WRITINGS
Lectures on the Church
of God
Lecture 1. "ONE BODY"
Eph. iv
The subject on which, with the Lord's help, I propose to
enter tonight is the one body, the body of Christ; and this too not only as a
great doctrine which the Holy Ghost has laid down with the utmost clearness,
and throughout a considerable part of the New Testament, but also, as far as I
am able in a short space, deducing some of its practical consequences, and
showing its bearing upon the communion and the conduct of every member of it,
that is, of every Christian.
But in order to develop the special
characteristics of Christ's body, it will be necessary to explain how it
differed from that which God revealed or set up in past dispensations; for
there are distinctions, and even contrasts, between the past dealings of God
and that which He is now accomplishing to the honour of His beloved Son. While
there was of course always the only true God: while He had in times past those
He loved upon earth; while He ever wrought by His Spirit; while there was
necessarily faith at work in order to the blessing of souls; yet for all that
there are essential and deeply important differences, which, none can overlook
without loss to himself, without sure weakening of his testimony to others,
and, above all, without coming short of the just perception of what God Himself
has nearest to His own heart - His own glory in Christ.
Now it is
perfectly plain, if we take up the Old Testament, that when man fell into sin
God gave certain revelations of blessing, all of which find their centre in the
Lord Jesus. We see this from the very beginning of Genesis. When sin entered,
not only righteous government but grace instantly followed. God was there; and
in the presence of the guilty pair, and in defiance of the serpent, the mercy
of God spoke of that same blessed One of whom we are about to bear further and
deeper glories. In due time God brought out, in a distinct and personal manner,
blessings in connexion with Abraham and his seed. There we have the domain of
promise not only revelation of mercy, but distinct promise to a given person
and to his seed. This had not been the case in the garden of Eden. Man fell
there; and it is evident that fallen man could not possibly be the object of
the promise of God. There are promises for such: there could not be a promise
to such. When Abraham received the promise, he was not a fallen man merely but
a believing man. It was as one elect, called, and faithful, that God made him
the depositary of promise. But it was when Adam fell, before there was anything
of the operation of divine grace in him; it was when he and Eve had completely
separated themselves from God, that mercy, entirely irrespective of their
condition or desert, held out a revelation of grace in the person of Christ.
The woman's Seed was presented more particularly as the destroyer of him that
had wrought this deep and, as far as it went, irreparable mischief, irreparable
to the creature, but only furnishing the opportunity for. God to bring out His
own grace to the glory of Him who, bruised Himself, was to bruise the serpent's
head.
The effect of the promise to Abraham was that a family was set
apart unto God, and, in due time, a nation. Next, we find that, as this nation
was full of confidence, in its own powers, God was pleased, in the wisdom of
His ways, to try them by the law, as we all know, given at Sinai. I need not
enter into the details, but just state the general outline of the divine
dealings for the purpose of clearing my subject. But the issue of that trial,
however long God might delay, was not doubtful for a moment; for at the very
mountain where God spoke, the children of Israel set at nought the authority
and the glory of God, and bowed down to the work of their own hands: that is,
the law, as a moral question between God and man, was overthrown from its very
foundations at the outset. God lingered - long lingered - in patience, and
meanwhile brought out His ways in every possible variety. The crowning
experiment of all was the - presence of Christ, the Seed of the woman, and the
Seed of promise, too; for now came the person who answered to all the
revelations and promises, the ways and types and prophecies of God. He came, in
whose person was found all that was worthy of God, and that was suited to man.
But the coming of Christ brought out the awful truth, not only that man is
himself corrupt, depraved, and loves his own will, but that he hates goodness -
yea, divine goodness - in a man. He is the enemy of God when manifesting
Himself in the most blessed manner - in His own Son; when manifesting Himself,
not only in power for we can understand a guilty creature alarmed at holy power
- but in perfect love, coming down in humiliation, putting Himself at the foot
of man, beseeching man; for this is in truth not a figure or exaggeration of
man's mind, but God's own word. Hear His description of it: "God was in
Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto
them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now, then, we are
ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech by us," etc. His love
beseeching sinners was the attitude of divine grace in the person of Christ.
What was the result? That man proved there was no possibility of extricating
himself by any means that God put at his disposal: that if it were a question
of man's delivering himself, no matter what might be the mercy or the blessing,
no matter how deep and full the grace displayed in a living person, man was too
far gone - nay, so truly dead in sin, that, far from being won by God's love,
he only took advantage of it, and when Jesus put Himself at the foot of man, he
lifted up his heel and trod on Him, the Son of God. But if man thus, under
Satan's malicious guidance, cast out and crucified Christ, God in the cross not
only demonstrated His love (herein is love, indeed) but wrought out redemption,
a work suited even for those that crucified Jesus, capable of blotting out the
foulest sin man was ever guilty of. God has triumphed where man did his worst
against Him.
But this is not all. In the previous dealings of God,
when He had given His law, God had separated the nation that was called out of
Egypt - had marked them off in the most distinct and positive manner from all
others. It was needful. Men might have complained that there had been no fair
trial; the corrupt examples of others would naturally lead astray. God set
Israel apart by their institutions, rites, ordinances, services, and His law;
and by that law, and by those rites, He severed them from all others; so that
it would have been sin against God for a Jew to have communion with a Gentile,
no matter how godly and disposed to respect the law of God. No doubt there
might be such a thing as being brought out of Gentilism, at any rate to a
certain extent; but still, all through the system of God's dealings by His law
with the Jewish people, there was the express and total severance of His people
from all the nations. I do not speak of the abuse of it, working upon the
corrupt heart of man against others - the pride of men's heart who despised
others because of their own divinely isolated position; but apart from the evil
use that Israel made of their separation, faithfulness to God then required it,
and His will was in the thing itself. God was proving before the whole world
the painful and humbling truth, that let a nation have ever such mercies, ever
such privileges, ever such wisdom directing their movements, outward and inward
- nay, everything pertaining to them, the issue of all is increasing enmity
against God Himself
The death and resurrection of Christ introduced a
new thing in every sense. Now, Christians admit this in general as to the work
of Christ in its application to the need of the soul. There is no person of
ever so little spiritual intelligence, who does not confess, with more or less
clearness and thankfulness of heart, the all-importance of the cross of Christ
for his need before God. There may be a scanty perception of the extent of the
deliverance, an interrupted and feeble enjoyment of the perfect peace that has
been made by the blood of Christ's cross; but there is no believer who does not
in some measure hold it and enjoy it, and thank God for it.
But there
is more than the sinner's need met in the cross; and I direct your attention to
what the Holy Ghost gives us in Eph. ii., as showing the place of the cross in
the ways of God - not merely in the salvation of the soul. At the 13th verse it
is written, "Ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of
Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the
middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity,
even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of
twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God
in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby." Now, it is
evident from this scripture, that the cross is not only the basis of peace for
the soul, but the foundation also on which rests the "one body" that God is now
making of Jew and Gentile before Himself. And we see this most plainly if we
only look back to our Lord's own presence on earth. He forbids His disciples
going into the way of the Gentiles - forbids their entering any city of the
Samaritans. Need it be said that it was from no lack of love? It was not that
His heart did not yearn over the most reprobate of Samaritans; it was not that
He did not appreciate the faith of a Gentile -He had not seen "such faith, no,
not in Israel." Notwithstanding, they were to go only to the lost sheep of
Israel, because to such only He was sent, and so were they too. Now, here we
find at once that, while there was this perfectness of grace in Christ, the
holy order of God was none the less fully maintained. Law claimed a state of
things essentially different from what we have described in Eph. ii. There was
a positive barrier even during His lifetime, the very thing being formally
prohibited, which, after He died and rose, was not merely a duty, but the
delight of love, the only adequate answer in the saints to that death and
resurrection. (See Matt. xxviii. 19.)
How comes this to pass? On what
is so mighty a change founded? On the cross. It brings out the worthlessness of
man, and most of all, the worthlessness of favoured, privileged, religious
man-of man under God's law. For if man under that law failed, what other law
could avail? The law of God was the wisest, the best, the most holy and just
dealing that it was possible to bring to bear upon man's natural state. And
here was the total failure of man; and God well knew it all from the first, for
He took care that in the earliest book of Scripture, and all through, embedded
in the very law itself, there should be plain words as well as shadows, showing
that man would sin, and that only Christ, by His blood-shedding and His death,
could avail. The very first revelation of the garden of Eden is a witness of
both. Faith had no other expectation. But nevertheless there was a full,
patient, long-suffering trial whether it was possible to get any good out of
man, in the dealings of the only wise God with man. And now it was demonstrated
in the cross that all was ruined in man, and that the highest advantages, short
of God's saving grace, brought out the ruin most distinctly. Now there is room
for grace to work; and, beloved friends, it is upon this that it is my joy to
speak a little to-night.
We have come down the stream; we have seen
what man was when it was a question of his working for God : we shall now look
- briefly at God when He puts forth His glorious power to work, not merely for
man, but for His Son; for A oh! we never the full blessing until we see this
great and glorious truth, that God has at heart His Son - that God is thinking,
not merely of a blessing for you, for me, for any of those that love Him - yea,
and in sovereign grace, for those who love Him not, if they repent and believe
the gospel - but that He has His eye upon Him who did all and suffered all for
His glory, and has bound up that glory of God with fullest, richest,
everlasting blessing of all who believe in His name. And now, then, as the
fruit of the cross of Christ (where we have the weakness of God, where
nevertheless we have the triumph of God - God Himself coming down lower and
lower still in love, not merely, so to speak, beseeching man, but laying all
the weight and burden of sin upon the Lord Jesus, thereby meeting the desperate
need of sinners by His Son suffering for them,) what do we find? That in the
cross He has given the death-blow to sin; He has "put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself," as we are told. But besides, by it all the distinctions of, Jew
and Gentile pass away, and God brings out that to which He had looked onward -
that which was in His counsels not only from the foundation of the world, but
before it, and which consequently He had shown before there was a question of
law, and before there was a question of sin. For it is remarkable that the
magnificent type, which the apostle applies in Ephesians v. to the mystery of
Christ and the church, was brought in before sin entered. (Gen. ii.) In truth,
it was a counsel that flowed out of what God was and is. It was God in His own
love, even God working from what was in Himself. No doubt, the entrance of sin
has given occasion for God to bring out His grace in blessed ways; but, for all
that, we must ever remember that there were thoughts and counsels of grace in
God Himself There was that which He ever had in His own mind, for the
revelation of which, no doubt, sin might furnish the fit occasion. But sin was
in no wise the suggestive spring any more than the measure. On the contrary, we
see God indulging, so to speak, in the activity of His own perfect love; at any
rate, we see Him thinking of, filled with, working for, His own Son. And I
think it is of deep interest to observe the fact just referred to - the shadow
of the church's union with Christ preceding the entrance of sin and the
provisions of grace in view of sin.
And observe further, that as just
seen in the type of Genesis, so it is in the epistle to the Ephesians. where is
it that you have the counsels of God traced out ? Is it after man's sin has
been portrayed in chapter ii.? No; but in the earliest verses of chapter i,
where God gives the richest development of the counsels of His grace, entirely
passing over and ignoring, in the first instance all question of man's sin,
shame, and need. This we have afterwards and in the profoundest way. There is
perhaps no part of the word of God which shows us the depth of human evil more
than Ephesians ii.; but this is not at all the first thought. Hence we find in
the first chapter, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,
according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and without blame before him in love." And then it is
only just by the way that the apostle alludes to the fact of their sins, and in
a single verse (the 7th), where we read, " In whom we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his
grace." With the exception of that incidental notice of the fact of our
needing redemption, the remission of sins, you would not know from the first
chapter of the epistle that the saints of God, these blest ones, had a single
evil, or a particle of sin connected with them. That is, it is God perfectly
acting from Himself, in and for His own Son; delighting in Him, putting honour
upon Him, giving Him what was suited to Him out of His own resources of love,
and hence boundlessly to the saints, the body of Christ, as the end of chapter
i. describes them. It is thus that the Holy Ghost is pleased to introduce these
astonishing counsels of grace.
