Part 20 (1/2)
But how shall we meet these terrific forces? Thank G.o.d for the Holy Ghost again. ”When the enemy shall come in like a flood, then the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.”
First, we have the sword of the Spirit, Ephesians 6: 17. ”And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of G.o.d.” This was Christ's weapon in the conflict when He met the adversary in the wilderness, with the repeated word, ”It is written.” And when the devil, surprised at the power of this heavenly sword, picked it up and began to use it himself by quoting Scripture, Christ took the other edge of it, and struck him back the last fatal blow by His answer, so sublimely wise, ”It is written AGAIN.”
The Holy Ghost has given us this Word, and He is not likely to ignore it in His own manifestations to our hearts. Indeed, it is His purpose that we shall live out every particle before we pa.s.s from this earthly stage to the life beyond. It is He, and He alone, that can make it the sword in our victorious hands, suggesting to us the promise or the reproof or the command which we need for each new situation, and then arming it with the fiery point and piercing edge, that will cut through all the devil's disguises and make us always to triumph in the battle of life.
Then we have the prayer of the Spirit in the eighteenth verse. ”Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” This is our next victorious weapon; and the most remarkable thing about it is, that the princ.i.p.al part of the prayer is not for ourselves at all, but for others. It is when, like wise generals, we turn the position of our foe and attack him directly, by praying for others, that we compel him to retreat and let us alone; and, as we become occupied with the high and holy thoughts of unselfish love and prayer, we forget the troubles that were crus.h.i.+ng us and the temptations that were pressing us and we are lifted clear above the battlefield, into those heavenly places where the serpent's fangs cannot reach us, and the devil's fiery darts cannot come.
VII. WHAT SHOULD BE OUR ATt.i.tUDE TO THIS HEAVENLY FRIEND?.
We have it beautifully expressed in Ephesians 4: 30. ”Grieve not the Holy Spirit of G.o.d, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” It is not said that we make Him angry, or drive Him away; but we grieve Him, disappoint Him, and cause Him pain.
He has set His heart upon accomplis.h.i.+ng in us, and for us, the highest possibilities of love and blessing; when we will not yield to His wise and holy will; when we will not let Him educate us, mold us, separate us from the things that weaken and destroy us, and fit us for the weight of glory that He is preparing for us, His heart is vexed, His love is wounded, His purpose is baffled; and if the Comforter could weep, we would see the tears of loving sorrow upon His gentle face.
Just, as a mother fondly longs for the highest education and success of her child, and feels repaid for all her sacrifices and toils when she beholds her n.o.ble boy in the hour of his triumph; just as a loving teacher spends years in the training of his pupil, and when, at last, some day, that successful student is rewarded with the highest prizes and the acclamations of the university, he takes his favorite in his arms with a joy far greater than as if the triumph were his own, so our blessed Mother G.o.d is jealously seeking to work out in our lives the grandest possibilities of immortal existence; and, some day, when that blessed Spirit shall take us by the hand and present us to Jesus as His glorious Bride, ”without spot or wrinkle or any such thing,” the joy of the Holy Ghost will be greater than our own.
Oh, let us not disappoint Him! Let us not grieve Him. Let us not hold back from Him. Let us not sin against His forgiving, longsuffering love. ”Grieve not the Holy Spirit of G.o.d, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”
Chapter 16.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IN PHILIPPIANS.
”For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” Phil. 1: 19. ”If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellows.h.i.+p of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” Phil. 2: 1-2.
The Epistle to the Philippians is the sweetest of the Pauline letters. It is the unfolding of his inmost heart and of his tenderest relations, to the most fondlyloved of his spiritual flocks. No other church e as quite so dear to him as the little band at Philippi, who were the first seal of the beginning of his missionary work on the continent of Europe. He could say to them truly, ”I have you in my heart. Ye are all partakers of my grace. I thank G.o.d for your fellows.h.i.+p in the gospel, from the first day until now.”
But it is not only the expression of a hallowed human love; it is also the embodiment of all that is most mellow, mature and delicate, in the Christian spirit and temper. It is the ripeness of the mellow fruit, just ready to fall from the branch; it is the bloom on the peach, delicate as the rainbow tint, and soft as the wing of an angel. There is something about its tone that can be understood only by the finer senses of the deepest and highest Christian experience.
While the great Epistle to the Ephesians is like the tabernacle building, with its deeper and deeper unfolding of truth and life, the Epistle to the Philippians is like the sweet incense on the golden altar and in the holy place.
There are only two references to the Holy Sprit in this epistle, but these two are in perfect keeping with the structure and spirit of the whole epistle.
