1 TIMOTHY 1 (SECOND READING)
1 TIMOTHY [p. 340] 1 (SECOND READING)
CAC It is very important to see that God has a dispensation in this world, an order of things which is in perfect contrast to everything else, because it is altogether of God. We have to recognise that, have we not?
The responsible side is before us here. It is a question whether we are set to further what is of God; nothing is of value except what furthers faith and love. There is a great deal current in the religious world that is of the nature of “vain discourse” and people’s minds are occupied with every conceivable question. What we should earnestly seek for ourselves and for one another is that we should be built up in faith and in love; nothing else is any good. Anything that does not take practical form is of no value; everything of God must be practical and influential. It is nothing to God how much I may hold in my mind as to doctrine; if it is not practical and influential to me it is not much better than vain discourse. The great thing for us is to know God better, and it would necessarily follow that as I grow in the knowledge of Him, I am better able to do His will.
Rem There might be deception in one’s soul by acquiring truth, and there being no result.
CAC That is why the apostle says, “faith unfeigned”. There might be a profession of faith that was not genuine. The end in view is that love might be active. Faith is not the end, it is the means to an end, and if it is genuine faith, faith unfeigned, it will work love; it could not be genuine faith if it remained dead.
Rem There is a special blessing for the pure in heart.
CAC Yes, “the pure in heart ... see God”. Hymenaeus and Alexander lacked these things; they had put away a good conscience and made shipwreck. It is a solemn warning against putting away a good conscience. If you do that you may end by being a blasphemer, and get into the hands of the devil.
Rem People say we cannot be perfect, but here it is set before us.
CAC I think we miss a good deal if we do not recognise that God is looking for perfection down here. Christianity is a system of perfection on the side of privilege and of responsibility. We are not perfect, of course, but christianity is marked by perfection, and to give that up would be to dishonour God.
[p. 341] We all learn by experience that if we have an inward joy by the knowledge of God, when our practical course is not according to it; we lose that joy. Everyone has experienced that. We might have a sense of joy in the infinite blessedness of what is spoken of as the glory of the blessed God (verse 11), but if we do not allow that to have its practical working, we lose the joy. That is why there are so few happy christians, so few with hearts overflowing with divine joy.
Rem You find people cling to doctrines and have no joy.
CAC There is not much for God or man in that. If we considered that God is dwelling here it would make a wonderful impression on us. If He is dwelling here, a wonderful state should mark those in whom He dwells, and if there is not such a state, the matter is not remedied by a soul persuading itself it is safe for eternity.
We are rather afraid of such an expression as ‘a pure heart’, as if it meant perfectionism, but nothing is right for God that does not flow out of a pure heart.
Ques What do you understand by the expression ‘a pure heart’?
CAC It is very simple. It is a heart not ruled by self or by double motives, but controlled by the blessed light of God that it enjoys.
Ques In the Old Testament you read of those who were whole-hearted; were they pure-hearted?
CAC Yes, in a certain way, though the real purifying power had not come to light then. I think we see in the Old Testament saints that they went beyond their dispensation. Their dispensation was that of the law and the prophets, yet they went beyond it. Our trouble is we do not rise to our dispensation.
Ques What is the dispensation?
CAC There was never anything called the dispensation of God until this present time. There never was an order set up which was perfectly according to God’s pleasure before. Faith is only mentioned once in the Old Testament, “the just shall live by his faith”, and that is looking on to another day. Faith had not come in then. In christianity faith has come, and as a result there is an order according to God, and it all subsists in faith; there is nothing but faith now, it is a system in men’s souls. One would not lift a finger to alter a [p. 342] man outwardly; all right movement works from within. If you try to alter a man outwardly, that is the principle of law. We ought to be concerned, not about the outside, but about the inside and where people are with God. It is the character of all service to get people helped inwardly, and, insofar as we have any part in the service of God, that is the thing we should seek; there will be something genuine then that has foundations. If anyone can help me spiritually as to faith, that lasts, but if I only take a course because it is suggested to me, that is not faith. Faith is the character of the dispensation of God, and we should all be set to further it; every brother and sister should be set to further it. It is contrasted with law. If we are lacking in love out of these three things — a pure heart, a good conscience and unfeigned faith, we are sure to go off on legal lines, the principle of the schoolmaster and the policeman come in. It is a great thing to work for what is inward, and the power is the glory of the blessed God, and that is the standard, too. If we have any light as to the glory of the blessed God, we do not feel happy if we have a bad conscience, though we may try to keep up appearances. Then often to put things right naturally, the principle of law is brought in. If one has got away from grace, the natural thing is to bring in law. If a man goes on habitually in a course of sin in the presence of divine light, at last he gets to feel nothing. He can do dreadful things and know it is wrong, and not feel it a bit.
