We have spoken of the eternal
purpose of God as the motive and explanation of all His dealings
with us. Now, before we return to our study of the phases of
Christian experience as set forth in Romans, we must digress yet
again in order to consider something which lies at the heart of
all our experience as the vitalizing power of effective life and
service. I refer to the personal presence and ministry of the
Holy Spirit of God.
And here, too, let us take as our
starting-point two verses from Romans, one from each of our
sections. "The love of God hath been shed abroad in our
hearts through the Holy Ghost which was given unto us"
(Romans 5:5). "If any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he
is none of us" (Romans 8:9).
God does not give His gifts at
random, nor dispense them in any arbitrary fashion. They are
given freely to all, but they are given on a definite basis. God
has truly "blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3), but if those
blessings which are ours in Christ are to become ours in
experience, we must know on what ground we can appropriate them.
In considering the gift of the Holy
Spirit it is helpful to think of this in two aspects, as the
Spirit outpoured and the Spirit indwelling, and our purpose now
is to understand on what basis this twofold gift of the Holy
Spirit becomes ours. I have no doubt that we are right in
distinguishing thus between the outward and the inward
manifestations of His working, and that as we go on we shall find
the distinction helpful. Moreover, when we compare them, we
cannot but come to the conclusion that the inward activity of the
Holy Spirit is the more precious. But to say this is not for one
moment to imply that His outward activity is not also precious,
for God only gives good gifts to His children. Unfortunately we
are apt to esteem our privileges lightly because of their sheer
abundance. The Old Testament saints, who were not as favoured as
we are, could appreciate more readily than we do the preciousness
of this gift of the outpoured Spirit. In their day it was a gift
given only to the select few -- chiefly to priests, judges, kings
and prophets -- whereas now it is the portion of every child of
God. Think! we who are mere nonentities can have the same Spirit
resting upon us as rested upon Moses the friend of God, upon
David the beloved king, and upon Elijah the mighty prophet. By
receiving the gift of the outpoured Holy Spirit we join the ranks
of God's chosen servants of the Old Testament dispensation. Once
we see the value of this gift of God, and realize too our deep
need of it, we shall immediately ask, How can I receive the Holy
Spirit in this way to equip me with spiritual gifts and to
empower me for service? Upon what basis has the Spirit been
given?
Let us turn first to Acts chapter 2 verses 32 to 36:
"(32) This Jesus did God raise up, whereof we all are witnesses. (33) Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath poured forth this, which ye see and hear. (34) For David ascended not into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, (35) Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet.(36) Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God hath made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified."
Let us for the moment set verses
34 and 35 aside and consider verses 33 and 36 together. The
former are a quotation from the 110th Psalm and are really a
parenthesis, so we shall get the force of Peter's argument better
if we ignore them for the time being. In verse 33 Peter states
that the Lord Jesus was exalted "at the right hand of
God" (mg.). What was the result? He "received of the
Father the promise of the Holy Ghost". And what followed?
Pentecost! The result of His exaltation was -- "this, which
ye see and hear".
What, then, was the basis upon
which the Spirit was first given to the Lord Jesus to be poured
out upon His people? It was His exaltation to Heaven. This
passage makes it absolutely clear that the Holy Spirit was poured
out because the Lord Jesus was exalted. The outpouring of the
Spirit has no relation to your merits or mine, but only to the
merits of the Lord Jesus. The question of what we are does
not come into consideration at all here, but only what He
is. He is glorified; therefore the Spirit is poured out.
Because the Lord Jesus died on the
Cross, I have received forgiveness of sins; because the Lord
Jesus rose from the dead, I have received new life; because the
Lord Jesus has been exalted to the right hand of the Father, I
have received the outpoured Spirit. All is because of Him;
nothing is because of me. Remission of sins is not based on human
merit, but on the Lord's crucifixion; regeneration is not based
on human merit, but on the Lord's resurrection; and the enduement
with the Holy Spirit is not based on human merit, but on the
Lord's exaltation. The Holy Spirit has not been poured out on you
or me to prove how great we are, but to prove the greatness of
the Son of God.
Now look at verse 36. There is a
word here which demands our careful attention: the word
'therefore'. How is this word generally used? Not to introduce a
statement, but to follow a statement that has already been made.
Its use always implies that something has been mentioned before.
Now what has preceded this particular 'therefore'? With what is
it connected? It cannot reasonably be connected with either verse
34 or verse 35, but it quite obviously relates back to verse 33.
