THE SPIRIT WITH THE SAINTS

G.W.Brown

John 14: 5-17; 15: 26,27; 16: 7-11; 20: 21-23

We come in chapter 14, as we have been taught, to what is collective. We have been speaking about the blessed Spirit in relation to Christ and in relation to man, that is in relation to ourselves. It is a wonderful order of things, of divine operations, that we have been able to touch upon, the Lord Himself having been brought forward as the One who baptises with the Holy Spirit. It is fine to trace these distinctive titles of the Lord; this is one of them: "he it is who baptises with the Holy Spirit", John 1: 33. No one else shares that; not Paul, not John, no apostle, great as they were, shares that title: "he who baptises with the Holy Spirit". Do you not love Him for that? How much we owe to Him! We often dwell on how much we owe to Him in sacrificing Himself for us, what we owe to the shedding of His precious blood, the outpouring, as it were, of that spotless unique life of Jesus. There will never be another life like that. Thank God the saints as indwelt by the Spirit can be like Him, but there will never be another life like the life of Jesus, and that was laid down for us, and He was buried for us. There is great deliverance in understanding and dwelling on His burial, especially when you get disgusted with yourself and the things you find in yourself - the understanding of the meaning of His burial, that God is not looking at that order that you are disgusted with, it was buried for Him in the grave of His Son, vicariously of course. In Him there was nothing but that which was delightful, but He went there for us. Paul says he received that - "I also received" - he is not on a different level from ourselves, he received it. I wonder who told him about it. The Spirit brought it home to him of course, but probably somebody told him about it; others believed it besides Paul, some received it before him. You remember that at the end of the epistle to the Romans he greets the brethren he knows there; he had not been there but he greets the brethren one after the other and says something about each one. Could you say something positive about each of your local brethren? About some he says "who were in Christ before me". Others had received it, he is on the same level: "what also I had received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, and that he was buried; and that he was raised the third day, according to the scriptures", 1 Cor 15: 3,4. I have often wondered why he does not say "according to the scriptures" about His burial, for it was certainly according to the Scriptures. God did not leave that out of the Scriptures, He recorded that He was buried. How liberating, as I say, when you feel disgusted with yourself, to know that the man you are disgusted with, or the woman, was buried for God in the grave of His Son - liberating; you are free now to judge yourself, to confess your sin if it be so, and to go on, I was going to say go on as usual. Why not? Our usual occupation should be the pursuit of what is pleasing to God. If Satan should trip us up the point is to judge it, to be free of it, to be in liberty with God.

In this 14th chapter the Lord Himself says "If ye love me, keep my commandments". Most of John's gospel is anticipative, he is looking forward to what is developed through Paul, looking forward to the assembly. Things begin with Jesus and develop by Him through Paul's ministry. He is addressing Himself to us in our own localities: "keep my commandments". I hope we are continually exercised about keeping His commandments. Rightly regarding other assemblies, rightly regarding one another in our own assembly, loving one another, that is all part of His commandment; but I suppose we are concerned as to order - not that we do not slip up as to order sometimes - but order is not the only thing although it is very important. The rights of Christ in the assembly, in this assembly and in the next one and each one, everyone, we should have regard for them. It is comparatively easy to talk about loving the Lord and meaning not very much by it. What do we mean by it? You say you love Him as your Saviour; thank God, so do I! I suppose we always shall love Him. It is easy to sit back and say that, and think there is some virtue attaching to us because we say that. What He says is "If ye love me" not merely say so; "keep my commandments"; that is a bit more challenging. Then He says "And I will beg the Father, and he will give you another Comforter". In this section He is speaking about His going away, leaving the earth where He had been with them. They would be feeling it, missing Him because they loved Him. So He says "If ye love me, keep my commandments", that is while I am away, "And I will beg the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever, the Spirit of truth". We are not lacking, the truth is here still, all that came out in the Lord Jesus is maintained here by the Spirit. The Spirit is not incarnate, He is indwelling the saints, and the truth is maintained and has been maintained since Jesus went on high, maintained by the Spirit in the saints, "another Comforter", down to the present time. What ravages there have been, even in our own day! What success the enemy has had in our own times! How well it is known to the brethren in these parts as in the parts from which we come! But the truth is maintained, continuing because the Comforter is here, abiding with us for ever. If I fall out, God forbid; if all here fell out, not that I anticipate that, the truth will be maintained in someone, and the Spirit will not leave us. A beloved brother used to say years ago that the Spirit never leaves the believer even though he gets old or weak, or even if his mind should fail; He is with us for ever. We can cling to that. One Person's word we can all put our faith in, on the word of the Lord Jesus; He said that the Spirit will abide with you for ever. Believe that, hold to that, cling to it. He has never made a mistake, He has never failed to keep His promise and never will. The Spirit of truth, thank God, will maintain the truth. What a privilege to have part in the maintenance of the truth! I know it is not always easy; it comes down to our relations with one another. The maintenance of the truth sometimes means that there is embarrassment between brethren, but the Spirit of truth would maintain the truth. The case of Paul and Peter would illustrate that I think. Peter, I suppose like all of us, got his eye off the Lord and for the moment he was more concerned about his reputation as an apostle greatly esteemed. The Spirit says in the list of the twelve, "first Peter". You see what a place he had among the brethren. Then after having to do with gentiles certain very strict Jews came along, brethren, but Jews, and he just thought of their natural susceptibilities, thought he had better be careful how he moved. Paul saw through it, saw the danger, and he withstood him to the face because he was to be blamed. How embarrassing you say, these two greatly honoured men! Peter who had known the Lord on earth and had such a place in the testimony; Paul too of course greatly honoured among the brethren, but he withstood Peter to the face because, as he says afterwards, he was to be blamed. But the truth was maintained; thank God for that! So it must be, dear brethren, the truth must be maintained at all costs. Shall we say it again? That persons are never the issue, the truth is the issue, let us not forget it; and let us remember too that God is no respecter of persons. We respect one another rightly, but the truth is to prevail among us, the Spirit of truth is with us and He will help us to do so however fearful you may be of upsetting someone. Another word is that everything that is to be done is done in love. Love considers for God first. It does consider for the brethren, you can underline it as much as you like, but love considers first for God, then for the brethren.

