In seeking to define and describe the nature and character of our experimental union
Object. It is only by faith we can enjoy the fact that we were loved by Him from all eternity, and that He now bears us on His heart in the immediate presence of God. "I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal 2:20) contains the sum total of all spiritual life and spirituality.
Yet the cementing bond of this union is love. Faith unites savingly; love, experimentally. Love is as truly a uniting grace as is faith, though it does not unite in the same way. "God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him" (1Jo 4:16). Where two persons really love each other, their mutual affection makes them to be one; they are wrapped up in each other. So there is a mutual, hearty, reciprocal love between Christ and believers. He loves them, and they Him, and by virtue of that mutual love there is an intimate, experimental union between them. The husband and wife are one not merely by the marriage covenant—the legal tie and external relationship—but also and chiefly because of the love and affection there is between them. So it is betwixt Christ and His saints: love, stronger than death, knits them together.
Experimental communion with Christ, then, consists in basking in the sunshine of His conscious presence, sitting at His feet and receiving from Him as Mary did (Luk 10:39), leaning upon His bosom as John did (Joh 13:23). The more we are engaged in contemplating and resting in His wondrous and changeless love for us, the more will our poor hearts be warmed and our affections drawn out unto Him. Our daily aim should be a more full and free acquaintance with the Lover of our souls; and this not so much in a doctrinal way as in a personal and experimental way, in actual communion with Him. It is in real intercourse with our friends, and in their converse with us, that we get most and best acquainted with them. It is even so with the Lord Jesus Christ, our best Friend. Open your heart freely to Him, and beg Him to graciously open His heart freely to you. Humbly remind Him of His words, "Hence-forth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you" (Joh 15:15).
2. The Nature and Character of Our Union
In seeking to define and describe the nature and character of our experimental union and communion with Christ it has been pointed out, first, that it consists in a ready submission to Him as our Lord and an intimate intercourse with Him as our Friend: there is no aloofness on His part, and there should be no reserve on ours. Second, it is a walking with Him in the light, where all is open, real, honest, with no concealment or pretense. Third, it is a knowing, loving, enjoying Christ, having plain, practical, personal dealings with Him. Fourth, it is based on faith's realization of Christ's relation to us and of our relation to Him; only the exercise of faith will make Him real and consciously near us. Fifth, love is the cementing bond of this union: there is a reciprocal affection between the Redeemer and the redeemed. Sixth, it consists of a sitting at the feet of our Lord and receiving from Him, a leaning upon the bosom of our Friend and enjoying His
love. Seventh, it is exercised in a real personal intercourse with Him, opening our hearts freely to Him, and receiving free communications from Him.
The great thing for the Christian is to realize that Christ not only gave Himself for him, but that He has given Himself to him: Christ Himself is mine, my very own! Wondrous, blessed, glorious fact. Oh, for faith to realize it more fully. Oh, for grace to act more consistently with it. Yes, Christ Himself is mine—to live upon, to lean upon, to consult, to confide in, to make use of in every way I need Him, to have the freest possible dealings with Him. Christ is mine—to enjoy to the utmost extent of my heart, to commune with, to delight in. He is ever with me, and under no conceivable (or unconceivable) circumstances will He ever leave or forsake me. He is ever the same; His love for me never varies. He has my best interests at heart. He can satisfy every longing of the soul as nothing else and none other can. He is ready to share with me His peace and joy. Oh, what a happy soul I should be!
What a change it would make in the experience of both writer and reader if we could more fully grasp the amazing and precious truth that the Lord Jesus has not only given Himself for us, but that He has done much more—He has given Himself to us. Christ is ours! Most blessedly is that fact brought out in the wonderful type of Exodus 12: the selfsame lamb whose blood sheltered the Israelites from the avenger was theirs to feed upon, to draw strength from, to enjoy (vv. 7-11). Alas how feebly do any of us apprehend the Antitype
3 of this—evidenced in the complaints of our feebleness, leanness, fruitlessness. There is an infinite sufficiency in Christ for time and eternity, and that sufficiency or "fulness" is for us to draw upon; but alas, how little we do so. Surely our deepest experimental need is to be taught by the Spirit—for He alone can teach us this blessed secret, as He ever does where there is a heart really longing to know it—of how to make a right and full use of Christ.
