DIVINE AFFECTIONS SATISFIED
Genesis 2:18-23; Psalm 22:22; John 3:29;
A.M. As is often the case, we received many impressions this morning. One thing that interested me as the service proceeded was that we had part in a scene of satisfied affections. What particularly impressed me was the way in which divine Persons in their selfless love find their joy and satisfaction in what ministers to Each Other. We have Adam in Genesis 1 as a type of the Lord Jesus, and Jehovah said that it was not good that he should be alone. Jehovah identified the need and He provided for it in order that Adam’s heart should have an answer. The Father has provided – He has found His joy in providing – that which would answer to the heart of Christ. In fact, if you look at the great types of the assembly, I suppose most of them would suggest the assembly being given or brought to Christ rather than Him finding or choosing her.
In Psalm 22 the Lord Jesus, as having the assembly, has a vessel in which the Father’s praises can be sung and which will minister to the Father. The Father has considered for Him and He considers for the Father. It is the Lord’s joy to do so: “in the midst of the assembly” – the “congregation” in this psalm – “will I sing thy praises”, Heb.2:12.
The passage in John, although alluding to John the baptist, may suggest that the Holy Spirit has His joy in securing what is pleasing to the heart of Christ. I believe that we can apply the expression “the friend of the bridegroom” to the Holy Spirit Himself. The friend of the bridegroom rejoices, not because of what he receives, but because of the voice of the bridegroom. The Holy Spirit sees the satisfaction that Christ has in the assembly which has been the product of His own work, that which Christ has secured, but which the Spirit has adorned and beautified and made suited for Him. He sees Christ’s satisfaction and the Holy Spirit’s heart rejoices.
In Galatians the Spirit is presented as crying – the feelings expressed in relation to the Father that there should be a suited answer to the Father. That is the simple impression I have.
A.M.B. It is very attractive. What you are bringing out tells us about the heart of God. Love always seeks the blessing and pleasure of its object. There is love among divine Persons and the assembly is used in that way. In the scripture that you read in Genesis, the assembly in type is used by the Father in love for the blessing and pleasure of the Lord Jesus.
A.M. Yes. Love is not selfish; it is always considering for its object. There is no suggestion here that Adam complained. He must have felt it. You think of the section between verses 18 and 21. Jehovah brought every animal and all fowl of the heavens and each of them were in pairs. For every ram there was a ewe, for every bull there was a cow. There were male and female of them all and Adam saw that, and he was alone. He was made with a heart, he was made with affections, and God said, ‘This is not good. It is not good that he should be alone. I will provide one for him, a help-mate his like’. Adam could only have his affections satisfied with what was “his like”.
J.C.G. Is there a glory in what is mutual? I was thinking of what was there in deity before the purpose of God was revealed at all, but the revelation of it brings out the glory of what is mutual, the expression of it.
A.M. Yes, that is good. We see, set out in divine Persons, affections working for Each Other. Therefore it is to be expressed in man, in ourselves. It is an attribute of divine Persons as operating together, and it is a wonderful thing, that there should be mutuality and mutual affection in providing for one another.
A.D.M. Would consideration be another attribute that would come into this – God’s consideration for the feelings of Adam? Would that bear on what you said as to the way divine love operates?
A.M. Yes, that is right. God knew what Adam needed. Of course, we do not know what went through Adam’s mind, but he must have felt a need. God knew what would meet that need and He could provide for that. Think of God, in His wonderful grace, providing for the needs of a man, but then think of the anti-type; He has provided for Christ. The Lord Jesus having come into manhood has, we might say carefully, the needs of a man, and God has provided the answer to that in the assembly.
J.L. Can you help us as to why that need was not met by the creation of a counterpart?
A.M. The Lord Jesus could only be united with what is of Himself. He could not be united to a separate creation, if I can use that expression; He could only be united to what is of Himself. You can help us.
J.L. That is a very good answer. The way it was brought about seems to intensify the way of love and therefore a deeper satisfaction resulting from it, would you think?
