The
Dispensation of the Holy Spirit
It is common knowledge
that God has arranged the course of this world's history
in what we call ages or dispensations, which simply means
that at certain different times a particular
distinguishing, character is given to the period. There
were the past dispensations, which had their own
character and nature and regime. There will be future
dispensations, called in the New Testament "the ages
of the ages"; they, again, will have their own
special characteristics. We ourselves, at the present
time, are in one of these particular arrangements of God.
It is also common
knowledge that the advent of the Holy Spirit, on that
particular occasion which has come to be known as 'The
Day of Pentecost', marked a change in the nature of the
ages. That day saw a change of dispensations. That day
brought in the dispensation in which we still live, which
has its own particular and peculiar characteristics,
different from all the others.
This, of course, is a
commonly accepted truth, but the failure to recognise
adequately the nature of the change which took place on
that day has resulted in very much that is dishonouring
to the Lord Jesus, and to Christianity. There is a great
deal that does not honour the Lord Jesus in the present
state of Christianity as we know it. There is that about
the present condition which almost everyone deplores. For
instance, there are very few people who do not deplore
the divisions amongst Christians. These and many other
things have brought about a state which really does not
glorify our Lord, and makes room for much that would not
exist if He had things according to His own mind. That is
due in the main to an inadequate apprehension of the
change which took place on the day of Pentecost - the
advent of the Holy Spirit - and what it was intended to
mean for this world and for the people of God.
The
Holy Spirit's Work in This Age
There are four great
features of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in this age.
(a)
The Relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Man in Heaven
Firstly, the Holy
Spirit is related to the perfected Man in Heaven, who is
His - the Holy Spirit's - vision, objective and passion.
In other words, the Holy Spirit has come as committed to
that One at God's right hand, the perfected Man, God's
Son, to work everything in relation to Him. He is the
inclusive objective of the Holy Spirit's work in this
dispensation. The Holy Spirit's passion is Jesus Christ
in Heaven, as God's Model for a new creation. That is the
first thing.
(b)
An Alteration in Man's Being
The second great matter
with which the Holy Spirit is connected in this age, and
intimately linked with the first, is the alteration of
man's very being. He is concerned to make a fundamental
difference in the very being of man, initially and
progressively. This is a very great thing.
(c)
Calling Out a People into Life-Union with Christ
The third thing is the
calling out from the nations of a people into life-union
with Christ, whereby His Church - the Church which is His
Body - is formed. That is the commitment made by the Holy
Spirit to the Lord Jesus Himself: to bring into being His
Body for Him, to make that Body suitable to Him, and to
take that Body back to Him. The energies of the Holy
Spirit are Churchward, related to the forming of the Body
of Christ by gathering and building up. That is simply
the fulfilment of the Lord's own words: "I will
build my church" (Matt. 16:18). Seeing that so soon
after saying those words He went back to glory, it is
evident that it was handed over to the Holy Spirit to
fulfil the thing that He had said He would do.
(d)
The Commissioning and Empowering of the Church for World
Ministry
And fourthly, the Holy
Spirit has as His work the commissioning and empowering
of the Church for a world mission and ministry. I
underline the Church. It is very important to
underline that, because it takes us back to what we said
at the beginning, that an inadequate apprehension of the
meaning of the coming of the Holy Spirit has led to many
weaknesses and defects. It is the Church that is the
anointed vessel for a world commission and ministry. It
is the Church that is called to do that. But that has
been missed. If only the Church as a whole had stood into
the anointing and the commission, we should have seen a
continuance of what was at the beginning. But that has
been largely lost; it has slipped away from recognition,
though there are signs of a return to it now. But the
truth is that the connection of the Holy Spirit in this
dispensation is with the Church for its commissioning and
empowering for a world mission and ministry.
Now, within those four
things, as you will realise, many other things will be
found. I am not going to take up those four now, but only
a small fragment from the second.
The
Alteration of Man's Being
The alteration in man's
being is a work to which the Holy Spirit has committed
Himself, and for which He has come. The first aspect of
that great change, by the work and power of the Holy
Spirit, is the effecting of a vital union between man and
God in Jesus Christ; aliveness to God in a very
immediate, a very real, a very full, conscious way;
something altogether new as to man's consciousness of
God, and God's aliveness to man. That is the first phase
and stage of this work of the Holy Spirit with regard to
man's very being.
