THE SERVICE OF THE SPIRIT AS PRESENTED IN CORINTHIANS (2)
[p. 43] THE SERVICE OF THE SPIRIT AS PRESENTED IN CORINTHIANS (2)
JT This morning we were occupied with the Spirit in relation to the general state of the Corinthians.
The Corinthians were depriving themselves of the communications of the Spirit and the apostle says that he had to speak to them as to babes in Christ. He describes the state of babes in chapter 3: 3. There was envy among them and they were keeping the precious communications of the Spirit away; it is the same in every meeting where there is a division; the Spirit is grieved, or quenched.
Rem To quench the Spirit is a graver matter than to grieve Him.
JT If the Spirit is quenched, there cannot be any direct communication, and even if there is a certain liberty of the Spirit, there cannot be any growth. The epistle should have the effect of leading the saints to judge themselves; that is why the apostle says: “Our heart is expanded. Ye are not straitened in us”; he earnestly desired that their heart might also expand itself, for an answering recompense to him.
Chapter 3 speaks of the Spirit in relation to the temple (verse 16). If we recognise that the saints have the character of the temple of God, we enquire there and are enlightened; we learn how difficulties must be faced and everything becomes clear to us. We said this morning that the Spirit shows us things. On the day of Pentecost, He brought demonstration as to sin and as to judgment. The question was between Christ and the Jews; they disputed that He was the Messiah. He was the Messiah, the Christ; the Jews denied Him and put Him to death; John 16: 8 - 10. The presence down here of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven showed who He was. The disciples received the Spirit; thus [p. 44] we enquire in the temple and all becomes clear. It says in this epistle: “There exist divisions among you ... . For there must also be sects among you, that the approved may become manifest among you” 1 Corinthians 11:19. Then, the fruit of the Spirit will be manifested; so that in local difficulties, the divine means consist in enquiring in the temple, as the apostle says: “Do ye not know that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you”? (chapter 3 . 16).
Rem It is not necessary to ask a brother what is to be done, if we have the Spirit to teach us.
JT That remark is important. If anyone has the gift of wisdom, it is evident we should go to that one. Government in the house of God is a gift, as we see in chapter 12: 28. The gifts are set in the assembly, not in a local but a general way, so that they are exercised for all the saints, wherever they are. One can approach those who have these gifts. Nevertheless, what our brother says is very important; the assembly is, in character, the temple of God and it is there that one can enquire. You will find nothing in the temple to discredit the saints. The psalmist speaks of one who enquires, who goes into the sanctuaries of God and who then understands things; Psalm 73: 17.
Ques Simeon “came in the Spirit into the temple” Luke 2:27. Is that an example of one who goes into the temple to enquire?
JT Yes, and then the little Child was brought in.
Rem In the temple we find the light of the thoughts of God.
Rem Simeon expressed the thoughts of God in a wonderful way when he took the little Child into his arms.
JT In 1 Corinthians 6, it is a question of the Spirit of God in relation to purification, another important side of the truth. Purification and sanctification are the service of the Spirit of God; then, in the same chapter, it speaks of the body of the believer as being “the temple of the Holy Spirit”1 Corinthians 6:19. The chapter brings out how our bodies are to be kept in view of such an honour.
Then in chapter 7, the Spirit is presented in connection with the important subject of marriage. Paul says in the last verse: “But she is happier if she so remain, according to my judgment; but I think that I also have God’s Spirit” 1 Corinthians 7:40. This verse shows clearly the difference we are to make between the judgment of an experienced and spiritual brother, and the direct commandment of the Lord. There are things as to which the Lord has not given us a definite commandment; they are of a kind to test our spirituality. Paul gives his own judgment, but he declares distinctly that it is not the commandment of the Lord. There are other things that the Lord orders. Do the brethren follow my thought?
Ques Do you mean that the Lord commands certain things, but there are others as to which Paul, as being spiritual, gives his opinion?
