THE DIVINE GIFT
[p. 285] THE DIVINE GIFT
There are various connections in which the Spirit of God is introduced. We have here the Spirit presented, as showing the value of the divine gift. “If thou knewest the gift of God”. It expresses the nature of the gift. The gift here is commensurate with the position in which the Lord is viewed in chapter 3. He is viewed there are having all things given into His hands; the Son is seen as receiving all the Father had. In order to rightly esteem the full import of the gift we receive, we have to see the position in which the Lord is viewed in John. He is not viewed there in relation to anything that existed before, but as in regard of God. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him”, John 1:18.
As becoming Man on earth, Christ is the Object of divine affections, and this in the presence of men. In becoming Man He appears as One whom God has marked off as His only begotten Son. It is of great importance to see what it was for God to have a Son on earth. We often speak of the Spirit as on our side; what He is to us, but we must see Him as commensurate with the position given to the Son.
Ques What connection has the Spirit with “all things”? Chapter 3:35.
JT God’s giving is according to Himself; not simply to meet the needs of our souls. “If thou knewest the gift”, or manner of giving, as we may say; the attitude of soul in asking is answered according to the divine situation, that is, the relation in which the Son stands to the Father as having [p. 286] received all things from His hand. All divine operations in the saints are by the Spirit. The gift of the Spirit shows the nature of divine giving.
Rem The gift is to enable the soul to enter into the full blessing.
JT What the woman might have asked for is not the question; the giving would be in accord with that which is established in chapter 3. What is set forth there is “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand”, John 3:35.
Ques Is the gift of the Spirit to enable us to enter into the things that are revealed?
JT Yes, but He is greater than all results. It is not an official order of things in chapter 3; it is an order of things established in divine Persons as such. The gift is greater than any result; what the Lord had in His mind was the greatness of the gift of God. It is a question of what divine Persons will do.
The earlier chapters show a divine Person on earth. God’s Spirit had always been in activity during the Old Testament times, but never found a resting place (like Noah’s dove) till the Son became man; so the Spirit descends in the form of a dove upon Him and remains on Him. God has reached His Sabbath in the Son; a permanent resting place. It is before man’s eye; God would show what He thinks of Christ. It is not a statement of what Christ is eternally, but what God found in Christ on earth. I believe that unless we see the position in which the Lord is viewed in manhood, as the Son, we shall fail to see the greatness of the gift to us. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16) — that is His gift for us. It is not stating what is involved in God having the Son here on earth. The earlier chapters show this.
In the beginning of chapter 3 the Lord was dealing with man and shows that He is perfectly acquainted with what is in man. “He knew what was in man”, John 2:25. In chapter 3 He shows He knew what man needed; it is not simply what the Old Testament taught: the Old Testament taught the necessity for new birth, but that is not the point here. It is, “I say unto thee”, John 3:3,5.
Ques. Why emphasise that?
JT Speaking as a divine Person He is not simply instructing from the Old Testament; it was a question of what He said. He shows that Nicodemus ought to have known these things. In speaking to Nicodemus He tells him what man needs. He must be born again and the Son of man must be lifted up. The Spirit is characteristically the Gift; as the Son is given for us, the Spirit is given to us. If you ask from God, His gift is not restricted to what you ask; His giving is in accordance with His nature. “If thou knewest the gift of God ... thou wouldest have asked”. The Lord does not say what she would have asked, but He tells her what she would receive. The Father had now found One whom He could trust, and He loves the Son, and all things are given into the hands of that One whom He loves. I would like to convey that as clearly as possible. The things are in the hands of One whom the Father loves. The place the Son has with the Father is the situation, and the Spirit is given as commensurate with this situation. In result God has His portion. If things are given into the hands of the Son, it necessarily follows that God will have His portion. That is worked out in this chapter. There is that which is for God. John presents things for God. God had not been known, but He would be known, hence “the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him”, John 1:18. The gift is connected with the position in which the Son is with the Father. What kind of giving would it be from a Man in the full [p. 288] favour of the Father? It is divine Persons acting for themselves.
Ques Does chapter 4 show the result for God — worship in spirit and in truth?
JT Yes; the Father has His share. “The Son” is the Person; as the Son He stands alone, but the expression “Son of God” opens up the door for others.
Ques Does the gift of living water give life?
JT It springs up into everlasting life. The Spirit is life. The Holy Spirit in the believer gathers up, so to say, all his affections, and centres them in divine Persons.
