THE WORK OF GOD (3)
THE WORK OF GOD (3)
JT It may be remarked that the thought in introducing this great subject that we have been engaged with, is not to go through this gospel in any way. The thought primarily was that we might see the connection between the opening of this gospel and the books of Moses; and in a secondary way to see also a connection between the Psalms — especially Psalm 90, which is said to be a prayer of Moses, the man of God — and the epistle of John.
So we were led this morning to refer to the opening of Genesis, in which Moses, having already acquired a knowledge of God, refers to Him as creating all things at the beginning. That is, as God is known to us now we are instructed as to Him as He was and shall be known. So that as God is known, as we have it in John’s epistle, known in Jesus (He is said to be the true God and Eternal Life), this gospel becomes intelligible as giving an account of the Word, who being with God as God in the beginning. He is presented as such to those who have acquired a knowledge of Him as having become flesh. So that it is said the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He thus came within the range of men, dwelling amongst them in every-day life.
And then He was contemplated by those who were drawn to Him; and the contemplation led to the beholding of His glory; which is described as a glory as of an only-begotten with a father. Then it is further stated that “no one has seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared him”.
Then we noted how in the ministry of John the baptist, attention was called to Him as He walked;
and how two of John’s disciples heard John speak, and they followed Jesus. The Holy Spirit sets down there at the outset the idea that souls are directed to Him, and He turned and saw them following, and said to them, What seek ye? We noted that that indicated the other side of the gospel — namely, that the Father draws to Christ. There is movement, and as He takes account of the movement He enquires what they sought; and they said, “Rabbi, where abidest thou?” And He said, “Come and see”. So that, as we noted, there is great importance in the coming, and the seeing, in a spiritual way, where He abides. It is that which underlies the truth of the house of God — the knowledge of where Christ abides — where the Son abides; and to abide there.
FHB I thought what you drew attention to as to the distinction between this and Luke’s gospel was extremely important and helpful. In Luke’s gospel He comes down to us, where we were; whereas in this gospel He puts Himself within the range of our apprehension, that we may come to Him. And coming to Him we come to a great spiritual system of things established in relation to God.
JT And it fits in at the present time peculiarly with that which was set up afterwards by the apostles, and which has gone to ruin. This is not subject to ruin; it is outside of it. So that what God would do, I think, is to draw us to Christ. So one looks for movement.
The “days” here, taken as they stand, represent the work of God resulting from the revelation of the Word become flesh. Great results! This day, referred to in verse 35, ending with verse 42, brings in the assembly. I thought we might, perhaps, dwell on that; we touched on it this morning, and I think it would be well to enlarge upon it; because it brings in, as we may gather from subsequent references, the assembly. John’s ministry led up to that. Not that [p. 304] he understood that it would, but he did refer to the bride.
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John speak, and followed Jesus; then he found his brother Simon, and says to him, “We have found the Messias, and he led him to Jesus”.
EH Do you take Simon Peter as the great pattern man of the assembly; and then Nathanael comes in in another day, for the Jews?
JT I think we may bring the assembly in because of the prominence given to Peter. We know the connection elsewhere, only here it is, “Thou shalt be called Cephas”; Jesus, looking at him, said that; it is that by which he is distinguished, Cephas or Peter, a stone. The movement that brought him in, arose from the dwelling with the Lord.
Ques Is there a principle in that?
JT Well, I think there is. I think those who go out after others, and lead them to Jesus, are in a measure formed themselves. Leading is a very fine work; it is a work seen in the Lord Himself; He is the Leader.
GRG After being with the Lord himself, he led him to Jesus.
JT Yes; he had been for two hours where the Lord abode. One can understand that the influence there would be very great.
Ques Would these two hours cover the Christian period?
