THE HOLY SPIRIT (2)

^[p. 23] THE HOLY SPIRIT (2)

John 7: 37 - 39; Genesis 21: 22 - 34

JT On this occasion I thought we could dwell a little more on the subject of the Spirit. What we were considering yesterday stands mainly in connection with the inner workings of the springs of water, whereas in the scriptures we have read today it is what is outward, that is to say, the public testimony which flows out as a result of the spring’s inner working. In chapter 7 of John’s gospel, the Holy Spirit is looked at more from the point of view of the dispensation. It draws attention to His presence during the whole of this dispensation. It was that Spirit that they who believed on Him would receive, for “the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified”. The thought is that the Spirit’s presence here is in accord with Christ in heaven. The presentation in this chapter is not so much the point of view that a divine Person gives Him as a gift, but that He is received by a believer. “But this he said concerning the Spirit, which they that believed on him were about to receive”. This means those that had believed on Him during the time of His service here on earth. This scripture makes it quite clear that the Holy Spirit could not be received whilst Christ was still here but that He would be received after Christ was glorified. The allusion here then is to the fact that the Holy Spirit was received by the saints in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. The meaning of the Lord’s saying, “He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water”, is easily understood when we consider the great event when the Holy Spirit came down on the day of Pentecost. Consequently the allusion is to the Holy Spirit’s setting aside ^[p. 24] judaism. It was on the last, the great day of the feast.

Ques Is there inner refreshment in what we were considering yesterday?

JT Yes, that is what was in mind yesterday. Now it is the side of what is public. Is that clear?

Rem Yes, I think so.

Ques Can it be said that the woman in John 4, of whom we spoke yesterday, received the Holy Spirit?

JT Chapter 7 makes it clear that she did not receive the Spirit, but she received Him in principle; that is to say, Christ’s service was as living water for her. Today, such an occasion as Jesus’ meeting with the woman, would in this dispensation, embrace the reception of the Holy Spirit.

Ques Is that why, in chapter 7, it says, “for the Spirit was not yet”?

JT Yes, that is right. It is right to remember that, for no one received the Holy Spirit in a permanent way until Pentecost. When John says that “the Spirit was not yet”, he means that He was not here in a permanent way so that He could be received by believers.

Ques Was it necessary for man after the flesh to be set aside before the Spirit could be given?

JT Just so, and also that man should be glorified in heaven in the Person of Christ.

Ques Was it so that whilst the Lord was here in Person, no one had the Spirit residing in them?

JT Yes. The Lord says later, “for he abides with you”, John 14: 17. That is to say that the Holy Spirit was there in the Person of Christ. The Holy Spirit came upon Him in a bodily form as a dove, and abode upon Him, so that Christ’s service was in the power of the Spirit of God. But until redemption’s work was accomplished, no other person could receive the Spirit but Christ. The Spirit had had His part in creation in adorning the heavens (^[p. 25] Job 26: 13); He hovered over the face of the waters (Genesis 1: 2); He had judged men during the time of Noah; He came upon some of the judges and upon David; holy men of God spoke, empowered by the Holy Spirit, but He never abode upon anyone in a permanent way, until Christ became Man and it was just that that distinguished Christ from any other man in the eyes of John the baptist. He says, “But he who sent me to baptise with water, he said to me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding on him, he it is who baptises with the Holy Spirit”. The Holy Spirit came upon such men as Samson and David, but did not abide on them. But here we see that the Spirit came down and abode on a man, and this shows clearly that Christ was a divine Person. He descended, as it says, in a bodily form as a dove and abode upon Him. Thus the Holy Spirit came upon Christ in all His fulness. The fact that He came as a dove would indicate perfect sensitiveness; He could rest there; He could abide there. In Christ there was absolutely nothing which could grieve the Spirit. The dove signifies sensitiveness.

Ques Can we say that, in principle, this chapter corresponds with the present dispensation-as it is now?

JT It refers actually to this dispensation. The Spirit was not yet. What it really means is that He was not available to believers until Christ was glorified.

Rem Therefore we cannot think of the Holy Spirit other than in connection with Christ glorified.

JT That is just it, it is in this special character that He is here. Peter says, “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. Although He retains His own individuality yet He is here as the Spirit of God, the Spirit of God’s Son and the Spirit ^[p. 26] of Christ.

Rem Perhaps you will say something about these three titles.

JT It is good to make a difference. He is spoken of in these three connections, apart from His being a divine Person here. As the Spirit of God He testifies here on earth to what God is, revealed in Christ, and as the Spirit of the Son of God He expresses the relation in which Christ stands as Son to God.

