THE ANOINTED VESSEL (5)
[p. 182] THE ANOINTED VESSEL (5)
— At the close of our meeting this morning, we were occupied with the cup. We spoke of what it presented as being a cup of blessing, “the cup of blessing which we bless” 1 Corinthians 10:16. What the apostle had in view in that section was the fellowship. The bearing of chapter 10 is connected with our public relations, for our fellowship involves that we are consistent in what we do, as partaking of the Lord’s supper. It involves obligations towards all who are in fellowship. The bread, before it has been broken, represents the unity of the saints. Here it says, “The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of the Christ?” 1 Corinthians 10:16. That is to say the saints universally break the bread. The fellowship is universal, as it is also local. In chapter 11, it says, “As often as ye shall eat [p. 190] this bread, and drink the cup, ye announce the death of the Lord, until he come” 1 Corinthians 11:26. It is what the Corinthians did locally. But chapter 10 refers to the question of the fellowship in a general way, and what characterises the general fellowship ought to characterise the fellowship in each locality. The same principles and the same customs ought to be found everywhere, according as Paul says, “Thus I ordain in all the assemblies” 1 Corinthians 7:17.
— It is not in chapter 10 but in chapter 11 that it says, “As often as ye shall eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye announce the death of the Lord, until he come” 1 Corinthians 11:26. That supports the thought of the general fellowship in chapter 10, and of the local fellowship in chapter 11.
— The gathering together is not mentioned in chapter 10, while chapter 11 says, “When ye come therefore together into one place” 1 Corinthians 11:20.
— [p. 183] In chapter 10 it is a question of the fellowship in its general bearing. There ought not to be therefore a formal expression of local fellowship without the support of the general fellowship.
— It says at the beginning of chapter 10, “that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and all were baptised unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink” 1 Corinthians 10:1 - 4. That takes in all the saints in fellowship on earth.
— Might it not happen sometimes that the local fellowship does not correspond with the general fellowship?
— Some time ago, I was in a locality where a brother whispered in my ear before the commencement of the meeting for worship, It is our custom to make the collection immediately after the Supper. I agreed with doing that, but I did not agree with the idea of a local custom.
— I have noticed that, in certain localities, the symbols are covered with a napkin. Where did that custom come from? The twelve stones taken from the Jordan (Joshua 4) were set up in Gilgal before the eyes of the children of Israel.
— The memorial ought to be seen; if it is not to be seen, it is not necessary at all.
— We ought not to follow the customs of those who have not returned to Christian fellowship, although they are Christians.
— We might have brought with us customs which come from that which we have judged in leaving it. In chapter 16 of Matthew, the Lord left the Pharisees and Sadducees: “And he left them and went away” Matthew 16:4. But it says that the disciples passed over to the other side, which means that a new position had been taken, and then, the Lord said to them, “See and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees” Matthew 16:6.
[p. 184] They had separated from them; moreover, the Lord did not say to them, Beware of the Pharisees and Sadducees. But it was a question of their leaven “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees” Matthew 16:6. We might leave men and carry away their leaven with us, and “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” 1 Corinthians 5:6. We may be outwardly separate from religious organisations, and it might still be that there is not a great difference between us and them, because we have their leaven.
— In us, everything ought to be new. There is “a new lump”: “Purge out the old leaven” (1 Corinthians 5:7), says the apostle.
— Where do these customs come from of covering the symbols? From popery?
— That is all seen, in principle, in the case of the new cart on which David had put the ark; 2 Samuel 6. The most spiritual man of that time himself failed. The idea was a Philistine idea, and God showed by that incident — the death of Uzza — how He abhors things that are borrowed from the enemies of His people.
— In the Roman Catholic system, they adore the Mass. This mysterious covering has a popish character, and the symbols are not in evidence; if they are not in evidence, there is nothing. What are hidden symbols?
— In Egypt, in the Coptic church, the women are separated from the men by a partition. The same is done in our meetings.
— Chapter 11 shows that it is not a matter of hiding the symbols, but of something that is to be seen. A symbol should typify something.
— In these last days, the Lord has wrought to cause all these human customs to disappear. He has recovered the truth to us in all its simplicity. The Lord has brought heavenly customs. Do our customs come from heaven? That is the touchstone.
— The Lord’s supper as we have it is that which the apostle Paul received.
— He received it from the Lord.
— Chapter 11 shows the order in which the Supper is celebrated.
— “In the ordered manner”, it says in Judges 6:26.
— Chapter 10 speaks of our public relations, that we may be preserved from things which would tend to defile us, idolatry in particular. Chapter 11 speaks of the saints in their more private relations, and in the first place of what is suitable in the man or woman who prays or prophesies, and then what is specially suitable when we are gathered together in assembly, because now it is a question of adornment. It is “the assembly of God” (1 Corinthians 1:2), and it must not be despised in allowing irregularities.
— In some localities there is not a whole loaf, but a slice of bread. Is not that an irregularity?
— The question was raised at Beauvoisin. Someone has remarked that in this version of the Bible it says that the Lord “took bread”, which might be taken to justify the practice of using a slice of bread, but the expressions usually employed indicate that the Lord took a whole loaf.
