THE HOLY SPIRIT'S WARNINGS AGAINST DEPARTURE
THE HOLY SPIRIT’S WARNINGS AGAINST DEPARTURE
Hebrews 2: 4; Hebrews 3: 7 - 9; Hebrews 6: 4 - 6; Hebrews 10: 15 - 18
JT The subject of the Holy Spirit, it need not be said, is of immense importance. This epistle was written, as many of us know, to the Hebrew Christians. Their interest in the truth was waning, and they needed to have the Scriptures brought to bear upon them, especially the warnings, the warnings given by the Scriptures to us. In Hebrews 2 the writer calls attention to the distributions of the Holy Spirit. It says, “God bearing, besides, witness with them to it, both by signs and wonders, and various acts of power, and distributions of the Holy Spirit, according to his will”. The allusion is to the coming of the Spirit as bringing what was needed in the service of God according to His will. The Holy Spirit is Himself a divine Person, exercising His own will, even as the Father does, and as the Son does, only He is here in holy subjection, as it is said of Him, “sent forth from heaven”. The point in this passage is the distributions of the Holy Spirit. The next passage is to call attention to what He says in the use of the Old Testament, how He uses the Old Testament in the ministry to enforce the truth, and then chapter 6 is to call attention to the fact that He may be partaken of and yet the person doing so may be lost. It is said, “It is impossible to renew again to repentance those once enlightened, and who have tasted of the heavenly gift, and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God, and the works of power of the age to come, and have fallen away, crucifying for themselves as they do the Son of God, and making a show of him”. Christianity is characterised by the Holy Spirit, and in such a meeting as this for [p. 138] instance, He is present and many partake of Him in an outward way, and yet may fall away. Chapter 10 refers to Him as witnessing. It is said, “The Holy Spirit also bears us witness”. It alludes to the testimony He renders from the Old Testament as to the forgiveness of sins. So that we have in chapter 2 a reference to the Holy Spirit and His distributions; in chapter 3, what He says in the Old Testament scriptures; in chapter 6, that He is partaken of as come from heaven, and yet persons who may have part in an outward or external way in what He ministers may fall away and be lost; and then in chapter 10, He witnesses to the great fact of the forgiveness of sins. He witnesses to it through the Scriptures, using the Scriptures in a typical sense, and that involves the typical teaching of the Holy Spirit in this chapter.
AR Would you say something as to the distributions of the Holy Spirit?
JT Well, as come down here, firstly, what the Holy Spirit did, even in the gifts, was to confirm the salvation spoken of by the Lord. He has in His distributions also furnished the assembly, the saints, with what is necessary in the ministry. Reference is made to what the Lord gives in Ephesians 4, but in 1 Corinthians 12 we have the word, “No one can say, Lord Jesus, unless in the power of the Holy Spirit. But there are distinctions of gifts, but the same Spirit”. The service of the Holy Spirit is alluded to there as making “distinctions of gifts”.
AR It says in Luke 24 that they were to wait in Jerusalem until they were “endued with power from on high”, alluding, I suppose, to the gift of the Holy Spirit so that they should be able for service. Would that be part of the distribution?
JT Just so. They were to remain in the city until they were endued with power from on high, and then the Spirit came fifty days after the Lord [p. 139] rose. They waited while He was here for forty days, and then ten more after He had ascended, as if the Lord was very deliberate in what He was doing in heaven, because He had gone up to exercise administrative power down here, and He sent down the Spirit.
Rem So that the Spirit having come, we are told, He “sat upon each one of them”. They were all assembled in one place, and there was the sound of breathing from God, powerful breathing.
JT The allusion is to the parted tongues: cloven tongues, as of fire, sat on each of them, pointing to the fact that each would be instrumental in the service, and then the Spirit gives them utterance, so that the saints were furnished by His presence and the service of God was carried on.
Ques It is described as “parted tongues, as of fire”. Does that involve the distribution of the Spirit?
JT “Parted”, I suppose, implies that they would be able to carry on according to what language it might be necessary to use.
WH Would all this emphasise the greatness of the system that had now been established in Christ in glory?
JT I think that is what is in mind. The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews, who is probably Paul, calls attention first to the Person of Christ, and then to the Spirit as we have it here in the beginning of chapter 2, the Spirit acting here as a divine Person distributing what is needed in the testimony and service of the assembly.
Ques How would that bear upon us in our local gatherings?
