THE INWARD POWER OF THE ASSEMBLY (1)
[p. 192] THE INWARD POWER OF THE ASSEMBLY (1)
JT With the Lord’s help we can now pass over to the second part of our subject, namely, the inward power of the assembly. If the Lord will, we can also be engaged tomorrow with this inner side.
Ques I have still a question with regard to 1 Corinthians 11. Have we there the Supper or the love-feast?
JT Jude in his epistle refers to the love-feast, “These are spots in your love-feasts” (Jude 12). The Lord’s supper is a love-feast. The apostle stresses in 1 Corinthians 11 that the Lord delivered to him His supper and that the Corinthians were celebrating it in an irregular and unworthy manner. On this account he gives them the introductory words of the Lord and says that he had thus received it from the Lord. It is a matter of the correct or the unworthy eating of the Supper. For the Corinthians it was no more a love-feast, for they had no love for one another, but were exhorted to follow after love (1 Corinthians 14:1).
Ques Have we the Supper in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and am knocking; if any one hear my voice and open the door, I will come in unto him and sup with him, and he with me”?
JT No. That shows how the Lord cares for individuals. He wants to lead them into the privileges of the assembly. The Lord goes after erring believers, as, for example, the two on the way to Emmaus, when He ate with them there (Luke 24:29,30). But then He disappeared from them and they returned the same hour to Jerusalem. The Lord ate with them that evening in Emmaus, but they were to eat with the Lord at Jerusalem in the assembly. At the Lord’s supper the Lord Himself doesnot
[p. 193] eat with us, He Himself does not take part at His supper.
We now wish to proceed to the inner side. John 13 does not mention the large upper room furnished, in which Peter and John had made everything ready. In regard to the time, it is only stated that before the feast of the passover the Lord’s hour had come. In John 13 all is spiritual. The Lord knew that He should depart out of this world to the Father. In Luke 9:51, the Lord set His face to go to Jerusalem, but in John He was going to the Father. He wanted to take His disciples and us with Him to the Father, not yet corporeally, but in spirit. The emphasis in John 13 is on the movements of the Lord. He knew that the Father had given Him all things into His hands and that He came out from God and was going to God. In this exalted consciousness He rose from supper; He laid aside His garments; He took a linen towel and girded Himself. In 1 Corinthians the passover is to make a deep impression upon us, but in John 13 it is the movements of the Lord in feet-washing that are to do this. The passover should cause us to “celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with leaven of malice and wickedness, but with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:8). That is our side. As we said this morning, when we rise in the morning we have to wash and put our outward appearance in order so that we may be ready for the day. A housewife must care for her housekeeping. A business man must go to his work and set matters in order. In the same way each one must prepare himself for the assembly, “Let a man prove himself” (1 Corinthians 11:28).
Ques If a believer is taking part in politics he would surely be neglecting this preparation?
JT Then he still has part with this world, he is not yet free from the elements of the world (Colossians 2:20). It says expressly, in John 13:1, that the Lord [p. 194] was departing out of this world to the Father. If we wish to go with Him in spirit to the Father then we must also go out of this world. The going out of this world in heart and mind and the celebration of the feast of unleavened bread is our exercise, but the going in to the Father is entirely a matter for our Lord, for He alone knows what is suitable in the Father’s presence. We must, therefore, when we have discharged our responsibility, leave ourselves entirely in the Lord’s hands.
It is striking that the Lord does not immediately begin with feet-washing. It says that He rose from supper, that is, from the passover supper. They were thus already eating the passover when the Lord rose up and washed their feet so that they might have part with Him before the Father. When He had washed their feet He sat down again at table, so that the passover meal went on after the feet-washing. In connection with Judas the Lord then refers to the passage in Psalm 41:9, “He that eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me”, and again, “He it is to whom I, after I have dipped the morsel, give it”. So that the passover was going on. I should like to remark here that in the four Gospels we do not find the expression “the Lord’s supper”, the word ‘supper’ always meaning the passover.
In first Corinthians the passover and the feast of unleavened bread are given as a present and continuous effect on our whole walk. But John wishes to bring before us in chapter 13 that that alone is not sufficient. The disciples might appear to be “clean” and “washed all over”, but the Lord alone can decide if we are suitable for the Father. The apostle Paul says, “For I am conscious of nothing in myself; but I am not justified by this: but he that examines me is the Lord” (1 Corinthians 4:4). When we have put everything in order and are at the threshold of the spiritual privileges of the assembly,
[p. 195] to enter into the inward side of the assembly, then we have to say to ourselves, ‘I do not know myself well enough, the only One who knows me thoroughly is the Lord’.
Ques Have we that in Hebrews 10:22, “Let us approach with a true heart”?
