THE RESULT FOR GOD OF THE TESTIMONY OF HIS SON
[p. 155] THE RESULT FOR GOD OF THE TESTIMONY OF HIS SON
John 3:35; John 4:10; John 4:19-26; John 20:17-23
What I have on my mind to bring before you is the thought of what is for God on the earth as a result of the testimony of His Son. The gospel of John presents the Son not exactly in relation to anything that existed upon earth before, but in relation to God Himself. The gospel of Matthew also presents the Son, but there it is the Son in relation to that which had existed before on the earth. Israel had had the place of son with God. God had sent a message to Pharoah demanding that His son should be released. “Let my son go, that he may serve me”, Exodus 4:23. So we see that Israel had the place of son with God upon earth, but Israel utterly failed to correspond with that wonderful position. Matthew introduces the Son, not exactly to establish the truth of His Person, but to show that in Him God could take up and maintain every thought of His in regard to Israel. Presented to Israel in this way, and rejected, He establishes a system upon the earth that should supersede Israel. That is what Matthew presents: a system set up in the liberty of sonship, and subsisting in life as founded upon the Son of the living God. That is to say, the assembly is established in life, and also in the liberty and dignity of sonship; and therefore it is a suitable vessel with which to connect the testimony of God.
Coming to Mark we again have the Son; “the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1) but there it is the prophetic ministry. All ministry is now carried on in the liberty and dignity of sonship. There had been a prophetic ministry before; God had spoken to the people by the prophets, but [p. 156] henceforth all ministry should be carried out in sonship. We have divine ministry maintained in the Son.
Luke, I need not say, presents Christ neither in relation to the testimony that had been committed to Israel, nor yet the prophetic ministry, but in regard to humanity; humanity is taken up in Christ. In John, as I have already said, we have the Person, and that, not as in Matthew in relation to anything that existed before, but in relation to God; and hence the results must of necessity be for God. The Spirit in the opening chapters of John presents us with the Person in that light. “No man hath seen God at any time” (John 1:18), it was something entirely new; there had been much revealed in the Old Testament, but no man had seen God. Moses desired to see Him, but no man had seen God. God had dwelt in thick darkness; no man had seen Him, but “the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him”, John 1:18. That is the point of view in which the Spirit of God introduces the Lord Jesus Christ in this gospel. It is a question of the revelation of God, and hence the results must be for God.
In chapter 1 He is marked off. John the baptist says: “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him”, John 1:32. He who sent him to baptise with water had said to him: “Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding on him, he it is who baptises with the Holy Spirit” (John 1:33) and he adds, “I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God”. The Son is marked off as the One upon whom the Spirit came to remain. God, as it were, had found a permanent resting place here upon earth. As of old the dove of Noah had failed to find a resting place for the sole of her foot, so, I take it, the Spirit of God, prior to the introduction of Christ, had failed to find a resting place.
[p. 157] He had been active in divine operations; the heavens had been garnished by Him; but there was no resting place. But the introduction of the Son upon earth involves a permanent resting place for the Spirit. That was a wonderful spectacle; that a Man should be marked off in this world in the eyes of others as One in whom God could rest. He was the Sabbath of God. Then He begins to move upon the earth; there never had been such a movement seen in a man before. He who saw the Spirit descending and remaining on Him saw Him walk, and we are told that looking upon Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”, John 1:36. The Lamb of God is one who is most precious in God’s eyes. He walked in that light here upon earth, and thus He became the attractive centre for the saints. In what I have said, you can see the wonderful position occupied here in manhood by the Son, and it is in that Person that the gospel as presented by John comes to man.
In the beginning of chapter 3 He is approached by Nicodemus. All the instruction, and the wonderful light that comes out in that chapter, is the result of His being approached by a man who had a measure of light. A “master in Israel”, Nicodemus came to Jesus by night in the recognition that He was a “teacher come from God”, John 3:2. I can only touch in the briefest way on a point or two in the chapter. In the early part of it what strikes one is the authority of this Person. In the end of chapter 2 we read that He knew all things; He knew what was in man; He knew what was beneath the surface, and needed not that any should tell Him. There were those who believed on Him because of His miracles, but He did not commit Himself to them; their faith was worthless. The Lord did not judge by outward appearance, but by what was below. He knew what was in man, and did not commit Himself to [p. 158] him, but He opened up the truth to Nicodemus. You will observe it is a question of what Jesus says: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, ... it is needful that ye should be born anew”, John 3:5,7. There is One here now with divine intelligence, and who can speak with authority. The Old Testament had intimated what the Lord said to Nicodemus, but the Lord did not appeal to it in that way, it was a question of His Word. He knew what was in man and what man required; it was no question of the authority of the Old Testament, but of the Speaker. “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, ... it is needful that ye should be born anew”, John 3:5,7. That is what we see at the introduction of the testimony to men by the Son; He had perfect knowledge of what was in man, and a perfect knowledge of what man required. Then there is the unfolding of God’s love. I do not dwell upon the necessity of the cross: I can only touch upon it here, but the manner in which it is presented is in accord with what I have been saying. The Lord says, “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up”, John 3:14. It is not a mere evangelist speaking, but a divine Person, in divine intelligence making known what was necessary, and that was the lifting up of the Son of man. Then He declares His divine authority. He says, “We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven”, John 3:11 - 13.