JT You mean our Bible readings, and the like. Well, I think the Spirit of God helps us in that and furnishes us. Throughout the Acts we have, I believe, practically every manner of service that the [p. 140] Lord is helping us to proceed with at the present time; and so it is said, in Acts 2, “And there were added in that day about three thousand souls. And they persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in breaking of bread and prayers”. The apostles gradually, by the Lord’s help, came forward with all that was needed in the service, and I believe the Lord helps the brethren to carry on accordingly. The idea of the week is contemplated in the Acts and in the Gospels as well. The first day of the week is noted and the prayer meeting too, and the reading.
HB It speaks in Hebrews 8 of “the true tabernacle, which the Lord has pitched, and not man”. Would the help of the Holy Spirit here come in to sustain us in the way of service?
JT The Lord is said to be Minister of the sanctuary there, and that would all be in the power of the Spirit, because the Lord in heaven operates in the power of the Spirit. The Spirit too, operates of His own will, but He is sent here.
FBW Would you say a word as to the great salvation which is spoken of, and the distribution of the Holy Spirit in relation to that?
JT The word “salvation” is used often. The idea of great salvation which is spoken of, would just be to stress what has already been said, and that the writer of the epistle intended to impress upon the Hebrew Christians what had been committed to them. How complete the salvation was, which at the first began to be spoken of by the Lord, but confirmed to us by those who heard Him. The word great is used, because the writer would impress on the Hebrew Christians what they had come into; what salvation the Lord had acquired at such cost for them. I suppose the opening up of things as Paul came into them would be the great salvation; it would be expounded in the epistle to the Romans, and even in other [p. 141] epistles.
TT It speaks about God bearing witness with them by distribution.
Ques Is this one of the means by which God attests the word and confirms it, “God bearing, besides, witness with them to it, both by signs and wonders, and various acts of power, and distributions of the Holy Spirit, according to his will”?
JT Yes; as we have especially in Paul’s ministry and Peter’s ministry, and, of course, all the apostles’. I suppose each of the apostles had his own line of ministry. They would all be furnished with signs. Mark, in his closing word in his gospel, says, “The Lord therefore, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat at the right hand of God. And they, going forth, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs following upon it”. That would be a brief allusion to the feature of Pentecost, and the wonderful work of God by the Spirit sent forth from heaven, and all that accompanied His coming, calling attention to the greatness of the salvation that God had brought in. And then, of course, the other thing is the ministry by the gifts, especially the prophetic ministry.
GE Would there be an indication of this in Acts 13, where the Spirit says, “Separate me now Barnabas and Saul [p. 142] for the work to which I have called them”. Is that according to His will?
JT Quite so. It was His own action, “Separate me”, He says. The allusion is to what was going on at Antioch, and much is said in chapter 11 as to what led up to it. The service of God was inaugurated at Antioch, and we are told that Paul and Barnabas had been there for a whole year teaching in the assembly, and then there were men there at Antioch whose names are given, who were said to be ministering to the Lord and fasting. And then the Spirit says, “Separate me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them”. Following that, the saints “having laid their hands on them ... let them go. They therefore, having been sent forth by the Holy Spirit”. The apostles did not send them forth. Modern missionary work is hardly according to what we have there. The Spirit sent them forth; the saints laid their hands on them. The assembly did not send them forth. It is never said to have sent them forth. The Spirit sent them forth, and they went out to the work. Acts 13 and 14 report what happened in the first great missionary enterprise of Barnabas and Saul. Having fulfilled the work “they sailed away to Antioch, whence they had been committed to the grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled”.
AR It was the direct action of the Holy Spirit in that chapter, indicating that the Spirit acts according as He will.
JT Well, that is what I was thinking. The Spirit Himself did it, and sent them forth. The saints were with Him in it and He recognised them in it. In all the journeying of the two apostles there would be much prayer for them, and of course, divine support in it would also be furnished, but all that is in keeping with what is presented in the Scriptures.
FM Do you think we still carry that on today?
JT The question is whether modern missionary work is according to the principles of Scripture, and whether the East, so much in mind in this kind of work, has not been reserved by the Lord for a further great work through the preaching of the everlasting gospel, the pre-millennial service shortly to commence. There has been little real result in the East, as compared with the West, from the work carried on there over the past three hundred years. There is nothing at all to be compared with what we get in the Acts.
[p. 143] Ques Do you mean that in the Acts the trend of the work of God was westward?
JT Quite so, and it has remained so. The persons who are really in true Christian fellowship in the light of the assembly in the whole of Asia are few in number.
Rem It is very striking that they sought to go to Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not.
JT Well, that is a good scripture to bring up now, showing how the Spirit of God is controlling things.
Rem The situation of Bithynia in Asia Minor was northward from the apostles’ position at the time.