A.M. That is right. The deep sleep speaks of the death of Christ quite apart from sin or anything like that. It speaks of how He died in order to secure the assembly, and then she is brought to Him. Then Adam’s feelings are expressed; he says, “This time …”. What feeling must have gone into those words. He had seen all the creation pass before him but there was nothing to which he could be united. Now he says, “This time …”.
P.M. Could you say something as to the thought of the helpmate?
A.M. It was once pointed out to me that it is really two words brought together, ‘help’ and ‘mate’. The assembly is a help to Christ, and she is one with Him. Say what is in your mind.
P.M. Adam was head of the creation. It seems very wonderful that One so great as our Lord Jesus should look for a helpmate. He had found no helpmate, one who He could use in the service of God, one who could be with Him in His administration. Would that be right?
A.M. Absolutely right. The assembly is His helpmate, both in service and in testimony. The woman of worth is the helpmate. “The heart of her husband confideth in her … She doeth him good, and not evil, all the days of her life”, Prov.31:11,12. She is the helpmate. What a wonderful thing to think that the Lord Jesus even now has that which is on the earth, formed by the Holy Spirit, which is His helpmate.
R.B.B. Does the divine ordering in the whole matter dignify the assembly? It says that “they shall become one flesh”, Gen.2:24. I was thinking of John 17, “that they may be one, as we are one” (v 22); it is dignifying the assembly.
A.M. It is a very dignified matter. She is “his like” – He could only be “one flesh” (v.24) with one who is His like. How great the Lord Jesus is, and yet there is a vessel which is united to Him in wonderful bonds of love. There were references this morning to the bonds by which we were held, the “bands of a man”, Hos.11:4. Think of the assembly being held in relation to Christ, to One so great and glorious. How glorious the assembly is! I do feel that it is of immense importance that we all have a sense, early in our lives, of the assembly in her glory and her greatness, because if we do not have that, our thoughts will always be governed by breakdown. But we must get the sense of the assembly in its greatness; a wonderful vessel that is united to Christ and expresses His glory.
P.A.G. The helpmate is Christ’s counterpart. Is the assembly required for the complete display of God’s thoughts in love?
A.M. Yes, that is right, and hence without Eve, God could say “It is not good”. It does not mean that anything that had been created was bad; in fact, chapter 1 shows us that everything that was created was good. But it was “not good” because it was not complete. It was necessary that the woman must be brought in, so that God’s thoughts should be seen in their fulness.
P.A.G. Her glory will come out in display when the assembly comes down “out of the heaven from God having the glory of God”, Rev.21:10. God’s chief glory, I think we can rightly say, is His love. The love of God will come into full display in Christ and the assembly, and it will be taken account of – I was going to say universally, but it is more than that. Heavenly and earthly and infernal beings shall all bow to Christ and what is displayed in Him.
A.M. Yes, and what will be displayed is all of Himself. So when she comes down out of heaven, she has no temple in her (Rev.21:22). There is no need for somewhere separate in which He can dwell. She is His dwelling, she is the expression of Himself.
D.J.S. Could you say more about the fact that this took place before sin came in? There is something wonderful about that.
A.M. I think that shows that the assembly was in God’s heart before time was. Before there was any breakdown, the assembly, in type, is seen here. We can take account of the assembly as she will be seen in that glory. There was nothing from the past which had to be removed; it is absolute perfection. The work of God in the saints, which combined together will form the assembly in its glory, is perfect; it has never been tainted by sin. It is what we are in flesh that has been tainted by sin.
C.M.S. It has been said that the assembly has no past history. Would that link with what has been said?
A.M. Absolutely; she has no past history at all. It is us who have the history. But it is a wonderful fact of God’s ways that, out of men and women and children like ourselves, who have plenty of past history, God is able to work something which has no past history at all and is perfectly in keeping with His own thoughts for Christ.
