(4) His Work in the individual and in the Assembly.
1 Corinthians 6:19, 20; 12:1-1319What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. (1 Corinthians 6:19‑20)
1Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. 2Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. 3Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. 4Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. 6And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. 7But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 8For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 9To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 10To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: 11But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. 12For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:1‑13).
WE have already observed that when the Holy Spirit came, He filled the house and filled the disciples. Let us quote from Acts 2:2-4,2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:2‑4) “And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.... And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” We have no doubt, the lesson we have to learn from this is that on the day of Pentecost the true House of God was formed; i.e. “the House of God, which is the Church of the living God” (1 Tim. 3:1515But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:15)); and that the Holy Spirit took up His residence therein.
This is confirmed by the apostle saying, when writing to the saints at Corinth in their corporate capacity, “Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Cor. 3:1616Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16)). And again, “Ye are the Temple of the living God” (2 Cor. 6:1616And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (2 Corinthians 6:16)); and yet again we read of that which “Groweth unto an holy Temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph. 2:21, 2221In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:21‑22)). We also learn however that the Holy Spirit filled all the disciples, so that from that scripture as well as the first at the head of our paper, we learn that the Holy Spirit likewise takes up His abode in the bodies of all true believers.
The words of 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20,19What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. (1 Corinthians 6:19‑20) are so striking that we naturally want to consider their setting. From chapter 5, we learn that there had been the allowance in the Assembly at Corinth of grave moral evil. Unsavoury though the subject was, the inspired writer returned to it in chapter 6. He asked two arresting, challenging questions:
(1) “Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?” (verse 15). Do we realize that? As really as our hand is a member of our physical body, so is our body a member of Christ. If our hand is injured our body is affected. If we abuse our body Christ is affected. How intensely solemn! (2) “What? Know ye not that your body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God?” (verse 19). What does the thought of a temple convey to our minds? A shrine; something that is sacred, holy, which fills us with a sense of awe and reverence. We read that when Solomon’s temple was completed, and “when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven... and the glory of the Lord filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house” (2 Chron. 7:1, 21Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house. 2And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house. (2 Chronicles 7:1‑2)).
Carry this conception of the temple into our text and let us hear these words addressed to us individually. “YOUR body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.” Our body is inhabited by a divine Person. He has taken possession of it to govern our movements; to control our thoughts; to direct our steps; to have power over every fiber of our being. He claims us absolutely and unreservedly for God. Are we prepared for that? Is it not the case that whilst we are willing to entrust God with our spirit and our soul for time and eternity, we are unwilling to let Him have our body. That might upset our plans, check our ambition, alter the whole course of our life.
It is obvious that if we believe that our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, we will be careful what we put into it, what we put on it, and where we take it. We will not ill use it; we will not subject it to the caprice of worldly fashion; we will seek that by our treatment of it we do not grieve Him who dwells therein.
Read on: “Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body” (vv. 19, 20). Here the verse stops. We are not “Captain of our own destiny,” nor “Master of our own fate” as the world talks; we are not our own. We have been bought with a price, and what a price: — “The precious blood of Christ.” If we have been purchased at such a price, then indeed we are no longer our own but His, and has He not established an incontestable claim? Why have we been bought? Why has the Holy Spirit taken possession of us? That we might glorify God in our body.
Our blessed Lord Jesus came into a body prepared for Him and said, “Lo, I come... to do Thy will, O God” (Heb. 10:77Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. (Hebrews 10:7)). In that body He did the will of God in every thought, word, and deed; and at the close of His wonderful pathway, looking heavenward, He could say, “I have glorified Thee on the earth” (John 17:44I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. (John 17:4)). He glorified God in His body, and we have been left here in order that we might glorify God in our body. What an honor! How the knowledge of this would settle many problems that confront young believers in particular. Can I go there? May I do this? Should I read that? and countless other questions. The divine Person who indwells us, and whose temple we are, would settle all these difficulties for us, indeed they would not arise if only we were controlled by Him. But how large is that IF. To give Him His way means not to have our way; to do God’s will means to let go our will; to glorify God in our body means to say NO very emphatically to ourselves. Yet, if only we apprehended the fact that God has not only forgiven our sins to deliver us from judgment and to fit us for heaven, but He has bought us with a price inconceivably great; that His Holy Spirit has taken possession of us, made us His temple, and has told us that we are not our own, but that it is our privilege to glorify God in our body, how readily and gladly, as well as gratefully, we should respond.
Space prevents our dwelling at length on 1 Corinthians 12. We would remark however that it is only as that of which we have written is true of us, that the Holy Spirit will be able to work through us in the Assembly. 1 Corinthians 6:19, 2019What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. (1 Corinthians 6:19‑20) is to be known individually. 1 Corinthians 12 indicates our answer to it in the Assembly. Here the precious truth of the one body is presented, not as in Ephesians, where we learn how indispensable the body is to the Head; nor as in Colossians, where we see how indispensable the Head is to the body; but showing how indispensable are the members of the body one to another.
In the first thirteen verses the Holy Spirit is mentioned eleven times. In connection with gifts and their exercise we learn that the Holy Spirit is the active Agent; (verse 4), the Lord is the Administrator (verse 5); God is the Author and the Director of all (verse 6). We observe further that in the exercise of His divine sovereignty, the Holy Spirit divides the gifts “to every man severally as He will;” (verse 11) just as “God hath set the members, every one of them in the body as it hath pleased Him” (verse 18).
The first three gifts mentioned are important. (1) “To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom” (verse 8). How we value one today to whom has been given “the word of wisdom.” One who in a time of difficulty has the Lord’s mind for the moment and can communicate that to us. Like, “The children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” (1 Chron. 12:3232And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment. (1 Chronicles 12:32)).
“To another knowledge” (verse 8).
There are those―thank God—who know the precious truth; they are not leavened with modernistic tendencies either in interpretation or in exposition. That which is from the beginning is that which fills their souls, and they find their joy in communicating it to others. How beautifully this comes out when gathered together in Assembly is outlined in chapter 14. In chapter 12 we have the thing itself—the Assembly. In chapter 13, the motive power; and in chapter 14 we see the Assembly in function.
“To another faith” (verse 9). This is not that saving faith which is the portion of every believer. It is the faith of an Abraham, a Caleb, a Joshua, an Elijah, of the galaxy of men and women, named and unnamed, in Hebrews 11. The faith that at all times lays hold on God, “laughs at impossibilities,” and says, “it shall be done.” Faith that brings not only the individual, but the Assembly, when in exercise, in touch with God; and that glorifies Him by unquestioning trust in Him, be the difficulties what they may.
We notice that in each case it is “by the Spirit;” “by the same Spirit” (verse 8 and 9). Once again we urge that if the Holy Spirit has His own way with us individually, He will have His own way when we are gathered together in Assembly. His authority will be acknowledged; His leading will be recognized; the Lord will have His place, and His saints will have their portion. May our hearts be increasingly exercised in this direction, so that we may answer to the Lord’s mind in this respect.
W. Bramwell Dick.
To follow D.V. THE HOLY SPIRIT. (5) His activities in the world.