ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
I desire with the help of the Lord to speak of the Holy Spirit of God and of what He is for us, with the thought that we might be stimulated to take to heart the fact that He is to be known, that His service is to be understood, recognised and appreciated, and that we should be characterised by His knowledge. We have been baptised, as we read in Matthew, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (a single Name).
We have remarked how God is gloriously celebrated in the doxology at the end of chapter 11 of the epistle to the Romans, where it is said, “For of him, and through him, and for him are all things: to him be glory for ever. Amen”. There is no doubt that, without excluding the other two expressions, “of him”, and “for him”, the one “by him” includes both the Son and the Spirit, for it is indeed by means of the Son and truly in Him, redemption having been accomplished by Him, that the thoughts of God have found their expression, but then they are realised subjectively in the saints by the Holy Spirit, and it is equally in the Spirit that a response is produced for God’s pleasure. This is why, knowing in some measure the Father and the Son, we must also accept in our minds the thought of the knowledge of the Holy Spirit, for our knowledge of God will not be complete if we do not add our knowledge of the Holy Spirit.
I desire with the Lord’s help, to approach this subject very simply and take it from the beginning. But before going further, I would like to recall that God was pleased at another time to confide His testimony in the world to Abraham, then to Isaac, and then to Jacob; Abraham without doubt suggests the Father and Isaac the Son. As to Jacob, one cannot see clearly in what sense he represented the Spirit of God, although I have no doubt that there is suggestion of it intended; nevertheless he certainly represents in a very great measure, by what he reached at the end of his history, the full result of the work of the Spirit in the believer. At the end of his course, you can see in Jacob a man characterised by a dignity and remarkable spiritual power; and so it is said twice that he blessed Pharaoh. Pharaoh was the most important man of the time, and in considering him as the greatest man of his time, Jacob is certainly greater than he in the incident to which I refer. Jacob here is a type of a believer who in the power of the Spirit is engaged in the service of God.
And in following this line we find Jacob blessing Joseph and his sons as well as his own sons, and in chapter 49, he says to his sons, “Gather yourselves together, and I will tell you what will befall you at the end of days”. This is very suggestive of the Spirit of God, for it is said of the Spirit that, “he shall announce to you what is coming”. As having Himself the divine knowledge of all that is to come, He endows the saints with this knowledge so that we are on the one hand made intelligent, and on the other, fully prepared to face what may arise by way of opposition to the testimony.
After Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we have the testimony which is continued with the twelve sons of Israel; this leads us to consider the mind of God, that there is a testimony here in the saints moving together in unity and love, the number twelve suggests a formation in the knowledge of God the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This can only be realised if we are maintained by the Spirit under the influence of Christ. And so you remember that first ten sons were born to Jacob, ten sons born of three different mothers, Leah, Bilhah and Zilpah, and there was no possibility of the ten sons realising unity unless some great power or influence capable of producing it was introduced. So, when the eleventh son, Joseph, figure of Christ, was born to Rachel, his mother said, “Jehovah will add to me another son”. That is to say, Christ being introduced in figure, Rachel immediately saw the idea of another son, a twelfth: as soon as Christ is there, you can be assured that the mind of God is realised: the saints can be perfectly united in love. This is what her naming Joseph signifies and she says, “Jehovah will add to me another son”. So, beloved, Christ being introduced there is the possibility of unity among the saints, and in truth, there is no unity so striking as that which results from formation acquired by the true knowledge of God—the knowledge of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
It is said in the epistle to the Ephesians, in chapter 4, “There is one body and one Spirit, as ye have been also called in one hope of your calling”, v 4. That is to say that the Spirit Himself exercises a wonderful influence capable of unifying the saints! Then we read, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism”. We all confess the same Lord, a wonderful influence capable of producing unity among the saints! Finally: “… one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all”. The knowledge of the Father also unifies the saints, but the three Persons of the Godhead themselves are so perfectly united in mind and object that their own complete unity completes the great influence that the knowledge of each of these persons exercise over the saints in unifying them.
I have said this only as introduction, but I think that if we are in any measure familiar with the thought of the knowledge of the Father and the knowledge of the Son, this might be the means of our having the thought of knowing the Holy Spirit; I would suggest that the more we allow this thought to occupy our minds, the more we will receive help as to it. Thus it is said in Genesis 24 in speaking of Rebecca, “And Rebecca arose, and her maids, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man”. This signifies that they gave themselves over to the power and direction given by the man—in figure, what was at their disposal in the Spirit. Then it says, “And the servant took Rebecca, and went away”, that is to say that Rebecca having fully accepted to go and being set in movement, the servant took her. This is mentioned to us, I think, for our encouragement, for if we allow this thought to penetrate, and we take the exercise to heart, we will find the Spirit ready to help us as to this.
