THE DISTINCTNESS OF OUR LINK WITH CHRIST
[p. 175] THE DISTINCTNESS OF OUR LINK WITH CHRIST
With every truth in relation to the saints there must be a practical consequence; every status has a claim on us peculiar to itself. If the standing be accepted, the duties, habits, character, and effect flowing from that standing must be maintained, or the standing is a dead letter. A standing which claims nothing, which confers nothing, is in itself nothing; but the more the standing claims and signifies, the higher and more important the state which results from it. Now generally the mistake is more as to the nature of the standing than as to the state, though the state discloses the imperfect apprehension of the standing, or the want of conscience in maintaining it. When people profess a thing and act contrary to it, either they must have imperfectly apprehended what they profess, or their conscience is bad. Man may have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
The great snare of the present day is the subtle way in which the highest truths can be professed in quite an unspiritual way. For example, how generally now is it admitted that Christ is the Head of the church, which is His body, and the profession of belonging to the body, of which He is the Head, is made; and yet how little is manifest the state which would flow from a standing so high, if there were not some great imperfection in the apprehension of it, or bad faith in the maintenance of it. I believe that this inconsistency is attributable, for the most part, to the acceptance in a natural way of the idea which this truth conveys. And certainly, if there be any misapprehension of the standing, and of what the headship of Christ to His body involves, there will be an inconsistent state, even though there be a good conscience. The error as to the standing must betray itself in the practice, and this without being able to reach the conscience. The first [p. 176] thing is to make sure of holding the truth as to the standing, for then, if the state be not in keeping with it, the conscience condemns, and there is something to act on in order to promote consistency. Consistency is that which acts up to one’s apprehension of a truth.
Nowadays almost every believer owns that Christ is the Head of the body, and assumes that he is a member of that body of which Christ is the Head, and hence that he is united to Christ and to the members of His body. The standing is largely accepted, and we have to inquire, Is the state of soul in keeping and consistency with it? If the standing of the union of the believer with Christ be admitted, it is one of such high degree that immense consequences, a very distinct state, must result from it. Now this truth is accepted by some in a natural way, not in the Spirit, but in the flesh. They really misunderstand the standing, and their attempt at a state conscientiously corresponding to it betrays their misapprehension of it.
But I confine myself in this paper to those who own that our standing is that of one body, united by the Spirit to Christ the Head in heaven. The state which results from the maintenance of this standing I would now consider.
The grand point or claim of this standing is union with Christ. Does every one who sees and accepts it enjoy the results of it, in conscious joyful union with Christ? Is there that sense of distinct link with Him which union with a greater must always confer on the lesser? and if not, where is the flaw? As to the terms of the standing, they are alas! too generally accepted, as anyone who is at all acquainted with what is passing in the church of God must know. But, as I said before, it is accepted in a natural way, and hence it is that the most legal and ritualistic are the great advocates of this standing. This makes it the more important that those who accept it spiritually should manifest in practice the true effects — the state which it claims.
[p. 177] Union with Christ by the Spirit of God is a most definite and conscious thing. It is more than being assured by faith that He died for me, or that He lives for me, and has prepared for me a place in heaven. By faith I, through the Spirit, may enter into and enjoy all these; just as I might know that a great potentate had rescued me from a terrible stronghold, and had by deed conveyed to me great properties, which I should inherit after a certain term. Yet with all this I could not speak of anything like union with this great potentate. Now as to Christ, we are both delivered and blessed by Him; but still more, we are united to Him by the Spirit. “He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit”, 1 Corinthians 6: 17. And by the Spirit I know my link to Him. There was never such a thing as union by the Spirit until Pentecost (Acts 2); and the state which it produces is expounded in John 14 - John 19, where our Lord on leaving His disciples says, “Because I live, ye also shall live”. “In that day”, (the Holy Spirit’s day) He adds, “ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you”. This is the knowledge imparted by the union. The bride in Canticles longs for union, and speaks of the sense of possession which true love imparts (chapter 2: 16); but she never has the sense of union, of being of the “one Spirit”. It is an amazing thing to speak of being of one Spirit with Christ; 1 Corinthians 6: 17. It is not merely that Christ has done a wonderful work for me; that is blessedly true. It is not merely that He gives me eternal life and a blissful home in glory; but that I am united to Him by the Holy Spirit, “if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you”, Romans 8: 9. It is marvellous, I admit, but the truth is simple. It is the Spirit which is given, and hence we are not only anointed, but we are sealed by the Spirit, and we have the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. We are not only given life in Christ — “He that believes on me has life eternal” (John 6: 47) — but there is more; there is given living water, the [p. 178] Holy Spirit, which is in us a fountain of living water springing up into eternal life; John 4: 14. It is definite that life is given in Christ to every one believing; and by Christ there is given to the believer living water, a known power in the soul, acting in connection with eternal life. Admit the standing of the church being the body of Christ, and you must admit of union in a natural way or in a spiritual way. If in a natural way, it must be in that nature which needed redemption, and therefore legal or carnal; but if spiritual, it must be of the highest order, and of a distinctness quite unequivocal. The manner by which it is so is plain and simple enough. Christ is set down in heaven, and the Spirit of God is here; His people are still where He has been refused, and they are united to Him as their Head where He is, by the Spirit, who is where they are. When this truth is accepted, it only remains to see and comprehend the nature and consequence of such a union.
Could anything surpass it? Could the soul know anything of it, and not cultivate it? Must it not throw everything else into the shade? It is not merely the sense that He holds me by the right hand, but that my soul is united to Him by the Spirit; the link is as distinct as possible. No link could be greater; bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh — nothing more positive or more defined. If one is ignorant of this great favour, of course he seeks it not. If he were not ignorant of it, but assured that this is his standing, he would rest in Christ, and know the effects or state which would result from this his true standing. If he misapprehends the standing, as many do, the state will be proportionately low and imperfect. And if, like some others, he sees the true standing and does not exercise his soul as to the claims of it, his conscience will be bad, and consequently he will be defective in every act and judgment; for if the conscience is bad as to any truth, there is surely a want of conscience even as to the commonest details of life.
[p. 179] The Lord grant that those who see the true standing may seek to preserve the high state which it claims, and which grace confers with it!