THE SPIRIT IN RELATION TO THE APOSTASY
[p. 400] THE SPIRIT IN RELATION TO THE APOSTASY
Jude 19 - 21; 2 Peter 1: 21; Genesis 8: 8 -12
I have in view to speak about the Holy Spirit, in regard to the great apostasy. Most of us are aware there is such a thing, and that it has long existed. It wag spoken of by Paul — “a falling away” he calls it, but Jude and Peter write expressly in view of it, and as meeting it. Whilst both epistles contain much instruction relative to the apostasy, and which every believer should have, my thought is to confine myself to what is said of the Spirit and His relation to it.
I speak of the Spirit as a divine Person here on earth; one indeed, who is said to be the “Comforter”, whom the Lord Jesus, as having entered into heaven as Man, asked for from the Father. In John 14: 16, 17 the Lord says, “I will beg the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever, the Spirit of truth ... he abides with you, and shall be in you” — what a transcending fact for us! His presence here is not interfered with by any adverse circumstances arising in the history of God’s people on earth, He abides with us. And so at the end, as remaining with us, He is here in relation to the apostasy, or in relation to us as surrounded by it. He is here as the Comforter in relation to the church, and He takes account of us in view of the apostasy which necessarily affects us.
So I selected these two letters as dealing expressly with the apostasy. Jude had in mind to write of the “common salvation” Jude 3, but he had to turn aside from that because of the influx of evil. He writes of evil men having crept in unawares, and he describes their features, and in verse 19 sums them up as “natural men, not having the Spirit” Jude 19. It was quite obvious from what he had said before, that they had not the Spirit, but as saying that, it raises the question in our minds as to persons who have not the Spirit. It says in Acts 19,
[p. 401] that certain who were true believers had not received the Spirit, some indeed, who were far different from these evil men of whom Jude speaks. Paul found at Ephesus certain believers and when challenged they say to him, “We did not even hear if the Holy Spirit was come” Acts 19: 2. And there are many in christendom today, who if challenged, would have to admit that they did not know that there is a divine Person here called the Comforter. Paul says to the men of Ephesus, “To what then were ye baptised?” Acts 19: 3. And we would do well to ask ourselves that question. Today, baptism has become a mere religious rite, and men know little of its import. I speak thus because of the importance of looking into matters; of being readers and learners, reading the Scripture in holy dependence on the Lord, who gives understanding in all things. These men answer Paul, “to the baptism of John” Acts 19: 3 — they were intelligent so far. The Lord Himself draws attention to John; he says to the crowds in Luke 7: 24, “What went ye out into the wilderness for to see?” and then adds this tribute “A prophet? Yea I say unto you, and much more than a prophet” Luke 7: 26. And what was his baptism? It was a baptism to repentance. He might call you a viper, if you went out to him! If you deserved it, he would certainly call you that. Pharisees, Sadducees, tax-gatherers, soldiers — he had a word for each class. He was a minister dealing with evil in its roots; as he said, “The axe is laid unto the root of the trees”, Matthew 3: 10.
The Lord Jesus on one of those days arrived at the Jordan. How heaven watched that occasion! John seeing Him coming says, “Comest thou to me?” Matthew 3: 14. Jesus answered, “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness” Matthew 3: 15. The baptist says, “I beheld the Spirit descending as a dove from heaven and it abode upon him ... he it is who baptises with the Holy Spirit” John 1: 32,33. So Paul says to the believers at Ephesus, “John indeed baptised with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him [p. 402] that was coming after him, that is, on Jesus” Acts 19: 4. How many there are who are baptised and the idea of repentance has never come into their hearts. And even repentance is not all, for John told the people that they should believe on Him that was coming after him: “In the midst of you stands, whom ye do not know, he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to unloose” John 1: 26,27. I dwell on the baptism of John, because it enters into what I have in mind to speak of at this time. He says of Jesus, He is “preferred before me, for he was before me” John 1: 30. He points to the eternal personality of Jesus; he says, He was before me. Paul brings John’s testimony in to enlighten the twelve men at Ephesus; and so it says, “when they heard that, they were baptised to the name of the Lord Jesus” Acts 19: 5. And Paul laid his hands upon those believers, and they received the Holy Spirit (Acts 19: 1 - 6). These men of Ephesus were very different from the wicked persons in Jude 19 who had not the Spirit. But we have to accept it that there are some who will not be saved; there are lost people in the world; there are apostates. If our gospel is hid, says the apostle, “it is hid to them that are lost” 2 Corinthians 4: 3. But the challenge to us all is, “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit?” Acts 19: 2.
