THE POWER FROM ON HIGH
[p. 314] THE POWER FROM ON HIGH
Any simple reader can see the distinction between these two verses, but there is much involved in that distinction. In the one, the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father; in the other, the Holy Spirit is sent by the glorified Christ. If you accept the distinction, and then wait on the Lord, He will open it out to you. What is the importance of it? What is involved in the distinction? I am not going to say much upon the distinction, but to record the history of the Spirit’s services.
In chapter 14: 26 the Father sends Him. That, you remark, is announced at the supper table. The blessed Lord announces to the disciples the sending of the Holy Spirit by the Father whilst they were at the supper table. Chapters 13 and 14 both give what transpires there. He and His own are seen there, as in a family circle apart altogether from the world. Indeed, all John’s gospel represents Christ and those brought to know Him by the Father, as altogether outside man and earth. There is nothing in this gospel relating to our being subjects on the earth, such as we find in the epistle to the Romans. John presents Christ and His own, God’s circle. In chapters 13 and 14 we have God’s people; we are inside. True, there were elements of disturbance; there was the treachery of Judas, and the unfaithfulness of Peter. But we are there inside. The last verse of chapter 14: “Arise, let us go hence”, intimates leaving this enclosure for a more outward course. We are in the street now, outside the enclosure of chapter 14, where the Lord is with His own. You get all the comfort inside, the preparation for confronting the world outside. I do not think of interpreting these scriptures,
[p. 315] but I desire to dwell especially on the resources which now belong to us. I would seek to arrest saints, even the youngest, with the immense importance of those resources.
John’s gospel, if not the last book written was very nearly the last, and God sets forth there how His support remains the same. It is not a question of what we are, but of what God is, and of what we have in Him. It is an immense comfort to turn to the wonderful resources we have in Him. There may be great deficiency in availing ourselves of them, but it is a great cheer to my soul to know that (as a general might say) ‘My resources are complete’. Talk of feebleness or of declension, I admit it fully; but I do not admit that there is any lack in the resources. I look up to God and see the resources as great as ever. It is as true for the believer this day as it was the first day, that the Holy Spirit is here sent from the Father to glorify Christ. You remark, the Father sends Him in the Son’s name. It is not so much to support them on the earth, as to lift them out of it; to make them realise that which Jesus Himself had when here, though they were in a place in which they could expect nothing, either from the place, or from the man. It is a wonderful thing to learn that I am in a place from which I get nothing, or from the man that is in that place. I am here as an Australian might be in this country. I ask him, ‘Where are your interests?’ He replies, ‘They are all in Australia’.
We are sent here for a purpose; we are all missionaries. Your duties are only discipline to fit you for the Lord’s service. It is our Lord’s will to fit us for His own service, and He puts us in different circles and responsibilities. The more you are for Him, the more He will cut away from you all that debars you from being for Him fully. Do you think Paul knew when in the third heaven, ‘I shall lose all my great abilities when I come down’? He never dreamt of it! But when he comes down, he says, “Lest I should be exalted above measure ... there was given to me a thorn in the flesh “. “We which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake”. Always. I never yet saw any man get any advance in the knowledge of Christ who did not get at the same time severance from the thing that would hinder his being the expression of it. A monk or a nun thinks they can sever themselves from it. All ascetics are on that ground. But no! Nothing but God’s own hand can do it; and He will touch something that perhaps you know nothing about; something you little expect; but He knows all about it. He knows how to touch, and His own hand does it. This is a little away from my subject.
To return, I propose to go on with the history. Chapter 15: 26: “He shall testify of me”. The word He is very emphatic. Any ordinary writer would have said, ‘You shall testify of me’. We get that in the last verse, where it is said, “ye also shall bear witness”. But it is not only that the disciples who had known Him on earth should bear testimony of this divine Person from heaven, we have to do with a testimony from heaven. “He shall testify of me”. He uses the vessel, but He shows it is not you but the Holy Spirit. He is the “power from on high”. Most books on this subject do not go beyond the sending of the Holy Spirit by the Father. But that, as I have said, is more in relation to yourself. Here in chapter 15: 26, it is in relation to Christ Himself. I do not think you can have the comfort of the Holy Spirit, as sent by the Father in chapter 14, if you do not know Him as sent by the Son in chapter 15. I do not, of course, mean that you have not the Spirit of God; but you will not have the power of the Spirit to comfort, as in chapter 14, if you avoid the position of a witness of Christ on earth, and do not accept [p. 317] Him as sent in chapter 15. In chapter 14 it is all for yourself individually. In chapter 15 the Holy Spirit makes you a witness of Christ; you can effect nothing yourself; the Holy Spirit witnesses through you.
