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BONDMEN OF GOD (1)

JT What is in mind for today and tomorrow, if the Lord permit, is the subject of bondmen, to be worked out, as the Lord may help, from the position He took Himself, which indeed is exemplified in what we had yesterday afternoon, John 13. We may see that the features of the truth in the book of Revelation stand connected with the thought of bondmen. The thought runs through the book and has a great application now, as indeed always, but particularly now, in view of the end. It is necessary to accept the moral import of bondmanship if we are to understand the mind of God as applicable to the end. Even the angel who is used to convey the Apocalypse to John is himself a bondman, as he says at the end, according to chapter 22: 9.

The verses read in Mark 13 enter peculiarly into the subject before us, for the mediatorial economy is in mind in the Lord’s remarks, by which He shows that even matters at the end, in relation to His coming, are in the exclusive knowledge of the Father, the Son eliminating Himself from that knowledge. Our Lord’s remarks are only intelligible as we understand the mediatorial economy into which the Lord has come, even to the extent of taking a bondman’s form. It is His having taken a bondman’s form which explains His word that even the Son does not know. He likens Himself, as will be observed, to a man going out of his own country; “having left his house and given to his bondmen the authority, and to each one his work, and commanded the doorkeeper that he should watch”. Then, the closing solemn remarks are, “Watch therefore, for ye do not know when the master of the house comes: evening, or midnight, or cockcrow, or morning; lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. But what I say to you, I say to all. Watch”. The mediatorial economy is really in mind, and our position in it; for we also are placed in a mediatorial position and service as bondmen receiving the authority. Those who are in the attitude of bondmen receive the authority; the Lord gave them the authority, but the great stress is laid on watching.

HB Will you make it clear what you have in mind regarding the mediatorial economy?

JT That into which the Deity has come, as over against that which relates to absolute Deity, which is exclusive and beyond us, which no man has seen, nor can see. The Son here, one of the divine Persons, became incarnate — to carry out the divine will and purpose, to make known what God is in a moral sense, so that we have the Father and the Son and the Spirit — we cannot reverse that order. The Son and the Spirit have taken relatively lower positions, but yet each acting as God; and the mediatorial thought is carried down to the bondmen who have the authority. So that it is an order of things that is brought near to us, in which we are indeed; for as soon as one is secured through the gospel, one is taken into the administrative side of the position, and, in that sense, is in a mediatorial position. You have, for instance, in Matthew 10: 41 the mediatorial idea coming down to a disciple — “He that receives a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward”.

^[p. 3] Ques Is the thought of bondmen worked out in us largely in our attitude of mind? I am thinking of Philippians 2, “Let this mind be in you ...”

JT That is so. I thought we might see how the Lord has led in that way, as indeed in everything, and we learn from Him, so that, as you say, it is a question of attitude of mind. The types, of course, come in and enlarge on this matter — the well-known one in Exodus 21, for instance, the Hebrew bondman. The position in Exodus is the result of God coming in, but through a mediator. The principle of approach is that God is to be served in sonship — “Let my son go, that he may serve me” (chapter 4: 23); and then, in chapter 21, we have the Son, in type in the Hebrew bondman, taking a bondman’s form. The Lord is thus alluded to in the type, as becoming incarnate, and in love deliberately deciding to remain in that relation; He loves His Master and His wife and His children, so that it is a matter of His own volition, and it is a matter of love, and of love serving; going to the very lowest position to serve. The whole divine system is pervaded by love, by love that will serve one another and serve God. Then the teaching proceeds in Exodus 28 and 29, and shows that the service is in priesthood; these chapters stipulate what is required by God in His service and stress the priest — “that he may serve me as priest”, and not only Aaron, but also his sons, “that they may serve me as priests”. We see thus, that while sonship is the basis of the service, and bondmanship the full testimony of love (for it implies that the bondman went into death to establish the matter, it is a system in which bondmanship prevails, love actuating it, so that love will go to any length to serve), yet God’s stipulation requires that there must be also intelligence and holiness, and hence the priesthood in chapters 28 and 29. I think all that enters into the book ^[p. 4] of Revelation.

JT-y Would you say the bearing of that comes out in Deuteronomy 15, where Moses speaks of the bondman and the bondmaid professing to love. They do not go out, their ear is pierced, so that they bear lasting evidence of true bondmanship?

