JUDGMENT (6)

^[p. 361] JUDGMENT (6)

Romans 12:1-4; Romans 12:16-21; Romans 13: 1 - 5; Romans 14: 10 - 12

JTJr At the last reading we finished with the doxology in chapter 11 in which the apostle refers to the unsearchable judgments of God. We began this series of readings with the consideration of the righteous judgment of God in chapter 1 of the book. We dwelt also on the solemn fact that before there could be the setting forth of the Lord Jesus as the Mercy-seat, He had to bear the judgment of God, and as a result of this there is no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus. In the verses read in chapter 12 we are enjoined to “think so as to be wise” (so as to have a sober judgment), and also that we are not to avenge ourselves. In chapter 13 we are warned as to practising evil, for the authority set up by God is his “minister, an avenger of wrath to him that does evil”. In chapter 14 we are warned as to judging the servant of another, and we are told that we are all to be placed before the judgment-seat of God.

JT It is important to remember that the subject in Romans is the gospel of God concerning His Son, so that in selecting parts of the book we have to bear in mind that the glad tidings is a great subject, and it is to the end that we all should be affected by it. Judgment, of course, is to be borne in mind, but we are to be affected by the great thought of God in the gospel. It is the gospel of God concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. And it is of moment for us to finish with it; indeed, it seems to me to be the time of finishing with the great thought of the gospel, carrying with it too, as we have intimated, the idea of judgment. So that in view of the great subject of the book, the parenthesis beginning with chapter 9 is to make way for the counsels of God as to Israel, for God has never forgotten His counsels as to Israel, and the word which is in the section which begins with chapter 9 is that all Israel shall ^[p. 362] be saved.

JTJr That is what leads to the doxology in chapter 11.

JT We could hardly have the doxology unless we had the idea of salvation; that is what I would think, and the apostle states this fully in regard to Israel, that all Israel is to be saved.

ANW The emphasis is on all Israel. All Israel shall be saved.

JT That is to say, what God regards as Israel, because He has His own way of counting. Sometimes it may seem that He is sparing in His counting, but He counts in His reference to Israel as in Reuben (Deuteronomy 34), that he is countable. So that God has His counts and He keeps to them. There is to be no variation, eventually, as to the divine numbering.

AR How shall Israel be saved?

JT It will be through a gospel by representatives of Christ to Israel, Matthew 10 and Revelation 7. The gospel we are dealing with in Romans is the gospel of the present time. The brethren should have this in mind because it is important to keep it clearly before us that God has His count, His thoughts and the numbers attaching to them. So that in Revelation 7 we have an immense number of the redeemed who “came out of the great tribulation”, but at the same time we are told about the one hundred and forty-four thousand of the tribes of Israel who are “sealed ... upon their foreheads”. They are given to us expressly in the same chapter.

ANW Would the apostle have that in mind in the first verse of chapter 10, where he says, “Brethren, the delight of my own heart and my supplication which I address to God for them is for salvation”?

JT He would have it in the sense that he would be with God about it.

ANW Yes, I thought just that, that he would be in keeping with the mind of God.

JT If we pray, the thing would be to have what ^[p. 363] God has in His mind on the one hand, and on the other hand the unlimitedness of His salvation in the gospel period.

AR Israel will come in on the basis of mercy as we.

JT Paul expressly says so: “according to his own mercy he saved us”, Titus 3: 5. He had mercy shown him because his opposition to God and His people was in ignorance and unbelief. But the idea of mercy applies to us, too, in that sense.

AR It says in Romans 11: 31, “... that they also may be objects of mercy”, referring to the godly remnant.

JT Quite so. God has His thoughts and He loves to express them, and not only to save, but to show mercy.

SW Do you have in mind that we should not belittle what God has in mind in relation to Israel, but that we should act like the apostle? He said he had great grief and uninterrupted pain in relation to his kinsmen. The spirit of vengeance was not with the apostle. He would not render evil for evil. He had been beaten and stoned by the Jews, but he did not seek to be avenged.

