SPIRITUAL SUBSTANCE (1)
SPIRITUAL SUBSTANCE (1)
JT I have been thinking of this epistle in relation to the thought of substance. God’s thought is that His people should have spiritual substance. It is said in Proverbs 8:12; Proverbs 8:20 - 21, “I wisdom ... lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment: that I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures”. She also says, “Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness”, (verse 18). I think we are entitled to look at this epistle from that point of view. John’s ministry is marked all through by the bringing forward of what is substantial.
In Revelation 21 we have the measurements of the heavenly city. The assembly is there seen to have measurements which denote substance, the measurements are of a cube. It will help to keep before us throughout these readings that God’s thought is that we should be taken up, not merely with light, doctrines and principles, important as these are, but also with that which fills them out, namely, substance. Hence John begins here with what he and others had seen, heard, handled and contemplated; what was from the beginning.
Ques. Is that substance?
JT Yes, indeed. It was substance of the most solid kind. It is of course the Person of the Lord which is alluded to, but from the viewpoint of substance. That is why the apostle uses the neuter “that”, instead of personal pronoun. Christianity rightly understood involves what is substantial. In this it is unlike other religions, mohammedanism, confucianism and even [p. 203] judaism. These consist merely of doctrines and theories, which certain men have propounded. Of course judaism was of God; it was not expressed in a person and it practically dropped to the level of the other religions. But John presents christianity as embodied in a Person. In his gospel it is who the Person is, in the epistle it is what He is. Thus he presents life — a living substance.
Ques Why in this chapter is life the first thing presented? It precedes light. In other scriptures light is put before life.
JT Here we have the substance put first. In Genesis 1, on the first day God said, “Let there be light. And there was light”. But we are not there told of the substance from which the light emanated, though doubtless it was present. It awaited the fourth day to bring in the substance, the light-bearers. But in John’s gospel and also in his epistle we have the life first.
Rem There would be no fellowship without substance.
JT No, and we shall have this eternally. We shall not then be living on light merely, but on Christ, on what is substantial.
Ques Is that why, in chapter 2, we have babes, young men and fathers, three stages of growth?
JT Yes. Growth necessarily implies what is substantial — the evidence of life.
Now in the beginning of the epistle it is a question of what was expressed in the Person of the Lord as Man here. So the apostle starts with the word, ‘That’. The epistle is intended to establish the great fact that christianity is not like any other religion. It involves life seen in persons; what can thus be seen, heard, handled and contemplated; first in Christ, and now in those who believe on Him.
Ques Do we have the thought in Hebrews 1:3, “who being the effulgence of his glory and the expression of his substance”?
JT Yes. You get the word there; what God is essentially was expressed in Christ. But as to christianity, we must of course first see the thing in Christ. We must get the idea in that way. But then the saints are also an expression of it; that which is true in Him is true in us.
It will be of help to us to refer to the two pillars which stood in front of Solomon’s temple, (2 Chronicles 3). Their dimensions are given; they were beautifully ornamented; and stood conspicuously so that any one approaching could not but see them. The one was called Jachin, meaning, He shall establish; and the other Boaz, meaning, In Him is strength. They were placed there with a special meaning. They represented that which God would present as testimony in a substantial or concrete way. Then besides the pillars there were the altar of brass, the molten sea, the ten lavers, etc. The pillars were to remind us of what God is presenting in testimony, His intention being that His idea is to become our idea. Then in the other items there is presented His provision whereby we may become like that idea. God has no lower thought for us than Christ. The pillars would represent others as well, such as Peter and John in Acts 3. The divine thought is that the vessels through whom the testimony comes should represent the result to be reached.
Rem Apart from expression you cannot know what a person has in mind.
JT Just so. God thus sets the thing forth substantially. It is what He has in mind, not merely a code or system of teaching, but substance, so that it may be seen; and God’s desire is to bring us to what is thus presented. Christianity is seen in fulness in Christ personally; there could be no development in it as set forth in Him, but there must be development in us to reach conformity to Himself. Thus in the two pillars we have the divine thought concretely presented, and [p. 205] in the altar, sea, lavers, etc., the means whereby we may be brought into accord with that thought. In this epistle we have the Son of God come in connection with the means of cleansing, the water and the blood, and the Spirit bearing witness. In this way we are brought into accord with Christ.