JT That helps as bringing the bondmaid into the position, that is the feminine side. The chapter contemplates a brother or sister being released through the liberality which marks sonship. Bondmanship implies subjection, and then love carrying you beyond what is obligatory; you go beyond what might be demanded, you go the whole road. That was Christ’s attitude; He said, “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life” — it was His own thought to go that way, it was the power of love in Him.

Ques Would verse 16 of Deuteronomy 15 show that? The bondman says, “I will not go away from thee — because he loveth thee and thy house, because he is well with thee”. It is the attraction of love that makes him the bondman.

JT Exactly; what love is as active here in Christ, or in the saints — the length to which it will go. John’s epistle develops it as worked out in the saints. The mediatorial system, as inclusive of all who are thus actuated by love, I think is to be understood. It is important that it should be understood that as we are secured through love’s appeal in the gospel, and the appeal that comes to us on account of the great sacrifice of love in Christ, so that one says, He “loved me, and gave himself for me”, we recognise that we are taken into the divine mediatorial and administrative system. So the woman in John 4 immediately becomes a vessel — not that the Lord sent her, but she becomes a vessel in her own mind and carries the thought on. “If thou knewest the gift of God”, the Lord says, “and who it is that says to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and ^[p. 5] he would have given thee living water”, that is, He was administrating. The verses at the end of chapter 3 state that “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things to be in his hand” — love underlies it all. The woman in John 4 takes on the work, in so far as she can, and carries the truth to others; the administration is ever widening, so that the Samaritans learn the Lord as the Saviour of the world, through that administrative act of hers.

Ques Referring to Peter as in John 13, would he come into the mediatorial system you are speaking of as a result of the action of the Lord?

JT He would have “part” with Christ. The Lord makes much in that section of whomsoever He sends — anyone receiving whomsoever He sends receives Him. It is the apostolic line, for the idea is a sent one. Peter as restored, fully set up in love, comes into the administrative side finally in chapter 21. The test was, “Lovest thou me?” — the Lord accepted finally that he did love Him, it came to light, it was manifest in him. The word used in the last reference meaning objective knowledge, meant, that the Lord could now see that love for Him was there, it was manifest. That is the thought; if love be there, the administrative representative side is there; the Lord committed the care of His lambs and sheep to Peter.

HC Is the apostolic side seen in the beginning of Mark 12?

JT Bond-service is there, conveying representation. Verse 2 says, a bondman was sent by the owner of the vineyard to the husbandmen; and again he sent another (verse 4); and again another (verse 5). What underlies bondmanship is love. One of the best examples of it is in Luke 15, where the bondmen are employed to clothe the prodigal in his heavenly attire. There is no rivalry, they are doing it ^[p. 6] happily.

EG Is the thought seen in the letter to Philemon? Paul says of Onesimus, “whom I was desirous of keeping with myself, that for thee he might minister to me in the bonds of the glad tidings”.

JT Well, exactly. He became attached to Paul through the gospel, he was his child through the gospel, and he had desired to retain him for service, but crediting Philemon with his service.

Ques The apostle, in the epistle to the Romans, speaks of himself as a bondman and then he speaks of the fact that he served God in his spirit; would that mean that his service as a bondman was carried out not in a legal fashion, but under the influence of divine love?

JT Yes. His very being was in it, he served God in his spirit.

EG Does that show that without love I am of no use in the economy? The word bondman might be used. In Revelation 2 the Lord speaks of His bondmen; but they are corrupted by Jezebel’s evil teaching.

JT Well, they would still be bondmen; an unconverted man might be used. I think the Lord alludes to Judas in John 13 — “He who receives whomsoever I shall send receives me”; that is, Judas’s words were undoubtedly used and he was representative of Christ, too, in his apostleship, but he was a lost man, and I have no doubt that what the Lord meant in alluding to him, as He does in verse 20, would cover the truth as it has come down to us.

It may have come through unconverted men, but it is not invalidated by that; it stands, the representation of Christ holds throughout the dispensation, although much may have come to us through men whom we could hardly say were characteristically bondmen. We may say that what has come down to us came down by the Spirit, which is true, but it has come down also through men, of whom some ^[p. 7] could hardly be called bondmen characteristically; but yet the testimony has come to us.

Ques Are you referring now to the preservation of the Holy Scriptures, and such like?

