THE SUPREMACY OF GOD
[p. 292] THE SUPREMACY OF GOD
1 John 3: 20 - 24; 1 John 4: 1 - 4; 1 John 5: 20
It is in mind, dear brethren, to speak about supremacy, and it need not be added that supremacy must be in God, whether He be viewed by Himself, or viewed as in Christ, or viewed as in the Spirit, in us. Supremacy must be in God. Hence I have chosen John for my address tonight because he, alone of the evangelists, presents us with God at the outset of his great work. Matthew has his own point of view, Mark has his, and Luke also, but John begins with God, as indeed does Moses, so that the writings of Moses and the writings of John are closely related. Moses, by the Spirit, speaks of God almost immediately, and it is not God as He might have been apprehended as having to say to the chaotic condition that had come about, but God as in the beginning, before the chaos. He presents Him in a word that is plural; that is, Elohim; that is his first reference to God. Now that is not a commonplace matter, it is an important matter as, no doubt, most of us know. The intent of Moses is to bring God to the mind immediately, in the narrative; “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. It was intended that God should be impressed on the mind immediately. He would undertake to offset the chaotic condition that had come in and to make a new world, and the Lord Jesus is pleased to call that the beginning. It is great enough to be a beginning. So the Lord speaks of certain things, such as marriage, and refers to the beginning. He says of men’s doings, that “from the beginning it was not so”. Many things are happening, dear brethren, that are not according to the beginning. Hence, as Christians, it is obvious that we all should be concerned about the beginning. God was in the beginning; and what was not at the beginning must be disregarded. God should thus have His place in our minds and in our hearts. Hence the place that God has, as I said, immediately,
[p. 293] for as Moses began to write, it was to call attention to God and that by the use of the plural name. He would impress us with the supremacy of what the plural name implies, so that our minds should be accustomed to the fact that God is supreme. Supremacy sometimes is now indeed handed down to kings, those that are in authority, but it belongs to God, power belongs to God. That is why, as I said, I have selected John’s writings, because they bring in God.
The first passage I read begins with this, “that if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart”. Well, you might say, That is not very much to say. Nevertheless, God is concerned that each of us should know, that He is greater than our hearts and knows all things. There is so much to baffle us, dear brethren, and to distress us, that it is a great matter to be assured that God is greater than our hearts and knows all things, It is John that comes in and tells us that “In the beginning was the Word”, but he does not stop there, he would bring in the thought of God in the beginning, and so he adds, “and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. It is John’s God, so to speak, that I have in my mind, and how He would ingratiate Himself with us, so that our hearts should not overwhelm us. There is so much that is happening to deter the brethren, hence the importance of having God in our hearts and knowing that He is supreme. He is supreme in Himself, but then the point for each of us is to be assured that He is supreme in each of us, in our hearts, and that He is greater than these. I have ventured to say all that in a prefatory way, so that the dear brethren might have the thought of God before them.
Now to proceed, in the epistle of John we get instruction as to our Lord Jesus Christ, and especially as to eternal life, the thought of which runs parallel with what I have been saying, and when we come to comparisons, what life is of any value at all except eternal life? The Lord Jesus is “the true God and eternal life”.
[p. 294] These words are remarkable and are intended to assure our hearts as to eternal life, that there is a life worth speaking about, a life worth preaching about, and we are to lay hold of it, for it is within our reach. We should have it in the sense of enjoyment and support, and understand the greatness of God as bringing it in. As I said, it is John’s God I am thinking of. You will understand the form of my speaking, when I say John’s God; there is only one God, but, at the same time, John has a way of presenting God that is unique. His presentation of the truth of God runs down to the end of this dispensation; he is concerned about this dispensation. He is reserved by the Lord for specific purposes, the Lord having in mind that his ministry and what he represents is to be available at any time.
So I speak of John’s God, because John traces the blessed and great and glorious subject of God as supreme, and he traces Him in Christ. He begins with the Lord Jesus, not exactly as in the Deity, though of course He is always God, He is never other than that personally, but He traces Him as the Word. John begins with that. “In the beginning was the Word”. It is the logos, that is to say, One who can tell us about God, and He tells us that He is Himself God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made”. The Lord Jesus is thus seen by John as a Man down here, under the title of the Word. He is One who can tell us all things; that is the scriptural thought. The woman of Samaria had it in her mind when she said, “when he is come, he will tell us all things”. So it is that John would instruct us from the very roots of divine things, from the very basis of the knowledge of God. As reserved by the Lord, it is John’s line of things, the work that He intended him to do in relation to the whole dispensation in which we are. I am speaking in a way to encourage young people to follow, and get instruction about God,
[p. 295] for the One who knows about Him is the Word; that is to say, Christ in incarnation is the Word. Therefore, if we want to know, we want to consult the Word, John tells us that the Son of God “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. He is the true God and eternal life”.