JT Whereas the Spirit’s mind was that they should go to the West, because the man in Macedonia was towards the West.
Rem It was Europe that was in mind.
JT Quite so.
Ques Why does it speak of the “Spirit of Jesus” there? It says, “they attempted to go to Bithynia and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them”.
JT The Lord’s personality as a Man, is in mind. He says to Paul, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest”. We are told, “we see Jesus ... crowned with glory and honour”, which is hardly a Jewish reference. It is more in keeping with what we have in the gospel. The next scripture we read in Hebrews is to call attention to what use the Spirit makes of the Old Testament scriptures. It is said, “wherefore, even as says the Holy Spirit, To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts”. The allusion is to Psalm 95, showing how the Holy Spirit uses the Old Testament in the ministry of the New Testament, the ministry of the present time. We understand that the Old Testament has its place, but the New Testament, in fact the apostles themselves, have the first place in the whole matter we are dealing with, and, to be more specific, Paul has [p. 144] first place, because to him was committed the ministry of the assembly and the completion of the word of God. So it is clear that we ought to consult him in all matters that he deals with, and not make any Old Testament scripture of prior importance over Paul. The Lord said he is “an elect vessel to me”.
HB It says, “Wherefore, even as says the Holy Spirit, To-day if ye will hear his voice”. Does that bring in Paul?
JT Well, he is doubtless the writer here, but it is the Spirit’s voice we are considering. The Spirit uses Psalm 95 in the ministry. The word says means that.
WH So that the first scripture you refer to would suggest the endowment of the Holy Spirit in the way of gift and ability, do you think? And alongside of that you have the Holy Scriptures at the Spirit’s command to further the service of God.
JT Yes. The Lord cites Moses Himself, and puts the writings of Moses on a level with His own words, you might say, in John 5. At the same time, when the Spirit of God came and conversions began, the converts were not directed to read Moses, nor David, nor the Psalms, but it is said that “they persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles”, so that the apostles have priority in all matters.
AR In regard to the Spirit speaking through the Scriptures, would you suggest that He only speaks through the Scriptures, or might He use another channel?
JT Well, of course, He speaks directly. He said, “Separate me now Barnabas and Saul”. He spoke there.
AR But I was wondering whether we might experience such a thing today, the Spirit speaking directly as He did then.
JT [p. 145] Well, He is here still, as much as He was then. He is here, and we hope, at least we would expect, something like that even now, some word from the Spirit.
HB “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies”.
JT Quite so.
AR But would speaking through one and another in the assembly correspond? In Acts He spoke directly.
JT But even then He would speak through someone, because the Spirit did not become incarnate like the Lord Jesus, who became incarnate and spoke directly personally. The Spirit did not become incarnate; therefore, He would speak through vessels.
Rem He would speak through those who were ministering to the Lord and fasting. They apparently were the vessels the Lord was using.
JT The Spirit did not become incarnate. There is a great distinction to be noted in that sense, between the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus alone became incarnate, and through Him all the communications are made, so that He is called “the Word”. He is called “the Word” because through Him the speaking is done.
HKR Would His voice be heard through ministry?
JT Quite so. Hence the great importance of being ready, and in a state of soul suitable for His use. Those who read the Scriptures, of course, would perhaps be ready in a peculiar way, and their minds would be free from worldly influences. John speaks of being “in the Spirit on the Lord’s day”. It is a question of how much of that there may be now.
FI In speaking of those who persevered in the apostles’ doctrine, you did not mean to separate [p. 146] that from what the Lord said to them in Luke’s gospel, when He opened their understanding in relation to Moses and the prophets and Psalms.
JT Of course, they were all subject to the Lord’s service in opening their understanding. That included them all.
FI The doctrine you spoke of as the apostles’ doctrine would be based upon that.
JT It would. The Lord would be the Author of it, but the allusion is to the economy that had been set up in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit had come down from heaven, to dwell with the saints and be in them. The Lord had gone up. The Spirit remains with us, and that is one of the features of the dispensation, that He still remains with us, but there was constant unfolding until the completion of the word of God. There is no addition now to the word of God. Paul said he completed it but at the same time the Spirit is still here, and would minister through those whom He would use, but they would be limited to the word of God.
Ques Would the teaching of the apostle Paul be included in the apostles’ doctrine in Acts 2?
JT Speaking broadly, it would include all the apostles, but I think that the twelve are primarily in mind.
Rem The light of Christ as Head in heaven and the assembly on earth, would be additional to what is seen in Acts 2.
JT Well, it took years to develop the whole system of doctrine. It was years after that Paul himself was introduced, and that has to be noted. He unfolded the truth, but it is said that the Holy Spirit would guide them into all the truth. That was in mind, and all implies the completion of the word of God — all the truth.
