Transcribed from a message
given in 1965. The spoken message can be found on the Audio page of this website. The spoken form has been retained
verbatim.
His face
as a
flint
to go up to Jerusalem. See what that means?
All that was involved in that
we know and He knew,
but He set his face steadfastly as a flint, to go up to
Jerusalem; Hes committed. Hes committed! Hes
under the Spirits government.
You know, you travel by air, you travel long distance by
air, there is always a point which the pilot knows to be
the point from which there is no turning back. Weve
gone too far to turn back; it would be far more fatal to
turn back if anything goes wrong than to go on. From this
point the only thing to do, whatever happens, is to go on,
we're committed. Jesus went all the way from the day when
the Spirit came upon Him; in His heart Hed gone all
the way, there was no turning back. He set His face,
steadfast.
I repeat: a life under the Holy Spirits government
is a committed life on which there ought to be no turning
back. Have you reached that point of committal? Have you
really reached that point of committal? As we say, all
the boats burned behind, all the bridges with the past
destroyed, blown up? Committed. The Wind has taken over,
the Spirit is in a position of mastery: subduing,
controlling, a force which subdues every other force in
us. Every other force! Well see that working out in
a moment.
So the first thing - and dear friends I keep very strictly
to the Scriptures in what Im saying, you know this
is so - the first thing about the Holy Spirit as the Wind
from heaven and as seen on the day of Pentecost, the
great foundation of the dispensation which is the
dispensation of the Holy Spirit, is that He just takes
everything into His hands and demands that place
of absolute sovereignty. Youre not going
to argue with the Wind! You know its futile to
argue with a hurricane, its futile to try out
conclusions with a mighty rushing Wind! Youll
either be disastrously broken or gloriously broken. Its
possible to be gloriously broken. But everything of
Christ comes along that line: following the Spirit.
The next thing about the Wind is that the Wind chooses
and takes its own course. You cannot tell the wind which
way to go or to come. You cannot dictate to the wind as
to what its choice should be, this or that. Wind just
chooses its own course and takes its own course; so is
everyone born of God, born of the Spirit. The Spirit
demands the right to do this with us, dear friends, to
choose His course with us and to take His course with us,
He demands the right to do it.
Now, Peter is a very splendid example of this whole
thing. In a very real sense Peter is the embodiment of
all that Im saying. Its not without
significance that its Peter who is the foremost
figure on the day of Pentecost. Not without significance,
I said. What significance? Why, the very significance of
Peter himself! Remember the last words that the Lord said
to Peter in the old regime, before the ascension: Simon,
when thou wast young thou girdedst thyself and wentest whithersoever
thou wouldest but when thou art old another shall gird
thee, carry thee whither thou wouldest not. Whither
thou wouldest, whither thou wouldest not; naturally. Here
you have Peter present with his own natural temperament,
this mercurial man. What a descriptive word that
is; have you ever spilt some mercury on the ground and
tried to pick it up again, get it together again? Why,
youve got to go after it in all directions and when
you think youve got it you havent; thats
Peter isnt it? Simon, very descriptive
the
old Simon, his temperament, his natural make-up and
constitution and disposition... diving off all the time.
Frustrated in one way; hes off in another. Thou
wentest whithersoever thou wouldest. The Lord had
got Peter well summed up hadn't He: Whither thou
wouldest you dictated your own course; you chose
your own way, you followed your own likes and dislikes
and preferences. YOU were the sovereign of your own life
and, as you thought, of your own destiny; but
another shall gird thee, another shall gird thee. That
belongs to your spiritual immaturity all that, your
spiritual maturitys going to be marked by this:
another shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou, the
old Simon, wouldest not! This Spirit that will gird you,
will work quite contrary to your own make-up, your
temperament, your disposition and make it impossible for
you just to do as you like or as you are disposed to do,
another shall gird thee. The Wind chooses its own
course, takes it, so is everyone born of God
Peter on the day of Pentecost came under the mighty
girding and now the battle between old Simon and
new Peter begins! Next thing as you know, Acts chapter
10, Peter is on the housetop praying; been fasting and
praying and he becomes very hungry, and falls into a
trance and sees a vision. You remember the story of the
sheet let down, full of unclean creatures. And a voice:
Arise Peter kill and eat. Old Simon rises up
and says: Not so Lord! How we mix things up
dont we, when we get into that realm of nature,
Lord
that word wont do, that word
wont do when its our saying not so.
You cannot say Lord and at the same time say
not so. And three times this happened and the
vision passes and Peters called, and you know the
rest of the story dont you? There arrives the three
men from Caesarea and Cornelius the centurion, knocking
at the door
Read the story, I havent time to
just go over it again.