JT Quite so; he was sympathetic with God. No other servant of God speaks as he does. The feelings that he had were of one feeling things with God. He said, “I have wished ...”; not, I understand, that he was then wishing, but that he had wished himself a curse from the Christ for their sakes.

JTJr His prayer, according to the note to chapter 10: 1, was that they might be saved, and not judged. Is that what you are stressing?

JT Quite. That is a very good remark. Peter has a similar thought. “The Lord ... is longsuffering towards you, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”, 2 Peter ^[p. 364] 3: 9.

ANW In the next chapter the apostle Paul refers to himself as of the tribe of Benjamin.

JT Well, just so. Benjamin is called “little” in Psalm 68. He was the smallest of all the tribes except Manasseh. So that it was remarkable that Paul should be taken up as of the tribe of Benjamin; although God had great thoughts about Benjamin. He said He would dwell between his shoulders, referring to Jerusalem which had been in Benjamin’s territory. Benjamin was the son of his mother’s sorrow but the son of his father’s right hand. These are some of the things that God would have us have in our hearts, as to this great parenthesis in Romans.

JTJr So that we should not take delight in any discipline or judgment that might come in upon any, but should have recovery or salvation in mind for them.

JT Quite so. We are not to be too free in speaking of any person even as to any discipline that God may be pleased to inflict, because He has His own way and we cannot always be sure as to what is on His mind.

AR At the end of the doxology in the previous chapter he says, “how unsearchable his judgments, and untraceable his ways!” We cannot always tell what may be in God’s mind in the discipline.

JT You cannot always tell. Paul says, as to his ascent to the third heaven, “God knows”. We have not to be too sure of what is going to happen, and certainly if it be a question of our departure, in the sense of dying, we had better just say, “God knows”.

EAL Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the glad tidings, for it is God’s power to salvation”. In preaching the glad tidings he would bring in judgment, but he would measure it with grace.

JT Yes, and that runs through the book. We see it earlier, in David’s day, how David numbered the people and he suffered consequently. God sent His angel to inflict judgment: “but Jehovah repented him of the evil”, and so there was relief for them. Thus we must be most careful as to our disciplinary meetings. We are not to be too sure whether we have to do it, or whether God has to do it.

ABP Would you say that the compassions referred to in this chapter, verse one, relate to the treatise in the three preceding chapters as to Israel? Therefore our humility has to be worked out as having some sense of this in our souls.

JT I think that is good. God is dealing through the apostle with the whole matter of salvation for the saving of man, whether it be God’s dealing with mankind as such, or Israel. The chapters preceding deal with this. And so the word here in chapter 12 is, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the compassions of God”. And then, that we should be in accord with these compassions, “to present your bodies a living ^[p. 368] sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your intelligent service”. That is a word which relates to the Lord’s supper. He says, elsewhere, “I speak as to intelligent persons”, 1 Corinthians 10: 15.

CAM So that God recovers, through the gospel, the bodies of men in this way for His own service, before they get glorified bodies. It is the same body in which we have worked out the moral question, and it is in these very bodies that He has the triumph.

JT Hence we have reference to the things done in the body: “So then each of us shall give an account concerning himself to God”. These are the things that come in for review at the judgment-seat of God, for that is the word that is used here. It is not the judgment-seat of Christ here, but the judgment-seat of God. It is a question of what is done in the body, whether good or evil. If we do evil we are told to fear, “for it” (the powers that be) “bears not the sword in vain; for it is God’s minister, an avenger for wrath to him that does evil”, Romans 13: 4. The powers that be are set up by ^[p. 366] God, now, and are against evil. At the judgment-seat of God every matter will come up and will be seen in its true light. We are to anticipate the judgment-seat by having a right judgment now.

