THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVEN AS THE RESULT OF CHRIST'S ADMINISTRATION
[p. 258] THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVEN AS THE RESULT OF CHRIST’S ADMINISTRATION
John 3: 25 - 35; John 4: 13 - 14; Romans 8: 15 - 16
I want to say a word as to the Spirit. I desire to show how He has come as the result of Christ’s position as Administrator; so I have read this passage in John 3 because it shows the situation which governs the present time: “The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand” John 3: 35; hence what we have is an administration given over by the Father into the hands of the Son. “The Father loveth the Son” — that is a statement by the evangelist after his record of what John the baptist had said about Christ. John the baptist is at his highest, one might say, in this chapter. He had a most extraordinary position, one that afforded the flesh a rare opportunity. Perhaps no man had greater opportunity of giving out that he was a great one, and Satan was not slow to suggest to John that he should take advantage of it (Compare John 1: 19 - 27). Instead, however, of taking advantage of the opportunity of clothing flesh with the greatness which his mission gave him, John brings before us the greatness of Christ; he sets before us his appreciation of Christ. He says, “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice” John 3: 29. “The friend of the bridegroom” — that was John the baptist; he stood and heard. He was not exactly a disciple of Jesus; he was “the friend of the bridegroom”. The Lord said of him that no one born of women was greater than he — so that he represents the old order of things at its best; and what I want to show is that the new is not introduced in an arbitrary way, but in its moral superiority to the old; and its moral superiority is acknowledged by the old. I wonder if we have come to that? Have we arrived in our souls at the point [p. 259] when we recognise the moral superiority of Christ? “I am not the Christ”, John said, “Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ”. John 3: 28. He is not here sending out one to inquire, “Art thou he that should come?” Luke 7: 19 but gives us these remarkable words, “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled” John 3: 29. John arrived at the end of his course in this way; he arrived at the moral superiority of Christ; and you will never disappear voluntarily till you arrive there. There are many who will be forced to disappear. Antichrist and all his votaries will have to disappear, but they do not disappear voluntarily. I would encourage any one who is exercised about the spirit of antichrist, which is rampant at the present time, to read Revelation 19. There you find the beast and the false prophet taken alive in all their energy and cast into the lake of fire; they are not allowed to die an ordinary death. They are not subject to the Son; they are under wrath and are removed forcibly. How much better and happier, to see a man disappearing joyfully like John, to make room for Another whom he recognises to be superior to himself! And not only does John own that He is superior to him, but he says, “He that cometh from above is above all” John 3: 31. He recognises the Lord’s superiority and supremacy universally.
Thus the ground is cleared and the idea of administration is introduced. God, as it were, says, ‘If you have appreciated the heavenly One I appreciate Him more’. Hence the evangelist adds, “The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand” John 3: 35. The Baptist disappears joyfully to make room for the heavenly One, so he goes on to say “He that cometh from above is above all” John 3: 31. Now that is a most essential point to arrive at in the history of our souls. We shall never get on with one another, until we arrive at that point; when we do make room for those whom God has made [p. 260] superior to us. Do you make room for a leader or for a greater gift, or are you feeling that you are overshadowed by him? How much better, as valuing one who is morally greater, to give place to him joyfully! How much better it was for John the baptist, to make room for Christ! The question really is, am I to occupy the ground or Christ? Thank God the supreme position is occupied by Christ now! It is His by moral as well as personal right. John saw the moral superiority of Christ and gave way to the heavenly Man. Following on this we have the inauguration of a heavenly system.
