THE ASSEMBLY (3)
[p. 317] THE ASSEMBLY (3)
We remarked that the first three evangelists look at the assembly as the vessel of the testimony here on earth, and as having taken the place of Israel down here, and this is a very important matter. But John’s gospel has more in view our association with Christ in heaven. There it is more a question of the persons in the assembly, than of the assembly as the body with its members, so that in John’s gospel we have the first day of the week specially emphasized. It was “on the first day of the week” Mary received the message to carry to the disciples that they were His brethren. This day is again mentioned in John 20: 19 where we read, “When therefore it was evening on that day, which was the first day of the week ... Jesus came and stood in the midst, and says to them, Peace be to you”. They are looked at now as in relationship with Him as His brethren. Luke has in view the assembly as the vessel of the testimony and presents the truth of the Supper almost literally as Paul speaks of it. Luke speaks of the Spirit as the anointing. We need to distinguish between these two sides, what the saints are down here as the anointed vessel of the testimony, according to the chapter we have read, and what they are in connection with heavenly privileges. In chapter 12 it says, “So also is the Christ”. The word Christ here means the anointed vessel, and relates to the assembly.
Earthly possessions can often become a cause of class distinctions amongst the saints, as the case was in Corinth, where the rich had surplus and the poor were hungry. In this way they despised the assembly of God. In chapter 12 we can note the distinction which God makes and gives through the anointing. It is right to be prominent in the dignity and power which is from God. The assembly should be marked by dignity, and this dignity is by the Spirit. In judges 9: 9 we read that the olive tree refused to take the place of king over the other trees, saying:
“[p. 318] Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to wave over the trees?” The olive tree speaks typically of the Holy Spirit, with which we are anointed, and this alone can give us real distinction in the assembly. A man could have riches and learning or be of noble birth, but those things give him no place in the assembly. Dignity comes from God and depends on our relationship to Christ, that we are His brethren; that is dignity. “Go to my brethren”. The Father names every family relative to Christ. But our dignity before men is through the Spirit and His work in us.
Ques What is the difference between the Holy Spirit as seal, and the Holy Spirit as anointing?
Sealing means that I am God’s possession, but the anointing that I have received dignity by the Spirit, so that I can represent God here in testimony, and the earnest of the Spirit is what sustains me here. The subject in this chapter involves the Spirit and has in view the testimony. The anointing reminds us of the oil which ran down from Aaron’s head upon his beard, even down to the hem of his garments, and the consequences thereof became manifest as brethren dwell together in unity. The head is what gives expression to a man’s understanding and dignity. We can understand how important it is, when we come together at the Supper, to give Christ his rightful place. Room is then made for the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is given to those that obey Him. The sealing, the anointing, and the earnest of the Spirit are three different views of the same matter. To be filled with the Spirit means that the Spirit has His place with me, and everything else is shut out.
Ques What is the difference between the presence of Christ in the assembly and the presence of the Spirit? It is by the Spirit the Lord reveals Himself. He comes in amongst His own as we see in John 20, where we find that He comes to His disciples as they were assembled. It is by the Spirit we perceive it, but He comes Himself. In the Old Testament He revealed Himself through angels, but now it is through the Spirit. In John 14 He speaks about sending another Comforter, the Holy Spirit, one of [p. 319] the Persons of the Godhead, equal with the Father and the Son. When Rebecca asked the servant, “Who is the man that is walking in the fields to meet us?” he answered, “That is my master”, Genesis 24: 65. The Spirit leads us to Christ.
This picture of the body helps us to think rightly of each other. We see here divine Persons in activity. “There are distinctions of gifts, but the same Spirit; ... distinctions of service, and the same Lord; ... distinctions of operations, but the same God who operates all things in all”. We have here three different circles, but with one and the same centre. The Spirit operates in the body; the Lord operates in the kingdom, which constitutes a greater circle; and the Father operates in a greater circle still, but it is the same God who operates all things in all.
Ques What is the meaning of verse 3 of this chapter? We have to test what goes under the name of spiritual manifestations. The presence of the Holy Spirit here causes Satan to try to imitate spiritual power in the assembly, and we understand that this was the case in Corinth. We must therefore prove everything so as not to be led astray by Satan. “No one can say, Lord Jesus, unless in the power of the Holy Spirit”. In the great professing christendom there is much, in a certain sense, which is spiritual, but which nevertheless is not of the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God exalts Christ, and makes much of Him. There is a difference between the activity of the flesh and the activity of an unclean spirit. If we tarry one for another, we make room for the Spirit to operate through the members.
Ques Can an unclean spirit come in amongst those gathered to the name of the Lord?
