THE SERVICE OF THE SPIRIT AS PRESENTED IN CORINTHIANS (1)
[p. 37] THE SERVICE OF THE SPIRIT AS PRESENTED IN CORINTHIANS (1)
1 Corinthians 2: 6 - 16; 1 Corinthians 3: 16 - 23
JT I thought we might look into the place the Spirit has in the epistle to the Corinthians. It is said of the Lord that He was put to death in flesh, but made alive in the Spirit. It is possible to express many different thoughts; however, the Spirit alone makes these things clear. The Lord said: “When he is come, the Spirit of truth, he shall guide you into all the truth”, John 16: 13. The Spirit demonstrates things. To say is one thing; to show is another. Paul says: “It has been shown to me concerning you”, 1 Corinthians 1: 11. Paul might have been informed, but the thing had been shown (or manifested) to him. When a thing is shown it is clearly established; then the remedy must be found. The physician’s diagnosis indicates what the patient is suffering from; then it is a question of knowing what is the appropriate remedy. It says: “The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh”, Galatians 5: 17. If in any one of us the flesh lusts against the Spirit, it is very distressing. The epistle to the Corinthians was written to deal with such a state found collectively.
Ques Is lusting against the Spirit more than resisting the Spirit?
JT To lust is to exalt nature; we see that in Reuben. It is the impetuosity of nature, flesh being given free course, annulling the action of the Spirit. That is what took place at Corinth. Chapter 5 shows that a bad state of things existed. We see in the first chapter that they were divided.
Ques Was that the result of the activities of the flesh?
JT Yes. The Corinthians had written to Paul with regard to many questions, but they had omitted to do so with regard to the most serious question. Chapter [p. 38] 3: 1 exposes their state; they were in Christ, but only “babes in Christ”; they were carnal. There were there emulation, dissensions, evil works. Paul, in sending this letter, desires to deal with their state. It often happens that a visiting brother is not aware of the elements that are troubling a gathering, those elements remaining hidden. The Corinthians had not written to the apostle about their divisions.
Rem But Paul knew where they were in that matter.
JT Those of the house of Chloe had informed him. Chapter 5 merely relates what was happening, but in chapter 1 the apostle speaks of what he had ascertained.
Rem If they had been really babes, they would have made progress.
JT Scripture speaks of children in two different senses. In one, it refers to normal childhood, to those who are capable of receiving impressions, who are transparent and simple. The Lord placed a little child in the midst of the disciples. Speaking to the Father of His disciples, the Lord said: “That thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes” Matthew 11:25. In the other sense, it refers to what is abnormal. Being a man it is a shame if I have only the intelligence of a babe. Paul says: “When I became a man, I had done with what belonged to the child” 1 Corinthians 13:11.
Ques Does the renewing of our mind make men of us?
JT Yes.
Ques Is it the same, if one walks in newness of life and serves in newness of spirit?
JT Yes. The Corinthians were depriving themselves of a great blessing, by reason of their divisions. In chapter 2, the Spirit is presented, not because they were marked by the Spirit, but because it was He whom they needed: “Things which eye has not seen, and ear not heard, and which have not come into man’s heart, which God has prepared for them that love him”,
[p. 39] 1 Corinthians 2: 9. We deprive ourselves of these blessings if we do not make room for the Spirit, that He may reveal them to us. In verse 6 the apostle says: “But we speak wisdom among the perfect; but wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who come to nought”. The Corinthians were not grown men; they were therefore losing the blessing of what the Spirit makes known.
Rem While having many gifts, they were gaining no profit from them.
JT From the divine side they had everything. God had held nothing back from them. In chapter 1: 4 - 9, we have the objective side and that can be said normally of the assembly, but their state did not allow them to enjoy the things. The apostle indeed saw the danger; he knew what the hindrance was; that is why he says: “I did not judge it well to know anything among you save Jesus Christ, and him crucified”.
Every city has its own characteristics. A city is a concentration of evil; this takes a different form in each city. God presents His testimony to each city in view of helping it with regard to its particular character of evil. Corinth was renowned: it was a Greek city marked by Greek wisdom and also by great slackness. It was also an architectural city whose fame comes down to our day. God had all that in view when Paul ministered at Corinth. He says: “My word and my preaching, not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power; that your faith might not stand in men’s wisdom, but in God’s power”. The apostle had worked for months in that city, and that was the attitude he took, but in spite of his faithfulness the same thing as to which he warned them took place after his departure; there were parties; one claimed to be of Apollos, another of Cephas, another of Paul. The Greeks were always marked by that spirit; they wanted great leaders. We see in chapter 5 that all that was accompanied by another thing, fornication. How [p. 40] could he have unfolded to them the great thoughts that he had in his mind if they were in that state?