Ques Did God have to wait thirty years for the substance to appear in connection with the Lord?
JT Before He was born it was said of Him, “the holy thing also which shall be born shall be called Son of God”, (Luke 1:35); “the holy thing”, not ‘person’. So evidently the substance was there as Christ was born, and it was absolutely holy. Of course it was the Person of Jesus. It referred to the Babe that was to be born, but then the Holy Spirit uses the word “thing”. It would be no ordinary babe. Nor could it be said of any other babe that the substance was holy. All others must necessarily stand in relation to the fallen state in their parents. The children of believers are said to be holy (1 Corinthians 7:14), but this is relative. This Babe was essentially holy. It did not have to be made holy. We can bow down in the presence of that!
Rem You are thinking of this as being light for us.
JT Yes. It was a question of what was there substantially. That is the marvellous thing which love has done; it has taken such a way to express itself. So we have the neuter, both in Luke and in John, in the words ‘that’ and ‘thing’.
Ques Is it implied that God would take us back to the way in which He made a beginning?
JT Quite. God begins with the Person of Christ, that which was perfect. It was what Jesus was as an actual Man here. And everything must be put to that test; that which is agreeable to God answers to the test. Whatever is to be formed in us must be of Christ morally; the substance is Christ; it is said, “the body is of Christ”, (Colossians 2:17).
Ques Would “Christ in you the hope of glory” (Colossians. 1:27), answer to this?
JT Yes, but in Colossians it is Christ accorded a place in us; here it is the life manifested — that is the thing. That eternal life which was with the Father has been manifested. Colossians is the mystery — “Christ in you” (gentiles). There our life is hid, the manifestation is future; but it is the manifestation of Christ, “who is our life”, not simply the life itself.
Ques When the apostle speaks of life would this be the same as the “life of God”, in Ephesians 4:18?
JT It would be that morally; that is a relative expression, what He is as revealed, that is, in relation to conditions among men in this world. But we must not make eternal life the life of God. “God is love”, (1 John 4:16). What the apostle brings out is life manifested so that we may have part in it; it is in a Man. It is a substantial thing which was seen, heard and handled. Then in John’s gospel we have, “In him was life”, (chapter 1:4); that is, substance was there, “and the life was the light of men”. The two things, light and life, are equal there. It is a reciprocal proposition; the life had reference to men only. But the principle is that life is the source of light. On the other hand, the light should generate life in my soul. It should affect me so that I become substantial and so be light.
Rem It is said, “the true light already shines”, (1 John 2:8). What is the meaning of that?
JT The true light is Christ, (John 1:9). It shines through His people now as living in His life. But we are only shining in the measure in which we have life. The light seen in Christ becomes life in the believer. Thus the believer shines and the light is true.
Rem So that that which was true in Him should become true in us in the way of life.
JT Yes. This epistle contemplates the saints not [p. 207] only as enlightened, but also as giving light. In them “the darkness is passing”, (chapter 2:8).
Ques In what way do the saints hold forth the word of life?
JT In connection with what we say. The word of life involves what we speak. I convey the idea in that way. Hence it says of the Lord that He had the words of eternal life. It means the expression in detail of it. The words of eternal life would convey it fully. The Lord has graciously afforded much in this way during the last forty years.
Rem Every soul must make a beginning in this great matter. He must hear and receive the words of life before it can take form in him.
Rem In Genesis everything is sustained in life under the rays of the sun.
JT Just so. And so we have, “He that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life”, (John 8:12). It is like following the course of a river to its source. There is life, there is vegetation all along its banks; you value that; it is what you see normally as moving among the Lord’s people. If you do not find life among those who profess to follow the Lord, there is something wrong. Hence “If we say”, in this epistle. The absence of a result corresponding to what we say makes us liars.
