjoins. Moses does this when he pleads his want of eloquence (Exodus 4). There was not the simply subject mind by which no counter opinion would be entertained. In this class the word is not "mixed with faith", and we have a prominent example of it in the children of Israel, when they refused to go up into the land (Numbers 13).
Others again do more than they are desired to do; they exceed the course prescribed by the word of the Lord; and this too is from the same cause, even that the natural mind is uncontrolled by the word of God, like Moses smiting the rock twice (Numbers 15), or the demoniac in the gospel, who when told to go to his own house and show how great things God had done for him, went his way and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done for him (Luke 8:39).
Others again, knowingly and willingly run counter to the word of God. Jonah goes down to Tarshish from fear; Barnabas takes Mark from simple natural friendship. But in all these cases and varieties, it is evident that when man's mind is allowed to act, there is a gainsaying, or a perversion of the word of the Lord in some way or another; and hence, when our tastes or affections are much engaged respecting any course the Lord would have us to follow, the danger is of our own minds acting, for when they do, we misconstrue, limit, exceed, refuse, or oppose, the word of the Lord.
While every believer will admit his imperfection in practice, he generally considers himself correct in doctrine; he may own that he is ignorant of a great deal of truth, but his conscience would not be at ease if he did not think that he held what was true. Hence it is more difficult to convince a saint of his error in doctrine, than of his defect in practice.
There cannot be correct practice with an assured conscience, but as there is correct doctrine. Once a saint is taught of God that he is heavenly as to calling, he may fail much in being practically heavenly, but as he knows the doctrine of his calling, he finds out that there is power given him according as he turns to the Lord to maintain his course as a heavenly saint.
In the first great point of doctrine the heavenly saints and the earthly saints are together; the sins of both are washed away in the blood of the Lamb: this one great truth is common to both, and to every saint since the foundation of the world.
Now because this first great doctrine distinctly and unquestionably belongs to both, the tendency or snare is to conclude that it is the same with regard to other doctrines, and this snare will always be in the descending
or earthly line, and not in the ascending or heavenly. That is to say, the calling and blessing of the heavenly saint are brought down to the line of the earthly. Now in the very terms earthly and heavenly there is an immense distinction involved; and the rest is easily learned when once this great distinction is admitted. The real difficulty lies in convincing saints of the fact that they are heavenly in the true sense of the term. Christians acknowledge it in a general way, because they know that heaven will eventually be their abode, but no one can see the heavenly standing who does not see that Christ being rejected from the earth, the saint, if united to Him now, must be united to Him in heaven where He is; and that if not united to Him there, he has no link to Christ absent, although he is absolved from his sins by the blood of Christ. Moreover he is on the earth where Christ is not ruling, (for He must come before He reigns,) so that the portion of a saint now, if he were not united to Christ in heaven, would be infinitely worse than that of a saint in the millennium.
The saint in the millennium will have the happy consciousness of Christ's rule over everything. Satan will be bound and Christ will order everything morally as the sun rules the day materially. Christ is now absent, and unless the Spirit of God unites the saint to Him in heaven where He is, it is evident he is on the earth in a worse position than the earthly saint. But the saint now is united by the Spirit to Christ, and as he belongs to a heavenly Christ, he is on his way to heaven as his own place, even though he still be on the earth.
I am not now stating the various doctrines which distinguish and peculiarly belong to the heavenly saint; I am seeking to establish the fact that a saint is now heavenly both as to standing and hope, because he is united to Christ in heaven, and that the one great difference between an earthly saint and a heavenly one is, that the earthly one will not be united to Christ in heaven, but will be on the earth when the Lord reigns. The Lord
being now rejected, a saint must either be connected with the world and the order of things here, or he is dissociated from man here because united to Christ in heaven. There can be no middle course.
The difference between this present time and the millennium is very distinct. The Lord is not reigning now, but He will reign then. The saint now is joined to the Lord, and is one spirit with Him. This embraces a great deal, and if this point of difference be really and truly admitted, all the others will follow as a consequence. If I am united to Christ, He is my life; "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death". I am not only born again, which is true of every saint (see John 3:3 - 12), but I am enjoying another life through the Holy Spirit, and this could not be without distinct and positive deliverance from the man in the flesh, so that "the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me". Here I am dead, and my life is hid with Christ in God. The earthly saint lives here on earth, he is not united to Christ, he is not dead, he is a man living in all the commandments and ordinances of the law blameless.
As united to Christ, I have Christ living in me. I am to live in Him who is not here in the place where He is not, but in order that I may be able to do this, I am united to Him where He is.
This then is a great difference - the heavenly saint has a perfect sense of complete deliverance from the man in the flesh; while the millennial saint is through grace empowered to do what God required of a man in the flesh. "I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people", Hebrews 8:10.
The heavenly saint is not below this in walk, but he is greatly beyond it, and if he be not, he is, as I have said, worse off than a millennial saint, because he is now where Christ is not present, nor reigning.
Again, the way into the holiest of all is now made manifest. We - the heavenly saints - have "boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh". The earthly saint, though cleansed from his sins by the blood, cannot speak of being inside the veil, because his economy or dispensation is connected with this earth. If we admit that our place as worshippers is inside the veil, we must admit another great difference between a heavenly and an earthly saint.
One more difference I would notice: the saint united to Christ in heaven, knowing perfect deliverance in Him, and worshipping in the holiest of all, has a place in heaven prepared for him by Christ, which the earthly saint could never speak of. True he can speak of knowing the Lord of heaven and earth, and eventually he will be in the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, when all things are made new; but he cannot speak of having a place prepared for him in the Father's house, and still less can he speak of being raised up together with Christ now, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Thus we see there are four great differences in doctrine between the heavenly and the earthly saint - first, the connection with Christ is different, the saints during His rejection being united to Him, a privilege not known by, or granted to, any other class of saints, neither to the saints before His first advent, nor to the saints after His return. Secondly, the deliverance is different because the saints united to Him are in Him, and He is their life. Thirdly, the worship is different; the saint in perfect deliverance is inside the veil; and lastly, while the saints before the coming of Christ looked forward to a prospect of a heaven - they "looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God" - the saint at this time, not only knows that Jesus has prepared a place for him in heaven, but he knows too, that by the
Spirit of God he is there, in Him through faith; now, with regard to the millennial saint, his hope and position are simply earthly.
If we admit these differences between the three classes of saints (and I apprehend they cannot be denied), it is evident that any saint who now loses sight of his calling as a heavenly one, will be weak in his soul as to all these blessings which I have spoken of - namely, his union with Christ, his perfect deliverance, the true worship, and the place - the Canaan given him of God.
All the saints are set upon the earth, but each of the three classes is called to a very distinct and peculiar relation to it. The Old Testament saint found that the prospect of heaven was the relief from the confusion and evil here; the millennial saint will be able to enjoy everything here, because the power of evil will be restrained, and the Lord will reign. Hence it remains that the saints on the earth during the absence of Christ should not be of it, but having received greater blessings, should walk here during His absence, studying only to be like Him whom men refused and to be unlike those who refused Him. The snare is that because they are forgiven their sins and have been relieved of the fear of judgment, they turn to the earth, and expect favours from God in connection with it; and when they do, they practically surrender the great truths which distinguish them from the earthly saints, and they are necessarily low in practice because low in doctrine. They fail in testimony and are, according to the light and opportunity which they have not answered to, subjected to chastening; for "our God is a consuming fire", and His "jealousy is cruel as the grave".
To attempt to do anything without either visible means, or faith in Him who is invisible, is foolish and uncomely. The presence and use of visible means satisfy and assure
the natural mind, and therefore self-reliance, however you may try to silence it, is acquired from the possession of means. It is plain that nothing can be done without one or the other. There must be either visible means to rest on, or there must be faith in the Invisible; and the tendency of every saint is to be so buoyed up by the possession of visible means, that the invisible is disregarded and overlooked. A man feels a self-confidence, and a sense of superiority in himself, when he is the possessor of effectual means; and, as he is, he is diverted from seeking or enjoying the invisible power. Faith counts on God when there is no such possession - no means. When Eve was influenced by what was visible, she had in heart given up God, for the influence of visible means emboldened her heart to turn from the word of God.
Now this is an influence which must ever address and ensnare the natural man; and hence faith in God, counting on Him who is invisible, was never connected with visible means; nay, it enabled the saint to act according to God, in spite of being opposed by the greatest visible means, thus showing that there was invisible power where there was no visible means; for visible means are a support to the possessor of them, and thus they take the place of faith.
In every instance we see that when faith works, it is independent of visible means. Abram is called to break with all visible supports, and to come into the "land that I will shew thee". "And he went out, not knowing whither he went".
No one will deny that faith acts independently of means; but what I desire to show is, that visible means hinder faith, when possessed and used by the saint; though, to the man of faith, they are as nothing, when in the hands of his opponent. The green fields of Sodom met the eye of Lot, when he turned from faith. The visible becomes the ready support and attraction of the heart that drops from faith. The difficulty is to be
superior to the visible thing; and yet the heart of man is ever seduced by it, and he acquires confidence and consequence as he possesses it, but possession of it obscures faith. Israel forfeited their highest favour, because in seeking visible support, they refused to keep the sabbatical year. When they were captives in Babylon, and all visible means were in the hands of their enemies, then the faithful realized and testified that the power was invisible - that God was for them. The great kings had fire and lions wherewith to torture them, and make their power felt; but notwithstanding all, the power was with the servants of God. Fire is the greatest natural force, the lion is the strongest and fiercest of animals, but both were ineffectual before the invisible power.
Since man's departure from God originated in his being alienated from Him by visible things, it must be the greatest evidence of restoration and new life when it is not the visible but the invisible, which sways him. Hence, "whatever is not of faith is sin".
If we turn to the scene of the thief on the cross, there we find grace coming forth in all its beauty and strength, rescuing the one degraded among men, by disclosing to his heart the Lamb of God, even He who died "the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God". The thief was not only enlightened in soul by beholding his Saviour in the Man who had "done nothing amiss", but also assured in heart that he would be with Him that day in the paradise of God. Visible means, then and there, were in great combination to exterminate both, while the invisible was accomplishing the greatest and most wonderful results; even in man being righteously delivered from judgment and the polluted place. What a triumph of the invisible power! Here all the means at man's disposal are used against God; and they betray an accommodation to man's evil which stamps them with their true character. They not only suit the natural man, but they support him against God. When our Lord warned His disciples, on the eve of His rejection, to
remember Lot's wife (Luke 17:32), He taught them (chapter 13) that helplessness of any kind - the absence of any visible means, would not be their hindrance. Suffering or distress, exemplified in the case of the widow, should not tend to make them like Lot's wife. The powerless one, the little child, was the only one sure to enter the kingdom of God. But the one with possession of things visible is the one who is really hindered from entering. However, if we surrender the hindrance, be it house, land, or anything else (verse 29), we shall have a present reward; but if we retain it, some day or other it will be our scourge.
At all events, at our Lord's death, the question of visible means, and of invisible power, was settled for every awakened soul. Man and all his force was against Christ, and it appeared to succeed according to his evil purpose, but God triumphed over it all, and secured eternal blessings for man, while he betrayed his full evil and venom in directing all the means given him of God to put His Son to death. This culminating act of man's evil ought to teach us how the power God gave man is subject to man, and used by him for the worst purposes. It was given to Noah to repress evil, and now man has disqualified himself for ever from holding power, seeing that he has used all he had, to crucify the Son of God.
Next, when we turn to the scene of Stephen's martyrdom, we see how all visible forces were directed against him in vain. Apparently he was left unsupported and friendless, and yet never was any man more sustained by the invisible power; "being full of the Holy Spirit, having fixed his eyes on heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus". He is at ease in the heavenly glory. Neither the gnashing of the teeth of the solemn council - the great religious conclave - nor the pain inflicted by the stoning of his body, in the least overcame him; he was not only tranquil and composed, but able to act for others. He knelt down and prayed for them, so superior was he to all their fierce combination.
As man had closed all hope for himself as a mere man at the cross, so now all hope for the Jew on earth is closed at the death of Stephen, and the mantle of Stephen must be worn by every true saint now; that is, he must see that there is nought but death here, but that there is the bright glory with Jesus above, apart from any earthly hope.
Now, when I come to the close of Paul's life, I learn another thing. Again, all the visible means are against him, and all his friends forsake him. "At my first answer", he writes, "no man stood with me, but all men forsook me.... Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever", 2 Timothy 4:16 - 18. He was on trial before the Roman tribunal; the saints were so intimidated that they forsook him; he had no visible support, but the Lord stood by him, and strengthened him. This is the view we get of the apostle, and I believe that, according as we are faithful, his mantle, as he is seen in this juncture, will fall upon us. All visible means here against us, even the desertion of our brethren, but if truly for the Lord, He will stand beside us, and though with hearts sorrowing for those who forsake us, yet we shall be encouraged, and enabled to maintain the proclamation of the truth, in deep, unquestioning assurance that we shall be delivered from every evil work, and preserved unto His heavenly kingdom.
It only remains for me to notice the close of the history of the assembly up to the Lord's coming. Philadelphia and Laodicea run down to the end in parallel streams. The former is characterized by having a "little power", but it is invisible; the latter, by what is visible. It has a great deal to say for itself, but Christ is outside the visible thing; the possessions have diverted the heart from Christ, and they boast themselves of having
property, while they have not divine power. In Babylon's day there will be, as we have seen, assertion and assumption of all power; but our privilege is that we have power superior to all visible means; and our greatest glory here is to maintain, that, like Moses of old, we can endure as seeing Him who is invisible, and that when there is nothing to support or prop up the natural mind, we are happily dependent upon the invisible power; and that it is easier to do so when there is nothing to tempt or delude us; for when we have nothing, we can trust the Lord for everything.
May the Lord teach us, and lead us on in this most blessed exercise and privilege, for His name's sake.
There are two parts in every service; one, the nature and object of the service: the other, the manner in which it is received - the effect produced by it. The servant of the Lord, because of the perfect nature of the light committed to him on the one hand, and the hardness and wilfulness of man's heart on the other, enters into both in a supreme degree, and thus has a twofold experience as to his service; one of joy, and the other of exercise and sorrow; and as one is great, so is the other.
In communicating the truth given to him, he has, when simply acting from the Lord, the sense of what is perfectly good and true; and if his service ended here, it would be one of unmixed satisfaction; because it is all on God's side; but when he turns to man's side, and sees how indifferently the truth has been received and appreciated, he is filled with a sorrow which is only augmented by his sense of the goodness and greatness of what he had communicated.
The husbandman in spring-time, when the sun shines brightly, joyfully sows his ground with the choicest seed. At this time all is favourable and encouraging; but this
is not all: there is a time coming when he must look anxiously at the crop which is the effect of his happy spring work; the harvest-day alone can decide what that will be. This is the other side of his work. It is not simply the brightness and hopefulness of spring-time, but he must wait and see how the soil will requite or acknowledge his work.
The real servant cannot confine himself to God's side where all is perfect and beautiful, but as he is really for God, he will be solicitous as to the effect on man of God's favour; and this not so much respecting those who utterly reject the light, or have not accepted it, as those who have professed to do so. Thus the unfaithfulness of the people of God has, at every time, been the source of deep and continued sorrow and exercise of heart to the servant of the Lord; and according as he is sensible of it, he is, like the prophets of Israel, used to warn the people of God and awaken them to the indignation of the Lord, and the chastening which the jealousy of His love, like a most vehement flame, will impose.
If we follow and note the history and ways of any true servant of the Lord, we shall see, that while on the one side they, like Moses on the mount, or Paul in Arabia, are entranced with the brightest and most marvellous display of divine glory; yet on man's side, those who know most of the divine ways, suffer most because of the indifference of those who have professed to be God's people. It is nowhere admitted in Scripture that a servant can be merely the herald of the light of God's grace; that is, that he should only have the joyful side of service. For every real servant, be he evangelist, teacher, or anything else, there must be the side of suffering, exercise, and humiliation.
Moses after all the varied and wonderful works in which were displayed the mercy and goodness of God to His people; after all the glowing sense he must have had of what it was to be God's instrument in expressing
things so great and beneficent, is filled with the most poignant anguish because of the idolatry and perversity of Israel. He is ready to sacrifice himself, anything - to secure the honour of the Lord in His people. He says, "Oh, this people have sinned a great sin ... yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin -; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written". And then after his intercession for the people is answered, he finds his relief in the prayer, "I beseech thee, shew me thy glory". He falls back upon God Himself as the true and unfailing resource of his heart.
