THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT
[p. 171] THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT
Acts 13: 1 - 3; 1 John 5: 6, 8; Hebrews 10: 15 - 17; Romans 8: 16
I have it before me to speak about the witness of the Spirit, and have selected these passages because they set out the features in the main, of that witness; but I refer to the Acts in order to call attention to that in which He bears witness; so that we may have before us the conditions in which the Spirit witnesses amongst the people of God. The Book of the Acts furnishes us with the conditions in which the Spirit witnessed at the outset. These conditions can never be attained, I need not say, as they then existed, but nevertheless, the Scriptures contemplate that there should be the continuance of the witness of the Spirit. And so in the addresses to the assemblies in Revelation, we find that in the last four assemblies addressed, the idea of overcoming is introduced before we have the speaking of the Spirit; that is to say, the overcomers in these assemblies furnish the Spirit with conditions in which He speaks. And so one is encouraged to urge overcoming personally, and I may say, collectively, in order that there may be conditions in which the Holy Spirit witnesses.
Now these conditions indicated in the Acts contemplate at the outset the saints together in one place. Those who were thus together had been under the Lord’s tuition; they had seen how He had operated in His service, and that in Him there was a vessel in which the Holy Spirit could operate without hindrance. A wonderful opportunity! an opportunity that none since have had. It was by the Spirit of God He operated. They saw, or could have seen, that, as anointed of the Spirit, He was carried into the wilderness to be tempted; that is to say, the Spirit of God was in a vessel in perfect freedom to take the initiative, although, after the temptation in the wilderness, the Lord is said to have returned in the [p. 172] power of the Spirit. He returned into the sphere of His service in the power of the Spirit, indicating that that service would be carried on in the power of the Spirit; and so, in the synagogue of Nazareth He said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor”. He thus announces that His service was to be carried on in the power of the Spirit; and so those who companied with Him could see how He moved in the power of the Spirit and how the Holy Spirit operated here in a vessel. And so, as risen from the dead, He charged the apostles by the Spirit; that is what we find in the opening of the Acts. They would thus be reminded that the dispensation should be in the power of the Spirit.
I want now to touch for a moment on the conditions that prevailed in Jerusalem, because Jerusalem was to be primarily the theatre of the Spirit’s testimony. The apostles were to abide there until they were clothed with power from on high, so that the first great witness of the Spirit was in that city. It is well to take note of that, that the first great testimony of God was rendered to a city, shewing the place that cities have in the mind of God. They are centralisations of population; they represent the power of the world; they represent what Satan does, and what man does, and what he is capable of, “Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth”, Genesis 11: 4. That is what was in the mind of man, and God came down to see that city and that tower, indicating that He shewed His interest in men, even though they had turned away from Him. So we are told in Genesis 10 that Nimrod “began to be a mighty one in the earth”, and the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and that the builder of Nineveh was of the kingdom of Nimrod; “From that land went out Asshur and built Nineveh”. Nineveh was a city therefore which had its origin in a man who was a [p. 173] mighty one upon the earth — one who represented the energy of man supremely. There is nothing about a city to attract divine interest save as we understand what God is, as infinitely above man’s will and man’s sin. So we find later that He sends the prophet, His servant Jonah, to preach to that city. I refer to that so that you might see how God regards cities, and how He, in the infinitude of His grace, rises above man’s guilt, and bears witness to His grace where guilt is at its height. And so the Lord commanded the apostles to remain in the city of Jerusalem until they should be clothed with power from on high; signifying that He would have a witness there, and He would have it in heavenly power; it should lack nothing; it should be representative of God as set forth in the ministry of Christ and in the death of Christ, and they were to begin in Jerusalem.
