"I John, your brother and partaker with you in the tribulation
and kingdom and patience which are in Jesus, was in the isle
that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of
Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind
me a great voice" (Rev. 1:9-10).
"But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that
the Spirit of God dwells in you" (Rom. 8:9).
"I was in the Spirit... Ye are in the Spirit if so be that the
Spirit of God dwells in you".
Although in John's case the effect of being in the Spirit was
particular, specific, the word from Romans indicates that the
normal life of a true child of God is a life in the Spirit. We are
placed there by our new birth, when born of the Spirit, when we
receive the Holy Spirit. The education of the children of God lies
in that very realm, and is a matter of learning from day to day,
in all situations, how to abide in the Spirit, to keep in the
Spirit.
Now, we know what this means by the natural. Perhaps we say, and
we have heard people say: "Well, I was not in the spirit of that",
or, "I was not in the spirit for that". They may use another word;
they may use the word 'mood' - that is what they mean. They were
not 'in tune' with the situation; they were of another and a
different spirit; they were not 'at home' in the situation or in
the atmosphere, or prepared for what was on hand; they were out of
it, or, we were out of it.
But here it is not an 'it'. That same principle applies to our
Christian life, and everything for us hangs upon whether we are,
in the true sense, 'in the Spirit', or not 'in the Spirit'. That
is, of course, in the Holy Spirit. Now, John said, "I was in the
Spirit, and I heard...". He heard because he was 'in the Spirit'.
There are two or three simple, but very important, things that
this word teaches us. And, quite clearly, in the case of John,
being 'in the Spirit' represented a translation from himself and
from his earthly situation. It is not a contradiction, but it is
transcendent when John said, in one sentence "I was in the isle
that is called Patmos", and in the next sentence, "I was in the
Spirit". All that being 'in Patmos' meant, of course, constituted
a very difficult situation for him or for any man in like
circumstances: isolation, exile, separation, loneliness and
certain other privations; a situation that could have been most
depressing, disconcerting or even devastating. That was the
natural situation. John said, "I was in the Spirit. While in
Patmos, I was in the Spirit". And being 'in the Spirit', as we
see, meant being above his circumstances; being translated out of
the earthly conditions as the final and ultimate argument in life.
There was something other, something more, something different in
which he could live. 'In the Spirit' he was not a prisoner in
Patmos: he was free! 'In the Spirit' he was not crushed and
overwhelmed by his natural circumstances: he was lifted up. Being
'in the Spirit' gives us another realm, another set of
circumstances. It is a great lifting up and lifting out thing to
be 'in the Spirit'.
I started by saying that this is the realm and the nature of the
Christian's education: how to live and how to abide in the Spirit
day by day, in the city and all that that means, in the home and
what that means, where we are, whatever our 'Patmos' might be. It
might be anything that is not pleasant to the flesh - "ye are not
in the flesh but in the Spirit if so be that the Spirit of Christ
dwells in you". You have another realm, and you have another
power, and another life, and another environment. And every one of
us knows very well that this is true, that we have to learn how to
live in our 'native air', as born-from-above children of God.
Evidently it was true with John that, while being in Patmos, he
was not in Patmos. He could set over against all that, 'I was in
the Spirit'.
But again, what did that mean in his case, and what does it mean
in our case, to be 'in the Spirit'? What we have just said may be
regarded as the negative side. We are not in the flesh; we are not
in the world; we are not necessarily in the control of our
circumstances or the domination of our surroundings. We are not if
we are 'in the Spirit'. But there is a positive side, and we will
always do well to keep on the positive side of things! With John,
being 'in the Spirit' meant occupation with the Lord Jesus. You
see how true that was in his case there - being occupied with
Christ. This is a matter for our exercise, because it is an
attitude of heart and mind. We have so much in the New Testament
of this kind: 'looking off unto Jesus'. Being 'in the Spirit' will
always mean this, for this is the Spirit's occupation. The
occupation of the Holy Spirit, as we know, is with the Lord Jesus,
from first to last, all the way through. His occupation is with
the Lord Jesus; He has come as committed to the interests of the
Lord Jesus, to keep them always in view and to work concerning
them. We can say that the Holy Spirit's one and all-inclusive
occupation is with the Lord Jesus. And if we are in the Spirit
that will be our occupation. It will be true, as in the case of
Paul, 'for us to live is Christ', but it must be an attitude of
heart and of mind; we must be set on the Lord Jesus.
