Meditations on the Holy Spirit
by J. C. Philpot
Chapter VI.
In our last paper we attempted to define, and explain
from the word of truth the gospel mystery of sanctification, and to show
that so rich and heavenly a blessing is not limited to the work of the Holy
Spirit on the hearts of the people of God, but that it includes and embraces
their sanctification before time by the original and eternal Will of God the
Father, and their sanctification in time by the Offering of the body of
Jesus Christ, his dear Son, once for all. And we may here remark that there
is a peculiar blessedness in this view of the sanctification of the Church
of Christ by the Will of the Father, and by the Work of the Son, that not
only does it lay a firm and broad foundation for her sanctification by the
Spirit, but that this branch of her sanctification is thus already in itself
completely and absolutely perfect. Nor indeed, as being an accomplished work
of God, can it be otherwise, for He is the rock; his "work is perfect."
(Deut. 32:4.) This sanctification, therefore, of the people of God, as
distinct from the work of the Holy Spirit upon their heart, is already in
itself fully and entirely complete; for the Will of the Father is absolute,
and the Work of the Son is a finished work. In this sense, then, the Church
of Christ is now and forever perfectly holy, for she is "complete in
Christ," (Col. 2:10,) "accepted in the Beloved," (Eph. 1:6,) and stands
before God all fair and without spot. (Song 4:7.)
We well know, indeed, how bitterly and angrily this view
of sanctification has ever been opposed by legalists, and all those children
of the bondwoman who hate that glorious loveliness which the Lord has put
upon his bride; (Ezek. 16:14;) nor are we unaware of the reproaches which
"the ignorance of foolish men," (1 Peter 2:15,) has cast both upon the
doctrine itself, and upon those who hold and teach it, as if it were fraught
with the most dangerous consequences, and were the very high road to
licentiousness. They have argued against it, as if we intended thereby to
supersede sanctification by the Spirit, and to employ it as a kind of
substitute for that individual and personal holiness, without which no man
shall see the Lord; and which they insinuate that we hate and shun as laying
a restraint on our lusts.
But this is one of those stumbling-blocks, over which
blind and obstinate men stumble to their own perdition; for so far from this
sanctification of the Church by the Father and the Son superseding
sanctification by the Spirit, it lays, on the contrary, the only firm and
solid foundation for it, for it ensures the spiritual and personal
sanctification of every member of the mystical body of Christ, as they are
successively brought into a time state, by unalterably securing their
interest in the covenant work and offices of the Holy Spirit, and in those
gracious operations whereby he makes them fit for the inheritance of the
saints in light. It also casts a glorious light upon the economy* of grace;
that is, the order of the divine procedure in the dispensation of grace to
his Church; for "God is not the author of confusion," (1 Cor. 14:33,) but as
in nature, so in grace, of the most perfect order in all his arrangements.
In the economy of grace, then, the same divine order rules and reigns as in
the personal subsistence of the Three Persons in the Godhead. The order of
that subsistence is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the everlasting
Covenant, in all its provisions and all its blessings, the same order
prevails; and therefore rules and reigns in the great Covenant blessing,
Sanctification. The blessing is an orderly blessing, and, as such, in all
its steps moves onward according to the order of the Persons in the Godhead.
The Father is first; therefore the sanctification of the Church by his
eternal Will is first. The Son is second, therefore her sanctification by
his one Offering is second. The Holy Spirit is third; therefore the
sanctification of the Church by his efficacious grace is third. And yet,
though the Persons of the Trinity are distinct, their eternal Essence is but
One; so in this work of sanctification a glorious Unity of will and work
pervades the whole. As, too, the Persons, though distinct, are equal, and
the order of their subsistence does not affect the equality of their eternal
Being, so the work of sanctification, as participated in by Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit is equal, and if equal, equally complete. This is already true,
as we have shown, as regards the work of the Father, and of the Son, and
will be equally true as regards the work of the Holy Spirit, for his
sanctifying work on the souls and bodies of the saints will, in the
resurrection morn, be as perfect as the absolute Will of the Father, and the
finished Work of the Son.