I. THE SUPPLY OF THE SPIRIT.
The word for ”supply” employed here is a very unusual one, and has a special and strongly figurative significance. It is the Greek word, Epich.o.r.egos, and it refers to the Epich.o.r.egos, or chorus leader in ancient Greece. On a great festival occasion it was customary for a certain man, as an act of public generosity and also a distinguished honor to himself, to provide for the public entertainment of the people by an elaborate musical exercise, consisting of a great many pieces, a great variety of music, musical instruments and performers; it was his business to supply all that was necessary for this performance, to meet all the expenses of the occasion, to secure all the performers, instruments, a.s.sistants, etc., and see that everything was supplied and also to lead the chorus. From this old word, our expressions chorus, and chorus-choir are derived. Now this word conveys the idea of supplying, but also of supplying especially the parts in a musical chorus; and it carries along with it the idea of something harmonious and glorious. It is a very abundant supply and it brings a very triumphant result.
This word is used in a remarkable pa.s.sage in the first chapter of 2 Peter, ”Add to your faith courage, knowledge, temperance, G.o.dliness, brotherly kindness, charity.” This word ”add,” is the same Greek term, Epich.o.r.ego. It means, ”chorus into your faith and life these beautiful graces”; bring them all into tune, and work them out in harmony and praise, so that your life shall be a doxology of joy and thanksgiving. And then, at the close of that paragraph, the word reappears, ”For so shall an entrance be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Literally it might be translated, ”So an entrance shall be chorused unto you.” That is, the very graces that were wrought into your earthly life and attended you as a heavenly choir shall wait for you at the gates of heaven and sing you home to your coronation. The love and gentleness, the faith and patience that you exercised in your earthly pilgrimage shall be waiting yonder, as a train of musicians, and shall celebrate your victory and your recompense.
Now this is the word used in the pa.s.sage in Philippians, ”the supply of the Spirit of Christ Jesus.” The Holy Ghost is the choir leader, and He is bringing into the apostle's life all the supplies of grace he needs to make his life not only tolerable but triumphant, and turn everything into a chorus of praise.
The apostle had just been telling us before of the peculiar trials through which he was pa.s.sing and the subtle foes that were distressing and hara.s.sing him, by even preaching the very Gospel that he loved so well, for contention and strife, ”Supposing,” he says, ”to add affliction to my bonds.” Yet so abundant was the supply of the Holy Ghost, as the Choir Leader of his victorious life, that he rose above their jealous hate, turned the very trial into a triumph and was enabled to bring blessing out of the devil's blows and to exclaim in a chorus of praise, ”What then, notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice; for I know that this shall turn to my salvation,” that is, my complete and full salvation, ”through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.”
And so for us, beloved, the Holy Ghost is able to provide so fully, that ”Ills of every shape and every name, Transformed to blessings, miss their cruel aim.”
This was to turn to his salvation. He does not, of course, mean his literal deliverance from condemnation, but that deeper, fuller life in Christ which is all comprehended in complete salvation. It is one thing to be ”saved as by fire”; it is quite another thing to be saved to the uttermost.
Now the apostle says that this is to come to him ”through their prayer.” We can help each other to the deeper and fuller supply of the Spirit of Christ Jesus. If our heart is open to receive the blessing, the prayers of others reach us and add to the measure of our fullness.
Every breath of true prayer accomplishes something and makes some addition to the measure of blessing that we ask for ourselves and others. There is no greater service that you can render to a true child of G.o.d than to pray for him in the Holy Ghost, and in that deep divine love that brings you into a common touch with his life and needs. Especially is this true of those who stand in public places to represent Christ to others, and who must receive, first, the stores of blessing which they are called to impart. Let us pray for them and we may be very sure the blessing will come back to us. To keep up the figure of the text and the imagery of the chorus, our prayers are just the breath which fills the mighty organ and swells the strain that bursts from every pipe and every note.
II. THE COMMUNION OF THE SPIRIT.
PHIL. 2: 1, 2. This pa.s.sage is a very exquisite one. It touches the most delicate shades of Christian feeling. It speaks of ”consolation in Christ,” the tenderness of His comforting love. It speaks of the ”comfort of love,” the sweet and healing balm of sympathy and holy affection. It speaks of the ”fellows.h.i.+p of the Spirit,” the communion of the saint with G.o.d, and with his brethren in the holy Ghost. It speaks of ”bowels of mercies,” the finer chords of spiritual sensitiveness, which thrill responsive to every touch of pain or joy in each other's hearts. There is something about it so refined and exquisite that the rude, coa.r.s.e mind cannot grasp it, and it is literally true, ”that none but he that feels it knows.”
It is especially of this third phrase that we are to speak --”If there be any fellows.h.i.+p of the Spirit.” The Greek word is Koinonia, which might be literally translated, in common. It really means to have things in common.
1. It is used first of our fellows.h.i.+p with G.o.d. ”Truly, our fellows.h.i.+p is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ.” ”The communion of the Holy Ghost.”
Our communion with G.o.d is the basis of all other communion. And communion with G.o.d is not merely external wors.h.i.+p and articulate prayer but it is really oneness with G.o.d, and having everything in common ”with Him.” Just as oil and water cannot mix, just as iron and clay cannot blend, so there can be no communion between G.o.d and the sinful soul. We must be reconciled to Him; we must be at one with Him; we must be conformed to His image and partakers of His very nature and filled with His Holy Spirit.
