THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST
John 20: 19-24
Romans 8: 9-10
1 Peter 1: 10-11
2 Kings 2: 9-14
GJR I suggest beloved that we occupy ourselves with the Spirit of Christ. The brethren will be free as we range over these scriptures and bring in others. I suggested this passage in John’s gospel because of the very instructive nature of it, the profound nature of it. This is the Lord Jesus in resurrection; in Kings there is another suggestion of the Lord Jesus - as ascended - but this is Christ in resurrection, on the very first, ‘first day of the week’, and it is in resurrection life that He came in amongst His own. The Lord greeted them with this word, “Peace be to you”, and He showed them His hands and His side; and the disciples rejoiced - and well they might - having seen the Lord. Then Jesus said therefore again to them, “Peace be to you”, and He sends them forth. We sometimes hear the latter part of Matthew’s gospel described as ‘the great commission’; it is there they were sent into all the world, but here is something that probably pre-dated that. He says, “as the Father sent me forth, I also send you”. The present dispensation had not yet begun but I wondered if there is a suggestion as to it. And then, having said this, “he breathed into them”. What a profound matter that was; this is the breath of a Man in resurrection, not ascended, but in resurrection and He says to them, “receive the Holy Spirit”, or more literally ‘receive Holy Spirit’. And then He goes on to this great matter of what they were going to take up administratively.
From Romans chapter 8, I wanted to suggest that the Spirit of Christ, on the basis of this passage, is characteristic of the dispensation. I want us to all be included in this; this should not be something to strive after in later life, but rather, is the normality of Christianity: a person having the Holy Spirit and therefore having the Spirit of Christ. I read the verse, “But ye are not in flesh, but in Spirit”, in case there is somebody here that might need to be reminded of that; also perhaps there is somebody here who is feeling that for the first time; somebody here who is feeling the burden of the flesh and what it is, and the problem and nature of it. I trust this will help, “ye are not in flesh but in Spirit”. God does not regard the believer on Jesus as in flesh but in Spirit.
I thought the passage in Peter would help us to see that the Spirit of Christ is traceable in the Old Testament. Long before Jesus came into manhood, the Spirit of Christ was in these prophets; we could enquire into that.
And then the passage in Kings brings in our side. I would like us to be encouraged today. The thought may run through my mind that I have not always shown the Spirit of Christ, that I see it in others, and have certainly had the Spirit of Christ shown towards me. But I do not want us to spend long in thinking of ourselves and our shortcomings, but rather that this passage in Kings would help us to see that the Spirit of Christ can mark every one of us. I do not have anything else to say to start with, and I am thankful this is a meeting for mutual enquiry.
DAB Thank you. I am enjoying your thought that it begins with peace; the Lord brings His peace. It is from that position the Spirit of Christ begins to be manifest; He begins with the peace that He brings.
GJR It is very good that you have emphasised that. Other gospel writers tell us that on at least one of the occasions where the Lord appeared they were troubled: one gospel writer said they did not know what to think and were at a loss what to think; here was the One who had been last seen laid in a tomb and here He is appearing. One thing they wanted was reassurance.
RJF Something that is emphasised is that the Spirit of Christ can be communicated even by one word: peace. I was seeking to build on what was said, that He comes and He stands in the midst; and you might say, ‘Well, the Spirit of Christ was there because He was there’. But this is the beginning of the communication of that to them in His condition of resurrection. They had known Him when He was here, but this is the Lord in a different condition, is it not? There was something to be conveyed to them by the word and then through the inbreathing.
GJR They would have embraced the thought that He had communicated to them that everything is settled, that all is well. He has met everything for God and for us.
DAB It says elsewhere, “my sheep hear my voice”, John 10: 16. I am thinking of what was said; it was conveyed in a word, hearing His voice, receiving peace from Him.
GJR Very good. May we know something of it - even today.
PSB It would be quite a different peace to any peace they had known from anyone else, “I give my peace to you: not as the world gives” (John 14: 27), He says elsewhere; would that be right?
