Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

by H. J. Vine.

The Son’s Rights in Creation

“Giving thanks unto the Father, which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: in Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of every creature: for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him” (Colossian 1:12-16).

Those who have redemption in the Son are enabled by the Spirit to appreciate something of the greatness of His rights. The Father has set us free from the authority of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of THE SON OF HIS LOVE (see N.Trans. and Scofield’s marg.), having made us meet to partake of the portion of the saints in light. Both redemption and the forgiveness of sins are ours in the Son of the Father’s love, and it is our joy and privilege to behold the glory and the rights of Him in whom we are so richly blessed.

It should be noted carefully that the right reading in verse 14 very arrestingly omits His atoning work. It fixes our gladdened gaze upon the Son Himself alone. So it reads, “IN WHOM we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (New Translation). “through His blood” is not there; as it is in Ephesians 1, thus here the personal glory of THE SON shines resplendent, lighting up this whole passage. From eternity to eternity it is THE SON who fills the vision. He is seen to be the Creator, therefore the rights of pre-eminence in creation are His; and He will take them as Man according to divine counsels. They are His, however, because He, the Son, is the Creator. Meanwhile He is the Revealer as well as the Redeemer; He is the risen Head also of the assembly and the Reconciler; but it is the Son Himself who thus embraces all. “He is before all”; and all is gloriously filled by Him; and all is brought to subsist together by Him. How immense it all is! How great and glorious is the Son of the Father’s love!

The comments of J. N. Darby in The Synopsis have helped much, and we give them here for the help of others. This truth had so impressed the writer, that it will be observed he leaves his usual way of writing, and expresses his own deep appreciation of this “admirable truth.”

He writes, “Thus the Creator, when He takes a place in creation, is necessarily its Head. He has not yet made good His rights, because in grace He would accomplish redemption. We are speaking of His rights—rights which faith recognizes.

“He is then the image of the invisible God and, when He takes His place in it, the Firstborn of all creation. The reason of this is worthy of our attention—simple, yet marvellous: He created it. It was in the Person of the Son that God acted, when by His power He created all things, whether in heaven or in earth, visible and invisible. All that is great and exalted is but the work of His hand; all has been created by Him (the Son) and for Him. Thus when He takes possession of it, He takes it as His inheritance by right. Wonderful truth, that He who has redeemed us, who made Himself man, one of us as to nature, in order to do so, is the Creator. But such is the truth.

“In connection with this admirable truth, it was a part of God’s counsels that man should have dominion over all the works of His hands. Thus Christ, as Man, has it by right, and will take possession of it in fact. This part of the truth of which we are speaking is treated in Hebrews 2 … I introduce it here merely that we may understand the circumstances under which the Son takes possession. The Spirit speaks of the One who is Man, but the One who is at the same time Creator of all things, the Son of God. They were created by Him, they were necessarily then created for Him.

“The Son is here presented to us as Creator, not to the exclusion of the Father’s power, nor of the operation of the Spirit. They are one, but it is the Son who is here set before us. In John 1 it is under the name of Son, that He, who is also the Word, is revealed to us … He is also the Son of God; and, in particular, the Son of the Father … Inasmuch as born in this world by the operation of God through the Holy Ghost, He is the Son of God. But this is in time, when creation is already the scene of the manifestation of the ways and counsels of God. But the Son is also the name of the proper relationship of His glorious Person to the Father before the world was (italics ours). It is in this character that He created all things. The Son is to be glorified even as the Father.

“In the Epistle to the Colossians that which is set before us is the proper glory of His Person as Son before the world was. HE IS THE CREATOR AS SON (caps ours). It is important to observe this” (p. 15).

The rights of “Firstborn of all creation,” of pre-eminence in all things, cannot therefore be questioned as belonging to Him. Both rightly and eternally those rights belong to the Son.

