THE HOUSE OF GOD (3)
[p. 509] THE HOUSE OF GOD (3)
John 14: 15 - 23; John 20: 19 - 26
JT We are considering the subject of the house of God as suggested in this gospel. Whilst in chapters 2 and 14 the Lord definitely refers to His Father’s house, the former refers to what is now past, namely the material house at Jerusalem, and the latter is future. The passages before us have in view the house as it is known and entered into at the present time. John, in referring to what pertains to the present time, avoids naming things formally and officially.
He refers to them in such a way as to make it clear that they exist, so that his gospel applies peculiarly to our own day, a day of declension in which we are to avoid assuming things in any formal or official way; nevertheless we have to cleave to the things that are existent here through the presence of the Spirit, so that we have the reference in chapter 2 to the temple. The Lord says, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”, meaning, as the Spirit through the evangelist reminds us, the temple of His body. One feature of the house that is suggestive of the temple may be found in Corinthians as applicable to the Lord’s people as having the Spirit, and then in chapter 8 of John’s gospel He says, “The servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed”. There again we have a reference to a very precious feature of the house, namely that the Son abides in it, not as over it as elsewhere, but in it. In chapter 12 reference is made to the house, that it is filled with the odour of the ointment, a very precious suggestion as to what may be realized even in our times as brethren are together in the recognition of Christ. What is spiritual comes to light and fills the house. The house is said to be filled in Acts 2 by the sound from heaven, but in John 12 it is what comes from the saints — the house is filled with the odour of the ointment. That chapter is the end of the course of instruction which [p. 510] culminates in the suggestion of the house as identified with those who filled it. That is to say the Lord says later in the chapter: “While ye have the fight, believe in the light, that ye may become sons of light”, John 12: 36. The beginning of that chapter seems to give us a group of the sons, who show by what they had that they are sons of light. They know what to do, corresponding somewhat with the stars, so that we have a beautiful constellation, as you may say, in that group at Bethany.
CCE You refer to Mary, Martha and Lazarus.
JT All that is in connection with the work of God in each individual christian, so that we are found together in life, but the section before us this morning is leading up to the assembly viewed not as in a locality or in the presence of the world, but rather in a spiritual formation. It is not exactly viewed as a structure, for John does not so regard it in this gospel, but as composed of persons who are collectively the objects of the affections of the Lord, so that it says that Jesus “having loved his own who were in the world, loved them to the end” (John 13: 1), and the passage read from chapter 14 can be connected with the house because you have the Spirit in a collective way. He is here personally, not as in the earlier part of the gospel as life in the believer, but as in the company, and consequent upon that the Lord comes to us and manifests Himself to us and the Father and the Son come and abide with us; I think we may dwell with profit on that. In chapter 20 you have the exclusive feature. I suggested that passage because of the reference to doors.
CCE Do you think the coming to you is a collective thought?
JT I thought so. The passage I think hangs on verse 15, which in itself is based on their obedience. “If ye love me, keep my commandments”. We are reminded that in order to realise the privileges of the house we have to keep His commandments, for the very presence of the Spirit is based in this passage not on His exaltation but on our keeping His commandments, and then on His mediatorial solicitation on our behalf. So that [p. 511] we get things from heaven on the ground of obedience.
CCE He comes to a suitable company.
JT There is a moral correspondence between those that keep His commandments, as loving Him, and the other Comforter. There must be a correspondence between the Lord and the other Comforter.
JF Do you think the saints provide the house or dwelling place here?
JT I think it is put on that basis. The emphasis is on loving the Lord and keeping His commandments. What have you in your mind?
JF I was wondering whether that would be the continuation of the tabernacle thought now that that has been laid aside.
JT The saints are the material so to speak for the house. I do not know of anything more important than that the emphasis is laid on obedience, as making the way for the incoming of the Comforter. Connecting the Spirit of God with what is not marked by obedience to the Lord is very objectionable.
RB Is it possible for a company not to keep His commandments?
JT Alas, it is general now!
JN They were not keeping His commandments at Corinth.
JT The test of their spirituality would be that they recognise the apostle’s letter as the commandment of the Lord.
RB Are there any definite commandments?
JT I think it is best to read the letter to the Corinthians. “The things that I write to you, that it is the Lord’s commandment”, 1 Corinthians 14: 37. The word ‘commandment’ is in the singular. I would take the epistles to the Corinthians to be in a general way representative of the Lord’s commandments as governing the assembly.
JS Would you say the commandments of John 15 are the outcome of the Lord’s work and the commandments in chapter 12?
JT They are very general. It is for you to know what [p. 512] the Lord had in mind. They would know as having been with Him.
RB Does it involve spiritual sensibility?
