MARK'S GOSPEL (4)
MARK’S GOSPEL (4)
JT The brethren will have noticed that there is a group of events in this chapter, which is the most severe of any that one can mention, inclusive of the sin against the Holy Spirit. And then another element is the administrative element, the Lord appointing His apostles. But then we have to begin with, as we might say, the beginning and to just look at one event after another so that we may get a full idea of this important chapter. First, we have the Lord entering again into the synagogue. Notice what marked the synagogue, which is a suggestion of religion. “And he entered again into the synagogue, and there was there a man having his hand dried up”. We now have to discover what is meant by a dried-up hand. A hand that should be used in the service of God is dried up and therefore rendered useless, and the Lord undertakes to remedy that matter. Many of us may be in this way affected by bodily conditions that interfere with our service. We all are to serve, there is something for each and all of us to do, and we are to do it with our might. In this case, the man’s hand was dried up so that he was unable to do what he should do.
AEM Is it very suggestive that the man is called upon to “rise up and come into the midst?”
[p. 81] JT Well, I thought that the idea would be to bring the condition into evidence, where it can be discerned and seen. The Lord therefore shows what can be done in this case. But then the terrible opposition that arose at this point is striking. “And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was there”, notice the adverb, “a man having his hand dried up. And they watched him”. The enemies, “they watched him if he would heal”. The enemies were ready to interfere, and to destroy the Lord Himself. This is the most solemn thing that we can speak of. “And they watched him if he would heal him on the sabbath”. They were laying a snare for Him and were ready to destroy Him if possible. “That they might accuse him. And he says to the man who had his [p. 86] hand dried up, Rise up and come into the midst”. Now then, this is the crisis. “And he says to them, is it lawful on the sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill? But they were silent”. A very ominous position, and the Lord knew it - “they were silent. And looking around them with anger”, I would beg the brethren to notice this - the word is, “Be angry, and do not sin”, Ephesians 4:26. There is a possibility of being angry in righteous anger, but then the thing is not to sin, not to allow the working of sin, which we are apt to do if a cause for anger comes up.
AEM In the footnote there is a connection with the word “distressed”. ‘There is, I apprehend, sorrow for, with an intensive force in it;
[p. 82] not sympathy, which is feeling with, but feeling what a state they were in, with grief for it’.
Ques Is it so that if a servant of the Lord displays anger or deep feeling, the saints do well to soberly consider what has aroused it?
JT Yes, soberly consider what aroused the anger.
Ques Well, I was thinking of our own locality. If the Lord came into the meeting and was angered, how distressing it would be that we should have part in any conditions which would bring that about.
JT He is not properly a left-handed man; a left-handed man can be very useful, but this man is not that, his hand is dried up. Something has happened governmentally that has dried it up, rendered his hand useless. Then the Lord would give us to understand that that can be remedied. There is power to remedy it, there is divine power to remedy a hand that is dried up, that probably had been used in the service of God, but now is not used in the service of God. Therefore we can well count that we can pray for such a case as this, ask God to come in for it. We need the man, we need that man’s hand.
ACSP Does the oft-repeated use of the word ‘again’ stand in contrast with this dried-up hand? Is it the freshness and life that is marking the Lord’s service over and over again in contrast with this man’s condition? It comes in many times in these chapter in relation to the Lord’s [p. 83] service.
JT What the Lord is doing was in contrast to the condition of this man.
ACSP That is what I was thinking. When things come up again, is it not a great test in service, but the Lord shines?
JT Does this not remind us of the character of the gospel of Mark? The Lord is ready to intervene to remedy things. Because there is so much need for help in a man that at one time evidently was helpful. He is now dried up, something has happened in the government of God to render his hand useless, but that hand had been used clearly. The Lord is ready to do something. But then the next thing is the enemy is set against the Lord doing it. The enemy would deprive the saints of a man that had once been useful in the service. The enemy would deprive the people of God of a hand that had been at one time useful. So we have to contend with the enemy’s motives, interfering with the work of God.
AS Is the man representative of the state of the synagogue?
