THE PRACTICAL ANSWER TO THE SPIRIT AS THE TRUTH
[p. 448] THE PRACTICAL ANSWER TO THE SPIRIT AS THE TRUTH
John 16: 13,14; John 8: 31,32; Luke 1: 1 - 4; Numbers 15: 32 - 36
I was thinking, dear brethren, of the Spirit of truth. The Lord Jesus is said to be “the truth” objectively; He says, “I am ... the truth” (John 14: 6) and the Spirit also is said to be “the truth” (1 John 5: 6) as I may say in a subjective sense, in order that there should be correspondence here in the saints with Christ, while He is away; therefore the Spirit, as here, is said to be “the truth”. The Spirit is also “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:17), conveying what is spiritual in regard of the truth, and He enters into it in all its parts as worked out in the saints, so that what is amongst us is not merely verbal doctrine, but is quick and powerful with the Holy Spirit; He makes it living. So that it is altogether different from what scientific men may have from investigation. By investigation of the creation they obtain certain facts, but they are merely that; they are devoid of the Spirit, of the fulness and sap which the Holy Spirit would impart; but He is not here to unfold to us the creation. He could, of course, unfold a depth of knowledge entering into the physical system that is around us, but that is not His mission; He is here in regard of the truth in its hearing on men as it is unfolded, as I said, objectively in Christ; and He gives it power and pungency and buoyancy that cannot be found in ordinary science so-called. Scientific men have not stopped at investigating the handiwork of God; they have attempted to investigate Himself, and have intruded into things which they have not seen, and laid unholy hands on divine Persons, evolving a system covered by a scientific name, as such words go, called theology. What was evolved of necessity had to fit in with human thoughts and conceptions,
[p. 449] and they laboured apart from faith; not that one is accusing anyone, or denying that beloved children of God were engaged in it, but the whole principle is that of science so-called, and therefore it is not the Spirit of truth. Without the Spirit of truth we cannot have the truth according to God, however clear the letter may seem to be. Divine things, and especially divine Persons, must be treated of on the principle of faith, and by the Spirit of God; “for what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God” (1 Corinthians 2: 11 - 12); and, in verse 10, “the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God”. Even as regards material things a true apprehension of them is on the principle of faith, for it is “by faith we apprehend that the worlds were framed by the word of God” (Hebrews 11: 3).
So, dear brethren, what opens up to us, is that the Spirit of truth is come. It is not simply an historical fact; it is an abiding fact. It is historical, but the point is that He is come, He is here, and He is here abidingly. He is here to guide us into all the truth, and to show us things to come. It is one of the most stupendous facts that can be stated, and bears on every true christian at this time that he may be freed from the error that is current. We are living in days marked peculiarly by error, and hence John’s ministry emboldens us and renders us independent of and superior to the pretensions of man’s mind at the present moment. John in his first epistle tells even the little children, “ye have the unction from the holy one, and ye know all things” (1 John 2: 20). No scientific man can presume to that.
So we have this remarkable statement by the Lord Himself: “when he is come, the Spirit of truth, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from [p. 450] himself; but whatsoever he shall hear he shall speak; and he will announce to you what is coming. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and shall announce it to you” (John 16: 13, 14). That is the great general position, dear brethren, which enters into this meeting, as it does into all such meetings: the Spirit of truth being here is available to open up things and to show us things — the things of Christ. Over against that, as I said, is the working of error, of which the apostle warns the young Thessalonian christians; he says, speaking of some, that “because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved ... God shall send them strong delusion” (2 Thessalonians 2: 10,11). There is a moral reason for this for they “believed not the truth” (verse 12); but the apostle speaks to the Thessalonians as chosen through “sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” 2 Thessalonians 2: 13. It speaks of that kind of belief, that lies in the sanctification of the Spirit, not merely what is acquired by earnest study, right enough as meditation and study are; but the belief of the truth which holds us and stands us in good stead against error is that which goes with the “sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth”. So that the love of it is there; it is received, and believed in sanctification; it is held in holiness. As Peter says, “we have believed and known that thou art the holy one of God” (John 6: 69). In no sense is holiness so imperative as in regard to the reception of the truth, for our minds are so treacherous, and we are so capable of receiving it mentally, that it becomes unholy; it becomes mixed with human thoughts. It is in the sanctification of the Spirit that belief of the truth has its true place.
