RIGHTEOUSNESS (5)
RIGHTEOUSNESS (5)
JT With reference to what we had this morning, it will be remembered what Abram was directed to provide in chapter 15. We should therefore look a little more into Romans 4 so as to see more clearly the relation of circumcision to righteousness. The truth works out in that chapter into the thought of life which God gives to those who have faith. We saw that the creatures mentioned are: a heifer of three years old, a she-goat of three years old and a ram of three years old. All these were to be procured in order to have an answer to what Abram desired to know. He said, “how shall I know?” and Jehovah answered him in directing him to take these creatures; and then we are told that he did secure them and divided them in the midst, “and laid the half of each opposite its fellow, but the birds he did not divide”. The latter represent whole ideas. Then we are told that the birds of prey came down on the carcases, and Abram scared them away. All this enters into the teaching of the chapter, because it enters into the answer by God as to how Abram was to know. The creatures are two females and one male, which allude to certain thoughts called objective and subjective. The female alludes to the working out of affection, and these are mature creatures, three years old. The male would point to what is progenitive. God is going on the great principle of increase and all this enters into the matter of knowledge — how we should know. Abram desired to know and Jehovah showed him the way. This involves Romans 7. Genesis 15 is a processing time in the history of Abram and Romans 7 has this same character. Romans indicates the processing time for the Christian — showing how [p. 456] he is to know. Romans 12 speaks about “intelligent service”, and linked with that is the word of the apostle, “I speak as to intelligent persons” (1 Corinthians 10:15). The saints are expected to know what they are to do and how to do it. We are to be marked by intelligence.
SP Would you say that the writer in Romans 7 saying, “I delight in the law of God according to the inward man”, would be coming through Abram’s experience here as looking at these creatures, which suggest the excellencies of Christ coming into evidence?
JT That is clearly how the truth stands in Romans 7; the apostle through introspection reached that result. He went through the experience until he came to “I myself”, that is the crisis. He is now determined that with his mind he will serve God’s law. That is not specifically the ten commandments but God’s law characteristically, and chapter 8 shows the power that is available for that, the power of the Spirit, “that the righteous requirement of the law should be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to flesh but according to Spirit” (verse 4). The law there would be the law of Moses; “who do no walk according to flesh but according to Spirit”, would suggest that one has taken on that character. The chapter then goes on to develop much more than that, as we all know, but it gives great place to the Spirit of God. The Spirit is mentioned fourteen times in the first half of the chapter.
AEJA Is that in relation to the resolution by the spiritual mind to serve God’s law?
JT Yes. The spiritual mind is developed in the chapter: “for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (verse 14).
AEJA It is not a mind subject to the flesh but a mind subject to the Spirit. In Galatians the works of the flesh are seen in contrast to the fruits of [p. 457] the Spirit.
JT In Romans the writer resolves that with the mind he will serve God’s law — the flesh can only serve sin’s law.
DR Abram’s knowledge affected him inwardly.
JT Romans contemplates all that, the accumulation of knowledge in the believer in this way. God tells Abram what to bring and leaves him to decide what to do with them. “And he took all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid the half of each opposite its fellow; but the birds he did not divide”. Through what he does knowledge is developed. He scares away the birds, which are, in type, the devil’s activities. Then the sun is going down — the end of the order of things he had been in, and “a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, a horror, a great darkness, fell upon him”. It is a terrible experience. But then verse 13 says, “And he said to Abram, Know assuredly”. This is what he desired to know — “Know assuredly that thy seed will be a sojourner in a land that is not theirs, and they shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years. But also that nation which they shall serve I will judge; and afterwards they shall come out with great property. And thou shalt go to they fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. And in the fourth generation they shall come hither again; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full”. Well now, that is the first part of the instruction, but it goes on: “And it came to pass when the sun had gone down, and it was dark, that behold, there was a smoking furnace, and a flame of fire which passed between those pieces”. This is the second thing by which he is to know, and it shows that Abram acted with instinctive intelligence in placing the pieces in the positions stated. God recognised their order as the passage shows: “there was a smoking furnace, and a flame of fire which passed between those pieces”. That is, God takes on the elements of knowledge found [p. 458] in His servant, which here point to the death of Christ. The smoking furnace and the flame of fire passed between the pieces. And then the passage goes on, “On the same day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed I give this land”. The process has been gone through and finished so that Abram may know that his seed should possess the promised land. Typically, it involves that what God has engaged Himself to is reached in the soul of the believer; it is the working out of divine counsels.
