CHRIST IN THE BELIEVER
[p. 451] CHRIST IN THE BELIEVER
Romans 8: 10; Judges 1: 14, 15; Judges 5: 11; Judges 15: 18 - 20
In thinking of what might be acceptable in the way of ministry the thought of enlargement came to me, and it occurred to me that for the christian it involves life. God intends that in enlargement there should be the evidence of life, and so I begin with the word in Romans 8: 10”If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness”, for it is obvious that if Christ be in us, it is incompatible that the motions of sin should, at the same time, be active.
He came to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself and to take away the sin of the world. He that does that baptises with the Holy Spirit; so that is, in order to live in a christian He deals effectively with the members in which sin is active. In baptising with the Spirit He makes room for Himself. The Stone that smote the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream filled the whole earth (Daniel 2: 35).
At the introduction of the millennium Christ deals effectively with sin by removing it; He is now operating in the christian on the same principle, that there should be room for Himself. That is what is going on. “If Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin”: that is, the vessels in which our wills were active are no longer available for our wills, but are presented to God a living sacrifice. The believer’s body is to be a vessel for Christ; this is one of the greatest practical things, giving a wonderful place to our bodies. Then Christ baptises with the Spirit. To illustrate this I should like to refer to 2 Kings 4. Here we have a woman who was a widow of one of the sons of the prophets, which suggests inherited light, and not in the fruits of their own exercises. This woman is an illustration of many christians; though she had light she was in poverty; her sons were about to be taken as bondmen. Typically she was not able to understand the value of the Spirit. She comes to Elisha and he says, “What shall I do for thee?
[p. 452] Tell me, what hast thou in the house?” It is not what is in heaven, but in the house. The believer is “blessed ... with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ” (Ephesians 1: 3), but what I have in heaven is not in my house. The riches there are unsearchable, but the point is what have I got in my house. What is in heaven is secured infallibly to the believer. What hast thou in the house? A pot of oil. That was enough. That is the thing to see; the pot of oil was there. It is in the house, under your hand. The prophet says, “Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full”, 2 Kings 4: 3, 4. She responded to the word. We find the importance of going by the word emphasised in 2 Kings. Naaman had to go by the word; the little maid said to her mistress “Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria!”, 2 Kings 5: 3. Naaman had his own thought. He took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold and ten changes of raiment, and went to the king of Israel. It was all useless; there was no value in it at all. He had to go by the word: “Would God my lord were with the prophet”, not the king.
Here the woman acts on the prophet’s word; she pours out the oil; every vessel is full. The more vessels, the more room there is available for the Spirit. He is in the house; the believer has Him. He is given to those who obey Christ. Get the vessels, pour out the oil. Every bit of room you make for the Spirit makes for enlargement. This involves discarding the things we cling to. The oil filled every vessel. Then the prophet says, “Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest”. Thus the righteous requirements of the law are fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit (Romans 8: 4). She lives on the rest; she is now a woman with means of spiritual livelihood.
Now this scripture speaks of a “great woman”. She has room for Christ; “If Christ be in you”. She is a wealthy [p. 453] woman. The prophet passes by her door often. How the Lord shows Himself now, just to give you an opportunity to see how you have got on! She says, “This is a holy man of God”. She has discernment now, not only wealth. She is a continuation of the woman with the oil. She has a house. As you go into this house there is no sign of poverty, and the Shunammite discerns that Elisha is a holy man of God. Nothing tests us more than the question of holiness, and without holiness no man shall see the Lord (see Hebrews 12: 14). The clerical garb, the cloister, the monk, speak of an outward show of holiness; but do you see holiness in a man who goes to work every morning earning his living with his hands? It requires discernment to see this. This wealthy woman had discernment. The Spirit of God is the Holy Spirit, who sheds the love of God abroad in our hearts. Holiness discerns this in others as seen in Peter who said, “Thou art the holy one of God”, John 6: 69. You want a holy man in your house; the world does not, the true christian does. She invites this man into the house; she builds a room for him. She represents the believer in whom Christ is: “If Christ be in you”. She had the prophet now in her house; typically there was room now for Christ.
We see how the principle is worked out in Judges. The key to the understanding of the book is in the first passage read. The book contemplates a broken state of things. Achsah represents the underlying spiritual element; mere light will not do. This underlying spiritual element may be found in a sister as in a brother. It is essential to the maintenance of the position.
The “south land” is a favourable land. It represents what is objective, what God has blessed us with objectively. The expression ‘south’ is favourable in northern latitudes. “By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand” (Romans 5: 2), but we need more than a favourable aspect. “Give me also springs of water”. This is essential to the maintenance of the position in any locality. We must have the spring. Achsah had it; she “sprang” down from the ass. Everything has to be sustained in living spiritual energy. Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs. The [p. 454] upper are mentioned first; this refers to Ephesians as presenting to us the truth of the Spirit in connection with the purpose of God in its heavenly aspect. Ephesians is the inheritance, but you must have the thing in your soul. We have in the presence of the Spirit the “earnest of our inheritance”, the thing itself, not the title now (Ephesians 1: 13, 14); the earnest of the Spirit is the thing itself in principle. “The earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” — 2 Corinthians 1: 22 — that is what you value. The upper springs which she got, give an example of receiving abundantly above all that we ask or think. The inheritance of God is brought into your soul, the thing itself in principle by the Spirit. “The nether springs” I believe refer to the epistle to the Romans; in this epistle the Spirit supports you in relation to your walk down here, independent of this world. He enables you to discharge every liability, and to live besides. The believer thus shows his independence of this world.
