No. 3.
IN the book of the Acts, we read of disciples and servants of God who were “filled with the Spirit,” and “full of the Holy Ghost”; and it is well to clearly understand what is meant by these expressions. The apostle exhorts the Ephesians, “Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” If this was his desire for them, it should be ours also; but what is it to be “filled with the Spirit?” Is it not that the whole heart and will — the whole moral man — should be subject to the control and guidance of the Spirit? To talk of being filled with the Spirit while we are really doing our own will, is only to deceive ourselves. Our wills must be broken, our eye must be single, our object must be Christ and Christ only, if we are to be filled with the Spirit. Our blessed Lord Himself is the perfect example, for He never swerved from the path of perfect obedience to the Father’s will, and all His works were done in the power of the Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit makes nothing of self; at the same time it does not lead to sadness or depression, but to joy in the Lord; and so the apostle adds in Ephesians 5, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord.” Of this we see a practical illustration in the Acts, “And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost;” and again, we have Paul and Silas in the prison praying and singing praises to God.
The book of the Acts gives us many instances of the leading of the Spirit in service. The Spirit it was who directed Philip to meet the eunuch; the Spirit bade Peter to go to Cornelius; the Spirit said, “Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them;” the Spirit guided the apostles to go to certain places and forbade their going to others.
It may be asked, Are we to look for the same direct guidance of the Spirit now as in the early days of the Church’s history? The answer of faith to this question is undoubtedly, Yes, we are. It is true that, now that the Church of God is divided up into many sects and bodies, there is not the same outward manifestation of power now as there was then; but the Holy Spirit is here, and will abide here as long as the Church abides, and He is to be counted on as truly now as ever. Faith recognizes the ruin of the Church in the midst of which we find ourselves, but it counts on the God who is above the ruin, and the abiding presence of the Spirit. Why, then, it may be said, do we not experience more of the guidance and power of the Spirit? Here we have to humble ourselves and confess our failure; but we may learn a lesson from those who were so remarkably used in these early days. They were earnest, devoted men; gifted men, of course, but they were more than gifted, they were men governed by one object and one purpose in their life and service. Not that they necessarily gave up all other employment and became preachers. Paul, as we know, made tents; yet he could say, “I labored more abundantly than they all.”
We have a striking illustration of the manifest guidance of the Spirit in Acts 13. — “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.... So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed.” Here devoted men were ministering to the Lord and fasting; and, when the Holy Ghost directed the two servants of the Lord so manifestly, the others fasted, prayed, and laid their hands on them. There was devoted service, separation from the world and what is of nature in fasting, and dependence on God in prayer — the result was the true leading of the Spirit. May we ponder the principles set forth here and seek to learn a lesson from them!
Scripture teaches us that the Holy Spirit dwells in each individual believer, and He dwells also in the Church or assembly of Christians. So we read in 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you;” and in chapter 3:16, referring to the collective or corporate thing, He says, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you.” These are both weighty truths, and should be a great incentive to individual holiness, as well as to a due sense of collective responsibility. Then in chapter 12. of the same Epistle, we find the manifestation of the Spirit, who gives to each sovereignly as He wills. This is a proof that the Holy Spirit is God, equally with the Father and the Son; in fact we have in verses 4, 5, and 6 the words “the same Spirit,” “the same Lord,” and “the same God.” It was one Spirit who baptized all believers into one body, and each has their distinct place, as He is pleased to give. In chapters 14. the apostle insists on the importance of each member of the assembly being individually guided in any part he might take in the public assembly of Christians — whether it be in speaking, that it should be intelligible to the hearers, and “unto edification”; or in praying, or even in singing, that it should be “with the spirit and with the understanding.” There was full liberty for the exercise of the gifts given to each as the Spirit might lead; but all was to be done with a view to the edification and blessing of even the weakest member of the assembly; and God was not the author of confusion but of peace, and therefore in His assembly everything was to be done with order.
