By Major W. Ian Thomas
Living as a Son, Jesus Christ revealed the Life and Work of the Father through His mortal body. (John 1:18) He was an expression of His Father’s Life of perfect Love. In all He said, in all He did, and in all He was, Jesus said, “it is the Father, Living in Me, who is doing His work.” (John 14:10) And He expects every Christian to walk as He did.
But if anyone obeys His word {and relies on the power of the Spirit as Jesus did}, God’s Love is truly made complete {perfected - NKJV} in him. Whoever claims to live in Him must walk {by dependent faith} as Jesus did. (1 John 2:5-6)
We need to understand this spiritual principle. It was the Father who fed the five thousand through a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, while He lived as a man, was a human vessel through whom the Father both displayed His Divine Spiritual Life and did His mighty works.
When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, how did He do it? The miracle was not from Himself. He said to Martha, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the Glory of God?” (John 11:40 Emphasis added) Faith in His Heavenly Father was the key that enabled Jesus to display the Glory of God. It required a real dependency on the working of the Spirit’s Divine power in everything He did.
Christ did every miracle in the same way that He fed the five thousand. He acknowledged the Father as the source of all power, and humbly depended on the Holy Spirit to accomplish the work.
God’s Glory can only be displayed as we depend on Him. It is as simple as that! “Then Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I know that You always hear Me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that You sent Me.’ ” (John 11:41-42) He wanted the people to recognize how He was living through a source of power that came from His Heavenly Father.
God reveals His Spiritual children to the world by the Way He answers their prayers with Divine power. By turning from the independent and self-sufficient way of life we have all inherited from fallen Adam, we will have an opportunity to come into the Light and walk as Jesus did. God can then begin answering our prayers as we enter into His Will, and walk in the Way that He originally created His children to live.
Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. (1 John 3:22)
Whoever lives by the Truth comes into the Light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God. (John 3:21)
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing… And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Son may bring Glory to the Father. (John 14:12-13)
This is how God’s children were created to live. Because the Son is now with the Father, and He is in a position where He possesses all power and authority in Heaven and on earth, He can now Live and Work through His disciples. But He can only provide a clear manifestation of His Life and Works through us when we have been fully Sanctified {set apart} for His exclusive use {“For His exclusive use” is something other than doing “religious work exclusively”}.
While we are to pray to our Father, the Son is the One who will be working through our lives by the power of His Spirit. He said, “without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) He still needs to fulfill His role as a Son who Lives to bring all Glory to the Father. By manifesting His Divine Life and Works through the members of His Body here on earth, His disciples are enabled to become “the sent ones” who display the Light and Glory of God.
As God’s children, we are to acknowledge Him as the source of everything that is good in the world and then rely on Him to direct our steps according to His Plans. As we walk in this path of dependent faith, there also needs to be a real reliance on Him as the One who will accomplish our assigned work. And even though He will generally make use of our physical activities in the Work He assigns, He will also make it plain that what we are doing is being done through Him. (John 3:21)
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
The Mystery of Godliness part II
By Major W. Ian Thomas
Doing the Impossible
To help provide an understanding of how Christians are to live by the power of God through dependent faith and display God’s Loving Nature in everything they do, we will look at a lesson taught by Jesus when He fed the five thousand. We find Him using Philip as an example to help explain this Spiritual principle.
When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do. (John 6:5-6)
Jesus was always prepared to respond to the situations presented to Him by His Father. Even though He had surrendered His own power (human will or self sufficiency) and Glory to live as a man in a weak mortal body, a life that required Him to depend on the Father for everything, nothing overwhelmed Him. He was never baffled. Jesus continued to Trust in His Father’s ability to be in everything He did. As One who lived in the Light, it could therefore “be seen plainly” how His works were being done “through God.” (John 3:21)
Jesus presented the problem of feeding the five thousand to Philip to expose a darkness that still existed in Philip’s thought processes. Philip had not yet learned to live by faith in God’s power. His thinking was still connected to the way that man naturally lives – by his own efforts. Jesus knew that if Philip continued to live by human wisdom and strength, it would be impossible for Philip to reflect the Glory of God in this world as he (Philip---representing mankind) was created to do.
The others disciples would have undoubtedly given a response similar to the one given by Philip. Jesus was merely using Philip as an example. His response to the question reflects a natural human thought process. He said, “Eight months wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” (John 6:7)
Can we see what Philip was using as the basis to resolve the problem? Was he thinking in terms of what God is able to accomplish through His power? No! He naturally turned to the purchasing power of money! Philip had not yet learned to
consider God’s power when confronting difficult situations.
What are you depending on? Have you learned to walk in a Way that truly depends on the power of God? As you were making your various decisions over this past week, did you naturally turn to your own sufficiency? Did you have a tendency to live by your own wisdom and strength? Did you take into account that Jesus has gone to be with the Father to enable you to Live as He did through the power of God?
You will need to repent in every area of your life where you have not learned to live by faith in God’s power. If you are not yet living in a moment by moment dependency on your risen Lord, if there is somewhere you are still trying to be
adequate (within yourself) without Him, then you are not yet walking as a Spiritual Christian. And, of course, if you are still living by your own strength, others will not be able to see the Light and Glory of God working through you. (John 3:21)
Jesus next asked His disciples, “How many loaves do you have?…Go and see.” (Mark 6:38) “Another of his disciples, Andrew…spoke up, ‘Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?’ ” (John 6:8-9) Again, we see human wisdom getting in the way of Living by faith in God’s power!
A small child offering his lunch to feed the multitude did not seem to offer any real help. But God, in order to display His Glory, will often make use of things that appear foolish to the natural mind. He generally avoids using the most prominent or the most promising to accomplish His Divine work. “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” (1 Cor. 1:27) He has chosen to manifest His Glory by using those who come to Him in childlike simplicity and faith, offering what they have for His use.
There was a secret to the miracle Jesus performed. He wanted to teach this lesson to His first disciples. He also desires to share the same secret with His disciples today. This is a lesson we all need to learn.
“Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish” (John 6:11 Emphasis added) We are now coming to the very heart of The Mystery of Godliness! It is written that Jesus took the loaves and “gave thanks” to the Father. In other words, He expressed His complete dependency on the Father. Because He was truly relying on His Father to provide the power needed to do His assigned work, and He had faith in His Father, He was able to express thanksgiving prior to the work being done.
The Son of God continually refused to do anything through His own strength while He lived as a man. He said, “I do nothing of Myself.” (John 8:28) He depended on the Father for everything. He was enabled to miraculously distribute the food through the hands of His disciples by depending on a power that came from His Father in Heaven.
Without question, Jesus Christ, who was God in a mortal body, could have exercised His own power as God to feed the five thousand. He could have lived by His own strength. But if He ever acted on His own {in His own sufficiency} while living as a man, He would have stopped living as God had planned for man to live.
Jesus came into this world to show fallen man how to live by the power of God through a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. He was called the Second or Last Adam because He came to demonstrate how man was originally designed to live by dependent faith in God’s power. He set an example by depending on the Father for everything. He then told His disciples to follow Him into the same “Light of Life.”
Doing the Impossible
To help provide an understanding of how Christians are to live by the power of God through dependent faith and display God’s Loving Nature in everything they do, we will look at a lesson taught by Jesus when He fed the five thousand. We find Him using Philip as an example to help explain this Spiritual principle.
When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do. (John 6:5-6)
Jesus was always prepared to respond to the situations presented to Him by His Father. Even though He had surrendered His own power (human will or self sufficiency) and Glory to live as a man in a weak mortal body, a life that required Him to depend on the Father for everything, nothing overwhelmed Him. He was never baffled. Jesus continued to Trust in His Father’s ability to be in everything He did. As One who lived in the Light, it could therefore “be seen plainly” how His works were being done “through God.” (John 3:21)
Jesus presented the problem of feeding the five thousand to Philip to expose a darkness that still existed in Philip’s thought processes. Philip had not yet learned to live by faith in God’s power. His thinking was still connected to the way that man naturally lives – by his own efforts. Jesus knew that if Philip continued to live by human wisdom and strength, it would be impossible for Philip to reflect the Glory of God in this world as he (Philip---representing mankind) was created to do.
The others disciples would have undoubtedly given a response similar to the one given by Philip. Jesus was merely using Philip as an example. His response to the question reflects a natural human thought process. He said, “Eight months wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” (John 6:7)
Can we see what Philip was using as the basis to resolve the problem? Was he thinking in terms of what God is able to accomplish through His power? No! He naturally turned to the purchasing power of money! Philip had not yet learned to
consider God’s power when confronting difficult situations.
What are you depending on? Have you learned to walk in a Way that truly depends on the power of God? As you were making your various decisions over this past week, did you naturally turn to your own sufficiency? Did you have a tendency to live by your own wisdom and strength? Did you take into account that Jesus has gone to be with the Father to enable you to Live as He did through the power of God?