JT Well, I rather thought it was the end of a previous day; it was the tenth hour, in which responsibility had been fully tested. I thought it referred to what the disciples had with the Lord before the church day was inaugurated; so that what they enjoyed impelled them to seek others. In bringing in another — there is no word about the Lord telling Andrew to do this — in leading him in [p. 305] the Lord looks on him, and you have a definite suggestion of the assembly — not the word, but the suggestion. A stone involved that there would be a structure, which, I think, would belong, not to a day almost spent, but a day of its own, the assembly day. The assembly is not the end of something, it is not the remaining two hours of a day; it arises from that period, however.
JM So that this period would link on with what the disciples had in coming to the Lord.
JT Yes, in a sense, the source is the same for the two streams, the assembly and Israel. Andrew and Peter and Philip were of the same town, that is the town of Bethsaida. Philip is found definitely by the Lord Himself, not by Andrew; and He finds him as He goes into Galilee, whereas Andrew finds Simon. Philip, I think, would represent that which refers to the establishment of the thoughts of God in Israel. Philip finds Nathanael, and says to him, “We have found him of whom Moses wrote in the law and the prophets, Jesus, the son of Joseph, who is from Nazareth”. Andrew finds Simon; Andrew’s movement led to the assembly. You see later in the gospel that Philip and Andrew are again united in a certain intimation that they bring to the Lord about the Greeks who came up to the feast; chapter 12: 22. The two lines converge there in the testimony to the Lord that the Greeks had come up and desired to see Him; and this leads the Lord to speak about the Son of man and His death.
EH So you would say the same spirit characterises them in John 12 that we find here, an evangelical spirit.
JT Yes; the one leads to the assembly, and the other to Israel. Andrew finds Simon, and Philip finds Nathanael, and the Lord speaks to both; He conveys the mind of God. These brothers could not [p. 306] have told the import of what they were doing, but the Lord tells us; He indicates what was involved.
PSP You drew attention to the fact that Peter was called Cephas, is not that what he was in the mind of God?
JT Well, it is what he should be. It is prophetic; I think here it is not based on anything Peter said; whereas in Matthew 16 what the Lord says of him is based on what he said, i.e., “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”. Jesus immediately says “I say unto thee that thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly”; it was not, Thou shalt be called Peter, but, thou art Peter. I judge that was subsequent to this.
PSP Is it that there should be a formative work in Peter to answer to the name?
JT This is prophetic. I take it that the Lord saw the thing from the beginning. He gives us our names, and then we are brought up to these names.
PSP Was it an indication of the character of the work of God that had taken place in Peter?
JT It was; the Lord knew well what that work would culminate in — a stone.
WSL What led Andrew to go out after his brother?
JT Being with the Lord, he was set in motion.
Ques Does not that underlie the truth of the house according to Timothy; seeing where the Lord dwelt, and then going out in the way you have been speaking of?
JT Well, 1 Timothy begins with the fact of the dispensation of God, which is in faith. Many of us confine our thoughts of the house to the description of it in Hebrews 3: “Whose house are we” (verse 6); that is the saints, viewed down here. But what underlies that is what we have here; the abiding place of the Lord, which has to be [p. 307] apprehended spiritually.
WSL I thought the going out corresponds with the house as seen in Timothy; it is evangelical.
JT Quite so; the dispensation of God. It is God dispensing house-wise; and it is in faith. So in order to understand the house we must know what it is to have faith, and to be spiritual.
WSL That gives the spring of it.
JT It does; for after all, what is the house unless God be there?
Ques Had they any previous light from the Scriptures; or is this a wholly new beginning?
JT Well, you see it is, “Where abidest thou?” It is not a question of the house of God, but of a Person; where the Lord dwelt; that is the thing, you know; it is where He dwells.
JM One’s actions in moving out would be regulated by being with Him. So it would not be so much the desire to get souls into the outward thing, as to bring them to Christ.
JT That is it. He led him to Jesus. It does not say he led him to where He dwelt, but he led him to Jesus; that is the point.
Ques Does it pre-suppose a work of God in Peter?
JT It does. The house as known down here would be formed of such as he.
