CHRIST'S KINGDOM NOT OF THIS WORLD (1)
CHRIST’S KINGDOM NOT OF THIS WORLD (1)
JT Scripture abounds with intimations that the dispensation in which we are is heavenly, and one hopes we may be helped to a more concrete understanding of this qualification. The heavenly character of the dispensation is admitted theoretically amongst us, but whether it is understood is a question. Current public events give occasion to bring out the concreteness of the truth of the heavenly character of christianity. The confession of the Lord Jesus before Pilate, recorded in our chapter, which is peculiar to John, will help us as to the initial thought in the subject, the Lord Jesus saying, “My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my servants had fought” (John 18: 36). This statement of the Lord is the kernel of the whole matter. In other dispensations from the very outset, the sword was used. War meant war in the physical sense, and this character of warfare will be resumed when the Lord Jesus returns publicly. In the meanwhile, as far as christians are concerned, the sword is put into the sheath (John 18: 11). “Our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against principalities, against authorities, against the universal lords of this darkness, against spiritual power of wickedness in the heavenlies” (Ephesians 6: 12). The Lord’s words before Pilate are especially alluded to by the apostle Paul, “Christ Jesus who witnessed before Pontius Pilate the good confession” (1 Timothy 6: 13).
The present time affords much opportunity to witness a good confession as to the character of the [p. 2] dispensation, and many are availing themselves of it. God is ordering it, confessions are reaching the authorities as the Lord’s confession reached Pilate. The Lord is pleased with the confessions that are being rendered, and the hope is that what may come before us may strengthen the position in that respect, especially that the idea of a good conscience towards God and before men may be clarified.
The Lord leads the way here, and in this first reading our remarks should bear on the phase of the subject in the passage read. Later we may be able to see the practical working out of the heavenly dispensation in our lives, as taught in Romans 12; later still in the truth of the heavenly calling in Ephesians; and the heavenly priesthood, entering into the service of God as shown in Hebrews: that in result we may have a clearer idea of the whole position, that it is really heavenly. Our contact with the earth is provisional in the sense that the assembly is of heaven; formed on the earth and used here for heavenly testimony at the moment, but received back into heaven as having spiritually come out of heaven. That is the general idea of what is in mind.
RRT Is your thought that the matter of confession has to do with the kingdom of heaven? Our confession as to our allegiance among men is a great matter just now, but the allegiance to Christ made Lord in heaven is much greater.
JT Quite so. John’s presentation of the matter is intelligible as entering into these last days, how the truth works out in remnant times. So that the chapter is a unique one, beginning with the Lord in the garden, not here called Gethsemane, because the idea of pressure is not the side of the truth presented in John. It is the Lord in liberty and power so that when He says, “I am he”, His enemies “went away backward and fell to the ground” (verse 6). Throughout He is in liberty and [p. 3] in peculiar power, which is applicable at the present time as to what is needed — a knowledge of the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, who He is divinely; and liberty in relation to that. We have priesthood in this chapter under the enemy’s power, in Annas and Caiaphas, and on the other hand Peter’s denial of the Lord Jesus without any repentance attached to it. In John we have the character of the general position in the last days indicated in this chapter, and the Lord’s confession coming in in these verses as the guide for the young men and for all of us at such a time.
DR What other dispensations do you refer to, and what would be the character of them with which you intend to contrast our dispensation?
JT Paul says, “these things happened as types of us” (1 Corinthians 10: 6); and in verse 11, “all these things happened to them as types, and have been written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come”. That would mean that there is capability contemplated in the assembly to take up everything; it is, as it were, a clearing house for the principles of all the dispensations. The assembly in which the all-various wisdom of God is active is, viewed normally, equal to this. All these principles are seen worked out in the very best hands, first in the Lord Jesus Himself, and then in the assembly in which the Holy Spirit dwells. The Spirit guides us into all the truth so that we understand divine principles, wherever they are, or however expressed.
The antediluvian period involved great root principles and the Spirit has opened them up to us through certain ministries divinely provided. We may regard it as a dispensation. That period of long lives was more extended than ours, but is covered by only six chapters of the Bible; but what histories and principles they contain! These all were written for us. They enter into our own times, but yet had application at that time.