I turn to chapter 16 to explain what I mean. We are not inside now, where we are prepared for service. There is a difference between preparation and the testimony. You have to learn inside, you are there prepared, but you go outside to bear witness for Him. If you are not prepared you will not be in testimony; you are prepared inside. A soldier does not go to battle to learn to be a soldier. He is taught that in barracks. Chapter 16 is the battlefield. The Holy Spirit is in distinct testimony against the world. What then is our position? We should be like the armed men going round Jericho. Which are you, Jericho or the armed men? They never struck a blow, but there was a very distinct declaration; that is Jericho; that is the obstruction; they were witnesses against it. There is God’s organisation. I am here for a glorified Christ; I come out from inside, having learnt the blessedness of His comfort. I come out as a witness of the exalted Man. And what is my position? I confront the world because I belong to another order of things altogether. I am the very opposite of the world. What has the church done? She gave up the power of the Holy Spirit, and accepted the power of the world, Rome, the fourth beast. She will get plenty of it. The beast will yet carry the harlot, and will turn round and hate her, and burn her with fire. The church gave up the power of God and accepted the power of the world. We cannot, as witnesses for Christ against the world, use the means and power of the world. If one were to say, ‘use every means I have at my disposal for the service of God’, well then I should say, ‘You weaken your work’. Paul, when he came first into Europe in Acts 16, is a voice to us. Paul [p. 318] would not accept countenance from the woman with the spirit of divination; consequently the world opposed him, but God signalised him. Instead of any concession to the god of this world, he is a witness against him. The Holy Spirit is an incontrovertible witness against the world. He exposes the guilt of the world as an advocate would expose the guilt of a culprit. I would not read the statistics of crime to find out what the world is; this one scripture tells it. The Holy Spirit is here, an abiding witness of the state, the sin of the world. You must go to heaven for righteousness; there is none here. As to judgment, the prince of this world is judged.
Correspondingly with this, let me turn to verse 14 of chapter 16. A remarkable communication is there made which we do not get in chapter 14, and which is only known to the one who is standing in testimony. “He shall glorify me”. But that is not all: you have lost the world, but “He shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you”. In chapter 14 you get your place only. Now you find that the One your heart is set upon will be glorified. “He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you”. “All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore, said I, that he shall take of mine and shall show it unto you”. It is in keeping with Paul’s word, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him; but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things; yea, the deep things of God”. You say, If I were with the Holy Spirit I should be outside the world? Yes; but you would find that He would delight your heart, for He would glorify Christ. The things where Christ is would be made known to you. You have lost the world; but heaven and heavenly things are given to you. “God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit”. I have [p. 319] heard that passage quoted as if it were said, “He shall take of me”, as if it was Christ Himself. But no, it is “take of mine “. “All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you”. You see He is bringing in heavenly things in contrast with the world and its things. It is the prerogative of the Holy Spirit to bring our souls into acquaintance with these heavenly things. You are confronting the world, standing in opposition to it; I do not say aggressively, but you are standing in moral distinction from it; I belong to another order of things; I belong to Christ in heaven; and practically, I am called to be here for Him on earth. The gospel narrative shows how the Father can lift you out of every pressure here. Will He feed me? Yes. Will He clothe me? Yes. He cares for me perfectly! What I learn is how the Father’s heart is for me, not to set me up in the world, but to lift me out of it.
I turn now to Acts 7, going on with the history of the Holy Spirit. Here we have our charter if I may so say. Read verse 55: “But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God”. Here I get a very distinct work of the Holy Spirit, and one of the deepest importance. Until you understand this, you do not understand your position for Christ on the earth; and you could not understand the new order of things, the new centre. Here the fact is disclosed that the old order of things is over; not the world simply, but all here that is nominally for God. It is not only the pagan world, but the religious world, as we call it. The old order upon the earth comes to a close. A most wonderful thing happened. The first witness who had been recounting to Israel how they had failed up to that moment from the days of Abraham, now discloses, “Ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye”. What now? That man, a man of faith, inaugurates an entirely new order of things. Stephen is the first witness of the new order; witness and martyr are the same word. He looks up stedfastly into heaven; he sees Jesus, “the glory of God, and Jesus”. That is the first time that ever a man on earth saw a Man in heaven, and now a Man in heaven is seen in connection with the glory of God. It is the fulfilment of the prophecy of Ezekiel. In vision, Ezekiel saw the appearance of a man in the brightest spot of the glory; Ezekiel 1: 26.