The first thing is, where He dwells; then He will have a formal house, and Peter suggests a stone. The house is to be exceeding magnifical, when you come to the specifications of it; but then, where does He dwell now? It matters not to the one who loves Him what the outward surroundings are.
EH We get here, in what we have been talking about as regards Peter individually, and the assembly, and the Jews, the result of the work of God; and also a picture of what will come out in the end, of the grand result of gathering round Christ as the centre, whether of the assembly or of Israel.
[p. 308] Ques Did you say just now that Peter and Nathanael were representative men?
JT I think they are; and I take it that Peter represents the material of the assembly in its appearance. In Matthew that side is not in view; it is here when He looks on him; in Matthew it was when He heard his confession. In other words, the question arises when you look on a brother as to what you see there; what is he going to be?
Ques In view of the assembly?
JT Yes.
Ques And do you suggest they both came out of the last two hours — Peter and Nathanael?
JT They were the result of that. The Lord found Philip Himself. Philip was not in the last two hours with the Lord. I do not think the establishing of Israel will come out of such surroundings. The assembly comes out of that. The Lord found Philip Himself, going to Galilee; but Peter is the result of the two hours in the abiding place. I think it is on a higher plane.
FHB I quite go with what you say.
JT It suggests, to my mind, that the assembly emanates from the place of greatest privilege. The material of it is the outcome of the place of greatest privilege, where He dwells; and it becomes the dwelling-place of God. One can, therefore, understand the origin of it.
WH It emanates from the dwelling-place in that way.
JT In other words it is formed of those who know severally what it is to be with Christ where He dwells. It is a wholly spiritual matter.
FHB What you get here as to the two disciples would illustrate what is the special privilege of those who form the assembly; to dwell with Christ, and see where He dwells in relation to the Father.
JT The assembly is formed of such as these,
[p. 309] and so I think we have the material for the house. This is the material; it is what the Lord looked on. Peter had to pass through much before he came to this; just as of old the timber or material which they used in the house of the Lord came down by sea; much had to be done before it became available, but all was there.
Rem Peter knew that; and I suppose that is why he said, “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I am attached to thee”, John 21: 17.
JT So that in taking each of us up, the Lord prophetically names us, knowing the end from the beginning. If one receives the impression as to what the Lord’s mind is, then you know what He would produce in you.
Ques What is the name in view of here in John?
JT It is in view of the assembly, as we have been saying; John is careful to give us the interpretation of Cephas.
Ques The Lord speaks of making Peter a fisher of men in Matthew 4, but is what we have here in view of administration, or eternity?
JT This is in view, I think, of the building. A stone is for the building. The Lord has a service for each of us; then each is to occupy a place in the building; and how can I be qualified for the building unless as knowing the place where He dwells?
WH Then it is for each saint to go that way.
JT “That I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus”, Philippians 3: 12. Do I know that for which I am apprehended? Then I press toward the mark as the apostle says.
I think the Lord takes up each of us in a distinct way, and gives us a name. You see it must be so if He be the last Adam. Adam could not name the creatures prophetically; he named them according to what he saw in them, according to the wisdom that God had given him; and there was no alteration in [p. 310] the name. And now in a much higher way the saints come to the Lord; Simon is led to Jesus, and the Lord looked on him, and named him. You can readily understand that Simon was not yet formed by the tools (1 Kings 5: 17, 18); but the Lord saw what he would be, and named him accordingly. I apprehend that is the force of the Book of Life; the name is descriptive of the person.
FHB If He gives us a name it indicates what He intends to produce in us, as in the case of Peter.
Ques Would there be a similarity in each, as the work in each would be of the same character?
JT Well, there is a similarity among men, but you cannot find two of them alike in all the millions of people that there are in the world; and yet in another sense men are all like each other, as of the same order of being.
Rem I was thinking of the kind referred to yesterday.
JT We are all to be conformed to the image of God’s Son. He is the great pattern; but then there is variety, there are not two the same, no duplicates; there is infinite variety that will appear in the result of Christ’s work, the work of God. It is delightful to think of the names, each suggesting its own character.
