READINGS ON 1 CORINTHIANS (1)
READINGS ON 1 CORINTHIANS (1)
JT The Lord has been calling attention to the epistles to Corinth, and it is thought that we should have something to say while together at these meetings as to them. The local idea attaches to the first epistle, hence it begins, “Paul, a called apostle of Jesus Christ, by God’s will, and Sosthenes the brother, to the assembly of God which is in Corinth”. Attention is here called to the fact that it is to the assembly of God which is in Corinth; that is to say, the assembly of God in a locality is addressed. It is the local character of the assembly. Following that attention is to be called to what is said in chapter 14, verse 23, where the whole assembly is spoken of as coming together in one place. We have before us in that the thought of the local assembly, even although there might be a hundred gatherings in the assembly in that city, or fifty, or twenty-five. The local idea is still stressed, although in chapter 14 emphasis is laid upon the whole assembly in the locality coming together, however many or few, for ministry. They come together at the same time and place.
So that when we come to Durban, it is a question now of how many there are. Perhaps we will never have all the saints in Durban together at any one time, for we are in remnant times, and we have to accept the public departure of many. Yet although we may be relatively few and there are only two or three gatherings in a place, all the saints there are supposed to be together in one place for the purpose of ministry, according to 1 Corinthians 14: 23. This is very important, because it brings out, in the saints all together in one place at a particular time, what God has before Him in a place, the whole idea as to the assembly that God has in His mind.
[p. 28] Then it is thought that we should see that the first nine verses of our chapter have an abstract character, that is to say, the saints at Corinth as viewed abstractly as being possessed of certain things, as it says, “I thank my God always about you, in respect of the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus; that in everything ye have been enriched in him, in all word of doctrine, and all knowledge, (according as the testimony of the Christ has been confirmed in you), so that ye come short in no gift, awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ”. That is what has to be called abstract, because the Corinthian saints were not actually as intelligent as is said here. You would almost assume that there was nothing at all missing, but it was not so. These are abstract thoughts, and God is speaking through the apostle of the truth in this epistle from His own point of view, and telling the Corinthians that there is nothing left out from His point of view, and it is a question of their finding it out in due time. Two epistles are written, so that the saints should know everything required to furnish them in their local position as God’s assembly. That is why it has to be called abstract, because everything was not really true of the Corinthians in the fullest sense; they had to be taught. That is what I thought ought to be before our minds, so that we might see what God has in His mind for us in view of what is available in the assembly for the general service of God.
FJF Do you think that it is a great advantage to have more than one gathering in a city?
JT Well, I think it is. If there are enough for more than one, I think that it is a great advantage. Paul says, in chapter 11, verse 18, “When ye come together in assembly”: the article is left out before the word “assembly” because it is to bring out the general character of their coming together. No matter how many there are, they are all together in assembly,
the idea of being “in assembly” showing the character of the occasion.
AWP Would the first nine verses refer to the work of God in its perfection, which will never break down, looked at apart from failure?
JT Quite so. That is what I am endeavouring to convey in the word abstract, for in God’s mind the whole matter is there.
FJF Is that true as regards the saints in Corinth as having the Spirit?
JT It is. The fact that they had the Spirit is the great point, and it could be developed, so that in time they would come to everything conveyed in the apostle’s words, “Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, according as ye are unleavened” (chapter 5: 7) is another abstract statement. Viewing the saints from the divine side, they are unleavened.
WSS I suppose you would say that it is vitally important that we should have the abstract idea before us if we are to move at all according to the thoughts of God.
JT That is what I was thinking. We are so inclined to have before us the broken conditions in Christendom, and work from that, so to speak, instead of working from the abstract thought. We have failure at Corinth, and the brethren might well have been engaged and occupied with the failure.
WSS We have failure in Christendom around us, and we might take our bearings from that, and say that anything is good enough. What struck me from what you have been saying is that if the abstract thought is before us, then we are helped to move in the light of it and in the truth of it.
