" I SOMETIMES think that we are experiencing a little what must have been felt sorely by some at the close of the apostolic age, that after all the truth that had been taught it was little understood and could be, as it indeed was, quickly surrendered, and lost. Are we to witness this? May we be kept, for we cannot keep ourselves. How comforting are the closing words of Jude. ' To him who is able to keep us from falling,' &c”
This excerpt from a brother's letter is sadly true and suggestive. The ease and rapidity with which the most important truth is given up at the present hour are amazing. And even the truth of the unity of the body seems flowing out with the current. The leak is still increasing. A work of the Spirit is so fine in its nature and workmanship, that it is easily spoiled if human hands are laid upon it, and as the finest fruits when rudely handled never recover it, but soon go to corruption, so is it with the product of the Spirit if it is handled by human hands: it loses its freshness and beauty, languishes and ends in rottenness; and (as has been truly said), the corruption of the best thing is the worst corruption. That we may see this as to the Christian profession, let us read 2 Tim. 3:1-9; 11This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 9But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. (2 Timothy 3:1‑9)
1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, 2To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; 4Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; 5When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. 6Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. 7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 8Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; 9Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, (2 Timothy 1:1‑9) Tim. 4:1-3; 2 Peter 21But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 3And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. 4For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 5And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; 7And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: 8(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) 9The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: (2 Peter 2:1‑9); Jude; Rev. 21Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; 2I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: 3And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. 4Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 5Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. 6But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. 8And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; 9I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. (Revelation 2:1‑9)., 3., 17.-19.
Receiving and holding fast the truth in the Spirit are ever associated with progress in spirituality, and excellence of moral practice. The losing of the truth tends to spiritual death and moral corruption. When some in Corinth denied the resurrection, it told on their morality. The Spirit warns of consequences when, quoting a heathen poet, he says, “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." “Be not deceived; evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake up righteously, and sin not, for some have ignorance of God. I speak this to your shame." Ignorance of God as a moral being accompanied the denial of the truth of resurrection. Adding law to Christ for the Christian life led the Galatians back practically from the Spirit to the flesh, and, in principle, from Christianity to heathenism, so that the apostle stands in doubt of them, lest he should have bestowed upon them labor in vain. Paul is in an agony for the churches he himself had planted, when he saw symptoms of " not holding the head," and he seeks with all urgency to detach the Hebrews from " ordinances," knowing how they were hindered by them from advancement in the truth and the word of righteousness; while Timothy is continued in Ephesus " to enjoin some not to teach other doctrines nor turn their minds to fables and endless genealogies, which bring questionings rather than God's dispensation, which is in faith."
The apostle had warned the elders of this church of grievous wolves coming in, not sparing the flock, and of men arising among themselves speaking perverted things to draw away disciples after them. The state of the church after the decease of the apostles as preserved in the writings of the apostolic fathers, tells of no gradual losing of the truth (that had gone on while the apostles lived), but of a complete and immediate descent, as it were, from heaven to earth! It is one thing to have the truth fully taught, but none except spiritual and exercised souls will receive and retain it: and they are always the few. Only a vessel formed by the Spirit can keep the precious deposit: and God's assembly keeping it is the pillar and ground of the truth.
Where the power of the Spirit is enjoyed, and all eyes are lifted up to the Lord on high, the saints are kept fresh in a living atmosphere of divine things, and the power of the Spirit giving a sense of the presence of God, is so sustaining that, like Moses on the mount, food may not be required—the food I mean, of a solid kind, can for a time be dispensed with, being made up for by the atmosphere of living truth with which souls are enveloped by means of the Spirit's presence revealing Christ. The atmosphere in such circumstances is laden with nourishment: and the least portion of truth, in this spiritual diffusion can be made to fill the whole soul with the strength and sweetness of Christ.
But when the' Spirit is grieved, quenched or resisted, his strengthening and refreshing power is gone, and the more the truth presented the worse is the state produced: for 'nothing is more hardening than the loading of disordered minds with the strong meat of Christian truth that can be received with profit only by broken spirits and divinely exercised souls. Self and the things which nourish it allowed gives a disrelish for the things of the Spirit; and the glorious Son of God is only half a Savior to selfish souls.