[p. 147] GB Even when the Old Testament is referred to would what the apostle Paul gives us be final?
JT That is what I was saying. Final is the word, because it was given to him to complete the word of God. And then he had the doctrine, the ministry of the assembly and the ministry of reconciliation. It is very important for brethren to bear in mind that the apostles had their place.
HKR In chapter 2 we get the great salvation spoken of by our Lord. Here it says that the Spirit says, and the quotation you refer to is from Psalm 95.
JT The Spirit of God is here to witness and to unfold the truth; but at first it was spoken of by the Lord, and then in turn by those who heard Him: that would be the apostles. Now chapter 3, as we have already remarked, contemplates the use the Spirit makes of the Old Testament, and then chapter 6 contemplates that the Spirit may be in the company of persons who are regarded as participating in Him. The verses read speak of them as partakers of the Holy Spirit, and yet falling away. This is one of the most solemn things, and it is well that it should be pointed out. How solemn it is that we should have part in the things we are now speaking of, and yet be lost! The apostle says that it is impossible to renew them again to repentance.
WR Does it mean a person coming into the sphere where the Spirit is operating and getting light?
JT Yes, many have also taken on things. Judas undoubtedly carried on with the other apostles, the eleven, and did work similar to them, perhaps was used, and yet we know he was lost.
AR Would there be a difference between partaking of the Holy Spirit here, and being indwelt by the Holy Spirit?
JT A very great difference, and one that ought to be observed. One who is actually indwelt or [p. 148] sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise shall never be lost, cannot be lost. The Lord says, “They shall never perish”.
AR I suppose Paul is showing the danger of their being in the profession, and not in the reality of things.
JT Well, it says, “Thou seest, brother, how many myriads there are of the Jews who have believed” (Acts 21: 20); and again, “a great crowd of the priests obeyed the faith”, Acts 6: 7. We cannot be sure that they were all saved.
WH Does John allude to that, when he says, “They went out from among us, but they were not of us”, and he calls them ‘antichrists’. They are not simply quiescent, but they are definitely apostate; “they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame”.
JT These are most solemn things to be spoken of. The persons referred to come under the influence of the truth and fall away, as it says here.
Ques Your remark refers particularly to the Jewish nation. Would you say, that there is any application of this to some of the European nations?
JT Well, I would think Mohammedanism would suggest it; the whole of Asia Minor and North Africa were carried away into apostasy. Presently, we are told in Thessalonians, that God will send a strong delusion and men shall believe a lie, that they all might be condemned. We are coming to this terrible thing, that they all might be condemned, because they received not the love of the truth.
AR You suggest then that these become apostate that are spoken of here?
JT I think that is what is meant. John names them. Even now there are many antichrists.
Rem The work of God in the soul would be a necessity, to have the love of the [p. 149] truth.
JT Well, it would be a real work of God to receive the truth; in fact, one would have to be born again. The Lord says, “Except any one be born anew he cannot see the kingdom of God ... Except any one be born of water and of Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God”; first he cannot see, and then secondly he cannot enter the kingdom of God. These are all most solemn matters, and, of course that is what is in mind to call attention to, that we should be real, and sure of our salvation; “to make your calling and election sure”, as Peter says; sure to ourselves.
RMcA Does the Spirit bring in a similar warning in 1 Timothy, in saying, “But the Spirit speaks expressly, that in latter times some shall apostatise from the faith” (1 Timothy 4:1). Later on Paul says, “Laying these things before the brethren, thou wilt be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished with the words of the faith and of the good teaching which thou hast fully followed up” (1 Timothy 4:6).
JT Yes. Paul uses the word expressly there; “in latter times some shall apostatise from the faith”; that is an allusion to Romish doctrines.
WR Jude speaks of “The Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, in the second place destroyed those who had not believed”.
JT Paul, writing the second epistle to Timothy, speaks of this matter of apostasy. It is now at our doors.
HB It is a good thing to be amongst the saints, but we want to challenge our hearts as to our reality in divine things.
JT Yes, as has been remarked, making our calling and election sure. It is not only the light, but the work of God in the soul.
GL Would verses 11 and 12 of chapter 6 give us the contrast?
[p. 150] JT That is what I mean. It is well to have that before us, what the real thing is. “But we desire earnestly that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end; that ye be not sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience have been inheritors of the promises”. This is the positive side.
WB What is the force of the expression, “crucifying ... the Son of God”?