The revelation of God produces confidence in the heart of man. If you see the position of the Son as man with the Father it produces confidence; and confidence leads you to ask; and the Lord shows here that the giving would be in accord with that position, and not according to our need. Without the living water there cannot be worship; the Holy Spirit takes up all our affections and centres them on divine Persons. If the Son (who is in all the affection of the Father) is at the well of Samaria, what would that promote, but confidence in the heart of one who had apprehended His heart? Think of Him in such a position as needing a drink of water, and asking for it from this poor outcast! He says, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give to me drink; thou wouldest have asked of him”.
What you get here is the nature of the gift and the result. A divine Person was there who was acquainted with the whole situation. Then He speaks in all the dignity of a divine Person. “We speak that we do know”, John 3:11. We shall not understand chapter 3 unless we see in it Christ, on the divine side, acting in the interests of the Father, and under motives which were in God’s [p. 289] nature. What is the effect on you when you take this teaching in? It impresses you with what God is. No one had seen Him, He was alone, and God felt that. He wanted to be known. Into the Son’s hands the Father has committed everything, so that the expectations of our hearts may be boundless. Think of Elisha; the courage with which he asked Elijah for a double portion of his spirit. He was equal to the occasion; Elijah said he had asked for “a hard thing”, 2 Kings 2:10. He asked for the full portion of the first-born. Faith lays hold on what is presented on the divine side. You cannot conceive of a greater gift than the Spirit. There can be no greater gift.
John 20 shows how the sphere was extended; there was to be a generation like Christ. Christ had been alone under God’s eye, but now God would bring in a generation like Him. The generation was to be, not simply His brethren in resurrection, but His brethren in ascension. It is the One who ascends who comes into their midst and breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22): it is the Spirit of the ascended Man. I may give a sort of illustration from Gideon, Judges 8:18,19. When Gideon makes inquiries of the kings of Midian as to what kind of men they had slain, they reply “As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king”, Judges 8:18. “They were my brethren”, Gideon says, “even the sons of my mother”. There is to be a generation on earth like Christ.
The chapter suggests the blessing of Joseph in Genesis 49:22. “Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall”: but here the well is the Spirit; living water, John 4. The fruitfulness is there.
In verse 13, “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again” refers to natural sources of supply. This woman had had five husbands, she was never satisfied. The Lord presents something [p. 290] that would be entirely satisfying. It is a question of our affections being gathered up for God. God gets back what is His own.
In verse 14 we see how our affections, instead of going out to the world, are all gathered up by the Spirit, and go back to the source whence they come. The Spirit could only come from the Son. Who else could give it? Who else is Administrator? These chapters are written for christians. It is not only for your intelligence, but for your affections. We need to lay emphasis on it; the persistent working of the Spirit in the affections of the believer. “Springing up into everlasting life”, refers to the believer being brought in his affections into the sphere of divine affections, the affections that exist between the Father and the Son.
But there is a further thought and that is that God is to be worshipped, verse 21 - 24. It is an undeniable fact that all the gospels were written to christians; they show the full bearing of christianity. This chapter sets free from all earthly religious centres. There is now no centre of worship on earth. The Lord acknowledges fully the place Jerusalem had, but He makes known that there is no longer a centre on earth.
Ques What is the difference between praise and worship?
JT The latter is higher, it is the outcome of your affection for and admiration of, a Person. You are lost in a Person. It is not homage merely; it is worship, it is your soul being entirely lost in a Person.
Ques Is it connected specially with the Lord’s day morning meeting?
JT I always connect it with the assembly. The Son effectuates the worship of the Father. The Father’s desires shall be fully met. He seeks worshippers.
[p. 291] The water springs up to everlasting life. That is what the believer gets, but the Father has His portion. One of the surest evidences that Christ has come in and taken His place as Head is that everything in result will refer to the Father.
Ques “The princes digged the well”, Numbers 21:18. Is that analogous to this?
JT Yes. It takes place in the wilderness. It refers to the power of life. They “spake against God, and against Moses”, Numbers 21:5. The natural man is set against God and against Christ, hence there must be a new source of affection. The only answer to the brazen serpent is the springing well, and this issues in the land of Canaan. Life eternal is being brought out; the sphere where divine affections are.
Princes are men of power, men of spiritual power, but they digged the well “by the direction of the lawgiver” — on the authority of Christ, and so the wells are opened up. “Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it”, Numbers 21:17. The Holy Spirit gets a recognised place, that is the point. If you give the Spirit His place all is well with you.
They “pitched ... toward the sun-rising”, Numbers 21:11. After the springing well, Og, the biggest man of the Old Testament appears, but the people do not fear him; he is overthrown directly.