FAITH'S OUTLET FROM PRESSURE
FAITH’S OUTLET FROM PRESSURE
Luke 21:19, 1 Thessalonians 4:4
These short verses are selected from the Lord’s own words and also from the words of His great servant Paul; they deal first with our souls and secondly with our bodies. There is also a third great component part of man — his spirit, which shall have a place in my remarks; but I am thinking particularly of our souls and our bodies. Our spirits have the greatest place, being first mentioned in the order in which the Spirit refers to our three component parts: “Your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23)”. Our spirits are mentioned first. Evidently the greatest component part of man is his spirit. He gets it directly from God according to Ecclesiastes, and the Lord alludes to it as to Himself. He commended His spirit to His Father, a most impressive reference to the perfection of His manhood, not that He had a spirit other than Himself. Whilst He was really Man, He was uniquely so, having existence before His manhood, which does not apply to any of us. Becoming Man, He is Himself His Spirit, for He tells the thief that he should be with Him in paradise. They were both going there that day, not through resurrection, but through disembodiment for the moment, but they were both men in that sense. Jesus was as really man as the thief, having a spirit as a man, too, but it was Himself. Coming into manhood He became His own spirit, taking on other component parts of humanity. Personally He never ceases to be God, but yet He is Man, but His Spirit is Himself, as my spirit is myself, but I receive my spirit from God. He was God and came into humanity here. He was personally a divine Person and became His own spirit [p. 183] in manhood, so that it was Himself. “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43)”.
I refer to this to make the matter clear as to Christ, so that we should not have the erroneous thought that He had a spirit besides Himself. Incarnation is the thought presented in scripture; that is, “the Word became flesh”(John 1:14) — a divine Person taking human condition. He was His own spirit, and yet as in manhood, He was really Man. He felt as we do, sin apart, committed His spirit unto God, to His Father; as Stephen did in committing his spirit to Jesus, saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit (Acts 7:59)”. You can see therefore how great the thought of spirit is in manhood, especially in Christ. It is Himself. It is inscrutable that He should be so compressed, and it touches the heart, but He never ceases to be Himself. He is Himself always. Yet coming into manhood He compresses Himself and speaks as a man, feels as a man, using the words “My spirit”, and “My soul”, and “My body”. He “emptied himself, taking a bondman’s form”, Philippians 2:7. Referring to our “whole spirit, and soul, and body, (1 Thessalonians 5:23)” what is important for us all, in view of what has been remarked, is to understand the analysis described in Romans 7, by which we are enabled to discern inwardly the difference between each — what the spirit is and what the soul is. The body is simple, it is material, but the difference between soul and spirit is not so simple; and in addition to that the mind, and other elements in us which are subsidiary to what I am saying. The three main thoughts are the spirit, the soul, and the body, and the analysis in Romans 7 enables us to discern them. The one who describes it apparently went through it before he had the Holy Spirit, but now it is by the Holy Spirit that we are enabled to make the analysis. It is our privilege to do so now. The matter has been gone through experimentally at least by one, and the facts are stated in the clearest manner.
[p. 184] It results in one coming to his ego, that is, he comes to himself. “I myself”, not simply “I”. “I” is the ego, but “I myself” is the ego in consciousness, and, in saying that, he is in control of his mind, “So then I myself with the mind serve God’s law” (Romans 7:25). So that he is now morally right. He has arrived at the distinction between sin in the flesh and himself. It is a moral point that he reaches. It is most important. Unless we reach the moral result in the process, we miss the gain of it. Never shall we reach the divine end at all, unless we have the moral element in our minds. “When we were in the flesh” (Romans 7:5) is a moral allusion; not flesh and blood, but flesh as the thing which is the result of sin in man. It could not be so viewed in any other being but man. Having gone through the thing, we can say that the result of our investigations inwardly is that with the mind we serve God’s law. That is a moral result and resolution. I may say here that none of us is of much account unless we learn to make resolutions before God. This is a definite resolution. “I myself with the mind serve God’s law” (Romans 7:25). Through the process we arrive at these component parts. I am able to speak of my spirit, and my soul, and my body.
In Hebrews we learn that the word of God divides asunder between soul and spirit; it is so piercing, so sharp. It discerns between soul and spirit; the discernment is in me by the word — discerning between soul and spirit, and joints and marrow. I am speaking now of the ability that the word of God gives me to distinguish. So Mary the mother of our Lord, in beautiful reference to her growth in the things of God (and who in her day had such opportunities?) says, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour”, (Luke 1:46,47). She had learnt to distinguish. Before anyone had gone through the experience of Romans 7 she had learnt to distinguish between soul and spirit. She was a worshipper, but an [p. 185] intelligent one, a balanced one. In fact, you can scarcely get anything more balanced than the sentence I quoted from Mary’s note of worship in Luke 1. Balance is needed in all things, but in the things of God particularly; much is made of weight and measure in regard of the things of God. Weight and measure imply balance.
