THE SPIRIT CHARACTERISING THE DISPENSATION
[p. 263] THE SPIRIT CHARACTERISING THE DISPENSATION
Romans 8: 1 - 17; 1 Thessalonians 4: 13 - 18; Ephesians 2: 1 - 6
JT These passages have been read to bring out what stands related to the Spirit in regard to us, and how His work leads us up to the final translation, which is the work of the Lord; and to shew how His power works in us on that plane or level, in view of righteousness, and how the upward move towards translation is connected with the Father and with Christ. It is particularly in mind to see how the Spirit marks the dispensation, like the type of Elijah and Elisha, that the believer should have a double portion of his spirit, and as he said, “if thou see me when I am taken from thee”, if he saw him as he went up, that elevation or translation into heaven is in mind in the ministry, and the question of responsibility has to be met, and the Spirit is the means, even to quickening our mortal bodies according to Romans 8: 11. In Thessalonians the Lord takes us up, but in Ephesians the Father is in view of taking us up now for the service of God.
Ques Could you say a little more as to the teaching of Elijah and Elisha?
JT Elijah knew he was going up and made preparation for what was coming, and the double portion of the Spirit was to be granted; the type runs on to the present moment.
Ques Can we have help as to Elisha’s service in 2 Kings and its present bearing?
JT Yes, it brings out in chapter 4 a type of the Spirit in the case of the widow needing help, she had to borrow vessels, and these are to be filled with the oil she had. This was to be enough for her to sell and pay her debt, and she and her sons were to live [p. 264] on the rest; it is a good example of what we have. The oil, that is the Spirit’s power, is acquired thus, and then she is to live too, and that is the teaching of Romans, to live in the Spirit, to “live ... on the rest”. The Spirit is mentioned many times in Romans 8, even to His service in quickening our mortal bodies in verse 11.
Ques Is the thought of life in a scene of adverse conditions seen in this dispensation?
JT Quite so, when gathered in assembly we are not then in our responsible conditions; it is then “And see! the Spirit’s power has ope’d the heavenly door”, so that we may get there before we are actually raised.
Ques Is that not a unique title of the Lord in verse 3, “His own Son”?
JT “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, having sent his own Son, in likeness of flesh of sin, and for sin, has condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law should be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to flesh but according to Spirit” — verses 3 and 4. It is a very touching thought, “his own Son”; we have a further reminder in the later part of the chapter — verse 32, “He who, yea, has not spared his own Son”; a like statement, but of equal force; and it occurs in Acts 20: 28, in a similar way, “the assembly of God, which he has purchased with the blood of his own”, that is Christ. The first reference, in verse 3, bears on what we have in mind, that the righteous requirement of the law should be fulfilled in us; they are not legal requirements, they may be thus in the Old Testament, and may be types, but nevertheless are legal, but “righteous requirement” is Deuteronomy.
Ques Is it a necessary feature for translation?
JT Yes, in Deuteronomy more than Numbers,
[p. 265] where we have what is on the level, before man, before we get to heaven, and the Spirit is the power.
Rem The Lord quotes from Deuteronomy when He answers the devil in Luke 4.
JT Yes, so as the Lord was meeting the enemy after He had been baptised it was a question of righteousness. I suppose the Lord would meet Deuteronomy righteousness as seen at the end of the wilderness in view of ascension.
Rem In Luke He “was led by the Spirit in the wilderness”. Is that like Deuteronomy?
J .T. That confirms what we are saying.
Ques We get the references to “Jeshurun” in Deuteronomy 32 and 33; are “the upright people” ready thus for the land?
JT Quite so.
Rem “Moses commanded us a law, the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob, and he was king in Jeshurun” (Deuteronomy 33: 4).
JT So it is “commanded us a law”; it is for us.
Rem As to the righteous requirement of the law, the Lord says to the baptist, “for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness”, Matthew 3: 15.