Ques Does it involve what is found in Romans 8, “the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”?
JT Well, the first thought in that connection is in Romans 5:5, “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us”. And then nothing can separate us from the love of God: “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (chapter 8:38,39). That is one of the great features reached in Romans 8. The process of knowledge is plain, and the result is plain, that God reaches His thought, the complete deliverance of His people and their being set up in their own land.
LES There is a reference in Hosea 4:6 which fits in well with these two chapters: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; for thou hast rejected knowledge, and I will reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me; seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God”. And then “Come and let us return unto Jehovah: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before his face; and we shall know — we shall follow on to [p. 459] know Jehovah: his going forth is assured as the morning dawn; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain which watereth the earth” (Hosea 6:1 - 3).
JT Yes, that is all involved in what we are saying. No true believer would exclude himself from knowledge of this kind. The service of God requires knowledge; we are to know. The apostle says, “I speak as to intelligent persons” (1 Corinthians 10:15); “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of the Christ?” “Is it not?” That is for you to say. What is your judgment of it? Regarding the elements of the death of Christ, what is the judgment of each of us?
SP In 1 Corinthians 6:19 the apostle says, “Do ye not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you?” Do ye not know? The apostle is not concerned about their lack of knowledge exactly, but that they were not recognising it.
JT That is the point raised here. They had the knowledge but it was nullified by the bad state amongst them.
JC In connection with the fire passing between the pieces, would that be divine approval?
JT Yes. Abram’s intelligence is owned in it. Power is seen there — the smoking furnace and the flame of fire pass between the pieces. It confirms the knowledge Abram evidenced in setting the pieces thus. The concern of the apostle in his letters to the Corinthians and the Romans is largely in respect of knowledge.
HH It involved their appreciation of the death of Christ.
JT Two things are put together — the deep sleep and the horror of great darkness. And then there is the smoking furnace and the flame of fire passing between the pieces; Abram has put the pieces there [p. 460] and God moves in relation to what he has done. The same thing is seen in Revelation. God moves in relation to the judgment of the saints: “Rejoice over her, heaven, and ye saints and apostles and prophets; for God has judged your judgment upon her” (Revelation 18:20). God comes in in relation to what the saints have arrived at.
HH In regard to the present war — the saints are going to come out of that with more substance than ever. God is waiting for the prayers of the saints so He can deal with things according to their prayers, as He will deal with Babylon according to their judgment. Are we exercised about the matter? I have been - as to whether our prayers in regard of the present conflict are on a spiritual level.
JT God is suggesting to us that we come out of it “with great property”, spiritual property. Are we ready to help in our prayers or whatever way we can to secure this property? God would instruct us as to what is involved. How is the result to be brought about? The war is universal, the names of countries, seas and rivers are becoming more familiar to us. This is in the general design — in view of the future. The earth is the Lord’s, all these seas and countries are the Lord’s, and He is going to take them on. But how are they to be taken on? The present people who are in them are not worthy of them, but God has heirship in mind. Abram is heir of the world.
AH Abram would be an overcomer.
JT Clearly he is. “On the same day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed I give this land”. But, as you may say, he is going to die. But faith has a long outlook! In this sense the death of a saint is but an incident in his history; he will be raised up in the last day. The overcomers will rule the earth. The word to Thyatira is: “And he that overcomes, and he that keeps unto the end [p. 461] my works, to him will I give authority over the nations, and he shall shepherd them with an iron rod; as vessels of pottery are they broken in pieces, as I also have received from my Father; and I will give to him the morning star” (Revelation 2:26 - 28). God is preparing persons to take charge under Christ. The heavenly city will come down, having the glory of God, and it will be the centre of government.
SP The widest circulation possible should be given in our localities to any information received from brethren in various parts of the world.
JT That is happening today. Now is the processing time — the making time. God is preparing inhabitants for heaven. The earth will be suitably peopled, too, and the knowledge of God will cover it as the waters cover the sea.
