THE INWARD POWER OF THE ASSEMBLY (2)
[p. 203] THE INWARD POWER OF THE ASSEMBLY (2)
JT John 13 is the entrance into the spiritual privileges of the assembly. It answers to the porch of the temple which Solomon built and it is important to understand that the sea stood directly at the porch of the temple, “he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, over against the south” (1 Kings 7:39). That means that a whole sea of water stood at the entrance of the house of God. “The sea” was an immensely large fixed vessel which could hold very much water. The lavers, which were there in addition, were much smaller but they could more easily be carried (verse 38). John 13 refers to the small vessels, the basins, for the vessel in which the Lord washed the feet of His disciples was a washhand basin, that is the meaning of the word in the Greek (John 13:5). Feet-washing refers more to a locality than to the whole world. In the first epistle to the Corinthians the feet of the Corinthians are washed. The Holy Spirit is occupied with their bad state and the improprieties in the local meeting and seeks to correct them. The Lord poured water into the washhand basin and went to every disciple and washed his feet. The small vessel shows very beautifully how active the service of love is. If we follow its example we come into a state suitable to God.
Ques Has the water in the sea the same meaning as the water in the washhand basin?
JT Quite so, the water was taken out of the sea. In the washhand basin it could be better carried wherever it was required. The sea represents the universal principle of cleansing for all who are in the house of God. The water flowed from the side of our dead Lord (John 19:34). John writes of drinking water (John 7:37 - 39), and of water for washing ([p. 204] John 13:5). He connects the drinking water with the Holy Spirit which those who believe on Christ receive and the washing water with the Lord dead upon the cross.
Ques What does “born of water” mean (John 3:5)?
JT That is the cleansing effect which lies in the quickening power of the Holy Spirit.
Ques What is the difference between the laver in Exodus 30:17 - 21 and the ten lavers in the temple in 1 Kings 7:38?
JT In 1 Kings 7 we have, in addition to the ten lavers, the sea, which contained three thousand baths. That is a far greater thought than at the tabernacle where only a small laver was provided for the priests. The ten lavers in the temple each contained forty baths and could be carried about everywhere. Exodus mainly sets principles before us, but we do not yet find there the complete extent and range of the truth. It says in 1 John 5:6, “This is he that came by water and blood, Jesus the Christ”, and further on “it is the Spirit that bears witness”. The Spirit applies to water over the whole world, which answers to the sea, but the Spirit also gives special gifts, which perhaps answer to the ten lavers. In the power of the Spirit the gifts apply the universal principle of cleansing to special cases. In such a meeting as the present the Lord might be pleased to provide by the Spirit that water of purification which would be suited to our needs. The water is applied to special cases, not only universally.
Ques Why is the capacity of the sea stated?
JT The three thousand baths was a huge quantity of water which I believe speaks of the death of Christ. It is the cleansing application of His death, not the judicial application which we see in His blood. From His side flowed out blood and water.
Ques Is it the purifying action of His [p. 205] death?
JT Yes, it is the moral cleansing which the water should have upon us. The water was already there when the Holy Spirit came down at Pentecost, and, from that time on, the Spirit has been giving gifts in order to apply the water to special cases. The ruin of the church, which set in very early, has greatly hindered the operation of these gifts, for example, through religious observances or through official church activities. From the second century onwards, believers spoke only of the blood of Christ and entirely neglected the water. During the last century the Lord brought about an awakening and set many believers again at liberty, so that the Holy Spirit is once more free to give us gifts which can be exercised under His leading. If one travels today among the children of God one can again apply the word of God to the needs which they have, but according to John 13 we can even blot that out if we do not give the Lord a free hand with us and the brethren whom we are visiting. It says there, “Unless I wash thee, thou hast not part with me”.
Ques Does a local company which is moving independently of the assembly generally, refuse the Lord’s feet washing by behaviour of this kind?