M.B.G. Does this section bring out the absolute suitability of the bride for Christ? We often say when thinking of her that she is ‘of Him, like Him and for Him’. Does this section bring that out? Eve was taken out of the man and she was not only Adam’s helpmate, but his like. Does it help us in response to the Lord to realise that the assembly is absolutely suitable for that glorious Man?
A.M. Yes, that is helpful. In a sense, this is the greatest type of the assembly because she is presented as perfect here. I think the suitability is seen in Adam’s response when he sees her; “This time it is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”. There was nothing in the woman that did not answer to the man. She derived from nowhere else; she was entirely of him, and therefore she was completely in accord with himself.
M.B.G. Is that one of the assembly’s glories? What a thought it is that even in a day of breakdown, the assembly is still perfectly suitable for Christ.
A.M. Yes, she is. Publicly that may not seem to be so, but the assembly is suited to Christ. It says, “Her husband is known in the gates” (Prov.31:23); the Lord Jesus will be recognised by what has come out in the assembly. That is how He will be known.
G.A.B. There was nothing further created after this. We have a great deal said about creation in chapter 1, but the woman was not created in the way that everything else was, she was taken out of the man. Do you think that the creation can be viewed here as the background against which God’s great thoughts as to Christ and the assembly are going to be demonstrated?
A.M. I think so. Chapter 1 shows that God created things out of nothing, but in the type, Eve was built from Adam’s rib, that part of him closest to his heart. That teaches us that God starts with Christ, then the assembly is derived from Him, from what came from His side, as it were. It is very choice, is it not?
G.A.B. There can be nothing greater. This is final.
A.M. Yes.
J.S.S. Can you help as to God bringing Eve to Adam? Is there a particular pleasure in this? It seems to be a deliberate act that He brings her to the man.
A.M. Yes, that is right. She is brought as the result of divine handiwork. Rebecca was brought to Isaac, and we see there in type (Gen.24) both the desires of the Father and of the Holy Spirit. Isaac was alone. He had been to Beer-lahai-roi, ‘the well of the One who reveals Himself’. Isaac had been there but now he was in the fields meditating. What is going to result? Onto his view comes Rebecca, a great type of the assembly. It is a wonderful thing to take account of that.
J.S.S. It is Jehovah Elohim who identifies Adam’s need and He builds Eve, but then there seems to be something particularly for His delight in bringing her to man, presenting her. The Lord will soon present the assembly to Himself.
A.M. Yes. You might think – not to bring things down to too common a level – that Jehovah was looking for Adam’s reaction, and what He found was that Adam was fully satisfied.
J.T.B. This comes in against the context of what God had done in the work of creation, demonstrating His power in creation. There is a typical reference to the Spirit as mist which moistened the earth (v.6); do we get some sense of the tenderness of the Spirit’s operations?
A.M. Yes, that is right. It is interesting that the words ‘formed’ and ‘built’ are used here. God formed the man and He built the woman. He built her from the rib. The Holy Spirit was behind all this. You think of the incarnation, a divine Person coming into manhood, and as having come into manhood the Lord Jesus had a need. God really provided for that need through the death of the Lord Jesus.
A.D.Mv. In Genesis 24, all the qualities that were needed and which were suitable were found in Rebecca. She was of Isaac’s kindred, not of a lower order, and not of the people of the land at all, but of Abraham’s kindred.
A.M. Yes, she had to be of the right stock. She had to be related to Isaac. This would be manifested in her moral qualities, and the servant in his prayer identified the moral qualities that he knew would be needed for the wife of Isaac. They were identified and then they came to light. It says that the servant was astonished by seeing these moral qualities. I dare say he had taken account of many people, but here was one as to whom he was astonished. It says of the Lord that “he wondered”, Matt.8:10. Think of all that God sees upon the earth, but there is something here that is different and is entirely suited to Christ.
J.C.G. Was there something similar in Esther? She had required nothing except what Hegai had appointed her (Esth.2:15). What the Spirit has brought in has been suitable in the formation of the assembly. What you say about divine Persons is interesting because Jehovah Elohim is a plural word; it involves the Godhead. It says about Esther that the king loved her and she obtained grace and favour in his sight (v.17). That was a great matter, but the anti-type brings out the satisfaction and the joy that Christ has in what is brought about as the work of the Spirit, do you think?
