NOT OF LETTER, BUT OF SPIRIT
These scriptures have been read because they contain the word “spirit”. There are other references to “spirit” in the New Testament; the spirit of faith; the spirit of meekness; the spirit of prophecy. It seems to suggest the essence of something, it is in contrast in some cases to letter, “not of letter, but of spirit”, 2 Cor 3: 6. I would like to say something about what is spirit—not of letter, but of spirit. We can have things in letter; we can have the Scriptures in letter; we can study ministry in letter, but there is something deeper than that, there is something more important than that, and that is what is called spirit. We were reading in Exodus in the meeting here this morning. In Exodus 20, God gave the law, the commandments, to Moses on stones which apparently God Himself made, and God wrote with His finger the commandments. We know what happened, these stones were shattered at the foot of the mountain, but certain things happen between that time and chapter 34. For instance, there is the tent set outside the camp; there is the appreciation of the mediatorship of Moses; there is God declaring His goodness; and according to the corresponding incident in Deuteronomy there is the ark to contain the two tables which Moses was to make. Moses made the second two tables, “Hew for thyself two tables of stone like the first”, Jehovah said to Moses, Deut 10: 1. So Moses hewed these stones and then carried them up the mountain, and God put the same words on these stones as on the first stones, but in Exodus 34, it speaks about the tenor of these words, “after the tenor of these words have I made a covenant with thee”, Exod 34: 27. Now that is more like the spirit of a thing, the tenor seems to me to involve a certain formation, not just apprehending mentally the letter, but the tenor, taking into consideration the One who gave the law, and the Mediator available, and all these things, it corresponds, I think, with this word spirit of which we read.
Now I begin with the initial matter of new birth which is spoken of here. The Lord says, “Except any one be born anew he cannot see the kingdom of God”. Born anew, means it is different from natural birth, it is from an entirely new source, it is the sovereign activity of the Spirit of God in the person who becomes a believer; it is a sovereign operation, entirely different from anything of nature, born anew, from a new source and beginning of life. Then He says, “Except any one be born of water and of Spirit”, that is the same birth but it indicates a moral beginning. First it is born anew, that is entirely different, but then born of water and of Spirit indicates a moral beginning. Then the Lord says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”. It is obvious that that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that can never be improved, can never be altered. One of our early teachers has told us, You may sublimate the flesh as much as you like, it will never yield spirit. Flesh and spirit are opposed. The only thing that deals with the flesh is death, but that which “is born of the Spirit is spirit”. Now this spirit can be distinguished from the Holy Spirit; He is the One who has sovereignly imparted spirit. It could also be distinguished from the human spirit. Every human being has a spirit, but this is something different; this is something that has been imparted by the Holy Spirit of spirit in the believer. It has been likened to a germ which develops. We have no part in the sovereign imparting of what is called spirit, it is a sovereign operation of the Spirit, but it seems to me we have some part in the development of it. “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit”, is the potential for being spiritual, the beginning of what is spiritual.
Let no believer ever say, I am not spiritual, because every believer has this element of spirit sovereignly given by the Holy Spirit. Maybe we have not followed up this element of spirit, that could be true, because I think we have a part in developing this germ, and that must be by the Spirit; it involves formation, and formation is by the Spirit. The Spirit is the One who forms us in spirituality, and it depends, therefore, on ourselves for what opportunity we give to the Spirit, what advantage we give to the Spirit, what time we give Him. What can we do to develop this element called spirit, which every believer has? Never say, I am not spiritual! If you are a real believer on the Lord Jesus you have the wherewithal, you have the potentiality to be spiritual. It depends on the development of this germ, and I would advise every young believer here, and every believer indeed, to value that germ sovereignly imparted to us by the Spirit. Value it, identify it. I suppose it leads to the inward man of Romans 7. You know, dear brethren, eventually we are going to be entirely spiritual, there will be nothing of nature, nothing material. What goes into eternity is only what is wrought by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we need to commit ourselves to identify this feature of spirit, and give the Holy Spirit opportunity for its development so that we may become spiritual persons. It is not beyond any believer to be spiritual. May we be encouraged!