You will need to repent in every area of your life where you have not learned to live by faith in God’s power. If you are not yet living in a moment by moment dependency on your risen Lord, if there is somewhere you are still trying to be
adequate (within yourself) without Him, then you are not yet walking as a Spiritual Christian. And, of course, if you are still living by your own strength, others will not be able to see the Light and Glory of God working through you. (John 3:21)
Jesus next asked His disciples, “How many loaves do you have?…Go and see.” (Mark 6:38) “Another of his disciples, Andrew…spoke up, ‘Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?’ ” (John 6:8-9) Again, we see human wisdom getting in the way of Living by faith in God’s power!
A small child offering his lunch to feed the multitude did not seem to offer any real help. But God, in order to display His Glory, will often make use of things that appear foolish to the natural mind. He generally avoids using the most prominent or the most promising to accomplish His Divine work. “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” (1 Cor. 1:27) He has chosen to manifest His Glory by using those who come to Him in childlike simplicity and faith, offering what they have for His use.
There was a secret to the miracle Jesus performed. He wanted to teach this lesson to His first disciples. He also desires to share the same secret with His disciples today. This is a lesson we all need to learn.
“Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish” (John 6:11 Emphasis added) We are now coming to the very heart of The Mystery of Godliness! It is written that Jesus took the loaves and “gave thanks” to the Father. In other words, He expressed His complete dependency on the Father. Because He was truly relying on His Father to provide the power needed to do His assigned work, and He had faith in His Father, He was able to express thanksgiving prior to the work being done.
The Son of God continually refused to do anything through His own strength while He lived as a man. He said, “I do nothing of Myself.” (John 8:28) He depended on the Father for everything. He was enabled to miraculously distribute the food through the hands of His disciples by depending on a power that came from His Father in Heaven.
Without question, Jesus Christ, who was God in a mortal body, could have exercised His own power as God to feed the five thousand. He could have lived by His own strength. But if He ever acted on His own {in His own sufficiency} while living as a man, He would have stopped living as God had planned for man to live.
Jesus came into this world to show fallen man how to live by the power of God through a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. He was called the Second or Last Adam because He came to demonstrate how man was originally designed to live by dependent faith in God’s power. He set an example by depending on the Father for everything. He then told His disciples to follow Him into the same “Light of Life.”
Sunday, September 11, 2011
The Mystery of Godliness
Before we start this new section. It has been our aim to bring to Light the Truth by way of the mysteries or secret things of God as spoken of in Deuteronomy 29:29. These secret things as revealed to and received by those who through their own willingness to let go of all worldly and earthy things including the things of self-sufficiency and self-willed mankind. This way leads us to the taking up of the Yoke of Christ and the release of self to the putting of it to death by way of ceasing to seek the things of the flesh in obedience to Christ Jesus and His Essence or Spirit within us. The taking of His mindset as our own and the willingness to suffer, as He suffered and learned obedience, as He perfects our Salvation through the same process or steps that He took while hear on earth. It is to this end that we share the following book now available in the public domain.
We'll fallow the same pattern as our other sharing. That being that we'll use italic words as our inserted thought usually in parentheses and word meanings or differentiations. Now for our book....
"The Mystery of Godliness"
written by Major W. Ian Thomas
Reflecting God’s Glory
I tell you the Truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing....And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Son may bring Glory to the Father. (John 14:12-13 Emphasis added)
The Son of God came into the world to display His Father’s Life of Love. Both His way of life and the works He did were a result of His Father working through Him in the power of the Holy Spirit. He brought Glory to the Father by permitting His Father to express the Kingdom-Life through His mortal body.
The children of God were never intended to live by their own strength. If your life can still be explained in terms of you – your personality, your gifts, your talent, your will-power, your money, your courage, your dedication, your scholarship, or your anything –
you are not yet walking as Jesus did. You will need to learn how the Son lived by the power of the Holy Spirit before you can become a true vessel of God’s Glory.
In the same way Jesus received His life from the Father and thereby displayed the Father’s Glory in this world, we are to receive our life from the Son. Jesus said, “And the glory which You {the Father} gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me.” (John 17:22-23)
The Son is able to continue bringing Glory to the Father as we permit Him to display the Light of His Life and works through our mortal bodies while walking in this world. “His Divine power has given us everything we need for Life and godliness.” (2 Pet. 1:3)
God’s children were created to reflect the Light of God’s Glory. We have been designed in a way that will permit the Divine power of Christ’s Spirit to work through us. We are therefore expected to reflect a Heavenly nature that is referred to in the Scriptures as the “Light of Life” in our daily activities. And according to
God’s Word, everyone who sees this “Light” will know the Life is coming through a work of God’s power.
I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the Light of Life. (John 8:12)
Whoever lives by the Truth comes into the Light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay {weak mortal bodies} to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (2 Cor. 4:7)
(John 3:21 Emphasis added)
As we study these lessons, we will find that God expects His children to live through the power of His Spirit by dependent faith. Jesus, while living in a mortal body, was able to display His Father’s Glory because He depended on the power of the Spirit working through Him in everything He did. In the same way, we will be enabled to “walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6) when we are walking by the same kind of dependent faith. Jesus therefore said, “Anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing.”
Jesus does not mean that everyone will duplicate His miracles. The Son does, however, intend to display His Divine nature of Love through each of His disciples “so that the Son may bring Glory to the Father.” The Father receives the Glory because the “Light of Life” being displayed becomes a reflection of His Life of Divine Love.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more…so that you may be pure and blameless…filled with the fruit of Righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the Glory and praise of God. (Phil. 1:9-11)
Next: "Doing the Impossible"
We'll fallow the same pattern as our other sharing. That being that we'll use italic words as our inserted thought usually in parentheses and word meanings or differentiations. Now for our book....
"The Mystery of Godliness"
written by Major W. Ian Thomas
Reflecting God’s Glory
I tell you the Truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing....And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Son may bring Glory to the Father. (John 14:12-13 Emphasis added)
The Son of God came into the world to display His Father’s Life of Love. Both His way of life and the works He did were a result of His Father working through Him in the power of the Holy Spirit. He brought Glory to the Father by permitting His Father to express the Kingdom-Life through His mortal body.
The children of God were never intended to live by their own strength. If your life can still be explained in terms of you – your personality, your gifts, your talent, your will-power, your money, your courage, your dedication, your scholarship, or your anything –
you are not yet walking as Jesus did. You will need to learn how the Son lived by the power of the Holy Spirit before you can become a true vessel of God’s Glory.
In the same way Jesus received His life from the Father and thereby displayed the Father’s Glory in this world, we are to receive our life from the Son. Jesus said, “And the glory which You {the Father} gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me.” (John 17:22-23)
The Son is able to continue bringing Glory to the Father as we permit Him to display the Light of His Life and works through our mortal bodies while walking in this world. “His Divine power has given us everything we need for Life and godliness.” (2 Pet. 1:3)
God’s children were created to reflect the Light of God’s Glory. We have been designed in a way that will permit the Divine power of Christ’s Spirit to work through us. We are therefore expected to reflect a Heavenly nature that is referred to in the Scriptures as the “Light of Life” in our daily activities. And according to
God’s Word, everyone who sees this “Light” will know the Life is coming through a work of God’s power.
I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the Light of Life. (John 8:12)
Whoever lives by the Truth comes into the Light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay {weak mortal bodies} to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (2 Cor. 4:7)
(John 3:21 Emphasis added)
As we study these lessons, we will find that God expects His children to live through the power of His Spirit by dependent faith. Jesus, while living in a mortal body, was able to display His Father’s Glory because He depended on the power of the Spirit working through Him in everything He did. In the same way, we will be enabled to “walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6) when we are walking by the same kind of dependent faith. Jesus therefore said, “Anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing.”
Jesus does not mean that everyone will duplicate His miracles. The Son does, however, intend to display His Divine nature of Love through each of His disciples “so that the Son may bring Glory to the Father.” The Father receives the Glory because the “Light of Life” being displayed becomes a reflection of His Life of Divine Love.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more…so that you may be pure and blameless…filled with the fruit of Righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the Glory and praise of God. (Phil. 1:9-11)
Next: "Doing the Impossible"
Saturday, September 10, 2011
"The Knowledge of God part VIII
Hence it is that the direction of the Lord of Spirits is essential to the Knowledge of the Love of God. It is only as He sheds this Love abroad in our hearts that our enmity is slain; and that we are compelled to love Him, because He first Loved us (Romans 5:5; 1 John 4:19). As the Lord, the Spirit, directs our hearts into this Love of the Father, we learn that IT IS ETERNAL; and hence knew no beginning; and is everlasting and knows no ending. He tells us that we were “chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world”. and that this was “in Love”, and was “according to the good pleasure of His Will”.
We could never have known this but by the further and later Revelation of the Spirit in Ephesians 1:4,5. For if we direct our own hearts we always and very naturally, direct them to ourselves; and then, of course, we see no reason why God should love us at all: then we become occupied with ourselves, and sink lower and lower in the slough of despond, until we end in despair. That is the end of our own self-direction. But when the Lord the Spirit directs our hearts, He never directs them to ourselves; no, nor to Himself, nor to His own work in us; but into the Love of the Father to us; and the work of the Son for us.
Then it is that we receive His own precious Revelation in Ephesians 1:4,5, and willingly confess that if God did not Love us before we were born, He has certainly seen nothing in us to draw forth that Love since we were born.
