1 CORINTHIANS 12 (FIRST READING)
1 CORINTHIANS 12 (FIRST [p. 64] READING)
CAC The apostle brings back the truth of the Lord’s supper as the rallying point of the assembly, but he does not pursue the subject. He does not go on to tell us anything of the assembly service which would normally follow the Supper; he does not say a word about the Lord taking His place in the midst. I suppose the state of the Corinthians was such that they could hardly enter into these subjects. It was necessary before they could understand the spiritual service of the assembly that they should understand the subject of spiritual manifestations, so he brings them in in this chapter, I believe with the object of shutting out all action of the flesh and of the natural mind.
He had told the Corinthians very plainly that they were carnal, not spiritual, and the object of his writing in this chapter is to bring about the recognition by the brethren of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit. As we do so we become spiritual, and as we become spiritual we become qualified for the spiritual service of the assembly. Although he could not talk about it, no doubt the apostle had that in his mind.
Ques Would you say that up to the point of the actual Supper we have what is prescribed — what is done and how it is done? But from that point nothing is prescribed; their state was not equal to the spiritual side.
CAC What follows the Supper is a spiritual matter. The Supper is a material act and a matter of obligation for each saint. But after eating the Supper there is surely to be some result Christward and Godward. He does not enter into that, because the recognition of the Spirit and His operations was a necessity before that could be [p. 65] entered upon. It is a matter of spiritual discernment. When brethren began to break bread about 110 years ago, they had not the slightest idea of the prescribed order, and we have still to learn; we have not reached finality as to the prescribed order of the assembly. There was a great development of the spiritual in the second epistle. The first thing is that we recognise the presence and operations of the Holy Spirit in the body.
The universal character of the body as the organism in which the Spirit operates must be recognised first. The Lord’s supper is always local, but the presence of the Spirit and His operations in the body are universal. As this is understood it would preserve us from any thought of independency. We have to take up the truth of this chapter as light from God — we have to come to it. Nobody comes to the truth of this chapter until he comes to it as divinely taught.
We ought all to have keen discernment as to what is of the Spirit. There is nothing to indicate that the Spirit of God is now here, except as His presence becomes manifest in the saints. There is nothing outward; you cannot show any one the Spirit.
Ques How can you recognise the Spirit?
CAC I know no other way of recognising the Spirit than by observing what people say — that is the test he brings before us at the very opening of the chapter. That is always the test; we test everything by what they say. If a man is speaking in the Spirit he will not say, “Curse on Jesus”. There are people who speak slightingly of Jesus; that cannot be the Spirit of God. They cannot detract from His Person — Jesus, and His office — Lord Jesus. The office is where He is set by God. If any one deviates from these two things you do not listen to him for a minute. You recognise in the way a person speaks that he personally has been subdued to the Lord, and that is a [p. 66] great principle. If his whole moral being has not bowed down to the Lord Jesus, if any one is going on in a way that is contrary to this epistle, you cannot think that he is speaking in the power of the Holy Spirit. If I am not subdued to the Lord Jesus in my spirit the Holy Spirit will have no dealings with me, will He? There were at this time numbers of Jews in the assembly who were ready to say, “Curse on Jesus”. Any real Jew would say it today.
Rem “Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say?”
CAC People who do not the things which He says have no title to say “Lord Jesus”. Those going on with a religious system have no title. The Holy Spirit helps those through whom He speaks to move on the line of the Lord’s will — His will directs everything. So what we say takes character from that and it is the great test. John says, “Believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits if they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world”.
So that having spoken of these great tests in verse 3, he goes on to speak of the gifts and services and operations that go on in the assembly universally as the body.
Ques Is there a difference between the assembly and the body?
CAC There is a distinction made in this chapter.
You would not find that God set the apostles in the body.
In the assembly there is a certain order; there is a ministerial order, which makes a great difference. If the apostle Paul came in here we should all be quiet. In the assembly things are graded but in the body all the members function unitedly. There is no rivalry, no partiality; you do not think of saying you prefer one member to another.
Ques Suppose they do [p. 67] not function?
CAC Well, that is paralysis. At the present time the body viewed in the Corinthian aspect is paralysed, but that does not hinder two or three persons who are walking in the truth and speaking in the Spirit from realising the truth of the whole assembly. In the christian profession this chapter has ceased to exist. The assembly down here on earth in its universal aspect (that is, the body in the sense of Corinthians) has disappeared from view.
But God has given exercise so that a few individuals have come back to the truth of it, recognising that the Holy Spirit is here manifested in the body. We assume to hold the truth but then the truth in our minds extends to every saint on the face of the earth. It must do so, for the body is composed of those who have all been baptised by one Spirit “into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bondmen or free, and have all been given to drink of one Spirit”. Then the assembly is seen as in organic unity with the same gifts, services and operations, throughout the world. The divine thought is that what is universal comes into action locally. When we look at the loaf and the cup we are doing what all the saints should be doing. We get at it in a practical way by looking at it locally. It is composed of men and women who were in the world once but now have come into this organism, whether Jews or Greeks, bondmen or free.