Then, in the second chapter, we have
man's state looked at most thoroughly. We see him weighed and found wanting as
in no other part of Scripture. We have him here, not as an active being, alive
in sin, but as all over with him, dead in sin -"dead in trespasses and sins."
He is, therefore, hopelessly lost and utterly powerless in sins. The whole case
is closed against him; and it is to this condition of manifest moral death and
subjection to Satan, that the grace of God applies itself, in His quickening,
raising, heavenly power in Christ Jesus.
But, again, we find that in
the latter part of Ephesians ii. the cross of Christ is taken up, not merely in
connexion with God's counsels, as in chapter i., nor even in view of their
desperate need who are the objects of His counsels, as in the beginning of
chapter ii., but in contrast to the previous ways of God upon the earth. He is
addressing Gentiles. Was it not a suitable occasion for God to unfold to them.
the one new man, the mystery of Christ and the church, the body of Christ? They
were hitherto ignored, evidently outside all that God had been doing of old.
God had taken up a separated people and had tried them. The Gentiles were as
non-existent, so to speak, before God. Not, of course, that the secret
providence of God did not watch and work - not that the grace of God did not
act as to individuals; but, regarded as Gentiles, they were outside. But now
these are the very objects of heavenly grace; toward Gentiles the call goes out
loud and large. Not that they alone were brought into the church, for it
consists of Jews also; but it was Gentiles whom it seemed meet to God to bring
into relief, in contrast to the condition in which they were once, so as to
make more manifest the blessing which His grace now confers on both, in Christ
the Lord. "Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the
flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision
in the flesh made by hands; that at that time ye were without Christ , being
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of
promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: but now, in Christ
Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For
he is our peace, who hath made both one."
There we have another
fact, not only that they are made nigh to God but both made one - Jew and
Gentile that now believe made one body, as is explained more fully afterwards,
the middle wall of partition broken down, the enmity abolished in His flesh,
" even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in
himself of twain one new man." It is not merely a new life, but Christ and
the church form one new man, a condition of things that had never before
existed -"one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto
God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby : and came and
preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh." Thus
the Gentiles had been dispensationally afar off, the Jews were comparatively
nigh; but now they were taken completely out of their old condition. It is not,
you will observe, that the Gentiles who believed are raised up to the level of
the privileges which the Jews used to possess, but that there is now "one new
man," wherein is neither Jew nor Gentile. Both, consequently, quit their
previous states for a new and most blessed position of oneness in Christ, which
had never existed before save in the counsels of God.
Here then is the
church, the body of Christ; this is what God is working out. He is not only
saving souls, He is gathering; not only is He gathering into one, but He makes
the believing Jew and Gentile, while they are on earth, though previously by
His own command the most separate, now to be one new man in Christ, even His
one body.
There is another truth connected with the church,, revealed
at the end of the chapter, which I merely notice by the way. Not only is there
a body formed - one body in Christ, but there is a building, upon earth, in
which God dwells. Although it is not my business tonight to take up the subject
of the dwelling or habitation of God, yet I cannot deny myself the joy of
saying a few passing words on this wonderful place which God has given to His
church.
And first of all it is to be noticed, in the Old Testament
there was no such thing as a building or dwelling of God, until there was a
type of redemption. No matter what might be His mercy or condescension to those
He loved, He could not dwell with man until there was a basis of
blood-shedding, by which He could righteously abide with him. Hence, all
through the book of Genesis, for instance, God does not dwell with men; nay, He
never speaks of it or promises it. But the moment the blood of the passover is
shed, and you have Israel passing through the Red Sea - the combined types of
redemption (one answering to the blood of Christ, the other to the death and
resurrection of Christ, in which a complete redemption is set forth in figure)-
immediately you bear of God having a habitation: God could now dwell in the
midst of His people. It is not because the people were better: who could
imagine that ? Look at Israel at the Red Sea; what were they to be compared
with Abraham or Isaac or even Jacob? -Yet He who only visited the fathers can
now dwell among the children, and put this word into their lips," I will
prepare him a habitation." How comes this? Ah, beloved friends, how little any
of us estimate the mighty change and the wondrous effect of redemption,? It is
not a question of comparing . men, or their faith, or their faithfulness. God's
estimate of redemption is the point ; and He shows that if there be only a type
of redemption, He can come down typically, He can then dwell in the midst of
His people. I admit this was only a preparatory thing. There was a visible
token of it, suited of course to an earthly people; but still the great
distinct fact is engraved on Israel's history, as the very centre of their
blessing, that God Himself deigned then to dwell in their midst. (Exod. xv. 2,
13, 17; xxix. 43-46.)
The same thing is found here far more blessedly
for the church on earth. On earth - and mark, not before the cross but since -
God is pleased to make His people to be His habitation. He came down in the
person of Christ, but Christ abode alone as far as the dwelling-place of God
was concerned. "Destroy this temple:" He was the only true temple But when He
died and rose, what then? Redemption was accomplished; and now God could
descend holily, righteously, suitably to His own character and could dwell in
His people. It is not because the New Testament saints are more worthy in
themselves than those of old. He that knows himself and redemption knows that
such an idea is a fallacy and a falsehood; he knows that human nature is good
for nothing as before God; he knows that, in His presence, there is no question
of flesh, or what flesh can glory in, but he that glorieth, let him glory in
the Lord:' But this is not all; not only is there a Lord to glory in, but now
we have actual redemption in Christ through His blood. How does God estimate
the precious blood of His Son ? What does He feel about those on whom that
blood is put by faiththose who are washed in it ? Does He not as it were say,
"I can come now and take my place in their midst?" This is indeed one of the
precious characteristics of the church. It especially is even now the
habitation of God. In virtue of this it is that the church is called the "house
of God.." and His "temple," in different parts of Scripture. But I must not
dwell longer on this because my subject is "the body."
We find, then,
in Eph. iv., that the Spirit of God presses this exhortation, " Endeavouring to
keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Next, He explains, "There
is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all,
and through all, and in you all."
Will it be imagined that this grand
truth of the "one body" does not affect the judgment and conduct of the
Christian as well as his affections? We have been brought, I will suppose, to
the knowledge of Christ; we have found in Him the Son of God, the Saviour; we
rest on Him as our peace before God; we call on Him as our Lord. But have I no
relationship with others on earth ? Am I left here simply and solitarily to
look up to God? Have I to thread my way through the mazes of this world, only
using the word of God with prayer? Let me ask, What are my relationships? Am I
only a child of God with other children of His here and there? What at am I to
feel, as I look round upon those that name the excellent name - that call upon
the Lord Jesus Christ, both mine and theirs? The ONE BODY is the answer. God it
is who forms it for the glory of Christ: it is united to Him. "We are members"
as it is said, "of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." It is not for
you, it is not for me, to define, even in our natural relationships, our
brothers and our sisters. Thank God, we are not asked: God does it; He gives
what suits Him, even if it be only in the domain of earth and flesh. He does
not give us what we might choose: we know our folly in this respect, He assigns
each man a place - puts the high and the low according to His own wisdom. And
in that which He is doing for His beloved Son, has He less to do or less to
teach us? Is God's will of less moment there than in the mere outward world ?
Nay, my brethren, nay: even moral men dispute not the will of God as to natural
relationships. We know what human lust may do - how it may break through every
line of demarcation; but still after all poor man finds even for himself,
without thinking of God, the need and the value of owning the relationships
which have been established in nature here below. Now, is it not a most solemn
thought, and is it not a fact which ought to shame every Christian heart, that
in the church which is so near to God, in that which is the fruit of His own
perfect love, in that which He is creating for the everlasting glory of His
beloved Son, what God orders, what God wills, what pleases God, is regarded as
of infinitely less account to Christians than even their natural relationships
to each other? Is it or is it not the fact ? Is it or is it not a grievous sin
?
How do you account for this ? Whence the terrible triumph of the
enemy ? Why is it that there is such darkness over the whole subject of the
"one body" now? Is it because God has not revealed His mind? What can be
plainer in Scripture? Only a portion of the proofs has been produced from a
small portion of God's word; but what can be clearer than that, founded upon
the cross of Christ, a new condition has been introduced and established of
God? that He is now calling out the Jews and Gentiles who believe, and forming
them into "one body?"- that, as He owns no other body than Christ's, so this is
His will about us, and our obligation to Him, even as it is the evident and
only meaning of His word that speaks of His church? How is it, then, that such
a truth escapes the thoughts of man - that you may search in vain to find it in
writings new or old - that we have, some of us, long lived as Christians, and
many of us once churchmen and dissenters so called, yet all utterly ignorant of
its character? But if so patent, and with such a fulness of truth about it in
God's word, how comes it to have been a forgotten thing among His children?
It is not because there has not been sincerity - "godly sincerity" if
you will - among Christians. But whatever is near to God, whatever is the
present operation of God, is always that against which Satan sets himself with
all his might and subtlety. And this, because it is bound up with Christ,
because it is the special actual will of God for His people. Therefore Satan
seeks to thwart and mar. He does not now try so much to darken other truths,
but he takes up that which most nearly concerns the glory of Christ as now
displayed; whatever that may be at any given time, there is the battlefield,
there the arena, where no means are untried to blind and hinder God's children
from understanding and doing the will of their God and Father. When God is
gathering out His church, then is the enemy's season of active unceasing
effort, to oppose, confound, and obscure all the truths connected with it.
Besides, there is another question. How comes it that Satan finds it
possible to succeed in the face of such evidence as the New Testament affords ?
Alas I the reason of this, too - the moral reason - is evident, The children of
God may be the more readily deceived, because the doctrine of the church, the
body of Christ, brings God too close to us - sets His grace too richly before
our souls - makes us feel (if our souls believe, bow, and enter into it) the
vanity of all things here. Alas, our hearts shrink from the feeling. We
naturally love ease; we like position in this world; we are fond of a little
reputation, it, may not be perhaps in the vulgar world, but in the so-called
church - something, at any rate, for self, something outside the portion of
Christ and the cross. The body is only for the Head, for the glory of God, that
the Son of God may be glorified thereby. Man in nature disappears; his glory
wanes and vanishes; his will is judged as sin. We do not like a doctrine and
practice so peremptory, and withal so heavenly. Men like to do something, and
to be somebody. Man has in himself, whenever this is allowed, that which
exposes him to the power of sin, to the malice and wiles of Satan; and hence it
is, that this great truth was no sooner revealed than it began to fade. There
is no testimony to it whatever in the early fathers, and of course a position
more and more distant and antagonistic as you descend. Take up any writings you
please:-Papists and Protestants, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Lutherans,
Calvinists, Arminians - ignore it. It is not that you will not find enough
truth asserted and preached for souls to be saved by; but the bare salvation of
souls is not the whole truth, nor that part of the truth which reveals the
church of God. Were not souls saved before Christ? Was not salvation of the
Jews? Were there not faithful souls before God had a people upon earth? Was it
not so from the very beginning, before the flood and after it? Most clearly and
certainly.
But there comes in another thing which was not true before,
which God had not revealed or established till the rejection of the Messiah,
and for which He had reserved the sending of the Holy Ghost from heaven. Now in
the cross of Christ God has laid a foundation for this new work and is
gathering together out of Jews and Gentiles His assembly, made in Christ one
new man. Man likes to be of importance to himself, and in this world. Just in
proportion as he allows this, he falls a prey to the working of the enemy; and
the more easily does he deceive himself, because up to the cross of Christ
there was room left; for man more or less. His total ruin, his enmity to God,
his hatred of grace in the revealed person of the Son, were never brought out
in their fulness until then. Till then God was not, could not, be known as He
now is. But the only begotten Son declared Him, and this in respect both of sin
and of His righteousness - a new kind of righteousness, which, by all means and
on every side, clears and blesses the guiltiest who now believes in Jesus.
Now, it there is to be a heart growing up into the revelation which
God has made of Himself in Christ according to His grace towards the Church,
the one body of Christ, there must be the judgment of nature, rout and
branch-the judgment of the world in which man arrogates some place to himself.