Well now, the conditions are seen in the opening of the 2nd chapter of Acts; they were together in one place. I do not know that the same expression — “in one place” — is found again in the Acts. What you find here is that the Holy Spirit came to persons who were great enough morally to receive Him; and as the Holy Spirit sat on each of them, they began to speak as the Spirit gave them utterance. They were morally qualified to be the vessels of the Spirit. Now, what I would point out in regard of the conditions at Jerusalem is that you find in the succeeding chapters a representation of all that with which the people of God are familiar at the present time in the way of gatherings, In chapter 2 there is first the breaking of bread in houses; Scripture gives us no clue as to the number of houses, but there were three thousand at least in Jerusalem who were believers on the day of Pentecost, and the Holy Spirit says that they were together, although He does not say “in one place”. They were together characteristically; wherever two of them met, they were heart and soul one; wherever a dozen of them met, they were heart and soul one; wherever [p. 174] fifty of them met, they were of one heart and one soul; and those two, or those twelve, or those fifty, were severally vessels through which the Holy Spirit witnessed. The witness permeated the city, and it was alleged that they were filling Jerusalem with their doctrine. In order to provide for this, the Lord in His wisdom had ministered in houses; He had set before the eyes of His apostles how houses could be employed in the testimony, and furthermore, in feeding five thousand persons at one time, He had directed that they should be divided up into a hundred groups. They would thus have become familiar with the divine way that, whilst the transaction was one — five thousand being fed at one time — they were fed in one hundred companies; so that those in Jerusalem would understand that the administration of the Spirit — the witness of the Spirit to Jerusalem — should reach Jerusalem thus. And so we find, as I said, in chapter 2 the breaking of bread in houses, or, as it should read “in house”, meaning that that was the character of the thing. That there were plenty of houses available, there cannot be a question. Then, in chapter 5, we find that the apostles preached the glad tidings that Jesus was the Christ, in houses, as well as in the temple; and furthermore that they taught in houses, as well as in the temple, verse 42. We see, therefore, that Jerusalem was permeated with the testimony of God, both in the way of preaching in houses and in the way of teaching. Houses, therefore, became available for the Spirit to witness in in the way of announcing that Jesus was the Christ, in the way of announcing the gospel, and in the way of teaching; in other words, there were gospel meetings in the houses and readings in which the apostles and others taught. Then, passing on to chapter 12, we find that the whole assembly is praying. Peter was in prison, and prayer was made for him by the assembly; and then, as he is released, doubtless in answer to their prayers, he goes to the house of Mary,
[p. 175] which was one of the places of prayer. Thus we can see how the customs that God has brought about amongst is marked the early believers. There was the breaking of bread, there was the preaching, there was the teaching, there were the prayer meetings in houses, and finally there was what we call the ‘care’ meetings — a meeting which obtains different designations amongst us but which implies that the interests of Christ are taken care of in wisdom; where those who have the care of things on their hearts draw together to take counsel, and, indeed, to discuss them. In chapter 15, we read of “much discussion having taken place”. From the book of the Acts we see that the Holy Spirit operates in all these relations in meetings. Referring again to chapter 15, it says that the apostles and elders came together to consider the question which had arisen as to circumcision, and “much discussion having taken place”. Peter stands up, and speaks, and conveys the mind of God, and James stands up and confirms it; and then the apostles and elders, with the whole assembly, endorse the decision; and then the Holy Spirit is said to be with them. “It seemed good”, they say, “to the Holy Spirit and to us”. It is encouraging thus to see that the things that God has revived — the customs, the means by which the Holy Spirit operates amongst us — marked the early christians; and in no case is the care meeting the least important. In it we take care of the interests of Christ and we find His support so that right principles and right practices are maintained, and thus there is transparency amongst the saints. One of the most baneful things that one observes in moving about amongst the saints is the handling of matters by a group. Every believer in the assembly is a priest, and the priests are the custodians of the law, and every believer is responsible to see that the principles governing the assembly are maintained.