He took part however in time’s history; and was “seen and heard.” Our present lessons are to be learned here. “Hear Him,” said God the Father. “Learn of Me” He Himself said. Psalm 2 speaks of Him “begotten” in time in Israel; also as “THE SON” to Gentiles. This is the one mention of that Name—“the Son”—in the Old Testament. It reads, “And now, O Kings, be wiser be admonished, ye judges of the earth. Serve Jehovah with fear, and rejoice with trembling. KISS THE SON, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, though His anger burn but a little. Blessed are all who have put their trust in Him” (New Translation). Mark, this is said to Gentiles, where the riches of the mystery have been shown (Colossians 1:27). Coming in time—to Israel—we read in verse 7, “Jehovah has said unto Me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee.” Acts 13, Hebrews 1 and 5:5 show that salvation, kingship and priesthood were in view specially.

Now we are told. “He that believes on THE SON has life eternal, and he that is not subject to THE SON shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36, New Translation). True are the words, “Blessed are all who have put their trust in Him.”

We do well to rejoice in Him who “created all” and is “before all”; and to learn of Him who came here in lowly grace; to rejoice in Him who is now the exalted Head of the body, the assembly; knowing that the “first place”—“the pre-eminence”—“in all things” is His; while we reverently recognize His glorious rights in creation.

The Sure Remedy

Bright with the love of God is the cross of Jesus our Saviour, for there for us He suffered and went down into the deepest depths of death. Right up to the highest heights He has gone, “far above all heavens,” and is there crowned with glory and honour. Such an One as He is, is well able to remove all clouds of ill and every heart with blessing fill.

Can a man be found who has sunk too low for Him to save? He has already saved the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15)! Is there a creature too exalted to receive good from Him? He shall “fill all things” (Ephesians 4:10). “In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily!”

Find that weary, sin-stricken sinner who deeply feels his need of God’s salvation. There is no need to occupy him with his rightly-felt sinfulness now. A sure and effectual remedy is waiting for him—“CHRIST JESUS came into the world to SAVE sinners.”

Bring that one who fears that he is not one of those who shall never perish, and that life eternal will never be his portion. True and reliable is the word—“Whosoever believes in HIM should not perish, but have everlasting life!” To him who is most wretched because of sin’s presence in his members, who longs for deliverance, and cries, “Who shall deliver me?” how good is the answer—“I thank God through JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD!” (Romans 7:25), and “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death!” (8:2).

Do you know one who is greatly distressed by innumerable difficulties and trials, who is wearied with cares and burdens too heavy to be borne: Christ is the sure resource! “Casting ALL your care upon HIM, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). He takes advantage of all we pass through to endear Himself to us, to draw us near to Himself, and to make His own love and power indispensable to us. He has proved His love to us in the depths of the cross, and He uses His power on our behalf from the heights of the glory, where He now is.

Should sorrows and sufferings abound, should still greater ills sweep over the world and the churches, should unexpected trials arise in the pathway—nothing can take CHRIST JESUS unawares! When Paul was cast into prison and bound with a chain and brought up to answer before King Agrippa, he, the prisoner of the Lord, because of the portion he had in Christ, could exclaim before the Christless monarch “I would to God, that not only thou, but all that hear me this day, were … altogether such as I am, except these bonds” (Acts 26:29). Paul knew well and had proved in many trials and much suffering the all-sufficiency of His almighty Saviour and Lord. His experience of the grace of Christ had corroborated every word of Holy Scripture, and he was a witness of the things he preached. He was rich in having Christ, though suffering as a prisoner. The king was poor without Christ, though adorned with royal robes. Paul himself knew well what he wrote to others—“Ye know the grace of OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

A brother whose heart was filled with the love and grace and glory of Christ called upon another who was suffering and bedridden. He felt deeply for his afflicted brother, but he did not talk of his affliction but of Christ, and, as he talked, the joy that was in his heart filled the heart of the sufferer, and that so effectually that they were able to join together in glad praise and thanksgiving. The descent of the Lord Jesus Christ into the deepest depths of death and His ascent into the highest heights of glory, and His ability to fill all things—these were the things of which the visitor talked and that lifted the heart of the sufferer above his sufferings, for the Holy Spirit who is the Comforter brought it home to him, that Christ could fill his heart now and be to him all be needed, as He will surely fill the universe and sustain it in fullness of blessing. The sweet savour of the visit lingered long after the visitor had gone.