JT Well, just so, but why should he be there? Why should the synagogue refer to current religion, recognized religion in this world? Why should the enemy be allowed to rob the people of God of this hand? And so the solemn thing is that the enemy was ready to do it. In fact, it is said, “They watched him”, verse 2; “And they watched him” - that is the enemy in the synagogue -”If he would heal him on the Sabbath”. Well now, that is a very terrible subtle matter - if, if, if -”If he would heal him on the sabbath”. That is to say, to ensnare the Lord.
GHMacP Does the end of chapter 2 fit into this exercise? The Son of man is said to be Lord of the sabbath.
JT Yes, quite, the Lord Jesus is Lord of the sabbath. The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. So that the enemy now would interfere with all this, the work of God through Him as we see here. “They watched him” because they suspected that He would do this. “They watched him if he would heal him on the sabbath, that they might accuse him”. That is the enemy’s power in action, “That they might accuse him”. Now this is a terrible thing that we have to deal with in the work of God, the enemy ready to suggest that we do what is wrong. Why should they think so? But they do, it is the enemy’s work, it is the character of the enemy’s work to interfere with the healing power of God in restoring the hand that had once been used in His service. And the end of the previous chapter is to bring out the dignity of man mentioned this morning, the dignity of man. “The Son of man is lord of the sabbath also”. That would be interfered with by the enemy in the opening of this chapter.
JAP Was the attack all the more clever because they sought to use Moses’ law against the Lord? Some would use the past ministry against the present ministry and hinder what is [p. 85] being said now, they would hinder what the Lord would do currently. They watched Him to see what He would do on the sabbath and the Lord was trying to liberate the man.
JT Quite so, I am thoroughly with that.
The allusion being to the law of Moses in the book of Exodus. The motive of the enemy was to prevent the Lord from acting in that sense, to relieve the man, to relieve the man’s hand.
JAP In line with what you remarked this morning, it says, “We never saw it thus”. That is, something new had come in, and we are getting fresh help today, are we not? I mean the Lord was bringing in something new to liberate the saints, and these people were using what was past, what was right in itself, to try and hinder the Lord.
JT And then the next thing for us to consider is how we are to meet a matter of this kind at the present time. There is a brother here who, we might say, has been useful in the Lord’s service and he is rendered useless, and the Lord is ready to help him. We are ready to help him with our prayers so that he might be again in the service profitably. And so what happened is they watched Him if He would heal on the sabbath. They intended to assert the authority of the law in the Old Testament to prevent this man’s hand being healed. And then the next thing is, “And he says to the man who had his hand dried up”, notice this, keep that man in mind, the Lord says to the man who had his hand dried up, “Rise up and come into the midst”. The Lord seized the opportunity to show what is available, what can be done, what is available in the service of the Lord, in the restoration of a man who has a dried-up hand, who is rendered useless in his hand. So that the next thing is how are we to intervene if a man that has been useful in the service of God, as in this case, is no longer useful? And now the Lord would say, let us see what can be done for this. The Lord would say, let us see what can be done for this. We say now to ourselves, what can be done in this case that there might be healing? The word ‘mended’ is used in the New Testament as we may remember in the gospel of Matthew 4:21 and Galatians 6:1. It is a time of mending if there has been interference with the vessel that God has been using and he is no longer usable. How can we mend it? Well, let us see what can be done, for Christianity is available. Christianity is one of the most wonderful things that ever existed. God has brought it in, and it is set up in the assembly in the power of the Spirit. The assembly is the vessel where the work of God may proceed in the power of the Spirit. And so the thing is, let Christianity be shown, let it be shown that there is such a thing as the power of healing, and the power of recovering vessels that had once been used and are no longer usable.
WP The assembly is a vessel of salvation. The Lord says in Matthew in this same section,
“[p. 87] But if ye had known what is”, what is, present tense, “I will have mercy and not sacrifice”,
JT Quite so. That is what the Lord is doing, and so He says to the man whose hand was dried up, “Rise up and come into the midst”. Now this is going to be an experiment, so to speak.
The Lord would show what Christianity really means, how it is available for mending; that is to say, if a hand is dried up, it can be mended. So that He would bring the whole matter into evidence, and therefore the man has to come into the midst and he does come into the midst.
PA The hand is expressive of service, and in this case the whole person is lost use of.