In Genesis 1 what we first see is the necessity of light being brought in. All was dark and there must be light. The kind of light is not mentioned. Light comes in different forms; but when in darkness it is imperative that there should be light. So it says, “It is the God who spoke that out of darkness light should shine”, (2 Corinthians 4:6). But later in Genesis it is connected with what is very concrete: thus on the fourth day attention is called to the various luminaries in the heavens, the sun, moon and stars; these have typical application to the present time. Hence God “has shone in our hearts for the [p. 208] shining forth of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”, (2 Corinthians 4:6).
Without light there can be no life. But the sun’s rays cannot of themselves produce fruit. There must also be something latent in the earth that would become fruitful under the influence of what is in the heavens. This is what John has in view, something taking definite form here, hence new birth, which effects a soil fruitful for God; for the flesh profits nothing.
Rem You would say the light of God is the normal sphere in which a believer should move and live.
JT Yes. In the first four verses of this chapter we have set forth life as seen in Christ. This corresponds with the two pillars already referred to, what God presents in testimony, what is substantial. Then we have the application of it to ourselves in ‘the message’ of the fifth verse. The message shows God’s desire that we should answer to what has been set forth in Christ. The first four verses stand by themselves, showing what God has presented in the Person of Christ. In connection with this the apostles were in fellowship with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. ‘The message’ comes having in view that others should be affected. But first we have the introduction of the great substantial testimony set forth first in the Lord Himself and then in the apostles from the divine side.
This raises the question of the messenger. The nature of the messenger is implied in verses 1 to 4. He must be in keeping with his message; the message must not be detracted from by the messenger. It was really enhanced in the apostles, for in the main they were in keeping with the Lord in their service, and they heard it direct from Him. “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all”. No doubt all the apostles were included in the ‘we’. In 1 Kings we have the dimensions of the two pillars given severally,
[p. 209] each was eighteen cubits high. But in 2 Chronicles 3 there is given evidently the total height, thirty-five cubits. This would suggest an expression of the entire testimony through the twelve. Evidently the apostles were kept together so as to be able to represent the divine mind. And the message was to take such form in the saints that it would occasion fulness of joy. We thus see what christianity is. It is a concrete thing, a living substance.
Ques Does verse 1 refer to the Lord after He was risen?
JT I believe it specially alludes to Him after He was risen, but all that was seen then was there essentially before.
Ques What is referred to by the ‘beginning’ in this chapter?
JT It is the beginning of Christ, of His manhood, and especially refers to the time when He began to witness. One likes to dwell on the apostle’s thought of fulness of joy. It speaks of what the saints are as entering into eternal life. They are not overwhelmed people, drooping under their circumstances. We should test ourselves by this as to what substance we have got.
Ques What is the difference between this chapter and the first chapter of John’s gospel, as to the way in which the Lord is referred to?
JT The beginning of John’s gospel gives the eternal, distinct existence of Christ as a divine Person before He became Man. It gives His deity. What is emphasised there is that He “became flesh, and dwelt among us”, as the apostle says. The epistle brings Him before us in manhood and eternal life in Him, as available to us. It was written that we may know — be conscious — that we have eternal life, (chapter 5:13).
Rem The things we are speaking of were formed in the apostles as they were in the Lord’s [p. 210] company.
JT Of course, their entrance into the things presented in Him awaited redemption and the coming of the Spirit. On the mount of transfiguration they beheld a most wonderful scene, but were not characterised by it. The fabric that could take on the glorious hue was not fully there. They “were heavy with sleep”, (Luke 9:32); consequently they did not come down reflecting the glory. But when Peter wrote about it in his epistle he shows how he had afterwards taken on the glory. He says, “we ... were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased ... when we were with him in the holy mount”, (2 Peter 1:16 - 18). Notice the expressions he uses: ‘such a voice’, ‘excellent glory’, ‘holy mount’. He had already become glorified, in principle; he had taken on the glory. As John says in his gospel, “( ... we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only begotten with a father), full of grace and truth”, (chapter 1:14). As we contemplate it now we take it on; God would impress us with this thought that we should take on the glory.