JT Yes, it is a question of righteousness in view of the assembly, not in view of ascension; we do not get that in Matthew; but Romans is Pauline, yet it also has the assembly in mind, for Paul always had it in mind. So it is necessary that our walk should be fully meticulous, that we should walk in the Spirit; to live in the Spirit is necessary, as due to God, before we attempt ascension.
Ques Does “his own Son” appeal to our affections, rather than a mere doctrinal statement?
JT I think Paul would enlarge on the thought of the Son being revealed in him, “that I may announce him as glad tidings among the nations”,
[p. 266] Galatians 1: 16. Peter only refers to this once; with Paul it was inward, but with Peter outward.
Rem So Paul says, “but in that I now live in flesh, I live by faith, the faith of the Son of God”, Galatians 2: 20; the sense of His love works out in practical righteousness.
JT He is stressing what we are.
Ques Is the “mind of the Spirit” fully sympathetic?
JT It always has Christ in view.
Rem God is thus vindicated in His own people.
JT Yes; the New Testament is the beginning of this for us; we should always begin there, and verify things in the Old Testament. The book of the Acts begins historically with their perseverance “in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles”, not Moses, yet the Lord places Moses’ writings on the same level as His own words.
Ques Would the double portion of the Spirit be like the first-born’s portion?
JT I think that. The Spirit of God knew what was in mind; it is really the portion that Christ has, and “God gives not the Spirit by measure” to the assembly. The person of the Holy Spirit is here in the assembly.
Ques “Thou hast asked a hard thing”, would that be a link with “his own Son”?
JT Elijah would tell us not to think lightly of the Spirit. He can do the hard thing; it is moral, and it required the death of God’s Son.
Ques Would “My father, my father”, correspond with “we cry, Abba, Father”?
JT It is a remarkable expression; the king of Israel said the same; he carried the thought down; it was right that it should be carried down; so it enters into our chapter as “we are children of God”, and therefore “we cry, Abba, Father” verses 15 and 16. — It is precious truth in the Old Testament, but precious [p. 267] now to us because we have the authority of the New Testament.
Ques Is “the mind of the Spirit” to affect our minds?
JT I will read from verse 3, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, having sent his own Son, in likeness of flesh of sin, and for sin, has condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law should be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to flesh but according to Spirit. For they that are according to flesh mind the things of the flesh; and they that are according to Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit life and peace. Because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God; for neither indeed can it be: and they that are in flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in flesh but in Spirit, if indeed God’s Spirit dwell in you; but if anyone has not the Spirit of Christ he is not of him: but if Christ be in you, the body is dead on account of sin, but the Spirit life on account of righteousness”. It is not merely the possession of the Spirit, but the mind of it; it means we take character from Him. His sympathy is there, and we learn how He detests the flesh.
Ques The trend of the flesh is death; would ‘trend’ be a good word?
JT Well, it does not describe “the mind” absolutely; the thought is that the Spirit permeates the Christian, He becomes more potential as ingrained in us. We learn it as He dwells in us, “But ye are not in flesh but in Spirit, if indeed God’s Spirit dwell in you”, verse 9. It is the character of the thing; it means the Spirit characterises us.
Rem John in Patmos “became in the Spirit on the Lord’s day”, Revelation 1: [p. 268] 10.
JT That is more than we have here. This is the bearing of the Spirit in the believer without obstruction; He can deal with sin and righteousness.
Ques Is it a characteristic setting?
JT Yes. If we compare John in Revelation 1 with this, he was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s day”; he was on a very high level, but he heard a voice behind him, calling him back to a lower level, what we have here. “In the Spirit” is an upper trend, as in Ephesians 2 and 3. But this is the wilderness, where the presence of the Spirit should characterise us.
Ques Would it be seen in Philippians 2?
JT That is a higher level too; the mind of Christ as becoming incarnate. This is dealing with the Holy Spirit here.
Rem His service is marked by righteousness, life and peace.
JT That is the point in this section.
Rem It is normal Christianity.
JT It is to bring out what Christianity really is; Romans is a fundamental epistle; heaven is not stressed in Romans, only to say “there is revealed wrath of God from heaven”, Romans 1: 18. It is righteousness in the wilderness.