Then the Lord says "whom the world cannot receive because it does not see him nor know him". You see: the world could have received Jesus, they could see Him, they said they knew Him, they said they knew His family, His mother is with us, His brethren, we know all their names; where did this man get this learning from? We know how He was brought up. And they decided to reject Him. They could have received Him but they decided to reject Him. Now He is gone and the Spirit is come and the world cannot receive Him. Let us keep that in mind, let the younger brethren keep that in mind, the world cannot receive Him, "but ye know him, for he abides with you and shall be in you". What promises these are! The Lord in this gospel speaks anticipatively. What the disciples had in the presence of the Lord who can say? Who could measure its worth and value? Who could say what power was afforded to them while He was with them? But He is anticipating going away and the Spirit being with us instead, the Spirit down here as a Comforter, as a companion to the saints collectively; He is with us individually with all the benefit that that is to us but He is with us collectively, and if we have not a sense of that we are very poor spiritually indeed. Of course it means that the Lord has His right place, that His commandment is recognised, His commandment through Paul. Fancy persons saying, Well, that is only Paul. They would not know the presence of the Comforter; they might have good bright believers' meetings but would not know the presence of the Comforter.

In chapter 15 the Lord says, "But when the Comforter is come" - He Himself would have gone - ''whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth "who goes forth from with the Father". There are both sides; He "goes forth" and "I will send." How the Lord should be magnified in our hearts as the One "who baptises with the Holy Spirit". But here He says "whom I will send". Peter enlarges on it; he says that the Lord Jesus glorified received from the Father the promise of the Spirit. Joel prophesied about it long before: "I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh", chap 2: 28. Peter can explain that rightly on the day of Pentecost. Now here the Lord Himself is saying when the Comforter is come, whom I will send to you from the Father"; that is where the Lord is now with the Father, and He sent the Spirit from there, "the Spirit of truth who goes forth": that is His own dignity; "from with the Father", that is where the Spirit of God has come from. Is not that wonderful that He who has taken up His abode in us is gone "forth from with the Father"? I suppose you could not say in the same way that the Lord Jesus came forth from with the Father; He came from God and went to God; but He says that about the Spirit who has come and "taken his abode in us"; as the apostle James says (chap 4: 5) (we are thankful to him for that word, I love his expression). The Spirit has come forth from with the Father": all that the Father is and feels is so well known to the Spirit, and Jesus was there when He came forth. Then the Lord says "he shall bear witness concerning me"; that is, He will tell you what the Father thinks about Me, because He goes forth from with the Father when Jesus is there. That is why the Lord's relations with the Father and the Father's relations with the Son are known a little by us, because the Spirit who has taken up His abode in us has come forth from with the Father, the Son being there in His presence. It is not only that we have read about it in the Bible but we have the matter in our own souls; we have love for Him, we love Him as the Father loves Him; as He says: "that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them", John 17: 26. We are dependent upon the Spirit for that. These things are familiar to us but the mere familiarity may take off the edge of the greatness of the glory of them, that men should know these things, should delight in them, should live in them, should serve God in relation to them; it is a surpassingly wonderful thing. Then He says "and ye too bear witness, because ye are with me from the beginning". The Lord provided for the special place of the twelve, never forget that; the twelve have a special place permanently, in the foundations of the wall of the holy city you will find their names. Paul has a special place, but the twelve have a special place and it is permanent; "ye too bear witness, because ye are with me from the beginning". So you can understand why it says that the believers continued in the apostles' doctrine, the twelve who had been with Him from the beginning, that is from His baptism. I would say they have a place no one else has. It does not say that Paul's name is in the foundations of the wall of the city; it is the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, so we need to pay attention to what they have to say. John's name would be there, we understand that. Well, if his name is there we had better pay attention to what he says.