EH Would it be a secret between the Giver and the receiver? I was thinking of the stone given in Revelation 2: 17, on which a new name was written which no one knows but he that receives it.
JT That is special; but there is no doubt that the Lord would convey His thought as to you. Now, that would save us from imitation and rivalry. The Lord has taken you up for a purpose, and He is not going to be diverted from that, and He has got the means to bring that about. So the great thing is to be subject to Christ. He takes the stone, and He knows what it is worth; it may be rough, and have a [p. 311] lot of extraneous matter attached to it, but He knows what is there, and He is not going to be diverted from His object in taking it up; He is going to bring out what He knows is there, and it is to occupy a certain place, and according to His infinite wisdom that is going to happen. Peter is given to know at once what that is, He looked upon him, and said, “Thou shalt be called Cephas”.
FHB Is it in coming to Christ each one gets his own impression, which he is to be conformed by?
JT Yes, that is what I was thinking. I do not know how you found it yourself!
FHB I thought so; so that no two are exactly alike, and yet there is similarity; we are of the same nature.
JT And all in a general way bearing a resemblance to our great Head; and yet there is variety.
FHB Now, when you speak of the building, do you refer to what is connected with time, or what is eternal?
JT The building, from John’s point of view, goes on; it is a city; and he sees it as a tabernacle.
FHB So it really goes on to what is eternal.
JT He is dealing with what God had in His mind. I do think this is an immense point — where He dwells — and the two hours, and what issues from that, the finding of Simon, and leading him to Jesus, and the Lord indicating what that man would be. The same is true of every one of us; and I would therefore urge the importance of enquiring from the Lord what He had apprehended one for, what is going to be worked out in one.
PSP Would it indicate the greatness of the Person who has undertaken to carry on the work of God?
JT Every bit of material which has been prepared of the Father, and brought to Him, has its allotted place in connection with what He is doing.
[p. 312] Ques And in view of what He is going to do, would you say that everyone brought to Him in John’s gospel is just as material brought to Him by the Father, with which he can carry on the work of God?
JT I think so; hence in chapter 17 he says, “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify thee; as thou hast given him authority over all flesh, that as to all that thou hast given to him, he should give them life eternal”. I think that the giving of eternal life to those given to Him of the Father enters largely into this very subject we are on. The formation of Peter into a stone in a very practical way, would very largely depend on the gift of eternal life.
Ques Is that why Peter speaks of living stones — that kind of life?
JT Exactly.
WH You spoke of those whose names are in the Book of Life; had you any further thought on that?
JT Well, only in regard to the giving: “Thou hast given him authority over all flesh, that as to all that thou hast given to him, he should give them life eternal”.
“To whom coming, a living stone, cast away indeed as worthless by men, but with God chosen precious, yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house”, 1 Peter 2: 4, 5. It is the living character of the thing. So that the dwelling is a spiritual house. It may seem that we are crowding things in here, but it is really quite legitimate, because they belong to the time of the formation of the house, the spiritual house; I refer to the word ‘spiritual’, because we are so material in our thoughts in referring to the house of God, the spiritual element is very largely overlooked. Although formed of the saints, it is a spiritual structure.
EH I think the New Translation makes it clear [p. 313] that from verse 29 to the end of verse 42 is all one day.
JT Then it would be all within the sphere of John’s ministry, but as culminating in the assembly.
EH Then verse 43 opens another morrow.
JT That is the morrow of the Lord’s service to the Jews. It is His own distinctive movement, which we may expect now soon; He would go forth into Galilee, and He finds Philip.
WM Is it by some impression that we get from the Lord Himself, that we discover His thought as to us?
JT It is; and therefore it is a most important matter. What has the Lord taken me up for? I have often thought of that word of the Lord in Matthew 6, it is so potent in that respect: “When thou prayest, enter into thy chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father, who is in secret”. You get the mind of God as to yourself; and no one can help others unless he arrives in the presence of God at what the mind of God is in respect to himself. At the present time the Lord is moving house-wise, that is to say, in relation to all the saints; and unless we apprehend what each is called to, we shall be in each other’s way. If each apprehends what he is called to, he will not be in anybody’s way; he has his own place, given in divine wisdom.