[p. 4] Then there is the idea of God’s call, seen in Abraham, involving the great family of faith. There is no calling out of the antediluvian world, although there was suffering for the truth, calling on the name of Jehovah, separation and walk with God as apostasy set in. It is after the flood that the call comes in, when idolatry had gained a footing. Nothing is said about idolatry in the first world.
Exodus introduces the dispensation of law under Moses. It continued on to Christ; but features were added, each of which had in itself a dispensatory character: judges as set up of God; and particularly kingship as inaugurated in David, through whom the royal seed was established. All these dispensations are only intelligible in the assembly; in their full significance they awaited the presence of Christ on earth, and, redemption accomplished, the presence of the Holy Spirit here in the assembly. The principles involved could not otherwise be perfectly administered nor even fully understood; the prophets sought to understand the things they ministered, and it was revealed to them that it was to us they ministered them (1 Peter 1: 10 - 13). The Psalms express the greatest spirituality and it is quite plain that in speaking of the principles of the earlier dispensations they had Christ in view.
DR You think then that God has in mind the assembly as the consummation of all the dispensations?
JT Yes, the divine thought is that, not only what comes out of heaven, but everything to be established in the millennium is to be made intelligible in the assembly.
JLF This thought of witnessing a good confession enters into our own period and it also extends back to the dispensations which have gone before, does it not? Paul and Stephen are examples in the former, and [p. 5] Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego in Old Testament times. You get a climax as to this in the passage before us — “Christ Jesus who witnessed before Pontius Pilate the good confession”.
JT Just so. We have it in a supreme way here, and it is taken up in the epistles for our learning. Perhaps before we enter fully into the verses read we should grasp the teaching of the chapter, that we may understand the conditions that occasioned the truth the Lord developed.
The garden into which the Lord and His disciples entered is noted, and Judas and his band came there. “Judas therefore, having got the band, and officers of the chief priests and Pharisees, comes there with lanterns and torches and weapons” (verse 3). That is, it is an apostate crowd coming back to attack the Lord with light, such as lanterns and torches; also with weapons. Then, “Jesus therefore, knowing all things that were coming upon him, went forth and said to them, Whom seek ye?” (verse 4). “Knowing all things”. We are not to be in the dark as to these circumstances; whatever the enemy may be thinking of, the saints are to know. John says elsewhere, “ye have the unction from the holy one, and ye know all things” (1 John 2: 20). Then the Lord says, “Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus the Nazaraean. Jesus says to them, I am he. And Judas also, who delivered him up, stood with them. When therefore he said to them, I am he, they went away backward and fell to the ground” (verses 5, 6). So that there is triumph manifested in relation to the Person of Christ. As long as the Person of Christ is the basis of the position, then nothing can stand before it. This being attested, the Lord allows Himself to be bound and led away.
CAM They were against the name of Jesus the Nazaraean, the despised Man. But what came out was that they were also against [p. 6] God.
JT That is it. The Lord accepts the lowly title. He says, “I am he”, but then, a divine Person was there, God was there. He answered to the name, “Jesus the Nazaraean”, but who He was expressed itself in power as He said, “I am he”. “They went away backward and fell to the ground”. ‘He’ is not in the original, so that His Person is expressed in ‘I am’. “Jesus therefore, knowing all things that were coming upon him, went forth and said to them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus the Nazaraean. Jesus says to them, I am he”. When He said to them “I am he, they went away backward and fell to the ground”. That is the basis of the whole position: Jesus is I Am.
The will of God was that He should die. Peter uses the sword, but the Lord says to him, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it?” That is the position, the will of God; whatever God orders is according to His will, and the responsibility of the believer is to stand by that; in connection with it is the divine presence and nothing can overcome it. The will of God must be accepted, even if it involves death, as we see in the Lord here, but the presence of God with us and the power that marks it settles all for the faithful believer.
ADS What is the import of His asking of them again in verse 7, “Whom seek ye?”
JT Well, that is to bring out what was definitely in the minds of the betrayer and his band; so they said again, “Jesus the Nazaraean”. Then “Jesus answered, I told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go away; that the word might be fulfilled which he spoke, As to those whom thou hast given me, I have not lost one of them”. That is, the saints are being looked after in these terrible situations. The Lord is there, His Person is in evidence and the power [p. 7] that causes them to go backward. But He adds, “If therefore ye seek me, let these go away”. He is going into the grave by the will of God, but He takes care of the saints. They are all divinely looked after.