Ques Would the heavenly city answer to what you are speaking of? It is said to come down from heaven having the glory of God.
JT Yes. In the city we have the cube measure: spiritually understood, it is the most absolute expression of substance. It will not be an empty shell; it is composed of persons, and the glory of God is there. So saints at the present time, in “looking on the glory of the Lord ... are transformed according to the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit”, (2 Corinthians 3:18). That refers to what is going on in us. The principle set forth is not merely that of light, but of substance. It is a change from one thing, or substance, into another.
[p. 211] Ques Would you say that the measure of your joy is the measure of your substance?
JT Quite. It is a question of fulness of joy. It is beautiful to see that shining out from the faces of the brethren.
I think Peter is taken up in Scripture to show the manner of God’s handiwork in us — His patience and skill. So his history is given very fully; it shows how man’s will works, but how God works in us in spite of that. In Peter I see myself in this respect; I see in him a divinely given picture of myself, and of how God works with me to carry into effect His thoughts. In his second epistle Peter is set forth as taking on the glory in keeping with the holy mount. And in the end, as the Lord had told him, when he should be old he should stretch forth his hands and another should gird him and carry him, (John 21:18). So God’s end with him is reached.
If we get away from the Lord we take on another dye, the world’s dye. In such a case, God will not again put His dye over that. He must entirely reject the false colour. What we need then is stripping. This is a term used by dyers, referring to the operation of taking the colour entirely out of a piece of material. Applied to a believer, this is a painful process and involves self-judgment. Many think they can continue as if nothing had happened but what God will have to do with us in such circumstances is to strip us entirely and give us another colour. We shall have much to unlearn. A dye put over another colour never gives a good lustre. God would have us come out here with heavenly lustre. If I get away from God I take on a great deal that has to be stripped. I may have been out of the current of things for a long time, but God has been moving on, the testimony has been moving on. Elijah implied in his remarks to God that further efforts in testimony were useless since his were ineffective. He said, “I have been very jealous for Jehovah the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant ... and I am left, I alone, and they seek my life, to take it away”, But is God going to stop? He says to Elijah, “Go, return on thy way ... anoint Hazael king over Syria; and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint prophet in thy stead ... Yet I have left myself seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth that hath not kissed him”, (1 Kings 19:14 - 18). God was going on. Elijah might step out of the ranks, but God would continue. There are those today who have stepped out of the path of the testimony and are missing things every moment they are outside; they are losing the divine colour. Recovery can only be through a full acknowledgment of this before God.
God is going to bring about a wonderful display of glory in His saints. Think of the rainbow — what a combination of colours! God says of it, “my bow” (Genesis 9:13). And He puts it in the cloud. So that whatever cloud may come over our spirits, with its tendency to make us droop, God places His bow there, saying in effect that in it He is going to work out His glory. In Isaiah 6:3 the seraphim cry one to another saying, “the whole earth is full of his glory!”
It is possible to be spiritually colour-blind; many cannot see on account of that defect. But in Noah’s sons we see the principle of spiritual sight. They took the garment and went backwards to cover the nakedness of their father. Their eyes were in another direction — reserved, as it were, for the glory. We need to have good eyes for that! Shem, in Abraham, saw the God of glory. So it is said, “Blessed be the Lord God of Shem”, (Genesis 9:26). Both Shem and Japheth showed respect for their father’s condition, but this is especially accredited to Shem. God could commit Himself to that [p. 213] man, and it is on that line that the testimony is continued. So we find the God of glory appeared to Abraham, who had eyes to see it.
Rem What you are saying indicates that in setting forth things in testimony God manifests that He has something definite before Him, which it is His desire that we should enter into.