The question now is understanding, and I have ventured to select John because he is peculiarly intended to present the spiritual side of things to us. He touches on physical things, of course, and especially the expanse in which God operates. The expanse is the place of divine operations, and also Satan’s alas, for Satan has got into it, and he is not failing to do what he can. The sphere is wide, involving good and evil, but, at the same time, God is carrying on in spite of the evil and overcoming the evil, for He is supreme in regard of the evil. John would say to us therefore that there is nothing to fear; even as the Lord said to John, “Fear not”. Such a word is needed in view of what is in the expanse, which God Himself calls Heavens. It has a wide significance, and a wide bearing, and touches us at every point, but God is supreme in it. Satan is not supreme in it. John’s line of thought, and his way of thinking and speaking, has in view that both old and young should be assured as to the fact that God is supreme.
The first thing is as regards our hearts. There is a considerable difference between the mind and the heart, and God addresses us first through the mind. It is a faculty that is given us for discernment, for distinguishing between things that differ. It is so that we should know Him, know Him objectively, if I may use a common word. It is a well used word, yet, at the same time, a word we can hardly do without, for we have to begin learning objectively. That is how I get on myself, if you will allow me to speak of myself. I always find relief in looking at things objectively. If things seem to discourage, and they are not wanting in discouragement,
[p. 296] for as you rise in the morning the enemy will not fail to bring forward something to discourage, but the way to meet him is with objective truth, and the greatest objective truth is God, that God is, not has been simply or will be, but He is. That is one of the greatest facts knowable, and a fact that every heart should be acquainted with, and acquainted with constantly, that God is. We have the thought in the Scriptures of God known historically, what He has been and then the prophetic thought of God, what He will be, but then there is God Himself, what He is in the present — Himself. He surrounds Himself with Himself. I trust you will understand what I mean. He dwells in light unapproachable, but as made known, He is approachable. So that as you approach you gradually get nearer and nearer, and more at home, and more comfortable, more happy, and you are more assured that it is God. He would Himself come into the environment in which we are, so as to assure us and make us steadfast. Therefore, John says, “If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things”. That is one of the most assuring things we can speak of, that not only is He greater than our hearts, but that He knows all things. Well, that would mean, that if the discouragement comes, God would introduce some further knowledge of Himself to encourage us. He surely has more pleasure in encouraging than discouraging. He will not discourage; He will encourage. If there be discouragement, and it comes into our weak hearts, well, God would put Himself in there. He would put Himself in, so as to surround our hearts and give us encouragement and tell us, in the encouragement, that He is greater than our hearts, even if there be something to condemn in our hearts. It is not that God condemns us, but our heart condemns us, for it may do so, if there be something to condemn. If we are upright, and there is something wrong, the condemnation will come, but God would say, Well, let it be so, I know all about [p. 297] that. He knows all negative things as well as positive things. Whatever they be, if indeed they are to be condemned, well, God says, I know all about that, and He condescends to measure Himself with the condemnation that may be in our hearts, and to assure us that He is greater than the condemnation, whatever it be. It is the God we have known, beloved, the God who is known in Jesus, the God about whom the Word has told us. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God”, notice that the Word was with God. There is companionship there between the divine Beings, that is to say, there is liberty and love between Them, there is a community of thought, happy, holy community of thought, so that the word with can be used, and it says “the Word was with God”, before it says that “the Word was God”. We learn thus that there is companionship between Them, and then the great and glorious fact that the Word Himself is God. The Word, whom we know, the Jesus whom we know, whom we know in redemption, whom we know in the forgiveness of our sins, the Jesus who died for us, is the very Same. He is the Word who knows all about God, and He is with God, and then, great and glorious fact, He is God Himself. This is all, dear brethren, beyond our power to elucidate. We may as well say, I do not know; but I do know that the Word is precious to my heart. He has told me things; He has instructed me; He has given me an understanding, and I know Him that is true, and I know who He is. Then John says further, “He is the true God and eternal life”, that is to say, He has brought about the great fact of eternal life, a life we are to enjoy for ever and for ever. Well then, there is every reason to be encouraged.
So this third chapter brings out the thought of God in His supremacy, and then the Spirit in the same chapter, as John says, “Hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us”. This shows that the Spirit is here in a subjective way, for He is on our side as an Instructor, and He is supreme as come down [p. 298] here, as near us, as with us, and He is ready to assure us, and so John says, “Hereby we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given to us”. God has given us the Spirit; it is not simply that He is a divine Person here, but He is a gift: “the Spirit which he has given to us”. This raises the question, dear brethren, as to the possession of the Spirit, and how it comes in and links on with what I am saying as to supremacy. The Spirit is supreme, and He is supreme in the position He has taken up, and, in that supremacy, He teaches us. We thus know things, and know we are in Him, that is, in Christ or in God. It is not in the ordinary sense of knowledge or science, but by the Spirit which He has given us.