There must be in us the organ of intercourse. It is not enough to have a telegraph wire reaching your office from the distant city, but you must also have a battery here in order to receive the message of the wire. And so we must have with us the spiritual organs of communion with G.o.d, in order to enter into His fellows.h.i.+p.
We may have such fellows.h.i.+p. The Holy Ghost is the channel and organ of this communion. He is at once the electric current that conveys and the battery that interprets the message both ways. ”Through Him we have access unto the Father.” We can pour out our heart into His and He can pour in His heart into ours. We can ask Him for the things we need and get them. But more than all the things we get, is the answer of His own heart to ours. And more than all the words which He speaks to us, or we speak to Him, is the deep and silent communion of the heart that is in accord with His holy will, and living in the consciousness of His delightful presence.
It is not necessary to be always speaking to G.o.d, or always hearing from G.o.d, to have communion with Him; there is an inarticulate fellows.h.i.+p more sweet than words. The little child can sit all day long beside its busy mother and, although few words are spoken on either side, and both are busy, the one at his absorbing play, the other at her engrossing work, yet both are in perfect fellows.h.i.+p. He knows that she is there, and she knows that he is all right. So the saint and the Savior can go on for hours in the silent fellows.h.i.+p of love, and he be busy about the most common things, and yet conscious that every little thing he does is touched with the complexion of His presence, and the sense of His approval and blessing.
And then, when pressed with burdens and troubles too complicated to put into words and too mysterious to tell or understand, how sweet it is to fall back into His blessed arms, and just sob out the sorrow that we cannot speak!
”Too tired, too worn to pray, I can but fold my hands, Entreating in a voiceless way Of Him who understands.
”And as the weary child, Sobbing and sore oppressed, Sinks, hus.h.i.+ng all its wailings wild Upon its mother's breast, ”So on Thy bosom, I Would pour my speechless prayer; Not doubting Thou wilt let me lie In trustful weakness there.”
2. This also includes our communion with one another. ”The fellows.h.i.+p of the Spirit” means fellows.h.i.+p in the Spirit with spiritual minds. Thank G.o.d for the article in the creed which binds together the Church of every age and clime, ”I believe in the communion of saints.”
This must, of course, be first of all, communion in the Spirit. It is not the fellows.h.i.+p merely of natural affection but it is the communion of hearts that have a divine life in common. Of course, it is dearer and closer with those that are dearest to us but, even in the case of our nearest friends, our love must be transformed or it cannot be lasting or bring us into spiritual communion.
Then it is communion in the truth, and the closer our agreement in the truth, the closer will be our communion in the Spirit. Therefore as G.o.d leads us on to deeper teachings and higher truths, He intensifies our fellows.h.i.+p.
We can remember the time when we were first saved and were brought at once into the same fellows.h.i.+p with all others that were saved. Our little note was ”Jesus saves me,” and every saved man was a brother beloved. We just wanted to take him by the hand and tell him we were brothers. But it was just one little in the chorus. It was the soprano, and soprano alone makes very thin music.
After a while we learned the deeper basis of sanctification, and then we got a new note, and a new part to our song. And our music grew richer, and our harmony fuller.
We can remember the first time we met another Christian who had also learned the blessed truth of Christ our Sanctifier. He was not only a brother, but he was doubly a brother. And oh, how delightful it was to find one that could understand our deeper feelings and teachings in the Spirit, and how much closer was our communion in the fullness of the truth!
After a while we added a third part, the triumphant tenor of divine healing, and the Lord's supernatural life in our body. Shall we ever forget the first time we were thrown into the society of those who understood and believed these things? We had been standing alone, misunderstood, misrepresented, perplexed, and as we found some other heart that was treading the same lone way and living in the same blessed experience, it was a threefold chord, and a divine fellows.h.i.+p.
And yet there is one more part in perfect music, the soft suggestive undertone of the alto, that carries our thoughts afar and wakes up the chords of memory and hope. And so we came into the fourth truth of this blessed gospel --the Coming of our Lord, and the glorious hope of His return. Need I say that this brought a deeper fellows.h.i.+p still with those who stand together in this holy expectation as the waiting Bride of the Lamb? And so G.o.d makes us one in the fullness of the truth. Let us not lightly think of any truth which He has given us, or fail to be true to His testimony and our mutual fellows.h.i.+p.
Then again, we have fellows.h.i.+p not only in the truth, but in the life of the Spirit. All the platforms in the world will not make us one without oneness of heart. The fourfold gospel is not any better than the thirty-nine articles without the Holy Ghost. The true secret of Christian union is the baptism of the Spirit and the fullness of the life of Christ in all who believe.
And this is the fellows.h.i.+p of prayer. It makes us sensitive to each other's needs and burdens and it binds us all together, like travelers in the mountains, so that ifone falls the others hold him up, and if one suffers all suffer together.
Let us ask G.o.d to show us all that this ministry means for us and for His servants; let us each be so ”fitly framed” in the body of Christ, that we shall carry upon our hearts the very ones the Spirit would a.s.sign to us, and the very burdens which He would have us share with them.