CAM What a wonderful thing the result of the gospel is! For we shall soon have glorified bodies; but there is a triumph in these bodies in which we now are, when we practise what is good. “Glorify now then God in your body”, 1 Corinthians 6: 20.

JT So that if “our earthly tabernacle house be destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens”, 2 Corinthians 5: 1. That brings out the whole matter as to our bodies. We will be in our bodies of glory at the judgment-seat when the review takes place.

CFE Does self-judgment enter into these verses in chapter 12, as presenting our bodies a living sacrifice?

JT Well, quite so; it is self-judgment. It is not God’s judgment. It is important too, that we should each set out at the beginning of his career to judge self, because that self has to go right through.

SF Are we helped in that in the sense of the mercy that has been shown us? God has shut up all in unbelief, not that He might judge or condemn, but that He might have mercy on all. That would help us in judging ourselves. It is God’s disposition to have mercy.

JT It gives us great latitude in our souls in judging ourselves, for we are deserving of the judgment of God. We can recount our whole history and count all the mercies, and that encourages us to judge ourselves. It is now God’s disposition to have mercy and it was always His disposition to have mercy.

SM We are told that God is rich in mercy.

ABP Would it seem that the mind is under control in this chapter? There is the renewing of our mind and then the control of our thoughts, for we are not to ^[p. 367] have high thoughts. We noticed that the control of the mind has a remarkable place in the book.

JT Quite so. It has a remarkable place in the history of every Christian, especially in relation to the Lord’s supper. This book really fits us for the Lord’s supper and the place the mind has in it.

JTJr While there is nothing directly said about the Lord’s supper here, yet the intelligent service of presenting our bodies would have all that in view, so that the positive line has to be kept before us. In order to be in the good of the Lord’s supper and what flows out of it we must be in constant self-judgment.

JT Well, I think the apostle was led by the Spirit of God to open up the order of the assembly at Corinth. We are to understand the place Corinth has in the divine mind. The Lord’s supper is reserved for Corinth. It is spoken of in the gospels, but Corinth is particularly in the divine mind in view of the assembly. The apostle remained eighteen months there.

CAM Would you say that this epistle prepares us for the Lord’s supper, and would it be taken for granted that, in a moral way, the soul has travelled through what has occupied us in the epistle as we partake of the Lord’s supper?

JT Well, I think the moral side has a great place and Romans is dealing with the matter of the gospel. The subject in Romans is the gospel, but then the Supper could be brought in. It is brought in usually in our celebration of it; but the Corinthian epistles finalise in regard to the Lord’s supper.

AR Do you think the mind coming in here, preceding the thought of the one body, suggests that our minds should be under control at the Supper?

JT I think so, for the mind is the great thinking faculty, the power of control, and it has a great place in the Lord’s supper. It has a great place in Romans so as we have here: “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your intelligent service”. It is your intelligent service.

AR One of the most difficult things is to keep our minds under control in relation to other persons at the Supper. Do you think that is important?

JT Well, that is right. We sit down together, and our thoughts are in one direction. We are not to study one another’s dress, but the demeanour in which we sit down. Because the Lord comes, and He expects something in us to comport with the occasion. Therefore, the mind is so important. In Psalm 19, for instance, there is allusion to the Lord as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber. We come out of our chambers too, but then it is a question of how we come, the attire, the comportment, as we enter into the position where the Lord’s supper is celebrated.

GBL So, at the Lord’s supper, it is our calling of Him to mind.

ANW Would you look for something of the bridal adorning? Do you think the “bride adorned for her husband” has a place at the Supper?

JT If you are thinking of the Husband, He has not come yet, of course, and we are on the way to see Him come; because He comes “leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills”, Song of Songs 2: 8. And then His swiftness is alluded to. And then, “He looketh in through the windows, glancing through the lattice”. These things are discerned by us as the Lord approaches.

ANW That is very interesting.