I trust that every one here is delighted to know that there is a Man in heaven. This witness, Stephen, saw Him, and he turns round and tells what he knows, not what he has read, but what he knows. He says, “I see .. . the Son of man standing on the right hand of God”. Do you believe that? It is a solemn question for us here. The word of God tells us what to believe. In believing, we have the virtue of it; not only the food, but the food appropriated. I believe that there is a Man in heaven. The old order is over. Stephen in a moment is transformed. A wonderful moment! He himself had, like the rest, been looking for the Lord to come from glory that the times of refreshing might come from the presence of the Lord. But now he has a new centre, a new metropolis; and that is, the Man at the right hand of God. He turns round and says, “I see ... the Son of man standing on the right hand of God”. What did the religious world think of it? Not the mob, remember, but the concentrated ability of the Jewish system. What did they do? They ran upon him with one accord and cast him out of the city and stoned him. The religious world would not accept the Man in glory, but stoned Stephen the witness of it, and it is the same to this day. People may enjoy forgiveness of sins and approve of good works, perhaps even separation from religious systems, but there is a great reluctance to leave earth [p. 321] for heaven. Hence it is only the man that has crossed the Jordan who is able to conquer the man here. Those who crossed the Jordan (Joshua 3: 10) were able to confront the seven nations of Canaan, the complete power of man. You cross Jordan as a dead man; dead with Christ. Stephen crossed; he reached his place in heaven, given him of God, and hence he could triumphantly surmount everything here, even unto death. We are brought to God; Christ is in heaven, and as we are dead with Him, we are over Jordan.
But I say, Who likes to be dead? to be out of the world altogether in spirit? to break company with things here, and find that he belongs to another scene; who likes it? Well, it is the Spirit’s work. Flesh does not like it. The Holy Spirit in me desires it. The company of the Lord there makes the heart, led by the Spirit to delight in being there.
I turn now to Acts 9. The new order is begun; the old order is over. Everything comes out new from this, the gospel and the church. You say, The gospel was preached before this. Yes; but not the gospel of the glory of Christ. At Paul’s conversion you get the gospel and the church. The new order is come. It is the break of day of the new order; it shines upon the earth. And what is it? A Man in heaven! I have but one Man, a Man in heaven. He is my life; He is my joy; He is my counsellor, my all; He is the One I have to study; and as I do, I am right upon the earth in everything. I get all my instruction from Him. He is the only One.
In the conversion of Saul of Tarsus the light came out of heaven; that is, the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. That is the first part; and the finish is, he received the Holy Spirit. That is power from on high. When the Lord said, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” the church was revealed. Christ can call the saints “me” because we are His [p. 322] body. But let me try to explain this wonderful thing. I learn from Stephen that by the Holy Spirit he saw Christ in heaven. And next, that I am to describe Him on earth; that is my simple duty. The first desire of love is to be in the company of its object; the second to be like Him, conformed to His image. We first enjoy company and then identification. That is the consummation of love. What Elijah could not do for Elisha the Spirit does for us. The Spirit desires that we should be descriptive of the heavenly Man here. How can that be? Now I come to Ephesians. The body of Christ here upon earth in the power of the Spirit is descriptive of the heavenly Man. If you catch the idea it will be wonderful cheer to your heart. The important thing is, Christ is rejected upon earth; His own are here in the place of His rejection, but are united to Him in heaven. What then are you? You are a member of Christ’s body; you are here to describe Him who is in heaven. One member could not do it; hence, every member is necessary, therefore it is the body; and the more you understand it, the more you would labour that the body should be in order. The very contemplation of it does one good. The church, as has been said, is like a beautiful full-blown white rose; the very thought of it helps you. The world has rejected Christ. The church is to be a beautiful expression of what is entirely unique. The apostle had this in his mind in Ephesians 3, when he says, “to enlighten all with the knowledge of what is the administration of the mystery”, not the fellowship. The body of Christ is to be the expression of the Man in heaven, in heavenly beauty here in the very place where Christ was rejected. It is this that exasperates Satan.
The apostle having prayed in chapter 1 that the saints might know the power that had wrought towards them, in having borne them up in Christ to the heights where He is, he prays in chapter 3, that [p. 323] they might know the power that works in them, to enable them to express Him here; and in verse 17, you get to the highest point: “that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith”. Now you are learning the power that brought you into association with Christ, and that same power enables you to express Him down here. But like Stephen you must enter into the effect of this power. That is the prayer in the end of Ephesians 3. The power is there in you. From chapter 4 to 6: 10 you are told the character in which you are to behave in every relationship of life.
I pass on to verse 10 of chapter 6. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God”. “Stand therefore”. How are you to stand? What is your position? I have already tried to describe it. It is like the armed men around Jericho. Many preach and lecture upon the armour who do not enter the battle-field. You may know all about the weapons without facing the foe. True, you have to learn them. David taught them the “use of the bow”. But do not think you are facing the foe when you are earthly, and occupied with earthly things. If you are in the battle-field you have taken the place of a dead man. Now you can face the foe. What sort of a man are you now? You have the armour on. “Take unto you the whole armour of God”. The characteristics here are very striking. In the face of Satan I am armed, but to God I am praying; that is my place with God; for Satan I want armour, for God prayer. The apostle asks for himself “that utterance may be given unto me”. If this prayer was necessary for him, how much more for the servants in this day.
I ask for you, and I ask for myself, that we may understand the nature of our position now for Christ on earth, and be ever assured that the Holy Spirit is here; and that all the resources are with us, for His name’s sake!