We must dismiss the thought of meetings altogether from this chapter; it is Lord’s day morning to Saturday night. The body is here that the presence of the Spirit may be manifested all the week long. The gifts and services and operations of God are going on all the time. You could have all this chapter without a meeting at all.
Ques How does Matthew 18 apply?
CAC He speaks of the assembly in Matthew 18 (the two or three) as administering on His behalf. There is a tribunal to which the erring brother can be brought, so [p. 68] while we cannot get the assembly together practically, He makes it possible with two or three. So it is with us.
It is not the Person of the Lord in this chapter, but the Holy Spirit, and the intent of the Spirit to come into manifestation. It is given to each brother and sister to be a vessel for the manifestation of the Spirit. It is all for profit and has nothing to do with the service of God. So we are always to be to the profit of the saints, and we shall only be so as we act and speak in the power of the Holy Spirit. In principle that is for the profit of the whole assembly.
It is rather striking that there is nothing in the gifts of the Spirit that cannot be taken up by sisters — of the nine operations enumerated here; Paul does not refer to ministerial gifts at all. Philip had four daughters who prophesied. Such a gift is a matter of the sovereignty of the Spirit. I cannot pretend to be somebody else. According to this chapter He has accorded to everybody some gift. If certain gifts are not there, we recognise the sovereignty of the Spirit in it. Some would insist that we ought to have healing, tongues, miracles and so on. Well, if the Spirit gave the gift of healing to a brother or sister we should be very thankful for it, but we should want to test it!
Rem It says, “In the power of one Spirit we have all been baptised into one body”.
CAC Is not that the key to the chapter in a way? That is, the gifts are all from the same Spirit, so they cannot possibly clash one with another. The Spirit confers certain capabilities on brothers and sisters, but in the actual service we must wait on the Lord for direction and support, not on the Spirit. The Spirit has qualified a brother but he waits on the Lord for direction as to how he exercises his gift.
There is something else going on at the same time; that [p. 69] is, God operating all the time on the souls of the saints. Is my service such as He can connect His operations with? If not, I had better drop it at once. So the body is a wonderful organism, where the Spirit is giving gifts and the Lord is directing the services and God operating so that it all becomes effective. Gifts given to persons involve capability from the indwelling Spirit to do certain things, and the way they do things is a manifestation of the Spirit here; it is in connection with what is public here.
Rem It speaks earlier in the epistle of the “testimony of the Christ”.
CAC If we have not the inward qualities of the Spirit of Christ, we are not any good in the body. We cannot take up any service in the body unless we have that as a basis.
The aspect here is different from that in Colossians where the body exists to exhibit the greatness of Christ; but there is now a vessel for the manifestation of the Spirit, showing that He is down here. All that is extended in the gentile world. A word of wisdom, a word of knowledge, faith — these things are not limited to brothers. I think “faith” spoken of here would be given as it becomes necessary at some special juncture of the assembly. The Spirit might give it to a sister and she might take the lead in the whole assembly on the earth. Perhaps there is a deadlock in a meeting and by the Spirit some brother has the gift of faith and knows what to do and how to do it.
We observe the beautiful distinctions of the Spirit. We want them all to be different. You do not think of admiring one more than another, each is completely perfect and admirable if it is of the Spirit. The contemplation of it makes us feel how small we are in these things, how little we have entered into them. The discerning of spirits [p. 70] refers to what is said by spirits. There were demons speaking with tongues and so on, so such a gift was needed in the assembly. What takes away the perfection of Jesus or denies His lordship, for instance, is the work of a demon.
So the apostle takes up the thought of the human body as a figure and it all leads up to this, that there is something here on earth that He can call “the Christ”. That is, there is an anointed body here on earth in which the operations of the Spirit are going on, and it manifests that the Spirit is here.
Rem And we are all baptised into one body.
CAC Yes; it is the body here that is “the Christ”. So that it is really all Christ, because what is in the power of the Spirit of Christ is really Christ.
Ques Would you explain the difference between sealing and anointing?
CAC Is not sealing what we enjoy secretly with God? But the anointing is what is public. That is the line of the chapter.
Rem We “have all been given to drink of one Spirit”.
CAC It is beautiful. We just wanted that for a finishing touch; it is the essence of the whole matter. Before we begin to manifest the Spirit we have our own secret with God; we know the virtue of the Spirit for inward satisfaction and joy. Every christian who does not grieve the Spirit has the same joy; that is why the saints fit so well together. The result is that these different operations of the Spirit are unchecked; I know the Holy Spirit is dwelling here.
Ques Do we not get it in John 4 and John 7, inward satisfaction and then the flowing out?
CAC Oh, these things are delightful to contemplate,
[p. 71] and we want to get on our knees about them, so that the living organism is not only talked about but seen.