RRT Would it be right to say that the opposition of the enemy in the various dispensations takes character from the vessel that God is using for the moment? That is, the opposition of the enemy here is centred against Christ as here in the flesh.
JT Yes; thus He challenges them: “Whom seek ye?” It is a question of the will of God, and hence those who are attacked are not evading anything that may come upon them in the way of suffering, for the will of God must stand. But the Lord shows here that He has power to deliver His servants. He allows His enemies to take Him, but says, “let these go away;” He takes care of His people. That is one of the greatest comforts.
CHH Would what you are saying enter into Paul’s account of the Lord’s supper? He says, “the Lord Jesus, in the night in which he was delivered up” (1 Corinthians 11: 23). He uses the term “Lord” as well as “Jesus” — the Lord, and yet Jesus, that very Person.
JT Quite so. He “took bread, and having given thanks broke it”, verse 24. He is in the circle of the saints. It is in view of His going away and leaving something for their affections by which they should remember Him. Here He is taking care of the saints. “If therefore ye seek me, let these go away; that the word might be fulfilled which he spoke, As to those whom thou hast given me, I have not lost one of them”.
JLF The Lord jealously takes care of what should characterise the situation. On the one hand, divine power was there in Him, on the other hand He would not allow Peter’s sword to falsify the position.
JT That is right; He healed the ear of the bondman of the high priest (Luke 22: 51). In view of the [p. 8] destructive and defiling conditions in which many of our brethren are today the Lord’s word here, “I have not lost one of them”, is most assuring. He also said, “a hair of your head shall in no wise perish” (Luke 21: 18).
CAM The number of officials, including officers of the chief priests who came with Judas, is remarkable.
JT I thought of that. How miserable the whole effort was, including their lanterns and torches! Compare them with Christ — the light and power manifest in Him! How morally despicable was this band of Judas! With the betrayer were the representatives of the accepted current religion to arrest and crucify the Lord of glory! It is really an apostate band with their pretended lights, but the Lord exposes them, especially their impotence. But still He is not destroying them. Infinite power was there, but instead of using it against His enemies, He allows Himself to be taken, directing that they should let the disciples go away. Like the ark in the wilderness, He was really taking a three days’ journey to find a resting-place for His own, (Numbers 10: 33).
RRT Does this passage also indicate the greatness of the Person? It says, “that the word might be fulfilled which he spoke”. We have referred to the Lord fulfilling the prophetic word in Scripture, but here His own word takes that place.
JT Yes. The allusions to the fulfilment of Scripture in this gospel are striking; that nothing is left out. In John everything is according to plan, you might say, in spite of all that has happened, in spite of the darkening influences of the middle ages and what has come down to us today, everything is proceeding in our time according to divine ordering. “These things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled, Not a bone of him shall be broken” (John 19: 36). When the Scriptures are assailed by so-called critics, with their “lanterns and torches and weapons”, the Spirit of God shows in John that Scripture is true and that it cannot be broken (John 10: 35); that what God is doing is according to what is written.
JAW Referring to the lanterns and torches, do you have in mind the literature, secular and religious, which has expression in the world today, and which sometimes finds its place in the minds of the saints?
JT That is the idea. The Spirit of God is here speaking ironically of the boasted light of modern science as to the things of God. The leaders have torches and lanterns and weapons; with the weapons, they will persecute. The weapons go with the lanterns. The Lord says to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath”. You are not to use such a weapon. Doing the will of God may involve persecution. The Lord here says, “The cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it?” Judas and his band have their lanterns and torches and weapons to do harm to Him who is doing the will of God.
JAW Would you say that truth is followed up in Paul before Agrippa when he says, “Whereupon, king Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision” (Acts 26: 19). The light found its way into Paul’s heart?
JT Yes. There was testimony to him in a two-fold way — light from heaven and a voice from heaven; and both the light and the voice evidently increased in his mind as he progressed in the truth.
JLF Would the fact that Judas stood with them be an effort to bolster up their position?
JT No doubt; he was there unrelentingly.
JAW Thinking of our young men, if the lanterns and the torches are not effective in extinguishing this loyalty to Christ, the weapons may come into effect in putting some into prisons and concentration camps. Is that [p. 10] the idea?
