ESPOUSAL AND PRESENTATION

C.Hammond

2 Corinthians 7: 11-12; 2 Corinthians 11: 1-3

What I am concerned to speak about at this time is the need of having a personal understanding with the Lord about our local assemblies. One marvels at the patience of Paul with the Corinthians, a patience which we are not always able to exhibit, especially if we regard as ominous something with which we disagree. Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians, How would you like me to come, "with a rod; or in love and a spirit of meekness?" So he bears with them. There was enough to cause godly concern with the state in Corinth. They were allowing incest amongst them without really concerning themselves about it. They might have pleaded that their state was so low that they could not deal with the sin, but a low state is no reason for letting things go. Paul does not say 'Get your state right and then deal with it' , but "in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" and "with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ", which latter obviously involves the Spirit's presence amongst the saints. If there is any desire to deal with matters that affect the right representation of God in a place, or our relations with the Lord collectively, the Name is sufficient, for the authority is in the Name and the power is in the Spirit.

So the Corinthians had no real excuse for delaying action; they had authority to deal with the matter and they were urged to deal with it themselves; the apostle stayed away. Think of the patience of the apostle; he could have gone and asserted his authority, but instead he said "ye and my spirit being gathered together". Think of the spiritual personality that was there, and the help in having the spirit of a man like that to be gathered with them to give moral support to their dealing with what needed to be dealt with; but he was not with them in bodily presence. He says a remarkable thing in his second letter - "But I myself, Paul, entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ, who, as to appearance when present am mean among you, but absent am bold toward you; but I beseech that present I may not be bold with the confidence with which I think to be daring towards some who think of us as walking according to flesh", 2 Cor. 10: 1-2. What he seems to be saying is - 'Do not provoke me to use my apostolic authority!' What a man he was, dear brethren, a man with God, who could urge the solution of matters by the Corinthians themselves. It is a great moral victory if local assemblies who are involved in anything of this kind are able to deal with it themselves as under conviction before God.

So the apostle waits, and in the section where I read in 2 Corinthians 7, he goes over the matter in a priestly way - "grief according to God works repentance to salvation, never to be regretted". The important thing is, by priestly representations, to encourage any to act under conviction for themselves. It will never be regretted if they arrive at a judgment before God. We know from our experience that when we have been in the presence of God we would not go back on our convictions. It is a desirable thing to promote that amongst the brethren. So the word is, "grief according to God works repentance to salvation, never to be regretted; but the grief of the world works death". "Grief according to God" has power in it; we may have to humble ourselves in the presence of God, but by such means moral power is acquired to deal with any matter according to God. The apostle refers to "how much diligence it wrought in you... in every way ye have proved yourselves to be pure in the matter". So often we may be concerned to prove ourselves to be right. Purity relates to holiness, and holiness relates to the truth striking inwardly, searching our motives in what we have said and done. To prove ourselves. To be pure is the result of being with God in any concerns which may arise.

What has impressed me in moving about in these parts is the need for being with God in anything which concerns the testimony of our Lord. The enemy is set against what may have been recovered for God, and the fact that he is using his malign methods to disrupt, if he can, only indicates that there is something there having a potential for God. Please God, may He preserve what is for Himself in this continent! We do not want any to lose their way. There was no loss when Abigail by her movements persuaded David that what he had in mind he may have felt to be right, but was it wise? David was a military man, and naturally thought the first weapon to take hold of was a sword, and he told his men to gird on their swords. But he was prevented by the spirit of a woman who said "Upon me, my lord, upon me let the iniquity be" (1 Sam 25: 24). In that section you will find that David and Abigail between them refer to Jehovah about ten times, so that they are both bringing God into their considerations. David had been intent on destroying the males, but if we destroy the males the responsible element will be eliminated. But David is hindered from shedding blood by a woman, by something subjective in one who was connected with a churlish man. We are linked by the flesh with what is churlish, but we have another Husband who is infinite in His patience - the opposite of churlishness. We are to "be to another" - our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now what was the secret that was in Paul's mind in relation to the Corinthians? It was not only that God might be rightly represented in Corinth, but that Christ might get His place, and that the saints at Corinth would be a chaste virgin to Christ. Paul had determined as to them that, low as their state was, "I have espoused you unto one man". Paul would refer to chastity because of the fleshly conditions in Corinth; but they were to be to one Man, not to any of their leaders but to Christ. Mr Darby refused to belong to a party, even for the truth, for the simple reason that the truth is not partisan, for it applies to the whole, and either we have the whole in our minds or just a party. So often, when difficulties arise, we naturally turn to others for sympathy or support. We look to men, however worthy those men may be, when we should be considering matters in the presence of God. What an important thing it is, dear brethren, to find one or more persons in a locality who have an assembly outlook and assembly affections, whether the numbers are large or small. If the subjective state is pure, then you can reckon that the links with the Lord will be right. So Paul is completely in line with what the Lord is doing in relation to the assembly, His "washing of water by the word" (Eph 5). Mr Taylor said that the 'word' is authoritative ministry which the Lord uses for the removal of imperfections from the personnel of the assembly - wrinkles, blemishes, and the like. So when the apostle wrote to the saints at Corinth he would have had Ephesian truth in his mind, for he indicates that they were enriched in everything in Him - Christ Jesus; that is an Ephesian reference.

So, dear brethren, do not let us approach difficult matters at the level of the difficulties themselves, but a the height of God's thoughts; then we are more likely to help. Paul in this section, refers to his being "jealous as to you with a jealousy which is of God, 'for I have espoused you unto one man, to present you a chaste virgin to Christ". There is a need for priestliness and persistence, of being with God, between the thought of espousal and presentation. That is where the travail comes, and Paul hints that the more he loved the less he might be loved. Paul had godly fear for them "test by any means, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craft, so your thoughts should be corrupted from simplicity as to the Christ". The assembly, composed of persons, is intended to be to Another. We need to be sensitive as to what he Lord should have femininely in our local assemblies. Are we near enough to Him to know what He expects from her? The Corinthians were pure "in the matter", and now they are to be pure in relation to Christ and the truth as to His person. The serpent was "more crafty than any" (Gen 3: 1); but we cannot meet craft with craft nor flesh with flesh. We can only meet the enemy in the power of the Spirit, the Spirit of the ascended an; then we may find that God will grant us to see something that is for the glory of God and by which the Son of God is glorified, at the present time. May God bless the word.

TORONTO

26 April 1975