JT Quite so. If we personally or as a local company behave independently or even entertain this thought, then we are not in the spirit of feet-washing, for this completely shuts out our independence, even if it is covered by a mantle of piety. The Lord says, “Unless I wash thee, thou hast not part with me”. The Lord alone can take this place. Otherwise we are occupying ourselves, in our own power, with spiritual and heavenly things, thinking we have much intelligence, while at the same time our thoughts are totally false and are bringing about division. The Lord says, “Unless I wash thee, thou hast not part with me”. The Lord must always have the first word and the pre-eminence, He must also [p. 206] commence the washing with us. We have our continuation in Revelation 22:14, “Blessed are they that wash their robes”. The Lord begins to wash and we continue it, for in Revelation 22 we ourselves wash our robes. Under His influence then we wash our robes and perhaps also the feet of other christians.
From the lovely thoughts in John 13, the principle of faith then follows in chapter 14. In John 13 the Lord leaves the example of feet-washing for us, but in John 14 He speaks of going to the Father. He says, “Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe on God, believe also on me”. Then He says that He will prepare us a place in His Father’s house. That shows how necessary John 13 is, for feet-washing makes us suitable for the exalted place above. Before the Lord goes to the Father, however, He also brings to light what the Father is: “He that has seen me has seen the Father”. It is important for us to see the Father. The Lord has gone to Him and would like to draw us also to Him in spirit in the assembly. If we want to draw near to Him then we must see and know Him. On this account Philip also said to the Lord, “Lord, shew us the Father and it suffices us” (verse 8). The Lord said to that, “Am I so long a time with you, and thou hast not known me, Philip? He that has seen me has seen the Father” (verse 9). That is to say that the Father was present in Christ and was also to be seen in Him. In the Father’s house above, the disciples and we are not to expect quite a different kind of Person from Christ, but the same Being whom Christ radiated and lived down here we shall also meet with in the Father up there. That shows very beautifully the oneness and intimate connection of divine Persons. The Lord has made the Father’s name known to us (John 17:26), but in John 14:9 it is more than that. The love and the whole Being of Christ, which He revealed down [p. 207] here, show us the Father. Up there in heaven we shall have nothing different.
Ques Is that according to the principle, ‘Like father, like son’?
JT Yes, but really it is much more than that. The Lord says, “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?” (verse 10). That is far more than similarity, for the Father was there in Him according to His nature. “The Father is in me” and yet the Father was in heaven. That is an unfathomable mystery for us. The Lord wanted to lead the disciples out of the legal order of things to the Father. He wanted to lead them over into the realm of the Spirit, where the Father and the Son can be known. In the first three gospels we have the transition from the passover to the Lord’s supper. In John, however, the passover has no spiritual worth but what the Lord does Himself has alone value, and He leads His disciples out of the old, over into the new spiritual order. John 13 to 17 disclose to us extraordinarily deep spiritual thoughts. The Lord, as it were, says, ‘I am not only the Father’s deputy and representative, but the Father is also in Me’. The works which He did, the Father did (verse 10). The connection existing between divine Persons remains for us quite unfathomable. The Father was in the Son; the works which the Son did, the Father did; and the Son drove out the demons by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:28). The Persons of the Trinity are so intimately bound up with One Another in love and in their operation that in this connection we can make no distinction between them.
Ques Does not John 1:1 show how intimately divine Persons are linked with one another?
JT Yes, “The word was with God”. “He was in the beginning with God”. John in chapter 1:1 wishes to show christians that the same One whom they knew as “the Word” has subsisted from all eternity. “In the beginning was the Word”. The same One who down here as Man spoke the word of God, existed from all eternity, yet in His own Person He is God, “The Word was God”. “The Word” is a name of the Lord Jesus which the early christians gave Him (Revelation 19:13), meaning that He spoke the word of God. Many would have us believe that before He became flesh He was already the Word, that is, He has already spoken in a way we can understand, but it says expressly that the Son has only spoken “at the end of these days” (Hebrews 1:1,2). “God ... at the end of these days has spoken to us in Son”. The Person of Him who spoke down here, was in the beginning. Only after it has been said, “The Word was God”, is it said, “All things were made by him”.