Peter has just referred to the outpouring of the Spirit upon the
disciples "which ye see and hear", and he says:
"Let all the house of Israel therefore know
assuredly, that God hath made him both Lord and Christ, this
Jesus whom ye crucified". Peter says, in effect, to his
audience: 'This outpouring of the Spirit, which you have
witnessed with your own eyes and ears, proves that Jesus of
Nazareth whom ye crucified is now both Lord and Christ'. The Holy
Spirit was poured out on earth to prove what had taken place in
Heaven -- the exaltation of Jesus of Nazareth to the right hand
of God. The purpose of Pentecost is to prove the Lordship of
Jesus Christ.
There was a young man named Joseph,
who was dearly loved of his father. One day news reached the
father of the death of his son, and for years Jacob lamented
Joseph's loss. But Joseph was not in the grave; he was in a place
of glory and power. After Jacob had been mourning the death of
his son for years, it was suddenly reported to him that Joseph
was alive and in a high position in Egypt. At first Jacob could
not take it in. It was too good to be true. But ultimately he was
persuaded that the story of Joseph's exaltation was really a
fact. How did he come to believe in it? He went out, and saw the
chariots that Joseph had sent from Egypt.
What do the chariots represent
here? They surely typify here the Holy Spirit, sent both to be
the evidence that God's Son is in glory and to convey us there.
How do we know that Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified by
wicked men nearly two thousand years ago, did not just die a
martyr's death but is at the Father's right hand in glory? How
can we know for a surety that He is Lord of lords and King of
kings? We can know it beyond dispute because He has poured out
His Spirit upon us. Hallelujah! Jesus is Lord! Jesus is
Christ! Jesus of Nazareth is both Lord and Christ!
The exaltation of the Lord Jesus is
the basis on which the Spirit has been given. Is it possible then
that the Lord has been glorified and you have not
received the Spirit? On what basis did you receive forgiveness of
sins? Was it because you prayed so earnestly, or because you read
your Bible from cover to cover, or because of your regular
attendance at Church? Was it because of your merits at all? No! A
thousand times, No! On what ground then were your sins forgiven?
"Apart from shedding of blood there is no remission"
(Hebrews 9:22). The sole ground of forgiveness is the shedding of
blood; and since the precious Blood has been shed, your sins have
been forgiven.
Now the principle on which we
receive the enduement of the Holy Spirit is the very same as that
on which we receive forgiveness of sins. The Lord has been
crucified, therefore our sins have been forgiven; the Lord has
been glorified, therefore the Spirit has been poured out upon us.
Is it possible that the Son of God shed His Blood and that your
sins, dear child of God, have not been forgiven? Never! Then is
it possible that the Son of God has been glorified and you have
not received the Spirit? Never!
Some of you may say: I agree with
all this, but I have no experience of it. Am I to sit down smugly
and say I have everything, when I know perfectly well I have
nothing? No, we must never rest content with objective facts
alone. We need subjective experience also; but that experience
will only come as we rest upon Divine facts. God's facts are the
basis of our experience.
Let us go back again to the
question of justification. How were you justified? Not by doing
anything at all, but by accepting the fact that the Lord had done
everything. Enduement with the Holy Spirit becomes yours in
exactly the same way as justification, not by your doing anything
yourself, but by your putting your faith in what the Lord has
already done.
If we lack the experience, we must
ask God for a revelation of the eternal fact of the baptism of
the Holy Spirit as the gift of the exalted Lord to His Church.
Once we see that, effort will cease, and prayer will give place
to praise. It was a revelation of what the Lord had done for the
world that brought to an end our efforts to secure forgiveness of
sins, and it is a revelation of what the Lord has done for His
Church that will bring to an end our efforts to secure the
baptism of the Holy Spirit. We work because we have not seen the
work of Christ. But when once we have seen that, faith will
spring up in our hearts, and as we believe, experience will
follow.
Some time ago a young man, who had
only been a Christian for five weeks and who had formerly been
violently opposed to the gospel, attended a series of meetings
which I was addressing in Shanghai. At the close of one in which
I was speaking along the above lines, he went home and began to
pray earnestly, 'Lord, I do want the power of the Holy Spirit.