JT Yes; it is interesting; it brings in Solomon where he should be brought in, as seen in the Song of Songs, because the Lord would have Solomon in mind as a type of Himself as fitting in with the Lord’s supper.

SW Have you also in mind chapter 3: “Who is this, she that cometh up from the wilderness?” verse 6.

JT Quite so; it is the loved one — ‘she’.

ABP Does what you have said as to the Supper flow out from the expression here, “... present your bodies a living sacrifice”? Is that what you had in mind?

JT Yes; we have already alluded to it, as to how we come attired as morally suitable to the Lord’s supper.

JAP Is it your thought to preserve us from the spirit of heaviness in the morning meeting, and that we are to be ready to serve the Lord?

JT Exactly.

JAP The spouse in the Song of Songs was not ready at one time, was she?

JT She was not ready when her beloved was ready to come in. All that is most interesting as to this subject we are on now; the importance of the book of Romans as to the Lord’s supper. Corinth was especially instructed but Romans supports the whole position.

RWS Would “be not conformed to this world” bear on 1 Corinthians 10, and “intelligent service” on 1 Corinthians 11?

JT Just so; and headship in regard to the sisters, especially, in chapter 11 of 1 Corinthians.

DP Would the presentation of our bodies be priestly?

JT It is said of the Lord that He presented Himself living to the disciples. I would not say that was priestly, but I think the idea of our presenting ourselves is priestly. But it is not a question of worship, exactly, but presenting ourselves with a view to worship.

JS Does the Lord give a lead when He says, “This is my body, which is for you”?

JT Well, He does; it is something to especially think of, because it bears on the whole matter of the Lord’s supper. It is said of the Lord, that He “took bread, and having given thanks broke it, and said, This is my body, which is for you”. That is His own body; not the assembly. That is in chapter 11: 23, but ^[p. 370] in chapter 10: 17, the assembly is the body. “We, being many, are one loaf, one body”.

FHL There is never any thought of recalling the sacrifice. It is presenting our bodies as an intelligent service. The sacrifice has never to be recalled.

JT That is very good. But then, the Lord is not going to accept anything that we may offer. If the thing is not to be recalled it must be primarily acceptable.

ABP What was it that some in Corinth did not discern? It says “... not distinguishing the body”.

JT It was the Lord’s own personal body that was not discerned, not the assembly. It was the Lord’s own body. That is where the error was; there were unholy feelings about the Lord’s body.

FNW Is this “renewing of your mind” a continual action or just once?

JT Well, I would say continuous.

FNW If we maintained this state, it would help us to keep ready for the Lord’s supper, or any service.

JT You are there in freshness and in suitableness too, so that there is nothing to cause any offence in the Lord’s mind.

RWS And does the transformation suggest something real in us in the way of “from glory to glory”?

JT Yes; the word here in verse 2 is, “Be not conformed ... but be transformed”. It would point to chapter 3 of 2 Corinthians, where it is “transformed”, it is a metamorphosis. In 2 Corinthians 3: 18 we are completely changed.

JTJr ‘Conformed’ is, therefore, in view of the place where we are. “Be not conformed to this world” would mean that, though we are in this world, we are not to be affected by it, for we may carry that into the assembly. Being conformed to the world is more likely to be seen in the sisters in their dress than it is in the brothers.

JT And it would be a matter, too, of our being in ^[p. 371] the world and going through it in our affairs. But transformation is in view of what is suitable to the Lord.

JHE Is not the latter part very helpful? “That ye may prove ...” There are certain things that we have to do. If the disciples had not obeyed or hearkened to the message sent through Mary and gathered themselves together, they would not have been in the position where the Lord could come in among them. There are certain things that have to take place before He is free to make His presence known.

JT So that 2 Corinthians helps as to the service of God; God is looking for His service in us, and the second epistle to the Corinthians is leading up to that. If we turn to it for a moment it will help us, I think. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, but where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, looking on the glory of the Lord, with unveiled face, are transformed according to the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit”, 2 Corinthians 3: 17, 18. So that the passage we are now dealing with in Romans leads up manifestly to the Lord’s supper.