JT That is our side. But although we have our responsible side in Hebrews 10:22, the “great priest over the house of God” is also mentioned there. When we go into the holiest, in spite of all the preparations on our side, we have to entrust ourselves into His hands. He is the “minister of the holy places and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord has pitched, and not man” (Hebrews 3:2). He alone knows what is in keeping with the sanctuary and we must pass through His hands. How good that He is prepared to take us entirely into His hands in order to bring us over to His side. He has everything in His hands, the towel and the washhand basin. He laid aside His garments to be our servant.
Ques Did you say that we do not find “the Lord’s supper” in the gospels?
JT I said that we have not the words “the Lord’s supper” in the gospels. In the first three gospels we have the thing itself, the institution of the supper, but the words “the Lord’s supper” are never used, “supper” referring always to the passover. Luke writes with great care and says that the cup of the Lord’s supper was handed round after the passover supper, “the cup, after having supped” (Luke 22:20). In Matthew 26:20, and Mark 14:17, the Lord instituted His supper in the evening, as it says, “When the evening was come”. Luke does not mention the evening but the hour, and he does not say what hour it was. The hour is left to us. The Lord instituted His supper on an evening but we can also celebrate it at another hour. The hour, however, if possible,
[p. 196] should be the same over the whole world, because the apostles were with the Lord. In Acts 2:46 we read that the early christians broke bread in the house and then following that they received their food with gladness and simplicity of heart.
The apostle Paul then gave the Lord’s supper to the assembly and wrote to the Corinthians, “Have ye not then houses for eating and drinking? or do ye despise the assembly of God ... ?” (1 Corinthians 11:22). We should take our meals at home and eat the Lord’s supper in the assembly. The Corinthians debased the Lord’s supper to an ordinary mealtime and thus despised God’s assembly through their unworthy behaviour. On this account Paul writes to them that it is a matter of the Lord’s supper. The Lord is to be in control of it, and not a ministering brother or the head of a household.
But we must come back to our real subject. In christendom it is the custom that before one goes to the Sacrament, one has to prepare oneself, and there is a correct thought behind that. We should all go into our chamber alone in self-judgment when we have before us to partake of the Lord’s supper. But even so, the Lord must also give us the final touch if we want to have part with Him. John 13 is very important, it is the key to the understanding of the spiritual truth of the assembly. The Lord says, “Ye call me the Teacher and the Lord, and ye say well, for I am so”, but the Lord takes up the attitude of a servant, to wash our feet, to give us the last touch, the last change, so that we may be suitable for the presence of the Father and for the sanctuary. The Lord rose up from supper and laid aside His garments, His great dignity, and took the place of a servant. No one but the Lord can carry out this service for us.
Ques Is that the service of the high [p. 197] priest?
JT Yes, quite right. In Hebrews 4:14,15, we have “a great high priest”, Jesus the Son of God. He is great enough faithfully to fill out all His offices and He is great enough to take the lowest place of all, that of a servant, and He says to us, “For I have given you an example that, as I have done to you, ye should do also”. In His movements in John 13 He shows us the attitude of mind in which He wishes to take us with Him to His Father. The Greatest of all stands out in the very lowest circumstances of service. One who is really great can take the lowest place of all.
Ques Is true greatness really sonship?
JT Yes, the great High Priest is the Son of God. He does not lose His greatness by taking the lowly place of a servant, but His true greatness really shines forth then. The passover and the feast of unleavened bread help us, for we are to be eating every day only this kind of bread, but in addition to that we have the lofty and precious service of this exalted Person. These two together put us in a position to draw near to God the Father.
Ques When do we have this service of the Lord?
JT We ought not to bring time into it. Jesus knew that His hour was come. We must leave the hour to the Lord.
Ques Can we have that at the breaking of bread?
JT It is a matter of grasping the spiritual thought. After the breaking of bread we are wholly cast upon the Lord. We can only commit ourselves into His hands for we are then on spiritual ground. He sends no one before Him to make preparations. It is as if the Lord were to say, ‘It is completely My affair, no one else can do anything for you and if any one refuses My service of feet-washing he remains outside and has no part with Me’. It is, therefore, for us to lay hold of this thought. The Lord’s supper precedes this.
[p. 198] Ques Do we enter into the spiritual privileges of the assembly by way of this humble attitude of mind, which comes into expression in feet-washing?
JT Yes, that is the thought. In John 13 we see the right attitude of mind which should mark the assembly. The Lord left the place of His dignity and took the place of a servant. If we also take this place we hold the enemy at bay. We can be sure that those who come together thinking they are something in the meeting or that they have a certain place, always expose themselves to the enemy.
We say perhaps that we are in the holiest, but none the less the devil came into Christ’s circle in John 13. During supper the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas to betray the Lord and after he had received the morsel which the Lord gave to him, Satan entered directly into him. How extremely serious this is! The Lord is present and yet the devil comes in and enters into Judas. It is only when we are humble and dependent upon the Lord that He is ready to protect us.
Ques Did Paul lay aside his garments when he wrote to the Ephesians, “To me, less than the least of all saints, has this grace been given” (Ephesians 3:8)?