Seeing Thou hast now been glorified, wilt Thou not now pour out
Thy Spirit upon me?' Then he corrected himself: 'Oh no, Lord,
that's all wrong!' and began to pray again: 'Lord Jesus, we are
in a life-partnership, Thou and I, and the Father has promised us
two things -- glory for Thee, and the Spirit for me. Thou, Lord,
hast received the glory; therefore it is unthinkable that I have
not received the Spirit. Lord, I praise Thee! Thou hast already
received the glory, and I have already received the Spirit.' From
that day the power of the Spirit was consciously upon him.
As for forgiveness, so equally
for the coming upon us of the Holy Spirit, the whole question is
one of faith. As soon as we see the Lord Jesus on the Cross, we
know our sins are forgiven; and as soon as we see the Lord Jesus
on the Throne, we know the Holy Spirit has been poured out upon
us. The basis upon which we receive the enduement of the Holy
Spirit is not our praying and fasting and waiting, but the
exaltation of Christ. Those who emphasize tarrying and hold
'tarrying meetings' only mislead us, for the gift is not for the
'favoured few' but for all, because it is not given on the ground
of what we are at all, but of what Christ is. The Spirit has been
poured out to prove His goodness and greatness, not ours.
Christ has been crucified, therefore we have been forgiven:
Christ has been glorified, therefore we have been endued with
power from on high. It is all because of Him.
Suppose an unbeliever expresses the
desire to be saved, and you explain to him the way of salvation
and pray with him. Suppose then he prays after this fashion:
'Lord Jesus, I believe Thou hast died for me, and that Thou canst
blot out all my sins. I truly believe Thou wilt forgive me.' Have
you any confidence that that man is saved? When will you rest
assured that he has really been born again? Not when he prays:
'Lord, I believe Thou wilt forgive my sins', but when he
says: 'Lord, I praise Thee that Thou hast forgiven my
sins. Thou hast died for me; therefore my sins are
blotted out' You believe a person is saved when prayer turns to
praise -- when he ceases to ask the Lord to forgive him, but
praises Him that He has already done so because the Blood of the
Lamb has already been shed.
In the same way, you can pray and
wait for years and never experience the Spirit's power; but when
you cease to plead with the Lord to pour out His Spirit upon you,
and when instead you trustfully praise Him that the Spirit has
been poured out because the Lord Jesus has been glorified,
you will find that your problem is solved. Praise God! no single
child of His need agonize, nor even wait, for the Spirit to be
given. Jesus is not going to be made Lord; He is Lord.
Therefore I am not going to receive the Spirit; I have
received the Spirit. It is all a question of the faith which
comes by revelation. When our eyes are opened to see that the
Spirit has already been poured out because Jesus has already been
glorified, then prayer turns to praise in our hearts.
All spiritual blessings are given
on a definite basis. God's gifts are freely given, but there are
conditions which must be fulfilled on our part before the
reception of them is possible. There is a passage in God's Word
which makes the conditions of the outpoured Spirit perfectly
clear: "Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For to you is the
promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even
as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him" (Acts
2:38,39).
Four things are mentioned in this
passage: Repentance, Baptism, Forgiveness, and the Holy Spirit.
The first two are conditions, the second two are gifts. What are
the conditions to be fulfilled if we are to have forgiveness of
sins? According to the Word they are two: repentance and baptism.
The first condition is repentance,
which means a change of mind. Formerly I thought sin a pleasant
thing, but now I have changed my mind about it; formerly I
thought the world an attractive place, but now I know better;
formerly I regarded it a miserable business to be a Christian,
but now I think differently. Once I thought certain things
delightful, now I think them vile; once I thought other things
utterly worthless, now I think them most precious. That is a
change of mind, and that is repentance. No life can be truly
changed apart from such a change of mind.
The second condition is baptism.
Baptism is an outward expression of an inward faith. When in my
heart I truly believe that I have died with Christ, have been
buried and have risen with Him, then I ask for baptism. I thereby
declare publicly what I believe privately. Baptism is faith in
action.
Here then are two divinely
appointed conditions of forgiveness -- repentance, and faith
publicly expressed. Have you repented? Have you testified
publicly to your union with your Lord? Then have you received
remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost? You say you
have only received the first gift, not the second. But, my
friend, God offered you two things if you fulfilled two
conditions! Why have you only taken one? What are you doing about
the second?