Now to go on to chapter 4, we see how the Spirit is greater as in us, as it says in verse 4: “greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world”. That is to say He is greater as in us, not as in heaven. John is not speaking of a divine Person as in the Deity, but the Holy Spirit as in us; the Spirit as in us here below; that is, in us as we are here tonight. If it be we go out into the street, or we are in our businesses, or in our households, the Spirit is in us, and He is greater in us than he that is in the world. Now these are great facts; whether it be he that is in the world in the political sense, or in the industrial sense, or in the social sense, or in the religious sense, the Spirit is greater in the saints. He is greater in you and in me than he that is in the world, so that we are not to be overcome. God is saying to us in this that we are not overcomable. We do not need to be overcome because of who is in us. However you look at it, “greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world”, and He that is in us is the Holy Spirit.
Then, as I was saying from chapter 3, the Holy Spirit tells us that we are in Christ. Sometimes in John’s writings we can hardly discern whether he is speaking of Christ or of God, for his use of pronouns is unique. In presenting the truth, John makes so much [p. 299] of the divine Persons, without repeating their names formally, but using pronouns. To follow the thought in mind, if it be the Holy Spirit in the Christian, He is greater in the Christian that what is in the greatest man of the world, and there are great men, of course. Although there are few kings, few royal people, yet the greatness of man still remains, for man knows how to hold it. When men are set up as rulers, they know how to hold fast what they have in that sense; they know how to make the most of their supposed dignity; but alas, that only gives room to the devil, and the more they make of their greatness, the more they make of the enemy. But then the Christian is told that “greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world”. Be they who they may, the Spirit in the Christian, not simply the Spirit Himself, or in heaven, but in the Christian, is greater than he that is in the world. Well, these are very important facts. How we may lift up our heads and exult in the thought of what we are made in the presence of the Holy Spirit which is given to us!
As I was saying, in chapter 3, John is speaking of God, God Himself in His infinite supremacy, and how the knowledge of that affects us. God is making so much of our hearts, the Christian heart, and that He is greater than it, even if there is something to be condemned. Then He is greater, as I have been saying, in chapter 4; and now, in chapter 5, He is greater because He is the true God. The word true is added there. Paul says, “There are gods many, and lords many, yet to us there is one God, the Father”, 1 Corinthians 8: 5, 6. John says, “He is the true God and eternal life”. In the Person who is the Word, we have One who instructs us as regards everything and assures us and gives us an understanding, and that is why I alluded to the mind of the Christian, because of the need of instruction. The Lord’s supper is for the mind, as well as the heart. The first thought of it is in regard of the mind of the Christian. It is ‘for the calling of me to mind’, says the Lord ([p. 300] see footnote to 1 Corinthians 11: 24). It is a question of the mind, a faculty that is controllable by the Christian, as the expression in Romans 7: 25 shows, “I myself with the mind serve God’s law”. As a controllable faculty it can be employed to shut out other things. The mind has great power to shut out other things, and the Christian has that power, so that he might make full room for Christ. That is the idea in the Lord’s supper; full room for Christ, for He is to be everything, and in all. The mind is the great faculty to keep before us as regards learning and as regards understanding, and as regards enjoyment, because of its power of discrimination and for the rejection of evil. God has placed within us this power which is greater than the evil; so that the evil is not as great as the Christian. However severe it may be, or however much to be condemned, yet the Christian is greater, and that is because the Spirit is in the Christian. “Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world”.
Well, that is what I had in mind to enlarge on, and I hope it is clear to every one of our minds. It is only as in the Christian, or in the assembly, that you can conceive of the Spirit having a footing down here. He is not in the air, nor is He in the unbeliever; He is in the assembly. “And hereby we know”, says John, “by the Spirit which he has given to us”. The us there means the assembly, for the assembly is the sphere of the operations of the Spirit, and these operations imply that the mind is available. Hence in the great opening up of the truth as to the mind of the believer in the seventh chapter of Romans, Paul, individualising himself, says, “I myself with the mind serve God’s law”. The mind is a faculty that we can use, and Paul does use it, and then opens up the great truth of the Holy Spirit in chapter 8. The great truth of the Holy Spirit in the Christian is opened up there because the mind has its place in chapter 7, and that has in view that the Spirit might have full scope in the believer. The Spirit is mentioned a great many times, as most of you know, in Romans 8,
[p. 301] and it is because the way is made, or cleared, for Him by the mind, now under control, being allowed to be active. The mind has been given to the believer as a faculty to be used; it is under his control, and what is put under my control by God, I put under the control of the Spirit. The Spirit is a great and blessed Agent down here on our behalf; to act for us and to serve us, and to aid us as we need help. He is not doing everything. He would say to us, You do that, and I will support you in doing it. The Spirit becomes known to us in the way He acts with us in supporting us in times of difficulty, and then the way is clear for the Spirit to open up the things of God to us.