The church of God is based on the proved ruin of man, and is for the glory of
God in His Son, as maintained by the Holy Ghost. Now, this will show the
immensely important place of this truth as a matter for the soul both in
communion and in conduct. Away with what does not touch upon practice and the
soul's relationship to God I But the fact is, that so far from the truth of the
church leaving out heart and conscience, intercourse with God, worship and
service, there is nothing which brings them out so much, and binds them so fast
together, save only the truth of Christ's own person; there is nothing more
commanding, comprehensive, and penetrating for the walk or conversation of a
Christian man.
Take, for instance, all the difficulties men gather
from the Old Testament: on what are they founded? I speak now of the legitimate
difficulties - at any rate what seem to be legitimate and authoritative to the
mind of an uninstructed believer. What, after all, is their gist? Reasoning
founded upon Old Testament precept or practice. But is the analogy just I How
can we reason in an absolute way, if there be this "one new man"? - if the
church is a novel special thing which did not even exist then? It is evident
that conduct (for instance, found in a David or a Solomon - in an Abraham, or
an Isaac, or a Jacob) may not apply now, but, on the contrary, be out of
harmony with the ways God looks for in His church. I am not speaking of those
moral landmarks which always condemn falsehood, corruption, or violence: no
Christian is supposed to produce the sin of any of these men to justify his own
evil. I speak of what was right and according to the will of God as then
revealed. The moment the doctrine of the Church, the body of Christ, is seen,
all such reasonings and difficulties have no more a place. God has now His Son
in His presence as the risen man. There could not be such a thing as the body
of Christ till Christ was there, not only as the Son, but as man, the Head of
the body; Christ could not be there as man till the work of redemption was
accomplished. Of old He had the title of the Son of man given, looking onward
to His assumption of humanity, when He who was God and the Son of God became a
real man. But how could He take this place in Heaven ? He was born a man on
earth. He was not a man until He was born into the world. How take this Place
in heaven? Christ was not Head, still less was there the body, the church, till
then. "The church, which is his body," assumes that Christ had become man, and,
more than this, that He is Head, as the risen and ascended man. It is only
after He died, as we know by His own figure of the corn of wheat, that He
produced fruit. (John xii.) But more than that: not to stand upon figures only,
but to take any Scripture that speaks in precise terms upon it, what do we
find? Read the end of Ephes. i."What is the exceeding greatness of his power
to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he
wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own
right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and
might, and" dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but
also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave
him to be head over all things to the church." Thus He has been given to
the church Head over all things; but it is after He was raised from the dead,
and set at God's right hand. The risen man is Head there: even He never was
head till after redemption. He took His place there and thus.
What is
the consequence of that, beloved friends? The body of Christ is heavenly, as
the head of the church is. Man does not relish this - nay, many a Christian man
finds it too high and bard. If he is a heavenly man where is the room for the
pursuits and plans and projects of literature, of science, of politics? Where
are all these things that fill the mind and the appetites and the desires of
men? Are they in heaven? Are warlike schemes - are courtier dreams - in heaven
? You hear no doubt of the battle against the devil, who is turned out of
heaven, as the Lord wars by the angels of His power by-and-by. But I need not
say there is no place in His body for the pride, ambition, or energy of man.
What then is the great idea of the church of God? It is the body of
Christ, after He has accomplished redemption; and consequently, sin, as far as
God's judging the believer, is completely gone, put away in such sort as to
glorify God and justify the believer. Founded upon this, those who believe are
consequently not only born of water and the Spirit, and justified from their
sins by the blood of Christ, but united to Him, their blessed Head, at the
right hand of God. The church of God accordingly does not consist merely of the
redeemed or saints. A " Christian " means more than a "saint"- much more! I am
aware there are many who think it means much less, and would count my doctrine
strange; because they consider everybody in these lands a Christian, and but
very few on earth a saint - perhaps none till they get to heaven. But it is to
me most evident-nothing more certain - that a Christian is a saint, and a good
deal more; and that good deal more is, that he is a saint after God effected
redemption in the blood of Christ; that he is a saint united to Christ at God's
right hand; that he is a saint who has God dwelling in him by the Spirit, for
God now can dwell there. The atoning work is done: the blood has been shed and
sprinkled. God can take up His abode there and does! How do I know it? Because
God has told me so in His word. One may, alas! have poor enjoyment of it - that
is another thing; but the enjoyment of the truth depends upon the measure in
which our souls first rest upon it believingly: even then, unless we judge the
flesh that hinders the realization of it, we cannot enjoy it either long or
much if at all.
God shows then in His word, that the church is the
union of believers - one with Christ, by the Holy Ghost, after He died and rose
and went to heaven. The consequence is, that we must consult what God enjoins
on the members of that body, if we would know how we are to walk and worship;
how we are to act and feel towards the other members of Christ; and how to
behave in "the house of God."
The New Testament occupies itself with
these subjects, more particularly the epistles of St. Paul. It could not be
formally or definitely in the gospels, because they are devoted for the most
part to a living Christ, closing with the facts of His death, resurrection, and
ascension. You may find there preparations for the new work and testimony - not
a few intimations of what was going to be done; but all show that the building
of the church was not yet begun. In the epistles, on the other hand, we have
revelations altogether founded upon the great fact that the building was going
on, the body was being formed. And mark another thing, which I hope to develop
on the next occasion I address you, namely, that along with the body of Christ
goes the presence of the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. It is only just
referred to here to show the connexion: we shall find its importance
afterwards. Those who have not examined fully the testimony of Scripture will
feel the weight and value of the instruction there furnished, when that point
comes more at, length before us. But this at least is plain, that though it is
a new work, entirely distinct from all that God bad wrought before, there are
great moral principles, as already hinted, which always abide. In every part of
Scripture, in that which speaks of the times before the law, or during the law,
as well as now under the gospel, God is the righteous, holy, almighty, faithful
One, a God of longsuffering, and goodness, and truth: all this remains. Even
here the difference is, that all these attributes of God shine out more
gloriously, and, in consequence, deepen the revelation of God, in addition to
other new ways and workings of grace which were not and could not be expressed
before. What an accession of light when Christ, the true light, shone! What an
infinite display of God Himself in His person? And what shall we say of the
cross and death, resurrection and glorification of Jesus as the manifestation
of God?
Hence, in this new man, all the moral glory of God of course
abides; but now, in presence of that infinitely fuller manifestation, and the
accomplishment of eternal redemption, is there to be no answer in the thoughts
and hearts and ways of His children to what the God and Father of Christ is
doing? If, for instance, God calls a person into the place of a servant, there
are certain responsibilities that attach to a servant. But suppose these
servants turn out thoroughly unfaithful and end in rebellion, and God says, " I
will have no more of this; I will create a family and adopt children to Myself;
I will bring people, according to My sovereign pleasure, out of the old
condition into this new place." What then? It is evident that to go back to
what was true of the servants might be a most misleading guide when it became a
question of the children; and, in point of fact, it is and must be so. On that
mistaken ground Christians meddle with the world, occupying themselves with
those things that please the flesh and give importance to man. In contrast with
it, God has given us the glorious truth that He has, as it were, but one man
(the first Adam being done with, and pronounced to be ruined, and dead, and
buried in the grave of Christ). We Christians belong to the second Man, the
Lord from heaven. (1 Cor. xv.) There is "one new man," not only in contrast
with old distinctions, but as uniting all, Jewish or Gentile saints, in one
body - His body; for that is the way in which it is presented in Ephesians ii.
The consequence is, that we need, and God gives us, a new revelation;
He furnishes fresh instructions which had no place before. Supposing you had
the New Testament in Old Testament times, what would have been (I will not say
the worth, but) the effect of it then? Perplexing beyond measure! A Jew would
not have known what to do with it. He might have been struck with the wisdom,
beauty, holiness, and love of it all; but how to act upon it and reconcile it
with the law given by Moses, it would not have been possible for him to know.
He would have been commanded by the Old Testament to keep wholly apart from the
Gentiles; he would have been told by the New Testament that they formed one
body, and that they were all one in Christ,- that both had access by one Spirit
unto the Father. He could not have put these things together; and no wonder:
they were not meant to be together. They belong to distinct times and to
totally different states. The confusion of the two is one way in which Satan
has triumphed in the professing church. Alas! it was not otherwise under God's
dealings with the Jews. While He was standing by His law, they were breaking
it; while He was holding up the unity of the Godhead, they were set upon idols
and going after the gods of the nations. They were utterly unfaithful to their
testimony; but I am persuaded that a Jew, dark as he was and little versed in
the mind of God, would have perceived that the instructions of the New
Testament were irreconcilable with his calling. But God never gave it thus.
When the work of atonement was finished on the cross, God brought out these new
revelations by degrees. Why? Because there was a new state of things-"one new
man"- that did not exist before. Consequently, a new word of God was given,
suited to bring out the due relationship of Christians to one another, and the
working of God in the Church, the body of Christ.
Let me notice
briefly, before I close, the practical effect, endeavouring to keep the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace." What interest this has, if really
applicable in the face of our divisions! Consider for a moment the case of a
Christian; he is awakened, finds peace, but questions what he is to do. How
truly it has been the fact that many of us have been perplexed in such
circumstances! We may have known very little of the word of God; but still we
found difficulties in reconciling that word with what we saw around us -
especially such a word as this, "endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit,"
But it is really a plain and humble path. I have nothing to do with making the
unity; I have not to set up something, or join what others make. What then ? I
am to be diligent in keeping the unity of the Spirit. In other words, God the
Holy Ghost has made a unity; and the business of the believer is to observe
that unity-to keep it. What an amazing relief for a humble soul, that feels his
liability to mistake, in danger of being either too lax on the one hand, or too
narrow on the other!
What is the unity of the Spirit? Where does it
begin and end? What is its nature and character? Scripture tells us that He has
established a unity among men, yet apart from and above them. What is it? The
answer is, It is in the church, which God has made the body of Christ. What a
comfort it is for a believer that he has simply to judge by the word of God
where the unity of the Spirit is! But how? I come to a place, and I am at a
loss to know where to turn. Where shall I find the unity of the Spirit of God?
How do I know it? God has left landmarks; He has given clear distinct light in
His word. I search and see that He is gathering together the children of God
into one; He gathers them unto the name of Christ, assuring them that where
they are thus, He is in their midst. I never get the key to any spiritual
difficulty without Christ. Do I merely look for the unity of Christians? It is
a delusion and a danger without Christ. Christians - where shall I not find
them? In what pit of error may I not discover some stray child of God? If I go
in quest of the children of God, I may easily see them in this form of
worldliness or in that; I may know them unattached here, close and bigotted
there; I may find them gathered together according to human rules, and for
entirely minor objects; I may hear them setting up the names of men, certain
special doctrines, favourite views, as their centres of union. Is this the
unity of the Spirit? What then is His unity, and how is it to be kept? It is
that which He forms for the glory of Christ.
Christians of course are
those that compose the unity; yet keeping it consists not in the bare fact that
they are Christians, but that they are gathered unto Christ - gathered not to
His bodily presence, but unto His name, now that He is in heaven; none the
less, however, for that, but the more counting on His presence with them,
though unseen, faithful to His own word. If I isolate myself where I may thus
meet, I am indifferent to that which was an object of the death of Christ (John
xi. 52), and I am setting at nought the unity of the Spirit; if I value the one
and am diligent to keep the other, I shall meet on that ground and on none
other. Many members of Christ no doubt are elsewhere now, who ought to be
there, as truly as any that are gathered to that name; but am I who know my
Master's will to hold aloof, because others see it not, or are faithless if
they do I Am I to say His will cannot be done?
Therein lies part of
the ruin of Christendom; there is the painful fact, that what Christ died for
Satan has set himself to oppose, and has succeeded in it. Wonder not; for
everything that God undertakes is first of all put into man's hand, who is
responsible to use it for Him. Alas! there is but one issue - the utter failure
of man; and there will be no reversal of the tale till Jesus comes again. Nay,
even then will be another trial of man - to show whether he uses the coming and
kingdom of Jesus for God's glory; and the end of the millennium will prove
that, as it was before, so it will be then. Nevertheless, faith overcomes at
all times. See that you hold the truth fast Let none cheat you out of the
blessing which God has given, and calls you to enjoy. Founded on the cross,
united by the Spirit to Christ, waiting for His return, the church is the
precious fruit of God's grace.