It is only as we really live upon Christ that we can truly live for Him. Nor is this the vague, intangible, mysterious thing which human "religion" and Protestant priestcraft would make of it. It is, to the Spirit-taught, the most simple, natural, and practical thing for us. First, it is faith's realization that Christ is truly and actually mine; my very own; mine in an infinitely nearer and dearer way than a mother or wife is mine. Second, it is faith's realization that Christ is with me, near me, right by my side, "a very present help in trouble" (Psa 46:1); the Friend Who "sticketh closer than a brother." Third, it is faith's realization that all He has is mine—is, not shall be! We are even now "heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ" (Rom 8:17). His wisdom, His righteousness, His holiness, His love, His peace, are ours. Fourth, it is faith's appropriation of all this—ah, words easily written, easily understood at their letter-meaning—which enables me to draw from Him, share with Him, and enjoy what is mine in Him. That is "fellowship" with Christ!
Real and personal fellowship with Christ should be made the chief aim of our souls in all our approaches to Him in ordinances, means, and privileges. In public worship, in private reading of the Word, in our meditation, in prayer, in spiritual conversation with
3 Antitype –person (here Christ) or object represented or foreshadowed by an earlier type or symbol.
our brethren and sisters in Christ, free and intimate communion with Him should be our definite quest. "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple" (Psa 27:4); that was the Old Testament way of expressing this truth. To "dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life" did not signify to spend all his time in the literal tabernacle or temple, but to abide in conscious communion with Him, enjoying His perfections. This the psalmist "desired" above everything else, and this he "sought after." So also must we.
Let us now anticipate an objection: What you have described in the above paragraphs is indeed a beautiful ideal, but alas, it is utterly impracticable for one in such circumstances as I am in. It might be realized by those who are free from the carking
4 cares of this life, who have not to battle with the world for daily bread for themselves and those dependent upon them, for such who have time and leisure for holy contemplation and spiritual luxuriation. But for a poor soul like me who scarcely knows where the next meal is coming from, delighting one's self in the Lord is not to be attained unto in this life. First we would say, Be not unduly occupied with God's temporal dealings with you, for His way in providence is often a great deep. Meditate upon the everlasting covenant of His grace and His boundless love to you. All God's dealings, even in the most dark and trying dispensations, are in mercy and truth. He has sworn "I will not turn away from them to do them good" (Jer 32:40).
If you will but attend to that same word of promise, meditate upon it, and pray over it, your faith will be strengthened, and you will triumph in the Lord and rejoice in the God of your salvation. Remember the faith of Habakkuk. He said "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength" (Hab 3:17-19). On God's Word the prophet relied. Even though all outward things should, in appearance, make against God's Word, yet we should believe, with joyful hope, in its sure accomplishment. It will be your wisdom and comfort to leave yourself and every concern with the Lord, committing all, by simple faith, into His hands. "Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee" (Psa 55:22).
We can well imagine other readers saying, That is not my difficulty. My trouble lies deeper than being occupied with and worried over temporal circumstances, sorely trying though they often are. Such blissful communion with Christ as you have depicted above is impossible for me. How can one so depraved, such a mass of rottenness within, such a spiritual leper, such a miserable failure in everything, ever attain unto intimate intercourse with the Lord of Glory? Ah, that is the real problem which weighs so heavily on the hearts of the great majority of truly regenerated souls. Nor can the complacent, selfrighteous religionists of the day understand such cases, still less can they minister any help and comfort. Being strangers themselves to the plague of their own heart, having
4 carking – distressing; perplexing; giving anxiety.
