"The Spirit himself beareth
witness with our spirits" (Rom 8:16).
We have said many things about man's spirit, but, when
we have said all that can be said, we really get nowhere
until we give the full place to the Holy Spirit.
The most perfectly articulated and adjusted man would be
no more than a fine piece of machinery without power, but
for the Spirit of God. He is the "Spirit of
life", "light", "truth",
"wisdom", "grace",
"supplication", "power", and
"understanding"; and indeed of all that God is
for us in Christ Jesus. While it is necessary that
he has an organ (spirit) in man of the same order as
Himself, that organ cannot function in relation to Divine
things without Him one whit more than the body can
function without its animal life. When we have
fully recognized the nature and faculties of the human
spirit, we must ever be watchful against making our
spirit the governing factor in our lives. We do not
keep our ears open to our spirit. Such
procedure would lead us into serious dangers. We
must "abide in Christ", not live in our own
spirit. For the child of God the Holy Spirit is the
Divine indweller of the human spirit, and He has the
direction and government of our lives. We shall not
escape confusion and confounding if we make anything
apart from the Lord Himself our court of appeal or sphere
of life. There are several matters in relation to
the Holy Spirit which are very vital to a life in any
real measure of fullness. One such matter is that
of the corporate nature of the anointing and operation of
the Spirit. We have dealt with this in other
writings, so will do no more than refer to it here.
But one far-reaching, and, we might say, all-inclusive
consideration is that of the Holy Spirit's supreme
object in this dispensation. This is—to make Christ
all-in-all.
Pentecost was a movement from heaven to make real and
true in men and women here (as the Church) what had taken
place in heaven. There Christ had been exalted at the
right hand of God. He had been "crowned with glory
and honour". "All things" had been put,
"under his feet", etc. He had been installed as
the pattern of man in full accordance with God's thought
and intention. This exaltation and installing was to be a
governing reality in all God's dealings with
man. Conformity to the image of God's Son was to motivate
all God's practical relationships with believers.
Everything, from new birth to glorification, was to have
Christ as its power, its nature, and its goal. He, and He
alone, was to be the resource for living, being, and
serving. What had been true in principle as to His own
life on earth in relation to God had to become true in
the case of all related to Him after His exaltation.
"Nothing of (out from, Gk.) himself" (John
5:19) was a rigid law of all His movements, works, words,
times, ways. He would commit Himself in no way that would
make it impossible for Him to quickly change His course
if the Father intimated the desire. He would care nothing
for publicity or public opinion. In everything and
everywhere the Father's will and way ruled His life. This
was the great "even as" which embraced both
Himself and His Own afterward (John 15:10; 17:16 etc.).
For all this—the setting aside of all of self in
every way and consideration, and, the enthroning of
Christ as absolute Lord—the Holy Spirit came. The
soul is the seat of the human ego, the spirit is
the sanctuary of the risen and exalted Christ, and there
He has to rule all that is personal in us, so that in all
things He may have the pre-eminence. This is the
all-embracing work of the Holy Spirit.
"For this cause I bow my knees unto the
Father... that he would grant you, according to the
riches of his glory, that ye may be strengthened with
power through his Spirit in the inward man; that Christ
may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that
ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be strong to
apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and
length and height and depth, and to know the love of
Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled
unto all the fullness of God" (Eph 3:14-19).