CONFESSORS OF THE SON OF GOD (3)
[p. 346] CONFESSORS OF THE SON OF GOD (3)
JT Our subject is not exactly the Son of God, but confessors of the Son of God, those who confess Him; alluding to the necessity of presenting in words what we hold. We may know what we believe, but we are obligated to make known what we believe. The disciples say, “We have believed and known that thou art the holy one of God” (John 6:69). We previously enlarged on Peter who received the revelation from the Father, which he, no doubt, could have kept to himself, meditated upon it, and worked it out in detail in later days, but he confessed it. He spoke immediately, saying, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). The Lord had been inquiring from the disciples as to what men were saying about Him. The disciples knew and could tell Him, which was a point of importance. True disciples can answer such questions, which bear on the testimony. We do not need to look into worldly matters aside from the testimony; but, generally speaking, governmental matters, in the history of the world, bear on the testimony of God. The disciples could tell the Lord what men were saying about Him, then He challenges them as to what they themselves said.
Peter answers, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”. A plain statement of the truth, which no one else had said before. It was not his own conclusion, from what he had seen, as in the case of others, but what he received from the Father. It is a great spiritual matter. God is a spirit, and the foundation of His things must be spiritual. So that the Lord says immediately, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in the heavens” (Matthew 16:17. The [p. 347] Lord immediately confirmed what He knew the Father’s revelation meant, and that the assembly would be on that foundation. So that the position is clear. There is a structure here that is impregnable. The enemy at times may seem to go a long way, even threatening to overwhelm everything, but the Lord’s word is sure, “ ... hades’ gates shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). There may be apparent success against it, but it will not prevail. The Lord says earlier, “Be not afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul” (Matthew 10:28). There is a point beyond which the enemy cannot go; he may go a great way, but he cannot prevail against the assembly. It is a structure that remains, and will remain, and come out triumphantly! We have also considered Paul, to bring out that the confession of the Son of God involved the preaching. Thus the assembly and the preaching have entered into our inquiry so far — two great ideas which run together. The structure, which is impregnable, and the preaching which is to be fully known, and marked by power. In speaking of the gospel that he preached, the apostle says of the Lord, “marked out Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by resurrection of the dead” (Romans 1:4).
John the baptist is now before us, and it was thought we should select John the evangelist’s gospel, to bring out the truth confessed by John the baptist, as to the Son of God, as bearing on the last days. We shall see, I think, that John the baptist’s ministry runs into christianity. The great divine testimony of the moment is christianity. There is ministry that has Israel in view, Matthew enlarges on that; it runs on beyond christianity, but John the baptist — who is representative of Jewish ministry — runs into christianity. That is why the passage in chapter 3 was read. John the evangelist brings out John the baptist in a very peculiar way, as bearing on his own line, namely, the Person of Christ, and eternal life. John the baptist says, “He was before me”. That was not a mere historic matter with John the baptist. John had a history — a beginning — but Jesus, as to His Person abstractly, did not. John said, “He was before me”. The great statement in the first verse in John’s gospel is, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”.
AR John the baptist came in on the principle of witness.
JT The first thing recorded about John the baptist in this gospel is in chapter 1:6,7: “There was a man sent from God, his name John. He came for witness, that he might witness concerning the light, that all might believe through him”. That is our introduction to John the baptist here. It is a very important one, that he was sent from God, sent as on God’s part. Verse 15 ought to be noted in this matter, “John bears witness of him, and he has cried, saying, This was he of whom I said, He that comes after me is preferred before me, for he was before me”. The Spirit of God greatly stresses the testimony of John in this chapter.
AR He speaks of it definitely himself; “And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God”.
JT Yes; he makes clear how he arrives at it, saying, “He who sent me to baptise with water, he said to me, Upon whom thou [p. 349] shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding on him, he it is who baptises with the Holy Spirit”. He who sent John does not say that Jesus is the Son of God, but John’s conclusion is that the One who baptises with the Holy Spirit “is the Son of God”.
JRH Does verse 34 show that he is conscious of the great service that had been entrusted to him?