JT The two pillars which stood before the temple represented, as was said, what God would effect, but we must consider what was inside the house. You go inside and you find the ark and the divine Presence. God would say to you, I can make you like My Son. The question for me is, am I set to take this on? It is divinely possible, for it says, “as he is, we also are in this world”, (1 John 4:17). Proverbs 8 shows how we can obtain the substance which corresponds with this. It is not acquired in the way in which money and property are often acquired — without any question being raised of right or wrong. Wisdom has her own way; she impresses one with the value of the thing first, she sets out the wealth she has got. She says, “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver”. And then, “I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment: that I may cause those that love me to inherit substance”, (Proverbs 8:17 - 21). That is how it comes. If I am to come into this I must take account of the paths of righteousness and judgment. The Lord has taken that way; He has gone into death to secure righteousness. He has recognised those paths, and so must I.
The heavenly city, the church in its final setting, comes out as ‘pure gold’. It represents what is divine. The precious stones which adorn the city, inclusive of a variety of colours, refer to the rich glories and graces [p. 214] of Christ reflected in it. Red is a striking colour, suggesting earthly glory. It is often seen in nature, in flowers for instance, and is easily understood. Blue is the heavenly colour; it is suggested as we look up into the unclouded expanse. The cause of it is not as tangible as in the earthly colour, but it is there unmistakably as we gaze into the heavens. God has put it there so as to use it to convey what is heavenly. In Numbers 4:6 it is the colour of the covering of the ark. It marked Christ as Man here.
Ques Why is blue a leading colour in Scripture?
JT Because of the place heaven has. That which is heavenly must of necessity take precedence of what is of the earth. The heavens rule, they are superior to the earth. The red will come out in a future day. But at the present we have already what is even better, the blue, the heavenly.
Ques When you speak of substance you have spiritual wealth in mind, have you not?
JT Yes. It refers to what we take on of Christ by the Spirit. It has in view that the true light may now shine. It is most important to have the right texture so as to take on the heavenly colour. The godly man in Psalm 1:3 is an instance of it, “his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper”. Then in Luke it is recorded that certain women ministered to the Lord of their substance. As possessing spiritual substance we minister to Him.
Referring again to the message: “And this is the message which we have heard from him, and declare to you”, the thought of God is that the message and the messenger should correspond — see 2 Samuel 18:19 - 32. John was admirably fitted to carry this message. He had been in the bosom of Jesus, and is spoken of in that connection as the disciple whom Jesus loved. Evidently he had had closer access to Him than any of the other disciples. He was lovable.
[p. 215] Ques Why in the message is God spoken of as light and not as love?
JT Because the message is dealing with a condition of things marked by darkness. It is to counteract the influences of darkness. “God is light” is relative — it is what He is in relation to darkness. The divine nature, love, is a different thought; “God is love” (1 John 4:8) is absolute. The message focuses the thing, you see what is in view exactly. Darkness was rapidly coming in. The enemy is always active. We need to see what is the nature of his attack at any given time — it is always darkening. So light is brought in to counteract it. If others are dark, God is not; “in him is no darkness at all”. It is evident that the message is to deal with the instruments of the enemy’s attack upon the truth; darkness was in them. They would say they had fellowship with God but walked in darkness, and so lied and did not practice the truth.
Rem This raises the point as to what I am.
JT Yes. Jude shows us that gross darkness was coming in. Now the question arises, Am I personally luminous?
The message is concerned with what God is; He is ever cognizant of the inroads of evil. “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you”. As in service, my responsibility is to get a message, to be sure that I have heard something from God. The message is what I hear from Him. One may seek to serve the saints with a little ministry and the Lord helps, but a message is very definite. I may not know the state of the saints at any given time, but a message from God indicates what is needed. God knows all the evil that is coming in all over the world, and will use us to combat it, as we are suitable vessels. Satan is intensely active against those whom God is thus using, but no weapon that is formed against such can prosper. It is thus a very great matter to be available to God.
[p. 216] Ques Is there any distinction to be made between the messenger and the witness?
JT I think there is a distinction. There is a two-fold idea in connection with a witness. First of all, he has seen the thing to be testified to, and then he has been called upon to testify what he has seen; and he stands for what he says; thus he may eventually be a martyr. A messenger is one who comes with a message from someone else; that he is a messenger implies that he has ability to deliver it.
The last part of our chapter brings in cleansing; that which maintains us in a suited condition in the presence of all that has come in.