So I read in John 8 in order that we might see that not only is the truth unfolded by the Spirit, but that it may be accepted in a spurious manner, and not really received in the love of it or believed in through sanctification of the Spirit. The Lord has in mind that not only shall the truth be unfolded, and even [p. 451] shown, but that it should be known: “Ye shall know the truth” He says. This leads me to remark on how things are among the people of God, and how they should be, and how the Lord intended them to be. He intended that amongst His people there should be knowledge of the truth, such as I have been speaking of, so that His people should never have to ask, “What is truth?” that they should never be under the influence and power of laxity or indifference, but that the truth should be known amongst them, even though it may not be known in its fulness, for we only know in part, but that the truth should be known in principle where the Holy Spirit is, that there should be spiritual capability, a most important matter, for we have the instincts and the power which render us capable of knowing it. It is thus, in principle, that the truth as a whole is known. In virtue of the Spirit being “the truth” and “the Spirit of truth” there is that here, which, at least in principle, answers to the truth as presented in Christ. That is to say, the fruit and result of the epistles, and of the ministry of the apostle, correspond to the gospels. The gospels were intended to confirm the result of the ministry, showing that the ministry was such as it was designed to be, that the saints were left with the knowledge of the truth; they had it in their possession, The apostles under God left the truth among the saints; and that, as I said, is what John’s ministry largely sets out. So this word of the Lord’s is cited by John as being spoken to certain of the Jews which believed on Him. They had heard the wonderful unfolding recorded in this chapter. One of the most marvellous parts of Scripture is the eighth chapter of John. They had heard what He was saying, and many of them believed on Him. He said to those who believed on Him: “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye [p. 452] shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” John 8: 31,32. You see, dear brethren, how another phase comes in here. “If ye continue in my word ... ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” John 8: 31,32. It has to be admitted lamentably, that almost immediately after the wonderful ministry of the Spirit through the apostles, this verse was neglected; there was not the continuance in the word of Christ. It was the continuance in the word of Christ which would have saved the brethren, the early disciples, from that system of doctrine of which I have spoken; they would have known the truth, and the truth would have made them free; but instead of that a way was opened for men’s minds; so we have theological christianity. It is not that the Holy Spirit has been wholly out of it, or we should not be here today; the Holy Spirit has graciously been with the assembly all the time right down to the present moment, and has made the most of what there was, and has brought about a wonderful recovery for us. But, dear brethren, there was the intrusion of man’s mind, and consequently we have the spurious christianity that is current, and which has been so for centuries. Now the Lord would call us out of it and bring us back (if we have not been brought back) to the fact of the Spirit of truth; and as continuing in the word of Christ we know it. It is no question of saying that I think this and another thinks that; but we know the truth; “Ye shall know the truth” says the Lord, “and the truth shall make you free” John 8: 32.