I have read to begin with this chapter in Exodus for the Spirit of God is presented to us there in figure, as light, elementary we could say, but a very blessed and important light. The children of Israel had hardly come from Egypt, they were thirsty and murmuring. Moses cried to Jehovah, saying, “What shall I do with this people? In a little, they will stone me!”. The response was that Moses should pass before the people, taking with him the elders of Israel and in his hand the staff with which he had smitten the river, and “Behold”, said Jehovah, “I will stand before thee there upon the rock on Horeb; and thou shalt strike the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink”. The water was a divine provision for them, what they were to drink. It is said in the epistle to the Corinthians, “and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of a spiritual rock which followed them: (now the rock was the Christ)”. In these conditions they had the water. The water is a figure of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God being the provision to satisfy thirst and bring refreshment. But this provision was given to them in consequence of the fact that the rock on which Jehovah stood had been smitten. This reminds us of the very touching way in which the Lord had to be smitten and it is because He has taken this place that we can receive this inestimable gift, the Holy Spirit. You remember how it is said in chapter 7 of the gospel of John that “the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified”. He had to be glorified after having accomplished the work of redemption, and redemption could not be accomplished unless our Lord was smitten. The incident of the rock smitten by Moses is introduced so that we should be made to understand that the Holy Spirit is the great and unique provision for us to be maintained, refreshed and satisfied. This provision is uniquely assured to us in the fact that Christ has been smitten. This is why it is proper for us to esteem and appreciate that the Spirit has been given to us, for God and Christ have gone as far as accepting that Christ should be smitten so that we should receive this inestimable gift, the Spirit.
After this, the position is attacked. As soon as the water had flowed, it is said: “And Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim”. This shows again that the flesh, and Satan working through the flesh (this is no doubt what Amalek represents), is manifested in opposition to the Spirit, which always happens. We have to learn this early in our spiritual history. This incident is set at the beginning of the journey of the people of Israel. As soon as the divine purpose is brought out, the people are instructed to find their life and satisfaction in the Spirit, but the position is attacked: Amalek fights against Israel.
However, there is an immediate response to the attack and not the least thought of yielding to Amalek. The situation is faced without delay, for Moses says to Joshua, “Choose us men, and go out, fight with Amalek; to-morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand”. It is Joshua that Moses called, it is upon him he counted. Joshua was then only a young man. It is not necessary that we should have been a long time in the path before facing the exercises of this chapter, and to come as a result to recognise definitely the Spirit of God as the only means by which we will be able to be maintained in satisfaction and freshness. The Spirit being also the only means to hold the power of the flesh in a state of death in every form in which Satan works.
Thus Moses goes up to the top of the hill with the staff of God in his hand, and it is said that when Moses lifted his hand, Israel prevailed, and when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed. I do not think that Moses with the staff of God in his hand is a figure of Christ personally, for if it was a matter of the Lord, there could not be weakness with Him. The hands of Moses were heavy and at times he let down his hand, and when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed. It is clear that Moses is not exactly a type of the Lord personally on high, but represents rather the authority of the Lord over our souls, which can be weakened; not that there is the least sense of weakness on the part of Christ, but because of our carelessness or our negligence; and if it is so, Amalek immediately takes the upper hand: this is what we must attend to. The apostle in writing to the Romans says to them, “do not take forethought for the flesh to fulfil its lusts”, Rom 13: 14. That is to say, there is our side to be considered here, and if we are negligent, we will find that Amalek has the advantage; not that there is any lack of power in Christ or in the Spirit, but because there can be failure on our side.
Then Aaron and Hur are brought in. Aaron without any doubt represents the service of Christ as priest. His intercession for us, His priestly interest as to us, is a very comforting feature. How the Lord is pleased to enter into our exercises, particularly when we are young. He is the Shepherd, it is said, and also the Overseer of our souls, a very touching title, the Shepherd of our souls! With what tenderness the shepherd devotes himself to the needs of his sheep! And as Overseer of our souls, He never fails to see how we get on. It is said of Mordecai that he walked each day before the court of the house of the women to know how Esther fared. It is a very touching suggestion of the constant interest of Christ in our souls.