As we are thus directed, we are assured again and again that this Love is not manifested towards us because of anything we have ever felt or done (Titus
3:5); not because we first loved Him, but because “He first Loved us” (1 John 4:19).
In the ages of eternity past this Love is revealed in its activity as going forth to us, while yet unborn. And after we're born, His care for us was shown while as yet we cared not for Him; and while our hearts were as yet an enmity with Him.
As the Spirit directs our hearts into this Love, we learn, further, that IT IS SOVEREIGN: that God never goes out of or beyond Himself for a reason why He should Love us. This was so even with Israel (Deuteronomy 7:7,8). How much more must it be so with us? Moreover, this Love being to us, in Christ, there is no reason why it should ever change or be withdrawn. The Father is always well-pleased with the Son; and the Son does always those things which please the Father. If the Father’s Love were shown towards us because of what we are in ourselves, the wonder would be, not why it should not be withdrawn, but why it was ever set on us! But, being toward us, in Christ, we can understand why “neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate from the Love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38,39).
We can understand, also, why the Lord Jesus, “having loved His own, loved them to the end”. To the end of what? Not only to the end of time, but to the end of all their sins and weaknesses, frailties and infirmities, doubts and fears, sorrows and sufferings.
Though we may change a thousand times a day; though our circumstances and feelings and moods may change; though we may err and wander and go astray, yet “He abides faithful”, “He changes not”.
Moreover, the Father’s Love does not change merely because it is weak, but because it is strong. It sweeps every hindrance out of the way. It breaks down every barrier. It bears with the most impatient and rebellious.
Human powers fail to understand it. Divine utterances in human language fail to convey a true and full sense of it to our finite faculties.
We may rejoice in the fact; we may praise God for the Revelation of it; we may give thanks for the communication of it; but we cannot apprehend it.
The Spirit Himself, the Giver, is the Gift of the Father. Without this Gift of the Spirit we should never be directed into the Love of the Father, or the preciousness of the Son. By this Gift we are directed to both the one and the other; and into the enjoyment of every needful blessing besides.
All praise and glory be to the Lord of Spirits for His gracious direction into the Love of God, and His blessed assurance that it is ours for ever and for ever. But the direction of the Lord the Spirit is not only into the Love of God, but into
3. The Patience of Christ
This is the alternative rendering in the A.V. margin; and the rendering in the text of the R.V. Moreover, it is the literal and correct rendering of the Greek.
But this literal rendering of the words does not convey the fullness of their meaning.
The word “patience”, in the Greek, is interesting and instructive. The etymological meaning of the verb is to remain under; hence to endure, or sustain. It occurs seventeen times, and the various ways in which it is rendered will bring out its meaning more fully. It is rendered abide, once; tarry behind, once; endure, 11 times; take patiently, twice; patient, once; suffer, once. Hence the noun ( as in the passage we are considering), which occurs 32 times, is rendered patient continuance, once; enduring, once; patient waiting, once; and patience, 29 times. Even though we render it patience, we cannot eliminate the idea of waiting or endurance. Indeed, so strong is this underlying thought that it is akin to, if not almost equal to, hope. Compare 1 Corinthians 13: 18, “Faith, Love, Patience” (i.e., Hope).
The patient waiting then, of the A.V., is a rendering which cannot be improved.
Next we note that the construction is exactly the same as in the preceding clause. “The Love of God” is God’s Love, which He has to us. So the patient waiting of Christ must be Christ’s patient waiting.
Until the renewed offer of the kingdom (Acts 3:19-21) had been finally rejected (Acts 28:25,26). Christ is seen “standing” (Acts 7:56). But, after the rejection was complete He is stated to have “sat down (Hebrews 10:12,13), “from henceforth expecting till His enemies shall have been placed as a footstool for His feet.” This is “Christ’s patient waiting; and as we are directed by the Lord of Spirits, we shall enter into the full meaning of Christ’s present position SEATED, and at rest, with reference to all His work in the procuring our salvation; and patiently EXPECTING the realization of all connected with our “blessed hope”.
Hence this direction of the Spirit will include our own endurance and our own patient waiting. Christ’s patience will be reflected in us. It will, like God’s Love, be shed abroad in our hearts. Our love is God’s Love thus shed abroad; our patience is Christ’s patience; and it is the Spirit’s work to manifest both in our experience, and to direct our hearts into them. It is a blessed provision for poor impatient believers to be directed into ”the patience of Christ”. And it is done by the Spirit opening out to our hearts such a Scripture as Romans 14:3-5, “For even Christ also pleased not Himself; but, according as it stands written, ‘The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on Me‘”. For, as many things as were before written for our instruction were written in order that through patience, and (through) the comfort which the Scriptures bring, we might have hope. Now the God of (this) patience, and of this comfort, give you to think (or mind) the same thing with one another ACCORDING TO CHRIST JESUS.”
Mark these last words, and the margin of the A.V., “after the example of Jesus Christ”. Ah! there is no example of patient waiting like His, and our hearts need directing to it, because there is so little of it in ourselves. It is not merely the example of His patience when on earth. That was perfect, whether towards His enemies or towards His own disciples, ever so slow to learn. It is not merely His patient waiting for the Father’s Will in doing the Father’s business, though this was wonderful. In Matthew 11., when His ministry, from man’s point of view, seemed to end in failure:- in the doubt of John (verses 1-6), in the accusation of the people (verses 16-19), in the unbelief of the cities wherein most of His mighty works were done (verses 20-24): it is then, and at such a moment, that we read (verses 25,26), “AT THAT TIME Jesus answered (i.e., prayed) and said, ‘Father, I thank You.... Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight‘.” Here was patient waiting for the Father’s time and the Father’s Will.
Ah! What need have we to be directed into such patience as this of Christ’s, when we seem to see no fruit of our labor. But, as we have said, it is not merely such patient waiting as this which is in question here. What must it be now, while seated at the Father’s right hand? What patience must be needed now, while His enemies rejoice in His absence; while the bulk of His people do not believe in His coming at all; and while those who do believe in it know little or nothing of this waiting and expectation of His return, and , by their prayers, imply that He has no compassion or care as to the results of His own work compared with what they have? Their hearts are not directed, either into God’s Love or into Christ’s patience, by the Lord the Spirit. They do not know the God whom they preach, or the God to whom they pray.
The God of the Pulpit is -
An impotent Father,
An disappointed Christ. and
A defeated Holy Spirit!
But the God of the Bible is -
An almighty Father,
A satisfied Christ, and
A victorious Holy Spirit,
able to break the hardest heart and to subdue the stoutest will.
Oh! What need for this direction of the Spirit into a true Knowledge of God, which He has revealed in the Scriptures, and manifests in our experience! What need, we repeat, for us to be directed into fellowship with Christ, so that we may know something of what it means to be seated and at rest as to our works, and our Peace with God; and hence to have our hearts set free, and at liberty to go forth to Him, “from henceforth expecting” the long looked-for day when we shall be “Received up in Glory”.
May the Lord of Spirits direct our hearts ever more and more into this blessed experience, that we may know what is meant by “the patience of Christ”, and apprehend something of what is meant by our own patient waiting for Christ.
Written by E.W. Bullinger.
This is the end of this teaching from here we'll share "The Mystery of Godliness" written by Major W. Ian Thomas. Again the whole purpose of these teachings being shared is to aid those who may not understand the inspiration that Lord of Spirits has imparted to their spirit through the Spirit of Christ.
We could never have known this but by the further and later Revelation of the Spirit in Ephesians 1:4,5. For if we direct our own hearts we always and very naturally, direct them to ourselves; and then, of course, we see no reason why God should love us at all: then we become occupied with ourselves, and sink lower and lower in the slough of despond, until we end in despair. That is the end of our own self-direction. But when the Lord the Spirit directs our hearts, He never directs them to ourselves; no, nor to Himself, nor to His own work in us; but into the Love of the Father to us; and the work of the Son for us.
Then it is that we receive His own precious Revelation in Ephesians 1:4,5, and willingly confess that if God did not Love us before we were born, He has certainly seen nothing in us to draw forth that Love since we were born.
As we are thus directed, we are assured again and again that this Love is not manifested towards us because of anything we have ever felt or done (Titus
3:5); not because we first loved Him, but because “He first Loved us” (1 John 4:19).
In the ages of eternity past this Love is revealed in its activity as going forth to us, while yet unborn. And after we're born, His care for us was shown while as yet we cared not for Him; and while our hearts were as yet an enmity with Him.
As the Spirit directs our hearts into this Love, we learn, further, that IT IS SOVEREIGN: that God never goes out of or beyond Himself for a reason why He should Love us. This was so even with Israel (Deuteronomy 7:7,8). How much more must it be so with us? Moreover, this Love being to us, in Christ, there is no reason why it should ever change or be withdrawn. The Father is always well-pleased with the Son; and the Son does always those things which please the Father. If the Father’s Love were shown towards us because of what we are in ourselves, the wonder would be, not why it should not be withdrawn, but why it was ever set on us! But, being toward us, in Christ, we can understand why “neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate from the Love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38,39).
