PERSONS WHO HAD EXPERIENCE WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD
W. McKillop
Judges 15: 17–20; 2 Kings 2: 9, 10; 1 Chronicles 12: 16–18; Luke 2: 25–32
What is on my heart, beloved brethren, is to speak about persons who have had experience with the Spirit of God. Samson was one who had experience with the Spirit of God in conflict, but after the conflict there is a certain inward need that comes to light and God comes in for him. The fresh jawbone of an ass would indicate that in the conflict Samson had some understanding of the death of Christ as dealing with the first man in his lawlessness. He used the fresh jawbone of an ass and “the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him” (Judges 15: 14).
He was not bound by what the Philistines had put upon him for the Spirit of Jehovah gave him power. The word is for us to encourage us that in times of conflict the Spirit of God will give us power, especially as we are occupied with the death of Christ as removing what was displeasurable to God, and bringing in what is for the pleasure of God. So “the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him, and the cords that were on his arms became as threads of flax”. He has remarkable success in this conflict in dealing with what is Philistine. As we know, the Philistine represents man in his mental ability intruding into the things of God and the desire, too, to bring the brethren into bondage. Paul writing to the Galatians as to the Judaising teachers says, “to whom we yielded in subjection not even for an hour”, Galatians 2: 5. It would seem that Samson here was not in submission to these Philistines. These two new cords which they thought would restrain him were broken from his arms, and the bands loosed off his hands, and he found the fresh jawbone of an ass. Typically he is engaged with the death of Christ as removing the first man in his lawlessness. The secret of being free of Philistine thoughts and practices is in seeing the death of Christ as removing the first man in his entirety from before God. Samson speaks about what he has done and he names the place as well, ‘hill of the jawbone’.
But the conflict does not become a source of strength and satisfaction for Samson. So “he cast away the jawbone out of his hand”, which of course would indicate that we constantly need something fresh if we are going to speak a word for the brethren. It is not a time in which we should be repeating ourselves in bringing in things that we have been saying for a long time, but finding something fresh in order to stimulate the saints. So he casts away the jawbone and he was very thirsty; that is, he is going to learn that success in conflict or service will not sustain him. Everyone who serves has to come to it sooner or later that strength and refreshment are not found in the service rendered. That does not mean that there is not a certain joy in serving the brethren; there is for they are the excellent on the earth and there is a certain joy in being able to serve them and be able to speak to them. But he learned here that something more is needed; he was very thirsty and so he called on Jehovah, and “God clave the hollow rock which was in Lehi, and water came out of it”. That is no doubt some allusion to the death of our Lord Jesus Christ in the hollow rock. It is not here what Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 10 as to the spiritual rock that followed them, which brings out rather the grace and patience of the Lord Jesus in becoming, as has been said, a water carrier.
Think of the Lord becoming a water carrier for us as we go through the wilderness, a spiritual rock. It says, “they drank of a spiritual rock”, 1 Corinthians 10: 4. But here it is a hollow rock which was in Lehi showing how the truth as to the death of Christ can be brought forward to meet a current need that results from success in conflict.
God clave the hollow rock, which is always to remind us what the Lord Jesus underwent at the hand of God that we might drink of the Spirit. So it says, “water came out of it. And he drank, and his spirit came again, and he revived”. The great secret of being revived spiritually is in drinking.
Samson found that and we shall find it. When we begin to droop and become weary—we do not want to become weary in well-doing but if we do, as we may—we want to see that the reviving comes from drinking. “And he drank, and his spirit came again, and he revived.
Therefore its name was called En-Hakkore”, meaning ‘the caller’s spring’. It does not say who named it but it is there available in Lehi to this day. So when we come to our Lehi, beloved brethren, the hollow rock is there and the water is still flowing, and the means for inward reviving is in the drinking. Immediately after that it says, “And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years”. He was well qualified to do so as having drunk of the water that flowed out of the hollow rock.
Well I referred to the exercise of Elisha as having to do with Elijah. This passage has been gone over many times; I would say it is a passage intended to appeal especially to young men and young women. I would say very simply that in these meetings the Lord is saying to you, “Ask what I shall do for thee”. The Lord is taking account of you because you are here, which indicates some affection for Him and some exercise and no doubt some spiritual desire, and the Lord would say, “Ask what I shall do for thee”. What is it that you would like the Lord to do for you? Well, “Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me”. That was a fine request. I am sure the Lord would be very pleased if any young man or young woman in these meetings would say to Him, I would like a double portion of Your spirit. We might say, What does that mean? I could not have told you until a moment ago, but I can see that the double portion means you have power and resource for your position in the wilderness, and you have power and resource for your privilege in the service of God in the assembly. That is the import of the double portion, and so Elisha is saying, I want both. I not only want to have power as Samson did for the scene of conflict and testimony, but I want power for the enjoyment of heavenly privilege. Elijah says, “Thou hast asked a hard thing”. It was not hard in that it could not be accomplished, but it was hard because he says, “if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so to thee; but if not, it shall not be so”.
