(a) First there is the minding of the things of the Spirit. See Rom. 8:5 - 6, "They
The primary condition on our part is to have the work of the Cross wrought in us, even to the 'dividing of soul and spirit', so that we may have an acute spirit - sense, for you can ,sense' the meaning of some deep thing of God which you cannot grasp with your intellect. Some call this 'intuition', but it is more than that, for the intuition of the unregenerate does not open to them the things of God. The 'intuition' of the spiritual man comes from the human spirit indwelt by the Holy Spirit. It appears then that the 'mind' and spirit become one, or else it is that the Holy Spirit penetrates the mind, clarifying and illuminating it, so that it loses its earth - born character. Possibly this is what the Apostle meant when he said "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind". The intellect then becomes spiritual. For it is with the mind that we perceive, and with the 'spirit' that we 'know', or 'feel' or sense the things of God. Paul is an example of this. He had one of the most brilliant intellects of his age, and of all later ages. But in the things of God, his intellect had been renewed and inter - penetrated by the Holy Spirit until he 'combined', 'compared' and 'interpreted' the things of God, unknown, and unreachable, by the unregenerate man. When truth thus comes to the teacher, who is taught of God, it is borne witness to in the consciences of those you speak to. It need not be forced upon any one by the speaker, for the Holy Ghost does His own work, and bears witness to His own Word. 7. The laws of the spirit; and how to walk after the spirit: (a) First there is the minding of the things of the Spirit. See Rom. 8:5 - 6, "They who live after the flesh mind fleshly things, but they who live after spirit" - the article is not there in the original - "mind spiritual things; and the fleshly mind is death; but the spiritual mind is life and peace". The secret of walking after the spirit is, briefly, to 'mind' the spirit, and put spiritual things first. As we do this, it means that you never lose consciousness of what is going on in your spirit. Madame Guyon has a helpful illustration of what it means to abide in Christ. She says when you enter a room you say how pleasant and warm it is, but as you stay in it you have no 'consciousness' save of ease. But go into the cold outside and you will soon know that you are not 'abiding' in the room. Walking in the spirit, and minding the spirit, therefore, does not always mean any consciousness in the senses, but a keen intuitive knowledge of God and His will. It is not a life of great spirit phenomena, but of quiet rest in God in the common things of daily life. The believer thus 'minding the spirit' ceases to be governed by 'circumstances', and to measure external acts by their external values. Your great and blessed rest lies in simply and quietly doing the will of God, for in the life of union with God, the soul cheerfully, gladly, does the common every - day things, with the same fervency of spirit as he would do what; is called 'the Lord's work'.
(b) Then there is the being obedient to the monitions of the Spirit. "All who are led by God's Spirit, and they alone, are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:14). The Spirit of God leads those who are truly sons of God - begotten in the Divine Nature - by various workings in the human spirit, such as impressions, drawings, restrainings, assurance in prayer, and inward witness to an action being in the will of God. All these monitions of the Holy Spirit in the spirit of the believer, are very delicate and subtle, but they can be known and read as the life in the spirit becomes stronger, and less mixed with the emotions and impulses of the soul, or the activities of the mind. This subject in all its ramifications would take too much time to deal with now, but as one example, suppose you are asked to do a certain thing, but you find that in your spirit there is a sense of deadness toward that course. It is then always safe to wait and pray for more light. The inner 'restraint' generally means God's 'No'. You go into a meeting where strange and abnormal manifestations are taking place. In your spirit there is a shrinking and a repugnance. It is never safe to go against this, and always safe not to force yourself to accept supernatural things. "As many as are led" writes the Apostle. The Spirit of God does not force, but leads the obedient child of God, so gently, that only when he is quiet and still he is conscious of it. Another very important point in obeying the monitions of the Holy Spirit, is not to act in anything without deliberate volition. If there is in your spirit any 'impression' or 'drawing' to this or that, it must never be followed without your having examined it in the light of the Word of God, and come to deliberate intelligent decision that it is of God. (c) There is also a need of knowledge of God, and His ways of working. In Phil. 1:9, we read, "This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in true knowledge, and in all understanding, teaching you to distinguish good from evil". The Holy Spirit can give us this 'understanding' so that we may be able to distinguish good from evil in our path. Col. I:9 - 11 again speaks of this as a necessity for walking worthy of God. (d) A very important law of the spirit - life is that of 'expression'. This we find in John 7:37 - 38 "He that believeth into Me ... out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. This spake He of the Spirit. . . ." Briefly, if there is an influx, there must be an 'outflow'. Many of the Lord's children are suffering from 'suppressed spirit'. just as you would suffer if you had no physical exercise, so the spirit suffers if it has no 'outflow' or 'exercise'. The spirit life in us must have expression, or it becomes passive and feeble. When it is in normal activity the life in it 'overflows' easily - quite a different thing to the talkativeness of the life of nature. We get a gleam into this in what is said of Peter in Acts 4:8. "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them. . . ." There was a fresh influx of the Spirit of God into his spirit, and out in bold testimony. 'Out' of you shall 'flow rivers of living water'. We shall never have a fuller spiritual life than the extent to which we pour out that life to others. This hindering 'reserve' which is