New
Birth: A Lamp Re-lit
This aliveness to God
involves what the New Testament speaks of as 'new birth',
being born anew. But what is that? It is the re-birth of
a certain faculty by which man is able to have this
aliveness to God. The Word of God has this phrase:
"The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord"
(Prov. 20:27). Now a lamp is a very definite and concrete
object. A lamp is something in itself. It is not just
something abstract. A lamp is a definite object.
"The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord."
When Adam was disobedient, that lamp went out. The spirit
of man was no longer the lamp of the Lord in that man.
The light went out.
And so right through
the Bible it is assumed and declared that man by nature
is in darkness, man by nature is blind, man by nature is
without understanding, man by nature has not the
knowledge which is life. The Lord Jesus built His whole
coming and ministry upon that fact. "I am come a
light into the world" (John 12:46). "(I came)
into this world, that they which see not may see"
(John 9:39). "This is life eternal, that they should
know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst
send, even Jesus Christ" (John 17:3). It is assumed
and taken for granted that man is in the dark, blind,
without knowledge, and without understanding.
The
Deep Things of God
Now, the great passage
which gathers all that into itself is the verse from
which we have taken the title of this message - 1
Corinthians 2:14.
"Now the
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of
God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot
know them, because they are spiritually judged. But he
that is spiritual judgeth all things".
We ought really to read
the whole chapter, and I suggest to you that you read
this chapter very carefully as soon as possible. What
have we here? Well, in verse 10 we have this phrase:
"For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep
things of God". Now that is said in connection with
what has just gone before. "Things which eye saw
not, and ear heard not, and which entered not into the
heart of man, whatsoever things God prepared for them
that love him. But unto us God revealed them through the
Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the
deep things of God."
Now the statement
broken up is just this. There are the deep things of God.
Those deep things of God are "things which no eye
hath seen, no ear hath heard, things whereof no vision
ever dawned on human heart, all those things which God
hath made ready for those who love Him." That is how
Wey puts that verse very beautifully. And the covering
statement is that the natural man is shut out of all
that. He just cannot know the deep things of God, for the
natural eye has not seen, the natural ear has not heard,
the natural heart has not conceived or perceived anything
of this. All that was closed down to man when Adam
disobeyed God. The natural man is utterly at a discount,
entirely incapacitated, in the realm of the things of
God. That is a very thorough-going, very drastic, very
comprehensive statement.
A
Renewed Faculty
Something, then, has
got to be done in man, if he is to come back into the
realm where all that is open to him, where to him the
deep things of God are an open book - a marvellous thing
to say: where the things which eye never saw, ear never
heard, heart never perceived, are all open, the heritage
and the inheritance of man. Something has got to happen
to change that state and make that true. But here it is!
It is stated not as something that is going to be later
on. This does not belong to the Hereafter, to Heaven,
when we shall see. No, this is something which came in on
the day of Pentecost. "God hath" - not
is going to - "God hath revealed them unto us by His
Spirit": 'unto us', says Paul, 'did God unveil them
by His Spirit.' The lamp has been re-lit, the light has
been re-born; the faculty, which is the lamp of spiritual
life, light, understanding, knowledge, perception and
inheritance, has been brought into new life.
That is the new birth.
It is the spirit of man, which lost its power of knowing
God and the things of God, brought back into life as from
the dead, brought back into the light as out of darkness,
brought back into knowledge as out from ignorance,
brought back into sight as out from blindness. This, dear
friends, is the very beginning of the Christian life. Oh,
if that were entered into and apprehended, and really
were true of every Christian, am I not right in saying
that much of that which exists would not exist? and that
is putting it very mildly. So we begin in nature with a
man incapacitated in regard to God and all His things,
and then, with the coming of the Holy Spirit and the work
of the Holy Spirit in new birth, the incapacitated man is
capacitated. He has a faculty that he never before
possessed in nature; he is quickened and made alive.
Now, this whole matter,
as I suggested, relates first of all, initially, to a
faculty. We have got to realise this, for it is a point
upon which so much hangs. It concerns a faculty, renewed,
quickened and energized by the Spirit of God, for knowing
the deep things of God. It is not just a matter of
information from without. It is not just a matter of what
you get in addresses, teachings, ministries, messages and
books. You can cram yourself with information about God
and the things of God, you can read it up and get all
that kind of knowledge and give it out as though it were
your own, and yet it is secondhand. What the Spirit of
God does is to make everything original, firsthand, in
us; and if it is not that, we are simply living on
something objective, outside of ourselves, whether it be
sermons, addresses, churches or what not. There has to be
a lighted lamp within us to illuminate the things of God.