Then He goes on to God’s love. How was God’s expressed? I suppose every christian would answer, ‘By the gift of His Son’; but in making that answer I think we forget to ponder who the Son was. The point here is what the Lord [p. 159] Jesus was here upon earth under God’s eye; that Person upon whom the Spirit could descend and remain, upon whom the heavens had been opened, and to whom the voice of God had declared: “This is my beloved Son”, Matthew 3:17. It is a question of the intrinsic value of that Person here upon earth under God’s eye. And He has to be given up! “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”, John 3:16. The Lord would call attention to what He had been to the Father, what He had been to God. I am not overlooking what He had been with God eternally, but what is presented in testimony is what had come out here upon earth. God had declared His delight in that Person, and had made known to man what He thought of Him. He had given a public declaration that He had reached in Man here upon earth, all that His heart had been set upon; and He surrenders that Person, the Object of His eternal love, in death. He surrenders Him in order that man should have life eternal.
But I must pass on. There was responsibility flowing from this: the Lord says, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the [p. 160] name of the only begotten Son of God”, John 3:18. That Person had acquired renown upon earth; it was the renown of the only begotten Son of God. I want you to consider, beloved friends, what it was to have such a Person upon earth. What a walk was His! What works! What ways! What words were those words of Jesus! He acquired renown thus; and the man that spurned it, the man that did not believe on His name, was condemned; it was moral condemnation. Think of what the gospels present in that Person, and as you gather that up you have some conception of the name of the only-begotten Son of God. There can be nothing but condemnation for him who refuses to believe on that name. Condemnation was the portion of the Jew, for the One who moved about in their midst on behalf of God, as the only-begotten Son of God, they refused to believe.
Whilst the mass of the nation saw no beauty in Him and refused Him, there was that in Israel divinely wrought, of which I take the liberty of regarding John the baptist as the representative. He was the greatest of those born of women, but, beloved friends, he retires in the presence of this Person. Where does he retire to? Instead of having a position on earth as the greatest of those born of women, the Acts show that that which he represents, even the remnant of Israel, came into the heavenly portion. One can see the spirit of it in Stephen, who in his address in Acts 7, in divine intelligence gathers up all the ways of God with Israel, and presents them so as to convict the nation. His face shines as he looks up to heaven and sees the heavenly Man; he sees Jesus and the glory of God. It was well worth while to retire in the presence of that Person, for Stephen found a place with Jesus; he is taken care of by Him. It is a most touching thought to me that his spirit was taken care of by Jesus. He says, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59); and his body was taken care of by the saints on earth; devout men carried Stephen to his burial. It was the transition point between that which was the testimony of God on earth in connection with an earthly centre, and the testimony of God in connection with a heavenly centre. John recognised the importance of the latter. He said, “He that cometh from above is above all”, John 3:31. “He must increase, but I must decrease”, John 3:30.
John had his opportunity to express his estimate of Christ and he embraced it nobly; he recognised the heavenly, and he said, “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom ... rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice” (John 3:29); his joy is fulfilled; that is to say, John had heard the voice of Christ in His affection for Israel. The voice of a bridegroom is the voice of one actuated by affection; he is no bridegroom if he has not affection. The Lord Jesus Christ was the Bridegroom. He was in the midst of Israel actuated by divine affection for the nation, and there never had been such a voice heard in Israel as that of the Bridegroom; it was the most melodious of all voices. There is a peculiar touch in the thought of the Bridegroom; a man is always at his best in that position. You will remember how the Lord Jesus is typified by the sun; there is a tabernacle made for Him in heaven and He comes out as a Bridegroom, and rejoices as a strong man to run a race, Psalm 19. His influence is universal. It is the influence of a bridegroom. That is Christ. The voice of the Bridegroom is the voice that John recognises here; his joy, therefore, is complete.
Now the Person who has this honour is presented at the close of the chapter in the position of administration: “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand”, John 3:35. Here it is not the anointing, nor is it a question of the exaltation of Christ, although doubtless the latter is included. The point is, “The Father loveth the Son”. Is it not wonderful, beloved friends, to think of all things in the hands of such an One! The One who is the ineffable joy and delight of the Father’s affections. The Father loveth the Son, and He has committed all things into His hands. That marks the present moment.
Then in chapter 4 the Lord in effect says to the woman, Did you but know the situation — the gift of God, you would have had confidence, and you [p. 162] would have asked of Him. What would He have given? The very best gift possible, a gift commensurate with His position as seen in chapter 3. He was in the affections of the Father, and the Father had given all things into His hand. He says, “thou wouldest have asked of him”; it is not a question of what you would ask for, but that you would ask; “and he would have given thee living water”. I only touch on that to show that the gift to us is commensurate with the gift for us. It is not a question of official administration; it is the administration of love; and if love acts, it acts from itself and gives its best; so He gives living water. The chapter shows that the result of that would be something for God, and that is worship. God acts in love, as I said, from Himself, but it is for Himself, so the gift reverts to Him.