I have no doubt whatever that on this particular 'Lord's day'
John was not found occupied with the Lord Jesus for the first
time; we know otherwise. It was not such a great transition from
his normal occupation with the Lord Jesus to this specific
encounter with the Lord Jesus. The Lord comes specifically to
those whose hearts are always set upon Him. It is not a far cry
from a continuous outreach of heart to Him, to some particular
discovery of Him. John was always occupied with the Lord Jesus,
but on this occasion there was something special about that. The
latter would not have been, I think, but for the former. My point
is that we must, from day to day, cultivate this attitude of heart
and mind to be occupied with the Lord Jesus, and in that we shall
find the Spirit with us, the Spirit on our side to help us. We do
know very well, and we are very slow to learn, that we do not get
very much help from the Holy Spirit, or His companionship as the
One alongside when we are occupied with what is not the Lord
Jesus, I mean, with what is contrary to Him. Then we get into the
mire, and He leaves us there until we 'turn our eyes upon Jesus
and look full into His wonderful face'.
Now, the point is again, that if Christ can be seen anywhere, in
anyone, He will only be seen as we are 'in the Spirit'. If we are
out of the Spirit we shall see anything but Christ, around us and
in people. We can come into a gathering and there may be much of
the Lord both as present in the very atmosphere, and in the Word,
and in other ways, and we just miss everything because we are not
'in the Spirit'. We will be seeing people, and how things are
done, and what is done, and everything like that; probably all the
faults, all the weaknesses. We are not in the Spirit, and we are
seeing anything but Christ even though He is there to be seen. If
you and I are 'in the Spirit', if Christ can be seen in anyone, we
shall see Him; if we are not 'in the Spirit' we shall see
everything but Christ in one another. If He is to be seen,
wherever that is, in persons, in gatherings, in things, it
requires our being in the Spirit to see the Lord, and to hear Him.
What are we looking for? Are we looking for those things that will
confirm us in our judgments, conclusions, opinions? If we are
looking for the Lord Jesus, we shall only be looking for the
Lord Jesus if we are 'in the Spirit'. If He is to be seen, we
shall see Him if we are in the Spirit.
"I was in the Spirit and I heard..." It is always like
that. What there was to hear, what there was to see, was the
natural result of being 'in the Spirit'.
One other word. John, with his long Christian life of experience,
service, and knowledge would never have been able to understand,
to receive, or to understand all that is in this book that he
wrote if he had not been 'in the Spirit'. But put that the other
way; look at what is here! You know all the schools, all the
teaching, all the teachers, all the interpreters. I suppose there
is no book that has produced more books than this book, trying to
explain it; and we seem still to be far from a perfect
understanding of it. I have no doubt that John understood it all,
every bit of it; he knew all that it meant. And there are some
mysteries in this book. How was it that he could receive, could
understand, could know? Because he was 'in the Spirit'.
Again it is this: the Holy Spirit is our capacity for
understanding things that no natural man can understand. It is our
comfort. The Holy Spirit is our capacity for understanding; the
Holy Spirit knows it all; and the Holy Spirit in us can make us
know and understand profundities and ranges that no natural mind
can grasp. That is, of course, stated definitely by the apostle to
the Corinthians: "The Spirit Himself searches all thing yea,
the deep things of God"; "The natural man receives not
the things of the Spirit... the Spirit Himself has revealed them."
Here is a capacity, an ability which transcends all our natural
ability in this matter. Do you sometimes feel your limitations in
understanding divine things, and despair? This is not for such as
have great natural capacity for grasping and understanding; the
Spirit is for the child of God, whoever that child may be, learned
or unlearned. It is just this, "if so be that the Spirit of
Christ dwells in us". There is a capacity by the indwelling
Spirit for what the greatest minds and brains without the Holy
Spirit can never grasp.
Now John says: "I was in the Spirit... and I heard". What
did he hear? Well, the things that have defeated and defied all
natural attempts to interpret and explain. He heard and he saw.
You and I, if we have the Spirit, have a capacity for a life with
the Lord in knowledge and understanding that lifts us on to a
level that is above the best equipment apart from the Holy Spirit.
Now, in all this, so hurriedly and imperfectly given, there is a
challenge. Probably you have sensed the challenge. The Lord Jesus
may be present in people: He may be present in gatherings; He may
be present with intent to make Himself known, to reveal Himself,
to come into touch with us, with all that that means, and we may
miss it all because we are not in the Spirit!
Now the quite evident challenge is this: we must get adjusted
with the Spirit. As we face each day we must ask the Lord that we
may enter the day, and remain through the day, in the Spirit, for
we never know when it is going to be 'the Lord's Day', a Lord's
Day in this sense, when the Lord Jesus has something to say of
vital consequence. When we come, or face coming to the Lord's
people in gatherings, do we not need to get adjusted, that we come
'in the Spirit'? Then we shall not just come to a place and meet
people, but, if He is there, we meet Him at once, and He meets us
at once, and there is contact at once with the Lord. But we can
come and go and miss everything if we are not 'in the Spirit'. Oh,
I do feel that so much hangs upon this, whether we are in life
adjusted to the Holy Spirit. A knowledge of the Lord Jesus depends
upon that.