Vital
Union With God
But we spoke of a
'vital' union with God. That is indicated in further
words in this chapter from 1 Corinthians. "Who among
men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the
man, which is in him?" May I illustrate by
addressing my male readers for a moment? You and I,
brethren, can understand one another - up to a point at
any rate! - just because we are fellow-men. We know how
men think and how men feel and how men act; and if we
know other men, we know what to expect from men and what
not to expect from men. We are men, and there is
something in us which we have in common which is a man's
life, which gives us ability to understand one another.
"Even so",
says the Apostle, "the things of God none knoweth,
save the Spirit of God." Only the Spirit of God
understands the things of God, because They have
everything in common. Now the natural man does not
understand God or the things of God. We know that. Even
though we are Christians, how our own natural life limits
our understanding of God! We have got to have some
knowledge and understanding of God that we do not possess
naturally, otherwise we are fogged and defeated and
baffled. Only the Spirit of God understands God, because
They are God in common.
Now, if the Spirit of
God comes into us and begins to operate in us, we are
lifted on to a higher level altogether than the 'natural
man' level. The Spirit begins through this renewed
faculty to make us able to understand the things of God,
and that is the experience of every one to whom the
Spirit reveals. It begins with a faculty in us. Oh, it is
a wonderful thing, a wonderful thing, this faculty
- I think the most wonderful thing in the whole Christian
life, apart from the grace of God. It is a tremendous
thing to have the key, the secret; in union with the
Spirit of God to have a faculty in yourself for seeing
through - for grasping the things of God. It is a
wonderful thing to have that faculty, the greatest thing
that we can possibly have. Just think of all this that is
closed to the natural man - the deep things of God and
all that is said about the deep things of God - and then
follow on and say, "God hath revealed them unto
us". And it is because He has done something in us.
Are you in the good of
that? Oh, it is not perfect. I said that it is initially
by a faculty being renewed, so that man is a changed
being with this very faculty. But it is also progressive
along two lines or in two ways.
'Revelation'
and 'Apprehension'
These two words occur
in that part of the New Testament which is the consummate
presentation of God's mind as to the Church - the Letter
to the Ephesians.
The first is in the
prayer in chapter 1, at verse 17: "a spirit of...
revelation".
The second is in the
prayer in chapter 3, at verse 18: "...strong to
apprehend... the knowledge-surpassing love of
Christ".
So that - this being
for those who have already known the definite basic
change by new birth - the way of progress in spiritual
knowledge and understanding is by revelation and
apprehension.
When we speak of
'revelation', let it be understood (and we say this with
all the emphasis that we can command) that we do not mean
something extra to the Scriptures, but what God means
by the Scriptures * (see note at the end). It is
surely unnecessary to take time to argue that it is one
thing to have the Book and another thing to understand
it. Further, the mind of man - even Christian man -
cannot understand Scripture unless the Holy Spirit
reveals its meaning. There are many overwhelming proofs
of this, perhaps preeminently the fact that there are so
very many absolutely divergent and opposing
interpretations given, and positions held, by very
devoted servants of God. The Spirit of God is not of two
or more conflicting minds - He is of one mind, and
in inspired Scripture He urges believers to "be of
the same mind". This may be regarded as an
impossible hope or expectation, and such a reaction only
proves the extent of the departure that has taken place
from the government of the Holy Spirit. On the other
hand, this is just one - the main - aspect of the large
issue that the Lord does not abandon His primary
principles, but will - within the general declension -
seek to have a true expression thereof. It has ever been
so.
But to return to
'revelation' and 'apprehension', which are two aspects of
the one thing - the Spirit showing, and the spiritual
person being able to take hold of what is shown and to
turn it to account.
The very heart of this
matter, and that upon which so very much hangs, is just
this principle of 1 Corinthians 2:14. It is no more
possible for a Christian - a very devoted, earnest,
diligent Christian - to arrive at the mind of God, in the
Bible or out of it, by means of any natural faculty, than
it is for an unsaved person. Natural intellect,
brain-power, acumen, training, are unavailing here. The
same is true of psychic powers, the extra things of
'sixth sense' and mystical insight.