No man had ever seen more of God's wonderful works for His people, or had with deeper sorrow witnessed the desperate rebellion of the human heart. The very goodness of God, and the delight that Moses as His servant had in expressing it, only made him more sensitive to and aggrieved by the wickedness of man. Hence his only resource was in God, and he cried, "I beseech thee, shew me thy glory". This great servant had not only been used in the most remarkable manner, but he suffered on man's account, so like our blessed Lord that he longs for a sight of God's glory; and in a partial way it is vouchsafed to him. Everything to cheer and delight his heart among God's people had ceased to be; and hence he turns to God and asks to see His glory; and then he learns the grace that will make him sharer of it even then. And in a little time he was to see his Lord on the holy mount; he was selected by God as the fit one to bear Him company at the moment, when, as the perfect Man on earth, He was saluted with the words, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased".
Elijah, the other companion of the Lord in that wondrous scene, had also deeply entered into the declension and idolatry of Israel. He could say, "I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword". In him too we see that the servant most
honoured of God, and gifted by Him is the one most afflicted on account of the failure and indifference of His people, and that the greater his light, the greater will be his sorrow because of man's indifference to it; and this he especially feels with regard to those who have accepted it.
If we study the life and ways of the apostle Paul who was at once the greatest of evangelists and of teachers, we see that while the highest and deepest truth was committed to him, so that he could say, "Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in the Christ, and makes manifest the odour of his knowledge through us in every place"; yet he was deeply exercised about those who had received the light from him, either for conversion or growth. He says, "I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears". These were saints who were brought to the knowledge of the Lord through his ministry. And to the Colossians whom he had never seen he writes, "For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh", Colossians 2:1. He had previously stated as to himself, "Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church", Colossians 1:24. And again to Timothy he writes from the prison at Rome, "I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory", 2 Timothy 2:10.
Thus we see that, whether as an evangelist or teacher, his service did not end with being blessed to souls in the communication of the truth, but that he followed with a devoted interest every believing soul as a nurse would, and was not content with being a father.
Lastly, when we look at our blessed Lord, God's greatest and only perfect Servant, who can comprehend fully the sense that He had of the counsel of God, which He only could understand or accomplish? No one else
could have so deep and full a sense of its gravity and magnificence; and yet no one else felt more keenly the perverse soil of the human heart. He - the Son of man, was the Sower of the seed. Everything perfect was offered to man by the Holy One of God; but man saw no beauty in Him. He was charged with everything on God's side to impart profound and increasing delight to Him in His mission to ruined creatures sunk in darkness and misery. He had everything in abundance to meet their need. On that side His joy was unspeakable, and yet He was "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief". "He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows". His "visage was so marred more than any man", at death. "He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled". He wept with the sorrowing Mary. When He beheld Jerusalem He wept over it. He not only loved the assembly and gave Himself for it, but it is said, "No one has ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as also the Christ the assembly". He proves His love by washing our feet. His unceasing occupation as our Saviour, Intercessor, is to sanctify and cleanse us with the washing of water by the word. And when failure and corruption were found in the assembly, He adopts, as we see in Revelation 1:3, the aspect suited to correct and judge it. In all its failure and declension; after all His unequalled services to it; after conferring the greatest gift - the gift of the Holy Spirit; the assembly is still the centre of His thoughts and services.
Thus we see in the history of every servant, and most of all in that of the Lord Himself, that the true servant becomes charged with the state and condition of those who receive the word of the Lord from his lips; and that he cannot confine himself to the happy side of his work, which is that of being appointed and gifted of the Lord to bless souls; but that the more he walks with the Lord in the exercise of his gift, the more will his heart be exercised by the state of those who bear His name. I am not pressing that a servant should look for results in the
form of conversions or pupils; this I believe he should leave to the Lord. It is not that the actual result of work should either cheer or depress; but the manner and the effect of the truth which he has received of the Lord, and has been the channel of communicating will, I believe, produce deep exercise of heart in him, in proportion to the truth and reality of his service. Paul could say, "As a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation ... let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon".
It is incompatible with all divine service that a servant should be merely an orb of light, like the sun or stars, communicating much, but passive and unaffected by the condition of those to whom he has imparted light - with no feeling of care or charge, respecting those whom he has served. The attempt to be a servant like an orb of light merely, is really to appropriate all the joy and gratification of ministry, without enduring the afflictions of the gospel, or being weighted with the condition of the saints. It really limits the truth and light to its benefit to man, irrespective of what is due to God for so great a revelation. The return due to God is overlooked and disregarded; and a servant of this kind can never be deeply taught in the mind of the Lord; for he does not in any measure fulfil that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ; he knows nothing of the Lord's feelings when He wept over Jerusalem, or of Jeremiah's, when he exclaimed, "Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!". He has not on his forehead the mark of the men who "sigh and ... cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst" of Jerusalem; and he fails in his own soul to taste of the heart of our blessed Lord, who with inconceivable light and power, is ever increasingly interested in, and intent on serving those who believe in His name.
It was on the redemption of Israel out of Egypt that was formed for the first time a habitation for God on the earth. On no other ground but that of redemption could this have been. It has been said that God did not dwell with Adam, nor with Abraham, for He could not dwell with man save on the ground of redemption.
The holiest of all was the place of His abode, first in the tabernacle, and afterwards in the temple. The retirement of the glory from the earth was consequent on the persistent rebellion, and open apostasy of Israel; yet our blessed Lord called the temple, "My Father's house", John 2. And even after the descent of the Holy Spirit the apostles repaired to it, as the place bearing the name of God, as we find in the beginning of the Acts.
The more we study the history of the "house", the more do we see how much it was in the mind of God to have a dwelling place upon the earth, and what an object of interest it was to Him. On the return of the captivity, the first work of Ezra was the resuscitation of the temple, and when they discontinued that work on account of the opposition to it, they lost all their blessing, "because of mine house that is waste". The house was an institution; for even after the glory had departed, it was still owned of God, and had a claim upon His people.
We must bear in mind God's intention in having a habitation for Himself on the earth; and that, once it was set up, although the greatest distinction which had attached to it was lost when the glory retired, yet it still retained the title of His house - "the place where thine honour dwelleth", until it was superseded by something greater.
I need not say that the house which He dwelt in among Israel is now superseded by the assembly, which is the habitation of God through the Spirit; and which has remained His house, in spite of all the failure and
rebellion of His professed people. The Spirit of God is still here. The habitation has been of old, ever since redemption was actually effected for God's people out of judgment. At first it was distinguished by the visible presence of the glory of God - a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. Afterwards the glory found its abode in the holiest of all; but even after the glory was withdrawn on account of the people's apostasy, God still claimed the house as His, and our Lord, as we have seen, called it "my Father's house".
Now the habitation still continues, but in a new and greater way, for it is by the presence of the Holy Spirit upon earth that God has a habitation here, and this has gone on through all the ages of darkness and ignorance, even while hardly any of the saints understood or sought for the presence of Christ. It is evident that the Holy Spirit has not retired from the earth, for where any divine work is, there the Spirit of God must be. This every one would admit. But there is more than this; what we have to accept is, that the Spirit of God has come down to earth consequent on the ascension of Christ. The Comforter - the Holy Spirit - was sent down from heaven for a two-fold service. One, as we read in John 14:26, to be an abiding comfort and reminder of Christ to the believer, and the other, as we read in John 15:26, to testify of Christ during His absence.
There is a different order in each of these as to His mission. In the one for the saint, He is sent by the Father. In the one for testimony, He is sent by Christ.
Now the simple fact for faith is, that the Holy Spirit has been sent from heaven. When He first came down (Acts 2), He filled the place where they were, and also in a particular manner rested on each of them. The baptism of the Holy Spirit was a continual fact, and one not to be discontinued nor withdrawn as long as the assembly was God's habitation. When it is spued out of Christ's mouth, it is no longer the dwelling-place of God; but until then, however feeble, or ignorant, or degraded,
as was the case with the assembly of Laodicea, the Holy Spirit is still there, constituting it God's habitation. The presence of the Holy Spirit on earth then is continual, and does not depend on the extent by which He is received by the saints.
The Holy Spirit had been sent from heaven even though the Ephesian saints had neither received Him nor heard of Him. (Acts 19). So that we must admit that, while every converted soul is quickened by the Holy Spirit, still His presence is here - dwelling on the earth, even when not dwelling in the souls of all the saints. It was so at Ephesus. The presence of the Holy Spirit was on earth but He was not dwelling in any of them, though they were all quickened by Him. I am not contending for the length of interval which may or may not elapse between quickening and sealing, or the indwelling of the Spirit, but I contend that it is clear from Scripture that each is a distinct operation of the Spirit of God, and therefore not one and the same, but two operations. Were it otherwise, the presence of the Holy Spirit on earth would be only according to the measure in which He had been received by the saints: and hence He would not have been sent down at Ephesus, because there the converts had neither heard of Him nor received Him. I fully admit that it is the right and privilege of every saint to be indwelt by the Spirit of God; but what I state is the distinction between the new bottle and the new wine. One is the building of the Spirit of God, and the other is His indwelling; or, as has been said, the Holy Spirit first builds a house, and then dwells in it.
There are these two things plainly set forth in Scripture. One, that the saint's body individually is the temple of the Holy Spirit; and the other, that the assembly is the temple of God; and this even though there be much corruption there, as there was at Corinth.
The presence of the Holy Spirit has continued in the assembly universal, and His presence cannot be measured or determined by the measure in which the saints have
partaken of Him. Moreover we see in 1 Corinthians 14 and Hebrews 6 that He may act on persons who have not been quickened. At any rate we see that His presence is continual. Saints ought and are entitled to enjoy His presence, and each to have the "new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved".
Now the presence of Christ is different. It is conditional; and therefore, instead of being continual, it is with regard to the assembly occasional. The Lord's words are, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them". There is evidently a condition here. It is only to the two or three gathered together unto His name that He promises His presence; and therefore His presence is not continual, as is the presence of the Holy Spirit, but occasional. I do not say it may not be continually repeated, but though it can be known only through the Holy Spirit, it is not the same as the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in the assembly.
Now when corruption came to be tolerated in the assembly when it became like a "great house" (see 2 Timothy 2), and in it "vessels ... to dishonour" (it has grown into this condition, because leaven was tolerated until the whole was leavened), there was no recovery for the whole, the glory we might say had departed. At first, on the occurrence and incursion of evil, the Holy Spirit's presence was insisted on, as Peter says to Ananias (Acts 5), "Why has Satan filled thine heart that thou shouldest lie to the Holy Spirit?" Paul instructs the Corinthians how they are to get rid of the evil-doer among them, (1 Corinthians 5) "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ". In the first case, the Holy Spirit's presence is the ground for unsparing condemnation; in the second, the power of Christ's presence is the only means given for putting away an evil person. The difference between the Holy Spirit's presence and the presence of Christ cannot be
denied; the former is not conditional, the latter is. But it is evident that no one could know or enjoy the presence of Christ who did not know and enjoy the presence of the Holy Spirit; though again, the Holy Spirit can dwell in a soul, and yet that soul be debarred for the time from the enjoyment of the presence of Christ. It is written, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption". This shews that the soul does not lose its great Guest, but that He can be grieved.
But Christ does not promise His presence to us individually unless we keep His commandments (see John 14:21,23); that is, unless I am walking according to His mind, He will not manifest Himself to me. I do not lose the seal of the Holy Spirit because I grieve Him (though I lose His communication to me of Christ); but I forfeit the presence of Christ when I decline in any degree from His word. Otherwise He would sanction by His presence my own ways. And He is not in our midst collectively unless we are gathered together unto His name. It is not that two or three do it in a company, but that the assembly is gathered on this avowed ground. Many in it might fail to be there according to their avowed principle, but He would be in the midst for those who in faith counted on Him, and waited for the fulfilment of His word.
There is a difference in manner in the presence of Christ to the assembly, and the presence of Christ to the individual. In the former it is in the midst of them, as in John 20:19 and Luke 24; but to the individual, it is as to Paul, when he could say, "The Lord stood with me", 2 Timothy 4:17. It is the known sense of His presence beside one.
In conclusion, the presence of the Holy Spirit is general in the assembly universal; the presence of Christ conditional, but could not be known apart from or independently of the presence of the Holy Spirit, who enables our hearts gathered unto the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to recognize and greet Him in our midst, as
well as individually to see Him when He manifests Himself; "we will come unto him, and make our abode with him"; this is the greatest favour God could vouchsafe. "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord" - a foretaste of that day when we shall see Him and be like Him.
"As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the Sons of God". "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit". Thus we learn that divine guidance is the privilege, and more, is the very characteristic of God's people. The grace of God which has saved them, has also conferred on them all things that pertain unto life and godliness, and next to the gift of His own Son, God's chiefest gift, is that of the Holy Spirit; as the apostle has said, "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".
Guidance must always be from without, and must depend on another and not on oneself. If I am ever so wise in heart and perfect in ways, these will not guide me, though they might shew I have no need of guidance; if, however, I know the need of guidance, I also confess that that is lacking in myself which guidance is to accomplish. But every true christian confesses to the need of divine guidance, and every christian is entitled to know it: it is as we have said, the very characteristic of God's children, that they are led of the Spirit, and if they walk in the Spirit, they will not fulfil the lusts of the flesh; thus instead of following the leading of the fleshly mind and will, they will in all things be led of God.
If any one asks, as has often been asked, Am I in everything to know and to do the will of God? the answer is simple and affirmative; it is the believer's
privilege, so to walk as to please God, to be not conformed to this world, to be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that he may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
God has indeed done His part, not only in willing our guidance, but in the gift of His Spirit in whose power we are called to walk. It is not the purpose of God that His children should walk in blindness, nor in doubt in the several steps of their path down here, any more than they should question His grace in their acceptance, nor the glory prepared which is to be the end of that path. Yet how many a saint who is assured of the love, and of the salvation of God, who waits for Christ's coming with confidence and expectation, is found full of perplexity in the common matters of daily life, of duty, or of service, as though their God and Father, who has assured them an eternity of glory with His Son, was indifferent to the steps by which they tread their path through this present world, and to all that may befall them by the way. It is good to remember that the path of God's people here is in the mind of God, not separated from its end, and that all His dealings with His saints, all His guidance and direction are only consistent with, and in view of that to which He has predestinated and called them. Our souls lose much, and the name and the testimony of the Lord lose more, because we separate our life on the earth from the glory to which some day we hope to attain. Hence the present life is often earthly, and formed on the world's model, instead of heavenly in character and hope. From the manger to the glory, the life of the Lord Jesus was pursued in a consistent course, and from the moment when we learn our place and part with Him in death and life, our life should be formed on the same model.
There is no greater subject of exercise amongst faithful christians than that they should be found in all things in the way of God, and not in the fulfilment of their own selfish wills. To the attainment of this, there
appear to us to be three things essential. First, subjection of heart and mind to the word of God; secondly, an acquaintance with the Scriptures which, given by inspiration from God, are able not only to make wise unto salvation, but also to furnish unto all good works; and thirdly, a habit of communion of soul with God. In-subjection to or ignorance of the word of God, or a habit of life and walk apart from fellowship with the Father and His Son, either, or all of these must put the saint outside the place of guidance, and render him incapable of discerning the will of the Lord; just as in nature, the child who either knows not; nor cares for the father's word, and forsakes the intimacy of the father's heart and home, is found like the prodigal in the life and habits of the "far country". Moreover, in the degree, however small, in which these things may be deficient, will there be corresponding failure in the apprehension of guidance, and of the mind of God.
Through the insidious working of self-will many a heart which in purpose is upright towards God, is yet often in sore bondage in the many details of life and service. The difficulty of choice between two steps, and of decision on matters sometimes small, but sometimes which we may deem important, often involve deep heart searching and prayer to God for His direction. Could our own will, and the possible or apprehended consequences to ourselves, whether for gain or loss, be eliminated from such questions, the difficulty of choice would be small indeed. It is however the province of faith to guide the soul in these times of perplexity, and faith brings God into the scene, and looks not on its own things but on the things of God. Faith also knows God as Him who is after all the one most interested in the walk and welfare of His people, and who sees the eternal consequences of their steps, while they judge for the most part by the immediate and temporal results. Faith furthermore remembers that the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly - that He is
able to keep him from falling, able to lead along the right path, and in His own time both justify all His dealings with His people, and confirm them in compliance and contentedness with all His ways.
