Hebrews 4:12, 13; 1 Peter 1:23 - 25; Luke 8:19 - 21
These scriptures speak of the Word of God, a title which is applied to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is said of Him in the book of Revelation that His name is called the Word of God. That will enable us to understand this expression in Hebrews 4, that "the word of God is living and operative", and that is something which in a living way was seen in the service of Christ here on earth. The woman at the well of Sychar is a type of this; her inner state was penetrated by the Word so that she could say that He had told her all things she ever did. The Word of God has always that effect when it has access to the heart. It has a searching character, but at the same time an edifying effect, and thus it is said that "the worlds were framed by the word of God",
Hebrews 11:3. There is a difference that we should notice between the commandment of God and the word of God. As to the physical creation it says in Psalm 33:9, "Forhe spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast". What He spoke brought out His thoughts and leads us to the book of Proverbs as to creation; there we read that Wisdom was present in connection with His acts in establishing the universe. God's thoughts were revealed and set forth in creation, so in Hebrews 11:3 it says, "By faith we apprehend that the worlds were framed by the word of God". But what was thus made in wisdom remains. The commandment is with authority. It must remain. Therefore if any believer is in evil associations, the commandment comes first; that is, you must not remain in them. It is not your own free choice; it is a settled thing that you have to leave such associations. When I, according to God's commandment, leave evil associations the word of
God becomes operative. It comes to my soul in living power and it searches me, as it says, until it divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart. By this we understand, beloved brethren, the difference we must make between God's commandment and God's word. The word spoken of in this chapter alludes to the glad tidings that were brought back by the spies from the land of Canaan. We all remember that twelve spies were appointed by Moses to go and spy out the land. In type it would mean that they would bring back the tidings of heaven. The Holy Spirit in our time corresponds to their testimony then. This testimony of the Spirit has specially in mind the gospel which was entrusted to Paul. It is not only the gospel of our salvation, but the glad tidings of the glory of the blessed God (1 Timothy 1:11). That is to say it involves the whole of Luke's gospel. Not only am I saved from the judgment of God and from this world, but the name of the believer is recorded in heaven. Therefore the testimony of the twelve spies contains the tidings which have come from heaven by the Spirit, as Peter says, "which have now been announced to you by those who have declared to you the glad tidings by the Holy Spirit, sent from heaven", 1 Peter 1:12.
Twelve spies were sent out and when they came back their collective testimony was that the land was good. Later ten of them denied their testimony but Caleb and Joshua kept to it, so that there was in Caleb and Joshua a complete testimony as to the land. It also says that they carried with them a cluster of grapes from the valley of Eshcol and this was borne between two on a pole. The testimony was therefore not only in words but there was proof in the fruit that they brought with them from the land. And, beloved brethren, it is of great interest that in the chapter where all this is recorded (Numbers 13) it
says that Moses changed Hoshea's name to Jehoshua, which means Jehovah the Saviour. He is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ as one of the witnesses; Caleb is the other witness. We have therefore in the Person of Jesus and in the Holy Spirit sent from heaven a double witness of the riches of heaven. The Lord says to Nicodemus, "If I have said the earthly things to you, and ye believe not, how, if I say the heavenly things to you, will ye believe?" And then He says, "And no one has gone up into heaven, save he who came down out of heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven". Beloved brethren, what a perfect witness we have in the Person of Jesus. He says, We speak that which we know, and we bear witness of that which we have seen. This speaker was not only One who had come down from heaven, but He is in heaven. And then the Holy Spirit is sent down by Him from heaven. That is to say that the Holy Spirit has come down from a heaven where Jesus is. How precious this is to our hearts! We have the name of Jesus in Numbers 13, and in Acts 7:55 Stephen sees Jesus, the glory of God and Jesus in heaven.
And when He speaks it is, "I Jesus". Beloved brethren, the testimony is of heaven, where Jesus is. And His presence there is the earnest of our presence there also because He will come again and take us to Himself. The whole assembly shall be caught up together as is said, "God ... has raised us up together, and has made us sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus", Ephesians 2:4 - 6. But whilst it is true that we shall be caught up together, it is also a blessed truth that every individual saint has his name recorded in heaven. Every one will be acknowledged there. The Lord says Himself, "Rejoice that your names are written in the heavens", Luke 10:20. Another thing which is mentioned in Numbers 13 and to which I want to refer is Hebron. It says in that chapter that Hebron was built seven years before
Zoan in Egypt. There are grouped together, therefore, in this chapter, the thoughts of Jesus and of a world which existed before this world was, of which Hebron is a type. It was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt. Zoan was a place of the wisdom of Egypt, a place where the glory of Egypt was, the glory of this world; but God has prepared for us things and wisdom which were before the world's foundation. "Things which eye has not seen, and ear not heard, and which have not come into man's heart, which God has prepared for them that love him", 1 Corinthians 2:9. But they are revealed; God has revealed them to us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. We see therefore that we have a perfect testimony of what is in heaven. Have we, beloved brethren, believed this? That is the issue in Hebrews 4. Hence the exhortation in verse 11: "Let us therefore use diligence to enter into that rest, that no one may fall after the same example of not hearkening to the word". We are tested by the word of God as it reveals to us what is in heaven, and therefore we get the next verse which shows us what the word of God is and how it searches us. He says it is living and operative. It divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow. One would ask what those joints are. We cannot go or turn without the joint; and the marrow is the life of the bones. Here we see the actual frame of our being, and the inner power which sets the bones in movement. The Word of God penetrates every movement, and that which causes the movement.
The epistle to the Romans teaches us that our bodies should be presented as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God. When we then, as we see in Hebrews 4, are exposed to ourselves, not to others, but to ourselves, and when we judge ourselves in relation to it, the blessedness of the priesthood of Christ is available
to us, as it says, "Having therefore a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God". The Word of God, by exposing us to ourselves, shows us how feeble we are, but at the same time how strong He is, and that we have such a high Priest, Jesus, the Son of God who has passed through the heavens. Therefore we can approach with boldness to the throne of grace and receive mercy and find grace for seasonable help.
Instead of turning back as the Israelites were doing in resistance against the word of God, we subject ourselves to the love which is ours, and determine to go forward in the assurance that our high priest will be with us to the end. It is beautiful to dwell on Caleb's and Joshua's testimony. It was no hurried survey they made in Canaan and it was not one-sided. There were twelve of them and they remained in the land forty days. They brought back with them the bunch of grapes as an evidence of the fertility of the land. The words of Caleb and Joshua are beautiful. They said, "The land, which we passed through to search it out, is a very, very good land. If Jehovah delight in us, he will bring us into this land, and give it us, a land that flows with milk and honey; only rebel not against Jehovah". These verses contain, as you see, a loving offer to the people. God has provided the means which we need to enter the land. He has delight in us. How wonderful to think that God delights in us, that He loves us so much that He has provided such a land for us. Beloved brethren, let this land be our longing; our great high priest is prepared to help us right to the end.
Let us now look at our scripture in Peter. I want to point out that inward formation takes place alongside the exercises we have just spoken about. Peter says that we are born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the living and abiding word of God. If a word of God exposes the activity of the
flesh in me to enable me to judge it, the word at the same time forms me so that I am clothed with the character of God, so that it can be said of me that I am born again by the living and abiding word of God. You will all remember how the Lord alludes to new birth in John's gospel. He does not there speak about the word, but emphasises the necessity of being born again. This side of the truth is stressed because of the Jews' claim to be children of Abraham. They said, "Abraham is our father", John 8:39. They claimed this. In John the Lord stresses the necessity for them to be born again. Therefore, whatever my parents or my forefathers might have been, whatever glory might have been attached to them or however pious they might have been, I must be born again. As an answer to Nicodemus's question the Lord refers to being born of water and of Spirit. This is an act of God. To be born again by the word of God is also exclusively an act of God. This in Peter though goes much further. It is not only to be born of water and Spirit but by the living and abiding word of God. The word of God had such an effect in me, that it can be said of me that I am born again by it, and the evidence of it is that I become partaker of the nature and character of God as it says, "Having purified your souls by obedience to the truth to unfeigned brotherly love, love one another out of a pure heart fervently", 1 Peter 1:22.
From this we understand, beloved brethren, that while Hebrews 4 would help us to go into Canaan as those who believe a testimony which has come down from heaven, this chapter in Peter would show us that we on the way should be marked by brotherly love, which is a result of the effect of the word of God in us, so that it can be said that we are born again by it. Therefore if I love the brethren from this viewpoint, I know why I do it. My intelligence has been formed by the word of God. To be born
again according to John 3 involves instinct; what is born of the Spirit is spirit. A newborn babe has a natural instinct; it clings to its mother, but it does not have intelligence. It could not explain why it is clinging to its mother. Instinct is a feature of our nature which is of greatest importance. But when we come to this epistle the thought is not of a newborn babe, but of a person who has intelligence. I am born again by the living and abiding word of God. The word is the mind of God which has been working in me. It is not only an act of power after His own pleasure as by the Spirit in John 3, but by the word having entrance into my soul. Peter says, "This is the word which in the glad tidings is preached to you". In this we find an indication of what we have before us. The glad tidings, which is the word of God, is planted into us and is able to save our souls, but it is even more than this; it forms me so that it can be said of me that I am born of God, that I, in that sense, am a child of God. John speaks of us being children as having received Christ: "but as many as received him, to them gave he the right to be children of God, to those that believe on his name", but he continues and says, "who have been born, not of blood, nor of flesh's will, nor of man's will, but of God", John 1:12, 13. Here in Peter we have how this birth took place, by the living and abiding word of God. From this we understand that a person born in the way this scripture presents, is intelligent. He loves, and he knows why he loves. If anybody should ask him why he loves the brethren, he could tell them. A noble is made to love a poor man. How can this be explained? It is by the living and abiding word of God; it has had its effect on the poor man as well as on the nobleman. The noble knows why he loves the poor man, and the poor man knows why he loves the noble. They are both born again by the living and abiding word of God; the noble therefore
knows what it says in this scripture, that "all flesh is as grass, and all its glory as the flower of grass". We see how Luke speaks of Theophilus in his first narrative, Luke's gospel. He writes to him as the most excellent Theophilus. He had the right, through the ordering of God, to this title, and Luke understood this by the word of God. The word of God would never nourish or promote socialism or Bolshevism. Luke speaks of this man as the most excellent Theophilus. But, beloved brethren, on the other side Luke was really more excellent than Theophilus. Yet Theophilus had in the ordering of God a place in this world that Luke did not have. But when Luke writes to him the second time, he leaves out the title. Theophilus had obviously considered the thought of being born again by the living and abiding word of God, and he had received the understanding that through this birth he was brought to the level where Luke and all christians are. The more we understand what it is to be born by the living and abiding word of God, the more mutual we will be, as it says, "The rich and poor meet together; Jehovah is the maker of them all", Proverbs 22:2. Yet it is not, as in the last-mentioned scripture, that we are made or created, but that we are born. That cannot be said of mere physical things; they are created, not born. Think of what it means to be born of God, of that which opens up His thoughts to us, that which in truth reveals His nature and His counsel, the living and abiding word of God! It is in this way we enter into Canaan as the family of God, the children of God. Luke 8 would help us further to understand what we have had before us. What we have been looking at up till now, refers to the acts of God. If one is to be born again by the Spirit as in John 3, or to be born again by the word of God as in Peter, it is God's act. What we have in Luke 8 speaks of what I do in regard to the word of God.
The Lord's mother and His brethren came to Him, and He got the message: "Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, wishing to see thee". Why did they not go in? Why did they stand outside? Those born by the living and abiding word of God, will go inside. By this I do not mean that they were not born again by the living and abiding word of God, because they are later seen in the company of the christians, but in this scripture they only represent natural relationships and the Lord refuses that. Natural relationships have no value in the light of the spiritual world. Here we have the best of natural relationships, the mother of Jesus and His brethren.
Why should they be outside? It is just because they are not governed by spiritual feelings or sympathies. Take as an example unbelieving children of believing parents or an unbelieving wife or husband. Such children have a certain affection for their parents, and a wife for her husband or a husband for his wife, but it does not go very far. Such are outside. The natural will never lead us to Jesus. Maybe some would go a certain way on account of natural love; maybe you would go to the meeting because your parents go. Thank God for that. But that in itself will not bring you to Jesus. You are still without, and you want to see Him without. You want Him to come out. As soon as the word of God has its effect in you, you will not ask Him to come out, you will go in. When His mother and His brethren were outside, and it was told Him that they wanted to see Him, we see that He repudiates this relationship.
But who are His mother and His brethren? The Lord answers this Himself: "My mother and my brethren are those who hear the word of God and do it". How serious it then is to have relationships with those who belong to the Lord, with those who bear the word of God and do it, and yet be denied by the Lord. The natural relationship is repudiated, and if
the Lord Jesus should come tonight, your natural relationship would be of no help to you. You would be left here and your parents would be taken. Only those who have a spiritual link with Christ will go to heaven. The natural links have no value in this relation. What serious things the Lord would have to say to you. "I do not know you whence are ye". He therefore shows us here what gives us true relationship with Himself, hearing the word of God and doing it. We see therefore, beloved brethren, how the brethren of Christ come into view in this gospel. In Matthew and Mark it is by doing the will of God, but in Luke they come into view by hearing the word of God and doing it. It is therefore not only like a picture on the wall, but it is a reality to most of us. There are such here that are marked by hearing the word of God and doing it, and are therefore known to be in the most intimate relationship with Christ. He says, "My mother and my brethren".
Is there anyone here who is outside of this matter? It is a serious thing. Maybe in a natural way you love your parents and your brothers and sisters very much, but this gives you no standing in the heavenly family. The Lord says, "My mother and my brethren are those who hear the word of God and do it".
I trust that what has been said at this time would help us to understand the importance of the word of God, so that we might not be found as those who reject the heavenly land, but that we might go forward into it. It says in Hebrews 10:38: "And, if he draw back, my soul does not take pleasure in him", but then it says in verse 39, "But we are not drawers back to perdition". We go into Canaan as those who are born of God, by the living and abiding word of God, and who already are the children of God, as it says, "See what love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God", 1 John 3:1. And we are known already as being brethren of Christ by hearing the word of God and doing it.
J.T. My thought is that we might, with the help of the Lord, understand how that which the fountain or spring represents is administered. It is good to note that it says, at the end of chapter 3, that, "The Father loves the Son, and has given all things to be in his hand". Chapter 4 has to be read and understood in the light of this expression, that is that all things are placed in the hands of the Son, the One who is loved by the Father. This chapter therefore unfolds how the things that are in His hands are made available to men. He says, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that says to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water". It is very beautiful and affecting to see the Lord, although He is so great, in such a meek and humble position as sitting weary at the well. But although He was weary and was dependent on the woman for a drink of water, He was there to give living water. While He is seen in the beginning of Acts in His official position as the One whom God has made both Lord and Christ, and, as such, has sent the Holy Spirit from heaven, in this chapter He is the Person, the Son, who gives and distributes. And He is in such a position that one can ask Him for living water. John emphasises the greatness of the Person: "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is".
Ques. Does the position that the Lord took here give us boldness, and do we need faith to ask of Him?
J.T. That gives us another thought, that John has in mind to promote faith in us. He says in chapter 20, that what he has written, and this incident is included in that, was in order that the
saints should believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing they should have life in His name. From His outward position one could not see who He was: He says, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is". The knowledge of the gift and the Person is therefore through faith.
Ques. When it says that the Father loves the Son, does that mean the Son as here on earth gives Him occasion to love Him?
J.T. I think it is so in John. The Son as Man here has given the Father cause to love Him. In another passage, He says that He has found His delight in Him, so that all that is given into His hands is based on what He was here, what appeared in Him as a Man. But the Father also loved Him before the foundation of the world.
Rem. It was emphasised that it is the Person, the Lord Himself, who is working here. That is different from Acts where the Spirit is working. Is the Lord working here with the coming of the Spirit in mind?
J.T. John always presents the truth from the standpoint of His Person, while Luke, in Acts, deals more with the official side. Nothing is mentioned in Acts as to His sonship until Paul comes in. I think it is good for us to see that in the first part of Acts the truth is connected with Christ as the One who has been made both Lord and Christ. That is what He is as the exalted Man in heaven, but John does not deal with what He is made, but who He is, so the Lord says here, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is". We have to preserve both these features in our hearts.
Ques. The thought here is that the woman is attracted to the Person?
J.T. That is the way in which the truth is expressed here. He does not tell her that He is Christ or the Lord, but presents the truth of who He is; so this gospel is to establish us in the knowledge of the Person, so that our faith should stand related to His
Person, and that we should believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that we, in believing, should have life in His name. This woman got the understanding that He was the Christ. She says, "is not he the Christ?" John 4:29. Even in this the thought in John is the Person Himself. He is the Christ.
Rem. As a man He was sitting weary at the well, but His glory was not hidden for those with whom He came into contact. This woman says, "is not he the Christ?"
J.T. All that He was in Himself was there, but it was concealed. In the ark we see typically what His position was here on this earth. The ark of the covenant was a vessel of relatively small dimensions, but it contained the tables of the covenant. It was the strength of God and the glory of God (Psalm 78:61).
It was a small vessel outwardly. Thus the Lord was small outwardly, even dependent upon this woman for a drink of water, but inwardly He was God, a divine Person. The ministry of John would open our eyes to the greatness of the Person who was here; as those who thus know Him, we should ask Him for things.
Ques. Is the blessing of men the first thing connected with everything being given into His hands?
J.T. I think that is the thought in chapter 4. It explains this truth to us and shows us the importance of it.
Ques. You referred to the ark. Does it not mean that although the people were to understand what the ark contained, it was hidden from their eyes? Have our eyes to be opened in order to see what is in Him?
J.T. The dimensions of the ark always ended with a half. It was two and a half by one and a half by two and a half cubits, which would indicate that there was more than could be seen outwardly; just as the queen of Sheba said, The half was not told me. The great object in John's gospel is that we should come
to the knowledge of the Lord's Person, not what He has been made, as in Acts, but what He is. What He is is necessarily greater than what He is made. His manner of life as Man here, qualified Him to be anointed and exalted to heaven, and to be made Lord and Christ. Peter uses this as a basis for his first address: he says, "God has made him, this Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ". But what He is personally must be behind all this. We are therefore here in the presence of His Person, and He gives living water: "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that says to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water".
Rem. John says in chapter 1, "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we have contemplated his glory". There were those who saw glory in His Person.
Ques. You said that His life here gave Him the right to be exalted to heaven. Does this involve that He showed Himself worthy of it?
J.T. That is right. Thus we find in the synoptic gospels that the heavens opened to Him when He was thirty years of age, and a voice came out of the heavens: "Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight". This refers to what appeared in Him here. But we do not find this in John's gospel. There He is contemplated at once as a divine Person, and thus there was no question of what He showed Himself to be on this earth, but what He was as the One who became flesh and dwelt among us, and therefore He says, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is ...".
Ques. Does it make the gift all the more wonderful when it comes from such a Person? Could we say that the gift was worthy of such a Person?
J.T. Just so, and therefore the Lord develops this subject here. He says, "the water which I shall give
him"; it is not only the water, but He says, "the water which I shall give him"; He shows how great this is, and continues, "shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life". The heart is in this way attracted to the Person and the gift is characterised by the Person. Therefore it is not only that the Lord is working for God in giving living water; it is God Himself who gives.
We need to put ourselves into the position this woman was in and thus contemplate who He is. What is involved in what He is entered her soul. The christian life is really made up of this question -- who it is. The Lord presents this to all, as He says to the disciples, "Who do men say that I the Son of man am?" But then He says, "But ye, who do ye say that I am?" Matthew 16:13, 15. It is not only what I am thinking, but what I am saying. "Who do ye say that I am?" People like to speak of great persons and heroes, but do we speak of this great Person? It is not only what He has done, but who He is.
Ques. Is this the same thought as in John 17:3"And this is the eternal life, that they should know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent"?
J.T. There it says, "that they should know thee, the only true God". That is not quite the same because "Jesus Christ" is more the order of man which shone forth in Him. We could say that eternal life involves knowledge of the true God and the true Man. This scripture speaks of the true Man whom God has sent. This involves, of course, that His Person is behind it, but we have to discern what the Scriptures discern. Jesus Christ is what He was as Man here on earth. But when He says, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is", then it is the Person Himself. In the light of this we receive much instruction as to the order of the Man who shone out
in this world in the Person of Christ, so that we have the true God and Man in relation to Him. This knowledge is connected with eternal life.
Ques. Does the thought in chapter 17, being in relation with God as Man, mean that it is in the knowledge of this that we have eternal life?
J.T. "And this is the eternal life, that they should know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent", John 17:3. It does not say there, 'the Son whom Thou hast sent', but "Jesus Christ". It is the same Person, and is the Person we turn to, but He is a Man.
Rem. She must have felt her sin but He does not condemn her.
J.T. What I think we can see is that she was deeply affected by what came forward. The Lord, as the One who has everything in His hand, made the matter a reality in her soul. We see in Hagar and Ishmael examples of persons who outwardly have part in the system of grace, but who are not affected by it in a lasting way; in contrast, this woman leaves her waterpot. From this we understand that she got the gain of the Lord's remarks that she should be a vessel containing living water. She went to the men, and proved by what she said that, in principle, she had the real thing in herself, the living water, so she could say, "Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done". If she had had a son, she would not be like Hagar and take a wife for him from Egypt, from the world. The Lord knew her sinful life, and He touched her inwards when He said, "Go, call thy husband, and come here", and in her words to the men, she proves that she was fully searched by the Lord's words to her.
