THE ASSEMBLY AT CORINTH IN ITS INITIAL FEATURES (2)
[p. 214] THE ASSEMBLY AT CORINTH IN ITS INITIAL FEATURES (2)
Ques Can you describe a spiritual man for us? What would characterise him?
JT An unspiritual man, or a babe in Christ, is one who sees men as trees walking; men have a great place with him. So there were those at Corinth who said, I am of Paul, and so on. A spiritual man sees all things clearly. In Mark 8 the Lord first touched the man, who then saw men as trees walking, but after the second touch he saw all things clearly. So the apostle says, “The spiritual discerns all things”,
1 Corinthians 2: 15. One is reminded of the wheels in Ezekiel 1: there were eyes in every part, hence we learn that it is necessary that one who takes a lead in the house of God where the government of God is seen should be spiritual; he should see things as they are and be uninfluenced by the natural.
Ques Would the babes to whom John writes be spiritual?
JT Well, as governed by the anointing they would be. More is said to the babes than to the other two classes; they were so exposed to antichristian influence. The apostle says, “Now these things, brethren, I have transferred, in their application, to myself and Apollos, for your sakes, that ye may learn in us the lesson of not letting your thoughts go above what is written, that ye may not be puffed up one for such a one against another”, 1 Corinthians 4: 6. He was concerned that the Corinthians might learn not to set local leaders one against another. Men are not trees.
Mark 8 is the end of a section in which the Lord acquired His own place in the mind of the disciples. He says (verse 27), “Who do men say that I am?”.
The disciples reply, “John the baptist; and others, Elias; but others, One of the prophets”. They would surely put Him amongst the ‘big men’, just as you see His name in the museums alongside that of Zoreaster and Plato, but the Lord says, “Who do men say that I am?”. And Peter answers, “Thou art the Christ”. In Mark it is the anointing that is prominent. The antichrist is set over against the Christ. The anointing enables you to apprehend the Christ, and the man at Bethsaida would be led on in that way. So long as men are seen as trees, the Lord is not much taller in your eyes, but when you see Him in His right place you recognise that men have no place beside Him. ‘Big men’ is a Philistine idea. It is a mistake to put up local leaders one against another. Paul was little (his name means little) and that is how he appears in these epistles. The results of a spiritual man’s life, scarcely understood by his own generation, are felt later. The import of Abel’s testimony was not understood in his own day, but he now speaks. The voice of the men of faith goes on.
One’s thoughts in regard to this section were connected with the temple; the Corinthians had to learn what they were. The apostle brings out at the end of the chapter that all the levites were the property of the saints, “Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things coming, all are yours; and ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s”. It is the opposite to the clerical thought which is that the flock is the property of the clergyman. The ministers subserve the assembly, so the levite is on a lower level than those to whom he ministers. The main point here is what the Corinthians are; thus they would understand the relative value of servants. The moment you see men as trees walking, you lay the basis for the clerical principle.
Priesthood is greater than what is levitical. The levite is personally a firstborn one. In our service we are [p. 216] given to the priests; we can stoop because of our greatness. Seeing his calling the apostle was great enough to be the least of all. Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building, Apollos and myself are just labourers, he says. It is what the saints are to God that is the great thing. It is beautiful how he connects himself with Apollos; there is no rivalry there. In most, if not all cases, where servants have been uplifted, the saints have helped in that; hence the danger of the babe state. A babe says, What a preaching that is! and is carried away by the sermon and the preacher. As you get older you see there are others in God’s plantation.
Ques What is the thought of the temple? What is the practical application?
JT You would not need to go out of the company to get the mind of God. The temple had been at Jerusalem; now saints would see it was amongst them, that they themselves were it. So they come together in the recognition of this. In Exodus God was to speak to the people off the mercy-seat. Moses went in and heard a voice. All he received would be on that principle, as I understand it. It comes out locally where saints turn to God about matters. It is a great thing for every local company to recognise that the light of God is in the company. God will not fail to convey His mind to us as coming together in this light. The Lord went into the temple; according to John 2, the word used describes the general building, but when He says, “Destroy this temple ...”, He uses another word, the shrine. He had in mind the thought of light. No one who sought light from God would fail to get it. Light would radiate from the Lord’s words. The Holy Spirit has come down, and now the body is called the Christ, the anointed vessel in which the light is diffused. The temple is a place of enquiry: “And to inquire of him in his temple”; the temple underlies the body. In the millennial [p. 217] day things will not be arbitrary, but intelligible. People will know by enquiry, they will see the rightness of things.
Ques Is the temple in view of administration?
JT Yes, in a sense, the mind of God is there and the church of God is to express that; it is the rule of influence. Attention is called to what the Spirit says, and yet He does not speak specifically, as things are to come out from time to time. In 1 Corinthians 3 a builder may be saved even though he puts in bad material, but the corrupter of the temple is not saved. The foundation is the order of man, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. What a Man He was! Paul would put that in the souls of the Corinthians by testimony and teaching; those who followed were to see to it that they put nothing else in. It is so easy to put in extraneous matter.
Ques What is the thought of a corrupter of the temple?
JT One who brings in someone else’s light, something that seems to be light but is false. Babes are exposed to that. Satan assumes to be the temple himself. One has known men who professed to have light from God from the moment, whereas they are corrupters. We have to do, not only with men’s intellects, but with evil spirits. This is that spirit of antichrist. They deny Jesus Christ come in flesh that order of man. They are not ordinary men. We are told to try the spirits. “Every spirit which confesses Jesus Christ come in flesh is of God; and every spirit which does not confess Jesus Christ come in flesh is not of God”, 1 John 4: 2, 3. There is the testimony of the apostles and of Jesus Christ come in flesh. You will always find that these false teachers are building up on the wrong man. One would be alive to the danger of so-called evangelism. Souls are undoubtedly enlightened but the features that go with the work are of man and entering into the building [p. 218] they prepare for its corruption. Souls do not get a right conception. Satan is at the meetings and the preacher is sowing seed that will bear a crop later on. All ministry is subject to test. If any one is transgressing the Scriptures he ought to be pulled up; however powerful what he says, he must be amenable to the judgment of his brethren. The idea of the temple is that the light of God is here. The body is more an external thought; the temple is inside. The light of the body shines in the world, whether men want it or not; but the temple is light to the saints, “Do ye not know that ye are the temple of God ..?”. That is the way the Spirit is spoken of in regard of the temple, but the anointing is public; it is the dignity of that vessel in which the light is set. The end of the chapter contemplates saints in a wonderful position; everything is ours. It saves one from the modern thought of a shepherd and a flock, the clerical thought; the flock is too great for that.