Well we know that the Lord has gone to heaven, so it is not a question of your following Him there exactly, but you must see how He is moving in the testimonial position. The Lord has gone up but then He says, “I am with you all the days, until the completion of the age”, Matthew 28: 20. He is personally in heaven but testimonially He is down here, and your getting the double portion depends on your seeing Him where He is at the present moment.
The question is sometimes asked. Where is the Lord? Well Elisha could tell you where He is because he followed him along all these points. If you are not certain about where the Lord is, find somebody who has been following Him in His movements in the testimony, and in the conflicts relating to the testimony, and see where the Lord is. There are those who can help you with that. It would be a sad thing if somebody said to the Lord, I would like a double portion of Your spirit, and then failed to see Him in His movements. When Elijah was taken up it says in verse 12, “And Elisha saw it”. He did not miss it. It is important that no one here should miss the Lord’s current movements in the testimony. It is largely through ministry that we discern His movements. Elisha saw him; Elijah goes up and Elisha remains, but he remains typically in the company of the Spirit of God, “a double portion of thy spirit”. The Lord is ready to furnish that for every interested person. You will have power to be with Him here in the testimonial position and you will have power to be with Him in the realm of privilege as among the brethren.
I read this passage in 1 Chronicles 12 because what David is concerned about is integrity of heart, “And there came of the children of Benjamin and Judah to the stronghold to David”. Note that, there is such a thing as the stronghold. All the efforts of the Philistines cannot overthrow the stronghold, and that is where David is.
“And David went out to meet them, and answered and said to them, If ye come peaceably to me to help me, my heart shall be knit unto you”. It is most attractive to think in this typical passage of the Lord coming out to meet us, and He wants to discern what is in our hearts. “If ye come peaceably to me”, he says, “to help me”. It is very touching that even in type the Lord would say “to help me”. It shows that we are essential to the working out of His thoughts in the sphere of testimony, and we want to be on the line of helping. Paul speaks about certain who were helpers and one especially “for she also has been a helper of many, and of myself”, Romans 16: 2. I am sure that person has distinction in heaven as having been on the line of helping the great apostle. You might say he has been with Christ a long time, and so he has, but I think the current bearing of being a helper of Paul, would be that we are helping forward the brethren into the gain of his ministry.
David says, “If ye come peaceably to me”. These persons come, and we come to the Lord at the Supper, so to speak, and He is going to raise with us the question of the line on which we have come. Have we come peaceably to help? Then he says, “my heart shall be knit unto you”. How the Lord’s affections would embrace us as He discerns that we come on the line of helping to maintain His interests, and to help forward the truth and to help one another into the truth. Again he says, “but if to betray me to mine enemies, seeing there is no wrong in my hands, the God of our fathers see it and rebuke it”. The spirit of betrayal was there among the twelve as we know, and it came out in all its horrible fulness in Judas, but we are to understand that the spirit of betrayal is abroad in Christendom. Religious leaders especially are betraying Christ by giving up the truth, and allowing the worst kind of things, that mark the world, to come into the professing church. Indeed it is so repugnant to the Lord, that when we come to Laodicea, the Lord is not even in that position, He is outside. That is one thing that we want to be clear about, especially younger brethren, because they may be misled by what others may say. But you want to be crystal clear that the Lord is not in the public position as identified with it, He is not there. You say, Where is He? Well as you follow the man with the pitcher of water you will soon find Him, and the evidence of where He is is that His rights are maintained, evil is judged, persons who are against the truth are dealt with, and the ministry of the Spirit is found in freshness and fulness so that “we may grow up to him in all things, who is the head, the Christ”, Ephesians 4: 15.
So it says, “the Spirit came upon Amasai, the chief of the captains”. This word is very interesting, “the Spirit came”. Notice the footnote says, the Spirit clothed Amasai. Think of the person who, at this critical juncture, comes out so definitely in committal to Christ that the Spirit clothes him. The Lord says to His own before He went up, “do ye remain in the city till ye be clothed with power from on high”, Luke 24: 49. That made them different from every other group in Jerusalem. Whatever may have marked the Jewish synagogue or any other group, they were not equal to these believers in the upper room who were “clothed with power from on high”. We need to take account of persons like this. I would say that characteristically the beloved saints with whom we walk are seen to be “clothed with power from on high”. Granted we have our exercises and sorrows, but there is the spirit of faithfulness to Christ to be seen among us, and there is this evidence of persons clothed with power. That is really what the Lord says to Philadelphia, “thou hast a little power”. We might have a great deal more, but the Lord credits us with what we do have, and that “little power” is used to maintain His rights in fidelity until He comes. Amasai says, “Thine are we, David, And with thee, thou son of Jesse”. How this must have warmed the heart of David in this time of rejection.