JT Just so, God’s hand is very much used, the hand of God, Christ is at the right hand of God, and He is there to exercise the whole power of God for recovery. And the hand is the instrument, the part of a man’s body that is usable, and the Lord is going to restore it. So that Christianity is workable, it is a real thing. Whatever people may say, Christianity is a real workable thing, and can be availed of at any time.
LHB Would Mark himself be an example of what you are saying?
JT Very good. He failed in the work; he went back from the work, we are told, then recovered (Acts 15:38 or 2 Timothy 4:11). So we have this wonderful gospel that we are dealing with [p. 88] now. It is for us to learn from it how we can be restored; any of us who have perhaps turned aside from the work of God can be restored, there is means of doing it.
RRT Is it permissible to think of what may have caused this dried-up hand? In a medical way, a dried-up hand usually indicates a derangement that has taken place in the head, in the brain, and finally results in loss of power in the hand.
JT Perhaps you would now enlarge, according to the wisdom that you have in medicine, how a dried-up hand can be restored. What medicine or human skill can do to restore it. Because God is God and He is ready to help His creatures, He is ready to bring about primary conditions and make them fresh and usable. So now what would you say about that from a medical point of view?
RRT Well, it is usually caused by a clot or the like that has taken place in the brain, and the result of that is an atrophy, a paralysis of the hand and it dried up. It is beyond medical skill to restore it. So it makes it all the more remarkable that such an instance should be used in the scripture.
JT Just so. Well then to proceed now on the line of skill of medicines and such things, how can he be made available again so that there might be primary conditions restored? Because the primary conditions of this man were evidently good or useful. Well now, what can [p. 89] we do in these cases from a medical point of view, or can we do anything in a case like this? Have we not to say we cannot do anything? God must do the thing. God must do it, and we have recourse to what God can do, so that we do not give up.
RRT Well, that is what I thought. It is beyond the power that was in the synagogue. It is only through the Lord and our access to the case through Him, would you say?
JT Just so, and I am not making any reflection on the medical profession, but in the scriptures, especially in Matthew and Mark, the physicians have proved, and acknowledged, to be unable to meet the situation. She “suffered much”, one said, “under many physicians”,
Mark 5:26; she suffered many things from the physicians themselves. Well, why should that be? The matter therefore is dealt with divinely, that we can have recourse to God in meeting matters. If medical skill fails us, we can have recourse to God Himself. And He can do what medical skill cannot do.
JLR “All things are possible with God”,
JT That is very good. So that we are thankful for the doctors, but, at the same time, we are thankful to be able to say that they are with us, they are not interfering, they are ready to join in with what God is doing, they are not enforcing or suggesting anything from themselves. In a case which only God can meet, then [p. 90] the doctor is ready to join in and help in it too, and rejoice in it.
RRT What I was thinking was that this is a deeper thing than what may appear on the surface. It just appeared that his hand was dried up, but the matter goes deeper than that, and is it not often true that what appears on the surface has its roots deeper in the mind or in the inner being of the man, and that needs to be healed, the whole man needs to be healed.
JT So that what the Lord had in mind is that He is going to make an example in this case, that He can do it, others cannot do it, but He can do it. Of course, the Lord is the Lord, and He can undertake to do anything, as job said to God, “I know that thou canst do everything”, Job 42:2. Then, of course, the next thing is whether the brethren are ready to have recourse to God. If everything else fails, have recourse to God. And then to be sure that it is God that is doing it and not human skill, that God can do it and is doing it, God can do everything.
AS Would it be right to say that the healing took place through obeying the word of the Lord?
JT Well, just so. The Lord intended to use the thing, to make it a public matter to show what can be done in Christianity, for Christianity is available publicly. We can rely upon it, not give way to the devil’s suggestions that it is a failure, that Christianity is a failure; it is not [p. 91] a failure. God can do everything.
EE What did the Lord have in His mind when He said, “Rise up and come into the midst?” The emphasis seems to be on the midst.