* The word "economy" means literally, "the management of
a house, or household, " and as the Church is the house of God, (Heb. 3:6,)
the term is applied to the order of God's dealings with the Church.
This glorious mystery of the sanctification of the
Church, though written as with a ray of light in the word of truth, has been
so obscured by the advocates of a legal and fleshly holiness, that we have
felt desirous to lay before our spiritual readers what has been opened to
our mind on this subject as a part of the divine counsel. These points of
heavenly truth, we admit, are deep, and may, therefore, be considered by
some of our readers mysterious and obscure, and by others neither
instructive nor edifying; but we believe, on the contrary, that it will ever
be found that deep truths, like deep rivers, are full of fruitfulness in
proportion to their depth. How deep the mystery of the Trinity! But in its
very depth lies its blessedness. How deep the mystery of the eternal Sonship
of our Lord! But in its depths what treasures of ineffable glory are laid
up! How deep the mystery of the incarnation! But what streams of
superabounding grace are ever springing and rising out of its bosom,
swelling in an ample and healing tide over all the aboundings of sin. Marvel
not, then, that deep is the mystery of sanctification; for it will be found,
if we are favored with a spiritual apprehension of it, that in its very
depth lies much of its blessedness.
Having, then, laid this firm foundation for the
sanctification of the Church by the blessed Spirit, we are now brought back
to our original subject, the covenant offices of the Holy Spirit; for as it
is his special office to sanctify, by his divine operations, the people of
the Father's choice and of the Son's redeeming blood, the term will include
the greater part of his efficacious work upon the soul. But to arrange our
Meditations on this subject with some measure of that clearness which is so
desirable on points of such deep importance, we will consider,
The necessity of this sanctification;
The nature of this sanctification by his effectual
grace.
I. The NECESSITY of this sanctification
lies,
1. in the essential holiness of God,
2. In the fallen state of man.
1. God is essentially holy; so much so, that holiness is
his very nature, the very perfection and glory of his Being. He, therefore,
swears by his holiness as if it were himself, for "because he could swear by
no greater he swore by himself." (Heb. 6:13.) "Once have I sworn by my
holiness that I will not lie unto David." (Psalm 89:35.) So essentially is
he holy, and so bright a luster does it reflect on all his other infinite
perfections, that he is said to be "glorious in holiness;" (Exod. 15:11;)
and as possessing it eternally in himself, and so the fountain of it to
angels and men, "there is none holy as the Lord," (1 Sam. 2:2,) and "he
alone is holy;" (Rev. 15:4;) for in him only is it underived, all
communicated holiness from him as a Supreme Fountain being but the shadow of
what in him is a self-existent substance.
Because God is thus essentially holy, he requires that
his people should be holy too. (Lev. 20:26.) And what he requires he
makes--"I am the Lord who sanctifies you." (Lev. 20:8.) Indeed, there is not
a single attribute or perfection of the Lord God of Israel so continually
brought forth, or so urgently insisted on in the word of truth as his
holiness. We need scarcely prove this; but let the following testimonies
suffice in addition to those already adduced--"But you are holy, O you who
inhabits the praises of Israel;" "Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his
footstool; for he is holy. (Psalm 99:5.) And again--"Thus says the high and
lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy." (Isa. 57:15.) So in
that touching prayer of our gracious Lord--"Holy Father, keep through your
own name those whom you have given me." (John 17:11.)
We do not wish to make minute distinctions, or may fail
in clearly communicating our own thoughts, but we seem to see a difference
between the purity of God, the righteousness of God, and the holiness of
God; and as this distinction has a bearing on our subject, we shall drop a
few words upon it. God is pure, eternally and infinitely pure, "for
he is of purer eyes than to behold evil;" (Hab. 1:13;) so pure that the
stars, so bright and glorious in our eyes, "are not pure in his sight;" (Job
25:5;) and his very "angels he charges with folly." (Job 4:18.) John,
therefore, says--"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet
appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be
like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that has this hope in
him purifies himself, even as he is pure." (1 John 3:2, 3.) But this his
eternal and essential purity consists rather in the infinite perfection and
spotlessness of his nature than in the spirituality of his being.