Ques Did Christ create everything as God and not as the Word?
JT Yes, He created all things as God, for in the Old Testament it says expressly, “In the beginning God created ...”.
Ques Why does it say in Hebrews 11:3 that the worlds were framed by the word of God?
JT That means that God created the world by His omnipotent word. We see in Genesis 1 that God spoke and it happened. The term ‘Word’ for the Lord in John 1 is in the Greek quite a different expression from Hebrews 11:3, “by the word of God”, which simply means ‘utterance’. If a man gives utterance to anything it is not absolutely necessary that he should also be the embodiment of the utterance and thus be the expression of what he has spoken. God had already spoken at the creation and since then He had spoken in the Old Testament through mediators, but none of these mediators could be called “The Word”. When, however, the divine Person of our Lord became Man, this Man was [p. 209] great enough to give expression to all the thoughts of God. All that He spoke was embodied in Him. We can thus understand that the name “The Word” was given to Him.
Ques What does it mean “And the Word was with God”?
JT From all eternity we have three Persons in the Godhead, distinguishable from One Another, but who were not independent of One Another. It says, “He was in the beginning with God”. In the beginning the Lord Jesus was already there, an entirely distinct Person having part in Deity. That He was with God is to show that divine Persons stand to one another in relations which are unfathomable for us. Each was a distinct Person, and yet They were so bound together in love that for us there is only one God (Galatians 3:20).
Ques What is the mystery of piety?
JT “God has been manifested in flesh, has been justified in the Spirit, has appeared to angels, has been preached among the nations, has been believed on in the world, has been received up in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16). The mystery of piety is our confession of faith, while the theologians seek to make everything fit human intelligence and want to explain all in a natural way. We can only understand a chapter like John 14 when we have spiritual intelligence. The most clever learned man could understand nothing of what we are speaking about. The Lord says, “Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes” (Matthew 11:25). The Lord teaches babes and seeks to lead them into the depths of God.
In John 14:15 the Lord says, “If ye love me, keep my commandments”, and in verse 16 “the Father ... will give you another Comforter”. If we keep the commandments of Christ we can enter the [p. 210] spiritual realm in the power of the Spirit, the other Comforter.
Ques Why is the Holy Spirit called Comforter here?
JT The word “Comforter” means that He stands entirely on our side, but as “the Spirit of Truth”. In the Comforter given to us we have always means at our disposal to search into the mysteries of God (1 Corinthians 2:10).
Ques Is all that in the assembly?
JT Yes, it is the inner side of the assembly. The Lord is gone away from this earth and is up there in heaven, but He can always come to us through the Holy Spirit. If we keep His commandments we are pleasing to the Lord and then the Spirit is free to work in us and the Lord is also free to come to us. He says first that the Holy Spirit is in us (John 14:17), and then He says that He will come to us (verse 18). Everything in this dispensation depends upon the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament God appeared to certain believers, but in the main everything was carried out through the service of angels. Now, however, everything is carried out through the Holy Spirit. On the ground of the fact that the Spirit is dwelling in us, the Lord is in a position to come to us.
Rem He does not say as in verse 3, “I am coming again and shall receive you unto myself” but “I am coming to you”.
JT “I am coming again” in verse 3 refers to the rapture, when the Lord takes us to Himself, but before that He comes to us, “I will not leave you orphans, I am coming to you”.
Ques Is it not a new thought that the Holy Spirit is to be in us?
JT Yes, He came upon the prophets, as it says, “Holy men of God spake under the power of the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21), but He was not yet come as the indwelling Spirit. “The Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified” (John 7:39).
Ques What does “I am coming to you” mean? Does it mean that the Lord comes to the assembly or to individuals?
