Message 166
(4)
Scripture Reading: Exo. 30:23-30; 1 John 2:22-27
In this message we shall give a further word on 1 John 2:22-27 in relation to the compound Spirit typified by the compounded ointment described in Exodus 30.
First John 2:22 speaks of the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ, and then it goes on to speak of antichrist as one who denies the Father and the Son. Why does this verse put these two matters together? Why does it speak both of the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ and of the one who denies the Father and the Son? The answer to these questions is that to deny that Jesus is the Christ is to deny the Father and the Son. It is also the case that to deny the Father and the Son is to deny that Jesus is the Christ. This indicates that Jesus is the Christ and that Christ is the Father and the Son. It also indicates that Jesus, Christ, the Father, and the Son are all one. If we deny one, we also deny the others because They all are one. Verse 23, a confirmation of verse 22, goes on to say: “Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who confesses the Son has the Father also.” If we deny the Son, we deny the Father. But if we confess the Son, we shall have the Father. Here we have the same matter viewed from different aspects. On the one hand, if we deny the Son, we deny the Father. On the other hand, if we confess the Son, we confess the Father. The reason for this is that the Son and the Father are one. Not only are the Father and the Son one, but Jesus, Christ, the Son, and the Father are all one.
First John 2:25 says: “And this is the promise which He promised us, the eternal life.” In verses 22, 23, and 25 we have Jesus, Christ, the Son, the Father, and eternal life. All these are one all-inclusive Person as the one compound ointment in Exodus 30. What is eternal life? Eternal life is Jesus, Christ, the Son, and the Father. The all-inclusive Person revealed in these verses is the eternal life.
At the time of the apostle John certain heretical teachings tried to separate Jesus from Christ, and Christ from the Father. Heretical teachers used their natural, human mentality to analyze the all-inclusive divine Person of Christ. But they had no way to systematize this Person. They could not figure out how Jesus could be the Christ or how Christ could be the Father. Some even claimed that Christ was God but not man. They argued that it was not possible for one person to be both God and man at the same time. Others claimed that Jesus was a man but not God. However, the apostle John wrote, “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14). The Word is God (John 1:1), and the flesh here denotes humanity. This means that, according to John’s word, there is one Person who is both God and man.
In dealing with certain opposers, we need to ask four questions. First, is not Jesus the Christ? Second, is Christ not the Son of God? Third, is the Son of God not God Himself? Fourth, is God not triune, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit? All genuine Christians would agree that Jesus is the Christ, that Christ is the Son of God, that the Son of God is God, and that God is triune. If we agree to all this, then we must go on to say that Christ is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Furthermore, we need to see that Jesus, Christ, the Son of God, God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all one all-inclusive Person.
There are some who teach a trinity of separation; we teach the Trinity in the way of all-inclusiveness. The teaching of certain ones concerning the Person of Christ and the Trinity is based upon the principle of separation, which is the attempt to separate the Father, the Son, and the Spirit one from the other. Actually this principle of separation is the source of many heretical teachings concerning the Person of Christ and the divine Trinity. This attempt at separation has caused serious problems.
The divine revelation in the holy Word is not based on this principle of separation. On the contrary, it is based on the principle of inclusiveness. The divine Person is all-inclusive, and He cannot be divided. Some, however, have declared strongly that the Three of the Trinity are three separate Persons. This attempt to separate the Father from the Son, and the Son from the Spirit has led to heresy both in ancient times and today.
According to what John teaches in chapter two of his first Epistle, whoever denies even a part of Christ’s all-inclusive Person is an antichrist. Here we have a principle that applies to many of today’s teachers. These teachers may be genuine Christians, yet, at least in part, they are antichrist in their teaching because they deny Christ in a particular aspect of His all-inclusive Person. To deny Christ in any way is to be antichrist, at least to a certain extent. This is the reason John refers to the heretics as antichrist. Their teachings were antichrist in that in some way or in some aspect they denied Christ. For example, the teaching that says that Christ is God is pro-Christ, not antichrist. But the teaching that Christ is only God and not man is antichrist.