Then another thing that comes up in this respect is that the ministers that God has fitted to serve His people are obligated to see to it that believers, as they come into the faith, know the truth; it is their business. There is, of course, evangelical service, and Luke represents that; he it is of all the others that presents Christ evangelically; but his great concern was that Theophilus — representative, as I may say, of new converts, young believers — should be sure about things; and so he says that the things about which he is about to write are matters “fully believed among us” Luke 1: 1. They are not matters of question. It is not a tentative [p. 453] situation; there is a system of truth unfolded among us which is “fully believed”. What does he allude to? He alludes, beloved, to the ministry of the apostles and how it was believed — They are “matters fully believed among us”. They are unquestionably true, and the Lord would lead us to that; that it is possible for the saints of God in dependence on the Holy Spirit, to arrive at the truth, that it is verily the truth, although it may not have been so regarded hitherto, it is now proved to be the truth. Is that not possible? If not, the whole position of the assembly here is untenable. Unless the truth can be determined, the position of the assembly is untenable. But it is possible. In the presence of the truth here, in the presence of the Holy Spirit, it is possible, and imperative, too, that the truth should be arrived at, so that we can say that it is “fully believed among us”; it is incontestably the truth. Not that the Spirit of God would not make it more fully known; He would, and does so constantly; but young believers require to be brought into these things, to be accustomed to them, and to be certain about them. Many are not; even as to the enjoyment of salvation there is great uncertainty and mixed feelings; and consequently there is poverty in testimony, and poverty in praise, and indefiniteness in the service of God. So that Luke’s concern here is to make Theophilus certain. That is a most important matter, and every minister of Christ should take it to heart that the saints are to be assured, and assured of everything that is confirmed by the Spirit of God among us — that it “is truth, and is no lie” (1 John 2: 27). “That thou mightest know the certainty of those things in which thou hast been instructed” Luke 1: 4. Let the young christians here take these things to heart particularly. Thank God if we have been instructed in any little way! But then we want to be sure about things and confirmed in them; and the word that enters into it pointedly says, “Think of what I say, for the Lord will give thee understanding in all things” (2 Timothy 2: 7). You see how impregnably we are fortified against the onrush of error — the working of error which is coming. We may be perfectly sure of things. “Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things”, and further “ye need not that any man teach you” (1 John 2: 20, 27). So that we are entirely independent of man; he can only darken us. Nothing illuminates really, but what is by the Spirit of God.
Now, I wanted to show from the passage in the Old Testament how all this really works. It is a simple record of a man doing a certain thing during the period of Israel’s sojourn in the wilderness. The position in the wilderness was peculiarly open. Although a goodly number went out of Egypt, and were cared for by God like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, yet things were open, and any Israelite could be conversant with what occurred daily. They were not scattered abroad through the world; they were compacted together in the wilderness, as I may say, around the tabernacle. Things were open, so that any ordinary Israelite could be conversant with things that happened. That reminds us of the importance of keeping our ears open to hear what is current, and what are current happenings, and that we should not be indifferent as to them. Anything that concerns Christ or the testimony should be my concern, whether it happen here or the other side of the globe; it is all one thing; the testimony is one; it is outside of nationality. There is, as Scripture says, “one body, and one Spirit ... one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all” (Ephesians 4: 4 - 6). It is all one thing, and the divine thought is that we should be conversant with what is current, with what refers to Christ. For instance, the Lord says to the disciples at Caesarea-Philippi, “Who do men say that I the Son of man am?” (Matthew 16: 13). Now they were supposed to be conversant with what men were saying about Jesus: they [p. 455] could tell the Lord what men were saying about Him. But then He says: “Who do ye say that I am?” It is not ‘what do you think’ but ‘what do you say?’. In other words, What am I saying about Jesus? When I refer to His peerless Person, what do I say? May the Lord challenge us now as to what we are saying as to Jesus. If anyone is saying anything derogatory about the Lord, is that not a matter of my concern? It is: and, moreover, I should be able to tell the truth; having the Holy Spirit I should be able to say something about Jesus that counteracts the current derogatory things that are being said about Him. It is the business of every saint to guard the Person of the Lord Jesus, and that is seen in what we say about Him.
This event recorded in Numbers 15 was easily seen. Everyone in the camp might have seen this action. A certain man gathered sticks on the sabbath day. Indifferent people would say, ‘Sticks are useful to make a fire’, That is very often how the thing is neutralised by indifferent people; they bring in something that is certainly true, but which weakens other things that are also true, and have to be provided for. It is half the truth that is so dangerous and deceptive, and is usually advocated by persons who are indifferent. We want all the truth, dear brethren; and the types indicate that the truth has many parts. The idea of parts, or sections, is very prominent in the types, especially in Exodus; and one part may be set aside unless the saints are vigilant, for in the setting aside of it certain things may be brought forward to hide the error and shield it, but vigilance for all the parts or features of the truth will save the truth.