Now I want to shew how it was worked out at Antioch, for God was now moving out amongst the gentiles, and [p. 176] the gentiles were not to be deprived of the means of witness which marked Jerusalem. So we find at Antioch conditions as in Acts 1; there we have the composition of the assembly given by name, and in this chapter we have the composition of the assembly in its leading representatives given by name. We have thus a precedent established for recognition amongst us of those who are marked by spirituality, by intelligence, and by devotedness. It is due to such that they should be recognised, and their recognition is for our advantage; and so we are told who were there, and what they were doing. What were they doing? They were ministering to the Lord. Was that all? No, it was not all, they were fasting. Men who minister to the Lord and fast are recognised specially in heaven. They have God before them; they do not consider for themselves; they deny the flesh, not only in its bad sense, but even in its legitimate sense. When the Lord spoke of going to the cross to die, Peter said, “Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee”. If Peter said that to the Lord, he would say it to himself; when the time came for martyrdom, for sacrifice, he would consider for himself. How easily we allow the Lord’s interests to lapse out of consideration for ourselves! There is not the denial of the flesh, there is not the fasting. There may be the outward form and order that marks the service of God, but without the fasting it must lose its power, and we must cease to become the vessels of the Spirit; whereas where the ministry is maintained by fasting, the Holy Spirit has a sphere and conditions in which to operate, so that it says, “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them”. How great is that position! I have already alluded to overcoming in the Revelation, and I believe that the conditions answering at the present time to what we get in Acts 13 depend on personal overcoming. If all in the meeting are not marked by it, certainly those who [p. 177] lead should be marked by it; and if those who lead are marked by it, we shall find the Holy Spirit acting — it may be designating those who are to minister. There is great need for ministering; there is great need of preaching and teaching; and, if the conditions exist, we may be perfectly assured that the Holy Spirit will nominate certain ones to maintain the ministry. I have been thinking lately of the work of the ministry, how the Lord would have it maintained, and how essential that it should be maintained if the saints are to be cared for and fed. I believe that if the conditions exist, we shall find the Holy Spirit putting forward those whom He has qualified for the work of the ministry. Has the work of the ministry a place with us dear brethren? It has a great place in heaven, “Having ascended up on high, he has led captivity captive, and has given gifts to men”, Ephesians 4: 8. What for? “For the perfecting of the saints; with a view to the work of the ministry, with a view to the edifying of the body of Christ”. God would have us “all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, at the full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ”. Mark the expression, “the fulness”; it is no question of His deity, of His Person, but of His fulness, that is to say, what has come out in Him as Man; the ministry is that the saints should arrive at that; and hence the great importance of ministers nominated by the Spirit; and I believe we shall have them, as the conditions exist.
Now to go on to the other three passages we read; I want to shew you what the witness of the Spirit is in regard to the death of Christ, for if He has vessels or ministers for witnessing, He will emphasise the death of Christ, we may be sure of that. I need not say that the fundamentals of the truth are being assailed, and so John says here, “We know that the Son of God is come”. He brushes aside ignominiously all speculation as to Christ (for there was much even then), and he says, “we know”.
[p. 178] It is not here a question of Christ coming into this world and going out of it; the point is that He has come into the sphere of testimony and has not left it. How did he come into it? He came in by water and blood — a wonderful witness to divine forethought, for how could God work out a righteous, holy order of things in this world without the means of cleansing? And so the Son has come in with the means of cleansing — the water and the blood. The water is put first, because John is dealing with the state of the saints. The water deals with the flesh in the saints; the blood deals with sins on the conscience; but it is the Spirit, he says, that beareth witness. The Lord would lay it upon us to maintain that witness — the witness to the death of Christ — to what it means; and if the Spirit has secured vessels or ministers, they will begin with that. They will make prominent what the water means; they will not admit of the allowance of the world and worldly principles amongst the saints. Christ has come in by water and by blood, and it is the Spirit that beareth witness; so that, if there be the conditions, the Spirit will bear witness to the significance of the water and the significance of the blood. We shall have, therefore, a ministry, an insistent ministry, on the import, not only of the blood of Christ, but of the water. The water comes first here, and I need not say that is what is most essential as we are gathered together. As brought together in the light of the assembly, as in 1 Corinthians, what is needed is the water, and that is what Paul applied. His first letter to them is the water, it is a question of bringing to bear on the saints the death of Christ as dealing with the flesh: the Corinthians were fleshly, they were carnal.
Now as to the witness of the Spirit in regard to the love of God; unless the water is effectual, we shall not be prepared for the love of God; we may go on with the light, but we shall not have the love. You will remember, no doubt, that remarkable meeting between Moses and [p. 179] Aaron on the mount of God, Exodus 4: 27, Moses had the light, for God had shone upon him in the bush and had spoken to him, but Aaron had love. On the way back to Egypt, by the way in the inn, the Lord met Moses and sought to slay him — a most remarkable thing! Here was the vessel of the light; the bush had burned, he had turned aside to see it, and God had spoken to him. He had enlightened him, and yet He sought to slay him — a most serious matter! The light did not protect him, for God will not suffer the flesh in us, even though we be enlightened. Was it a feigned attempt on the part of God to slay Moses? Not at all, brethren, He meant it. Why? Because of the circumcision. Moses had neglected the circumcision; he had allowed the flesh. With all the light that he had, the Lord sought to slay him; but Aaron was on his way. Jehovah had said to Moses, “Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart”, Exodus 4: 14. If you meet the brother who has affection, he is glad to see you. So the Lord had directed Aaron to go out to meet Moses, and he met him on the mount of God. Aaron was a divine provision, for the mountain of God is a place where things are provided, and one of the most important features of the provision is the brother who has got affection. And so it says, when Aaron met Moses on the mount of God he kissed him; Aaron had the love. Moses had the light and Aaron had the love; these two must always be combined, they must never be divorced; the light and the love are indissolubly in our Apostle and High Priest, and are they not to be combined in the priestly family? Are we to be content with light without the love? We shall be, unless we use the water; unless the flesh is dealt with unsparingly, we shall not have the love, we shall cultivate the flesh, and family relationships, and shall retain these traits of the flesh that distinguish men in this world. Hence the [p. 180] necessity for the water, or we shall never have the love. Can we do without the love? Can we do without our Aarons, those who love us spiritually, who express genuine affection for us? We cannot. If we could have heard Moses pray that night, I am sure we should have heard him give thanks to God for Aaron; he was a divine provision on the mount of God; he had the love. I do not deny that Moses had love, for he had, especially later; he was a wonderful man. But that is how the scripture presents it here: Moses had light and Aaron had love and now they are combined, they are combined in affection, for Aaron kissed Moses. So unless we apply the water, unless the witness of the Spirit in regard of the water and the blood is effective, we shall not have the witness of the Spirit in regard of the love of God.