Rem. A person who comes into touch with the Lord must necessarily be searched by what He says. Ques. Are not Hagar and Ishmael more connected with the kingdom of God? Here in John we have
another side, the intimate side; He was Son of God.
J.T. That is what is coming forward here. What Hagar saw was ministry by the angels under the ordering of God, but although she was the object of such a service, it does not say that she got the reality of what was available for her. I think she is typical of persons who avail themselves of blessings in an outward way but who are not affected inwardly. She goes to Egypt to take a wife for her son; he dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer. At the end of Genesis we see that the archers provoked Joseph. Hagar and Ishmael are cast out of the house of faith, but grace meets them. But they do not return to the house of faith; they go in the direction of Egypt. Hagar filled the flask with water and gave the lad to drink without it having any moral effect, and they continue to walk towards the world. But here in John 4 is the principle that the woman understands that she herself is the vessel because we read that she left her waterpot; she does not go back to her old customs; she does not go back to Egypt. She goes to the men and tells them of Christ, which is something quite different from what Hagar did. And notice that it is not only to speak about Christ and leave it at that, but she says, "Come, see a man". There is nothing like this with Hagar. There is no thought with her about coming, but of going away; Yea, to the world.
Rem. It is beautiful that the woman in John 4 left her waterpot and that she herself was the vessel to be filled.
J.T. Yes, this is the principle. A great change had taken place in this woman, and she goes to the men; she went to the men who knew her, not only to the inhabitants of the city. What power there must have been in her, because they went out to Him. It says, "But many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him because of the word of the woman
who bore witness, He told me all things that I had ever done", John 4:39. And they said, "We know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world". Such was the result. We can understand that if she had gone back into the city, and continued in her old way of living with all the light she now had, then her latter state would be worse than the former. But instead of that she went to the men, and they came to Christ so that a new order of things is brought in, an order in which He can remain; it says that He remained there two days.
Ques. And is that eternal life?
J.T. From this we will understand the principle. We are separated from this world and are on the way to the enjoyment of eternal life. Eternal life is a gift in Christ and this chapter teaches us that the believer reaches this by the Spirit. The living water springs up into eternal life.
Rem. She seems to be marked by perfect liberty in her conversation with the Lord. She brings in the subject of worship, and even the question of the Christ.
J.T. He told her wonderful things, but then all believers have the opportunity to hear all these things. It is possible to hear all these things, and to have part in them outwardly and yet go back into the world worse than you were before. If I carry all this wonderful light into the world I will only help to cover its iniquity, but when I say, 'Come', then I condemn the world and call people out of it. It is also seen that her testimony is in conformity with what the Lord said afterwards. They said to the woman, It is no longer on account of thy saying that we believe, for we have heard Him ourselves. They had heard Him themselves, and found that it was in conformity with her testimony. It is a principle in John that if the light of God reaches my soul through some vessel then I am not satisfied with that, but
desire to go to the Originator of the light, and if the vessel is of God, the one who is thus used will not seek to make himself a centre. Such a one would say, "Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done". We need to hear Him for ourselves.
Ques. When the Lord speaks, He speaks both to the conscience and the heart. When John the baptist says, "Behold the Lamb of God" (John 1:36), is that speaking to our hearts? He points to the Person.
J.T. It is very beautiful to contemplate in the beginning of John how John the baptist made Christ the centre, a thing that goes through all this gospel. John says, "In the midst of you stands, whom ye do not know, he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to unloose". And then he says, "A man comes after me ... because he was before me; and I knew him not; but that he might be manifested to Israel, therefore have I come baptising with water. And John bore witness, saying, I beheld the Spirit descending as a dove from heaven, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not; but he who sent me to baptise with water, he said to me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding on him, he it is who baptises with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God", John 1:30 - 34.
And then he sees Jesus coming, and says, "Behold the Lamb of God", and two of his disciples heard his words and followed Jesus. Jesus is the centre to which they are drawn. When my ears hear such a voice I am affected by it so that I desire to follow Jesus. One of these two who heard this word of John and followed Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, and he finds his brother Simon and brings him to Jesus. Jesus then finds Philip and Philip finds Nathanael, and Philip's word is "Come and see". That will settle everything.
Ques. Is it a result of the need to go through
Samaria that this woman was saved, and the result of her going to the city that others also are saved?
J.T. Just so. This is now a place where Christ can remain; He remained there two days. The ministry in this dispensation is really "Come and see". When we come and see, we make room for Christ as they did in Samaria.
Ques. Is it right to say that this principle of coming and seeing is based on the three previous gospels?
J.T. I think that the three synoptic gospels refer to God drawing near to man in a Man who has been tested in this world. That is the principle in them. The public testimony which was given by the apostles is based on this. The fourth gospel tests the reality of the work because not all are genuine in professing christendom. The real come to Christ; they move. The Lord says in chapter 3 that "he that practises the truth comes to the light". Such a one is not frightened of coming to the light. He comes to it so that his works may be manifested that they are done in God. In our time people rest in humanly organised religious systems, but the thing is to come to what is of God, and that is the same as having to leave these systems.
Ques. What is the thought in verse 34: "My food is that I should do the will of him that has sent me, and that I should finish his work"?
J.T. Another point in John is that things are to be completed. It is said of Sardis, "I have not found thy works complete before my God", Revelation 3:2. That is to say, protestantism has never reached the counsel of God. It is not marked by completion, but the ministry of John leads us to complete things, so he quotes the words of the Lord: "I have completed the work which thou gavest me that I should do it".
Rem. The Samaritans came to the Lord out of all parties.
J.T. This woman would, from her natural feelings, displace Jerusalem. There had been much national rivalry between the Samaritans and the Jews, but all such disappears when we receive the knowledge of this Person. Therefore the gospel of John is specially important now for each believer, whether he is a Lutheran or one belonging to any other system. All true believers find common ground in the Person of the Christ; we should be able to be unified in the Person of the Christ. Then we have what He says. We surely can act upon His words and be guided by them.
Rem. So we are liberated from all these things by following the Person.
J.T. Usually the best way we can help our brethren in the different human organisations is not to ask them what they think of the doctrine of Luther but what they think of Christ.
J.T. Just so. You receive it from Him. When you have come to Christ, the next thing is that you are content to keep His word. That is the way to recovery. It is along these lines that God is working.
Ques. I have been thinking of how the Lord in this way gets an entrance into the heart. This woman is moved to search her heart as to her connections. Could this have its application in a religious way?
J.T. Therefore if anyone comes to Christ he will be searched as the woman was. The Lord said to her, "Go, call thy husband, and come here". That means that, in His goodness to us as well as in faithfulness to God, every matter related to us must be solved.
Rem. You were mentioning that this principle of coming and seeing is seen throughout this gospel. At the end of the gospel we have, "Come and dine", and Pilate said, "Behold your king".
J.T. But Pilate did not invite anyone to come to Jesus. This woman said, "Come". She did not say
'Go, and see Him', but "Come, see a man". Many gospel preachers are like road signs. They tell us how to go but do not go themselves.
Rem. All that transpires in connection with this woman is the result of the Lord going through Samaria; that she went to the men is the result of that. John makes us evangelists in that sense. Go and invite them to come. Andrew is the great example of this. After having been with the Lord for a few hours, he finds his brother Simon and leads him to Jesus.
John 7:37 - 39; Genesis 21:22 - 34
J.T. On this occasion I thought we could dwell a little more on the subject of the Spirit. What we were considering yesterday stands mainly in connection with the inner workings of the springs of water, whereas in the scriptures we have read today it is what is outward, that is to say, the public testimony which flows out as a result of the spring's inner working. In chapter 7 of John's gospel, the Holy Spirit is looked at more from the point of view of the dispensation. It draws attention to His presence during the whole of this dispensation. It was that Spirit that they who believed on Him would receive, for "the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified". The thought is that the Spirit's presence here is in accord with Christ in heaven. The presentation in this chapter is not so much the point of view that a divine Person gives Him as a gift, but that He is received by a believer. "But this he said concerning the Spirit, which they that believed on him were about to receive". This means those that had believed on Him during the time of His service here on earth. This scripture makes it quite clear that the Holy Spirit could not be received whilst Christ was still here but that He would be received after Christ was glorified. The allusion here then is to the fact that the Holy Spirit was received by the saints in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. The meaning of the Lord's saying, "He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water", is easily understood when we consider the great event when the Holy Spirit came down on the day of Pentecost. Consequently the allusion is to the Holy Spirit's setting aside
judaism. It was on the last, the great day of the feast.
Ques. Is there inner refreshment in what we were considering yesterday?
J.T. Yes, that is what was in mind yesterday. Now it is the side of what is public. Is that clear?
Ques. Can it be said that the woman in John 4, of whom we spoke yesterday, received the Holy Spirit?
J.T. Chapter 7 makes it clear that she did not receive the Spirit, but she received Him in principle; that is to say, Christ's service was as living water for her. Today, such an occasion as Jesus' meeting with the woman, would in this dispensation, embrace the reception of the Holy Spirit.
Ques. Is that why, in chapter 7, it says, "for the Spirit was not yet"?
J.T. Yes, that is right. It is right to remember that, for no one received the Holy Spirit in a permanent way until Pentecost. When John says that "the Spirit was not yet", he means that He was not here in a permanent way so that He could be received by believers.
Ques. Was it necessary for man after the flesh to be set aside before the Spirit could be given?
J.T. Just so, and also that man should be glorified in heaven in the Person of Christ.
Ques. Was it so that whilst the Lord was here in Person, no one had the Spirit residing in them?
J.T. Yes. The Lord says later, "for he abides with you", John 14:17. That is to say that the Holy Spirit was there in the Person of Christ. The Holy Spirit came upon Him in a bodily form as a dove, and abode upon Him, so that Christ's service was in the power of the Spirit of God. But until redemption's work was accomplished, no other person could receive the Spirit but Christ. The Spirit had had His part in creation in adorning the heavens
(Job 26:13); He hovered over the face of the waters (Genesis 1:2); He had judged men during the time of Noah; He came upon some of the judges and upon David; holy men of God spoke, empowered by the Holy Spirit, but He never abode upon anyone in a permanent way, until Christ became Man and it was just that that distinguished Christ from any other man in the eyes of John the baptist. He says, "But he who sent me to baptise with water, he said to me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding on him, he it is who baptises with the Holy Spirit". The Holy Spirit came upon such men as Samson and David, but did not abide on them. But here we see that the Spirit came down and abode on a man, and this shows clearly that Christ was a divine Person. He descended, as it says, in a bodily form as a dove and abode upon Him. Thus the Holy Spirit came upon Christ in all His fulness. The fact that He came as a dove would indicate perfect sensitiveness; He could rest there; He could abide there. In Christ there was absolutely nothing which could grieve the Spirit. The dove signifies sensitiveness.
Ques. Can we say that, in principle, this chapter corresponds with the present dispensation-as it is now?
J.T. It refers actually to this dispensation. The Spirit was not yet. What it really means is that He was not available to believers until Christ was glorified. Rem. Therefore we cannot think of the Holy Spirit other than in connection with Christ glorified.
J.T. That is just it, it is in this special character that He is here. Peter says, "Having therefore been exalted by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which ye behold and hear", Acts 2:33. Although He retains His own individuality yet He is here as the Spirit of God, the Spirit of God's Son and the Spirit of Christ.
Rem. Perhaps you will say something about these three titles.
J.T. It is good to make a difference. He is spoken of in these three connections, apart from His being a divine Person here. As the Spirit of God He testifies here on earth to what God is, revealed in Christ, and as the Spirit of the Son of God He expresses the relation in which Christ stands as Son to God.
As the Spirit of Christ He sets forth Christ's official position and character as the Anointed One. So the Spirit of Christ refers eminently to service. Peter says, "prophets ... searched out; searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ which was in them pointed out, testifying before of the sufferings which belonged to Christ, and the glories after these", 1 Peter 1:10, 11.
Ques. How do we understand Romans 8:9; "but if any one has not the Spirit of Christ he is not of him"?
J.T. Well, it is the character of Christ expressed in the Spirit of Christ and that gives us the thought of the anointing. It is really just in the same way that the anointing finds its expression in us. We also have the Spirit of Jesus in the New Testament, which would draw attention to that kind of Man who was down here on earth.
Rem. He is also called the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Truth. Would you say something about that?
J.T. The Holy Spirit stands over against the profanity that we find all around us, so that it says of the Lord Jesus in the epistle to the Romans 1:4, "marked out Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord". And in chapter 5, where it mentions that the Spirit is given to us, it says, "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit
which has been given to us". Here He is distinctly called the Holy Spirit. This is in order to promote what is priestly -- that is to say, a holy condition in us.
It is a holy love. So John 7 has the thought of a wonderful condition, namely, that the Holy Spirit is here and expresses Himself in rivers of living water which flow out of the believer.
Rem. That is a great exercise for us.
J.T. Yes, the effect of it can be seen in the saints. If we understand chapter 4 rightly and see the effect of the word on the woman's heart and how it laid bare her inner condition, it will make way for the Spirit to operate in us. The Holy Spirit acts of Himself in the believer. By way of illustration, take the automatic organs of the human body: for example the heart, or lungs, or stomach. We cannot make these organs do what we want them to do. We can control our hands and similar parts of the body, but over an organ like the heart we have no control: they are automatic or self-acting organs. So in just the same way the Holy Spirit acts of Himself in the believer. It is that which the Lord means when He says, "The water which I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life". This corresponds to the burnt-offering which was flayed and cut up into pieces. In Leviticus 1:9, it says, "its inwards and its legs shall he wash in water; and the priest shall burn all on the altar, a burnt offering, an offering by fire to Jehovah of a sweet odour". This means that all that Christ was here inwardly, ascended as a sweet odour for God, and that He devoted Himself completely to God.
So in the case of the woman -- an example of us all in respect of what we are naturally -- inwardly she was committed to what was corrupt and the Lord was going to see that all this was to be searched out by the word. "For the word of God is living and operative, and sharper than any two-edged sword,
and penetrating to the division of soul and spirit, both of joints and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is not a creature unapparent before him; but all things are naked and laid bare to his eyes, with whom we have to do", Hebrews 4:12, 13. This woman recognises this, when she says, "Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done". When this state is judged, place is made for the Holy Spirit, so that He can take these inner organs in His service for God. She realised that through her act the Spirit had already worked inwardly with her, so she carried something with her to the people; chapter 7 shows us the fulness of the result in that the Holy Spirit flows out as rivers of living water. So that if we have a right understanding of chapter 4 we will be capable of understanding the meaning of chapter 7.
Ques. Is the thought concerning the Spirit and the living water in chapter 4 that it cleanses?
J.T. Yes, it has that effect but we know that moral cleansing is by the word. In chapter 4 the water is not for cleansing but for satisfaction. Being born of water and of Spirit (chapters 3 and 13) involves cleansing, so that the Lord, in chapter 15 says, "Ye are already clean by reason of the word which I have spoken to you". But the thought of the water in John 4 and John 7 is satisfaction.
Ques. "If we live by the Spirit, let us walk also by the Spirit", Galatians 5:25. Is it a similar thought in this verse?
J.T. To live by the Spirit is more John 4, whereas walking by the Spirit is John 7. In the epistle to the Galatians it also speaks of the fruit of the Spirit.
Nine kinds of fruit are spoken of (Galatians 5:22). That is the public side.
Ques. Can John 7 be likened to Romans 8 in this connection?
J.T. Yes, I think that is right, though Romans
does not go so far as Colossians or Ephesians. It is most remarkable that in Colossians the Spirit is only mentioned once, but the effect of the Spirit is prominent throughout the whole of the epistle; in this chapter we should look into His operation in an individual believer.
Ques. Was your thought in reading the scripture in Genesis to help us further and throw light on what we have been considering?
J.T. Yes, I had that in mind and I would like to continue with that now. The Old Testament serves us by way of explanation. We should notice in the chapter we had before us last evening that although Hagar took advantage of the spring, nevertheless she went and took a wife for her son from Egypt. This shows that she was not really in the good of the spring; she was not delivered from the world. The thought in John 4 is that the woman was delivered from the world. All her thoughts and feelings were turned away from the world towards Christ. The Lord says to her, "The water which I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life". Springing up really means that it ascends to God. We see that Hagar was not affected in such a way. She took, as the scripture says, a wife for her son out of Egypt. But in this connection when we come to Abraham we see the effect the spring has. It says in Genesis 21:25, "And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water that Abimelech's servants had violently taken away", and further down it says, "And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them to Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant. And Abraham set seven ewe-lambs of the flock by themselves. And Abimelech said to Abraham, What mean these seven ewe-lambs, these which thou hast set by themselves? And he said, That thou take the seven ewe-lambs of my hand, that they may be a witness to me that I have dug
this well". Consequently we see that Abraham in these seven ewe-lambs expresses the kind of spirit that characterised him, for in these ewe-lambs we have in expression that which was worked out in him. The male would probably be prepared to attack, but the character of the ewe-lamb is subjection and willingness. It is important to notice this, as it is just that sort of spirit that characterised Abraham. It says in the epistle to the Galatians, against such fruits of the Spirit, there is no law. There is not a shadow of doubt that Abraham's seven ewe-lambs point to these things. Abimelech, king of the Philistines, came to him with Phichol, the captain of his host. When anyone comes in that manner, it shows that it is not in the spirit of the ewe-lamb, it is certainly not in a docile spirit. For example, if we take the Germans before the war, or for that matter the British or the Norwegians, their armies or navies are not meant to show that they are prepared to subject themselves to anyone. It is just in the same way that the Philistine king came to Abraham. He wanted to demonstrate that he had might and that he was a powerful man. Often the brethren put on battledress; when anyone puts on that sort of uniform, with his sword at his side, he does not intend to give the impression that he is prepared to give in to others. It is, of course, right to put on armour when it is a question of a struggle against spiritual power of wickedness in the heavenlies, and when it concerns the truth, but the epistle to the Galatians shows us that it is the fruits of the Spirit that will always be seen in the believer. And what is the basis for this love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, fidelity, meekness, self control? It is that I have the Holy Spirit. So Abraham intended that, in the presence of Abimelech, there should be a testimony to Abraham's character and that the spring laid the basis for it. That is, "Not
by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith Jehovah of Hosts".
Rem. So that the thought is that we ought to be submissive.
J.T. It is on this principle that the Holy Spirit is here.
Rem. When Abraham went to set Lot free he had not the seven ewe-lambs with him.
J.T. No. He had trained armed men born in the house with him then. He fought against his enemy, but in this instance he had to do with a man to whom God had already spoken regarding Abraham.
Ques. What corresponds with Abimelech today? He was not an Egyptian.
J.T. No, he is a picture of persons amongst us who perhaps depend on the flesh. Abraham had already prayed to God about Abimelech; therefore he was in a special relationship with him. As we said, God had spoken to Abimelech as well. We read in Genesis 20:6, "And God said to him in a dream, I also knew that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart, and I, too, have withheld thee from sinning against me". Consequently we can understand that Abimelech is reckoned here as a man whom God will help and to whom He can speak. We have prayed for such. However, it does not appear that Abimelech had got much help, since he came with the captain of his host, but Abraham met all this with the seven ewe-lambs. It is just as if Abraham would say, 'Well, Abimelech, if that is your attitude, I will show you mine. You make a show of military might, but I want to show you that I have the Holy Spirit'.
J.T. Yes, he certainly was. God honoured Abraham in such a way that Abimelech sensed it. It is a question of the Holy Spirit's power.
Ques. What is the thought in Abraham's reproving
Abimelech for the well that Abimelech's servants had violently taken away?
J.T. This shows the way the Philistines carry on. Their purpose is to take away what gives us all this moral worth. Notice that they had taken it violently, which shows that the character of the Philistines is violence. That is the way the flesh carries on; we meet this with the grace of the Spirit, so that it says in Romans 12:20, "If therefore thine enemy should hunger, feed him; if he should thirst, give him drink; for, so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head".
Ques. Do these things happen in a meeting?
J.T. Yes, of course. We touch the flesh daily in ourselves and in our brethren. That is the reason why this subject is introduced into the epistle to the Galatians and why Hagar and Ishmael are mentioned there.
Ques. Might it have the appearance of a better knowledge of the Scriptures?
J.T. Yes, certainly, because this man had had to do with God. God had spoken to him.
Rem. So it is absolutely necessary that we should search ourselves.
J.T. Just so. That is just the point, so that I do not adopt Philistines characteristics. These Philistine lived in Canaan.
Ques. Have we the same thought in 2 Corinthians 10:1, "But I myself, Paul, entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ"?
J.T. Yes, exactly. This comes out particularly in the second epistle to the Corinthians.
Ques. Does the first epistle to the Corinthians correspond with Genesis 21:25?