JT That the thing should become public, what Christianity really is, that God has brought it about. He brought it about on His own account that the whole world should know that Christianity is not a failure, but a real usable thing that can be counted on for recovery and in the testimony. There is a testimony in it that every believer should take notice of. There are men who have spoken of the mistakes of Moses. Think of the very suggestion of that, men saying in infidelity, ‘the mistakes of Moses’. Moses made no mistakes in that sense. Christianity is not a mistake at all, it is a reality, and available positively for the recovery of mankind in the gospel.
PA Does this matter of obedience of faith come in to show that man has to obey a command of the Lord, and the Lord does the work itself?
JT The Lord says here, “Rise up”, in verse 3. “And he says to the man who had his hand dried up, Rise up and come into the midst”.
God intends now to show that Christianity is not a failure, it is reality, and the means for recovery in the divine mind in humanity. And we should be confident of it. We are here today, for instance. If anybody wants to know why we are here, what is involved in our being here, it is [p. 92] that God is God and God is with us, the Spirit of God is with us. “I am with you all the days”, the Lord says, “until the completion of the age”, Matthew 28:20. There is no cessation at all, the work of God goes on, right to the end of the age. And so the Lord is with us here today, and we can go on together and be assured that these meetings are not valueless, they are effective for what God intends to do; that is, to bring in restoration where it is needed so that Christianity is surely to be a reality.
Ques “Into the midst” is where Christ is to be so that if we are meeting properly here we have Christ really in our midst, do we not?
JT Just so, the Lord is in the midst of His own, of course, but in this case - in the third verse - “And he says to the man who had his hand dried up, rise up and come into the midst”. Well, what is the midst? Well, the truth is that the devil was there also, watching to attack the Lord Jesus. That is a solemn thing because the enemy’s idea is to bring out that Christianity is a failure. It is not a failure, it is doing what it is intended to do by God.
GHMacP Does the power you referred to in Mark suggest deliverance from the power of Satan?
JT Mark himself is an example of recovery so that what we are dealing with now is recovery, and God would bring it into evidence that there is a power of recovery among the Lord’s people. The Lord says, “I am with you [p. 93] all the days, until the completion of the age”, Matthew 28:20. So that Christianity goes on to the end of the age as a testimony, a testimony from God as to His love and goodness and mercy to men.
PA Does Mark who failed become an example of energy and buoyancy after he is recovered?
JT Very good. It is just that, because he says in effect that the thing has to be done and done at once and done well; that is what is meant, and it is being done too.
WR He needed his hand to write the gospel, did he not?
JT Mark needed it, quite so.
RRT Is the evidence of the power that you speak of in the sixth verse, that the Pharisees went out? They could not remain in the presence of such power.
JT That shows the power was there. It was the testimony as it is today, even in a meeting like this it is testimony to the power of God that is available, according to the Lord’s own promise, “I am with you all the days”. And so He says in Matthew 18, “For where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them”, verse 20, not in the midst, but “in the midst of them”, certain persons. Here we are not told exactly who were in the midst, but undoubtedly they included enemies of Christ. But then in Matthew 18, the Lord speaks of certain persons who were not enemies, they were real people, and He can make them into a [p. 94] testimony to Himself. So that these meetings that we are dealing with now are very real. Christianity is a real matter, and we are dealing with it, and not only in the gospel, but dealing with it in the assembly, this great matter of the assembly where God is known in power.
AEM Do you think the enemy discerned that if this power was not destroyed, his own kingdom would be destroyed? So they “took counsel against him how they might destroy him”.
JT Very good. And so we get here in verse 7, “And Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea”, to the sea. The whole matter of the man’s hand is in question. Other things are to be done and it extends across the sea. That is to say, the power of God is not interfered with by the sea, the power of God is effective across the sea. And so it says, “Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea”. That is, we are now dealing with the matter of the sea, and the Lord has power over the sea.
GHMacP What would be suggested in having power over the sea? I was thinking of another passage where “even the wind and the sea obey him”, Mark 4:41.
JT “Obey him”, quite so. We will find the sea to be mentioned in several places in this gospel as we may go through it. The Lord Jesus, it says, “withdrew with his disciples to the sea”. Now He has got His disciples and we should note they can do things too. And therefore later in the chapter, it says, “And he goes up into the [p. 98] mountain, and calls whom he himself would, and they went to him. And he appointed twelve that they might be with him, and that he might send them to preach, and to have power to heal diseases, and to cast out demons”. The Lord intended to convey that there is power on earth to forgive sins (Mark 2:10). God’s mercy extends to men and He is going to increase the power for all this in the appointment of these twelve apostles, that is the next thing, beginning with verse 7.