JT Just so. The Spirit is here to bring out the truth of it. Hence chapter 14 is, as I said, a question of ministry, and we have the order of ministry and persons who are to minister. Gifts are in mind, as it is said here, “Ye come behind in no gift”. It is [p. 30] how one is to minister in view of this. That is, there is no defect from the divine side, but the thing has to be worked out.
WSS So it says, “God is faithful, by whom ye have been called”. If we move in the light of that do we find out practically what the abstract position is?
JT That is what our Bible readings are for, and, of course, our private readings too; but I am afraid many just leave their education to the public meetings, whereas private reading and the study of Scripture are essential to every one of us.
FJF Do you mean in view of the assembly?
JT The assembly, of course, is the temple of God. We shall come to that, and see what is available for us when the saints, the whole assembly, come together at the same time. We have to study Scripture and pray about it, and ruminate, so that the thing becomes part of us.
PJTF What are the limits of the fellowship of His Son?
JT It is the full idea of fellowship. In chapter 10 the fellowship is that of Christ’s death, but in the first chapter of this epistle Paul introduces the thought of the faithfulness of God in regard to fellowship. We have these references to the faithfulness of God on which we may count in regard of the fellowship, the first here in chapter 1, the second in chapter 10. There is a third in the second epistle, which stands related to Paul’s service (2 Corinthians 1: 18).
HW Will you tell us why that is so emphasised in reference to the Corinthians?
JT I think God intended the Corinthian epistles to be basic and universal in their bearing. The thought of fellowship is stressed in them, because we have to carry through every day in the week in regard of the testimony. On the first day of the week we have the Lord’s supper, and all that enters into it, but the idea of the fellowship is to govern us as we [p. 31] carry through throughout the whole week when we do not see each other, and we are not together all the time; therefore it is a question of reliability in each of us, that we are faithful and true to one another, true to God, true to Christ, true to the Spirit, but true to one another too.
JHT Can fellowship be understood according to the Lord’s mind unless we have the full knowledge of God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord?
JT It is in chapter 10 that this is stressed. It is not exactly when we are together, but when we are not together; that is to say, when we are not under each other’s eye. We are to have that confidence one in another, and each has to be true to the truth in order that the fellowship should be maintained. Another thing comes out in verse 10 of the chapter, which refers to the practical state of things amongst the Corinthians, and in regard to which he had to exhort them, “Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all say the same thing, and that there be not among you divisions; but that ye be perfectly united in the same mind and in the same opinion. For it has been shewn to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of the house of Chloe, that there are strifes among you”. We now come down to the actual facts of the conditions at Corinth; there was division amongst them. The apostle immediately deals with that matter. There were many other such things, but the question of division was at once spoken about. In the verse spoken of in chapter 11 we are told, “there must also be sects”. It is said, “I hear there exist divisions among you, and I partly give credit to it. For there must also be sects among you, that the approved may become manifest among you” (verses 18, 19). Well these are serious conditions, not at all in keeping with what is alluded to in the first nine [p. 32] verses.
WSS It would appear that the divisions were due to the following of persons. Is that always a danger?
JT Party leaders. Paul has to say that he and Apollos were regarded amongst them as leaders in that sense. Undoubtedly he alluded to party conditions, local conditions, for it is said, “Now these things, brethren, I have transferred, in their application, to myself and Apollos, for your sakes, that ye may learn in us the lesson of not letting your thoughts go above what is written, that ye may not be puffed up one for such a one against another”. That is to make clear that there were party conditions locally, and Paul has to transfer these thoughts to himself and Apollos, in order that they should know them.
RJD Why does it add, “That the approved may become manifest among you”?
JT That was the point. As the second letter would show, there were very bad conditions: in chapter 12: 20, 21. Paul speaks of the conditions, and names the evil that was amongst them, but he said that he had reserved dealing with those bad conditions until the general state of the saints had come to this, that he could say, “Your obedience shall have been fulfilled” (chapter 10: 6). He was aiming at bringing about obedience among them in a general way, and he could then deal with the bad conditions, so that the point was to bring out the approved, and to support them, and then in due time to deal with what is not approved. There could not be an assembly at all unless there are some approved ones, and, undoubtedly the main number were approved, only that the party conditions amongst them were damaging them terribly. There are references to disputes, but there should be no debates in the christian assembly. It is to be a place where we are learning the truth in all subjection to one another. Opposition is abnormal.