We can understand, also, why the Lord Jesus, “having loved His own, loved them to the end”. To the end of what? Not only to the end of time, but to the end of all their sins and weaknesses, frailties and infirmities, doubts and fears, sorrows and sufferings.
Though we may change a thousand times a day; though our circumstances and feelings and moods may change; though we may err and wander and go astray, yet “He abides faithful”, “He changes not”.
Moreover, the Father’s Love does not change merely because it is weak, but because it is strong. It sweeps every hindrance out of the way. It breaks down every barrier. It bears with the most impatient and rebellious.
Human powers fail to understand it. Divine utterances in human language fail to convey a true and full sense of it to our finite faculties.
We may rejoice in the fact; we may praise God for the Revelation of it; we may give thanks for the communication of it; but we cannot apprehend it.
The Spirit Himself, the Giver, is the Gift of the Father. Without this Gift of the Spirit we should never be directed into the Love of the Father, or the preciousness of the Son. By this Gift we are directed to both the one and the other; and into the enjoyment of every needful blessing besides.
All praise and glory be to the Lord of Spirits for His gracious direction into the Love of God, and His blessed assurance that it is ours for ever and for ever. But the direction of the Lord the Spirit is not only into the Love of God, but into
3. The Patience of Christ
This is the alternative rendering in the A.V. margin; and the rendering in the text of the R.V. Moreover, it is the literal and correct rendering of the Greek.
But this literal rendering of the words does not convey the fullness of their meaning.
The word “patience”, in the Greek, is interesting and instructive. The etymological meaning of the verb is to remain under; hence to endure, or sustain. It occurs seventeen times, and the various ways in which it is rendered will bring out its meaning more fully. It is rendered abide, once; tarry behind, once; endure, 11 times; take patiently, twice; patient, once; suffer, once. Hence the noun ( as in the passage we are considering), which occurs 32 times, is rendered patient continuance, once; enduring, once; patient waiting, once; and patience, 29 times. Even though we render it patience, we cannot eliminate the idea of waiting or endurance. Indeed, so strong is this underlying thought that it is akin to, if not almost equal to, hope. Compare 1 Corinthians 13: 18, “Faith, Love, Patience” (i.e., Hope).
The patient waiting then, of the A.V., is a rendering which cannot be improved.
Next we note that the construction is exactly the same as in the preceding clause. “The Love of God” is God’s Love, which He has to us. So the patient waiting of Christ must be Christ’s patient waiting.
Until the renewed offer of the kingdom (Acts 3:19-21) had been finally rejected (Acts 28:25,26). Christ is seen “standing” (Acts 7:56). But, after the rejection was complete He is stated to have “sat down (Hebrews 10:12,13), “from henceforth expecting till His enemies shall have been placed as a footstool for His feet.” This is “Christ’s patient waiting; and as we are directed by the Lord of Spirits, we shall enter into the full meaning of Christ’s present position SEATED, and at rest, with reference to all His work in the procuring our salvation; and patiently EXPECTING the realization of all connected with our “blessed hope”.
Hence this direction of the Spirit will include our own endurance and our own patient waiting. Christ’s patience will be reflected in us. It will, like God’s Love, be shed abroad in our hearts. Our love is God’s Love thus shed abroad; our patience is Christ’s patience; and it is the Spirit’s work to manifest both in our experience, and to direct our hearts into them. It is a blessed provision for poor impatient believers to be directed into ”the patience of Christ”. And it is done by the Spirit opening out to our hearts such a Scripture as Romans 14:3-5, “For even Christ also pleased not Himself; but, according as it stands written, ‘The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on Me‘”. For, as many things as were before written for our instruction were written in order that through patience, and (through) the comfort which the Scriptures bring, we might have hope. Now the God of (this) patience, and of this comfort, give you to think (or mind) the same thing with one another ACCORDING TO CHRIST JESUS.”
Mark these last words, and the margin of the A.V., “after the example of Jesus Christ”. Ah! there is no example of patient waiting like His, and our hearts need directing to it, because there is so little of it in ourselves. It is not merely the example of His patience when on earth. That was perfect, whether towards His enemies or towards His own disciples, ever so slow to learn. It is not merely His patient waiting for the Father’s Will in doing the Father’s business, though this was wonderful. In Matthew 11., when His ministry, from man’s point of view, seemed to end in failure:- in the doubt of John (verses 1-6), in the accusation of the people (verses 16-19), in the unbelief of the cities wherein most of His mighty works were done (verses 20-24): it is then, and at such a moment, that we read (verses 25,26), “AT THAT TIME Jesus answered (i.e., prayed) and said, ‘Father, I thank You.... Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight‘.” Here was patient waiting for the Father’s time and the Father’s Will.
Ah! What need have we to be directed into such patience as this of Christ’s, when we seem to see no fruit of our labor. But, as we have said, it is not merely such patient waiting as this which is in question here. What must it be now, while seated at the Father’s right hand? What patience must be needed now, while His enemies rejoice in His absence; while the bulk of His people do not believe in His coming at all; and while those who do believe in it know little or nothing of this waiting and expectation of His return, and , by their prayers, imply that He has no compassion or care as to the results of His own work compared with what they have? Their hearts are not directed, either into God’s Love or into Christ’s patience, by the Lord the Spirit. They do not know the God whom they preach, or the God to whom they pray.
The God of the Pulpit is -
An impotent Father,
An disappointed Christ. and
A defeated Holy Spirit!
But the God of the Bible is -
An almighty Father,
A satisfied Christ, and
A victorious Holy Spirit,
able to break the hardest heart and to subdue the stoutest will.
Oh! What need for this direction of the Spirit into a true Knowledge of God, which He has revealed in the Scriptures, and manifests in our experience! What need, we repeat, for us to be directed into fellowship with Christ, so that we may know something of what it means to be seated and at rest as to our works, and our Peace with God; and hence to have our hearts set free, and at liberty to go forth to Him, “from henceforth expecting” the long looked-for day when we shall be “Received up in Glory”.
May the Lord of Spirits direct our hearts ever more and more into this blessed experience, that we may know what is meant by “the patience of Christ”, and apprehend something of what is meant by our own patient waiting for Christ.
Written by E.W. Bullinger.
This is the end of this teaching from here we'll share "The Mystery of Godliness" written by Major W. Ian Thomas. Again the whole purpose of these teachings being shared is to aid those who may not understand the inspiration that Lord of Spirits has imparted to their spirit through the Spirit of Christ.
Friday, September 9, 2011
"The Knowledge of God part VII
To our great and glorious Head in Heaven the Lord of Spirits, ever directs our hearts. By this we may know whether we are under His Divine direction. By this we may test all that we hear, and all that we read.
The measure in which we are occupied with Christ, and with our completeness in Him. is the measure in which we are “filled by the Spirit”. By this we may test these words which are here written by the writer and read by the reader. The one question is: Do they Glorify Christ? “He shall glorify Me”, were the Savior’s words (John 16:16). By this we may know, discern, and detect the Holy Spirit’s handiwork.
Man’s work will be ever found to direct our thoughts to ourselves; it will be always to direct our attention to our walk, or to our acts, or to our experiences; or to introspection of some kind. Man’s work will ever end in reasons for glorying in ourselves. But the Spirit’s work will ever Glorify Christ, and humble ourselves to all that we read and all that we hear, we have to apply this touchstone. We have to ask the one question: DOES THIS GLORIFY CHRIST? This is the one test. It will never fail to tell us whether we are under the direction of the Lord of Spirits, or not. For there are ‘other spirits’ who would control us. Yes, ‘control’, that is their own word for their work.
The Corinthian Saints were specially warned against ‘another spirit’, ie., a different spirit, which (thank God) they had not received (2 Corinthians 11:4). This tells us that there are other spirits at work for our deception and
misdirection. For can such a warning be groundless? Is there no such duty as the “discerning of spirits”, and of “trying or proving the spirits” devolving on us? These spirits would deceive us to-day, even as the old Serpent “beguiled Eve through his subtlety”. Hence the Apostle’s fear lest our “minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3).
We are dealing with realities, not with theories or hypotheses; and these warnings are actually needed in very Truth in the present day. They “are written for our learning”. The vast majority of Christians, the moment they see any so-called “revival” work or any spirit-manifestation, immediately jump to the conclusion that it is, and must be Divine, and of the Holy Spirit; notwithstanding the fact that there is nothing in the Scripture with which many of these modern extravagancies can be compared. Things are recorded in the Word as the work of the Holy Spirit of God. “Confusion” is seen, of which “it is written”, “God is not the author” (1 Corinthians 14:32,33).
The presence of certain individuals is often necessary to produce certain desired results; and these men and women are used in the same way as mediums are used. Doubtless they are often mediums for the work of “another spirit”, which, let us pray God, we may never receive.
Oh, to be directed by God’s own Holy Spirit, the Lord. His direction is utterly opposed to all the designs and desires of the natural mind. He may lead us into trials and experiences in which our creature ruin may be discerned beneath our sinner ruin; and in which our faith shall be proved to be genuine. This direction, here, is the special work of the Lord the Spirit, and yet the whole God head is engaged in it.
Of El the Father it is said He “will guide you continually” (Isaiah 48:11).