Now in John 4 we have this word “spirit”, it says, “But the hour is coming and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth”. Now that is not exactly the human spirit, it is not exactly the Holy Spirit, it must refer to this “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”, it is the wherewithal to worship the Father intelligently and suitably. It goes on to say, “God is a spirit; and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth”. That is this matter of spirit, which we have derived from the Holy Spirit. I hardly know how to describe it, but I want to point out the distinction between it and the Holy Spirit and our human spirits. Every human being has a spirit, believer or unbeliever, but unbelievers do not have this spirit, “in spirit and truth” belongs to the believer. No doubt it refers back to chapter 3, “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”. I do not want to be mystical or difficult, but I would like to call attention to this feature, it seems to be so important, dear brethren, not letter but spirit. It is the wherewithal in the believer to worship God who is a spirit, to worship God suitably. What a privilege it is to worship God suitably, and that is in spirit and truth. Truth would, I suppose, refer to the revelation of God, how God is known, but spirit is something inward that rises up in worship; it is affected and responds suitably to God who is a spirit, it is a spiritual order of things into which the believer is brought. I trust it makes itself attractive to us all; not just to be content with the letter.
So we go on to 2 Timothy, and there again this idea of spirit comes in. This is in view of having part in the testimony of our Lord in a day of ruin in which we are, “God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power, and of love, and of wise discretion”, that kind of spirit. It is the character of spirit that is spoken of in John 3 and 4. It is not “a spirit of cowardice, but of power, and of love, and of wise discretion”, the wherewithal to be intelligent and devoted in the testimonial situation no matter how rough or difficult it becomes. You hear sometimes, If there is any more trouble I am finished! That is the spirit of cowardice, that is not the kind of spirit that God has given us. God has given us a spirit of power to withstand, it is that kind of spirit that would stand—“Be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner”. Paul was in prison. These were testing times, difficult times, and that has been extended to our time; the testimony is under reproach; the spirit we have been given has the character of power to stand and withstand, and of love. It is a fine balance; “of power, and of love, and of wise discretion”. “Wise discretion” is a very important feature in the time in which we are. It is to have a quiet, sound, sober mind. It involved judgment, we need wise discretion to, be able to judge, to go by divine principles; that is the kind of spirit we have, not influenced by what is natural. Dear fellow believer, that is the kind of spirit God has given, “For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power, and of love, and of wise discretion”. How much wise discretion is needed at the present time!
We have all been given the same kind of spirit. It ought to unify us, to draw us together, to go on together. We have, of course, the gift of the Holy Spirit personally, but we have been given this character of spirit, of power, and of love, and of wise discretion. May the Lord help us, because sometimes we tend to go by letter! We hear parts of ministry quoted to support certain ideas—that is letter, that is not spirit, that is not the tenor; we need to get, the tenor, the substance of the thing. I would appeal to all of us. There is no doubt that we all want to keep together, surely, but sometimes there seems to be very little holding us. Therefore we need this kind of mortar, this kind of spirit, of power, and of love, and of wise discretion; the same kind of spirit of wise discretion, the same kind of love, the same kind of power. God has given us this kind of spirit. May we be encouraged!
I just wanted to refer to Ephesians 1 which is something additional. It is not exactly presented as something God has given us. Paul prays that the Ephesians might be given it, because of “having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is in you, and the love which ye have towards all the saints”. There is a basis for Paul to pray thus for these believers. Is that true of us? Have we faith in the Lord Jesus and love towards all the saints, a universal outlook? Sometimes if we pray for all those with whom we walk we think we have a universal outlook, but we have prayed for a very, very small part of what the Lord has on the earth. I think we need to have love towards all the saints, even those who will not look at us or will not speak to us; we need to have this attitude. Maybe we have to be bound in our affections like Joseph was with his brethren. He had to restrain himself, and our affections cannot flow freely towards all but the affections ought to be with us. The Lord was girt about the breasts with a golden girdle with regard to the assemblies in Revelation 2 and 3. His love was there, it was restrained, but love was there. Our love which we have to all the saints would need a more universal outlook on all that the Lord has, all who love God at the present time, because those with whom we walk are very, very few, and consist of a very, very minimal percentage of all the Lord has. We need to have love to all the saints and a more universal outlook, I think, in our prayer meetings and our private prayers.