Suppose I went into a book-shop,
selected a two-volume book, priced at ten shillings, and, having
put down a ten-shilling note, walked out of the shop, carelessly
leaving one volume on the counter. When I reached home and
discovered the oversight, what do you think I should do? I should
go straight back to the shop to get the forgotten book, but I
should not dream of paying anything for it. I should simply
explain to the shopkeeper that both volumes were duly paid for,
and ask him if he would therefore kindly let me have the second
one; and without any further payment I should march happily out
of the shop with my possession under my arm. Would you not do the
same under the same circumstances?
But you are under the same
circumstances. If you have fulfilled the conditions you are
entitled to two gifts, not just one. You have already taken the
one; why not just come and take the other now? Say to the Lord,
'Lord, I have complied with the conditions for receiving
remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost, but I have
foolishly only taken the former. Now I have come back to take the
gift of the Holy Ghost, and I praise Thee for it.'
But you ask: 'How shall I know
that the Holy Spirit is come upon me?' I cannot tell how
you will know, but you will know. No description has been
given us of the personal sensations and emotions of the disciples
at Pentecost. We do not know exactly how they felt, but we do
know that their feelings and behaviour were somewhat abnormal,
because people seeing them said they were intoxicated. When the
Holy Spirit falls upon God's people there will be some things
which the world cannot account for. There will be supernatural
accompaniments of some kind, though it be no more than an
overwhelming sense of the Divine Presence. We cannot and we must
not stipulate what particular form such outward expressions will
take in any given case, but one thing is sure, that each one upon
whom the Spirit of God falls will know it.
When the Holy Spirit came upon the
disciples at Pentecost there was something quite extraordinary
about their behaviour, and Peter offered an explanation from
God's Word to all who witnessed it. This, in substance, is what
he said: 'When the Holy Spirit falls upon believers, some will
prophesy, some will dream dreams, and others will see visions.
This is what God has stated through the prophet Joel.' But did
Peter prophesy? Well, hardly in the sense in which Joel meant it.
Did the hundred and twenty prophesy or see visions? We are not
told that they did. Did they dream dreams? How could they, for
were they not all wide awake? Well then, what did Peter mean by
using a quotation that seems scarcely to fit the case at all? In
the passage quoted (Joel 2:28,29), prophesy, dreams and visions
are said to accompany the outpouring of the Spirit, yet these
evidences were apparently lacking at Pentecost.
On the other hand, Joel's prophecy
said not a word about "a sound as of the rushing of a mighty
wind", nor about "tongues parting asunder like as of
fire" as accompaniments of the Spirit's outpouring; yet
these were manifest in that upper room. And where in Joel do we
find mention of speaking in other tongues? And yet the disciples
at Pentecost did so.
What did Peter mean? Imagine him
quoting God's Word to show that the experience of Pentecost was
the outpouring of the Spirit spoken of by Joel, without a single
one of the evidences mentioned by Joel being found at Pentecost.
What the Book mentioned the disciples lacked, and what the
disciples had the Book did not mention! It looks as though
Peter's quotation of the Book disproves his point rather than
proving it. What is the explanation of this mystery?
Let us recall that Peter was
himself speaking under the control of the Holy Spirit. The Book
of the Acts was written by the Spirit's inspiration, and not one
word was spoken at random. There is no misfit, but a perfect
harmony. Note carefully that Peter did not say: 'What you see and
hear fulfills what was spoken by the prophet Joel'. What he said
was: "This is that which hath been spoken by the prophet
Joel" (Acts 2:16). It was not a case of fulfillment, but of
an experience of the same order. "This is that"
means that 'this which you see and hear is of the same order as
that which is foretold'. When it is a case of fulfillment, each
experience is reduplicated and prophecy is prophecy, dreams are
dreams, and visions are visions; but when Peter says "This
is that", it is not a question of the one being a replica of
the other, but of the one belonging to the same category as the
other. "This" amounts to the same thing as
"that"; "this" is the equivalent of
"that"; "this is that". What is being
emphasized by the Holy Spirit through Peter is the diversity of
the experience. The outward evidences may be many and varied, and
we have to admit that occasionally they are strange; but the
Spirit is one, and He is Lord. (See Corinthians 12:4-6).