After His people departed from the
power and even let slip the bare form of this great truth, He has brought it
before them anew. I cannot doubt that its recovery, in any measure, is
vouchsafed of God in view of the Lord's speedy coming: else how do you account
for it that God has been pleased to recall the bride to put herself, as it
were, in readiness for the Bridegroom, signally bringing out again that mass of
heavenly testimony which had been despised, deserted, and forgotten ? Happy are
they who not only bow and receive the grace of God in it but keep the treasure
faithfully! "Behold, I come quickly; hold that fast which thou hast, that no
man take thy crown." Be assured, brethren, that we are in the same danger
as men ever were in of letting slip that which God has given us; and that every
engine which Satan can devise to drag us away-taking advantage of carelessness,
difficulties, trials, or anything that can tax us to the utmost - will all be
put in force, because be hates not only us but Christ and His truth.
But as the Lord has been pleased to raise up again a testimony to His person,
work, and heavenly glory, so I pray and beseech you, especially the younger of
my brethren and sisters who are here - all who may not have felt its force and
preciousness - more particularly you who have been trained from your earliest
perceptions of truth, brought in, as it were, rather than out, at comparatively
little cost, and who have not known (as some others) the wrenching of many a
tie, with a deep disciplinary work in the heart, realizing gradually the true
condition of Christendom;- I call upon you all to beware lest Satan should, in
any insidious way, lead you from the only solid divine rock in the midst of the
rising surges of apostasy. Fully do I admit, that all who are brought into this
glorious place, the body of Christ, ought to walk and carry themselves in a way
suitable to such a position. It is a deep shame where there is no devotedness
beyond what existed before this further measure of truth dawned on our souls;
not only shame to us, but a serious hindrance to the truth, and a reproach upon
the grace of God that revealed it and brought our souls into it, that after all
there should be such an unworthy manifestation of its power. But how are we to
deal with this ? Are we therefore to slight or doubt the truth? Are we because
of our unfaithfulness, to put aside the plain word of God that condemns us for
a lower ground on which we can rest more consistently and comfortably? Are we
to yield to that which the fleshly mind has often sought and fallen into - to
set up other centres than Christ, other ministry than that of the Spirit? Are
we to abandon the only place and principle which the New Testament allows for
the members of Christ's body, on the unbelieving plea that, as to walking
according to this heavenly light, it is a thing impracticable in such a world
as this ? There are beyond question difficulties and perils neither few nor
small in maintaining it There is constant need of self-denial most surely, if
it is to be walked in with God.
But how are we to judge, if not by the
word of God? Are we prepared to surrender His word as our only standard of
judgment? Now, while that word of course condemns deeply the shortcomings of
those who are thus privileged of God - not only brought into the unity of the
Spirit, as all saints are, but brought into the conscious knowledge and faith
of it; while the failure of such is in a certain sense more inexcusable than
that of any others, yet at least such are justifying God and His word and
Spirit against themselves in a humbling way. Taking our stand upon this, that
no one should glory save in the Lord, we shall find (and painfully too) that we
are brought into this place to learn our faults as we never knew them - the
shortcomings of others as we never suspected them. We may be astonished at the
manifold failures, trials, hairbreadth escapes, and deep occasions of shame;
but how come these to be so seen and felt? Because it is not the ground of the
church? Nay, but because it is. And one of the most comforting things to our
faith in that which naturally might perplex is, that we learn the present and
permanent value of the Scriptures as we never proved it before. Take all the
ways of God in discipline: they did not apply while we were mixed up with the
world-church; but how precious, profitable, and indispensably needed when we
endeavour to keep the Spirit's unity! Take again all the warnings about the
world: we hardly knew what it was. Is it not with Christians a constant
question what the world is; or is not the answer that they give us the proof of
an unsuspected blinding influence ? They have something or other which they
avoid doing, and this they call "the world." But the moment we see the body of
Christ, the world acquires a plain meaning: if we realize what it is to be
among those it within, those "without" are no longer a vague uncertain
question.
Let us not fear then to quit all for the honour of God in
this world; let us look to Him for grace that we may bear all rather than
abandon it. There may be only two or three ; but yet if they contemplate the
body of Christ, shutting out none save according to His will, not for any
feelings of their own, it is the only thing that is or ever was divinely large
in this selfish world, as far as men are concerned. I do not mean that any who
blaspheme Christ, or who make light of blasphemers in their deeds, if not in
their words, - should be sanctioned. "0 my soul, come not thou into their
secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united." It is vain
to argue that the Spirit's unity can make so light of Christ and His glory. I
say not that individually such may not be Christ's. We know what Satan may do
even with one who really loves the Lord-how he may ensnare him into denying his
Master, and denying Him with oaths too; but who would contend for justifying
such sin or having communion with the guilty, till it was put away?
I
repeat then, if there be only two or three, and they endeavour to "keep the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," with them is my place as a
Christian. My heart should go out to every Christian, in whatever
circumstances, whether nationalist, dissenting, or, if there be such, in
popery; my heart should go out, spite of the error and evil - yea the rather
because of these things in intercession. But then am I to give up diligent
observance of the Spirit's unity? Am I to follow and join them in what I know
to be unscriptural and sinful, because there is a Christian or many Christians
there? Surely not! We ought to get them out with and for the Lord. How is this
to be done? Not by plunging ourselves into the mud, but on the contrary by
taking our stand resolutely on the rock outside of it; and there seeking grace
from God that, by the manifestation of the truth in every man's conscience, and
by holding out the light of Christ in the word - pressing too the
responsibility of walking as Christ's body on His members, they may be turned
from the error of their way. Never deny that they are members of the body of
Christ; remind them of that very fact and of its gravity that they are members
of His body: why should they value any other body? If members of that "one
body" why not own it, and own it always, and nothing else? If they belong to
the unity of the Spirit, why not endeavour to keep it? God is now raising a
question, not about Popery and Protestantism, but about Christendom's denial of
His church, Christ's body. Our business is not to originate a church of the
present or future, but to cleave to the church God has made, and consequently
to confess the sin of all rivals-to repudiate them and come out from them. Let
us put away every human invention in the things of God, and keep ourselves from
idols. The word of God at all times calls upon His children to be subject to
Himself and to His will. Are we so doing? On the one hand, "If ye know these
things, happy are ye if ye do them;" on the other, "To him that knoweth to do
good and doeth it not, to him it is sin." Surely, if there be one thing in
which more than another, human will is most evidently sin, it is in that place
where God exalts the Lord Christ; where He has sent down the Holy Ghost that He
may be a spring of power in His people's obedience.
Though this be
merely an introductory lecture, and therefore I cannot be supposed to enter
into all the proofs now - only laying down a kind of foundation for the
subjects which we hope to pursue; yet I do trust that enough has been said to
make plain, even to the least mature of those who hear me, the immense
importance of their seeking from God to realize that they are not only saints
but Christians, resting upon redemption, united to Christ, and responsible to
act as members of His body, diligent in keeping the unity of the Spirit and
none other in this world. This is a divine obligation superior to any changes
in the church's state here below. It is no question of numbers, but a duty
always binding, even though there were only two or three who saw the
truth.
Lecture II
"ONE SPIRIT."
I Cor. xii 1-13.
My task tonight is that which
I am persuaded ought to be the business of every Christian man, not in word
only, but in deed and in truth - to assert the rights of the Spirit of God in
the church of God. I say, "to assert His rights;" for I assume here the
personality of the Holy Ghost. It is needless now to give any proofs of this
any more than of His Deity. These truths can be taken for granted, not as if
there were not abundant proofs in the word of God, but because they are at
present uncalled for. But it is another thing, beloved friends, when we speak
of the rights of the Holy Ghost - His proper sovereign action in the church,
flowing from His personal presence as sent down from heaven. On this subject
many find difficulties and obscurities; and great ignorance exists even among
the children of God, and those too who may have been greatly blessed; in and by
whom the Holy Ghost may have acted powerfully for the good of souls. Unless
however we know this truth from God, unless we have it as a divine certainty in
our souls, it is dear that whatever grace may do in giving us practical
subjection, yet there must be much lost if we do not know the special ways in
which it is the will of God that the Holy Ghost, present both in the individual
and in the church of God, should be honoured. On this theme-a large one for a
single discourse - I propose now to enter.
Here too, as in treating of
the "one body," I would show from God's word that which was always true of the
Spirit, and which therefore has no special connexion with the present time, in
order that we may the better discern in what God is now manifesting Himself,
and how it is that Christians - for of them I speak - are apt to be mistaken as
to this. A mistake here is so much the more serious a thing, as it is a
question of duly recognizing a divine person. If we maintain the title of the
Holy Spirit to act as He will in the church, no question is raised about His
work in souls from the beginning. No person intelligently acquainted with the
Scriptures doubts the fact or its importance; neither is there the least
thought, wish, or motive to do so. The Holy Spirit has always been the direct
agent in whatever God Himself has undertaken, If we look at creation, the
Spirit had His part there. If we look again at the elders who obtained a good
report through faith, no believer questions for a moment that it was only by
the operation of the Holy Ghost that man believed then as now. He wrought in
Abel, Enoch, Noah, and in all others whom the Scriptures testify as the line of
saints. So again when God espoused His people Israel, if He wrought in any
especial fashion suited to the display of His glory in their midst, it was the
Spirit of God who was the energetic power behind and within. It was He that
wrought, for instance, from a Moses down to a Bezaleel, from Samson up to
David. When we come to the prophets, it need scarcely be said it was under the
power of the Holy Ghost that holy men of God spoke; the Spirit of Christ made
them to be witnesses beforehand of His sufferings, and of His glories that were
to follow, little as they might themselves understand His sufferings. Thus, in
those who stand for present privileges, there is no disposition whatever to
obscure, but on the contrary to give the fullest value to all that the Holy
Ghost has ever wrought; for in truth there never was anything of God in which
He did not work.
But when we come to the New Testament, a new thing
comes to view. A despised, crucified, depart Son of man was a strange sound.
(John xii 34.) They looked for Christ to abide for ever, and to reign in glory
and righteous blessing upon earth. But gradually, as man and Israel especially
rejected Him, the truth - astonishing to the Jew - dawned more and more, that
He, the Messiah and Son of God, was going to leave the earth. Gentiles, I am
aware, think little of this; but do they therefore show superior wisdom? To the
Jew it was a most startling announcement, and at first sight irreconcilable
with the law and prophets. They had looked for Him, the promised One, and their
hearts delighted in His presence: it was what kings and prophets had desired
most earnestly. God had put the desire into their souls; but now that it was
gratified in His coming, He is going to leave them, to sink down in sorrow and
shame and death - the death of the cross! under man's, ay, and under God's,
hand I And not merely this, but when He rose again - instead of maintaining His
glory from the throne of His father David, and filling the earth with the
blessedness that was foretold, and accomplishing, and more than accomplishing,
all that their hearts had so fondly hoped was just about to dawn and for ever
brighten this world - He was about to leave the world in its darkness; at any
rate, He was about to retire again to the heavens whence He came. But if He was
about to go on high, it was not as He came down; for as the Son of God He had
come down to become man,,the Word was made flesh;" and now as man, risen from
the dead, He was leaving the world to take His place at the right hand of God;
and during His absence on high, He would send down the Holy Ghost in a way
never before known. The Old Testament prepares the heart for a present Messiah,
and the outpouring of the Holy Ghost as the needed appropriate meed paid to the
reign of the Messiah over the earth ; but the Messiah, on His death and
resurrection, disappearing from the view of the world that had cast Him out,
entering into a new and heavenly scene, and the Holy Ghost sent down personally
in His absence to be here while He was there - all this was something wholly
unexpected by the Jew. If Gentiles do not turn aside and wonder at the great
sight, it is certainly not from excess of spiritual feeling or intelligence. We
may find of course the wonder of stupidity; but there is such a thing as no
wonder, just because there is no real thought about it. I believe this is the
reason why, if there be on the one hand the wonder of men who are surprised,
there is a lack of wonder in others because they are too engrossed in earthly
things to be really concerned.