JT Yes, all that is under Christ; and in the service He used what was available, that is, the best there was. You see throughout Scripture that God carries on, but sometimes with very poor instruments. He used an ass, for instance, and other such instrumentalities; so that we cannot be exclusive in what we say of what the Lord may use. Our concern now is what is characteristic of the economy, that love is the great thought underlying it all, and it is a proved love. So that, as we have often remarked, Peter in his replies, appeals first to the Lord’s conscious knowledge, that is, what He had divinely, He knew everything. “Thou knowest all things”, he says; but what is in the Lord’s mind or thoughts may not be unfolded to us. In verse 17 Peter uses the word for objective knowledge, saying, “thou knowest that I am attached to thee” — then it is an attested love. John’s gospel makes much of the attestation of things, even as to the water and the blood that flowed from the side of Jesus, the one who writes, witnessed the blood, and his witness is true. Then, in his epistle, he speaks of the threefold witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood. So that what is in the economy into which we are brought is not a concealed matter, it is an attested matter, and you want to be of it characteristically, so that you can say, like Peter, “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I am attached to thee”.

AWR Would that be seen in Philippians 1, where the apostle speaks of some who preached Christ out of envy, but others of love, and the apostle rejoiced that the gospel was preached?

JT You cannot think that the ones who were preaching out of envy belonged to the economy ^[p. 8] characteristically, but still the apostle rejoiced that the gospel was preached. What a difference in those who preached out of love to support what the apostle was standing for! He was stressing that his position in prison was representative; it was manifest in all the praetorium and to all others that his bonds were in Christ, that is, he is representative in the position. We do not want to be in any position that is not representative of God and of Christ. If one is under discipline he is not representative of the economy, he is in prison under penalty; he has sinned and is falsifying the economy.

Rem The Lord said of Himself, “Altogether that which I also say to you”.

JT Yes, He was representative personally. It is a very important matter now we are in the last days, whether there is any representation of the dispensation, of the administrative system which is in the hands of Christ.

HC Paul says, in Acts 20, that he had declared to them the whole counsel of God, but then he says, “these hands have ministered ...”; and then he says, “I have shewed you all things, that thus labouring we ought to come in aid of the weak”.

Ques In connection with what you are saying, is it not significant that the case of the Hebrew bondman follows immediately on the giving of the law?

JT Yes, showing that love would fulfil the law. Jehovah unfolding His rights in Exodus 20 speaks of the “thousands of them that love me” — not that should love, but that do — He knew them. We are not told who they were, but we have the great example in the Hebrew bondman. He says, “I love” — “I love my master”. He is the first one in Scripture who says, I love. That is the basis of all that follows. One said to the Lord, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,

^[p. 9] and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets”. Matthew 22: 36 - 40. That is the position in Exodus, that love, as Paul said in Romans, is the fulfilling of the law.

CS Are the qualities seen in Abigail, who was prepared to serve as a bondwoman?

JT Well, she is a type of the assembly, of course — the feminine side. It is well to keep that in mind, for Scripture develops masculine love and feminine love — in a spiritual way, I mean; love takes these two forms. The feminine, of course, is in the assembly; the masculine flows out from God to Christ, that is the supreme thought.

JS The little maid who served Naaman was an example.

JT Quite so. She was really a slave, a captive maid, but she was full of right feeling. “Oh, would that my lord were before the prophet that is in Samaria! then he would cure him of his leprosy”, 2 Kings 5: 3. That is the thought, she is administrating the truth really, showing how the thing is brought down to the least; so Paul says, the least in the assembly may carry on judicial service amongst the brethren.

HPW Are the features that are accredited to Philadelphia suggestive of the bondman, especially keeping the word of His patience, as being akin to watching?

JT Yes. The idea of bondmanship must enter to the state indicated in Philadelphia: “thou hast a little power, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name”.

EG The thought of watching in this is mentioned three times in Mark 13, the first coupled with ^[p. 10] prayer.

JT I think we should keep that in mind, it is stressed — “But what I say to you, I say to all. Watch”. The allusion is to the strenuous conditions that would result from the Lord’s leaving the disciples and shows the urgency of vigilance as attaching to bondmen. He gave to the bondman the authority, to each one his work, and commanded the doorkeeper that he should watch; that is, do not let in extraneous or adverse elements; see to that, and then, “Watch therefore, for ye do not know when the master of the house comes”. And then again, “What I say to you, I say to all, Watch”. The demand is upon us to be vigilant, whether as regards those who come in, or as to current conditions in christendom, or in the world generally, or whether as to the Lord’s coming; vigilance is urgent.

