THE INNER SPHERE
[p. 310] THE INNER SPHERE
I was thinking, dear brethren, of that feature of the truth that we may call the inner feature. I have in mind, as illustrative of it, the record in 2 Samuel 2 of the capture of Jerusalem by David. The Old Testament is designed to illustrate for us, in God’s mode of illustration — which is better than any we can devise — the truth of the New Testament; so that the truth is not only presented spiritually in the New Testament, but is illustrated spiritually. Thus the servant is wonderfully furnished so as to be independent of what man, as such, may present or devise.
Many of you will remember that, in that record in Samuel, Joab, David’s captain, is omitted. His service is recorded in Chronicles, whereas Samuel, or the writer of that book, occupies himself solely with David’s own exploit; that is to say, we have presented to us, in type, the direct work of Christ in our hearts. Not what is done mediately, but done directly, as if, in this book, he would take charge of the work Himself, all else depending on it. And so you will find, in the endings of the gospels, stress is laid on the Lord Himself; as we read, “He himself stood in their midst” Luke 24:36 It was not a representative, although He does operate through representatives. And so David, we are told, took the stronghold of Zion and called it the city of David. First it is stated it was the city of David, meaning that it had already acquired that character; a city which was marked as belonging to David. It is God’s way that things are, and then they are named, so that the city — for it was a city within a city — is called by that name; it was evidently peculiarly David’s city. In Chronicles we are told that Joab rebuilt the rest of the city;
[p. 311] that is to say, the outer or governmental part — Jerusalem, the great capital, from whence light and government radiated in Israel; but within that there was, as it were, another city called the city of David.
Now these are two great features running right through Scripture; that is, the inner and the outer. I want to speak of the former, for unless we understand the inner, however much light we may have, however much order, we shall not rightly represent God. And so it is added that “David took the watercourses” — a term significant enough spiritually. For inner operations the watercourse is most essential. And then it says he fortified the citadel and built inward. There is the idea of a fortified sphere, making another most important side to our position, for if we value the inner working of Christ in our hearts — and the sphere of His operations is our hearts — if we value His building, His working there, we shall be concerned to preserve it intact, and hence the idea of fortification.
I am not now referring to fellowship, although fellowship does involve defence, corresponding with walls. Our fellowship is a defence, but I am not speaking of that, although fellowship may be spoken of as involving the inner and the outer. The outer is marked by death; as it is said, the fellowship of the blood of Christ, and the fellowship of the body of Christ; 1 Corinthians 10. We should have in mind what that means, and I refer to the Old Testament. In the outward appearance of the tabernacle, everything, I may say, as one looked at it, as it is described in Exodus, reminds you of death. The court of the offerings (when the law was complied with) was a veritable shambles. We are so accustomed to the terms that we take in little of what was there. It was death, and death in volume. Besides that, there were the second and outer coverings. Besides the actual slaying of the offerings, there was the standing [p. 312] presence of the coverings indicative of death, that death had taken place. The outer covering denoted that death had taken place, the offerings as slain denoted that death was taking place. So it is that Christianity outwardly, as presented in Scripture, is marked not only by the fact that death has taken place, but that it is taking place. There is nothing inviting in that for man naturally. It is repugnant to him; he avoids it. But then, inside the sanctuary, as you know, there were other things; although the testimony of death entered in, there were other features, positive things. Outside, everything pointed to the judgment of God, what was due to God. Inside there was evidence of what was of God in a positive way — the things made of gold. And there was what I may regard as answering to the fellowship of the Spirit — the curtains of fine linen. What was inside touches on what I have in mind.
And so David built inward, and as you value what is thus effected, you fortify it. As I have been saying, fellowship is fortification — an outer one. The kingdom is a fortification, but that is God’s matter. Fellowship is our matter. Fellowship implies that I am brought into a partnership with others. John speaks of it as fellowship with one another, whereas Paul treats of the character of the thing, the fellowship of the Son of God, of the blood of Christ, of the body of Christ, of the Spirit. It is thus our sphere, and it implies defence. But then there is the inner thing. As I said, David built inward, and as I value that, I fortify.
