THE SPIRIT CHARACTERISTIC, AND AS WITNESS
[p. 41] THE SPIRIT CHARACTERISTIC, AND AS WITNESS
1 John 4: 7 - 15; 1 John 5: 18 - 21
I think there is not any truth much more practically important than that of the setting aside of the first man, and I fear it is comparatively poorly understood. It does not mean simply the introduction of another Man, but what is even morally above that: the introduction of all that is of God. That is to my mind the great importance of it. I do not think that any one can understand christianity or scripture unless they accept the truth of what has been effected for God. We continually and habitually look at things as under our own eyes, but we should view them not so much from our side but as they are under the eye of God. Nothing can be plainer to any reasonable person than that the introduction of another, a second Man, involves that the first man is set aside. He has disappeared to God’s glory in the death of God’s own Son, and God has brought in another Man. The first man’s death was not for God’s pleasure, but faith apprehends that in the death of Christ he has been removed to the glory of God, in order that the second Man might fill the scene. The second Man is presented in a remarkable way at the present time as the Head of every man. It does not say that He is to be Head, but “the head of every man is Christ”. Nothing could make more plain than does that passage that there is but one Man before God, and that is the second Man.
There is another point consequent on this, namely, that everything is to be taken up under that Man. I do not care what it is, human life and relationships are all under Him. The true character of everything is expressed in Him. Even as to marriage, the pattern is Christ and the church. Everything for God is now [p. 42] expressed in that Man, and all is to be taken up in Him. I can conceive nothing of more importance than this for the right understanding of christianity. When God again takes up the earth, all will be carried out according to the second Man, not according to the first man. Hence you can understand the great importance of the church coming out as the bride, the Lamb’s wife. The nations walk in the light of that, and everything is brought into accord with the second Man. The second Man will give order and character to everything here, and if we are in the light of the Lord, that is what is true now to us in christianity. I do not believe the eye of God rests with satisfaction on anything down here, save that which is of the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit is come down representatively, in that sense, of the Man in heaven. He did not come till Jesus was glorified. What we have to judge of is how far things down here have their source in the Spirit of God. Take what you like down here, everything morally, even the way we carry out natural obligations, all is to have its source in the Spirit of God. In that way, as I understand Romans 8, the Spirit is everything. The Spirit is life in view of righteousness.
I read these passages only to make two or three remarks upon them. In chapter 4 you have the Spirit of God as characteristic. In chapter 5 the Spirit is seen in another light, not as characteristic, but as witness; witnessing to One who is absent. Chapter 4 connects itself with the testimony of saints; hence the Spirit is characteristic. On the other hand, when the question is of privilege, the Spirit is witness — He represents here the Son of God. We first need to learn the Spirit as characteristic, for when you learn the Holy Spirit in that light you see that He gives a divine character morally to all here. That is the point in chapter 4: it stands quite distinct in that way from chapter 5.
No one preaches the gospel as knowing it doctrinally, but because he is in the secret and spring of the gospel,
[p. 43] that is what comes out in chapter 4. I doubt if any one could preach the gospel effectively otherwise. We need to be in the source of it; that is where we get the good of it. We read in verse 9: “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world”. Now we have the thought of testimony in that verse manifestly. But there is a very important statement before that. “If we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us”. That statement is conditional. And then afterwards, “we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world”. The gospel comes out with power when the saints love one another. When they are abiding in unity, and the love of God is perfected in them, then they bear witness that “the Father sent the Son”, &c.
I feel pretty confident that we are defective in that respect. I doubt if the spoken testimony is not thus much marred and hindered. I take it to be the reason of the little apparent result in connection with the gospel in the present day. The testimony of God was in the saints collectively. The church was to be the perfect expression down here of the love of God in Christ, the only-begotten Son. God’s love was perfect in the One the Father sent, and saints were to be here the expression of that love in Him. It is vain to say we love God if we do not love one another; but in loving one another God’s love is perfected in us in the way of expression or witness down here; and this points on to what is to come out in [p. 44] the heavenly city. The city comes out having the glory of God, her light like unto a stone most precious. It is the expression and witness of the nature of God, not simply of His attributes, and that is what the church is left for down here. The Lord prays for this in John 17: “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me;” that there might be a witness thus in the world that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. You get the statement “because he has given us of his Spirit”, and thus the Spirit is characteristic. If saints are in the reality of God’s love, they are a powerful witness of that love. I suppose that if we love one another as saints, it is because we are in the love of God. I can understand natural affection, that exists even in the brute creation. But the love of saints is divine affection, pure, fervent, holy love; if there be anything of that, the secret and spring of it must surely be God Himself, and we abide in God in the sense of His love. His love is enlarged upon very greatly in this chapter; hence it is that we love one another. The secret is that we are in the spring of love — we abide in the love of God. And then it is we “have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world”, for this is the expression of divine love. Divine love came into activity when the Father sent the Son, and that testimony is now on the part of those whose hearts are abiding in the spring of love, and that is God’s nature. And we love one another — that is our witness — because our hearts are abiding in the spring of love. God [p. 45] has given to us of His Spirit, that there should be an expression of Himself in this world. We are made partakers of the divine nature that God may be characteristically expressed in the saints down here. It is not a mere question of profession (that we avow or profess to know God), but that we are maintained in holy affections one toward another. There is an expression of love. His love is perfected in us. He has given to us of His Spirit. We speak of the Spirit, and rightly, as a divine Person; but I think I see the Spirit characteristically, the bringing in of what is morally of God. And now we are made to live in the Spirit, to partake in the character of God, that God, in what He is morally, may be expressed in the saints. We are together in holy love, and this is testimony that “the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world”. It is important to bear in mind that our testimony here is more in what we are than in what we say. God intended to have a testimony of saints in unity. The unity of the saints will never be restored here, but I am sure that it will come out in the heavenly city by and by, and in that sense we have it now as heavenly light. But we need to go back to divine principles, and a first principle is fervent love one to another. If we are burning with this, the effect will be increased activity in the testimony which is the outcome of divine love. We participate in God’s Spirit.