This is seen in the evangelist’s statement, “the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand” John 3: 35. The Father entrusts the Son with the administration of all His wealth; and as I said, the coming in of the Spirit is the great outcome of that. The Spirit is characteristically the heavenly gift and by the coming in of the Spirit, heaven made itself heard. That is the next point I wish to say a word about. Heaven asserts its right to speak. Indeed, a great point is reached when it is owned that heaven has a right to speak in the gift of the Spirit. In the incarnation of Christ you have the heavenly introduced on earth, and its moral superiority to what is earthly is demonstrated. We should read the gospels in this light. Here is John the most honoured of men, and he stands to hear. It is not a question of his being a disciple of Jesus; what is being said is such that he stands to hear. He is detained by the Bridegroom’s voice. The superiority of the heavenly is demonstrated in the four gospels. Christ goes back into heaven, and the Spirit comes; heaven speaks through Him. First, there is a sound out of heaven as of a rushing mighty wind; for heaven must be heard. It is our wisdom to listen to heaven and to turn a deaf ear to every earthly voice. There is no earthly voice now entitled to a hearing; to listen to such is to be deflected from the line of God’s purpose, which has reference to heaven. First, in Acts 2, there was a sound but no [p. 261] articulation, simply a reminder that heaven is entitled to be heard. But when we come to Acts 9 there is a language, a known language spoken from heaven. Mary spoke to the Lord in the Hebrew language in the garden. We are not told the language in which the Lord communicated the message to her, but when He spoke out of heaven to Saul, He spoke “in the Hebrew tongue” Acts 26: 14. Heaven is now not only asserting its right to speak, but it is speaking. This is the dispensation in which the speaking is from heaven. David was not only a ruler but a speaker, so Solomon, also. David spoke of heavenly things. Solomon spoke of things on the earth; Christ rules in heaven and the One who rules, speaks, and He spoke to Saul in the Hebrew tongue. I only refer to that by the way to show what marks the present moment. It is a moment when the Lord speaks, and the speaking is sympathetic with men on earth. It was out of sympathy of heart that He spoke to Saul in his own language.
Now the gift of the Spirit is the expression of the administration, and it is commensurate with the Administrator. What is here is equal to what is there. The Spirit is presented in chapter 4 under the figure of water. Water is for the satisfaction of thirst; it is also employed as a means of cleansing (chapter 2). Standing water may be used for cleansing, but springing water is suitable for refreshment. So the Lord is pleased here to use the figure of springing water, and the obvious reason is that souls were in need; there was thirst — this woman was thirsty. What the Lord brings out is that the effect of springing water is to lift the soul into eternal life. Eternal life is in this sense a terminus, and reaching that terminus, it is then a question of what you have in the way of excess. The water is said to spring up to eternal life. After you reach that point you begin to reap; you cannot supply anything until you reap. Galatians 6 teaches us to sow to the Spirit, so as to reap of the Spirit eternal life. As reaping [p. 262] eternal life we have means — spiritual means — and now there is something for God to reap. He does not reap eternal life — it is His gift — we do; but you will never get a harvest if you do not sow. If you sow to the flesh you will reap a terrible crop — corruption; but sow to the Spirit and you will reap eternal life. Hence it is that the great gift of the Spirit is proposed to this woman. She had been drinking and thirsting — that was her history. Now the Lord says in effect, If you were in the light of the third chapter, you would ask from Me, and I would give you living water, and the water that I would give would be in you a fountain of water springing up into eternal life. That is the Spirit coming into the believer, taking hold of his affections, gathering them up and centring them on Christ. That is the mission of the Spirit on our side, on the side of need; and all issues in the great terminus of eternal life. Every spiritual desire finds its satisfaction there. “The water which I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life” John 4: 14. I do not say eternal life is in heaven, but it is morally above earth, it is “up” — the water springs up. Then God begins to reap His harvest, for the believer is now free to enter into His great thoughts which centre in Christ, according to His eternal purpose.
I would refer you for one moment to chapter 12 of this gospel. There, Mary has, so to speak, arrived at the terminus. She is not regarding Christ as a Servant or as a Friend now to help her in time of need; she is in His company. It is a resurrection scene, and the saints are there, sitting at the table with Him. Now it is a question of what you have got in the way of excess, what you bring into that sphere. What did Mary have? There are few believers who can take a pound of ointment to anoint the feet of Jesus, so that the house is filled with odour. Mark that! — the house was filled. It was expensive, but Mary had it. It is excess, and that is what God looks for. She was there in the sphere [p. 263] of life, but more than that, she could fill the house with odour. Had she sown to the flesh how different it would have been! it would have been another odour, but, she had, so to speak, sown to the Spirit. Not only did she reap eternal life, but she had that which would fill the house, Not only did the Lord Himself enjoy that pound of spikenard, “very costly”, but every one else there shared in it — the house was filled. Have we not seen a brother get up, and in the energy of the Spirit give thanks in such a way that every one is affected? See what Judas had in that scene, what he would introduce. He would have sold the ointment and given the money to the poor. He would leave the Lord out of all his calculations, and in his false piety think of the poor. We cannot care for souls till we give Christ His place! Judas would leave Him out altogether under the pretence of looking after the poor. The Lord says “the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always” John 12: 8. Let me assure you as I said, that you will never help the poor till Christ has His place. Not that Judas did mean to help the poor; he would no doubt have put the money into his own bag. Mary thought of the Lord. The Lord says, “against the day of my burying hath she kept this” John 12: 7. We do not know how long she kept that treasured box, but she kept it for one purpose — to anoint the Lord Jesus in view of His burial. She anointed him six days beforehand for His burial.