JT Yes; the weapons attached to the lanterns and torches. Then following upon that, Peter’s action in using the sword is to bring out what some christians are doing. “Simon Peter therefore, having a sword, drew it, and smote the bondman of the high priest and cut off his right ear; and the bondman’s name was Malchus”. So that we must not use the sword. How sad that a christian should cut off a man’s right ear — that by which he should hear the gospel! The Lord’s remark to him settles the matter as to the use of the sword; the truth requires that we should not use it. He says, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it?” That is the ground we take. It is a question of the will of God. Nothing happens without the will of God, and if we are attacked, it is for us to take the attitude of sufferers instead of using the sword. “For thy sake we are put to death all the day long; we have been reckoned as sheep for slaughter. But in all these things we more than conquer through him that has loved us” (Romans 8: 36, 37).
JLF Has the cup here reference to the cross?
JT Yes. It is a question of the will of God. That is the point. The Father had given Jesus a cup to drink. He says, “Not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26: 39). Nothing happens without being in accord with the will of God, so that, if it entails suffering for us, we must accept it.
JLF I was wondering how the thought of the cup here would link up with John’s line?
JT It is suffering for the will of God. The crucifixion was in mind; the will of God required the death of Christ. But a triumphant character marks His death in chapters 18 and 19. Although the Sufferer, He is supreme throughout. Alas! human hatred was there, but its violent stroke only brought forth the blood and water from the side of Christ. There was there provided [p. 11] for faith the means of the settlement of every moral issue which had arisen through the working of sin in men.
DR Would the Lord’s remark to Peter here be the basis of maintaining faith and a good conscience today?
JT Yes. That is what the Lord is bringing out here. He is weaving the fabric of the dispensation in directing that the sword is to be sheathed. The Father’s will is the supreme matter for us. If it entails persecution we suffer. “Bless those that curse you; pray for those who use you despitefully” (Luke 6: 28).
JAW Referring to the ear again: it is the medium through which truth enters into the mind. The saints of God, as coming under the authority of Christ, are to see that the light of the gospel should reach the ears of all men.
JT Luke says that the ear was healed, but it does not say that here. Things here are running on to the end just as they are. Peter’s act, or the effect of it, is allowed to stand, and Peter does not get recovered here. The effect of adverse things is allowed to stand to the end.
JAW That principle runs down to our day.
JT Well, it is the most solemn thing that certain things are allowed to stand. “Let him that does unrighteously do unrighteously still; and let the filthy make himself filthy still” (Revelation 22: 11).
RB I suppose in the eyes of the world Peter’s act would be an act of righteous belligerency, but in the presence of the Lord it is rebuked.
JT It is the will of God taking the place of the sword; and this implies that suffering is accepted instead of having recourse to vengeance. The young men say to the authorities, It is a question of the will of God. If it is the will of God that His people should now take the sword, they will do it, but then the will of [p. 12] God does not allow it. The Lord Himself plainly intimates this in the chapter before us.
CAM At the time of the Reformation the sword was used by some who in measure supported the truth, but they ignored the Lord’s instruction in our chapter.
JT Yes. Christianity is developed in suffering, in persons accepting the will of God. The light, as God furnishes it by the Spirit, accompanies that.
RRT Two statements of the Lord in this chapter connect beautifully: “The cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it?” verse 11, and, “My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my servants had fought” verse 36.
JT That is right. The Lord in directing Peter to put the sword into the sheath is saving him from discrediting the dispensation He was inaugurating.
RRT Thus the Lord Himself becomes the example in this respect for the whole dispensation.
JT That is what I thought we might see in this chapter — “the good confession” (1 Timothy 6: 13).
ADS Mohammedanism springs out of the use of the sword, does it not?
JT Yes; by military conquest it spread through the Near East to India, towards the West into Eastern Europe, and through North Africa up into Spain. What a great contrast to what we are considering!
AD S. In connection with the matter of confession, I was wondering if, for the sake of our younger brethren, we might not get some help out of Romans 10: 8, 9, “the word of faith, which we preach: that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord”. One had thought that confession was initial or elementary, but in the light in which you are presenting it, it would seem that it is something to be carried through. Am I right in that?
JT Yes, confession saves you, the confession with your mouth. The idea is to confess in [p. 13] the presence of the enemy. God defends that, He defends the confessors.
JAW It would appear that what you have just said in respect to the ear not being restored makes the present moment a very solemn one. The truth is out, and the present ministry which they have refused means cutting off really.