Of Yehovah-Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, it is said “He guides me” (Psalm 23:13).
Of Yehovah the Spirit it is declared that “He will guide you into all Truth” (John 16:13).
Of His people now it is most blessedly true, as it was true of Hezekiah: of whom, and of his people it is written: Thus the Lord saved them...and guided them on every side” (2 Chronicles 32:22).
So that, whether enemies abound, or days be dark, or Satan’s assaults be many, or doubts and fears increase, even then we shall be, and must be, “more than conquerors” through Him who loves us. And the Lord of Spirits will ever direct our hearts into His Love, and not into our infirmities; and we shall say, not “When I sought to know this it was too painful for me” (Ps 45:16). but, “So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before You.
You have held me by my right hand.
You shall guide me with Your counsel,
And afterwards receive me to glory, Whom have I in Heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire beside You” (Ps. 45:22-25).
And we shall say again -
“This God is our God for ever and ever; and He will be our guide even in death” (Ps. 38:14).
2. Into the Love of God
We have seen how the true knowledge of God is revealed only in “The Scriptures of Truth”; and how it is imparted only by the direction of the Holy Spirit. He who inspired this revelation in the Word must inspire it in our hearts also; or it can never be experimentally known. Hence the importance of that Scripture which has already engaged our attention (2 Thessalonians 3:5). (This is revealed also in our other blog "God has only One Way for Us All".)
“The Lord (the Spirit) direct your heart
Into the Love of God,
And into the patient waiting for Christ.”
The Love of God is a grand reality. But we can know it only by the direction of the Lord the Spirit. Then we learn that this Love to us is only in Christ; and, only to us as being in Christ. Out of Christ, “The Lord is a man of war”. Apart from Christ the guilty will be by no means cleared.
It is only misleading the poor world to tell it that “God is love”, unless we tell it that this Love is only in Christ. It is preaching only part of the Gospel. The good news is that God is “a just God”, and that though He is justice and righteousness itself, yet He is the SAVIOR of all then that believe His testimony which He has given concerning His Son. He cannot be known apart from the Son.
The measure in which we are occupied with Christ, and with our completeness in Him. is the measure in which we are “filled by the Spirit”. By this we may test these words which are here written by the writer and read by the reader. The one question is: Do they Glorify Christ? “He shall glorify Me”, were the Savior’s words (John 16:16). By this we may know, discern, and detect the Holy Spirit’s handiwork.
Man’s work will be ever found to direct our thoughts to ourselves; it will be always to direct our attention to our walk, or to our acts, or to our experiences; or to introspection of some kind. Man’s work will ever end in reasons for glorying in ourselves. But the Spirit’s work will ever Glorify Christ, and humble ourselves to all that we read and all that we hear, we have to apply this touchstone. We have to ask the one question: DOES THIS GLORIFY CHRIST? This is the one test. It will never fail to tell us whether we are under the direction of the Lord of Spirits, or not. For there are ‘other spirits’ who would control us. Yes, ‘control’, that is their own word for their work.
The Corinthian Saints were specially warned against ‘another spirit’, ie., a different spirit, which (thank God) they had not received (2 Corinthians 11:4). This tells us that there are other spirits at work for our deception and
misdirection. For can such a warning be groundless? Is there no such duty as the “discerning of spirits”, and of “trying or proving the spirits” devolving on us? These spirits would deceive us to-day, even as the old Serpent “beguiled Eve through his subtlety”. Hence the Apostle’s fear lest our “minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3).
We are dealing with realities, not with theories or hypotheses; and these warnings are actually needed in very Truth in the present day. They “are written for our learning”. The vast majority of Christians, the moment they see any so-called “revival” work or any spirit-manifestation, immediately jump to the conclusion that it is, and must be Divine, and of the Holy Spirit; notwithstanding the fact that there is nothing in the Scripture with which many of these modern extravagancies can be compared. Things are recorded in the Word as the work of the Holy Spirit of God. “Confusion” is seen, of which “it is written”, “God is not the author” (1 Corinthians 14:32,33).
The presence of certain individuals is often necessary to produce certain desired results; and these men and women are used in the same way as mediums are used. Doubtless they are often mediums for the work of “another spirit”, which, let us pray God, we may never receive.
Oh, to be directed by God’s own Holy Spirit, the Lord. His direction is utterly opposed to all the designs and desires of the natural mind. He may lead us into trials and experiences in which our creature ruin may be discerned beneath our sinner ruin; and in which our faith shall be proved to be genuine. This direction, here, is the special work of the Lord the Spirit, and yet the whole God head is engaged in it.
Of El the Father it is said He “will guide you continually” (Isaiah 48:11).
Of Yehovah-Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, it is said “He guides me” (Psalm 23:13).
Of Yehovah the Spirit it is declared that “He will guide you into all Truth” (John 16:13).
Of His people now it is most blessedly true, as it was true of Hezekiah: of whom, and of his people it is written: Thus the Lord saved them...and guided them on every side” (2 Chronicles 32:22).
So that, whether enemies abound, or days be dark, or Satan’s assaults be many, or doubts and fears increase, even then we shall be, and must be, “more than conquerors” through Him who loves us. And the Lord of Spirits will ever direct our hearts into His Love, and not into our infirmities; and we shall say, not “When I sought to know this it was too painful for me” (Ps 45:16). but, “So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before You.
You have held me by my right hand.
You shall guide me with Your counsel,
And afterwards receive me to glory, Whom have I in Heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire beside You” (Ps. 45:22-25).
And we shall say again -
“This God is our God for ever and ever; and He will be our guide even in death” (Ps. 38:14).
2. Into the Love of God
We have seen how the true knowledge of God is revealed only in “The Scriptures of Truth”; and how it is imparted only by the direction of the Holy Spirit. He who inspired this revelation in the Word must inspire it in our hearts also; or it can never be experimentally known. Hence the importance of that Scripture which has already engaged our attention (2 Thessalonians 3:5). (This is revealed also in our other blog "God has only One Way for Us All".)
“The Lord (the Spirit) direct your heart
Into the Love of God,
And into the patient waiting for Christ.”
The Love of God is a grand reality. But we can know it only by the direction of the Lord the Spirit. Then we learn that this Love to us is only in Christ; and, only to us as being in Christ. Out of Christ, “The Lord is a man of war”. Apart from Christ the guilty will be by no means cleared.
It is only misleading the poor world to tell it that “God is love”, unless we tell it that this Love is only in Christ. It is preaching only part of the Gospel. The good news is that God is “a just God”, and that though He is justice and righteousness itself, yet He is the SAVIOR of all then that believe His testimony which He has given concerning His Son. He cannot be known apart from the Son.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
"The Knowledge of God part VI
Even so with the “many sons”,
They, too, are begotten by the Spirit (John 3:5)
They, too, are led of the pneuma (the New Nature) which is begotten by the Spirit (Rom. 8:14).
All their graces and gifts are the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22).
Their faith is the gift of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:11).
Their hope is through the power of the Holy Ghost (Romans 15:13).
Their prayer is by the Spirit (Romans 8:26).
Thus, again, we see how the whole Godhead is revealed, as engaged in procuring and securing the access of all His children unto Himself.
Here we have no presentation of dry doctrine; no assertion of empty dogma; no rehearsing of a lifeless creed; no following of tradition, or production of a theory; but a blessed and glorious and experimental reality.
It is all “through Him”, through Christ, “by whom we have access into this Grace wherein we stand” (Romans 5:2).
It is in Christ that all our Blessings are treasured up: it is through the power of the Spirit that they are conveyed and communicated to us: and it is by the Father’s Love they are given to Christ for us.
This is “the Grace wherein we stand”.
OUR APPREHENSION OF GOD
1. The Spirit’s Direction of the Heart
Now let us see how the two Epistles to the typical “Assembly of the Thessalonians” assume the knowledge of all this precious revelation as the present possession of the saints who were addressed. They are not taught it as a doctrine; but they are to realize it, and experience it, and enjoy it as a prayer in faith.
It is the knowledge of their election by God (1 Thessalonians 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13), and of His revelation of Himself in Christ by the Spirit, which made those believers so remarkable for Holiness of Life and for missionary zeal. These two grand facts were the necessary outcome of the possession of all this Divine Truth.
This Truth, like a precious seed, brought forth this precious fruit. Their Holiness of Life was not produced by holiness conventions, or by any outward methods of any king. Their missionary zeal was not produced by missionary Missions or Exhibitions; or by any working upon their natural feelings. But both were the working out of that Truth which had been first worked in them (Philippians 2:12,13).
The power of such Truth as this can not be stifled. It needs only guidance and control. It did not need exciting. It could be produced only by the Word of God received into the heart: and, fed upon there, and assimilated, resulted in spiritual strength, manifested in Holiness of Life, and witnessed in zeal for God’s service.
It is first received then it is instructive, therefore, for us to notice the closing prayer on behalf of the “Church of the Thessalonians” (2 Thessalonians 3:5), which sums up their spiritual apprehensions and attainments:-
“The LORD (the Spirit) direct your hearts
Into the Love of GOD (the Father)
And into the patience of CHRIST.”
It is the Lord, the Spirit, who is named first, because it is He who directs the receptive “heart”.
