SPIRITUAL ADVANCE
[p. 125] SPIRITUAL ADVANCE
The apostle was not writing to the saints here exactly with the view of teaching, but with the object of keeping them in right lines. The point in the latter part of the chapter is that they had an unction from the Holy One and knew all things; the apostle says, “ye have not need that any one should teach you”. He sought to guard the saints, because there were many antichrists. There were those seeking, even in that day, to introduce the corrupt thing that we have around us. The Son of man sowed good seed in His field; but no sooner had the seed been sown than the enemy came and sowed tares. The tares and the good seed were almost contemporaneous. The antichrists went out early, but they did not revert to what they had previously been; they set on foot the corrupt system which we see around.
If, when people departed from the truth they had returned to what they came out of, to judaism or heathenism, it would have made matters comparatively simple; but they did not do that; they started some counterfeit of the truth, and that tended to make matters difficult. What we get in the epistle is apostolic care to guard the saints from being carried away by what was not of the truth. At the same time the Spirit of God, by the apostle, insists very strongly upon the fact that the saints had the truth in them. “Even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him”. Now, if the saints in that day could be marked off, as they appear to be in this passage, into different gradations, I judge the same thing might hold good today. We do not know much about one another, but in the present time it would probably be possible to find the fathers, the young men, and the little children.
I will make one remark before passing on to what is [p. 126] characteristic of each stage of advance. A young man does not lose what is proper to the babe. There is not growth in that sense. In natural things, when a babe grows to a youth, a youth to a young man, the youth ceases from the things of the babe, and the young man from the things of the youth. But that would not always hold good in divine things. There is that which is characteristic of the young men; but the young men do not lose that which was proper to the little children, and the same thing would apply to the fathers. The apostle has only one thing to say in regard to them, and that is that they had known Him which is from the beginning. But that which was descriptive of the young men and of the little children remained with the fathers. That is an important point to bear in mind. If we advance, we do not lose what characterised us in what we have advanced from. You may get saints entering upon the land of promise, that is, on the ground of divine counsel, but they do not lose what is proper to the wilderness, for we are in the wilderness, and whatever advance we make in the knowledge of divine counsel we never can lose the things which are proper to the wilderness. We have to continue in the faith, and not be moved away from the hope of the gospel; that must have its application to us so long as we are in our present condition. It is a great mistake to think that you can march through the wilderness into the land, and have done with the wilderness. In spirit we may enter upon the ground of divine promise; but you can never take yourself out of the wilderness, you must wait until the Lord comes to take you out of it.
Meantime every christian in the wilderness is himself an evidence of the truth. We see that coming out in the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of John. In the fifth of John, he lives by the voice of the Son of God, and is thus an evidence to the Son of God. Time was when he was dead; he did not hear the voice of God at all. The man that does not hear the voice of God, proves he [p. 127] is dead; but the one that has heard the voice of the Son of God and lives, is a standing witness to the truth of the Son of God. In chapter six the believer is in the wilderness, and finds bread. Every christian is a witness to that. He is in the wilderness, a dry and thirsty land; but in a land of dearth, he finds experience of grace. That is witness of the Son of man. Then in chapter seven, out of his belly flow rivers of living water. He is a witness to the Spirit of God. It is a testimony to the power of the Spirit, keeping the soul in the joy of the Lord.
The individual believer in the wilderness is an evidence to the Son of God, the Son of man, and the Spirit of God. If challenged by an unbeliever or a heathen, he ought to be prepared to say, ‘I carry the evidence of the truth in my own person’.
Now to come back to our passage. What marks the babes is, they have an unction from the Holy One, and know all things; what marks the young men is, that the word of God abides in them; and what characterises the fathers is, they have known Him which is from the beginning. As babes have an unction from the Holy One, and know all things, they stand in relation to every divine Person, that is the truth of things at the moment. Every christian knows the Father, because christianity is based on the revelation of God as Father. You would scarcely account a person a christian if he did not know the Father. The fact of the Son having come, proves that the Father is revealed.
Then we stand in relation to the Holy One, for we have received the living water from the Holy One, and stand in relation to Him; and further, we have the unction from the Holy One abiding in us. The christian does not lose the anointing, it continues in him. It is not like the Spirit of Christ coming upon the prophets in Old Testament times; the anointing abides. That began with Christ Himself, the Holy Spirit descended and abode upon Him. When the baptism of [p. 128] the Holy Spirit came to pass in connection with Christ going on high, then the anointing abode upon those who received it. The anointing is truth. You cannot add anything to truth, and having the anointing, it is clear that the christian has the truth in himself: That is the ground on which the apostle says, ‘You have no need that anyone teach you’. What do you think the truth is? The truth was hardly here until Christ came. The mind of God was communicated from time to time; God made known His word to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and in the midst of Israel to Moses and the prophets, but I doubt if the truth was here until Christ came. The truth is the revelation of God, and the revelation of God in nature was not here until Christ. God could not be revealed through the agency of prophets. Anyone ought to be able to see that though His mind might be made known, it was entirely impossible for God to be revealed by prophets. He must Himself in some way come out, and that is just what God saw fit to do (John 3: 16). The apostle John says in the introduction of the gospel, “No man hath seen God at any time: the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him”. Hence, until Christ came, you have not the truth. I believe the force of the expression, “the truth”, is the revelation of God.