JT The Lord leaves certain things indefinite, as to which we arrive at the truth by experience and spirituality. Paul says: “But concerning virgins, I have no commandment of the Lord”1 Corinthians 7:25; however, he gives his own judgment. I think we should specially note this part of the truth.
Ques Is it not remarkable that although the judgment was Paul’s, and not a direct command from the Lord, it is nevertheless mentioned in the Scriptures?
JT Yes, it is recorded in Scripture, but as being Paul’s judgment; it is not a commandment of the Lord; however, it should have great weight with us. A spiritual brother can discern things, although there is perhaps no passage of Scripture concerning them; the young should recognise that. Marriage is a subject that is always and everywhere difficult. Many questions arise with regard to it, as to which the Spirit says nothing. What we do shows where we are in our souls. It may be that a brother in fellowship marries a christian who is not in fellowship, or vice versa; we could not say that that is “in the Lord”. The choice should be made “in the Lord”, which involves the fellowship. It says of a sister, that she is free to be married to whom she will, “only in the Lord”. As to choice, a certain latitude is given; but in every case it is to be “in the Lord”; the fellowship must be recognised. Fellowship gives the idea of association. If a person in fellowship is married to a person who is not, that is not “in the Lord”. Is that clear to the brethren?
Ques All kinds of questions and various cases come up with regard to marriage; what should we do as to it?
JT Whatever one does, one will show what one is spiritually. We can therefore recognise the force of Paul’s remark: “But I think that I also have God’s Spirit” 1 Corinthians 7:40. It is only with regard to difficult problems of that kind that the apostle uses such expressions as to himself. It brings out the importance of the judgment of spiritual men and women. It is certain they would say nothing that is contrary to the Holy Spirit.
Chapter 12 speaks more than any other of the service of the Holy Spirit. It begins with an allusion to ministry in the assembly, how a man speaks to the saints. It is possible for us to test whether he is speaking in the power of the Spirit of God, or otherwise. The allusion brings us back to the time when the believers came out of paganism. It may be that some were not believers, and the saints, in that case, had been exposed to their misdeeds; so the apostle says: “I give you therefore to know, that no one, speaking in the power of the Spirit of God, says, Curse on Jesus; and no one can say, Lord Jesus, unless in the power of the Holy Spirit”. It is certainly important to be able to discern whether or not someone is speaking by the Spirit. It says: “If any speak — as oracles of God” 1 Peter 4:11. The one who speaks by the Spirit has a certain authority and does it with power.
Rem The hearers, if they are spiritual, will be in a position to judge if someone speaks in the power of the [p. 47] Spirit.
JT We hardly expect, in our day, to find someone having an evil spirit and speaking in the assembly, but it may be that someone gets up of his own will, so that the others will be able to discern that he is not speaking by the Spirit.
Rem Although it may not be an evil spirit, it might be in the activity of the flesh. That is also to be feared.
JT Chapter 14 shows that the gift of prophecy is very important. A prophetic ministry judges things among the saints. A brother may not be eloquent in his way of expressing himself, but perhaps he will edify the saints; therefore he is not to be despised. Ministry which edifies is of value and should not be despised; it is God’s provision, and it grieves the Lord to despise it. We see the effect of prophetic ministry in chapter 14: 24, 25. The assembly is the temple of God. In chapter 3, in the original, the word temple is not preceded by the article (temple, not the temple); it is characteristic. The apostle could not present the thought of the house at Corinth, because the state of the believers was too bad. The house of God is a place where joy is tasted, and when the state of a local company is bad, the thought of the house is not understood; there is no rejoicing. In the house there is music and dancing; but that is impossible where the saints are not together in affection. The house is an attractive place for young christians. In Matthew 13, the Lord leaves one house to go into another, indicating that He was leaving the Jewish state of things to enter into a sphere where, in the liberty of the Spirit, we find music and dancing. The houses of the saints should bear that character. We should speak “to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” Ephesians 5:19; we should be filled with the Spirit.
Rem In the house there is affection, and in the temple praises.