JT That is right. The judicial dealings on the part of God in Revelation bring that out, that if one goes on and on refusing the truth God may say in effect, The end for you has come, you are filthy and you will be filthy, (Revelation 22: 11). It is a very solemn matter. Here it is opposition taking the form of apostasy in Judas and his band, and everything is just left as it is. But those who are real and faithful are going on with confession. The Lord is making clear the position, that His kingdom is not of this world. It must have been a wholly new thing to Pilate; doubtless he had never heard of a kingdom not of this world; but the Lord described His kingdom in this way. People today do not understand the Lord’s people, why they cannot do as others. The answer is simple — they belong to Christ’s heavenly kingdom. They are not of this world as He is not of this world.
JLF It was a matter in relation to which the Lord had to continually adjust the disciples, was it not? In one instance two of them wanted to call down fire from heaven to consume certain ones, (Luke 9: 54).
JT Quite so. Then the following facts here are to be noted: Peter’s denial of the Lord, and the high priesthood in Caiaphas, to whom Annas was father-in-law; and, in keeping with this gospel, the liberty and dignity which marks the Lord. There is also the brutal unfairness among those present who should have been the guardians of righteousness: “One of the officers who stood by gave a blow on the face to Jesus, saying, Answerest thou the high priest thus?” verse 22. And [p. 14] not a word from the high priest as to this cruel action. He smites the Lord of glory. The Lord says, “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why smitest thou me?” verse 23. That is another principle: witness in relation to judicial procedure. The chapter contemplates that the high priesthood, though used by the devil now, had yet divine authority attached to it. Indeed Caiaphas had already prophesied, as we are told here, and that is another thing; it was an important truth directly relative to the Lord Jesus, that one man must die for the people. It was the time of one man dying for the people. How solemnly impressive is this group of circumstances!
CAM It would be almost like Balaam’s prophecy, would you say?
JT It is of that character. It is remarkable how things have turned around in modern times. A certain system long opposed to the truth is now contending for some features of it. In Europe one high up in the system made lately a striking statement — that no blood is of any moral value but the blood of Christ. God would help even such a man contending for such a great truth. And so as to what John 18 presents, God could, a little while earlier, use a man to prophesy the truth, who is now condemning Christ to death.
CAM No doubt some are suffering for Christ’s sake in the so-called systems.
JT God has in some sense a testimony there. And there is in them what God owns as responsible; thus what the Lord Jesus said to the cleansed leper applies: “go, shew thyself to the priest, ... for a testimony to them” (Matthew 8: 4).
JAW But is it not true that many of the so-called preachers of today deny the divinity of Christ? In other words, they give “a blow on the face to Jesus”.
JT They do indeed; but there are others who confess the truth of His [p. 15] Person.
PH What is the significance of the Catholic church bringing out a new revision of the Scriptures just lately and putting it into the hands of the people?
JT It bears on what we are remarking. I understand the New Testament only has been revised. But the general position remains unchanged and the judgment announced will not fail, so that Revelation 16: 19 says, “And great Babylon was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath”. For the moment other things are more prominent but the final judgment of “the great harlot” is certain.
To proceed with our chapter — verses 28 - 32: “They lead therefore Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium, and it was early morn. And they entered not into the praetorium, that they might not be defiled, but eat the passover”. They are carrying on religiously in spite of all these things. “Pilate therefore went out to them and said, What accusation do ye bring against this man? They answered and said to him, If this man were not an evildoer, we should not have delivered him up to thee. Pilate therefore said to them, Take him, ye, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said to him, It is not permitted to us to put any one to death; that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled which he spoke, signifying what death he should die”. This signifies that the word of Jesus comes into these circumstances; it is not a matter of chance, the word of Jesus must come to pass. It is a question of divine plan, not accidental at all. Then the Lord is in the presence of Pilate, and the fact comes out that Pilate abstractly is ready to do what is right; but he is influenced by the religious element. This indicates the uncertainty of the governing powers, and thus that our eyes must ever be on God. The best are apt to be governed by political motives. However, we must be thankful for any government that is ready to do right.
JLF [p. 16] Would you say that according to John we cannot trust anything that is outward? Here is a disciple denying Jesus and another delivering Him up. Would you say that the high priest in his position, acting as he does, and the Roman governor walking forward and backward in uncertainty, testify that there is nothing outward to be trusted?