JT “To you” is plural so it refers to the assembly, but the Lord says in verse 21, “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”. It is a question of the individual. So also in verse 23, “We will come to him and make our abode with him”. Verses 21 and 23 allude to the breakdown in which we are living today, while verse 18 relates to the first days of the assembly. John has experienced the ruin and on this account he has stored up this precious treasure for us. When the Lord visited him at Patmos the church was already in ruins, it was necessary to be an overcomer inside the assembly. In the first three letters to the churches the Spirit speaks before the overcomer is mentioned, while in the last four letters the Spirit only speaks after the overcomer has been mentioned.
Ques Is that to say that only the overcomer has an ear to listen to the Spirit?
JT Yes. In John 14:21 - 23 we have the overcomer, namely the one who has the Lord’s commandments and keeps them.
Ques Where do we find His commandments?
JT In 1 Corinthians (1 Corinthians 14:37).
Rem The overcomer must not only have ears but also arms and feet.
JT But the ear is very important. The difference between the first three and the last four letters to the churches is very striking. Thyatira represents the great public collapse of the church in the Middle Ages, and from that time onwards a remnant came to light, “the rest who are in Thyatira” (Revelation 2:24).
[p. 212] We then find first the overcomer and only after that the activity of the Spirit. If we remain quietly in the churches of christendom we cannot possibly have the service of the Spirit. We must overcome and must also take account of those before us who have overcome and have made room for the service of the Spirit. If we overcome, the Spirit speaks to us and the Lord is free to come to us. The Father and the Son make Their abode with individuals who overcome.
Ques Is that fellowship with divine Persons?
JT Divine Persons making Their abode goes further than fellowship. First I must keep Christ’s “commandments” and if I am in a wrong church position the Lord commands me to leave it. That is the commandment. If I obey I am set free, and come into conditions in which the word of Christ can have application to me. The word is what reveals God’s order. That calls for conditions with me such as we see earlier in the tabernacle and should see now in the assembly. The Father and the Son can then come to me, as God came earlier into the holiest in the tabernacle. Making Their abode is something very great; it means that the overcomer has divine Persons dwelling with him.
Ques What then is fellowship?
JT ‘Fellowship’ means ‘partnership’, something like the partnership in a business. In John’s first epistle it is said of the apostles that they had fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, and we have fellowship with the apostles and with one another. “That ye also [believers] may have fellowship with us [apostles]; and our [the apostles’] fellowship is indeed with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). We can only have fellowship with divine Persons through the apostles. Whoever disregards the apostles understands nothing of fellowship. The two Corinthian epistles speak of what marks the fellowship, it is the fellowship of God’s Son (1 Corinthians 1:9), the fellowship of the blood of the Christ and of the body of the Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16), and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14). Those are the characteristics of the fellowship, but John brings in the persons who have fellowship with one another (1 John 1:7). It is a practical bond which binds closely together believers over the whole world who are walking in the light. In Acts 2:42 we read that the early christians continued in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles; they were under the care and influence of the apostles. Today it is only when we obey their writings that we can have fellowship with one another.
Ques What is the difference between fellowship and the Father and the Son dwelling with us?
JT The dwelling of divine Persons includes great intimate acquaintance with Them, and the enjoyment of this bond of love continues eternally. Fellowship, which is often mistaken for it, is more an external bond that we come into in view of God’s testimony down here. The apostles had an outstanding place in the testimony down here. Divine Persons had fellowship with them in the spread of the testimony. Dwelling is another thought. A man lives with his wife but possibly he gives her no fellowship in his business affairs. Dwelling is, however, more precious than business.
Ques Is every correction which we receive to serve to the end that divine Persons can dwell with us?
JT Quite so. All through our life we shall be set right, in that way we come into increasingly intimate touch with the Lord and one another. Then the Lord is free to bring us to the Father. Everything in this chapter leads up to that.