LES The character of instruction seen in this chapter will work out for great wealth in the assembly in relation to the coming day.
JT It will. Genesis 15 should be read in the light of what we considered in Romans 4 as to Abraham’s faith: “And he received the sign of circumcision as seal of the righteousness of faith which he had”. That again links with Romans 7 — the serving of God’s law and knowing how, at the same time, to keep the flesh in its place, which is by the Spirit in the believer. God has not literally destroyed it, but He gives the believer power to control it. To rule the earth you have to learn to control sin in yourself. Am I able to control myself? Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit, according to Galatians 5:23. Flesh can only serve the law of sin.
AEH In Genesis 18 we read that God said of Abraham, “For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him”. Is there any link with the smoking furnace and the flame of fire in that God is taking up what Abraham does? The knowledge of God works out in substance, as [p. 462] we have seen, and this is in accord with his government of his house.
JT Yes. He is said to be the friend of God. We have spoken of Abel and Noah, and now we have the heir of the world as part of our subject. God is not ashamed of him, He is not ashamed to be called his God. And it is said in Romans 4 that he believed God “in hope to his becoming father of many nations”. It was through the power of God, not of the flesh; morally through the circumstances seen in Genesis 18, in which chapter the question of the disposition of the world comes into view. The history of Sodom would suggest how God is dealing with the world, and we as of Abraham are one with Him in it. He makes His mind known to Abraham, for Abraham is His friend; according to chapter 15, made intelligent. He is concerned about the righteous, and God is concerned about them; this is what is coming before us. We must keep in mind who Abraham is and what relations he has with God. Jehovah came to him in company with three men; they communed with him but Abraham was not the primary objective of their journey. God is on the way to look after a great matter — the judgment of the world. He has stopped to speak to Abraham on the way. God expresses confidence in Abraham.
SP In verse 23 Abraham says to God, “Wilt thou also cause the righteous to perish with the wicked?” suggesting the appreciation in Abraham’s soul of the righteous.
JT All that comes out. The first paragraph in the chapter ends with verse 5, the second with verse 8, and then Sarah comes in; she is to be a mother. Then there is the matter of the judgment of Sodom, and Abraham’s intercession for it. You can see all the way through that God is honouring Abraham; He says, “I know him”.
DR Stephen says of Abraham that Jehovah “[p. 463] gave to him the covenant of circumcision; and thus he begat Isaac and circumcised him the eighth day” (Acts 7:8). There is circumcision again.
JT There is no provision for the flesh at all, but for the Spirit.
DR It fits in here exactly because immediately after this covenant Abraham takes his whole household and circumcises it.
JT We were speaking of the divine journey seen here. It is very touching; God is on His way and He calls on Abraham, His friend. Abraham is the friend of God and with God in all that He is doing, and God talks over this transaction with him. He is going to Sodom. It looks on to the present time: God is on the way to deal with the world, but He is lingering in the gospel — still carrying it on. Wrath is revealed, but not yet executed. In the meantime God is with His people, supporting them in their service and testimony.
HH In John 15:14 we are called friends; the Lord says, “Ye are my friends”.
JT Very beautiful! So James says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he was called Friend of God” (chapter 2:23). Would not every one of us like to be so near to God that He can talk with him, take counsel with him? It is very touching!
HH Hushai was David’s friend. “Is this thy kindness to thy friend?” Absalom says (2 Samuel 16:17).
AEJA That is why we wait in patience in what God is doing now with the nations until the wickedness of the Amorites is full; until apostasy is fully developed.
JT It is according to the knowledge suggested in chapter 15. Christians know of the government of God, what He is doing in this sense; He is disclosing His mind to us. The Lord comes to us, according to [p. 464] John 14:18; in the sense spoken of there the divine visits are continuous.
SP As we feel for the brethren the result is that the feelings manifest in Abraham mark us. He says, “There are perhaps fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not forgive the place for the sake of the fifty righteous that are therein?” He is concerned about the righteous and he also has right feelings regarding men in a general sense.
JT Quite so. Look at his conversation! Abraham’s concern is the righteous, he is not telling of the evil in Sodom. Sodom is condemned, as the sequel showed; there is no need to say anything about that.