locking up the spirit in so many, needs breaking down. It produces a conflict in service for God which you need not have. Ask therefore for the fullness of the Spirit in your spirit, and then ,give', and it shall again be given unto you. (e) Lastly there is the use of the spirit in spiritual conflict:We have already dealt with this as part of the life on the resurrection side of the Cross. The Holy Spirit will teach us the true use of the spirit in conflict, for He alone can show us how to distinguish the things that differ, in the spiritual realm. I will only say that the use of the spirit only, makes the believer very quiet in conflict. The victory is often won by a quiet and simple word. It is the Holy Spirit that makes the spirit strong to stand against opposing powers. CHAPTER SEVEN THERE are so many lines of teaching on the enduement of power for service that numbers of the Lord's children are perplexed, and, in some cases hindered from receiving what they need, to equip them for effective witnessing to Christ. The trouble lies in the fact that in this, as in many other aspects of truth, the Cross is not given its right place as the central point from which the Holy Spirit works. The consequence is that one - sided truth is given on the subject, coloured generally by the experience of the teacher. The grace and patience of God, however, is seen in the way that He bears witness to all that is 'truth', in any degree, even when it is given without due regard to other aspects of it. Let us take the Word, and with the Cross as the 'fixed point' from which we are seeking to view every subject, see what light we can get in the matter. First let me say definitely that there is an 'enduement of power' for service, which every believer should know for effectiveness in life and service. If we look back into the history of those who have been greatly used by God - Moody, Finney and others - you will find that there was a moment in their lives when God dealt with them and gave them an enduement of power. Then let us look broadly at the fact of 'Pentecost' from the historical viewpoint. Historically there is only one 'Calvary', one 'Resurrection Day', one 'Pentecost'; i.e., Calvary, where Christ died on the Cross; the Resurrection, when He arose from the dead; Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost came into the Church. Calvary is not to be repeated, nor the Resurrection, nor Pentecost in its historical meaning. The finished work of Christ on the Cross, His glorious resurrection as the witness of the Father to the completeness of His finished work, had the outcome in the outpoured Spirit at Pentecost. All was final, and pivotal in completeness as carried out by the Son of God, through the Eternal Spirit.
But now in the experience of the Church, each one who becomes a member of that Church (i.e., the mystical organism of the Body of Christ), puts in his claim to all that (1) Calvary means for him, (2) all that the Resurrection means for him, and, logically, (3) all that Pentecost means for him. Now carry the analogy further:in appropriating our part in all that 'Calvary' means, we do not expect the external historical facts to be repeated in us. We put in our claim for all that it means to have our sins borne by Christ, and to be crucified with Christ, but we do not expect an external 'Cross' with all the accompanying tragic events of Golgotha. Nor do we expect a visible corporeal 'resurrection' exactly like the Lord coming out of the tombal though we shall have a resurrection of the body by and by. Why then expect all the historical externalities of Pentecost to take place in us? Is not the present dispensation of the Spirit a spiritual one, during which God is calling out a people for His Name, and building a spiritual temple as far in advance of the visible Temple as the sun above the moon? What then is the spiritual and inside meaning of Calvary, the Resurrection and Pentecost, as they are to be known by the Church of God? If we are not to have the 'externalities' of these wondrous events carried out in us, where shall we learn their inner application to us? First as explained by the Lord Himself before His death, and second as explained by the Lord Himself after His death, when, as the Risen and Ascended Conqueror, He chose an instrument on earth through whom He could reveal the spiritual meaning of the historical facts of His death, resurrection and ascension. It is in the epistles of Paul that we get the inside meaning of it all. For the glorified Lord chose the Apostle Paul to be the revelator to the Church, as Moses was God's revelator to Israel. He was chosen to give out to the world Christ's explanation of Calvary, and Christ's explanation of the resurrection, and Christ's explanation of Pentecost, as He foreshadowed it in germ before He died. Therefore all that Calvary is for us, all that the Resurrection means to us, and all that Pentecost means to us, is to be learnt in the Epistles of Paul, and not so much from the historical records of the Acts of the Apostles. Let me emphasize here the importance of our remembering when we read Paul's epistles, that all his teachings were directly given hint by the Ascended Christ. Say to yourself as you read, This is not Paul's idea of Calvary, and the Blood, but the glorified Christ in heaven explaining His own Cross, explaining His own resurrection, and what it meant to the Church, and also explaining the coming of the Holy Ghost, and His work in the believer, and in the Church.