JTJr In Corinthians it is ‘looking’ whereas in Romans it is more the mind. It is “transformed by the renewing of your mind”, which is antecedent to what you have quoted.

JT I was thinking of that yesterday in this room, that reverentially we may close our eyes, and we do; but if there were more power, the eyes could be opened. It is a question of looking, and then the transformation being seen there, as in accord with the Lord Himself as He comes in.

AR What change takes place, then, is inward, is it not?

JT It is, but it is substantial or real.

AR You are conscious that a change has come over you in your ^[p. 372] soul.

JT Yes. Much has been made in earlier days about metamorphosis. It is a complete change, but it is by the Spirit. The change is by the Spirit. “The Lord the Spirit”, brings the Lord Himself into it and He would have us in that condition.

TNW In speaking about looking upon the saints in the meeting, had you something in mind as to gauging the state of the saints as together?

JT Well, not to make too much of it. There is a word that can be used conveniently — if we do not want to stress a thing unduly, then we speak more fluidly, but if we have to stress things we speak solidly, and that is a very important matter. If you want to think of how the saints appear before the Lord, and you are glad to be in accord with the Lord’s mind, then you might speak of that in a fluid sort of way without making too much of it; because the time is usually very limited.

RWS What is “the same image”?

JT It is the idea of representation; similarity. What do you say?

RWS I was not clear. I wondered if we all are alike and take on the same features.

JT It is the same features; we are all similar. It is the result of looking on the glory of the Lord. It is said that the Lord is the Spirit, and this should be read with the closest attention. The Lord is said to be the Spirit.

JTJr In regard to what you said about the eyes: if we were more spiritual we could have our eyes open.

JS Stephen had his eyes open, did he not, in Acts 7: 55?

JT Just so.

ANW You have a model, too, in the Lord Himself in John 17: 1.

CAM You made a reference earlier to Psalm 19 in connection with the bridegroom coming out of his ^[p. 373] chamber. If I understood you rightly you applied that to us.

JT Quite so. It is remarkable how our houses are linked up with the Lord’s supper. The apostle says, “Have ye not then houses”. But we come out of our houses. Our houses should be a sphere of glory too, and from that we move into the assembly.

ANW Is there something suggested in the Song of Songs as to the footsteps of the flock? “If thou know not, thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ booths”, chapter 1: 8.

JT That is very good.

CAM Does the attitude of the saints make way for the thought of the bride in the Lord’s supper?

JT It acquires a great place in the end of Revelation. “^[p. 374] The Spirit and the bride say, Come”, chapter 22: 17. It is a striking thing for the Spirit and the bride to say, Come, to Him who is “the root and offspring of David”. The assembly is there regarded as being very near to Deity; not linked up with it, literally, but very near to it. The Spirit and the bride say the same thing at the same time. And then, they understand; He says, “I am the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star”. That is to say, the bride is in that relation, so near to the Spirit. There is no other scripture that I know of that places the saints so near the Spirit. Of course the Spirit is in the assembly, but there is peculiar distinction in the bride speaking to the Lord at the same time and using the same word as the Spirit.

CAM So that the bridal thought is an eternal matter; it is a very great thought.

JT Well, it is; it is a final matter, an eternal matter. God has greatly helped the brethren elsewhere on that passage.

JTJr Saying the same thing, therefore — “the Spirit and the bride say. Come”, would point to the place the Spirit has with us in what He is saying and what we are saying. As you have remarked, we need to pay close attention to the statement that “the Lord is the Spirit”, in 1 Corinthians 3: 17.

JT Just so; it is plain enough that the time is near when the Lord will come in answer to these wonderful ‘Comes’ of the Spirit and the bride.