But the holiness of God is intimately connected
with his being a Spirit, for "God is a Spirit." (John 4:24.) When, then, we
approach the Majesty of heaven, and seek to realize, with solemn awe and
trembling reverence, his glorious perfections, a view of his holiness is
ever intimately connected with a believing persuasion that he is a Spirit,
and, as such, requires spiritual worship.
In a similar way, his righteousness may be
mentally distinguished from both his purity and his holiness as having
peculiar respect to his justice, the integrity and righteousness of all his
ways, words, and works, and that "the Judge of all the earth will do right."
(Gen. 18:25.) Our Lord, therefore, addressed him "O righteous Father," (John
17:25,) as well as "holy Father,"—righteous in the uprightness of his
character, holy in the spirituality of his Being. Thus, as infinitely pure,
he is perfectly spotless; as infinitely righteous, he is perfectly just; as
infinitely holy, he is the very Spirit of holiness.
But to show that those are not mere barren speculations,
or unfounded distinctions, let us now see the peculiar bearing which this
view of the holiness of God has on our subject, the sanctification of the
Spirit, and trace out how and why, in the economy of grace, this
sanctification so peculiarly belongs to the Holy Spirit as his covenant
office. We have just shown that the holiness of God is intimately connected
with his eternal, underived existence as a Spirit. How appropriate, then, to
the Holy Spirit, as a Person in the Godhead, is that Covenant Office that he
should communicate of his holiness to the people of God; for holiness being
in itself essentially a spiritual thing, it may be communicated by his
divine operations and spiritual influences. We are, therefore, said to be
made "partakers of the divine nature;" (2 Pet. 1:4;) that is, of that part
of the divine nature which is communicable; for omniscience, omnipresence,
omnipotence, etc., are not communicable to a finite creature such as man.
But holiness, as a part of the divine nature, is communicable; and thus,
when the Holy Spirit breathes, infuses, and communicates spiritual life to
the soul, in that life imparted is the very holiness of God. We read
accordingly--"that we might be partakers of his holiness." (Heb. 12:10.) In
being made partakers, therefore, of the divine nature, we are made partakers
of the holiness of that nature, and this is nothing less than "his
holiness," the very holiness of God.
In regeneration we are born of the Spirit, (John 3:5,)
and as "that which is born of the Spirit is spirit," there is a
communication of the spirit by the Spirit. We may illustrate this by the
case of Elijah and Elisha. Before Elijah was taken up to heaven by a
whirlwind, "he said unto Elisha, What shall I do for you before I be taken
away from you? And Elisha said, Let a double portion of your spirit be upon
me." This request was granted, and so visibly that when the sons of the
prophets saw him they said, "The spirit of Elijah does rest on Elisha." (2
Kings 2:9, 15.) Here there was a communication by the Holy Spirit of the
spirit of Elijah to Elisha. We wish it to be observed that we use this
merely as an illustration; but in a similar way there is a communication of
the holiness of God to the soul by the Holy Spirit when he communicates to
it divine life. The new man of grace, therefore, is said to be "created
after God; "that is, after the image of God, "in righteousness and true
holiness,"—true holiness, as distinct from all legal or fleshly holiness.
(Eph. 4:24.) It is "a new creation," (2 Cor. 5:17,) as the word may be
literally rendered, and not an alteration or amelioration of the old man. By
the communication, therefore, of this new spirit, we are made spiritual men
as distinct from all natural men; (1 Cor. 2:14, 15;) and as there is but
"one body and one Spirit," (Eph. 4:4,) and "by this one Spirit we are all
baptized into one body," (1 Cor. 12:13,) there is a blessed oneness of
spirit among the family of God; and what is more blessed still, by the gift
and communication of this spirit we enjoy union and communion with the Lord
himself; for "he who is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." (1 Cor. 6:17.)