'Soul'
and 'Flesh' Helpless in Spiritual Things
We have only to look at
the word used in our Scripture - "the natural man".
That is a descriptive word. It not only refers to an
unconverted person who knows nothing of new birth, but it
defines or describes a particular kind of person.
"Natural" is our translation of the Greek word
which means 'soulical' or 'man of soul'. The soul
comprises the reason (intellect), feeling (emotion), and
will (volition). So, the man who approaches, and proceeds
to give a judgment or arrive at a verdict on any Divine
matter, by means of any or all of these, is said to be
out of court where the Holy Spirit and "the things
of the Spirit" are concerned. This is fairly
drastic, deep-cutting and far-reaching, but it is the
teaching of all the Scriptures and is demonstrated very
powerfully in them.
The usual appeal for
verdicts, judgments, and guidance in matters of conflict
is to 'scholars' or 'students'; to those who have studied
and learnt in the schools, or who have intellectual
qualifications. The Word of God just sweeps the board of
all this, as something in itself, and passes the
judgment that the soul of man is in itself wholly
without authority in spiritual matters, and that
therefore the man who operates only upon the basis of his
soul just cannot know the things of the Spirit.
The only ones who are
safe and whose judgment should be sought and trusted are spiritual
men, who derive their knowledge from a close walk
with God, a truly crucified life, a life of much
referring and deferring to God by prayer. Nothing but
confusion and distress can result from any other course.
This places a very solemn responsibility upon all who
would help others and influence lives for God.
The context of 1
Corinthians 2:14 throws much light on all this. The
conditions being dealt with were those of spiritual
limitation, childishness, quarrelsomeness - all tending
to be destructive. This is all put down to a 'soulical'
level or basis of life impinging upon Divine things. By
contrast, the categorical message is that, for
constructiveness, unity, growth, maturity and
effectiveness, another basis is essential - life in the
Spirit by really spiritual people. Later the Apostle
introduces another word, "carnal". This does
not necessarily mean a third species. Carnal - or 'of the
flesh' - just means the positive factor of self-hood in
the soul; it is the 'I' principle, as the context
shows.
The trouble lies not in
the fact that man has a soul, but that when the soul is
made the basis of attempted ingress into Divine things it
is exceeding its province, and will create trouble. When,
however, the soul is actuated by personal motives,
selfish interests, and unworthy considerations, that is
'carnality' - fleshliness - and is positively evil.
Having said that, we
imagine that some may still not be clear as to what -
from the practical standpoint - is meant by
"revelation". How does it come? Well, let us
say emphatically that we do not mean hearing
voices, sitting in a passive state and receiving
impressions, communications, getting ideas, and all that
sort of thing. The real key to this is a spirit alive and
sensitive to the Spirit of God. The outworking of that is
what the Apostle calls the witness of the Spirit.
"The Spirit himself beareth witness with our
spirit" (Romans 8:16).
The
Witness of the Spirit
How does the Spirit
bear witness? "The mind of the Spirit is life and
peace" (vs. 6). The Spirit is "the Spirit of
life" (vs. 2). Our spirits have been made alive with
Divine life, which is different from natural life. We
know that we are alive in a new way. So when things
accord with the Spirit we have a real witness or sense of
life. When they are not according to the Spirit we miss that
witness, and if they run contrary to the Spirit we sense
- or ought to sense - His reserve, veto, disagreement,
and that is death, a cold dead registration upon our
spirit.
Again, the Spirit is
"the Spirit of truth" (John 16:13). It ought to
be impossible for a child of God - much more a servant of
God - to receive, accept, and pass on something that is
not true, without the Holy Spirit witnessing to his or
her spirit that that is not the truth. If at the moment
they are not sufficiently alive to the touch, if they are
given to times of waiting upon the Lord for fellowship
and communion (not just to bring a lot of requests), that
doubtful thing will come back and it will have to be
faced. This is true spirituality, and this is what it
means to walk with God.
It can easily be seen
that, if this were more generally true of the Lord's
people, a vast amount of ground would be protected from
the Devil's work of mischief-making and divisiveness. One
of the most poignant problems in evangelical Christianity
is that of how people who know and teach the doctrine of
the indwelling Spirit can accept, believe, and pass on
things that are untrue about other people of God, and yet
the Holy Spirit be unable to give them a bad time over it
inwardly.