SM The whole book of Revelation seems to be marked by the Spirit, beginning from the first chapter. John was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s day”.

JT Very good. The Lord is saying a good deal to the saints elsewhere about the place the Spirit has, and the book of Revelation is striking in that sense.

AR Is that idea seen in Genesis 24, where the servant brings Rebecca to Isaac?

JT It is. The servant clearly represents the Spirit. He is not called Eliezer there. He is spoken of as Eliezer earlier, in chapter 15, but in chapter 24 he is spoken of as the chief servant of Abraham. He is “his servant, the eldest of his house”, verse 2. It is to bring out the greatness of the person; that he is a type of the Spirit of God. The servant there is astonished at what he sees in Rebecca (verse 21) showing what a formation she is typically.

AR And so they both come to Isaac, the servant and Rebecca.

JT That is right; they both come to Isaac.

AR I am impressed with what you are saying as to the Spirit and the bride saying, Come. They both move toward Christ together, in that sense.

JT And then it is said that Isaac had just returned from Beer-lahai-roi. The note says, ‘came from coming to’. It is as if his mind was on the well. It is a question of the Spirit, really. It was seen first in relation to Hagar, which is another great matter, showing how God is merciful to Israel. And then he saw the camels, not ^[p. 375] yet Rebecca; that is to say, when Isaac saw the power by which Rebecca was carried, it affected him.

AR That means by which she was carried is also typical of the power of the Spirit, is it not?

JT That is what it is.

ANW And then it says that Rebecca sprang off the camel. It was her own action.

JT Then she inquires about the man “that is walking in the fields to meet us”. The servant said, “That is my master!”

RTM When is it that the Spirit and the bride say, Come?

JT When they say it.

RTM I understood from the way that you were speaking that something of that feature should be with us now, and I wanted to understand more what you had in mind.

JT It is a state of soul, not in the Spirit, of course; a state in the bride. “The Spirit and the bride say, Come”. The Spirit is a divine Person, but the bride is the assembly.

ABP It is like a counterpart, is it not, of Genesis 2? There it was not good for Man to be alone, and Woman was brought to satisfy Man; but what you are saying would show that the bride requires to be satisfied. What has been formed by the Spirit in the bride has to be satisfied.

JT You are now linking Revelation 22 with Genesis 2?

ABP Yes; would that be reasonable?

JT I think it is quite reasonable, because you are now in the midst of creatures. Adam was the greatest creature of all there, but then there were others, and Adam was deputed to name them, as if God would have intelligence all round Him in the creatures. And the Lord would, as it were, convey to us who each is personally, and I think the word ‘judgment’ enters ^[p. 376] into what we are saying. One often has the liberty to say he has a judgment about every christian he knows; not to be critical, but to have a right intelligent thought about every one you know. And Genesis 2 would bring that out, that Adam gives names. God told him to do so, and God never changed a name that Adam gave to a creature. In the scripture we are speaking of, however, we have a divine Person, the Spirit, and the assembly, a creature, saying the same thing to the Lord Jesus. It is one of the most remarkable things I know.

TEH Will you help us as to the suggestion of the silver articles, and gold articles, and clothing which Rebecca received before she left the place of her nativity?

JT I think it is to bring out the idea of richness that there is in the scene. It is not a bare, uninteresting situation. Genesis 24 depicts a wonderful situation. It is to bring out the richness, and then there is the feminine side too; the maidens that were there, pointing to femininity.

SM It is said of the Lord that He had found one pearl of great price. Is that something akin to what is before us?

JT Yes, as to richness.

JTJr Do you think the allusion to Phoebe, in Romans 16, would be a similar thought? Then the salutations follow and then the reference to the assembly; and then finally, the mystery. All come into view in that chapter.

JT Very good.

JTJr There is the actual mention of the word ‘assembly’. At the beginning of the chapter Phoebe is said to be “minister of the assembly”; then “the whole assembly”, in verse 23; and finally, in verse 25, “the revelation of the mystery”. The assembly seems to be coming to the fore at the end of the book.