2. From these considerations we may now, perhaps, more
clearly see how the doctrine which we are thus seeking to establish
distinguishes the work of regeneration and sanctification from all the works
of the creature, and all the vain attempts of man to furbish up nature and
pass it off for grace. Our Lord, indeed, at once and forever, decided the
whole matter in those pointed and pregnant words--"That which is born of the
flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit;" (John 3:6;)
for by that decisive declaration he set apart the flesh and the spirit as
wide asunder as he will one day separate the sheep from the goats, and
declared them by his authoritative voice to be radically and essentially
distinct. All, then, that is born of the flesh, be it what it may, however
educated, polished, refined; however drawn out, made up, or twisted into
shape; however adorned within, decorated without, improved by adventitious
circumstances, or disguised by ornamental additions, is, and ever will
remain flesh still. It is like everything else which earth produces. No
manipulation of art can change the original nature of the raw material. It
is still wool, or flax, or cotton, and no process of manufacture, no
hackling, or drawing, or twisting, or spinning, or weaving, or bleaching, or
surfacing can turn cotton into flax, or wool into silk.
So let men-made preachers and the whole assembled corps
of creature religionists do what they may, and toil night and day to
transmute flesh into spirit, let them work at it from the cradle to the
grave to fit it for heaven, after all their labors to wash the Ethiopian
white and rub the spots out of the leopard, nature will and ever must be
nature still, and flesh flesh still, and cannot, therefore, by any
possibility, enter the kingdom of God.
We see, therefore, how deeply the necessity of
sanctification by the work of the Holy Spirit is laid in the state of man
through the fall; that not only his nature is defiled and polluted to
the very core by sin original and actual, but that there is in him an
absolute incapability to understand, embrace, or enjoy spiritual things,
according to that well-known testimony--"But the natural man receives not
the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Cor. 2:14.)
The necessity, then, of regeneration, which is the commencement of
sanctification, lies not only in the sinfulness of man, but in the state of
spiritual death whereby he is as unable to live, breathe, and act Godwards
as the corpse in the graveyard is unable to leave the silent tomb and move
among the busy haunts of men. But enough has been said of the necessity of
sanctification. We can know but little of the word of God and little of our
own hearts if we need proof of a fact which meets us at every turn.
The vileness of our nature, the utter depravity and
thorough deathliness of our carnal heart are so daily and hourly forced upon
us, almost whether we will see and feel them or not, that they are as much a
matter of our spiritual sense and apprehension as we should see the blood
and garbage of a slaughter-house, or smell the death taint of a corpse in
the coffin. Suppose a man is born without eyes, or like the man in the
Gospel of John, (9:1,) is born blind. He has a natural incapacity of sight.
No arguments, no biddings, entreaties, threats, warnings, promises, can make
him see. But let a miracle be wrought; let the Lord touch the eyes with his
divine hand; he sees at once. A new capacity is given; and though he cannot
explain how or why he sees, he can still say, with the blind man, in face of
all objectors and all objections, "One thing I know, that whereas I was
blind, now I see." (John 9:25.)
And here we may admire for a few moments the grace, the
wisdom, and the power of God. How rich his grace to raise up poor,
fallen man into the spiritual participation of his own holiness, without
which he could not have enjoyed the eternal bliss of his presence! How
adorable his wisdom to devise a way whereby, in a manner perfectly
consistent with all his glorious perfections, this holiness of his nature
could be imparted! How infinite his power to remove every obstruction
to the execution of his sovereign will, and of the communication of the
divine nature, to fit and qualify a worm of earth to enjoy communion with
the God of heaven! And does not our doctrine of sanctification afford the
fullest answer to those sons of earth who would gladly libel us with the
imputation that we reject or despise what they call personal holiness? So
far from this being the case, we assert, on the contrary, that
sanctification by the eternal will of the Father and the finished work of
the Son, not merely lays the only sure foundation for sanctification by the
Spirit, but that our view of this latter branch of sanctification outshines
theirs as much as the bright sun the feeblest star. Their sanctification, at
the best, is but human nature modified, improved, and ameliorated; but our
doctrine declares that the sanctification for which we contend is the very
holiness of God himself breathed into the soul, and that the new man of
grace is as holy as God is holy, for it is that holy thing, that
incorruptible seed which cannot sin, because it is born of God. (1 John
3:9.) Which of these views is the more scriptural, which more full of divine
wisdom, power, and grace, which brings more glory to God and blessedness to
men, let the spiritual judge. "Try the spirits whether they are of God," and
discern, you Christian men, between the spirit of truth and the spirit of
error.