Now it is a great relief to the upright heart to remember that guidance is promised by God to His people, and that while it is His part to guide, theirs only is to be guided: "I will... teach thee" and "guide thee with mine eye". "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory". This is the part of God, and whether we are conscious or not conscious of His guidance, He will not fail in that which He has undertaken. Guidance is not necessarily knowing that we are guided, but it is being guided - "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord" - and our business is to be in that state of soul in which He can lead us as the Father His children, though often by a way we know not. No doubt it is a happy and higher thing to be always so sensible of the movement of His eye and of His hand that all our ways may be ordered in communion with Him, but it is also blessed for the soul to be so sensible of self-judgment and self-renunciation, that the simple and happy heart can leave itself in His hands, and trust in His guidance as a matter of course. This delivers from bondage, and the legal state of so many, who are ever inquiring whether they are doing the right thing; while if the will is broken, the rule of a christian's life should be that he does not suspect he is doing the wrong one. Still it is well to mistrust self, and the consciousness of the will at work, and sift it before the Lord, though we may in the end discover that the thing desired is the very thing He would have us to do. In nearness to God we solve these questions, as our heart and will become more and more fashioned by His guidance, so will it be not merely by coincidence but by habit that God's will and ours are identical. If then both ourselves and our time are really at the Lord's disposal, we can leave it to Him to dispose of us as He sees good; doing that which the hand
finds to do, day by day, without bondage or distrust; and thus shall we be preserved from that perplexity and distraction which so hinders from communion and true testimony for His name.
But there are cases where the Lord will have us in real exercise, and in which we ourselves must choose for God, and it is in such a time that the habit of our life is then most felt for good or evil. If communion with God and His word be our habit, the hardest matters will be easily solved, while, if the contrary be the case, perplexity, ending in failure, must ensue.
The guidance of God is not for things spiritual only, but for the whole christian life. In his own affairs, in person, home, business, or in the world, the christian is to count on the leading of the Spirit. Many fail here, and while they look for spiritual guidance in their service to God, and to His people, and in their sorrows and difficulties, they lean to their own understanding, and trust their natural powers and common sense in the things of daily life. It is impossible to estimate the loss and damage to souls through this cause, and through neglect of that power which alone can keep them amidst the whirl, the conflict, and impurity of an evil world. The christian's house, his home, his dress, his food, are all matters in which he is a witness either for or against the Lord, and all are deemed worthy of the notice of the Spirit of God in His word. Herein is the need which we noticed at the beginning for acquaintance with and subjection to that word, which God has given us by inspiration, and which He uses now by His Spirit for the cleansing of our ways and the perfecting us in the life of faith, and in the knowledge of His will.
The Lord give us to know more of His guidance, and be meet for it with hearts kept free for, and in fellowship with, Him. If we fail, He will not fail us, and so we need not be discouraged. He is our Shepherd, who makes us to lie down, and leads us, whether beside the still waters, or in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. He
restores the soul. He is with us, whether in the valley, or at the table He has prepared for us, with the head anointed, and the cup flowing; we may say, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life, and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. The Lord give us hearts, as the sheep of His hand, to follow such a Leader. "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass".
The apostle John sees the assembly on earth in seven phases, all existing at the time; but also each phase in succession becoming the characteristic one for the time; the four last remaining till the coming of the Lord. Philadelphia is one of these; as Thyatira sets forth Romanism, and Sardis, the reformed church, so-called, under every denomination, so does Philadelphia set forth the last revival in the assembly, when souls were awakened to the true calling of saints on earth, and were empowered to walk according to it. The assembly had long slumbered and slept, but when the cry came, there was an awakening. The last revival was, as has been always, that after all hope of restoration to the first state was impossible, there should be, though in great positional weakness, a reviving of the moral qualities which marked the first state. When the cry, "Behold, the bridegroom" awoke up the faithful, then, I conclude, Philadelphia in the characteristic phase began. The Lord then appears to the faithful, who seek Him in a threefold way, which together would afford guidance and support for souls awakened to His claim, in the midst of the ecclesiastical rules and prejudices almost sacred from antiquity. Those three were, I am "he that is holy, he that is true", and, I am "he that hath the key of David". The first two would impart the moral qualities, which would afford the awakened soul a clear path of escape from every association, and separation unto God; and this must unmistakably be the clue to get extricated from any
religious labyrinth. Thus the Lord presented Himself, and every one, awake and seeking Him, found grace from Him to be holy and true; and in addition to this, they found what was so necessary, even that there was unfailing support from Him. I am "he that hath the key of David". Nothing can resist His power; however great the opposition, all would be surmounted.
Now those to whom this revelation of the Lord was vouchsafed, were marked by three things, "Because thou hast a little power, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name". These three qualities define a Philadelphian. The first I understand to flow from abiding in Christ, according to that word "Without me ye can do nothing". There is really no power apart from Christ; and hence, to have even a little power, is evidence of abiding in Christ. When the cry had been effective in awakening hearts to Christ, there was a practical result; there was not only a little power, but they held fast His word. The great and distinguishing mark of the last revival was the diligent and exclusive way the word was studied and held to; the marvellous revolution in thought and habit, which the simple adhering to the word brought about. The most cherished and ancient theologies were renounced, and the greatest self-sacrifices were incurred, in response to the word of God. A new and unprecedented course was insisted on, as the only one befitting the bride going forth to meet her Lord; and the aim was, that everything in public and in private should be subjected to a remodelling under the light which Scripture was now found to contain. Men eminent for piety, and leaders in religious communities, severed ties that were dearer than life, that they might obey the word of the Lord; and in private life, professions, positions, and prospects, were surrendered at its dictates, and because of simple faith in it. It was seen too that not only was the word to determine and define every course of action, but that all that would tend to deny the name - the character or manner of life of our Lord Jesus Christ, all that His name
embraced, was to be reprehended and refused; and to do so, was the simple desire of the heart, and in seeking to respond to this, the general bearing at home and abroad were the simplest and the plainest. In the midst of a slumbering assembly, here and there one and another were led to accept in faith the wondrous truth of the presence of the Holy Spirit on earth, and because of His present help, such could speak of the things revealed in the word, apart from any ordination or divinity schools. What is now received as part of a great theory - that a man could preach the word without preparing, was then an innovation, as great as it was singular, and only known in complete dependence on the Holy Spirit; and while there was neither seeking nor accepting credentials of any kind from man, there was a reaching the ear of either believer or unbeliever by humble and patient labour; no expectancy or assumption to get an ear in any popular way; the chief work was carried on in private rooms, and small preachings in cottages. Publicity was not sought or desired, or the means to attain it made use of. The Holy Spirit was reckoned on and nothing else. The ear in any measure circumcised, that is, capable of appreciating the truth now revived, was exceedingly jealous and careful how it listened to, or received anything of a lower kind. The desire for a more perfect knowledge, both by prayer and waiting on God for it, was remarkable; and to increase in the mind and ways of the Lord was the eager and all-absorbing pursuit. Callings and employments were sought to be regulated and determined by the one question, were they according to the mind of Christ, and what He could approve of? and this more especially and strictly in those who took part in public ministry. While making the service to which they were called their chief pursuit, they retained their employments until the work of the Lord required their undivided attention; and when they were cast on the Lord for support, their moderation and self-sacrifice was an example to all.
Now on tracing declension from this bright movement, the first step, as it appears to me, was the practical denial of the presence of the Holy Spirit to guide and direct in the assembly; and this was so serious, that had there not been a resistance, which ended in a distinct separation, there would now be but small trace of the truths which have been recovered. This leaven, though thus mercifully arrested, has insinuated and betrayed itself in another form. With the increase of numbers and of evangelists, the testimony took a more public character. Evangelization became more general, which disarmed many of the opponents, whose general taunt heretofore had been, Why do you disturb the minds of the godly by the propagation of your opinions, instead of preaching the gospel to the unconverted? Thus popular preaching led to popularity; and not only so, but to the desire for it; and human means, public notices, public rooms, were adopted to attract the public, and to obtain large assemblies, with a view to carrying on the work more effectually, but really departing from complete dependence on the Holy Spirit. An exciting mode of preaching was found more effective, and was resorted to and adopted, and this fostered a descent to a lower order of things for instruction, instead of a constant, and persevering seeking to reach, and to discover in its integrity and purity, the way and mode of the Spirit of God. The attention of servants became pre-eminently directed to gospel preaching, and the conversion of souls, instead of the more difficult work of enlightening saints as to their true place for Christ: and this, while it led to intercourse with worldly people, could be carried on with an allowance of worldly ways and habits, which the other could not; and the ear has become less sensitive to what the word simply enjoins. All this has popularised the advocates of truths lately recovered, and now much accepted; and once the nature of their mission became characteristically evangelical, and not ecclesiastical, there was consequently less scrutiny as to the nature of the
employments which they followed, in which links with the world were unbroken and sanctioned.
I am very far from confining the declension to one class of service, or to one class of saints. I feel it has been a wave from which all have suffered; - and that the numerous additions, though there are many of them very bright and devoted, yet the bulk have accepted the ground in the light of the word, without being laid hold of, and formed by it. I speak of the servants as being most prominent, and necessarily most exposed to attack; and it cannot be denied, that while there are many most zealous and self-sacrificing evangelists, pastors and teachers have not kept pace with them in activity, nor have these gifts proportionally increased, or been developed. Now we are not to conclude because of their non-appearance, that they have not been given for the assembly. There is no lack of gift from the Head; but from lack of devotedness, the gift has not been disclosed and expressed. I am not condemning the zeal and activity of the evangelists, further than demonstrating that they in their zeal have had recourse to other means than the Spirit of God; and hence a tinge of the world clings to them in other ways. But I do think it is a great evidence of declension that there is not a corresponding zeal in pastors and teachers, and all servants, to shepherd and feed the flock of Christ, and separate them more from everything not of Him, to Himself in heart and spirit; and I venture to account for this last, by the simple fact that no pastor or teacher can sincerely attempt to expound or press the life and ways of Christ on others, beyond the measure in which he is truly seeking to be conformed to them himself. If he cannot avow that there is power and known power in Christ to separate a man from the world, in any particular instance, how can he effectually teach it? If a servant be a part of a system or machinery of the world by office, appointment, or voluntarily ministering unto it in some form, how can he freely and fully insist on uncompromising separation
from it? How can he urge the beauty and the joy of Christ's unique path here? It may be retorted, - what are they to do? I submit that is not a question for a Philadelphian. His only question is, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" I am accounting for the manifest declension and practical inability of the pastors and teachers to insist on the bright unsullied path of our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore they often enrol themselves among the evangelists, in order to do something to escape the responsibility and demand that would be imposed on them, were they to present the word in its full and simple force to the assembly of God; so that, in my judgment, in order to counteract the declension and renovate the Philadelphian type, the pastor and teacher must be true to their gifts.
In conclusion, I would say that I believe Satan's aim and effort against us is to neutralize the effect of the great truth which has been revived in this day - the presence of the Holy Spirit. Baffled in his effort to get it denied, he then seeks to weaken its force in an insidious way. This I believe he has succeeded in doing amongst us, as to its practical power, though in point of doctrine it is fully acknowledged. But there is ever a tendency to separate the advantages of a truth from its responsibility; and so it is now. Many who rejoice in the truth of the indwelling Spirit, for their own comfort, are not alive to the responsibility which His presence on earth in testimony for Christ involves.
The Lord lead each of us to be so interested in His interests, that we may be helpers together of one another in the path of life.
For the ruined and lost there is no help except through grace. When there is nothing but guilt, everything must be given. To give where there is no desert, and no claim, where judgment for sin is due and impending, is grace.
Thus it is that, "when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly;" "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us". Man is so irretrievably lost and undone, that he can now be only a recipient. "What hast thou which thou hast not received?"
If I have had nothing, or worse than nothing, all of any good in me now must be through grace. "By the grace of God I am what I am". Hence, in every instance, God conferred advantages upon His people. There would have been no difference between them and others if He had not. But plainly, according as He made their position different from the mere world around, so was it incumbent on them, and required, faithfully and truly to acknowledge, in life and ways, the favour conferred. Nay, they were responsible to do so, for otherwise, they would make little of the great, distinctive advantages which they had received. They would fail to realize them, and as they in any measure slighted them, they would be weakening or losing their value to themselves.
It is evident, that the more faithfully and deeply I maintain and concentrate my heart on any divine favour which I have received; the more I make of it, as a singular and wonderful expression of His mercy to me, the more must I be a witness to others of His grace; and because of this power, enjoy more deeply and fully the advantages to myself. My responsibility is simply in the first instance to be true to what I have received; as I am true to the grace and the good of it, so am I true to my responsibility. The proof that I am truly sensible of the advantages of my position, is the measure of the responsibility which I attach to it; and as I maintain my responsibility, I consciously increase in the sense of my advantages. But beside this, there has been always appointed by God a testimony or course of action, descriptive or indicative of the privileges in which He had set His people; and those privileges could not be properly or fully enjoyed, but as the testimony connected with them was duly observed.
The subtlety of Satan was successful when Eve was induced to forego what was due to God, for her own advantage; and thus man lost all. This effort of Satan, so fatal at the first, has been exerted continually, with great injury to souls, ever since.
Noah, overlooking the responsibility of his position, even to repress evil here, by the power committed to him, planted a vineyard, and eventually became unfitted for both.
Abraham, called to a pilgrim's life, in faith in God, always secured the privileges of his position, while he maintained the testimony of one simply dependent on God. Let him see a famine, or let Lot see the green fields of Sodom, and the testimony or responsibility is overlooked, and all the advantages of the position lost, enfeebled, or in abeyance.
No one who has once tasted of the advantages of grace, would willingly or easily surrender them; but the snare is, that one is induced to disregard the testimony, although fully intending to retain the advantages of it. But this, I see, is not possible, nor would it be happy if it were.
Naturally speaking, every creature has its place, and the higher the order of being, the more manifest the scope of its influence. A candle is not lighted to put it under a bed, or under a bushel, but on a candlestick, "and it giveth light unto all that are in the house".
The bird sings, itself rejoicing in the sound while gratifying others. If it did not sing aloud, it would never, like a musician, charm others; nor would it be so charmed itself. The responsibility is to charm others; but in doing so, the charmer is really charmed. The greatest heart would be ineffective, if it could not express itself. Hence it is "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation", Romans 10:10.
Jacob is restored to the land; and in the night of wrestling, he is confirmed in the power of Christ; and
yet he settles at Shechem. He attempts to confine himself to the advantages of the great position regained; he overlooks his responsibility to God. The note of testimony is not sounded out. Though his altar expresses a full retention of his own blessings, yet all are imperilled because he is for himself only, and not pre-eminently for the Lord. He must leave Shechem and escape for his life, as he says, "I shall be destroyed, I and my house".
He goes up to Bethel, and then not only is there a true note of testimony sounded forth, but his own advantages are greatly increased and assured. Then the name of Israel is distinctly, in its true sphere, confirmed to him. The warning to Israel was that they should carefully follow the Lord in obedience in the land, in order that they might retain the blessings of it. The danger was, that they would confine themselves to the blessings selfishly, and forget what was due to the Lord; that the singing to the Lord would not be heard, and that then they would lose the good of the land. The rain would be stayed, and they would be deprived of the enjoyment which singing expresses. It is in principle, "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God".
When the advantages of grace do not call forth praise to God, when God is not prominently before the soul, as the source of everything possessed, then the gifts take the place of the Giver in the heart, and must soon lose their vigour and value like flowers cut away from their roots.
Thus it was with Israel after the captivity. They had returned to the land, at great personal cost, and with great zeal they addressed themselves to the rebuilding of the temple; but when they were opposed, they suspended the work, and grew indifferent about it, while all the time they were most diligent to secure their own advantages in the land. "Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.... Ye
looked for much, and lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands". Haggai 1:4, 5, 9 - 11. They were endeavouring to secure their own advantages, apart from their responsibility to God, and the end was that both were lost.
Wherever there is power, there must be an expression, or testimony, commensurate with its quality, as life shews itself in health. The power to sing is disclosed in the note. Whatever God gives must have an expression corresponding to Himself in giving it, or it is not a living thing. He only could determine the form which He considered adequate to express it. The expression, or the testimony, must necessarily be the greater, because it definitely expresses what is due to God, like the fruit of the vine. The greatest glory to the tree is its fruit, and it is the fulfilment of its responsibility. If I cannot reach it, I have failed to enjoy the strength of His grace in me, or the beauty and glory in which it would set me. Thus when the Holy Spirit was given to separate us from the flesh unto Christ, there were not only the direct advantages to ourselves, but there was the positive responsibility with regard to Him, and any failure with regard to the source necessarily was with loss to the receiver. Of the Holy Spirit it is said, "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 4:14.
