THE TESTIMONY
[p. 252] THE TESTIMONY
I feel I must bring before you what we are called to, the testimony of the Holy Spirit.
John 14: 26 is what relates to ourselves; “The Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name”, but chapter 15: 26 is testimony for Christ. “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father ... HE SHALL TESTIFY OF ME”. These go together. If you do not make God’s interests yours, you are not going on rightly: if you do not carry out chapter 15: 26 you will not have the comfort of chapter 14: 26. Many would like the latter who avoid the former. The doctrine of Christ is divided into four parts: First, His death and resurrection. Every believer owns this.
Second, He is gone to heaven.
Third, He has sent down the Holy Spirit.
Fourth, He is coming again.
Everyone owns the first, but many skip the next two and go on to the coming. The second and third parts relate to the present time. If you are right for the present, you will be right for the future. Many drop the present. The tendency of every one is to turn back to a dispensation which he is not in. Why is there reluctance to be in the present? Because you cannot be there without the power of God, the trade winds; that is, the line in which He is working, and from which He does not diverge. This is what we get in chapter 15: 26, “He shall testify of me”. It is all He; not one bit of man will bring you out for an exalted Christ. In chapter 15 the Holy Spirit is sent down by Christ to testify of Him. In chapter 14 He is sent by the Father for your comfort; but both [p. 253] Christ in heaven and the Holy Spirit on earth are the present parts. In chapter 15 it is not only to comfort us, but to “testify of me “.
What is really the interest of Christ now? The exalted One is to be testified of by us; the assembly is the vessel; the power is the Holy Spirit. The church is in ruins; that is, what man has built, not what Christ has built; but the Holy Spirit is here to maintain the name of the One who has been here, in the same power and energy as the first day in which He came.
Are we in the “fellowship of the Spirit”? We know something of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the love of God, but what do we know of the fellowship of the Holy Spirit? There are two forces opposed to one another, the Holy Spirit and the world. The Holy Spirit is the direct witness against the world: the world is the culprit in the dock, the Holy Spirit is the witness in the witness-box. You must be with one or the other. Christendom would like to have a leg in each, in the dock and in the witness-box. Unless you have dependence and surrender (see Luke 18) you are not kept from the world. If you are with the Holy Spirit against the world, you will meet with opposition; but all the [p. 254] resources of God are upon the earth to maintain the testimony in all the force in which He came down. Our testimony exposes us to collision. You may not know the force against you, because you are not in the force of the Holy Spirit. If you are, the devil will oppose you. It is those who go right on their way that he wants; he has the others. The one stepping out most is the one the devil marks for ruin; he tries to bribe him; if he cannot succeed that way he will try to crush him. But we have One for us who is greater than he that is against us. “Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world”.
I do ask the Lord that each may know that all the resources of God are upon the earth to maintain the testimony. What will exasperate the devil more than seeing a company here setting forth the One who was rejected here?
Why have you not come in contact with the power of the enemy? Because you have never been in the testimony of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes down from the exalted Christ. Babylon is the aim and acme of the world; they expect a future for the world; that is Babylon. As I walk down the street I see every man contributing to either of the two cities, Babylon or the new Jerusalem.
God always had an interest on the earth. Abraham is called out; God takes an interest in man on the earth. The testimony of Abraham’s day was, No possession here, but to walk with God in separation from natural claims. As Abraham adhered to that simple call, he was in the power of God.
What is the first trait of a man walking with God on earth? He has faith in God. Abraham leaves country and kindred, he looks “for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God”. As long as he adhered to that testimony, how well and happy he was! When he went down to Egypt he got out of the line of the testimony. The moment you are diverted from God’s line you are out of the trade winds. Look at Jacob in Genesis 32 and 33; he had been twenty years out of the land, and has now come back. God meets him and blesses him. Now he says, as it were, Why should I not have a little resting-place? He buys a piece of land and settles at Shalem. People say, Why should I give up what I have? Well, if you are seeking your own comfort you may be on the right ground, like Jacob, but you are not in the testimony, you are not walking in faith. A man of faith obeys God, trusts in God, waits for Him. We all know something of Genesis 34, though we would like to draw a veil over it. Jacob was brought to shame in [p. 255] the place where he had sought ease. If we are not in the trade winds, we are in the doldrums. Many are like Jacob. They have retired from the world, but are living in comfort, living for themselves, and they are not in the trade winds.
The next testimony is possession. How many who came out of Egypt got possession of the land? Six hundred thousand were saved out of Egypt, and only two got into Canaan, for the others would not go on to the finish, they never had possession; you may start well, and yet not go on to the finish.
In Judges 2 a third testimony comes in; that is, to keep possession. You are not only to be a man of faith, having no possession here, but you must go up and possess, and in that very place where you were tested. Caleb got Hebron, where the giants were. If you walk with God, the spot that most intimidates you is the spot of your greatest victory, and you not only get possession but keep it. The extermination of the old man is keeping possession. If you attend to God’s interests He supports you. The book of Judges is typical. We find there that Israel did not keep possession because they did not drive out the inhabitants of the land, and these were left as thorns in their sides.