GJR Yes, indeed. No one can speak after this One. He comes in and He says, “peace”; no one can disturb that. But your point is “not as the world”; it is on a different level altogether. What a poor world we are in; it cannot find peace and it cannot give like this.
RJF The doors were shut, to shut out the world, but there was no impediment to the Lord through those doors, was there?
GJR The time would come when they would go out through those doors; fifty days later they would go out through those doors, but for the time they were shut. Say more as to that please.
RJF I do not know if I can but this was a very distinctive time in the testimony, was it not? The Lord had been crucified, and that was behind; He had risen from among the dead, He was on an ascending line but He is spending this precious time with His disciples to communicate His Spirit to them.
GJR I do not think this was a fear of cowardice; this was a right fear of sensitivity. They did not want anything of what is Jewish; I suppose that would, for us, point to what is religious; we do not want that to come in and spoil what is within.
QAP How do we understand the Lord breathing into them here in relation to Pentecost where it speaks of a violent impetuous blowing, Acts 2: 2? I notice that in Mr Darby’s note that links with the thought of breathing as well.
GJR Well, that is good; I think there is a very strong connection. It may be oversimplifying to say that this is ‘anticipative’, and it certainly does not include all the disciples; we know one who was not here but he is present among those gathered eight days after, and who would have been among the one hundred and twenty at Pentecost.
QAP Would it be to prepare them for what happened at Pentecost?
GJR I think it would be and it would pervade the conditions during that time of fifty days. Are the brethren happy with this?
NJH Does the Spirit in Christ link with Pentecost? The Spirit coming down; it is a continuation that is in mind, is that right?
GJR Please enlarge on that.
NJH It was a continuation of Christ, morally. John in his first epistle takes up, what began in Christ and continues (chap 1); is that right?
GJR Yes, very good; what you say as to what continues is a very helpful remark. A marvellous thing, is it not, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of that Man, traceable in persons like ourselves?
JRW What you are suggesting seems to be on a very high level. He says here, “as the Father sent me forth”; that is a tremendous matter, is it not? It then says, “I also send you”. How can they attain to that?
GJR In the power of the Holy Spirit, and it was true to such an extent that the Lord said, “he that rejects you rejects me; and he that rejects me rejects him that sent me”, Luke 10: 16.
JRW Not to take you on to your second scripture, but I was thinking of “the Spirit of Christ which was in them”; I suppose there are typical examples of this in the Old Testament, those who have been sent forth from the Father, from God with the Spirit of Christ; the result is the blessing of God’s people and His glory.
GJR We should go on to the next scripture and there is another one (which I did not have read but we should be intelligent as to it), in which Peter clearly states that the Spirit of Christ was in Noah. Now I do not know anywhere it is spoken of in Genesis but it would seem that the Spirit of Christ was in Noah preaching to that generation, a most remarkable thing, 1 Pet 3: 19, 20.
PJW It is almost put as though Christ Himself was preaching to them, through Noah. That is another scripture of course; we do not want to skip over the second one! It is so interesting is it not?
GJR We are at liberty! “The Spirit of Christ which was in them”.
RJF Just to be clear, what John 20 speaks about is the Spirit breathed into the disciples; and that was of a different character to the Spirit coming at Pentecost. It was something to keep and maintain through these days until Pentecost?
GJR I am sure that is right. Perhaps we could remember that these would appear to have been the apostles; and there was what was distinctive to them. So we read of the apostles’ doctrine and the apostles’ fellowship. It might be illustrated thus: I have never seen the aurora borealis, but if two strangers who have seen it come together, they can ‘compare notes’ on what they have seen. They have a bond that someone without that experience will not have. The twelve had a bond (which even the apostle Paul did not have) because they had seen and companied with Christ in flesh and blood. These persons here had seen Him on the first day of the week. The fact that they had experienced this inbreathing would have been a form of fellowship on its own; certainly it would be included in the apostles’ fellowship.
AM While the Lord Jesus was here in flesh and blood conditions the apostles drew on Him for everything. I was thinking of your emphasis that this is the first day of the week, the first opportunity that this could happen, the Lord providing for the apostles that they would not go one day without the help of a divine Person.