JT It was not a revelation as Peter had, but the result of what John saw. There was a divine communication made to him, as he said, “He who sent me to baptise with water, he said to me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding on him, he it is who baptises with the Holy Spirit”. Why did He not say further that He was the Son of God? The Spirit of God wants us to understand that John was intelligent as to what he was doing; he does not say ‘ I have seen and borne witness that this is He who baptises with the Holy Spirit ‘, but that this One “is the Son of God”. That is important as to divine things; showing that we must use our understanding, so as to arrive at a right conclusion.
FNW In verses 26 and 27 we learn that John said to the messengers from the Pharisees, “In the midst of you stands, whom ye do not know, he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to unloose”. Would those addressed be like the followers of the creeds today?
JT In the creeds, conclusions are reached for you, and not always right ones. True christian knowledge is what we arrive at as taught of God. The Holy Spirit helps us to reach the truth through the Scriptures. The creed has not been arrived at by the Spirit of God, who is here to guide us into all the truth (John 16:13).
CHH Is progress in the truth seen in the man in John 9?
JT Yes, the man arrives at right conclusions all through. The Lord finally tells him that He is the Son of God.
AEH The witness by the baptist is according to what is known in his soul.
JT Yes. He sees Jesus coming to him, and says, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”. As remarked, the scripture does not say that John was told that the Lord Jesus was the Son of God. When he saw Him coming to him, John can name the movement; which is a very important thing.
JB The first chapter of John commences with witness, and the last chapter finishes with it. In the last chapter we read, “This is the disciple who bears witness concerning these things, and who has written these things; and we know that his witness is true” (John 21:24).
JT One of the most important features of the book is the idea of competent, trustworthy witness.
ANW This seems to flow out from the question put to him, “Thou, who art thou?”. He emphasises the I as a witness all through but to deny that he was the Christ, and to bring out positively the One to whom he witnesses.
JT Yes, the paragraph from verse 19 to 28 tells us how John witnessed to himself. We may be called upon to witness to ourselves. No one, if he is humble in spirit, wishes to talk about himself in ministry; but if people ask you, you may be forced to give an account of yourself. What marks John the baptist as thus questioned shows that he can take second place.
JRH It would show how much he was in the good of his own baptism.
JT John, the writer of the gospel, was also one who knew how to take second place; one thus ready is a very important man.
SWP Is that the reason behind verse 6, “There was a man sent from God, his name John”, he could fall in line with the divine arrangements?
JT Quite so; falling in with what there is. To take second place is specially an evidence of grace, when it is to someone ahead of you, who is not as old as you, or as long in the truth. That spirit will annihilate all rivalry among the saints.
AR As actuated by that spirit, I will talk of others rather than of myself. John the evangelist here talks about John the baptist.
JT Yes. The Jews sent from Jerusalem to inquire of the baptist as to himself. What an appeal to spiritual pride — the greatest religious leaders recognising me!
[p. 351] It is striking, in ecclesiastical writings, how little recognition there is of the last one hundred years, and of the most spiritual men that have appeared throughout the whole period.
Well, here we are told that the most distinguished leaders are recognising John the baptist. He is only about thirty-three years of age, or maybe less — quite a young man; he never reached forty. He was at an age when, ordinarily, men are impressionable to any appeals to pride. In the years from thirty to forty, servants of the Lord are very susceptible to appeals of this kind. John the baptist is proof against this; and his answers are most conclusive. First, they inquire, “Thou, who art thou?” Who said this? The priests and Levites sent from Jerusalem! They are stressing the man to himself — you are an important man! But the passage says, “And he acknowledged and denied not, and acknowledged, I am not the Christ”. That is the first answer he gives, “And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he says, I am not. Art thou the prophet? And he answered, No. They said therefore to him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the path of the Lord, as said Esaias the prophet”. He simply quotes the prophet and says, I am just that. It is not very much; just voice. Then we are told, “And they asked him and said to him, Why baptisest thou then, if thou art not the Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet?. That is another matter. Why are you working as you are, if you are not the Christ or Elias? “John answered them saying, I baptise with water. In the midst of you stands, whom ye do not know, he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to unloose”. That is John’s witness to his questioners, who were persons ready to honour him, if he would honour them as from Jerusalem. The outward profession will take you on if [p. 352] you have anything from God, provided they can use you for themselves.