Peter was girded; the Lord said "Go with them",
go with them; the Spirit said go with them. The
Spirit said go with them! It was a headache for
Simon but he was girded and he went - into the house of a
Gentile! Into the company of Gentiles; unclean beasts
according to Jewish ritual. According, mark you, and youve
heard me say this before, to the Scriptures of the Old
Testament. Hed got the Scriptures on his side, as
he thought, and he is standing upon his interpretation of
the Scriptures, they were supporting him. But the Spirit
was doing something; see the contradiction to the very
Scriptures and to his whole position! Oh, I know the
danger of what Im saying, but you see the point.
The Holy Spirit knows what He is doing and He demands
absolute sovereignty in this matter for it is not
even our interpretation of the Scriptures that is final,
its the Holy Spirits interpretation of the
Scriptures. And very often as we go on with the Lord we
come to the place, yes repeatedly in our lives, where we
have to say: Ive got to make an adjustment over
that, I believed very strongly this and that about that
but Ive got to adjust, the Lord has made a demand
that I change my position over that.
There was some years ago a retired army colonel, a friend
of mine whod written books, books and books on a
certain prophetical subject, published them; well-known
and read everywhere. And he said to me, he said to me,
You know, Ive got to recall the whole lot.
The real life, light that the Lord has shown me and
poured upon this matter makes it necessary for me to
change my whole position, my whole life position over
this matter. He was honest; he was honest! But
theres no doubt about it, the Holy Spirit had taken
over this matter of his mental play upon the Scriptures
and interpretation and theres all the difference
between a mental interpretation and a spiritual
revelation.
Well, here is Peter in the house of Cornelius in this
wonderful story, what was Peter doing really, or the old
Simon doing in this matter? Listen: he was making Christ
much smaller than He really is. And if theres one
thing that the Holy Spirit is against, Hes
against that! Hes against that. Israel, the
elect
the spiritual aristocracy; the Gentiles, the
dogs
the unclean beasts. Israel
The Holy
Spirit is saying to Peter very emphatically: Jesus Christ
is a much bigger Christ than ever you have seen Peter
yet, you have to adjust to that. If there is one thing
that the Holy Spirit is against it is exclusivism,
make no mistake about it, when exclusivism makes Christ
smaller than He is. Thats the tragedy of Israel;
chosen, yes! Elect, yes! Given the oracles, yes! All
that, but what for? Why? For the sake of the
nations. A testimony of God in the midst of the nations
that the nations might see and believe and turn to the
Lord. Thats, thats the horizon of
God but Israel
Oh, Jonah, Jonah is really an example of this, Go
to Nineveh, that great, that mighty city. You know
the story of Jonah, but Jonah represents the traditional
position of Israel: exclusive, shut up within themselves,
We are the people and no other! We are the chosen,
we are the elect, we have received the light, we have got
the truth. But why? Why? Not for ourselves, not to
make us something in ourselves, not to draw
around us a fence, shutting out all others, but for
the sake of all others! For the sake of all others,
thats all! And Israel lost their position, dear
friends, for this whole dispensation on one, one issue:
these two thousand years of Israels tragic, so
tragic history, is the issue of making Gods Son,
less than He really is. Oh, what Christ is! What God
meant Him to be to Israel and the world! You see, its
in this very chapter that the most familiar words in all
the Bible are God so loved the world
whosoever Nicodemus, Nicodemus youve got to
be born from above, out of this
exclusivism, out of this narrow traditionalism, out
of this fixed and set position of yours. Born right
out into the greatness of Gods
all-comprehending purpose in His Son. How great Christ
is! Oh, may we be saved from having a smaller Christ than
God means us to have. Theres no danger in that dear
friends, the Holy Spirit can look after that. But my
point is that the Holy Spirit in this tenth chapter of
Acts is just saying this, Im not having any
of your circumscribing of Christ on any ground
whatsoever. You may quote Me Leviticus chapter eleven if
you like, but Im not having it. What God hath
cleansed call not thou unclean. The Cross has
dealt with all that ceremonial uncleanness and opened up
the vast vistas of grace for all men.
The third occasion of Peter, see first his temperament,
then his spiritual bigotry. Chapter fifteen... Paul refers to
what happened in his letter to the Galatians, referred to
what happened. Peter is called to account for this by the
elders at Jerusalem, he is, as we say, on the carpet, on
the spot, having to answer for this, this unusual,
unheard of behaviour. Well, you know, we quoted Peter who
sums it up in all this Who was I, who was I to
resist God? that is what it amounts to. Who was I
to resist God? But something else happened. Peters
at Antioch. The Gentiles at Antioch have been saved,
gathered in, the Spirit has done something with the
Gentiles and Peters down there rejoicing! Hes
following up, hes following up Caesarea, house of
Cornelius, happily following up with the Gentiles in
Antioch, eating and drinking. Alright, But certain
came down from Jerusalem, James and certain others, came
down from Jerusalem and when they were come down, Peter
withdrew. Peter withdrew! Peter withdrew
theres a withdrawing. This is a dangerous
offence to the Holy Spirit, a violating of what He was
doing. And Paul recognized the significance of this and
he said I withstood him to the face for his
dissimulation. I withstood him to the face". Simon
is having a bad time isnt he under this aegis of
the Holy Spirit; he really is. Whats happened now?