We must therefore go to the Epistles to learn the true inside meaning of the enduement of power, and as we do so remember to keep always together the triple group of the (i) Cross, the (2) Resurrection, and (3) Pentecost, for the obtaining of the full power of either. Also let us remember the sequence of God's dealing with us is in this order. Let us pray for the deepest work of the Cross to be applied to us, the fullest power of the resurrection, and the mightiest enduement of the Holy Spirit for service, that is possible for us to know. It is because believers seek for their share of 'Pentecost' without the deep bedrock work of the Cross, and the Resurrection, first wrought in them, that the devil as an angel of light has broken in upon believers with his counterfeits. If the Cross had been preached and known in all its aspects, the devil would not have been able to deceive, as he is doing, so many children of God. But the majority of Christians look upon the Cross only as a place for the forgiveness of sins, where they get right with God. Then they cry for a 'Pentecostal' enduement, without first asking for a deep work of the Spirit, in the old Adam life being nailed to the Cross, and rendered inoperative . This is the only safe basic position for asking for an enduement of power. In the face of the spiritual perils of to - day through the outbreak of spiritism, it might mean disaster to many if we were given a floodtide of the Holy Ghost in Revival power, when the bedrock meaning of Calvary is so little known. This may be the reason it is withholden by our Father in heaven. Now let us look at the Lord's explanation of Pentecost, before He died. This we find summarized in a few sentences in John 14:20 - "AT THAT DAY THAT I AM IN my FATHER, AND YE IN ME YE SHALL KNOW." 'That day,' the context tells us, was the Day of Pentecost. His disciples listening to these words had walked the earth with Christ, and had seen Him and known Him as a Man; after His resurrection they would see Him again as a Man, but with a resurrection body. They were to handle Him and see for themselves that He had 'flesh and bones' as a Man, proving a real physical resurrection. They were to see this Man ascend before their eyes into the heavens, whilst they were left on earth. But a 'Day' would come when they would know the inside spiritual meaning of it all. At His ascension they knew that He had gone up to God. But there was more. "At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in Me." The Holy Spirit would reveal to them that they were in God also - that the Ascended Lord had taken them with Him in spirit back to God. "Christ died, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." Not only reconcile us to God, but in spirit re - unite us with God. The severance caused by the Fall is removed. Through the Cross the fallen Adam is crucified, "For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God." When 'that Day' came, by the Holy Ghost they would know their source of life to be changed. They would understand they had died with Christ, and were translated out of the power of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son.
We therefore gather from the Lord's words, that the great inner meaning of Pentecost, is the Holy Spirit making real to you your union with the Ascended Christ. This is in harmony with the order we have already seen - Calvary, Resurrection, Pentecost. You first know your union with the crucified Christ, then your union with the Risen Christ, and then your union with the Ascended Lord in the bosom of the Father, which according to John 14:20 is 'Pentecost'. When the Holy Ghost came, the 120 knew experimentally what Calvary, Resurrection and Pentecost meant. They knew they had died with their Lord, they knew they were joined to Him, and taken with Him unto God. Their entire outlook was changed in the upper room. From the moment the Holy Ghost came they looked out at the world from the Throne of God. They understood the Lord's words, "As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you" (John 20:2 1). They had been taken 'back to God', and were now 'sent' from God to proclaim His message to the world. This is practically the 'enduement of power' as foreshadowed by the Lord. It really means that by the influx of the Holy Spirit into your spirit, it has found its centre. You are no longer 'self - centred', but God - centred. It is when we are thus taken back, in union with the Ascended Lord, to God the Father, that the Spirit of God is able to work out through us all that He wants to do. It is then that it may be said of you, as of Gideon, "The Spirit of the Lord clothed Himself with Gideon, and Gideon blew a trumpet!" It means not only the Holy Spirit in the believer, but the believer IN GOD, and therefore covered or clothed by Him. This is what is promised in Luke 24:49. The disciples were told to wait until the Holy Spirit had come, when they would be 'clothed' with power from on high - power which would make them know they were with Christ in God. Again the Lord said, "and I in you". The last is the result of the first condition. (1) 'I am in My Father,' (2) 'ye are in Me', and (3) 'I in you'. This means dynamic power. What use to talk of having received a 'power' that accomplishes nothing? 'Power' - real power - is known by its effects and not by its noise! When the believer is deeply anchored in his divine centre, 'with Christ in God' he moves in an orbit of His will all the day long, as the planets move in their orbit in the heavens. Nothing is lost, or ineffective, when God is the moving force of your life, as you abide in Him. Centred in God the believer does not have to strain or struggle, but abiding in God he simply moves on with Him, accomplishing hour by hour, and day by day, the carrying out of God's plan for his life. When he is bidden to do 'big things', he is not conscious that it is he who does them. There is no sense of 'burden' under the heaviest burdens. He moves with God, and when he is bidden to act, he acts also with God, for God moves in and with him, therefore God is responsible, for He carries the burden, as the believer carries out His will.