Yes, our God and Father in His love and wisdom has provided all for us in Christ, His beloved Son; from the deepest depths to the highest heights Christ is enough.

“The Testimony of the Lord is Sure”

Psalm 19:7

There is nothing variable or uncertain in the testimony which God Himself gives to men. The many may not receive it, and the others who do may but feebly respond to it, but the testimony itself is faultless, like the One who grants it in grace to a sinful world. Where it is believed—where the heart and mind are open before God—where there is singleness towards Him, it imparts understanding and wisdom. “The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.”

This beautiful scripture from Psalm 19 refers of course to the testimony which God gave to Moses in the mount. Although given so long before, the Holy Spirit reverts to it as still being at the foundation of the people’s relations with God. The early verses of the Psalm celebrate the unceasing testimony of creation, at least on its heavenly side, to God’s greatness and glory. They also tell us of a tabernacle set in the heavens for the sun. At the appointed time it comes out, radiant with brightness and warmth, so that nothing is hid from its shining. This reminds us of the testimony of the present times—of that which was to be rendered when “its own times” arrived (1 Timothy 2:6).

As we look briefly at these three testimonies which God has given to men, we shall see how sure they are, and how utterly without excuse they leave those who have not the knowledge of God. And as we weigh them before Him, in the sense of His grace, they will grant wisdom to us, helping us to walk consistently with them for His praise, while our assured hearts exclaim, “Thy testimonies are very sure” (Psalm 93:5)—yea, all of them!

God’s Testimony in Creation

The heavens declare His glory, and the firmament gives unmistakeable evidence of His handiwork. For the full, revelation of God the world had to wait for Christ to come; nevertheless, creation clearly makes manifest to all His power and divinity. It is plain to any thoughtful and upright mind that the One who made that which we see above and below and around us must have power far beyond the creature, also that He Himself must be above man altogether. And like the testimony sent in grace to man today, the voice of creation has gone out into all the earth, and its words unto the ends of the world (Romans 10:18). The powerful eloquence of this ancient preacher has doubtless been fruitful in multitudes of cases, in bringing home to their souls the great fact that God is, and in bringing them to cry to Him in their need. More than one has said, “When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man that thou art mindful of him?” Nor have the words of Isaiah been in vain, “Thus says the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He has established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else … a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside Me. Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for 1 AM GOD, AND THERE IS NONE ELSE.”

Moreover, when the Apostle Paul was preaching to the turbulent crowds at Lystra, he reminded them that though the nations had been suffered to go in their own ways in past times, nevertheless the rain given from heaven and the fruitful seasons, the food and gladness that filled their hearts, were a testimony to the Creator. He did not leave Himself without witness. The unceasing testimony of God in creation to men is sure.

God’s Testimony in the Law

As we have said, this was given to Moses at Sinai. It was the moral law which was preserved in the ark and in the tabernacle. These therefore were afterwards called the ark of the testimony and the tabernacle of testimony. The ark, with the mercy-seat of gold above and the golden cherubim, formed the throne of Jehovah on the earth. The law within the ark—“the testimony,” was the moral foundation of that throne. The Lord said to Moses, “Thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee” (Exodus 25:16). Although constantly overlooked, a little meditation upon this will give us to see the great importance of this testimony. The previous one had to do with providence; this with government; the third with grace. Here was to be found the foundation of right relations with God. But because man was a sinner, the law necessarily condemned him—righteously so; and all the world comes under judgment to God. By the works of the law no flesh could be justified. It gave the knowledge of sin, and stopped every mouth; so that, if God had not found redemption for us in Christ Jesus, we must have remained under judgment eternally. But, through that redemption, He now justifies freely by His grace all those who believe in Jesus.