What happened to R.A. Torrey when
the Holy Spirit came upon him after he had been a minister for
years? Let him tell it in his own words:
'I recall the exact spot where I was kneeling in prayer in my study ... It was very quiet moment, one of the most quiet moments I ever knew ... Then God simply said to me, not in any audible voice, but in my heart. "It's yours. Now go and preach." He had already said it to me in His Word in 1 John 5:14,15; but I did not then know my Bible as I know it now, and God had pity on my ignorance and said it directly to my soul... I went and preached, and I have been a new minister from that day to this... Some time after this experience (I do not recall just how long after), while sitting in my room one day ... suddenly ... I found myself shouting (I was not brought up to shout and I am not of a shouting temperament, but I shouted like the loudest shouting Methodist), "Glory to God, glory to God, glory to God", and I could not stop. ... But that was not when I was baptized with the Holy Spirit. I was baptized with the Holy Spirit when I took Him by simple faith in The Word of God.'[10]
The outward manifestations in
Torrey's case were not the same as those described by Joel or by
Peter, but "this is that". It is not a facsimile, yet
it is the same thing.
And how did D.L. Moody feel and act
when the Spirit came upon him?
'I was crying all the time that God would fill me with His Spirit. Well, one day, in the city of New York -- oh, what a day! -- I cannot describe it, I seldom refer to it; it is almost too sacred an experience to name. Paul had an experience of which he never spoke for fourteen years. I can only say that God revealed Himself to me, and I had such an experience of His love that I had to ask Him to stay His hand. I went preaching again. The sermons were not different; I did not present any new truths; and yet hundreds were converted. I would not now be placed back where I was before that blessed experience if you should give me all the world - it would be as the small dust of the balance.;[11]
The outward manifestation that
accompanied Moody's experience did not tally exactly with Joel's
description, or Peter's, or Torrey's, but who could doubt that
"this" which Moody experienced was "that"
experienced by the disciples at Pentecost? It was not the same in
manifestation, but it was the very same in essence.
And what was the experience of the
great Charles Finney when the power of the Holy Ghost came upon
him?
'I received a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost without any
expectation of it, without ever having the thought in my mind
that there was any such thing for me, without any recollection
that I had ever heard the thing mentioned by any person in the
world, the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed
to go through me body and soul. No words can express the
wonderful love that was shed abroad in my heart. I wept aloud
with joy and love.'[12]
Finney's experience was not a
duplicate of Pentecost, nor of Torrey's experience, nor of
Moody's; but "this" certainly was "that".
When the Holy Spirit is poured out
upon God's people their experiences will differ widely. Some will
receive new vision, others will know a new liberty in
soul-winning, others will proclaim the Word of God with power,
and yet others will be filled with heavenly joy or overflowing
praise. "This ... and this ... and this ... is that!"
Let us praise the Lord for every new experience that relates to
the exaltation of Christ and of which it can truly be said that
"this" is an evidence of "that". There is
nothing stereotyped about God's dealings with His children.
Therefore we must not by our prejudices and preconceptions make a
water-tight compartment for the working of His Spirit, either in
our own lives or in the lives of others. This applies equally to
those who require some particular manifestation (such as
'speaking with tongues') as evidence that the spirit has come
upon them and to those who deny that any manifestation is given
at all. We must leave God free to work as He wills, and to give
what evidence He pleases of the work He does. He is Lord, and it
is not for us to legislate for Him.
Let us rejoice that Jesus is on the
throne, and let us praise Him that, since He has been glorified,
the Spirit has been poured out upon us all. As we accept the
Divine fact in all the simplicity of faith, we shall know it with
such assurance in our own experience that we shall dare to
proclaim with confidence -- "This is that!"
We move on now to the second
aspect of the gift of the Holy Spirit, which, as we shall see in
our next chapter, is more particularly the subject of Romans 8.
It is that which we have spoken of as the Spirit indwelling.
"If so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ..."
(Romans 8:9). "If the Spirit outpoured, so with the Spirit
indwelling, if we are to know in experienced that which is ours
in fact, our first need is of Divine revelation. When we see
Christ as Lord objectively -- that is, as exalted to the throne
in Heaven -- then we shall experience the power of the Spirit
upon us. When we see Christ as Lord subjectively -- that is, as
effective Ruler within our lives -- then we shall know the power
of the Spirit within us.
A revelation of the indwelling
Spirit was the remedy Paul offered the Corinthian Christians for
their unspirituality. It is important to note that the Christians
in Corinth had become preoccupied with the visible signs of the
Holy Spirit's outpouring and were making much of 'tongues' and
miracles, while at the same time their lives were full of
contradictions and were a reproach to the Lord's Name. They had
quite evidently received the Holy Spirit and yet they remained
spiritually immature; and the remedy God offered them for this is
the remedy He offers His Church today for the same complaint.