In chapter 16 it is more comfort. How they would need it! If you were there and heard the Lord saying He was going to leave us, would you not need comfort? We should need it indeed, but it is established now. "But I say the truth to you, It is profitable for you that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I go I will send him to you. And having come he will bring demonstration to the world, of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe on me; of righteousness, because I go away to my Father, and ye behold me no longer; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged". We think of that in connection with the world, that is the world as a moral system, but I do not think it is only that, it is rather we ourselves, the conviction is brought to us of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. So we have an understanding of the sin that it is not to believe on the Son of God; we should not understand that apart from this service of the Spirit. Of righteousness: we understand how right it is that He should go away to the Father. Let us thank God that that, I was going to say, is ingrained in us, it is the Spirit's service; and of judgment: a solemn thing but it is the truth that there is judgment coming. Judgment in part will fall on this world as soon as the Lord has come for us and taken us, and He may come at any moment, so judgment may be very near; we shall meet Him in the air and the judgment will follow. It will not be final judgment but judgment, "the hour of trial" the Lord says, Rev 3: 10. Thank God He has said that He will keep us out of the hour of trial which is coming. But we understand the necessity of it, we are not in darkness as to what is in the book of Revelation, we do not regard it as a closed book, indeed we take the Spirit's word for it that there is a blessing attached to reading it so we read it and get enlightened by it; we get pricked too sometimes in our conscience, but that can be put right through self-judgment; we do not neglect it, put it away; we understand the rightness of judgment that is in the hands of God, and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (see Heb 10: 31).

Now as to chapter 20, we were saying that the Lord developed the truth through Paul, but He touched upon it, He brought it out in His own ministry here below - wonderful picture this! Himself in resurrection and His own with Him in affection in the closest way, He leaving them. What resources are His because of who He is! Would He not leave them something? O yes He would leave them well provided for, the best that His love could give. If you are going away for some time you would leave something with the family, you would be concerned in your love to leave something with them. Well, He leaves peace with the brethren, and He breathed into them "and says to them, Receive the Holy Spirit"; not the Comforter now, not the individual side now, He has got them together, "breathed into them" and they were to be trustworthy as having a charge from Him. That is part of it; I think the other part would be developed through Paul, the power to rise to God's greatest thoughts, His thoughts of sonship, His thoughts of the assembly's association with Christ.

We carry forward what we have individually but this is something more; these four passages refer to what is collective according to the Lord's initial ministry in the gospel of John. His further ministry, development, came through Paul. We go back to John and dwell on what the Spirit has recorded, what is in that verse in chapter 7 (v 39). Think of the Spirit impressing John to say, as he had his pen in his hand "But this he said concerning the Spirit" - the Spirit is inditing it, moving him to write - "which they that believe on him were about to receive". The Spirit was inditing that and John was writing it - wonderful! “The Spirit was not yet", He had not taken up residence yet, Jesus was not yet glorified. He is glorified now and the Spirit is in residence, this is the Spirit's day, it is the day of testimony. The apostles have gone, the witness remains thank God the truth remains in the Spirit, the Spirit is forming truth in us. Let us be subject to Him that the work may go on and the truth be maintained, whatever it may cost you or me personally, until the end, for His Name's sake.

MAIDSTONE

26 July 1975