This does not, however, abrogate the testimony given to Moses. How could it? The law is holy, and the commandment, which may bring sin home to us, is holy and just and good also. Moreover God has given the Spirit to those who trust in Christ, and though they are not under the law, but under grace, yet “the righteous requirement of the law” is now fulfilled in them—“who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:4). Indeed, the inward man of the real soul delights in the law of God, and it is as true now as ever—Blessed is the man that finds delight in the law of the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day and night. Although justification is not to be found there, but only in the blood of Christ, yet true blessedness is tasted as we find Christ in this wondrous testimony of God.

The Lord Jesus said to a scribe, who questioned Him as to which is the first of all the commandments, “Hear, O Israel: THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” The scribe acknowledged that this was the truth; and the Lord said to him, “Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.” Later we are told in Romans 13:10, “Love is the whole law” (NT.). How abiding therefore is this testimony which was put in the ark. It is indeed sure, and it makes wise the simple. Such are enabled to see Christ in it. He said, “Thy law is within My heart.” HE loved in fullest perfection.

God’s Testimony in Christ

“Its own times” having come for the present-day testimony of God to men, Paul tells us he was appointed a herald and apostle to make it known. He was not the testimony, nor was any other servant of Christ or company of people, but he was fitted and appointed for the announcement of it. He carried it to Corinth, and knowing the worldly wisdom which characterized that Grecian people, as a wise servant of the Lord, he did not announce the testimony of God with words of man’s wisdom, lest they should trust in that instead of in the power of God. He preached Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The testimony of Christ was confirmed in those who received it (compare 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 and 1:6). It is called the testimony “of God” for He is the Source of it, and “of Christ” because He is the Subject of it. Paul also carried it to Thessalonica, where it was believed (2 Thessalonians 1:10). He exhorted Timothy not to be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of himself, the Lord’s prisoner on account of it, but to suffer evil along with the gospel, according to the power of God, who has saved us (2 Timothy 1:8). Another has said, “Persons who live in the ease of Englishmen do not know what this suffering is, but where Popery is rampant and liberty unknown, to be put into prison, or taken by the gendarme daunts and cows people. The world’s reproach is on them. The testimony reduces itself to its simplest elements—not being ashamed of Christ, set before the world in testimony” (see J.N.D. Letters, vol. 2, p. 306; 2nd ed., 309).

From the scriptures given above, we are enabled to gather seven things concerning the present testimony: (1) It is of God; (2) it is concerning Christ; (3) it was announced in the preaching; (4) it was believed; (5) it was confirmed in those who received it; (6) it was in reproach; (7) it was given of God for all men. This last is confirmed by 1 Timothy 2:1-6. There we are told to pray for all men, for this is good and acceptable before our Saviour-God, who desires that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. The Holy Spirit then leads us on to the present-day testimony, and to its bearing towards all. For “GOD IS ONE”—the same who speaks in creation and in the law to men. And now we have made known something which just suits poor, sinful man—something which did not exist before—“the Mediator of God and men one, the Man Christ Jesus”; and, wonderful love and grace!—He “gave Himself a, ransom for all.” This indeed is just what man needed, and this is what our Saviour-God provided in grace for man, blessed be His name for ever.

The Spirit at once adds as to this gracious provision of God for man—“The testimony to be rendered in its own times” (N, T.). This testimony of God still remains, and, like the others of which we have spoken, it is sure. The times for it to be announced arrived when Christ rose and ascended to God’s right hand in glory, and the Holy Spirit was given as the power for its heralding. Those times still last. Christ is still at God’s right hand. The Spirit is still here to give power for the announcing of the testimony of God. Are we ready to further this in every way possible? Are we awake as to its importance? Are we prepared, if needs be, to suffer along with the gospel? Or have the ease and liberty referred to above lulled us to sleep? If Satan cannot succeed as a roaring lion, we may be sure he will seek to spoil us by his wiles. But greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. How then do we stand as to the testimony of God? May we be helped to understand it better, to value it more, and to seek its furtherance for God’s praise and glory.

“The True God and Eternal Life”

1 John 5:20

No subjects have called forth the energies of profound thought like these two—“The true God” and “Eternal life”; but after long ages of research, men still have to own they have failed to discover the one and to explain the other. “As touching the Almighty we cannot find him out,” is yet the reply to Job’s ancient question; and as to eternal life, it is still admitted they know neither the origin of “life” or what it is in itself, much less that which God’s Word calls “eternal life.”

