THE LORD’S COMMANDMENTS
KEPT IN AFFECTION FOR HIM
D. M. Welch
1 Corinthians 14: 37; John 14: 21; 20: 10–13
It is striking that in this first verse in 1 Corinthians the apostle would lay on those who would receive this letter that his writings had authority. Perhaps that was a problem in Corinth, as a reference is made earlier to “gods many, and lords many”, 1 Corinthians 8: 5. The epistle opens with a household concerned as to the state in Corinth; I would say the house of Chloe was concerned because of a lack of subjection among the company. There were divisions within the company, some saying this thing and another saying that, some identifying themselves with one particular man or another. One of the things that concerned the house of Chloe was a lack of unity in the company. In chapter 4 of Ephesians, “the unity of the Spirit”
and “the unity of the faith” are closely linked, indicating that one thing God insists on is unity. God desires unity. The Lord prayed that His disciples would be one, and it is brought down to our day; that we may be one, even as He and the Father are one. Christianity takes its lead in every way from God. The Godhead is in oneness although the Persons have been revealed as distinct, yet we can never think of Them as separate from one another. So I wonder if the letter that the apostle writes, perhaps both letters for that matter, to which he attaches the word ‘commandment’, would not be intended to lead the saints into unity.
Unity in the things of God is brought out early in the Scriptures. In the pattern of the tabernacle in Exodus the curtains and the boards as set together indicate unity. The curtains were linked together with loops of blue, fifty loops of blue, and clasps of gold, as if God would indicate in the wonderful teaching in the Old
Testament what His mind and thoughts were with regard to Christianity. Unity in the assembly is so very precious to Christ, and next to His heart; it is precious in its unity. The boards and curtains enclosed all the wonderful things that were within; the ark, the lampstand, the table, and so on, and represent the fellowship as the means for concealing, protecting and preserving divine things. We surround One who is precious to us, and we are precious to Him as we are together in the unity of all those wonderful things that belong to Him. He would nourish and cherish and build us up in the unity of the Spirit and the unity of the faith. Then the boards were all of the same size and material, representing the saints as divinely constituted. Each board was held up by two silver bases, typifying how the saints lay hold of the redemptive work of Christ. Higher up the boards were connected by the five bars, suggesting the means of binding the saints together, so that they can stand up, and yet as being linked together. The five bars would show how we are held together in responsibility, although outwardly in human weakness. The curtains linked together with loops of blue, present the heavenly company, with clasps of gold confirming the divine design in having our links together in the divine nature. I thought of this as maybe helping us see in the detail of the tabernacle, which is a pattern, that God’s great desire is that there would be unity among His people. It is not a carnal unity, because those in Corinth had to be referred to as carnal, but a spiritual unity, each one recognising what the other has, what the Lord has given, and each one recognising that the Spirit is working in each to bring about unity in the local company; of course what goes on in the local company has its general bearing.
John’s gospel, which we have been taught supports everything of Paul, brings out the kind of persons needed for unity, and the epistle to Corinth would recall those saints to the need for subject persons in the assembly. In John 14, speaking again of the commandments, the
Lord said, “He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me”. So keeping His commandments comes from affection to Christ. We could say that the saints in Corinth perhaps had lost touch in the heart and were splitting up among themselves, making much of men and identifying themselves with different men. What was needed in Corinth is needed in our day, that is a subject mind and a subject spirit based on our affection for Christ.
It results in unity. There is a wonderful answer to keeping His commandments given in the same verse, “He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me; but he that loves me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him”.
In John 20 I do not know that we could say the disciples were in the good of the affectionate side of things like Mary was, it says in verse 10, “The disciples therefore went away again to their own home. But Mary stood at the tomb weeping without”. Mary is a wonderful example of one who is subject, for she refers in her conversation with the angels to my Lord. She has His commandments, whatever light it was, but it was affection that led her to remain at the tomb. And she uses the expression “my Lord”. John brings out the kind of persons who would make up the local company, so that the local company can go on in unity. A following verse in John 14 refers to “my word” (John 14: 23), but commandments are noted first, not as being kept in a legal way, but in an affectionate way. In Hebrews the Lord Himself says, “Lo, I come ... to do, O God, thy will”, Hebrews 10: 7. He came here into manhood, but it was in the way of love, so that the commandment would speak of the will of God and of being subject in affection to it. Mary gets a message from the Lord, not only a manifestation, as the Lord declares in this verse that we read in John 14, “I will ... manifest myself to him”. He manifested Himself to Mary because she was subject in the way of love toward Him. But then she gets a word. He says, Go to My brethren and tell them something; so
that there is expansion, and the company gets the good of that and is unified by it. The commandment is received by one who is set for the will of God, the Lord setting that on perfectly; but I think we can see that too in Mary as she was set for Him, and she gets the word. Consequently the wisdom of God and the mind of God are expressed to the company as she takes the word to the disciples. It is a wonderful contemplation to see how these things are brought through right down to our day, even with just a few available. Yet the same things abide; John’s line of things especially, which will carry through Paul’s line. John gives us the kind of persons, disciples, persons who put the Lord first and keep His commandments because of love for Him, bringing stability, unity and expansion in the company. May the Lord bless the word.
Word in meeting for ministry, Denton, Texas
5 April 1995