'I IN YOU' is the outcome of thus being centred with Christ in God. When this is realized, there is relief from self - consciousness. The Holy Spirit clothing the believer makes the indwelling of Christ so real that he forgets himself, and how he acts. He is moving in an eternal element, not only within but around him, which makes him 'at home' everywhere. Thus he, so to speak, carries his own atmosphere with him. This is what David realized when he said, "If I make my bed in hell, behold Thou art there!" Even in the midst of those opposed to Christ, we carry our own atmosphere with us. What a contrast this life in God, with its ease and 'naturalness', and the 'mechanical', kind of life many Christians are trying to live. They have such a 'process' for keeping it up, and maintaining 'communion' and spirituality, that they have no time to think about saving the world! But God would get the whole use of you, and every minute of your time, if you knew the blessed life of being joined to the Living Lord, and hidden with Him in God, so that, centred in God, He holds you, and in Him you live and move and have your being. Now for a moment pass on to Acts 2 and read it in the light of John 14:20, for, as we have seen, it is the Lord's foreshadowing of what would occur to the disciples inwardly, when the Holy Ghost came down, and filled the house where they were sitting. God's children have been so occupied with the externalities of Pentecost in the tongues of fire and the power of utterance, that they have not sufficiently searched for light from other parts of Scripture upon the inward working of God on 'that Day'. The disastrous consequence of this is, that many have sought for the external manifestations which took place at Pentecost, with no knowledge of the deep inner life of union foreshadowed as the inward result of the coming of the Holy Spirit 'at that day'. The disciples knew, as the Spirit of God came, that Christ was GOD in very truth, that the Man they had seen go up into heaven had reached the unseen Father, and was, as He had said, 'in the Father' One with Him. VERY GOD OF VERY GOD. And they knew, as only those taught of the Holy Ghost know, that they were joined to the Ascended Lord, in the union of essence which is only possible to spirit, and they were one with Him in God. 'One in us' (John 17:2 1) said the Lord. And they knew, too, that the Risen Christ, mystically, was also in them. To perceive and experience this suddenly, as it is possible so to do, they must have also seen clearly the effect of the Cross as the cause of this. The 'Baptism' they suddenly received, was a baptism into the death of Christ, for their spirits to be released for (1) the joining with Him in His ascension life in God, and the release of their spirit to be (2) the channel of the outflow of the Holy Ghost.
Now let us pass on to the epistles, and see whether they confirm and throw further light upon the meaning of Pentecost, and whether the Ascended Lord through His revelator - Paul - re - affirms, and enlarges upon, His foreshadowing of Pentecost on the eve of His death. We have not time to trace this all out in the Epistles. We can only turn to I Cor. 12:13, where we have, in one verse again, the Risen Lord's description through Paul, of what took place at Pentecost. With this difference, that in John 14:20, He (I) foreshadows the God - ward side, and in I Cor. 12:13 (2) the outworking of the Spirit, in and through the Church - the mystical Body of Christ - communicating the life and Spirit of its Head. Let us read verses 12 and 13 - "As the [natural] body is one ... and as all the members ... are one body, so also is Christ [the mystical Christ made up of Head and members]. For in the communion of one Spirit we were all baptized [Greek, immersed] into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free men, and were all made to drink of the same Spirit." The Speaker's Commentary says, 'drenched with one Spirit'. The enduement of power at Pentecost is manifestly to be seen here. The context explains the way the Triune God (verses 4 to 6), works out through the members of the Body. John 14:20 shows the believers at Pentecost in their union with the Lord taken into God, now we see the work of the Holy Spirit forming all thus united to Christ, into the spiritual organism of the Church. They were 'immersed in spirit' according to the analogy of John the Baptist baptizing men into the water as the element. (See the promise of Acts I:5 - ) Immersed in Spirit, all in the upper room drank of the same Spirit, Who thus produced the union foreshadowed in John 14:20. The principal word to emphasize in I Cor. 12:13 is the word 'into'. In John 14:2o Christ said 'Ye in Me', and in I Cor. 12:13 we find the Holy Ghost doing this work of placing believers into Christ, in essential union, as members of His Body. The emphasis at Pentecost should therefore be, not on the external and incidental manifestations, but on the internal and spiritual meaning of the Coming of the Holy Ghost, leaving to Him the external outworking 'according to His will' (see I Cor. 12:18). Now let us go back to the Acts of the Apostles to see the results of the Pentecostal enduement, in some special characteristics of their service. Consider first the word 'power', of Acts 1:5 (and Luke 24:49) - It is in Greek 'dunamis' - the word from which we get our English word 'dynamite'. This Greek word, points out a skilled Greek scholar, means 'inherent power' - not so much power put forth, as power possessed. It means, among other things, 'ability' and 'capability'. just as if the Lord said to His disciples, "You are now quite incapable, but when the Holy Ghost is come, you shall be made capable of
doing what I want you to do". But the idea of the power of Pentecost is quite different to this. It is thought about as something miraculous, accomplishing spectacular miracles through the one who obtains it! And yet it is not so. How 'incapable' many are, who even testify to a 'baptism of power'. And how 'incapable' the majority of Christians are in the smallest service for God. Incapable Sunday school teachers. Incapable Bible Class leaders. Incapable workers, or no workers at all. And often it is because these 'incapable' souls think that a 'Baptism of power' means miraculous gifts, and not God just making them 'capable' in the work for Him that lies close to their hand. The 'miraculous gifts' may be given, but only so far as needed for increased 'capability'. Now using the word 'power' as being made 'capable' or ,effective', for doing the will of God in any aspect of life or service, let us think (i) of the power of effective utterance. Peter was given this so that there were three thousand souls pricked to the heart through his first sermon. What an amount of teaching and preaching exists, even of Gospel truth, that is ineffective and carries no weight! It has, as one has said, no ,carrying power'. It does not go any further than those who hear it. Then see how dependent many preachers and teachers are on their 'Notes', but look at Peter, and observe how he was made 'capable' of wielding the Word of God. See how the texts of the Old Testament came to him, and how he 'combined' spiritual things with spiritual. He could not have thought out of his own mind such a comprehensive panoramic survey of the Scriptures concerning