In Hebrews 10, after the death of Christ in its bearing upon our consciences is dealt with, we have this remarkable statement, “The Holy Spirit also is a witness to us”, and what comes out is a quotation from the Book of Jeremiah. The Old Testament is brought into present service. It is not “it is written”, or “as saith the prophet” here: it is a question of what the Holy Spirit says — what He is saying at the present moment for us. Jeremiah is brought into the present moment, and made to be a vessel for the witness of the Spirit; hence the great value of the Old Testament, it is brought in livingly by the Spirit who wrote it. You say, Jeremiah wrote it; it is not said so here: the Holy Spirit wrote it; but here it is that the Holy Spirit bears us witness; He bears a present witness as to the new covenant. “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says”. What does He say? Many things; but above all He will tell us about the love of God. He will keep that before us. He will keep the water before us, He will insist on that; He will keep the blood before us in its bearing on the conscience, for “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin”; but He will keep the love of God before us — He is a [p. 181] faithful witness. He brings in the Old Testament and makes it speak to us livingly. The Holy Spirit revels in what is new. God had spoken of old about something new, and now it is brought into living freshness by a quotation from Jeremiah in the mouth of the Spirit of God. The Spirit witnesses to us, and the witness really implies the love of God. I am speaking of the new covenant now in the sense in which it is unfolded to us in the Lord’s supper; the Lord says “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you”. All that God is in Christ — the love of God which is in Christ Jesus — is available for us; it is all in Christ, and the Holy Spirit witnesses to us that it is there, and more than that, He brings it into our hearts and sheds it abroad there.
There is just one other thing I would speak of, and in a way it is the most touching of all, and that is, that “the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God”. I think you can see the order of these Scriptures. The witness of the death of Christ maintains us in purity and with a good conscience; the witness of the covenant maintains us in the light of the love of God. We cannot do without the love of God, and there should be response in the brethren in the way of affection in the light of the love of God. Aaron kissed Moses, we saw, then they went together. There was a witness, for witness on the part of God is not only a question of light, but of love; they went together to Pharaoh; Moses did not go alone. But now we have in this verse in Romans 8 the Spirit witnessing with our spirit — it is the Holy Spirit in us. He witnesses with our spirit, that is to say, He makes us conscious in our spirit, that we are the children of God. The spirit belongs to God, I need not remind you, and it returns to God; He is the Father of spirits. Every man, woman and child in the world has his spirit from God; and God knows every one; but what comes out here is that the Holy Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are the children of God.
[p. 182] We have the witness, we have the consciousness. He makes us conscious that we are the children of God, “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together”.
You will thus see, dear brethren, the great gain of maintaining conditions for the Holy Spirit to witness in, and maintaining that witness amongst us of which these scriptures speak. And I would again refer to the addresses to the assemblies; these conditions amongst us depend on overcoming, and overcoming is in individuals — “he that overcometh”. The overcomer maintains the link with God, and God comes in through him, and the Holy Spirit witnesses through him. I believe the overcomer in all these four assemblies will insist on the first principles, he will insist on being in accord with what obtained in Jerusalem — the breaking of bread, the preaching, the teaching, meetings for prayer; and there would be care for the saints. It is out of all reason to think that the saints should not be the subjects of care, and that the government of God should not be maintained amongst them. This requires wise counsel, and every bit of experience should be called into action, so that the mind and will of God should prevail and that there should be conditions in which the Holy Spirit can witness.