THE ADVANTAGES OF THE SPIRIT’S DAY
P. Martin
I have been thinking a little as to the advantages of living in the Spirit’s day. The Lord Jesus is speaking of them here in these passages. There are certain advantages, even publicly, in the Spirit’s day; although things publicly may be so out of order, yet we are conscious of the One whose hand is over all in restraint. That was never so in the old dispensations in the same way. But when the church is gone, and the Spirit indwelling the assembly has gone also from this scene, what it will be like in the world publicly we can hardly understand; when evil is released without restraint. A witness of it, I suppose, was made known at the cross, when the whole of the world’s system joined together in opposition to our Saviour. And what the world wanted then they will have when the Spirit’s restraint has been removed.
But I was not thinking so much of the public side, though it is important. I was thinking of the advantages for the believer as living in the Spirit’s day. The Lord Jesus is speaking to His own here of a time in which there was to be known in the disciples the moral effect of the presence of the Spirit here in a dispensation that supersedes all those that have gone before.
By extension, through wonderful grace, we also have our part in this time. He says, first of all, In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you”. What a privileged moment we are in; it is not only that the Spirit is bringing witness as to the place that Christ has, as great and as glorious as His witness is (the Lord has spoken of it and He is speaking of it in these chapters) but “In that day ye shall know”. It seems to me that there is something in the believer that is in the conscious enjoyment of the witness of relationships that exist between divine Persons themselves. What a privilege that is. John says at the beginning of this gospel, “we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father, full of grace and truth”, John 1: 14. They contemplated that, and later he says in the same chapter, “No one has seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father”, John 1: 18. I believe John got that from the knowledge that comes from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit—the only-begotten Son, not who was in, in His pathway here as true as that is, but John in writing says, this is the place that He has; He had it then when He was moving here, and He has it still. You say to John, How do you know that? He says, “In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you”.
John was living in the enjoyment of the contemplation of relationships that give character to the whole of this dispensation. The Spirit has brought this, not only as truth, as precious as that is, but He has brought it as witness to the affections of men, that there might be an answer to it in faithfulness to Christ. “He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me”. What an answer, how worthy he is of it. He says, “ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you”. In that day, relating to this day, we have the light of the fact that the Lord is in the Father’s affections in a place of such distinction. And He says, “ye in me”, we have a place in His affections. Oh that I might live in the enjoyment of it more; that I have a place in His affections! How it would preserve me from dropping to any lower level while we are moving through this scene. It bears immediately on what comes afterwards, as to having His commandments and keeping them—why? Because I know I have a place in His affections, not only that I have been told it but that I am in the enjoyment of it. I could never be in the enjoyment of it without the presence here of the Spirit. What a privileged day we are in, that we can live and move here in the enjoyment of the place that we have in the affections of Christ. But then He says, “and I in you”—He has a place in our affections—how the Lord Jesus values that.
He says in chapter 16, “in that day ye shall demand nothing of me—verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give you”. They had asked the Lord for everything when He was here; any question, any difficulty they brought it to Him.
What a privilege to still do that, dear brethren, every difficulty that arises let it be that we take it to Him first. But He says, “In that day ye shall demand nothing of me—verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give you”. This brings out the affections of the Father for Christ. You say, Well, I thought it brought out the affections of the Father for us—of course it does, but we will come to that later. But it brings out the affections of the Father for Christ. Persons are here asking in His name. John says in writing, “your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake”, 1 John 2: 12. I love that touch; the Father loves to forgive; God loves to forgive because of what Christ means to Him. Your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. What a value that name has in the divine affections, the name of Jesus. He says, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name”. This is more, I think, than just (if one might speak carefully) finishing our prayers with the reference “in the name of the Lord Jesus”, as important as that is. For all that we do, in word or in deed, we are to do in the name of the Lord Jesus, but asking in His name brings in a touch of the anointing, that the glorious Man who is in the presence of the Father is the One who is giving character to the requests that are being made to the Father. They are in keeping with Christ and His interests, in keeping with His the desires. They are asking in His name, they value that name and the Father values that name. So He says, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give you”.
Because those requests have been made in keeping with the Father’s affections for the Son. But then He goes on to say, “In that day ye shall ask in my name; and I say not to you that I will demand of the Father for you”. How precious, dear brethren, He does not need to demand of the Father for us, because we are asking in His name the Father is so ready to give. He says, “I say not to you that I will demand of the Father for you, for the Father himself has affection for you”. We are to be conscious of that. When Daniel was here he was a praying man, but an angel had to come and tell him that he was loved. We are not in that day, we are in the day in which the consciousness of the Father’s love is known in the believer, because the Spirit is here. What an advantage we have, what blessing that we should know something of the relationships that exist between divine Persons and move here in the light of them. And that we should be conscious that whatever we ask of the Father in His name He is going to give it, because it is in keeping with His own feelings for Christ. He says, “In that day ye shall ask in my name; and I say not to you that I shall demand of the Father for you, for the Father himself”. What a touching reference that is; “the Father himself has affection for you, because ye have had affection for me, and have believed that I came out from God”. Here were men who had kept company with Him, they had affection for Him.
In the Spirit’s day as persons are indwelt by and making way for the Spirit, there are men moving here who have affection for Christ. I believe these things, dear brethren, regulate our walk and keep us. He that has this hope in him purifies himself (John says). Whilst that must clearly relate to the hope of His coming, and yet he goes further than that, ‘having this hope in Him’ is more than His coming. Christ is the hope of the church; He is the One that holds the affections of men, those who have their part in the assembly. Christ is the One who holds the affections of men, “every one that has this hope in him purifies himself”, 1 John 3: 3. We are moving through a scene of moral corruption; I suppose as we go through it we are feeling it more and more every day. What awfulness marks this scene, but “every one that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure”. May we live, dear brethren, in the enjoyment and in the conscious appreciation of the advantage of the Spirit’s day, for His name’s sake.
Word in meeting for ministry, Dundee
9 December 2008