As regards this passage in Luke 21, I wish to impress all with the need of keeping our souls at the present time — always of course — but particularly at the present time when externally the whole atmosphere is disturbed. It is not a religious attack by the devil which is current, not that he is ever idle as regards what is of God directly, but this is an indirect attack on what God is doing. The current situation in the world is an indirect attack of the devil on the service and work of God. I lay that down as my judgment, but I am assured that I am right, and it is what I have in mind, for our souls are apt to be disturbed and deranged; and if they are, we will not be able to say with Mary, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour” (Luke 1:46,47). If she had been disturbed by current public events she would not have been able to say that. Think of the course of public events which ensued. Think of Luke’s account of the Lord’s remarkable discourse from which I have read — there are three accounts of it. His discourse on prophetic events bearing on the last days. The Lord alludes, for instance, to Jerusalem. He says. “When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh (Luke 21:20)”. As any Christian at Jerusalem at the time looked out on the Roman armies encircling the city, how depressing it would be! That would be the effect of it, and Satan would have in mind that every saint in Jerusalem should be affected by it, but the Lord tells them what to do. There can be no question that the enemy would depress them. How could the service of God go on with these brethren [p. 186] in Jerusalem in those days, if they were overwhelmed and filled with apprehension because of the terrible things that were happening. They would remember the Lord’s words, “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh” (Luke 21:20). He Himself had anticipated it, as seen in chapter 19. He wept over Jerusalem, reminding them of what the Romans would do. He was not without feelings, without a soul, but in weeping over it He was completely above the sorrow in His own spirit. In the darkest period of His life He was happy in spirit. When the time of His rejection was apparent He “rejoiced in spirit”. That is the idea, dear brethren, to be above things.
This chapter is full of such things as would depress and distress and derange our whole moral being. In the verses previous to that which I read, the Lord had been speaking of the terrible persecutions which the saints themselves will endure. We cannot speak of that now, because the attack is not directly upon us. There is practically no persecution now in the sense in which the Lord was speaking, save in a few parts of the earth. I should not make little of the persecution in certain countries, for apostasy has set in, and the saints are suffering, but generally speaking the attack is not against us, it is indirectly against us and against God and against Christ, but it is not direct. Still, we know what the consequences are likely to be, although God is keeping His hand over the position, and we are apt to be unduly affected. Hence the word here, “In your patience possess ye your souls”. See to that. See that they are yours really. I must see that I have my soul, that I have it myself, that it is under my control. I gain it in patience, it is my own; for it may slip away, becoming disconcerted and deranged and I may lose the sense of the divine Presence and fail to answer to God in service. Hence the idea of patience, not ignoring [p. 187] the pressure, but patience in it and gaining our souls. Not that we have not got them. Everybody has his soul in a sense, but I may have a thing and fail in its use so that it is not functioning, according to the divine appointment. It may be influenced adversely.
How am I to gain it, possess it? In “patient endurance”. I see this to be one of the most important matters of the present time. It is inevitable that we must to some extent observe what is happening, but what about my being? What about my spirit, my soul, and my body? I am responsible for them, and I am to hold them for their proper purpose according to divine appointment. In the midst of these throes in Luke 21 our Lord introduces this terse but forcible remark, “In your patience possess ye your souls”. Patience is one of the great features of Christianity. It implies waiting, but waiting enduringly, not in a mere theoretic way, saying, The Lord is coming and things will be set right: without our showing the slightest evidence that we really feel these things, that they are verities to us. We can be full of theories of that kind, and pick up remarks of others, but the Lord is concerned here about the soul - the state of my soul, as to whether I possess it. That is, feeling current happenings in the world, whatever they may be, but going through them, possessing my soul in going through them. It is my property, and I am keeping it so that it functions according to God. That is why we are told, “gird up the loins of your mind (1 Peter 1:13)”. It is an important thing to keep the mind right. Girding alludes to a girdle round the loins. The allusion is to keeping things under control. They are not lightly strewn about, scattered with every wind, affected by every happening, but you have your mind, also your soul and your spirit, under control.