GJR That commends itself very much. We might reverently say this was the first opportunity - at any rate, the first evening - and He provided for them from that very moment onwards.
AJMcK Could you say something as to why it is the Holy Spirit here? You emphasised that as ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’.
GJR I would connect it with the parted tongues as of fire, Acts 2: 3. In relation to ourselves we constantly need to remember it is the Holy Spirit. It would maintain reverence with us.
AJMcK That helps. I was thinking about what was said as to the glorious fact that this should be a divine Person; it is what rested complacently on Christ. For myself I need to just remember that more: it is “the Holy Spirit”.
GJR Objectively we can worship the Spirit of God; we have hymns that express that, and I think that is right, but in relation to ourselves, as to myself, I must always remember that it is “the Holy Spirit".
PJW In each case - here and Pentecost, and when the Gentiles were first brought in (Acts 10: 44), and with the Ephesian company (chap 19: 6), - it is “the Holy Spirit” that is spoken of.
GJR That confirms it very much. That company at Cæsarea was a cleansed and sanctified company, but they too were still persons in flesh and blood.
RJF The Holy Spirit descended upon Christ as a dove. Do you think that it is the dove-like characteristic that is particularly pronounced in this?
GJR I would ask the brethren to allow me to say that the dove in modern western imagery suggests peace; so a politician might be described as a dove (or a hawk). But I think in scripture it is not so much peace as sensitivity. I am drawing this from the first reference in the bible to the dove - which found no resting place, in the scene of death, for the sole of her foot. The raven had plenty of scope to rest, but the dove did not even find a resting place for the sole of her foot, Gen 8: 9. And how small is a dove’s foot! So it is sensitivity that is suggested and that blessed divine Person found in the manhood of Christ, nothing at all out of place. Does that agree with your thought?
RJF Yes, it is very helpful because then that characteristic was breathed into the disciples, the apostles, and then by extension we would see that there should be that aspect with each believer, do you think?
GJR Yes, may that grow with us; may that grow with me, sensitivity! Every day the tendency is for that to become eroded by all that is around.
RJF Another feature that comes out in this chapter is that, to be able to breathe something into somebody involves closeness.
GJR Yes; it is profound.
JRW What is in your mind with, on the one hand, the Spirit of Christ which you opened with, and then the Holy Spirit?
GJR In the Old Testament times I do not think anyone had the indwelling Spirit as we do. Would that be true? The indwelling Spirit is unique to this dispensation, and I think that, for us to be marked by the Spirit of Christ, it is essential that we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. That is what the scripture in Romans would indicate. But the Spirit of Christ is traceable in Old Testament persons who did not have the indwelling Spirit as we do.
RWMcC He is “with you, and shall be in you” (John 14: 17); would that link with your thought?
GJR That helps, and would you say that “he abides with you” is objective, and may answer to what He was upon Christ; but “shall be in you” relates to His coming and being in us?
Our second scripture was Romans 8: “but if any one has not the Spirit of Christ he is not of him”. It is not our business to modify that scripture: it means exactly what it says. But it would be normal for a believer to have the Holy Spirit and this would come into expression. That was my thought on this passage.
DAB I was thinking about what you said about the sensitivity of the Holy Spirit. We have a scripture elsewhere, “do not grieve the Holy Spirit”, Eph 4: 30. There is sensitivity in relation to that; that is normal that each believer has the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. There is something quite exercising in that; it is sensitivity, do you think?
GJR I remember once visiting a brother and sister, and the sister said to us, ‘I feel I have grieved the Holy Spirit’. What a fine thing that was, that here was a person so sensitive to the effect of her conduct, and prepared to admit it. It is right to encourage us to be sensitive as to the Holy Spirit, so as not to grieve Him - and judge ourselves if we do.
HTF In Acts 6, these men were “well reported of, full of the Holy Spirit”, v 3. And then verse 5, “they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit” and others with him. I was thinking about verse 10, “And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke”. He is not one of the apostles; he was one that was full of the Holy Spirit, which is therefore indicative of what should mark us. I am very exercised by what you say about what should mark us in this dispensation.