JT Well, I suppose it is to show that apostasy involves the entire renunciation of Christianity from its foundation, and those guilty of this took on the guilt attaching to Israel in regard of the death of the Son of God. Apostasy in effect made this their own act. The thing would be to nullify the testimony of the Lord Jesus. That is, of course, the great trend now in the anti-Christian teaching.
GE Would the reference to Simon Magus in Acts 8 help in this matter?
JT “A certain man, by name Simon, had been before in the city, using magic arts, and astonishing the nation of Samaria, saying that himself was some great one ... But Simon, having seen that by the laying on of the hands of the apostles the Holy Spirit was given, offered them money, saying, Give to me also this power ... . And Peter said to him, Thy money go with thee to destruction, ... Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter”. Whether he was converted or not, it does not state, but anyway there seems a link in the terrible situation that arose. He was already among those who believed professedly.
HKR We are told, that “Simon also himself believed; and having been baptised, continued constantly with Philip; and beholding the signs and great works of power which took place, was astonished”. Would that suggest that he had outwardly professed, but his heart was [p. 151] not affected?
JT He is not classified with the apostate as in Hebrews 6, and the Spirit would distinguish him. Although we cannot say very much, because it is left at that, yet he asked them to “Supplicate ye for me to the Lord”. It is left at that.
WH Does it suggest in Hebrews 6, that if we are not moving on we are in danger of going back into apostasy? It says, “let us go on to what belongs to full growth”.
JT Just so, but as to those receiving this epistle then, they did have the real thing of which we read in that chapter. Verse 9 reads, “But we are persuaded concerning you, beloved, better things, and connected with salvation, even if we speak thus. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work, and the love which ye have shewn to his name, having ministered to the saints, and still ministering. But we desire earnestly that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end; that ye be not sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience have been inheritors of the promises”. No doubt we are in what the apostle stresses as to the real thing.
I think we should go on to chapter 10, to see how witness is attached, or comes in, in the teaching; the idea of the witness of the Holy Spirit. The passage reads, “and the Holy Spirit also bears us witness of it”. That is not what He is saying, it is witnessing. The witness of things is a further thought. “The Holy Spirit also bears us witness of it”. “This is the covenant which I will establish towards them after those days, saith the Lord, giving my laws into their hearts, I will write them also in their understandings; and their sins and their lawlessnesses I will never remember any more. But where there is remission of these, there is no longer a sacrifice for sin”. The point is, that the Spirit is witnessing, not simply saying things which are in the Old Testament,
[p. 152] but witnessing about the new covenant, which involves forgiveness of sins. The new covenant provides that God will never remember their sins any more.
WH Is this witness a subjective feature in the soul?
JT I think it would be over against what Peter says of one who has “forgotten the purging of his former sins”. Such a one is in great danger, but one who has this witness of the Holy Spirit is certain that God will never remember his sins any more. It says, “Giving my laws into their hearts, I will write them also in their understandings ... their sins and their lawlessnesses I will never remember any more”. That is the witness, as if the Spirit of God clothed Himself with the power of testimony, testifying to our souls that God will never remember our sins any more.
FBW Is the witness to give us assurance in view of the ministry that is following on this, so that we may be able to go on to further ministry?
JT Quite so. It is a foundational thought and what a relief it is if any one is doubting if he is forgiven. Who can be a greater witness than the Holy Spirit, going to the length of quoting the Old Testament, to afford all the authority of it! That is involved in what we get in John 5: 45, about Moses; “Think not that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one who accuses you, Moses, on whom ye trust; for if ye had believed Moses, ye would have believed me, for he wrote of me”. That is remarkable. The authority of Moses is spoken of by the Lord.
AR It says, later, “we are not of them who draw back”. So that the Spirit’s witness would preserve one in assurance.
JT Well, that is what is meant, “we are not of them who draw back ... but of them that believe to the saving of the soul”. The use of the word soul in this epistle is to be noted, because it alludes to the feeling part, that you are not simply trusting in your mind, but you are affected feelingly.
JHP In Romans 8, it says, “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit”. Is that what you have in mind as to feeling?
JT Not quite. The Spirit is there too as in us eternally, I would say. Here He is speaking of the types, the prophets in the Old Testament, using the prophets, especially Jeremiah, as to the new covenant. How we are assured in that remarkable way by the Spirit bringing in the Old Testament.
Rem The witness of the Spirit in the present dispensation would be a final word.
JT Yes, in the sense that the Lord’s word was final when He was here. The Spirit of God is in Christianity, not only in speaking things, but in making us feel things; He operates in our souls.
Rem I was thinking of your references to the warning. In the first it is slipping away; in the second it is turning away, in the third it is falling away.