PA Would diseases indicate a chronic trouble with people? The word disease sometimes speaks of sicknesses that are acute troubles. These things are always present, acute and chronic troubles, but chronic are more difficult than acute.
JT Just so. What we want now is to see the power that is available according to verse 7. And the Lord withdrew Himself with His disciples to the sea. And then the next thing is that He is going to appoint these twelve men to do the same work that He has been doing. He is going to impart the power to them to do the same work that He has been doing. That is to continue, and it is to continue in an administrative sense in twelve men.
PA Was Matthias in His mind at that time, the last appointed of the twelve apostles? He was present, no doubt.
JT No doubt, the complete [p. 96] number,
because the number must be made up, that was the idea. They cast lots to make up the number, and it was made up. The lot decided that Matthias was to be the last apostle among the twelve. But he was not the last apostle because Paul would be coming in after that. But at the same time the number twelve is very important because it is an administrative number, and it is administrative to bring out what the work of God is, first in Christ and now in the saints by the Spirit.
AS I was wondering if that would be the answer to the counsel that the Pharisees took against Him to destroy Him, that the Lord’s answer was to appoint the twelve.
JT The counsel was a devilish attempt to destroy the Lord Jesus, which is terrible. It cannot be done. And then another thing comes in that is full of terribleness in the chapter, that is; the sin against the Holy Spirit, never to be forgiven, not in this age nor the age to come. So we have before us now, the great powers of evil and the powers of good to meet it. The powers of good are exercised by the Lord Jesus including the principle of twelve, “he appointed twelve”, twelve men.
JAP The first thing said about them is, “And he appointed twelve that they might be with Him”.
JT As with Him, they are to learn how and where He did it.
JAP In the Acts of the apostles when Peter [p. 97] and John made their testimony, they took account of them as being “with Jesus” chapter 4:13.
PA The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit n Mark is more drastic than in Matthew or I Luke.
JT Yes, showing that God is meeting the thing, that God is meeting it administratively and in doing so, He is making much of the Holy Spirit, which He has done recently amongst the people of God here in this world. As the Spirit of God is recognized, the great work continues.
AEM I notice that the second thing said about them is that they were sent to preach.
JT First, they are to be with Him, and then, that He might send them to preach.
AEM And then, to have power to heal diseases. The healing would not be much use without the preaching.
AAT Could you think of a person being sent without a gift?
JT Well, I would say it is a question of the word “sent”. Isaiah says, “Send me”, chapter 6:8, “send me”. So that the thought was that someone was to be sent. The work had to be done, and it was done; and one proposes to be stint, offers himself to be sent. You want to bring Out the idea of gift?
AAT What I had in mind was that some brothers probably would like to serve and go Out, but the question is, Are they sent?
JT Now let me see what we are dealing with. Verse 13 says, “And he goes up into the mountain, and calls whom he himself would, and they went to him. And he appointed twelve that they might be with him, and that he might send them to preach, and to have power to heal diseases, and to cast out demons. And he gave Simon the surname of Peter; and James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, and he gave them the surname of Boanerges, that is, Sons of thunder; and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariote, who also delivered him up”. Now you can see that the Lord appointed these men and gave them gifts because they were to go out and preach. They could not preach if they were not gifted to preach. They were sent because they were able to preach. The Lord sent them because they were able to represent Him in preaching. And so it is today. If the preaching is to go on, the Lord is represented in the preaching, He gave them power to do it. And so it is done. There is preaching going on all the time.
W McK. Does chapter 6:7 show that the system was functioning effectively? It says, “And he calls the twelve to him; and he began to send them out ... and they went forth and preached that they should repent; and they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many infirm, and healed them”, verses 12 and 13.
JT Very good.
DMH “And he goes up into the mountain”,
[p. 99] as if Christianity is a system outside and above all that is currently around them.
JT Quite so. The Lord goes up into the mountain, the mountain is the place of power, it suggests power. He went where he could exercise power.