Now this, next to Christ, is the
central truth of the New Testament; but so far from its being the solid ground
on which Christians are now walking, in point of fact all is reduced in their
minds to a mere continuation of the influence which the Holy Ghost has always
exerted. The consequence is, that all men who reject His special presence in
person on earth as a consequence of redemption are driven into the most painful
expedients in order to evade the plainest scriptures. I may just mention one
case: it will perhaps startle some that such assertions should be made, and
especially by a person of large reputation for spiritual knowledge. It will
show where want of faith as to the great truth of the actual presence of the
Holy Ghost in a way never experienced before lands those who oppose it
systematically. In order to escape the clear intimation of a new and
incomparable blessing in the shape of the Comforter, they allege that the Holy
Ghost (who had always been given!) departed from the earth when the Lord was
here, in order that the Lord should give Him once more on His own ascension to
heaven. Thus, the time of the Saviour's presence on earth would be, not a
bright and happy feast, but dearth as regarded the Spirit of God" just name the
- thought, in order that you may see the excessive violence, not to say worse,
to which unbelief reduces even intelligent men of God. Need I say, on the
contrary, that those who surrounded the Saviour and were blessed by His
teaching had all the Old Testament saints ever enjoyed, and a great deal more?
The Holy Ghost had quickened their souls, like their predecessors, by giving
them faith in Christ. Besides, the disciples had the Messiah's presence and the
manifestation of grace and truth in Him, and all His words and ways. No doubt
there was much they could not then bear, as the Lord Himself told them; but
still they were as truly believers as any had ever been before them. The fact
is that such reasoning is the puny effort of man to escape from the solemn
truth of God.
The New Testament is most explicit. Our Lord first of all
brings out the doctrine of the Spirit; and this as fully meeting the need of
man to be born of the Spirit and to have the Holy Ghost, in order that he
should be able to worship the Father in spirit and in truth. But more than
this, He prepares the disciples for the mighty work in spreading the truth and
the grace of God. The Holy Ghost was necessary for this; and accordingly we
have it in chap. vii.- a scripture which it is impossible to escape. The Lord
had put it in a figurative way, that out of the belly of him who believed
"should flow rivers of living water." This spake he of the Spirit," (which
should not be given to a person in order to make him believe, but), "which they
that believe should receive; for the Holy Ghost was not yet (given), because
that Jesus was not yet glorified." Lengthy reasoning on such a scripture would
be a dishonour to the word of God. Where there is an obscurity, we may try to
explain and illustrate; but where the language employed is plainer than any
that could be substituted in its stead, I feel that it is due to Scripture
simply to press that plain meaning.
In the later chapters of the same
gospel again we have our Lord bringing out, not merely the fact that after the
glorification of Jesus the Holy Ghost was to be given, as He had not been
before; but, besides, we have His personal action, when sent and come, entered
into fully and definitely. Hence in John xiv. He is spoken of as the Comforter.
Mark the importance of this. We may reason about the Holy Ghost being given, as
if it meant no more than a spiritual power, but we cannot thus attenuate the
sent Comforter. Who is He but the Holy Ghost Himself? No one can say that
"Comforter" means a miracle, or a tongue, or any operation you please.
Doubtless He works in all these various ways; but it is a real person who
replaces the Messiah when He leaves the earth. Just read a few verses of the
chapter in order that it be made still plainer: "I will pray the Father, and he
shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever." There
again we have what is most evident. Miracles have been; tongues cease;
prophecies and knowledge pass away; but here we have a divine person who abides
with the saints for ever -"even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." The world was bound to receive Jesus,
and after an outward manner it had Him there; but here we find One who, not
having become incarnate, could not in any way be brought before the eyes of the
world. I admit of course that the world does not really receive Jesus in a
spiritual manner any more than the Holy Ghost; but still there is a pointed
reference to the manner of the Holy Ghost's presence here below, which excludes
Him from all apprehension on the world's part as an object either of sight or
of knowledge.
Again in John xiv. 26 we read, " The Comforter, which is
the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all
things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto
you." It is not a gift or power or influence merely, but one who is really sent
- a person who teaches all things and brings all the Lord's sayings to their
remembrance. Then in chap. xv. 26, "But when the Comforter is come." It is not
merely in this case "sent" (because some might argue perhaps about the sending
of an influence) but "come." "When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto
you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth [in every way guarding this most
weighty theme], which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: and
ye also shall bear witness., because ye have been with me from the beginning."
Assuredly we have the Holy Spirit's coming presented with solemnity and
distinctness. In the former chapter the Father sends Him in Christ's name; in
this Christ sends Him from the Father. In the one case He is said to bring all
things Christ had spoken to their remembrance; in the other He comes down from
the Son, and bears witness of Him. They had been conversant with Him upon
earth, and were to attest it as witnesses; also the Spirit from Him in heaven
comes down, that there should be as it were these joint witnesses of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Then in the sixteenth chapter of John we. have the truth
still further unfolded, and, if possible, with increasing energy, as it is
indeed of the deepest interest and importance. In chapter xiv. the Lord had
told them that they ought to rejoice because He went to the Father. He was
leaving a scene of humiliation and suffering to be in the home of the Father's
love and glory. Had their love been simple, had they been thinking of Him, not
of themselves, they would have rejoiced because He was going to the Father. But
now in chapter xvi. He puts it upon other ground: "It is expedient for you [and
not only as it were for me] that I go to the Father." What! expedient for those
poor weak trembling disciples that He had watched over, in the face of all
Israel who despised Him and would not be gathered to Him? Surely under His
wing, He had gathered those little ones, and sheltered them; yea, in the very
hour of His own rejection He had turned His hand upon them. And now He must
leave them. It was expedient for them that He should go to the Father. How
could this be? There is but one answer; and it is the answer that the Lord
gives. It is what in His mind made it expedient Blessed as it was to have the
Messiah, His presence (just because He was a man upon earth with a group of
disciples around Him) was necessarily limited. He could not thus be as man
everywhere throughout the earth. The Holy Ghost had not, like the Son, taken
human nature into union with His person. But more than that, when redemption
was effected, He could in the most intimate way bring into the hearts of the
disciples all the value that flowed from Christ and His work - Christ exalted
to heaven and estimated of God the Father there.
Thus then were the
great foundations of truth laid. The Lord Jesus would not leave this world or
go to the Father, until every question that God had with guilty man was settled
for ever. When sin was put away by the sacrifice of Himself on the cross, when
righteousness was established in Christ risen from the dead and exalted on
high, it was not merely all pure grace as before, but now it became a question
of God's righteousness through the work of the Saviour. The efficacy of His
blood turned the scale in favour of man; for it was the man Christ Jesus who
had thus glorified God about sin. No doubt He was His own beloved Son, the
inestimable gift of His own grace; and man could boast nothing, for He was
despised and rejected of man, hated without a cause. Still, there was the fact
that God had so looked down upon earth, more especially upon the cross, to find
the man who suffered all, that God Himself might be glorified. This truth
changed everything. Now it became a question, so to speak, for God: what could
He do for this blessed man? If He was God's Son, was this a reason why He
should love or exalt Him less? He raises up from the grave the man Christ
Jesus, and sets Him at His own right hand. That was not only a personal act in
honour of Christ, but for believers it is the measure, in infinite grace, of
acceptance which is now theirs in virtue of Him. All heaven was filled with
wonder and praise at the sight of man, made a little lower than the angels,
taken up in the person of Christ far above all principalities and powers to sit
on the throne of God. Yea God Himself from that moment has made it His business
and delight to show His value for the man who, in the face of sin and death and
Satan and divine judgment, retrieved all His character, and brought glory to
His name in delivering, by suffering for, the guilty to the uttermost Before
this man had been the constant public agent in dishonouring God. Never was God
so alighted, insulted, provoked by any of His creatures as by man. Satan , when
he left his first estate, once and for ever forfeited his place. There might
still be a more terrible judgment awaiting him; but there was no mercy - no
beam of hope pierced through the darkness into which sin plunged a fallen
angel. But now, after man had preferred darkness to light, after his manifold
course of rebellion against God was run, the tide was turned in the death of
Christ, and God was placed by His work under an obligation, so to say, to man
to bless him by faith through and in Christ the Lord.
Hence that
expression of which St. Paul is so full "the righteousness of God." If man was
more than ever proved to be lost, God now had a debt to pay. As a part of His
discharge of it, He sets the Lord Jesus as man at His own right hand; He
justifies freely and fully every believer; and He sends down the Holy Ghost in
order that He might be the divine link between that blessed Man in glory and
those who believed in Him, even such as had trembled at the thought of His
departure. What a change there is now! Not only was there spiritual
intelligence now, but power also. Peter, who had denied the Lord, could now
stand boldly forward and say, " But ye denied the Holy One and the Just." They
were all dumb. His denial was completely gone, and I might venture to say with
more glory to the Lord than if he had never uttered it. A positive strength and
triumph glowed in his soul, a knowledge not only of his own weakness and
worthlessness, but of God, of resurrection, and of His grace - a sense of what
Christ was for him that was beyond all he had ever known before, I do not say
beyond grace, unless Peter had done what he did; but surely there was immense
force in his words. They knew well what he had done, Publicly done, in the high
priest's hall, and before people ready enough to see the faults of a disciple.
Yet he who repeatedly and recently denied his Lord was, through abundance of
grace, so full of courage as to stand forth and confront and tell them that it
was they that "denied the Holy One and the Just." His conscience was purged; he
had no more conscience of sins (Heb. x.): all was blotted out that could be
against him before God. Yea he was justified from all things.
This was
merely one fruit, precious as it was; and out of what did it grow? Peter had
been a believer before, and was already born anew: what then was its spring ?
It was part of the result of the great salvation made good in the power of the
Spirit of God come down from heaven, and thus working in Peter. No doubt there
was previous moral exercise, deep penitence for his sins, and the restoration
of his soul; but more than all this followed,- the gift and positive power of
the Spirit. It is here, though not here only, that the church shows its
weakness through unbelief. To the believer it is not a mere negative question
now, but one of real present power; as was said of Timothy - who needed to be
reminded of the fact - that it was not a spirit of fear he had received, but of
power and of love and of a sound mind.
But now we must return to the
great truth: the Lord Jesus, in John xiv. xv. xvi. shows what was to replace
His personal presence upon earth - a real divine Paraclete - He whom we call
the third person in the Trinity. I do not however admire the expression
"second" or "third" person; and for this reason, that it tends to bring in a
subordination in the Godhead where scripture does not. You cannot have a
secondary God. You may bring human reasonings into the subject, and talk about
a son, and his subjection to his father; but therein is the very thing which is
so dangerous, and of which, to my mind, the devil has taken great advantage.
The scripture shows that the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Ghost is
God; that they are one and all equally Jehovah. Subordination in respect of
Deity is only a means of undermining the proper Godhead of the Son and the
Spirit. The notion of subordination is true only when we look at the place of
manhood the Son deigned to take, or at the office the blessed Holy Ghost is now
filling to the glory of the Son, just as the Son served and will yet reign to
the glory of God the Father.
To return, however - the Lord Jesus tells
us it was expedient that He should go away; -"For if I go not away, the
Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness,
and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness,
because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the
prince of this world is judged." Any particular notice of this scripture is
not the point now, but rather the general truth. This was the twofold purpose
of the Holy Ghost in coming here below. He proves that the world was under sin;
that there is no righteousness here, but only in the Just One with the Father;
and that as to the prince of this world, he is judged - the sentence not
executed but he judged. There was hope for the world with the Jew; but now,
from the point of view in which the Lord speaks of His own going and the Holy
Ghost's coming, the world is evidently lost, and the Spirit here is but its
reprover. Next, this same Holy Spirit should lead the disciples into the truth,
taking of the things of Christ, and glorifying Him. There is thus a double
relation of the Holy Ghost to the world, as a system outside and condemned; to
the saints, whom He leads, telling them of things to come, yea, of all things
pertaining to Christ and His glory. Such is the plain doctrine of the Apostle
John as to the Spirit.
Thence we come to the Acts of the Apostles: is
there anything there that, as a matter of fact, answers to our Lord's promises?