What we have said about
the Spirit bearing witness is the basis of all
revelation. The Word of God has got to come alive in us.
We may know the Bible in its content, and know it very
well. So did the Jews and their teachers. But, all the
same, they killed God's Son! It is only as the Holy
Spirit takes the Word and just brings it alive, so that
it makes all the difference to us in life, behaviour,
understanding, and strength, that we are able to say,
'The Lord has made that live in me, and I can never be
the same again.'
Spiritual knowledge is
of a different order from merely intellectual
knowledge, even of the Word of God. The intellect is a
servant of the spirit, not the master. The spirit tells
the intellect, not the other way round. The intellect is
the organ of the self-conscious existence, just
as are feeling and will. The spirit is the organ of the God-conscious
life, and this links with realms of knowledge that are
closed to intellectualism by itself.
We hope that what we
have said will throw some light upon two things:
(1) The way of
spiritual progress after new birth.
(2) The cause of the
confusion and bewildering contradictions amongst the most
well-meaning Christians.
In closing this part of
our consideration there are just one or two things to add
briefly.
The answer to any
question, the end of all argument, and the truth about
any matter is never the best opinion or judgment of men -
however influential or devout. It is - Where does the
matter in question put the Lord Jesus? Does this mean
that He has the only place, and will our going any given
way mean more of Him in our lives? Are we likely to make
progress in the knowledge of Christ and be enlarged in
Christly stature by any presented course? This is how
Paul settled the debate in Galatia and the quarrels over
teachers in Corinth.
Then, let it be
understood that the gift of the Holy Spirit is the
birthright of every true child of God. The presence of
the Holy Spirit within is meant to bring us under an open
Heaven and into a constantly enlarging apprehension of
Christ. But remember that Romans 6 precedes Romans 8, as
Romans 8 most surely issues from Romans 6.
* Note on the
Meaning of 'Revelation'
An
illustration taken from the life of Martin Luther.
'I was seized with a
marvellous burning desire to understand what Paul said in
his epistle to the Romans: but there was one passage that
stood in my way, and it was in the first chapter. It read
(verse 17): "The righteousness of God is revealed in
the gospel". I hated that phrase, "the
righteousness of God", as was then usual among
scholars, I understood it in the sense of a righteousness
that 'gives each one his due'; it meant that the
righteous God simply punished sinful and wicked men. But
I felt that, even if I lived blamelessly as a monk, I was
still a sinner in God's sight, and I had a very uneasy
conscience. I felt that I had and could have no certainty
of finding reconciliation by any atonement which it lay
in my power to make. I had therefore no liking for a
righteous God who punished sinners; rather, I hated Him:
and, if not with silent blasphemy, at least in many a
rebellious mood, I complained against Him in a dreadful
way, and said, 'Was it not enough that a poor sinner
should be lost to all eternity on account of original
sin, and that they should be punished with all sorts of
pains and penalties by the Mosaic law and the Ten
Commandments? Whereas now, God must use the gospel to
pile up punishments and threaten us with His
righteousness and wrath!' I raged against it all with a
wounded and confused conscience, and I was constantly
coming into collision with that phrase of Paul's, and
thirsting eagerly to know what he meant by it.'
'Luther rose to his
feet and strode to and fro... After a time he sat down
again and once more read the text in its context.
Suddenly his vision cleared; he felt as if a veil had
been taken away; he could see what Paul meant; the
righteousness of which Paul spoke was not the
righteousness of God seeking retribution, but that which
was imputed to the believer; it was therefore a profound
expression for the grace of God: God presents His own
righteousness to the believer. By His grace God regards
him as if he were already righteous, even though he is
not so... The righteousness of Christ is something
belonging to me.'
It was at that moment
that Luther was delivered. He sprang up from his chair.
'It seemed to me as if I had been born again and as if I
had entered Paradise through newly opened doors. All at
once the Bible began to speak in quite a different way to
me. The very phrase "the righteousness of God"
which I had heard before, was the one that I now loved
best of all. That is how that passage of Paul's became
for me the gateway to Paradise.'
We could cite better
examples of our meaning of 'revelation', but we have
chosen this because it may serve more than one purpose.