5 holiness of God, being blinded by pride and self-deception, it is utterly impossible that they should be able to enter into the anguish of those groaning under sin.
such low conceptions of sin, and still lower of the ineffable
Permit a fellow-groaner to try in his feeble way to point you to "the balm in Gilead" (Jer 8:22). It is with sin-harassed souls that Christ holds communion! Ah, that is what the haughty Pharisees of the days of His flesh could not understand. They murmured at Him, saying "This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them" (Luk 15:2). It shocked their ideas of religious propriety that He should make so free with those whom they considered were so far beneath them spiritually. And if this book falls into the hands of their many successors we would be much surprised if they did not throw up hands of horror against the writer, and denounce such teaching as "dangerous," as "antinomian,"
6 as "making light of sin." But this would move us not; it would indeed be deplorable did we receive the approval and commendation of such people. But as of old "the common people" heard Christ "gladly" (Mar 12:37), so to-day those who are poorest in spirit will most readily receive His glad tidings.
The Gospel is that it is the Lamb which is given us to feed on. That precious title speaks of Christ in His sacrificial character. It tells of His amazing grace and matchless love to give Himself to die the death of the Cross for hell-deserving sinners. It tells also of His giving Himself to His sinful people, for communion, nourishment, strength, and joy. But more particularly it reveals the perfect suitability of Christ for sinners. The blacker and viler we see ourselves to be, the better fitted are we for Him Whose name is called "Wonderful" (Isa 9:6)—wonderful in His compassion, in His condescension, His readiness to bind up the broken-hearted, His power to heal lepers. His unfailing promise is "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (Joh 6:37). Nothing honors Christ more than to come to Him in faith while feeling our wretchedness, filthiness, and utter unworthiness.
The precious blood of Christ is the only sufficient antidote for a wounded conscience. It is by new acts of faith in His blood that we experience afresh its virtue and efficacy. True, the believer feels the plague of his heart and groans under a body of sin and death, but this should not hinder him from believing—rather should it be an argument to encourage him in believing. The more conscious we are of our polluted condition, the more deeply should we realize our need of that open Fountain "for sin and uncleanness" (Zec 13:1). "The dying thief rejoiced to see that Fountain in his day, and there may I, though vile as he, wash all my sins away." To it we should be constantly resorting. There is no danger whatsoever to be afraid of trusting that blood too much, or of having recourse to its cleansing too often—rather should we be afraid of trusting it too little. The more frequently we plead that blood before God the more Christ is honored.
"For we have not a High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help 5 ineffable – too great or extreme to be expressed in words. 6 antinomian – against the Law of God; lawless.
in time of need" (Heb 4:15-16). What a precious word is this for sin-harassed souls! First, we are reminded that Christ is our "High Priest," the One Who maintains our interests before God. Second, we are assured of His unfailing sympathies: He is One Who has "compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way" (Heb 5:2). Third, in view of Christ's official relation to and personal interest in us, we are invited to "come boldly [unhesitatingly, confidently, freely pouring out our hearts] unto the throne of grace"—the mediatorial Throne, upon which the eternal Lover of our souls is seated. Fourth, we are to come to that Throne, not only as worshippers to present our offerings of praise, but as sinners "that we may obtain mercy." Finally, access there is given that we may "find grace to help in time of need."
What other assurance from Him could we ask for? What further revelation of His heart is needed? A sense of our misery and wretchedness, filthiness and unworthiness, so far from acting as a deterrent, should prove a stimulus for us to come unto the "friend of publicans and sinners" (Mat 11:19). Christ is not like a "fair weather" friend, who fails in the hour of direst need, who turns his back on you when his love, counsel, and help are the most needed. No, no! Christ is that Friend Who "loveth at all times," that Brother Who is "born for adversity" (Pro 17:17). Troubled soul, did you but know Him better, you could not doubt, that; would you but put Him to the proof more, you would obtain fuller evidence thereof in your own experience. Instead of reproving you, He will cordially receive you. It is faith which He asks for—faith in His love, His grace, His mercy, His readiness to welcome, to hear our complaints, to heal, to cleanse you.