J.T. You mean that Abraham put Abimelech right. That is so, and 1 Corinthians is calculated to preserve the spring in its right sense. I imagine that those who took the lead in Corinth had violently taken
away things to acquire something for their own exaltation. They pretended to have all that Paul had but this was not so. It was violence. Paul said his announcing to them the testimony was not in excellency of word or in wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that, as he says, "Your faith might not stand in men's wisdom, but in God's power". Abraham was concerned that the well should be in the place just where it was. He had dug it and it was going to remain in his possession. He says, "That thou take the seven ewe-lambs of any hand, that they may be a witness to me that I have dug this well". This was to remind Abimelech of the spirit Abraham was in. He was always to remember it.
So now to show the full meaning of all this, it says in Genesis 26:26 - 28, "And Abimelech, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phichol the captain of his host, went to him from Gerar. And Isaac said to them, Why are ye come to me, seeing ye hate me, and have driven me away from you? And they said, We saw certainly that Jehovah is with thee; and we said, Let there be then an oath between us -- between us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee". Here we have got something else, as we see. Abimelech brings another man with him -- a third person this time, namely Ahuzzath his friend. Here we have what is social. He is a king and has an army, but he also has a place socially. Even if I am not frightened by military might, it is possible that I may be ensnared by what is social. This visit is much more impressing than the first with the result, as we read, that "he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. And they rose early in the morning, and swore one to another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well that they had dug, and said to
him, We have found water", Genesis 26:30 - 32. So you see Isaac lets the Philistines go away, whereupon God gives him water to maintain him in separation from the Philistines. And so it says, "And he called it Shebah; therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba to this day" (verse 33). Genesis 21:31 speaks about the name of a place but in connection with Isaac it is a city. We have now reached the city. I believe this shows the spiritual progress which is made when I let the Philistines go away. I then get water to support me, and I am in a city.
Ques. Why did he make them a feast?
J.T. He did not want war but peace, but it is peace at a distance because he let them go away. As far as possible we, on our side, keep peace with all men, but we do not have intercourse with them.
Rem. But surely we should not have peaceful relations, or fellowship, with anyone who would take away the well.
J.T. There is no question of fellowship when we let people go away.
Rem. Though we have here the thought of a feast.
J.T. What is laid upon us is that we keep peace with all men. It is not yet the time to cast out the Philistine. We are still strangers and foreigners in the land. The point is that both Abraham and Isaac were superior to these men.
Ques. And should not our position be the same in a moral respect?
J.T. Exactly, we should not come under the influence of such men.
Ques. Is not this the same as in Galatians 6:10? "So then, as we have occasion, let us do good towards all, and specially towards those of the household of faith".
J.T. Yes. So when for us the "place" has become a "city", then we have come to some understanding of light, order and administration. From
scriptures further on, we see what a wonderful place Beer-sheba was. It is a testimony to God's faithfulness.
J.T. Just so. You feel now there is particular safety in Isaac's position. There is a city which is called Beer-sheba. Abraham planted a tamarisk there, and called on the name of Jehovah, the eternal God. Abraham is in the light of the eternal God, and Isaac is in a city.
Ques. Is the thought then, that as individuals we make way for the Spirit? We walk in the Spirit to make way for Him. But we also make way for Him as gathered together. We are occupied with what is spiritual and consequently we are not like the Philistines.
J.T. Yes. This will be seen in the city. I believe these scriptures in Genesis show how a believer today can be superior to the most well-taught, efficient and influential person after the flesh. Instead of being influenced by them we exercise influence over them. Abimelech had to recognise both in Abraham and Isaac, that God was with them. For whoever God is with, he is the greatest man.
Rem. So the seven ewe-lambs become a very powerful weapon. We need to ponder this thought of the ewe-lambs; it will help us in relation to obedience.
Rem. Otherwise everything will be in the flesh instead of in the Spirit.
J.T. Yes. "For the arms of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful according to God to the overthrow of strongholds", 2 Corinthians 10:4.
John 14:15 - 17, 25, 26; John 15:26; John 16:7 - 11
J.T. What we have previously considered in the meetings relates more to the individual believer than to the company. The scriptures we have read now speak of the Spirit coming personally to be in the company which is really the assembly. So He is called here "another Comforter", which involves the thought that He has come to take the place of Christ, the One who has ascended into heaven. The first part of the gospel involves the understanding of this teaching so that we can understand what is presented here. In chapter 1 we read that Jesus is the One who baptises with the Holy Spirit. Baptism is introduced there, and so chapters 4 and 7 deal firstly with the deliverance of every individual from the world, while chapter 7 takes up the outward effect with a believer. The Lord says there, "He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water", John 7:38. That part of the body referred to, namely the belly, means the development of emotions, which shows that a believer is delivered in his emotions unlike other men. So the lower organs of the body are used here typically in this connection. When it is a question of life it is more the lungs; that is, the Spirit is not looked upon there as water but as breath. In chapter 20 we see that the Lord breathed into them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit", John 20:22. The thought there is more the breath of Christ, and that is really what the word 'spirit' means. So chapter 20 brings forward a higher order of life, whereas water has more to do with our lower feelings and satisfaction, so that instead of being trapped by the world through these lower feelings
they are turned to God. Instead of the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, we have a fountain of water springing up into eternal life. But the thought of Christ breathing into us means that we have His Spirit and are capable of representing Him here. He said, "As the Father sent me forth, I also send you". The rivers of living water flowing out (chapter 7) allude, I think, to our sympathy towards men. But in chapters 14 and 16 the Holy Spirit is spoken of as "another Comforter". Just as the Lord Jesus undertook for His people here, so the Holy Spirit does now.
Ques. Is the Spirit there more connected with the assembly, in that He acts for us in that connection?
J.T. Just so. The Lord says, "I will beg the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever, the Spirit of truth", John 14:16. So that the Lord Himself mentioned that, great truth that we have another divine Person to be with us down here.
Rem. That would set us free from wanting human regulations.
J.T. It is an important thing to understand that. So we see that in Acts 13 when it was a question of sending out men in the service of the gospel it was not the assembly which did that but the Holy Spirit said, "Separate me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them", Acts 13:2. And then we read, "They therefore, having been sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia" (verse 4). We also see the same thing in Paul's address to the elders of the assembly at Ephesus. He says, "Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, wherein the Holy Spirit has set you as overseers, to shepherd the assembly of God", Acts 20:28. And in 1 Corinthians 12 we read that "For also in the power of one Spirit we have all been baptised into one body" (verse 13), and we also see there that
the gifts operate by one and the same Spirit. They are indeed spiritual gifts. We understand from this that man and his religious regulations are completely shut out as unnecessary and wrong. The Holy Spirit, a divine Person, is personally here and takes up everything which concerns the assembly.
Ques. How do we understand that the Spirit is sent by the Father in chapter 14, by the Son in chapter 15, and in chapter 16 He comes of Himself?
J.T. I believe that springs from the fact that divine Persons are on an equality, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. As we might expect, the Father is mentioned first. It says in John 14:26, "The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name", and in John 15:26, "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send to you from the Father". The Father sends Him in the Son's name and the Son sends Him from the Father. A strong expression is used in John 15:26. It says that He came forth "from with the Father". This means that the Holy Spirit is sent by the Son from with the Father. Although this does not sound grammatical in our language we ought not to neglect taking notice of it. The meaning is plainly that the Holy Spirit who was sent forth from being with the Father is able to bring to us the Father's thoughts about Christ. It is also a thought which runs through this gospel, that persons are sent forth from being with the one who sends them. So that it is not only that the Spirit comes with a message, but He comes as One who fully knows the Father's thoughts.
Ques. Have we this thought in the expression "and the Word was with God", John 1:1?
J.T. Yes, that is the same thought, and I believe it is the basis of being sent in the whole of John's gospel.
Rem. That was also the case with the disciples; they were sent from being with Him.
J.T. Yes. It says, "And he appointed twelve that they might be with him, and that he might send them to preach", Mark 3:14. There are persons today who are sent out from organisations in Christendom as missionaries, but before they are sent out they are trained at schools and universities, but that is not the thought in Scripture. The question is, are we with the Lord Jesus before we are sent out? But now to go on with our brother's question concerning the three ways in which the Spirit comes, we see that the Lord formally says that He will send the Spirit "But I say the truth to you, It is profitable for you that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I go I will send him to you" John 16:7. But stress is also laid on the fact that the Spirit comes of Himself. So the Lord continues in verse 13, "But when he is come, the Spirit of truth, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but whatsoever he shall hear he shall speak; and he will announce to you what is coming". I believe, therefore, that chapter 16 has specially in view the position that the Lord has as Mediator, that is, He operates from that position in heaven as the One who controls everything, and He sends the Spirit from up there to continue the testimony here. That preserves the public position of the believer in a scene where there is conflict.
Ques. Is there any difference between the expressions "Spirit of truth" and "the Holy Spirit"?
J.T. Yes; there is a difference. The Spirit of truth is mentioned to begin with: "If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will beg the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see him nor know him; but ye know him, for he abides with you, and shall be in you", John 14:15 - 17. In verse 26 in the same chapter the Lord speaks of the Holy Spirit.
I believe that the Spirit of truth is here in contrast to the moral confusion which is found in this world. Of all that God first set up here there is now nothing that has not been brought into disorder. If, for example, we take the marriage relation or government, these things were set up by God, but we find that all is brought into a position of moral confusion. The presence of the Spirit of truth here involves the thought that there should be a recovery of everything in the assembly into conformity with the truth. The thought which is in "truth" is measure and balance, that is, a perfect pattern is seen in Christ who Himself is the Truth. That is just what He says in chapter 14, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (verse 6). So the Holy Spirit is here in relation to all that as the Spirit of truth. It is not only that true things are found among christians; most Protestant creeds contain true things, but true things in themselves are not the same as the Spirit of truth. The Spirit of truth in this is somewhat outwardly unnoticed and inexplicable but it is through the presence of the Spirit that we can judge error. The Holy Spirit in verse 26 is another side. God's nature is holiness and the Holy Spirit will unceasingly maintain holiness among God's people. It is well to note that it says that the world cannot receive Him; for they neither see Him nor know Him. That clearly shows that christianity is completely separate from the world. There cannot be any mixture. The world cannot receive the Spirit of truth; they do not see Him or know Him.
Rem. It says in verse 8, "And having come, he will bring demonstration to the world, of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment", John 16:8.
J.T. He brings to the world the demonstration of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. That is another important matter which I think we can look at later. In the meantime there is one point which
we should notice, that He brings demonstration to the world of these things. Demonstration means that the position is laid bare. From the beginning here we see how the world is shut out from having any part in the Spirit of God, whereas the world is recognised in the great, so-called religious parties. It is nothing but giving the world a false lustre.
Ques. After the resurrection of the Lord He was seen by His own only. Is that the same thought?
J.T. Yes. It says in verse 19, "Yet a little and the world sees me no longer; but ye see me; because I live ye also shall live", John 14:19. "Judas, not the Iscariote, says to him, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us and not to the world? Jesus answered and said to him, If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him", John 14:22, 23. The difference between the world and us is that we keep Christ's word, something which the world does not do. So the Lord says to Philadelphia, "Thou hast a little power; and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name", Revelation 3:8. From this we understand how the true saint of God is separated from the world and because we take heed to the word the Father and the Son come to us, but the world sees Him no longer. "If ye love me, keep my commandments", John 14:15. In this connection He speaks of begging the Father "and he will give you another Comforter". So we have something else in verse 26: the Holy Spirit reminds us of the Lord's word. "But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and will bring to your remembrance all the things which I have said to you". One should take that to heart, every single one for himself, that in the acceptance of teaching or in remembrance of these things, the natural mind can so easily sneak in. But the thought is that
holiness in the Spirit should prevent that; the Spirit is the One who teaches and brings to our remembrance.
Rem. It is remarkable that although the Spirit has such a place not only in us but among us, we should not pray to Him.
J.T. Yes, the position of the divine system is that the Lord is in heaven. We worship the Father and the Son there. Even the Lord when He was here did not teach His disciples to pray to Him, but said, "Thus therefore pray ye: Our Father who art in the heavens", Matthew 6:9. And when He was about to leave this world, He said, "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, this will I do", John 14:13.
Ques. Is the thought then that the Spirit does not speak for Himself?
J.T. Yes, the Spirit is here as sent.
Ques. We should not address ourselves to the Lord with every sort of prayer?
J.T. No; we should pray with understanding. This scripture stands in connection with the testimony. When we pray in our homes regarding temporal things, I believe we should turn to the Father, but I would pray to the Lord regarding the testimony. He indicates that He Himself in heaven is the Object for our faith, as the Father is: "Ye believe on God, believe also on me", John 14:1.
Rem. I suppose we should pray to God for the gospel.
J.T. We are not limited for it is the gospel of God, the service of God and the testimony of God. All that concerns God; but the thought of God is more embracing, while the Lord is Lord in connection with the testimony. As Lord He also stands related to the kingdom, all that concerns the kingdom of God. When we pray about something which has to do with our bodies or our temporal circumstances I think that it is right to connect all that with God as Father. But we can pray to the Lord about everything
which concerns the kingdom, the testimony, or the assembly.
Rem. Romans 8 speaks of the Spirit coming to help us in our prayers.
J.T. That shows us what the Spirit's service is. When we do not know what we should pray for as is fitting, the Spirit Itself makes intercession with groanings which cannot be uttered. That shows us that His intercession is perfect; this groaning is completely understood by God who searches the hearts.
Rem. We also have the thought of praying in the Spirit (Ephesians 6).
J.T. That is, that we are in that position, but Romans 8 shows us what a great advantage we have in that the Spirit joins Its help to our weakness. He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. It is with groaning which cannot be uttered, but He who searches the heart knows what is in the mind of the Spirit. Therefore we have in the Spirit, who dwells in us, a Person who intercedes perfectly whom God understands because He searches our hearts. There is therefore much more intercession than that which is expressed in words by the saints. Intercession is not limited to what is expressed in words. Abraham's servant prayed in his heart, and likewise Hannah; only her lips moved. There must have been a putting together of words but it was not audible. What resources we have in that the Spirit makes intercession for us in groanings that cannot be uttered! How much use in intercession may the Holy Spirit make of saints who are on sick-beds or who spend sleepless nights! We do not even have to say anything.
Ques. Could we have a word about chapter 16?
J.T. The time has almost gone, but we should notice that the Holy Spirit teaches us all things and brings all things to our remembrance, so that John
says in his epistle that we have no need that anyone should teach us. The Spirit reminds us also of everything Christ said here on earth, so that nothing is lost. He said, "He shall teach you all things, and will bring to your remembrance all the things which I have said to you", John 14:26. I often think of the things that the Lord said, all the Lord's great utterances. We know from our own experience how forgetful we are and we can understand how the wonderful utterances of Christ might have been forgotten had it not been for the Holy Spirit. But the presence of the Comforter here means that each word that the Lord said to His own is preserved. How right it is that none of Christ's holy words should fall to the ground! I would desire that my heart should be a treasury of all these precious jewels. In the pattern of the temple which David had from the Spirit there were treasuries. In 1 Chronicles 28:11 we read that "David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of its houses, and of its treasuries". Treasuries are places where treasures are kept, so the thought plainly is that this feature is found in the assembly. The Holy Spirit reminds us of all things that Christ said to His disciples. What can be greater treasures than these communications of love which He gave to His own. The apostle Paul took out of his store when he said to the elders of the assembly at Ephesus, "I have chewed you all things, that thus labouring we ought to come in aid of the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive", Acts 20:35. This word of Jesus is not mentioned in any other place, which shows that Paul himself was a treasury. The Holy Spirit thus wants to remind those who belong to the assembly of everything Christ said to His disciples. Nothing is lost; everything comes forward in one way or another through the development of the truth in the assembly.
Ques. Do not the four gospels show the truth of what the Lord said?
J.T. Yes; that is just what the four gospels express. The principle in this is to remind us of the Lord's word to the disciples, but what is written in the gospels is only a small part of what the Lord said. It is not intended that what is not written in the gospels should not come out, for John says, "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they were written one by one, I suppose that not even the world itself would contain the books written", John 21:25. That shows the greatness of it and the Holy Spirit sees to it that nothing is lost. Ques. Do we understand that what is written is the kernel of the Lord's words and actions?
J.T. Yes; that is right. For faith there is sufficient in the gospels but it was not intended that all should be written there, for the principle of brevity is a great feature with God. It shows that He can express things in a few words and yet leave out nothing that is needful for us.
Ques. Do we see this in connection with Philip in Acts 8? The Spirit said to him, "Approach and join this chariot", Acts 8:29. Then he heard what the eunuch was reading and he began from that scripture and announced the glad tidings of Jesus to him.
J.T. That is important to notice, that God does not have before Him any richness of words in the Scriptures but they contain sufficient for us. On the other side John remarks that the whole world could not contain the books which might be written. He says, "books" in the plural, and the Lord says, "The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and will bring to your remembrance all the things which I have said to you", John 14:26. It is all things.
When it says, He "will bring to your
remembrance all the things", does it mean that the word is living for us?
J.T. Yes; that gives us the understanding of the great ministry in the word which has taken place since Pentecost. The Scriptures are necessarily what prove everything, but what is said now is by the Spirit. "He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies", Revelation 3:13.
Ques. Does not the Old Testament really contain the details of what the Lord said?
J.T. Yes. We have the details there. At the end of chapter 15 the Holy Spirit is sent from with the Father, so that we have One who is able to witness to the Father's thoughts in relation to the Son. It says, "He shall bear witness concerning me", John 15:26. In this scripture it is a question of what the Spirit will witness concerning Christ, but in chapter 16 He is sent by the Lord Himself, and the first thing He does as thus sent is to expose the world; that is, He brings in among the saints a perfect conviction of the three things, "Sin, righteousness and judgment". And then the Lord says, "I have yet many things to say to you, but ye cannot bear them now. But when he is come, the Spirit of truth, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but whatsoever he shall hear he shall speak; and he will announce to you what is coming. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and shall announce it to you. All things that the Father has are mine; on account of this I have said that he receives of mine and shall announce it to you",
John 16:12 - 15. From what we have considered, dear brethren, I believe that we shall be able to understand the Spirit's activities more plainly as the One who has come to the company.
Ques. In Hebrews 1 it says that God has spoken to us in the Person of the Son. Is that connected with your subject?
J.T. In Hebrews 1 we have the truth presented in its greatness and completeness and the fact that God in these last days has spoken to us in the Person of the Son is set in contrast to the prophets. In Hebrews emphasis is laid on the great authority which He is in possession of, for He Himself is God. It says that God spoke in the prophets, in men like us, but in contrast to that in these last days He has spoken to us in the Person of the Son. In the original it says "in Son". From this we understand that there is authority in what He says, and the apostle says, "How shall we escape if we have been negligent of so great salvation", Hebrews 2:3.
Ques. We are warned not to quench the Spirit. Is that a word to the assembly?
J.T. There are two things: to quench the Spirit and to grieve the Spirit. To quench the Spirit would mean that we allow a condition which quenches His activity and His speaking. He is very sensitive -- a thought which is presented in the type of the dove. We are also warned not to grieve Him.
Rem. It says that He will announce to you what is coming.
J.T. Yes, it says that in verse 13. I believe that the Holy Spirit has brought in light in relation to what is coming so that we have the whole fulness of the truth announced to us. We know the end from the beginning.
Rem. It says of the little children, "The unction which ye have received from him abides in you, and ye have not need that any one should teach you; but as the same unction teaches you as to all things, and is true and is not a lie, and even as it has taught you, ye shall abide in him", 1 John 2:27. Is not that a quality of the assembly?
J.T. Yes; and the Spirit even gives us knowledge of coming events that God will do in the future.
Isaiah 37:21 - 23, 30 - 32
This attack of the Assyrian is accorded a prominent position in the divine records, in the historical books and also in this book of Isaiah, the prophet. Inasmuch as it appears in the prophet, it has a prophetic setting, and therefore a prophetic voice. We read in the New Testament of the voice of the prophets. It may be that we have not heard the voice of the prophets, but it is a voice intended for us, especially as to this feature, this attack of the Assyrian against Jerusalem, because, as moving according to the will of God, as we are thus, we are the objects of attack. No person, or number of persons, corresponding in any way to Christ in this world, can escape attack, especially so if we recognise the church. There are many of the Lord's people who do not recognise the church; in fact they hardly know what the word means, for, in current language, the word has lost its primary meaning. Perhaps one true believer out of ten could give, could convey, the scriptural idea of the church; he must therefore consider whether he is walking in the light implied in the word. The word 'church' in Scripture is properly translated 'assembly'. The ordinary word is applied now to religious bodies, or religious buildings. But primarily it is a word applied to Christians referring only to them as people called out of the world, separated from it, and set up in holy unity and fellowship. We have in the epistle to the Corinthians the classifications of persons resident in any town; in the early days there were the Jews; that is to say, those who resorted to the synagogue; and there were the gentiles or Greeks, who resorted to the idol temples; and there were the Christians, who met together and were called the
assembly of God. So you have this in a very simple way, beloved friends, the idea, the divine idea of the church as seen in many towns and cities of the ancient empire of Rome, and it is a word of prophecy.