The greatest advantages flow from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but besides, "If any one thirst, let him
come to me, and drink. He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this he said concerning the Spirit, which they that believed on him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified", John 7:37 - 39.
Here there is another action; a stream flowing from the believer, and this the natural consequence or effect of His presence. These two actions of the Spirit are first spoken of as they are to us personally, but in John 14:26; 15: 26, they are spoken of in connection with Christ; the first, setting forth the advantages of the Holy Spirit to us, as Comforter in the absence of Christ, the other our testimony for Christ during His absence. According to the analogy of preceding times, the tendency and danger of the hour is the attempt to retain the advantages of the Holy Spirit's presence, while displacing and overlooking the Holy Spirit as the only means here to act for Christ. The Corinthians had no intention of surrendering these individual advantages from the Holy Spirit, while they allowed the flesh to remain unchecked, while there was not expression, in private or in public, of their possessing a power whose very presence is essentially opposed to the flesh. Nor, again, did the Galatians contemplate losing the power and zeal of the Spirit, because they were seeking to be made perfect in the flesh. They plainly were forfeiting all the virtues of the Spirit, because they were trying to check the flesh by the law, and not by the Spirit.
I need not multiply examples. The important thing is, to be awakened to the tendency and snare, to separate between the advantages of our calling and the responsibility.
This is the Laodicean element, the sense of importance because of the possession of great truths, but practical indifference as to their producing their true effect; the possession of them, and not the effect, the ground of extreme boastfulness.
This betrays itself in the present day in the way the Holy Spirit is owned and assumed by souls individually, and in meetings; while in the eye of the world they adopt and use the means common among men for the testimony of Christ and the publication of the gospel. Thus the responsibility and the advantages are not derived and maintained, even in appearance, from the same source, the Spirit of God; and thus the question arises, Can a soul really enjoy the personal advantages of the Spirit of God, while the responsibility imposed by the possession of the Spirit of God is practically denied? Grace, the gift of God, must conform us in our acts and ways, into a response expressive of its own power and intent, and it could not begin merely in us, and have no controlling effect on us, without being very weak in its incipient stage. As it is in force and extent in us, it must express itself, and assert its power and qualities in manifest superiority to that which is not of God, and infinitely below it. Hence, if the Spirit of God flow out from us in rivers, it is simply evident that He has filled the affections. The expression demonstrates the extent of power enjoyed within, so that of a decided action, it can be alleged, "These men are full of new wine". The faith or the power is shewn by the works. The works are the real measure of the inherent possessed power, and when there is any dereliction or defalcation of action in the Spirit, there is evidence of defect or deficiency within; and therefore the deficiency in responsibility would indicate deficiency in the advantages, as was seen in Israel in Haggai's time, or as we see commonly now, when there is failure in the act, be it a song or a step. The lack in either is evidence of lack in internal power of some kind. You learn the power of the songster by the song. You judge of a horse's power by the test of its running or the height it can jump. The external act indicates the measure and nature of the internal power, and when there can be little externally, there must be correspondingly little internally. Therefore
any one who cannot act in the energy of the Holy Spirit, in testimony for Christ outwardly, before the world - that man, whatever he may assert to the contrary, is defective, and wanting in divine energy and power in his soul.
Next to the salvation of our souls, through the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, there is nothing greater than that we should be individually temples of the Holy Spirit; for His dwelling in us is the seal of our faith in Christ, confirming and assuring what has been received. It is a part of the salvation; that is, there is neither positive nor permanent corroboration or enjoyment of the work of Christ without this seal. Souls are quickened by the Holy Spirit. The disciples in John 20 were quickened, but they had not received the Holy Spirit. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is distinct from quickening. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty", which could not be in the new nature simply. It is making too little of the Spirit of God to say that quickening and indwelling are identical. When I am quickened, it is a new creation, and wondrous indeed it is; but as this creation is of Christ, there is added, "the promise of the Father". The gift of the Holy Spirit unites us to Christ and to one another, and is the power and energy of our new life in Christ. We must not reduce a gift of God to our comprehension of it, or experiences. The only true way is to accept, in all its entirety, this most wonderful gift of God; and to search and see how it is given; and then His action, which will follow, will prove the fact.
Well then, according to Scripture, after believing, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. It is the oil following the blood, as we see in Leviticus. The blood, definitely and distinctly put on, acceptance is assured,
and then the oil superadded. The first thing then is, that it follows immediately the knowledge of the blood, and is distinct from it; and hence, there is distinctness in the benefits conferred by each. The blood has removed everything, of every kind and nature, contrary to God; and opened the door for His grace to create anew in Christ Jesus; but the oil, the Holy Spirit, distinctly leads the. renewed soul, in an entirely new life, into sonship and the ways of God. The former makes way, or prepares for the other. It is only by the Spirit that a soul can receive the knowledge of what the blood has accomplished; and it is only on the ground of it, that the Holy Spirit can take up His abode in me. They are two distinct actions, even though they be very connected, and the assured enjoyment of the first, dependent on the second. The first clears away what barred me from God, by the greatest work, and only accomplished by the Son of God, in all the power and goodness and love of God. The other is the Holy Spirit taking up His abode on the ground of accomplished redemption, and as an entirely new Guest, enabling one, not only to enjoy divine things, but to act in the mighty power of God. It is therefore very evident that there are two works of the Spirit, one quickening; the other, sealing; the one at conversion; the other, consequent on the known virtue of the blood.
The next thing to ascertain is, how and when the quickened soul is sealed. It is not necessary that there should be much or any lapse of time, beyond distinctness between the two. In the purpose of God there is no delay as to the reception of the gift. The sealing may immediately follow the quickening. With Saul of Tarsus there was an interval of three days. Once their distinctness is admitted, there will not be an attempt to settle down in the state of Romans 7, which is being conscious of a new nature, without power to subdue the flesh. But there will be a looking for the gift of the Holy Spirit from Christ. Mind it is a gift, and one that He especially
desires to confer. But the very term 'gift' implies that it is to be received. And there is no use in a gift if I do not receive it. Hence, Paul says, "Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" The Lord says, "If thou knewest the gift of God... thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water", John 4:10. The Spirit is received by the hearing of faith. There is faith to receive it, otherwise the gift is of no avail. Faith lays hold of the virtue of the blood; and faith lays hold of the virtue of the oil. But, as in the faith that lays hold of the virtue of the blood, there is a sense of the need of its efficacy; and a consequent enjoyment of it, on receiving it; even so, there is a sense of the need of the living water, in the faith that lays hold of it. "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink". This scripture in the simplest way tells us how one receives the Holy Spirit. All, I may say, is contained in the words, "UNTO ME". In the sense of need, of powerlessness, of want of vigour of life, the way of relief is to "Come unto me". There is first a knowledge of what Christ has done, as I have said, of the virtue of the blood. The next step which ensures the sealing, is coming to Him; not simply making prayer to Him, but the deep wondrous sense of reaching Him; as near to Him (of course by faith), as the woman who stood behind Him, weeping, washing His feet with her tears (Luke 7); or like the woman (Mark 5), who, with the most comprehensive sense of His power, and readiness to impart it to the most needy, on touching the hem of His garment - coming into the smallest contact with Him; yet after she had received the full answer to her faith, was not ready or equal to encounter Him personally. "Fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came", etc. Figuratively she was not sealed until she "fell down before him, and told him all the truth". Nor would the woman of Luke 7, however true her faith in Christ as her Saviour, have had assured peace had she not come practically to Him. Then she could "go in
peace". In like manner, ten lepers (Luke 17) cry for mercy, and they are cleansed by Christ, but only one of them returns, to find in Jesus the sum of what the law required the leper to offer in the day of his cleansing; when he is not only pronounced clean, but made clean.
In John 7 Jesus cried and said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink... This spake he of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive". Nothing now can connect me with Christ but the Holy Spirit. The moment I am simply in Christ, I have the Spirit. If I have not, there is in the converted soul the distress of Romans 7. But in chapter 8 it is, "The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death". If I have not the Spirit of Christ I am "none of his". I am not only converted, but I am consciously possessed by a new power, the Spirit of the Son, whereby I cry, "Abba, Father". A man may be spiritually in advance of his understanding, and therefore of his conscience - he may not be doctrinally clear, that his sins are all gone; but he knows that he has a new and divine affection in his heart, and that he is a child of God, and can say, "Abba, Father".
The receiving the gift then is a positive thing. It is a new power, and as it is used, so does it increase. The first great thing to insist on, in order to help on souls in grace and power is, that the Spirit is to be received, if they have not received Him. The next, that having received Him, they walk in the Spirit, and know His action. "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit". This I cannot do without the assured sense of possessing the Spirit. If I have not received Him, I cannot walk in Him. If I can walk in Him, He must be in me. By Him, I mortify the deeds of the body. I have in me a greater power than the flesh.
Now, I could not have received so great a power without some positive action. The action is threefold. The first action is the cry of sonship, and consequently mortifying the flesh, which is personal. Secondly, the
action of uniting me to Christ, and to the members of His body, as also of associating me with them in Him in heaven, which is general; and finally, the action for Him in testimony here, which is service. Thus, there are three distinct actions which follow from my possessing the Holy Spirit. None of them could give me possession; but being in possession of the Spirit, these actions, like sight to the eye, exist to be fostered, but are possessed. Lastly, I become more filled with the Spirit, as I am confined to His actions. I may, as I have said, not be in conscience equal to my grace; but if I have received the Spirit, I can say, "Abba, Father"; and as I cultivate the ability, I grow into the knowledge of His power; for "he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting". So that, when one is in any measure possessed of the Spirit, as he is when he can say "Abba, Father", he can increase his knowledge of the great gift, which he possesses, by sowing to Him - making Him the One who claims his attention, and from whom he expects to know more of Christ.
There are therefore three classes of saints. First, those who are quickened, but who have not yet received the Holy Spirit. Secondly, those who have received the Holy Spirit, but who, through ignorance or carnality, do not cultivate the Spirit, do not sow to Him, and therefore they are carnal and worldly, and dull. And lastly, those who continuously and sedulously sow to the Spirit, and daily reap the blessed fruits of His power, in happy communion with Christ.
To anyone with conscious capacity for anything greater than he possesses, the subject of power, and how it is acquired, must be most interesting. The better anyone's tastes and desires are, the more must he, if he be true to them, seek how he may satisfy them; and this is power.
Power is not the taste or the nature that needs assistance, but that which enables me to effect and reach what I desire. Satan, in tempting Eve, engendered a certain desire for an advance in knowledge; and then supplied the means or power to obtain it. If Eve had possessed divine power at the time, she would have turned a deaf ear to Satan, and have proved that she was content. When man yielded to Satan he became his servant; and now Satan, when he would lead him captive, first suggests to him something pleasing to his natural taste, the chief taste in his nature, and then lends him the power to reach it. Satan first put into the heart of Judas a way for making money, and then enticed him to accomplish it. Man is therefore a sport of Satan's power, unless he be sustained and supported by a greater than he.
If man were like a ship on a calm sea, when there was no violent wind, he could follow out his own desires according to his own power; and therefore the better his nature, or taste, the better would be his course: and if his nature were divine, there would be a true godly course; but seeing that man is exposed to fierce winds from every quarter, from which he cannot escape by any power inherent in himself, he must become either a derelict, or receive aid and support from God. Christ was manifested to destroy the works of the devil, and He is stronger than he. Hence it is only in His power that I am enabled to be superior to the power and force of evil which combats or bars me. When I am borne along to the true port, in spite of every adverse wind, it is because, greater is He that is for us, than he that is against us. Man in yielding to Satan at first opened the door to his rule, and therefore man is powerless to resist Satan, unless a greater than he espouse man's cause, and overcome his enemy.
Cain had greater power than Abel, he was of the wicked one and slew his brother. Abel had the mind of the Lord, but the Lord did not see fit to give him power to escape from Cain, no more than He did to His first
martyr, Stephen, though He gave him power to be personally above all the winds which raged against him at the time; the former began the history of God's people on the earth, and the latter closed it. The power of God is in every act which is according to God. There is the power of evil here; man's natural tastes and desires predispose him unconsciously to yield himself to Satan, though he does not, in a violent way, in a moment. Man in his simple state does not incline to the usurpation of Satan; but because of his alienation from God, Satan becomes welcome to him because he aids him to obtain the lusts of his heart, and Satan suits him, because the flesh is enmity against God. Whenever man aims at anything great himself, he discovers his inability to reach it, and when thus sensibly powerless, he readily turns to Satan, who is most ready to help, when the course is most determinedly against God.
The power of God is exerted to maintain, according to God, in every phase of life down here. We are not left to mere fruitless desires, and unsatisfied taste, but there is a new power, through Christ, working in us, and by this power we can overcome all the combined force and obstruction of Satan.
Let us now see how the power of God affects us in our varied circles here. The first, as the power comes from God, and is the gift of His grace, is necessarily displayed in reaching us through Christ, in all the depth and distance of our need. "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 in the heavenly places", Ephesians 1:19, 20. The power of God, in its true and full nature, is not known until it has been known in translating us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His love, or in crossing the Jordan, leaving our death behind in the consciousness of eternal life in Christ. This is the power of His resurrection.
The first direction of the power of God is in quickening us together with Christ, and raising us up together and making us sit together in heavenly places in Christ. This is effected for all in Christ, though it is to be entered on, and enjoyed individually by each. The second direction of the power which has acted for us, is now in us. "The power that worketh in us", Ephesians 3:20. This ranges in two circles; one, the assembly, and our connection in life and service toward it; the other, my own practical walk. The third direction is outside of myself, preserving me from the opposition and malice of Satan. "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might", Ephesians 6:10. When one is under the direction of the power of God, one is necessarily in power; but it begins with the first and upward direction, even the raising us up together and making us sit together in heavenly places in Christ, and one cannot be a man of power in the other directions if he is not in the first.
The great testimony to divine power, is the resurrection of Christ declared to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead. A man living on earth, in the power of Christ's life, is a heavenly man; and there is power in everything he does as such. The way to be in power, as was shown typically by Israel in Canaan, is to be a heavenly man; then there is power on every side; and as with them, however much they had attained, there was palpable weakness, and loss, whenever they departed from the walk and ways of men set on possessing Canaan according to the word of God. So it is with us; no man is in power unless he is walking in resurrection life.
Let us now see the marks of a man of power, in each of the directions we have noticed. As I am in power Godward, which is the first, and the beginning of all, I find my hopes and joys are outside of this scene. I look not on the things which are seen, but on the things which are not seen. I joy in God; my faith and hope are in God. Thus was Abraham, ascending Mount Moriah; every step was in power. Thus were the children of the
captivity able to face the burning fiery furnace. Thus Stephen was superior to every combination of evil force arrayed against him; and Paul, when before the Roman tribunal, deserted by his friends and exposed to all the violence of the enemy, could say, "the Lord stood with me". In each of these cases the man of God had nothing to look to here. There was nothing to expect anything from, and thus each was a man of power, because in spite of the lack of every resource, and the pressure from every quarter, he was able to walk, seeing Him who is invisible. This is power in the first direction.
The power of God in the second direction, which embraces, as we have seen, our relation and services to the assembly, is more difficult to discern and distinguish, because so much more complicated. The servant in power is one who can rise above self-consideration for the benefit of others; as Abraham going out by night, abnegating all his home comforts, and risking his own life and the life of his servants, in order to deliver his brother Lot; or like Moses choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; or when he was up in the mount to receive the pattern of the tabernacle; or like Paul breaking with Barnabas, sooner than yield to his natural wish to have Mark with them. Every servant of God is in power, according as he endures for the elect's sake; and every true servant is subjected to suffering, in order that he may be in power for service. The service is in power in proportion to the sufferings of Christ endured in prosecuting it. What is easily or naturally done is not the most effective service. The man who chooses the easy place, and the easy way for service, declines in power in it. "I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me".