WR The voice was witnessing to the Son of God?
JT He is belittling himself, putting himself out of sight, making everything of the Lord.
J.H — t. Chapter 2 says, “But Jesus himself did not trust himself to them, because he knew all men, and that he had not need that any should testify of man, for himself knew what was in man” (verses 24,25). Man as he is useless for God’s testimony, so that trustworthy witness is needed.
JT John the baptist is thus presented in this gospel, and sets out what is needed in these last days. It is a question of putting oneself out of sight. It is not, however, saying, I am nothing, for even a voice is something, but it is used to bear testimony to Christ; to One who is greater; One of whom John says here, “the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to unloose”.
RWS John’s service is across the Jordan. He had been with God and came from God. “These things took place in Bethany, across the Jordan, where John was baptising”. Is that a spiritual spot from which to serve, away from a religious centre?
APT He is a good water man.
JT Yes; the article he is handling speaks for itself. The Lord Jesus “came by water and blood” (1 John 5:6).
AR A good water man goes down himself with the person to be baptised, as Philip went down with the eunuch.
JB “In the midst of you stands, whom ye do not know, he who comes after me”. The Jews were blind and did not know the Lord as in their midst.
JT Yes, John the baptist was standing himself, you might say; he was active. “In the midst of you stands ... he who comes after me”. That is an attitude ready for service, whatever God requires. He was not sitting down, or lazily occupying the time, but standing. John had light in his soul as to Christ. He says, “And I knew [p. 353] him not; but he who sent me to baptise with water, he said to me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding on him, he it is who baptises with the Holy Spirit”. He was divinely acquainted with the fact that something would happen to a certain Person, and he knew He was before him, but He was standing. I think the Lord was awaiting His time, the divinely appointed time, before He entered upon the levitical service. It is a question of spiritual time. The other gospels show the Lord waited until John was cast into prison, but that is not found in this gospel.
SWP Do you see this power to stand in the two witnesses in Revelation 11?
JT Yes, and this gospel gives us a better idea of witness than any. It is a question of what one is, and what one says, how one belittles himself, and makes much of Christ.
TK The Lord says,” But I say unto you that Elias has already come, and they have not known him, but have done unto him whatever they would. Thus also the Son of man is about to suffer from them. Then the disciples understood that he spoke to them of John the baptist” (Matthew 17:12,13). The witness was seen there.
JT John is not saying that, though in truth, he was Elias in the character of his testimony, but literally, Elias was yet to come. The Lord may say much of you that you could not say of yourself.
Our subject, as we pursue it, ought to be accumulative. The principle established in this gospel is that however much later Christ came in, He was before all. You must begin with Him. So Peter precedes Paul in the matter of revelation, in the matter of structure and administration, but as to preaching, Paul is the ideal of the Lord; he comes first in this sense. His preaching was a confession of the Son of God. He preached in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. It is of the utmost importance in our gospel meetings that the Son of God should be stressed in them. The knowledge of the Son [p. 354] of God is imperative, and the preaching is to continue according to divine appointment. Paul says, “The Lord stood with me, and gave me power, that through me the proclamation might be fully made” (2 Timothy 4:17).
CAM The ministry of the baptist would be analogous to prophetic ministry at the present time in connection with assembly matters. John comes on the scene, bringing God in, then bringing Christ in.
JT I think John’s ministry, including what he records of the baptist, bears on the last days, and shows how things are to go on until the end, and go on in a living way. He says in chapter 20:31, “These are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life in his name.” It is in His name; a living, operative name. God intends that we are to go out in a living way. John the baptist is a striking figure in this gospel, and the Spirit of God brings him in as a model for christians.
Luke presents John in a remarkable way, recording that he moved at the voice of the mother of Jesus before he was born. Then his father speaks about Christ as soon as his mouth is opened. His mouth was shut for nine months because of unbelief, but as soon as it is opened he speaks about Jesus, not about John. He speaks about John at the last, “And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest; for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to make ready his ways” (Luke 1:76). John was in the deserts, we are told, until the day of his shewing to Israel (Luke 1:80). He was shut off from natural resources, but clearly found his resource in God. John the evangelist takes that point up, saying that he was “a man sent from God”; he had been with God.