A.M. I think in that passage that all the other women might have thought that they needed more than what was available from Hegai, but they were not suitable. There was one who relied entirely upon what Hegai provided, and that was sufficient; it was exactly what was required.
Turning to the psalm, although the assembly is for the heart of Christ, He ensures that the assembly is also to be employed for the praises of God. “I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee”. Literally, the assembly is composed of persons. He is not ashamed to call us brethren; we are brought into relationship with Him. We see that in John 20 – a new order of man based on resurrection; “go to my brethren” (v.17). Those who are His brethren comprise the assembly. But then the assembly is for the praise of God; it is a vessel which the Lord Jesus uses in order that there should be an answer to the heart of God Himself.
R.B.B. We have been speaking of the assembly being built. In Acts 20 she is purchased. Could you help us about that?
A.M. There are different views of the assembly. The assembly was purchased, which suggests the price paid. We have often commented that she is not redeemed. We are redeemed because we were away from God. The same price has been paid, in the precious blood of Jesus, that she should be secured for Him. But that which was purchased is being built, and that work of building continues. The Lord Jesus says, “on this rock I will build my assembly”, Matt.16:18. That building goes on; that is His doing. There are different aspects in the way in which we view the assembly. Say more about what you have in mind.
R.B.B. On resurrection morning, the first thing the Lord did was to make known the Father’s name, rather than any reference to the assembly.
A.M. Yes. The Lord’s love is not a selfish love; in fact love is not selfish, it does not seek what is its own. God is entitled to work to His own ends, and He works for His glory, but in doing so, He works for the blessing of others. The Lord really had in mind that the Father should have His answer. The Father has provided the assembly for the Lord , but what the Lord had before Him was that there would be an answer for the Father’s heart. It is beautiful to see the way in which divine Persons consider for Each Other in that way.
J.L. In that the Father’s name was to be declared first of all, does that indicate that there is to be intelligence in response and affection? That Name, with all that is connected with it, and the blessedness of the relationship, was to be intelligently appreciated so that the response in love, as led by Christ, would correspond in a full way with what would satisfy the Father’s ear, do you think?
A.M. Yes, I think so. That message on resurrection morning contains so much that would have been new to the disciples – “my brethren”, “my Father”, “your Father”, “my God”, “your God”. This would have all come as fresh light to those disciples. They were brought into a completely new circle of relationships with Christ and with the Father. It was something completely new and it is all dependent on the One who has been into death and was raised again.
J.A.B. I was thinking of the character of this vessel of praise for God eternally. There will be other vessels for the praise of God – Israel and the angels – but is the assembly uniquely fitted to be a vessel of praise eternally?
A.M. It is. It is a vessel that provides a dwelling place for God – where He dwells, as the opening of this psalm says, amidst the praises of His own. He is praised in His own dwelling.
J.A.B. And God will dwell in the assembly eternally as He tabernacles with men. What we are speaking about is a blessed thing to touch now, as we did this morning; and it is also very blessed to realise that what we are engaged with is eternal in its character.
A.M. Yes it is. What it will be to be freed from these bodies! It will be wonderful to have part eternally in a vessel that is formed to praise. We have a hymn which says:
‘Formed to praise throughout the ages’
(Hymn 170).
Think of a vessel that is formed for that purpose according to this point of view. What a wonderful thing it will be to have part in that, unrestricted by the claims of nature or the weaknesses of nature and things like that, but entirely unrestricted to have our part in that.
G.A.B. The title “my Father and your Father” is unique to the personnel of the assembly.
A.M. Yes, I think it is.
G.A.B. In Israel, God was known as Jehovah Elohim. I suppose in the day to come, other families will have their own relationships, but Jesus says, “go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father”, John 20:17. That puts His brethren in a class, you might say, entirely by themselves.
