Lecture XVII

THE GUILELESS SPIRIT, THROUGH THE ABIDING MESSIANIC UNCTION AND ILLUMINATION OF THE HOLY GHOST, ABIDING IN CHRIST, SO AS TO HAVE CONFIDENCE AT HIS COMING

THE discourse is still about abiding in God, in the Son and in the Father. And the special lesson taught is, that the security for our thus abiding in God is to be found, not in our resisting outward solicitations drawing us away from him, but in our having in ourselves an inward principle to keep us near and close to him. If we have not that, no warning, however faithful, against seducers will avail. If we have that, no such warning should be needed.

And what is that? It is what has been already indicated in the twentieth verse; the “unction” or anointing which we “have from the Holy One.” Of that unction or anointing it is here testified, that its teaching is both thoroughly comprehensive and infallibly true; “It teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie.” The effect of its teaching is our abiding in him; “Even as it has taught you, ye shall abide in him;” or it may be put imperatively, “abide in him” “having this unction, and being taught by it, abide in him “with whom you share it. And you have the strongest inducement to abide in him; you and we alike. For we all look for his appearing; and must surely wish that, “when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.”

Two topics here occur for consideration—I. The provision made for our abiding in him; II. The motive urged for our abiding in him.

I. The provision made for our abiding in him is the “anointing which we receive of him abiding in us.” That anointing, as we have seen, is our sharing with him in the gift of the Holy Ghost. And it is an anointing which abideth in us. “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.” So the Lord gives the promise of which John here attests the fulfilment. And it is with special reference to his teaching, illuminating, and enlightening grace, that both the Lord and the apostle speak of the Holy Ghost and his unction abiding in us. “He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you;”—“he shall guide you into all truth;”—“he shall take of mine and show it unto you.” That is the Lord’s way of describing the Spirit’s abiding presence and its use. And to that the apostle agrees. This anointing “teacheth you” and “hath taught you,” so that you need no further teaching; for “it teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie.” There is a fulness in its teaching that admits of no supplement, and an assurance that excludes all doubt.

Observe the manifold worth and value of this anointing.

1. It is in us; it is an inward anointing. Not with oil on the head, but with the Holy Ghost in the heart, we are anointed; as he from whom we receive the anointing was himself anointed. It is not an application or appeal from without; it is a gracious influence, a gracious movement or experience, in the inner man. It is beyond the world’s cognisance; “the world cannot receive the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him;” and it is only what it sees and knows by the palpable evidence of sense that the world can take in. But the inward work and witness of the Holy Ghost is apprehended by faith as real; as being really the indwelling in us of the Spirit that dwelt in Christ.

2. This anointing is permanent; “it abideth in you.” It is not a fitful emotion or wayward impulse, a rapture of excitement, alternating perhaps with deep depression. It partakes more of the nature of a calm, constant, settled conviction. Frames, feelings, fancies, are all fluctuating; they are like the surface waters of the ocean, agitated by every wind. But this inward anointing is far down in the still depths beneath. It “abideth in us;” the same always in its own inherent stillness and strength, amid whatever tossings its contact with the upper air may cause. Through tears and cries, as well as smiles and laughter, it abides in us the same; as it did in him who “rejoiced in the Spirit,” and who also “groaned in the Spirit.” “With our groanings which cannot be uttered,” the anointing Spirit, abiding in us, “maketh intercession for us;” and our joy, like Christ’s, is “in the Holy Ghost.” This unction then is not to be confounded with our own varying moods of mind, or the varying impressions made on us by things without. It is something far more stable. It gives a certain firm and fixed apprehension of divine things and persons, which these vicissitudes can scarcely interrupt or weaken, and cannot destroy. There may be more or less of the vivid sense of this anointing, at different seasons and in different circumstances; the signs of it may be more or less clearly discernible, and the hold we have of it in our consciousness may be more or less strong. But it “abideth in us;” keeping God and eternity still before us as realities, in our sorest trials and darkest hours; causing us, as we fall back upon it, like David in his recovery from doubting despondency, to exclaim:—“I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High” (Ps. 77:10).