JT That is what the chapter presents. The next chapter records that Pilate scourged Jesus and brought Him out clothed in a purple robe put on Him in derision, saying, “I find in him no fault whatever”, verse 4; so that government is seen broken down. Although Pilate had right thoughts at the beginning, he finally gave way to the Jews and delivered Jesus to be crucified. Thus nothing of man can be trusted. But a government may be trustworthy for a little while according to the will of God, and we can thank Him for this. The prayers of the saints have a great deal to do with it.
RRT But on the other side and opposed to all that cannot be trusted, the word of Jesus is fulfilled. That is going through.
JT That should be steadily in view.
CSP He bears witness to the truth.
JT The conversation in the verses we read between the Lord Jesus and Pilate brings this out. The character of this dispensation enters into it. The Lord says, “My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my servants had fought that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but now my kingdom is not from hence”. It is not an ordinary kingdom coming down from an old dispensation, but another order of things entirely, not of this world at all.
CSP Would that be seen in His baptism? That is, He is baptised, and all men come to Him. A man cannot receive anything except it be given him from above.
JT Just so, that is right. The heavenly order [p. 17] of things is coming into evidence in the ‘good confession’ of the Lord Jesus.
HG Do you think that the Lord had this in mind when He said in John 11: 7 - 9, “Let us go into Judaea again”? The disciples said, “Rabbi, even but now the Jews sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?” The Lord says, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any one walk in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world”.
JT Yes, and He is not afraid of the possibilities. Thomas says, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him”, and of course martyrdom was in mind. But He went into Judaea nevertheless. He faces whatever the will of God requires. That is the great point now — accept whatever the will of God requires.
DR Would you help us as to how we may be freed on the ground of a good conscience from taking the sword? There is the tendency on the part of some young men to make a choice of some certain service so that they might not have to use a sword.
JT The question of how that works out in Canada, for instance, as to the question of conscience, is very poor, I understand. In certain districts a labour camp is the only alternative for a man who wants to keep a good conscience before God and men. One may say, I will select a certain service and ask that I be put down to medical work; but there is no guarantee in that, that you will be saved from taking a sword. That is your own device. The only right alternative for faith is to accept what non-combatant work the government allocates to you, and leave it with God.
DR Making a selection which may involve the use of the sword is taking ourselves out of the path of God’s will.
JT I think it is compromise and one may have self in view: perhaps wages or something that is more [p. 18] respectable. If I am on that line I am sure to suffer. The simple acceptance of whatever God allows, providing I can keep a good conscience, is the thing. If it is a question of conscience, let it be conscience, not compromise, because conscience is the point — “a good confession”.
JAW On that particular point, what lay before the three young men in the book of Daniel was the fiery furnace. They accepted that as the will of God for them.
JT It is very pronounced; they tell the king what they could not do. They were very definite in stating that.
WT Did not something go before that? There were other princes that had gone out of Judah beforehand.
JT These three and Daniel seem to be God’s best. In a crisis God always has those who are equal to it. The idea of a man of God is one who represents Him in a crisis. These four mentioned in the book of Daniel, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, seem to be the divine provision for the situations that arose; and they shine.
JAW Coming down to our day, would you say that Timothy was a man that stood out in a crisis? He was a young man addressed as a man of God.
JT That is the idea. He is about the only one called a man of God in the New Testament. He served in a broken state of things, as Elijah and Elisha did. They are outstanding men of God. In connection with them you get more references to men of God than anywhere else. It is a state of defection that specially brings out the need for men of God.
RRT I think what you say about making a compromise is important. Was that not a reason for the failure of Peter here? “Peter was standing with them and warming himself”, verse 18. That savours of [p. 19] making a compromise with the enemy to make the path easier. It is bound to end in failure, is it not?
JT Yes; what comes out in the chapter is that John was known to the high priest, and through his influence Peter got into the palace. Then Peter is warming himself with the others. So that if I ask for a certain work or regiment that is a little more respectable, but perhaps brings me into worldly associations, I shall suffer. As sure as possible, if I make a compromise and take myself out of the hands of God, I get into circumstances that occasion damage. That is what happens here.
RRT The Lord’s word to Peter was, “The cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it?” Peter had not profited by that word, had he?
JT He had not, and he is allowed to go through here as a type of a person who denies the Lord. He has to suffer to remind us that we must not resort to human influence to reach an end, because we take ourselves out of the hands of God and thus the enemy has an advantage.
HG What the Lord did in accepting the cup is the only standard for us.
