From Occasional Lectures: Volume 3
Walter Thomas Turpin
Table of Contents
The Person in the Place
Acts 26:13-18; Philippians 3:7-21
I would add one word, beloved brethren: and in doing so turn to these particular scriptures, because they furnish us with the divine instance of a man who apprehended what has been so blessedly set before us this morning.
We must each, I am assured, bow to the fact, that it is the change of place that tests us all; this is really the point, I may say, where the rub comes; I am confident it is the change of place that tests us all. And we may mark, if we trace the history of the people of God through scripture, that it was always so. This is strikingly seen in the two great parts of Israel’s history; in what followed their passage through the Red Sea, as well as what followed the crossing of Jordan. The desert followed the one, the land the other; in both cases there was change of place, and it was that which tested them: and though they had been the subjects of God’s power in such a wonderful way in their deliverance from Egypt, when they reach the wilderness we find them saying to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? for it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.” Again, when they crossed the Red Sea, and came to Marah, they murmured against Moses; and again, when the land was before them, it was the sight of that land through the report of the spies that tested them.
There is one thing in passing I would remark upon, and that is, I feel we ought to take to heart our proneness to dissociate ourselves from the state of the whole church of God. We must see and own, that we should be more answering to the mind of God, and of Christ, if we were in the habit of looking at it in its entirety: how the whole is affected by what is passing. If we look around, how unmistakable it is that a low and earthly character of position has laid hold upon the saints as a whole. If you came in contact with them as some do, not only those connected with national religion and dissent, but those also who are, so to speak, unattached, you would see the utterly earthly nature of the thing they are in. It is with them a Savior for earth; what they possess and support is entirely on the level of things down here. If this were apprehended in its force, we should the more readily see the truth of the words of our brother this morning. It is the condition the church is in, the low ground the church is on. We cannot dissociate ourselves from the effects of it. May we take it to heart, and in exercise and brokenness of spirit, come within the range of God’s voice here to-day.
One thing further came before me whilst listening to the remarks that have been made, that I am sure should be of immense comfort to us, and must be, if we are in the full power of it: and that is in reference to the Person who is in that new place to which we are brought. In these two scriptures which I have read, both Acts and Philippians, this is the grand reality which comes out so prominently and blessedly. In the former, the apostle relates the wonderful appearing of Jesus to him, what He said, and how he was commissioned by Him to be a minister to the Gentiles. In the latter (Phil. 3) we find the great practical effects of what took place in the apostle’s soul. The moment when this marvelous display of grace is made, is the very moment when the full rage and hate of Saul had reached its height. He had gone to the fullest extent to which it is possible for a man to go in the hatred of his heart to the Savior. In that moment the light came from the place—from heaven! What made the whole change with such rapidity? It was this: as he journeyed on the way to Damascus, a light shone from heaven above the brightness of the sun; far above all created or earthly light; and that heavenly voice addresses Saul in those words, “Why persecutest thou me?” And all this transpires at the very time when we could least expect it. What a wonderful reality it is that heaven comes in when you least look for it! At the darkest stage in that man’s history, this heavenly light, and this voice from heaven, comes in to assert the love of God’s own heart to claim that vessel for Himself. Saul of Tarsus is His chosen vessel, and he is fitted and displayed as such, by the revelation in him of this heavenly Savior. The light and the voice both come from heaven, and the effect and consequence of this is, that ever afterwards he is closely and distinctly connected with heaven, manifestly linked up with that spot from whence the light came. This is the simple history.
But there is another point of great beauty here, of which I would now speak. It is blessed and comforting to notice when it was that the apostle got back his natural sight. Under the effect of this heavenly vision he loses it, but he is brought into acquaintance with Jesus in glory. He was the pattern man “to those who should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting”; and therefore, there was a speciality in the display of God’s grace to him. The effect of the heavenly vision was that he lost his sight. When we think of his losing his natural sight under such circumstances to reach such immense gain, we are ready to say, how good a thing it would be for us to lose our natural sight! How often are souls balked and hindered in their perception and enjoyment of heavenly things by what the eye sees here! The attractions, the allurements and sweets of earth. How often earthly things are the real difficulty to heavenly progress! How true it is that there is a marked difference between earth and the world! Numbers are clear of the world—the age, the maxims and ways of the age; but it is the earth that turns them aside. Many a saint would shun the actual pleasures of the world, but for all that, have the heart detained by what is earthly; the natural eye and inward affections are so easily affected by objects down here, and often with an immense loss to the soul.