GJR That is a very helpful reference and brings in the thought of power, irresistible power. Again we must not think overmuch about ourselves, but I feel the lack of power. Then as to Stephen, you go on to trace the Spirit of Christ in the way he entreats, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge”, chap 7: 60. He would be immovable in his assertion of the truth, but what a spirit!
RJF Does that extend to the words that he uttered when he was praying saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”, chap 7: 59?
GJR How acceptable that spirit was to the Lord!
RJF In a sense there was that that was being committed to the Lord which was of Himself, do you think?
GJR Very fine!
PJW Stephen’s address was very severe to the Jews.
GJR In that regard, we are quite rightly taught that Elisha’s ministry represents grace; the establishment of the reign of grace is illustrated in Elisha’s history, but subsequent to taking up the mantle from Elijah and moving across the Jordan, the very first thing he encounters is mockers, mockers at Bethel, and he deals with them severely. Does that help?
PJW That is very helpful, but it was still the Spirit of Christ that was in him.
PSB Do we also get that in that section, “ye do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers, ye also”, Acts 7: 51. It was not the rejection of Christ here, but the continual rejection of the Holy Spirit?
GJR Yes; it shows how solemn the rejection of Stephen was. The Lord said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23: 34); Stephen did not say that because they knew full well what they were doing.
QAP Something I noticed as to this section is that the Spirit of Christ immediately leads on to “but if Christ be in you”. Is one of the services of the Spirit of Christ that Christ Himself should have the place in us?
GJR Yes, “if Christ be in you, the body is dead on account of sin”; what a relief that is!
QAP The Lord Jesus said, “He shall glorify me”, John 16: 14.
GJR He has never ceased, unselfishly, to do that,
To go back to the remark as to the faithfulness of Stephen. In Mordecai you can see the Spirit of Christ, and he would protect the life of the king, he would do all he could for Esther; but he would not bow to Haman (Esther 3: 2); he was rigid in that. Faithfulness is necessary, and increasingly so in our day. I feel weakness in it.
JRW Some of us have been looking at Ephesians 6 in the past week; we have read it three times locally! It comes to me that it is the sword that is spoken of in the panoply of God in relation to the Spirit, “the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word”, v 17. Would that support what we are saying?
GJR I am sure it would. It is not putting a scripture forward as an argument in an academic kind of way; I have tried that! It does not work: “the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word” is the truth applied in the Spirit of Christ.
PHM What we are speaking of is to have an impression on us; I was thinking particularly of the Spirit of Christ. In those we have been speaking of we can all see the effect of the Spirit of Christ. In John we can see how they were affected and then we can see the writings in the epistles of how they were able to speak; they were impressed by the Spirit of Christ. We have young ones here, and what is it for us to have and to appropriate these impressions? The Spirit of Christ is something that is real; it is in the believer’s life. It says here, “the Spirit life on account of righteousness”. Is it something that is to be with us in our pathways, to be experienced, and to be experienced together?
GJR That is certainly my exercise. The ability to apprehend and express divine thoughts, but then to be able to descend in love to every need. It is humbling, but I trust we are encouraged. This Spirit is to come into expression. I am not saying it is not; it is in expression among the people of God. It is a very fine thing, a very precious thing, and I trust that it might be promoted.
RJF Would you draw a distinction between the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and being “in Spirit” as we have in verse 9 in this chapter of Romans?
GJR Let us read it: “But ye are not in flesh but in Spirit, if indeed God’s Spirit dwell in you”. A person who has not the Holy Spirit is in flesh. They may be converted and not yet have received the Holy Spirit, but I think this divine view of a person no longer in flesh is dependent on them receiving the Holy Spirit. Now I say that, I trust, encouragingly, and if there is anyone here who feels that they have not the Holy Spirit, they can ask: ask the Father, ask the Lord Jesus if you are more comfortable doing that! But we must distinguish between initially receiving the Holy Spirit and being marked by the Spirit of Christ. Does that commend itself to you?