Jeremiah’s prayer confesses this:
“O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man that walks to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23).
So also we read in Proverbs 16:9.
“ A man’s heart devises his way;
But the Lord directs his steps.”
And Proverbs 19:21,
“There are many devices in a man’s heart;
Nevertheless, the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.”
Here, we have man’s natural heart laid bare; the impotence of man to direct his own heart manifested; and the need of the Lord the Spirit to direct it revealed.
It is this that raises the hostility of the natural man. It is very humbling to be told these Truths. It is the very last thing that the natural man will admit. He thinks he can direct his own way. Yes, and in his long prayers he actually takes upon himself to direct the Lord as to His way, and as to what He ought to do: even implying that if he had the direction of the affairs of the world and of the church he would soon have things very different from what they are! This cannot be denied: for it may be constantly discerned in prayer-meetings where the flesh bears sway.
Oh, how difficult is the lesson; and how it needs the direction of the Spirit, the Lord of all power and might to bring the natural man down to his knees, and to humble him in the dust. This is where the very act of prayer is intended to put us. But man (in his usual perversity) turns this low place into a throne, whence he would fain direct the Almighty as to what He ought to do! and, giving an onlooker the impression that, if God had half the compassion which those who pray have, all would soon be put right!
Such is the arrogance of the old nature even in the child of God. But it is the Lord alone who can lay us low and cause us to cry out -
I am ignorant - teach me Your ways.
I am perplexed - Counsel me.
I am all astray - Direct me.
I am blind - Enlighten me.
I am weak - Strengthen me.
I am deceived - Deliver me.
Here comes in the Divine counsel:
“In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:6)
‘It is the one great work of the Spirit to direct the heart. The Lord’s work is always heart work. Man’s work always has regard to “the outward appearance”. His effort is to direct the life and the walk. Man ever begins at the wrong end. He begins outside, in the main hope of working inward. He cleanses “the outside of the cup and the platter”, while within all is uncleanness. His aim is to reform the life. He sweeps and garnishes it; but it is only to prepare the heart for the abode of evil spirits (Luke 11:24-26). All this is religion: and it is the one object of religion to direct the flesh: and by the use of Rules and Directories to try and make the flesh bring forth spiritual fruit (both evil or good). But it is all in vain. It is man’s heart that is at fault. It is “not that which goes into the mouth defiles a man... for out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders adulteries, fornication, thefts, false-witness, blasphemies; these are the things which defile a man; but to eat with unwashed hands defiles not a man” (Matt. 15:11,19,20). This is what man would designate the “teaching of Jesus”. But it is the teaching that the natural man will not have at any price.
Man directs not only his own way, but does his best to direct the ways of all others. His religion belongs to the flesh, and is made up of ordinances on and for the flesh. “Touch not, taste not, handle not”, are “the commandments and doctrines of men”, and sum up his religion.
Oh! how opposite to all this is the direction of the Lord the Spirit. He reveals to us our hearts. He can show us that we are not only lost sinners, but ruined creatures. He shows us our sins and follies, and frailties and infirmities, and weaknesses and errors, and faults and failings. He causes us to mourn over our sins, to be ashamed of our follies, and to hate all evil ways, that we have no desire to find fault with our brethren. He directs our hearts to the righteousness of God which covers us; to the wisdom of Christ which governs us; to the Holiness of the Spirit which adorns us; to the power from on high which strengthens us; to the Newness of Life which animates us.
Man’s religion begins with the flesh; continues in corruption; remains in sin and ends in death. But the Lord the Spirit directs us to Christ. His work is to glorify Christ (John 16:14). That work begins with Christ in His Grace; continues in Christ in His eternal Life; and ends with Christ in His Glory. It is all to do with the heart, and not with the flesh; with the New heart that is fallowed to be receptive, and not with the old heart or clay and stone. The old heart is so defiled that it cannot be cleansed; but the New heart, which the Spirit gives, is Divine, and needs no cleansing as it is purified by the Holy Spirit.
It is with this New heart that man believes unto righteousness (Romans 10:9,10). It is in this New heart that Christ dwells by faith (Ephesians 3:17). It is the New heart which is “in the hand of the Lord, as the divisions of water [are in the hand of the gardener]”. (Proverbs 21:1). It is the New heart, which, having its Head and treasure in Heaven, has also its Home and seat of government there (Philippians 3:20).
They, too, are begotten by the Spirit (John 3:5)
They, too, are led of the pneuma (the New Nature) which is begotten by the Spirit (Rom. 8:14).
All their graces and gifts are the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22).
Their faith is the gift of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:11).
Their hope is through the power of the Holy Ghost (Romans 15:13).
Their prayer is by the Spirit (Romans 8:26).
Thus, again, we see how the whole Godhead is revealed, as engaged in procuring and securing the access of all His children unto Himself.
Here we have no presentation of dry doctrine; no assertion of empty dogma; no rehearsing of a lifeless creed; no following of tradition, or production of a theory; but a blessed and glorious and experimental reality.
It is all “through Him”, through Christ, “by whom we have access into this Grace wherein we stand” (Romans 5:2).
It is in Christ that all our Blessings are treasured up: it is through the power of the Spirit that they are conveyed and communicated to us: and it is by the Father’s Love they are given to Christ for us.
This is “the Grace wherein we stand”.
OUR APPREHENSION OF GOD
1. The Spirit’s Direction of the Heart
Now let us see how the two Epistles to the typical “Assembly of the Thessalonians” assume the knowledge of all this precious revelation as the present possession of the saints who were addressed. They are not taught it as a doctrine; but they are to realize it, and experience it, and enjoy it as a prayer in faith.
It is the knowledge of their election by God (1 Thessalonians 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13), and of His revelation of Himself in Christ by the Spirit, which made those believers so remarkable for Holiness of Life and for missionary zeal. These two grand facts were the necessary outcome of the possession of all this Divine Truth.
This Truth, like a precious seed, brought forth this precious fruit. Their Holiness of Life was not produced by holiness conventions, or by any outward methods of any king. Their missionary zeal was not produced by missionary Missions or Exhibitions; or by any working upon their natural feelings. But both were the working out of that Truth which had been first worked in them (Philippians 2:12,13).
The power of such Truth as this can not be stifled. It needs only guidance and control. It did not need exciting. It could be produced only by the Word of God received into the heart: and, fed upon there, and assimilated, resulted in spiritual strength, manifested in Holiness of Life, and witnessed in zeal for God’s service.
It is first received then it is instructive, therefore, for us to notice the closing prayer on behalf of the “Church of the Thessalonians” (2 Thessalonians 3:5), which sums up their spiritual apprehensions and attainments:-
“The LORD (the Spirit) direct your hearts
Into the Love of GOD (the Father)
And into the patience of CHRIST.”
It is the Lord, the Spirit, who is named first, because it is He who directs the receptive “heart”.
Jeremiah’s prayer confesses this:
“O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man that walks to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23).
So also we read in Proverbs 16:9.
“ A man’s heart devises his way;
But the Lord directs his steps.”
And Proverbs 19:21,
“There are many devices in a man’s heart;
Nevertheless, the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.”
Here, we have man’s natural heart laid bare; the impotence of man to direct his own heart manifested; and the need of the Lord the Spirit to direct it revealed.
It is this that raises the hostility of the natural man. It is very humbling to be told these Truths. It is the very last thing that the natural man will admit. He thinks he can direct his own way. Yes, and in his long prayers he actually takes upon himself to direct the Lord as to His way, and as to what He ought to do: even implying that if he had the direction of the affairs of the world and of the church he would soon have things very different from what they are! This cannot be denied: for it may be constantly discerned in prayer-meetings where the flesh bears sway.
Oh, how difficult is the lesson; and how it needs the direction of the Spirit, the Lord of all power and might to bring the natural man down to his knees, and to humble him in the dust. This is where the very act of prayer is intended to put us. But man (in his usual perversity) turns this low place into a throne, whence he would fain direct the Almighty as to what He ought to do! and, giving an onlooker the impression that, if God had half the compassion which those who pray have, all would soon be put right!
Such is the arrogance of the old nature even in the child of God. But it is the Lord alone who can lay us low and cause us to cry out -
I am ignorant - teach me Your ways.
I am perplexed - Counsel me.
I am all astray - Direct me.
I am blind - Enlighten me.
I am weak - Strengthen me.
I am deceived - Deliver me.
Here comes in the Divine counsel:
“In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:6)
‘It is the one great work of the Spirit to direct the heart. The Lord’s work is always heart work. Man’s work always has regard to “the outward appearance”. His effort is to direct the life and the walk. Man ever begins at the wrong end. He begins outside, in the main hope of working inward. He cleanses “the outside of the cup and the platter”, while within all is uncleanness. His aim is to reform the life. He sweeps and garnishes it; but it is only to prepare the heart for the abode of evil spirits (Luke 11:24-26). All this is religion: and it is the one object of religion to direct the flesh: and by the use of Rules and Directories to try and make the flesh bring forth spiritual fruit (both evil or good). But it is all in vain. It is man’s heart that is at fault. It is “not that which goes into the mouth defiles a man... for out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders adulteries, fornication, thefts, false-witness, blasphemies; these are the things which defile a man; but to eat with unwashed hands defiles not a man” (Matt. 15:11,19,20). This is what man would designate the “teaching of Jesus”. But it is the teaching that the natural man will not have at any price.