Then Hur, whose name signifies purity, is introduced no doubt on our side relative to this matter. It is necessary for us to maintain our motives and exercises in purity, and if it is so, while we feel the power of the flesh and the work of Satan by its means, we will find that the Spirit of God is greater than what opposes. So it is said that “Joshua broke the power of Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword”. I have no doubt that Joshua represents the believer who appreciates the Spirit. Nearly forty years later, he is spoken of as a man in whom is the Spirit, that is to say, that he is characterised by it. It can be said in a sense of every true believer who has received the Spirit that the Spirit is found in him, but in Joshua’s case, Jehovah designates him as a man characterised by the Spirit, and it is very significant that he had been used on the first occasion to meet the power of the flesh in opposition to the power of the Spirit. He is a man who is available and able to be used for the occasion and Moses says to him, “Choose us men”. The thought here is that men should be brought in, and I believe that this is what we must have on our hearts at the present time. That to which God is working is assured in men, real men, men able to go forward so to say with a liberty and spiritual discernment proper to them. They would do nothing contrary to the truth, we can be assured, but a real man is able to move and act, not necessarily as being governed by precise instructions as to what to do, but in the intelligence and liberty of a developed virility.
So Joshua fought and broke Amalek with the edge of the sword, and Jehovah said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua”; that is to say that God has Joshua in His mind, “a man in whom is the Spirit”, Num 27: 18. God desires to be assured of such men, and that is what Joshua was. God would produce in each of us a state of manhood able to move in the liberty, intelligence and dignity of the Spirit. With this thought before Him, He says: “Write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua”. That is to say that if one among us has the desire to become such of whom it can be said “in whom is the Spirit”, they have to be careful to keep this constantly present to their mind: “… rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens”. And however far we may advance in knowledge, or something spiritual which others judge of in us, we must keep this important declaration constantly in our minds. As I have sometimes said and I like to repeat, even Paul, after he had been caught up to the third heaven, wrote, “But I buffet my body, and lead it captive, lest after having preached to others I should be myself rejected”. He realised just how abominable were the tendencies of his own flesh, and how easy it is for Satan to work through them. The only thing to do, so to say, is to keep the flesh in check. Having this constantly in his mind, and in the power of the Spirit of God, Paul took care of anything that might be able to overthrow him should be maintained in a state of death. He enlarges on this subject in the epistle to the Romans where he says, “we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to flesh”. It is not necessary to recognise the flesh, we owe it nothing; then he adds: “but if, by the Spirit, ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live: for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God”. It is in this way that the sons of God are identified, having reached the point of being led by the Spirit and knowing Him, they are sons of God: “For ye have not received a spirit of bondage again for fear, but ye have received a spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father”. He goes on to say: “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are children of God”. How near the Holy Spirit of God is to us; in what wonderful intimacy He is with us! “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are children of God…”.
We have there, so to say, our first relation with the Spirit of God, and the first thing that we understand is that we have greatly to appreciate His presence; firstly because of the price it has cost that He might be given, then because He is the blessed provision God has furnished for our satisfaction and power.
So Moses built an altar and called it “Jehovah-nissi”, that is to say, ‘Jehovah my banner’. This expresses that he reached a very definite point in the history of his soul and that he could name it precisely, “Jehovah-nissi”; that is to say, Jehovah my banner, as if to say that he was going to arrange himself under this banner. It seems to me that this corresponds very much to what we find in the epistle to the Romans, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ”. This is what we have to arrive at in a definite way and which answers to accepting the authority of the Lord over our soul and Jesus Christ as the only Man in whom God has found His pleasure. If this is so, the Spirit of God will make this authority effective in us and will see that His features are formed in us.