The Holy Spirit appears in Genesis 1, as brooding over the face of the waters; He is there ready to act. Then in chapter 6, He is again spoken of as “striving” with men — “My spirit shall not always strive with man” Genesis 6: 3. So we should not look on Genesis as merely historical, but as prophetic and typical. The verses read in chapter 8 have a remarkable reference to the Spirit. He is seen as a dove as He descends and remains upon Jesus; the reference here, therefore, is intelligible to christians; Matthew says He came down as a dove, and so, too, do Mark and Luke, Luke saying further “in a bodily shape like a dove” Luke 3: 22. John the baptist saw the Spirit coming thus, as we have seen. I speak of these details because I want you to become [p. 403] conversant with the Spirit, and with His relation to the divine economy into which we are baptised: “The name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” Matthew 28: 19. These verses in Genesis are most beautiful to me in view of this instruction. In verse 6, we read that Noah sent forth a raven which did not come back to him; Noah opened the window of the ark “which he had made” Genesis 8: 6 — Noah made it; he represents the economy. Then in Genesis 8: 8, we read “he sent forth a dove from him” suggesting the intimate relations of the Spirit with the other divine Persons in the divine economy. But He is here a divine Person, in this humble, subservient way; He has come forth “from with the Father”. He has come down perfectly conversant with all that is in the mind and heart of the Father; He has come down to testify of Jesus; all that is brought down and made the property of the assembly. So the dove here went abroad, and finding no resting place for the sole of her foot, came back to Noah, and he took her in unto him. He not only opened the window, but it says “he put forth his hand, and took her, and brought her to him into the ark” Genesis 8: 9. These are beautiful touches as to the holy divine Persons to whom we are baptised. How the Holy Spirit links with the Father, and becomes conversant with the whole position in the ark, as well as with the whole position down here. Noah after seven days sends forth the dove again, and she returns again in the evening, speaking of the daily employment of divine Persons. God is introduced in Genesis as working by the day in order to prepare a place for man; and in Acts 2, we have seen the Lord adding “daily” to the assembly. So here in figure, the Holy Spirit is seen coming back in the evening — the day was finished, so to speak, He had been about all the day, and He comes back now with the result of His activities. How important are the days of the divine activities! What results there are in the evening! May we not ask ourselves, What result will there be from our days? No [p. 404] servant should serve without having results for God in view. The dove here typically had a good piece of work that day as she returned with the olive leaf plucked off in her mouth. I think the first sending forth here might refer to the Old Testament day; it says by the law is the knowledge of sin, the results are negative, and the judgment remains. But the second day brings positive results; the olive leaf was not negative; it was not merely repentance; it was something plucked off — it was drawing from the tree, from the root. In Judges 9: 9 the olive tree says, “Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man ... ?” The present period and the results for God from His work and testimony are in view in the olive leaf; whether in regard to an individual, or a meeting, or the whole church — there is evidence of something which honours God. The third sending out and non-return of the dove points to the millennium.
Now I pass on to Jude 20 and 21; he says, “But ye, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, awaiting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life”. The apostle exhorts the saints to keep themselves in the love of God, by praying in the Holy Spirit. Jude has in mind, while exposing the apostates, to show how the Holy Spirit can be employed as we are in prayer. Ephesians urges the same thing: “praying at all seasons, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6: 18). How the heart is touched as thus in prayer! What new thoughts come before one, what new necessities, as the heart is enlarged by the Spirit in prayer! That is the sure way to be kept, in the midst of the apostasy. The Lord says to the assembly in Philadelphia, “I ... will keep thee out of the hour of trial” Revelation 3: 10 — but this is keeping us in the midst of it; we keep ourselves in the positive enjoyment of the love of God, as we are found praying in the Holy Spirit. That is the position contemplated in Jude.
[p. 405] Then Peter, speaking of the transfiguration, he being an eye-witness of the glory of Christ on the holy mount, says, “we have the prophetic word made surer, to which ye do well taking heed (as to a lamp shining in an obscure place) until the day dawn and the morning star arise in your hearts; knowing this first, that the scope of no prophecy of scripture is had from its own particular interpretation, for prophecy was not ever uttered by the will of man, but holy men of God spake under the power of the Holy Spirit”. 2 Peter 1: 19 - 21. So that the word of prophecy is all of one piece, it is of no private interpretation; it is the product of the Spirit; the holy men of old spoke and wrote in the power of the Spirit: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and all the minor prophets, and David too, spoke as in the power of the Spirit. The testimony of prophecy forms a living reality proceeding from one mind. Are they not worth reading? Yes, indeed, as from the Holy Spirit, showing what a wide field He covered even before He came here, as sent forth from a glorified Christ. God had Christ in view from the outset, the activities of the Holy Spirit had that in view from the very beginning, and so He spoke through the prophets, one and all. If we are to understand the apostasy and how we are to be kept in the presence of it, we must read the prophets. All are included in the testimony of the Holy Spirit to us, so that we may be conversant through the Spirit, with all that is coming in. If we are found here in the midst of the many antichrists, it is of all importance that we should be kept in rest; as understanding the prophetic testimony in the Old and New Testaments we shall know what is coming, it will not disturb us. The spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is discerned of no one. And again, “we have the mind of Christ” 1 Corinthians 2: 16. Jude speaks of those who have not the Spirit, but he also recognises those who have the Spirit, and he directs them. Let each challenge himself as to whether he has the Spirit, and if we are in doubt let us get to the Lord who will not [p. 406] leave us in uncertainty. God is a giver, He delights to give. Let us not deny Him this blessedness, for “It is more blessed to give than to receive” Acts 20: 35. Thanks be to God for His unspeakable free giving!