JT There is also light and intelligence; wherefore we read; “One thing have I asked of Jehovah, that will [p. 48] I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of Jehovah, and to inquire of him in his temple”, Psalm 27: 4. One enquires in view of being enlightened and having intelligence, but that all depends on the presence of the Spirit in the assembly.
In chapter 12 the three divine Persons are in view, and the Spirit is mentioned first. The Spirit had been excluded at Corinth, so that after having said that it is “the same God who operates all things in all”, the apostle comes back to the subject of the Spirit, in verse 7. Attention is drawn to His sovereign activities. Then we read: “For even as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ”. The expression “the Christ” is an allusion to the assembly. It is a general, not a local, thought. The local assembly should bear that character, that of the Anointed. The anointing gives the saints a certain dignity. When the state is bad, there will probably be less dignity in our relations one with the other.
“For also in the power of one Spirit we have all been baptised into one body”. What a touching appeal to our hearts! All have been baptised; this dignity belongs to every child of God, to those who have the Spirit. Here the baptism is an act of the Spirit. It says in the gospel of John that the Lord baptises with the Spirit. That suggests that each one is placed in the assembly, each keeping his individuality, but all being put together into one assembly, and not constrained to go in, for all have been given to drink of one Spirit. Each one is to drink thus; drinking is a figure of satisfaction; that means that I enjoy my position and my part in the body of Christ.
Ques Does that correspond to the rivers of living water?
JT Yes, but the emphasis here is on the word ‘one’; there is “one Spirit”, which produces unity and gives [p. 49] satisfaction. Having drunk of that Spirit, one would not wish to be in any other place, for in the assembly one finds life, and joy, and satisfaction.
The last part of this chapter develops the thought of the body. Christianity is not a clerical system; it was never supposed to be such a thing, nor was the local assembly ever formed to be led by one man. Each one is to have his part, for it is “one body”. The figure of the body serves to show how entirely dependent we are upon one another. The human body depends upon all its members. Difficulty arises when the foot begins to speak of itself (verse 15); that is a member that isolates itself. What is suggested is, that a brother might think that because he has not been called upon to act in an official way, he has no right to be there. The danger is in brethren isolating themselves in their mind. If I take that attitude, I am abandoning the place which God has assigned to me in the body.
Rem It is important to remain in the place where the Lord has set us.
JT The apostle says: “If the whole body were an eye, where the hearing?” I am not in the body as seems good to me, but as it has pleased God (verse 18).
Then in verse 21, we have a different individual. “The eye cannot say to the hand, I have not need of thee”. If I speak like that, if I act as if I had no need of such and such a brother, I call in question the whole body of Christ.
Rem And also the sovereignty of God.
Rem It is remarkable that it should be said that God has placed each member in the body.
JT If we do not take account of the disposition God has made in the body, we rebel against the sovereignty of God. That is like cutting off one’s hand. Modern surgery declares that certain members of the human body are not necessary. We may be assured that God did not create them for nothing; they have their function, though we may not know what it is.
[p. 50] It is the same as regards a brother or a sister. They may both appear useless to us, but the Lord knows what He wishes them to do. It is serious to say: “I have not need of thee”.
The Spirit proceeds to show us what parts of the body are necessary, those which we esteem the less (verse 23); that shows that if love were active among us we should esteem the weak. The disciples might have said that a young ass was not a suitable animal for the Lord to use, but they put their garments on it; they adorned it and made it suitable, so that the Lord could ride thereon; we ought likewise to cover the less honourable members. If a brother is lacking in the way of expressing himself, for example, why not help him?
What God has set in the assembly is the final thought. We should distinguish, in verse 28, between the body and the assembly. Gifts are set in the assembly. There is one thought attaching to the gift — that it is universal, that is to say, for the whole assembly.
The chapter finishes with the suggestion that we should earnestly desire the greater gifts. “And yet shew I unto you a way of more surpassing excellence”, the way of love. Chapter 13 describes what love is and we read that it never fails.