THE ANOINTED VESSEL (2)
[p. 142] THE ANOINTED VESSEL (2)
— For those who were not here yesterday evening, we might say what is the object in view in considering this epistle: it is that we might lay hold of the divine intention in each local Christian company, that is to say that it should be a vessel by means of which God can display His order and His testimony. We have taken special notice of the expression which occurs in chapter 12, referring to the saints as having been baptised in the power of one Spirit and as having been given to drink of one Spirit. It says of them, “So also is the Christ” 1 Corinthians 12:12.
— It says that they are themselves “the Christ”.
— The assembly should appear in this world in the power and dignity of the anointing. In the first chapter it says that the testimony of the Christ was confirmed in them. We spoke of the service of the Lord as it is presented in Luke: He displayed the complete divine thought known and seen in Himself — the Vessel. I think the first four chapters describe the character of the ministry, and also of the minister by means of whom the light came to the Corinthians. It says in these chapters that the ministry corresponded to the minister of it; in the same way that Luke presents the perfection of the Vessel in our Lord Jesus, so Paul, in his measure, was according to Christ. He served in the power and dignity of the anointing. These chapters therefore have a very special voice for those who carry on ministry among the saints. The divine thought is that the servant should be a model, or an expression of his service, and the genitive idea is thus perpetuated. As the gospel of Luke does, this epistle brings out that everything proceeds from God. It is like the book of Genesis [p. 143] which develops the great patriarchal ideas. Primarily all comes from God, but in taking up Abraham, God develops the patriarchal idea; so Paul says here, “If ye should have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the glad tidings”; there was a perfectly pure seed (as the prophet speaks of it); and in order that there should be “seed after its kind” (Genesis 1:12), according to Genesis, Timothy is sent so that the primary idea should be before the Corinthians. The idea was to be there, before them, in his spiritual child; he was his “beloved and faithful child in the Lord”. That is the genitive idea!
— Would you say that the Lord took the place of father when, coming down from the mountain, He dealt with the child? The father could not do anything; then the Lord took his place.
— The idea of a father is found everywhere in the gospels. The Lord Himself uses the words, ‘son’, ‘daughter’. In Mark, He took little children and laid His hands on them, as if to give them His personal impression. Instead of having a natural impression, these children would have an impression of what Christ represented; the idea is developed in John; rather on the side of the family. But Luke introduces the idea of a new race. And here, we have what is of God.
— “Ye are of God” 1 John 4:4.
— In Hebrews the Lord speaks of the children whom God has given Him. They are of God.
— The Lord, according to Luke’s gospel, found His delights with the sons of men. Luke develops the idea of children of wisdom, and this feature plays a great part in this epistle. Paul develops the great ideas of wisdom in the way in which he served the Corinthians.
— In Proverbs 23:15, the appeal of a father to his children is like Paul’s appeal to the Corinthians:
“[p. 144] My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice”. In Luke, words of grace were coming out of the Lord’s mouth; and Paul has in his heart this ideal for his children; he speaks in heavenly grace.
— The book of Proverbs develops, with regard to wisdom, the thought of ornament. With those who possess wisdom, a word spoken in season is like “apples of gold in baskets of silver” (Proverbs 25:11, note): the word is beautiful in itself, but its beauty is augmented by the setting — “baskets of silver”. If therefore we exercise a ministry, we must seek to be like the Model, otherwise our ministry will not commend itself; we could not hope that the result would be according to God, for it is inevitable that those who are enlightened by any servant whatever take on more or less the character of the minister. The Thessalonians became imitators of Paul, and then of the Lord (1 Thessalonians 1:6), for it is certain that they saw in the Lord the perfection of what they had already seen in Paul.
— In the second epistle, he says, “By manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every conscience of men before God” 2 Corinthians 4:2.
— We must notice what Paul says in chapter 2, in relation to his ministry. He refers to “that hidden wisdom” (1 Corinthians 2:7) which was prepared before the world for our glory. None of the princes of this world, none of the “princes of this age” knew it; this expression is an allusion to intellectual men as well as leaders of other classes.
— That is the heads of universities, as well as the Pharisees.
— Is that the reason that God allowed all kinds of personages to appear on the scene before Christ came?
— And His coming eclipsed them all.