JT It does. There are many details that many christians pass over but the Lord would have them all in view. One of the finest features of Deborah is seen in her remark: “Hath not Jehovah the God of Israel commanded?”, Judges 4: 6. That is what comes up under all circumstances, as to what the will of the Lord is. What is there that governs the position in the way of His commandments?
WW Mary said, “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it”, John 2: 5.
JN Would it be the attitude on the part of those who rally round Him?
JT I think it is a state of subjection. Whatever the Lord commands you are ready for it.
JN Not legality, church laws, and such.
JT You have in the addresses to the assemblies: “These things saith he”, Revelation 2: 1. The letters are very brief, but the brevity is simply material for the Spirit. What appears to be so brief is capable of enormous expansion, so that at the end of each address you have “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches”. We are told what the Lord says and that would come in the form of authority to each assembly. What the Spirit says would be the amplification of that in detail and applied to the conscience of the saints in each assembly.
CCE Otherwise we would need to read the Scriptures only. There would be no need of meetings like this.
JT We have meetings like this in order to let the Spirit open up whatever the Lord’s commandment may be in regard to the position. You can understand how much amplification there was in the old economy. “The Lord spake unto Moses saying ...” That would be a definite concise word governing the position. It would represent the authority of the Lord, but then there would be the opening up of that by the priests. The priest’s lips should keep knowledge. The people were to hear the law. So that we have in Ezra and Nehemiah not only the reading of the [p. 513] law, but the giving of the sense of it, and that is the function of the Spirit. We are not told what He says, the point is to hear what He says. “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches”. The Holy Spirit opens it up to you. So that any who speak as the oracles of God should have a very deep sense of responsibility to the Lord that what is said is according to the mind of the Spirit. It is not a mere repetition of Scripture, although you do quote Scripture. The Holy Spirit works in your soul and gives you an impression of things.
AAE Does “He that hath ...” imply moral condition?
JT It is the question of our state of soul. The addresses to the assemblies are highly, as you might say, parabolical. They are put in such a way that only one who has an ear to hear would understand them. It is always so where there is departure. The communication of the mind of God is to be in such a way as to shut out the natural mind.
H Obedience would spring from love, not from legality.
JT Yes. “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them”. Let no one assume to love the Lord who avoids His commandments. I should think the great fundamental principle underlying the physical system is the will of God. “He commanded, and it stood fast”, but then there is the unfolding of wisdom: “He spake, and it was done”, Psalm 33: 9. The speaking conveys His mind and the wisdom in which everything was made. The commandment holds everything fast. There can be no stability in anything apart from keeping the commandments. Everything is crumbling, the only thing that can keep stable is abiding by the commandments.
CCE It is the same in the physical universe; if it were not so, everything would go to pieces.
JT Yes. You have here after the commandments the idea of the word. “If any one love me, he will keep my word”. You have the opening up of the whole mind of God. Two things work out in connection with the tabernacle. There is the idea of divine authority in Moses, but [p. 514] there is also the idea of divine wisdom, the disclosure of the divine mind. The workmen were endued with wisdom.
The tabernacle was the unfolding of the mind of God as regards the heavens and earth. We are told in Hebrews of the patterns of things in the heavens. God dwells in relation to what He speaks. There must be what corresponds with His mind in His abode, but the first thing is the commandment. That is the great test of love, and then when the question is asked, “How is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?” the Lord answers immediately, “If any one love me, he will keep my word”.
AAE Do you not think it needs a little emphasis? It is not the commandment as it will affect our individual conduct, but it will affect us before the whole company. Many christians think their personal conduct is everything and do not get a view of the commandments in connection with the company. Do you think this would include both?
JT Particularly the latter; it is how I am to be regulated in regard to the whole company of the people of God.
The present state of things in christendom is, of course, a travesty of it. There is no thought really of what is the Lord’s commandment in regard to these things. We have the commandments, but having them is one thing and keeping them another. It is in the keeping of them that you have the love expressed.
JS The keeping of them would come out in connection with the service of the saints.
JT It is very remarkable in the book of Ezekiel what a great variety of instructions there is in regard to the house. We assume to have things now just about as they are, so as to divide them up into compartments, when the meeting should begin, and how it should begin, etc., and it is most encouraging to see the exercise there is as to the order in the assembly. But I have been thinking lately that a consideration of Ezekiel brings you to a standstill very quickly, because the things that are shown there are so varied and apparently conflicting that you would have to say that you do not understand them. I put it to any person here to read chapters 40 to 46 of Ezekiel and to say [p. 515] if he understands; yet there it is, it is the house. I feel it is intended of the Lord to keep us humble in regard to the house of God. There are all kinds of measurements, and, as you look into it, you find that there is not a single measurement or idea that does not convey some spiritual thought, and as you take them in you are enriched as to the wonderful variety and extent of the house of God.