Now this leads us to the book of Revelation, and perhaps no passage confirms the idea of what we are saying as to the economy more than these verses in chapter 1; indeed I believe they allude to the verses read in Mark, in which the Lord says, that the Son does not know “of that day or of that hour”. We have here, “Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him”, that is, He is so representative of the economy that the revelation is given to Him; carrying out His thought in Mark 13: 32. He takes that attitude.

HPW Is it important for us to keep the two sides going on together? On the one hand, there is the work — “to every man his work” — and then the watching. Would that be watching the movements of the Lord, so that the work is to go on hand in hand — the outcome of the communion of our hearts with the Lord Himself as to what He is doing?

JT Yes. There are three main thoughts: the authority is given to the bondmen, the authority, that is, the whole position is worked out down here in those who have the authority; and then the “work”, each one having his work; he is not sitting on an episcopal throne exercising his authority, he has his own work to do and he is doing it; then the watching. The “house” is the sphere in mind; the door-keeper would be vigilant in regard to any that might come in, or as to the order of the house, and so forth; then the general thought of watching as to the Lord’s coming, and then finally, “What I say to you, I say to all, Watch”. Every one is to watch.

HPW Our work is to be co-ordinated; have we to guard against independency? — it is His work and He gives it, so that whatever is given is carried out under the Lord.

JT That is right, and in the sense of “the authority”. If Paul and Barnabas are to be selected for the work, the saints are taken into account — the assembly at Antioch. “Separate me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them”. Acts 13: 2. The Spirit is making the appointment, but He is taking the assembly into what He is doing; the authority is in that setting, but on the principle their being bondmen.

Ques Ought there to be an understanding between us and the Lord as to what the work is?

JT I think so; the servant gets his commission from the Lord. The public assembly has taken on the authority, and exercises it, not only as regards fellowship generally and the support of ministers, but even as to the appointment of the ministers. This is not scriptural. The episcopal idea is that the gift comes down through the hands of the elderhood; but as set out in Scripture, gift is direct from the Lord — “with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery”; they had fellowship in it, but the commission and the gift are directly from the Lord. 2 Timothy 1: 6 is, of course, apostolic. The assembly has no authority all in regard of a servant’s commission or even in ^[p. 12] regard of service; they may show sympathy and interest, but to his own Master he stands or falls.

WH Would that be seen when Saul said, “What shall I do, Lord?” — and then he is told to go to Damascus, as if he learnt in the company of the brethren what his peculiar service and gift was?

JT Yes. His particular service was not marked out for him till he had served a year at Antioch, but initially it was to come through the saints at Damascus. So that no servant is sent out in independency; in normal conditions the saints lay their hands upon him. In due course it will be seen that his commission and his gift are from the Lord. At Antioch you get the full levitical thought: they committed themselves to Barnabas and Saul and “let them go”, but they did not send them, they were “sent forth by the Holy Spirit”.

Ques Would the assembly be able to see gift as it comes to light, and be concerned as to its development?

JT I think that is right; the assembly should be able to name the effect of the divine work. As we see the effect of divine work we are to name it. Take for instance Barnabas, he was surnamed by the apostles “son of consolation” — that was the fruit of the divine work.

Ques How would you connect the Lord giving a commission to Judas with an unconverted man now taking up such a position?

JT We cannot say very much; it is a question of what Scripture recognises, that Judas was used; and even an unconverted man might be used of God in His sovereignty. We are, however, speaking now of the characteristics of the economy, the true thought is bondmanship and what underlies that thought is, love as seen in Christ.

GC Paul, in writing to Timothy, says, “the servant of the Lord must not strive”.

JT A very important side of the instruction governing service.

HB You have referred to the ministerial side of it, those who are serving publicly; would it include the bondmen and bondmaidens who do not take up that service, but have other work?

JT Quite so; we are all taken into it. In Revelation the bondmen of the Lord were sealed on their foreheads, there are a hundred and forty-four thousand of them; we shall see that the idea is inclusive of all the saints; every saint is in principle brought into the administrative side of the economy, not only to be benefited in it, but to be a benefit in it.

Ques Would Colossians 4: 12 bring that in? It says, “Epaphras, who is one of you, the bondman of Christ Jesus, salutes you, always combating earnestly for you in prayers, to the end that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God”.

JT Praying is certainly a good part of the service, and especially if you have to combat; it is real work. “For this cause I bow my knees”, Paul said, meaning that the work is so great that it is pressing on you. So Elijah put his face between his knees; that is real service, agonising in prayer, combating in it, that the end might be reached. It is a question if here is a greater service that can be rendered than that, and Epaphras was that kind of bondman.

