THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT
BY ANNA SHIPTON.
In what manner is the witness of
the Spirit manifested? I would be a vain task to endeavor to explain to any,
one of the mysteries of faith; to understand it, it must be known
experimentally.
When the wild tempest of
affliction has rolled over the soul, that still, small voice has claimed the
storm, even as when Christ walked on the foaming billows. But who, that lives
in habitual fellowship with God, does not recognize it in familiar household
language, throwing a sweetness over common joys, daily toil, and daily trouble?
Who has not known its power of consolation in the day of weeping? And even its
very silence has said at last: “Great is thy faith! Be not afraid; only
believe.” For never did the Good Shepherd permit a sincere and single-eyed
follower to be snared by the voice of a stranger. –John x:4,5.)… Communion does
not consist in a mere ecstatic emotion; there may be communion almost
imperceptible under some circumstance. We cannot discern Him if entangled or
encumbered with objects in which He can have no delight; and we cannot trace
Him on ordinary occasions if we are not accustomed to see His hand
everywhere.-(2 Tim. ii:4.) So that communion does not consist in any
abstraction of the mind from daily life and service, but in having the mind of
Christ, the desire of the soul always toward Him…The kingdom of God is a
spiritual kingdom, and therefore we look for spiritual manifestations of the
Father and the Son. I hear the voice of God in my soul, and I perceive the
finger of God in my path, and the hand of God in my life, in chastening, in
guidance, in blessing, in warning, I dare almost say in judgment. You ask how
it is so? I cannot explain the manner to all who cavil at the dealings of God
with the soul He has called to light and life. I can only say, you must
yourself understand experimentally the secret of the Lord God of the whole
earth, and this brings to naught the understanding of the wise!
Who can describe the voice of
God in the heart; the whisper of love that thrills the whole being with
rapture; that has sustained martyrs in the flames, and strengthened them to
sing as they mounted the fiery chariot; that has upheld the persecuted and
oppressed; has made of a trembling coward a brace, undaunted soldier of the
cross, and nerved the timid and uninstructed with power and wisdom and
courage?...To assert that the Lord never speaks to His people but through the
medium of the written Word, is to exalt the medium above the Spirit, which can
alone render it efficacious. We know that He does constantly use the sweet,
familiar language of the household of faith. God speaks to His servants and
directs them on matters which do not form the subject of divine revelation in
the scriptures. For example, He says: “Send relief to such a one.” Indeed, it
is plain that there was only a partial revelation of Himself through the
patriarchs and prophets, all must originally have been spoken to them. So also
in the Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the apostles are guided
and taught, not only by the words of the former dispensation, but by the Spirit
Himself. The Spirit, however, never alters the doctrine of the Word of God already
given: “To the law and testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it
is because there is no light in them” (Isa. viii:20); and everything at
variance with this revealed Word is not of God but is of the devil.
But who shall describe the
witnesses of the Spirit to those who know it not? The child Samuel, girded with
a linen ephod, could hear the voice of the Living God and deliver His message;
and God lets none of His words fall to the ground, according to His promise.
The word of God was there, not with the man of years, but with the young child,
and every word was true; for there is not unrighteousness in Him. Thus the Lord
revealed Himself again in a Shiloh. A child-like mind received His word. So it
is today: if a soul is willing and obedient, if the child-like heart delight itself
in Him, He gives it to eat manna from Heaven, and with honey out of the smitten
rock He satisfies it.-From “The Promise
and the Promiser.”