Man directs not only his own way, but does his best to direct the ways of all others. His religion belongs to the flesh, and is made up of ordinances on and for the flesh. “Touch not, taste not, handle not”, are “the commandments and doctrines of men”, and sum up his religion.
Oh! how opposite to all this is the direction of the Lord the Spirit. He reveals to us our hearts. He can show us that we are not only lost sinners, but ruined creatures. He shows us our sins and follies, and frailties and infirmities, and weaknesses and errors, and faults and failings. He causes us to mourn over our sins, to be ashamed of our follies, and to hate all evil ways, that we have no desire to find fault with our brethren. He directs our hearts to the righteousness of God which covers us; to the wisdom of Christ which governs us; to the Holiness of the Spirit which adorns us; to the power from on high which strengthens us; to the Newness of Life which animates us.
Man’s religion begins with the flesh; continues in corruption; remains in sin and ends in death. But the Lord the Spirit directs us to Christ. His work is to glorify Christ (John 16:14). That work begins with Christ in His Grace; continues in Christ in His eternal Life; and ends with Christ in His Glory. It is all to do with the heart, and not with the flesh; with the New heart that is fallowed to be receptive, and not with the old heart or clay and stone. The old heart is so defiled that it cannot be cleansed; but the New heart, which the Spirit gives, is Divine, and needs no cleansing as it is purified by the Holy Spirit.
It is with this New heart that man believes unto righteousness (Romans 10:9,10). It is in this New heart that Christ dwells by faith (Ephesians 3:17). It is the New heart which is “in the hand of the Lord, as the divisions of water [are in the hand of the gardener]”. (Proverbs 21:1). It is the New heart, which, having its Head and treasure in Heaven, has also its Home and seat of government there (Philippians 3:20).
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
"The Knowledge of God part V
Hence, when He came, this was His one great object. Not to “found a Church”; not even to save us because we were lost, or needed salvation; but because it was the Father’s Will and desire that His people should be saved. The one recorded utterance of Christ that broke the silence of those thirty years was to bear witness of this great fact. Twelve years rolled by before we have one recorded word; and then eighteen more years passed away before another syllable is recorded. The first and only recorded utterance during those thirty years was addressed to Joseph and Mary: “Wist you not that I must be about MY FATHER’S BUSINESS?” (Luke 2:49). And when His last words were uttered on the Cross: - “It is FINISHED”, - What was it that was finished but the work which it was the Father’s Will that He should do; and the Father’s business that He came to be about? This tells us that our salvation did not depend on “the will of the flesh, or on the will of man, but on the Will of God” (John 1:13).
The lost and sinners are often exhorted: “Save your souls”; “Get right with God”; but, alas! what ignorance it displays both of God and of His great salvation. The fact that the Will of God is its source sends us back to eternity past, and to the volume of eternity’s book, in which, what is true physically of the natural birth is infinitely more true of the spiritual. So that we can truly say, as saved sinners:
“Tour eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect (not imperfect!); and in Your book all my members were written which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them” (Ps. 134:16). In the margin it is: “What days they should be fashioned.” Yes, He knew “the days”, “the due time”, in which it should be testified: on the Cross by the Son, and in our hearts by the Spirit. This lifts our redemption and later our salvation entirely out of the hands of man; takes our feet out of the miry clay; and sets them on the rock of God’s Will, God’s Work, and God’s Word.
To carry out that “Will”, and accomplish that “Work”, and fulfil that “Word”, the Son of God came forth from the bosom of the Father. And He accomplished all. This is why “it behooved Him to suffer” (Luke 24:46; Hebrews. 2:17). This is why “He must needs go through Samaria” (John 4:4). This is why He must “needs have suffered” (Acts 17:3). He came not to do His own will, but the Will of the Father (John 6:38). And He did it. If He did not, then it is useless for us to attempt it; or to try and supplement it wherein His work is deficient!
The channel by which God’s redemption and His salvation comes to us is “through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”(Heb 10:10). And even this body was “prepared” by the Father (verse 5). It is not through the Church, not through the Sacraments; not through any religious rites and ceremonies and ordinances; not through any “works of righteousness which we have done”; not through our prayers or penitence, tears or trials - but “through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:10). And the reality of it all, the means by which we realize this finished redemption and then our salvation, is “the witness of the Holy Ghost”, in the Word, and in our hearts. “Whereof the Holy Ghost is a witness to us” (Hebrews 10:15). Thus our Redemption and our Salvation are lifted, at once, right out of our hands. The more we consider this the more perfect and complete is the witness and the evidence.
(8) The Faith of God’s Children
For if we see that faith is the hand which takes what God gives, then we are left in no doubt about the fact that:
It is the “Gift of God” the Gather (Ephesians 2:8)
It is the “Grace” of Christ (Galatians 3:22), and
It is the “Fruit” (Galatians 3:22), and “Word” and “Will” of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12: 9-11).
Our readers must amplify, and dwell upon, all these three-fold Scriptures, and feed on the precious Truths which they reveal. We can only collect and present them: we can do no more, Each must feed upon them for himself. We ourselves are under the same great necessity.
(9) The Hope of God’s Children
If we have a good hope through Grace,
It is owing to the Father’s “abundant mercy” (1 Peter 1:3).
It is Christ Himself “who is our hope” (1 Timothy 1: 1).
It is “through the power of the Holy Ghost” that it abounds in us (Romans 15:13).
(10) The Love of God’s Children
If we speak of love, and if we are the objects of Divine Love (Ephesians 1:4), then
We are Loved by the FATHER; for it is His Love which is shed abroad in our hearts (Romans 5:5).
We are Loved by the SON who Loved us and gave Himself for us (Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 5:25, etc.,)
We are Loved by the SPIRIT, by which Love we are to strive together in prayer (Romans 15:30).
(11) The life of God’s Children
If we possess eternal Life, then
Our hope of it is based on the fact that GOD (the Father), that cannot lie, promised it before the world began (Titus 1:2).
Our possession of it is because the Life which God has given to us “is in His SON (1 John 5:11).
Our enjoyment of it is secured to us by the fact that it is wrought in us by the power of the SPIRIT (John 6:63).
(12)The Comfort of God’s Children
If we are, in any measure, are enabled to enjoy the consolations of the Gospel, it is because the Whole Godhead is engaged in our behalf to bring us to the blessings wherewith we are blessed in and through the Son.
It is the FATHER of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforts His children in all their tribulations (2 Corinthians 1:3,4).
It is the LORD JESUS CHRIST who was sent on purpose “to comfort all that mourn” and “heal the broken-hearted” (Isaiah 70:2; Luke 4:19).
It is the HOLY GHOST who gives “Rest” to all who walk in “the fear of God and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 9:31).
Oh what a God we have! Oh what a God to know! How important is the Word which thus reveals Him to us; not in the form of a creed to be rehearsed, but in all the blessed activities put forth
FOR us
TO us, and
IN us;
In the provision He has prepared for us Himself; conveyed to us in Christ; and shed abroad in us by the Holy Spirit.
From all this we learn that the Salvation about which the multitude so glibly talk and sing is not some wretched thing to be obtained or produced by us, but is a grand reality.
Wrought FOR us by God the Father.
Wrought TO us by the Son
Wrought IN us by God the Holy Ghost.
It is a Redemption that begins our Salvation in which our every want is supplied; our warfare is accomplished, our sin cancelled, our preservation sure, fleshly ordinances abolished, and final triumph assured. It is a Salvation secured by the FATHER’s eternal Love, by the SON’s Redeeming work, and by the SPIRIT’s regenerating power to the working of our Salvation. It is a Salvation in which GOD THE FATHER is the children’s portion; GOD THE SON is their title to that portion, and GOD THE SPIRIT is the power to read their title clear, and to enjoy their blessed portion. It is Eternal Salvation; for the FATHER will never forsake them (Heb. 13:20), the SON is always with them (Matthew 28:20), and the SPIRIT is ever in them. It is a Salvation which is well called “the Way” ( John 14:6; Acts 9:2; 18:26; 19:9; 22:4,22; 24:14), for
THE FATHER’S voice is heard behind, saying: This is the Way; walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21).
THE SAVIOR’S voice is heard before, saying: “I am the Way, No man comes to the Father but by Me” (John 14:6).
THE SPIRIT’S voice is heard within, witnessing of the voice of the Father and of the Son.
What is the revelation of this wondrous provision for?
It is all to bring a poor lost sinner unto God. “Through Him (CHRIST), we have access by one SPIRIT to the FATHER (Ephesians 2:18; 3:12; Romans 5:2).
“Christ has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might BRING US TO GOD” (1 Peter 3:18).
Yes! to GOD. Not to a Church, not to a priest, not to Sacraments, not to Ordinances, not to anything short of Himself. Not only is He “the Way” to God, but He leads us in the Way; and actually brings us to God. Through Him we, who “were once far off, are now made nigh” (Ephesians 2:13).