Ques Would this thought of bondmanship apply especially today when, in some countries, governments are making demands on the saints, and, in other countries, it is trade unions and such-like organisations? Would all that be met on the ground that you are a bondman?

JT I think we shall be helped on that point; it belongs to chapter 7 of our subject, but it is well to have it in mind here so that we may see the drift of what is in view, the varied features into which the ^[p. 14] subject of bondmanship enters. Chapter 7 refers to “the bondmen of our God” being sealed; but the beginning of Revelation is striking as linking, on, as I believe, with Mark 13, and explaining what the Lord said, that the Son does not know, the angels do not know, the Father reserving the matter to Himself. “Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him, to shew to his bondmen what must shortly take place; and he signified it, sending by his angel, to his bondman John, who testified the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, all things that he saw”. There is nothing outside of what he saw, so it is all on the principle of bondmanship — the bondmen are all to know this; but there is one selected, a trusted one, one whom Jesus loved, to whom the Lord signified this revelation. The word “signified” is taken from the word “sign” — it is what marks the whole book, but John understands it. The Revelation is signified to him by an angel and he testifies it as “the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ”. The book of the Revelation becomes, therefore, the word of God, and John was to testify all things he saw; he is thus a first-hand witness.

We can see thus how the principle of Mark 13 is stressed here, and that in these last days, when these great things that are signified by the angel to John are taking place, or about to take place, our understanding of them depends on bondmanship. There are those who take up Revelation and make much of the signs and symbols and compare them with current events, and all that, but it is a question of “the word of God” and bondmen taking it up, it is shown to them. The whole book is sent to the seven assemblies, through John, but the general thought is that the Apocalypse is the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ which God gave to Him, and He signified it, sending by His angel, to His bondman ^[p. 15] John. It was for the bondmen — that Jesus might show to His bondmen things which must shortly come to pass, and it is signified by a bondman, a particular one, a known, trusted one, namely John, who carried the commission out faithfully — he testified of all things that he saw.

Ques John says, “and the testimony of Jesus Christ” — what is the bearing of that, following on the word of God?

JT It is the “Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him”, and then John is the bondman “who testified the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, all things that he saw”. “Jesus Christ” is a well-known formal title, it is not exactly the anointed One, that is “Christ Jesus”, but rather the kind of man in the position of Christ — Jesus Christ; a well-known title, known to the saints as signifying quality, signifying endurance, what goes through in spite of all exigencies.

Ques John here speaks of the importance of seeing and reading and hearing and keeping, do these four things suggest important features of the bondmen?

JT Quite so. There is a special blessing attaching to the reading of the book. “Blessed is he that reads, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things written in it”. The bondmen would be marked by taking these things up, and it seems as if the Lord would encourage us at these readings now to persevere in these thoughts. Many may not be able to follow very well, none of us understands much, but the Lord, I think, would encourage us, by the premium attaching to this matter, to draw out the interest of the brethren here, young and old, so that we might come into this — the blessing. This is all introductory, for John wrote I suppose, after the Apocalypse was given to him, the Spirit helping him, and it should be an ^[p. 16] incentive to us to follow what the Lord sets forth, so that we might be more prepared to continue to the end in the attitude of bondmen. It is not optional; many take up things as if it were an optional matter, but there is no such thought in bondmanship as that; it is imperative, the will of the Lord is imperative, I must die to carry it out.

HB Do the “oughts” in John’s first epistle enforce this?

JT Yes.

Ques “The faithful and true witness” is to characterise all that there is for God?

JT Yes. Things are so often taken up lightly and superficially amongst us, as if they were just optional, but that will not do at all in the light of bondmanship.

WB Does Habakkuk give you an idea of a trusted bondman in his outlook and his care for the work of God? He says, “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved”, Habakkuk 2: l.

JT I think that is an excellent confirmation of what has been said. All the prophets were marked by this, as we shall see at the end of the book, the angel was one of them.

JG In Hebrews the apostle says, “Obey your leaders, and be submissive; for they watch over your souls as those that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not groaning, for this would be unprofitable for you”. Then I was thinking of the word in Mark, “what I say to you, I say to all, Watch”. In Hebrews we are to watch lest any one fails of the grace of God — a word to all of us — “lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one meal sold his birthright”. He “found no place for repentance although he sought it earnestly with tears”. In these scriptures we have the thought of authority in those who watch for our souls, and that we should watch lest any of us fail of the grace of God.

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