In his letter to them Paul wrote: "Know
ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of
God dwelleth in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16). For others he
prayed for enlightenment of heart, "...that ye may
know" (Ephesians 1:18). A knowledge of Divine facts was
the need of the Christians then, and it is no less the need of
Christians today. W need the 'opening of the eyes of our
understanding' that we may know that God Himself through the Holy
Spirit has taken up His abode in our hearts. God is present in
the person of the Spirit, and Christ is present in the person of
the Spirit too. Thus if the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts we
have the Father and the Son dwelling within. That is no mere
theory or doctrine, but a blessed reality. We may perhaps have
realized that the Spirit is actually within our hearts, but have
we realized that He is a Person? Have we understood that to have
the Spirit within us it to have the living God within?
To many Christians the Holy Spirit
is quite unreal. They regard Him as a mere influence -- and
influence for good, no doubt, but just an influence for all that.
In their thinking, conscience and the Spirit are more or less
identified as some 'thing' within them that brings them to book
when they are bad and tries to show them how to be good. The
trouble with the Corinthian Christians was not that they lacked
the indwelling Spirit but that they lacked the knowledge of His
presence. They failed to realize the greatness of the One who had
come to make His abode in their hearts; so Paul wrote to them:
"Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the
Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" Yes, that was the remedy for
their unspirituality -- just to know who He really was who dwelt
within.
Do you know, my friends, that
the Spirit within you is very God? Oh that our eyes were opened
to see the greatness of God's gift! Oh that we might realize the
vastness of the resources secreted in our own hearts! I could
shout with joy as I think, 'The Spirit who dwells within me is no
mere influence, but a living Person; He is very God. The infinite
God is within my heart!' I am at a loss to convey to you the
blessedness of this discovery, that the Holy Spirit dwelling
within my heart is a Person. I can only repeat: 'He is a Person!'
and repeat it again: 'He is a Person!' and repeat it yet again:
'He is a Person!' Oh, my friends, I would fain repeat it to you a
hundred times -- The Spirit of God within me is a Person!
I am only an earthen vessel, but in that earthen vessel I carry a
treasure of unspeakable worth, even the Lord of glory.
All the worry and fret of God's
children would end if their eyes were opened to see the greatness
of the treasure hid in their hearts. Do you know, there are
resources enough in your own heart to meet the demand of every
circumstance in which you will ever find yourself? Do you know
there is power enough there to move the city in which you live?
Do you know there is power enough to shake the universe? Let me
tell you once more -- I say it with the utmost reverence: You who
have been born again of the Spirit of God -- you carry God in
your heart!
All the flippancy of the children
of God would cease too if they realized the greatness of the
treasure deposited within them. If you have only ten shillings in
your pocket you can march gaily along the street, talking lightly
as you go, and swinging your stick in the air. It matters little
if you lose your money, for there is not much at stake. But if
you carry a thousand pounds in your pocket, the position is
vastly different, and your whole demeanour will be different too.
There will be great gladness in your heart, but no careless
jaunting along the road; and once in a while you will slacken
your pace and, slipping your hand into your pocket, you will
quietly finger your treasure again, and then with joyful
solemnity continue on your way.
In Old Testament times there were
hundreds of tents in the camp of Israel, but there was one tent
quite different from all the rest. In the common tents you could
do just as you pleased -- eat or fast, work or rest, be joyful or
sober, noisy or silent. But that other tent was a tent that
commanded reverence and awe. You might move in and out of the
common tents talking noisily and laughing gaily, but as soon as
you neared that special tent you instinctively walked more
quietly, and when you stood right before it you bowed your head
in solemn silence. No one could touch it with impunity. If man or
beast dared to do so, death was the sure penalty. What was so
very special about it? It was the temple of the living God.
There was little unusual about the tent itself, for it was
outwardly of very ordinary material, but the great God had chosen
to make it His abode.
Do you realize what happened at
your conversion? God came into your heart and made it His temple.
In Old Testament days God dwelt in a temple made of stone; today
He dwells in a temple composed of living believers. When we
really see that God has made our hearts His dwelling place, what
a deep reverence will come over our lives! All lightness, all
frivolity will end, and all self-pleasing too, when we know
that we are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells
within us. Has it really come to you that wherever you go you
carry with you the Holy Spirit of God? You do not just carry your
Bible with you, or even much good teaching about God, but God
Himself.