[p. 33] The next part of the chapter is to bring out Paul’s own services. “For Christ has not sent me to baptise, but to preach glad tidings; not in wisdom of word, that the cross of the Christ may not be made vain. For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but to us that are saved it is God’s power. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and set aside the understanding of the understanding ones. Where is the wise? where scribe? where disputer of this world? has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom has not known God. God has been pleased by the foolishness of the preaching to save those that believe”. Here is a reference to those who are spoken of as disputers. “Where is the wise? where scribe? where disputer of this world?” meaning that there should not be anything of this kind in the christian assembly. There should be no debates, no disputations. It is a question of the temple of God, where we should be learning the truth in holy subjection one to another. Here we have reference to what characterises parliaments and that sort of thing, where we hear about the King’s opposition, that is to say, normal opposition, whereas, in the assembly of God, it is abnormal and wrong. No such thing is to be allowed as opposition or disputations, or each saying what he wishes. It is a question of the temple of God, and what is suitable in it.
FJF What belongs to christendom and its opposition are not to exist in the assembly, which should be in direct contrast to all that is found outside.
JT That is the idea. Hence disputing and differences of opinion are simply out of the question in the assembly. The assembly of God is something that God has here as a rebuke to all men, because His assembly is a united assembly. The Spirit of God is there, and there is no such thought as one having one [p. 34] opinion and another one having another. We are to be of one mind.
PL “If anyone speak — as oracles of God”, 1 Peter 4: 11.
JT Quite so.
FJF That would be the practical effect of having the one Spirit?
JT Just so; and the Spirit of God is here to effect that.
WSS In Exodus, which corresponds with Corinthians, every detail was to be “as the Lord commanded Moses”. That would give it to us in principle?
JT There was to be nothing different. Exodus brings out the idea, in type, of Christ, because Christ was the Pattern. The word “pattern” is used, and everything must go by that pattern, and so, in the assembly of God, all refers to Christ and the Spirit of God, of course, working in the saints, in order to bring about what is of Christ.
SPS It is in that way that all come to the same mind and the same opinion.
JT Just so.
FJF Would you say that that would be seen in the care meetings?
JT Just so. There should never be division in matters. We come together in subjection to the Lord of course, but in subjection one to another. We are enjoined to be subject one to another. In order to get the thought in the chapter, reference should be made to this matter of wisdom, and what we were saying about disputations is important negatively, that when we come together we are there to learn one from another, and the Spirit of God is ready to help us in that, for He adds His help to our weaknesses, so that there might be unity. So it says: “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom has not known God, God has been pleased by the foolishness of the preaching to save those that believe. Since Jews [p. 35] indeed ask for signs, and Greeks seek wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews an offence, and to nations foolishness; but to those that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ God’s power and God’s wisdom. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men”. Wonderful things are stated here. We marvel that God is pleased to come down to speak about His weakness, but it is to show that what is of God is always superior.
PL Would the weakness of God lie in the character of the instruments He selects to use, such as Paul; “I was with you in weakness”?
JT Quite so. In fact they said, “his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible” (2 Corinthians 10: 10), but still people were being converted all round him.
Then another thing is that these very things would be despised by the natural man, by the Greek. It is said that “God has chosen the foolish things of the world, that he may put to shame the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world, that he may put to shame the strong things; and the ignoble things of the world, and the despised, has God chosen, and things that are not, that he may annul the things that are; so that no flesh should boast before God”.
FJF In the cross there is a clearance of the man who offended God, and all that he stands for.
JT What man regards of great importance. God despises, whereas what God regards of supreme importance, man despises; and therefore the final word is, “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who has been made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and holiness, and redemption; that according as it is written, He that boasts, let him boast in the Lord”. Everything is secured in Christ. What we had in the first nine verses is seen here again [p. 36] in practical bearing, that is to say, “of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who has been made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and holiness, and redemption”. We have everything in Christ, in a practical sense. He is made unto us all these things.