JWC Is there some difference here in the idea of a name? The Lord gives some a surname. There were some who retained the name they already had.
JT Well, the idea of being given a name is dignity. A person who has power to give a name is dignity, and of course the Lord has this supremely. Our names are written in heaven. The Lord has written them there, I would say, He has power to give a name. No doubt everyone of us has a name. It is a great matter, the question of names, and the apostles are examples of that. The variety of names even is striking here, as if the Lord would indicate to all that He had power to do these things. So that the names are the gifts, according to Ephesians. “There is one body and one Spirit, as ye have been also called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all. But to each one of us has been given grace according to the measure of the gift of the Christ. Wherefore he says, having ascended up on high, he has led captivity captive, and has given gifts to men. But that He ascended, what is it but that he also descended [p. 100] into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same who has also ascended up above all the heavens, that he might fill all things; and he has given some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints; with a view to the work of the ministry, with a view to the edifying of the body of Christ; until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, at the full grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ”, Ephesians 4:4 - 13. You get some instruction there as to the matter of gift and what it is intended to be and to effect.
AAT I can see distinctly that a gift is from on high and the servants are qualified with the assistance of the Spirit to serve and I quite understand that a brother would be ineffective without a gift.
JT Do you see that the gifts come down from above? They are sent down from heaven, and they are here for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, until we all arrive at the unity of the faith, at the knowledge of the Son of God, at the full grown man. That is the great intent of the coming down of the gifts. How dignified they are.
GHMacP It is wonderful to think of the number twelve in Mark’s gospel. In spite of the breakdown, Mark, as recovered, uses the number twelve.
JT Yes, quite so. I do not think we need to [p. 101] go further on this. But then there is this matter of appointment. Appointment is like God’s official action. It is said, verse 14, “And he appointed twelve”, “He appointed twelve that they might be with him, and that he might send them to preach, and to have power to heal diseases and to cast out demons”. And then he gives a list of the names, of the change of names given to these apostles.
JWF Did you have in mind that Ephesians corresponded with what we have here in the change of names, in that the person is named according to his gift in Ephesians?
JT Yes, just so, very good. For “the work of the ministry”, the most dignified works in Ephesians you can get anywhere, the divine appointment of the gifts in Ephesians.
JWF “We has given some apostles, and some prophets”.
GHMacP How would the appointment work out today?
JT There are none now; there are no apostles today. The Lord has taken them all, but we shall see them later.
GHMacP I was thinking of the word “appointment”.
JT Oh, the appointment - the work of God?
Oh, I should say that the work of God is carried on in that sense. The Lord is pleased to take up men and qualify them to carry on with His work.
G.H.MacP.
Although there is not the [p. 102] number twelve of the apostles, there is power and the authority of the Spirit in the ministry?
JT Yes, quite.
PA You said something this morning about how many, fifty years ago, went out preaching the gospel. It was a day of necessity for it, perhaps, and one hundred years ago, still more.
JT There were men in those days that classified themselves as evangelists, and we hardly ever hear that word used today. They used to come - alas! one has to say it - they used to come and object to the truth of the ministry as it was rendered through such men as Mr. Stoney. These men used to object to them or somewhat depreciate what they would minister.
PA Is that why in 2 Timothy 4 Paul charges Timothy; he does not tell him he is an evangelist, but “do the work of an evangelist”. Is that wide open to us today?
JT Oh, I think so. God would surely help us if we sincerely sought help from Him to carry on the whole work so that there might be evangelists, men that changed the lives of other men. “He that brings back a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall cover a multitude of sins”, James 5:20. That shows what a man can do.
RM Would the mountain and the appointment and being with Him suggest elevation connected with the preaching?
JT Very good, because the Lord went up to a mountain as you remember in Matthew 5; it is [p. 103] similar to this, He went up and sat down and began to teach; the disciples came to Him and He taught them, so the elevation is there, and the Lord used it.
RM I used the word “elevation” in regard to the dignity and elevation that is proper to the glad tidings and those who preach them.
WR The apostle Paul says, “We are ambassadors therefore for Christ”. 2 Corinthians 5:20. Is that the same thought?