The Lord said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”. The presence of Christ was entirely different from any other moment. The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came to pass by Jesus Christ, because God was revealed. How was God to be known? I know but one way, and that is, in revealing Himself by Himself. Hence it is that you get the anointing. The anointing is the truth, in order that we may be in the good of the revelation, and I do not believe any one could be in the good of the revelation except by the anointing. The anointing is truth, and teaches that we may be in all the gain of the revelation of God.
[p. 129] Apart from the anointing it is absolutely impossible that God can be known. I can understand the testimony of the grace of God coming out to man; but that does not in itself bring the knowledge of God. If God is to be known in His nature, He must be revealed in Himself. By the Spirit we can enter upon all that in which God has been pleased to reveal Himself: A christian is competent by the Spirit, carries the competency in Himself (whatever may be true of him practically). In principle, in virtue of the anointing which he has received from the Holy One, be knows all things, and has no need that anyone teach him.
No man can teach you the knowledge of God. God may use teachers — apostles or what not — to guard and guide you in a way; but you may be confident that as to the real knowledge of God no one can teach you short of God Himself; that is, the Spirit of God. Hence, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit has been pleased to take the place of the truth down here, not objectively like Christ, but subjectively, that the saints may have the gain of the revelation which God has given of Himself in the only-begotten Son. Christ has communicated the Spirit to be living water in the believer — a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
I suppose we would all take the ground of being babes. The thing for the babes to covet is to be spiritual. We would all desire to advance in the knowledge of divine things; the way is to advance in the knowledge of God Himself. The way for this is, confidence in the anointing, in the Spirit of God that dwells in you. There is no truth more wonderful than the presence of the Spirit; and where is the Spirit?
The presence of Christ was outside of man in a sense. The Spirit is in saints, in God’s house, dwelling in believers. One would desire to bring people back to confidence in the Spirit of God that dwells in them. It is the only means by which we can be led into the [p. 130] knowledge of God. The one that knows God is the one that loves. Why do we love? Because God has been pleased to acquaint us with His love. We love by the Spirit. “Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love”.
Thus you see how dependent we are on the anointing for everything that touches the real knowledge of God. The truth means that which may be known of God — that which is revealed in the only-begotten Son. One can speak to you of these things, but can do nothing whatever for you. No man can teach you in the knowledge of God. One would seek to guard you from anything which would divert you from it, that your attention might be directed God-ward, and your confidence increased in the One who can lead your heart into all that in which God has been pleased to reveal Himself.
It is a great thing if we are shut up to God. But our attention is so readily diverted by man; ten thousand things down here tend to distract the attention of saints — social and business obligations. You have to remember these things are but for a moment, however they may seem important to us; but the knowledge of God is for eternity; and therefore, it is of all importance that our attention should not be diverted from what tends to lead us into the knowledge of God. The truth is there in Christ, and in the believer, that the believer may, by the anointing, be led into all truth, into the knowledge of God as He has revealed Himself.
Now, as to the young men. Speaking in regard to them you must suppose the truth to be known. That is common to every christian. It is not one particular class that has the anointing; “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his”. The “word of God” conveys to me a different idea. I understand by the word of God the communication of God’s mind to man, and in general, the communication of God’s mind [p. 131] in relation to man. This is a different idea from the truth. Through all time, almost from the beginning, we get the word of God coming in. The word of God always addressed itself directly to man, without any kind of intervention. God communicated His word, His mind, to the patriarchs, in the way of promise. He called out Abraham, and communicated His mind to him. It was not exactly the revelation of Himself, but what He proposed to do, and what He intended to make of Abraham.
In the case of Moses God communicated His mind to him and in a general way it had reference to what the children of Israel were to be for God. God first communicated His mind as to the children of Israel on mount Sinai, then afterwards from off the mercy-seat. Later on, in the prophets we still get the idea of the word of God. Sometimes God would address Himself by them to the people, at other times He would go outside the boundary of the people, and speak to the gentiles. Holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Now I pass on a step further, and that is, the climax of God’s word has now been reached in Christ. There is the announcement of God’s mind in regard of man, made known in the Man whom God had been pleased to raise from the dead. That Man is the Head of every man, and in that Man is fully expressed and communicated the mind of God in regard of man. Christ is Himself the Word, and it is in Him that God’s mind in regard of man at the present moment is made known, and it is maintained here by the Spirit of God. That brings us to the point in regard of the young men. The testimony of God abides in the young men. I think that is the case today, activity in the testimony of God is characteristic of the young men, just as the truth is in the babes. So what is characteristic of the young men is, the word of God abides in them, and they have overcome the wicked one. The word of God is not [p. 132] bound, it is maintained and promulgated, and it abides in the young men. Now, there is a snare as to them, and that is, the world. It has been unhappily true in our experience that some of those who had been extremely active in the testimony of God have been engulfed more or less by the world. There is no man who can possibly go on in the testimony of God without support. If a man does not have the support of the Spirit he will surely turn for support to christendom.