We have much in Romans 8 about the Spirit, leading on to “a Spirit of adoption”. It says, “Ye have received a spirit of adoption”, and that is not a spirit of fear. It is a spirit; it is the principle of the thing received. We have a spirit of adoption and what do we do with it? Well, we cry, “Abba, Father”. We use it. The Spirit would aid us in using it, and in speaking to the Father. We have “a spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father”. God is pleased with that. What it involves in speaking to the Father came out in the Lord Jesus Himself in Gethsemane, and now it is our part to speak thus, the Holy Spirit aiding us, so that we are great enough for it. The Lord is pleased to give us the liberty and power to speak rightly to His Father; we have “a spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father”. It leads us into worship, and enables us to speak suitably to the Father, having in our minds all that that name implies. The Father is in our minds, intently in our minds as we speak to Him. Why should we not? “See what love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God”, 1 John 3: 1. The Father has opened up that to us, and I would urge it on young people, to learn to use that word. You have a spirit of adoption. The word adoption is really the word sonship; we have a spirit of sonship, by which, the mind laying [p. 302] hold of it, and the heart expanding to it, we understand the thought of the Father. We little realise, I am sure (I know that in my own soul), how heaven is enjoying what the Father gets from the saints, but that is what He has just now. “The Lord’s portion is his people”, Deuteronomy 32: 9. That is true of ourselves, our very selves. I am speaking simply; we are the ones, there are a goodly number of us, we are well entitled to speak in the plural here today. There is here a great number of saints together and that is a great thing for heaven, and God is getting something for Himself.
The woman in John 4, so often spoken of, was of little account at one time, but presently she becomes of very much account. She left her waterpot which she brought out to the well, and went her way into the city, not indeed to speak to God or the Father, but to speak to men. The Lord had spoken of the Father to her. She went to the men; she became evangelical, and I doubt, as to ourselves, if anyone will become evangelical who does not speak to the Father first. The heart of God, beloved, is the source of everything; and so true evangelising is from the Father. This woman evangelised; she went her way into the city and went to the men and told them, “Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done: is not he the Christ?”. She was evangelising, but I fully believe, that in some sense, she already had responded to what the Lord told her of the Father. The Lord says, “The Father seeks ... worshippers”. It is the intent of God, that we should, as knowing Him, be evangelical; the heart of God flows out, beloved, through Christ by the Spirit, to men. What a moment it is for us to be evangelical! but it is a question first of the service of God, of speaking to God. God would have the households of the brethren in liberty, every one of them. We have houses to eat and drink in, but then houses in which to bring up children and in which to teach them the truth. The truth of God is brought to us in the gospel, and it is our privilege at this present time to [p. 303] pursue the gospel, even in however small a way it may be, however few the listeners. Pursue the gospel! Keep it going! and it will grow in importance and become more attractive. I believe the woman of Samaria, dear brethren, is to set out the working of the system in which Christ is operating, because He is the great Operator on the part of God. “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things to be in his hand”, we are told in the third chapter of John. This woman comes to Him, and she leaves her waterpot, and having learned from Christ, she goes to the men; she becomes evangelical and tells them, “Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done; is not he the Christ?”. What a question it was! So they made room for Christ at that time in Samaria.
Well, that is all I have to say, beloved, and as I have said, it is the matter of supremacy, the supremacy of God. There is what God is in our hearts, then what He is in the Spirit as teaching us, and then what He is in the Son. “The Father loves the Son”, and “He is the true God and eternal life”. So that the thought of the true God is brought down to us as in Christ. First it is in God Himself, as I have been saying, the first mention of Him in Scripture by the plural name denotes His supremacy. Then He is supreme in the Spirit as teaching us, and then as the Son as the Instructor and the Giver of eternal life. “He is the true God”; not simply God, but the true God; our position is in relation to the true God. There is no other; whatever people may say and assume, there is no other than the One we have. “He is the true God and eternal life”, and it is for each of us to be assured of it, that He is the true God, and that we also are true. We are true in relation to Him and true to one another. John would bring out all these things; the reality of the truth; the reality of Christianity; the reality of what we profess and what we have in the Spirit. He brings out what the service of God really is, and all else that goes with it. May God bless the word to us!