There need not be a doubt. In chapter i. the disciples are with the Lord,
entering but very feebly into that which had filled His heart before He went
away. They were still looking for the kingdom with great things for the earth
and for Israel They were not, it is true, sunk so low as the unbelieving
thoughts of Gentile Christendom - i.e., a millennium without Christ! the shame
of those who boast so proudly in our day; but still they were not far raised
above the ordinary thoughts of Jews. They did not yet enter into the precious
Christian hope, and for this simple reason: the thoughts of the Christian are
the thoughts of heaven. They are the communications of the Holy Ghost that suit
the Father, because centring in the Son and His heavenly glory. Into that
communion we are brought; and truly it is not merely with the prophets and with
their blessed visions of coming glory for the earth, but "with the Father
and with his Son Jesus Christ." But as for the disciples in Acts i the
power of entrance was not yet there, for the Holy Ghost was not personally
come; and yet they had not only life at this time, but life in resurrection.
The Lord had actually breathed upon them the very day He rose, and said,
"Receive ye the Holy Ghost." Of course this was not the gift of the - Comforter
as such, the promised One that was to take the place of Christ upon earth ; but
rather the communication by the Holy Ghost of His own risen life. Therefore, I
believe, did He breathe upon them: a clear allusion to the Lord God breathing
on Adam. Of old it was the breath of natural life given to Adam. Here was One
upon earth who was both Lord and God (as acknowledged by Thomas a little
after), and also the risen man or last Adam, the quickening Spirit.
Accordingly, He communicates this life. as life must always be communicated, by
the Holy Ghost; and therefore it is said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." But for
all that, we know from Acts i. that the Spirit, the Comforter, was not yet
come. Indeed, we ought to gather it from the simple fact, that the Lord was not
yet gone. "And if I go not away, the Comforter will not come."' He was seen
there; and He commands them, when assembled together, that they should not
depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father' Whatever
the blessing, then, they had received on the resurrection-day, it was not the
accomplishment of the promise of the Father.
The next chapter shows us
the Holy Ghost acting on earth in the absence of Christ; and this in various
ways. It records that extraordinary display of divine grace in the gift of
tongues, which, without removing, surmounted the confusion that man's sin and
divine judgment had brought into the world in the various nations and tribes
and tongues, which have subsisted since Babel to this day. Now the Spirit was
going out with the news of God's wonderful works of grace to all, just as they
were proving that where sin had abounded, grace much more abounded. At the same
time let us not forget that new tongues, although the magnificent fruit of the
Spirit's operation, are not the same thing as His presence; they were an effect
and characteristic sign of a crucified but now exalted Lord, the witness of
gospel grace and its universal testimony in contrast with the law, but not the
same thing as the gift of the Holy Ghost Himself This is exceedingly important,
because the unbelief of some has gone so far as to think and say that if the
tongues exist no more, the Holy Ghost is absent. What blindness to the
Saviour's promise! What a lowering of the Spirit's presence? What denial of
Christianity and the church! The truth is, that the tongues, and the other
powers in which the Spirit of God was pleased then to work, were but the
miraculous tokens that befitted His presence, besides inaugurating the gospel
and the church. It was all a new and unprecedented state of things. When the
Son was on earth, miracles followed His steps and word, as it was only meet,
and the accomplishment of prophecy. Another divine person being come, was it
not suitable there should be proofs of it, more especially as He took no
permanent form, as the Son of God had done, so as to be visible. It was
therefore the more needed that there should be palpable effects and tokens
arresting the mind, and causing the heart of man to weigh what God is and is
doing, not only as displayed in the Son, but as witnessed by the Holy Ghost
present upon earth.
This is the cardinal truth upon which all. hinges
that we find in the great body of the New Testament. There was now before men a
fact without precedent, altogether unknown to the world, if it did not surprise
even those that had been taught by the Lord Himself to expect it - the wondrous
fact that the Holy Ghost bad come down in person, making His presence known by
a signature of gracious power, so as to be then known and read of all men.
Accordingly throughout the Acts of the Apostles you have ever and anon the
testimony not only to His action and its results, but to the glorious truth
that He Himself was there. Look at the first outbreak of the world's religious
rancour in chapter iv., and His answer to it in verse 3 1. Take again the first
public sin and scandal, where Ananias and Sapphira were charged on the spot
with lying not to man but to God. But how was this proved? They had lied to the
Holy Ghost who was there. The standard of judgment was that dishonoured person
who was in their midst. This measure of sin, let me say, is as true
individually as it is in the church. Hence, in Ephesians iv. 30, it is not
merely that you should not violate this or that command, but "grieve not the
Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." Let us
note it well.
The more this is reflected upon, the more its immense
moment will be felt, by the children of God. Supposing you take the presence of
one you most value and delight in, does not his or her coming affect all your
ways and words just in proportion as you realize and love that one's presence?
We might be ever so much at ease; but still, if there be one staying with us,
who draws out our honour and esteem, the influence is felt deeply and at once
except by a stone. Surely one does think of that which will. give pleasure; one
rightly fears to wound; the heart is on the alert and active, and it is a joy
to do that which will gratify those we love. And so in virtue of redemption the
Holy Ghost is here, because as regards each believer all is gone that was
offensive to God; and the saint stands in divine righteousness before God -
become this in Christ. How indeed could the Holy Ghost be away? He must have
His part when that which was most precious to God and man was wrought. If the
Father accomplished His thoughts in and by the Son, could the Holy Ghost be
absent or inactive? And now God had done His greatest work - the atoning work
of Christ. Where therefore the blood of the accepted sacrifice is, the Holy
Ghost not only can work but must dwell. If Christ by His own blood has entered
in once for all into the holies, having found an everlasting redemption, the
Holy Ghost is come to abide with us for ever. All hangs on and is measured by
this. Accordingly the book of the Acts is far more the acts of the Holy Ghost
than of the apostles, important vessels of His power as they were, though not
they only. We have seen, where it was a question of sin, He judges by His
presence and acts upon this ground. We have seen that, when they were in danger
of being alarmed by the threats of man, the Spirit gave cheering evidence of
His mighty presence. It was not merely Peter and John, or anybody else; but the
place was shaken where they were. Whose presence was this, or in whom
particularly? It was the presence of the Holy Ghost, not merely in this or in
that individual, but in the assembly of God. More than that, the Spirit of God
in chapter xiii. of the Acts takes an active place, and sends out Paul and
Barnabas. "Separate me," He says, "Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I
have called them." "So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed." I
am now referring to the case only to show that it is not a question of
miracles, tongues, or powers, but of a real divine person, who was the chief
agent as present in the church of God; and that this personal presence of the
Spirit in man was a new thing, previously unexampled in the plan and ways of
God. (Compare also Acts viii. 29, 39; xv. 28; xvi. 7; xx. 23; xxi. 11.)
Now we come to the Epistles, passing by the scriptures which attest
the Holy Ghost's presence in the individual. All-important as this is, it is
not my subject, but His presence in the church. Hence we must omit the Epistle
to the Romans, which takes up our individual relation towards God, and for the
simple reason that there we are regarded as His children. We are brought out of
the place of wrath and sin, made children of God, and if children, then heirs:
the Holy Ghost gives the spirit of adoption, and fills the heart with hopes of
the inheritance which is to follow. But in the Epistles to the Corinthians you
have not merely the state of man and the revelation of divine righteousness,
with their consequences in sinners and saints, as in Romans, but the church of
God, in a grievous state of sin, shame, and disorder, but still the church of
God. Accordingly the doctrine of the Holy Spirit as there dwelling is shown as
in its capital seat. The portion read (1 Cor. xii. 1-13) developes His action
in the church. What can be plainer? Here we have the Holy Ghost viewed as a
real person present and working in gifts of outward sign, no doubt, as well as
in ways of edification. But whatever might be the form of His action, the great
truth was that He was there and at work in the many members of God's assembly.
The question is, was all this a temporary display, or was His presence for ever
the substratum of it all? Was that which we here read confined to a particular
local assembly and a special epoch long past, or is there anything for us, for
the church of God at large, for this time and all times? The answer cannot be
doubtful, if we are subject to the word of God. Certainly our Lord had in John
xiv. laid down, in contrast with His own temporary absence, that the Spirit of
truth was to abide with His disciples for ever.
But next the First
Epistle to the Corinthians could not open without the Holy Ghost's giving it
the most enlarged application. In the first verse of the first chapter we read,
"Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in
Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the
name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours." This is not said in the
Second Epistle: indeed I am not aware that there is anything exactly like it
anywhere else in the New Testament Are we to suppose this was a mistake? Let
who will be guilty of such a speech or thought, I trust there is no soul here
that would not denounce it as a sin against God. A mistake in the word of God!
On the contrary it seems to me to be the special wisdom and goodness of the
Spirit who foresaw the unbelief of Christendom; it was the Spirit of God who
knew that this Epistle would be treated as if it were of private application,
as if it belonged to a bygone time and place, and did not appertain to all that
call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ - both theirs and ours. This He has
guarded against at the very threshold, and made such an objection to be plain
fighting against the word of God. Thus it ceases to be a question of opinion.
God has spoken and has written that we may believe Him; and this epistle has a
purposely enlarged scope, so that unbelief as to the perpetuity of the Holy
Ghost's action in the assembly, as long as He and it are here, should be
treated as a sin, as a positive rejection of God's plain word. Is it not
unbelief which makes Dull and void the Holy Ghost's personal presence in the
church?
It is not at all contended that the Holy Ghost necessarily
works in every way as of old, and still less in the same measure of power. In
the latter part of the New Testament we do not read much about miracles - very
I little - less and less too as time passes on. We can understand that, in the
opening of a new dealing of God, there should be, in His goodness, a wonderful
working and display of these mighty answers to awaken the attention even of
careless men. But, as the truth of His presence was established, and the new
communications of God were gradually written, and there was thus not merely the
evidence of outward tokens, but positive scripture committed to human
responsibility, we can easily see that external vouchers were no longer so
requisite, and that the Spirit of God (grieved, as we know, by much found in
those who professed the name of Christ) might gradually withdraw, not Himself,
but the manifestation of mighty signs, and refuse to put outward ornaments upon
that which dishonoured the Lord Jesus.
It is certain and evident, at
least when we come to the churches of the Apocalypse, that we see or hear no
more of the powers of the age to come. Not a doubt have I that there was the
wisdom of God in thus ordering in view of the state of things that. was fast
coming in. I think we can readily discern by spiritual. considerations why it
would not have been suitable to the glory of God to continue those miraculous
powers. Supposing, for instance, God were to work now in the way of miracle, is
it not evident that in one of two ways it must be? Either He must work wherever
the name of Christ is preached and known at all; and what would be the
consequence of this? Miracles in Rome, miracles in Canterbury, miracles among
Presbyterians, Independents, Wesleyans, Baptists, Paedo-baptists, Calvinists,
Arminians, Lutherans: Greek church and all sects and denominations in
Christendom would have their miracles. There may be those who would enjoy the
sight, but I envy them not, Every one here, I trust, would feel deeply the
anomaly of such an outward seal on such a mass of confusion. On the other band,
supposing God were pleased to say that He could not give these tokens of His
power and glory where the church was thus in disorder and rebellion, but must
single out-whom shall I say? It could not be, it ought not to be: God forbid
that we ourselves should desire it, as things are.
But let us for the
moment imagine the Lord looking on any children of God anywhere gathered, and
saying, " I see where My people are subject to My word; and where I find two or
three here and there gathered unto My name, there I will work miracles." What
would be the consequence? We should not know how to behave ourselves, So weak
are we, so foolish, so apt to be full of ourselves, even now in the face of
continual weakness, as well as hatred and contempt, that we should not be able
to contain ourselves if we had these displays of divine power. Besides, what a
slight to those we own to be as truly members A Christ, and as truly indwelt of
the Spirit, as any of us!