While chapter 17 of Exodus presents the Spirit of God to us as the great power able to overcome the flesh and the power of Satan through the flesh, chapter 45 of Genesis presents the Spirit to us as the power of life in what is spiritual, that is to say, the power to overcome in us the tendencies to give what is natural more place than is fitting. Obviously, I do not mean to say that what is natural must be put entirely to one side, for it is not to be so. In truth, to be without natural affection is one of the features of the apostasy, and as long as we are here what is natural has its place, but we have to understand that what is natural must be eclipsed by what is spiritual. The Lord is not here. He has left this scene and in the Spirit whom He has given to us, He has introduced an order of spiritual life and interests; it is in this that the saints are to find their life with Him henceforth. Indeed, it is said, “Your life is hid with the Christ in God”. And I think that the particular point in the history of Jacob is an illustration of this. There was no evil conduct with him such as marked his sons as to Joseph. With him, it was not a question of self-judgment relative to a past life, but rather the fact that he had lost sight of Joseph and did not know if he was living, so that he lived in a natural order of things which could only bring him discouragement. Then Joseph sent his brethren to Jacob, his father, telling them to say to come to him. To be near to him and that he would charge himself to look after him near to him. Joseph desired to give him a place of proximity with himself in the midst of a wonderful circle of interests and glory of which he was the centre and head. This was a very attractive proposition; however, when Joseph’s brethren came and passed on this message to their father, it is said that his heart remained cold, for he did not believe them! Even the words of Joseph that the brethren brought to him were not able to move him; but it is said: “And he saw the waggons that Joseph had sent to carry him. And the spirit of Jacob their father revived. And Israel said, It is enough”. This shows that he was led to recognise that, in the provision that Joseph had sent, there was the power to carry him to him and to give Jacob to find his life near to Joseph in the circle of his own interests. This suggests, I think, that we not only believe that our life is hid with Christ in God, but we recognise that the Spirit of God has come, as a result of Christ being in glory, so that we are led to Christ currently and really find our life in the things above. It is said, “have your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth”. That implies that we recognise the presence of the Holy Spirit and get the gain of His power. He has come from Christ in glory and it is said in chapter 16 of John: “He receives of mine and shall announce it to you”. It is as if the Lord would say first of all to us that there is a vast circle of living interests relating to Myself, which are to be known in the assembly in the power of the Spirit, and they are at your disposal; you have your part there so that you may live in nearness to Myself. He would then add: These interests are also those of the Father, not only Mine. The Father has a whole circle of living interests outside of this scene, and we know something of it to be enjoyed in the assembly. The question for us is to have our life in these interests, and the Spirit is near to us to serve in view of our realising them practically.
It is said that Jacob saw the waggons and his spirit revived; and it is added that Israel said: “It is enough: Joseph my son is yet alive; I will go and see him before I die”. He devotes himself to this entirely. This is the important point that I would like to leave on our minds, that we give ourselves up without reserve to what the Spirit is disposed to be for us and, while we have all the profit of His service, we will prove in an increasing way what He is for us. He is God Himself, and yet He has been satisfied to accept a position in which He is available to Christ and to the Father to be sent, available to us also in view of increasing our affections, of maintaining them, and that we should be enlarged in our spiritual intelligence. The Holy Spirit is near to us for all this and much more; I know nothing more striking than the service of the Holy Spirit. He has been here on earth more than one thousand nine hundred years. The public service of the Lord down here was concentrated, wonderfully concentrated in a period of three and a half years. I have no thought of suggesting that the service of the Lord does not continue in heaven on high. It certainly does continue; on the other hand, His service in humiliation lasted for thirty-three and a half years; that is to say, the period of His life on earth. But the Spirit of God has been here for more than one thousand nine hundred years. Think of the patience that that implies! Think of all the obstacles which He has encountered! How many times he has been insulted. Think of the way in which He has been grieved by the saints themselves, by each of us, and yet He goes on in His service towards the saints with patience, serving them under the Lord’s direction, with a wonderful humility. The Lord knows well the necessity for the saints to be enlarged and developed in the understanding of the Holy Spirit, His Person and His service; this is why the ministry insists so much upon this side of the truth. We see Jacob here engaged with the waggons, because he had been developed in spiritual dignity and the capacity to yield to the mind of God, to which we have already alluded. All this results from the fact that Jacob was devoted without reserve to what was come from Joseph.