3. This anointing is sufficient in and of itself; its teaching needs no corroboration from any one; it has a divine self-evidencing power of its own that makes him who receives it independent of human testimony: “ye need not that any man teach you.” The gospel is its own witness; it carries in itself, as apprehended by this anointing, its own credentials. Like its author, it speaks as having authority, and approves itself experimentally to all who make trial of it. All this is through the anointing Spirit. It is by the Spirit that we are moved to make trial of the gospel; it is by the Spirit that the gospel is so applied and brought home to us,—in its sovereignty, as God speaking, and in its special and pointed adaptation to our case, as God speaking to us,—that we cannot but say in our hearts, “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.” This is “the anointing which we have received of him;” it is the Holy Ghost causing us to “taste and see how good he is.” And this is the real ground and evidence of our faith; that faith which realises the fulfilment of the great covenant promise, “They shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”

4. The teaching of this anointing is complete and thorough, all-embracing, all-comprehensive; “it teacheth you of all things.” It is not partial, or one-sided, as human teaching on divine subjects is apt to be; but full-orbed, well-rounded, like a perfect circle. It is not, of course, all things absolutely that this anointing teaches; but all things about the theme or subject of the teaching: about him from whom you receive it, and whose it is. Of the very best of human systems, I suppose that every spiritual man will feel and confess, that it is not on all points satisfying; it cannot but bear the marks of man’s confined standing-ground and restricted range of vision. This is no disparagement of such human systems, when used as helps to the orderly understanding and right arrangement of the several parts of the truth of God. But it indicates the limit to their use. They cannot come in place of the Holy Spirit’s teaching us the words of Christ. Even at the best, when the intellect is most pleased with the symmetry and beauty of a finished theological scheme, the spiritual mind, or rather the spiritual heart, feels that all is not there; that there is something wanting of what passes between the living God and the living soul when peace is made between them; that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in man’s best divinity. “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will shew them his covenant.” It needs the divine anointing of which we speak to teach, to unfold, to exhaust, all that is in the song of the angels, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

5. Finally, this anointing “is truth, and is no lie.” It carries with it, and in it, an assurance not to be called in question or shaken; an assurance, one may say, infallibly sure.

But you ask, Though I may be assured of the anointing itself that “it is truth and no lie;” how may I be assured that my having it is truth and no lie? And without this last assurance what will the other avail? Nay, it avails much. Even apart from the question of your assured personal interest in it, and your assured personal experience of it, is it not much to know and believe assuredly that in itself, in its own proper nature and working, this anointing is very truth, and verily is no lie? Is it not something to be told that there is such an oil of gladness, such a precious ointment, poured out upon the High-Priest’s head, and running over upon all his members; the oil, the ointment of the Spirit, teaching of all things, and teaching of them with absolute certainty? You know what the things are of which his anointing teaches; they are the things which belong to God’s glory and your peace. But you will not be content with knowing them merely as discoveries of your own, or as communicated by others. Know them as taught to you and attested to you; above all, as wrought out and acted out in you; by the anointing of the Holy Ghost. Proceed upon the faith of your thus knowing them, in the expectation of your thus knowing them, more and more. And do so, not doubting, but believing assuredly, that “the anointing which teacheth you of them is truth and is no lie.”

Yes! “There is truth and no lie” in what the Spirit shows you of the love of God in Christ, and sheds abroad in your heart of that love; be sure of that, and be not afraid to act upon the assurance of it. “There is truth and no lie” in what the Spirit opens up to you of the freeness and fulness of the Father’s overtures of mercy in the Son; be sure of that, and be not afraid to act upon the assurance of it. “There is truth and no lie” in what the Spirit would have you to grasp of “the peace which passeth understanding, the hope that maketh not ashamed, and the joy that is unspeakable and full of glory;” be sure of that, and be not afraid to act upon the assurance of it. “There is truth and no lie” in “that which ye have heard from the beginning so abiding in you that you abide in the Son and in the Father. That really is “the anointing which is truth and is no lie.” Be sure of that, and be not afraid to act out and out upon the assurance of it.

Thus receiving of the Lord Christ this anointing, you may well be proof against all seducing antichrists (ver. 26). And not otherwise can you be proof against them; for not otherwise can you abide in him. “Abide in me,” he says, “and I in you.” Abide in me; and that you may abide in me, let me abide in you. Let my word dwell in you richly; and my Spirit, giving to my word fragrance to fill the whole heart with the sweet savour of my name, as well as also penetrating power to reach every hard corner of the heart with the softening influence of my grace. Yes; let Christ dwell in your hearts by faith. Let the anointing Spirit infuse into your whole inner man the holy beauty, the meekness, the gentleness of Christ. Let his anointing mould and mellow your whole moral nature into a real identity with that of Christ. Thus becoming assimilated to him, growing up into him, you more and more closely and surely abide in him, and so are safe from “all them that would seduce you.” No other security, in fact, will suffice; not your utmost vigilance against their lies, but the full indwelling in you of the truth, and the Spirit of the truth.

