PROGRESSIVE SPIRITUAL EDUCATION
[p. 565] PROGRESSIVE SPIRITUAL EDUCATION
What is in mind is to speak about spiritual education, progressive spiritual education. The thought in the idea of progressiveness is that the education will work out into aggressiveness for the truth. The idea of progress is common in the Scriptures, especially in John’s gospel, progress in the truth. It is found indeed elsewhere, even from the very beginning. It is seen in Enoch, whom we may regard as the first great progressive learner. It is said of him that he was “the seventh from Adam”, (Jude 14) meaning that he had progressed in what had come out from God from Adam onward, Adam being marked by the acquirement of truth; Jehovah Himself having taken part in Adam’s education, this, of course, was to be expected. It is said that God brought to Adam the creatures of the land, in fact all the creatures but especially the land animals, for they were that feature of creation which would be nearest to Adam, to man; they were to be domesticated, and thus usable by Adam. To this end it was needful that Adam should know their names, that he might have means of having to say to them; and so it was that God “brought them to Man”, Genesis 2:19. The word man there denotes the most elevated of God’s creatures, what we speak of as humanity, and God brought the creatures to man, “to see what he would call them”, Genesis 2:19.
It is clear, as I am sure you will all see, that there was education in this, and that it was progressive, and man soon began to think that there was someone missing. Woman had not yet been formed, and Adam missed her, for among the animals there was not one of them that was like Adam; “he found no helpmate, his like” (Genesis 2:20) we are told, showing that he was progressing. Were he not [p. 566] progressing he would not think of a helpmate; he realised the need of this on account of some education that had come to him from God, and God acted on the results of that, so that the progress itself was from God. When the woman is brought to him, although he was asleep, in death figuratively, while she was being formed and fitted for him, yet as he awakes, he discerns who and what she is. It is not recorded that Jehovah said anything to him as to her, as if He would test out the progress of Adam, and presently it came out. You understand that I am not speaking simply to arrest your attention by any department of nature, even although it be a man, my motive is much deeper than that, it is indeed that everyone of us may not only know the truth, but progress in knowing, as indeed it is said in the prophets, “and we shall know”. The question is whether we do know; “and we shall know, — we shall follow on to know Jehovah”, Hosea 6:3. That is progress, and that is what is in mind.
Again referring to Adam, whilst Jehovah was saying nothing to him, Adam said something, which indicated that he was progressing, progressing in knowledge of God’s creatures, but now of man, but man in its feminine feature, and he spoke to God about this. It is to be noted here that from Genesis 2, God has a double name; ‘Jehovah Elohim’ is the designation, meaning that there is progress also in what God is bringing out, and pointing to progress even in God’s sympathies and feelings towards man. It is not that God is like ourselves, learning; that could never be, one would not use that word at all as to God. It is said prophetically of the Lord Jesus, in anticipation of His coming into manhood condition, that His ear was opened as the learner. “The Lord Jehovah hath given me the tongue of the instructed, that I should know how to succour by a word him that is weary. He wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the instructed”, Isaiah 50:4.
We get great headway in divine education in the book [p. 567] I have alluded to, the book of Hosea; the prophet says, “and we shall know, — we shall follow on to know Jehovah”, Hosea 6:3. Adam is not following on to know God exactly, but he is following on in the point in question, and he says to Jehovah Elohim, “this time”, for he had had several times afforded to him to give expression to the knowledge that God gave him, and in which he was growing and developing, but now he says, “This time it is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh: this shall be called Woman, because this was taken out of a man”, Genesis 2:23. You see how he is learning. I am noting all this that we might all be led on in learning, and it is to be hoped, that we shall not leave this hall at this time without having learned something, something more than we came in with, because there is something to be learned, even in the Scriptures as they are read.