JT Quite so. That was an apostle who said that. No one would say that today, I am sure.
WR An ambassador is an appointed person.
JT Quite so, a representative.
JAP Would it seem from 1 Corinthians 12 that there could be no gift outside the assembly? It says, “God has set certain in the assembly”, verse 28.
JT Yes, quite so. The gifts were put in the assembly for a definite purpose. Well, now, we might as well proceed to the end of the chapter.
Having appointed the apostles, then we have end of verse 19, “And they come to the house”, that is, the Lord is with them. “And again a crowd comes together, so that they cannot even eat bread. And his relatives having heard of it went out to lay hold on him, for they said, He is out of his mind. And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, He has Beelzebub, and, by the prince of the demons he casts out demons”. That is what the enemy, the scribes,
[p. 104] attributed to the Lord Jesus, terrible attack. “And having called them to him, he said to them in parables, how can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom has become divided against itself, that kingdom cannot subsist. And if a house has become divided against itself, that house cannot subsist. And if Satan rise up against himself, and is divided, he cannot subsist, but has an end. But no one can, having entered into his house, plunder the goods of the strong man unless he first bind the strong man, and then he will plunder his house. Verily I say unto you, that all sins shall be forgiven to the sons of men”, - now this is a question of the sin against the Holy Spirit - “and all the injurious speeches with which they may speak injuriously; but whosoever shall speak injuriously against the Holy Spirit, to eternity has no forgiveness; but lies under the guilt of an everlasting sin”. This is one of the most terrible things we can speak of. But yet it is a fact that it does exist, and will undoubtedly for some time exist, but it will come to an end, God will bring to an end all opposition to the Holy Spirit. So it says again in the 30th verse, “Because they said, He has an unclean spirit”. The enemies said the Lord Jesus had an unclean spirit. This matter is one the most terrible things that can be thought of, the sin against the Holy Spirit. And God has brought forward truth as to the Holy Spirit during recent times, and God is blessing it in the ministry and we should take heed to it and see [p. 105] that the ministry comes forth intelligently and accurately, and use the written ministry if necessary that we might understand.
Ques Is it not wonderful that the twelve come in first, before the sin against the Holy Spirit is mentioned? Would it not suggest that as we come into the assembly, we will be preserved from having any part in the sin against the Spirit?
JT Just so, as we come into the assembly, very good word that is, because that is where the power lies. The assembly is the vessel of the Holy Spirit, we might say, at the present time.
He is sent from heaven.
DMH I have noticed in your ministry that you said this passage is a solemn warning to the clergy.
JT Quite so, terrible thing. Mr. Darby said, “The notion of a clergyman is dispensationally the sin against the Holy Spirit”. Have you heard that? Terrible thing.
DMH Yes, I have read the tract; we all need to read it.
JT Yes, quite so. The time will be gone presently. I thought we ought to read from the 31st verse - “And his brethren and his mother come, and standing without sent to him calling him. And a crowd sat around him”. One would call attention to this word here - the crowd sat around about Him. It is a circuit, the Lord sat in the circuit. The crowd sat around about Him, a beautiful touch. And they said to him, “Behold,
[p. 106] thy mother and thy brethren seek thee without. And he answered to them, saying, who is my mother or my brethren? And looking around in a circuit” - again look at this word circuit - “And looking around in a circuit at those that were sitting around him” - a beautiful thought, sitting around the Lord Jesus in a circuit. “He says, Behold my mother and my brethren; for whosoever shall do the will of God, he is my brother, and sister, and mother”. This passage closes the chapter, and I think we do well to look into it because it shows that we cannot rely on natural relationships, we cannot rely on these at all. If we are to be bound up together, it must be in spiritual relations, or it is useless, the whole matter is useless. Natural relationship is of no value unless it lies in spiritual relations.
WT In the last verse He says, “He is my brother, and sister, and mother”. Why does He link the masculine and feminine there together?
JT Well, it shows the whole thing is put together as to what the Lord regards as His brethren. This is what He regards as His brethren, He puts them all together, “Behold my mother and my brethren”.
AEM He puts the brother before the mother.