Where a man loses the sense of the Spirit’s presence and the truth of the church, that man is bound to turn for support to christendom, and christendom means the world — the ‘christian world’. Such a man has lost in his testimony the savour of the Spirit of God. They may tell us of the wonderful results produced by his work, but the testimony has lost its savour, because he has got away from the Spirit of God, and is looking for support from christendom.
We have to be on our guard against the snare of the world. The world is subtle; it presents itself to us in many forms and shapes. The influences are almost unfelt, and people get under the power of things before they are aware of it. Its influences may come in in domestic arrangements, to bring the young men under its influence, and in that way to mar the brightness of their testimony. If the word of God does not abide in the young men I do not know where it abides. I think that all christians are in the truth and have the unction, but the word of God abides in the young men. We that are young men have to look to it — God holds us responsible — that we are not poisoned by the evil influences of the world; “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world”. Our ways should be simple, and we must not run in accord with the world. What could be more simple than every way of Christ? We want to walk in the simplicity that characterised Christ Himself.
As to the fathers the apostle says, “I have written unto [p. 133] you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning”. It is difficult to give a definite idea as to that. I merely suggest a thought or two. “Him that is from the beginning” is in a way indefinite. From the beginning of what? “From the beginning” is an expression rather characteristic of John’s writings. “The devil sinneth from the beginning”, etc. The form of the expression raises a question in the mind. The idea I have in connection with it is, ‘from the beginning of the day’. I take it up from what occurs in the early part of the chapter; the darkness is passing and the true light now shines. The day has dawned, and now you can speak of Him that is from the beginning of the day.
The system of things in the world with which we are acquainted began from the introduction of the sun. There were certain things antecedent to the sun; but the order in which we live began with the sun. In the sun there was the principle of rule, and I do not believe any order of things according to God can exist without the principle of rule. When God brought in that principle then it is that you get the up-springing of life; life comes in consequent upon the introduction of rule.
There was light previous to that, at the outset; but not rule. I should connect light morally with the revelation of God. Rule comes in in connection with an appointed light. God appointed the sun to rule the day, and in connection with an appointed light came to pass, life. We live in an order of things which is ruled by the sun, and the sun is potent in that way. It is not simply that it rules the day, but it fills the world with light and heat; there is nothing hid from its heat. God has been pleased to bring to pass a spiritual order of things analogous to that. The beginning of it was the introduction of a great light; Christ has come in as a great light, who is to give law to the universe of God. I take that up from Psalm 40, “I come: ... to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart”.
[p. 134] The moment He became Man there was a new outset; there was a sun appointed in regard of the moral universe. The day began to dawn; you have One in whose heart is the rule of God.
Now, the law of God is love. “Thy law is within my heart”. The object of that was that He might give the rule to the universe which God intends to bring to pass. In the presence of that great light all life is developed. When the appointed light comes in then He communicates the Spirit of life, that in the presence of light there might be life. The day has begun. The One in whose heart is God’s rule — that Man has come in, who will give the law to the Jew and to the nations; He gives now the law to the church. It is God’s law; the law of love, which is to rule, and in the presence of that everything is to be subdued. Just as the light of the sun is great enough to fill the world, so Christ is great enough to fill all things. He is exalted far above all heavens, that He might fill all things. The apostle John says that if all that Christ had done were recorded, the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Christ is the great appointed light, and with the introduction of the light a new order of things has come to pass. A man is brought upon the scene who has accomplished redemption so that God may take up His rights, and in whom God can give the law to the moral universe.
It seems to me strange if God cannot bring in a better order of things than what exists now in the world. “The lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” are the things which rule man, and give birth pretty much to the strife which is upon earth. I defy the most acute man to find out the rights and wrongs, politically, of anything in the world. God will introduce a world of His own; but then that world will have its own proper character of righteousness. The day has begun, the darkness is passing, and the true light now shines, and the appointed light is great [p. 135] enough to fill all things.
One word more. You must remember that our part is with Him. What for? That we should be like a faithful wife in the absence of her husband. I pity a man taken up with the things of the world, because these are not the interests of Christ. The wife has to be faithful to the interests of her husband in his absence. The church is left here in the absence of the Bridegroom, to be faithful to His interests, but when Christ fills all things then the church will share with Him the glory of His exaltation. There is nothing that is conferred upon Christ as the exalted Man that the church will not enjoy with Him in that day; like a wife who has been faithful in the absence of her husband; when her husband returns and takes up all that belongs to him, shares in all that belongs to her husband. It is a great thing for our souls to be in the light of the day.