We have been considering the Holy Spirit's indwelling in relation to the individual believer. Now we come to a very important aspect of the gift of the Holy Spirit, His coming into this world to form Christian fellowship. The Holy Spirit is the connection between Heaven and earth, between the believer and his Lord, and between believer and believer.
The day of Pentecost, and the descent of the Holy Spirit of God upon each of the assembled disciples at Jerusalem, was the hour of the Church's birthday. A new era had set in. No longer was our Lord upon earth. Henceforth He was to be represented on earth by His people, as endued with power from on high in the gift of the Holy Spirit.
That is the believer's side of it. As to the heavenly side we read,
"And He [the Lord Jesus] is the Head of the body, the church: who is the Beginning, the Firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the pre-eminence " (Col. 1:88Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. (Colossians 1:8)).
What a marvelous conception is this! The Apostle Paul having unfolded the gospel of the grace of God in the Epistle to the Romans, for one moment touches that which is about to engage our attention. He speaks of it as " The revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith " (Rom. 16:25,2625Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, 26But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: (Romans 16:25‑26)).
Again addressing the Ephesian church, he writes, " To make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ " (Eph. 3:99And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: (Ephesians 3:9)).
Scripture seems to labor to express itself, as if human language were not an adequate vehicle for the fullness and glory of the divine communications.
The Holy Spirit does not leave the believer to pursue his way merely as an individual blessed of God, and on his way to glory, but by the Spirit the believer is united to Christ in glory, and to each fellow-believer as members of the same body Christians form a fellowship the like of which can be seen nowhere else. It is a Divine fellowship. All human fellowships cease with time. This fellowship alone goes on into glory. It knows no frontiers. It knows no special language. It knows no social distinctions. It transcends everything of earth, and in the glorious light of this: fellowship, earthly distinctions vanish, and believers of every clime, of every color, of all ages and stages, form one Christian fellowship. There is only one Divine fellowship seen in the New Testament, only one ransomed church of God, and it is by the Holy Spirit this comes about.
The writer was once at the breaking of bread in the United States of America. There were present Americans, English, Scotch, Irish, Germans, French, Swedes, Russians and Jews. And yet we were one in Christ, the Holy Spirit indwelt each believer, each was a member of the one body. Christ was their Head in the glory. " There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling " (Eph. 4:44There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; (Ephesians 4:4)).
It is well to note that the expression, one body, is used as a simile to express the closest, the most intimate fellowship. Can anything in nature be closer in action than the members of one's natural body? So with the mystic body of Christ. The expression is employed to set forth the closest communion possible.
There are some who emphasize, " There is one body," but forget to realize how utterly dependent the conception of the one body is upon the indwelling Holy Spirit of God. Even nature illustrates this when we read, " The body without the spirit is dead " (James 2: 26).
Ne wonder when Christians insist on the one body, and forget the one Spirit, the whole thing becomes in their hands a dead ecclesiasticism. It is a most withering thing, and has wrought untold mischief in the church of God. With the greatest assumption of being the only custodians of the truth, and affecting to despise all other Christians, such will shrink in their narrow-mindedness the one body down to the limit of their own little fragment. Professing loudly to be the only Christians on earth to be maintaining the truth of the one body, they attribute to their own little circle that which is true of all Christians, and become the most sectarian of the sectarian.
There IS one body. Emphasize that, but don't forget, the whole secret of the one body lies in the fact that the Holy Spirit indwells each believer. If that is grasped, what happy practical results there would be.
Psa. 133 affords a beautiful illustration of this." Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments."
This illustrates a great truth, that divine unity alone comes from the blessed glorious Head in Heaven, even our Lord Jesus Christ. If only God's people would grasp this how blessed it would be. Aaron, the high priest, in the psalm is typical of our Lord. Ointment is typical of the Holy Spirit. The ointment descended from Aaron's head. Does this not illustrate how the Holy Spirit was sent down from our blessed risen glorified Lord, our great Head in Heaven. From Aaron's head the ointment flowed down to his beard. This may set forth the very important result of the companying of the apostles with our Lord during His earthly ministry. By this their minds were formed. Our Lord specially spoke much to them during His last few days on earth of the coming of the Holy Spirit. The new dispensation was being prepared. Christianity was to be established. So the Apostles were brought into a fellowship, that of the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Then the precious ointment descended to the skirts of Aaron's garment. Does this not illustrate how the apostles in their turn declared their fellowship to the disciples, so that Christian fellowship might widen out to take in all God's people, down to the feeblest member of the body of Christ?
The Apostle John, identifying the other apostles as witnesses with him, writes, " That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full " (1 John 1:3, 43That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. (1 John 1:3‑4)).
So the influence of the Holy Spirit is to descend to the youngest and feeblest member of the body of Christ. The line of a verse comes to one's mind as appropriate, " Good for the feeblest heart."
We remember vividly an exhortation from an old brother, who did not set out to be a teacher, but on this particular occasion, over half a century ago, he uttered a striking truth, to which we should all do well to pay heed. He said, " Brethren, hold the Head in Heavens If you don't hold the Head in Heaven, you won't hold each other on earth." How pithy, and as true as it is pithy. Remember, we are never exhorted in Scripture to keep the unity of the one body. " There IS one body." We cannot make it, or break it. But we are exhorted to keep the unity of the SPIRIT. We are exhorted to " Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity OF THE SPIRIT in the bond of peace " (Eph. 4:1-31I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 2With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1‑3)).
If this were our aim and object how happy it would be. It is very edifying to see men and women of different characters naturally, of different ages, of different social positions, all coming under the influence of the Spirit of God, and happy unity resulting.
It is by the Spirit that the Head in Heaven directs and sustains His members, on earth, in order that His life may be reproduced in them.
We once heard it said of saints, who were endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, that they had strong arms and legs, but no head. Their endeavor did not mean liberty to fraternize with any and every Christian in whatever ecclesiastical association they might chance to be, but the aim of following closely the instruction of the Spirit of God as set forth in the Scriptures for the guidance of God's people. The Roman Catholic Church looks up to a head in Rome. The Church of England looks up to a spiritual head in Canterbury. Other bodies have their heads, called president, moderator, etc.
But these people, they said, had no head. The answer was very obvious. There could be no strong arms and legs, if there were no head. Strong arms and legs prove a sound and healthy head. To see the Head these saints acknowledged, you would have to look past Rome or Canterbury, etc., and look up to Heaven, and see by faith the only Head that Scripture acknowledges, even our blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
It is true that Scripture tacitly admits that we shall meet with difficulties in this fellowship. The flesh will creep in, and we know that Satan is full of wiles, and would lead Christians astray, if he can. So Scripture in this connection exhorts us to be longsuffering, to forbear one another in love, to be marked by lowliness and meekness. There is plenty of scope for the exercise of these qualities.
One thing is certain, that if we each seek to be governed by the Spirit, each of us holding the Head, that is in living vital touch with the Lord, answering to His guidance, very happy results will show themselves.