THE WATER OF PURIFICATION
[p. 236] THE WATER OF PURIFICATION
John 2:6 - 10; John 3:3 - 8; John 9:6,7; John 13:2 - 15
JT We get the thought of the water of purification in this gospel. The subject is somewhat extensive so that we shall need to touch each scripture lightly. The first, gives the idea of a vessel (or vessels), empty, but intended to contain the water of purification: the second, is the application of the thought on the principle of birth so as to enter the kingdom, and that there should be spiritual movement: the third, is the principle applied to us in relation to the position of Christ here in humanity, so that faith has its eyes open to look upon Him in another connection and another world, the clay alluding to the incarnation, to the Lord as He was then; faith should be directed to Him as He is now, in another world as the Son of God: the fourth, is entrance into the privilege of having part with Christ, He having come from God, and going to God. The link is very plain, I think, and the subject is progressive. The first calls attention to what is current amongst us and around us; there are many vessels empty that should be useful as containing vessels — not yet of living water, but of the water of purification. John presents that thought of containing vessels, the water of purification being turned into the wine of joy under the direction of Christ, and the drawing-out process. The application of this passage in chapter 2 is generally to young people; you are perhaps standing, but you are of no practical value, and yet not to be despised because you are there. “There were standing there six stone water-vessels, according to the purification of the Jews”, John 2: 6.
Ques Do they suggest vessels that have not yet taken up service?
JT Yes; they are of potential value but not of practical use — they are empty. The fact that they [p. 237] are of stone, would mean that the idea is permanent, durable, and they come in serviceably, as the Lord is working; a great transaction is in view here, so that it is well that they are there.
Ques Why were there six water-pots?
JT Well, I think it is the fulness of the thought, a millennial thought.
GAvS Do you think that, in contrast with chapter 13, what is represented here has to do with potentialities, so that we may be of value down here?
JT That is what I thought. They are of potential value; their durability is implied in the material, stone suggesting permanency, only as yet they are not in use. They are convenient, however, for they are there.
WCG Would filling them with the water suggest the import of Christ’s death known in power?
JT Yes, that is it; the presentation of the death of Christ in testimony. He does not do it Himself, He tells others to do it; the water of purification is necessarily a testimony to the death of Christ.
JG We do not contribute to the assembly in its privileges and joys until the import of Christ’s death is brought home to us in the power of the Spirit.
FI Is this connected with the “washing of water by the word”? Ephesians 5: 26.
JT Well, that is the full thought of it; it is the Lord’s own action in Ephesians, you get complete thoughts there. This is done by others at the Lord’s direction; that is, the persons represented in the vessels are to understand that others are to fill them. He directs others to fill them, not half measure, or quarter, or three-quarters, but completely. That would mean the exclusion of all else, and the mind and affections filled with the thought of the death of Christ, as the water that flowed from His side. John alone gives us that side of the truth — the water that flowed from the side of Jesus. It is a thought that is very little presented in current gospel preaching; the blood is constantly [p. 238] presented, but the water very little; but the person who receives the testimony of the blood of Christ, is also to receive the testimony of the water of purification.
GAvS This is individual, and Ephesians gives the full result collectively.
JT That is the thought. The assembly is presented to Himself. This is more initial as bringing us into suffering.
Ques The vessels then are those who, as knowing the value of Christ’s blood, are able to be filled with the water of purification?
JT Yes, I think it contemplates that, for to be a vessel at all, implies that I have faith and that I am standing there. “There were standing there” — they were conveniently there, so that they were not to be despised, and the Lord could use them on that great occasion.
AEL What then is the thought in converting the water into wine?
JT It brings out what the believer is as full of the thought of the purifying effect of the death of Christ, that is evident when you begin to draw out. Ask him questions, speak to him, see what comes out, and your heart will be filled with joy. That empty vessel is now full. The wine is what others partake of. The scripture reads — “when the feast-master had tasted the water which had been made wine ...” — not the wine made of water, the idea of the water is maintained. It is a question of drawing out from the vessel, asking the persons about things, you thought there was nothing there, but there is, and he rejoices you.
Rem The removal side would be there — he would be apart from evil.
JT Inwardly — yes.
Ques Does it connect in any way with the red heifer? Numbers 19.
JT It does. It is the water of purification, but there the stress is on the ashes — ashes and running [p. 239] water; the water and the ashes are distinguished there. The testimony to death in Numbers 19 is the ashes, and the water is applied to the ashes, that is, the Spirit. Here, it is the water pure and simple, the testimony to the death of Christ in the vessel, and the drawing out is a testimony that the change has taken place.