The apostle lost the power of sight for three days, “and neither did eat nor drink.” But that which is so blessed is the fact, that he gets back his natural sight, in connection with his reception of that heavenly power; the same moment that he gets the Holy Ghost, he receives his sight. What could be a more distinct intimation to him, as it were, from heaven, that, henceforth, Christ and His place were to be his all engrossing object and delight? Ananias comes to him, and in all the tenderness of the grace of the message that had reached his ear, he addresses him, “Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way that thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 9:17). What a word for Saul! Everything here passed from him! That blessed power which came down from heaven connected him with heaven where it came from, and with the One in heaven.
How true it was in Saul’s case, as expressed in the hymn:—
“And heavenly light makes all things bright,
Seen in that blissful gaze.”
That blessed power, the Holy Ghost Himself, had come down to dwell in him, and unite him to the Savior in glory; and so consciously was his soul ever after filled with the sense of these wondrous realities, that we find from those verses we have read in Phil. 3, that he had counted, and did count, all things loss for Christ. That living Person in glory had so found His way into that man’s soul and affections, that everything else was turned out; all the things he had grasped, up to that time, he let them go. He is severed from the power and attractions of everything here: counts it all dross and dung. Everything now that he has got is in heaven. Manifestly his whole condition and state is there, and he only waits with longing and expectant heart to be brought there. Oh! how truly he looked for the Savior, a heavenly Savior. Saul had known Christ after the flesh, but now, henceforth, he knows Him as such no more, the whole thing is changed, the old things are passed away. Beloved brethren! I would say, are we thus watching for the return of a heavenly Savior? Not only correct as to waiting, but, in true affection, watching?
I may just mention, that a short time since, in listening to a beloved brother, speaking of the Lord’s coming, he related a conversation that he had with an aged sister, who was one of the few now left of the little company, whose hearts God had opened to see the true position of the church, as separated, and watching for the One who is coming. She remembered well when these and kindred truths of God’s word were recovered to the saints of God, of course, as found in the blessed Scriptures; how, when they first dawned upon souls in their living power and reality, such was their effect, so really did they look for Christ, that they did not like to take a house even for a year! The positive daily expectation of the return of the Lord Jesus so filled the heart, that the thought of settling down here had no place. It was no mere acceptance of a doctrine, but such a reality, such a living hope, which laid hold of their hearts with such power, that the coming of the Lord Himself was directly before the soul.
Would to God that that truth, and what has been before us this morning, may lay hold of our souls in that living way to-day. Oh! that He may lead our hearts into a truer apprehension of our new place, and of our blessed Savior in that place, by the power of His Spirit down here. True enough it is, our hearts are too large (however much they may cling to things here) to find their satisfaction, rest, or joy here. Things here are all too little to fill our hearts, as the hymn says—
“No earthly songs can joy afford
Like heavenly melody.”
May God, by His grace and power, give the truth a firm grasp and hold of our hearts for His blessed Son’s sake.
From Occasional Lectures, (June, 1888) 3:18-25
The New Power and the Condition to Receive It
Acts 1:1-14; 26:16-19
My thought, beloved friends, is, to say a few words on one part of what our brother has brought before us, and this is with regard to the “new power” on this earth. When we think of the vastness and magnificence of the subject that we have been listening to, that is, “the interests of Christ,” we must necessarily feel that nothing short of a new and divine power could possibly energize us to take any true part in those interests. Only let our thoughts turn to them in all their greatness and blessedness, apart from the remembrance of the fact that that new power is here, we should certainly be cast down. When we think of the One whose interests they are, and how little those interests seem to command us, how little we move in relation to them, it is of immense comfort to know, that there is a new power come down from the glorified Man, and that this same power is with us still, and will be with us to the end. The Holy Ghost having come down from the blessed One in glory, from Himself that glorified and exalted Man, has come to bear testimony to His exaltation—to the effect of it; He is the power by which our hearts enter into the interests of our glorified Savior, and by whom we are energized and maintained in them.
Luke 24 was previous to the Lord’s exaltation, and we have there an account of the interview that took place between Him and His disciples, which is very blessed, and the words He speaks to them are very touching (v. 49): “And, behold I send the promise of my Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high.” “Power from on high!” What a wonderful reality! The simple way in which these words, “power from on high,” are brought out is very blessed; there is an intimation too in the words which is precious, and carries them with a peculiar emphasis to the heart; for not only was this power to come down from “on high,” but it was to come down from the Man on high—the exalted Man. There is an immensity in the fact, that it is from the glorified Man that the power comes. Man (in the Person of Jesus) has reached the highest place in glory; God now has Man, in the Person of His Son, in His own presence, according to His counsels and purposes, and according to all the desires of His own heart. As Man He is there in the highest place of exaltation. Man has gone up, just as truly as in incarnation God came down, in the Person of Christ; the power that has come down is a divine Person—the Servant of the Son’s glories—and this divine Person, this new power, I say, comes forth from the Man “on high,” from the very scene of His exaltation.