A.M. I was thinking recently of the man in Proverbs 30. He speaks of the Creator and says, “What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou knowest?” (v 4). That man did not belong to the assembly; I presume he belonged to Israel. We do not ask that question, “What is his name”. The name of Father is so precious. It conveys more than one thought. The Father is the progenitor. Our fathers are those to whom we owe our existence. That is just one thing, but the name “my Father and your Father” also conveys a relationship of intense affection.
D.S. It is wonderful that there is a creature vessel that is able to satisfy divine Persons in this way. You were speaking at the beginning as to how they seek to satisfy Each Other. The assembly is a creature vessel that is for the satisfaction of the heart of Christ and for the satisfaction of the Holy Spirit and for the satisfaction of the Father. Everything therefore that God does in it widens out in this way, do you think?
A.M. Yes. How could the heart of a divine Person be satisfied? It is beyond understanding in a sense – beyond natural understanding – that a creature vessel could actually satisfy the heart of a divine Person, but it is absolutely true. That is the wonder of God’s ways – that Christ has the assembly and holds her for the satisfaction of God.
P.M. Is the thought of the assembly being “in Christ Jesus” one entity? We have it in Ephesians 3: “to him be glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus” (v.21). I wondered if it linked with, ”My praise is from thee, in the great congregation”. You spoke earlier of what was not complete. Adam being alone was not complete but we have been helped to see that “in the assembly in Christ Jesus” is one complete thought that God ever had in mind. Therefore there is an answer which is for the glory of God because of the greatness of what that concept is. Would that be right?
A.M. Yes. And the wonder of it is that we have our part in it at the present time. The Lord is securing an answer to God at the present time in this wonderful vessel which is united to Himself as one.
J.C.G. It is a wonderful matter that Christ is on our side in relation to the praise of God; “in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee”. The object was worship for God in response in love. That is what God purposed, this is what He is securing, and Christ is on our side that it might be secured. Does that bring in the mutual feeling that you spoke about at the beginning?
A.M. It does indeed. So there is a oneness of praise. You cannot separate what Christ Himself is expressing to the Father and what is expressed in the assembly. It is a oneness of response.
J.L. The thought is marginally amplified in Hebrews where it is indicated that He will do it with singing. Is that to show the particular joy of the Lord entering into the returning response now to the Father?
A.M. That is good. It brings in the joy and also the oneness of singing together. You cannot sing when you are miserable. It is the heart that is springing up when you are singing, and I appreciate that thought that the joy of Christ is in it, and the joy of the assembly too.
J.L. I appreciate your additional comment that, in the singing, there is a complete blending together. It is a wonderful thought that the assembly is brought to share in that response, no doubt led by Christ, but the assembly entirely with Him as one in it.
A.M. Yes indeed.
A.D.Mv. In Revelation 5, there is an earthly song: “And they sing a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open its seals” and then, “out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and made them to our God kings and priests; and they shall reign over the earth” (vv.9,10) That will be an earthly response, but you are showing us that the heavenly response, the assembly response, is superior.
A.M. Yes. I think there is no greater response than what God secures in the assembly, is there? There cannot be. “To him be glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus unto all generations of the age of ages” (Eph.3:21) is really the summit of divine ways. The assembly has the full understanding of all divine ways and thoughts, and as united to Christ there is that which will be for the pleasure of God eternally.
P.A.G. A distinctive feature of the assembly is that the Lord says to the Father, “I have made known to them thy name, and will make it known; that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them”, John 17:26. The Lord made known the Father’s name when He was here but He continues to display the Father’s glory to us in the assembly, so that love, you might say, has a complete circle of uninterrupted affection.
A.M. Yes, that is right. We sing:
‘O circle of affections all divine,
The foretaste of eternity’s bright scene’ (Hymn 207)
The Lord in that sense continues to be active in order to secure the Father’s praises, that which is for the Father’s own heart. The Father is the Source of all. It must be that all returns to Him, and the Lord is active in that sense in ensuring that in the assembly.