WSS Would you say that what is of God here would always be marked outwardly by weakness?
JT I would think that. If anyone seem to be more than that he has to challenge himself as to whether he is not indulging, because it is a question of being weak and then being strong. It is not what one acquires in the universities or in the schools; it is a question of what one acquires as with God, not indeed that we do not need to learn to read and write, and to learn many things, but still it is what we are made in Christ Jesus that is the point.
WSS Does it work out in the apostle in taking matters up with the Corinthians? He takes the place of weakness, and his ministry on that basis is effective, through God’s power, it would seem.
JT Well, you can see that in the second epistle (chapter 12, verse 7), where he says he had been in the third heaven, and after that he had been given a thorn for the flesh (not a thorn in the flesh, but for the flesh), It was something to check the flesh, and he asked the Lord three times to remove it, and the Lord did not remove it, but He says, “My grace suffices thee”. Paul had to learn the meaning of the thorn, that the flesh profits nothing. It was for the flesh; and therefore he says, “Most gladly therefore will I rather boast in my weaknesses, that the power of the Christ may dwell upon me”. That is how learning is reached.
FJF Does he summarise the epistle in verse 30? There is what he is going to speak of later, wisdom in the temple, righteousness, the kingdom, holiness, and so on, and redemption in chapter 15, including the [p. 37] body.
JT Very good. Every chapter is in order to bring out these things in a practical way amongst the Corinthians. The Corinthians seem to have been taken up particularly by the Lord, by God too, to work out the truth, especially assembly order and the service of God, and so much time is devoted to them. Therefore the Lord says to Paul, “Fear not ... because I am with thee ... I have much people in this city”, Acts 18: 10. He was there eighteen months to bring out the truth in Corinth, and that is why there is so much in it that is needed at the present time, and it is proposed that we should learn the truth governing the service of God in the assembly. It is a question of what is in the assembly, and the assembly of God at Corinth is the pattern.
CMM Would you say a word about the expression, “in Christ Jesus”?
JT Well, I think it is a question of power. The preposition “in” is meant to convey the thought of power, “of him are ye in Christ Jesus”. The saints are viewed as placed in Christ Jesus by God. The truth was worked out in them, not simply as so many units in themselves, but as in Christ; all viewed as in Christ Jesus.
WSS There is no weakness there.
JT Well that is the idea of the preposition, I think. There is no weakness at all there, it strengthens in a spiritual sense.
EAW Do we hold what is abstract in our minds, and work on until we see it answered to amongst the saints?
JT Quite so, and that is exactly what Paul is characterised by, the great skill and care he used to bring the truth to the saints, and nowhere is this seen more than in the epistle to Corinth. In the epistle to Ephesus he says, “Whereby ... ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery” (Ephesians 3: 4); that is to say, there was so much he knew, and the [p. 38] abstract would agree with that. There was someone who knew, and God has always someone, here and there, whom He can use to bring out the truth to all who are local.
WSS The household of Chloe were not satisfied with what was merely abstract. While we have the abstract in mind, we are not satisfied until we see the thing working out practically. The household of Chloe wanted to see the truth worked out substantially in Corinth.
JT Hence it says, “If any one speak — as oracles of God” (1 Peter 4: 11), not merely speaking, but speaking as oracles of God.
WSS You mean not merely as knowing the Scriptures, but having things substantially?
JT Quite so. I think John’s gospel was intended to furnish all this, and to weave it with Paul’s doctrine, because so much is there made of instruction, hence the Lord is called “Rabbi”, or “Teacher”. “Rabbi, where abidest thou?” The first two who followed Jesus had that in their minds, and Mary Magdalene in chapter 20 calls the Lord “Rabboni”, that is to say, ‘My Teacher’. So that we do not speak of a certain one as a great teacher, having great ability, but what is he to me? What am I getting through him? That is what Mary Magdalene meant when she said, ‘My Teacher’.
PL We are to remember from whom we learn things. Would that be to be sure that the persons are reliable?