This passage in Judges gives the key to the maintenance of the position seen in the book. You get a terrible history in judges of man’s will, but the idea of spiritual life is maintained throughout. We see Phinehas, at the end of the book, taking care of the ark. With him God had made a covenant of peace, and he corresponds in Judges with the springs given to Achsah.
The place that women have in this book reminds us of what sisters may be in the testimony. Deborah dwells under her palm tree between Ramah and Bethel. She was a sister who had acquired personal victory. There is an immense field for sisters who maintain relations with God in the secret of their souls. She dwelt under her own palm tree between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim. These were wonderful surroundings. She had respect for the commandment of Jehovah. “Hash not the Lord God of Israel commanded?” Judges 4: 6. Barak acts on the word and God gives a wonderful victory. In this another woman had a leading part, Jael. Thus the spiritual exploits of women are here remarkably illustrated.
Then we read of those who divide the spoil in the midst of the places of drawing water. Every bit of conflict for the [p. 455] truth implies spoil, something gained; this is divided in the midst of the places of drawing water; there are rehearsed the righteous acts of Jehovah. The places of drawing water refer to the meetings of saints, which have the ministry of the word in view, and in which mutuality is experienced.
Chapter 15 confirms all this. We are now dealing with Samson’s great exploits. We might have referred to other waters, for in the days of Gideon the people encamped beside the spring Harod (Judges 7: 1). Samson becomes extremely interesting. The Spirit of God makes much of him in this book. At the outset of his ministry you have death and life. He slays the lion, and returning finds a swarm of bees in the carcase — symbolical of the mutual spiritual relations and activities of the people of God. Honey is the product of many entities. They acted together in relation to death; it was life in death. Samson finds the honey; he got the actual product, something tangible, life out of death. He ate it and gave to his father and mother and they ate it. This brought out a riddle. True Christians are a puzzle or riddle to the world. Samson put the riddle to his companions. “Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness”, judges 14: 14. How can you solve it? The world cannot solve it. These Philistines could not. Philistines refer to big men, men of intellect, men who can dig into the bowels of the earth and read the stars. But they could not answer Samson’s riddle. All the scientists of the world cannot answer this riddle. They have not the Spirit — Christians are in the secret for they have the anointing which tells us all things. We understand. The world thinks us fanatics, extremists, perhaps they are sorry for us. But the truth is that they are not in the divine secret. Secrecy marks Samson’s ministry. The disclosing of his secrets was his undoing; till then he was invulnerable. The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him; it lies in the Spirit. The Philistines could not answer the riddle; they find out the explanation from his wife. The disclosure of his secrets was his undoing. The maintenance of divine secrets is necessary to our position here. Great men cannot solve divine riddles but the simple believer, who has the Spirit,
understands. That marks Samson’s ministry. Life is found in a mutual way in relation to death. Honey was there for him, he ate it, his father and mother ate it. In chapter 15 he is in straits. He had been victorious in a remarkable way, yet he is in straits. The Spirit emphasises the thought of water. It is a fresh, or new, jawbone, meaning that death had just happened. It was there; he slew a thousand men with it. One who understands the secret of the death of Christ, knows its present bearing; not two thousand years old as a matter of history, but in its present bearing it is as if the death of Christ had just happened. That is what Samson indicates; that fresh things accomplish victory, not catechisms three hundred years old.
This is in accord with Deborah, but victory was not enough. Samson throws away the jawbone and cries to Jehovah. Water or refreshment of this kind comes only by prayer. The Lord clave the hollow rock which was in Lehi, and water came out. This became known spiritually later. The Spirit of God records: “God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof En-hakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day”, judges 15: 19. En-hakkore is “the well of him that cried”. It acquired a place spiritually for it says it “is in Lehi unto this day”. God answered a man’s cry in giving him water. If He answered Samson, He will answer you. The believer has to learn that he gets the water by prayer. The Spirit comes in by prayer; and as having Him we learn by prayer how to use Him.
When the people were about to enter the land, instead of smiting the rock, Moses should have spoken to it (Numbers 20). Aaron’s rod, the rod of priesthood, blossomed, budded and produced almonds in one night. It speaks of Christ risen from among the dead.
It was afresh jawbone, that is Christ dead; the rod of Aaron is Christ alive. Prayer is a priestly act, and goes up effectively through the High Priest. Samson prayed and God clave a hollow place in Lehi and he drank. He is now ready again for the conflict. He judged Israel twenty years.
[p. 457] There is not a detail given as to how he judged Israel, but there is a lot of detail with regard to his conflicts with the Philistines. How can anyone judge according to God save by the Spirit? The secret of it, as with Samson, lies in the spring — the Spirit typically. “The Spirit is life because of righteousness”. How can anyone judge apart from righteousness! We are to judge now in righteousness by the Spirit.