Jonah refuses to go to Nineveh, and sinks in utter weakness to the lowest humiliation. Philip leaves a prosperous work at Samaria, to obey the Lord's summons to go to Gaza, and is then a man of great power. The
man of power in service can break away from the dearest ties and claims of nature, he can let the dead bury their dead. Even a Zipporah must be left behind, if she will not understand the claims of the Lord Jesus Christ. Friend, relation, fortune, comfort, all must be sacrificed by the man of power in service. He must endure the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. Now in connection with this second direction of the power, one's private life, or personal ways - with others - in business and family relations must be included. A servant is not in power in service only, but in every position. He walks in wisdom towards them that are without: his speech is always with grace, seasoned with salt; as to himself, he keeps under his body and brings it into subjection; he declares his power by the way he rules his own spirit, which is better than taking a city; he bridleth his tongue, otherwise his religion is vain; he is in his own house in, and after, the grace of Christ in every relationship. A man of power must walk in power everywhere, if he would be in power anywhere. If he fails in power in any quarter, he is sure to feel crippled in every other quarter, until he has righted himself in the spot in which he was weak; just as a man who is afflicted in any part of his system, is impeded by it in every action; so the vein of weakness runs through everything he attempts, for there is but the one Holy Spirit, and if He is hindered in any spot, if there is any dark spot, there is necessarily a hindrance, and a very characteristic one. Where the greatest defect exists, there will be distinct superiority over it, in the man of power, as with the palsied man carrying his bed.
Finally, in the third direction, the resistance of Satan is from outside. The man of power walks on unmoved though the winds rage, and the waves rise; he with his eye on Christ, is calm in the midst of tumultuous motion; in every sphere he is superior to everything which would influence him as a man: he is upheld by Christ, and is therefore in power. Beginning with God, and reaching
out from thence into service to the saints, and to every detail of life, neither the resistance of the flesh, nor all the power of Satan, can withstand him, for however feeble in himself through the power of Christ he overcomes.
When the ruin of a beautiful order has occurred - when the ship, once perfectly trimmed, has been strained and dismasted - it is evident that all true hands on board have a very different service, and submit to a very modified order, to that at first appointed. It would be vain or foolish for anyone on board to suppose that because they had not sunk, the first order could be observed; yet no other order is right. The great question, and the only one of any value is, How are we to preserve what remains, and how, in keeping with the commission under which the ship started, are we to make for our destination?
The assembly must be comprehended under two aspects; the one, as God's house on earth; and the other, the body of Christ. Had the truth of the latter been preserved in the power of the Holy Spirit the virtues of the wise woman in Proverbs 31 would have secured order, and her Lord's honour in the house. The house is the habitation of God through the Spirit; and if the diversities of gifts, according to the administration of Christ in the body, had been maintained, the external disorder could never have occurred. But if the heart of the whole system becomes enfeebled, surely everything connected with it must indicate the lack of vigour. We must retain these two aspects of the assembly unto the end, and when there is any clinging to one, to the exclusion of the other, there is always an incorrect idea of the charge committed to us, and consequently an imperfect way of discharging our responsibility.
The great tempest which strained every timber of the assembly was when Paul was imprisoned; and "all who are in Asia", the scene of his greatest labours there, turned away from him. The great helmsman was driven from his post. Man's power deprived the assembly of him - the apostle of the gentiles, the master-builder; consequent on this, the assembly lost the consciousness and acknowledgment of Christ's sway therein, as we see in 2 Timothy that it was not able to resist the babblings of the worst kind. The assembly was not internally in true spiritual power then, and hence outwardly it had become like a great house, with vessels to honour and dishonour. The individual in spiritual power then was to separate himself from the vessels, though he could not from the house, or external aspect of the assembly. This the apostle sets forth as the only course for service when the ruin had set in.
But evidently the majority, as in Acts 27, did not agree with the apostle in that day, nor in this; and it is this split, or difference of judgment, and consequent practice, which discloses the disunited and unsuccessful energies in the assembly, like the sailors in knots in the ship, recommending and pursuing different plans for righting the ship, which must end disastrously, because the common good is not unitedly sought and preserved. Now the section who do not see with Paul, necessarily devoted themselves, at any rate, to the maintenance of outward order, and to do this when inherent power had lapsed, from lack of faith, they assumed power and office as a substitute, and the more numerously they were supported, the more power ostensibly they acquired. They systematically assumed all the offices, from the vicar of Christ, down to the deacon; anything and everything, to give the church or ship the semblance of being in trim. Paul, as we shall see from 2 Timothy, did not lose sight of the external order which should distinguish the body of Christ on earth. The pit into which Paul's opponents fell, was that they ignored the truth of the
body of Christ, while they aimed at order on the earth. Paul presses on Timothy the maintenance of the truth which would preserve both, as far as it was possible, when ruin had set in. How could any one expect a ship to be the same, when the mast and sails were swept away, and the hold full of water, as when it was in perfect trim and in full sail?
The apostle, in 2 Timothy, instructs the servant in the truth for the last times; but he directs his attention to the assembly, in the peculiar and singular light, in which it was only given to him; so that the servant who does not learn from 2 Timothy, must lose the course and commission of the assembly, in its innermost responsibilities. It is true Peter, Jude, and John instruct us respecting the house, or assembly building, more exclusively, while Paul alone instructs us respecting the assembly as the body of Christ. I do not say that he overlooks the house aspect, but I say he only combines both, or speaks of the body, while still keeping in view the house; while the other apostles speak of the house, and do not refer directly or indirectly to the body; and yet their instruction is essentially necessary; for if the servant confined himself only to 2 Timothy, he would only have the house as it was in connection with the body, and how it was affected by the weakness of the latter; whereas, if he were at the same time imbued with the teaching of Peter, Jude, and John, he would see how the house was damaged by the builders and he would be instructed as to his duty when the rights of Christ on earth were rudely disregarded or misrepresented.
In 2 Timothy I am instructed in the internal state and the consequent service. In the others, I am instructed in the external, in order to help souls individually. Hence the servant who is only instructed in Peter, Jude, and John, thinks exclusively of what is due to Christ on earth, claims all flesh for Him, and attempts to enforce this by the assumption of office, and the adoption of all human instrumentality, instead of accepting the ruin, and
strengthening only the things that remain. The servant then learns in 2 Timothy, that separation from evil, and confidence in God's resources, are the only means to surmount the ruin. The truth that God has revealed, he must continue in, with his eye full on the appearing of Him who will "judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom". He is to preach the word; the whole counsel of God is to be proclaimed. He is to stand for the Lord, and the Lord will stand with him. He is not to expect countenance or co-operation from others; he must reckon rather on isolation, when he has to reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine; for instead of being attracted to the truth, they will run after teachers, that suit their ears. "After their own lusts... heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears". The ship's company acknowledges no presiding power; yet the servant is to go on, making the gospel the great groundwork of all his ministry. There is defect in the foundation, when there is a defect in our walk for Christ. No one can understand how to be here for Christ, who is inadequately or imperfectly acquainted with what Christ has done; as in Exodus 29, when the consecration of the sons of Aaron was instituted, the sin-offering and the burnt-offering were presented first; every part from the very beginning was laid, and made perfectly sure and positive, before the actual consecration was brought in. So in the servants now-a-days; the gospel must be the great groundwork, and then from it, the foundation - "make full proof of thy ministry". It is not to end there, but it is to begin there; and "the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you". A very necessary benediction to the servant in the last times.
Now the truth in Peter for the last times, is more the practical side for each believer; as in the first chapter of the second epistle, giving him the "day star", as his hope, and not the light of prophecy. He regards them as living stones in the spiritual house, but we do not find in his epistles the body, in any expression, though there is
nothing that militates against it. He warns of the false teachers in chapter 2 and as in the first chapter, the coming of the Lord is to encourage them, so in the last chapter, "the day of the Lord" is to sever them from everything; that they may "be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless".
Jude exhorts us to contend for the faith; showing the duty of the remnant to rescue and discriminate, in the midst of earthly religiousness, corrupt teachers, and clerical assumption.
Now John insists on the grace of life, as it was at the beginning; while warning of the many antichrists; the denial of the doctrine of Christ; and in the Revelation, while showing, in the seven assemblies, the house aspect on the earth, he points out that the four last would continue to the end, each having for a time a special prominence in succession; yet when the fourth, that is Laodicea, had reached its climax, the assembly would be spued out of the mouth of Christ; it would then be characteristically hopeless. When truth ceases to be operative, there is no longer any hope for the house on earth; and as this increases characteristically, the influence of Philadelphia, which is the revival of the first standing, must be visibly declining, or the spewing would not be threatened as inevitable. If there was hope of Philadelphia rising over Laodicea as it had over Sardis, then the spewing out, or summary termination of the house on earth, would not have been threatened. Now this refers to the house, yet John sees that the end is marked by the bride, who with the Spirit says, "Come" to the Lord. Then he, as I apprehend, sets forth the truth that the servant is to insist on, in a two-fold way, in the last days; the truth which will deliver from Thyatira and Sardis, and preserve or extricate from Laodicea, on the one hand; and on the other, the assembly, as it is known to Christ; the bride in company with the Holy Spirit inviting Him to come; so that there is the house and the body in John without his referring to the doctrine
of the latter or its characteristics; for the new Jerusalem is the house aspect I suppose.
The summing up is, that the servant requires varied lines of truth in the last days; and that all these are necessary, and subserve for the disorganized state of the assembly; and the heart truly stored with them will be adequate for the exigencies of service, in the midst of assembly ruin. If Paul only be known and followed, Christ's rights on earth, as the kingdom of heaven, would be over-looked, because they would only be recognized according as there was moral power or state suited for the body; whereas if Peter, Jude, and John be exclusively adhered to, the rights of Christ locally would be fully admitted and enforced, but the corporate testimony would be lost sight of, though there would be individual state. Paul teaches the servant how to care for the house with reference to the body, mainly insisting on what he is to be for it. Peter teaches how Christ's building is to survive, in spite of false teachers, encouraged by the "day star", and severed from the earth, by the "day of the Lord". Jude teaches how the saints are to contend for and conserve the faith; to rescue and discriminate, looking unto Him who is able to keep them from falling, and present them faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. John teaches the utter and eventual failure of the visible building, but the disclosure of the bride to the "bright and morning star", as Rebekah, when presented to Isaac. She comes to him, and therefore is practically, with the Spirit, inviting Him to "Come".
No one was ever an infidel or atheist from birth, that is to say he was at first conscious that he was responsible to an unseen Supreme. There is no infidel nor atheist who to his own knowledge, at one time, was not an infidel; and if he is one now, he is what he once was not.
Man naturally has a conscience, that is, he acquired at the fall the knowledge of good and evil, and according as he becomes intelligent, the claim of the great Supreme, of God, must either be acknowledged and dreaded, or violently, (as by a volcano of the mind) refused and dared. To escape responsibility is the one great cause of infidelity. As the mind of man becomes active and informed, the pressure on his conscience increases, and he fears the more, as he is made more assured that he is responsible. He finds that the more he knows and extends his knowledge, the more accountable is he for his actions - for his whole life; and hence, in this, the incipient stage, he has recourse to every sort of amusement or engrossment, in order to stifle the questions which would arise. Some time or other the question will come up, and first he evades it by amusements. The birds of the air carry away every grain of the Word which may reach his soul; this is when there is little activity of mind, and when one is not scripturally educated.
The next stage is when the mind is active and the information enlarged. There is then less ability to evade the question; and there is a fear of the light, or the presentation of truth, because it is afflicting to the conscience, to be called on to settle the question. In this state there is an avoidance of everything which would stir the question, preferring to leave it entirely unsettled, and to go on without being subjected to the conflict which must ensue before the avowal of infidelity. In this case the conscience is not hardened, but as it were, kept in the dark, and when light does come, as it often does in such a case, there is always deep distress in reaching the great moral victory - namely, full conviction in the truth of God and His revelation. The oftener the truth has been turned away from and evaded, the greater the conflict at the end; but in this case there is a desire to find revelation true. This case generally ends in either religiousness, which satisfies the natural mind, or true conversion to God.
The third class is when there is a growing desire to be freed from all responsibility to God. Now this state arises from either an overweening vanity of mind, which is intolerant of anyone who has a right to control or claim submission, simply pride of mind in its worst form; either this I say, or from conduct which is utterly condemned by conscience, so that there is no relief but in absolute infidelity. Infidels must rank under either of these two classes. It is seldom an ignorant man is an infidel, and never, a truly conscientious man. It is knowledge suddenly acquired, giving an unexpected elevation, which for the most part emboldens a man to limit everything to his own mind, and deny the existence of God. Hence we find that it is the better educated of the artisan class who are oftenest infidel. They suddenly reach an elevation unexpected by themselves, and they become so vain in their imaginations, that while they must admit there are some circumstantially superior to them; they betray their folly in asserting that there is nothing higher than their own minds. Now if, in addition to this, they are reckless and dissolute, not only is their vanity gratified by declaring that there is no God, but it is an unspeakable relief to be freed from all the restraints of conscience, and this the more especially if they previously had been seriously under its control; so that infidelity springs from either the unbridled lust of the mind, or of the flesh. In one or other, man exalts himself audaciously above all that is called God, and makes man's mind or will the sovereign arbiter of everything. There is no greater evidence of a weak mind, however brilliant it may be, than an inability truly to estimate one's own powers. "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good", Psalm 14:1.
The steps of infidelity are marked enough, and very sad. It is better and happier to observe and attend to the safeguards of faith.
There is properly but one safeguard; but this produces two distinct effects, which must be both preserved or continued, in order that faith may grow, and infidelity be repudiated.
The one unassailable safeguard is light. God is light - and that is light which doth make manifest. It is not the love of God which convicts, or which detects the need and condition of the soul before God, but the light. The light discloses the secrets of the heart, and how little in consonance with the claims of God are its motives and intentions. There is nothing so humiliating as the light, and hence nothing the natural man more shrinks from; "For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God". The disclosure that his inmost desires are not according to the holiness of God, rebukes him, he is found out, but he that loveth good, loveth that which exposes evil in him. "Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did", is the utterance of the heart of one conscious of being in the light. This is the virtue of the light that it makes manifest. Many a thing passes uncondemned when one is not in the light. It is "in thy light shall we see light". The conscience is enlightened according as I am in the light, so that things which once did not distress or offend it, would now do so exceedingly, for God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things. As we approach nearer to God we feel the effects of light, as Jacob in leaving Shalem for Bethel (see Genesis 35).
Now, light being the great safeguard to faith, the next thing to be considered is how light is acquired and increased. Christ is the light; the "light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not". A soul has not light until it has found Christ. "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name". Every
believer is a child of the light. Christ in all His ways here was the expression of God; and He that followeth Him shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. You are protected from every kind of infidel notions by following Christ, and the one preserved fully, is the one earnestly following Him. Now the true follower is ever a student of the Word, for the Word is the unfolding of the mind of God, and by it the conscience is informed. "The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward", Psalm 19:8 - 11. "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart", Hebrews 4:12.
Following the Lord and studying the Word ever ensures the acquisition and the increase of light.
Thus we have considered light in itself and how acquired and increased; it only remains to examine its effects, to which I have referred. There is a combined effect produced by the light; on the one hand, an humble mind; and on the other, a good conscience. Light only can produce this combined effect. Either might exist without the other, as merely the effect of either society or religious education. A man accustomed to men of great learning and parts has seldom an overweening idea of his own; and one educated religiously and carefully, might preserve a good conscience; though, like Saul of Tarsus, opposed to Christ, or the doctrine of grace. Light, divine light, is what alone discloses to a man how small he is in every way; and how morally below the principles and love which rule and determine all the
ways of God, so that no one can be in the light, or near God, but he must feel like Job; and he was a man, speaking humanly, of unblemished integrity, yet when he sees God he is sensible both of his ignorance and of his unworthiness; he says, I "uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me... I abhor myself", etc; and it is only thus that one learns most, and acquires most moral fitness, because then one is increasingly acquainted with God in all His greatness and reality, so that infidelity could no more intrude there, than darkness could into the full blaze of the sun.
The effort of evil is to reduce everything to its own level. We cannot be in a scene of evil, where the spirit of evil rules, and not be sensible of the continued effort or assault made on us to yield to the course of things here, which is the world.
The moment we recognise and are in any measure established in the great fact that we are of God, from that moment according to our progress, must we feel that there is a direct and continued opposition to us in everything around. "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you". But besides this, there is often, in various ways, an assault planned and prepared by the god of this world, to reduce us from our heavenly or divine status, to the order of things where he can rule without being discovered.