The reason why many Christians do
not experience the power of the Spirit, though He actually dwells
in their hearts, is that they lack reverence. And they lack
reverence because they have not had their eyes opened to the fact
of His presence. The fact is there, but they have not seen it.
Why is it that some Christians are living victorious lives while
others live in a state of constant defeat? The difference is not
accounted for by the presence or absence of the Spirit (for He
dwells in the heart of every child of God) but by this, that some
recognize His indwelling and others do not. True revelation of
the fact of the Spirit's indwelling will revolutionize the life
of any Christian.
"Know ye not that your body
is a temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have from
God? and ye are not your own; for ye were bought with a price:
glorify God therefore in your body" (1 Cor. 6:19,20).
This verse now takes us a stage
further, for, when once we have made the discovery of the fact
that we are the dwelling place of God, then a full surrender of
ourselves to God must follow. When we see that we are the temple
of God we shall immediately recognize that we are not our own.
Consecration will follow revelation. The difference between
victorious Christians and defeated ones is not that some have the
Spirit while others have not, but that some know His
indwelling and others do not, and that consequently some
recognize the Divine ownership of their lives while others are
still their own masters.
Revelation is the first step to
holiness, and consecration is the second. A day must come in our
lives, as definite as the day of our conversion, when we give up
all right to ourselves and submit to the absolute Lordship of
Jesus Christ. There may be a practical issue raised by God to
test the reality of our consecration, but whether that be so or
not, there must be a day when, without reservation, we surrender
everything to Him -- ourselves, our families, our possessions,
our business and our time. All we are and have becomes His, to be
held henceforth entirely at His disposal. >From that day we
are no longer our own masters, but only stewards. Not until the
Lordship of Jesus Christ is a settled thing in our hearts can the
Spirit really operate effectively in us. He cannot direct our
lives effectually until all control of them is committed to Him.
If we do not give Him absolute authority in our lives, He can be
present, but He cannot be powerful. The power of the Spirit is
stayed.
Are you living for the Lord or for
yourself? Perhaps that is too general a question, so let me be
more specific. Is there anything God is asking of you that you
are withholding from Him? Is there any point of contention
between you and Him? Not till every controversy is settled and
the Holy Spirit is given full sway can He reproduce the life of
Christ in the heart of any believer.
An American friend, now with the
Lord, whose name we will call Paul, cherished the hope from his
early youth that one day he would be called 'Dr. Paul'. When he
was quite a little chap he began to dream of the day when he
would enter the university, and he imagined himself first
studying for his M.A. degree and then for his Ph.D. Then at
length the glad day would arrive when all would greet him as 'Dr.
Paul'.
The Lord saved him and called him
to preach, and before long he became pastor of a large
congregation. By that time he had his degree and was studying for
his doctorate, but, despite splendid progress in his studies and
a good measure of success as a pastor, he was a very dissatisfied
man. He was a Christian, but his life was not Christ-like; he had
the Spirit of God within him, but he did not enjoy the Spirit's
presence or experience His power. He thought to himself, 'I am a
preacher of the Gospel and the pastor of a church. I tell my
people they should love the Word of God, but I do not really love
it myself. I exhort them to pray, but I myself have little
inclination to pray. I tell them to live a holy life, but my own
life is not holy. I warn them not to love the world, and, though
outwardly I shun it, yet in my heart I myself still love it
dearly.' In his distress he cried to the Lord to cause him to
know the power of the indwelling Spirit, but though he prayed and
prayed for months, no answer came. Then he fasted and besought
the Lord to show him any hindrance there might be in his life.
That answer was not long in coming, and it was this: 'I long that
you should know the power of My Spirit, but your heart is set on
something that I do not wish you to have. You have yielded to me
all but one thing, and that one thing you are holding to yourself
-- your Ph.D.' Well, to you or me it might be of little
consequence whether we were addressed as plain 'Mr. Paul' or as
'Dr. Paul', but to him it was his very life. He had dreamed of it
from childhood and labored for it all through his youth, and now
the thing he prized above all was almost within his grasp. In two
short months it would be his.
So he reasoned with the Lord in
this wise: 'Is there any harm for me to be a Doctor of
Philosophy? Will it not bring much more glory to Thy Name to have
a Dr. Paul preaching the Gospel than a plain Mr. Paul?' But God
does not change His mind, and all Mr. Paul's sound reasoning did
not alter the Lord's word to him. Every time he prayed about the
matter he got the same answer. Then, reasoning having failed, he
resorted to bargaining with the Lord. He promised to go here or
there, to do this or that, if only the Lord would allow him to
have his doctor's degree; but still the Lord did not change His
mind. And all the while Mr. Paul was becoming more and more
hungry to know the fullness of the Spirit. This state of affairs
continued to within two days of his final examination.