Ministry in Ephesians is in that connection, where we have the dowries of the exalted Christ to the church, His body; it is brought out exactly in the same order; that is, “When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.” In Psa. 68:18 (margin) it is, “Thou hast ascended on high—thou hast received gifts in the Man.” “In the Man”—in His human nature exalted. It is all in connection with His exaltation on high He bestows these gifts, that is, persons; and they are bestowed in all the rights and glories of Himself, the exalted Lord. The very vessels in whom the power of Satan had once wrought, and used against Christ, are now used by this new power against the power which once held them.
The Lord is making known to His disciples in Luke 24, concerning this coming power, and these intimations are so full of interest to the heart that knows His love. Another little word I would notice as showing that we must be in the right place to get these intimations—“He led them out.” Surely it is a great thing to be in this outside spot to get such intimations. “He led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them, and it came to pass that while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried into heaven.” There is a special character of blessing unfolded here. Observe, the blessing comes from the blessed Lord’s own hands; He lifted His hands—those hands man had lifted up on the cross—and from thence all blessing comes. Here is His retiring act, the impartation of blessing; and the persons who got the blessing are those who are “led out.” Hence, I judge, we may learn, that if we are now to be recipients of like blessing; if such a peculiar character of blessing is to reach our souls, and the intimations of the Lord made known to them, we must know what it is to be “led out.” There is further a peculiar touch and beauty about those words recorded by the Spirit of God: “He led them out as far as to Bethany.” Bethany was the only place down here where He had found a home—where He was understood; the only spot on this earth that was congenial to Him, the alone shelter that this world afforded Him; and that is the platform from which He departs out of this scene, from which He ascended to heaven. Now He says, You have not yet got power, you must wait (v. 49). That connects itself with Acts 1, where there is a further intimation as to their testimony, in these words: “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.” It is wonderful the intercourse which passed between the risen Lord and His disciples during those forty days in which He was with them on the earth. When He leaves them here during that space between His going up and the Holy Ghost’s coming down, they were just simply waiting and looking. Has not their attitude a special voice for us? Because we are not yet taken up. We are waiting to be caught up together. We are not waiting for the Spirit. He has come; but we are waiting to be taken up. Is not that company a sample of what we should be? They are a lovely picture; so completely outside the world, in an upper room. Who knew them or cared anything about them? They were gathered, a poor, feeble, waiting, expecting people. They were distinctly marked as a little outside company. What had they to do with the world or its line of things? How truly a separated people they were, a poor, feeble band of men and women, bound together with one Object, together manifesting their weakness and dependence in giving themselves to prayer: and Mary, the mother of Jesus, of whom we have here the last mention in Scripture, is sharing with them their dependent attitude, and they have only one thing to do: to look and to wait and to pray. They were the very expression of dependence. That is the condition in which the power comes; the simple condition that is ever concurrent with it; hence it is found in this little company who are here shown to us, as tarrying according to the Lord’s own words, until they were endued with power from on high. Observe, too, they are occupied with Christ, as well as waiting for the promise of the Father; they expect its fulfilment, and prayerfully await the coming One—the Holy Ghost. Should there not be in us a moral state corresponding to theirs? We are looking and waiting, not, it is true, for the Spirit; but for God’s Son from heaven. Would to God, that the simplicity, and separateness, and dependence that marked them in their day marked us in our day.
Alas! that it is not so we have to admit; but why not? Why should not the interests of Christ so fill our hearts as to detain us, and thus produce in us a moral likeness to these waiting and watching saints? Is not the power for which they waited, but which we possess, able to thus form and fashion us? Surely He is, and it is not possible to exaggerate the power; it is true there is weakness on our part, failure, sorrowful failure: we cannot but own our weakness to-day; would to God we were bowed and broken-hearted about it. But there is no diminution of the power; that Holy Person is still here as truly as ever He was; and with the humbling confession of our low state, there is no ground for desponding, though every ground for humiliation. The same power that came down at the first, and wrought such marvelous effects in the church, is with us still in the same undiminished fullness, though we have sadly grieved and hindered Him in His operations. That brings in our responsibility. There is an immensity to own before God, along with the fact that this power is here, and effectual to work for the interests of Christ. In speaking thus we do not desire to cast saints in upon themselves; in being occupied with ourselves we shall find nothing to comfort, and no power to lead us on. It is only as the heart is in occupation with Christ by the energy of the Spirit, that it can be engrossed with His interests.