If we acknowledge the Lord, Satan is kept out, but in Corinth there was one like Judas, who was not pure, and therefore Satan could come in amongst them. In 2 Corinthians we read that Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, chapter 11: 14. Our standard, by which we test such, is if they can say, “Lord Jesus”. None of the unclean spirits spoken of in the gospels called Jesus “Lord”. There are many in the present time who presume to operate by [p. 320] spiritual power, but we can test them, as John in his first epistle emphasizes the importance of confessing Jesus Christ come in flesh. He says that many false prophets have gone out into the world, but he tests them by their position in relation to the Lord’s Person. In Corinthians it is a question of how we confess Jesus as Lord. There are many different kinds of spirits in activity today, for example, some believe that spiritual power is connected with them, and so it is, but a spiritual power that is of Satan, and the proof of this is that they do not confess “Jesus Christ come in flesh”. It is the same with others who say that they speak with tongues or imagine they can make the sick whole by faith. If you present the truth of the Lord’s Person or the name of the Lord Jesus, then they are exposed. Thus we have a sure touchstone to guide us in this matter. These persons could certainly make a confession of the truth as far as the letter goes but the question is what their confession or doctrine leads to. The Lord’s authority as Lord is the subject in this chapter and, if we test these persons in relation to this truth, we will find they set aside the Lord’s commandment.
There were seven magicians who tried to imitate the spiritual power which was found with Paul, but they could not call Jesus Lord, neither could the unclean spirits do so. These men were like the magicians in Egypt who tried to imitate Moses. Paul calls them by their names. It shows that he knew them well. The believer will do well, not only to be guarded against wrong doctrine, but also against this kind of spirit which is active in these times. John was anxious that the saints should prove the spirits. Those who were of God listened to the apostles and received their word. If we acknowledge the Lord’s authority and confess “Jesus Christ come in flesh”, then the building will be protected and the family spirit preserved, so that we are preserved by the consciousness that we constitute a family. It is this kind of man, a man of another order, who comes before us at the Lord’s supper, He who gave His life for us. All other spirits make much of man after the flesh, as the case is with those that have imposing ceremonies, which [p. 321] appeal to the feelings of the natural man, and with those having connection with the power of Satan. If I say, “Jesus is Lord”, it means that I want to be subject to Him and keep His commandments. It says “If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize the things that I write to you, that it is the Lord’s commandment”, 1 Corinthians 14: 37, and in Luke the Lord says, “Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say?” Luke 6: 46.
In the chapter presently before us the apostle restricts himself to speaking of the operations of the Spirit. He says, “But all these things operates the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each in particular according as he pleases”.
In verse 8 knowledge is spoken of, and in verse 9 faith.
Ques Does what we have in verse 10 continue today? I think these operations and gifts to heal the sick, etc., have ceased — not that the Holy Spirit could not give them now, if He so pleased, but they are not necessary today; they were for the sake of the unbelieving nations. If God gave to the assembly in the present time the recognition she had in the beginning, it would mean overlooking the breakdown that has come in. The Holy Spirit abides in the assembly, but He always operates for the Lord in a suited manner and never overlooks the damage that has occurred. These signs were a kind of bell-ringing to warn the people, namely the unbelievers (1 Corinthians 14: 22). Now the people are assembled and the bells are no longer required. Even an unclean spirit can do signs, and it tests us. Antichrist will come with signs and wonders and thus mislead many, if it were possible, even the elect (see Matthew 24: 24) but the simple believer has a touchstone today which can preserve him. We are tested as to the kind of man we confess. Is it “Jesus Christ come in flesh”?
Moses is perhaps a type of Jesus as Lord, and the ark of the covenant a type of “Jesus Christ come in flesh”, typifying His manhood.
“So also is the Christ”; it is wonderful in this verse to see the name “the Christ” applied to the assembly. The assembly is the anointed vessel to carry the testimony down [p. 322] here, as Christ was when He was here. Corinthians does not take us as far as Ephesians, where Christ is Head over all things to the assembly. In Corinthians it is rather the assembly considered as a vessel usable by the Lord through the anointing. Verse 13 gives us an explanation of this when it says, “For also in the power of one Spirit we have all been baptized into one body ... and have all been given to drink of one Spirit”. That we are baptized into one body corresponds to the thought included in baptism by water. Although it is not here a question of this baptism, it is nevertheless a similar thought and relates to what been done by another, while “to drink of one Spirit” is what we ourselves do. These two things have their correspondence to the two special ordinances we have in christendom, namely baptism and the Lord’s supper. By baptism I disappear in the company. I am myself no longer prominent, and this tests me as to how much I am subject to the Lord. This baptism had its beginning at Pentecost, but its importance continues today. We become one company, we drink of one Spirit. I then acknowledge all the saints, and give place to them all. In the spirit of love we drink from the same cup; it is only love that would drink from the same cup.