II. But we now pass on to inquire into the NATURE
of the Spirit's sanctification; and here, at
the very threshold, we are met by our Lord's own words--"The wind blows
where it wills, and you hear the sound thereof, but can not tell whence it
comes, and where it goes; so is every one that is born of the Spirit." (John
3:8.) The breathing of the Holy Spirit on the soul, whereby he quickens it
into spiritual life, is compared by our Lord to the blowing of the wind. In
this movement of the wind, as brought forward by our blessed Lord, there is
something known, and there is something unknown. Unknown are its origin and
end, "whence it comes and where it goes." Known are its present
effects--"You hear the sound thereof." Its sound is heard; its force is
felt; but all beyond is a mystery. So in the gracious operations of the
blessed Spirit in the heart, who can tell, when first brought under his
divine power and influence, whence comes his quickening breath, why was he
thus divinely wrought upon? or who can see or discover into what an
exceeding and eternal weight of glory these beginnings of grace will
eventually issue?
But the sound is heard, for the word of the living God,
whereby he quickens and begets the soul into divine life, sounds an alarm in
the inmost depths of conscience, and is heard echoing through every secret
chamber of the soul. This is "the voice of the Lord," which is "powerful,"
yes, that voice which is "full of majesty." This is "the voice of the Lord
which shakes the wilderness;" (Psalm 29:4, 8;) and it cries aloud, "Awake,
you that sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light."
(Eph. 5:14.) Thus light and life ever attend the first operations of the
blessed Spirit in the heart—light shining into and illuminating the dark
chambers of imagery, and life quickening the soul which before was dead in
trespasses and sins. That light attends the operations of the blessed Spirit
on the soul is most manifest both from Scripture and experience--"The
entrance of your words gives light." (Psalm 119:130.) Paul, therefore, was
sent to the Gentiles, to turn them from darkness to light; (Acts 26:18;) and
the same Apostle, addressing the Ephesian believers, says, "You were once
darkness, but now are you light in the Lord." (Eph. 5:8.) How else could we
see the kingdom of God, which we are said by implication to do, when we are
born again? (John 3:3;) or how else could there be any manifestation to our
soul of eternal and divine realities, as the Apostle speaks? "But all things
that are reproved (or "discovered," margin) are made manifest by the light;
for whatever does make manifest is light." (Eph. 5:13.) Do we not also
read--"For with you is the fountain of life?" Here is the source of all
divine life; but it adds, "In your light shall we see light." (Psalm.36:9.)
Thus light and life ever accompany, and, indeed, are the necessary and
invariable consequences of regenerating grace in the vessels of mercy. By
light we see; by life we feel. The illuminating beams of the Spirit light up
God's word, which now becomes "a lamp unto the feet and a light unto the
path;" (Psalm 119:105;) and what that light reveals the heart believes, for
the power of God, attending the application of the word, raises up faith in
the soul to credit God's testimony.
As, then, the word is made "life and spirit" to the soul,
(John 6:63,) the solemn things which the blessed Spirit by it reveals to
faith become firm realities, which seize and take possession of its inmost
being. No more now trifling with religion; no more dallying with sin; no
more song and jest; no more formality and lip-service; no more making a
covenant with death, and being at agreement with hell; no more putting far
away the evil day; for the day is now come, that great day, so that none is
like unto it, even the time of Jacob's trouble, (Jer. 30:7.) Under, then,
this entrance of divine light and life, the hitherto unseen, unfelt being of
God is revealed to the soul; (Heb. 11:6;) and now the surroundings of his
awsome and universal presence with the inmost searchings of his
heart-penetrating eye; (Psalm 139:1-3;) his inflexible justice in a fiery
law which goes from his right hand to condemn all who are under it; (Deut.