Once we see the existence of this evil spirit and his designs, we are not unprepared for them: but though we are not unprepared, yet it is of deep importance that we should be able to detect how the snare is laid for each of us. We are oftener watching against the result, than against the beginning; though it is hardly necessary to say that if we were guarded against the beginning, we should be preserved from what the beginning would
lead to, - the end. The beginning, or first false step, is of immense importance, and we must remember what the object of evil is, in guarding against it. The object is to reduce us to the level of the world. Hence the beginning is to present counsel outside or apart from the word. The first failure of a saint is rebelling against the word, and despising the counsel of God. The counsel of the ungodly is accepted, and appreciated. This is the beginning of the snare. It occurs in various ways. In a matter of business, or step of any kind, one may turn to a very prudent, far-seeing man in the world, who from one cause or another is very friendly, and naturally very dependable. His advice is sought; and when adopted, the snare is successful. A snare is an unseen mode of depriving you of the liberty of action, by pandering to your natural desires. To deprive a saint of the liberty wherewith Christ has made him free, is the master-plot of Satan.
Now once human counsel is accepted and adopted, however amiable and wise it may be, it is simply not of God. I cannot know evil, but as I know good; good is of God, and hence when I am swayed and directed by the counsel of any natural man, however wise he may be, it is not of God, nor is it therefore perfectly good. I cannot see evil but as I see good, therefore I must form my idea of evil, from my idea of good. The divine mind only can fully see evil, and it only can preserve me from it. A soul in seeking or accepting advice from a shrewd kind man of the world, never thinks or intends to drop into the world, when availing himself of his counsel, but it is evident that the counsel, when accepted, must place us on a level with the person who gives it; and if he is worldly, it must be worldly, and once you are on this level you are compromised, you are a captive in the hands of the world; the hair of your Nazariteship is shorn off.
The first advice of wisdom is "Forsake the foolish". The great effort of the enemy is to draw saints unto a common footing with the man of the world. In the
education of our children, and in everything, the bait of the world is "Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse". "But he knoweth not that the dead are there". We sink into bad, that is to say worldly or earthly company; we imbibe the evil of it, so that "evil communications corrupt good manners". The first effect of it is that the word of God is without any conscious rebellious feeling, turned away from, and man's counsel is adopted. This is the decoy; but once the saint is here, the descent is sure, however gradual; for he is descending - and the descent is, to do as men do here, and to be as they are. When you are as one of the world here, you have lost your distinctive character for Christ; the purpose of grace is defeated, which is, that each saint should be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ in His great and wonderful path here on earth; walking in the details of daily life and service to man in the truth and wisdom of God. This is defeated when a saint drops down in anything to the ways of the world. Worldliness is when man is the object, in the use of worldly things, while a saint, while he uses things in the world, has Christ as his object in the using of them. His thought is, would it suit Christ, not himself merely. The enemy conceals his rule, while he deceives man to make himself the object in everything; but then God is shut out, and this is the end he desires. The saint, on the other hand, must insist on God being the exclusive object, and this of itself is greater glory to a man because it declares his connection with God.
It is helpful to note the way, as recorded in Scripture, that souls are drawn away from the Lord. The way in which Satan beguiled Eve, ever since has been the principle on which he acts. Setting aside the word of God to occupy the mind with what is visibly attractive - then it is that the worldly influence obtains.
Lot was drawn by natural wisdom to Sodom, and eventually he was mixed up with the inhabitants; he not only shared in their advantages, was involved in their afflictions, but also, some of his family suffered in its
judgment, and he himself though miraculously rescued, never regained the place and path of testimony. You must be of the world if you mix in it. It is not enough to refuse or withdraw from the unconverted in assembly fellowship at stated times, if at other times you can be on a level with man naturally.
Balaam's stumbling-block was on this principle, the master-piece of iniquity. Reduce the people of God to a natural social level with the world, and their overthrow morally is complete. Hence in Revelation 2 it is called the doctrine of Balaam, and it was the great means used by Satan to reduce the assembly to a worldly level. From social intercourse they dropped in their mode of worship, etc. You descend to their moral depths.
This downward course is presented in a very striking way in Proverbs in the figure of a young man first (chapter 7: 7), until eventually he is, when on the brink of ruin, awakened to his danger. The first and chief cause of the failure of Israel in the land, as well as the evidence of their unfaithfulness, was that they did not drive out the inhabitants of the land, and they became snares to them and they learned their ways.
A believer is of Christ, and he is though once of the world, sent into the world to be the follower of Christ here: he is not to be unnatural, but he is to act with a new object here - Christ is his object. Man is the object of the world. The christian has a nature susceptible of the influences of the world; the natural man cheerfully yields to those influences; the child of God is set here to refuse those influences by insisting through the Holy Spirit on everything due to Christ. I shall never be able to know what is worldliness unless I know what suits Christ. Worldliness is what suits man. I am naturally a man, and I am ever and anon solicited by everything here to adopt and follow what suits man, and I cannot resist it unless I am clear as to the truth, and sustained by the Spirit of God in that which suits Christ. If there was no one in the world but myself, and were I in simple
happy faith in Christ, I should determine everything by what was due to Him. I do not say that my own selfishness would not work without any example among men, but I should have no support from any fellow creature outside of myself. Among men, among one's own, the worldly thing is countenanced, my natural tastes are addressed, and it is easy and pleasing to fall in with whatever is most generally approved, which is simply 'the fashion.' I must be simple and strong in the Lord, under His rule and supported by Him, or I shall be guided in my habits and ways by the course of those around me. But if I am separate, however domesticated I am with worldly relations, separation morally will ensue if I am faithful; and this is greater than separation positionally; at any rate one who is separate where he is domesticated, would be relieved were it ordered for him to be positionally so. All worldliness proceeds from man being led on secretly by Satan, in opposition to God, and the saint who is sent into the world, to live Christ here, is caught by the world, when he first adopts its counsel or mode of acting, and the end inevitably must be, that he will learn of their ways; and like the children of Israel, lose the enjoyment of his standing in Christ. I must either have Christ for my guide in everything, or the world must influence me. It is not that every saint is out of the world, but the great point is, Am I resisting it, am I seeking to be out of it, or am I submitting to be more and more of it?
Man in innocence knew nothing but as he was instructed of God. Now when the serpent was listened to, it is clear another line of instruction came in, and man in yielding to this evil line, and eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, learned evil, by committing it; and here conscience entered. I have the sense that there is a better
line that I am to act up to, and that I yield to one I do not approve of. Hence it is plain that from the fall there were two lines of instruction: one, which addressed the conscience, asserted the claims of God, whether declared by the works of creation, or heard of by revelation. The other, as contributing only to man. Soon, alas, it became general that man did not like to retain God in his knowledge; he preferred what ministered to his own self-exaltation, and the conscience was neglected and despised.
Let us examine, and seek to discover how, and when, we are carried away in the acquisition of knowledge without conscience. We get in the first recorded act of Adam and Eve a use of their newly acquired knowledge which did not reach to the conscience. They sewed fig leaves together to make themselves aprons. Their sensibilities demanded this. It is not that it was not perfectly right and proper to do so. Nay, the very demand for it as the only proper thing, sets forth distinctly that there can be knowledge, the most necessary, and this without conscience, without any sense of God's claim; hence, when the voice of the Lord God is heard in the garden in the cool of the day and conscience is acted on, the aprons are not deemed sufficient, they hide themselves behind the trees of the garden. Knowledge, with conscience, carries one much farther than knowledge without conscience; and the latter, however excellent, can exist without the other. Many pious people are carefully scrupulous to avoid and repudiate everything which would offend against good moral taste; and yet I have found when this was carried to an extreme, and when there was consequently an outward appearance very commendable and attractive, there was such a lack of conscience, that the holder of false doctrine, though known, was tolerated because he did not disseminate it.
I call attention to the fact that knowledge may be confined in its claims to what suits man, so that man's advance, in mind and manner, is the one aim. It is then
a lower standard, however right and good; for, were the true standard, God's claim, insisted on, all that was proper for man's moral sensibilities would be secured and a great deal more, because what God required would be insisted on.
Now for another example of which we are warned in Scripture. They went in the way of Cain. Cain was the founder of natural religion. He labours assiduously and brings an offering of the fruits of the earth; he was guided in his act by what he judged in his own mind would meet the mind of God. There was no sense of what was due to God from one under the penalty of death. The judgment of God in His holiness he entirely disregards, or does not see. He let his own mind dictate to him how he was to restore himself to God; he was not ignorant that there was a distance between God and man, and he carefully and laboriously set himself to recover it; wherever he got his knowledge, or whatever the extent of it, it was not knowledge of God. There is a great deal apparently to commend in a man making it the first object of his life to repair his relation with God. He was sensible of the distance as a matter of fact, but not as it was according to God. The fact he knew, and he would remove it, as man regarded it, but not according to God. There is knowledge of the state of things in part, but instead of seeking God's way of removing it, man consults his own mind, and obtains great credit from himself and others for his well intended work: but yet this very man, when instructed from the mouth of God how to act and really repair the distance, not only scorns it, but kills his brother who had acted according to the mind of God. The man most earnestly set on removing the distance between himself and God, when following his own mind, is so opposed to God's way of effecting it, that he kills the one who accedes to God's way of reaching it. This is a dreadful instance of knowledge without conscience. It might be alleged that Cain was acting up to his light when he offered up the fruits of
the earth, but when the mind of God as to it, was fully declared to him, his conscience is not touched, he does not alter his course, but opposes it in the most violent, wicked way; this proves incontestably that he had knowledge of the mind of God without conscience. Could there be a fuller or a more dreadful disclosure of the enmity of man's heart, than that a man who, at great sacrifice, had sought to secure happy relations with God according to his own mind and judgment, yet when clearly and fully instructed by the words of God, instead of accepting it, as one groping in the dark, and looking for light, would gladly accept a light, he determinedly opposed it, and killed the one who had acted according to it?
As the world began, so will the world close. There is a great interval between Adam using his knowledge to relieve human sensibilities, and Cain refusing to act above the religion of his own mind, for that which suited God. Had there been conscience he would have yielded to what was due to God. Now in this interval there are many gradations. Man uses his enlarged knowledge either to mould things to his enlightened sensibilities, or he descends, step by step, until he prefers his own religion to God's revelation, and declares it by open hostility to the people of God. In the first case the conscience was not at all addressed, in the other, it was that man's mind presumed to control it, and resented, with fierce and deadly violence, the marvellous intervention of revelation to liberate and truly direct it. From the very first, man did not like to retain God in his knowledge; but the saddest thing is, when the knowledge, even true knowledge, can be accepted and sought after, but with the predetermination not to allow it to carry one beyond a prescribed system or order of things. Thus the word of God is made of none effect, and the typical character of the last days is, A pharisee received Him into his house, or, the men of Judah insisting on carrying the prophet Jeremiah into Egypt. There is an acceptance
and an entertainment of the highest truth, when there is no action of the conscience before God, because of it; the desire to possess it, but not to act up to it. The language of the morally deposed king Saul describes their one desire or care for truth. He desired the countenance of Samuel. "Honour me now", cried he, "before the elders of my people". The most unworthy and deadliest school in the present day is the one which encourages and promotes the acquisition of the most advanced biblical knowledge, but with the secret determination of not yielding to any of its directions, beyond an approved religion. This school may seek to vindicate itself that they are not going in the way of Cain, that is, that they have accepted the true way of salvation according to the word of God. They are entitled to the full benefit of this plea, and it is a relief to know that many are in the faith that saves; but while it is a cheer to charity that they have believed unto eternal life, yet it is very grievous to the Spirit of God that real partakers of the grace of life should persistently refuse to be led by the light of God, or beyond a certain pre-arranged limit. I can understand an unconverted Saul of Tarsus, listening unmoved to the burning words of the first martyr, Stephen, but what shall I say of the Marks, or the Demases, of the Agrippas, the Phygelluses, and the Hermogeneses; who though they had not received the truth from Paul, with any preconcerted intention of limiting its action, yet practically did so, and refused to be in conscience led by it. Their knowledge thus works positive damage, for if "the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" Do I reject or object to the circulation of truth, and the introduction of books and tracts, setting forth plainly and strikingly the truths of revelation in contrast to the misty interpretation of man? Certainly not; but I deplore and I denounce in every way I can, the school or system which proposes and advocates the acquisition of truth of the highest order, with the reservation that it shall not lead one beyond a certain
human arrangement and line of things, previously determined upon. If teachers accept this rule what must their pupils be? It is, be assured, of the spirit of Cain: knowledge without conscience, and with this there will ever be a bitter deadly enmity towards any who, led of God, step outside of the approved religion in faith in His word, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
What is truth? must necessarily be the earnest question of every awakened conscience. The moment light enters, the truth in measure as to my state must appear; "whatsoever doth make manifest is light". The fruit of light is in all goodness, righteousness and truth. The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ; not grace only but truth, which discloses everything in its full reality as He only could do it. He can expose what man is in his position before God, and what God is to man. This really is the truth required by the conscience. If my state as it really is before God, is not disclosed to me, then I cannot be sensible of full mercy, because I do not see that I require it; and on the other hand, if God is not declared to me in grace and as He is towards man, and how He can be just, and yet the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus, I am undone. To disclose to me my real state, - to bring in truth, would only increase my misery, without alleviating it. Hence Christ is the way and the truth and the life. As the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, it is evident that there can be no true progress, but as one is in the truth. If a man say he hath no sin he deceiveth himself, and the truth is not in him. There is a difference between this, and the one who says he has not
sinned: in the latter case, His word is not in him, he is not converted at all.
What is generally understood by the term truth, has reference to what is real as to the future, or as to the records of things, whereas in Scripture the idea of truth begins with man's true position before God. For if that be not ascertained, there is no advantage nor any real good in knowing anything else. Many have given themselves assiduously to find out the truth as a dogma and thus have missed it; "ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth", because they did not begin with the first action of the truth of God; namely, the disclosure of one's true state in the sight of God, and therefore the fruit of His light in the soul. He that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. The knowledge of the truth begins therefore with Christ; neither grace nor truth had come until He came, though there were acts of grace, and the action of truth before He came, but He was the manifestation of both, and the soul that finds in Him grace, also finds in Him truth. "Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice". The thief on the cross was in the reality of things as they are before God. The light disclosed the truth to him - his real position before God - and then he found grace. The soul must begin with Christ, or it cannot know the truth or grace either. It is only by Christ that I can see my true relation with God; my distance is disclosed at the same time, and by the same One who reveals God in grace, near or beside us - God manifest in the flesh; and therefore the true nature of man's heart now comes out; the thoughts of many hearts are revealed - and the secrets of men's hearts are to be judged by Jesus Christ. The truth must necessarily declare everything as it is, both God and man. The truth exists though I do not know it. Hence God is light, and in His light I see light. He bore witness of the truth, and as I am in the light, I see Him and know that He is the truth. All has been
disclosed by Him whether on God's side or man's. He has declared God in His nature, and man has declared himself in his true colours, with regard to God in the rejection of Christ - the perfect Man. At any rate Christ is the One who places both in a full and true light here; He is the light of the world, and as I receive Him, I learn through Him both grace and truth. I begin thus with Christ. If there be not this beginning then we cannot reach the place and position which belongs to us as His people on the earth, but though one has begun with Christ for the relief and comfort of the soul, this is not all, one must unswervedly continue in Him, by whom grace and truth came, in order to reach to and to ascertain what we have heard from the beginning. As Christ is my only start and true beginning, so must He determine everything. Now as declension is marked by losing sight of Christ, recovery must be marked by remembering how we are fallen, and doing the first works - returning to Christ. It is the one simple rule in every darkness and difficulty. Hence that which we have heard from the beginning, from the commencement of christianity, is the only truth; as we have lapsed from it, we have fallen into error, and as we get back to it, we attain to truth. Hence our Lord in the beginning, as we find in Luke 24, instructed the two disciples going to Emmaus. They were the prototype of all educated ones during this period. The apostles were the teachers or foundation. These two disciples were the patterns of the taught ones. "Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself". What a copious and interesting exposition! the revelation of that which we have heard now - the beginning. This course of instruction leads us step by step to see the purpose of God.