We have forgotten that Christianity was inaugurated with such a power of the Holy Ghost as to fill the whole of those brought under His influence with a torrent of spiritual fervor through their enjoyment of Christ made real in the Spirit such as led to the obliteration of selfishness, and the replacing of it by the love for one another that flowed forth in grace: and, under the truth preached, the Spirit led naturally to divine unity, happy fellowship, and refreshing worship. The presence of the Spirit revealing inwardly an exalted Christ became to the saints both truth and power. This is the secret of unity; and unless this be enjoyed the power of unity, communion and advancement in the knowledge of Christ is gone! and the efforts of human energy to supply its place only make matters worse. Neither the truth nor fellowship one with another can be had except in the living grace and power of the Spirit. What we want, then, is living faith, fervor and self-sacrificing grace such as the disciples had when the Holy Ghost was poured out upon them, and they were breathing in the atmosphere that surrounds a heavenly Christ. A Spirit-given experience of Christ flowing from the precious truth we have received is a rich legacy for which we have great cause to be thankful, but has not the truth all but ceased to have its commanding power over us; and in order to have it coming afresh in all its pristine spiritual force we must look more in the expectancy of faith to the having' of the Holy Ghost acting in His primitive energy in the midst of us, and filling the whole of the sphere of God's assembly with the full spiritual flow of " the river of God," so that freshness of life in the Spirit, growth in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, practical beneficence and spiritual devotedness, liberty in worship and social gladness may be enjoyed as in those early days when the ascended Christ had been seated at God's right hand and crowned with glory and honor.
The wheat that had lain for three thousand years in the dried-up palm of a mummy's hand had shown no signs, all those ages, of the life that was silently enwrapped in its every grain; but when it had " the scent of water," and was buried in a moist and cultivated soil, it germinated, sprung up, ripened, and propagated itself, until, in course of years, it waved in yellow harvests over the autumn fields, and fed the hunger of thousands of living, men. There is, also, life in every grain of revealed truth by which the Holy Ghost sets forth the heavenly glory and personal beauty of a risen and glorified Christ; but who amongst us is not sorrowfully conscious that even this divine seed, as now ministered, has become like the dry wheat in the ancient mummy's hand, for it too often finds neither utterance nor entrance in the living power of the Spirit of God; and the good seed not finding the proper soil of good and honest hearts, there is not the return of thirty, sixty, or a hundred fold: Christ is not magnified: saints remain unrefreshed, and sinners unblessed. What we should covet earnestly, and pray for constantly, is that the truth of the gospel of the glory of Christ should be given forth by those who minister it in the power of the Spirit with the eye fixed, like the angel-faced Stephen's, on a glorious Jesus at the right hand of God; and that it should be received into souls, and hearts, divinely touched, in the living power of the Holy Ghost as on the day of His coming to earth; for what is truth apart from Him who is the truth in the glory of God, or apart from the Spirit, " who is the truth " in the Church on earth? " It is the Spirit that beareth witness because the Spirit is the truth.' Christ Himself is the whole thing on high: the Spirit Himself is the whole thing on earth: Christ is the truth objectively: the Spirit is the truth subjectively and we must have both not only in object and witness, but in life and power, giving a conscious enjoyment to the soul of Christ and all that is in Him, so that He may dwell in the heart by faith and by the Holy Ghost, and our joy may be full. When this is so there will be a hidden spring of living water opened that will spring up unto everlasting life, keeping soul and heart fresh in a living enjoyment of fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, so that the whole of the springs of God's thoughts and affections being made common property in Christ by the Spirit in our souls and hearts, rivers of living water shall flow out from us to the refreshing of ourselves and others and the spiritual blessing of thirsty souls.
Standing, some years ago, on the bridge of Motala, a town on the eastern shore of the great Swedish lake Vettern, that stretches about eighty English miles along the highest part of the middle of the country, and consequently receiving no great rivers, we were amazed to see the mighty river, crystal-clear, that flowed out in sparkling freshness from this calm inland sea. No great rivers flowed into it, and yet this great river flowed out of it! There was no visible supply. But the constant fullness of the lake and the outflow of the vast volume of its crystal river are accounted for they say by the fact that there are great hidden springs in the bottom of the lake itself, which ceaselessly send forth their copious supply of filtered waters. This furnishes a striking illustration of the hidden springs opened to us who believe, " in Christ in God," and of the living water of the inward well of life ever springing up in divine fullness of life, love, power and blessing when there is " the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ," causing refreshing rivers of living water to flow out of us in a holy Christ-like life, and in a spiritual testimony that will minister richest heavenly blessings in Christ Jesus wherever the rivers flow.