As the Spirit of Christ He sets forth Christ’s official position and character as the Anointed One. So the Spirit of Christ refers eminently to service. Peter says, “prophets ... searched out; searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ which was in them pointed out, testifying before of the sufferings which belonged to Christ, and the glories after these”, 1 Peter 1: 10, 11.

Ques How do we understand Romans 8:9; “but if any one has not the Spirit of Christ he is not of him”?

JT Well, it is the character of Christ expressed in the Spirit of Christ and that gives us the thought of the anointing. It is really just in the same way that the anointing finds its expression in us. We also have the Spirit of Jesus in the New Testament, which would draw attention to that kind of Man who was down here on earth.

Rem He is also called the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Truth. Would you say something about that?

JT The Holy Spirit stands over against the profanity that we find all around us, so that it says of the Lord Jesus in the epistle to the Romans 1: 4, “marked out Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord”. And in chapter 5, where it mentions that the Spirit is given to us, it says, “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us”. Here He is distinctly called the Holy Spirit. This is in order to promote what is priestly — that is to say, a holy condition in us.

It is a holy love. So John 7 has the thought of a wonderful condition, namely, that the Holy Spirit is here and expresses Himself in rivers of living water which flow out of the believer.

Rem That is a great exercise for us.

JT Yes, the effect of it can be seen in the saints. If we understand chapter 4 rightly and see the effect of the word on the woman’s heart and how it laid bare her inner condition, it will make way for the Spirit to operate in us. The Holy Spirit acts of Himself in the believer. By way of illustration, take the automatic organs of the human body: for example the heart, or lungs, or stomach. We cannot make these organs do what we want them to do. We can control our hands and similar parts of the body, but over an organ like the heart we have no control: they are automatic or self-acting organs. So in just the same way the Holy Spirit acts of Himself in the believer. It is that which the Lord means when He says, “The water which I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life”. This corresponds to the burnt-offering which was flayed and cut up into pieces. In Leviticus 1: 9, it says, “its inwards and its legs shall he wash in water; and the priest shall burn all on the altar, a burnt offering, an offering by fire to Jehovah of a sweet odour”. This means that all that Christ was here inwardly, ascended as a sweet odour for God, and that He devoted Himself completely to God.

So in the case of the woman — an example of us all in respect of what we are naturally — inwardly she was committed to what was corrupt and the Lord was going to see that all this was to be searched out by the word. “For the word of God is living and operative, and sharper than any two-edged sword,

^[p. 28] and penetrating to the division of soul and spirit, both of joints and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is not a creature unapparent before him; but all things are naked and laid bare to his eyes, with whom we have to do”, Hebrews 4: 12, 13. This woman recognises this, when she says, “Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done”. When this state is judged, place is made for the Holy Spirit, so that He can take these inner organs in His service for God. She realised that through her act the Spirit had already worked inwardly with her, so she carried something with her to the people; chapter 7 shows us the fulness of the result in that the Holy Spirit flows out as rivers of living water. So that if we have a right understanding of chapter 4 we will be capable of understanding the meaning of chapter 7.

Ques Is the thought concerning the Spirit and the living water in chapter 4 that it cleanses?

JT Yes, it has that effect but we know that moral cleansing is by the word. In chapter 4 the water is not for cleansing but for satisfaction. Being born of water and of Spirit (chapters 3 and 13) involves cleansing, so that the Lord, in chapter 15 says, “Ye are already clean by reason of the word which I have spoken to you”. But the thought of the water in John 4 and John 7 is satisfaction.

Ques “If we live by the Spirit, let us walk also by the Spirit”, Galatians 5: 25. Is it a similar thought in this verse?

JT To live by the Spirit is more John 4, whereas walking by the Spirit is John 7. In the epistle to the Galatians it also speaks of the fruit of the Spirit.

Nine kinds of fruit are spoken of (Galatians 5: 22). That is the public side.

Ques Can John 7 be likened to Romans 8 in this connection?

JT Yes, I think that is right, though Romans ^[p. 29] does not go so far as Colossians or Ephesians. It is most remarkable that in Colossians the Spirit is only mentioned once, but the effect of the Spirit is prominent throughout the whole of the epistle; in this chapter we should look into His operation in an individual believer.

Ques Was your thought in reading the scripture in Genesis to help us further and throw light on what we have been considering?