Is man to be left in utter ignorance then of these most important matters? Yes, certainly, so long as he depends upon his own abilities to discover them. The abilities of man are indeed great and wonderful, given to him by a wise and beneficent Creator; but, at their best, they are incompetent to fathom the depths or scale the heights of the two subjects of which we speak; much less so now that sin has marred those remarkable abilities.

If man be unable to discover them by his own intellectual efforts, is there no way at all by which he may know them? certainly there is a way. God does not mock us by speaking of them in His Word! He desires that they should be known, even though the knowledge of the true God and eternal life surpasses all other knowledge.

What then is the way? By the revelation of God and not by the attainment of man. Surely God is able to reveal Himself! Why should any question that He is competent to do so? The truth is, if man could attain to this excellent knowledge his pride would exalt itself; and that is why he is so slow and unwilling to admit the only way, that of revelation, for then all the glory must be God’s.

Nevertheless the man is a superlative fool who still pursues the wrong path when the right one is open to him. Of such it is written, “Professing themselves to be wise they become fools.” Let the learned as well as the ignorant but take the place which is rightly ours—that of fallen, sinful, and dependent creatures, needing mercy, grace, and revelation from God, and there will be a grateful and plentiful supply through the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Salvation for the fallen, forgiveness for the sinful, through Him Who died and rose again, are first made ours; then, the Spirit being given to us, we are enabled to take in the revelation which is made in the marvellous wisdom and grace of God. Salvation and forgiveness in Christ must be ours, and the consequent gift of the Spirit, to enable us to receive that which God makes known, for the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit, for they are folly to him (1 Corinthians 2:14). Eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, neither has it come into man’s heart that which God has prepared for them that love Him, “but God has revealed them to us by His Spirit” (Verse 10) Here then is the way. Man is shut up to God, and not left to his own resource and energy of mind. How becoming this is for the creature, and how gracious of the Creator so to order it.

Before the coming of the Son of God into the world the true God was unrevealed, and it was not until the Spirit was given that any were capable of taking in the revelation made by the Son. From the world’s foundation the eternal power and divinity of God were to be perceived in the things that are made, but not the true God Himself. Again, He spoke in various ways in the prophets, but it was in the person of the Son He spoke fully and finally. It needed One who was in Himself God to be adequate to perfectly declare God. This assertion is self-evident and needs no argument. After the Spirit was given, John wrote, “No one has seen God at any time”—how sweeping is such a statement, covering the times previous to Christ’s coming in flesh—but, he continued, “The only begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18). Approaching the gospels in the grace and power of the Spirit ungrieved we shall behold in the glorious Son the full revelation of God. What an entrancing unfolding for our anointed eyes to feast upon in Jesus, our Saviour, our Lord, Gods beloved Son!

“He was the image, in man’s lowly guise

Of the invisible to mortal eyes;

Son of His bosom, come from heaven above,

We see in Him, incarnate, ‘God is love.’”

Eternal life goes along with this revelation which is made in the Son. We are told in John 17:3, “And this is the eternal life, that they should know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.” These words are spoken by the Son to the Father in the hearing of His disciples. It is to be noticed, the Father is here called the true God, just as the Son is called the true God in 1 John 5:20. It is not that there are two Gods, but the Son is God and the Father is God, even as also the Holy Spirit is God; but it is in the Son, become man, we see “God manifest in the flesh.” Now the believer on the Son has eternal life, as we read in John 3:36, and the high privilege of such is to know the Father and the Son.

He that has the Son has life (1 John 5:12) and he “that confesses the Son has the Father also” (2:23). It is never stated the other way, as though it were reciprocal. “No man comes to the Father but by Me,” said the Son of God. “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.” This excludes all the efforts of man apart from the Son: it shuts out the natural man even at his very best. The Son is the Way, not simply a way! The Son is the Truth, not simply a portion of it! The Son is the Life, not simply a partial manifestation of it. Yea, “He is the true God and eternal life.”