JT I think all that brings out the idea ^[p. 377] of richness.

The Spirit of God would have us in the realm of richness; not in barrenness or poverty, but in richness. And so we have at least twenty salutations in the chapter.

FNW Paul’s judgment there brings out quality in the persons.

JT And then terrible reference to persons who cause division, in verses 17 and 18.

JTJr “But I beseech you, brethren, to consider those who create divisions”.

JT As if it is wholly foreign to the scene. And then Phoebe is herself an ornamentation, for that is what she is.

CAM At the beginning of the meeting you stressed the place the gospel has in this epistle, and in connection with the thoughts that were just expressed as to Phoebe and the assembly, is it not an interesting thing that he says, “... according to my glad tidings”, in that setting? (chapter 16: 25).

JT Well, as we were saying already, it is to bring out the richness of the whole scene. We have already enlarged on that in Genesis 2, Genesis 24, and Revelation 22. It is to bring out the richness that there is in Scripture. When we take up a book to read, let us consider how rich it is; what richness there is to ennoble and dignify us, and that we are dealing with great things.

AP Does the matter of sonship come into this subject? In Romans we are to be conformed to the image of His Son.

JT Quite so, in chapter 8: 29.

ANW Referring to the term ‘glad tidings’: is it fair to ask if they are ever anything else but glad? Is there anything but gladness in the glad tidings?

JT Well, that has to be thought over, because there is the idea of intelligence in it. I speak as unto intelligent persons, the apostle says.

JS Is wrath not revealed in the ^[p. 378] glad tidings?

JT I do not think so. What does it say?

JS “For there is revealed wrath of God from heaven upon all impiety, and unrighteousness of men holding the truth in unrighteousness”.

JTJr It is “revealed from heaven”; it does not say that it is revealed in the glad tidings. In regard to your remark as to having a judgment of every christian you know, would the word in Romans 12: 3 help? It says, “think so as to be wise”. The note to that verse says, ‘so as to have a sober judgment’.

JT “For I say, through the grace which has been given to me”, verse 3. I have often thought of that. What he is talking about, he says, is through grace; not something through intelligence, but through grace: “through the grace which has been given to me, to everyone that is among you, not to have high thoughts above what he should think”. There are high thoughts, of course, in Scripture; “heaven for height”. The truth implies high thoughts, but then, “to everyone that is among you, not to have high thoughts above what he should think; but to think so as to be wise, as God has dealt to each a measure of faith”. That is to say, it is not a measure of intelligence now, but the whole matter is to be in faith.

FHL Would it be right to say that the mind comes into Corinthians again in connection with proving oneself? You were linking that up with the Supper.

JT Well, it is; it is linked up very distinctly with the Supper.

AR Do you think that, in this chapter, every bit of service should be carried on on the principle of faith?

JT I think so; if not we will drop down to the level of sight and the level of the natural mind.

AR It is not a question of what we know, but of linking ourselves on with God.

JT So that, if we sit down to partake of the Lord’s supper, and keep our eyes open, which we may do, it ^[p. 379] requires holiness; it is a holy scene. We are not thinking of what we may be naturally. I ventured to say something about it yesterday when giving thanks for the Lord’s supper, although one just wonders if it is wise generally to open our eyes. It might mean irreverence to do so, whereas it is a question of the power of the Spirit. That is the idea that enters into the whole matter after we sit down to partake of the Lord’s supper. The Spirit is there with us; the Lord will be there, but the Spirit is there with us.

TEH Would it be right to say that there are so many things between earth and heaven that may distract us if we keep our eyes open, but if we close them we are kept from distraction.

JT It is a question of discernment and wisdom with each of us.

ANW And then, if we think that the closing of the eyes is part of the ritual, we err, do we not? I may assume that it is part of the ritual.