There is another point I would allude to, in connection with this Scripture; and that is, the extent of the testimony to which the disciples were called. “And ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.” “Ye shall be witnesses unto me.” Observe how the Person and the power go together. We have here three things; the Person, the place, and the power. The Person where He is, the glorified Man at the right hand of God, and the power here, where He is not, but where we are; not only to make everything real to our souls, but to make us witnesses here—to carry us out into those interests. “Ye shall be witnesses unto me.” Mark further the extent of the testimony in contrast with what had existed previously. It was closed up to one people, one nation; but now we have displayed the largeness of the grace that is brought out in all its grandeur and magnificence; it could no longer be bound within the narrow limits of Judaism, but must be world-wide. Jerusalem, the place where the greatest malignity and hatred to Christ had been shown, is to receive first the wondrous message of grace; Judea, the region of religion after the flesh, is to be blest by it; next, comes Samaria, the defiled region; and, lastly, to the uttermost parts of the earth, the sound goes out.
There is a word in Acts 26 which I would just refer to in connection with this subject, where the Lord appears to Paul, and says: “But rise and stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness, both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee; to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.”
Paul was to be left here on earth; that is the force of “Rise and stand upon thy feet.” It was not like the case of Stephen who looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God and Jesus; there it was a preparation for Stephen’s impending dissolution. Having rendered his martyr testimony, he was to pass from the earth to heaven.
Here the Lord appears to Paul to make him both a “minister and a witness” in the very scene where He had been rejected. May we all take in what our brother has said about servants being ensamples. We are all servants, though not all ministers. Paul was to be both a minister and a witness. “Witness” is a larger and a wider term than “minister.” A minister is one who dispenses what God gives him; a witness is one who bears testimony in his own person, who has to go through an opposing scene, tried on every side, baffled, tested, if by any means some loop-hole can be found, to spoil the integrity of his witness. And there is one thing which should be particularly marked in connection with this call to Paul, and that is, his testimony and ministry were to partake specially of the character of the place from whence “the power” and commission came; it was to be, in one word, heavenly. “Taking thee out from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom now I send thee.” It should not be “delivering,” but “taking thee out.” The translation as it stands does not give at all the true force of the words of the blessed Lord.
In Paul we have a man who is made the special object of God’s grace, and also of the power of the Holy Ghost; and the Lord says—I am about to separate you to Myself from everything on earth. We have, I believe, in this setting apart of Paul, a forecast of the church. The church was to be altogether distinct and apart from all that was earthly and had its origin here—neither Jew nor Gentile; it was to have no connection whatever with nationality; but to be a peculiar, unique thing in this world. “Taking thee out from . . . unto whom I now send thee.” I separate you entirely—I will fill you with the power and then send you back. That is the way in which the power acts, it separates the vessel entirely, and sends it back to what it is separated from, in all the power of that which has separated it. So Paul was taken out of everything in this scene, set entirely apart, connected with heaven; filled with this heavenly power, and sent back into the world, where he once had associations and links, and to which he once belonged, to be a testimony and witness to that glorified Man at the right hand of God; and to make known the gospel of that glory which had been brought so nigh to him.
The Lord said to him, You are to “open their eyes.” What could do this but heavenly light and power? Who but God could open the eyes of the blind? And yet He thus charges His appointed vessel; God is behind the vessel; and does not that raise a question of the state and condition of that vessel? Go, and open their eyes, and turn them from “darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” Here we have the whole thing set forth in this wonderful commission from the Lord in glory, to a man whom glory arrested, broke down, emptied, and then filled.
The apostle was the vessel charged with this testimony by the Person, filled with the power, and he was to go forth with regard to all these new interests, as a minister and witness to the Gentiles, besides being a minister of the church, as we read: “Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church, whereof I am made a minister,” &c.
It is not only a great comfort to know that “the power” is here with us still, but what that power can do for us, and with us. At the same time it is right to remember what we can do; that is, we can hinder that power; we can grieve the Holy Spirit of God; and then there is not the effect, there is not the flowing out, and the wonderful accomplishment of God’s own purposes by the vessel. May the Lord give us to take it to heart, and thus lead us into all that divine sensitiveness with regard to everything in and about us, which would grieve and wound that blessed Comforter and Spirit of God.