God’s interest in David’s time is the city, in Solomon’s time the house. In the book of Haggai I find that God’s interest is the house and that is the thing the man of God is set for. Wherever a man failed, you will always find it was when he diverged from God’s present interest. I see over and over again in this day, that when one has departed from the line of interest in which God is, he is like a bird with a wounded wing, cannot fly and only complains. Once he could fly, and now he is a deplorable object. You lose the power if you do not use it; using it really strengthens it. What a melancholy picture we get in Haggai 1; they had come up to God’s land,
[p. 256] and had begun to build, but they had ceased. What had hindered these returned captives? See chapter 1: 9: “Ye looked for much, and lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man to his own house”. You have not God’s interest without getting opposition. We find in Ezra that they were opposed by the false brethren. Do not be surprised by opposition; but do not give up God’s interest. What is the matter with you? Have you given up God’s interest? There is a touching word in chapter 2: 19, “Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you”.
The case of Daniel has helped me much. In Babylon he opened his window and prayed towards Jerusalem; his heart was there. “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning”. You say, What a broken up condition all is in! Yes; but are you going to let it be more so? No, beloved friends, let each one say, If no one else stands, I will stand. An officer in the army has been known to tear the colours from the staff and put them in his breast and say, ‘You’ll have to take me before you take the colours.’ Look at the Lord in His day, when He comes to the temple and finds the state of things, in John 2. “And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out.. .. And said.. .. Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up”.
Turn to Luke 21. There I find a poor widow casting her two mites into the treasury (widows were different in that day, they had no provision), giving [p. 257] all her living for the temple, God’s interest. There is an instance of a heart that is set for God. If you are set for God’s interest, all the resources of God are at your back; but we are like a general who has all the resources for war, but has not the men. We are each of us called to the conflict; be valiant for Christ.
Now I come to the church, God’s interest now. Read Matthew 16: 18. “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell (hades) shall not prevail against it”. That is the house; ostensibly it is in ruins; but the fact remains, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”. Nothing is more dangerous than to sentimentalise about Christianity. Get hold of a fact. If you talk about your feelings, you will lose them; the fact remains. The fact here is, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”. There is an impregnable fortress on the earth. Matthew 16 is the house in relation to His rejection on the earth. Acts 9: 4 is the body. If you have not simple faith about the body on earth, you play into the hands of the devil. The truth of the body came out consequent on the persecution of the saints, as the truth of the house had come out on His own rejection. Where He was bodily refused, His body is. I cannot show it, but I believe it. Satan has not gained the day, Christ’s body is here. The house was to be the setting forth of His pleasure. The body is the inner working of the organisation. In Ephesians you get “compacted” together. “The Christ” is the great word in Ephesians, the whole structure. You will not understand the unity of the Spirit if you do not see this. The Holy Spirit is here; we have to exercise our hearts about it. He dwells in the house and in each believer.
I come now to where the trouble comes in. Paul says in 2 Timothy 1: 15, “all they which are in Asia be turned away from me”. The masterpiece of [p. 258] satanic iniquity is to separate the heavenly truth, or the assembly, the body of Christ, from the gospel. Those in Asia did not turn away from the gospel, but from the truth for which Paul was the ambassador.
You say to me, perhaps, ‘Are you opposed to the gospel?’ I say, No. But it is a lamentable thing how little the assembly is thought of now. I am a great upholder of the gospel, but I see the effort of the enemy is to separate the gospel from heavenly truth. You cannot separate them. Where does an evangelist get his commission? From heaven. Do you bring souls to heaven? If you come from heaven you must bring souls to heaven. It is a remarkable thing that the servant who was greatest for the assembly was the greatest evangelist. I do not ask an evangelist to preach the assembly, but to be for it. The Lord has given the evangelist a commission to go and preach for His great interest here on earth. What is Christ’s chief interest? Could you spend a day with any friend without finding out his chief interest? If you do not begin with the assembly in service of any kind, you will blunder. I start from the point where Christ’s heart is, and work from it, till I work back to it. That is the true servant.
I will just refer to Matthew 13: 44. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field”. Well, His treasure is here. How little one’s heart gets hold of it! His treasure is on earth. Every one walking in the Holy Spirit would be in fellowship with the heart of Christ, and used for this purpose, to “testify of me “.
Whatever I do, let me stand up for Christ’s interest no matter if the company be reduced to a handful. The sun that sets is the same sun that rises. The remnant, the bit left, has the beautiful traits of the beginning; the sun must go down in its own beauty.
Turn to John 21: 22, “If I will that he tarry till I come”. The Lord says, as it were, Why should I not have a John when I come back? People think nothing will tarry till He comes, but He will have a John.
Turn to Revelation 22: 17. “The Spirit and the bride say, Come”. No one can invite the Lord to come who is not occupied with Him in His present interests. It is not becoming for any one to say “Come”, who is not ready for Him to come. A true-hearted wife would cast her eye all round, to have everything in order for her husband who was coming home. The Lord is coming. It is a beautiful thing to be able to say, “Come”. The bride is the administrative exponent of Christ on the earth. She turns round to one who is not ready, and says, You say, “Come”; then “let him that is athirst come”, and “Whosoever will “. She proclaims to every one on the earth, she must gather up every one belonging to Him, have every one ready for His coming.
The Lord grant we may know truly the presence of the Holy Spirit on the earth and be His instruments here.