Now, a word to finish on chapter 14 of John. The passage is well known to us, we refer to it constantly and we will come back to it again no doubt. The Lord was considering His departure from this scene, and He understood that His disciples, left without Him to continue the testimony, would feel His absence deeply. This is why He said: “If ye love me, keep my commandments”. Keeping His commandments is a proof of love for Him. I do not have the right to say that I love Christ if I do not keep His commandments. The Lord says in this same chapter: “He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me”. So the Lord introduces the thought of the coming of the Comforter with this appeal to the heart: “If ye love me, keep my commandments”, and he adds, “And I will beg the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever”. Think of that! “with you for ever”. The Spirit is seen here as the gift of the Father in response to a request of Christ’s, how touching this is! The three Persons of the Godhead are engaged. The love of Christ for His own leads Him to beg the Father that He would give them another Comforter, and the Father gives this Comforter in response to that request. It is a question of affection, the Father and the Son are engaged in all this. That makes the presence of the Spirit here even more attractive. The Lord also says, “with you for ever”. How touching this is and although we may be here in very small numbers, we have God Himself with us in the Spirit. Wonderful resource! The Spirit of truth being here. The Spirit of truth is here and we will go on with it if we are devoted to it and to the Spirit of truth. “The Spirit of truth”, the Lord says, “whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see him nor know him”. That is to say that having received the Spirit establishes us in complete independence of the world, and apart from it. “Whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see him nor know him”, but the Lord adds, “ye know him, for he abides with you, and shall be in you”. “With you”, I think as support, “in you” in the end emphasises how far His presence in the saints is near, intimate, personal, and this “for ever”. Can anything beyond that be conceived, beloved! This is what we read throughout the Acts of the Apostles, the book that emphasises the presence of the Spirit; the whole dispensation being characterised by His presence and His activities. So we find there service under the Spirit’s direction. The Spirit said to Philip, “Approach and join this chariot”. In chapter 10, the Spirit speaks to Peter when he was in perplexity. That is to say, when he appreciated the fact that God had set a vision before him. This is what the Spirit records in chapter 10, but in chapter 11, Peter himself gives an account of the incident and he says, “The Spirit said to me …”. He had discerned the voice of the Spirit, not the voice of the Lord. All this implies a great sensibility on our part.
As one has often remarked, the first time where it is mentioned that the Holy Spirit was seen, He was pleased to take the form of a dove so that He could be seen, which suggests an extreme sensitivity; and this should impress us, for if we are to understand, and recognise and appreciate the presence of the Spirit and His service, what is needed is that we should be exercised as to His extreme sensitivity. So the Spirit descended in a bodily form, as a dove, upon Jesus; without doubt to mark Him out in a special way as He to whom He could commit Himself without reserve, and this is what He did. We also find the feature of the Spirit’s sensitivity developed in the Acts of the Apostles. You remember that in chapter 16, when Paul and those who were with him had thought to go to a certain place, they were hindered by the Holy Spirit; then they attempted to go to Bithynia, but “the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them”. It does not say “the Holy Spirit”, but “the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them”. This detail shows that Paul was marked by great sensitivity as to the Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus. The Spirit of this holy Man upon whom the Spirit could descend without causing any trouble whatever, the Spirit of Him who moved in such perfect dependence upon God. The Spirit of Jesus, it is said, did not allow them, showing that, on this point, Paul was marked by extreme sensitivity, so that He was able to discern what direction to take and the way of acting at that moment.
When we come to chapter 21, we find that Paul being arrived in Tyre, the disciples said to him by the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem. They had the mind of the Spirit and they communicated it to him. But Paul went to Jerusalem. What are we to conclude from that? Are we to think that Paul was not subject? I believe that we have to see that at that particular moment, Paul failed to discern what the voice of the Spirit was. What great sensitivity is needed as to the Spirit! His presence requires it. So, Agabus descended from Judæa and said, “Thus saith the Holy Spirit”. He had the mind of the Spirit, and he transmitted it with authority: Thus saith the Holy Spirit, Paul you are not to go up to Jerusalem. He said, “The man whose this girdle is shall the Jews thus bind in Jerusalem”.
I recall all this and do not think I need to add anything. It is clear, quite clear, that the Spirit is very near to us. You have to take account of this remarkable verse in chapter 14 of Revelation when John heard a voice out of the heaven saying, “Blessed the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; for their works follow with them”. It seems that when the voice comes from heaven that John heard, the Spirit who was in him adds something: “Yea, saith the Spirit”. The Spirit was in perfect accord with what came from heaven, and John records it: “Yea, saith the Spirit … their works follow with them”.
This is all that I have in mind, less to unfold the truth than to stimulate us in relation to it. So the Lord says, “ye know him”, and we should really have before us to acquire the knowledge of the Holy Spirit, so that He should be free in us in view of that moment which is not far off when the Spirit and the bride say, “Come”.
PARK STREET, LONDON
29th January 1949
Translated from the French magazine, ‘Ondées’, June 1949
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