Rem The law of God is not the ten commandments.
JT It is more than that, Romans 7: 25 is “I myself with the mind serve God’s law”; that is more than the ten commandments.
Rem So we learn to love His law.
JT Romans is the law of God. It is “for obedience of faith”, Romans 1: 5. The word “kingdom” is added to it, chapter 14: 17.
Ques Does it correspond to the type where Balaam sees the saints set up by God, “What hath God wrought!” Numbers 23: 23?
JT It comes in in the type after Sinai where the [p. 269] law was given; Horeb was more grace. But Deuteronomy must be consulted on the ten commandments, for there are touches there that are nowhere else; it is really the reasonable requirement of the law. We spoke yesterday of what John the baptist laid down when they said to him “What should we do then?” Luke 3: 10. John laid down what each should do; it was reasonable in each case, and so here the Lord lays down what is most reasonable for us as Christians, that we should have them laid down now; it is fulfilled responsibility, and should be seen in the Christian.
Rem Reasonableness arrived at in Romans 7, but there is no power till chapter 8.
JT Exactly. The “I, myself” emphasises the mind of the speaker. Chapter 7 is about himself; he is resolving something, to serve God’s law; it is very reasonable and very righteous and the only permissible thing for him.
Ques Does it involve love; Jesus loved righteousness and hated lawlessness?
JT Quite so.
Rem There is a need for a greater sense of responsibility as to these things.
JT I suggested it for that. As we said yesterday, we are confronted with continuance, and Christendom is failing, matters of the tax-gatherers and soldiers remain unsolved (for they are current problems); the devil will turn them into an excuse for socialism or Bolshevism or Nazism as the only means of meeting man’s need; his proposal led to the events of six or seven years ago, and the results are plain to all of us. Whereas we are responsible as Christians to represent God in unselfishness, and without greed and love of money, which take away what other people have.
Rem It is like Romans 12: 1, “present your bodies”.
JT “Which is your intelligent service”. The great point here is the Spirit. The Lord begs the Father for Him, John 14: 16, and in Acts 2: 33, He receives from the Father “the promise of the Holy Spirit”, which He sheds forth; in that lies the solution of everything.
Rem It is the only way to fulfil righteousness.
JT Yes. So the word is, “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”.
Rem The Spirit is forming in us divine love.
JT Yes, it is in mind here; Romans is the divine answer to all the divine proposals for testimony here on God’s part.
Rem So that “if Christ be in you” is testimony.
JT That is good. “The mind of the Spirit life and peace”, there is no need of Bolshevism or Socialism or Labour setting itself up; the “law of God” will adjust all these things if we are subject to it in the obedience of faith; nothing is possible without faith. “For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit life and peace”, the mind of the flesh is enmity against God, that is very plain; but the Spirit maintains God’s rights in the Christian. So in verse 9 it is a question of the Spirit, “But ye are not in flesh but in Spirit, if indeed God’s Spirit dwell in you; but if any one has not the Spirit of Christ he is not of him”. “Ye are not in flesh but in Spirit”, and then as to those who have not the Spirit of Christ, how solemn that is. Then verse 10, “but if Christ be in you, the body is dead on account of sin, but the Spirit life on account of righteousness”; the body dead, a corpse, that is how it is held, therefore there is nothing to fear from it.
Ques What is the difference in Colossians 1: 27, “Christ in you”?
JT It is similar; the Corinthians were “in Christ Jesus” — 1 Corinthians 1: 30, but the statement in Colossians 1 is basic. Colossians works out both positions.
Ques Are the righteous requirements being fulfilled coming into evidence in the saints?
JT That is why I read the passage in 2 Kings as to Elijah’s ascension, but the double portion of the Spirit is here.
Ques Is the “little power” referred to in the address to Philadelphia the Spirit?
JT I suppose so; as coming in there in Revelation, it is collective, it is the Spirit in the assembly. In Philadelphia we come to the real thing, the whole assembly having a little strength; it is not the state of an individual believer, but of the assembly.