Although God excluded man from the tree of life when he fell, it was not originally forbidden him. The way to life is now opened up by the death of Christ for man; as he said, He gave His flesh for the life of the world; again, He that eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life (John 6:51, 54). The promise of life, however, was given of God before the ages of time (Titus 1:2), but it was “the Originator of life” Himself (Acts 3:15, New Translation) who came to make it known, and to open the way to it for man, but they slew Him. Nevertheless God raised Him from the dead; yea, He Himself rose in the power of endless life; and thus victory over death is now seen in Man risen from the dead. Death is vanquished by “the Originator of life.”

To those who know these things how precious are the words of 1 John 1:1—“We have heard, we have seen with our eyes, we have contemplated, and our hands have handled the word of life.” The life itself has been manifested, the eternal life which was with the Father, and it is made known to us that the fellowship which was enjoyed at the beginning with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, might be ours also; and it is added, “These things write we to you that your joy may be full.”

How could it be otherwise for those of whom it is written, “We know that the Son of God is come, and has given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20). May our hearts rejoice and revel in all the abiding blessedness of this, and heed the final word of John’s epistle, which the next verse gives, that the fullness of joy which is rightly ours may be unspoiled, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”

The Truth or its Effects?

“Grace and truth subsists through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).

The eye of a master artist takes in the beautiful prospect of the landscape made warm and beautiful by the rays of the glorious midday sun and he reproduces it upon the canvas in vivid and lasting colours. The painting is admired, and copied, and recopied. But the original stands alone as the true and representative transcript—the work of the master. Other copies may come near, or be far removed from its excellence, but that only is resorted to as the real representation.

How great was the glory that shone upon Saul of Tarsus, when the Lord Jesus spoke to him on his persecuting pathway to Damascus. It was a radiance “above the brightness of the sun!” Through him the Holy Spirit has given to us the true meaning of that wonderful event and of the resultant truths connected with it. He, to use our illustration, has put the picture upon the canvas. This was the man—Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, who went forth and proclaimed that Jesus is the Son of God.

The Father had previously revealed to Peter that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. That is the rock-foundation of Christ’s assembly. Peter confessed Him, but he did not become the minister of this great and glorious truth. The keys of the kingdom of the heavens were given to him, not of the assembly. It was through Paul that this truth was specially ministered. He tells us, “God who set me apart even from my mother’s womb, and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal HIS SON in me, that I may announce HIM as glad tidings among the nations”; and again, “By revelation the mystery has been made known to me … which in other generations has not been made known to the sons of men”; also, “The assembly, of which I became minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given me towards you to complete the word of God” (Colossians 1:25).

Peter, after his confession, speaks of Jesus as THE SON but once. Paul, who ministered the truth concerning the assembly in such a special way, often does so, for that is the vitality and strength of the assembly. It is, however, through John, the disciple, that leaned on the bosom of Jesus, that the Holy Spirit gives us the deepest and fullest unfolding of the truth concerning the adorable Son of God; leading us on to that wonderful word at the close of his first epistle: “We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding that we should know Him that is true; and we are in Him that is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”

It is thus that the truth has been premised, pictured and preserved for us by the Holy Spirit. And John, linking the apostolic witnesses all together, says, “He that knows God heareth us. He that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error” (1 John 4:6). It is to the truth, and not to its effects, that the Spirit of truth brings us; to that which is from the beginning, and not to the later copies of it; to the faith once revealed, and not to subsequent imitations. “He that knows God,” wrote the surviving disciple, “heareth us.” We are not told to hear the immediate or later so-called apostolic successors, but to hear the apostles themselves. And we may well be thankful that this is so, for on every hand there are systems of religion which claim Christian authority, but which in doctrine, or practice, or both, are found to be in opposition to the revealed truth of God. These systems tell us we must hear them: God tells us that those who know Him hear the truth made known to apostolic witnesses.