May He give us so to live and walk in this power, that we may truly live for the interests and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, while we at the same time wait for Him.
From Occasional Lectures, (June, 1888) 3:80-91.
The Holy Ghost and Faith
Ephesians 3:14-21
One feels in reading verses like these that they convey so distinctly in the words of God Himself the great truths that He has Himself revealed in them, that one has a kind of consciousness that saying anything about them spoils them. I confess this morning I have that feeling; and yet there are two words that have a very large place here, and come out in such a peculiar and striking way; our beloved brother has already touched upon them: still I would in confidence cast myself on the Lord in trying to say a few words further about them.
The Holy Ghost and faith are the two great subjects which here occupy a large place in the apostle’s heart- longings and prayer for the saints. Both these are distinctly brought in here in his desire, his prayer, namely, that they might undergo a special action of the Spirit, and that “Christ might dwell in their hearts by faith.”
I would place before you a suggestion, beloved friends, namely, that the thought of “dwelling” is taken up here and carried on from the close of ch. 2. There does assuredly seem to be some similarity of thought with regard to dwelling, though brought out in a very different way. He speaks of the dwelling of God; the word “habitation” employed in Eph. 2:22 is the same word used when he prays that Christ might have a habitation, and thus dwell in their hearts by faith. If there be any connection or analogy (as I am disposed to think there is) between God’s habitation, which is collective in ch. 2, and another habitation in the heart, the seat of the affections of God’s people individually, the subject passes from the collective thought, down to the individual aspect. I must realize the fact individually. He speaks of Christ dwelling in the heart by faith; he has the personality of individuals in his mind, though not of course excluding the corporate, because the ultimate effect is to “comprehend with all saints the length and breadth, depth and height.” Thus you have all aspects brought together here in a very remarkable way.
Eph. 3 is, we know, the wonderful parenthesis of the New Testament, and where the mystery, that wonderful, unique reality, is unfolded; then it is he falls as it were upon his knees, and supplicates for these wonderful things to which I would call your attention for a moment.
Beloved friends, when we speak to one another, as surely we ought to do, of Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith, it is an amazing theme! There is something surpassingly blessed in the very expression of it, the very thought of it, that Christ who dwells on high, that blessed One who is in glory, the exalted Man at God’s right hand—think of Him having a home in a poor heart like yours and mine in this world. The very thought of it must cause to spring up in our souls real, divine, spiritual longings.
This leads me to the point that is pressing upon my heart. In order that this might be true to us, that we might know it, there is a special action, or ministry if you please, of His Spirit spoken of here, in the inner man (v. 16), “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.” That is the thing that has such an immensity in it for the apostle. He prays for each that they might be the subject of this strengthening of the Spirit deep down within in the inner man, for that is, I believe, the force of the word in the original; it is not merely an illuminating process by which the understanding gets the right color of things from God, though there must be that without doubt, but this is an internal action of God the Holy Ghost, what He is pleased to call here, a strengthening process of power according to the riches of His glory by His Spirit in the inner man. That must take place as the preparing of the ground of the heart as it were for this precious entering into it of Christ to dwell; this strengthening is in order that Christ may domicile in the heart. There must be room made there by God the Holy Ghost, that He may plant this plant of renown as it were deep down in our hearts. This is a point of great moment for us all. How often is it not true that with right desires, true desires, and so forth, yet there is no room for Him? What He desires is room, space for Himself. Now this is one of the most wonderful things in connection with this passage, this blessed internal action of His Spirit. It is, you will observe, the subjective side of things here, as to how the soul enters into communion, even as the prayer in ch. 1 is the objective side: there we see the exalted Man set above all principality and power, and might, and dominion; the apostle prays that the eyes of their heart might be opened to know the hope of their calling. Here his prayer is all in relation to communion. Eph. 1 is the accomplishment of counsels; ch. 3 is the soul’s intelligent communion, the apprehending the effects produced by the reality of Christ’s blessed presence—His being in us thus; verily, it is an unlimited extent of blessing. Thus it is a question of soul apprehension. It is not strengthened with all might in the head, or in the mere intelligence, but oh, how much there is implied in these words, “into the inner man.” Let us think of the practical inward power by the Holy Ghost set forth in them. We need this strengthening operation of His Spirit, that Christ may have His home in our hearts by faith. It is indeed here a question of actual state, of the affections having Christ enthroned in them, and thus being, as is said, rooted and grounded in love, we may be thoroughly able (,>4FPLF0J,) to know that which is indeed measureless.