Christ, and put them into such a condensed form. He was given by his immersion in the Spirit, a clarified mind, a quickened memory, and 'made capable' of being God's messenger on that wonderful day, i.e., he was not merely a 'mouthpiece' but an intelligent co-worker with God. Then notice (2) the characteristic of the enduement of power in boldness of testimony. You may have a message of vital truth, but if you are 'timid' and self - conscious in giving it out, it is not effective. There must be, in giving God's message, an accent of bold certainty. We are not to be positive over any 'view' of truth, but about what God says. Our business is to declare the Word of God, not 'views' of it. You can be 'bold' over this, for the Holy Spirit will co - witness with your declaration of 'Thus saith the Lord'. And (3) the enduement of power is needed for business. See Acts 6:3. "Look ye out seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, that we may appoint over this business". This can be your own 'business', as well as the 'business' of the Church, if your 'business' is in the will of God for you. We read that David became 'skilful in business' after he had received the anointing. A business man in London said to me once, "You do not know very much about business, but you do the very things unconsciously that would be accounted the highest wisdom in business"! Yes, the Holy Spirit knows 'business', and can guide you so that you have no muddle in your business affairs. I was once
speaking with a man of business about the opportunities he had in his particular business to do great things for the kingdom of God, but he replied, "That is all right, but I have to get my bread and butter"! But the Lord will see that you get the 'bread and butter', if you seek first the kingdom of God in your earthly affairs. Alas, alas, how the devil is entangling Christian business men today, so as to paralyse them in the work of God, and destroy their influence. Why should we call 'preaching' a greater thing than 'business'? Does it not depend upon what is the plan of God for you? Then there is (4) the enduement of power as manifested in the ordinary life. "Be filled with the indwelling of the Spirit when you speak to one another . . ." (Eph. 5:18, 19). Here we have effective conversation, so that God uses you in all your daily contact with others. Then we find power given for 'contending for the faith'. Paul increased in strength for 'confounding the Jews' as he sought to prove to them that Jesus was the Christ (Acts 9:22. See also Acts 7). Controversy must not be shirked when it is necessary for the maintenance of truth. Truth must never be sacrificed for peace. Stephen and Paul were both endued with power for this work. Then (5) there is the being made capable to meet Satanic powers. This we see in the story of Paul and the sorcerer. When he met this man, and Satan withstood him, Paul steadily resisted him, and rebuked the demon in him, just as he did the girl with the spirit of divination. The Apostle in the latter case did not speak in a moment. He bore with the poor deceived soul, until the influx of the Spirit of God arose in his spirit. If you are centred in God, and walking with Him, you will find, too, that as you come against the power of darkness in some specific way, the Spirit of God will at the right moment rise in you in divine strength to deal with it. Paul knew the moment to turn round upon the demon and say, "I command thee in the Name of Jesus Christ to come out of her". Notice (6) the 'discernment of spirits' which Paul had. He discerned the evil spirit in the girl, and in the sorcerer. This is not the 'gift' of perception, or discernment, but power to tell the difference between 'spirits'. Our time will not allow more, but you can see in I Cor. 12 the working of the Holy Ghost in the members of the Body of Christ, making one and the other 'capable' for the carrying out of the will of God. In conclusion, let us go back to the Cross as the basis of all that we have spoken of. Let us turn from the union with Christ in His life, and the enduement of power by immersion in the Holy Spirit, to see once more the place of the Cross in the work of the Spirit, in carrying out all those purposes of God.
In I Cor. 12:13 we read, "By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body whether we be Jews or Gentiles. . . . " Jews and Gentiles we read in Eph. 2:14, had a 'wall of partition' between them. How could they both become members of Christ's Mystical Body, and be made to 'drink of one Spirit'? Only through the Cross. Therefore the Cross stands as the basis of John 14:2o and Acts 2. The Cross lies at the base of the UNITY OF THE BODY, and only so far as the deep work of the Cross is known can the members of the Body be welded together in the drinking of one Spirit. Let us read Eph. 2:13 - 17. "Now, in Christ Jesus, ye, who were once far off, have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, Who has made both one, and has broken down the wall which parted us; for, in His flesh, He destroyed the ground of our enmity ... that He might create in Himself one new man; and that, By His Cross He might reconcile both, in one body, unto God, having slain their enmity thereby." The place of unity between Christians to - day is clearly the Cross. And this by its destroying all ground of enmity between those for whom Christ died. Between Jew and Gentile the barrier was that of 'ordinances'. But crucified with Christ, the 'Jew' ceases to be a Jew, the Gentile ceases to be a Gentile. And, shall we say, the 'Baptist' ceases to be a Baptist, the Wesleyan a Wesleyan, and so on. All these externalities may exist, and be conformed to, but they belong to the external life only, because each regenerate believer is inwardly a member of the Body of Christ, part of a New Creation, which is neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, but a 'New Man' consisting of Christ the Head of His members. It is very important that in practice the children of God understand the two positions:externally the earthly position, with earthly relationships, and inwardly the heavenly position in Christ. Here in this Conference, we are neither Wesleyans nor Baptists nor Church of England, nor Jews, nor Gentiles. We are all one in Christ Jesus. But when, for example, one goes back to his own sphere, he is a Baptist Minister, loyal and faithful to his section of the church. We need to remember the heavenly position, and when to act according to it; and the home or business position, and when to act in harmony with it. e.g., In your heavenly position you may be a leader, in your 'home' position you may be a 'subordinate'. To - day the Church of God needs to set an example of law-abiding faithfulness. 'Lawlessness' is abroad. Servants unfit to lead are seeking to be 'masters', and 'masters' are failing in leadership also, showing themselves unworthy of the name. The word 'servant' is being cast aside as something derogatory. It is for the Church to lift it again to its place of dignity. We should be 'kings' in our heavenly position, and on earth the servants of all. We have not got ideal churches to - day, and so the path is difficult, but let us remember that God is a God of order, and His children must not become a perpetual cause of disturbance in their homes, or their churches.
