HOW TO BECOME SPIRITUAL
[p. 339] HOW TO BECOME SPIRITUAL
1 Corinthians 15:1 - 8; Acts 1:1-3; Acts 1:9-14 Mark 14:26 Mark 13:3
What is before me in reading these scriptures is to present something by which the Lord may help us to become more spiritual. You will observe the reference to the mount of Olives; I desire to base what I have to say on its appearance in these scriptures; for it represents the Holy Spirit as linking us with heaven, at the present time. I read from 1 Corinthians so that you might see how the gospel was announced among the Gentiles. It was not the intention of the Lord that the preaching of the gospel should add to the then existing religions on the earth. The Lord intended that believers should, by the gospel, be drawn out of the world, that there should be a people taken out from among the nations for God, and that these should be offered up to God, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit. What has come about historically as the result of the preaching is very different from that which was divinely intended, and what the Lord would do, and is doing for us, is to bring us to what is spiritual.
The apostle reminds the Corinthians of what he preached to them: “That Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures; and that he was buried; and that he was raised the third day, according to the scriptures”. But that is not all. That may be regarded as the gospel, but the passage goes on to show that he had presented more. Paul says, “He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once ... then he appeared to James; then to all the apostles; and last of all, ... he appeared to me also”. So that you can see that Paul’s preaching of the [p. 340] gospel involved not only the death and the resurrection of Christ, but also His appearings to the saints after He arose. He mentions six distinct appearings: that to Paul was after He ascended. These appearings of Christ are brought in in connection with the gospel, obviously; so that believers should understand that they are linked up with a living Person; One who may be known as intimately as any other person, but nevertheless a Person who can come in through closed doors; who although He remained upon earth forty days after He arose, yet was not seen by any but His own. He eluded the keenest eye of man. He says, “The world sees me no longer; but ye see me”, and again He says, “I will not leave you orphans, I am coming to you”, John 14:18,19. He conveyed to His disciples the impression that they were to maintain a living link with Him. Hence the apostle in announcing the glad tidings among the nations added these appearings, so that the Gentiles should not be mere religionists on earth, but a heavenly people; a people knowing Christ in a spiritual way, as having passed out of man’s view in this world. Hence He appeared unto Cephas. According to Luke He appeared unto ‘Simon’ because Luke intended to convey that as risen from the dead, He was exercising grace. Simon was the responsible man, and had denied the Lord. It was a peculiar touch of grace that the Lord should appear to the one who had denied Him, that He should graciously single out Simon. It was a matter of note among the brethren, for it is said that as they were together and were speaking of these things, “Saying, The Lord is indeed risen and has appeared to Simon” (Luke 24:34), that the Lord came into their midst. But the apostle Paul is speaking about the resurrection of Christ as known to the Gentiles. There was in the mind of the Lord in appearing to Cephas, material for the assembly. He intended to [p. 341] impress Cephas in a spiritual way, viewed in the light of being material for the assembly. He intended that the material for the assembly should bear His fresh impress, that there should be, in other words, spirituality. As Peter himself says, “To whom coming, a living stone, ... yourselves also, as living stones”, 1 Peter 2:4,5. Can you find a living stone on the earth? Never; but here is a living stone — Cephas — and it is to remain living. It is to remain in the freshness of spirituality, hence the Lord appeared unto Cephas. Peter would never forget that appearing. Then again it says He appeared unto the twelve. It was not the Lord’s intention that His administrators should be governed by the principles of this world. How easily, as acting for the Lord, we may take on natural, worldly principles! Christendom as a whole is governed by such principles. When the Lord appeared to the twelve, which number indicates administration, He wished to impress upon them that they were to administer in a spiritual way. We have to understand that every little thing we do has to have a spiritual touch, and so the Lord would, in His appearing to those who administer, impress them with the importance of being spiritual. Then it says He appeared to above five hundred brethren. He never intended that the term ‘brethren’ should be dragged into the dirt of this world; as applied to Christians, it is of heaven; for it belongs to heaven: “Go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father”, John 20:17. The term belongs to heaven, and to drag it down to the level of current religion is contrary to God. Such a beautiful term should be preserved in its spiritual setting, and it is to above five hundred brethren He appears at one time. How He would impress them, as together, coming in as he did, in His own line! It was not mere representation of Himself, but as He says, “It is I myself”. It was verily the Lord and no other.
[p. 342] Let us, in our measure of spiritual understanding, picture to ourselves what it would be for the Lord of glory to come in! We are not now merely material for the assembly, we are brethren. How He would beam upon them! He would impart to them the sense that He was in a spiritual world. As is said in this chapter (1 Corinthians 15), that which was first was natural. He had His part in that — in wondrous grace He took upon Himself the very likeness of flesh of sin. He was a real Man, as real as any of us, sin apart. He took part in the first but He has gone out of the first condition for ever. He has laid down that life, never to take it up again. He is in a new condition: “Then that which is spiritual”. He would thus come in in His own way, and how He would impress these five hundred and more brethren! They would look upon one another afterwards not as natural men in this world, but as spiritual. What intrinsic value lies in what we are spiritually! And in order to take account of each other rightly, we have to see each other in relation to Christ, as His brethren.