How the heart of Christ is gladdened by persons who speak like this, for it is still the time of His rejection. As we often say, and we should say it, “the night in which he was delivered up”, 1 Corinthians 11: 23. All these wonderful things that have come to us have flowed out of what happened to our blessed Saviour, “the night in which he was delivered up”. It was when He instituted the Supper, and it was the time when He spoke to them about what was in His heart saying, “This is my body which is given for you” (Luke 22: 19), and “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you”, Luke 22: 20. What profusion of love! There is an answer in Amasai, “Thine are we, David, And with thee, thou son of Jesse—Peace, peace be to thee!” What a remarkable thing really to find someone saying that to the Lord in holy reverence and affection! And saying it, too, not because we need to say it, if we think of Him as at the Father’s right hand, but if we think of Him as in the sphere of the testimony the Lord is feeling everything with us. He is right here with us, feeling the things we are going through, feeling the sorrows of the testimony and the trials and the pressures. So Amasai says, “Peace, peace be to thee! And peace be to thy helpers! For thy God helps thee”.
How wonderful to come to it that God intends “to head up all things in the Christ” (Ephesians 1: 10), and God is helping the testimonial position in order to reach what is in His purpose.
He is going to head up all things in the Christ. In the meantime we find divine help as we are related in affection and fidelity to the Lord Jesus. So David received them. What a wonderful matter that we are received by the Lord as marked by readiness to be with Him where He is in the testimony, and to be marked by affection and fidelity! So it says, “And David received them”.
I read the passage in Luke 2 because we should be thinking very much about what the Spirit of God may say to us as to the rapture and the appearing. “And it was divinely communicated to him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death before he should see the Lord’s Christ”. I think that one thing we should be very keenly interested in, is what the Spirit might say to us individually about whether we shall be here alive when the Lord comes. In scripture there are two converging lines that we might speak of. You remember that in the days of Noah Jehovah said, “My Spirit shall not always plead with Man”, Genesis 6: 3. On the one hand there is the pleading of God with men through the glad tidings, but it is His Spirit that is doing the pleading; it is the Spirit of Christ and it is coming through persons for it is still true that God is “not willing that any should perish”, 2 Peter 3: 9. On the other hand there are persons like Simeon, and the Holy Spirit is communicating things to them which relate to the coming of the Lord and to His appearing.
When Jehovah said, “My Spirit shall not always plead with Man”; that was His sovereign matter. From that point of view God is moving forward to the accomplishment of His purpose, but entering into it is the pleading of His Spirit with men. On the other hand there are persons He has taken up in grace, and His Spirit is not pleading with them to cease from lawlessness; His Spirit is communicating something about the coming of the Lord. Now I understand quite well, as I am sure you do, that what was communicated to Simeon had to do with the Lord’s incoming, His incarnation. We shall treasure in our souls eternally that the Son of God became a Man and remains a Man. But the bearing of any scripture for our profit is how it applies at the moment.
What I see in this is that the blessed Spirit of God, about whom we have been speaking so much, is going to divinely communicate things to persons about whether or not they will see the Lord’s Christ before death. It says of Simeon that “he should not see death before he should see the Lord’s Christ”. When “the parents brought in the child Jesus that they might do for him according to the custom of the law, he received him into his arms, and blessed God “. In one way there is no lovelier picture in the scriptures than this—a man in Jerusalem receiving the child Jesus into his arms. Think of what that was, the Saviour of the world in the arms of an aged man, a man of whom it says, “it was divinely communicated to him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death before he should see the Lord’s Christ”. I believe, beloved brethren, that the Holy Spirit is ready to communicate such things to us as we desire to have them. As we were saying in the reading, the area of communication is the temple because “he came in the Spirit into the temple”. Think of him holding the Creator of the world in his arms! All that would be for God eternally was there in that Child. I can think of nothing more touching in scripture than this lovely picture. Everything that was for God was there in that Babe although it had to be worked out. Think of our getting a fresh view of Christ in this way and embracing Him; embracing a fresh view of Him as the One who was the Lord’s Christ, the accomplisher of everything for God. You remember Mr. Darby’s hymn about those who are engaged in speaking about His sufferings, and then others Himself, the accomplisher of God’s counsels proclaimed.
May we all have a fresh and more exalted view of our Lord Jesus Christ as the accomplisher of the counsels of God, and take that into our affections in these days in a fresh way. So “he received him into his arms, and blessed God”. This is a lovely picture, it touches the heart to think of it; this aged man who was so in touch with the Spirit that things were communicated to him that no one else apparently had, and in the fulfilment of it he is there and he has the child Jesus in his arms. May the Spirit of God help us to seek these communications, and find that we embrace Christ in a fresh and deeper way as He is presented to us in the ministry of the Spirit. For that is the form that it takes now, it is not the Lord corporeally, but it is the Spirit bringing the things of Christ, “He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and shall announce it to you”, John 16: 14. So we are in the days of our receiving up, but we are in the days when we can receive a fresh presentation of Christ by the Holy Spirit, that we might become increasingly blessers of God. May God bless the word.
Address at Denton, Texas
18 April 2003