JT Yes, I had that in mind and I would like to continue with that now. The Old Testament serves us by way of explanation. We should notice in the chapter we had before us last evening that although Hagar took advantage of the spring, nevertheless she went and took a wife for her son from Egypt. This shows that she was not really in the good of the spring; she was not delivered from the world. The thought in John 4 is that the woman was delivered from the world. All her thoughts and feelings were turned away from the world towards Christ. The Lord says to her, “The water which I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life”. Springing up really means that it ascends to God. We see that Hagar was not affected in such a way. She took, as the scripture says, a wife for her son out of Egypt. But in this connection when we come to Abraham we see the effect the spring has. It says in Genesis 21:25, “And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away”, and further down it says, “And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them to Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant. And Abraham set seven ewe-lambs of the flock by themselves. And Abimelech said to Abraham, What mean these seven ewe-lambs, these which thou hast set by themselves? And he said, That thou take the seven ewe-lambs of my hand, that they may be a witness to me that I have dug this well”. Consequently we see that Abraham in these seven ewe-lambs expresses the kind of spirit that characterised him, for in these ewe-lambs we have in expression that which was worked out in him. The male would probably be prepared to attack, but the character of the ewe-lamb is subjection and willingness. It is important to notice this, as it is just that sort of spirit that characterised Abraham. It says in the epistle to the Galatians, against such fruits of the Spirit, there is no law. There is not a shadow of doubt that Abraham’s seven ewe-lambs point to these things. Abimelech, king of the Philistines, came to him with Phichol, the captain of his host. When anyone comes in that manner, it shows that it is not in the spirit of the ewe-lamb, it is certainly not in a docile spirit. For example, if we take the Germans before the war, or for that matter the British or the Norwegians, their armies or navies are not meant to show that they are prepared to subject themselves to anyone. It is just in the same way that the Philistine king came to Abraham. He wanted to demonstrate that he had might and that he was a powerful man. Often the brethren put on battledress; when anyone puts on that sort of uniform, with his sword at his side, he does not intend to give the impression that he is prepared to give in to others. It is, of course, right to put on armour when it is a question of a struggle against spiritual power of wickedness in the heavenlies, and when it concerns the truth, but the epistle to the Galatians shows us that it is the fruits of the Spirit that will always be seen in the believer. And what is the basis for this love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, fidelity, meekness, self control? It is that I have the Holy Spirit. So Abraham intended that, in the presence of Abimelech, there should be a testimony to Abraham’s character and that the spring laid the basis for it. That is, “Not ^[p. 31] by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith Jehovah of Hosts”.

Rem So that the thought is that we ought to be submissive.

JT It is on this principle that the Holy Spirit is here.

Rem When Abraham went to set Lot free he had not the seven ewe-lambs with him.

JT No. He had trained armed men born in the house with him then. He fought against his enemy, but in this instance he had to do with a man to whom God had already spoken regarding Abraham.

Ques What corresponds with Abimelech today? He was not an Egyptian.

JT No, he is a picture of persons amongst us who perhaps depend on the flesh. Abraham had already prayed to God about Abimelech; therefore he was in a special relationship with him. As we said, God had spoken to Abimelech as well. We read in Genesis 20: 6, “And God said to him in a dream, I also knew that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart, and I, too, have withheld thee from sinning against me”. Consequently we can understand that Abimelech is reckoned here as a man whom God will help and to whom He can speak. We have prayed for such. However, it does not appear that Abimelech had got much help, since he came with the captain of his host, but Abraham met all this with the seven ewe-lambs. It is just as if Abraham would say, ‘Well, Abimelech, if that is your attitude, I will show you mine. You make a show of military might, but I want to show you that I have the Holy Spirit’.

Rem God was with Abraham.

JT Yes, he certainly was. God honoured Abraham in such a way that Abimelech sensed it. It is a question of the Holy Spirit’s power.

Ques What is the thought in Abraham’s reproving Abimelech for the well that Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away?

JT This shows the way the Philistines carry on. Their purpose is to take away what gives us all this moral worth. Notice that they had taken it violently, which shows that the character of the Philistines is violence. That is the way the flesh carries on; we meet this with the grace of the Spirit, so that it says in Romans 12: 20, “If therefore thine enemy should hunger, feed him; if he should thirst, give him drink; for, so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head”.

Ques Do these things happen in a meeting?

JT Yes, of course. We touch the flesh daily in ourselves and in our brethren. That is the reason why this subject is introduced into the epistle to the Galatians and why Hagar and Ishmael are mentioned there.

Ques Might it have the appearance of a better knowledge of the Scriptures?