JT Yes. They are all put together. It is a matter of the way the Lord treats the thing; He puts them all together, as it were to say, this is the whole matter. That as far as my relations, my relations feminine-wise, they must be spiritual. He tells us what the masculine may be, but they [p. 107] must be spiritual; nothing else avails at all in natural relationship. We are not to count on it.
GHMacP Does this suggest that He brings us into the atmosphere of home conditions in which He Himself is in chapter two?
JT Family conditions.
JAP Is there a similar thought in Romans 16, “Salute Rufus ... and his mother and mine”, verse 13? Do you think that is a spiritual allusion?
JT Well, it is a spiritual reference by the apostle Paul. He would never fail to recognize an identity of that kind. He was very tender, very fatherly in that sense.
AEM So this is the most awful chapter of opposition to this wonderful service, but the service triumphs.
JT I think that is wonderful. The service triumphs, and we are in that, thank God, a good many of us here today. It is a simple way, but we are in that.
WR It is remarkable that he closes with the thought of the Lord’s mother in view of the place that she has with some today.
JT That is a blasphemous thing that has been said, the thing is most terrible, that she is thought of as going up to heaven, going up to heaven bodily, an awful thing. It is one of the most terrible things that I have ever heard of or that anybody has heard of. Even the Church of England denounces it. The Romish clergy are putting it forward, and set a day apart last [p. 108] November to announce it; it is a terrible thing that has been announced by the Romish church.
ACR Does the Lord imply here that His spirit is the Holy Spirit? Verse 30 - “Because they said, He has an unclean spirit?” But then He says they were speaking injuriously against the Holy Spirit. Does He infer there that His spirit is the Holy Spirit?
JT Well, what does it say? What I have just read says, “But whosoever shall speak injuriously against the Holy Spirit, to eternity has no forgiveness”. Is that not clear enough? It is the Holy Spirit.
ACR What I was asking is when they say He has an unclean Spirit, He says they are speaking against the Holy Spirit. Is the Lord’s spirit the Holy Spirit?
JT Well, now, we have to stop and think about this because it involves very much. There is no dual personality in Christ at all, there is only one Person implied, there are not two Persons. He Himself is His own Spirit, He has not a spirit like you have or I have. The Lord Himself is His own Spirit. When He speaks of His own spirit, He is that Himself.
ACR Could I refer to verse 8 of chapter 2, it says, “Straightway Jesus, knowing in his spirit ...” I was still trying to get clear as to whether the Lord’s spirit is the Holy Spirit.
JT Well, it is not. It is His own spirit that is in mind, His own spirit, that is the Lord Himself. He is His own spirit. He has not two [p. 109] spirits, He is His own spirit. That is a very remarkable thing to understand, and I think the brethren will do well to look into it because there is no dual personality in Christ at all. He is only Himself, He is a divine Person himself, He became incarnate. He is a divine Person, He has not a human spirit at all as we speak. He is His own Spirit; when it speaks of His spirit, it is Himself.
PA Otherwise He would be a creature, but it is blasphemy to say that against the Lord Jesus.
JT Very good. It will not do at all, it is blasphemous; therefore I believe the brethren will do well to look into it, this whole matter of the spirit that the Lord Jesus has. He said to His Father, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit”, Luke 23:46, that is Himself. He has not got two spirits, it is Himself. He is Himself His spirit. Now I do not know whether what I am saying is right in your mind.
AEM Clearly, it is very good, but it is very little understood among the brethren.
JT Yes, well, I hope the brethren will just take it to heart because we are dealing with a divine matter, a holy divine matter. The Lord has not got two spirits, He is Himself His own spirit.
AEM “God is a spirit”, John 4:24.
JT That is what I say exactly.
W McK. With reference to the Lord being His own spirit, would Paul’s word to the Corinthians come in - “the last Adam a quickening spirit”, 1 Corinthians 15:45?
JT Quite so, “The last Adam a quickening spirit”. That is what He is, He Himself. There are not two, there is only one.
JDT And again in the second epistle he says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit”, 2 Corinthians 3:17.
JT Yes, and “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”, 2 Corinthians 3:17.
EDITORS’ NOTE: Readers interested in pursuing this holy subject further are referred to Ministry by James Taylor, New Series, Volume 48, pages 182 - 183. See the following extract.