So he says, “Wherefore I ... do not cease giving thanks for you, making mention of you at my prayers”. Paul, in prison, must have had times which he set apart for prayer. I would like to have heard Paul praying—he had the care of all the assemblies; he would pray for every assembly intelligently; he would pray for every person he knew intelligently. “Who is stumbled, and I burn not?”, he said, 2 Cor 11: 29. What a heart he had! So he goes on, “making mention of you at my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him”. Our brother was speaking about what is positive, certainly the enemy would occupy us with what is negative, but there is so much positive truth to go in for; think of this spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory. How much there is to explore, to commit our minds to, to commit our affections to, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation”, that kind of spirit. Apparently they did not have it yet, but Paul prays that they may get it. No doubt Paul had this spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him, but he prays for these Ephesians that “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him”. What a thing to desire! I do not think we get this exactly by study or our own efforts, but we would not get it without desire. I think Paul would put this desire in the hearts of these Ephesians; to desire the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory. How great these things are! I would like myself to desire to have this; it is within our reach. I suppose it would depend on conditions, our desire, our ability to pursue it, the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him.
What kind of influence would a person like that have? We all exercise some kind of influence. Has it come from the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him? Dare we influence anybody otherwise? Do I dare to influence anyone apart from the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him? I ask myself sometimes, What kind of influence do I have? I appeal to each one of us to ask ourselves, What kind of influence am I having? What is the end in view of the influence that I am exerting? May we desire that “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him”. Apparently it was available for the Ephesians. It is available for us. I think Paul put it into their minds, their affections to be bent on this desire, to set themselves to secure this; it is God given, they do not exactly reach it by their own energies, but their attitude would be such that God would impart it. Let us all, I would exhort every one, myself included, to desire this, then our influence would be right, towards the unity of the brethren and cohesion. This is not untempered mortar, but something that is going to bind us together, be a bond, the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him.
Paul goes on to say, “being enlightened in the eyes of your heart”, not your mind, not of letter but of spirit. I suppose the heart is the seat of the affections. The eyes of your heart must be the inlet of light, “being enlightened in the eyes of your heart, so that ye should know what is the hope of his calling”. It is His calling, and His inheritance, and His power. These positive things build us up, they would keep us together; they would yield fruit and pleasure for God; “so that ye should know what is the hope of his calling”, the calling of the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory. The hope of His calling would be glory, of course, heaven, final conditions. We need hope to sustain us in testimony here. Was it not hope that the Thessalonians lacked? They are commended for their faith and love in the second epistle, but hope is not mentioned, and hope tends to weaken with us, tends to fade. If He calls, He has nothing but glory eventually in mind for us, “the hope of his calling”.
Then it says, “and what the riches”—wonderful language—“the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints”; the inheritance of the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory. Think of the idea of His inheritance, it is the result of all divine workmanship, all divine patience, “his inheritance in the saints”. It must be Christ formed in the saints; nothing but Christ would be suitable for the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory. His inheritance in the saints must be Christ formed in the saints—“the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints”. Then, “what the surpassing greatness of his power towards us who believe”. I just commend again what our brother has been commending to us as to what is positive, how important it is to be preserved in a positive way, that is what Paul is bringing before them here, something positive, very rich, very blessed, you could not think of anything more blessed than these things. His inheritance is the result of all divine workmanship, of all divine patience worked out in the saints; it must be Christ formed in the saints; nothing but Christ would be suitable. How important to be preserved in what is positive, that is what Paul is bringing before them here, something very rich, very blessed, you could not think of anything more so than these things. He says, “the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him ... the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what the surpassing greatness of his power towards us who believe”. All these things would encourage us; all these things would keep us bound together in affection, and outlook, so much needed at the present time.
That is all I have to say, but I desired to present and make attractive this kind of spirit which every believer has, that which is “born of the Spirit is spirit”. It has been spoken of as a germ, a potentiality that can develop into spirituality, and every believer has it. Let us be exercised therefore to provide conditions for the Spirit to effect this work of formation. I suppose we can all be more spiritual; it would be so if we could grow in this kind of thing, I think we could. We need these desires, this committal, in view of the worship of God. What rises in the believer towards God is this element of spirit. What is going to sustain us in the testimony is the spirit of power, and of love, and of wise discretion, and then to have in our hearts and our desires, this spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him. May the Lord encourage us; may He help us; may He set us in this direction. I can see the great importance of it. I can see that we tend to go by letter. Taking quotations from ministry to support certain ideas is the letter, that is not the tenor, it is not the spirit. When God speaks about the tenor that does not mean that He diminishes any item, every item is important, no item is omitted, but the tenor involves an understanding and appreciation of God in our souls, and some knowledge of the scope of His mind and His will.