Ques There can be no joy apart from the water of separation, that is cleansing.
JT There cannot be, although we may know forgiveness. Talk to a person who is just trusting in that and has no other thought, perhaps occupied with the world, he will not make you glad. It is a man who is full of the water of separation who makes you glad. That is the good wine kept till the last.
Rem It is not my personal joy, but joy that is for others.
JT That is the thought. The feast-master is a connoisseur of the wine, so to speak, he knows it is the very best they have on the occasion.
Ques Would this help the silent brothers in the meetings?
JT That is what it is for, to wake them up, to see if they have anything. Standing there is not enough; ask them questions, and give the opportunity for things to be drawn out.
FS What is the thought of others filling the vessels?
JT That is done in the preaching of the gospel and ministry, I suppose; you present the death of Christ from the standpoint of the water, which is very rare in the general preaching, though the standpoint of the blood is presented, and one is thankful for that.
GAvS The water brings before us the purifying power of the death of Christ which is indispensable ere there can be the dispensing of joy to others.
JT That is the thought. Every young brother and sister ought to be an occasion of joy if the Lord came into the midst. The disciples were glad when they [p. 240] saw Him, how much more glad when they heard Him speak! We are glad to see the brethren, of course, and one would be very grieved if the brethren were not glad when one comes among them — but when they ask you questions, what have you to cause them gladness?
JG You drew attention to a distinction between sanctification and purity.
JT Sanctification is by the Spirit, it is the same idea as the sanctuary, it implies holiness, but what we are speaking of is purity.
GAvS Sanctification would be the enlargement of this.
JT Yes, and it would include this.
Ques Would the one be more outward?
JT Well, you cannot be sanctified in a mere external way; separation from evil has that character, but the water of purification here is inward, and sanctification of the Spirit, I think, is inward, it is the work of the Spirit. The Lord prays, “Sanctify them through thy truth”, John 17:17 — the Father’s truth. The water ought to be presented more in the gospel. The Lord Jesus came by those two things; the water is mentioned first in John’s epistle, as much as to say, it is the more important in view of what is in mind in that epistle.
In chapter 3 we have another thought: birth is in mind, a remarkable figure. The element of water is introduced here and the Spirit to enable one to enter into something. There is no movement in the stone vessels, they are acted upon; the drawing out even is not their own action, it is all a question of what others do. But when we come to chapter 3 the person is in mind, and he is to move, he is to see. He cannot see without being “born anew”, but then he cannot enter into the kingdom of God, unless he is “born of water and of Spirit”. It contemplates that there is movement into something, and that is the kingdom of God, he moves into the kingdom of God.
FI What distinction do you make between [p. 241] the water of purification in chapter 3 and the water here? — water and Spirit.
JT It is the same testimony, I think, it is the death of Christ; there can be no other water of purification than that; but it is used as an element of generation, so that, as we might say, the person so acted upon can see and enter the kingdom of God. The waterpots are passive, there is no action of the will contemplated, and all the service is by others. Mary, the Lord’s mother, had already said to the servants, “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do” — the principle of obedience was there, and they filled them as He directed, and the drawing out is by them too, at the direction of the Lord. The idea is passive in the vessels of stone.
Ques What distinction do you draw between John 3 and 1 Peter 1 — “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the living and abiding word of God”? 1 Peter 1:23 That is a fuller thought. The Spirit of God does not use such definite language in John 3, He holds back. It is always important to notice the way in which divine things are presented. If the Spirit of God modifies His statements, He does not wish us to put in the full thought there. In John 3 the person is born again himself, “again” or “anew” meaning from top to bottom. That is not merely something in him, the man is affected from top to bottom, all his moral being is affected. Then the water added in the second remark of the Lord, brings in the cleansing element that is included. If you see the man, he has clean propensities instead of evil propensities; there is not much more to say than that — without it he cannot enter. The Spirit of God does not go so far as to say he enters, it is the initial thought. We are to accustom ourselves to stopping where the Spirit of God stops in presenting the truth.
Ques Does the movement of the Spirit in that way bring us into the heavenly circle, or does it really [p. 242] pertain to what is carried out here on earth?
JT It is the latter. It is the kingdom of God, and that is usually the moral side of the kingdom. It needs this kind of thing in the person, if he is to see it and enter into it. It is really put in a negative way, but you can infer the positive, that there is the thought in the mind of God that there is such a thing as His kingdom here, not only to be seen but to be entered into. There are many who see it and do not enter into it. It is a question of entering into a realm of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. We do not want simply to see that, but to enter into it; this passage is initial, to show how it comes about.