Those who have been delivered from the authority of darkness through the grace and power of God, and have been set in His marvellous light in communion with Him through the redeeming blood of Christ, are constantly encouraged by the Spirit of God to progress in the truth. The death of Christ has met our old sinful state, and put away our sins. He came by water and blood for this purpose; and that we might have eternal life in Him—the Son of God—on the other side of death. The Spirit bears witness as to this, and the truth known in divine power by us gives freedom to follow the Spirit’s leading. On the one hand He encourages us into deepened communion in fullness of joy, and on the other to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Him who is the Truth. He leads; He guides; He teaches. He does not drive us; but we may easily grieve Him, though He never gives us up; but giving us to feel anything that has disturbed our communion, He desires our recovery and restoration, through confession to the Father and the prevailing advocacy of the Son, that He may lead us on in the truth.

A very definite objective is thus kept before the saints of God; and the activity of the gifts from the ascended Head on high has this also in view, for all the members of His body, the assembly: “till we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, at the full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”; and it is added, “holding the truth in love, (that) we may grow UP to Him in all things, who is the Head” (Ephesians 4:13-15).

Where freedom is known through the truth, the Holy Spirit leads on such. He is called the Spirit of truth (never the Spirit of light), for He indwells those who are in the light, on the ground of Christ’s death and blood-shedding, to bring before them the glory of the Son who said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father unless by Me.”

Next to self-occupation, one of the most subtle snares and hindrances to our joy in communion, and prosperity in the truth, is occupation with the effects of the truth instead of with the truth itself—the study of movements and their histories—good or bad—instead of giving heed to the truth, which produced in such movements anything that is according to God—the constant dwelling upon the departures from the truth in certain respects, instead of apprehending the truth itself, which would preserve us from those departures, and which we should then rightly feel as walking in the truth ourselves.

See that perfect masterpiece placed before the student. He has to reproduce that picture twice. He diligently applies himself to his interesting task. If he is wise, however, he will not carry away his first copy, and then make his second painting from that; but, laying it aside rather, he will now with increased experience, still follow the perfect original. It is just here that many get astray. They follow those who have sought to follow the truth as it was perfectly revealed at the beginning, instead of following the truth which such faithful men followed, and they forget that there is always failure in the carrying out of the truth even on the part of the most faithful. They see and study the effects of the teaching of such, and they have an imperfect copy for their study, instead of getting their own souls filled with the blessed truth which produces those effects—in as far as they are of God. The truth of the Head in glory greatly affected certain godly souls, giving them the blessed sense that they were livingly united to Him, and to all the members of His body on earth. This positive truth detached them from systems which were inconsistent with that truth. Now, alas, instead of having the heart and mind filled with that same unchangeable truth, we find a mournful mass of time, and thought, and energy wasted in occupation with the historical results. We may well feel with God all the failure that has come into the assemblies, just as God foretold and foreshadowed that it would come; but we shall only prosper ourselves and help others, as with purpose of heart in the energy of the Spirit, we press forward in the truth itself as it has been graciously made known.

It is the normal work of the Spirit to glorify the Son of God. He has come for that purpose, and to show to us the things of the Father and the Son, and the coming things. May we be in liberty of Spirit to be led and guided by Him. “He shall guide you into all the truth,” said our blessed Lord concerning Him. The Son of God is now in glory, and the Spirit is here in and with us on earth.

“’Tis thence—now Christ is gone on high,

Redemption’s work complete—

The Spirit brings His glory nigh,

To those who for Him wait.”

Beloved brethren, can anything be the truth—by whatever name it is called—if it turns us away from simplicity and singleness as to the Son in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells? He loved the assembly and gave Himself for it. Now risen and glorified, He, to whom is given the pre-eminence in all things, is the living Head of His body, the assembly which He loves so well. Soon He will come again and present her to Himself, without spot, or wrinkle, but all glorious. Blessed be His Holy Name!

The Father’s voice says, “Hear Him.” The Holy Spirit glorifies Him. All the Scriptures point to Him. He said of Himself, “I am the Truth.” May we, therefore, be found in ever deepening communion, growing in grace and in the knowledge of Himself till He come.

This ends our reading for this session. Until next time, have a great day, and God bless.