How blessed, beloved brethren, the infinity into which we are thus brought; but how much more blessed is that set forth in these precious words, “and to know the love of Christ that passeth knowledge.”
Let me now call your attention to the purport and object of this strengthening. It is that Christ may enter and dwell. The tense is definite, and implies, I judge, an act of entrance and permanent abiding, that Christ might dwell, that He might have, not a temporary resting-place, but a fixed habitation.
I was thinking just now of a passage by way of contrast. In Jer. 14:8, which we may take morally, we read, “O the hope of Israel, the Savior thereof in time of trouble”; assuredly we may apply to ourselves in our feebleness such words, at least in a moral way. If Jehovah was that to Israel, surely Jesus is all that and more beside to us. “Why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?” I take this wonderful verse in Ephesians, in all its sublime and blessed contrast to that. It is not a wayfaring man, not a stranger, “who turns aside to tarry for a night,” blessed as that may be, but that Christ may definitely enter and have an abiding place, a fixed home, take up His residence fixedly and definitely in the heart.
Oh, beloved brethren, what a wonderful reality to our souls! What a wonderful moment to Him! What a wonderful moment for us! Now let us note this well, that the heart does not rest itself upon the preparatory process, if I may so say, which, I suppose, would occupy it more or less with itself, but when the end of that process is reached, even the mighty power of the Spirit having made room for Christ, so that He should have His fixed abode in the heart, then there is rest abidingly, then you forget all your surroundings. The guest that has come in has all the space. He dwells in the heart by faith. It reminds me of the widow in the days of Elijah, who, out of poverty, was elevated into affluence when she had the prophet dwelling in her house; all her poverty, all her anxiety and distress were forgotten in the presence of the new guest that filled her home!
It is very blessed to see how the Spirit of God sets nothing before the heart but Christ. The true ministry of the Holy Ghost is the ministry of Christ; He is filling your soul with Christ. You will get the power, but the power is so intimately connected with the Object that it sets that before your heart and mind. It is all Christ; whether it is Christ as He was, as we have seen in John 14, or Christ in heaven, as in ch. 15, it is the One who comes from Him who only knows Him as He is in heaven. The twelve bore witness of Him on earth, but who can tell of Him in heaven? Only the One who came from heaven, the heavenly Comforter who came from Him on high, He alone can set Christ as He is in heaven, before us. Let me ask, how much are we the subjects of this ministry? Whether I find it in witness and testimony, or in unfolding the glories of Christ, it is always the glories of Him who is the object that the Spirit opens out and sets before the soul. If we know Him in heaven, nothing less than this can meet our hearts.
I would now call your attention to what I may term the instrumentality. The Holy Ghost is the divine Operator, faith is the instrument; hence it is said, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. Now, beloved friends, it is of all moment to remember that the condition of the soul must answer to the place into which it has been brought. We know that Christ is in us and we in Him, but is it possible that we can be satisfied without the consciousness of enjoying Him? The instrument then is “by faith,” so that we have the power and energy of the Spirit, and we also have the means through which all is effected.
Let us now look at the consequence, the effect. “In order that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the length and breadth, and depth and height.” It is wonderful where the corporate was, so to speak, the leading and ruling subject, how entirely the apostle was individual in his dealings with the saints. Though he was the one who brought out what was corporate, he was ever thoughtful of the individuals who compose it. It is striking how the personality of individuals is here set forth. It is the Person in the heart. It is not the Spirit, as an object, dwelling in the heart; He dwells as power in the body. We want the power in our bodies; we want the Object in our hearts; the heart is the seat of the affections, the center of the whole being—of the man. Christ, supreme and enthroned there, secures all for Himself. What a different kind of people we would be if Christ were only there! What a different sort of testimony! What a different character of path! What a different manifestation of Christ, if that blessed One was only enshrined in the power of the Spirit in our hearts’ affections.
Then observe how he brings in the corporate. You are blessed as an individual, but it is that you may be able to comprehend with all saints. It is wonderful how the ministry of the Spirit takes this turn, energizes with this in view, even to comprehend with all saints, the length and breadth, and depth and height, and to know the knowledge- surpassing love of Christ in order that ye “might be filled unto all the fulness of God.”
The Lord grant it unto each of us for His name sake!
From Occasional Lectures, (May 1890) 3:17-25