So it might be said that sticks are useful. Surely! A great servant, Paul, as we all know, gathered sticks and made excellent use of them. How easily that might be advocated to set aside something else. He gathered sticks into a bundle and made a fire, and made heat with them. It was an act of love, an intelligent act,
[p. 456] though outwardly insignificant. It brought out the enemy, a viper, but it does no harm. I may say that an act of love is pretty sure to arouse the enemy. “We can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth” (2 Corinthians 13: 8). But here a man is gathering sticks on the sabbath day. Now to neutralise this and make little of it, one might say that, only a little while before, the sabbath had been disregarded, for some went out to gather manna on the sabbath day, and no one was put to death. You see, dear brethren, how the truth may be neutralised unless you are watchful; and so this man might have gone free. According to Exodus 16 indeed it is true that they went out to gather manna, but there was none to gather! God saved them from the worst feature of error; and that was a time when God was acting in pure grace. But when we have a specific unfolding of a truth, when it is established, when it is “fully believed among us”, when it is recovered territory, it is another matter altogether. If anyone attempts to disregard it or set it aside it is an offence, it is sedition, and has to be met with all the power that the Spirit of God affords to the people of God.
Now the sabbath existed in the mind of God from Genesis 2; according to the record it was there in the mind of God. It had been broken in upon and God had worked, but it was there; God ordained it; but it was not yet named. It was not called the sabbath in Genesis 2; the first mention of it formally is in Exodus 16, the connection as typified by the manna being the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ as Man here on earth. How could there really be a sabbath for God without that? The manna represents Christ as Man here, and how delightful He was to God! The Holy Spirit came down in a bodily form and abode upon Him, and the voice from heaven said, “Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased” (Luke 3: 22). Think of the delight of God in that which the manna typifies! Now some went out to gather it on the sabbath contrary to the [p. 457] order; but nothing was done, no one was put to death. It was the time of pure grace. But in Exodus 31 we have a formal direction by Jehovah to Moses that they must keep His sabbaths. He had been unfolding to Moses on the mountain in a most wonderful way the glory of Christ as Man. How God is delighted with all that! Was it a dry service? No, beloved, it was a delightful service to God to unfold the glories of Christ, for that is what the tabernacle meant. It was in typical language, to be sure, but what was behind the language was God’s perfect knowledge, anticipatively, of Christ as Man, and His perfect delight, anticipatively, in Christ as Man. And then, after introducing the pattern and the features of the tabernacle, and then the workers by whom it was to be made in its parts and set up, Jehovah enjoins upon Israel to keep His sabbaths. I ask you, dear brethren, to look at the passage at your leisure, and see how the idea of the sabbath is stressed; and not only the sabbath, but the sabbaths, for I suppose the idea in the mind of God extended beyond Christ personally to His own, to all that is of Christ; for He rests in His love, and His love is resting on Christ and the saints. Indeed, if any of you wish to examine the facts relative to the sabbath, as to its application to the people and the land, you may be surprised to find that in fifty years nearly a third of the time would be occupied with sabbath. Is there nothing in that? Indeed there is; for it means that God would have His people for Himself, absorbed with all that is presented to them in Christ, and receiving from them the due answer. That is the idea, and therefore you can see that this action was not merely a transgression of the law, it was an open challenge to God. It was a setting aside of what was so delightful to Him, something relative to Christ. It was open defiance in the sight of all Israel, in spite of all God’s special desire and commandment.
So that, dear brethren, you see how all that I have been speaking of becomes nullified by a seditious,
[p. 458] open action against the truth. We cannot allow that. They did not understand just what to do, as is often the case. The man was brought before Moses and the elders and all the congregation, and they carefully put him in ward. Thank God for that genuine, universal feeling about it! How pleased God was with that! It was a question of judging what was due to God, and whether God’s word should stand, or whether a man should thus defiantly transgress.
Well, dear brethren, that is what I had in my mind, and I would urge upon us all the importance of the sabbath, and that it should not be interfered with in lawlessness, nor set aside; that nothing that refers to Christ, that opens up His glory to us, or that refers to the assembly, or God’s glory in it, should be allowed to be interfered with. God has given to His people a means of dealing with all those things, so that there is a specific word here as to what should be done. The man was to be stoned, not merely by Moses, or by Moses’ direction, but by all the congregation. That is what God looks for. If He graciously unfolds things to us, He looks for universal sympathy from His people, and He looks for action corresponding with the sympathy. He looks for His people to act against what interferes with His will, and with established truth as amongst His people. That is what I had, beloved brethren, to commit to you.