So as I said, there was progress as early as Adam, and then in Enoch, who is said to be “the seventh from Adam”, Jude 14. We read of this in the book of Jude, and that Enoch prophesied. Adam did not prophesy, but Enoch did, and it is said of him that he was the seventh from Adam, not after Adam, because the idea is that he began with Adam, as a learner he saw there was something to be learned from God’s great creature; that is, Adam. Enoch is “the seventh from Adam”, (Jude 14) and if we analyse the matter we must begin with Seth, and those following after Seth, seven in all, and we shall see that we are in the very midst of progress, of spiritual progress. We are in the way of knowing things, and of acquiring knowledge that is necessary for us, even in the service of God, because it all culminates in the knowledge of God Himself. All must culminate in God, all begins with Him, it did not begin with Adam, knowledge began with God. And so Enoch was the seventh, and clearly had acquired more than his fellows, for he became a prophet, and it is said that “before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God”, Hebrews 11:5. It is not said of Adam that he [p. 568] pleased God, but it is said of Enoch, so that he progressed from Adam. That is what I am aiming at; this matter of progression; that we should not be content with what we know today, but add to it, continually add, for there is so much to know, and that we need to know for our comfort and blessing, and so much that we need to know for God’s service. Paul said, “we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God”, Philippians 3:3. We should not be hesitating to say who we are; we are not of this world, if we are christians, and yet we have an identity, an identity in heaven, and especially as those who have part in the service of God, who are thinking of God, thinking of serving God. And so, “we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God”, (Philippians 3:3) that is what we are, and surely there is nothing more glorious than to be worshippers of God and worshippers of Him by the Spirit of God, the perfect means of worship.
Well, now, I have spoken about Adam in the light of his progress, and now I go on to John, who presents much of this knowledge in the sense of progress, and what John says as to new birth illustrates it. It is a very important matter, and it is for each to inquire into his mind; I say into his mind, not into his heart now, but into his mind, to see whether he understands new birth, whether he is born anew. Some may assume that it is everything, that you can lock up in the idea of new birth the whole of christianity, and comfort yourself with the thought that everything is there, but that is a mistake; you will be ignorant if you do that, because the idea of progression is in it, and this is illustrated in the third chapter of John’s gospel. Nicodemus said to the Lord, “We know that thou art come a teacher from God”, John 3:2. Well, that was something, a very great matter too, to belong to a class of people who know. He was of the Pharisaic class, and yet he had some regard for God and for Christ, and so he can say to the Lord, “We know that thou art come a teacher from God, for none can [p. 569] do these signs that thou doest, unless God be with him”; (John 3:2) well, that was good, and the Lord recognised it. But then, that was to be known in the Old Testament, and though it was no part of Adam’s knowledge, the new birth was a part of Ezekiel’s knowledge, and now it is a part of christian knowledge. It is a very initial part, and I would counsel any who are confining themselves to it, and thinking that it involves everything called truth, to look into the matter. New birth is very initial, but it affords an example of what I am aiming at, the idea of progress in a given truth. The Lord says to Nicodemus, “Except any one be born anew he cannot see the kingdom of God”, John 3:3. Nicodemus never had such a word before, I suppose, and yet he was a remarkable man, no ordinary Pharisee, he is marked off as distinct from all others. “But there was a man from among the Pharisees, his name Nicodemus…he came to him by night”, John 3:1,2.
Now I am not only saying that these things happened, but that there is progress involved, progress in the truth, and it is for each of us to see that even in that initial feature he has progressed. As we progress in it, it will be just a stepping stone to something else, and that something else is eternal life, and other truths of that kind, the great truth of redemption, the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, the ascension of Christ, the incoming of the Spirit, all these things are there basically, the basis is laid for them in the things I have spoken of. But as I said, new birth is the most initial thought of the whole system of truth; it begins with this, but there is a second thought as to it, which is necessary to make it clear, so that it becomes a part of the structure of truth of which Christ is the expression, for He is called the truth, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”, John 14:6. The way is one thing, but then the truth is another, and then the life is still another, and the Lord, in order to indicate what I have been saying, spoke the second time to Nicodemus. Nicodemus asked the question, “How can a man be born being old”? John 3:4. He could not see that, but he was taught; many are not taught now as to this matter. So the Lord says, “Except any one be born of water and of Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God”, John 3:5. That is progress. I cannot proceed further as to this because I have much to say in the short hour; I have indicated to you that initially the truth is progressive; and no christian is really christian characteristically, who is not progressing in the truth. We cannot afford to stop at any given point; we want to go on, to progress in the truth.