RJF Yes, very much so. The gift of the Holy Spirit is irrevocable, is it not? It is not subject to repentance as an aspect of the gifts and calling of God, Rom 11: 29. But I may be very far away from that, the Spirit of Christ may even disappear from me as a concept, my appreciation of Christ may go, but there is always the ability through divine grace to return to that. It should be an exercise with me, with all of us, how much we are in Spirit, to apprehend the Spirit of Christ and see that reflected.
GJR To address your question fully we need to bring in the thought from Revelation, “I became in the Spirit on the Lord’s day”, chap 1: 10. That is ‘a state into which he entered’ (footnote) and is something very special.
AM Paul says, “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor 1: 30); so they must have received the Holy Spirit, but then it goes on to speak about the way in which Paul was among them, and it says in chapter 2: 4 “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power”. He was giving an example.
GJR “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus”; it means you are of God. But as to the “demonstration” of which you speak, we get the impression that when Paul went to Corinth he went out of his way to hide his natural powers. He was a forceful personality - he must have been - but seemed to hide that in Corinth. That is an example.
NJH Does “in Spirit” involve state? And the Holy Spirit is linked with that.
GJR Yes, in Revelation 1:10, very much so.
RHB I was going to ask if you had any more in mind as to this expression being “of him”.
GJR I think it is a view that the saints are of God. But you are speaking of this verse “he is not of him”; is that right? I think it simply means that a person not of Christ is not a Christian. What would you say?
RHB On the positive side do you think would being “of him” involve going on to being members of His body? We are not a member of His body until we have received the Holy Spirit, are we?
GJR That is true; “in the power of one Spirit we have all been baptised into one body”, 1 Cor 12: 13. That helps.
BHC I was thinking of that expression that Paul uses in Ephesians “submitting yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ”, chap 5: 21. It says earlier, “be filled with the Spirit”, v 18. I wondered if that thought of submitting is a place where recognition of the Spirit’s power is known and given place to.
GJR That is a very helpful scripture and puts to rest the question, Are we answerable to the Lord or to the brethren? Well, “submitting yourselves to one another” shows our respect for the brethren, but it is in the “fear of Christ”.
We should go on. We have touched on Peter and Romans, and that takes us on to Kings which brings in our side. Now this is one of the scriptures where a person is invited to make a request. These two men - Elijah and Elisha were moving around, and the places they had been to were Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho and the Jordan. Elisha is invited to make a request because Elijah is going to go up. This is a type of Christ, not in resurrection but as ascending. It brings in teaching that we can only have the Spirit of Christ, indeed we can only have the Holy Spirit, because Christ has gone up and been glorified; that is teaching from John 7: 39. The offer is made, “Ask what I shall do for thee, before I am taken away from thee”. And Elisha says, “I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me”; that is to say, he wanted to be found here marked by the spirit of Elijah. And Elijah says, “Thou hast asked a hard thing”. Do we not know that? It says, ‘If you see me when I am going up it will be true, if you do not it will not’. Anyway he did see him go up, and then we know what follows: he had done with his own garments and took up the mantle of Elijah.
DAB Could you say a bit more as to Elijah’s response saying, “Thou hast asked a hard thing”?
GJR What it means really is that what characterises me as a natural man will have to go, and that is a hard thing: it is displacement! But there is love for Christ among us, the believer loves the Lord Jesus, and I trust His greatness is coming before us in these occasions. That is what ministry should do in bringing the greatness of Christ before us, and then what we are saying will lead to features of Himself coming into expression.
PJW Do you think there is a link in the double portion in what the Lord Jesus said, “he shall do greater than these”, John 14: 12?
GJR That is very suggestive; “because I go to the Father”, that is fine!
RJF Is there another aspect of this being “a hard thing”, in what it cost the Father that the Holy Spirit should be given: everything that Christ suffered and endured?
GJR Well, that rightly raises the level of our consideration; “He who, yea, has not spared his own Son … how shall he not also with him grant us all things?” (Rom 8: 32); that includes the gift of the Holy Spirit.