We must be perfect — developed — to have the mind of grown men. If we are not guided by the Spirit, we shall go from bad to worse, even to fornication, which is a terrible state.
Rem Their state was worse than that of the nations.
JT Paul says: “I have given you milk to drink, not meat, for ye have not yet been able, nor indeed are ye yet able; for ye are yet carnal. For whereas there are among you emulation and strife, are ye not carnal, and walk according to man? For when one says, I am of Paul, and another, I of Apollos, are ye not men?” That was the state of things existing at Corinth. They were excluding what is of the Spirit of God; they were not grown men; so that Paul could not speak to them of the “hidden wisdom”. That hidden wisdom which God had predetermined before the ages for our glory, operates in relation to God’s world where there are men fully developed. The world which surrounds us today is the result of the development of man according to flesh. Its princes are supposed to be wise men, but they know nothing of the hidden wisdom, for it is found in the Lord Jesus, whom they crucified. Nothing brought the foolishness of this world into evidence so much as the crucifixion of Christ.
Ques Is wisdom presented in Proverbs 8 as an attribute of God?
JT It is inherent in God.
Rem We read: “Jehovah possessed me” Proverbs 8:22 and “I was brought forth” verses 24,25.
JT The expression “brought forth” in verse 25 implies pain; it is evident that such a thought could not apply to a Person in absolute deity. It is an allusion to an attribute of God which was brought into evidence at the beginning of His operations. When it speaks of wisdom in Proverbs, it is in relation to the earth. When the Lord was here, He was the expression of the wisdom of God. He Himself said: “Wisdom has been justified of all her children” Luke 7:35.
Rem I thought that could only apply to the Lord in the sphere of revelation.
JT That is right as regards Proverbs 8. Verse 12 is very important: “I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find the knowledge which cometh of reflection”. Prudence is also regarded as a person. The opposite to wisdom is the foolish woman. We must have an open mind to understand the Scriptures. One can then grasp better the force of the Spirit’s service at Corinth, “for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God”. It may be that “the depths of God” include Proverbs 8, but the Spirit of God searches the depths. In contrast to that, it speaks in Revelation 2 of the “depths of Satan” Revelation 2:24; we must keep away from them (spiritism or wicked things of that sort). And it is blessed to know that we have within us Him who knows the things of God (verse 11). Scripture contains a general outline of what God desires that we should know, and there are depths in it which the Spirit of God alone can search.
Rem The Lord said of the Spirit: “He shall receive of mine and shall announce it to you” John 16:14.
JT The Spirit knows all things, and He presents what is necessary according to the moment, as it says in Revelation: “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies” Revelation 2:7. If we do not accept what He says, we are opposing Him. What He is saying now He had not said hitherto, and we have to keep it. Scripture is the touchstone for all that is said. In verse 12, the emphasis is on the word “we”: we have received by spiritual means.
Ques “Whatsoever he shall hear he shall speak”, John 16: 13. What has He heard?
JT That shows what a place of humble dependence the Holy Spirit has taken, corresponding to that which the Son has taken. Both the Son and the Spirit have taken an inferior position, in connection with the [p. 42] dispensation of grace. There is one God, the Father; the Son and the Spirit have taken inferior positions, in order to make God known. “The Son can do nothing of himself save whatever he sees the Father doing”. John 5:19 That does not mean that the Son is inferior to the Father (He is not), but that He has taken in manhood an inferior place, in order to make Him known. The Spirit takes a corresponding place; He does not speak from Himself, but says what He hears. All conies from God, but communicated by the Spirit. No creature is great enough for that.
Rem The Father has been revealed in the Son.
JT Time fails us, otherwise we might have been able to consider the temple in chapter 3, and the body in chapter 12, and see the place that the Spirit occupies in them.
Ques Can it be said that the Son has taken an inferior position in order to carry out the will of God?
JT Yes. The declaration of Scripture is very strong: He “emptied himself, taking a bondman’s form” Philippians 2:7.