Then He appears to James. How much the Lord can do with one man, I need not say. The history of the assembly bears its own witness, as well as that of the Old Testament, to what God can do with one man. But that one man must be spiritual; he is to bear the impress of Christ outside the range of this world. His exploits are to be spiritual; the fruit of a heavenly mind; not of the natural mind. He is content to be outside the range of man, and disowned in this world.
The Lord also appeared to all the apostles; for it is obvious that the authority of the Lord is to continue throughout the dispensation, and believers from among the Gentiles were to become accustomed to authority. Paul himself was vested with it, and the Corinthians were to know it. So the Lord appeared [p. 343] to all the apostles; that is to say, every item of divine authority is to bear the impress of Christ, risen from the dead, and it is to be spiritual. We are not to control, nor to rule like men. As the Lord said to His disciples, when pointing out what prevailed among the Gentiles: “But ye shall not be thus”, Luke 22:26. The authority among the people of God is to be spiritual, it must bear the impress of Christ.
Then, finally, the apostle said, “He appeared to me” — to one coming in as born out of due time, but, through the grace of the Lord, labouring more abundantly than they all. I have no doubt that the apostle Paul was taken up as a personal representative of Christ. I do not suppose anything could be greater, in this respect, than the privilege of being such a representative, and I think the Scriptures support the suggestion that the apostle Paul, coming in last, maintained all that is due to Christ, not in the way of official authority only, but out of love for Christ. He knew the love of Christ personally, I believe, as no one else knew it. He says, “The Son of God, who has loved me and given himself for me”, Galatians 2:20. Christ was all to Paul, and the appearing to him would leave an everlasting impression upon his spirit, for it bore Christ’s peculiar and personal features. He called Saul by name, out of heaven, in the Hebrew language, as showing that He came down in sympathy with Paul’s feelings. He says, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” (Acts 9:4). There was the meeting of the Son of God with Paul; and an everlasting bond was there and then set up between them in the development of which Paul was the greatest labourer of Christ. “He loved me”, he says, “and gave himself for me”. The Lord would continue the freshness of that, and spoke to Paul at the time of His first appearing, that He should appear to him later; for there was more than [p. 344] one appearing to this great vessel. I have spoken at length of these spiritual appearings, which, I am sure, you have easily followed, because of their bearing on this dispensation. They are, as it were, part of the gospel; for the gospel was intended to make believers spiritual.
I want now to refer to Luke, who usually supports Paul in his ministry, to show how those who were in touch with Christ were affected by His appearings during the forty days. It is Luke alone who tells us that He appeared to them during the forty days. He indicates that this period of time was occupied by the Lord with the disciples. Then Luke centres his remarks on the Holy Spirit. You will all remember that each of the four evangelists gives an account of the Lord’s activities after He rose, but none of them enlarges on the Spirit save Luke, who has in mind to lead us up to the house of God, as set up here in the power of the Holy Spirit. So he says that the Lord in showing Himself alive to His apostles by many proofs charged them by the Holy Spirit. Now that is to be noted, because it is the key to the book of Acts. It is a question of the Spirit, hence it says, He charged them by the Holy Spirit. Thus the apostles, from Luke’s standpoint, would be impressed by the fact that things henceforth were to be done by the Spirit. In considering these things we are reminded how far nominal Christianity has got away from what marked the disciples at the beginning; for things generally are not now done by the Spirit. You have only to look down the verses of this first chapter to see the frequency with which the Holy Spirit is alluded to.
I now want to come to the subject of the mount of Olives, because I believe the Spirit of God links up certain features of the truth with that mount. It suggests the link that we have with heaven by the Spirit. It does not say here that the Lord ascended [p. 345] from this mount, although He did; but that those who saw Him go up returned to Jerusalem from that mount. The mount of Olives is not introduced accidentally; it indicates that as having seen the Lord go up (however little they understood it), in returning to Jerusalem from the mount (the distance from it to Jerusalem being given), they intended to retain in their souls a spiritual link with the Man who went up. Do we all intend to retain such a link, after receiving the Spirit, with the Man who went up, who sent down the Spirit? That was the intention of those who saw Him ascend. “This Jesus”, said the two men, “who has been taken up from you into heaven, shall thus come in the manner in which ye have beheld him going into heaven”, Acts 1:11. They returned from Olivet to Jerusalem. This intimates, as I said, the retaining of a personal link with Christ by the Spirit. It was only ten days later that, together, when the day of Pentecost was accomplishing, there came from heaven the sound as of a rushing mighty wind, which filled all the house where they were sitting, and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. This personal link with Christ was established there with every one of them. It was collective, for they all received the same Spirit, but the parted tongues of fire sat upon each of them; so that each one was distinguished personally. A personal link by the Spirit was thus established with Christ. The great truth of the body of Christ is developed by the apostle Paul; he says, “He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:17); and “In the power of one Spirit we have all been baptised into one body ... and have all been given to drink of one Spirit”, 1 Corinthians 12:13. You can see how intimate the bond in the Spirit is and how that the body of Christ, composed of all believers, is spiritual.