Now if you turn to chapter 5, there we have the Spirit, not characteristic but witnessing. See verses 10 and 11, “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son”. And verse 20, “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and [p. 46] we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life”.
Now it is said there are three that bear witness. In this we are coming to privilege. The epistle closes with this: God has brought us to the furthest point to which He could bring us on earth. John is not here carrying us into heavenly places. The apostle Paul does that, but John brings us to the furthest point to which we can come on earth, as things are, and that is to eternal life.
We are in Him that is true, and He is the true God, and eternal life; that I understand to be connected with the witness of the Spirit. The Spirit is the witness of the Son of God now at God’s right hand. The Son of God is not here, but the Spirit is here to witness to Him. There are two other witnesses spoken of, but the Spirit is evidently the witness of the Son of God. If the Son of God were here, we should not want a witness, but the Son not being here, we have the Spirit to witness of Him. What that brings us to is this — we can be brought to the Son of God here, the Witness brings us to Him. The two other witnesses — the water and the blood, are necessary, for we are actually down here in responsible life; and the blood is witness that we are free from imputation that we may be perfect as to conscience. The water speaks of cleansing from pollution. You have the witness and you know its virtue. It would be no gain to you if you did not know its virtue. The virtue of the blood is that by the one offering Christ has perfected for ever them that are sanctified. No question can be raised on that score; we are perfected as to conscience, and washed as to our bodies with pure water. You are washed that you may be before God clear in regard to all connected with responsibility, but the positive witness is the Spirit to the Son of God. That brings us to verse 20. He “hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true”. Saints are now capable by the understanding given them. They are not actually quickened yet, but they are quickened in point of affections; they are capable of knowing Him that is true. “This is the eternal life, that they should know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent”. Thus we are capable in point of divine affections. The secret of understanding lies in affection. There is no real knowledge of divine things apart from affection. The apostle Paul prayed for the Colossians, “That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding”.
[p. 47] You will not get understanding of divine Persons or divine things apart from the presence of affection. Christ has made us capable in that respect, He “hath given us an understanding”, &c. You will not know divine Persons simply through the study of scripture, but you have an unction from the Holy One, and know all things. He has given us too an understanding. How many of us have set out to get at the knowledge of God by the study of scripture! But true knowledge is from within, the understanding which Christ has given, and that is “that we may know him that is true”.
Then there is another point, “We are in him that is true”. You belong to that circle of which He is the centre. This brings in the blessed thought of association with Christ, we are in Him that is true, and know what He is — “the true God, and eternal life”. God has brought us there in His Son. It is the place of privilege, and I think the furthest point to which God could bring us down here. We are risen with Christ, and quickened together with Him. That is how Paul expresses it. John expresses the same thing, but in different terms from Paul. The great point is our being brought into association with Christ risen, and John brings us to this when he says, He “hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ”. I think everybody would be prepared to admit that if Christ is eternal life, there can be no eternal life where Christ is not. It is brought in at the present time by the Witness; there is One here, representative of the Son of God, and it is in our place of association with the Son of God, in the power of the Holy Spirit, that we touch the reality of eternal life. The Spirit is here as witness of the Son of God in glory, and the witness is efficient; the witness is competent, and equivalent to the One He is witness of. We never could come up to the One witnessed of else. He has given us an understanding. I think it is a wonderful thing to see that the saints are competent in [p. 48] point of affection, though not yet quickened actually.
Just another word I would say. The testimony of God is seen in His own character, and I do not think anything has the true character and ring of testimony but what is of God; no mere human utterance. The true testimony of God down here is really after God Himself, the new man’s testimony. The new man is created after God — in righteousness and holiness.
Saints are to abide in divine love, their hearts imbued with love, and they will then manifest what is characteristic of God. Thus you get the testimony — the Father sent the Son, the Saviour of the world.
On the other hand you get the Spirit, the witness, in connection with which the saints are in association with the Son of God in divine love in a scene where divine love can rest in eternal and perfect complacency.
There are many things which apply to us down here besides this, discipline and purging and such like, which are also expressions of divine love; but there is a spot where divine love rests, and we are brought to that spot in connection with the witness to the One who is “the true God, and eternal life;” and love rests there. It is not purging or discipline there, but love in perfect rest and complacency.