JT Yes, that is right. Paul has the same thing also before him when he writes to the Corinthians who were already reigning as kings (1 Corinthians 4:8), and who did not want to lay aside their royal robes. On this account the devil wrought so much havoc in their midst. Paul writes to them, “Ye are puffed up, and ye have not rather mourned” (chapter 5:2).
John 13 is the door into Christ’s spiritual realm. Then there follow the greatest spiritual thoughts which have ever been given to men (chapters 14 - 17). It is the last testament of Christ, which He has left behind for us, ere He went into death. It is remarkable that John portrays it so extensively. He seeks to lead believers into the spiritual realm. Christ [p. 199] came from God and was going back to God, but He would like to take us with Him in spirit. He did not want to return alone to God, but to give us part with Himself there. But He showed us in what attitude of mind we are to be before God the Father. We are to follow His example (John 13:14,15). He says, “If ye know these things, blessed are ye if ye do them”. It is so blessed to maintain this humble attitude of love in the assembly. This kind of mind is the inward power of the assembly.
Ques What do the washhand basin, the water and the linen towel set forth?
JT They are what the Lord has ready to hand. If we compare it with the first three gospels, the Lord probably took the water which the man carrying the pitcher had brought in, whom Peter and John were to follow (Luke 22:10) But in John 13 the Lord had all in His hands and He did everything; He poured water into the washhand basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet. It is a question of the spiritual thought lying behind it all, which is comprised in verse 34 in the words, “A new commandment I give to you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another”. Everything comes to that. Paul showed the Corinthians the more excellent way of love (1 Corinthians 12:31). The Corinthians did not yet know it, but Paul showed them this way. Love is always ready to wash the feet of others and to show them the way of love.
Ques Why could Peter not follow the Lord at that time?
JT Christ was not yet risen and glorified and the Spirit was not yet come down. In John 13 the Lord intended to give us an example of His serving love. We must first of all carefully observe our Lord’s example, but when it is a matter of our service of love, which we would like to carry out according to [p. 200] the example of our Lord, then we must have the Holy Spirit within us, for without the Spirit we cannot be active in love. Love is called the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Peter could not follow the Lord at that time because he had not yet the Spirit. It is a question in John 13 of two things; the Lord by His example shows us the way of love, but then He expects us as following His example to have love amongst ourselves. We can only have that, however, if we have the Holy Spirit and make room for Him.
Ques What does John on the breast of Jesus represent?
JT I was just going to remark on that. It says in verse 23, “Now there was at table one of his disciples in the bosom of Jesus, whom Jesus loved”. The name of this disciple whom Jesus loved is not given, though we know it was John. The thought is that in the spiritual realm there was one who was so near to the Lord. That shows there can be in the assembly those who are extraordinarily near the Lord. It is not written to reproach the other disciples but only to bring to light that in this circle there was one who was united to the Lord in spiritual affection. We should expect to come across a brother or sister who is living in very special nearness to the Lord. John does not write, ‘I was on the breast of Jesus’, but “one of his disciples in the bosom of Jesus”. When a brother speaks of himself, it is either pride or it is necessary for the sake of the testimony. If a servant does that, he should be conscious that he has received something very special from the Lord which he must set forth personally. John, however, generally speaks of himself in the third person as if he spoke of someone else. He would gladly have us also enjoy what he has enjoyed. The Lord says in John 14:21, “He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me ... and I will love him”. You expect such an [p. 201] one to be lying in the bosom of Jesus. Anyone like that does not assure us that he has got something special from the Lord. Others will soon notice it and ask him. The leading brother here, Simon Peter, beckoned to him to ask who it was of whom the Lord spoke. Simon Peter knew and valued the place where John was found. John was consciously in the choicest place in this circle. We should expect, that even today, there are such brethren in the meeting. It is not somewhat beneath our dignity to ask a brother something, if we know that he is near the Lord and at home in His things. If we are so near the Lord’s heart we do not require to push ourselves forward, for those who are spiritual will soon notice it and the saints will storm us with questions when they find out that we really have something from the Lord.
Ques Is there no inward spiritual power in the meeting without feet-washing?
JT If we do not allow the Lord to wash our feet there is no inward power present with us. We may maintain outward order but the assembly must also have an underlying spiritual state and in John 13 the Lord goes from the outward into the inner side, into the spiritual side and we are to follow Him. In His service of love He washes our feet in order to draw us into His down-stooping attitude of love and so give us part with Him before the Father. Only the Lord Himself can set us the example of this mind, which is to abide eternally before God the Father. We must give ourselves wholly over to the Lord.
Ques What does Peter represent?
JT Peter was the leader (Matthew 10:2) in relation to outward order and he wishes to retain his position as leader in John 13. He did not want to let his feet be washed by such a self-abased Teacher and Lord. But the Lord says to him, “Unless I wash thee, thou hast not part with me”. The Lord alone could make him, or us also, suitable for the enjoyment of spiritual blessings. We are entirely cast on the Lord who alone knows the mind in which we can live with Him eternally before the Father.