Leaving the mount of Olives they go into the upper room. In Luke’s gospel it is said that they went into the temple after the Lord was carried up, and that He ascended from Bethany. There is a Jewish setting in that gospel; but the account in the Acts has an assembly setting; it is a question of the assembly, and so instead of going from Olivet to the temple, they go into the upper room. No one who apprehends the character of the mount of Olives, or the link with Christ in heaven by the Spirit, will go to the ‘cathedral’. The ‘cathedral’ is the continuation of the material temple in Jerusalem. There is no connection whatever between it and the mount of Olives. That mount connects with the upper room. The Holy Spirit would elevate us from the level of ordinary current religion in this world, and link us up with that which speaks of heaven, namely, the upper room. The Spirit of God then gives us a list of those who were there: the apostles, several women, the Lord’s mother and His brethren. I have no doubt the latter refer to Israel, for Israel’s hopes are cherished and maintained by the assembly, and nowhere else. Their hopes are not maintained by the Zionists! There is not a suggestion of such hopes in that movement. The Jews, as unrepentant, are going into the open field, as it were, and exposing themselves to the avenger of blood. But the hopes of Israel are maintained and cherished where the Holy Spirit is in the upper room; and the Lord’s mother and His brethren are there, as representing Israel. Is it not a voice to us at the present time? As we come into the light of the Spirit, we should seek out the upper room. We look to those who respect the authority of Christ, as seen in His apostles. There are now no apostles, but the authority of Christ remains. There is authority; and those who come into the light of the Spirit will seek out those who maintain it, and love the atmosphere of the upper room, where every interest of Christ is cherished,
including the hopes of God’s earthly people, Israel. I want now to show how the institution of the Lord’s supper is intended to maintain all this. You see in Mark 14 that the Lord instituted His supper; and the disciples having partaken of it, it says, “And having sung a hymn”. You see by this how the Lord’s supper has the effect of spiritual stimulation. Rightly apprehended, it is the love of Christ expressed in the most touching manner to our hearts, the effect of which is to stimulate us spiritually. They sing a hymn. The effect of this is to direct our hearts Christward and Godward; and the Lord graciously sings with them. “They sing”. It does not say who selected, or started, the hymn; the singing of it is to show us how we are brought into gradual intimacy with the Lord, as we apprehend His love; for His supper opens His heart to us, so that there is the most intimate relation with Him. The nearer we get to Christ, the more we realise that He loves our company. He loves to take us on to His platform in His grace, so that they sing a hymn, the bearing of which was to the mount of Olives. The great feature of the Lord’s supper is to maintain us in living touch with Himself by the Spirit, and by the hymn, then there is a movement heavenward. “Having sung a hymn, they went out to the mount of Olives”.
There is a further and a most important thought in Mark 13. Here the Lord sat on the mount of Olives. One of His disciples had just said to Him, as He left the temple, “Teacher, see what stones and what buildings!” There are buildings reared up now in the name of Christ, representing the finest architecture in the world; the very best architectural skill has been expended on these structures, and all else in keeping with them. “Man’s art and imagination” have been taxed to their limits in the bringing in of these structures, but what does heaven think of [p. 348] them? The Lord sat on the mount of Olives opposite the temple. Not a stone is to remain upon another that shall not be thrown down. As He said this of a building once owned of God, how much more does this apply to the modern structures! Then, as sitting on the mount of Olives, His disciples, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked Him privately, “Tell us, when shall these things be?” As we recognise the Spirit, we have liberty to ask questions of and receive private communications from Christ. They asked Him privately, “Tell us, when shall these things be?” and in answering, He opened up to them the whole range of prophetic truth. I wonder if we have ever sat down on the mount of Olives With Christ, in the faith of our souls, and asked Him privately to tell us, from His viewpoint, about the course of this world. What is going to be the end of all these things? The wisest statesmen do not know. No one knows, but those who, as sitting on the mount of Olives, with the Lord, ask Him privately about them; for it is a private matter. The book of Revelation is clearly a private matter. It is not written for man’s curiosity, but is couched in such language as to shut out man’s mind altogether. The secret of it belongs to those who have the Spirit, who, like John in Patmos, are in reproach for the testimony. It is for those who love the Lord, and maintain a link with Him in the Spirit; these have access to Him, and can ask Him privately.
From what we have said, I think you will see that God intended, from the outset, that believers should be spiritual; that our minds should become accustomed to what is spiritual, and in being spiritual, to live outside the range of this world. The Lord showed Himself living; He was the pattern of all that should live; and we are to know what it is to live in relation to Christ outside of this world, for our life is hid with Christ in God.