JF I was struck by the going in; they go in by way of the north and come out by way of the south.
JT You go straight before you.
JF The quarter you approach from is cold.
JT You may either go in from the cold quarter, the north, or from the south, but if you came in by the south you must go out by the north and that keeps you regulated.
JS The east is reserved for the prince.
JT That is to say there is room made there for the Lord. He has got His pre-eminence.
JN Please explain about the north and the south.
JT The north is you come in in connection with the discipline of God. “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth”, Hebrews 12: 6. You could not be in the house at all if you were not disciplined, but “no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous”. God would have us in His house according to Himself, hence the discipline. It is to the end that we shall be holy. Without holiness no one shall see the Lord. You enter in a very humbled chastened way, and you go out by the south in all divine favour. From the standpoint of a northern latitude the favourable quarter is the south.
JS Gold comes out of the north. We must be in the good of the gold to come out at the north.
JT It is the point that speaks of judgment whether corrective or disciplinary, but if we go in from that point of view we are chastened. If you go in from the south, as many of us do, it is in the sense of the love and the favour of God in Christ, which is delightful. That is all objective. It is the attitude of God in the dispensation. You go in in the divine favour, but in order to be rightly balanced you come [p. 516] out the other way.
OW What is the thought of going out?
JT That a meeting is over.
JF The creatures in the earlier chapters went straight before them.
JT That is the principle, and another great principle in the house is that indicated in the event of the appearing to Manoah and his wife in Judges. The Angel says, when Manoah asks him his name, “How is it that thou askest after my name, seeing it is wonderful?” He had said, “If thou wilt offer a burnt-offering, thou shalt offer it up to Jehovah”. He is a type of the Lord in His relation in the assembly Godward, so Manoah presents his offering and the Angel did wondrously; it is the service of the Lord amongst us. The Angel did wondrously and then ascended in the flame of the altar up into heaven. That is, I think, a suggestion that you go out heavenward. I believe that our experience of the Lord in the assembly is to fit us for our translation to heaven, what we call the rapture. He goes out in all the fragrance of the offering up into heaven.
CCE That is very interesting.
JT The Lord would impress upon us that we are in touch with a living order of things, not mere knowledge. It is a living order of things, into which He has a right to come according to His pleasure, and when He is among us it is for us to see that what He does He does wondrously, for His name is wonderful. We may look for the Lord to act wondrously before us, and what will be more wonderful than the translation of the saints in due time?
JN He would act according to His name.
JF It has been interesting to see the Lord as head. He is with us. He is on our part Godward. Is that right?
JT That is right, so that after the Lord’s supper in Matthew and Mark, they sang a hymn, including the Lord, and having sung a hymn they went to the mount of Olives, a spiritual ascent. We have here the three ideas He gave to us. He comes; He manifests Himself; and then the Father and the Son come in relation to our keeping the Lord’s words. These are three distinct thoughts.
RB “I am coming to you”.
JT That will be in the way of comfort. I will not leave you orphans. You shall not be parentless, and then the manifestation, I apprehend, is some suggestion of Christ. There is an impression made. You get a new view of the Lord, and then thirdly there is the dwelling, the Father and the Son coming in and making Their abode. There I think you have the formal suggestion of the house; that is how an overcomer can enjoy the good of the house of God in a broken state of things.
CCE Please compare and contrast the coming in to sup with him in Laodicea with the manifestation in John 14.
JT It is a very intimate connection. I understand from that passage that Laodicea and Philadelphia are collateral. They exist side by side, and the testimony to individuals in Laodicea is therefore to Philadelphia. The Lord appeals immediately in the knocking. It is a testimony. He is standing at the door. “Behold, I stand at the door and am knocking”. It is no special man’s door. It is the one knock for all. “If any one hear my voice and open the door, I will come in unto him and sup with him, and he with me”. That would be that He would give you a sense of His personal interest to such an extent that He would even come in to you, even in Laodicea, and sup with you, there. It would, of course, be according to what you could provide, because for instance if I was in the Romish or Anglican system I would have very little, but the Lord would join in whatever I have. Whatever I have of Him He will join in it. I do not apprehend that He would have anything to do with my church relations, or my religious relations or associations, He would simply have part with me in the little I have, and we know from the types that a handful of meal gives you a footing. He can even have part in that. Very small it may be but it would be enough for Him to have part with you. You can understand that there would not be much in anyone opening to Him in Laodicean circumstances. They were rich and increased with goods, but not what the Lord would have. But the Lord will join in the little that there may be to the end that the person should sup with Him. If He invites you to sup [p. 518] with Him you will have plenty, but you will have to move.