The voice of the prophets is of great importance as bearing on the saints viewed in this light. They are the objects of attack, and this feature in Isaiah contains both instruction and encouragement to us, as to how the position of the saints as called out, as separated, as set up here, according to the will of God collectively, is defended and protected. So that Isaiah, whose prophecy is more intensive in its bearing than that of any other of the prophets, includes this important event of the attack of Sennacherib upon Jerusalem and Judah in the days of Hezekiah. It is to bring in the prophetic voice, so that it should be heard, and be a comfort and an instruction to us. The prophetic voice is not merely instruction; it is what the word signifies -- "a word from God". The prophet brings God to the conscience, and so the apostle says to the Corinthians, "But if all prophesy, and some unbeliever or simple person come in, he is convicted of all, he is judged of all; the secrets of his heart are manifested; and thus, falling upon his face, he will do homage to God, reporting that God is indeed amongst you", 1 Corinthians 14:24, 25. He came into the Christian assembly. Why did he not go to the synagogue? Why were his feet directed to these people having no ecclesiastical standing, no religious status at all? Why had he come? It is a good question for any person who knows the ministry of the Spirit of God -- why did he come? He came. It is well for you that he did. And he falls down as the prophet ministers the word of prophecy. There is not much moral fibre, beloved friends, if he does not learn to fall down. The Lord Jesus is said by Simon to be set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel. One who falls on that stone may be broken.
It is well to be broken, as Saul of Tarsus was. He fell. He fell to the ground. And so this man fell down, it says. He fell down. There is not much hope for anybody who is merely coming to hear what these people hold. It is a question of a moral state of soul, and if that be there, the prophetic word will bring you down. He falls down, and he acknowledges that God is among you of a truth. It is one thing for us to assume it. There are many who assume the presence of the Lord, the presence of God, as they come together, but then is He there "of a truth", or is it a mere imaginary thing? You remember how the Lord Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem when his parents set out after the feast for their own place. They thought He was with them. I mention what is very simple and has often been repeated and is most practical.
There are many who assume the Lord is with them, but is He with them of a truth? That is to say, is His authority there? How has it authority? -- by the prophetic word that God is there. Then he fell down; that is, you go out smaller than you were when you came in. He fell down, and he acknowledged something. You may often look at the heavens and acknowledge the Creator, and you should, and give thanks for the evidences of creation. God is there, in a certain way, but then you see, beloved friends, that God can be found in a company of christians, that God is among them of a truth. How wonderful to be sure about that! it comes out in the one who falls down; he makes an acknowledgement.
Well, that is the setting of the scripture, and I wanted to come to the idea of root. I have got that in mind in what I have to say -- taking root downward. The first thing is to strike the earth in humility, in self-judgment, and the next thing is to take root, "root downward", it says here, and then "bear fruit
upward". We may not be rooted downward. I may be rooted somewhere else. Scripture makes much of roots. The Lord Jesus is the root really of all that is of God. There is nothing else outside of that. He says in the last chapter of the last book of the Bible, "I am the root and offspring of David" (Revelation 22:16), the root. It is beautiful, the fruit that the Spirit of God so delights in. You take the book of Psalms. What is brought out but fruit for God in those psalms, the outgoing of David's heart Godward, not only in his own Psalms but in the arrangement of others. Well, Christ was the root of all that. A young man came to Saul and said, "I have seen a son of Jesse"; that is David, the most interesting man in the Old Testament. It says: "And one of the young men answered and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skilled in playing, and he is a valiant man and a man of war, and skilled in speech, and of good presence, and Jehovah is with him", 1 Samuel 16:18. Jesse had eight sons. Samuel comes in and sees Eliab, and says, "Surely Jehovah's anointed is before him", 1 Samuel 16:6. No, he was not before Him. That was not the son of Jesse whom this young man saw. "I have seen a son of Jesse", he says. 'He can play well. He is a musician; he has good presence, too; he is a valiant man; and the Lord is with him'. That is the one; that is the one whom the Spirit of God brings before us. The Lord says, "I am the root and offspring of David", Revelation 22:16.
Well, now beloved, I am speaking of this because it is so important to understand "root", the idea of root, and to know what one may have sprung from, to make sure you are of that root. There are other roots, you know. There are roots of bitterness. We are enjoined to be rooted and founded in love"that the Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts, being rooted and founded in love" (Ephesians 3:17);
but the primary root, all that is of God, is Christ, and that implies His divinity. The Lord would challenge His adversaries; it says, "And Jesus answering said as he was teaching in the temple, How do the scribes say that the Christ is son of David? for David himself said speaking in the Holy Spirit, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit on my right hand until I put thine enemies as footstool of thy feet. David himself therefore calls him Lord, and whence is he his son?" (Mark 12:35 - 37). What a question that was! That is the question the Spirit of God is putting all the time. How is it He is Lord? Well, the secret of it is that Christ is a divine Person, and He is representative of all that is of God in this world, and if you have not sprung from that root you are out of the divine realm; you will be lost eternally unless you come on that root.
Well, now I want to show you how this prophetic word fits into our time, and how much the answer by Jehovah to Sennacherib includes the thoughts of Zion and Jerusalem. You might have assumed that if this conqueror Sennacherib is to be met, he must be met by an army equal to his, at least, but the first word is 'daughter', and women are not enlisted ordinarily in a military way. 'A daughter of Zion' -- what a word to all young sisters here! But then it is not merely a matter for sisters. It is a matter of a subjective result of principle. A subjective result is usually represented in women, on the feminine side. It implies that there is subjection, that there is affection, that there is tenderness. There can be no representation of Zion aside from subjection to God. The feminine result is always a company, the outcome of subjection. The principle is presented. Many christians are not accustomed much to the word 'principle', but it is a very fine word. I recall having heard a very remarkable incident recorded of a certain christian who was told, 'These people will
tell you that the Bible is a book of principles'. 'Well', he said, 'that is a wonderful remark. I never heard it before. That is light to my soul; the Bible, a book of principles?' Yes, beloved friends, the Bible is a book of principles, and one of these principles is supplied by the word 'Zion'.
You cannot fit Zion into any human society. It is too big a concept for that. If you were to get all the so-called religious christian churches in the world together on the principle of amalgamation, the thought, the society, could not contain the idea of Zion. It is said there are three to four hundred millions of nominal christians; if they were united in a brotherhood, into a christian church, that would not be great enough for Zion; and yet, beloved friends, you may find the principle enshrined in a very small company of christians.
Now you take Jerusalem here. Rabshakeh asks Hezekiah for so many men; he to furnish the horses, if Hezekiah could man them. "And now engage, I pray thee, with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them", Isaiah 36:8. I have no doubt that the answer would be that he could not man the horses that the Assyrians could supply. In other words, there was but a handful of people in Jerusalem at this time, and Sennacherib's army was one hundred and eighty-five thousand. That many were slain by one angel. But Zion was enshrined in Jerusalem. I am not speaking of the hill, the physical hill at all; it is a moral thought -- what God selected, what God chose. Think of the greatness of God, beloved friends, as you see Him in His creation. You look at the vastness of creation, and God looks around and He chooses something, a very small hill physically, but He says, I chose it.
God chose it. You have to think of the greatness of the Person whose choice it is, and then you will have
some idea of the greatness of the choice. And then the next thing is, that choice is to be enshrined in our hearts. It is enshrined in the heart of every lover of God. The Lord has chosen Zion, we are told.
I have chosen it. I have desired it. "For Jehovah hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his dwelling This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it", Psalm 132:13, 14. Solomon says, "Behold, the heavens, and the heaven of heavens, cannot contain thee", 1 Kings 8:27. But God says, 'I will dwell in Zion. There will I dwell. I have desired it'. He does not dwell in temples made with hands. Put them all together, beloved friends; they are large masses of stone and mortar, wonderful as men speak of them, but they would be no dwelling place for God.
He has not desired such a dwelling as that. "But the Most High dwells not in places made with hands; as says the prophet, The heaven is my throne and the earth the footstool of my feet", Acts 7:48, 49.
Where else could he dwell? Think of stone and mortar for such a God, and yet He dwells in Zion! Here will I dwell, I have desired it. It is enshrined in the hearts of those in Jerusalem, such as Hezekiah, Isaiah and many others.
And so the first word to this great victorious Assyrian is, The virgin-daughter of Zion despiseth thee, laugheth thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem shaketh her head at thee. The daughter of Zion indicates to us a people collectively formed in affection with that divine thought enshrined in their thoughts and hearts, and all the powers of evil cannot overcome that. As the Lord puts it in another way: "Hades' gates shall not prevail against it", Matthew 16:18. There is something there that is unconquerable because that is what the word 'virgin-daughter' means. It is a virgin state, an uncontaminated condition in the people of God, in whose hearts is enshrined the thought of divine dwelling; and so,
beloved, our position is impregnable, if we can only take it in. There is no question here of military array, but it is a subjective side of things expressed in the virgin daughter of Zion. That is the great principle of divine dwelling, divine choice. Think of God, Creator of all things, having in His mind from the past eternity a dwelling in the affections of His people; that is really what is meant. He has chosen it; He desired it. "Here will I dwell". No Assyrian can take any advantage over such.
Now, beloved, what about this principle of God's sovereign selection? What about your heart? Has he the right of way in your heart? When He created the universe, He had the right of way. There was no opposition as far as we know; even if there had been, He would have brushed it aside. But now He desires your heart and mine. He desires them. "Here will I dwell". It is a question of sovereign selection. He would say to you tonight, I have selected your heart for my dwelling. It is the heart of the assembly that presents the full thought; then comes the word to us of the daughter, formed in affection, and tenderness and subjection, and rooted and grounded in love, so that the blessed Lord is there according to the desire of His heart. Could anything be greater? Could there be a greater appeal? Then it speaks of the daughter of Jerusalem; Jerusalem is a great city. There again you have the daughter. There is no question of an army. It is a question of daughters. A daughter of Jerusalem has intelligence in regard to the administration of things, carried on, it may be, by a few christians in an upper room. Such administration is publicly hardly known, but it is cherished and carried on, so that nothing contrary to the will of God is tolerated. You cannot be anywhere else. I warn you not to stay in any society where the will of God is not prevailing. Jerusalem is a city of great activity where the will of God prevails and
where administration is effected. She is formed according to that. That brother is going to a care meeting, a meeting where divine principles are discussed and applied. It is one thing to have principles in your mind, and another thing to apply them and make them effective, to enforce them. That is Jerusalem. A daughter of Jerusalem represents all that, and she defies the Assyrian. She laughs at him so that our position, you see, is a question first of subjection and then of formation in affection.
It is well that we should have a sign, because God is very considerate of us. We have in verse 30
"This shall be the sign unto thee: there shall be eaten this year such as groweth of itself; and in the second year that which springeth of the same: but in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards and eat the fruit thereof". Now this is the sign. It is right that you should look for a sign, but at the same time, the Lord did not cherish it very much, at times anyway. There were those who looked for a sign. He could always give a sign, but He did not always do so. People who look for signs are often not very reliable, but God furnishes the signs at times; He does here. I should not like to be asking the Lord for a sign. He says to the wicked generation: "A sign shall not be given to it but the sign of Jonas" (Luke 11:29), a very solemn matter, but here, the Lord proffers a sign, and what is it? 'Ye shall eat this year'. Well, that is a good thing. You have been hungry for a long time. If you told the truth, there is not much food where you have been. This certainly is a sign that speaks volumes. What shall ye eat this year? Well, it says, "such as groweth of itself". You say, Whatever does that mean -- "Such as groweth of itself"? Well, that is the first of Genesis. It is to bring us back, you see, to God, so that if you get any light in your soul you go back to the beginning of things and see how things
happen. The earth came up out of the waters and it was to cause grass to spring up. Herbs and grass were to grow up out of the earth. It is a question of the power of God. Are you conversant with that? I see the grass coming up, as the sun begins to shine in March, April and May, and the flowers come out, and the earth is beautified. That light, where did it all come from? It came from God. It is not a question now of what man was, but what comes up out of the earth, that the earth is fertile. It is a work of God and it furnishes food for you. I do not know where you would be, but if you have not been where Zion is cherished, where Jerusalem is maintained, where there is room for the Spirit of God, you will be in Lodebar. That was where Mephibosheth was before he was brought to the table of David. You will be in Lodebar, the place of no pasture. It does not say that Mephibosheth was like the prodigal, that he sought to eat of the things of the swine. No, he was a lover of David and he found a place at David's table, but he had known what the place of no pasture was. Now you see, this is the sign. "There shall be eaten this year such as groweth of itself; and in the second year that which springeth of the same"; that is to say, what groweth of itself, has also a yield. It is a cumulative idea. You will always find that where God is working. One thing leads to another; one thing produces another. There is an energy of life here and it seems to be of God.
There is growth on growth, and I can eat. That is a sign, a very important sign. Well now, the next and third year is in planting, because you are getting it in your soul. You become intelligent. You get no planting until the second chapter of Genesis, and it was God that did it. God gives the lead in planting, and so Paul said he planted, and so should we begin to plant. The idea of planting is that you select Row; you make a selection of seed. You do not let
your garden grow anything that may come up out of the ground. You may seek to raise a crop of potatoes, if you allow me to be simple, a crop of carrots, and a crop of cabbage, whatever it is that you need. You have intelligence; you know your needs. The saints begin to acquire intelligence in the third year as to what should be done. When God revived the truth a hundred years ago, there was a great deal of this first year and second year growth, but the third year growth is the result to the planting. They began to present the truth to the world and God gave increase; that is to say, the seed is put down, and the desired result of the sowing is God-given. God gives it a body as it tells you. We never shut God out, but He loves to see skill in His work. How God loved to see Paul planting! How he planted at Corinth, but he would clear the ground for those worldlings, and as they were converted, so the word of God could work effectively in them that there should be a proper crop, and then Apollos watered. There is skill in the watering, too. He would not give too much water; then it says, "God gave the increase". That was the third year. The very heart is appealed to in the idea of planting in the third year, for it says, "sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards and eat the fruit thereof". Now a garden is for a special purpose. You will remember how Ahab wanted the garden of Naboth, the Jizreelite. He said he wanted it. It was near to his house. "And Ahab spoke to Naboth saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, for it is near, by the side of my house", 1 Kings 21:2. Well, that is the idea. He was going to plant something, but then, as I said, God planted a garden eastward in Eden. Would that one could get the idea of divine workmanship that it is special! In Genesis 1 some great feature of the creation came to being, but in chapter 2 it is a specialty. Man is a specialty in chapter 2; he fits
in with what is in chapter 1, and Eve is a specialty, and the garden is a specialty. Eden was like a great big farm and the garden was a specialty, and Adam was set over it to dress it and keep it. Well, now you see, that is the idea here. In the third year we become specialists, so to speak, and we have desires and designs according to God, to get a certain result, and hence we plant a certain seed and it produces fruit to God. You would not wish anything else. The very seed that I put down, I have a little idea of it, but God has a much greater idea of it. God understands the words I am speaking tonight better than I do, and He gives the result Himself, as it takes form in your heart.
It goes on in verse 31 to speak of the remnant "And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward; for out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they that escape the zeal of Jehovah of hosts shall do this". Now you see, we become the remnant. We are in remnant days. Isaiah makes a great deal of the remnant, and it comes in here in the most striking manner that in the planting of the third year, that remnant is a specialty. It is a beautiful thing. It is just like the original. It is the same thing in spite of the most awful declension and therefore it is a wonderful product of the faithfulness of God. That is what a remnant is, and so it says it takes root downward. You will never be anything if you do not take root downward; you will never be anything in the testimony. If it is merely a question of the head and intelligence, that will pass away. You want to get at the root and then to bear fruit upward, and then as I just read, "For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they that escape". Now you see the moving. I have no doubt that this remnant in the future will be clothed with all the
thoughts of God as regards Israel as revived. He will clothe it with all His thoughts. God develops in this remnant greater things than Solomon's kingdom, and so it is with ourselves. The latter glory of the house is said to be greater than the former. We are going into the greatest possible things. There is continuity in the movement. So God would have us to be intelligent, beloved friends, that we may understand these principles, and how they form us and how we are displayed in the remnant and are then clothed with all divine thoughts in relation to Christ. Israel is restored in Christ. In chapter 60 we have: "Arise, shine! for thy light is come, and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee". That very same word is applied to christians in the epistle to the Ephesians: "Wake up, thou that sleepest, and arise up from among the dead, and the Christ shall shine upon thee", Ephesians 5:14.
John 1:38 - 42; John 4:28 - 30; John 11:19 - 35
These scriptures, dear brethren, are as well known perhaps as any, and better than most. They are very familiar among the saints, but they wear wonderfully well and yield always, and what I desire to deduce from them in this service, is the idea of influence. It is an idea that is prominent in John's gospel, and one which is of immense importance, both physically and spiritually. It is one of the leading principles of the physical universe, and it is well always to remember in regard of the things that are made, that in them the invisible things of God are clearly seen or apprehended by the mind, and so they become instructive, immensely so. They were always intended to be instructive, but those of us who know God in redemption, and who have the Spirit, understand them best. They were intended from the outset to be a lesson book, a witness indeed, so that the psalmist from whom we get the most intelligent touches in the Old Testament alludes to this, referring especially to the heavens, saying that they "declare the glory of God" (Psalm 19:1), a strong thought -- they "declare", similar to John 1:18, in which we read that "The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him". The idea is that God is brought out to us, brought within the range of our intelligence. Some think that what has happened is that the veil has been drawn aside, and the creature looks in to whatever existed in the Deity, which would make the creature equal, we might say equal to God, as if he could look at God in His infinite essence and relations; the very verse I have cited says explicitly that no one has seen Him at any time. It is not that no one had
seen Him, but no one has seen Him; and John wrote that verse long after the Lord Jesus was here and had gone back into heaven. No one has seen Him at any time. Then he adds, "The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him"; the idea is that He is brought out so that He is to be apprehended by men, and even by angels, for it is said of them that the incarnation enabled them to see God, "seen of angels", as if it were only then they saw God; they are creatures.
Well now, I only touch on that because of the word "declare", the idea of declaration in the heavens. They "declare the glory of God", a very great fact. We look at them constantly. They "declare the glory of God; and the expanse sheweth the work of his hands. Day unto day uttereth speech". It is not casual. The word "uttereth" is a strong word. It is the idea of something gushing out, indicating the fulness and testimony in the heavenly bodies. "And night unto night sheweth knowledge". That is another strong word. The thing is shown. It is there to be read by anyone who has eyes to see. And then the psalmist adds, "In them hath he set a tent for the sun, And he is as a bridegroom going forth from his chamber; he rejoiceth as a strong man to run the race", a beautiful figure of Christ. But there it is in the Psalms all these centuries, thousands of years; there He is day after day, a beautiful figure, bringing in what is most interesting about man, a bridegroom or a bride, "He is as a bridegroom going forth from his chamber". How much we can read into that, dear friends, as to Christ! Then there is the strength, the energy: "He rejoiceth as a strong man to run the race. His going forth is from the end of the heavens, and his circuit unto the ends of it; and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof". There is that which is to be seen and that which is to be felt in the testimony of God. And then we have the
further thought: "There is no speech, and there are no words", that is to say, what we call language. There is a language, "uttereth speech", but there are no ordinary words in it. And yet the psalmist says, "Their voice is heard"; so someone hears it, this powerful influence that is set in the heavens as a witness for God. Then on the other hand we have the idea of influence on earth, in rivers, oceans, seas, lakes and mountains; all are influential, trees, forests, but particularly rivers, because of their motion. They become peculiarly suggestive of the presence of the Holy Spirit. So we have right throughout the Scripture, the idea of a great influence for good in rivers, and what is the most suggestive and interesting of all is that one of them, a river, went out of Eden, and went out for an express purpose. It was not a mere accident; it was to water the garden. From this it is parted, we are told, into four heads or main streams, and then the names are given. Of one of them it is said that it surrounds a good land, "And the gold of that land is good". Is that a mere accident that that should be mentioned? No! It is spiritual, it is the flow, and the action of this great influence on earth that brings the gold to light. We often wonder why it is that Asia has not yielded so much for God; Africa has not yielded so much for God. These countries will yield for God, but for the moment it is the West, and God has directed the course of the stream with the utmost intelligence and precision, so that "The gold of that land is good". What He needs for the assembly, the mighty movements of the Spirit through ministry, the river of God's grace, as Paul says, "From Jerusalem", not towards China; there is nothing much to indicate that there was anything in that direction; but "from Jerusalem ... round to Illyricum", that is to say, from Jerusalem through Asia Minor, Macedonia, Greece and the
countries now called Austria and Hungary, to the Adriatic, he says, I "have fully preached the glad tidings of the Christ". "The gold of that land is good"; wonderful results were brought out for Go. The bdellium was there too. The Spirit of God says 'What fragrance for God!' God knows where to work. The whole field is there; Christ has bought the field, and He knows the part of it to work. He will take up another part later. We cannot assume that any part of the field is useless; God will work it. But the four rivers, the four heads, the influence in them brings out what is there. There is only one mentioned in that respect; what the other three mean will doubtless come into evidence, but in the meanwhile, "The gold of that land is good". We want to be there, dear brethren. There is gold and gold. It will be remembered that David, in supplying for the house, furnished a hundred thousand talents of gold without saying what quality it was; it was gold and would be useful today for the nations. A very large sum, but he says later, in his affection he had provided other gold, the best kind of gold (1 Chronicles 29:3, 4). In his affliction he had provided, he says, a hundred thousand talents of gold (1 Chronicles 22:14), in his affliction through his suffering; but in his affection for the house he provided what is specially refined. It is an important matter, because the principal of refinement enters into the assembly peculiarly, and so we are enjoined to "approve the things that are more excellent" (Philippians 1:10); excellent things are to be shown, but it is the "more excellent" that enter into the assembly.