THE CROSS IS THE PLACE OF UNITY, because there the old Adam life in the Jew and the Gentile is crucified, and God created a 'new man' in Christ Jesus. How the Cross breaks down the old Adam life in its 'wall of partition', dividing Christian from Christian I once saw in a Conference near Berlin (Germany). Leading Christian workers had gathered from every part of Germany for a three - days Conference. At the first meeting I gave a message, by translation, on the subject of the Cross as set forth in Eph. 2. On this occasion I spoke a Sentence,. then quietly waited, and listened whilst the German was given , the pauses rendering the message more effective - until suddenly a sister arose from the audience, and said something in German. I waited. Then she turned, and directed her words to someone at the back, and this person arose and began to shake hands with another person. Then I saw that God was working and taking hold of the meeting. So I sat and watched, and had no further opportunity to speak. The whole of the Conference proceeded to settle up affairs with one another. The weeping and the 'reconciliations' were most touching. The result was that after an hour or so Of this blessed evidence of the power of the Cross to 'slay' the 'enmity' between children of God, the Conference broke up, and away went the workers in the woods around, some of them arm in arm with those they had not spoken to for years. After this we truly had a flood - tide of blessing. The 'fire of the Lord' fell. We continued on the theme of the Cross from one aspect, and another, until we reached the point where we might safely seek the enduement for service. More than half of those present came forward, and flung themselves down by the platform, asking God that there and then there should come into their spirits the true influx of the Holy Ghost. And He came. In every place that some of these workers went to from that Conference, they had Revival. In village after village, and even in deaconess houses they stayed in for the night, it broke out. God had really come down! This proves that the Holy Ghost needs unity between believers ere He can work, and that this real unity comes through the Cross. CHAPTER EIGHT - THE CROSS AND THE TONGUE "I tell you even weeping ... (of) enemies of the Cross" Phil. 3:18 THE degree of our real identification with Christ in His death, and the criterion of the stage of our growth into the maturity of the life of the new creation, is in no respect more marked than in relation to the 'sins of the tongue', especially in regard to those we see to be 'enemies of the Cross', ignorantly or willfully. For in no manifestation of the 'flesh' is its activity more painful and disastrous, than in the language used by even true servants of God concerning those who are either caught in the apostasy of today, "denying the Lord that bought them " (2 Peter 2:1), or ensnared in the wiles of Satan in any form. "If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the
whole body also" (James 3:2, R.V.), writes the Apostle James. The word 'perfect' in this passage, according to Young's Analytical Concordance, means 'complete' a complete man. The same word is used in Eph. 4:13, and is rendered in the R.V. text, a 'full - grown man'; and again in Col. 1:28, where it is rendered by Conybeare, 'full - grown in Christ' the word denoting 'grown to the ripeness of maturity'. Again, we find the word in Col. 4:12, and here it is rendered by Conybeare as meaning "ripeness of understanding, and full assurance of belief". And, lastly, the words occur in Phil. 3:15, where the Apostle writes:"Let us all, then, who are 'ripe in understanding', be thus minded . . ." the word 'perfect' being the antithesis of 'babe' (Conybeare's note). According to the Apostle James, then, stumbling not in word is the supreme mark of a 'complete' spiritual man, completely 'full - grown in Christ', having come to the ripeness of maturity as a new creature in Christ Jesus, thus having "ripeness of understanding and full assurance of belief" being no longer a child "tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men ... after the wiles of error" (Eph. 4:14, R.V.), but able to speak the truth in love, in the full assurance of faith, and calm, ripe knowledge of maturity in Christ. The present is a sifting time for all the children of God in every degree in the spiritual life. 'Spiritual' men now will prove their 'ripeness of maturity' by their 'stumbling not in word' during the present distress. Panic and hasty, unloving words cannot be co - existent with the 'full assurance of faith' and the deep knowledge of God of the truly 'spiritual' man. The spirit of the man who is 'ripe in understanding' is shown in the words of Paul immediately following his utterance, "Let us who are 'perfect' be thus minded". "Many walk," he says, "of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the Cross of Christ . . ." (Phil. 3:18). "Even weeping!" Ah! this is the spirit of the spiritual man! No man who weeps in speaking of the enemies of the Cross will 'stumble in word', and grieve the Holy Spirit of God by the fruit of his lips. The truth must be spoken - but in love, and with "anguish of heart and many tears" (2 Cor. 2:4), for those who have gone astray. And let us not forget that the 'truth' means not what we consider 'truth' about another, but bearing witness to the truth of God, as ,it is written', and we have proved and known it in our lives. And to 'stumble not in word' has much to do with our power in prayer, and our abiding in the place where we can have power with God, and prevail with men. If the adversary can draw us out of the hidden place 'with Christ in God' into the strife of tongues, he will do it. Prayer warriors, let us take heed that we abide in the place where we can 'lift up holy hands without wrath and doubting". We must 'stumble not in word' if we are to be truly abiding within the veil. And why? The Apostle James shows clearly the reason:"Doth the fountain send