Now I hope you follow what I am saying, for it is of the very last importance in view of the mode of the enemy s attack. The constant tendency is to reduce the level, the standard, and so we find, in John’s gospel, from the beginning to the end, stress is laid on what is inward. So you find, as an example, that the two who followed Jesus (chapter 1) abode with [p. 313] Him where He abode; and then as regards the individual, you will see in the woman of Samaria how stress was laid on what was inner. “The water that I shall give him” says the Lord, “shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life” John 4:14 Then in John 7 you find living water flowing out from within. The inner thing is stressed throughout, and so in chapter 20, the final chapter (chapter 21 is an appendix) and the greatest, the disciples are in a certain place, and the doors are shut. There is a sense of something positive being there. What was there, beloved? They had just received the most wonderful message — heavenly light.
Mary Magdalene came to them in a most ordinary way, without any pretension. She told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her — that He was ascending to His Father and their Father, His God and their God, they being His brethren. They had that light. Things were being presented spiritually. The possession of that light necessitated protection. The fortification was that the doors were shut; mark — doors; it is a spiritual thing, referring to each of our hearts as the sphere of Christ’s operations, involving most precious things, the most precious light. And are they not a guide for us? Yes, beloved, they are, and this is what I have in view, that we might all be on our guard at the present time as regards what we have received, what we have heard, and that our doors might be shut; that we might be free from fleshly intrusion, and thus be ready for the Lord to lead us inward into the holy and eternal things of God.
Now I bring forward this scripture in Timothy to enforce what I have said, and I want to point out that there is a particular relation between 2 Timothy and John’s gospel. You will observe that the apostle here refers to himself as such in regard to the promise of eternal life. Now John begins with life almost at [p. 314] once; he speaks about the life being in Christ — “in him was life” and then he adds, “And the life was the light of men” John 1:4 In the spiritual operations of God he brings in the positive — the source of light in life. The life was there first; God had promised it before the world began, we are told. I have no doubt that what God promises is in answer to desire — in this case, anticipated desire, the desire for life. But then the promise took form; it took form in a substantive way; the life was in Christ down here. He was it, and as in Him down here, it was the light of men. He had anticipated it in view of becoming a Man; He dwelt in the habitable parts of God’s earth, and His delights were with the sons of men (Proverbs 8); now He is amongst them, and being here as the life, the light radiates.
I wish now to show you from this chapter in Timothy how this life works out in man; how that as in Christ it was “the old commandment” The apostle John says in his epistle, “I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment, which ye have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye heard” And then he says, “Again, I write a new commandment to you, which thing is true in him and in you” 1 John 2:7,8. Now, dear brethren, I would say this, that what tests us is the new commandment. Many shelter themselves under the old commandment and say it suffices. Well, John says, I will not take that away from you. It is the word which you have heard. We have all heard things; we ought to hold to them if they are of God. John would assure those to whom he wrote that he would not detract from what they had heard, which they had from the beginning. But he says, “Again, I write a new commandment to you, which thing is true in him and in you because the darkness is passing, and the true light already shines” 1 John 2:8 And so the question with me is,
[p. 315] Is this new commandment verified in me? Is the darkness passing from me? Is the true light now shining in me? For it is a question not only of what is true in Him, but in you and me. Thus I would stress that, whilst we should hold tenaciously to what we have heard, which was from the beginning, we should not put that between us and the new commandment. This latter refers to the work of God in us.
And so Paul here speaks of life as a promised thing, and that he was an apostle in relation to that remarkable feature — the promise of life. Life is a substantive thing; it is not a theory. Many may theorise upon it, but the thing is there; it is substantive. It has come within our range in Christ, in a Man; and by the work of God it is in the Christian. The apostle Paul had that in view, for he says here that life and incorruptibility have come to light — have been brought to light in Christ.
Now I want to speak briefly about Timothy in regard to all this, and what is to be said first of all about Timothy is that, although evidently he is the best and most advanced, yet there was a weakness, as we may see in the history of David in the latter half of 2 Samuel. He there typifies the work of God in the people of God, but throughout you have marks of weakness, yea, of sin. This is a humbling fact; we have to admit it; but having referred to that, I wish to speak of what was in Timothy. The chapter greatly stresses what was in Christ. You will notice how many things were in Christ; that is the balance to what I am now emphasising. It is a most steadying feature in our days to hold to what is in Christ. What is in Christ is fixed; it cannot be disturbed by any condition in us.
