Jesus Glorified - the Spirit Given

by T. Austin-Sparks

Chapter 4 - Fulness of the Spirit

"He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all" (Eph. 1:22-23).

"But speaking truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him, who is the head, even Christ" (Eph. 4:15).

"For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, being himself the saviour of the body" (Eph. 5:23).

"And He 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 preeminence... And not holding fast the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and bands, increaseth with the increase of God" (Col. 1:18; 2:19).

"Wherefore I make known unto you, that no man speaking in the Spirit of God saith, Jesus is anathema; and no man can say, Jesus is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:3).

We are, at this point, concerned with how the government of Christ as glorified and as the Head with unity in the Body is bound up with the baptism and fulness of the Spirit, and how that baptism and fulness are necessary for the Headship of the Lord Jesus, so that all that it means is really to be expressed in the church.

We take an illustration. Here is a large vessel full of water. We let it stand for that sphere or circle signified by the phrase "in Christ". The water filling the vessel is the Holy Spirit. I take a number of small vessels, representing those who are in Christ, and put them into the large vessel. Suppose these small vessels are empty and open. They will be filled with the water. They are filled in, and they are filled with.

Supposing these vessels were set in motion. They would all begin to move together in the same direction and all at the same time, because they are filled with the same water and are encompassed by the same water. For some to move one way and others to move in the opposite direction would be breaking the law which operates, and would be a contradiction. That is the nature of the oneness of the Body. It is the oneness of one Spirit into which we are baptized and by which we are filled.

Supposing some of these vessels were already pre-occupied; that is, with something else in them. They would be plunged in with the others, be moved with the same impulse from without, but it would not be true of them that the thing is in them.

There are a lot of believers like that. They are in Christ, the Spirit is about them, they are saying the things that others say, imitating what others do; they seem to be governed by the same Spirit, but the Lord may know that in some cases it is purely an external thing.

Supposing some of these vessels are sealed. They may be empty, but that is not the point. They have not got anything, but they are closed up. When they are plunged into the large vessel they simply come up to the surface. They may move round with the momentum, but they are so light that they move to the edge of the vessel and cling to it, they part asunder, they have no balance. They are simply on the surface of things, unrelated. Any little movement will get them going in any direction. They never get down to the depths. There are many like that, who never come into living relationship with that in which the work of God is being done, and they are moved very easily.

How necessary it is for us to be open to the Lord for all His will and way, without any kind of reservation that stops the infilling.

How necessary it is to be empty of every other thing, so that the Lord has a free, clear, full course. When it is like that, you have the unity of the Spirit which is the body of Christ, and that Body, so one by the Spirit, is the elect instrument for all the full purpose of God.

The Headship of Christ is back of this unity of the one Spirit unto God's purpose, and that Headship, therefore, demands an end of all personal interests, even in spiritual things. We must hold everything spiritually in relation to the Body, the church, the whole vessel. The Spirit works to get rid of everything that is personal in our relationship to the Lord and His interests.

On the other hand, there is real gain in recognising that nothing is personal, that all personal elements have been set aside. Then the fulnesses of Christ are brought in and there is the support of the whole. It is the Body making increase with the increase of God; the fulness of Him. It is all on the ground of "holding fast the Head, from whom all the body fitly framed groweth".

Always be ready to let go to the Lord, as Abraham let go Isaac, so that Isaac should not be Abraham's but God's; should not be earthly, but heavenly; should not be of time, but of eternity. To be in that position is to open the way for great blessing.

Remember that the church is the anointed Body. Isa. 11:2-3 speaks of the anointing resting upon Christ and upon Him as Head of His Body. Under that anointing the Body comes, so that all that is involved in the anointing of Christ is to become actually expressed in and through the Body.

One of the most valuable things is that believers should have that Holy Spirit fellowship in the Body for the government of their own lives. Many who have acted personally without that fellowship have involved themselves in a situation in which there was no way through for themselves, their lives, their service. That was the result of immaturity.

Oh, the value of fellowship of the Holy Spirit in the saints which governs individual movement, checks individualistic activity, brings balance, and saves from extremes! The Body is for that very purpose.