JT Yes. They had proved themselves to be that, “Knowing of whom thou hast learned them”, 2 Timothy 3: 14.
CMP Say a little more about “of him are ye in Christ Jesus”. One gets the impression that it is linked up with a divine work which makes what is abstract practicable.
JT I think “of him are ye in Christ Jesus” would mean that each is set in that position, in the attitude of his mind, and that is the ground we are on. Here in Durban we are on that ground; brothers and sisters are on that ground. God has placed us “in Christ Jesus”, and He is made unto us all these things, hence they have to be worked out. Paul says, “Who has been made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and holiness, and redemption”. God has placed us in Christ Jesus where these things are, but though He has been made them to us, they have to be worked out, and teaching is for that purpose. Gift is for that purpose.
I believe one of the most important things to keep in our minds, is what gift is meant for. It is not simply what Scripture says in the letter, but what gift teaches. Christ has gone beyond all the heavens, and He received gifts in Man (Psalm 68: 18); that is to say, as Man and for man, and they are all with a view to the work of the ministry. He has given “some apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers”. All are “for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”, Ephesians 4: 10 - 12. That is the point of it all, therefore the gifts are essential.
PL Does it add lustre to them to see that they are the spoil of the exalted Man?
JT That is good. We have already alluded to His “having therefore been exalted by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this”, Acts 2: 33. The Spirit brought all the gifts with Him, but Ephesians goes further, and says that Christ has gone beyond all the heavens, and He has received gifts in Man, and then we are told what the persons are; not simply that they have gifts, but that they are gifts. That is the idea in Ephesians. Every [p. 40] person involved is a gift, apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher, these latter being one gift.
FJF And they are irresistible as they are in the power of the Spirit.
JT Well that is the idea, that they are beyond anything that man can do or is. They are the gifts that Christ has given from above.
PL Irresistible in love. It says, “And falling upon the neck of Paul they ardently kissed him”, Acts 20: 37.
JT Paul went down to Eutychus, and enfolded him in his arms. That was not the exercise of his gift in speaking, but the exercise of his love.
WSS The converse of their ardently kissing Paul, would be the love they had for him, not because of his gift, but what he was personally, would you say?
JT Quite so. That is seen in Acts 20; what affection they had for him! It is a great love chapter, for it is love worked out largely in gift. It says, “And having said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And they all wept sore; and falling upon the neck of Paul they ardently kissed him”. It is well to stop at times to ponder the examples that God gives of His work in the early christians. They show what love really was, and it is right to ask whether we can compare it with what there is now amongst us. As far as I can note, I do not recall a time when there was more concern about the truth than there is now, and God is helping. The word “more and more” is the point.
JHT Does boasting “in the Lord” refer to a general attitude, or to a special occasion as when the assembly comes together in one place?
JT It is a question of boasting in the Lord. One just wonders whether the brethren understand how the word applies at the present time. We do not want to be boasting in a natural sort of way,
[p. 41] saying that we are a nice number here in Durban, and we are getting on very well. We do not want to be on that line. It is a question of boasting in the Lord. The word ‘boast’ is a remarkable word in the christian vocabulary.
RS Is the thought that the local assembly becomes a witness to all this truth and boasting in the Lord?
JT That is right. That is what is meant in chapter 14, that has been alluded to, when the whole assembly comes together in one place, not simply a meeting, but the whole assembly; it is like the “hill of God”, 1 Samuel 10: 5. The truth that God has in any given place is to be known there. Therefore it is said, “If all prophesy, and some unbeliever or simple person come in, he is convicted of all”. It is a simple person, but he has come into the assembly, the christian assembly. He may have been to other assemblies, perhaps Jewish assemblies and pagan assemblies, but when he comes into the christian assembly “he is convicted of all, he is judged of all; the secrets of his heart are manifested, and thus, falling upon his face, he will do homage to God, reporting that God is indeed amongst you”. That is a wonderful result.
JvRN Is that because they are gathered together in the light of what you have been saying about the abstract?
JT That is right, and just what I mean.