In the book of James, one verse refers to the Holy Spirit and another to our human spirit. Verses 4 and 5 of chapter 4 says, “Adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever determines to be a friend of the world is constituted an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain: ‘The Spirit, whom He has caused to dwell in us, longs to envy’?” The indwelling Spirit of God is always longing with envy that we would love God with our whole heart in an undivided way, just as a husband desires that his wife love him with an undivided love. If a wife divides her love among several men, her husband will be envious.
The Ten Commandments tell us that God is a jealous God. Concerning idols, Exodus 20:5 says, “You shall not bow down to them, and you shall not serve them; for I, Jehovah your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me.” Because God is a jealous God, we should worship only Him and not divide our worship between Him and anyone else. Similarly, 2 Corinthians 11:2 says, “For I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God; for I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” We should not love the Lord half-heartedly. To love the things of the world even in a small way is to commit spiritual adultery. As His wife, we must love Him with undivided loyalty, with our whole heart. Just as the apostle Paul had a godly jealousy, the indwelling Holy Spirit is jealous over us that we may love God with an undivided love.
James 2:26 speaks of our human spirit. This verse says, “Just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” This shows the importance of our human spirit. Without our spirit we are nothing. We are simply dead and empty. We are beings of worth only because we have a human spirit. Therefore, our spirit is the reality of our being, and it is the life of our being. By this brief mention of the Holy Spirit and our human spirit in the book of James, we can realize how much we need to pay attention to the enjoyment of the Holy Spirit in our spirit.
The revelation concerning the Holy Spirit in a book of the New Testament is according to the subject of that book. The four main writers of the New Testament are Matthew, Peter, Paul, and John. The central thought of Matthew’s ministry is the kingdom. The main item of Paul’s ministry is the church. The main thought of the ministry of John is the fellowship with the Father and with one another in the household, the family, of God. Lastly, the subject of the Epistles of Peter is the divine government. Therefore, the Holy Spirit revealed in 1 and 2 Peter is related to the government of God.
We should not think that God is not governing today. Godtruly is governing. If we read 1 Peter carefully, we will see the proper meaning of God’s government. Verse 17 of chapter 4 says, “It is time for the judgment to begin from the house of God.” God’s judgment in His household is a matter of Hisgovernment. In this book we can see the sufferings of the believers, but we must realize why we need to suffer. The suffering of the believers is a matter of God’s government.
In our suffering under God’s governmental dealing, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of glory. Verse 14 of chapter 4 says, “If you are reproached in the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” If we are willing to be persecuted for the Lord and suffer under God’s governmental dealing, the Spirit of glory and of God will rest upon us. At the time of his martyrdom, a martyr for the Lord has the Spirit of glory upon him. When Stephen was being tried, those in the Sanhedrin saw his face as though it were the face of an angel (Acts 6:15). This was because the Spirit of glory was resting upon him.
Thirty years ago I met a dear brother, a traveling preacher who had been a businessman, and I asked him how he had been saved. He told me that he was saved as a young man at the time of the Boxer Rebellion in the early 1900s. The Boxers were so prevailing on the streets in Beijing that all the stores were closed for fear of them. One day from within his store he heard a great noise on the street. Looking through the cracks of his door, he saw many Boxers with swords marching and shouting. At the rear of that parade was a mule cart carrying a young Christian girl on her way to be martyred, singing and full of joy. There was a glory on her face. This impressed him very much. He said to himself, “There must be something real about Christianity. How can such a small girl be so bold?” This shocked him. He told himself that he should learn what Christianity is. It was in this way that he was brought to the Lord, gave up his business, and made the decision to serve theLord with his full time as a preacher.
There is no doubt that the Spirit of glory and of God rested upon that young sister. When we suffer for the name of the Lord, the Spirit becomes the Spirit of glory resting upon us. To be a martyr is not to be put to death with bitterness. Rather, to be a martyr is a matter of gladness and glory. What is suffering to the people of the world is a glory to us, the believers. When we suffer under God’s governmental dealing, there is always a glory. The Spirit of glory rests upon us to help us in our suffering, and while we are suffering, this Spirit of glory gives us the hope of glory (Col. 1:27) so that our suffering will be in the way of glory.