RJF I was thinking of the scripture in Peter that you referred to; it speaks of two things there, the sufferings of the Christ, “the sufferings which belonged to Christ, and the glories after these”.
GJR Yes; that was the subject of their searching out, the subject of their prophecy: how extensive that is! The Messiah being cut off and having nothing (Dan 9: 26), being cut off from the land of the living (Isa 53: 8), His life being taken from the earth (Acts 8: 33): the sufferings that belonged to the Christ. But He is glorified and it is from His glorified position that the Holy Spirit has come.
QAP In John 6 they say, “This word is hard” v 60. And the Lord Jesus says to them, “If then ye see the Son of man ascending up where he was before? It is the Spirit that quickens, the flesh profits nothing”, v 62-63. I am linking that with what Elijah said as to seeing him.
GJR Well, that does help in two ways; the Son of man was ascending up where He was before and He has done that; He “has been received up in glory”, 1 Tim 3: 16. It is not just into glory but “in glory” and, of course, it would mean the shifting of hopes from earth to where He is. These are not easy things! These are not experiences that I drift into. But then He says, “It is the Spirit that quickens, the flesh profits nothing”; that is indicated by the visit to Gilgal which these two men have made.
RIW There is blessing in having right desires.
GJR How delightful this must have been to Elijah to have found this young man saying, ‘I want to be like you now’, to have a double portion of it: right desires, indeed!. I trust we are encouraging one another in right desires. No matter how far off we may feel from it, I trust these desires are being stimulated and answered to.
RIW It is actually encouraging; the flesh is hard, it is going to be there, but the right desires, that is where grace meets us.
DAB In this section, Elisha has gone the right way, gone to Gilgal, even gone through the Jordan here; you might say he is in the land, but it is still a hard thing. I would like to get help what seeing Him means for us; we have touched on seeing Him there. Help us as to how these desires are fulfilled, how a double portion is proved.
GJR In Galatians we read that "the flesh lusts against the Spirit” (chap 5: 17); now, I knew that before I read it in the Bible. These things are in opposition towards one another. The drift is towards what is of man: man’s will and man’s reasoning, but what we are seeking to encourage one another about is that the Spirit of Christ is not on that level at all.
RWMcC What would promote this kind of desire? It would be delightful to Elijah, delightful to God, here expressed.
GJR Well, to start, I would say an appreciation of the Man of the gospels. The grace He brought to every situation: would you not like to be like that? I would: I know you would! And these features are coming out amongst the Lord’s people. We love to witness it. But He has gone up and it is from where He is now, having to do with Him where He is now, receiving the Spirit, being occupied with Him. It will not be by being occupied with ourselves. So think of this man being taken up and this younger person following him in his affections, wanting to be like him here below.
TJH Your previous scripture spoke about the law of the Spirit. I wondered if you could help us understand that a little bit more because we have the idea of the Spirit of peace, and then the Spirit of life, but here in this scripture you have the idea of power, the Spirit as power. It seems to do with law, and the rejection of the law of the flesh which I think you have just been mentioning. So the law of the flesh is in opposition to the law of the Spirit. I wondered if you could help us more about the law of the Spirit.
GJR I think in Romans 8 “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” is a fixed principle - not Moses’s law - the fixed principle of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. That never varies, and it is in that that there is deliverance from the law of sin and death (that too is a fixed principle: that of sin and death). I suggested this scripture so that we might identify the appreciation of Christ that is in each of our hearts. That Man has been taken up, has been received up in glory, and the divine mind is that we should be like Him here below.
Sunbury
1st October 2022
Key to initials:-
D A Barlow, Sunbury; P S Barlow, Sunbury; R H Brown, Strood; B H Clark, Maidstone; R J Flowerdew, Sunbury; H T Franklin, Grimsby; N J Henry, Glasgow; T J Harvey, East Finchley; R W McClean, Grimsby; A J McKay, Witney; A Martin, Buckhurst Hill; P H Morris, Sunbury; Q A Poore, Swanage; G J Richards, Malvern; J R Walkinshaw, Maidstone; P J Walkinshaw, Strood; R I Webster, Buckhurst Hill