I understand the living water to be the Spirit as taking up the affections of the believer, affections which had hitherto drunk deeply from a world of corruption. The Spirit takes up those affections and centres them all in a divine Person. The woman raises the question of worship. She says, “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship”; but the Lord says, “Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews”. In saying that, He maintained what was due to God in regard to what had been at Jerusalem; Mount Gerizim was not on the same level. The Samaritan worship had no place; it was an ignorant worship. He shows what is true worship. God had established a centre at Jerusalem and Christ maintains it; but He says, “the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers”; those in whom every affection is gathered up by the Holy Spirit and directed into divine channels, directed by the Spirit to the Father; these “worship [p. 163] the Father in spirit and truth: for also the Father seeks such as his worshippers”.
I pass on to chapter 20 to show briefly what is for God as seen there. I have been endeavouring to show what the result of the gift of the Spirit is; that God gets His portion from our affections; but then God seeks more than that. He seeks to have a generation here on earth like that Son who delighted Him when He was alone upon earth. In a word, I desire to show you the full church position, and also to show you what the church is essentially as that which is for God. I take the few verses in chapter 20 to show the full result of the Lord’s death and position as set forth in this gospel. He had been down into Jordan; for that is the aspect of His death at the end of John; the brazen serpent comes in at the beginning of the book. Jordan overflowed all its banks. Satan had marshalled all his power against that Person, but the Ark of the Covenant went into Jordan and its waters disappeared. He meets Mary on resurrection ground. He is a risen Man, but she must not touch Him on that ground; everything should proceed from heaven, and the Lord says, “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father”. He sends her with a message to His brethren as the ascended Man, and the most wonderful light that was possible to enter into the heart of man is contained in it. He says, “I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God”. It is the Son in all the dignity of His Person as having come up out of Jordan. He has perfect liberty to ascend; it is a question of His Person, and the Son of necessity has full liberty in all the house.
You will find in Scripture that that which is most elevated is regarded as the place of the greatest [p. 164] privilege, and the Lord, being the Son, has perfect title to go to the highest point. In John it is not that He is received up, He ascends; He goes up to the Father in the dignity of His own Person as the Son: and as going there He sends a message to His brethren. The message, beloved friends, involves their association with Him in that dignity. It is not simply that they are associated with the risen Man, they are associated with the ascending Man; in other words, they are the companions of Christ viewed as the heavenly One. I dwell upon that because it indicates the position of the assembly. The assembly is a heavenly institution upon earth, and it is composed of those who are the companions of the ascending Man. They are not ascending; the time for that will come, but they are the companions of that Man as ascending. And more, that ascending Man comes into their midst and breathes into them the Spirit; it is the Spirit of an ascending Man that we have, the Spirit of Christ in heaven, and we are set up here upon earth in that dignity and Spirit. We must not dissociate the position from the Spirit who maintains the position. The position is that of the ascending Man, for He ascends to His Father and our Father, His God and our God; but the Spirit of that Person is breathed into the disciples so that they should be maintained here in the full height of the position. They are the brethren of that Person and set here upon earth in His Spirit so as to maintain for Him during His absence. That is what I understand to be for God here upon earth; not simply a risen company, but a company in association with the heavenly Man, possessed with His Spirit, and set up here in testimony. Think of the testimony that would flow out of such a company! I repeat, not merely a risen company, but a heavenly company. What a testimony! It is a testimony in accord with His. He says; “as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you”. Beloved brethren, have we any conception of the affection with which the disciples were sent out? They were sent out from the circle where the atmosphere of heaven was breathed; it is not apostolic, it is a question of what they were as in that circle; they were sent out from that sphere of affection.
You may say there is not much of that here now, but I verily believe there is something of it, and the Spirit of God would promote it in us. We can never have the practice and the service becoming to those who form the assembly unless we maintain ourselves in the full light of our position. If I may speak for myself, I never surrender the full light of the position in which by God’s grace I have been placed, and I believe that the Holy Spirit would promote that in us. Oh, that we might have a clear conception of the dignity of those who are to be for God upon the earth! God would have you maintain that in the faith of your soul. If it is maintained in your soul, and you come short of it, you are humbled and exercised. Light is intended to exercise, and exercise brings in soul progress, so that we are led on subjectively to correspond with the position in which God has placed us in association with His Son. I do not say it is a question of sonship, because the sons are to God. He has predestinated us to sonship by Jesus Christ to Himself, but brethren are in relation to Christ. We are Christ’s brethren; that is to say, God has extended the circle. That which was so precious under His eye in the Person of Christ has been extended to the circle of the brethren of Christ, so that we come under God’s eye in that light; but how essential that we should recognise the Spirit, so as to be in accord with it! We should be practically marked off in this world as those who are in relation to the Man upon whom [p. 166] God opened the heavens, and whom He declared to be His beloved Son.
I trust that these few thoughts may be intelligible to you. It is a question of what is of God and for God, and what is of God must correspond with what came out in Christ personally when here upon earth.