Well now, having said all that, I want to show the simple evidence of it in John's gospel, and I may say here that I and others have often remarked that John is astronomical in his forms of expression; not that he deals exactly with heavenly bodies as bodies, but as he speaks of Christ it is not a question with
him whether Christ is in heaven or on earth. He is the same Christ, He is the same Person. On earth, He says, "I am". If He had said that a million years before, what would He say today? It would be the same, "I am". He is the same Person and He has the same mighty attraction on earth that He had in heaven, and I wanted to show from the first passage how that attractiveness of Christ is seen, because it is the initial idea. He has been standing in the earlier part of the chapter. John says, "In the midst of you stands, whom ye do not know", referring to Jesus before He entered on His service. He says, "He ... is preferred before me, for he was before me", John 1:15. Were human appraisements applied, they certainly would have appreciated John as of more value than Jesus at that time, for Jesus had done nothing and John had done much, but John says, "He ... is preferred before me". He sets forth the great fact without saying who preferred Him. What is the secret? "He was before me". John makes much of the Person, and so he begins with the well-known fundamental statement, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God", John 1:1. So that there is no mistake as to the Person that is before him. And John says, "He was before me", "He ... is preferred before me", meaning that someone liked Him better than John. I hope we all do, great and blessed as John was, and great as was the Lord's own tribute to him -- 'The greatest born of women'. I need not remark, dear brethren, who the Person was: "The Father loveth the Son". Jesus was the Person. The names He had or name, if He had any, is another matter, but the Person remains unchanged and unchangeable; the clear testimony is that He was liked better than John the baptist, even before He began to serve; and I hope He is liked better by
every one of us here, better than any man that ever walked this earth. "He ... is preferred before me", John says. And then Jesus comes into view. John sees the Holy Spirit coming down and resting upon Him, and he says, "I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God". You are told here, as John the evangelist said earlier, "We have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father"; that is what they saw. They saw that through His becoming flesh, "the Word became flesh". No one, no creature, could see It before. We can see It as Man. No one has seen God, and He was in the form of God before; now He is in the form of man, and He is seen as the only-begotten with the Father. Let us not intrude in the things we have not seen, dear brethren, and say that we can see that that is what has existed. It is the Man they saw, the Person unchanged, unchangeable, but now within their range, so that they can see Him. Let us rest in this. It is wonderful to my mind. "We have contemplated his glory". Does Scripture ever say that anyone ever contemplated Him in His relation with the Father before? No, Scripture does not say it, and anyone that says it is going beyond Scripture. But now John is standing, having seen the Spirit coming down and abiding on Him. Having seen this, John testifies to it, and now he stands, and Jesus is moving, the most delightful movement ever seen under heaven or in heaven. And John says, "Behold the Lamb of God", and the two disciples that heard him speak followed Jesus. There was the attraction. He was moving. Was not the freshness and vigour and strength of the strong man coming forth from his chamber as a bridegroom seen there? Yes, it was seen there in those movements. They were attractive to John the baptist, and the Person became attractive to the two disciples, so that they followed. Well now, that is what I have in mind in that passage.
They followed, and Jesus saw them following; that is the point; I am moving as attracted. When He saw them following, He says, "What seek ye?" and they say, "Rabbi" (which is to say, Teacher). They need to be taught. They felt that, as we all ought to do. We need to be taught in these great things from the beginning, so that they say, "Rabbi ... . where abidest thou?" Andrew comes under the influence of the Lord and he goes and seeks his brother; that is, he moves under influence. That is what makes the evangelist. The evangelist really moves under influence, and that gives him power.
These same remarks apply to the passage in John 4. The woman is also, as I said, in a well-known passage, but she had been listening to Christ, and she leaves her waterpot. She had brought it out to fill it with water, but she leaves it; she understood the Lord had been talking to her about water in herself, that is the idea of a spring. "The water which I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up". Well, she grasped the thought, and I want you to grasp it, dear brethren, because if we do not we shall not be influential. Proverbs urges us to drink water from our own cisterns, to be independent of men. John 4 makes us independent of all the religious systems around us; there is deliverance. I may go with my can and fill it, but that does not affect me. I am the vessel myself. I carry with me a fountain of living water, which makes me independent. That is what I call deliverance from the religious systems around that man has instituted. She caught the thought, and left the material waterpot, and went her way to the city and said, "Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done, is not he the Christ?" and they came to Jesus.
She influenced them. Sometimes we hear of sisters coming to our meeting, and sometimes one feels for them, because they cannot answer the brothers in the
meeting, but it is well to bring forward what Scripture says about what is available to sisters. Now, here is a remarkable illustration of what one person may be as an influence, not as a preacher; there is no idea of gift or ability in the woman to preach, but she has influence on others. Of course she spoke. It was not a question of preaching or teaching, but of saying certain things that were true, and this particular woman stated facts, which means that she was different from what she was. I cannot influence people for good if I am just natural, if I am just what I always was. Many of us are that. We do not change our character because we have come into fellowship. If I continue what I always was, I do not influence people for good. But there was a change in this woman, a manifest change, and that was the secret of her power. She went to the men and they were affected for good; they were affected towards Jesus, that is the principle. All the lesser bodies point to the sun; that is the principle; they guide in that way. They that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars (Daniel 12:3), that is the idea: "turn many to righteousness". If I turn a person to righteousness, I turn him towards Jesus, like a star. Well now, I pass on to chapter 11, which was what I had principally before me; it is a most interesting passage, and illustrates better than any I know of, what I am speaking of, and again it is a question of a sister or two sisters, showing what sisters can be, and brothers, of course, or believers. What is so striking about this particular passage of Scripture is that Lazarus, as we have remarked, is never said to have said anything to anybody, and yet he is the one on account of whom many believed on Jesus. You see the influence of the man, the effect of the presence of such a man in the community; that is the idea. On account of him, many believed on Jesus. Not on account of a word that he ever taught or spoke, it is
the man or the person, what he was. Well now, you see this in these two women. The Lord comes, we are told. The chapter is full of interest from the beginning, every word is full of interest. The most touching thing is that Lazarus is always on the horizon throughout this section, he is always on the Lord's horizon. So, the first time He came -- Lazarus; the second time He came where Lazarus was. He is always on the horizon. He is a wonderful character in Scripture, a risen man, a man who had been dead but who had been raised, the Lord has him in His mind. It says, "Many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother". But Jesus had come after Lazarus had been in the grave four days already (verse 17). We are told that the distance from Jerusalem to Bethany is fifteen furlongs. "Many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother". Now, I want you to notice, dear brethren, that these Jews are important at this time. It is because of them that t am enabled to bring this subject into the chapter. They had come to comfort Mary and Martha. It goes on to say, "Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him: but Mary sat still in the house". Now, what I want to point out, dear brethren, is they come to comfort Mary and Martha both, but when Martha moved, nobody moved with her, she goes alone. Now, some of us complain that we are left alone, perhaps not visited, and why is it? When Mary moves, the Jews move, she does not go alone. Now, there is some reason for this. The reason is obvious, that Mary was spiritual, she was more spiritual than Martha, she had more influence than Martha, and that is the point. So that you see, beloved, it is not a question of the number of persons in a meeting, it is a question of influence.
What power is there in the meeting? It is not that anyone in the meeting, if he or she is a true believer,
is not taken account of. The Lord takes account of the smallest item of the work of God. He must do that. John speaks of Nicodemus, he is the only one that does, and in this very chapter he records that Thomas said, "Let us also go". There is not much in Thomas' favour, but John does not leave anything out. He omits nothing. So that I speak thus for the comfort of everybody, that whatever my stature spiritually is, the Lord takes account of it. Even if there be only a seed in me, He takes account of it. These Jews, I have said, began to move, but then He takes account of the spiritual, and nobody will mistake that they are influential, because that is the point, you see. What influence can I exert as a spiritual brother? As a river, what influence is it exerting? And John brings in that side. He brings in the fountain, and he brings in rivers. In chapter 7 he has that in mind.
Well now, here Martha moves, and what has she got to say? "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died", that is to say, she believed the Lord could keep her brother alive, which is always something, and moreover she believed that if He asked of God, God would do anything He asked. That was about the extent of Martha's knowledge of Jesus, that He could have kept her brother alive, and that God would do anything He asked Him. That was her intelligent apprehension of Jesus. It was not very much, you say, but it was something, maybe as much as most of us, because you know what we say about Jesus has been said before. It was not so with her. There was not a scripture written for Martha to read except the Old Testament, yet she spoke, so that what she knew about Jesus was what she gathered up, and that is really all that matters. Is she capable of more? She is ready to learn. Would to God that all our sisters would listen more and learn. Jesus says, "Every one who lives and
believes on me shall never die". Think of that! He says, "I am the resurrection", not 'I will be', but "I am the resurrection and the life: he that believes on me ... shall live". Is Martha capable of taking that in? Yes, she is. Oh, beloved brethren, let us become teachable! That is the great point with John. The first Pharisees call Him a teacher, showing that that is the point, that we might be instructed spiritually. She is capable of instruction. She has not stopped growing. Martha is not going to be a stinted believer. She was a very quarrelsome sort of person, but she is going to be changed, she is going to be formed. The next chapter shows that she is changed. Yes, she says, "I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, who should come into the world". What a flood of light came into her soul! Were we there, we would see her countenance change. She never had such a flood of light, not that she had not come into contact with Jesus, but now she is ready for more light, and God gives it to her. "Lord; I believe thou art the Christ, the Son of God, who should come into the world". She said no more. She left Him and went off to her sister. It is a very beautiful touch. She called her sister secretly, not to say, 'The Lord has met me, and I know more than you do'. No, that is not the idea at all, it is a question of the sister and the influence. "The teacher is come and calls thee". She makes nothing of herself. Were she thinking of herself, she would stay there and have the glory of meeting the Lord first, and being with the Lord all the time; but she goes for her sister. That is very beautiful. We must think of our sisters. We do not want to leave our sisters behind. Bring our sisters along. If I have got a bit of light, I never conserve it; I may say frankly, I give it to the brethren. You can get more if you do, because the resources are infinite. She got light and she was affected by it, and she wanted to bring her
sister into it. It does not say the Lord told her to do it -- "The teacher is come and calls thee". What a mission from one sister to another! John is full of this. The greatest message that ever was carried, was carried by Mary Magdalene to the brethren. It was just carried. She did not teach or preach; just told the brethren she had seen the Lord, and He had said these things to her. And so Mary rose up at once; she had sat still in the house, but the Lord did not go there. Sometimes we assume to be spiritual, and the Lord does not respect us. He does not seem to respect her; He did not go there. Martha would move without a call. The Lord says virtually, 'I am not going from here'. He respects Martha. Mary has to come to that spot. Well, that is wholesome for Mary. She has to come to the spot where Martha met the Lord, she will never forget that. I think that is the meeting ground publicly. The meeting ground publicly is not a question of the most spiritual person. The least in the assembly is recognised from the public standpoint. When it is a question of approach to God, then spirituality will tell, priestly power will tell, but the apostle says, "Is there not a wise person among you?" if it be to settle matters. So that in the public body, the least in the assembly is not set aside. Every brother ought to be at the care meeting, for instance, because everyone is to tell in the public body, and that is the ground of John 11. The Lord stayed where Martha met Him; that is the position, and the most spiritual comes there; then we soon see the difference. We need not flatter ourselves if we are not spiritual, if we are simple, and we do not understand what is said, but you see Martha did not say that. She believed that Jesus is the Son of God. She is ready for the greatest thing, and while the Lord takes account of the smallest measure, He honours the great measure, so that when Mary moves, the Jews move with her.
Now you see there is a difference. Anyone can see the difference between the two sisters publicly. Martha has no followers; nobody moves as she moves; but as Mary moves, the Jews move, and what the most remarkable thing of all is, when the Lord saw Mary weeping, and the Jews weeping, He wept. Would you believe it that He was actually influenced by what He saw? The Lord puts Himself in that position, in the position of a servant, and He takes account of what happens, whilst knowing all things divinely. He is here in perfect humanity. Mary wept and the Jews wept. He groans. It is when He saw these things, not before. He did not weep or groan when He saw Martha, but when He saw Mary weeping and the Jews weeping, He groaned; that is Jesus. He is capable of being affected, dear brethren, by what He sees in us, by great spiritual ability. He is touched by it: "Jesus wept". That is the most remarkable statement in Scripture, and it is the outcome of what I am speaking, of the movement of a spiritual sister. It does not say the Jews were believers; the point is they were influenced by Mary. The Lord takes account of any person I influence. If we are moved to come to this meeting, the Lord takes account of that. It touches Him. It is the reflection of Himself. He influences and I influence, because I am under His influence. The influence spreads. If you have come here tonight under influence, it is the spread of influence, and that is what makes meetings effective, the spread of influence. So that, as I said, when He saw her weeping, and the Jews weeping, He groaned in spirit, and Jesus wept.
Well, that is all, dear brethren. There is much more to be said on the effect of the influence the Lord would bring about in us. If we have His influence, we influence others, and that is how the work of God proceeds.
Exodus 16:1 - 36
J.T. This section is very interesting for young Christians. God does not disguise from us as young Christians that it is wilderness. We have the wilderness in chapter 15:22, and then several times here, the wilderness of Sin. And then the manna was on it. It is God, I think, reminding us at the outset, that He knows that it is wilderness, and even although we may murmur, He will not discipline us because of it immediately. They murmured every moment. They murmured in the wilderness of Shur at Marah. And when they were led into the wilderness of Sin they murmured again. In the next chapter they are led to move again to Rephidim, and they murmured.
R.S. Still the Lord did not give them up.
J.T. No, nor would He even discipline them there yet. It is to remind us that He is very patient with us at the very beginning.
R.S. What would be the idea of leaving Elim and the seventy palm trees and twelve springs of water and going into the wilderness? There was perfect provision there for them. Would that be the test?
J.T. That is the idea. The wilderness is the place of testing, so that it was one movement to another. Numbers 33 tells us the number of movements. God writes them down after they are all over, showing how interested He is in every movement; He is taking notice of it. It is a question of how we take it. When God moves, it is a question of how we take it, whether we murmur, or if we take it and see His love in it. There is something in it for us, if we submit to it.
H.H. Do you think that there is the tendency to get settled down when we get the twelve springs of
water and seventy palm trees? Very nice provision, but then that is not God's objective, is it?
J.T. It is one of the encampments. There are a great many encampments and each one has some phase of the character of God to be learned. It is important, therefore, to be subject. God may move suddenly, He may order a sudden movement, and if we are not ready we are sure to murmur. Some phase of the truth may be called attention to, and we are not ready for it. If we had been walking with God, we would be ready. We have in Malachi that the Lord will suddenly come to His temple, and we do not want to be taken by surprise.
H.H. So that all our wilderness circumstances call forth constant exercises and preparation for movement and adjustment.
J.T. That is the idea of it. That is the point in the wilderness. It is God showing at the end that He takes account of every movement. It is His love, taking account of every movement. So God takes account of what we might have thought a very commonplace thing. So that you have in the Canticles the idea of the footsteps of the flock. That shows they are moving. They were stationary, of course; they delayed. In some encampments they were a long time, but the general thought is movement. They were all taught that the furniture of the tabernacle was not to be permanently resting in the wilderness. It was to be carried. Notice here, they came into the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, two remarkable positions: the one where God provides refreshment, and the other where He opens up His mind. The encampment at Sinai was a great one, there God opened up His mind. It was the mountain of Jehovah, although in the wilderness; it was God's mountain, that is, Horeb, therefore a wonderful place of learning. But their position here was between the two. They had not as yet come to
Sinai. We get the position at Sinai later. It says in chapter 19, "The same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai" (verse 1). That is an important point, but here they are between Elim and Sinai. It is an intermediate position, between two very important ones; how are we going to behave in it?
F.C. Is that why the Spirit of God records the time -- the fifteenth day of the second month?
J.T. Well, I think it is just as we have been saying, that it is His love taking notice of the movement and the actual time of it. So that not only our names, but our very movements, day by day, are all written in His book. If we kept a diary, we could not do it any better. Very often there enters into diaries the big "I". Self always enters into diaries, but when God is keeping the diary, it is His love. What happened on this day? Job cursed his day. Think of a man cursing his day, when you think of all that God could be to you on that day. Every day marks something in God's calendar. His calendar is full of precious records; records of His work of grace towards us, operations in us, that the divine nature may be in us. So that we do not want to curse any day, or think any day worse than any other. If it is not better for me, it is better for somebody else. Every day is better. God is operating in a wide field.
H.H. Is it from this point, between Elim and Sinai, that all the grace and love and care of God comes out towards them, in spite of their murmurings and breakdowns? He does not raise a question with them, does He?
J.T. No, it is the children's period. I mean, not the period in the sense of being dwarfed, but as they begin. He alludes to it in Hosea -- "When Israel was a child, then I loved him", Hosea 11:1. This is the time of childhood, when the children are always attractive. "I it was that taught Ephraim to walk, --
He took them upon his arms, -- but they knew not that I healed them. I drew them with bands of a man, with cords of love; and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I gently caused them to eat", Hosea 11:3, 4. I think that is this chapter. There is gentleness, there is nothing harsh. "I caused them to eat". They ate flesh in the evening and bread in the morning.
H.H. He never forgets the first movements of love towards Him.
J.T. No, that is the point, I think. He does not forget. So, as we were saying, even although we do not read His diary, so to speak, He reads it. He goes over the ground. It is the working out of His own nature in us. We have here the mediatorial service of both Moses and Aaron. We shall come to that in the middle of the chapter, where Aaron speaks to them. They look towards the wilderness. That is the voice of a man. They know Aaron's voice; Moses does not speak. They were going back into Egypt, but Aaron spoke to them and then they looked towards the wilderness. That is, we will accept God's mind. That is the bands of a man typically, the sympathies of Christ, the voice of Christ, that diverts us towards the wilderness, from going back into the world.
A.G. It is a good thing to be in line with the mind of God for the moment. If that is not so, we begin to murmur at any move following fresh light.
J.T. Exactly, that is what you get here.
J.S. So your thought is, that as the people take their journeyings up to Elim and then to Sinai, with all the grace that God has upon His people, this should be the way of instructing them and teaching them, that they might answer to His mind in Sinai.
J.T. That is right. They become accustomed to His grace, and in chapter 19 He proposes, 'Will you enter into a covenant with Me' -- with such a God
the God thou hast found. That is chapter 19, the relation when God would betroth them to Himself in love. In the meantime they were learning Him in grace. "I have ... brought you to myself".
R.S. You would say it would have a very sobering effect upon us if we took account of the fact that God was to keep in His diary every action we do, every word we speak, every movement we make? He is taking account of it all, in the way of education.
J.T. Quite. Then He later records these in the prophets and in the Psalms; you have the indication of how God goes back over the ground. Think of Him teaching them of His nature, gently causing them to eat; there is no harshness. They are not forced here as in Numbers. There is discipline in this connection, but not here; there is no discipline here.
H.H. Would this food build up the constitution in view of the wilderness exercises?
J.T. Well, I thought that; and God begins to deal with us on the principle of measure, that although we are in the younger stage here, He has got His own mind. There is only one measure for every person. The children are not taken account of as such, they get the same amount as a man. That is the mind of God for us. Children do not want to remain children; you will notice how a child wants to reckon up his years. Well, God says, if you want to be a man, that is My mind for you, "That we may be no longer babes", Ephesians 4:14. The measure is an omer. The measure for Moses is the same as for the child; the same measure laid up before the testimony. It is the mind of God, showing that He has got great thoughts about us. We are not going to be babes, we are going to be men, and great men, no less than Christ, because He is before the testimony.
H.H. I was just thinking that all His thoughts for us were set out in Christ for us in that way.
Nothing short of what is in the mind of God is set out in Christ.
J.T. Yes. He has got no less a thought for us or any young brother or sister here. God says, if you want to be a man, that is My mind for you, and too, I am going to feed you; you are going to have an omer every day, an omer for a person, even though that person is a month old. That is His mind.
W.C. There would be no growth by the flesh-pots of Egypt. He says, "I ... caused them to eat". Here, they wanted to go back to the flesh-pots of Egypt.
J.T. Quite. God had better food for them than that. That is what the flesh lives on. It will never develop a man according to God. The world dishes up varied things, strong smelling, tasty things; theatres and things like that. That is not going to make a man of us according to God.
J.S. God believes in giving in abundance. It is the abundance of His grace towards His people, in order that their hearts might be attracted to Himself. Manna was raining down from heaven. I suppose as we eat manna, we become like heaven.
J.T. Yes, that is the idea. Raining denotes abundance, and yet it all went away if you did not get it in the morning; there is nothing afterwards. If you gather a ton of it, you will only have an omer after you are finished. "He that gathered much had nothing over". That is the idea of it. It is a mysterious thing. No matter how much you gather, you have nothing over, and you gather only what you eat. You cannot have Christ in that sense and lay Him up on your bookshelf.