— In Luke it says “bread”.
— Chapter 10 would govern the position, because it says, “one loaf, one body”. “Because we, being many, are one loaf, one body; for we all partake of that one loaf” 1 Corinthians 10:17.
— I do not think that a loaf means a piece or a slice of bread, because, in the same gospel of Luke, it speaks of five loaves.
— What would be very serious would be to take a slice, taking the assembly as a part of a thing, while in this chapter, and specially in chapter 12, the assembly is one body. “We, being many, are one loaf, one body; for we all partake of that one loaf” 1 Corinthians 10:17.
— [p. 186] If there is not a whole loaf on the table (when that is possible) the symbol fails.
— Matthew says, “And as they were eating, Jesus, having taken the bread and blessed, broke it and gave it to the disciples” Matthew 26:26.
— We desire what is correct, what is in order.
— A slice of bread might be considered as the symbol of a division.
— Certainly the brethren have not that thought, but others see the thing in that way.
— It is a question of public testimony, what is before us as a symbol.
— We have the formal expression, “We, being many, are one loaf, one body; for we all partake of that one loaf” 1 Corinthians 10:17.
— The apostle says, “I praise you ... that as I have directed you, ye keep the directions” 1 Corinthians 11:2. The Lord bears with many irregularities among us when the intention is good. But if the Lord has given us certain teaching, we ought to be governed by that teaching, and this is what the apostle has particularly before him in this chapter. He speaks of what is comely in a man who prays or prophesies, and he adds that “if any one think to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor the assemblies of God” 1 Corinthians 11:16. He was desirous that the brothers and the sisters should reflect the order of creation when prophesying or praying.
— It is “on account of the angels” (1 Corinthians 11:10), is it not?
— The apostle refers to their gathering, when he says, “In this ... I do not praise” 1 Corinthians 11:17.
— But he praised them in connection with the directions he had given them.
— The apostle insists on this point that is essentially important: there must be outward order.
— [p. 187] One might consider that it was not absolutely necessary for a woman to be covered, but it is very important before God, because it is the order of creation.
— Creation itself is introduced to teach us.
— The Greek word kosmos (world) means ‘order’.
— It is not a matter of criticising what is done in certain localities; but what occupies us is that which is comely in the house of God. Formerly, it used to happen in England that one saw four cups on the table. There were no bad intentions in that, but it was not correct, for it only speaks of one cup — the cup. It is the same as to the slice of bread for which we would give thanks.
— The bread and the cup are symbols. If they are covered, they cannot be seen; and if they are not in accord with what is said of them, there is a lack of order. One aspect of the teaching of the Lord’s supper is unity, that is to say, that the bread, before it is broken, represents the one body; and the cup is that into which we have all been given to drink, having all been “given to drink of one Spirit”.
— In chapter 11, all that teaching was given to the Corinthians before they gather together in verse 20.
— You are speaking of the teaching concerning the man and the woman?
— According to this passage, a woman who prophesies at home ought to have her head covered, likewise if she prays, with her children, for example.
— Married or unmarried, she stands in relation to the man. The first part of the chapter points out God’s order according to nature. The Head of Christ is God. Authority descends, from God to Christ, from Christ to the man, and from the man to the woman. All that exists individually; but in verse 20, it is a question of the saints collectively. It is remarkable to see how God causes the testimony of nature to blend with the testimony of the death of Christ.
[p. 188] The epistle to the Romans, which corresponds with that to the Corinthians, includes the same thing. There was a testimony, and there is a testimony in nature, and this testimony is reflected in the man and the woman, whether they pray, or whether they prophesy.
— Is it the means by which God is expressed?
— In Romans 1, it says that what may be known of God is “apprehended by the mind through the things that are made” Romans 1:20. In the incarnation, the true relation of God with man is seen clearly; so the Lord, in becoming Man, stood in relation to the creation.
— Psalm 104 is the great Psalm relating to nature. “Covering thyself with light as with a garment” Psalm 104:2. It is what man wears, and man is the vessel of testimony as to the light of God in creation.
— “Man indeed ought not to have his head covered, being God’s image and glory” 1 Corinthians 11:7. That is connected with our position, whether individual or collective. Then there is new creation, where this order does not appear, because in new creation there is neither man nor woman, but it is quite another thing, something entirely new. We find nothing of what we have here when we read Colossians or Ephesians. We are occupied at this moment with teaching that refers to the assembly in a locality, and this teaching is to embrace every testimony given by God in the whole creation. And in the midst of all that, while maintaining the testimony of creation, we announce the death of the Lord until He comes. We maintain the testimony of creation, but we do not live in relation to creation. The light that has come to us has been brought to us by the Lord. Indeed it is in that light that we understand the testimony of creation. The Lord’s supper has no reference to what has been produced in creation which is His handiwork as Creator.
— It does not say, ‘our Lord’, but “the Lord”. Every man who rejects Jesus rejects the Lord.
