All this, I need hardly remark, is strikingly illustrative of the testimony with which the Holy Ghost was sent from heaven upon the day of Pentecost. "When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me." (John xv. 26.) Again, "Howbeit when he the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine and show it unto you. _All things that the Father hath are mine_: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine and shall show it unto you." (John xvi. 13-15.) The coincidence of these words with the testimony of Abraham's servant is instructive and interesting. It was by telling of Isaac that he sought to attract the heart of Rebekah; and it is, as we know, by telling of Jesus, that the Holy Ghost seeks to draw poor sinners away from a world of sin and folly into the blessed and holy unity of the body of Christ. "He shall take of mine and show it unto you." The Spirit of God will never lead any one to look at himself or his work; but only and always at Christ. Hence, the more really spiritual any one is, the more entirely will he be occupied with Christ.
Some there are who regard it as a great mark of spirituality to be ever looking in at their own hearts, and dwelling upon what they find there, even though that be the work of the Spirit. This is a great mistake. So far from its being a proof of spirituality, it is a proof of the very reverse, for it is expressly declared of the Holy Ghost that "he shall not speak of himself;" but that, on the contrary, "he shall take of mine and show it unto you." Therefore, whenever one is looking inward, and building on the evidences of the Spirit's work there, he may be assured he is not led by the Spirit of God in so doing. It is by holding up Christ that the Spirit draws souls to God. This is very important. The knowledge of Christ is life eternal; and it is the Father's revelation of Christ by the Holy Ghost that constitutes the basis of the Church. When Peter confessed Christ to be the Son of the living God, Christ's answer was, "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jonah; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say unto thee, that thou art Peter; and upon this rock _I will build_ my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matt. xvi. 17, 18.) What rock? Peter? God forbid. "This rock" [Greek: taute te petra] simply means the Father's revelation of Christ as the Son of the living God, which is the only means by which any one is introduced into the assembly of Christ. Now this opens to us very much the true character of the gospel. It is pre-eminently and emphatically a revelation,--a revelation not merely of a doctrine, but of a Person,--the Person of the Son. This revelation being received by faith, draws the heart to Christ, and becomes the spring of life and power,--the ground of membership,--the power of fellowship. "When it pleased God ... to _reveal his Son_ in me," &c. Here we have the true principle of "the rock," viz., God revealing his Son. It is thus the superstructure is reared up; and on this solid foundation it reposes, according to God's eternal purpose.
It is therefore peculiarly instructive to find in this 24th of Genesis such a marked and beautiful illustration of the mission and special testimony of the Holy Ghost. Abraham's servant, in seeking to procure a bride for Isaac, sets forth all the dignity and wealth with which he had been endowed by the father; the love of which he was the object; and, in short, all that was calculated to affect the heart and draw it off from present things. He showed Rebekah an object in the distance, and set before her the blessedness and reality of being made one with that beloved and highly-favored object. All that belonged to Isaac would belong to Rebekah too, when she became part of him. Such was his testimony. Such also is the testimony of the Holy Ghost He speaks of Christ, the glory of Christ, "the beauty of Christ, the fulness of Christ, the grace of Christ, the unsearchable riches of Christ," the dignity of his Person and the perfectness of his work.