Some admit that Christ is the Creator, but they deny strongly that He is also a creature with respect to His humanity. To say that Christ is the Creator is pro-Christ, but to deny the fact that with respect to His humanity He is a creature is to utter something that is antichrist. We must be pro-Christ in an all-inclusive way and say that He is both the Creator and a creature.
The Bible reveals that the Son is called the Father (Isa. 9:6) and that He is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17). Consider the revelation of the Triune God in chapter fourteen of John. In verse 8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father and it suffices us.” Apparently surprised at Philip’s request, the Lord Jesus answered, “Am I so long a time with you, and you have not know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. How is it that you say, Show us the Father?” (v. 9). Then the Lord went on to say, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me?” Here the Lord seems to be saying, “Philip, have I been with you so long and still you don’t know Me? Don’t you realize that when you see Me, you see the Father? I am one with the Father. The Father is in Me, and I am in the Father. Apart from Me and outside of Me, there is not such a Person called the Father.”
Isaiah 9:6 says, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given...and his name shall be called...The mighty God, The everlasting Father.” According to this verse, the Son given to us is called the everlasting Father, or the Father of eternity.
Not long ago a certain preacher said that the Father in Isaiah 9:6 is merely similar in meaning to the title “father of his country” applied to Washington and the “father of electricity” applied to Edison. Even if we accept this kind of understanding, we need to ask of what father is the Son. According to Isaiah 9:6, He is the Father of eternity. The title “Father of eternity” actually means “the eternal Father.” Some versions translate the Hebrew in this way. The Father of eternity means the Father who exists forever, the eternal Father. The phrase “of eternity” denotes One who is self-existing and everlasting. Therefore, the Father of eternity is the Father who is self-existing and everlasting. Who is this Father who is self-existing and everlasting? Are there two such Fathers — the Father in the Godhead and another Father who is the Son in Isaiah 9:6? The answer to this question is that the Father in the Godhead is the Father of eternity, and according to Isaiah 9:6 the Son is also the Father of eternity. There are not two divine Fathers! There is only one Father of eternity, the Father who is self-existing and everlasting.
After the Lord Jesus made it clear in John 14 that He and the Father are one, He went on to speak concerning the Spirit as another Comforter: “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever; even the Spirit of reality, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him; but you know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you” (vv. 16-17). Actually, this other Comforter is the Lord Himself in another form. First He was the Comforter in the form of the flesh. Then He became another Comforter as the Spirit. This Comforter is the Spirit of reality. According to John 14:17, the Spirit of reality will not only be among the disciples, but will also be within them.
In John 14:20 the Lord Jesus went on to say, “In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” The day spoken of here is the day of the Lord’s resurrection. Here the Lord seems to be saying, “In that day you will know that I am in the Father. Then you will no longer ask Me to show you the Father. Realizing that I am the Father, you will also know that you are in Me and that I am in you as the Spirit is in you (v. 17). This is possible because I am also the Spirit.”
If the Lord were not the Spirit, how could we be in Him, and how could He be in us? If He were not the Spirit, we could not enter into Him, and He could not enter into us. For this, the Lord must be the Spirit, the holy pneuma, the heavenly air. Because He is the Spirit, the pneuma, the air, He can be in us, and we can be in Him. The disciples came to know this on the day of Christ’s resurrection. On that day they knew that He was in the Father, that they were in Him, and that He was in them.
The Lord’s words in John 14 indicate that the Three of the Godhead — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — are one. This is confirmed by the apostle Paul. First Corinthians 15:45 says, “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” This means that the Lord Jesus as the last Adam in the flesh has become a life-giving Spirit. Furthermore, in 2 Corinthians 3:17 Paul declares, “Now the Lord is the Spirit.”