JS It is said of the stars, that one star differs from another in glory; would that be an exercise?
JT Yes; there is not much room for envy if the difference is only in glory; it is that your glory is different from mine, and mine from yours; there is enough glory attached to each one of us. That God “might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he had before prepared for glory”, Romans 9: 23. All the stars are glorious.
Rem I would like to hear a little more as to what we are apprehended [p. 314] for.
JT Well, Peter was not left in doubt for long, he was told at once: “Jesus looking at him said, Thou art Simon, the son of Jonas; thou shalt be called Cephas (which interpreted is stone)”. That was special for Peter, it was not for Andrew; it was for Simon to have this in his mind.
Ques Would you say the chamber would be the way in which we come into the mind of the Lord?
JT “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High”, Psalm 91: 1. It is there you get the impression, I think, as to what God’s mind is for you.
PSP Is that impression received by each one at their very first actual contact with and experience of the Lord? they get an impression, and what follows is soul history, with a view to bringing them up to what is His mind for them.
JT Yes; and if any saint has not got that impression, he should get it; otherwise he is indefinite, he does not know what he is called to, or what niche he is to fill.
Ques Did Peter get his in Matthew 16?
JT Well, the material came out here, he confesses — that is another matter; the Father reveals to him who Christ is.
SL Does not the assembly bring in more than what is individual?
JT Well, it does, surely. So Peter saw living stones: “To whom coming ... yourselves also as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house”, 1 Peter 2: 4, 5. That is a corporate thing.
The happenings of this day (from verse 35 - 42) are most important for us, because we come in there; it is the beginning of the church.
JM You have been emphasising a good deal the spiritual side of things, and the entering into where Christ dwells; this should help us in respect to the thought of Christ regarding the whole assembly, and the continuance of things according to God [p. 315] here.
JT I think the spiritual side remains. The outward structure is ruined, but the spiritual side remains.
JM And there would be no thought of a surrender, you would still hold the truth in your affections; all that the saints are to Christ in this way.
JT Yes; hence it enables you, if you are spiritual, to be in touch with the saints available to you in a spiritual way.
Ques Referring to our apprehending that for which we have been apprehended, is it in connection with service in the assembly; or is it the place one is to fill in the Lord’s thought for us in the future?
JT Well, there are two thoughts in Peter; we are being built up a spiritual house, there you have a place in the house which is, as it were, fixed; one would love to apprehend that one has a place in the house which is definitely given, and one would value it in a living way; as a living stone, you have your place, and you are able to bear things. Then, on the other hand, there is the holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. So I think the two sides are there: one occupies a place in the house, and one functions in the house as a holy priest.
Ques What do you say about functioning as a priest?
JT Well, you have a place in the house as a stone; which means you are formed, and you stand and hold things for God in a living way; but then you also function as a priest in offering up spiritual sacrifices. One has noticed that in the continuance of the priesthood the line is provided for to the end. Phinehas received an everlasting priesthood. Some of us will remember, though, that in Judges there is the record of one officiating as an apostate priest; that is the outward professional side; whereas in the genealogy of Levi, in Exodus 6, we have from Reuben [p. 316] down to Levi, and then the genealogy of Levi ending with Phinehas.
Because of that early date the Spirit of God would bring in the continuance of the priesthood; whatever the outward thing may come to, the continuance of the priesthood is secure. In Judges 20 we find that Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before the ark in those days; that is to say, in the days of apostasy the true line of Aaron is found standing before the ark. Phinehas had secured that place through devotedness, and obtained the priesthood permanently; Numbers 25: 13. And I take from that that the spiritual side of the priesthood is secure. Wherever there is a true priest, Christ will have His place.
Ques Would that be continued in Timothy, and the faithful men?
JT Quite so.