Now I come to the scripture read in John 8, which refers to liberty, and I want to show that the verses read are progressive, that we are to progress in liberty, otherwise we shall soon slip back into bondage; we shall soon forget that we are purged from our former sins. We must be going forward, and so it says here of the Lord, that “As he spoke these things many believed on him”, John 8:30. One hopes that some are getting some little light in their souls now, for it is a time of light. Light is available, truth is available; and the Lord was speaking in His own divine way to those that were about Him, ever ready to instruct them, to afford help to men, and “As he spoke these things many believed on him”, John 8:30. It does not say what they believed, but they believed on Him, which is a very general thought, and indeed in result meant progression, and we shall see, that unless we believe in a progressive sense we shall become dark again. If we settle down to any given system of truth, or any phase of the truth, and do not progress we shall become dark; we shall forget that we are purged from our former sins; but it is said here that “many believed on him”, (John 8:30) as He spoke these things. It was wonderful speaking, John 8 is one of the most wonderful parts of the Bible. It is a very long chapter, a very deep chapter, and you can understand how God was working and how many would believe on Him. It is hoped that some are believing now, because it is a progressive matter, and one hopes that we,
[p. 571] even the speaker himself, shall have added to our knowledge as we leave this hail. Many believed on Jesus there, as He spoke these words; then said Jesus to those Jews, which believed on Him, “If ye abide in my word, ye are truly my disciples”, John 8:31.
We should observe here that there is a question as to some of them, because there are disciples and disciples; some went back, you know, and some, we are told in the second chapter, believed only because of the signs, and the Lord did not trust them, which is a very searching matter, that the Lord maybe does not trust some of us here, we are not reliable, we are not going on, we are not progressing in the truth, and the Lord does not trust us. And so it was that He did not trust certain ones, because they only believed because of the signs. We need to believe on Him, in a greater sense than that, and so it is said here, “Jesus therefore said to the Jews who believed on him, If ye abide in my word, ye are truly my disciples; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free”, John 8:31,32. Now this is the great point that I have in mind as to progress. Many of them had believed on Him, but they were not free. And the Lord is testing them; He is testing us too, this very time, as to where we are, and as to how much we can be trusted as believers. And so the Lord is testing these listeners, and He says, “If ye abide in my word ye are truly my disciples”, John 8:31 The Lord would have true disciples; He is not looking for superficial disciples. Christendom is built up on those lines, and it is a question of numbers, but it is a spurious position, abhorrent to heaven. It is building up systems of men that are on unreliable grounds, on a sandy foundation, and hence the Lord would correct it. “And ye shall know the truth”, He says, “and the truth shall set you free”, John 8:32. The truth shall do it, and I shall hope to show that the Lord does it too, but the truth has that power.
There are phases of the truth that are automatic, as it [p. 572] were, they work of themselves, in virtue of what God is doing in men’s souls. If it is only automatic it will fall flat presently, but it is necessary at first; thus the effect of truth is to set free. We shall see presently in the next verse that the Son also sets free; the Lord sets free as the Son of God, but the truth sets free, and the setting free by the truth is an initial idea; it works of itself and if I am not getting freer and freer it is because the truth is not working in me, there is some defect, and we want to remedy that defect, and see to it that the truth is allowed to work within us. As we might expect from superficial persons, they answered the Lord, “We are Abraham’s seed, and have never been under bondage to any one”, John 8:33. These are not only superficial suggestions, they are untruthful, the persons are untruthful, and that shows how the truth works, and exposes those who are not accepting it. If the truth is not operating in us, then we shall be exposed; it will come out that we are ready to tell untruths, without hesitation, without blush. Listen to what they say; “We are Abraham’s seed, and have never been under bondage to any one”, John 8:33. That was a lie, a political lie; yet it is the statement of those already regarded as believing on the Lord Jesus; how it shows the need of reliability, and of learning the truth, of being affected by it. They say, “How sayest thou, Ye shall become free”? John 8:33. The Lord had said that, and He is going to say it again, and say more as to it. “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily”; (John 8:34) the word is repeated, and it is a phrase that is only found with John; Verily, verily; truly, truly, that is; it is the truth. It is found, I think, about twenty-five times in this gospel, showing the importance of what I am saying, that we should be saying the truth, and only the truth, and we should repudiate the lie, acknowledge it too, if it is exposed. “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say to you, Every one that practices sin is the bondman of sin. Now the bondman abides not in the house for ever: the son abides for ever”, John 8:34,35. This refers to the liberating [p. 573] power of the truth, but not simply of the truth, it is the liberating power of the Son of God; it is a matter of sonship.