forth from the same opening sweet water and bitter?" (James 3:11). Can we speak words bitter words - one moment, and be a channel for the sweet, pure stream of the "river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the Throne of God and the Lamb" the next? Let us listen again to James, and hear him tell the reason why the mark of a man truly 'sanctified' in spirit, soul and body is the 'stumbling not in word'. The "tongue", says the Apostle, "setteth on fire the wheel of nature (or birth, R.V.m.), and is set on fire by hell". The 'wheel of nature', or life, which came to us from the first Adam in our birth into this world, is always roused or 'fired' by hell - by the serpent which poisoned the stream of the earth - born life in Eden. And the serpent's most effectual weapon is the tongue, for 'firing' the 'wheel of nature' in ourselves, or others. Hence the wondrous silence manifested by Christ - the Last Adam, as the pattern of the Christ - life for His redeemed, when He was accused by the chief priests and elders. He answered nothing. "Then saith Pilate to Him, Hearest Thou not how many things they witness against Thee? And He gave him no answer, not even to one word: insomuch that the governor marveled greatly." Only when appealed to for truth did the Lord Christ speak, and bear witness to the truth (see John 18:37). "Art Thou a King, then?" said Pilate. "Thou sayest it because I am a King" (R.V.m.), replied the Kingly Prisoner. Even so must it be today. Silence from witness - bearing is criminal. The trumpet - voices of the leaders of God's spiritual Israel must give no uncertain sound in the day of battle, but in all ranks of the army of the Lord 'the wheel of nature' must not be fired by hell, or it will be disaster indeed. The wheel - or movement - of the life of nature which came to us at birth must be kept continually under the power of the Cross of Christ so that the life of the Last Adam may grow in us into ripeness of maturity. The soul who has thus been united to Christ in death knows how to 'always' bear about the dying of Jesus, and to hide in the Cleft of the Rock away from the strife of tongues, which 'hell' would use to 'fire' the old life, were it not kept crucified with Christ. The mark, therefore, of a full - grown spiritual man as 'stumbling not in word' is now easy to be understood. He has become 'full - grown' with his body under the complete mastery of the Spirit. The 'deadly poison' of the serpent transmitted by the tongue to rouse 'the wheel of nature' must find the believer hidden deep in the death of the Cross, so that he becomes a channel for God to speak through him healing, blessing, life-giving words of love. Let us therefore take heed at this time, and ask for the light of God upon the words of our mouth, lest we lose unwittingly our power within the veil. Let us "take forth the precious from the vile"i.e., distinguish in the light of God what words are from Him, or are of our own mind, so that we may be as His mouth (Jeremiah 15:19) in this day of crisis.
CHAPTER NINE - THE CROSS AND REVIVAL If we look back at the messages of the preceding meetings we can see why Revival comes into view at this juncture. In the Revival in Wales the outstanding theme was the message of Calvary. It is only when we see the Cross as the centre, and the basis of all the working of the Holy Spirit that Revival becomes possible. Let us now seek to understand some of the laws and perils of Revival even when we know something of the various aspects of the Cross. In dealing with this subject I will embody matter from a manuscript which was intended to form part of the last chapter of 'War on the Saints', and for some cause it was omitted. It has its origin in lessons learned in the Revival in Wales. First let us define briefly that Revival, in its essence, is the outflow of the Spirit of God through the human spirit. This is in harmony with what Fausset, the well-known evangelical commentator, says about the human spirit. He writes, "The spirit of man is the receptacle of the Holy Spirit, and is the organ in which He dwells, and through which He works". You will see, by this simple definition, how vitally all the truths of the Cross, and the laws of the spiritual life, which we have been considering, affect the question of 'Revival'. Now let us ask, What are the primary conditions for Revival, apart from prayer? First, the negative:the removal of all obstacles to the outflow of the Spirit. This brings in the work of the Cross applied by the Spirit of God. Second, the positive:. understanding how to co - operate with the Holy Spirit of God. This brings in the life - side of the Cross, the inflow of the Holy Spirit and the believer learning experimentally how to walk in the spirit Now as to some of the main 'obstacles'. (1) In the spirit an unbending, unforgiving, grasping spirit. (2) In the life ignorance of what is right and what is wrong, so that things which hinder the Holy Spirit are tolerated. (3) In the service of God - unwillingness to speak of the things of God, and to testify. For dealing with the obstacles is needed - (1) The cleansing of the spirit (2 Cor. 7:1), by the putting away of unyieldedness; the forgiving of those who have trespassed against us, the surrender of a 'grasping' spirit by giving up all to God. (2) The seeking of light from God upon 'right' and 'wrong' in the life, and the putting things right as the light is given. (3) The surrender to God for obedience to the monitions of the Holy Spirit in the way of speech and testimony. Here comes in the Blood to cleanse all that the light reveals, and the Cross in its delivering power, setting free the believer by his identification with Christ in His death, applied by the Holy Spirit.