James speaks about patience, the proving of our faith works it, chapter 1:3,4. How important it is! “Be patient therefore, brethren, James 5:7” he says, and again, “Ye [p. 188] have heard of the endurance of Job, and seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is full of tender compassion and pitiful James 5:11”. James would make it very real to us. Indeed it was pending the destruction of Jerusalem that he said that. Possibly he was in the city, anyway he wrote in view of it, “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord, James 5:7”. He would make it very real. So he speaks of one purposing to visit a certain place to traffic and get gain, and spending a year there. He condemns the trading spirit that leaves God out of its reckonings, instead of saying. If the Lord should so will, and we should live, we will also do this or that. That makes our dependence on the Lord very real. The will of the Lord is in my soul every moment. These two things go together: If the Lord will and I should live, I shall do so and so. I am balanced, I am kept right as to everything. Not that we should not calculate as to our affairs. James owns this, but insists that we bring in these two elements, then you are having to do with the Lord momentarily. You are thinking of the possibility of dying because your body is still mortal, so that you are kept in the attitude of constant dependence. And then have patience in all this; do not be irritable in it, do not be disappointed. Exercise patience, for “patience [worketh] experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us(Romans 5:4,5)”. How real and assured that makes our lives!
As regards current matters, there is pressure, but then God is working through pressure. If He is to work, if there is to be formation, there has to be intelligent recognition of what He is doing, not a mere abstract or theoretic allusion to this and that, but I am with God in what He is doing; He is in operation and I know what He is doing. That is the idea. I know what His end is and I hold myself for Him, I am material for His [p. 189] formation; I am in His hand as the Potter. Such an attitude implies my intelligence and knowledge. God has me now as “clay”, that is to say, I am suitable for His work, for the great end He has in mind, valuing it; thus the work goes on. So the Lord says, “In your patience possess ye your souls”. On this line I have my soul; it refers to affection. The spirit is more my link with God. Through my soul I reach men — rivers of living water flow out through my soul. Thus I must have my soul kept, possessed in a real way, so that it is functioning. What a thing it is to be in this world with all the terrible influences that are at work, and to possess one’s soul, so that it functions. It implies purified affections Godward and manward. It also enters into the service of God. “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour (Luke 1:46,47)”.
The second part of my subject is the body, more easily dealt with because it is physical, the verses selected are from the passage written by the apostle to the Thessalonians in regard to what was so common among the heathen — fornication. The Spirit of God makes much of our bodies, and here it is in a very concrete way. Possess your vessel, he says. “That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour”. It is what I have. Just as I have a soul, I have a body. It is that in which I am visible to others, that in which all the senses function; it is called a vessel. The whole man is a vessel according to other passages. The believer is a vessel — spirit, soul, and body — he needs them all for the full thought of God. It is said of us that we are vessels of mercy prepared for glory. What a thought that is! It includes our bodies. It also includes our spirits and our souls. But we are prepared for glory. So the body is sown in dishonour, but is raised in glory. That is the physical side. It is called in Philippians, a body of humiliation, and it [p. 190] is well to accept that it is so. We cover and ornament it, but it is still a vessel of humiliation. The word is not “vile”, as it is translated in the authorised version, but it is “body of humiliation”, and the Lord Jesus is coming, we are told, to transform it “into conformity to his body of glory (Philippians 3:21)” — one of the finest thoughts! The greatest thought as to our bodies. Not only like His body in resurrection, but His body of glory. Think of the magnificence of this — that our bodies should be conformed to the image of His body of glory. The preparation is going on now, but not in our bodies; there is no formation at all in our bodies, the formation refers to the moral side; we are being prepared according to the statement, “which he had afore prepared unto glory (Romans 9:23)”.
You say, prepared for heaven, but I think “prepared for glory” is a greater thought; that I am capable of taking on glory, and having part in glory; I am equal to it. You do not want to be behind in any glorious display in the coming day. That is what is in mind. You do not want to be behind, for there are going to be wonderful displays of glory. The idea of glory involves what is public. It is what is manifested. Think of the magnificence of the thought! We have the word weight attached to it. “An exceeding weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17)”. We need ability to support that. If I am called to be alongside of Jesus, the King of glory, the Lord of glory then I need power to support me there, to be equal to sustaining the weight of that. Think of the weight that a king has on him, or any personage in the place of government. It is glory, but with weight attaching to it. I want to be equal to the great displays which are presently to take place. When He shall appear we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. Paul says He is going to make our bodies like His body of glory. Hebrews 2:10 says, “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory ...” We want to have in mind to be ready for the glory, to be capable of sustaining glory, for that side of the truth is stressed in scripture.
I have turned aside to speak of Romans 9 as regards every one of us as vessels of mercy prepared for glory, because it includes the whole of man, the whole tripartite being — spirit, soul, and body. I have been speaking of the spirit and soul, but I am speaking now of the body, and all that to which I have just immediately been referring reflects backwards on the use I make of my body at the present time. It is a vessel. The fact that it is mortal does not at all detract from that. Abstractlyit remains. The body of the believer, with his spirit and soul, is to be “preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”, (1 Thessalonians 5:23). It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body; and if alive at the coming of the Lord, the believer’s body will be quickened, Romans 8:11. What I am speaking in now, what I am acting in now, what I am expressing myself in now, will remain, only it will take on another condition. It must remain. The whole man goes through. Thus what I am to be, is intended to reflect on what I am now. Hence, as a vessel, how am I using it? Let each one “possess his vessel in sanctification and honour”: possess it in the midst of a world of corruption, for Christendom in this respect is little better than heathendom.