Now, I want to show from Romans 8 that the Spirit in the believer is not only given for His benefit in the way of income here, but in order that the Father should reap, so you have the word, “Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ... the Spirit of adoption [sonship], whereby we cry, Abba, Father” Romans 8: 15. I was speaking about administration. It is in the hands of the Son. Now what will the Son effect in administration? He will bring in what the heart of the Father seeks. That is what I would emphasise. He will bring in from [p. 264] you and from me, through His administration what the Father’s heart seeks. This leads me to what one might call the new position. Eternal life is the fundamental principle of the new position. Your feet are resting now on solid ground; you have arrived at what is prefigured in the third day of Genesis 1, that is resurrection. The dry land is separated from the sea; your feet are on dry land; it is the new position. In that connection I would refer to Joshua 5. In the new position the first question that arises is, am I suited to it? The flesh is apt to clothe itself with the power of the Spirit working in you in the way of life. You remember the Canaanites were in terror of the children of Israel; the power of God was with them, and the hearts of the Canaanites melted because of them. “Make thee sharp knives” Joshua 5: 2 — that is the instruction to Joshua. You are in danger! The very fact that the Spirit is working in you and that you are marked by power exposes you to the flesh; the flesh will seek to take credit to itself, for the very power that has effected your deliverance. The knives cause a wound, and the wound brings pain; in other words, there is suffering in the flesh. But the Israelites are told to wait till they are whole, that is, to come to resurrection in one’s own state. After that they celebrate the passover. Suffering in the flesh, you cease from sin. They celebrate the passover after they suffer in the flesh, which signifies that they had respect to the sufferings of Christ and not to their own sufferings. Then follows the old corn of the land. The manna ceases and there is new food suited to the new place; this food is Christ as the heavenly Man. As you suffer, you cease from sin; then you recognise Christ’s sufferings for He has suffered in the flesh. Then the old corn of the land, the heavenly Man, comes into view, and now you recognise Him as your Leader. The Man with the drawn sword appears.
Well! these are the circumstances of the new position — the position where God reaps what His heart is [p. 265] set upon. So here we get the Spirit of adoption; there is a new relationship. It is not now “springing up into eternal life” John 4: 14, but the Spirit is now free to act in your soul in connection with the new relationship. The relationship is bound up in the message sent to the disciples through Mary. We are to be companions of Christ — His brethren. His Father is our Father, so the Spirit acts in you in connection with this new relationship. There are entirely new circumstances suited to the place. The flesh is no longer intruding, and the Spirit, by which we cry, Abba, Father is thus free. Then next, the Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are of God’s children.
This is what I had to bring before you, beloved brethren, and I would say that whilst God is pleased to bless us richly and abundantly in the Spirit, He also would emphasise the place of our blessings, and what He looks for is response on our side, not only to the blessings, but to the place in which they are given us, which is heaven (Ephesians 1). But there is also the circle of the saints in which they are realised now. In Joshua 17 it is said that when the distribution of the inheritance is made, the daughters of Zelophehad come forward to Eleazar and Joshua to claim theirs; they say, “Jehovah commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren” Joshua 17: 4. Where do you want your inheritance? Do you want it alone? Those women wanted it amongst their brethren, and they got it there. In fact, the apostle Paul’s gospel announces the same thing. He was to go and preach “that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified” (Acts 26: 18). Do you want your inheritance in the world? If you do, you will become like the world, and you will carry your inheritance to adorn the world. The gospel proposes that you receive it among the sanctified; whilst down here your blessings are now to be enjoyed among the brethren. You want to enjoy the very best things you have with those you [p. 266] should love best, and they are the brethren. Presently we shall not only have it amongst our brethren, but we shall have it in the heavenlies with Christ — all together — and not the least part will be having all the brethren there, as the hymn puts it:
Nor what is next Thy heart
Can we forget;
Thy saints, O Lord, with Thee
In glory met. (160:8)
The book of Joshua not only shows the power to give the inheritance, but also the desire to have it. May the Lord give us to desire our inheritance and to avail ourselves of the power by which it is enjoyed!