DR Why does Peter mention Lot?
JT Well, Peter and John make the most of what there is of God. If there is a Christian in this town and a brother knows him, he will make the most of him. If he is a righteous man we must make the most of him. God does not say in Genesis that Lot is a righteous man, He leaves it to Peter to tell us.
DR Lot was to his household as one that jested, but Abraham commanded his children and his household after him. I was wondering if all this might enter into the prayer meetings for the gospel — that the righteous might be saved.
JT Indeed it would. We see the compassion of Jehovah for Lot. We have to wait until hundreds of years afterwards to learn certain things about him, and we may be encouraged to regard him as more valuable than we had thought. Peter says that God “having reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, setting them as an example to those that should afterwards live an ungodly life; and saved righteous Lot” (2 Peter 2:6,7). It is remarkable that it is a man who specially writes of the government of God that tells us this. And thus he suggests to us to make the most [p. 465] of real Christians wherever we see them, of course hating the garment spotted by the flesh (Jude 23).
AEH I have wondered if there is not sometimes a danger of our spending too much time on this kind of person. You would go to the fullest extent to serve them but you would guard against falling into the snare in which they may be held.
JT Yes. You would go a good distance, but do not lose time on them. The angels hurried Lot out. Those with whom we are free to walk should have the first place in our thoughts.
AEJA You would have an intelligent spiritual appraisal of persons claiming your attention.
JT This passage helps in that. Abraham is delightful to God. “And Jehovah said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing? Since Abraham shall indeed become a great and mighty nation; and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice, in order that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham what he hath spoken of him”. That is God’s commendation of His servant. And then Jehovah says, “Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grievous, I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come to me; and if not, I will know it”. But why did Jehovah say this? God is stating the case. He has His man, His friend; He is communing with him. And then, “the men turned thence, and went towards Sodom”; it is their business to go on. But Abraham remains standing before Jehovah. The two went on, but could not God recall them if Abraham succeeds? So Abraham is having much liberty to intercede in this matter. This is our position today; God is moving in this [p. 466] day. Are we of interest to heaven? Abraham is. What is he aiming at? We preach the gospel in our day; what is to be said? What is God giving in our day? In the past hundred and twenty years much light has been brought in. Abraham is interceding and God is harkening to him. Look at his attitude — it is the spirit of Christ, and that is what pleases God. “Abraham remained yet standing before Jehovah”. He is standing, pleading with God: “For through him we have both access by one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:18). So the prayer meetings take on an exalted character, affording God’s priests opportunities to plead with Him for all men, especially for His people.
AEH That is all very interesting. In regard to this matter of prayer, one notices in the prayers, without any reflection, that there is a great deal of carelessness in the way the Lord’s name is used; no reference in some cases in the end of our prayers to the name of the Lord Jesus. We should be careful to realise that our prayers are made through Christ.
JT Yes. And then we are to address the Father. The Father is the first Person in the economy and generally our prayers should be directed to Him through Christ. “For through him we have both access by one Spirit to the Father”. One has often noticed the paucity of our prayers to the Father. The Lord encourages us to address our prayers to the Father through Christ by the Spirit. Philadelphia is the phase of the assembly representatively today. Ephesus has had its day; Smyrna, Pergamos and Thyatira respectively have had their days; as to historical fact Laodicea is now present, running on to the end, and is parallel with Philadelphia. What is the Lord’s comment about Philadelphia? He says, “And to the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write: These things saith the holy, the true; he that has the key of David, he who opens and no one shall [p. 467] shut, and shuts and no one shall open: I know thy works” (Revelation 3:7,8). Its character comes out in what it does. God is taking account of it. “Behold, I have set before thee an opened door, which no one can shut, because thou hast a little power, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I make them of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews, and are not, but lie; behold, I will cause that they shall come and shall do homage before thy feet, and shall know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee out of the hour of trial, which is about to come upon the whole habitable world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. I come quickly: hold fast what thou hast, that no one take thy crown” (Revelation 3:8 - 11). I think that is one of the most interesting passages that we could consider and carry away with us: what Philadelphia is in its day, which is the present day. What a place we have with God at the present time! The Lord can say about us, “I have loved thee”, and he is going to make it known openly. There is that on earth now which He loves.