It was Saturday, and Mr. Paul
settled down to prepare his sermon for the following day, but,
study as he would, he could get no message. The ambition of a
lifetime was just within reach of realization, but God made it
clear that he must choose between the power he could sway through
a doctor's degree and the power of God's Spirit swaying his life.
That evening he yielded. 'Lord', he said, 'I am willing to be
plain Mr. Paul all my days, but I want to know the power of the
Holy Ghost in my life.'
He rose from his knees and wrote a
letter to his examiners, asking to be excused from the
examination on the Monday, and giving his reason. Then he
retired, very happy, but not conscious of any unusual experience.
Next morning he told his congregation that for the first time in
six years he had no sermon to preach, and explained how it came
about. The Lord blessed that testimony more abundantly than any
of his well-prepared sermons, and from that time God blessed and
owned him in an altogether new way. From that day he knew
separation from the world, no longer as an outward thing but as a
deep inward reality, and in daily experience he knew the
blessedness of the Spirit's presence and power.
God is waiting for a settlement of
all our controversies with Him. With Mr. Paul it was a question
of his doctor's degree, but with us it may be something quite
different. Our absolute surrender of ourselves to the Lord
generally hinges upon some one particular thing, and God is after
that one thing. He must have it, for He must have our all. I was
greatly impressed by something a great national leader wrote in
his autobiography: 'I want nothing for myself; I want everything
for my country.' If a man can be willing that his country should
have everything and he himself nothing, cannot we say to our God:
'Lord, I want nothing for myself; I want all for Thee. I
will what Thou willest, and I want to have nothing outside
Thy will.' Not until we take the place of a servant can He take
His place as Lord. He is not calling us to devote ourselves to
His cause: He is asking us to yield ourselves to His will. Are
you willing for anything He wills?
Another friend of mine, like my
friend Mr. Paul, had a controversy with the Lord. before his
conversion he fell in love, and as soon as he was saved he sought
to win the one he loved to the Lord, but she would have nothing
to do with spiritual things. the Lord made it clear to him that
his relations with that girl must be broken of, but he was deeply
devoted to her, so he evaded the issue and continued to serve the
Lord and to win souls for Him. But he became conscious of his
need for holiness, and that consciousness marked the beginning of
dark days for him. He asked for the Spirit's fullness that he
might have power to live a holy life, but the Lord seemed
continually to ignore his request.
One morning he had to preach in
another city and he spoke from Psalm 73:25: "Whom have I in
heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire
beside thee." On his return home he went to a prayer
meeting, and there a sister read out the very same verse from
which, unknown to her, he had just preached, and followed it with
the question: 'Can we truly say: "There is none upon earth
that I desire beside thee"?' There was power in that word.
It struck right home to his heart and he had to admit to himself
that he could not truthfully say that he desired no one in Heaven
or earth apart from his Lord. He saw, there and then, that for
him everything hinged upon his willingness to give up the girl he
loved.
For some it might not have involved
much, but for him it was everything. So he began to reason with
the Lord: 'Lord I will go to Tibet and work for Thee there if I
may marry that girl'. But the Lord seemed to care a great deal
more about his relationship with that girl than about his going
to Tibet, and no amount of reasoning on his part availed to
effect any change of emphasis on the part of the Lord. The
controversy went on for several months, and when again the young
man pleaded for the fullness of the Spirit, the Lord still
pointed to the same thing. But that day the Lord triumphed, and
that young man looked up to Him and said: 'Lord, I can truly say
now, "Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon
earth that I desire beside thee".' And that was the
beginning of a new life for him.
A forgiven sinner is quite
different from an ordinary sinner, and a consecrated Christian is
quite different from an ordinary Christian. May the Lord bring us
to a definite issue regarding the question of His Lordship. If we
do yield wholly to Him and claim the power of the indwelling
Spirit, we need wait for no special feelings or supernatural
manifestations, but can simply look up and praise Him that
something has already happened. We can confidently thank Him that
the glory of God has already filled His temple. "Know ye not
that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God
dwelleth in you?" "Know ye not that your body is a
temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have from
God?"
The Normal Christian Life - Chapter 9: The Meaning and Value of Romans Seven