When we compare the scriptural teaching with what we find around us at the present day, have we not to acknowledge that to a great extent the distinctive truth of this dispensation, that is, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in each individual believer, and His presence and manifestation in the assemblies of Christians, is overlooked and ignored? Is it in accordance with the truths we have been considering, to constitute one man as the channel through whom the Spirit of God would act in the assembly? It is, of course, quite true that God gives gifts, such as evangelists, pastors, teachers, &c., and each of these should exercise his gift in direct responsibility to the Lord. The work of the evangelist, for example, is outside, with the unconverted; that of the pastor is amongst Christians individually in their homes, &c.; that of the teacher, unfolding God’s Word to His people: each has his own place and work to do, and to suppose that any one man embodies all the gifts is a mistake. But when Christians are met together as an assembly, for worship or for mutual edification in dependence on the Lord, full liberty should be left for the Spirit to guide and use whom He would. We need to take heed to the exhortation, “Quench not the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19). If we refuse whatever is truly the ministry of the Spirit, through even the most simple or the most humble, we are quenching the Spirit. At the same time we have the added word, “Prove all things,” for we are not to receive anything as of the Spirit, unless it agrees with the written Word.
Then, again, we have the exhortation not to “grieve” the Holy Spirit of God (Eph. 4:30). This is more individual — each believer is sealed unto the day of redemption, and he is not to allow things in his walk or conduct which are contrary to God. When we grieve the Spirit, He becomes within us a reprover, instead of being free and unhindered, and so able to lead us into a deeper knowledge of the things of God. Then we get the word, “Walk in the Spirit,” in contrast with fulfilling the lusts of the flesh: and we are to be “led” by the Spirit, instead of being under the bondage of the law.
The Holy Ghost is thus presented to us in many ways in Scripture. He is the Comforter, the Spirit of life, the Spirit of adoption, the Spirit of truth, &c.; it is ever His blessed office to glorify the Lord Jesus, to teach, to lead and guide us into all truth. And when we come together as assemblies of Christians, it is He who leads and guides in prayer, in worship, &c. But in order that this may be so, there must be freedom from human organizations which restrict the action of the Spirit, and there must be true dependence on God, and a right state of soul. We cannot expect the unction and power of the Spirit if we come together in a cold or formal way; there must be exercise of heart, prayer, dependence upon God, and the heart and mind occupied with Christ, so that the Holy Spirit will find a ready response to His touch, if we may so express it. God grant that there may be more meetings characterized by these things! Coming with the basket of first-fruits — fruits of that good land with which God has blessed us — not half-empty, but full; a cup, not half-empty, but running over! If this were so, the meetings of the Lord’s people would be really a foretaste of heaven on earth. And what power there would be for testimony too, if, like the Thessalonians, we were serving the living and true God and waiting for His Son from heaven, even Jesus!
We know well that all real blessing amongst the unsaved must be the work of the Spirit; using whom He will, it is true; acting in His own sovereignty, as the wind bloweth where it listeth — but it is His work. We have already referred to the features which marked the work of God in the Acts. Christ was exalted at the right hand of God; the Holy Ghost was down here to save and to bless in the work of the Lord, to fill the disciples with joy and enable them to go through the persecutions and trials of the way.
The apostles gave themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word; it was not a cold and formal ministry — there was prayer first, then the ministry of the Word; and the scattered disciples went everywhere evangelizing. The application of these principles to our own time is most important, for God is the same, His Word is the same, and His Spirit is still here.
We need to take courage, to give ourselves more to prayer — real, earnest, believing prayer — that there may be a revival, first in the hearts of the Lord’s people, and then overflowing in blessing to the unsaved. F. G. B.
BY looking to the work of Christ the standard of holiness is exalted; because, instead of looking into the muddied image of Christ in my soul, I view Him by the Spirit, in the perfectness of that glory into the fellowship of which I am called; and therefore, to walk worthy of God, who hath called me to His own kingdom and glory. I forget the things behind, and press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus; and my self-examination becomes, not an unhappy inquiry whether or not I am in the faith, but whether my walk is worthy of one who is called into His kingdom and glory. J. N. D.