In John 3, we have this reference to the friend of the bridegroom. The Holy Spirit does not draw attention to Himself very much at all; that is a feature of divine grace. He does not glorify Himself, even as the Lord did not glorify Himself, but He gives us these figures, and here we have the words of John the baptist. They are remarkable words; “He that has the bride is the bridegroom”. You might say that was extraordinary light for a man of Israel, that he should actually have such light. But then he says, there is a friend of the bridegroom. There is one who has been with the bridegroom in all that has gone before; there is one who has been with him and he “rejoices in heart because of the voice of the bridegroom”. What is the voice of the bridegroom? I suppose it is in type the equivalent of “This time”, and the friend of the bridegroom hears that voice. I remember a brother many years ago referring to the Holy Spirit bringing the assembly to Christ, and he said that it is as if the Lord would say ‘This is wonderful. This is just what suits Me’. It says in Genesis 24, “the servant told Isaac all things that he had done”. And Isaac might have said, ‘This is just perfect’. You think of the joy of the servant as seeing that his mission had been so wonderfully perfect; he could take account of the voice of the bridegroom and he himself rejoices in heart.
J.L. The bride had not in fact been secured as yet when John said this, but through the intelligence and understanding of the Holy Spirit, is the concept viewed as accomplished?
A.M. Yes it is. If we lay hold of divine purpose, everything in divine purpose is as good as complete. It is secure, it is assured. Is there another scripture where Christ and the assembly are referred to together as the bride and the bridegroom? But here it is anyway; this light was given to John and moreover there is a divine Person who rejoices in heart on account of it.
J.A.B. We speak frequently of the heart of God as a figure for the love of God, and we speak of the heart of Christ. Would this scripture give us a basis for speaking about the heart of the Spirit? The Spirit loves the Father and the Son, and He loves us. The fact that He has taken such a lowly place in service to secure these wonderful things for the heart of the Father and the Son should not obscure the fact that, in Deity, His work is as great as Theirs towards Each Other and towards us.
A.M. And then our response to the Holy Spirit, as we address Him on Lord’s day morning, is not a formality just because we have reached that point in the service, but it is from hearts which are affected by the love that He has displayed in gracious service. There should be a response in love to the Holy Spirit. I once heard a brother addressing the Holy Spirit and he said, ‘Holy Spirit, we love Thee’, because of the way in which He served. How often do we actually respond to Him in these terms, but it is due to Him.
G.A.B. The Spirit and the bride say “Come”, Rev.22:17. It is not just that they are saying the same thing, they are saying one thing. It brings out how close the Holy Spirit is to the bride. The feelings of the saints are wrapped up, you might say, in what divine Persons are feeling.
A.M. Yes. That wonderful hymn (Hymn 131) says:
‘The Spirit and bride are united,
And now with one voice would say “Come”!’
Think of how that cry goes up to heaven with one voice. Think of the Lord hearing that cry. The bride is ready; in a sense she does not want to wait any longer. She is ready to meet her Bridegroom and the Holy Spirit has the joy that His work is done.
G.A.B. I remember Mr Alfred Gardiner, I think it was, saying that we may say ‘Come quickly’, but the assembly’s voice says “Come”. That means come now – not quickly, but now.
A.M. ‘Come now’. Yes, it has been said that if I say that the Lord may come tomorrow, then in principle I am saying “My lord delays to come”, Matt.24:48. ‘Come now’: we are expecting Him now. That is the point.
A.M.B. Do you think that, in the way in which we are speaking of these verses, the Spirit’s joy will be fulfilled when the marriage of the Lamb will happen, but He is rejoicing now in what there is in the assembly for Christ. There is a fulfilment of the Spirit’s joy. John the baptist said, “this my joy then is fulfilled”, but I wondered if we could transfer that in our thoughts to the marriage of the Lamb being come. “Let us rejoice and exult” (Rev.19:7); it is other families that will say that, and the Spirit’s joy will be fulfilled then, but there is joy for Him now.