— What renders the testimony so much more important is His rights as Lord, that is to say His rights over every man. As it says, “He is Lord of all” Acts 10:36. According to this chapter, He is Head of every man; and it is a question of “the death of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 11:26) not the death of the Head. In presenting Himself as Head, He manifested all that God was, and He has made it available to all men, but the testimony on the cross was not that. The Spirit insists on the inscription that was there: “Jesus the Nazaraean, the king of the Jews” John 19:19. Men cannot escape from the obligation implied by that inscription. Pilate said to Him, “Thou art then a king?” And He answered him, “Thou sayest it, that I am a king. I have been born for this, and for this I have come into the world, that I might bear witness to the truth” John 18:37. Such was the good confession of Jesus. Our action in eating the bread and drinking the cup is the witness to it. If others wish to hide it, we announce it. The assembly does not hide the death of the Lord; on the contrary, she announces it. “Ye announce the death of the Lord, until he come” 1 Corinthians 11:26.
— “They have taken away my Lord” (John 20:13), said Mary. But Paul says, “The Lord”.
— The writing on the cross announced that He was the King; and the world cannot escape its obligations. This fact might involve our death for Him. We stand, so to speak, by the cross. According to John, there were three Marys by the cross. If ‘Mary’ has any meaning, it must be ‘mara’, or ‘bitterness’.
— Three witnesses of the bitterness of the death of the Lord.
— John says that two others were crucified with Jesus, but he does not say that they were robbers.
— The position is made very clear with regard to Christians, for it says, “As often as ye shall eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye announce the death of the Lord, until he come” 1 Corinthians 11:26.
— It is “ye”. The emphasis is on “ye”, in contrast with the world.
— We are publicly identified with a Christ who died in this world. In this verse, it is not a question of recalling Him to our remembrance, but it is to be seen that He has died. It is a question of a dead Christ. The breaking of the bread, that is to say, that which the Lord did Himself, is another thing, a commemorative act. He Himself is thus presented to our hearts.
— The public testimony is that we announce His death.
— We assemble together, not only to announce His death, but to remember Him.
— How do we link the collection with that?
— Up to this point, we are occupied with our position in this world, in the wilderness; and the gifts of the saints are the fruit of their love, having in view the needs of the testimony; so that the collection is quite connected with the symbols.
— The symbols and the collection are, in themselves, material things; but we finish with that side, in order to pass to another.
— Then chapter 12 brings the Spirit forward. Chapters 12, 13 and 14 are taken up with the fruit of the Spirit in relation to all these public things. Thus, in these three chapters, 12, 13 and 14, it is a question of the anointed vessel, whence the pre-eminence given to the Holy Spirit.
— Speaking of the collection, one thinks of the widow who gave the two mites to the temple. One gives to the testimony. The collection is made in relation to the universal needs of the testimony.
— The teaching that we have regarding the collection refers to the needs in distant localities, which [p. 191] brings us to the subject of the general, and not merely local, fellowship.
— The brethren in Germany have been excessively touched by the thought of the brethren in France who have sent for their needs. It is beautiful to see those of the nations sending money to their needy brethren in Judaea. “And they determined, according as any one of the disciples was well off, each of them to send to the brethren who dwelt in Judaea, to minister to them; which also they did, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul” Acts 11:29,30.
— The first cause of murmuring in the assembly was that the widows of the Hellenists were neglected. National feeling was one of the first features of defection in the assembly, while that feeling was fully overcome at Antioch in the freshness of the Spirit.
— When we have the symbols, the Lord is before us, is He not? “Christ also loved the assembly, and has delivered himself up for it” (Ephesians 5:25); that is what we have in the bread and the cup. Then, with regard to the collection, we act like the Lord, in love, and we are not thinking only of local needs, but of all the saints.
— It is very beautiful to see how the apostle unfolds this principle of giving. He shows that those who carried the collection of the brethren at Corinth were “Deputed messengers of assemblies, Christ’s glory” 2 Corinthians 8:23. It is another heavenly custom given by the Lord; and the apostle concludes his subject by these words: “Thanks be to God for his unspeakable free gift” 2 Corinthians 9:15. I find the collection raised to quite an elevated level.
— The Lord said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” Acts 20:35.
— The Lord left this scene sacrificing Himself, and if the saints are going to disappear into their spiritual [p. 192] domain, their last public act should be on the ground of sacrifice.
— It is very interesting to see, in the gospel of Luke, the place material things have in chapter 16, after the reception of the prodigal son in chapter 15. The rich man who lived luxuriously was living for himself; he is seen in his affairs. The unrighteous steward made use of what was to his hand in view of the future. It says that the lord praised that steward because he had done prudently. Then, we have Zacchaeus who was rich and who gave the half of his goods to the poor; Luke 19. The Lord acknowledged him as a son of Abraham. Later, we have the widow who gave to God all the living that she had; Luke 21. So, in the gospel of Luke, the Holy Spirit takes account particularly of gifts.
— Again, Joseph of Arimathaea is spoken of (Luke 23), who was a rich man. He devoted himself to the testimony in the day of the greatest reproach.
— There must be a liberal spirit.
— “For God loves a cheerful giver” 2 Corinthians 9:7.
— “It is more blessed to give than to receive” Acts 20:35.
Reading with J.T. at Valence, 13th May, 1926, afternoon.