II. The motive urged for your abiding in Christ is the hope or prospect of “his appearing,” “his coming.” It is urged very earnestly and affectionately. There is a tender emphasis in the appeal “And now, little children!” Nor is the change of person, from the second to the first, insignificant—“that we—”

John might have kept to the mode of address which he has been using, and to which in the next verse he returns; as an apostle exhorting his disciples; a teacher instructing his scholars; speaking authoritatively or ex cathedra. But when the end of all comes in view, he cannot separate himself from them. We are to be together with the Lord, you and we; you disciples and we apostles; you scholars and we teachers. And for this end we would have you to abide in him, that we may have confidence together when he appears.

John had said at the outset, “That which we,” who are apostles, “have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us,” the same fellowship that we have, “with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” Our object is to make you joint partakers with us in what might seem to be our distinctive privilege as apostles, our having seen the Lord. That is our aim in all that we write to you. With a view to that we tell you of the light in which we may jointly walk together, and of the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, which cleanseth us all alike from all sin. With a view to that we warn you against having any fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. With a view to that we remind you of the anointing which you as well as we have received of Christ, the Holy One. With a view to that we counsel you to abide in him; that as there is no real difference now between you and us, there may be none hereafter, when it would be final and fatal; that when he shall appear, we may altogether appear with him in glory; that you and we alike “may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” For we all alike need to be admonished of this risk.

And what a thought! what a contingency or possibility to be imagined! “To be ashamed before him at his coming!” It is a very strong expression. It carries us back to that old scene in Paradise when it was lost. The guilty pair “hear the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden, in the cool of the day.” And they shrink with shame from him “at his coming.” Is it thus that we should shrink at his coming now? Were he at this moment to appear, how would we feel? What would be our first impulse, our instinct? To run to meet him, or to shrink from him in shame? There are those who at the coming of the Lord shall “hide themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and say to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Would we be among that terrified multitude, that woful crowd? It is to have in it not a little of the pomp and fashion of the world; “kings of the earth, great men, rich men, chief captains, mighty men, as well as bond and free men, without number.” They may know no shame or fear now; unused to blush, or be abashed, or tremble in any presence, however they may force others to blush, and be abashed, and tremble before them. But at the Lord’s appearing, their brave, bold looks are gone. Ashamed, alarmed, despairing, they shrink from him. Surely we would not be of that miserable crew. Nay, fear apart, we who believe and love him would not wish to be found by him, at his coming, in any mood of mind, in any attitude of body, in any company, at any work, in any pleasure, over any book, that would cause even a momentary shrinking from him in shame. We would not choose to be so caught by him and taken by surprise; when we were not thinking of him, or serving him; when perhaps we were tempted to be ashamed of him, or of one of his saints, or of some things about his cause and kingdom, before those who happened to be our associates at the time;—so caught, I say, and taken by surprise, as to wish for a moment’s delay, that we might get over our nervous flutter and confusion, and summon courage to bid him welcome.

Who is he who comes? And for what? Is it not “he whom our soul loveth,” our Saviour, friend, brother, who has gone to prepare a place for us among the many mansions of his Father’s house? And for what does he come? To take us to himself, that where he is we may be also. Can we tolerate the idea of being ashamed before him when he comes, and comes on such an errand? Ah! if we would be safe from any such risk then, let us “abide in him” now; “abide in him” always. So, “when he shall appear, we may have confidence.”

Let me be ever asking myself, at every moment, If he were to appear now, would I have confidence? If he were to come into my house, my room, and show himself, and speak to me face to face; would I have confidence? Could I meet his look of love without embarrassment? Only if he found me “abiding in him;” doing whatever I might be doing “in his name, giving thanks unto God even the Father by him;” only if he found me keeping him in my heart.

Let us then be always abiding in him; every day, every hour, every instant; even as we would wish to be found abiding in him, were he to appear this very day, this very hour, this very instant. He is about to appear; to appear suddenly; to come quickly. Oh let us see to it, that as we would not wish him to come when we were in such a state as to cause shrinking from him in shame; as we would rather that when he appears we were in a position to spring forward with keen eye and outstretched arm, to welcome in all confidence him whom we love; let us see to it that we “abide in him.” Let us be always in the posture in which he who gives his “little children” this counsel was himself when he closed the book of the Revelation. “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly, Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”