Rem The Spirit is amply capable to see us through to the end.
JT Very good. So it says in Galatians 5: 16, “But I say, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall in no way fulfil flesh’s lust”, ye shall not, not ye ought not to.
Ques Would “these are Sons of God” be the saints in the testimony?
JT Just so.
Rem So verse 2 involves the preciousness of the work of God in the saints.
JT Yes. We come now to the thought of translation according to Thessalonians. The spiritual power is alluded to in Thessalonians in connection with the Lord’s action in view of quickening, which links with the Spirit’s action in Romans 8. It does not say as in Ephesians 2 the Father quickens. Those fallen asleep are raised, not quickened. “We, the living who remain, shall be caught up”, the Lord meets us on the way. The Spirit operates on the earth, and He changes us; on account of the Spirit [p. 272] we are quickened; we then stand on the earth, and the Lord comes down to take us on; He meets us on the way; we are already on the ascending line. The Spirit is unhampered in us; His activities quicken us and cause us to join in with all the saints.
Rem It is a great triumph over the enemy.
JT The enemy is defeated by resurrection; the Lord raises the dead; the Spirit quickens the living; according to Romans 8: 11, the Spirit does it and the Lord joins in.
Rem Like Rebecca who says, “Who is the man that is walking in the fields to meet us”?
JT Good. We are quickened because of the Spirit dwelling in us; a remarkable tribute to the Spirit as dwelling in us.
Ques Does it involve our bodies being changed?
JT It is attributed to the Spirit to lead us up to the very point of translation.
Ques Is it the climax of the Spirit’s activities?
JT Yes, it seems so.
Ques Is Enoch a type of our translation?
JT The Lord will do it, “for the Lord himself, with an assembling shout, with archangel’s voice and with trump of God, shall descend from heaven”; it is an assembly matter.
Ques Does the Lord’s power catch us up?
JT The Lord says He will do it Himself; the Spirit makes us ready. The meeting in the air is all the Lord’s matter.
Ques Do the Spirit’s activities lie behind Colossians 1: 13, but translating “us into the kingdom of the Son of his love” is the Father’s act?
JT That fits in with Ephesians where we are now. In Colossians quickening is seen running on from the power of resurrection. In Ephesians 2: 4 and 5 it is because of God’s great love that He “has quickened us with the Christ”, and then the parenthesis,
“ye are saved by grace”, so that quickening is included in the idea of saving. I understand that this refers to what is current at the present time; what the Father does. We are not to be behind in the privilege of going into heaven in our minds now.
Ques Is it a collective matter?
JT It is to fit us for the enjoyment of love’s realm; we do not want to go up there alone, but we are to go “together”.
Rem Conditions here are suited to translation.
JT Yes, it is here now in the service of God, in the power of the Spirit, the Father’s Spirit.
Ques Why are we quickened first, and then “raised us up together”?
JT This is not resurrection, but elevation; each one is raised separately.
Ques Does “made us sit down together” imply a restful state?
JT Yes, it is proper to the service of God, as in Acts 2: 2, there is dignity in it.
Ques We are quickened and raised with Christ in Colossians, but here in Ephesians 2 we are quickened in view of this service?
JT Colossians is faith really; we have got the power in us; but Ephesians is connected with the Father and His quickening power.
Ques Is it to give us capacity?
JT The spirit of Ephesians is not to leave the brethren out, the word is “together”, it is the Father’s work, it is “with Christ”.
Ques Does “together” refer to Jew and Gentile united, or to the position of the saints in Christ Jesus?
JT The saints are in mind.
Ques Is it in contrast to “you, being dead in your offences and sins” — verse 1?
JT Yes, and then as to love, “And you, being dead in your offences and sins ... and were children,
[p. 274] by nature, of wrath, even as the rest: but God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love wherewith he loved us”; I refer to the trend of Ephesians, love is behind it all. It means that what He set out at the beginning is now reached in the unity of the saints; because of that “great love” we have the brethren with us.
Rem ‘Nor we alone, Thy loved ones all complete’.