DUNDEE
10th August 1993
FOUR LIVING CREATURES
I have been exercised, dear brethren, regarding these living creatures. There are the twenty-four elders who would represent persons who were the subjects of the purpose of God. But the four living creatures are symbolic, it would seem, and they are very closely linked with the throne, they are almost part of the throne, in the midst of the throne and around the throne, four living creatures. I suppose the four living creatures would suggest the way in which God has secured His purpose. God’s purpose belongs to eternity; before God made time, or began to use time there was His purpose; we have that in Ephesians 1, “according as he has chosen us in him before the world’s foundation”, Eph 1: 4. Before Genesis 1: 1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”, there was God’s purpose. The heavens and the earth were not God’s purpose. God’s purpose had persons in mind before that; and the creation of the heavens and the earth were to be the means of securing His purpose. So these twenty-four elders I suppose would represent persons who, like ourselves, are the subject of God’s purpose before the world’s foundation, and that belongs to eternity, “from eternity to eternity thou art God”, Ps 90: 2. His purpose belongs to eternity, and is in view of His eternal pleasure, but He made time, and came into time, and worked in time that His eternal purpose might be secured.
Now I just want to say a few words about these living creatures. The first is like a lion; we read of the lion that he turns not away for any. That is, God has never been diverted from His purpose; He has never needed to modify His purpose, never needed to adjust it, nor alter it. What His purpose was before the world’s foundation is what He is going to accomplish without any addition or subtraction. What He purposed at the beginning before time began is going to be secured; that is the idea of the lion. He is not going to be diverted; evil came in but God is not diverted, and does not modify or alter His purpose. His original purpose is going to be secured. That is the lion; it belongs to the throne, it belongs to the working out of God’s purpose, but it comes into His ways.
The second living creature like a calf. A calf has a steady tread, a firm tread; it suggests the working of the unhurried way in which God secures His purpose in time. Again to refer to Genesis 1: 1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”, that was at the beginning of God’s operations with His purpose in view. Then it says, “And the earth was waste and empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep”. Apparently some evil power was operating; we do not know how long it was between verses 1 and 2; geologists and others tell us that it may have been many, many years. No doubt Satan fell and his angels in that period. It suggests the unhurried way in which God secures His purpose. God can wait—He made time and uses time; whether we can say verse 2 is time I am not sure, “And the earth was waste and empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and, the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters”. How long that continued we have no idea. Why did God allow this to happen? It is because He was in no hurry, there was no haste—“from eternity to eternity thou art God”. With Him one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. He is never diverted as suggested in the lion, but He has patience to work things out because He has in mind what is to be very substantial, not like what men build up sometimes quickly. He has something substantial in mind that is going into eternity, therefore God is unhurried about how He secures His purpose. There is this long gap between verses 1 and 2 of Genesis 1, and then you get four thousand years of God dealing with men in the Old Testament. It again speaks of the unhurried way in which God steadily secures what He has in mind. Then there have been nearly two thousand years in the securing of the assembly. There is no haste with God. He has in mind something very substantial, not something that is easily shaken, but something that He has in mind in view of eternity, something substantial for His pleasure and glory eternally. So there is the calf, it belongs to the throne, it is part of God’s ways. The lion suggests that He never deviates from His purpose, and the calf that He is unhurried in how He secures His purpose. Men are in a hurry, God is not in a hurry, He secures what He has in mind patiently.
Then you have the third living creature having the face as of a man. I suppose it refers to intelligence, I suppose it refers to wisdom. Think of the wisdom that has entered into God securing His purpose in time, and what resource of wisdom there is in God effecting His purpose. Paul wrote, “O depth of riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable his judgments, and untraceable his ways!”, Rom 11: 33. It all ends in glory to Him, glory eternally. It says, “how unsearchable his judgments, and untraceable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counsellor? ... For of him, and through him, and for him are all things—to him be glory for ever, Amen”. The face of a Man speaks of our Lord Jesus Christ, the face of a Man in whom are all the riches and glory of wisdom.
Then finally there is the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. When the time comes there is no delay. There is no haste in God’s ways effecting His purpose, but when the moment comes for action there is no delay. Take the matter of judgment for instance, in Babylon, in one hour the judgment comes. There is the rapidity with which God can operate when the time comes, but meantime He patiently and unhurriedly in wisdom pursues the securing of His purpose. That is God—“from eternity to eternity thou art God”. It enlarges God in our thoughts and leads to the worship of God Himself.
EDINBURGH
13th April 1993
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