Rem If a witness is true as sent from God souls will gravitate towards him, as towards John here.
JT Normally he would be recognised according to his measure, but we do not want to make any servant a centre of gravity; Christ is that.
[p. 355] In verse 29 John the baptist bears testimony to Jesus in a sacrificial character. He sees Jesus coming to him, and says, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”; he sees Him coming to him. John the baptist was carrying on his service, but that service was baptism, figuratively the administration of death. Here is One coming to him and he names Him. The name he gives Him is a sacrificial one. It is not a diminutive thought, as in the Revelation, but the full thought. Exodus 12 does not necessarily require a little lamb. It is a year old. A lamb a year old is, we may say, a sheep.
RWS Why does he speak of Jesus as the Lamb of God? Is there something in His coming that indicates this?
JT It is walk; the movement that is named. The thought goes back to Genesis 2 and also Proverbs 30:29-31. In Genesis 2 the animals were named by Adam; he would name them as he saw their movements. Proverbs 30:29-31 speaks about the comely going of certain creatures. John sees the Lord Jesus coming to him. I think that is to be noted very particularly, because John, in his remarks here, is alluding to what he himself was doing; he was baptising, and that meant death, and the Lord Jesus comes to him facing all this. It is not yet actual death, but it signified it. “This is he that came by water,” John tells us in his first epistle. It is suggestive of cleansing. John the baptist sees something in the Lord’s movements, or visage, or His attitude as coming, that indicated this, and he was able to name it. This should be a desire with ourselves to be something spiritually that people can name.
WGT Adam was tested in Genesis 2, so here, John the baptist was being tested as to his discernment of the Lord.
JT Yes. Jehovah Elohim “formed every animal of the field and all fowl of the heavens, and brought them [p. 356] to Man, to see what he would call them” (Genesis 2:19). That is the test to Adam, to see if he was equal to the position; he was, and God did not alter one name that Adam gave.
EAL As in God’s service, John is a faithful witness.
JT John’s speaking is of Christ, but then his service was a witness too. It was God’s word for the moment to Israel. John was used of God to bring Israel outwardly into accord with the mind of God. It is a great thing to bring people into accord with the mind of God to any extent; that is what he was doing; preparing a way for the Lord. The Lord came into that. He did not inaugurate it, for He was one of the last to be baptised, and He did not come out publicly until then. Now He comes into evidence in testimony. “Again, on the morrow, there stood John and two of his disciples. And, looking at Jesus as he walked, he says, Behold the Lamb of God” (verses 35,36). John stood. He had said, “I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God”; and now he says, “Behold the Lamb of God”. Where was He going? John had nothing to do with that. It is a new thing, but John’s heart is in it. The Lord had gone into baptism with the Jewish remnant. John had to do with that, and in his service he bears witness that Jesus is the Son of God.
John now stood and, looking on Jesus as He walked, says, “Behold the Lamb of God” (John 1:36). John is carrying on the sacrificial thought, but it was not because Jesus is coming to him, as in verse 29. He is taking another course — He walked. Where is He going? John has nothing to do with that, but he calls attention to it with the deepest interest. He is not baptising when he notices this; in principle, he is finished — he stood. Christ is on the scene now. It is the end of John’s ministry, and his disciples begin to leave him; they are attaching themselves to the One he called attention to.
Ques How far do you think the sacrificial thought extends?
JT [p. 357] It is the complete removal of sin from the world, but it is on the basis of sacrifice. It does not take the military form here. God is not arbitrary in removing what is offensive; He has come in Himself sacrificially, and consequently everything out of accord with Him must go. Henceforth all shall stand in relation to God on the immutable basis of the finished work of Christ.
AEH The sin of the world seems to be the dominance of I in the race; man’s will and its consequences. The Lamb of God removes all that.