Now as to the perils of Revival:These again primarily may be briefly defined as, (1) the danger of acting or living by 'feeling', or the sensuous life, instead of the spirit - life; and (2) the peril arising from the spirits of evil counterfeiting the workings of the Holy Spirit .Alongside of the danger of becoming dominated by 'feelings' and emotions, the perils of Revival come mainly from the invisible world of spirits. The Counterfeiter is watching to counterfeit, and to insert his workings in the place of God's workings. The fact became clear again and again in Wales, during the height of the 1905 Revival, that it was possible for God to begin with a pure work of the Holy Spirit, and for the counterfeiting spirits to insert a 'counterfeit' which the soul ignorantly accepted. In this way the same manifestations appeared, but the source was changed without it being detected. The changing of the source of the supernatural manifestations without the believer's cognizance is therefore the main peril. A very small inserted 'stream', or 'tincture' from the enemy, causes mixture which may not be discerned at first, but which sooner or later produces fruit in confusion and trouble. In view of this danger - the principle danger - if we pray for Revival, we should pray God to prepare intelligent and spiritually equipped children of God to guide and help His people. Believers who know the ways of God, and who know the ways of the enemy, and are really endued by God with the power of discerning spirits, able to tell at once when the source of spiritual phenomena is changed. Such souls can discern when the spirit working in a meeting is changed from pure to counterfeit, and know how to deal with the spurious spirit, and how to bring the gathering back into the pure stream of God again. This occurred in the Revival in Wales many times, and those who watched the leadership of the one who was thus 'discerning' the spirits at work, marveled. I recollect once being in a meeting in England where the atmosphere was as pure as crystal. The spirit sense, when it knows God, can sense atmosphere, and where God is in great power there is a sense of the 'terrible crystal' Ezekiel spoke about. It then seems as if the atmosphere is so transparent that everything in it out of harmony with God seems repulsive and painful. The atmosphere of the meeting referred to was like this, when one who was present rose to pray, and immediately it seemed as if a muddy stream was poured into the meeting, filling the atmosphere with a sense of 'thickness', and the pure and beautiful clearly crystal sense of the Holy Presence of God was gone. That soul had prayed from the sensuous soulish life, and not from the spirit. Those who have this acute and sensitive consciousness of what is 'spirit' and what is 'soul' - or sensuous - can detect it in themselves by the sound of the voice, which becomes 'metallic' or harsh, when the believer draws upon his 'natural' resources, but when he speaks from the spirit there is an exquisite
softness, and purity in the voice, which makes the tone beautiful. Ah yes, everything that comes from the Spirit of God is beautiful. There is nothing repulsive - nothing that you would shrink away from - so beware of forcing yourself to accept, as of God, what your spirit shrinks from as repulsive. So many today are being drawn into counterfeits because they do not remember this. Let us have a right conception of God's presence. Where He is in power you get a foretaste of heaven, and this heavenly presence is felt by your spirit, not your soul, i.e., your physical consciousness. "God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." Alas! That so many to - day should be deceived as to their true spiritual state, by the effort made in many churches to appeal to the sensuous, and the natural love of the beautiful, through beautiful music, and attractive singing, which will count for nothing in eternity. If it is true that "God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit", of what avail is all the sensuous worship caused through the soothing, or satiating of soul - desires, with no real knowledge of God or His gospel. Let us see to it ourselves that our worship of God is in spirit, and in truth. As we have seen, the chief peril of Revival is, that when God begins to work in abnormal power, the counterfeiter has his opportunity. It is then that, what a writer in America calls 'the high order spirits', the religious spirits, that 'hover upon the Alps of the spiritual life', hover about those who are entering realms of the spirit they have never known before. Not the gross and repulsive spirits, but refined and beautiful spirits, are the ones most to be feared. When Paul said that Satan had transformed himself into an 'angel of light', he plainly meant that Satan can appear to be light when he himself is all darkness. He can give 'flashes of light' and 'floods of light', and fill a room with light. Can you tell when they are from the enemy? All that we have been learning about the Cross will equip us to meet these 'perils'. Therefore if we pray for and desire Revival, we must ask God to enable us to apprehend the truths that will fit us to be of use to Him when it comes. Now lastly, let us summarize some hints on how to conduct meetings to bring about Revival, or during a time of Revival - which means during a time when the Spirit of God is working in great power - for these 'hints' are adaptable and 'Revival' - true Revival cannot be worked up by methods. These hints are only to show how to co-work with the Holy Spirit on the right occasion, so as to give Him full liberty to work. We have seen that 'Revival' is the result of an influx into and an outflow from the human regenerated spirit. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit, or the enduement of power, therefore brings into acute consciousness the spirit sense, which, if we learn to read it correctly, will teach us how to co - work with the Holy Spirit in the conducting of a meeting, not only as He moves through our own spirit, but as He moves in the spirit of others.