G.T. Would one appropriate more than another?
G.T. They gathered every man according to the measure of his eating.
J.T. Yes, that would be his house, but an omer
for a person. As was said in chapter 12, the head of the house would gather, but if he gathered much, he had nothing over.
P.M. So that your measure is according as you feed on Christ.
J.T. That is your measure. You know you have not anything more than what you eat.
H.H. It is interesting that you gather in the morning. Do you think there is a principle underlying that?
J.T. I think there is. It is a question of the clearness of your mind, I mean spiritually. You get this food when you are at your best, you know, not when you are fagged out with your daily toil. It is before you enter on your daily toil. That is when you will take in Christ, in the clearness of your mind and affections.
H.H. It is because we are tested, are we not, all through the day? I have often thought we are governed by how we take up the commencement of the day. If it is a gathering of the manna, feeding upon Christ in that way, and desiring to come out in His features, we must start that way. It is no use starting it overnight.
J.T. No. It is a remarkable kind of lesson. It is intensely spiritual. When we begin really to get spiritual understanding, then we come to God as a God of measure. He has definite thoughts about us. Because He is a God of measure, His counsels are all on that principle. So that this chapter teaches us that if we have to do with God, He causes us to eat gently, but He has His own thoughts, His own lessons, and He is going to bring me to that.
G.T. What is indicated by the breeding of worms if it was left over?
J.T. It is just the efforts of will and disregarding the mind of God. It is corruption. "For he that sows to his own flesh, shall reap corruption", Galatians 6:8.
When they gathered it on the sixth day it did not. It is a question of the will of God.
J.S. As we feed upon the manna, how does it affect us?
J.T. Well, I think it is to do the will of God; it is that kind of food. It is a question of the will displaced. There are three great features of food: the passover, the manna and the old corn. These are the three great features for the people. In addition to that there is the shewbread for the priests, but the manna for the wilderness. It falls in the morning after the passover; that shows it is only for the wilderness. It applies to that phase of my position. The passover is a question of my getting out of the world. It does not finish; we have it in the wilderness, too. It is the sufferings of Christ, the unmitigated sufferings of Christ. There is no suffering in the manna. It is Christ here where I am, a Man in the flesh in His everyday life. We forget that He had an everyday life. If there was something to be built, the Lord would do it, the One who serves, though He was in the middle of the twelve, He would do anything that might have to be done. He did not speak as a sacerdotal kind of person, He did the thing.
R.S. He never moved outside the will of God. He was a perfect Man in that way. So I suppose if we begin to feed on the perfect Man in the morning, it has an effect upon us, and gives us the impression that we cannot do what we like. If we feed on Him, we will be like Him.
J.T. Quite so. What would you see if you were living in Capernaum next door to the Lord? It says He was living in Capernaum; I do not know whether it was in a hired house or not, but it says He dwelt there. That is the way to get the spiritual thought; what would you see in the morning? You would note what He did too. He might go for water. We
must get into our minds a real Man down here, in everyday circumstances. He was wearied at one time. So that if you saw Him in Capernaum, how would He act? I heard of a servant of the Lord who got up and read his Bible very early in the morning. A maid in the house opposite noticed him at the window; she got up early, too. It led to her conversion.
W.M. That was good. I was thinking, that in learning of Christ in the morning, Christ once humbled here, we would be something like Him, moving on through the day.
J.T. That is the idea. How would He do things? We learn by the Spirit, because the Spirit brings to the remembrance. Christ was here as Man. They were acquainted with His mother Mary. John took her to his own home, and think of the treasure he had in his home! Think how much she could tell about Jesus! What Mary had belonged to the assembly. What treasure there was in the knowledge she had of Jesus!
A.G. Is that the home he took her to?
J.T. Oh no, it was his own home. I think he had a home of his own. Scripture is very simple. Peter had a wife, Scripture tells us. "The Son of Man has come eating and drinking", Matthew 11:19; Jesus was found in figure as a Man; He was as an ordinary man. It is not anything spectacular; He was found as a man, just a man, that is the wonderful thing to get at, the life of Jesus.
H.H. His disciples were not always together with Him, because there is a point when Jesus went to the mount of Olives, and the disciples went to their own homes.
J.T. The first disciple's home He came into is characteristic. Mark tells us it was the house of Simon and Andrew. Simon was married, and his
wife's mother was in the house. That is to say, there were two brothers and one was married, and his mother-in-law was living with them. That was the situation in that house. It was a difficult situation, but the Lord entered into that house and put it right. The houses must be right if the service is to go on.
J.S. And as we are feeding upon the manna so gathered, just as you were saying, speaking about the Lord Jesus, every day we see something fresh in His movements. Every day there is something more attractive about that Person. So, as we feed upon the manna, those features of Christ will be seen in every one of us expressly.
J.T. And that is the reason that the Lord's mother has such a place, because she was so conversant with His ordinary movements. She "kept all these things in her heart". Just as Jacob of old kept the saying of Joseph; perhaps he did not understand it, but he kept it.
F.C. What is the import of eating flesh in the evening?
J.T. Well, it may be a sort of general allusion to the wilderness position. The flesh in the evening would be perhaps the death of Christ. We take it as a sort of figure. The bread in the morning would be what we have every day. In building up a constitution there is a penalty attached to the flesh; it comes in here.
A.G. One would prepare for the other, would it, as one would appropriate the death of Christ?
J.T. Well, yes, if you say it in that way, I think so.
J.S. Would you just tell us how the eating of the flesh in the evening and the bread in the morning would affect us? How would it work out?
J.T. Well, it would remind us of the passover; they had the passover that way, in the evening. They would understand something of that. The
passover had its place in the wilderness, but I think the lesson learned would point to our appropriation of Christ in His death; the manna is that which sustains us in the wilderness.
A.G. What is the idea of the dew? The dew fell first, before the manna.
J.T. Well, I think it is the influence of grace upon your spirit, preparing us for this great thing. We would not value it otherwise. Those who do not appreciate grace, do not value the life of Jesus. This section is full of the influence of grace.
A.G. One brother has said that if you waken up in the morning and your first thoughts are about the Lord, it is evident that the Lord has been watering you with the dew. Is that right?
J.T. Yes, that is right. It is the effect of grace, something that comes down without any action on your part.
G.T. I suppose we must know Him as a living Man, where He is with the heavenly grace, before we can appropriate Him here.
J.T. Quite so. John says, "grace and truth subsists through Jesus Christ", John 1:17. It is the volume. "Of his fulness we all have received, and grace upon grace" (verse 16). One wave after another comes into your soul, and I believe it is that that prepares for the manna in your soul.
J.S. It only fell on the camp. Does that suggest divine territory?
J.T. What does it say? "In the morning the dew lay round the camp. And when the dew that lay round it was gone up, behold, on the face of the wilderness there was something fine, granular, fine as hoar-frost, on the ground". That is the idea, I think, divine territory, as you say.
W.M. It is very sweet to wake up in the morning with thoughts of the Lord in your heart, and then you begin to meditate upon Him; that is, the
thoughts put there are like the dew; they are not of your own choosing; you wake up with them fresh.
R.S. So the dew has a great meaning in the divine system. "As the dew of Hermon that descendeth on the mountains of Zion; for there hath Jehovah commanded the blessing, life for evermore", Psalm 133:3.
J.T. Yes, a great meaning. It is something that comes down. There is a beautiful touch in it, I think. It comes down without any action on your part; it is wonderful. It comes down quietly and refreshes; without your power, "round the camp". Then the idea of the manna seems wider than that, it was on "the face of the wilderness".
F.H. In regard to the measure, would you say that God's thought would be equality? We get in 2 Corinthians 8, that there would be equality.
J.T. Yes, quite so. That equality is that Christ is the standard of it. It is not a democratic thing. It is a very elevated thought.
H.H. Does it suggest too, a constant appreciation of Christ in this way, on our side? So that if we are to get the dew in the morning, and if our thoughts are to be of Him at the commencement, there must be that formation as a result, of feeding on Christ, on the manna, in that way.
J.T. Quite, this is alluding to the Jews. It is very interesting and important; it is the sense of grace. We should look for a sense of grace and maintain it. The Scripture abounds with the idea of maintaining the sense of grace, and John, in recording the advent of Christ here, enlarges upon it. "Grace and truth subsists through Jesus Christ". The verb is in the singular, it is "subsists". Really the two ideas are combined into one. It also says, "Of his fulness we all have received, and grace upon grace". One wave after another comes into the soul.
H.H. One has often been touched with Psalm 45
and Luke 4, in that, in the Psalms, "Grace is poured into thy lips", but in Luke 4, it flows from His lips "they wondered at the words of grace".
J.S. Do you see the effect of dew in John 1:37 The two disciples saw Jesus as He walked. The de was there, do you think?
J.T. Yes. Their attention was called to it; the were ready for it. I suppose the words of John would have an effect upon their souls, and would have conveyed something more than the words. He was evidently very affected because it was the outpouring of a filled soul.
J.W. So it says here, that the manna was round like hoar-frost. Have you any thought as to that?
J.T. It refers to the life of Jesus. It is not exactly like fine flour. There is something, I think, for the eye in it, in the roundness, the seed. It is granular. It was larger than flour, round, some translate it scaly. It is not something to be baked. It could be, no doubt, but the idea is that it is something that you can eat without any cooking or baking.
J.S. Does it give you the thought of completeness Nothing needed to be added to it.
J.T. Possibly -- the roundness, yes. The more you looked at it, the more it suggested something to you. As you look at a small round thing, it has a peculiar effect upon the eye.
R.S. Would the dew set forth preparedness for the manna? There is no contamination when the dew is there before the manna.
J.T. Well, that is the idea, that it does not come in on you naturally. You would not gather it at all. You would not value it. The dew must come first. It is a sense of grace acting, and so it fits in with this chapter. What I think we must notice is the place Aaron has in it; then it is the first mention of Sabbath by name, and spiritually it is of great importance.
Although the wilderness is a place of movement, there is the idea of rest and enjoyment. The teaching of it is linked on here with the manna, that is to say, as I appreciate the manna, I value Christ.
I find rest in Christ. And then the place Aaron has is in verse 10. Moses said, "In the morning, then shall ye see the glory of Jehovah". (verse 7). And then in verse 9 Moses spoke to Aaron, "Say to all the assembly of the children of Israel, Come near into the presence of Jehovah; for he has heard your murmurings. And it came to pass, when Aaron spoke to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, that they turned toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of Jehovah appeared in the cloud". Now, that is one of the most interesting things in the chapter, in fact, in the whole book, because it is a question of how God "drew them with bands of a man". It is the voice of Aaron, not Moses. Aaron is typically Christ in His feelings and affection for us. They are thinking of Egypt. What will turn a young brother or sister away from Egypt? The voice of Jesus -- listen to the voice of Jesus! It says, "It came to pass, when Aaron spoke to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, that they turned toward the wilderness", as if the voice of Aaron directed them that way. It is not a command. It is the influence of that voice. He says, 'I will go anywhere with that voice, under the influence of that voice, because the wilderness is not attractive, you know, it is the opposite'. Why should I turn towards it then? It is because of the voice.
H.H. Do you think that the Ethiopian eunuch's movements would be very different after Philip began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus?
J.T. That is right. He went on his way rejoicing. That is the idea of it.
W.S. What does Moses represent?
J.T. Well, I thought that it is the side of authority.
But how beautiful is the voice of Jesus! What a Powerful, mighty voice! As the hymn puts it, 'Calling me from earth'. Well, that is the idea, that they turned toward the wilderness. If you had asked them why, perhaps they could not have told you, but there was a power in that voice, and that was directing them in that way. So that it says, "Behold, the glory of Jehovah appeared in the cloud". As if to say it is God who had turned them -- "The glory of Jehovah appeared in the cloud". It seems to quote it consequent on their turning to the wilderness.
H.H. You would not find the glory of Jehovah in Egypt, would you? Man's glory shines there.
J.T. Oh no, it is God luring you in this direction.
P.M. So that if you draw nigh to God, He draws nigh to you.
J.T. Just so. And the glory is so attractive. Moses had promised it to them in verse 7; but in verse 10, as they turned, God appears. Moses had promised it the day before, but now they see it.
W.M. That would be a very great incentive to them to keep their eyes in that direction.
J.T. Well, that is the idea, I think, in Hosea, "I drew them with bands of a man" -- the influence of Christ as a Man.
H.H. You remember some years ago in Glasgow, you touched on Romans 5, and this is running through my mind tonight as you suggest it; you get grace there, and then you get the rejoicing in the hope of the glory, and then you get the love of God shed abroad in your heart. All that comes in in connection with young christians, as well as the old.
J.T. Quite so. I think that corresponds to this.
Rem. Mr. Darby speaks about the God they found in the wilderness -- 'Patient, gracious, powerful, holy'.
J.T. Yes. We have to notice the idea of a man in the wilderness, that is Christ typified in Aaron. His authority is Moses, but Aaron was God's man
for affections. God says to Moses, "when he seeth thee he will be glad in his heart", Exodus 4:14. The man of affection typifies Christ in that way.
F.C. The glory is in the cloud. What is the significance there?
J.T. Well, that was the divine dwelling, the symbol of divine presence. God was there in the cloud. It signified His presence there. It was a manifestation. God is always here with us in the Spirit, but sometimes He gives a manifestation -- something that is special, that shines out. We should look for that manifestation, the appearing of the glory.
A.G. It is true today as much as it was in Israel's day.
J.T. And that is the test of where God is, you know. There are those who go on and talk of having God with them, but where is the presence of the Lord? Where is the power of the Spirit of God? You want some evidence of the presence of God, some indication, if He is with us. At times He shows Himself specially to us.
J.S. This would hold the people. The glory of the Lord would hold them in their affections for the Lord, would it not? They would see the beauty and the patience that was in Himself. In contrast, they see what is in the wilderness, the darkness of everything that is around.
J.T. Quite. I am sure you have realised in meetings, that at times God shines out in a special way. Very often in a crisis God comes in and settles the matter by some act of His. He does something, and the matter is settled if anyone has eyes to see.
A.G. Do you not think it is important to listen to the voice of Jesus, not only to eat the manna, but to listen to the voice?
J.T. The sympathy there is in it, you know. Of course Moses' voice would be His voice too. It
would be authority, but Aaron's is marked by sympathy.
W.S. Would this come with going forth "to him without the camp, bearing his reproach"?
J.T. Well, exactly,"Go forth to him". "Jesus … suffered without the gate".
H.H. It is often a test, as you said, that when we go through it with the Lord, He comes in in the most manifest way, and signifies approval. It is owing to their murmurings that the glory is here, is it not?
J.T. Yes. The glory covered the whole tabernacle, that is the idea. God said, I will take care of the testimony. He covered it all. Whatever people may do, God will cover the testimony, and take care of it.
P.M. Does verse 12 show us how we grow in grace and in the knowledge of God? "I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak to them, saying, Between the two evenings ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God".
J.T. That is right. It would be a distinct mark. There would be progress at this point. Israel would grow in it, you know, it would mark progress.
R.S. Does not that verse show the magnificence of the provision that God had for them? He says, "Between the two evenings ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread" -- no lack -- "and ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God".
H.H. The light of God's ways or purpose is one thing, but the experimental knowledge is another, that is how we come into it -- "Ye shall know".
J.T. That is the idea. As our brother was just remarking, this marks progress. "And ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God", for the wilderness is the place of learning. 'What the God that thou hast found'. You learn God there.
R.S. It is fine to hear that they are filled with bread in the morning.
J.T. Yes, so that in the evening, the eating of the flesh is one side of His provision, and the bread is the other.
J.S. Say a little about the baking of the manna. When they gathered on the sixth day, they gathered two omers and the instructions were they could bake it (verse 23).
J.T. Well, "Tomorrow is the rest, the holy sabbath, of Jehovah: bake what ye will bake, and cook what ye will cook". That is, it is a question of liberty, that at this point you have learned how to grow in the knowledge of God, and God says, I will have confidence in you, and on the sixth day whatever you wish to bake, do it. It is God giving you liberty; do as you will do, not baking a certain thing, but baking what you will bake.
J.S. That is to say, you have learned how to use grace.
J.T. That is right, that God can trust you. He can trust you that much, on the sixth day, because the sixth day is to mark progress. The sabbath is confirmatory of all the previous experience of the six days that were before. Now you are gathering more, twice as much as you gathered before. What are you going to do with it? Can He trust you for two days? "Bake what ye will bake", the point is, you are not to bake on the sabbath. It is a beautiful thought. God has confidence in us. He has called us to liberty but not licence. "Bake what ye will bake". It is beautiful, I think, how you will advance in the knowledge of God -- "Perfect love casts out fear", 1 John 4:18. He would teach us in this way, to be at liberty with Him.
J.S. Just before we close, say a little word upon the omer being placed before the testimony.
J.T. Well that, I think, is what we were saying;
it would be the measure of a man -- the heavenly city is the measure of a man. It is a finite idea, I think; that is, it is Christ, but not as regards His eternal personality, but Christ as measure for us to grow to, as in manhood. I think that is the idea of it. It is the measure of a man that God keeps before Him for ever.
J.T. Yes, God's standard, and He has given you food to build you up for that.
G.T. We must be near God to see that standard as before the testimony.
J.T. Well, exactly, that is one of the things mentioned in Hebrews -- the pot that had the manna.
F.C. It is a golden pot there in Hebrews. Is there any thought in that? We are not told of the kind of pot here, we have to go to the New Testament for that.
J.T. Well, it would be, I suppose, everything inside was gold. It would be, I think, gold. Gold in the tabernacle is what God is towards us, it is the testimony of God. His thought is not man as a measure for us, the ark of the testimony is not that, it is the divine ark, measureless and divine. That is never a measure for us. But the omer is a measure, not an omer and a half, a half means there is something more, but an even measure is finite, and that is the idea of the heavenly city. It is finite measurement, great and glorious, but finite.
W.M. Would the seventh day be given so that they might meditate, that we might meditate more fully upon this precious manna that we have been feeding on every morning?
J.T. That is the idea. How much rest do I know?
You know we are getting so restless. The idea, I think, is very beautiful, that in the wilderness we begin to learn to rest. It is there that you are confirmed
in everything, and everything is confirmed in you in restfulness.
P.M. Would the golden pot of manna speak of the fulness that is in Christ?
J.T. Yes, I think it is God's standard for us, what He would have.
Rem. Would there be any thought of measure in Philippians? The last thing he says, "I am full, having received of Epaphroditus"; there is the thought of measure (Philippians 4:18).
J.T. Well, I suppose there may be an allusion. He was full, just so, very likely it is an allusion to it. He did not want anything over, all he needed was fulness.
W.S. Does that come in at all for every one of us?
J.T. Well, the apostle's remark in Philippians alludes to the manna. I suppose it does. You do not need anything more than that. The day's meat is sufficient for the day, you know, for its needs. It will be noticed that the actual amount of an omer is the tenth part of an ephah, so there is one standard. It is a question of measure made very explicit; that is the last word in the chapter. It is according to the measure of the gift of the Christ. I think that leads on to the idea of growing -- "until we all arrive ... at the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ", Ephesians 4:13.
W.M. What is the thought in it being the tenth part of an ephah?
J.T. Oh, I do not know. There may be an element of responsibility in the tenth. It is a measure much used, a subdivision much used. Where you get a subdivision there is always something. Why should there be a subdivision of anything? I think the idea would be that I am not all. I am a subdivision. There are others. Ten is responsibility, but it is divided.
H.H. Could you tell us why in verse 31, after they
rested on the seventh day, the house of Israel designate the thing? Now it is manna -- before that, what is it? Do you think they had come into the thing intelligently now as a result of the seventh day?
J.T. Yes. I suppose that is what they called it but I think what they called it left the question open.
The word signifies a question. It is disputable, the meaning is difficult, but I think it is wonderful what sort of a man is this, still you have the names. It is more the measure of a man, of Christ. There is always something underneath. I think He is always divine; there never was a Man like this. The word 'man' is given in the margin, but it is not the word for 'man', for 'human'. It is a different root entirely. It denotes a question, I think, and it is well that we should never think that we know all about Christ.
R.S. You can only express what you know, like the woman in John 4; she says, "Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done", John 4:29.
J.T. Yes, that is right. The man in chapter 9 was quite right, too, "I know". He could speak of what he knew.
J.S. Would you help us in the distinction between Numbers and here? It says in Numbers, the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil; but the taste of it here was like wafers made with honey.
J.T. The taste is a question of their change. It is a change in their taste rather than a change in the manna. Fresh oil is not quite so nice as honey, consequently they got tired of it. The manna had not altered. That is where the judgment comes in. They thought they would change it by a certain process but God gave it as it was. That is the best way to take it, as God gives it.
R.S. I suppose that as we feed on Christ, we will find there is no variation in Him; He is "the same
yesterday, and today, and to the ages to come", Hebrews 13:8. He never alters, but we may alter.
J.T. The taste grows, valued more and more.
W.M. Would the sweetness imply the freshness of first love?
J.T. I suppose so. The Lord promises the hidden manna.
G.T. What would the hidden manna be?