— Probably the greatest products of human culture preceded the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were on the scene shortly before His birth.
— [p. 145] Since that period, human culture has never produced men like Aristotle, Demosthenes, etc. When their influence had reached its zenith, then Jesus appeared.
— The census was made by Caesar Augustus, an emperor who had a great realm and great splendour, and he would not have failed to bring into evidence everything that set off the mind of man. Amidst all that human glory, Jesus was born.
— The inn was filled with all these giants. There was no place for the Lord; He comes into the manger. He comes in, and they go out. The Lord of glory came in, and none of the princes of this world were there to receive Him, but the heavenly princes were there announcing the glory of God in the highest.
— That which came into the world was duly published; there was a multitude of the heavenly host. Gabriel, a great prince in the heavens, had already been occupied with the birth of the Lord. He had spoken to Zacharias, and to Mary. The birth of the Lord of glory had therefore been suitably published in the heavens; while, upon earth, there was no salutation on the part of the princes of this age.
— But there were shepherds who were keeping watch over their flocks during the night watches. These were not found in the pleasure-gardens of the great city: they were keeping watch over their flocks during the night; and they are all specially distinguished. An angel appeared to them, saying, “Behold, I announce to you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all the people; for today a Saviour has been born to you in David’s city, who is Christ the Lord” Luke 2:10,11. Not only He will be the Lord, but He is the Lord of glory.
— The “good pleasure in men” supposes that He is going to have a race of men whom he begets for the pleasure of God.
— [p. 146] We see in the gospel of Luke that it is a question of a race. A race is in view.
— Jerusalem was formerly an ornament on the earth.
— The “Babe” who is brought in was to be the ornament.
— “Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion” Psalm 48:2. Our hearts are much affected if we compare the interest of heaven in the birth of the Lord Jesus with what took place on earth.
— It is indeed very touching; no one came to find Him; but all heaven was occupied with Him.
— The humble shepherds knew it.
— And these humble shepherds formed the link between heaven and earth, the beginning of the new race, and they are moved by this beginning. “Let us see this thing that is come to pass” (Luke 2:15), they say. They went to Bethlehem and saw the Babe. A movement was produced in answer to the testimony, and a few days later we find the representative of the new race — Simeon — in the temple. Simeon was the representative. He came into the temple. It had been revealed to him that he should not see death before he should see the Lord’s Christ. By the Spirit, he came into the temple and took the Child into his arms.
— He took the Child from His parents. It is not said that he gave the Child back to His parents, for he represents the race which keeps the thoughts of God regarding Christ during the whole dispensation.
— He is the priest, and with divinely given intelligence, he announces adoringly, “Lord, now thou lettest thy bondman go, according to thy word, in peace; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples” Luke 2:29 - 31. So we are, as it were, introduced into a new world, and the energy of Anna completes the picture. It is the setting aside of the “princes of this age”. You see where we are introduced.
— Into the company of Anna and Simeon?
— If we are to become effective servants, we must consider them both.
— Simeon blessed God with Christ. Anna blessed the saints with Christ.
— I believe that Paul shows us in these chapters how he was in accord with all that. He excludes man. In verse 14 of chapter 2, he says, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him; and he cannot know them because they are spiritually discerned” 1 Corinthians 2:14. He insists that the things of God are presented to us and are searched by the Spirit of God; and the natural man, whatever his education, cannot take them in, but believers have the mind of Christ.
— “So that the thoughts may be revealed from many hearts” Luke 2:35.
— The universal light which shone round about these shepherds was to produce universal worship which would ascend to God.
— That is what Luke presents, and he concludes his gospel with a company “continually in the temple, praising and blessing God” Luke 24:53.
— We were speaking of the universal light which the shepherds had received. We find afterwards “a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon” (Luke 2:25); and then, Anna “spoke of him to all those who waited for redemption in Jerusalem” Luke 2:38. In one locality, the universal position and way are maintained.