It was so on the day of the first Pentecost after Christ's ascension, when the promised Spirit came and “they were all filled with the holy Ghost," and the disciples testified of a glorified Christ with such power that three thousand souls believed and " were added together " to praise and warship God. And as they continued to preach Christ, the only name given amongst men whereby we must be saved, “many of those who heard the word, believed, and the number of the men had become five thousand." And when the rulers thought to stop them, they appealed against them to the Lord, with whom is all power in heaven and on earth; " and when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke the word of God with boldness... and with great power did the apostles give witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all" (Acts 4:3333And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. (Acts 4:33)). This ministry of the Spirit went on " and the word of God increased, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem was greatly multiplied, and a great crowd of the priests obeyed the faith " (Acts 6:77And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. (Acts 6:7)). " And Stephen, full of grace and power, wrought wonders and great signs among the people," and so testified of God's grace in Israel, and their resisting of the Spirit, and being betrayers and murderers of the Just One, that they, " hearing these things, were cut to the heart, and gnashed their teeth against him; but being full of the Holy Ghost, having fixed his eyes on heaven, he saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Lo, I behold the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God," when they rushed upon him, cast him out of the city, and stoned him, praying and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And kneeling down, he cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge; and, having said this, he fell asleep." Full of the Holy Ghost, his eyes on heaven full of Jesus at the right hand of God, his was a ministry of living power of conviction and divine power of personal sustainment, and, like his Lord, he became so superior to his evil circumstances that he prayed for his murderers (Acts 77And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place. (Acts 7:7))
When Philip went down to a city of Samaria, and preached Christ to them, the crowd with one accord gave heed to the things spoken by Philip. The same evangelist preached Jesus to the Eunuch of Ethiopia, and he believed, was baptized, and went on his way rejoicing (Acts 8). Saul, the persecutor, was converted by the word of power uttered from the heavens by Jesus in person, and immediately preached the faith which once he destroyed (Acts 9). As Peter was " preaching peace by Jesus Christ," and telling of his anointing, life, death, resurrection, and that through him all who believe should receive remission of sins, " the Holy Ghost fell upon all those who were hearing the word," and they " were baptized in the name of the Lord" (Acts 10). When some of those who had been scattered abroad by the persecution that took place about Stephen went to Antioch and preached to the Greeks also, as well as to the Jews, the gospel of the Lord Jesus, “the Lord's hand was with them and a great number believed and turned to the Lord." When Paul and Barnabas were sent forth from Antioch by the Holy Ghost, and came to another city of this name, their word of salvation was with power, "and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost" (Acts 13). And wherever the river of God came this was the result. " But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in the Christ and makes manifest the odor of his knowledge by us in every place " (2 Cor. 2). " For our gospel was not with you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance." No fruitless preaching then! When the word was preached in apostolic times, there was a constant stream of living power in connection with it, Christ was magnified, and souls were blessed.
And are there not some who can thank God for His grace that they have seen similar workings of the Spirit in our day. Whole congregations have been known to pass under His gracious power simultaneously; saints have been filled to overflowing, and sinners have been convicted and converted. In one hour His mighty energy has "turned the shadow of death into the morning," and caused a blessed time of refreshing to God's saints, and of salvation to the lost. God's ordinary processes in nature are carried on by quiet means: but at times He employ the earthquake, the hurricane, and the thunder-storm. So in grace His work is done quietly and silently His word distilling "as dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass," but He sometimes causes His Spirit to fall upon whole congregations like the bursting of the thunder-cloud, drenching the assembled multitude with divine power and saving blessing.
Might not God in sovereignity, cause this action of the Spirit for Christ's glory to be given now, when "the Churches" are departing from the faith, sinking into the world and losing the truth of God and Christ, the Holy Ghost, and the inspired word, and are rapidly going into religious infidelity, and when those who have been gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus so feebly witness either to His grace or glory, the unity of His body, or the purity and beauty of His bride? All things ecclesiastical seem fast hastening to ruin. Truth has been pouring out from the denominations like a river! The ease and rapidity with which they are giving up the distinctive doctrines of Christianity makes the faithful believer stand amazed. And the shattering of those gathered in unity on divine ground as by the shock of an earthquake has occurred simultaneously with this defection, and the objects for which they were gathered seem slipping away from their grasp also. We are in the very heart of an awful crisis, such as neither we nor our fathers have witnessed, and it becomes us to lay it to heart and give glory to the Lord our God before He cause darkness. Ere long God must interpose. Shall it be in giving fresh power in witness to " the testimony of our Lord," and a work of grace by the Spirit of God, or by the coming of the Lord and judgment on the world? The solemnity of the moment is unutterable!