DP Would you say that we close our eyes instinctively, or is it a matter of the mind?

JT I think it is a matter of the mind. You are doing the thing intentionally, I think. Instinctively is not a strong enough word, although speaking fluidly, you could use it. But I think it is a matter of the mind, because we are there as intelligent persons.

DP I thought that to look around would be rather distracting.

JT Well, the question is where we are, and if our eyes are powerful enough to control the whole position. We are in a wonderful position; in the assembly we are at the gate of heaven; we are only just a step from heaven, really. We are dealing with the Spirit and the bride; we are dealing with wonderful things!

GBL Balaam refers to the “man of opened eye ... who seeth the vision of the Almighty”. He was made to look at Israel in that way.

JT “The vision of the Almighty” is a good phrase there.

ANW What broke their hearts in Acts 20 was that the brethren should not see the apostle’s face again.

JT Chapter 20 of the book of Acts is a love chapter throughout, and the last verse, to which you allude, refers to the face of Paul.

ETP When Moses came down from the mount the children of Israel were unable to look upon his face. Would that indicate a lack of spirituality?

JT I suppose the reference there, by the Spirit, is to the state of Moses’ face — what it was. They were unable to look upon it for they were unequal to it.

RWS In 2 Corinthians 4 it speaks of the shining forth of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

TNW Later in this epistle there is the expression, “... for whom Christ has died”. Should we have thoughts like that in looking at the saints?

JT “For if on account of meat thy brother is grieved, thou walkest no longer according to love. Destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ has died”, Romans 14: 15. It is a beautiful thought how these may be brought together.

AR It says in chapter 14: 4, “Who art thou that judgest the servant of another? to his own master he stands or falls”. That verse has been quoted as showing that you cannot judge those who are serving. Is that how this scripture applies, or does it refer to judging the weakness of a brother in refusing to eat certain things, or what might correspond to this?

JT Well, you are not to be marked by a critical spirit in taking account of those who serve. It says in verse 4, “Who art thou that judgest”.

AR One cannot, as serving the Lord and the saints, consider himself immune from the brethren judging his conduct if it is not right. This verse is not a question ^[p. 381] of serving; it is a question of eating. That is how the context really stands, for it says in verse 3, “Let not him that eats make little of him that eats not; and let not him that eats not judge him that eats; for God has received him”.

JT Well, I see what you mean. It is a question of what enters into the present time, for we are in the time called Lent. That sort of thing comes up and we are to be outside of it in holiness, and should not be affected at all in regard to what a man eats and drinks. But much more could be said about that as bearing on the whole chapter. This chapter in Romans should be compared with chapter 5 of 2 Corinthians. It is a question of the value of a brother.

CAM Verse 10 has nothing to do with eating, has it? — “But thou, why judgest thou thy brother? or again, thou, why dost thou make little of thy brother?” That, I suppose, is a general thought.

JT Well, it is a question of the teaching of the chapter. The apostle is treating of “him that is weak in the faith” and, therefore, if a brother has a conscience as to certain things, you would not despise his conscience; but at the same time, such a brother cannot make his conscience a rule or standard for others. Therefore the apostle says, “to his own master he stands or falls”.

ANW “For we shall all be placed before the judgment-seat of God”. That should sober us all.

JT “Be placed” there, too; that is a very solemn fact. Some other hand places you there.

JAP Is this the same as the judgment-seat of Christ?

JT It is the judgment-seat of Christ, according to the King James version, but in the better rendering it is the judgment-seat of God, which is in keeping with Romans. It would be the same seat and at the same time as is alluded to in 2 Corinthians 5, where it is ^[p. 382] called the judgment-seat of Christ; but Romans is stressing God, so that we have the gospel of God, the righteous judgment of God, the righteousness of God, the love of God, and so on. As remarked, 2 Corinthians 5 should be read in conjunction with chapter 14 of Romans.