— Simeon represents rather what is of the Spirit and it is specially said that “he came in the Spirit into the temple” (Luke 2:27), which corresponds to that verse: “Do ye not know that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16. Anna represents what is developed subjectively. The man generally represents what is objective; the woman,
[p. 148] that which corresponds subjectively. Anna would represent the subjective feature. The end of the gospels, with the exception of Luke’s gospel, presents the woman, indicating the subjective result of what has been presented of God. There was the anointing of Him by whom the light came. There is a subjective effect in four women, who, taken together, represent the complete answer to Christ in the assembly; “so also is the Christ” 1 Corinthians 12:12.
— Would you touch on the subject of the anointing of the Lord in the four gospels? If you put the four together, you have subjectively in the saints “the Christ”.
— There is first the anointing in the gospel of Matthew, in chapter 26; it is a question there of the subjective appreciation of rule. That is a great feature in the assembly, and it is the subject of the gospel of Matthew. In Mark, the anointing in chapter 14 gives us the idea of the subjective appreciation of levitical service. The anointing in John 12 would represent the subjective appreciation of the Person of the Christ, not what He is officially, but what He is personally.
— All this forms “the Christ”, His body which is here.
— In Luke 7, we have a woman who appreciates the grace which comes out in Christ. So we form a part of those who love Christ. The Lord’s attention is fixed on the woman, and He says, “Seest thou this woman?” Luke 7:44. We are of those who love Christ as the One by whom grace has come to us, and this thought connects with that which is anointed in chapter 12 of this epistle.
— Would the four cases illustrate, “We ... have all been given to drink of one Spirit” 1 Corinthians 12:13?
— Yes. The baptism of the Spirit presents the objective side. We do not baptise ourselves; it is a divine action. When we are made to drink, it is our [p. 149] action; we have a sense of the value of the thing; we enjoy it.
— “In the power of one Spirit we have all been baptised” (1 Corinthians 12:13) is a divine act. “Given to drink” means that we respond; we drink; it is our action.
— Before closing, let us glance at chapters 3 and 4. We see how Paul speaks emphatically of the foundation that is laid, “which is Jesus Christ”, that is to say an order of man who has been fully tested in His life down here and has shown Himself perfectly capable of resisting every temptation. The order of man presented in Christ had been put to the test in His life down here, and He it is who had been presented as foundation.
— Does that correspond to the Lord’s foundation in Matthew 16?
— Matthew 16 depends on the Son of the living God, known only by means of revelation, by means of testimony, the testimony of the gospels.
— David presents what was put to the test, but Solomon presents another side.
— Solomon was a son unto his father, tender and an only one in the sight of his mother (Proverbs 4:3), but in David we see a life publicly tested, and that is not only recorded for us in the inspired history, but Nathan, Gad and Samuel wrote on the subject. The years had passed over him; he was old and full of days. The days had been passed in going out and coming in among the people, in service for them, and it was the same with the Lord Jesus. We have four inspired records, and John says that there are many other things; if they were written, the whole world could not contain the books. So the apostles were to stand in the temple and speak of Jesus Christ. It is in that Person that the foundation is found; it is just a question of testimony.
— The world could not contain all the books concerning the acts of Jesus, but the vessel here is [p. 150] necessary and sufficient to be the living expression of them.
— What is the difference between revelation and testimony?
— The revelation in John 1 is universal; it is for the whole world. In the case of Peter, it was a special revelation; the principle of revelation should be understood by every believer. In revelation, it is a question of that which is in my soul and which comes from God. Paul does not deal with that here; he is dealing with that which is presented to them.
— Testimony?
— A foundation in their soul, “which is Jesus Christ”. He was a complete example in his personal walk before them.
— Would you say a few words further on revelation?
— It is difficult to express what I have in mind as to revelation; each believer should enter into it. The Lord said to Simon, “Flesh and blood has not revealed it to thee” Matthew 16:17. If He said simply, “Flesh and blood has not revealed it”, that would be general; but a divine transaction must take place in the soul of each one contemplated, as distinct from what is presented in testimony.
— Revelation was made to Saul, when the Lord spoke to him on the road to Damascus.
— Revelation gives me, so to speak, an individual position in the spiritual sphere. What is presented in testimony might be presented to a hundred persons at once.
— The Lord said to Ananias, “Go, for this man is an elect vessel to me, to bear my name before both nations and kings and the sons of Israel: for I will show to him how much he must suffer for my name” Acts 9:15,16.
Reading with J.T. at Valence, 12th May, 1926, morning.