J.T. It refers to what we have, the knowledge outside the knowledge of the religious world, that is the idea. But the Lord gives you something that the religious world does not know anything about, it is a question of what is hidden, what is secret; it is a privilege. In reading the Lord's address to the assemblies, it is well to bear in mind that it has a historical setting, that what you have alludes to current things, so that if, as in Pergamos, or any of the assemblies, anything is current publicly among religious circles, you do not want that. The Lord says, I know you do not want that, you want something different, and I will give you something different. You do not want publicity, you want something that He will value, and that is secret. So that you have a white stone, and the name on it that no one knows but yourself. That helps us in reading the addresses to the assemblies.
Luke 10:34; 1 Timothy 3:5; 2 Corinthians 11:28 - 30
I have in mind, dear brethren, to speak about the feature of the divine nature expressed in care, in care for others, in what is expressed in us. Thus whatever feature of the divine nature shows itself, it has had its expression in Christ first, but I confine my remarks to the idea of care.
It is seen in these scriptures, first in regard to a christian (an individual) and then secondly in regard to a church (the church in its real setting) and thirdly in regard of all the churches. These are the thoughts I have in mind and it is to the end that we might be enlarged first in caring for one's neighbour, then in caring for the local company in which one may be, involving fellowship in its local feature, and then for all the churches involving what may be termed general fellowship. I believe this is the order in which we are developed in this divine feature.
We get examples in the Old Testament, and the fundamental principle, as I might call it, of the local company is the neighbour. One arrives at the local feature of the church by beginning with the neighbour and so in the Old Testament you have that thought embodied in the law, indeed it is in the Lord's own condensation of the law: the second commandment is like unto the first. The first is the supreme idea; the second is very near it, it is like unto it. The first is, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart", etc., that is my relations with God, and the second is, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself", on these two, says the Lord, hang all the law and the prophets.
The Lord had a marvellous way of condensing, indeed compression is a feature of the Lord's life and ministry and it enters into the Bible, too, but compression that can be opened up and opened up ad infinitum. It must be so, so that having the thing in a small compass we should get a general grasp and then begin at the opening out. So that whilst we learn this we learn in relation to the whole.
Hence the Lord said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), all is there, but volumes could not contain what anyone of these things is, as opened up, and so this commandment as I said, is second, it is like unto the first, for all the divine truth hangs together, but there is the principle of one, two and three in divine things and that enters into all the orderings of God, the order of one, two and three. The first is the supreme idea and the second is like unto it so that great place is given to this principle of the neighbour and then to the care of more than one person.
Moses aptly represents our Lord in the bearing of the burden of the whole; it was no small matter to look after some two million men, women and children in the wilderness; he is a type of Christ. But then under divine ordering he goes up to the mountain to be with Jehovah and what would become of those left behind? Beloved brethren, we have the Lord's position in a simple way, gone up; the Lord has gone up.
Moses was directed to go up to Jehovah, he and Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel, but then he was to go himself, they all went up but Moses was to go himself and he was there six days and on the seventh day the cloud covered him and he ascended (see Exodus 24). I have no doubt he was viewed by those below before the cloud covered him, but he entered the cloud and ascended to Jehovah. But what was to happen to those below? Moses was
not unconcerned about that so he says if anyone has any matter, Aaron and Hur are there. These millions must be cared for. These Israelites must be cared for and so you have Aaron and Hur. Now I think Aaron and Hur indicate the idea of care for the assembly. They are tried persons. "Let these be first proved", we are told, that is to say, care is entrusted to trustworthy men.
Aaron is a development in secret; he is not brought forward in Scripture until he was a very old man, he was never known as a young brother publicly as far as Scripture goes. He was known to God and he is introduced to Moses at that old age, Moses himself being nearly as old, about three years younger, so that there would ever be that test between the two that the most prominent in the service of God was younger. But he is introduced by Jehovah to Moses as Aaron the Levite, "Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well", Jehovah says, and he is coming to meet you and when h sees you he will be glad in his heart (Exodus 4:14).
That is the one and he proved all that Jehovah said about him; I think God looks for that, dear brethren. He looks for confirmation of His choice and Aaron was not behind so far; he was the brother and he could speak well, and the best evidence of the fact that he could speak well was that when he spoke to Israel they turned away from Egypt to the wilderness (Exodus 16:10). The man that can turn the saints away from Egypt is a worthy man. They had just been talking about Egypt and the fleshpots and how well they fared there; they said it just as worldly-minded christians say it. They were inclined to go back and Aaron spoke to them; Moses directed him to speak to them, and as he spoke to them they looked to the wilderness, and as they looked towards the wilderness they saw the glory of Jehovah. It is worth while looking towards the wilderness to see
that; it is as if God would say, that is the way to go, that is the direction of the glory; it is not in Egypt, it is in the wilderness.
Now Aaron is left to look after the people; I do not say that he is successful, I am not speaking of that side as Aaron was not. But he had all the qualifications, he was the brother and he could speak well and he could influence the saints by his speaking. He could influence them towards the wilderness and any speaking that does not influence towards the wilderness is not to be trusted. Any writings or books that do not direct towards the wilderness are not to be trusted.
Well, that is the position. Aaron and Hur were, so far, proved men; Hur represented purity; we have nothing to go by but his name, and what he could do. He could hold up another brother's hands, the two men together as a matter of fact, Aaron and Hur, had been the support of Moses (Exodus 17:12). He had proved them, it is a great thing, beloved, to prove the brethren, David speaks about not having proved the armour that Saul would have induced him to wear. We are first to be proved. Moses had proved these men; he had proved Aaron and now he proved them both and they uphold his hands so that the victory is decided in favour of the people of God. The bearing of the service of these two men is in favour of the people of God and they are trusted to look after them whilst Moses is away. That is the position in the type and I mention it in regard of the second scripture: "how shall he take care of the assembly of God?"
Well, I go back again to the first scripture so that we may learn something about caring for the neighbour and about caring for one who may be regarded as near, and Luke gives us this beautiful parable, Luke alone gives it. It is what you might call a medical parable and in keeping with the writer; one
who can diagnose and see what the ailment is and who, not being, as I may say, ever at a loss, has the medicine with him; He never says go; He never writes a prescription. It is personal contact, a living voice and a living touch, that is the Samaritan as you know; I suppose every preacher has used this beautiful parable in the gospel. I want, however, to confine myself to the closing verses which include the idea of care.
After the man is attended to medically, he is put on the Samaritan's own beast and brought to the inn and he (the Samaritan) took care of him. He did not hand him over to the innkeeper at once; I want you to notice this because it enters into what I have specially in mind. The innkeeper would certainly know how to take care of a sick man; he is accustomed to take care of people in poor health, but it is not said so here. The Samaritan brought him to the inn and took care of him himself. There is not a word about his employing anyone else at first.
Now, beloved, we must learn everything in the Lord. Christianity is not merely a matter of precept, but of precedent and principle. There are precepts, of course; there are laws, but the great feature of the Acts is what was done and how it was done, that is the great feature, and so the Lord remained with them for forty days before He went up.
We speak about the Lord Jesus as if we could walk round Him like an ordinary person. You cannot do that, He is always present; no one knows the Son but the Father; the inscrutable is there always and so specially as He rose from the dead; He was with them forty days. Where was He? He appears once amongst the disciples as they were gathered together and again we are told, eight days afterwards, Where was He? You see the thing is inscrutable, He was there, it is altogether beyond the natural mind, it is inscrutable, He was there for forty days.
Paul, in writing to the Corinthians so as to induce them to be spiritual, refers to the number of times that the Lord appeared to His own. It is as if He would impress His own, before they entered the service, that it is spiritual and to be done in a spiritual manner. The book of Acts shows how things are to be done. Luke begins that narrative by telling us how the Lord showed Himself after His suffering, after His death, with many proofs, and that He assembled with them. Then Peter says, 'now we are less than twelve'. It is a good thing to accept that we are less than the required number. The Lord, according to Matthew, recognises the eleven, and He was not deterred by the fact that they were less than twelve, but Peter recognised it.
It is a very wholesome thing to accept that we are less than twelve. Some humiliating thing has happened, why this dividing, why this shortage, why this trouble? Well, we accept it, and the Lord knows the explanation, but the breach has to be filled, the twelfth is to be added. I may say that twelve is complete administration, the administration of love has to go on, twelve signifies this. Then we must take account of the Lord's manner, and how He did things, and so the apostle says as to the disciple who is to be the twelfth apostle, that he must be one of those who assembled with us during all the time the Lord Jesus came in and went out amongst us from the baptism of John until He was received up. That is the idea, everything must be learned from Christ. If I am to assemble rightly with my brethren I must learn that; He assembled with them, and so if I am to know how to care for a christian I must learn that in Christ.
He took him to the inn and took care of him and on the morrow, meaning that he spent the night there; is it too much, dear brethren, for me to say that the innkeeper went into the room where they were and
saw how the Samaritan treated him? It is quite obvious that the Samaritan remained there to take care of him and he showed in that action how such; a man is cared for, and on the morrow he says, 'Now you take care of him, I am going away and I will see to it that you are paid'. "Take care of him", that is the charge, that is the idea of the Lord's care and as we run down the chapter we come to Martha, and what do we find? She actually chides the Lord with not caring. "Dost thou not care", after this wonderful example of care on His part.
Need we wonder that He prays in the presence of that, not simply praying, but praying in a place! It is not obvious that it was that particular village where Martha's house was, but they were wanting in that house; they thought He did not care; she had that in her mind but He adjusted her, and He prays in a certain place and in certain circumstances. We have to learn from Jesus how to pray. They saw Him praying and one disciple said, "Lord, teach us to pray", not 'teach me to pray', because the idea is a collective thought. Chapter 11 brings in the collective thought; indeed chapter 10 begins with the idea that the Lord sent out disciples two by two into every city and place where He Himself would come.
The idea was to have a place and conditions suitable for His presence, so that they were to enquire for a son of peace and if there is a son of peace in the house, He says, "Your peace shall rest upon it". It is a very great challenge for a locality, a son of peace; I always like to know how many are breaking bread, but the quality is in the son of peace; if you have not a son of peace you will have no assembly according to God. If a son of peace be there, let your peace remain.
I may say that no one should go round serving the Lord's people except it be on right lines; it should never be a sideline, it is an urgent matter, it is a
question of construction, it is a question of the sons of peace, and if there be a son of peace let your peace rest upon that house.
At the close of Luke 10, the Lord goes to a certain village; we are not told the name of the village, but no doubt it was Bethany. He goes to the house of Martha, and there was a question as to His caring for people: "Dost thou not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?" She chides Him, a very serious state of things in a locality; but the Lord is not to be questioned; He is caring for things. So in Luke 11, the Lord prays; what can we do in such a condition but pray? The disciples saw Him pray; how beautiful! He lifted up His eyes. John tells us what He prayed for, but in Luke it is a personal example. "Teach us to pray", says one of the disciples. "Teach us"; this is, I believe, to bring in a company. Then we have the furnishings of that company which, as the chapter shows, is the Holy Spirit which the Father gives out of heaven.
Well now, that, dear brethren, is the position in Luke 10 and 11. It is a question of caring for a saint and that saint is cared for in finding his place in the company, for that is the idea, and instead of being like Martha, chiding the Lord that He does not care, he is praying, he has learnt how to pray and to find out that he gets everything from the Father. "How much rather shall the Father who is of heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"
He takes charge of all our affairs here so that there is care for the assembly, but then I want to have part in that if I have learnt care in the inn as the innkeeper did from the good Samaritan. I want to have part in the care and that is what is in view in the scripture in 1 Timothy. It is a question of the care of the church. I do not say that the care of the church is ever handed into one man's hands; what you will observe is that the ordinance of bishops is
in the plural, it is not an ordained elder of every city, not like the systems around, the Spirit of God ever guarding against the very thing we have to do with today.
When Scripture speaks of ordained elders, whether in the assembly or in the city, it is in the plural, and can we not prove, dear brethren, that it is love that teaches that there should be no arrogating in any one person of the supreme charge of the assembly? But there is in the case of an elder the idea of a caretaker and the Spirit of God is most particular as to whether he is a proved man, whether he is an Aaron and a Hur. What is he in his house? Has he a good report there? Are his affairs upright? Is he a righteous man? Has he on the breastplate of righteousness? Can any charge of unrighteousness be brought against him? Is he clear of these things entering into the care of the assembly? So if he does not know how to take care of his own house how can he take care of the assembly? God will not accept any kind of care, He puts up with a great deal, I know. As was said of Aaron of old, when Moses heard him he was content, but there was a serious defect in Aaron nevertheless.
The Lord has to put up with a good deal but he will insist on certain qualifications in those who take care of the assembly; if they have not got these qualifications, they need to be taken care of by the assembly. Like the man who fell among thieves, they need to be cared for; the assembly is the place for that.
So in Romans we have the individual Christian; a weak brother is cared for, but he is not an elder; he cannot take part in the care meeting, not to the determination of reasonings, but he is to be received and cared for although a weak brother. The assembly takes care of the weak brother; his very weakness implies that he has not the qualifications of a care
taker. If I have not such qualifications, I need to be cared for and the brethren are bound to attend to that.
Well, that is the idea that I wish to impress upon you as regards Timothy. Then we have the widening thought of 2 Corinthians, not that the apostle presents himself as being officially appointed as a pope; he was not that. A pope, I suppose, will be shut in and it is assumed that the burdens of the churches rest on his shoulders. But there is no such office at all. The only One to whom that office can be entrusted is the Holy Spirit. The only Vicar of Christ on earth is the Holy Spirit. He is the One who takes charge of all the affairs of the assembly and, mind you, it is not simply that He stays in Rome, where He is never seen; He is alongside of us, like a solicitor by his client in the court, who is alongside of him, and who takes charge of his affairs. That is the greatness of the Spirit down here; He takes charge of all the assemblies.
There is a wonderful interchange of influences in the gatherings. They are not merely local assemblies, for God is against any sectarian idea. They form one assembly. Local companies are not independent of one another. There is only one fellowship, dear brethren, we might as well accept that. We can thus never say, 'It is not your affair' to any brother.
There is only one fellowship, it takes a local form, the local merges into the general and wisdom knows how to discriminate. Hence we have that passage, "using diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit", for there is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, over all, through all and in us all, that is the position it requires enlargement and wisdom to distinguish where the local feature arises.
Corinthians is the local feature, Ephesians is the general feature, that is the way the matter stands,
and hence you get in Ephesians, "the love which ye have towards all the saints". The more love we have towards God and to the saints, the more we have for all, even if they be strangers, they all belong to the assembly and they are welcome, that is the principle. Wisdom may order certain things that everybody recognises, but that is the Spirit.
Well, now you see how that was worked out in the apostle; as I said, it was not an office. The things that he relates in this particular chapter which I have read are things that he would have preferred to have kept secret until the judgment-seat of Christ, but it was a question of love, that is the idea. A man whose heart was so large that he almost took in the fulness of the breastplate; his heart was so great as formed by the Spirit of God, his love for the assembly was so great, not only in the general way, he does not say care for the whole assembly but for all the assemblies. I do not know how many assemblies there were; there are assemblies now, but Paul had them all. I can understand him having a list before him as he prayed. He writes to one of them that he had never seen, the assembly at Colosse, and he did not simply pray but he agonised for them.
Now for the experience of that man in regard to the testimony of God, the great burden of all the assemblies, he did not wish to regard it as one great idea like the pope, it was a question of love, beloved, the praying for the care of all the churches.
What compression in that holy man! I urge on you the idea of compression. Paul was martyred as a comparatively young man; so far as we can learn his ministry was not very long, it was like David's, it was compressed. Now just think, beloved, what that man's daily experience must have been, what his prayers were, what his house-to-house visiting was -- the idea of care of all the assemblies.
Well, may the Lord help us to see what the position
is, what there is to be cared for, the assembly. The Lord referred to it in the parable as the pearl of great price, and it says that He gave Himself for it. So you can understand how full the heart of our great apostle was as he set off from the elders of Ephesus. They are the flock of God; the Holy Spirit has made you overseers of the flock of God. What a charge that was! Then he says, "to shepherd the assembly of God, which he has purchased with the blood of his own". These scriptures show us what the assembly is to Him. Well, dear brethren, what is it to us? What is a local company to us? What are all the assemblies to us? We are to challenge our hearts. We are to be in these days on the line of caretakers, to have a sense of responsibility in regard of what is most precious to God and has the greatest place in the universe to Christ -- the assembly.
1 Samuel 6:7 - 15; Genesis 48:17 - 19; Luke 22:7 - 12
I had the simple desire in my mind to stress the thought of definiteness in the things of God; for the opposite is prevalent, even among those who seek to be here for the will of God. Indefiniteness makes for neutralisation, and neutralisation of the truth is well-nigh opposition. So the apostle James, in writing his epistle, speaks severely of persons who are doubting in their relationships with God, and says further, that "A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways"; there is no definiteness, whereas the word is full of definiteness, the Scriptures are full of exhortations to it. This leads me to select these three scriptures, the first presenting the idea in relation to instinct; the second, in relation to intelligence; and the third in relation to a definite end or objective, an enjoyment set before us as our eye looks straight on. You will remember how Moses in his beginnings looked "this way and that way", so with us, certain circumstances become distracting; it may be fear of consequences, fear of causing ill-feeling in others, or it may be a state in us; but there is much of looking this way and that way, and not looking straight on.
Now the first feature I had in mind in relation to definiteness was instinct, and it is a most important one, because we may have knowledge, as the apostle Paul said of the Corinthians, but knowledge in itself without instinct will fail us. I am not deprecating knowledge, for it is said that the people of God are destroyed for lack of it, but instinct is properly before knowledge. Not exactly in the order of place, but in the order of emphasis as to what is properly initial, the two things run concurrently in us. You
find instinct in a babe, though you can hardly say you find knowledge, because knowledge implies that I can give an account of a thing. I can give a reason 'why'. Instinct does not go that far, but it acts with unfailing precision; and so the lower creatures are employed to symbolise instinct. It appears in a babe, as for instance in Jacob, who in his infancy took his brother by the heel -- that was instinct; he could not have told you why at the time, but he could later. And so it is with the young believer, he does things from instinct which perhaps he could hardly explain, but he can explain them afterwards. So the lower creatures, the milch kine in this passage, are employed to symbolise the instinct that is needed for definiteness. It is an ability in you to discern spirits in persons, and to discern environment, by the presence of something of which perhaps you know little, but which is there. For instance, a young believer in an assembly in which the Lord Jesus is known and recognised, in which the Spirit is recognised, can feel something without the intelligence to expound it, but it is felt, and he is held by that feeling. Now as to these milch kine, there was a something very great there in the environment; the greatest thing on earth, symbolically, was there on the cart. I am not speaking of the incongruity of the cart, but of the ark upon it, there is no change in that -- God was there! It was never less than the symbol of the glory and power of God. Think of being in such proximity to the ark! These kine were near it; they are not ordinary kine; and therefore they symbolise what I am speaking of -- spiritual instinct. They were productive, they had calves, they were not sterile, and they had never come under the yoke. These are things that marked them. Whilst we are under a yoke, we are not likely to come under the influence of what is spiritually outwardly cohesive. There is nothing for the natural eye, no direct movement, for
the ark is being carried, but if they were under a yoke, that would influence them, they would be governed by that, and would be incapable of these fine feelings and instincts. So that any young believer, or an old one, who is under a yoke, is hardly likely to have any sensibilities as to the ark. But the ark is moving in this very connection, it is moving in connection with a power that is free from the yoke, by a power that is governed by instinct. There is a challenge to every heart, dear brethren, as to whether I am under any kind of a yoke. It is very easy to slip under a yoke to which you may be obligated. God said to Israel, 'I have taken you out of Egypt. I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you to walk uprightly'. There cannot be a walk according to God, until the bands are broken, whatever the yoke may be. There is a right yoke to be under, of course, the yoke of Jesus, but I am not speaking of that, nor is it alluded to here. Jehovah broke the bands of their yoke and made them to walk uprightly. It is a challenge, dear brethren, as to what it is I am obligated to. It may be to a brother, or a combination of brethren, but the yoke has to go if these sensibilities are to exist.
So these kine were milch kine, they were fruitful both in calves and milk, but they had never come under a yoke. They were, so to say, as God made them. Figuratively, a new order of things, it is what is of God, and would apply to those that are in the liberty of sonship, who have never come under the yoke. They have grown up in the holy light of the revelation of God in Christ as His sons. Now here they are tested, their calves are removed from them. This great powerful instinct, is it less potent than the instincts of nature? Is nature to dominate or this new thing? It is a new thing, it is altogether foreign to ordinary kine for it refers to what is of God. So that they move without direction, or driver, or guide.