CCE It is the only thing which would keep them going. The coming and supping with them would alone keep them going.
JT One observes that the so-called denominations are becoming increasingly impoverished. Years back there was much more amongst them. There is a gradual draining of the real spiritual wealth that is there. The Lord’s attitude is there to the end: “I stand at the door and am knocking”. That is the attitude He maintains. If anyone opens to Him and He comes in, He will bring him out to Philadelphian circumstances. He will bring him to the light of the assembly and that is where He sups.
CCE If you do not move there your slight reserves will drain away. The cupboard will become empty.
JT I have been thinking about Joab. He saw that David wished to bring Absalom back, and he sent the wise woman of Tekoah to David with the result that Absalom was brought back; but what was the result — Absalom set fire to the barley field. In other words christendom has brought back the apostate. Men that are apostate are today accredited in the pulpits of christendom. They are infidel, and they attack the Lord’s Person on every hand. He is attacked by men who profess to be His servants, and I believe it is the leaders, who are more or less right, that have compromised the situation and brought back Absalom; the result is that the barley field is being burnt up. Everything that is of Christ is being destroyed.
CCE The real ones cry out ‘we have no food’.
JT They cannot cope with the infidelity that is about. It is very striking that Absalom burnt the barley field of Joab. They are destroying the Person of the Lord in the systems, so that the whole thing is honeycombed with infidelity; the foundations are gone. Going on to chapter 20, the closing of the door is not in mind, that is not what is being done in christendom generally; the door is not being closed for fear of the Jews.
CCE The whole draught of evil and infidelity blows in and there is no room for [p. 519] the Lord.
JT We must keep the doors closed in regard of the religious element. The doors were closed in the two instances in which the Lord came in in chapter 20. It does not say the “door” because it is a spiritual thought. It is not the public assembly exactly; it is the saints viewed spiritually. They have wonderful light. Mary had just come with the wonderful message. They had heavenly fight and they knew enough to treasure it; hence they closed the doors.
WW What do you mean by the Jew?
JT The religious element. Satan acts through the religious element.
WW In Colossians the door is closed on the learned man.
JS The religious element in ourselves must be excluded.
JT That is the first thing to see to.
AAE Have you any thought as to why “for fear of the Jews” is not mentioned at the second meeting?
JT Dispensationally it is the Jew being brought in. He is there in Thomas, but it is the Jew that is capable of believing. Thomas is dispensationally the coming in of the Jews in the latter day. The Jew is not to be shut out for ever. If he is there he is capable of believing. Thomas is not believing but is capable of believing. One must not shut out a man capable of believing, we must be sure there is an opportunity of them believing.
JF Is this the way the secret would be kept, by the doors being shut?
JT That is how the Philistines are kept from knowing the riddle. The disciples had wonderful treasures; they were in possession of the light of the message through Mary Magdalene.
JF The young lion had been destroyed. Christ was risen. The young lion that came out to contest the pathway of love would be overcome.
JT It is wonderful to see how the saints are, as it were, in the carcase of the lion, spiritually. Samson returned and found the swarm of bees, life in death. That is how the thing really stands. Samson returned and found the swarm [p. 520] of bees and honey, referring to the energy of life in the saints in a material way. Bees, I suppose, suggest the energy of life.
JS If you disclose the secret you lose the power.
JT Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong sweetness.
JN What was the special secret Mary brought?
JT The heavenly relation in which we stand as the brethren of the Lord.
JS The secret would be what they would find when the doors were shut.
JT I think the word “doors” should be noticed because there may be any number, referring to the state of our souls or hearts, but when it is the question of public assembly, the Lord’s supper, it is “follow him into the house where he entereth in”, that is one entrance, but when it is the saints separately, everyone has to see to his own heart. I cannot expect brethren to look after my heart. I have to look after it myself. “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life”, Proverbs 4: 23. Purity depends on each keeping his own heart. When it is a question of the true assembly there are doorkeepers. There are those who look after persons when they come in, and no one is allowed to come in unless he is real. Peter in chapters 5 and 8 of Acts, was very careful as to whom he should admit into the company, but he could not look after all the hearts in that company. If you, dear brethren, have the precious light you have to see to your own heart that the doors are shut.
CRB Is that why the address is to the assembly and the appeal to the individual?
JT The fact that I am in the public assembly is not in itself a guarantee I am right because at any time I may let in things by linking myself with associations of the world.
JN “Of your own selves shall men arise”, Acts 20: 30.
JT Keep your heart with all diligence. It is in our hearts that the Holy Spirit is operating and there the issues of life are.