Ques Would denying ungodliness and worldly lusts indicate the element you are speaking of?
JT I think so; such persons would have pure, holy propensities. You may not have much power, but the instinct is there. I think that is the idea.
JG What connection has it with the washing of regeneration?
JT There is a strong connection, “the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5) is very like this. The apostle in writing to Titus is presenting the full thought of the gospel, so that the Spirit, he says, is “shed on us abundantly” Titus 3:6.
FGW How would the water be presented in the gospel?
JT Romans 6 is the water.
Ques Would not this show the import of the operations of the Spirit in the individual?
JT Yes. This does not refer to human instrumentality at all, chapter 2 is what the servants do. Here the Lord goes on to explain — “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit”. It is evidently a sovereign action of God by the Spirit going on all the time, proceeding all the time in relation to the testimony,
[p. 243] so as to make the testimony effective in souls; without it there could be no result from the preaching. It does not say, ‘That which is born of water is water’; the result is spirit, that is, there is a potential spiritual state of things, that is all you can call it, with an element of purity, that is the basis of a heavenly man in John.
Ques Does the water involve the teaching of the removal of man, the end of all flesh coming before God, that would be announced in the preaching?
JT I think so. The water ought to be announced; the Spirit is the witness, it says, both of the testimony of the water and the blood (1 John 5: 6), and the water should be brought forward. In Revelation you have cleansing by blood by the Lord — He has “washed us from our sins in his own blood”, Revelation 1:5. In chapter 7 the great multitude have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” Revelation 7:14; but in the last chapter the washing is by water — “Blessed are they that wash their robes” Revelation 22:14 — not that have done it, it is a continuous thing, “wash their robes, that they may have right to the tree of life, and that they should go in by the gates into the city”, Revelation 22: 14. That is a continuous thing, and that is by water.
Rem The reference to baptism in Romans 6 would enforce what you say — it would ever be in mind.
Ques Does the man of chapter 9 enter in?
JT That is what I thought. The subject is progressive. There is no question of sin there, nor of washing from anything bad — that cannot be — it is a question of what the Lord did by His spittle and the clay; it is the transition from what stood connected with Christ in the flesh here, to what He is now, for the Son of God is the culmination of it. He is “declared to be the Son of God with power ... by the resurrection from the dead” Romans 1:4. He was the Son as in humanity here, but the declaration is the point, how the thing has come to light, and that is by resurrection. If I see Him as the man here did, and worship Him, I come into [p. 244] another world. The next chapter contemplates the one flock into which the sheep are put.
Rem Would you say a word about the wind?
JT Ecclesiastes speaks of it whirling about continually, towards the north and the south; Ecclesiastes 1:6. The wind is a most wonderful thing in nature, and the Spirit of God is likened to it. These elements of nature just serve as a divine vocabulary. It is an inscrutable thing, the wind — “so is every one that is born of the Spirit”. That is, of course, an initial thought, it is included in chapter 9. It is not there a question of sin; the blindness is not because the man had sinned or his parents, “but that the works of God should be manifested in him”: that is the next great thing — “works”, not “work” only, but “works”, and that in one man. So this is a great transaction, the greatest of all we have been speaking of; it is a transaction by the Creator Himself, for He spits on the ground and turns the clay into mud. A most remarkable thing! Think of divine Persons working for their own pleasure — “I must work the works of him that has sent me while it is day” John 9:4. This is now a direct transaction of the Lord; He puts the mud on the man’s eyes, which would, of course, make him more blind if possible; but this mud is holy, it is not evil, it is made by the Lord’s spittle; the clay, the creation of God, that out of which man was made primarily.
GAvS Do we see here how each individual soul in whom the preceding work of an initial character is carried out comes in a direct way under the divine touch?
JT That is just it. The greatest transaction of all; and what is perhaps little understood. Why should what the Lord made need to be washed away? People speak of Jesus and His steps, what He was here, but that is not proper christianity, for He came under the law. Not that there is any change in Him intrinsically as to His own Person, but the condition He took on,
[p. 245] indicated in the clay, is humanity, and that has to be applied first; there is something in that as applied, there is virtue in it.
Ques Is it the Lord touching humanity sympathetically?