One of the most important truths that we have revived in these last days, while, of course, it was always in the Scriptures, and the great feature of John’s gospel, is the truth relative to the Son of God. In his epistle, he says, “we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding that we should know him that is true; and we are in him that is true, in his Son Jesus Christ”, and then, “He is the true God and eternal life”, 1 John 5:20. It is in the working out of the truth of sonship that we arrive at liberty, because sonship is a matter that relates to the Person of Christ. It is a feature of the Person of Christ; and it ends up in this, in John’s epistle, that “He is the true God and eternal life”, 1 John 5:20. I was saying a moment ago that new birth lays the basis for eternal life, but now the basis of it is that Christ is eternal life, but He is the true God too. There is no time to enlarge on these things, but every one of us ought to make sure that he is progressing in these matters, progressing in the truth of Christ, who He is, and what He is, and arriving at what we have here in John’s epistle, that “He is the true God and eternal life”, 1 John 5:20. If we are to progress in the truth, let us be sure that we have these wonderful facts in our souls, as to who Jesus is. As become flesh He is the Son, and He is the true God; in His Person He is the true God; He has not become the true God, beloved. He has become Man, but He is the true God; He ever was the true God, personally, and so we are built up in the progressive line, as I said, of truth as to the Person of Christ.
Now I must come back to the thought of liberty, of liberation, because I have gone a little too far, and yet not too far, because it was necessary that I should go the whole length, so that we should have before us the truth as to Christ’s Person, namely, that He is the true [p. 574] God. It would be blasphemy to say that He became the true God, He did not, He is that. He is the Maker of everything. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”; (John 1:1) that is the truth of Christ’s Person. It is a solid rock that cannot be overthrown, and every believer’s feet should be solidly on it, so that he may not be swept away with the wickedness and the blasphemies of the present day, but be saved from these blasphemies, and repudiate them. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”, John 1:1. What a beautiful setting out of progressive truth. He was with God, but He was God. “All things received being through him”; and “without him not one thing received being which has received being”, John 1:3 These are the facts, dear brethren, of John’s first chapter of his gospel; they are foundational, and it is of the very last importance that every one of us, old and young, should have our feet upon that solid rock, the solid rock of the truth of Christ’s Person, that He is God, but then He is the Son of God. Anyone that says that Christ was the Son of God before time, is not speaking the truth, He has not laid hold of the truth. There is no time to go into that, but I am briefly stating it, that you should have it in your souls, that the Son is Christ as become Man. He is Son as Man; He is God too, His Person remains the same. He is the great Mediator of God on earth as the Son, and so it is that He liberates; the truth also liberates, but the Son brings out the progressive idea of the liberation.
The epistle to the Galatians works out the truth of liberation in a way, “the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free”; (Galatians 5:1) hence Galatians is of great importance on this point. Paul says to those saints, in Galatia, “Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother”, (Galatians 4:26) not your mother, but our mother; that is to say she is the mother of christians; it is a maternal thought attaching to the assembly, not as it is here, although it includes that.
“Jerusalem above is…our mother”, Galatians 4:26. She is above, that is the thought of elevation, but then she is also the heavenly Jerusalem, which is spoken of in the epistle to the Hebrews. She is the heavenly Jerusalem, and hence is to be gloried in; our mother is no less than Jerusalem above, and no less than heavenly Jerusalem, and no less than the city, the new Jerusalem that comes down from God out of heaven. She is no less than any of those things. She is the bride and spouse of Christ; that is what she is; and all this involves what I am speaking of now, involves liberty, progressive liberty, dear brethren. The first element is the truth; “ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free”, John 8:32. That is what I have spoken of as an automatic matter, and yet not wholly automatic, because it is a spiritual matter and the Holy Spirit has to do with it. Then the next statement is that the son abides in the house for ever, and “If therefore the Son shall set you free, ye shall be really free”, John 8:36. That is the great thought, progressive thought, as to this liberty, of which I am speaking; it hinges on the truth of Christ being the Son, the Son of God, and that He abides in the house for ever. “The son abides for ever”, (John 8:35) the servant does not, the servant can be ejected, or dismissed, but not the Son. Ishmael was a type, but not of a son; Ishmael was born of Hagar, born after the flesh, and he “persecuted him that was born according to Spirit”, Galatians 4:29. We have to understand this and be on our guard against any persecuting influence, anything that persecutes what is of Christ, what is of sonship, either in Christ, or in us.
Now the great end here, the great progressive end, is liberty, the liberty that Christ affords to us. “If therefore the Son shall set you free, ye shall be really free”, John 8:36. He abides in the house for ever, and hence, dear brethren, one would hope that as we leave we may have something more in our souls; we may have had it before, but then, that it may be accentuated; that the [p. 576] truth may be accentuated at this time, according to the full height of it. It is really infinite in itself, because Christ is the truth, and another thing now is that the Spirit is the truth. Hence in this matter of liberty, we are fortified by Christ Himself as the Son, and the Spirit too, and we are to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has set us free.