A.M. I think so; every bit of work that is responsive to Christ is giving the Holy Spirit joy, is it not?
E.H. I was thinking of what has just been said as to the Spirit’s joy being fulfilled. John the baptist says, “He must increase”. Do you think part of the Spirit’s joy is in our apprehension of Christ and our appreciation of Christ increasing?
A.M. I think so. The Holy Spirit’s service is to magnify Christ. As He sees that Christ is increasing in the hearts of the saints, in their affections, what joy that must give Him because that is the fulfilment of His service.
D.J.S. I was thinking of another hymn – a hymn to the Spirit which says:
‘Thou dost know the Father’s feelings
Of affection for His Son,
And His joy in the assembly
As united to that One.’ (Hymn 121).
Is there something of that joy there?
A.M. I think so. We sang that hymn this morning and that was partly what contributed to this impression of the joy of the Father and of the Holy Spirit in seeing the assembly united to Christ. That is really the fulfilment of Their desire for Christ.
In Galatians, we see that the Holy Spirit is also operating in the saints in order that the Father should have a portion. I suggested that we read from verse 6 because it takes the ground that we are sons. There is no question about that. Paul in writing to the Galatians had to go through this reasoning in the first five verses because they were getting off the ground of sonship, but we are sons. And it is because we are sons that “God has sent out the Spirit of his Son into our hearts crying, Abba, Father”. Think of the Father receiving the response of Christ. Think of when Christ was here as Man, and what the Father received from Him then. He said, “I praise thee, Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth” (Matt.11:25) and “I knew that thou always hearest me”, John 11:42. Think of what the Father received from Him – that was from His Son. And because we are sons, it is the Spirit of His Son who has been sent into our hearts, the Holy Spirit seen in that light as the Spirit of God’s Son. So we should be fully equipped, fully able to respond to the Father in a way that would gratify His heart.
J.C.G. Do you think that this scripture involves our being prompted by the Spirit? God sent the Spirit in view of our being in His presence; He sent the Spirit to prompt us. It would promote liberty of response among everyone, not just the older brothers but younger ones too.
A.M. Yes indeed. Think of the Holy Spirit in that sense providing every stimulation that we need in order to enable us to respond to the Father. What we say we may couch in clumsy words, but the Holy Spirit is in our hearts crying “Abba, Father”. He provides what is so pleasing to the Father as we give expression to our impressions.
P.M. Does the Spirit of His Son ensure that there should be the same character of feelings for the Father in the sons as there is in Jesus?
A.M. I thought that. It is the Spirit of His Son. We get the Holy Spirit with different titles but I think the Spirit of His Son brings out the way the Lord Jesus as the Son would in His relations with the Father respond to Him. We have the expression for instance the ‘Spirit of the Father’ in hymn 442, based upon Ephesians 3:16, in order that we should be strengthened, and that the Christ should dwell in our hearts, suggesting the Father’s feelings in relation to Christ. But here it is the Spirit of His Son, involving His feelings in relation to the Father, so that we should respond suitably to the Father.
J.L. Would it be of some significance that, several times in Scripture, the Spirit is very closely identified with our hearts – writing in them, shedding the love of God abroad there, and now the Spirit of His Son in our hearts?
A.M. Well, I am sure it is, because that is where the response comes from, does it not? It comes from the heart. We do not exactly stand up and explain to the Father what we are thinking in the service, but we give a response from the heart.
J.L. The Spirit serves us in other ways too, because we are told that He gives us understanding, and He guides us. But there is a special significance in relation to what is imparted in the heart of the believer by the Spirit, and it seems to bear on the satisfaction of divine Persons who love response from the saints in an intelligent and appreciative way, do you think?
A.M. Yes, so that is what God is looking for. Divine Persons are looking for a response. They have done all that is needed in unselfish love in order that there should be an answer to each One, and they are looking for a response from us.
Reading in Grangemouth
1 September 2019