I am persuaded then there is perfect grace
and wisdom as to this in the ways of God. He no Longer works thus. But here is
the truth on which I take my stand this night: the Holy Ghost was given, not
merely as a display of power in the earth, but, if I may so say, as both sign
and substance of the divine value for the cross. God the Father gave the Holy
Ghost as the seal of that redemption which is always unchangeably perfect and
infinitely efficacious. I dare to say it, and yet I say it with all reverence,
that if the Holy Ghost were now taken from the poorest and feeblest of His
saints upon earth, it would not be a dishonour to him so much as to the Son of
God and His atoning work. It would be virtually to say that the ruin of the
church has made the blood of Christ less precious; but will God ever confirm a
lie? And here is the stronghold of faith in this we can be confident - not only
that the Lord Jesus has expressed the mind and intentions of God, but that we
through His grace can and ought to enter in measure into its ground, reason,
character, and aim, as well as meaning.
All this we may by faith
appreciate and enjoy, for He has explained it to us. Wherefore indeed is the
word of God given, if it be not that we should understand His mind, feel His
love, and be sure of His truth, wisdom and goodness? Hence we are aware that
God, in sending the Spirit to abide always whatever may be the sorrowful
condition of believers individually and collectively, did not give a mere token
of approving them, but rather the only adequate pledge of His delight in the
personal work of His beloved Son. The Holy Ghost, we know, descended on Christ
when He was upon earth without blood, because He was always sinless, as perfect
here morally as He was and is in heaven, no less absolutely holy as man than as
God. It is not forgotten, of course, that He had yet to be made perfect in
another sense, as becoming captain and author of salvation, and to be
consecrated as heavenly priest. It is clear that there was a work to be done,
and an official place of glory to be taken; but nothing ever did or could add
to His moral perfectness. Hence, I repeat, He could and did receive the Holy
Ghost for Himself as man without blood. But when Christ went up on high, He
received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost. What amazing comfort,
confidence, and rest should this give us! Had the Holy Ghost been given
directly to us, we might well think that, if we did not carry ourselves as we
ought, there might be a revocation. We can understand a soul troubled with such
a thought; but, thanks be to God, the Father gave the Holy Ghost a second time
to Christ. When He went on high, He received of the Father the promise of the
Holy Ghost, and shed forth that which was seen and beard at Pentecost. Thus the
gift is entirely in virtue of Christ., after He had blotted out our sins and
received it as a consequence. There we have the firmest and surest ground on
which the perpetuity of the presence of the Holy Ghost in the saint and in the
church rests before God - His love to Christ, and His estimate of Christ's work
for us, not to speak of His immutable word.
And now for a few
practical words on this before I have done. We shall have other applications
and results of it in subsequent lectures, so that the less may be said now. If
there be a divine person on earth who is now in each saint individually, and
with all as the church of God, I ask, Can this be a secondary consideration? Is
this a truth that can be Subordinated to circumstances? Is it something that
can be pushed aside for the sake of not disturbing oneself or others? Can men
who so think, and speak and act, believe in the reality, of the Spirit's
personal presence and present operation according to scripture? Do they know
that the Holy Ghost is really in the church on earth ? I am not now, of course,
alluding to His divine glory whereby He fills all things, because it is always
true, - as true before Christ came as it has been since, and equally true of
all the persons in the Trinity. But as the Son came down from heaven and was
here a man for some thirty or more years upon the earth but is actually gone,
so now the, Holy Ghost is come down personally to abide with and in us in such
sort as was unknown before, save only in Christ. The Holy Spirit, I say, has
come now to be in us personally; and just as Christ was God's only true temple,
so now the church is the temple of God; for both these truths are taught in the
word of God. But if this be believed, if it be received as God's truth, what
can compare with it in importance as a present practical fact, as well as
privilege, for the saint and for the church? Accordingly the responsibility of
Christians, if we apply it to their meeting, is that their assemblies should be
governed by the truth that the Holy Ghost is there.
But how does the
Holy Ghost work when owned as there? This we have answered, if it were only in
the scripture already read. He distributes, or divides, to every. one severally
as He will. Is His presence then not to be recognized? Is His working not to be
respected? What do we find, if we test the present aspect of Christendom by the
word of God? It is far from my desire needlessly to trouble any one, nor is it
my wish to provoke controversy; but there are truths which manifestly admit of
no compromise: indeed, all divine truth refuses such unworthy dealing. How,
then, I would ask, is it with our souls in the feeling, in the faith, in the
allegiance that we pay to this truth, so vital to the church, so essential to
the right honouring of the Holy Ghost and of the Lord Himself? Do you doubt
that the church of God is in disorder? Where is the serious-minded Christian
that does not own it more or less? Is there a spiritual man who would maintain
that the present, state of the church answers to what we read in the New
Testament? Am I not to feel and to humble myself before God for my own and the
church's sin in this grave matter? Must I not seek to be where the Holy Ghost's
presence is owned? It matters not where I have been ignorantly; I have
doubtless been where there was not even the show of owning His presence and
action according to the scriptures; I may have joined others in praying God to
pour out again the Holy Ghost, as if He were not come and in the church of God.
And do you call such prayer as this a scriptural recognition of His presence?
What can be conceived a more decided or more evident ignoring of the truth that
the Holy Ghost is here? Were it prayed that the Spirit of God might not be
grieved, or that the saints might be filled with Him, it were scriptural. What
would it have been for a disciple in the presence of Jesus to have asked the
Father to send His Son - to raise up the Messiah when the Messiah was actually
there? Is it not the spirit of the world, which cannot receive the Spirit,
because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him? But we know Him - at least we
ought to know Him. Well, if we do know that He is here, is it a light thing
whether or not we are subject to His operation in the church ? It is in vain to
say, " I acknowledge the truth of His presence;" so much the worse, if I am not
subject to the scripture, which leaves no doubt how He acts for Christ's glory.
Mere words do not suffice: God looks for faithfulness for subjection to His
word, for practical recognition of the presence of the Holy Ghost.
We
come together, it may be ever so few: what do we count on? We are weak and
ignorant, but we have One in our midst who knows all things, and is the source
of all power. Are we content with Him? Can we confide in Him in the face of
dangers and difficulties? Why is it that the church is weak? Why is it that
there is such want of power and joy and peace and comfort among the children of
God? Can it be wondered at? What I wonder at is rather the mercy and
astonishing patience of God, blessing &.9 He does in spite of so much
unbelief. Do you really suppose that it can be an indifferent thing to God?
Does He not call for my unhesitating adhesion to His will, duly owning His
Spirit's presence and free action? What about your bowing down to the great
present fact, that in virtue of redemption and in honour of the Lord Jesus, the
Holy Ghost is here personally in the church on earth? This puts the soul to the
test; indeed, it seems to me the great test for Christians. Christ, of course,
abides the practical touchstone for everything and every person; but still if
He is known and valued by my soul as the way, the truth, and the life, is it
nothing to Him that my ways in the church of God should be on the ground He has
given me - faith in the presence of the promised Holy Ghost? Is it not the
truth God Himself presupposes as the very soul, the animating spring, of the
church?
This does not in the slightest degree touch God's working by
individuals. He sends out one to preach the gospel to the world, He raises up
another to edify the children of God. This is another branch of truth; and I
refer to it now only to show that, when we contend for the church's inalienable
obligation to own the presence of the Holy Ghost, this does not in the least
interfere with the individual action of the Spirit in ministry. Granting this
in all its integrity and importance., I would put the question to the
conscience of each before me, Where is there an assembly of God's saints coming
together, and His Spirit left perfect liberty of action that He may employ whom
He will as the vessels of His power? Are there any Christians here present who
never thus find themselves in the only assembly which God's word sanctions ? If
there are , I can only say, Ponder that word with prayer, and ask your soul how
comes this? You, a member of God's assembly, yet you never know that assembly
gathered according to scripture, or the action of the Spirit proper to it! You,
a member of Christ's body, yet the Holy Ghost never allowed to use you, or
other members of it, to the glory of Christ and the edification of your
brethren! If it be so, how comes it? Why should you go on thus?
It is
granted that there are serious questions here, and many obstacles; and I am
sure we ought to pray much for those that are thus perplexed and encumbered.
Let me not disguise from them what it costs in this world to be true to the
Lord and the unerring word of God. It is not for any one (the Lord keep us far
from it !) to look lightly or coldly on those who are in this grievous trial:
we may have known some of its bitterness ourselves. What do we desire for God's
children? Nothing less than their deliverance, yea, of every one. Do not all
saints who rest upon the redemption of Christ belong to the body? Has not God
set them as it pleased Him in His church ? And what are we doing ? Are we
gathering together to improve on the Spirit's action in the church of God ? God
forbid : rather is it to honour the Lord in the assurance that He is in our
midst. Our only true reason, if we have a divine reason at all, for meeting
together in the name of the Lord Jesus, is that it is His own will and way; it
is to please Him. And if it has been done at cost, God blesses this greatly,
and blesses it too to the softening of the spirit quite as much as to the
exercise of faith: if it is not so, there is something wrong with our souls. Am
1, then, as the centre of my church-action, cleaving to the presence of the
Holy Ghost? If I am not, I have not got God's centre for mine, and am still
under the dominion of tradition in some shape or another; carrying on either
what my father did, or something else that suits my mind better: but where is
God in all this?
You may be taunted, as we all know, with bigotry and
exclusiveness. Did these censors ever weigh what either means? I call bigotry
an unreasonable attachment, without solid divine warrant, to one's own
particular doctrine or practice in defiance of all others. Allow me to ask, Is
it bigotry to give up one's most cherished associations because of God's word,
in order to do His will? Is it exclusive to abandon sects, one and all, in
order to be always and only where I can meet all saints according to the word,
and in dependence on the Holy Ghost, gathered unto Christ's name? I am not
assuming this for any one who does not own scripture as the unchanging truth of
God ; but I ask you who do, are you to allow yourselves to depart from the
known ground of God, no matter what may be the trial within or the temptation
without you? There are often attachments of other kinds that create difficulty.
Friends may ask you to go here or there for once at any rate; and it seems hard
to refuse, especially as they understand not the force of a divine conviction,
which they lack themselves. You invite them, perhaps, to come with you, and you
decline going with them. Does it not look proud and unbrotherly? Well, it may
seem singular to them, but it ought to be perfectly plain to you; it may be
real humility, and love too, haughty and unkind as rash ignorance counts it.
Let us conceive a godly churchman or dissenter to put this plain
question: "How is it that you, who are so free and hearty in receiving
Christians in the name of Christ, will not come with me to my church or
chapel?" The answer is, "On your own principles, as a Protestant Christian, you
can come here with a good conscience, where we are sure the one desire is to be
subject to the Lord and His word, in the unity of His body, and in the liberty
of His Spirit. You surely acknowledge it is no sin to meet as we do, according
to scripture, and therefore you can meet with us. But I, for my part, am clear
that it is unscriptural to desert the scriptural ground for that of dissent or
Anglicanism, and therefore it is not want of love but fear of sin that keeps me
from going with you, who do not pretend to be meeting on the ground of God's
assembly." Surely he is a bigot or worse who would urge or expect me to join
him against my positive conviction, that in so doing I should sin against God.
Sin is a man doing his own will, or another's, which is not God's. If you ask
me to depart from what I know to be the will of God, it would of course be sin
in me to comply. It is not only a thing that is sinful in itself, but it would
be most especially a sin in me, because I know, if you are ignorant, that it is
infidelity to the Spirit's operation in the church.
Be not moved,
then, by reproaches, any more than by fair speeches. For there is no real love,
save in obeying God. (1 John v. 2, 3.) Never swerve from what you believe to be
His will. You may have come in at first little acquainted with the truth or
with the solemn responsibilities it involves; perhaps it was on that slender
reason that you were here converted: but how is it with you now? Have you been
searching the word of God to ascertain His mind and will? Do you see the
presence and action of the Holy Ghost in the assembly to be the truth of God?
Is it not perfectly plain and sure that God has sent down His Spirit, and that
this truth has to be owned and acted upon by you and all Christians? That
truth* you cannot deny; you know very well it is of God; you may not value it
as you ought, (who does?) but this is another thing. The Lord grant that we may
all value it more and increasingly.