Faith, dear reader, is neither encouraged nor discouraged by anything we find in ourselves; it is neither encouraged by our graces, nor discouraged by our sinfulness, for faith looks out of self unto Another. Nothing will afford such encouragement to believing prayer as a sight of the Lamb on His mediatorial Throne (Rev 5:6). No matter how desperate may be our case, how often we have failed and fallen, how low we are sunk, it is always the believer's privilege to turn unto his Redeemer and say, "Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name" (Psa 119:132). Oh, what incentives, what encouragements He has given us in His Word to pray thus: "very great are his mercies" (1Ch 21:13). Therein we read of "the multitude of thy tender mercies" (Psa 69:16), of "his abundant mercy (1Pe 1:3), that He is "plenteous in mercy" (Psa 86:5), and that "the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him" (Psa 103:17).
Very similar as the expressions are in sound, yet there is a vast difference between "Christian experience," and the "experience of a Christian." Real and normal "Christian experience" is for the heart to be occupied with Christ, delighting itself in Him. But "the experience of the average Christian" consists largely of an increasing knowledge of sin and self, and that fills him with misery and loathing, and with a sense of emptiness and helplessness. Nevertheless, that only fits him the more for Christ—all the fitness He requireth is to feel our need of Him. But alas, only too often Christ is excluded from our thoughts, and then the state of our poor minds is very variable, dark, and uncomfortable, afflicted with many disquietudes and sorrows. As we feel sin at work within, we cannot but sorrow;
and as we feel sorrow, we are often distracted. Yea, this is ever the case where God leaves us to reason about ourselves, to exercise our thoughts on what we are in ourselves.
It is in seasons of despondency and sorrow that we most need to turn to Christ and say, "Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name." This is to "make use" of Him, to honor Him, to own Him as our loving Friend. When everything appears to be hopeless, go to the Throne of grace, for Christ is exactly suited to thee and is all-sufficient for thee. Our desperate case will only serve to draw out His heart, to show forth His grace, to display His compassion, to exercise His mercy, to manifest His all-sufficiency, to endear Himself to our hearts. His heart is ever toward us. "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me" (Isa 49:15-16), He declares. Then why should you doubt His love, or question His willingness to receive you graciously, hear you patiently, and cleanse you effectually?
Oh, my sin-stricken brother, my sin-mourning sister, return unto Him Who first sought you out when there was none other eye to pity. Say unto Him, "Hast thou not loved me with an everlasting love (Jer 31:3); wast Thou not wounded for my transgressions, bruised for my iniquities; so that the chastisement of my peace was upon Thee, that by Thy stripes I might be healed (Isa. 53:5)? Hast Thou not said 'Oh, Israel, return unto the LORD thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.' " Take with you words, and turn to the Lord, say unto Him, "Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously, and hast thou not promised 'I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely' (Hos 14:1-2, 4)"? Ah, my Christian friend, cannot you see that the Lord permits these sad falls, with the sorrow of soul which they occasion us, to make way for the discovery of His gracious heart, that we may prove for ourselves that He is a Friend that "sticketh closer than a brother!" Earthly friends may fail and leave us; one day soothe, the next day grieve us; but there's One Who'll ne'er deceive us, O how He loves.
Experimental communion with Christ requires that we be continually cleansed by Him: a fuller consideration of this we must leave (D.V.)
7 for the future; in the meanwhile, let it be pointed out that divine grace has made full provision for this: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1Jo 1:9). Note well that this comes immediately after, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (vs. 8). Sometimes the newly converted soul is favored with such grace, with such communion with Christ, that iniquity hides its evil face, and it seems as though sin in us has been slain. But indwelling corruption soon re-asserts itself, yet pride is unwilling to acknowledge it, and the temptation is to gloss it over and call it by some pleasanter name than sin. But that, dear friend, is Satan's effort to draw us back again to "walk in darkness"(vs. 6)—in deception and dishonesty, and it must be steadfastly resisted.
7 D.V. – Deo volente: if God is willing.