In 1 John 2 we see that Jesus, Christ, the Son, the Father, and the Spirit who is the anointing are all one. Jesus is the Man, the Redeemer, and the Savior. Christ is the anointed One, the Messiah. He is also the resurrected One, the Lord, and the Master. With Jesus we have incarnation, human living, and crucifixion. With Christ we have anointing, resurrection, and ascension. Furthermore, the Father is the source of life, the Son is life expressed, and the Spirit is life flowing. All are included in the all-inclusive Person, and all have been compounded into one ointment. This was the reason we spent much time to consider all the ingredients of the compound Spirit as typified by the compounded ointment in Exodus 30.
We have seen that in this ointment there are ten ingredients: the only God, typified by the one hin of olive oil; the Triune God, signified by the three units of the measure of the four spices; the Man Jesus, a creature of God with respect to His humanity, typified by the four spices of the plant life; the precious death of Christ, typified by the flowing myrrh; the sweetness and effectiveness of Christ’s death, signified by the fragrant cinnamon; the precious resurrection of Christ, indicated by the fragrant calamus; the power of Christ’s resurrection, typified by the repellent cassia; the mingling of divinity with humanity, seen in the blending of the olive oil with the four spices; the power for responsibility, shown by the five elements of the compounded ointment and the three times five hundred shekels of the four spices; and the building element, seen in the numbers five and three. All these ingredients have been compounded to produce the compound Spirit, the anointing in 1 John 2:20 and 27.
In chapter two of his first Epistle the apostle John was innoculating the believers against any heresy, even a partial heresy concerning the all-inclusive Person of Christ. Even a partial heresy is antichrist. As he was innoculating the believers against heresy, John used a metaphor — the metaphor of the compound ointment in Exodus 30. In his writings John often uses metaphors, signs, or symbols taken from the Old Testament. For example, in the Gospel of John we have the tabernacle and the Lamb (John 1:14, 29), and in the book of Revelation we have the lampstand, the hidden manna, the tree of life and the tabernacle (Rev. 1:12; 2:7, 17; 21:3; 22:2). Now we see that in 1 John 2 he uses a unique metaphor — the compounded ointment, oil compounded with four spices — to portray an all-inclusive Person. The Spirit is now anointing us with all the elements of this Person. He is anointing us with every part, aspect, element, and ingredient.
We may use the matter of painting a wall as an illustration of the anointing of the compound Spirit. Suppose you are painting a wall with oil-based paint, paint that is a compound of oil and other elements. When this paint is applied to a wall, all the elements in the paint are applied also. In like manner, we may say that as the compound Spirit anoints us, He is “painting” us. He paints us with all the elements of this all-inclusive Person: the Father, the Son, the Spirit, the Man Jesus, Christ’s divinity and humanity, and His incarnation, living, death, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.
We have already pointed out what Jesus, Christ, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit include. Jesus includes incarnation, human living, human suffering, and crucifixion. Christ includes the anointed One, resurrection, Lordship, and ascension. The Father includes the source of life; the Son, the expression of life; and the Spirit, the imparting, or giving, of life. All these elements are included in the compound Spirit with which we are being anointed. Day by day, the compound Spirit is anointing us with all these ingredients.
In chapter two of 1 John we see the elements of the compound Spirit: Jesus, Christ, the Son, the Father, and the eternal life. What these titles include is immeasurable.
The function of the compound Spirit is to anoint us. When the ointment of the Spirit works within us, it becomes the anointing. Because the ointment has been compounded, the anointing also has been compounded. Using again the illustration of painting a wall, we may say that when we paint a wall with oil-based paint, we do not paint the wall merely with oil, but with all the ingredients contained in this paint. Likewise, when we are painted with the divine paint, we are painted with all the ingredients included in it. Today the compound Spirit is anointing us with all the elements of the compound ointment. May this matter be clearly understood and richly experienced by all of us.