* That "the different
denominations" present a state of things directly at variance with "one body
and one Spirit" is too plain to call for argument with those who are used to
bow to scripture, and to judge present facts by it. How painful then it is to
read such sentiments as these in the recent words (June, 1869) of one whom I
cannot but love and esteem for his work's sake! I sometimes think that these
will continue for ever. They are of no hurt to the church of God but a great
blessing; for some of them take up one point of truth which is neglected, and
others take up another; and so between them all the whole of truth is brought
out; and it seems to me that the church is even more one than if all the
various sections were brought together into one grand ecclesiastical
corporation [who contends for this but a Papist or Puseyite?]; for this would
probably feed some ambitious personts vanity, and raise up another dynasty of
priestcraft like the old Babylon of Rome. Perhaps it is quite as well as it is;
but let each body of Christians keep to its own work, and not sneer at the work
of others." Alas, the word of God does not occur in all this reasoning of
unbelief (though in a believer); but as usual the very publication in which it
occurs is a witness that this justification of sin is as hollow as its
profession of love and order. For a large portion is devoted to sneering at the
only Christians who at this time are seeking to give practical effect to their
faith in the "one body and one Spirit." With much, very much, of the paper on
Order, Heaven's first Law" I go so heartily that I am the more grieved to
notice, in however friendly a spirit, such flagrant inconsistency both in
principle and in practice. Let us rather humble ourselves for our common sin,
seek to walk in obedience and love while waiting for the Lord Jesus, but never
abuse the grace of God to deny His truth which condemns our ways.
Search the Scriptures, examine the word of God for your own souls; by this
means we obtain true spiritual intelligence, but this only in obedience, and we
do not want it otherwise. The intelligence that is gathered in disobedience
seems to me perilous and untrustworthy; to learn the truth, step by step acting
it out, is a happier and holier path, and of simpler faith too. At the same
time that we value intelligence, we must remember that there is another thing
yet more important-single-eyed subjection to the will of God, even if we seem
to be unintelligent about much. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom." That scripture is not out of date; and I believe such is the divine
and therefore the best way, as a beginning. There is blessedness in gradually
growing up into the truth of God, above all looking to Him that we walk in that
which we know.
For the present, I pray the Lord that the great truths
of the "one body" and "one Spirit," which have been before us, may be brought
home by His own power; so that all of us who know them may be cheered and
confirmed, and that those who are ignorant may be taught them of
Himself.
Lecture III
THE ASSEMBLY AND MINISTRY.
1 Cor.
xiv.
The two subjects which are now to come before us may seem at
first sight to be rather widely separated ; but in truth, far as they appear to
diverge, they equally flow from Christ. They are founded both of them upon His
work, as an accomplished fact; they are derived from Him in His present place
of exaltation at the right hand of God; they are established for the express
object of magnifying the Lord Jesus, even as they are now called in a very
direct way to subserve His Lordship. And this last point is one of immense
practical importance. For whatever may be the power of the Spirit in ministry,
whatever may be the privileges of the assembly, still the Lordship of Christ is
a truth of elementary character indeed in the mind of God, but of exceeding
moment for the practical working of the Spirit of God, both in the individual
members, who are His servants, and in the assembly, the body of which He is the
Head. Hence we can at once see that, whatever may be the different lines that
either the ministry or the assembly may take, yet they spring from a common
source, and they are both intended of God to be subject to, and the means of
exalting, the same Lord Jesus Christ. Now it will be my business tonight to
direct attention to the testimony we have in the word of God as to both these
subjects, in order to show, as far as limits permit, wherein they differ;
wherein also a common principle binds them together; and above all their common
end, as well as the Christian's consequent responsibility.
First of
all, as to the assembly, we may be the more brief, inasmuch as we have had
already the "one body " before us, as well as the "one Spirit." But I may
direct you to a few scriptures which prove what I have just advanced, that the
assembly of God is founded upon the accomplished work of Christ, and His
exaltation to heavenly glory.
Let me premise that the church has the
same meaning with the assembly; hence the word "assembly" is often used in
order to avoid misunderstanding. There might be many questions raised as to the
meaning of "church:" it is hardly possible to create difficulties as to the
word "assembly." Now the fact is that the church is the assembly. Assembly is
the proper English word, rather than "church," which has become anglicized, no
doubt, but it frequently conveys notions not only vague, but even opposite to
different minds.
Now in the Acts of the Apostles, as compared ,with
Matthew xvi. we find clear light. The Lord at a very critical point in His
dealings with the disciples, tells Peter more particularly, but all His
followers in fact, that He was going to build His assembly "Upon this rock,"
says He, "I will build my church." The reason of this was that the unbelief of
the Jewish people was complete, after He had given the fullest divine proof,
both in miracles and signs, in accomplished prophecies, and above all in the
moral power which ever hung around Him a brighter crown of glory than anything
in either miracle or prophecy. But when the Lord had, so to speak, exhausted
all the means which even His goodness and wisdom could suggest in acquiescence
with the will of God the Father, and the result of His patient grace was that
the unbelief and scorn of the true Messiah became more and more decided, the
spirit of hostility becoming more evidently deadly in its character, He brings
all to issue by asking who men said that He was. The answer showed the total
uncertainty of Israel; nay, rather the only certainty was that men, the best
and wisest of them, humanly speaking, those that had seen most of Him, were
completely wrong. He appeals then, not to some great one, but to a heart that
was true - to Simon the son of Jonas; and from his lips falls that confession
for which the Lord Himself pronounced him blessed - blessed because it was not
of flesh and blood, with their mere weakness and opposition to God. It was the
Father who was in heaven who had revealed to his soul the glorious truth, that
underneath that despised form - that outcast, the Nazarene, was not only the
Christ, but the Son of the living God. The Lord Jesus immediately lays holds of
this confession, and, with especial reference to the latter part of it - His
being not merely the Messiah or Christ, but the Son of the living God, He says,
Upon this rock I will build my church."
The Messiah, in shame and
humiliation, was a stumbling-stone to Israel; but the Son of the living God
confessed was the rock upon which the church is built. This was a fuller
confession, and a deeper one - in all its fulness certainly new, and so treated
of the Lord. Not but that, as we know, Christ was the Son of the living God
from all eternity; but still for the first time He was so confessed by human
lips, and by a heart taught of God the Father. The Lord Jesus, then, also for
the first time, intimates that upon this confession His church was to be built;
and immediately He forbids them to tell that He was the Christ, showing that it
was no question now of being received and reigning as Messiah. He was to be
rejected, and to suffer. Hence, on His rejection by the people, but the
recognition of the higher glory of His person by the remnant represented by
Peter, we have His sufferings and death at once announced. This it is which
opened the door for that new work of God - the church that was to be built upon
the confession of Jesus Christ, "the Son of the living God."' Accordingly soon
follows the Lord dying on the cross, determined to be the Son of God with power
by the resurrection from the dead, then glorified, and in due time sending down
the Holy Ghost from heaven. The second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles,
which shows the presence of the Holy Ghost, gives us for the first time the
assembly as an existing fact on earth. This is worthy of all note. The Lord in
Matt. xvi. had spoken of His assembly as a thing that had yet to be reared up:
"Upon this rock I will build my church." But now in Acts ii. we find the church
is in process of being built ; as it is said in the end of the chapter, "the
Lord added to the. church* (or, together) daily such as should be saved."
* It has been objected that some editors, as Lachmann and others, have
omitted here in deference to the Sinai, Vatican, Alexandrian, and Rescript of
Paris, and a few juniors, with the Vulgate, Coptic, Aethiopic, and Armenian
versions; but all the other uncials and cursives, with the Syriac, Arabic, and
Slavonic versions, not to speak of early citations, accept the word; and then
were followed by Griesbach, Scholz, &c., as well as Bengel hesitatingly.
Tischendorf, who had at first rejected the common reading, replaced it in his
later editions, though probably will now incline him once more against it. But
it ought to be remembered that even the school of Lachmann, if they reject it,
separate from chap. iii. 1, so that the passage would make the sense
substantially the same as if, "to the church," were read; namely, "The Lord was
adding daily together those that should be saved." Hence in Acts iv. 23 it is
said of Peter and John, that when let go, they went to their own company. There
was now a new association to which they belonged distinct from the old
congregation of Israel; and this beyond a question is formally called (Greek)
in chap. v. 11, not as if it were then called into being, but most evidently as
already subsisting and known. It is clear then that independently of the phrase
in Acts ii. 47, "the assembly," in a New Testament sense, did in fact begin at
Pentecost, as is confessed by Pearson, Whitby, and others.
This is a
very important lesson, and full of weighty results. It proves that the church
does not mean merely people that are saved, or in process of being saved.
Salvation was true before the assembly. The Lord took such as should be saved,
and brought them into the church. If there had been no assembly to bring them
into, this would not have negatived the fact that they were "such as should be
saved."
What is the meaning of "such as should be saved"? It means
those in Israel destined to be saved - those Jews whom grace was looking upon
and dealing with in their souls. In the approaching dissolution of the Jewish
system God reserved to Himself a remnant according to the election of grace.
There was always this remnant, which a time of declension and ruin served but
to define. Thus, during the Lord's lifetime the disciples were the remnant, or
"such as should be saved." All those that were soon to confess Jesus as Messiah
by the Holy Ghost were "such as should be saved;" but there was no such thing
yet as the church to add them to. Now, at the time referred to in Acts ii., the
assembly or church was there to which they might be added. Coincident with the
Holy Ghost's presence, we have the church; and this agrees with 1 Cor. xii. 13,
where it is said that "by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body;" that
is to say, the formation of the body depends upon the baptism of the Spirit.
Acts i shows that the baptism of the Spirit had not yet taken place; Acts ii.
shows that it had; and immediately the fact is apparent that the church was
there as a thing actually found upon the earth, to which "such as should be
saved" were being added by the Lord. That is, the Lord now had a house upon the
earth. The stones were there before-living stones, but they were separate:
there was no building of God in this sense here below.
Now the Lord
acts upon His words, "Upon this. rock I will build my church." He brings the
living stones together; He builds them into one and the same house - the house
of God, and this not by faith merely, but by the Holy Ghost sent down from
heaven. We know that, before they thus entered the church, there were at least
a hundred and twenty names who are expressly mentioned in Acts i. They too were
"such as should be saved." And I do not doubt that there were considerably more
who really were brethren. Thus, in 1 Cor. xv. 6, we hear of "above five hundred
brethren" who saw the Lord after His resurrection. Therefore, it is plain,
there were pretty many believers in the land of Israel. The "hundred and
twenty" were those who, at or after the crucifixion, lived in Jerusalem. But
whatever might be the number of the brethren throughout the land, or of the
names in Jerusalem, there was no such thing as "the church," the assembly of
God, until the Holy Ghost was sent down to give unity - to form them into one
existing corporation, whether you regard it as the house of God, or as the body
of Christ. There are very important differences connected with these views of
the assembly; but still it is the presence of the Holy Ghost which makes it
either Christ's body or the temple of God. In 1 Cor. it is spoken of as
constituted by the Holy Ghost, present and operating in it; there also it is
called the body of Christ, as we see from the scripture just referred to: "By
one Spirit are we all baptized into one body."
Obviously this is
extremely important, because what people think and talk about as the "invisible
church"-though scripture never uses the expression -was substantially in
existence before " the church ; " and, in fact, this invisible state of things
is what the Lord was putting an end to, when He formed the church. In Old
Testament times, we all know, there was a nation which God accounted and called
His people, in the midst of whom there were isolated believers, as no doubt
there were other believers among the Gentiles. Thus, there was Job, for
instance, in early days; and every now and then, throughout the scriptures, we
have one Gentile and another who evidently manifested divine life in them, and
a looking for the Redeemer, outside the limits of Israel. For all that, there
was no such thing as "the church"- no gathering together of the scattered
believers into one, till the death of Christ. The children of God had been
scattered abroad, but then they were gathered together. Henceforth disciples in
Israel were not only destined to salvation, but they were gathered into one
upon the earth. This is the church. The assembly necessarily supposes a
gathering of the saints into one body, separate from the rest of mankind. There
was no such body before. Hence, to talk of "the church" in Jewish times, or in
earlier days, is altogether a mistake. The mixture of believers with their
unbelieving countrymen (i.e., what is called "the invisible church") was the
very thing which the Lord was concludi