But, as I said, I want to speak of what was in Timothy, so that we may inquire how much this inward work is proceeding in us. The apostle speaks to him in the most endearing terms. One covets [p. 316] being so lovable as to draw forth expressions of affection. Again we are reminded of John, for he was the one whom Jesus loved. Timothy stands out here in a like position. He was a feeling kind of man. There are very few of us, I fear, who have spiritual feelings. Tears denote feelings, and so the apostle called to mind his tears. He was a lovable brother. The first thing spoken of as in him is faith. “Calling to mind the unfeigned faith which [has been] in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and in thy mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that in thee also” 2 Timothy 1:5 Now, beloved brethren and sisters, what about this? I do not wish to occupy you unduly with yourselves; but remember that the new commandment is that which is true in Christ and true in you. The new commandment is a present thing; the true light now shines. Now what about this faith? Hear again John, for John insists on believers being believers. It is a question of unfeigned faith, faith of a tried kind, faith of a hereditary kind, faith that has come down through two generations. It is a known faith. There is only one faith, but that faith takes different forms in different persons, and certainly this was a very unusual kind of faith — a faith that had come down through two generations, and was now in the third. The apostle was persuaded that it dwelt actually in his beloved child Timothy; it dwelt there — it was in him. It is the first great feature. Faith, beloved brethren, takes us out of this world into God’s world, and I want every one to look into himself to see whether it dwells in him.
Well, the second thing is gift. And what you will observe here is that it needed rekindling. There was no question about its being there. It is called “the gift of God which is in thee” 2 Timothy 1:6 In how many of us is there gift lying dormant? In Timothy, wonderful brother though he was, gift was lying somewhat dormant. And so the apostle urges him to rekindle it, to stir it up.
[p. 317] And what a wonderful history his gift had! So with every gift, not only is it a spiritual thing, but God prepares the vessel for it and then places the gift in it. This gift to Timothy, we are told in the first letter to him, is connected with prophecy, and it was conferred by the presbytery, showing that the mind of God went before in regard to this brother, and the gift was confirmed by the elders, by experienced persons.
It is a question of its history, and of its quality; I do plead for quality. God is much more concerned about quality than about quantity. The apostle here refers to the gift which was in Timothy by the laying on of his hands. It was connected with Paul; it had come through the one whose precious ministry was being given up on every hand, that which stands for the very highest quality. At that time it was being surrendered. Whole provinces were turning away from Paul, and he urged on Timothy that he had gift by the laying on of his hands, and that it was not to be dormant.
Thus I would urge the stirring up of gift, whatever it may be. It is a question of what you have; if you have got the thing in you it should come out. Rekindle the gift of God in you; it was a veritable gift of God that came by the laying on of the apostle’s hands, a special quality, specially designed, and it should not lie dormant; it was too valuable, too precious, and so is every spiritual gift of God. So I would urge on the young brethren, and on all, to look in to see what we have — what may have marked you in earlier days — whether it is now dormant, when the need is so great.
Well, there is just the third thing, that is, “the good deposit” Timothy is enjoined to keep the good thing by the Holy Spirit, “which” says the apostle, not dwells in you, but “dwells in us” And here I come to unity — to the inner thing in its universal [p. 318] bearing. Let the good deposit, for that is the word, be kept by the Holy Spirit. The determined and inveterate efforts of the enemy are directed to rob us of this. And I would inquire how much we know about keeping things by the Spirit. We have the Collected Writings, the Synopsis and much more precious ministry from God, but that is not what is alluded to at all. In this particular epistle, “books” are valued. The apostle enjoins Timothy to bring “the books, especially the parchments” 2 Timothy 4:13; but he is alluding here to something very different. He is alluding to the Spirit that dwells in us. Well, let us face that; what do we understand by keeping the good deposit by the Spirit which dwells in us?
As I said, the efforts of the enemy are strong and persistent, in order to rob us of the good that is in us by the work of God. We certainly should be able to tell what is good. It is sad to see so much uncertainty among the people of God about this and that. The truth is, there is a great want of exercise, of using our senses; we are to exercise these so that we may discern between good and evil; so that we may not be found putting good for evil and evil for good. The Lord supplies us with the example: “Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good” Isaiah 7:15. Now of the good thing I am not to let one whit go, but I am to keep it by the Spirit. I am to keep the good thing by the Spirit which dwells in us. It is the presence of the Spirit in a collective sense. The same Spirit that dwells in you dwells in me.
I am concerned, as others are, about the inner thing — the inner work of God which alone can keep us at the present time. However much light we may have, apart from this inner thing we cannot be representative of God in this world.
May God bless His word!
Pages 319 - 451 — “The Assembly Marked by Intelligence”. Scotland, 1928 (Volume 93).