They move on without any extraordinary pressure, without bit or bridle, without a goad, and they move on the highway. But look at the environment, beloved, the ark of God. How great it is to be in proximity to the ark of God! You may be quite unintelligent, but as truly free from the yoke, you discern somehow that there is a power there, and it directs. The needle points truly in that current, and the mariner understands the current. There is definiteness, there is an environment of power, and I am sensitive to it, affected by it, and I go straight on. These milch kine went straight on. They were not without feeling as to their calves, for surely God would not have us to disregard natural affection. He says that to be without natural affection shows ungodliness. They had natural affection, but this new thing was greater, something greater had come in. In Christ coming into this world, you have an influence, and in the gospels you see it spread out, so that as others came under His ministry they acted accordingly; the instructions He gave regulated them intelligently, but they were moving by instinct; that is a great feature in the gospels. The sense of the movement is from the ark, it was on the cart, and there they went, on and on, "by the one high way"; there is only the one highway, that current leads in one direction and we do not want to be out of that. It is a question of instinct, dear brethren, you may not understand all that is said, but you can say to the Lord, 'I do not know'. It is a good thing to be able to say, 'I do not know'. It is sure evidence of a learning attitude that we admit we do not know. Which of us can assume to say that we know everything? It is true that John says, "We know". There are some things that we do know. "We know that the Son of God is come", but I am not speaking of that, but of all the things that His presence introduces us to here. As one goes that way, an irresistible
current leads in one direction; all that is of God is recognised in it. They lowed as they went. They felt the loss of their calves, but they went on to death. That is, while they recognised nature, the other instinct dominated them, and they went on to Beth-shemesh, to suffering and death. That is the current at the present time; it is towards death. We are going on to the coming of the Lord, to the glory, but it is by death; these went that way and they suffered. At the end of their journey, the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemeshite and stood there; that was the end. The Levites were there, there was no need any longer for the milch kine, the Levites take care of the ark. It is now no longer a question of instinct, one cannot be a Levite without intelligence. They know what to do, they break up the cart and use it, and they offer up the kine. A beautiful type, beloved, of definiteness by instinct, the instinct that is in us by the divine nature -- in the youngest of us. The end is death, but a glorious death, for the thought merges in intelligence. It is by death, for there is no other way; that is what is implied, beloved, at the present time. It is the death of Jesus in this world, the whole current is in that direction. The book of Acts shows us clearly that it is by death, but then the glory is beyond. The intelligence that comes out of that, in the Levite, eventuates in the ark being taken in holy priestly intelligence, to the house that Solomon built.
Well, now, the thing is for us to have intelligence. What about the persons to whom you commit yourself? Christianity involves committal. The Lord Jesus Christ committed Himself in coming into this world, He undertook things, He committed Himself to a definite course. Let it be understood that in emptying Himself and taking upon Him a bondman's form it was not something imposed upon Him, it is His own act. He did it Himself. But in the bondman's
form He committed Himself to God, and served in the bondman's form. So that we need not be afraid of committal. I read two verses in Genesis to illustrate the thought; there is a great deal more in the passage than I can speak of now, but I would stress the one thing, that Jacob knew the persons to whom he committed himself. You say, 'I commit myself to God, and to Christ, and to the Holy Spirit'. Yes, that is right, you commit yourself thus in baptism. Baptism introduces us into the great realm of life indicated in the revelation; but then there is a committal to the saints, that is in the Lord's supper. This committal involves fellowship and that involves persons; and surely it is important to be able to put our hands on the right persons; it is not one person here, but two. That is the principle; and one has to challenge oneself as to whether he has committed himself to the right persons, and to what principles he is committed. Is it on the principle of nature? 'Well', you say, 'I cannot get a better guide than Joseph'. But the most reputable servant of God might fail us, even Paul might fail you. Joseph certainly is a wonderful type of Jesus, and a wonderful servant, too. The only blemish recorded is the one indicated here, but Joseph is governed by nature at this particular point, and many of us are committing ourselves to people on these principles, something in them that gives them precedence, something in the government of God that gives them prominence in one's mind. In Joseph's mind, as he said, Manasseh was born first; it is the principle of the world, and he is affected by it here, great man though he was. It is a warning to us as to committing ourselves to persons who may have something in them by the government of God. If we follow instinct we will not go this way, our intelligence will be in keeping with our instinct. "Not so, my father", these are Joseph's words -- a voice well known in Egypt for its authority. There
was no voice in Egypt with such authority, next to Pharaoh, but it had no weight whatever with Jacob at this point. Jacob was spiritual and intelligent at the moment, and Joseph was unspiritual and unintelligent. A rebuke and a challenge to the most distinguished of God's servants, and a warning to the saints. So Jacob says, "I know it, my son". I believe it is important to know who the persons are and why you commit yourself to them, on what principles. Is it on the principle of nature and what nature would value? Nature offers a great variety of things, but the spiritual principle is to pass by the firstborn, Manasseh is passed by, and Ephraim is selected. Well, that is the point I have to make on that scripture, it is a challenge as to the people with whom we are walking, and on what principles we are there.
Now the next point is found in Luke 22, the idea of a guide; and it will help us greatly as to the second point I have made. This passage in Luke will help the saints of God who are seeking the way of God; for there is the way of God in this world, though we may be defective in it. Even Apollos was defective in it. He arrived at Ephesus, and he was mighty in the Scriptures. He was a man whose preaching would draw crowds today, I have no doubt, but he was defective. He only knew the baptism of John. But there was more to be known, and there is a great deal to be known now, in the way of fellowship, in the way of God, and we do not want to be ignorant. So Priscilla and Aquila brought Apollos to them. There was to be a personal touch. They were a beautiful pair, these two, the Holy Spirit delights to dwell upon them. They were in Corinth in the way of God. They were tent-makers, and Paul associated himself with them as another tent-maker; it is the way of God. That is the way of God in Corinth. Surely we would be reminded that the way of God is
not connected with architecture, or with great cathedrals. To be obscure and in rejection, is the way of God in Corinth. So these two can show Apollos "the way of God more exactly". We need to be exact when we come to the way of God. The way of God comes in in connection with Apollos, he was ignorant of the way of God in certain features, and Priscilla and Aquila take him to them, implying a personal touch and a link formed which would probably never be broken.
So this passage in Luke illustrates what I have in mind, it is entirely from the Lord's initiative. Luke would make externals and order important, and show furnishings; for another important thing as to committal is whether the furnishings are right, whether the order is according to God. And so the Lord tells them, "A man will meet you, carrying an earthen pitcher of water", he shall meet you. It is a divine provision in the ways of God. He is bearing a pitcher of water. They do not say anything, it is a question for the eye, they look straight on, that is the way he looks. And so as wending his way through Jerusalem, I keep my eye on him. It is not simply a bottle he is bearing, it is a pitcher. I apprehend that the water is to be for immediate use, ready to be poured out. It is a containing vessel, but one that can be used immediately. So that he typifies something I can have at once. It is all there ready for pouring out. If I am the most thirsty soul I need not wait, for it is ready. I look abroad in christendom today; the Lord's supper may be taken once a month or even three months, but where this man goes you get refreshment at once. Now the point is that this man is going along definitely, his movements are definite; that is the idea of the ministry of the Spirit. There is a definite end in view, and I follow my eye, I am definite, I am thinking of nothing else. The Lord has told me to keep my eye on that man; he may
turn a corner and I may miss him. I am speaking of the definiteness of the man; he was going to a certain place, a certain house, and he was going to enter by a certain entrance; so Luke tells us to enter where he enters. Luke is most definite in regard of instruction and public order. Some say, 'What does it matter whether the notices are given out at the end or at the beginning of the meeting?' Well, that is just the fineness which the Spirit of God has pleasure in. The Lord says, 'Enter where he enters, keep your eye upon him, otherwise you will miss it; take notice, and enter where he enters'. And so they follow him and they find the place where he enters. His objective was a place where the Master was respected. 'Oh', you say, 'I would love to get to a place like that -- where the Lord Jesus is honoured'. "The Teacher says to thee, Where is the guestchamber?"; it is actually 'My guest chamber'; the Lord has rights there, that is the idea. That covers the position at the present time as to fellowship and as to definiteness. I arrive by keeping my eye on what the Lord directs, so that I find the spot where Christ is honoured, and where the furnishings are in keeping with Him. The "large upper room". Who can take in the import of that word "large"? It is a day of small things, but there is great largeness spiritually. It is far more large and spiritual there than in the temple which is at Jerusalem, and so it is today, there is far more largeness in the place where you find Christ honoured, than in the largest cathedral. I should not be free to go into one. I should feel shrivelled up, but I come into the upper room direct by the will of God, and presently I find the Lord there Himself, placing Himself with His own. Is it not worth while being definite, dear brethren? I think you will admit the importance of being definite in these days.
Acts 9:1 - 43
J.T. The opposition to Christ, I suppose, is specially emphasised in Saul. How deep-rooted it was in the breathing out threatenings and slaughter! The opposition occurs in different forms, sometimes shallow, sometimes deep-rooted. The Spirit of God seems to single out this man to show and to emphasise the deep opposition, and show us how He can meet it. There are three accounts of this incident, this far-reaching incident, two by Paul himself, and one by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is the writer of this book. He gives us the general features, then chapter 26 gives us the more copious account; and this particular phase is to be noted, the character of the opposition.
Ques. What was the particular character that was presented here? Had it deepened from the previous chapter when he saw and was consenting to his being killed?
J.T. I should think so. Saul tells us later that he was an eye-witness of "thy martyr Stephen". And James witnesses to the character of martyrdom of that day, "Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you". He saw that in Stephen, but then we are told he entered into houses and dragged men and women from them. So he met Christ in this character, "I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest". The I is what he met in the houses of the saints, and the thou is the breathing in the threatenings and slaughter. That is the two characters, "I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest". He ravaged the assembly-men and women, it was the assembly.
Ques. Would you say the already pricked conscience only aroused the flesh to greater enmity?
J.T. Well, apparently so, the hatred was against Jesus. As the Lord says, "They have both seen and hated both me and my Father" (John 15:24); the satanic character of the thing, the breathing out, would denote that he was intelligently in it; the upper organ, the inner man that was active in an intelligent manner. He did it methodically from the intelligent part. It is the manner of Satan's malice.
Ques. Was Satan behind all this?
J.T. Exactly, breathing would indicate that; Satan was in him to that extent, inwardly.
Ques. Does the binding refer to the mind and spirit, as well as bodily?
J.T. Well, quite, rendering them as powerless as possible in their defence. I suppose the intent was the ferocity of the thing, to render them powerless by the ferocious rush upon them. But he met with Jesus. Stephen did not cower before him, he met him in power. He was not rendered numb by the onrush of the enemy. The Lord Himself in Gethsemane, and on the cross, never lost His holy balance in spite of the opposition against Him. There is no more touching study than the study of martyrdom as taking character from the death of Christ, how He met the enemy in death.
Rem. So the Lord did not take the myrrh, that which would have deadened the senses.
J.T. Quite so. Martyrdom infers that they died intelligently, witnessing to something. Saul was intelligent as under Satan. The martyrs were intelligent in the Spirit of Christ. "He does not resist you". "For thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter", Psalm 44:22. Like the Lord, "dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth", Acts 8:32. Martyrdom is triumph.
Stephen is the characteristic martyr. He is called "thy martyr".
You notice here that the attack is against the disciples of the Lord. It is against the Lord, not only Jesus. Jesus is the character, the unresisting character that he met in the saints. But the Lord resists him, there is resistance, Saul had to do with the Lord, they were disciples of the Lord; that is, the whole power of the kingdom; the disciples were defended. Power is behind His authority, either to destroy Saul or to convert him. So it is the power of the kingdom, not as destructive as yet, but it is the Lord who can enter into conflict with him, and overcome. "Are we stronger than he?" 1 Corinthians 10:22. "Vengeance is mine; I will repay", Romans 12:19. But the wonderful thing that comes out in this chapter is the kingdom as it is now. If he had appeared later with this resistance it would be for his destruction, like antichrist, but now in the kingdom it is power acting in grace.
As he was journeying, he was active in the thing. It says, "It came to pass that he drew near to Damascus; and suddenly there shone round about him a light out of heaven, and falling on the earth he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute me?" It is the voice of grace, but it has authority in it.
Ques. Why is it called the way here?
J.T. The way is a symbol or formula for christianity or fellowship. You get it used in Mark, "Jesus entered on the way". It was the way into death. They belonged to that, the way that led Him into death. If the Lord had set up something that did not imply death, Satan could have used it. But inasmuch as they were in the way Satan would contend that every inch. The Lord teaches His own that He must suffer. He not only tells but He teaches. It is a question of being that, suffering is shown in
that way. The young man ran into it in Mark, and kneeled down to the Lord and called Him, "Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" He was not fit for that, but the blind man; son of Bartimaeus, entered on it and remained on it.
He understood, he followed Jesus in the way. If we are in the way we shall suffer.
How divine instinct takes the way in Samuel I
The kine had never been under yoke, they were clear of the world. The calves were tied and kept behind and they were to go on without driver, without any external pressure, and they went along the highway.
And they came to Beth-shemesh, and the men took the kine and sacrificed. Satan hates that. The attractiveness of Christ would lead us to follow.
The disciples of the Lord were in the way. The great end in view is to see the glory, but it is by death. The oxen were in the employment of the ark, that is the powerful influence of Christ. They move on, and on, and on, by the one highway, and there they died, glorious end typically. Paul is a witness of the glory and a partaker of the sufferings.
But bringing them bound to Jerusalem ... terrible thought, the city of the great King, the spot where this murder should be carried out. But as he was journeying, and as he drew near to Damascus, "suddenly there shone round about him a light out of heaven, and falling on the earth he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why does thou persecute me?" It is grace, where sin abounded grace has overabounded.
The gospel of the glory comes in here, he got the conception of Christ in glory. It was a glorified Jesus that he saw. Now he is in the presence of Jesus, calling him by name out of heaven, and that in the Hebrew language, as he tells us elsewhere.
J.T. That is the evidence of his conversion. Other
lords had had dominion over him. Satan was his lord. The high priest in Jerusalem was the lord that he served. He never lost sight of this, "To us there is ... one Lord Jesus Christ ... and we by him". That is instinct, the instinct accompanying conversion. The work of God produced that instinct that would recognise the Lord. The instinct that goes with the work of God that would recognise the Lord shows that he was "delivered from the authority of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love", Colossians 1:13.
"Who art thou, Lord?" A fine question, the question that issues from instincts of the divine nature. If it accompanied all conversions we should have more subjection amongst us. Now the word 'Lord' is put into our mouths, and rightly, but this is instinct. Here he just gets the answer, "I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest". The answer is in keeping with the state. The Lord says, "No one knows who the Son is but the Father", Luke 10:22. But here the answer is in keeping with the circumstances, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest". He would never forget that -- whom thou persecutest. That refers to chapter 8, and chapter Z. Terrible challenge to his heart. I "am not fit to be called apostle, because I have persecuted the assembly of God". That man had to go, and he did go, not only from the eye of God but from Paul's eye, too. Whenever he would look at the saints afterwards Paul would think of that; it is a question of what Jesus is in those persons; they represented Jesus. "I am Jesus", that lowly unresisting Man at Calvary, not Lord. Paul says "Lord", but He says "Jesus", "whom thou persecutest", showing that it is Jesus who suffered here in man's reach. Not up there, Paul could not persecute Him up there, but it is what He was in the saints.
I have to judge myself as to whether the Spirit of
Christ in a brother may not cause enmity in my heart; especially if, because of any way he may supersede me, I am apt to become a persecutor. That is how it was with Ishmael when Isaac was weaned. When Christ gets the full place in a christian's heart the man after the flesh is sure to persecute. The Lord says, "Abraham rejoiced to see my day". It is the day of Christ, typically, and the whole house is given over to rejoicing at the weaning of Isaac.
Ques. Am I a persecutor if I am out of the spirit of the house?
J.T. Exactly, it is a very great test to us. For it may not seem a serious thing to many. I may be a persecutor of those who are giving Christ His place, and making others speak ill of them. But it is much to heaven.
In his own account in Acts 22, Paul tells us that he said, "What shall I do, Lord?" so we should keep that in mind. The Lord had in His mind that Paul was to do something. So that after the Lord saves your soul the next move is yours; what are you going to do? The christian is a moral product.
Rem. As Paul had persecuted the saints he had to learn to take his instructions from them, too.
J.T. That is right, he had to go into the city.
Rem. It is where the saints were.
J.T. Yes. The saints were in that particular city. "Enter into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do". That is rather a humbling thing, to learn that he had to go into the city. He had gone in another character, but now he had to go there bowed down, a stricken, weakened, disabled man. He has to go into the city, the responsibility is his. Others led him in grace, the Lord saw to that, but he had to go there. It raises the whole question of the Lord's authority, and where you have to go. It is your responsibility to go there.
Rem. The Lord tells him to go there, but what he hears there is through the saints.
J.T. Yes, but it is in the city. There is something in it; the believer is not to do his own will at all.
What does it matter what place I go to? Would it not be better to go to Jerusalem and get light from the apostles there? But no, go into this city, the nearest one. The idea is that this city, Damascus, is almost here. It was an area in which the Lord had some ordering; He would have him to go to that particular place. He went into Arabia, he tells us afterwards, but the Lord did not send him to Arabia yet. Go into this city. It had certain boundaries, that city. He had to go within that. Not a word about the saints. Go into the city and it will be told you what you must do. Not a word about some great apostle there, but the principle that you must submit and do what you are told. And everything hinges now on whether you will move.
He had three days and three nights. All that had to be gone through before he met anyone. We are told, "the men who were travelling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but beholding no one. And Saul rose up from the earth, and his eyes being opened he saw no one. But leading him by the hand they brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without seeing, and neither ate nor drank". Those three days were spent inside. What is going to happen? It was a process of soul, an indescribable experience those three days, but they were making days, he was being made inwardly. I think it would go with Romans 7; he gives us the outline, he does not describe it all.
Ques. In those three days was there any thought of reaching the Lord in resurrection?
J.T. I think they were preparing him by the divine way, showing that we are not to force the work of God in the soul, but give it time. Three is full
testimony to something. Here it is to a full process in the soul which is necessary before getting light. Not seven but three.
The next thing is that a little bit of preparation had to be gone through by Ananias as well. It is a humbling thing for us if we are going to help souls. The Lord considers for Ananias, and for Himself too, for His own name's sake that Saul should be rightly met, not only in word but in spirit, that he should be met in the right spirit. So the preparation was needed on both sides. The minister sometimes forgets that he has to be prepared for every address he gives, every service he renders, every soul he helps. And the brethren should give him time for that, and he should give himself time, for he is handling divine things. So there was a certain disciple in Damascus. That agrees with the Lord's word, "Enter into the city", and this disciple had to be prepared.
Rem. As a disciple in Damascus he was available.
J.T. Yes, there were disciples in Jerusalem but they were not available. Paul speaks well of Ananias in chapter 22, a pious man, but the Lord had prepared him nevertheless. But he was in the city, in Damascus. Every word tells, for this is the initial chapter in Paul's ministry.
Ques. Would you say that the Lord always has that which will meet the need of those that He will bring to light in that locality?
J.T. That is so. There is that in a locality which the Lord can use. So Paul says, "The Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and tribulations await me", Acts 20:23. What a thing for the Lord to have vessels in every city that would witness to Paul what would happen in Jerusalem! That is the testimony. It is very important that assembly service Godward should go on in companies in a locality and that there should also be service manward there. Peter served in a great transaction,
the reception of the gentiles. Who is ready for such a thing as that? Peter had doubtless never thought how it would happen that he would admit the gentiles, how he would turn that key. In receiving people into fellowship the principle is that they have a right: "Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have right to the tree of life, and that they should go in by the gates into the city", Revelation 22:14. That is, they can walk in. I cannot stand at the gates and say that I have authority to keep you out. They have a right, but it is conditional on their washing; it is not that they have washed but that they are washing regularly. Sometimes assemblies need to have a washing day. The brother that washes regularly has the right, but we have to see that he does wash, not simply that he is converted, but that he washes. Blessed are such. "Arise and get baptised, and have thy sins washed away". If he does not do that he has no right to the tree of life. The thought of the city is the testimony and service manward; that is what I have in mind.
Ques. Is it as we move in a defiling scene that the necessity for washing comes in?
J.T. Well, and what you are yourself; the bodies are washed, but there is uncleanness from within, too. "Let us purify ourselves from every pollution of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in God's fear",
2 Corinthians 7:1. A continuous process is meant in Revelation 22; it is the present tense. In Revelation 1 the Lord is praised as the One who has washed us from sins in His own blood; He did that. In chapter 7 the great multitude have washed their robes; they have done it; they are not doing it. But in Revelation 22 it is those that wash their robes, and that is a continuous operation.
This chapter is full of holy instruction for us, bearing on Paul's doctrine; how the Lord prepared Ananias, and then how he rightly represented the
Lord, for it is a question of what Paul would find in the city after the three days. What kind of spirit in service will he find? So you have Ananias coming to him and saying, "Saul, brother". He went and entered into the house, and, laying his hands upon him, he said, "Saul, brother, the Lord has sent me, Jesus that appeared to thee in the way in which thou tamest, that thou mightest see, and be filled with the Holy Spirit". The spirit of the man, laying his hands on him, and the word "brother" are representative of Jesus, Jesus in him. It is not 'Lord' but "Jesus"; all is to encourage his soul with the sense of grace. What a great preparation that was! We want to be a witness, one that Jesus can send; He sent him. That is the principle of service, that He sends you, and you are representative of Him.THE HOLY SPIRIT (1)
THE HOLY SPIRIT (2)
THE HOLY SPIRIT (3)
TAKING ROOT DOWNWARD
INFLUENCE
THE WILDERNESS
CARE FOR OTHERS, A FEATURE OF THE DIVINE NATURE
DEFINITENESS IN THE THINGS OF GOD
READING ON ACTS 9