JT Yes, certainly, because this man had had to do with God. God had spoken to him.

Rem So it is absolutely necessary that we should search ourselves.

JT Just so. That is just the point, so that I do not adopt Philistines characteristics. These Philistine lived in Canaan.

Ques Have we the same thought in 2 Corinthians 10: 1, “But I myself, Paul, entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ”?

JT Yes, exactly. This comes out particularly in the second epistle to the Corinthians.

Ques Does the first epistle to the Corinthians correspond with Genesis 21: 25?

JT You mean that Abraham put Abimelech right. That is so, and 1 Corinthians is calculated to preserve the spring in its right sense. I imagine that those who took the lead in Corinth had violently taken ^[p. 33] away things to acquire something for their own exaltation. They pretended to have all that Paul had but this was not so. It was violence. Paul said his announcing to them the testimony was not in excellency of word or in wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that, as he says, “Your faith might not stand in men’s wisdom, but in God’s power”. Abraham was concerned that the well should be in the place just where it was. He had dug it and it was going to remain in his possession. He says, “That thou take the seven ewe-lambs of any hand, that they may be a witness to me that I have dug this well”. This was to remind Abimelech of the spirit Abraham was in. He was always to remember it.

So now to show the full meaning of all this, it says in Genesis 26: 26 - 28, “And Abimelech, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phichol the captain of his host, went to him from Gerar. And Isaac said to them, Why are ye come to me, seeing ye hate me, and have driven me away from you? And they said, We saw certainly that Jehovah is with thee; and we said, Let there be then an oath between us — between us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee”. Here we have got something else, as we see. Abimelech brings another man with him — a third person this time, namely Ahuzzath his friend. Here we have what is social. He is a king and has an army, but he also has a place socially. Even if I am not frightened by military might, it is possible that I may be ensnared by what is social. This visit is much more impressing than the first with the result, as we read, that “he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. And they rose early in the morning, and swore one to another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well that they had dug, and said to him, We have found water”, Genesis 26: 30 - 32. So you see Isaac lets the Philistines go away, whereupon God gives him water to maintain him in separation from the Philistines. And so it says, “And he called it Shebah; therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba to this day” (verse 33). Genesis 21: 31 speaks about the name of a place but in connection with Isaac it is a city. We have now reached the city. I believe this shows the spiritual progress which is made when I let the Philistines go away. I then get water to support me, and I am in a city.

Ques Why did he make them a feast?

JT He did not want war but peace, but it is peace at a distance because he let them go away. As far as possible we, on our side, keep peace with all men, but we do not have intercourse with them.

Rem But surely we should not have peaceful relations, or fellowship, with anyone who would take away the well.

JT There is no question of fellowship when we let people go away.

Rem Though we have here the thought of a feast.

JT What is laid upon us is that we keep peace with all men. It is not yet the time to cast out the Philistine. We are still strangers and foreigners in the land. The point is that both Abraham and Isaac were superior to these men.

Ques And should not our position be the same in a moral respect?

JT Exactly, we should not come under the influence of such men.

Ques Is not this the same as in Galatians 6: 10? “So then, as we have occasion, let us do good towards all, and specially towards those of the household of faith”.

JT Yes. So when for us the “place” has become a “city”, then we have come to some understanding of light, order and administration. From ^[p. 35] scriptures further on, we see what a wonderful place Beer-sheba was. It is a testimony to God’s faithfulness.

Rem The city is protected.

JT Just so. You feel now there is particular safety in Isaac’s position. There is a city which is called Beer-sheba. Abraham planted a tamarisk there, and called on the name of Jehovah, the eternal God. Abraham is in the light of the eternal God, and Isaac is in a city.

Ques Is the thought then, that as individuals we make way for the Spirit? We walk in the Spirit to make way for Him. But we also make way for Him as gathered together. We are occupied with what is spiritual and consequently we are not like the Philistines.

JT Yes. This will be seen in the city. I believe these scriptures in Genesis show how a believer today can be superior to the most well-taught, efficient and influential person after the flesh. Instead of being influenced by them we exercise influence over them. Abimelech had to recognise both in Abraham and Isaac, that God was with them. For whoever God is with, he is the greatest man.

Rem So the seven ewe-lambs become a very powerful weapon. We need to ponder this thought of the ewe-lambs; it will help us in relation to obedience.

JT Yes, just so.

Rem Otherwise everything will be in the flesh instead of in the Spirit.

JT Yes. “For the arms of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful according to God to the overthrow of strongholds”, 2 Corinthians 10: 4.