Ques Just why is Peter found with the sword in the company of Christ? Do you think that would be because of defection?
JT The answer is in Luke 22: 35 - 38; but that passage shows that the disciples did not understand the Lord’s mind. His remarks vividly told them that the protection His presence with them afforded was to cease, and hence that for a while at least they would have to see to themselves. The means the Lord expressed were to be understood by the principles He had taught and exemplified, but they would be obliged to exercise them without His aid. They regarded His words literally, hence Peter’s error in smiting the high priest’s bondman. Their warfare was [p. 20] to be spiritual, as Paul teaches in Ephesians 6 and elsewhere.
JAW Would your point be illustrated in 2 Kings 7 as to Samaria, where Elisha is? It is surrounded by the king of Syria’s army; but the Syrians hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, and the noise of a great host. They flee and the lepers find their camp with plenty of food, silver, gold and garments. That is divine help. It is not a sword, is it?
JT That is right. The inquiry is constantly made of the young brothers, What would you do if your mother were attacked by the enemy? But God is left out. The chapter before us shows the Lord Jesus being attacked and Peter uses the sword to defend Him, but the Lord told him to “put the sword into the sheath”.
CSP Is that the attitude of the Lord in this gospel, that He is receiving the things? He is not taking them into His hands.
JT Yes; He accepted the cup as expressing the will of the Father.
In considering Pilate we are out of the realm of the high priest and in the presence of the representative of the four monarchies, the representative of government. The Lord says to him, “Thou hadst no authority whatever against me if it were not given to thee from above” (John 19: 11). Earlier it is said, “Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thy nation and the chief priests have delivered thee up to me: what hast thou done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my servants had fought that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but now my kingdom is not from hence”. God is stressing what the Lord says here. It should be kept before our eyes in the boldest type so that it should govern us at the present time.
MDF Would you tell us why men in general did not understand the Lord?
JT John’s gospel certainly makes it simple. He came as light into the world: “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light appears in darkness, and the darkness apprehended it not” (John 1: 4, 5). That is the connection with all that follows as to why men could not understand.
MDF Did the Lord not indicate who would receive Him and who would hear Him?
JT He did. In the opening section of John’s gospel you get the whole position. “In him was life, and the life was the light of men”. Not light for angels but for men. It was not a torch or a lantern, but the full blaze of light divine in a Man, a Man among men. Surely everybody sees this! John, however, points out that everyone does not see it. The light appears in darkness and the darkness apprehends it not. Then, “There was a man sent from God, his name John. He came for witness, that he might witness concerning the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but that he might witness concerning the light. The true light was that which, coming into the world, lightens every man” (John 1: 6 - 9). Light shines on him, but he is not letting it in. Then we are told, “He came to his own, and his own received him not”. The Lord was in the world, made by Him, and the world did not know Him; “but as many as received him, to them gave he the right to be children of God, to those that believe on his name; who have been born, not of blood, nor of flesh’s will, nor of man’s will, but of God”. “But of God”, that is the secret. It is the work of God, and nothing else will do; no matter how learned and energetic you may be, you must have the work of God underneath or you are dark and unfruitful.
CHH Do all these circumstances you have been speaking of form a kind of area in which we bear witness of the truth? The final word here from the Lord is, “that I might bear witness to the truth”.
JT That is the thought, we must stand by the truth. It shows the terrible darkness we have to do with. The Lord says, “I have been born for this, and for this I have come into the world, that I might bear witness to the truth”, verse 37. Thus we too are here, and we too must stand by the truth. That is what comes out. Pilate says, “What is truth? And having said this he went out again to the Jews, and says to them, I find no fault whatever in him”, verse 38. He did not wait for the answer. He wanted to know what was truth, but the truth was there before his eyes, and spoken in his ears.
What comes out in chapters 18 and 19 is the triumph of Christ on moral lines. He “delivered up” His spirit (John 19: 30). It is a question of power, they do not take His life from Him. It is a question of the will of God, men can do nothing but what God wills. So if we stand by the truth, God will stand by us. That is the whole position.
DR So the Lord says, “I have been born for this”, verse 37. That enters into believers’ households. Their children are born in relation to the testimony.
JT Surely. You baptise your children and bring them up in the truth. They are said to be holy, (1 Corinthians 7: 14).
RRT Would you indicate for us just briefly what is implied in the Lord’s words, “My kingdom”?
