SPIRITUAL SATISFACTION
I have in mind the possibility of being satisfied with the things of the Spirit. Scripture speaks of the things of the Spirit, saying, “they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit”, Rom 8: 5. Much of the weakness amongst us is because the saints are not satisfied with the things of God. If we were satisfied with the things that properly belong to us as saints, we should not turn aside to things that are questionable, or which would be damaging to our souls. In John 4 the Lord proposes to the woman that for the asking she might receive living water, and He makes the proposal attractive, saying that “whosoever drinks of the water which I shall give him shall never thirst for ever”, v 14. “Never thirst for ever” is an emphatic negative. The Lord would thus impress us with the possibilities of finding satisfaction, and having the source of it within ourselves. Looking at things from the natural standpoint, the woman referred to the well on which the Lord was sitting and said, “Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; from whence then hast thou that living water?” It requires a good deal of labour to produce a little satisfaction, to draw a little water from a deep well, and that is characteristic of the sources of supply to which men turn, and to which we as saints will turn if we are not satisfied with better things. So the Lord at once proposes to her that He is prepared to give her that which will satisfy, the water that He will give “shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life”, and one drinking of that water shall “never thirst for ever”. It is encouraging that the Lord puts it on the ground of our asking. He says, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water”. There is no condition. It is a question of our understanding who Christ is, and of the infinite resources that are at His command, and His ability to give the Spirit, and whether we want to be satisfied. The Lord puts it in such an attractive way that the woman says, “Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw”. Then He puts His finger on the secret of her life, and says to her, “Go, call thy husband, and come hither”. That brings to light much of her history, which until that moment she doubtless thought was unknown to Him, but He makes it clear that He knew all, so that she says, “Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet”. Now, if we are to have in full enjoyment the liberty of the Spirit known in this way as satisfying us, we need to have a transaction with Christ. The Lord was there with the woman and her impression of the interview was “a man, which told me all things that ever I did”. It is a good thing to have to do with Christ in that light, One who not only can, but does, put His finger on everything that we have done, and the underlying motives of that in which we have sought to find satisfaction, making us feel we are in the presence of One in whose presence all things are naked and open. But she was not repelled. If we have to do with the Lord in that light, we find that the same One who can make known to us the inmost secrets of our motives, and the springs of our being, is the very One who has been into death in order that all that we discover in ourselves, and the springs of it, should be judged according to God, and removed. So what is in mind is that we should find a Man—one speaks reverently—a Man to whom to live. It is not a question of legal effort or attainment, but of being set in relation to Him who has been raised from among the dead. One order of man has passed out of God's sight—and we are entitled, as believing the gospel, to take that home to ourselves—and another Man has been raised by God from among the dead, and it is for us to live to Him— “to be to another, who has been raised up from among the dead”, Rom 7: 4. It is as we have our hearts in that direction that the support of the Spirit will be practically realised. The result with the woman is that she is to be secured as a worshipper. An unsatisfied person is never a worshipper; a worshipper is one fully satisfied. It is touching that the Lord should open His conversation with the woman by saying, “Give me to drink”. He was proposing to her that she should give Him to drink, and at the end of the gospel the Lord says on the cross, “I thirst”, a most touching expression, indicative of the desires of the Lord and of God Himself to be ministered to by men. This lies at the root of it, for we are taken up to minister to God. The assembly's greatest privilege is to serve the blessed God, and to minister to His pleasure. An individual who learns to recognise the Spirit and the possibilities that lie in the Spirit, will in due time find his or her place effectively in the assembly.
In John 4 the truth is put before us objectively; the proposal is from the Lord's side, in its attractiveness, encouraging us to ask—“If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water”. When we come to Genesis 26, it is the other side, the side of exercise, and that, too, under the two-fold figure of sowing and digging. It says in verse 12—“Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold”, which shows that the sowing was right. The point is where he sowed in that land, not in Egypt. Scripture says, “he that soweth to his flesh”, not the flesh generally, but taking account of the fact that the flesh in me may take different forms from flesh in someone else—“shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting”, Gal 6: 8.
So, it says, “Isaac sowed in that land”. I believe the sowing largely refers to what we give our minds to. If we give our minds to heavenly things, the things connected with our Lord Jesus Christ, the things properly ours as saints, we shall reap spiritual things. Isaac sowed in that land, in contrast to Egypt, and he received an hundredfold, “and the Lord blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great. For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants”. That is the line on which spiritual substance is acquired.
Then what follows in regard of the wells is a question of things being held and enjoyed in freshness. A springing well indicates freshness and consequent enjoyment, and that is what we need. It is possible to have a good understanding of the outline of the truth and yet to have no enjoyment, no freshness. Sowing is more the positive line, but digging is suggestive of the exercise that will get rid of what is hindering. We all know what things are hindering us, we do not need to look far to see what is hindering us if we are not in the enjoyment of divine things; not that one would make joy or experience an object, but we can test ourselves. If things are not enjoyed in freshness, it means the wells are stopped up, and need to be unstopped. Self-judgment enters into it, to do away with the things that hinder, so that there may be opportunity with the Spirit to engage us with the things of the Spirit. I may say there are infinite things within the scope of the Spirit—“the Spirit searches all things, yea; the deep things of God”, 1 Cor 2: 10. If only we are prepared to move on these lines, we shall never be without fresh fields opened up by the Spirit.
So these wells were unstopped, and the truth which had been known in the past is brought into evidence again, the same names were given to the wells, the same features of the truth known now in freshness. And then it says, “And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water”. They are going to move on this line of digging so as to secure fresh wells. That is what I have in mind, that there should be the exercise on the one hand to sow in the right land, and on the other, energy to dig, that is to get rid of what hinders. So we find the Philistines contend for the wells that Isaac digged, claiming them when dug. It is like persons who, as the Spirit of God brings fresh features of the truth into view, immediately lay hold of them by mere mental effort, and deprive them of their freshness and preciousness. But the heavenly minded man goes on on this principle of digging, and on this line he says, “the Lord hath made room for us”.
Now in Numbers 21 it is a question of the Spirit recognised collectively. John 4 and Genesis 26 are words to us individually, but Numbers 21 has in view the Spirit recognised and the gain of it enjoyed collectively. So it says they came to Beer; “that is the well whereof the Lord spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water”. It is a question of recognising the Spirit as we are together. Thank God we know something of that, and it is a matter always to be kept in mind. And here the nobles have a particular responsibility.
Those who lead among the people of God, to speak simply, have a particular responsibility to dig the well, and dig it with their staves—a most remarkable thing to dig a well with staves. Staves may suggest certain experience with God, but I believe they suggest also dependence, for after all, the practical working out of these matters, the digging of a well, making room for the Spirit to come in so that the things of God are ministered in freshness according to the need of the moment, always requires dependence. No mental effort will secure it. It is a question of humbly waiting on the Lord that He may give what is needed.
“Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it”. It is a question of the attitude of our minds and hearts as we are together, that the Spirit of God should be free to bring His present mind before us in freshness, and then there is the responsibility of the nobles, “by the direction of the lawgiver”—all is under the hand of the Lord—“with their staves”.
May the Lord give us all to know more of the possibilities that lie in the Spirit, particularly that we might find satisfaction in the things of God. If we are satisfied with the things of God we shall not turn aside to things that are damaging.
LONDON
8th September 1942
From Words of Grace and Comfort, 1943
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