JT Think of the magnitude of the thing; what sin is in the history of the race! It is not sin in Satan that is in mind; it will never be removed from him; he will be put into the lake of fire. The history of the human race and its sin is in mind — what a history! The Lord Jesus, viewed as the Lamb of God, comes in relation to that. In the use of the word lamb, the Spirit goes back to Exodus 12; but it is in view of removing sin from the world, not only sheltering believers from judgment.
SMcC Does the taking away here include His subjugating power as seen in the book of the Revelation, bringing in a world according to God?
JT I would say that the word ‘ Lamb ‘ in Revelation being a diminutive indicates a suffering attitude. Of course, Christ is also seen in Revelation in judicial and military aspects, actively and finally, but I am speaking of Him in His Lamb character. The baptist does not go beyond stating that He takes away the sin of the world; it is the greatness of the Person viewed sacrificially; He does such a work.
WGT The thought of the Lamb of God begins before He was on the cross.
JT It began as He took a body. “Wherefore coming into the world he says, Sacrifice and offering thou willedst not; but thou hast prepared me a body” (Hebrews 10:5). He came by water and blood, (1 John 5:6).
[p. 358] He came into the world sacrificially, and John is intelligent enough to see that by His movements.
CHH What is the force of taking away the sin of the world?
JT Sacrifice is the basis, but the whole thing must go, for it is intolerable to God.
Ques Does it not imply that sin is removed out of the way so that divine love can now move actively and freely?
JT That is what has followed the work of redemption, as the book of Acts shows, but this would go to the limit of the removal of sin from the world. The Spirit of God says, “He was in the world, and the world had its being through him, and the world knew him not” (John 1:10. What it must have been to Jesus to find that condition there! The world of Genesis 1 - Genesis 2 involved His creative glory, and hence as sin had come in, there was need of redemption; this enters into John’s statement. This is greater even than the glory He acquired in creation. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him may not perish, but have life eternal” (John 3:16). I would say that world there is abstract. The word in John 1:29 and 3:16 signifies what is ordered and ornamental, and although it has become defiled by sin, it retains its place in the mind of God: He would have that restored. It will be set up again on the basis of redemption.
ANW Would it be connected with “he is the propitiation for our sins; but not for ours alone, but also for the whole world”? (1 John 2:2).
JT That is the basis, of course, but the taking away of the sin of the world means its entire removal from its place in the world. It has universal application, and is not limited to what is presented in the gospel for the individual now on the principle of faith. Clearance of sin entirely out of the world is in view.
[p. 359] JRH Is the taking away of the sin of the world the negative side and the positive in the baptising of the Holy Spirit?
JT The baptising of the Holy Spirit is displacement. The final millennial idea is worked out now in the christian. Sin is steadily displaced. According to the teaching of Romans 8:23, we are awaiting adoption, that is the redemption of the body. The body will be relieved finally, so that every trace of sin will be gone. As a believer is raised from the dead, there is no sin left. That is in principle what the world is coming to — no sin left.
AR The earth came under the curse as the result of sin. The Lord removes that in His death.
JT It is blessed on the basis of sacrifice. This is the One who is to do it. He is not coming here militarily, as He is in Revelation 19. He is coming in sacrificially. The military side must come in eventually, but not now.
Rem Does it correspond with Isaiah 53:7-12, “He was led as a lamb to the slaughter ... he bore the sin of many”?
JT Yes. What our brother was saying is very important. The Lamb stands as slain, (Revelation 5:6); that is, He is raised! In Revelation 19:11-16 He comes in militarily; He comes out of heaven riding on a white horse; “his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in the heaven followed him upon white horses, clad in white, pure, fine linen”. Then later John says, “I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and the false prophet that was with him, who wrought the signs before him by which he deceived them that received the mark of the beast, and those that worship his image. Alive were both cast into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone; and the rest were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which goes out of his mouth; and all the birds were filled with their flesh” (verses 19-21). That speaks of the actual [p. 360] carrying out in a military way of what is set forth in the Lamb of God, the Taker-away of the sin of the world. The Lamb is the great, precious thought of God and sets forth the lowly place the Lord took to be a sacrifice, to settle the sin question — to take away the sin of the world — “once in the consummation of the ages he has been manifested for the putting away of sin by his sacrifice” (Hebrews 9:26).