JT It ought to cause deep feeling in us that He should do this. There is virtue in the clay, but there would be no result for this man did he not go to Siloam and wash — this alludes to the death of Christ. The humanity of Christ, in itself, could not effect salvation, it could not effect the counsels of God, there has to be the application of the water of Siloam (that is Christ’s death) which implies obedience — “Sent”. He is the Sent One in John always. Now this man is moved on this principle, he is sent, he is in obedience, in accord with the Lord’s position.
FGW Do you suggest that the washing away of the clay is, that humanity on this side of death must go, that He may be known as the Son of God in another sphere?
JT Quite so. It has gone for God, but it has to go for us too, and we see it gone, we see that condition gone — we see that condition is not the condition belonging to the new order of things, the new world God has in His mind; it is another condition, but believers have to get their eyes opened to that, and this is the way of it.
FGW Why is it the “water and the blood” in the epistle? 1 John 5:8 The blood is the first thing a man needs. The water comes first in John’s epistle, because of what is in view, namely our entering into eternal life. This requires that our state is to be dealt with. The water is, I believe, the important thing today, that people should learn purification morally.
Ques Do you think the deficiency in the preaching hinders the practical moving on of converts?
JT I think it does. We have been speaking the last two or three days about the ministers; how the [p. 246] thought of the ministers is stressed in 1st and 2nd Corinthians, and their competency in ministry. I believe that the weakness is in failing to present the water in the gospel. If I have come into the thing myself, I certainly ought to be exercised to tell others about it.
AEL Would you say a little more as to presenting the water in the gospel?
JT Well, it is the termination of the state of believers as after the flesh; it is what meets our state, not only man’s guilt.
GAvS In the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, is there that which, if apprehended in its effective power, will have a purifying effect, so that we become suitable for the company, as in chapter 10?
JT I think that is right. I believe that the weakness amongst the brethren generally — and the weakness is very great — is due to the want of the water being ministered, and the lack of the exercises consequent upon it, so that we might be not in the flesh but in the Spirit. One may know his sins forgiven, and yet not have power in the Spirit.
GAvS The process we have been following in these chapters, including the 9th, is more or less indispensable ere we can come into the conditions implied in the 10th and following chapters.
JT I think that is right, for John has in mind a circle of life; and without purification, you cannot be in it.
Ques Why is the Spirit put before the water and the blood in the epistle?
JT “For they that bear witness are three: the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and the three agree in one”, 1 John 5: 8. That is how it stands. The water and the blood come before the Spirit historically, as we know from this gospel; the blood and the water were there as a witness, and then the Spirit comes in to bear witness; but, that being stated, “they that bear witness are three” 1 John 5:7, the Spirit is the first necessity. He is a divine Person, there is no witness without Him.
Ques And does it mean He would be the One to lead us into the meaning of the water and the blood?
JT That is right. There are three that bear witness, the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and all this to lead us into eternal life.
JG Does the case of Naaman help? He wanted cleansing, but he resisted the means for some time.
JT Yes, he is like the young man who said, “I will not” go, and yet he went afterwards. It is good if you get that finally; even if people are a bit stubborn; it is a question of patient influence — they are worth saving!
JG “Then went he down”. 2 Kings 5:14 Yes, and he “plunged” not simply washed, but he plunged seven times; he takes it in its fulness. He accepts the testimony.
I would like to open up this 9th chapter. It is really to see Christ in relation to another world as He is now; the new company, the new flock, and eternal life, and then in Bethany. Chapter 13 is that the Lord knows things — “Jesus, knowing that his hour had come” and that “the Father had given him all things into his hands, and that he came out from God and was going to God”, it says, He “rises from supper and lays aside his garments, and having taken a linen towel he girded himself: then he pours water into the wash hand basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples”. All this is very remarkable; it is to bring the love of Christ in service before us, and what He has in mind in it, that we might have part with Him, a great thought! — not only to enter the kingdom, not only to see a new world, to see Him in resurrection glory, but to have part with Him. You can see how the climax of the subject is here; to have part with Christ; and then, the final thought, He brings in an example to us — this is the line we are on.
[p. 248] Ques What is it to have part with Him?
JT It is what He is going on with, in this new world in the assembly. He came from God, and is going to Him, carrying a great service there, and we are to have part with Him in all that He has in that.
Ques Does it go on to chapter 20?
JT Not fully; it is simply that He goes to “God”.
GAvS There is that in which He is engaged in which He is wishing to have His own to have part.
JT Yes, I think all the previous things we have spoken of lead up to this; that we not only see Him there and worship Him there, but we have part with Him, and if we do not submit ourselves to this service of His, we do not have part with Him — “Unless I wash thee, thou hast not part with me”, verse 8.