It is most important that we should have this before us, that our bodies are vessels to be held in sanctification and honour. One could speak much of the few verses before and after this passage, as to what is said of the unfairness and evil generally of fornication, especially as to how the marriage vow is violated in the most lawless way. It is gracious of the Spirit of God to put the thing on such a level as is found in this passage. Let us hold our vessels “in sanctification and honour”. And in order to show how this comes about Romans [p. 192] develops the doctrine of it; it enters into chapter 8. I have been speaking of chapter 9 as relating to the vessel, the whole man; but in chapter 8 among many other things the apostle says, “If Christ be in you, the body is dead on account of sin (Romans 8:10)”. That is, it is because of that, the terrible thing — that which the body is capable of, what is expressed through the body. If Christ gets in there. He will deal with it. Let Him in then. Surely He is entitled to an entrance. “If Christ be in you, the body is dead on account of sin”, (Romans 8:10). It is not that sin has made it dead; it is because Christ is there that it has become dead. Christ makes it dead because of this terrible thing that works in it; that it ceases to act — and then “the Spirit is life (Romans 8:10)”. That is, if Christ has a place at all, and one can hardly be regarded as a Christian unless he gives Christ a place, then the Spirit is life in view of righteousness, on account of righteousness. That is to say, Christ deals with the sin, so that there should be life by the Spirit, and righteousness. When He comes into the world presently He will deal with the whole matter in a most drastic and effective way. But He is doing that with me now. The Christian in principle is the millennium. He represents the way by which the millennium comes about. Thus if Christ has a place in me, I have part in the blessings of the coming world. My body is dead. It has ceased to act in relation to sin, ceased to respond to sin. I have come to see the value of my body, that it is to be an instrument of righteousness. Take the gospels — as Christ comes into any of the instances brought forward, the matter is dealt with, it is settled. “The Spirit is life because of righteousness”, (Romans 8:10) that is, on account of righteousness. It is life in view of righteousness. There should be righteousness in the person. Righteousness in the believer is in the power of life. What a transformation that is!
So as to confirm this the apostle goes on to say, “if [p. 193] the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you” (Romans 8:11) — note that word “dwell”. Think of becoming a dwelling-place of the Spirit of God! Then, “he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you (Romans 8:11)”. Note that it does not say Raise our mortal bodies, here. It is quickening. It is to bring out the point of responsibility; our bodies viewed thus are alive, not in their graves. The point is that the believer will be changed or quickened on account of God’s Spirit which dwells in him. But it is “the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus (Romans 8:11)”. Think of the love that entered into the resurrection of Jesus. You say. It was the power of the Father, but it says, “he was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father”(Romans 6:4) — one of the most wonderful passages. It is the glory of love, it is the shining out of love, the love that the Father had for the Son. He raised Him up by His glory. He was enveloped in glory and taken out from among the dead. What a wonderful matter it was on that day when the Father reached forth in the infinitude of His love and took the Object of it out of the grave. Jesus died and went into the earth and the Father waited until three days and three nights were completed. H might have done it before, but He waited until the three days and three nights were completed before gratifying his love. But when the three days and three nights were passed He raised His beloved Son. He took Him up out of the grave, and so it is “the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus (Romans 8:11)”. That is, Christ as a Man in all His attractiveness to God. He also raised Him because of the testimony, which is implied here in the title “Christ”. So that there is a dual thought in it He quickens us because of our personal attractiveness to Him and also because of our part in the testimony. We do not want to be behind in that. Christ has part in the testimony. That is what He came into manhood [p. 194] for, and He carries it through and I want to be with Him — you want to be with Him. All this enters into the idea of the quickening of our bodies. What a triumph! Men and women quickened as it were on the spot, quickened where they worked, where they lived, where they glorified God in their bodies. How glorious to be looking for this, to bring it into daily exercise, so that the thing is always with you. They are not mere platitudes and theories. The Spirit who has raised up Christ is dwelling in you — how real that is! Not merely that you see Him above by faith, but He is dwelling in you and the testimony is going on. In the saints thus viewed, delightfulness to God goes on every day, and when the moment comes, each will be quickened where he serves. So that you can see the importance of what I am saying as to practical Christianity and deliverance and victory day by day in the presence of the present pressure which, in the government of God, has come upon all the earth.