Like the three days of creation before the coming of the greater light which was to rule the day, so has everything been instituted and appointed, with reference to Him who was to come. Every trial of man ended in
failure from the first, and was succeeded by another trial, and greater test to man, but a greater unfolding of God; until at last He sent His Son, and this is the truth. It is, I should say, a great and necessary instruction for the soul to begin at Moses and all the prophets, and learn God's mind concerning Christ. I am sure we imperfectly see the nature and fulness of Christ's work and place for God, because we have so imperfectly traced Him from the opening of Scripture downwards. Let anyone take only a general, and very partial survey of the striking indications in types and persons, of the Lord Jesus Christ, before He came, and such a one cannot fail to have enlarged and glorious conceptions of Him; and as this is increased, the sense of Him is increased. The heart burns within us, while He opens to us these scriptures. One has the peculiar sense of acquiring vigour of apprehension about Him whom the heart loves, as one proceeds; not that His life and ways as recorded in the gospels are less interesting to us, but in the Old Testament, I get the mind of God, disclosing Him gradually, and step by step, while in the gospels, I see the subject of all preceding Scripture, walking about as a Man. The two disciples had seen Him as a Man, and had walked beside Him, but until they had learned Him in the Scriptures, and what He was in the mind of God, their hearts had no true conception of the marvellous dignity of His person. This then is the first step. It must be borne in mind that the two disciples were converted, but they had to come to the knowledge of the truth, and we are told in this scripture, how they are made acquainted with it. The first step, as we have seen, is the knowledge of how the Scriptures refer to and set forth Christ before He came. But this is not all, for we shall find all through Scripture, that the course, right and proper for a saint at any given time, not only depends on his apprehending the manner or nature of God's revelation of Himself to him, though that is first and pre-eminently necessary; but there is another, and one
essential, in order to arrive at the altar, or our place of worship - even our relation to God; and this is true, at the start, or at any revival.
We find, for instance, Abram when called, went forth not knowing whither he went. He had not only the knowledge of the word, but "The Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him", Genesis 12:7. Thus also to Jacob; his was a great revival; not only is the word effective in his heart, but in the night of wrestling, the new name, (typically Christ), is given to him; and this necessarily gives a character to his altar afterwards, though he failed, as to its full import, until he reached Bethel, the centre, or scene where it could be maintained unhinderedly. This only by the way, because it shows us that though the soul may have tasted of the power of His presence, yet that we might confine Him to ourselves individually, to our natural circumstances, like Jacob at Shalem, instead of looking for Him, or connecting Him with circumstances suited to Himself, which Bethel expresses.
Now the next thing made known or taught to those two learners was the fact of Christ's bodily existence in resurrection, and this was not done until they had shown earnest desire for the company of the One who had unfolded to them the Scriptures concerning One so dear to them. "He made as though he would have gone further. But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us... And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them", Luke 24:28 - 30. This comprises and defines the second class in the knowledge of the truth. Many in a very distinct way reach the first, who for long, and sometimes never on earth, reach the second. This second, is the Lord making Himself known to the soul by the way in which He has blessed and broken bread here on this earth, that He is alive from the dead. There is an immensity of
blessing to the soul in the full and vivid assurance that He is a perfect Man alive from the dead, and alive for evermore.
The state of soul because of this second step is very remarkable. They not only know from the Scriptures what Christ is in the mind of God, the Man they had known in the ways, and in the likeness of a man, but now they are convinced beyond any doubt that He is risen, and superior over all the power of death, because He is as to appearance as He was before He entered the grave. This I apprehend answers to the Lord appearing in the Old Testament and really determines the character and nature of their relation to Him in worship, for surely if individually or privately, in my own house, I know the Lord risen, it follows that I can see or find Him in no lower condition in His own house or sphere. True, some after learning of Him in the Scriptures, do not go on to knowing Him personally; and when they attempt to find Him in His own sphere, they are dry and formal and not able to consider for His interests, as He in living present power would exact; that is, they do not see in their discipline in the house of God that everything is fitting and consonant with His presence and house. It is quite possible for one to accept the true position of the assembly; that is, to see that saints should be gathered to His name, and in a degree enjoy the meeting, because of His presence; and yet not know the great effect of His presence in the assembly, simply because they have not known Christ risen as their own individual experience. They may adopt and adhere to what is scripturally right but though there is a measure of comfort, it is rather that of a flower in water, than the sense and vigour of one drawing life and sustenance immediately from Christ, to whom they are united and in assured acquaintance.
The two disciples, on knowing Christ risen, the same hour of the night repair to Jerusalem, and while they are recounting how the Lord was made known to them in breaking of bread, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of
them; and we gather from John 20: 19, the blessings then for the first time introduced and conferred; and thus they are placed in life and power in the truth: the beginning is fully made known, and all power and vigour ever since depend on our implicit adherence to what was at the beginning. Christ is the known centre and source of everything, and every revival in the assembly has been true and blessed as the saints have been taught through His mercy as these first learners were taught. Though there is the danger and snare of learning only part of their lessons, and as often partially taught, people conceive that they know all; so many who know something of the first step, imagine that they can reach the third, before they have reached the second; and assume to understand true assembly fellowship, whereas they, not knowing Christ risen for their own individual joy, cannot comprehend Him in the great sphere of His presence on earth; and hence, with much scriptural knowledge, they have not reached that which was at the beginning, and in their lack of separation from evil, and imperfect discipline, they give painful evidence of their ignorance.
The Lord give us steadily to preserve and maintain that which was from the beginning, for that is truth.
The place I am in always demands of me to be according to it. If I do not like it, I may resist, because I feel the unspoken claim it has on me; so, when it is pleasing to me, I am promoted by it in my own tastes. To a christian Christ's present place is of the greatest importance; because if my union with Christ be on earth, where I am myself, then the earth claims me, and I am required to be according to it. But if my union with Christ be outside and above the earth, even in heaven, then that place
claims me, and as I am true to my calling, I must be according to it. The great and peculiar privilege of the saint now is, that he is united to Christ, and therefore where He is determines everything. The old association was not to be resumed, as He said to Mary Magdalene, "Touch me not... but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God", John 20:17.
Many who see clearly that we are now united to Christ by the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven are not awake to the immense consequence which must ensue from being united to Him where He is. If I am united to Him where He is, then I am not in the enjoyment of my union with Him, but as I am in association with Him where He is. I am sent to act for Him where He is not, but I am in spirit where He is, because united to Him in heaven; and that place necessarily is the place of my heart, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The bare fact of being united to Christ has been received without taking into account the place where He is to whom we are united. As naturally all my associations and connections are with earth - this scene - it is essential to determine whether in any way we could be united to Christ here, and therefore whether much of the well-intentioned and devout expression of 'cleaving to Christ only' truly designates the depth and meaning of union with Him.
Let us first see that it is impossible to be united to Christ on earth, and then it will be easy to see where the lack is in those who piously assume to be united to Him but yet do not apprehend what union with Him really entails. There cannot be union with Christ but in ascension; we could not be united to Him in the flesh, because as a Man He was the Holy One of God, and entirely alone, and without a second. He was the Corn of wheat that would have continued alone had He not died. It is of all importance to be clear on this point; otherwise we assume to be united where we are not, and
thus lose the great and untold blessings of union. There could be no union with Christ until He by His death had removed everything out of the way which would have barred union with Him. Union must be on common ground. He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. "Both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one".
The Holy Spirit is the bond of union, and He did not come down until Christ was at the right hand of God. "Having therefore been exalted by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which ye behold and hear", Acts 2:33. The Holy Spirit came down only consequent on the exaltation of Jesus. "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". If the Holy Spirit is dwelling in me, He comforts me in the absence of Christ; but to do so, He unites me to Christ where He is, because Christ must be in heaven if the Holy Spirit be in me. When Christ comes, we shall be caught up to meet Him in the air. But the fact of the Holy Spirit being in me now indicates the presence of Christ at the right hand of God; and my union with Him, to be enjoyed, must be in association with Him where He is; hence He said to Mary Magdalene, "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God". The Holy Spirit in me always, as is shown in the case of Stephen, leads me to heaven. "Being full of the Holy Spirit, having fixed his eyes on heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus".
Because Christ is in heaven, this necessarily must be the case. All true enjoyment of my union with Christ must connect me with Him where He is: hence it is said, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God". Heaven as His place, and where everything suits Him, necessarily has a most marked effect on me. I am not only united to Him by the Spirit sent down from
heaven, but I, because of my union with Him, taste of scenes that are pure and eternal where God is. Can any one contemplate for a moment the greatness of the effect on the heart, of the simple fact of having even a fleeting association with Him in those regions of holiness and light? How entirely they must reduce everything here, even the best, to insignificance! Thus the effect of Christ's place is immense; and hence, when any one speaks of enjoying Christ, he must either find association with Him where He is, the Spirit taking of Mine, and showing it unto you, or he must give his enjoyment a higher name than it deserves.
There is a great deal of enjoyment of Christ which does not spring from association with Him. There is a sense of perfect remission of sins; there is the heart burning because of the opening of the Scriptures; and there is the action of the light, the sense that I belong to it, and am really of a divine origin; there is the knowledge of His favour in service and circumstances, yielding a very distinct joy; and yet none of these rises to the height of association with Himself; all these, however great, could be enjoyed on earth. Nothing can divert from earth but another place, and a greater, and this is one of the greatest effects arising from association with Him in heaven. Then I know my citizenship is there; I become loose to earth, because I am conscious of having real enjoyment of heart with Him in heaven where He is. If I only get heaven when I die, I retain earth till that event takes place; but if I am united to Christ there now, I taste, through the Spirit, the perfection of that place; and this diverts me from this place, which is so entirely, in the best circumstances, inferior to it. It is my union with Christ in heaven which requires of me, and enables me, to be a heavenly man on earth. If it were not so, there might be the effort, as there is sincerely in many, without the sense of being heavenly; but when I enjoy union with Him where He is, I get the sense of what it is to be heavenly; and instead of a mere effort to be heavenly,
my delight is to be according to the exaltation and height which I have tasted of in spirit.
All through Scripture we find how much is attached to the place which the Lord shall choose to place His name there. How much more must heaven be, the dwelling-place of God! No one for a moment would make light of so great a favour as the fact of one being united to Christ in heaven, if he were to comprehend in any measure the magnitude of it. The greatest damage has arisen to souls from appropriating language which expresses a higher experience than one knows. Hence, in the present day many speak of enjoying Christ, of having communion, of making Christ everything; very interesting statements in themselves, but the practical effect of such very high experiences is wanting. I have shown that if I were associated with Christ where He is, the effect on me would be to set me here growing daily more indifferent to the brightest thing on earth; because I knew what it was to enjoy the brightness of the eternal scenes of light. This, I repeat, would be the great and distinct effect of enjoying Christ where He is, which would show itself in ten thousand ways.
But beside this, there are other very great and deep experiences which cannot be known unless the soul has been led by the Spirit to Christ in heaven.
First, there is no true and clear sense of the priesthood of Christ, unless I know Him now appearing in the presence of God for me. How could I know this perfect presentation, were I not now united to Him where He is? True, there is nothing said of union with Christ in the Hebrews; but the fact is stated, that He has entered heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. How could I enjoy the effect of this, if I were not in spirit associated with Him?
How could I know what it is to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way, which He has consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say His flesh, unless I were associated with Christ by
the Spirit? So that, if I am not with Christ where He is, I have neither a clear, well-assured sense of how He maintains me in the presence of God, nor have I, however great my intelligence of doctrines and truth generally, ever really tasted yet of the true place of a worshipper in the holiest of all. And this accounts for the constant reference in hymns and otherwise, by many apparently advanced saints, to the work of Christ and their need of the atonement. I believe that every one in the holiest deepens in his appreciation of the wondrous work which has procured entrance for him into that perfect scene; but I say that one there, is not seeking or reverting to the way to get in, because he is in, and he is praising and blessing because he is there.
It appears to me that any one who has not tasted of association with Christ where He is, must, however pious and devoted, be ignorant of the sense of entire separation from sin in the holiest of all; and he is rather seeking to reach this than enjoying it; like a mariner, after a long and dangerous voyage, seeing land, but not on it yet.
Next, there are many who enjoy the riches of His grace, redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who do not enter into the glory of His grace. You cannot know the glory of His grace, but as you know you are accepted in the Beloved; and you cannot know this but as you are associated with Christ where He is in the presence of the Father. A man, according to the types in the Old Testament, might know the sin-offering, but the ram of burnt-offering is quite another thing; and, as in the offering for consecration, it was offered up whole. Christ is in the presence of God, raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, and this is the nature and measure of an acceptance, of which we cannot know, unless we know Christ where He is; and if we do not know this acceptance, how can we walk acceptably here? Moses cannot set up the tabernacle until he has seen it in perfection. A gardener cannot grow an exotic, in any
way in keeping with its beauty, unless he has seen it growing in its natural climate; and thus I account for the small and meagre representation of Christ on earth; because many of the most pious, and devoted, and intelligent are not acquainted with Him where He is, and have not tasted of their acceptance there.
In fine, a saint might have the faith of an Abraham, and not enjoy association with Christ in heaven. He might have the courage of a Daniel, and not know union with Christ in heaven. He might be assured of the forgiveness of his sins, like the woman in Luke 7, and not know that he was united to Christ in heaven. He might have the devotedness of a Mary of Bethany, and the affection of a Mary Magdalene, and be as sure of heaven as a Simeon or the thief on the cross, and yet not know the deep, wondrous effect of being united to Christ in heaven.
The Lord teach us to see that, as our standing is immensely higher than any of the saints who have preceded us, we are called to surpass them in a heavenly walk here on the earth, for His name's sake.
We must first know our true calling before we can know either the power for us, or the power against us. Satan always suits his power to the position we occupy. It is against the place into which we are set for God that he is opposed, and hence according to the progress in the true position, there is a different kind of opposing force. There is opposition all along the course; which even when overcome has not died out, for if we were in the place where it could reach us, we should suffer from it still. Progress, or the power to pass on, frees us from one form of opposition, and though we are exposed to another, yet we are more assured of the power which worketh in us - just as David was prepared to meet Goliath - the enemy in his present position, because
he had overcome the lion and the bear in a past and lower one. It is a complete system of opposition from the beginning to the end. If it be Pharaoh at the beginning, it is the Canaanites at the end; and the one who may have triumphed over the former, Pharaoh, may have been compromised by some other form of Satanic power, or even by the latter, the Canaanites, as the Israelites were.
The great distinctive difference between the leading of God and the opposition of Satan, is, the former has little or nothing visible to assure you; while the other, sways you by the imposing aspect which it presents. Eve surrendered faith in God, because of what she saw; the visible swayed her, and perverted her heart from the unseen place which she had with God. Satan's power at first is like a net; there is every visible inducement to draw one into it. Hence the world is the great engine of it; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life is of the world: all the great avenues to our hearts naturally are besieged; and, therefore, it is only faith that overcometh the world. But when the net has been escaped, then the fire of persecution is stirred up. Satan's great object seems ever to be to conceal himself behind his visible agency, while the blessed God ever desires that we should rise above everything visible, be it great or small, and see Him who is invisible in every step of our course. Satan would deceive man by the tower of Babel. God leads Abraham by nothing visible, to leave all and go out, not knowing whither he went - looking for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
We are not spiritual enough to distinguish between these two powers until we are in our true calling. True, like Israel, we have many experiences before we are in happy occupation of it; that is, until one feels one is in the large place. When I am spiritual I can see, as it were, behind the scenes; and I am made sensible of contending, not merely with what is visible, whatever be its aspect, but with wicked spirits in heavenly places. There is
never a movement or action of grace in us, that there is not a new and counteracting effort of Satan; and this redounds to our advantage, because the trying of our faith worketh patience, though it be tried by fire.
Now, as I have said, we cannot know the greatness of either power until we are in practical possession of the place to which God has called us. When we reach this - when we truly and happily accept our calling of heavenly men on the earth - we encounter Satan's power in quite a different way. Up to this it was Pharaoh, Amalek, or Balaam, not to speak of the giants and the cities walled up to heaven, which had so discouraged them that they proposed to return to Egypt, and thus proved themselves unworthy of the land. The effort of Satan, and the forms of his power up to this was to prevent their entering the land - reaching the calling of God. But once we have admitted that to be heavenly here is our only true calling, then the power of Satan is concentrated and organised, that is, everything in the world is against us. Man and every one of his works are distinctly hostile to the heavenly man. Satan makes no secret of the world's hatred, and as long as we are confronted or opposed by the mere world we are aware of our foe. But, besides the open and positive hatred and hostility of the world which is simply the first and general form of Satan's power against the heavenly man (and this Jericho represents), there are religious pretensions, or feints, if I may so call them, to seduce the true man from his standing. The open hostility of the world is always safe, because there is nothing to deceive; though there be great tribulation, there is always the manifest assurance that we are in the right; it is perdition to them, but salvation to us. (2 Thessalonians 1). In the typical Canaan the power of the world, as I have said, was the first thing distinctly presented, and opposing. The heavenly man who patiently continues in armour and prayer will eventually, through the power of God, triumph over it.