Ques Is conscience a guide?
CAC Conscience is a check, not exactly a guide. I often say conscience is like a delicate pair of scales, but you must have proper weights. Now that the glory of God has come out, you have a perfect standard, and if you have to say, ‘I am not acting like God’, that pulls you up, but when you are right the affections are free. The pure heart is a wonderful joy, to be able to think one is doing anything for God’s pleasure.
Ques Did conscience come in by the fall?
CAC The knowledge of good and evil came in by the fall. Conscience is an important check on the wickedness of men in the world; man is restrained by conscience to a great extent.
Ques What is “the end” in verse 5?
CAC Everything that has been divinely enjoined. Take all the injunctions in christianity, the end of them all is love, that is the end in view, so it is very simple; everything can [p. 343] be reduced to this element. Take any point of ecclesiastical order, or any principles, they are all the actings of love reduced to its natural elements. If love is acting, I shall not steal, or kill or bear false witness; I do not want a man’s ox, or his ass, or anything that is his. The sting of the law is in its tail, when it says, “Thou shalt not covet”, but God has taken pains in the gospel to deliver us from that, for if all things are ours, what have we got to covet!
When Paul exercised himself to have a conscience void of offence, he doubtless turned over in his mind if he had acted contrary to love. We think of a seared conscience as if it might be a murderer’s, but it is what comes through day by day neglecting what is due to God. We should challenge our hearts in God’s presence, and ask, Was it love that led me to do that? We may carry out our service in a purely legal way.
Verse 4 refers to the teachers, men who allowed their minds to work on unprofitable lines. There is a needs-be of guarding against the mind working on lines not to profit, which are thoughts of the human mind, legal principles, and getting away from the glory of the blessed God. His glory is the activity of His love, and that is what the enemy is seeking to obscure. It is to come out in His saints because He dwells in them. Think of God dwelling in this world! Where is His palace, His shrine? It is His saints. The moment you bring in the glory of the blessed God, it rebukes everything that is wrong, you do not need law, you have a perfect standard for everything. It goes beyond the law altogether. The law does not propose to go further than this, that you work no ill to your neighbour, but there is something quite different now; the blessed God has come out as a powerful source of good, and His saints are to be here as sources of good, thinking of the good of others! The world’s principle is to do your neighbour no harm, that is responsibility fulfilled under law; but in christianity we are to do people good, that is a positive line. It is such a treat to further the good of another; there is not a purer joy that can be possessed by the human heart.
Ques Do you mean spiritually?
CAC I was thinking of spiritual things, but it applies to natural things. If you had a chance of doing someone a kind act, you would have a pure joy. We know what good is, all good has come to light in the glory of the blessed God. God accounts as His glory the scope He has given to His love. The [p. 344] glory of the blessed God has come in as the spring of love. I covet the state of mind that thinks of the good of others. It is not a question of how far you can work it out; that is a question of divine sovereignty; some have large and some have small opportunities, but what is the spirit of one’s mind? Are we in the spirit of benefactors? Do we love good and feel that we are trustees for it, that we hold it for others?
Rem Peter speaks of our having purified our hearts unto unfeigned love of the brethren.
CAC And he says, “See that ye love one another”. Let nothing interfere with the working out of love.