“So near, so very near to God,
Nearer we cannot be;
For, in the Person of His Son,
We are as near as He.”
This is the intercourse or intimacy revealed in marriage and the cleaving unto the husband and the wife the one to the other.
Yes, “through Him”; not through a Church: by one Spirit, not by a sacrament: brought to the Father, and not unto “a state of salvation”. Yes, “through Him”. through Christ, we have access; and “by one Spirit”. Without the work of Christ the Will of the Father would not have been done for us. Without the witness of the Spirit the Father’s Grace would not have been known by us; and the Son’s Love would have had no charm for us.
Of the Spirit’s witness we sing:-
“And every virtue we possess,
And every victory won,
And every thought of holiness
Are His alone.”
“By one Spirit we both have access”; i.e., both Jew and Gentile. And it is “by one Spirit” that, both “the Son of God” was led through suffering, and “the many sons are brought to Glory” (Hebrews 2:10). See our other blog "God Has only One Way for Us All" for a study on the "The Holiest of All" written by Andrew Murray an exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews, for more detail.
· The Son was begotten by pneuma hagion (Luke 1:35, Matthew 1:18).
He was anointed by the Spirit of the Lord (Isaiah 51:1, Matthew 3:10).
He was led by the Spirit into trial (Matthew 4:1).
By the Spirit he cast out devils (Matthew 12:28); and
By the Spirit He offered Himself to God (Hebrews 9:14).
The lost and sinners are often exhorted: “Save your souls”; “Get right with God”; but, alas! what ignorance it displays both of God and of His great salvation. The fact that the Will of God is its source sends us back to eternity past, and to the volume of eternity’s book, in which, what is true physically of the natural birth is infinitely more true of the spiritual. So that we can truly say, as saved sinners:
“Tour eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect (not imperfect!); and in Your book all my members were written which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them” (Ps. 134:16). In the margin it is: “What days they should be fashioned.” Yes, He knew “the days”, “the due time”, in which it should be testified: on the Cross by the Son, and in our hearts by the Spirit. This lifts our redemption and later our salvation entirely out of the hands of man; takes our feet out of the miry clay; and sets them on the rock of God’s Will, God’s Work, and God’s Word.
To carry out that “Will”, and accomplish that “Work”, and fulfil that “Word”, the Son of God came forth from the bosom of the Father. And He accomplished all. This is why “it behooved Him to suffer” (Luke 24:46; Hebrews. 2:17). This is why “He must needs go through Samaria” (John 4:4). This is why He must “needs have suffered” (Acts 17:3). He came not to do His own will, but the Will of the Father (John 6:38). And He did it. If He did not, then it is useless for us to attempt it; or to try and supplement it wherein His work is deficient!
The channel by which God’s redemption and His salvation comes to us is “through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”(Heb 10:10). And even this body was “prepared” by the Father (verse 5). It is not through the Church, not through the Sacraments; not through any religious rites and ceremonies and ordinances; not through any “works of righteousness which we have done”; not through our prayers or penitence, tears or trials - but “through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:10). And the reality of it all, the means by which we realize this finished redemption and then our salvation, is “the witness of the Holy Ghost”, in the Word, and in our hearts. “Whereof the Holy Ghost is a witness to us” (Hebrews 10:15). Thus our Redemption and our Salvation are lifted, at once, right out of our hands. The more we consider this the more perfect and complete is the witness and the evidence.
(8) The Faith of God’s Children
For if we see that faith is the hand which takes what God gives, then we are left in no doubt about the fact that:
It is the “Gift of God” the Gather (Ephesians 2:8)
It is the “Grace” of Christ (Galatians 3:22), and
It is the “Fruit” (Galatians 3:22), and “Word” and “Will” of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12: 9-11).
Our readers must amplify, and dwell upon, all these three-fold Scriptures, and feed on the precious Truths which they reveal. We can only collect and present them: we can do no more, Each must feed upon them for himself. We ourselves are under the same great necessity.
(9) The Hope of God’s Children
If we have a good hope through Grace,
It is owing to the Father’s “abundant mercy” (1 Peter 1:3).
It is Christ Himself “who is our hope” (1 Timothy 1: 1).
It is “through the power of the Holy Ghost” that it abounds in us (Romans 15:13).
(10) The Love of God’s Children
If we speak of love, and if we are the objects of Divine Love (Ephesians 1:4), then
We are Loved by the FATHER; for it is His Love which is shed abroad in our hearts (Romans 5:5).
We are Loved by the SON who Loved us and gave Himself for us (Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 5:25, etc.,)
We are Loved by the SPIRIT, by which Love we are to strive together in prayer (Romans 15:30).
(11) The life of God’s Children
If we possess eternal Life, then
Our hope of it is based on the fact that GOD (the Father), that cannot lie, promised it before the world began (Titus 1:2).
Our possession of it is because the Life which God has given to us “is in His SON (1 John 5:11).
Our enjoyment of it is secured to us by the fact that it is wrought in us by the power of the SPIRIT (John 6:63).
(12)The Comfort of God’s Children
If we are, in any measure, are enabled to enjoy the consolations of the Gospel, it is because the Whole Godhead is engaged in our behalf to bring us to the blessings wherewith we are blessed in and through the Son.
It is the FATHER of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforts His children in all their tribulations (2 Corinthians 1:3,4).
It is the LORD JESUS CHRIST who was sent on purpose “to comfort all that mourn” and “heal the broken-hearted” (Isaiah 70:2; Luke 4:19).
It is the HOLY GHOST who gives “Rest” to all who walk in “the fear of God and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 9:31).
Oh what a God we have! Oh what a God to know! How important is the Word which thus reveals Him to us; not in the form of a creed to be rehearsed, but in all the blessed activities put forth
FOR us
TO us, and
IN us;
In the provision He has prepared for us Himself; conveyed to us in Christ; and shed abroad in us by the Holy Spirit.
From all this we learn that the Salvation about which the multitude so glibly talk and sing is not some wretched thing to be obtained or produced by us, but is a grand reality.
Wrought FOR us by God the Father.
Wrought TO us by the Son
Wrought IN us by God the Holy Ghost.
It is a Redemption that begins our Salvation in which our every want is supplied; our warfare is accomplished, our sin cancelled, our preservation sure, fleshly ordinances abolished, and final triumph assured. It is a Salvation secured by the FATHER’s eternal Love, by the SON’s Redeeming work, and by the SPIRIT’s regenerating power to the working of our Salvation. It is a Salvation in which GOD THE FATHER is the children’s portion; GOD THE SON is their title to that portion, and GOD THE SPIRIT is the power to read their title clear, and to enjoy their blessed portion. It is Eternal Salvation; for the FATHER will never forsake them (Heb. 13:20), the SON is always with them (Matthew 28:20), and the SPIRIT is ever in them. It is a Salvation which is well called “the Way” ( John 14:6; Acts 9:2; 18:26; 19:9; 22:4,22; 24:14), for
THE FATHER’S voice is heard behind, saying: This is the Way; walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21).
THE SAVIOR’S voice is heard before, saying: “I am the Way, No man comes to the Father but by Me” (John 14:6).
THE SPIRIT’S voice is heard within, witnessing of the voice of the Father and of the Son.
What is the revelation of this wondrous provision for?
It is all to bring a poor lost sinner unto God. “Through Him (CHRIST), we have access by one SPIRIT to the FATHER (Ephesians 2:18; 3:12; Romans 5:2).
“Christ has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might BRING US TO GOD” (1 Peter 3:18).
Yes! to GOD. Not to a Church, not to a priest, not to Sacraments, not to Ordinances, not to anything short of Himself. Not only is He “the Way” to God, but He leads us in the Way; and actually brings us to God. Through Him we, who “were once far off, are now made nigh” (Ephesians 2:13).
“So near, so very near to God,
Nearer we cannot be;
For, in the Person of His Son,
We are as near as He.”
This is the intercourse or intimacy revealed in marriage and the cleaving unto the husband and the wife the one to the other.
Yes, “through Him”; not through a Church: by one Spirit, not by a sacrament: brought to the Father, and not unto “a state of salvation”. Yes, “through Him”. through Christ, we have access; and “by one Spirit”. Without the work of Christ the Will of the Father would not have been done for us. Without the witness of the Spirit the Father’s Grace would not have been known by us; and the Son’s Love would have had no charm for us.
Of the Spirit’s witness we sing:-
“And every virtue we possess,
And every victory won,
And every thought of holiness
Are His alone.”
“By one Spirit we both have access”; i.e., both Jew and Gentile. And it is “by one Spirit” that, both “the Son of God” was led through suffering, and “the many sons are brought to Glory” (Hebrews 2:10). See our other blog "God Has only One Way for Us All" for a study on the "The Holiest of All" written by Andrew Murray an exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews, for more detail.
· The Son was begotten by pneuma hagion (Luke 1:35, Matthew 1:18).
He was anointed by the Spirit of the Lord (Isaiah 51:1, Matthew 3:10).
He was led by the Spirit into trial (Matthew 4:1).
By the Spirit he cast out devils (Matthew 12:28); and
By the Spirit He offered Himself to God (Hebrews 9:14).
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