We get, I apprehend, in Joshua 6, how we are to
combat the power of Satan, now concentrated and organised to resist our obtaining space for Christ on earth; not as some have in their zeal ignorantly supposed, that it was acquiring material space for Him, and hence have fought with carnal weapons in order to obtain it: but it is moral space, only acquired by the power of God's Spirit working in each of us.
The form of the power in Canaan is, (as Jericho sets forth), from every side. All human greatness has to be contended against, and overcome. There is nothing ostensible in it to connect it with Satan, but all that is of man's ability is there concentrated, and organised to oppose Israel, in taking possession of the land. The full force of every previous opposition is concentrated here. Satan counts largely on the visible. Hence he always displays the magnitude of the means which he uses, and this at the very moment and place where God gives no manifestation of His power, but requires of the heavenly man to walk on in patience, confronting the greatest combination of human power. This is the first form of Satanic power in Canaan; because Satan always used the world first to check the heavenly man. But the great and most important difference between the form of his power in the wilderness and in Canaan is, that in the former there is very little spiritual antagonism: while in Canaan, defeat was always connected with internal unfaithfulness; and eventually Israel lost the land, because, unable to displace the inhabitants of it, they were led into false modes of worship. And thus has it been with the assembly, even in the memory of this generation. As the truth in its simplicity was acquired, not merely were all human means arrayed against it, but there cropped up an opposition to it in a religious way. When the assembly, about fifty years ago, was awakened to the coming of the Lord, the opposition which in a peculiarly effectual way for the time, hindered the progress of it, was the assertion that we could not meet Him unless we had the Spirit of God, and that as we had not the Holy Spirit and He was
not here, therefore, we should be entirely occupied in praying for the Spirit. This was Irvingism. Thus the heart was diverted from the great truth of the coming of the Lord. Again, ritualism was introduced by Satan, in order to check the growing desire of devotedness to the Lord, by presenting a counterfeit of it, to be attained in a natural way. And, thirdly, I need not dwell on how the assembly, the object of Christ's love, has been overlooked in the great ardour to seek souls; the enemy succeeding in diverting earnest men from the full work by engrossing them exclusively with a part of the work; a very great part I admit, but still only a part.
Still later the desire for holiness has been diverted and perverted by a new school which taught 'holiness by faith' and deceived many, because it made one's own conscience the standard, and thus satisfied it.
In fine, the peculiar characteristic of the power of God is, that it is invisible, known and reckoned on by faith. The power of Satan delights in display and in coercing us sensibly by an overwhelming force. We have at Philippi (Acts 16), a very striking way in which the two powers act. Paul is called there by the Lord; he is for some time there, and there is no appearance of the man who had been the visible agent in inviting him. Then Satan offers to countenance him in a religious way: offering him help when he evidently required it, and in a way that his conscience and his knowledge could not object to. Paul was spiritually tried by it, and at last, not satisfied with declining it in his own heart, he openly denounces the evil spirit. The religious feint is exposed, and now Satan stirs up Jericho, all the power of the world in one combined antagonism to crush the very men whom he had instigated one of his dupes, to proclaim to be servants of the Most High God. How humiliating! but the unjust knoweth no shame. Then Paul, having been thrust into prison and his feet made fast in the stocks, in prayer and song walks round Jericho in patience; and at midnight the power of God, the invisible
power, no means, overturns everything. All is changed: the prisoners are loosed, and the jailor converted.
Thus we see that the more fully we are led of the Spirit. of God, the less visible any agency will be because there is nothing that appeals to the senses; but all to faith, while on the contrary, Satan is always seeking to divert us from faith and from the invisible, to occupy us, even be it only in a measure with the means, where he has a place, and where he can in some degree do that on which he is bent, even to damage the work of the Lord.
May the Lord keep us in simple faith counting on the unseen power, the great and grand characteristic of our present calling, and may we in heart and voice refuse every aid which is not of the Spirit of God.
The calling of the saint now is heavenly; but as he is on the earth, his experiences are necessarily how grace forms and separates him from what is simply natural to him, and enables him to be true to his new standing in a scene to which he once so entirely belonged. Hence there is first the entering into the liberty wherewith Christ has made him free, before he enjoys for himself his new calling, or can truly walk according to it here. For that very progress in grace which introduces him into heavenly joys, demands and empowers him to be true to it in his walk here. But as he is still on the earth, where the world is directly against God, the more heavenly he is, the more he feels that he is in the wilderness. The real character and nature of what the world is to the Spirit of Christ, is made known to him, so that unlike the type, Israel, as he passes out of the wilderness to Canaan, which simply represents the heavenly man on earth, he learns that the more fully and truly he is a heavenly man, the deeper and fuller experiences has he of the real character of the wilderness. The one really
heavenly Man on the earth, was "led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil". It is only as one is really of God, and knows what good is, that one can apprehend the contrast, even the evil here, and thus one suffers more from it, though through grace one is better prepared for it.
The consequences of Israel passing out of the wilderness into Canaan to dwell altogether in the latter, led eventually to their captivity and deprivation of the land. They became so elated and independent because of the bright and pleasing circumstances of Canaan, that they forgot God, and proved themselves unworthy of the promised land. Now in the antitype there is this immense difference, that the more the saint is really in the new ground, answering to Canaan; the more is he placed in circumstances here to keep him in dependence, that is, this scene is more a wilderness to him. The wilderness means whatever are my ostensible circumstances, or occupation as a man, and is a place where nothing contributes to me, and where all my resources are in God. Many on first reaching the liberty and rest of the heavenly standing fail, and are carried away into captivity to the world, because they have not continued in dependence on God.
The great teaching of the wilderness is dependence on God. The really heavenly man must in a scene like this be the most dependent man; and whenever anyone learns his calling truly, and walks according to it conscientiously, he ever finds that new circumstances or trials occur, to keep him dependent; so that the truest heavenly man is the best wilderness man.
True, immense light with joy is made known to the heart, as it learns and advances into the portion of a heavenly man; but the saint, who because of this great moral elevation, should be deceived into the idea that he is from henceforth out of the wilderness trials, and therefore less dependent on God because of what he possesses, would become the prey either of some religious
delusion, or heresy, or in some other way would fall into the snare of the devil. It is not after the manner of God to raise us through grace to a great moral height, and to suffer us to be less dependent on Him who has so elevated us, and less opposed by the flesh which is enmity against God.
In Scripture we find, and our own experience is corroborative of it, that the more one enters into the height to which grace has called him, the more is he subjected to trials here, if he be conscientious, in order to check the boastfulness of the flesh, because of an assured moral exaltation. The blessed Lord was the perfect heavenly Man on earth, and yet no one was so exposed to every kind of opposition and contradiction here; not, of course, that the check was needed with Him, but He was to be as perfect as a wilderness Man as He was as a heavenly Man. He was perfectly solitary here; no one could reach to His moral eminence, and yet they saw no beauty in Him, but said, "This is the heir; come, let us kill him". They hated Him without a cause, refuge failed Him, no man cared for Him; indeed, all forsook Him and fled. He was alone, the Father was with Him. He was His hope from His "mother's belly". When He entered on the path of service here, He was led of the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil. The greatest heavenly Man is the best wilderness Man; and hence, He replies to Satan's first temptation that He should turn the stones into bread, by quoting from Deuteronomy 8, "Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live". This described the grand result to be effected by wilderness experience. The Lord is perfectly educated as a wilderness Man, and He is invincible, for "blessed is the man that trusteth in thee".
In Deuteronomy 8 we are told the difference between the wilderness and Canaan; and we are warned against the snares which the sense of possession would expose one to; and simply because there would not be then a call
for the dependence which was the great education of the wilderness. Hence in the type, Israel passed right out of the wilderness into Canaan; and when they were altogether in Canaan, they soon forgot the teaching of the wilderness, because there was not the same need for it. But as I have already remarked, with us the Lord takes care that the lesson of the wilderness shall never cease, and therefore the more a saint is in the spiritual Canaan, if he will hearken to the voice of the Lord, the more will he find here very unexpected trials, to ensure his dependence. Dependence is the essential characteristic of the new nature, and when the dependence is true, obedience follows because the really dependent one is absolutely guided by the word of Him on whom he depends. Hence in Deuteronomy 11 when the contrast between Egypt and Canaan is presented, and where the judgments which opened and secured the way into Canaan are detailed, we are told that if the people were not obedient to the commandments of the Lord, they would soon forfeit the blessings of the land - "the early and latter rain", and be worse off than they were in Egypt, where there was the river at any rate. The true order is dependence and obedience. Some try to be obedient without being dependent, and they are legal, and not doing the will of God from the heart; whereas when I am really dependent, I know rest of heart, in leaning absolutely on Him who cares for me, and to whom it is due; and the more I appreciate this dependence, the more carefully do I take heed to every word which He may say to me, for every word helps me and encourages my confidence in Him.
Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 shows us how a man after enjoying the most wondrous exaltation in which grace could set him was subjected to the most unexpected and the most afflicting trial, the messenger of Satan to buffet him, and all lest he should be puffed up above measure. The very height to which he was raised, required to be balanced by a new trial and that the severest he could
have here. It seemed so strange to the apostle that he prayed three times, which he relates as if such a repetition were unusual, that it might depart from him. The Lord does not remove it, but tells him, "My grace is sufficient for thee". He must be kept dependent; and as he had reached higher than anyone else, his check, or the means to keep him dependent, are more unusual and severe than to anyone else. If he is unprepared for the exaltation that was given here by the revelation to him of what it was impossible for man in himself to utter or comprehend, he is (concurrently with the great revelation) subjected to a most unexpected and untoward humiliation in the flesh, which is, as it were, correspondingly distanced and blighted, as the man in Christ is exalted. It is only consistent that I should be made sensible of the workings of the old man, as I enter more into the wondrous position of the new. As I advance in the one, I am sensibly more dependent because of the other.
Now many are not preserved as Paul was from being lifted up. If Paul's flesh could have been puffed up after all he had learned of the Lord, how much more those who know so much less of the power of the Spirit of God? Everyone, according as he is enlightened, if he walks in the light, would see that he was called to new exercises and that he required help from the Lord in a way unknown before. If he becomes indifferent to these new trials; that is, if they have not the effect of continuing and promoting his dependence, he is allowed to discover his weakness by some open failure. Jacob returns to Canaan, and while he is dependent, is greatly succoured there; but as soon as he is relieved of the presence of Esau, he essays to settle down and enjoy himself, as if the rest had fully come. He is not irreligious, nor does he surrender any truth which he had learned, but he is not dependent; he loses sight of the true way for a heavenly man on the earth, which is continued dependence and not calculating that the day of trial and exercise is over, and that he can now derive everything
from the earth. This last is not the way of a heavenly man on the earth, but Jacob so calculated, and, in consequence, he was subjected to the deepest sorrow at Shalem. The wickedness of the flesh in its worst forms was disclosed there, and the heavenly man has to exclaim, 'I shall be destroyed, I and my father's house.' From the depths of weakness and humiliation, he has to cry unto God, and when he has reached Bethel, greater sorrows, but more personal ones, await him. Thus we see, that according as we advance into the greatness of our new position in Christ, the more, as we are really honest and happy therein, are we subjected to trials here, to keep us in dependence which is the true condition for the children of God.
Everything on earth consigned to man, from the garden of Eden to the assembly, has failed. However brilliant and effective its beginning, it soon became tarnished; the bright gold became dim, until at length there was little or no trace of the original order of things. Yet in every instance there was a season of marked favour from God, before that which was marred was utterly set aside, as connected with the first man on earth; for each form of God's ways with men, from Eden to the assembly, will be re-established on the earth, by and through the Son of His love. But in each of them, after open failure, there is a reviving again, in peculiar manner, before a new order is introduced.
In Eden after the fall, man is restored to God, or rather, God renews His favour to man, in the midst of the wreck which his own unbelief had caused. And before the flood Enoch is translated; there is an expression of divine favour, enjoyed, and witnessed of, in a peculiar degree, before the old order of things is superseded. The son of Enoch must have lived to the year before the deluge.
Thus with Noah. He fails; losing self-control, he forfeits the place of power and government, in which he was set here; but subsequent to his fall and in the very scene of it, the favour of the Lord is assured to him, and he can prophesy of the ways of God with his posterity in power and honour.
Thus also with the children of Abraham. Though Jacob falls away to the land of Syria, and there is marked defection from the standing and hope vouchsafed to Abraham, and enjoyed by him, yet Jacob again before the discipline, and entire setting aside of that order of things, tastes of the favour of God in the old order, and in a very special way.
With the children of Israel in the land the same kind of thing occurs. After the captivity, after the destruction of Jerusalem, there is a return of a remnant to the land, and the rebuilding of the temple, etc, the Lord saying, "From this day will I bless you". Great was the renewal of favour when, to this restored company, the Son of God was born of a woman among them. A wonderful revival, or recovery of truth, before the approaching hour when their house should be left desolate; when their history as a nation among men should be closed; before this mountain should be carried into the depths of the sea.
So also with the assembly; though sunk in ruins, though torn into sects through internal divisions, though covered with reproach among men, yet before it is finally set aside, before it is spued out of Christ's mouth, as no longer fit in any way to be the vessel for testimony here, there is a marked revival of the truth. The nature and mode of this reviving I desire to dwell on.
In each dispensation, after the ruin of it, there has been, as we see, a reviving of the truth before the final dissolution of it. The truth revived in each case is the greatest and most important; the one in which the people of God had specially failed; but it is restored by an act of pure grace; God visiting His people and showing them
how He can turn the dry ground into water-springs. He recalls their hearts signally to the blessing which they had forfeited by unbelief. Thus it is with the assembly in these days; the saints are recalled to the greatest truth; that in which they had failed most, is the one revived; and the knowledge and effect of it constitutes a Philadelphian.
The truth the assembly has most failed in is with reference to Christ's relation to it, and its relation to Christ; and this has so affected the most pious souls, that for centuries this greatest of truths has not been known, and as might be supposed, with the loss of it, all the other truths were compromised or falsified; but with the recovery of it, all the others have been restored to their true and vital character. In the Lord's rebuke to the assembly for her first failure, "Thou hast left thy first love", we are prepared for all the darkness and ruin which followed; for this, because of its gravity, entailed the removal of the candlestick out of its place. Surely, if first love, the new and peculiar sense of Christ's worth, declines in the soul, the most perfect knowledge of mere doctrines will very soon become ineffectual. The revival of truth that constitutes a Philadelphian is that, by the signal favour of God, he is awakened to comprehend Christ's relation to himself individually, and to all His saints; and Christ therefore appears to the assembly of Philadelphia in the way best calculated to help on and sustain them, as thus revived in truth. The truth revived is the disclosure to the heart of the saint of Christ, in His place and relation to His people; - simply, the knowledge of Christ. The state of the Philadelphian is, "Thou hast a little power", he must abide in Christ, for "without me ye can do nothing", and "hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name". This comprises the gospel of John; the word and the name, the commandment and the character. You are not a Philadelphian if you are not in this state, and if you are not a Philadelphian, you cannot avail yourself of the aspect and
grace in which Christ appears to the church of Philadelphia.THE CAUSES OF DIFFERENCE OF OPINION
THE UNSEEN POWER
HOW WE GET POWER, AND HOW IT SHOWS ITSELF
THE SERVANT FOR A CRISIS
STANDING AND STATE
MY THOUGHTS ARE NOT AS YOUR THOUGHTS
THE DIFFERENCE IN DOCTRINE BETWEEN A HEAVENLY AND A MILLENNIAL SAINT
VISIBLE MEANS HINDER FAITH
THE REAL SERVANT HAS TWO EXPERIENCES
THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST
GUIDANCE
WHAT IS A PHILADELPHIAN?
ADVANTAGES AND RESPONSIBILITY
THE HOLY SPIRIT IN RECEPTION AND ACTION
THE MAN OF POWER, OR, THE LORD IS WITH THEE
THE SERVANT AND THE TRUTH FOR THE LAST TIME
INFIDELITY - ITS COURSE AND THE SAFEGUARDS OF FAITH
THE DOCTRINE OF BALAAM
KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT CONSCIENCE, OR, THE WAY OF CAIN
THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH, OR, WHAT WE HAVE HEARD FROM THE BEGINNING
CHRIST WHERE HE IS, OR, THE EFFECT OF PLACE
THE TWO POWERS
THE HEAVENLY MAN IN THE WILDERNESS
THE LAST GREAT REVIVAL