LES In addressing God or the Father in prayer would you bring in the name of the Lord Jesus?
JT Well, the word is, “giving thanks at all times for all things to him who is God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20). And we have in Colossians 3:17, “And everything, whatever ye may do in word or in deed, do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father by him”.
LES I have been exercised as to whether it is always necessary to bring in the name of the Lord Jesus.
JT The question is, what is told us to do? I would look for it especially in the public service of God, things done in the name of the Lord Jesus and [p. 468] asked for in the name of the Lord Jesus. Of course undue repetitions should be avoided.
AEJA In speaking to the Father in our day can we go on what the Lord says in John 16:23, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give you”?
JT We ask everything in His name. Now in the chapter before us we find that Abraham comes down to ten persons. He does not go any lower. Whether there were more than one is questionable; we cannot say there was a righteous person in that city except Lot. Abraham comes down to ten righteous persons: “Perhaps there may be ten found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for the ten’s sake”. So at the present time, because of certain conditions, there may be an extending of the dispensation. In a sense the time has come for the man of sin; but what influence have the saints in relation to that? Is their influence respected in heaven so that the development of sin may be checked? There is a way being made for the people of God. Is it the outcome of the prayers and general influence of the saints of God? I would say that God has shown us the man of sin; He has caused him to appear in certain of his features. As in Genesis 18, God has already moved in view of judgment. Here Abraham is seeking to hold Him back. While the assembly is here in character judgment in its full effect is held back. In Genesis 18 Abraham pleads for ten, and Jehovah says He will not destroy Sodom for the ten’s sake. What a suggestion as to judgment that is today! Think of what went on between Jehovah and Abraham! “And Jehovah went away when he had ended speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place”. How much there is here for contemplation! I do not think God has finished speaking to us yet. Wrath from heaven is still pending — affected by God speaking to those of the assembly and they speaking [p. 469] to Him. I believe much rests with the saints. The long suffering of God and the prayers of His people are of peculiar importance today.
AEJA Why does Abraham start at fifty and go down to ten?
JT It shows his zeal for the preservation of the righteous, especially Lot and his family, and it indicates also the liberty he had with Jehovah. Jehovah replies to His servant, having regard for his right feelings; there is no reproof. Abraham is full of the thought of the righteous and God values that. He values them still more than Abraham. For ten He will not destroy Sodom, wicked as it was, and this is His attitude today.
LES In Zechariah 8:23 Jehovah says, “In those days shall ten men take hold, out of all languages of the nations, shall even take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you; for we have heard that God is with you”. Does that enhance the value of righteous men with God?
JT Well, there are ten, the number Jehovah will spare the city for. There is a link there. As they are identifying themselves with God’s people they would, in principle, be righteous.
SP In principle there is still the continuation of Abraham. God is going on and Abraham returns to his place in patience.
JT The next chapter in regard of Abraham is instructive: “And Abraham rose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before Jehovah; and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and lo, a smoke went up from the land as the smoke of a furnace” (chapter 19:27,28). That means that his prayer was not answered, because there was no just ground for it. But today God is clearly going on a little longer. Let us all take up the question, What is there here and continuing for the pleasure of [p. 470] God? Judging by general characteristics, the time has come for the finishing of the dispensation. It is therefore a question as to why it is continuing. “Antichrist comes”, but we know what hinders his actual presence; with other elements, it is what God has pleasure in.
LES Would that explain what was remarked earlier — God “going on a little longer”?
JT Yes. The dispensation characteristically, however reduced, is continuing, God is going on with it. But of course we do not know how quickly things may change.
LES During the waiting period the great point for the saints is to be with God.
AEH In the address to Philadelphia there is the testimony to certain ones that Christ has loved them. I suppose, for those who have eyes to see it, that is the thing now. It is not that we love Christ exactly, but that He loves us.
JT And He is with us because of that. “Behold, I make them of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews, and are not, but lie; behold, I will cause that they shall come and shall do homage before thy feet, and shall know that I have loved thee” (Revelation 3:9). He will do that. So the point is to be lovable.