33:2;) his immutability, so that he is in one mind and none can turn him;
(Job 23:13;) his dreadful anger against sin and the sinner, which burns to
the lowest hell; (Deut. 32:22;) the impossibility of escaping out of his
hand; (Psalm 139:7-12; Jer. 23:23, 24;) the utter inability of man to
deliver himself from the yoke of his transgressions which are wreathed about
his neck, (Lam. 1:14,) or to make satisfaction and atonement for them, (Job
9:30-33; Psalm. 49:7-9;)—these and similar exercises and troubles spring up
in the heart, and form the subject of continual thought and meditation. This
is the work of convincing of sin, as the Lord spoke--"And when he is come,
he will reprove (margin "convince") the world of sin." (John 16:8.) Thus he
wrought on the day of Pentecost, when so many were "pierced" (or rather
"pierced") "in their heart," until they cried aloud in their distress, "Men
and brethren, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37.) So he smote the tax-collector
in the temple; the woman who was a sinner, and would gladly have wept her
soul away at Jesus' feet; the thief on the cross; the jailer at Philippi;
the incestuous Corinthian; and one no less than that signal vessel of mercy,
Saul of Tarsus, thrust him through with his two-edged sword, as he pierced
him even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and
marrow, when in the pride of self-righteousness and the madness of
persecution he approached Damascus gate. We by no means wish or even dare to
set up a certain standard, or say that all the quickened family of God are
equally exercised as we have here described, but we cannot understand how
there can be the communications of divine light and life, and nothing seen
and felt. How can we flee from the wrath to come if there be no sight or
sense of that wrath; or how beg for mercy, if no guilt lie hard and heavy on
the conscience?
But we now pass on to another covenant office of the
blessed Spirit. The same gracious Teacher communicates to the soul, thus
convinced of sin, the spirit of grace and supplications--"Behold he prays,"
was the word of the Lord to Ananias to convince him that this dreaded
persecutor had been quickened by the Spirit. And what a mercy it is for the
quickened soul that the blessed Spirit thus helps his sinking, trembling
spirit, puts life and energy into his cries and sighs, holds him up and
keeps him steadfast at the throne, and thus enables him to persevere with
his earnest suings for mercy, mingles faith with his petitions, and himself
most graciously and kindly intercedes within him and for him with groanings
which cannot be uttered. (Rom. 8:26.) This is "praying with the spirit," (1
Cor. 14:15,) and "in the Holy Spirit." (Jude 20.) This is pouring out the
heart before God, (Psalm 42:8,) pouring out the soul before the Lord; (1
Sam. 1:15;) and by this free discharge of the contents of an almost bursting
heart, sensible relief is given to the burdened spirit.
By this special mark, the convictions of a quickened soul
are distinguished from the pangs of guilt and remorse which are sometimes
aroused in the natural conscience. Cain said, "My punishment is
greater than I can bear," but there was neither repentance nor prayer in his
heart; "for he went out from the presence of the Lord"—the very presence
which the living soul is seeking to reach and be found in, and into which
the Spirit brings him. (Eph. 2:18; Gen. 4:13, 16.) Saul was "sore
distressed," when God answered him, "neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by
prophets," but he goes to the witch of Endor, and in the end falls a suicide
upon his own sword. (1 Sam. 29:6, 8; 31:4.) Judas repented of his
accursed treachery, but went and hanged himself. (Matt. 27:3, 5.) No prayer,
no supplication was in either of their hearts. So it is prophesied that men
shall gnaw their tongues for pain, and yet shall blaspheme the God of heaven
because of their pains and their sores, and not repent of their deeds. (Rev.
16:10, 11.) But the elect cry day and night unto God; (Luke 18:7;) and their
prayers, perfumed with the incense of their all-prevailing Intercessor at
the right hand of the Father, enter into the ears of the Lord Almighty.
(Rev. 8:3, 4; Rom. 8:34; James 5:4.)
|