Here something has come up of the old Simon - bondage to
man: What will the brethren say? What will the
leaders, what will the chief men say? I must, I must be
careful because of what they will say and perhaps what
theyll do. And that kind of thing is set over
against the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit; two things in
collision, you cannot have it.
Im so glad that Peter must have got the better of
this, he couldnt have written his two letters if he
hadnt. And he couldnt have said later on
about this man who withstood him to the face and said
Peter you stand condemned, before God you stand
condemned. Youre guilty of dissimulation. Later
Peter wrote Our beloved brother Paul
in all
his writings
in which there are some things
difficult to understand
! You see? But hes
got over his hurdle. The Holy Spirit was choosing the way
and taking it, and is finding Peter coming into line. Coming
into line, there were some, mark you, who didnt
come into line: Demas hath forsaken me, returned to
Thessalonica, I dont know about Barnabas. I dont
know about Barnabas, even Barnabas
says Paul,
Even Barnabas, even Barnabas, unthinkable! Dear,
beloved Barnabas to whom I owe so much, we all owe so
much, the church at Antioch owe so much, but even
Barnabas was carried away. Barnabas falls out of
the New Testament. I hope I dont exaggerate
judgment, condemnation, but there are those who just get
out of the way of the Wind when Hes blowing toward
this great, full purpose of God; dissimulate, withdraw.
The Lord save us.
I dont know where to finish this. The Wind searches
may I finish on this and leave the other, the Wind
searches and tests everything, especially foundations and
structures, of what kind they are. I've spent a great
deal of my life in Scotland, my childhood and later.
Theres a common sight in Scotland, we have there
many pine trees, pine forests and pine trees growing
along the roadside and its a land in which the wind
blows sometimes. And after any of our great wind storms,
you can go along and see these pine trees uprooted,
themselves lying level with the earth and their roots up
in the air. Before people had admired them, said very
nice things about them; what fine trees they were! What a
magnificent sight! And the wind blew
and the wind
blew, testing the depth of their roots. Testing their
power of endurance. Testing stamina. And down went so
many of these - before time erstwhile admirable,
praiseworthy trees - down they went, crashing to earth.
The Wind bloweth! The Holy Spirit just does that you know
friends! That is what He is doing. The Holy Spirit is
going to blow on us all. Christian experience is just
this, under the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit our
foundations are going to be tested; make no
mistake about it, theyre going to be tested, and
our structure, our building, our stamina, our endurance.
The Winds blowing today, my word its blowing over
this earth. Look at all the testing, see all the tragic
crashing to the ground. Do you know dear friends, that
Christianity as we now know it is going to be blown to
bits, absolutely to bits and theres going to be
nothing of it left. Christianity as we know it. All these
things must be dissolved, says Peter. This whole
cosmic order and this whole Christian system as we know
it, is going. You say, Thats a terrible
statement; on what authority? Well, plenty! I have
lived through two world wars, what have we seen? I know
thats a very simple and small example of what Im
saying; we have seen many and many a place with a great
Christian tradition, something that has stood
for something, simply crushed to the ground, hardly one
stone left upon another. Everywhere destruction; no
preferences, no favouritisms, and God, where is God?
Wheres God? Oh, if anything ought to have
been preserved, that ought to have been preserved, God
ought to have protected that! No, the answer is no!
Why? Because God is not interested in things.
God is only interested in one matter. The Holy Spirit is
only concerned about one matter, dear friends, one matter
only and history bears this out. The Holy Spirit is
only concerned with Christ. With Christ, with what
is Christ, what is of Christ, with the measure of Christ.
The Holy Spirit has only One in His vision, thats
Christ, and Hes always saying How much really
of the eternal essence of Christ is here?
And so you can go to Asia Minor today and find no trace
of the churches in Asia, you can go to Galatia, you can
go to all these places of the New Testament and find
nothing today as places. Now the first three chapters of
the book of the Revelation just bear down upon that. Note
to the churches, to the seven churches in Asia, what the
Spirit saith, what the Spirit saith, what the Spirit
saith; seven times: What the Spirit saith.
The Wind is blowing... what for? Just to discover not, not
whether this has got the tradition, not this and that and
something else, not whether theyve got a building
and a place of meeting, or a technique of worship or kind
of New Testament order BUT, whether they have that or
not, how much of the risen, living, exalted Christ is
here? And the Holy Spirit will go as far as to say
Repent or I will remove thy lampstand out of its
place because the lights gone". Whats
the good of a lampstand if there is no light? Mere
ornaments the Holy Spirit is not interested in. Do you
see the point? The Light is Christ, the measure of
Christ, it is Christ, it is Christ! What the Spirit saith
is not this and that, I know thy works and thy labours
and thy patience, all that is very good, BUT!