JT It would be a question of what it is in a moral sense now. His kingdom as the Son of David would be an earthly one, which will take form later, and then the sword will be used. We are told in Revelation 19: 11 - 20 how He comes out of heaven Himself, riding upon a white horse. Many crowns are on His head; “And the armies which are in the heaven followed him upon white horses, clad in white, pure, fine linen. ... And the beast was taken, and the false prophet that was with him, who wrought the signs before him by [p. 23] which he deceived them that received the mark of the beast, and those that worship his image. Alive were both cast into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone”. That is what is going to take place, but He is saying something different here. It is an order of things purely heavenly, and that is the difficulty; but we are to understand. We do not take the sword. We understand, but the average man does not understand. It is just a puzzle to him. He thinks we must be out of our minds. We must get to the basis of the position as the Lord Jesus unfolds it in the passage before us now, that He is going to die. There are the representatives of the four monarchies, and we have to tell them why we cannot do this and that; and pray to God that they may recognise our consciences.
RRT Then the path for us is to walk in the light of what is involved in “My kingdom” in contrast to all the kingdoms of the world.
JT Yes. It will work out in that way. It is His kingdom, which, as the Lord says here, is not of this world. It is a real kingdom, nevertheless, taking character from Himself in His present circumstances: that is, rejected by this world, put to death and not resisting; nor did His servants fight on His behalf.
CHH John connects the kingdom in Revelation with tribulation and patience.
CSP Do we not get the thought of power in connection with the kingdom, sufficient to meet the whole situation?
JT We do, but it is grace reigning, as Romans teaches. There is infinite power, that is, the Holy Spirit, but it is exercised in grace — for the salvation of men, not for their destruction. Men need to be instructed as to it. It adapts itself to the gospel period. It is not the time of vengeance. So that what has been referred to as to patience is helpful: “I John, your brother and fellow-partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and patience, in Jesus” (Revelation 1: 9). The footnote says the words ‘kingdom’, ‘tribulation’, ‘patience’, are brought together by one article. The preposition ‘in’ implies power in the position. This statement of John illustrates what the Lord means by ‘my kingdom’ at the present time. It is of Himself, marked by tribulation and patience. He is now at the right hand of God, all power given to Him, but His servants and saints in His kingdom down here are marked by the features that marked Him as rejected and crucified in this world. He did not use the sword, nor do they. It is the time of ‘patient endurance’.
ADS Would you say that, while John presents the truth of the Son of God, the principle of ‘my kingdom’ is involved in what Matthew presents in regard to the transfiguration? The Lord says, “There are some of those standing here that shall not taste of death at all until they shall have seen the Son of man coming in his kingdom” (Matthew 16: 28).
JT That refers to coming glory, but the appearance of it was intended to affect the disciples in view of their testimony and ministry; thus it bears on what is before us. The time for the kingdom of the Son of man had come, but instead of entering into it publicly, He was rejected and crucified. This agrees with the Lord’s statement to Pilate, “If my kingdom were of this world, my servants had fought that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but now my kingdom is not from hence”. There is a new order of things. Paul’s epistles bring out the full thought, but the Lord is showing here briefly that His kingdom was of a wholly new order. Pilate represented government and hence the Lord thus spoke to him. He did not say this to the high priest. The Jewish high priesthood had some authority as the Lord appeared before it, but that has come to an end; and its successors in our day have no authority over the people of God. We are to come out [p. 25] from among them. But we recognise governments. Therefore the Lord explains to Pilate the new position into which He was entering, and of which christianity is the fulness.
CHH As to your remark that Timothy was to lay hold of eternal life, we are reminded that eternal life was greatly emphasised among us some years ago.
JT Just so. In its present realisation the circle of the saints is involved. This implies a living state of things. The understanding of these great matters depends largely on our possession of them in some measure. In christianity we have the blessings offered in the gospel, and as having them the Spirit enables us to understand them.
JLF The things themselves being there help the authorities to understand the statements that are being made.
JT These verses tell us of the conversation between the Lord Jesus and Pilate, Pilate being thus owned of heaven. The governments of today have the same place, and therefore we have to do with them; we pray for them. We do not pray for the priesthoods of human religion, but we pray for the authorities. The Lord is here telling Pilate of the new form the kingdom was taking, and hence we as His followers should have liberty to testify of it in our day to the authorities as they inquire from us.