SPIRITUALITY IN REFINEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE
[p. 199] SPIRITUALITY IN REFINEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE
1 Corinthians 2:15,16; Genesis 32:1; Genesis 32:24,25; Genesis 33:1 - 7
What I have in mind, dear brethren, is found in the first two verses read. The suggestion occurs to me as to why spirituality should be emphasised in that epistle, or in any of the epistles. It must be to emphasise it in the minds of the Corinthians, but also that it should be emphasised with us all; that we may be spiritual in the sense of refinement and intelligence, as indeed, it is said to the Philippians, a very different assembly from that at Corinth, “that ye may judge of and approve the things that are more excellent”, Philippians 1:10.
Passing on from that, the passages read in Genesis are intended to show how Jacob serves as an example of growth, spiritual intelligence and grace. The current surrounding conditions in the world greatly tend to the very opposite of what is in mind. People are becoming accustomed to cruelty, devastation, and death; people are becoming accustomed to great doings, great things, great men. The young particularly often aim to imitate their parents, or their grandparents, which is sure to breed in the saints the same sort of thing. Looking on to the prophetic word as to anti-christian conditions, especially as the Spirit of God is withdrawn, it is difficult to conceive what these conditions will be. What we have had only foreshadows them, and that faintly, and it is a solemn consideration for the youth, and for us who are older in business, or those coming out of the Forces, for we are all apt to be governed by these great achievements and to aim at the titles entering into them. They are very attractive to the natural mind, and the devil knows it, and is preparing the schools for it, and has prepared them. So the need of the home is apparent, the [p. 200] preparatory school, I might say, for the assembly, especially as regards refinement, and intelligence, and right affections.
So, dear brethren, we see the need for discernment of everything, of all that confronts us, for we can hardly hide anything from our eyes; hence we need the instructions as to righteousness and holiness, and as to peace for “the fruit of righteousness in peace is sown for them that make peace”, James 3:18. We know that the Lord, in setting out the order of His service in the days of His flesh, told His missionaries, especially the seventy, to look out for sons of peace. The seventy were to inquire in a house as to whether the son of peace was there. Perhaps they were scarce, but there were some, otherwise the service could not be a success, whereas it was a success. The seventy returned to the Lord in the spirit of success, indeed of victory, and the Lord did not deny the success, but in His communications to them He used the word rather. They were rather to rejoice that their names “are written in the heavens”. Luke 10:20. In other words the concern is that we should accustom ourselves to heaven, and especially its language, so that we may not be defiled by the use of men’s words expressing the spirit of the world, for we may become defiled in mind and in heart. The gathering together of saints walking in the truth in all countries, is very auspicious and fruitful too, of what is heavenly. The mingling together of brethren on Saturdays so constantly, tends to promote holiness — righteousness too, but holiness — and suitable conversation where we learn to leave out the natural and cultivate the spiritual.
So Jacob is freshly in my mind now; he is the third from the great patriarch Abraham. It was to his lot that the great matter of education fell; the matter of spiritual education, and to this end he was rightly married. I mention this simply to be practical. The matter of marriage must enter into all the things I have said, for [p. 201] mixed marriages are devilish. They are the devil’s means of corrupting the Lord’s people. The acceptance of this fact should lead to great thought on the part of parents, parents of children who are to be joined in marriage, and others too, so that the evident evil may be judged and forsaken. Any attempt to support, or polish it, is of the enemy, and tends to destroy spirituality amongst the brethren. As I said, Jacob is rightly married. The marriage question acquires a great place in the patriarchal families. I feel it is necessary to say this. The patriarchs guide us as to family matters, and what tends to damage them and what tends to preserve them. This is seen in Sarah, in regard of Hagar and Ishmael. Hence the word to Abraham, “hearken to her voice”, Genesis 21:12. While Jacob was rightly married, yet in his early days the enemy thought to interfere with his father Isaac, a patriarch who deserves special consideration. Typically he is a beautiful, well known type of the Lord Jesus, who as God’s beloved Son in heaven is to have a bride who is also heavenly; whose origin is of heaven. So much so, that the great apostle who had the idea of Isaac, his great forefather, said, “I speak as to Christ, and as to the assembly”, Ephesians 5:32. This is a theme to be in our hearts and minds in all our meetings; especially the intervals, the seasons of conversation that usually accompany them.
Isaac stands out more as a type, than a man, but he took account of Jacob’s future as to his marriage, or household, and so we find in the history earlier than the chapter I read, a great deal about Jacob’s natural relatives, his uncles, his aunts, his cousins and his brothers, and we all have to say to them. We cannot despise them. However spiritual we may be we must recognise natural claims. They may be a great test or snare to us, and sometimes it is so, but we cannot ignore them. The Lord did not, and it is very beautiful that His brothers and sisters, and we may say His mother,
[p. 202] were safely housed spiritually ere He went up to heaven. He delicately committed His mother, who had such a place among women, to John. The Lord knows who may be trustworthy even in regard to these natural matters. So in Acts 1 in the gathering of the lovers of Christ, she was there; she was in the upper room; and one thinks of one’s relatives hoping they may be in the upper room, it would be the aim of every godly man to have them there, where Christ’s rights are regarded; that is, in the apostles. Thus the Lord’s brethren and His mother were in the upper room where things were held intact by the presence of the apostles. It became a spiritual matter.
Jacob, as you will observe in Genesis 32, went on his way. He was a journeying man. Indeed, all the men of faith, the patriarchal families, were of that type; they were journeyers. So it is today, all of us are journeyers. “In journeyings often”, 2 Corinthians 11:26, is the order of the day. On the other hand, for our comfort we are told of an overcomer of whom it can be said, “he shall go no more at all out”, Revelation 3:12. That day awaits us, and it is a comfort to every one in the service in this time of unrest and discomfort, in ships, and trains, and motor cars. It is a comfort to hear we shall go no more out, but the present time is one of journeys, not as money-makers, but gatherers of the Lord’s interests on earth, for He has much more than many of us imagine, and it all needs gathering and housing and caring for in every sense. Jacob was not wandering in this way. He took care of the little ones when Esau suggested journeying, saying that he would go on “according to the pace of the children”. How much could they do in a day? Genesis 33:14. We have to consider their pace and not force them. So, as I said, we have here a reference to natural relatives. The previous chapter to the one we read speaks of his relations with Laban. There is not time to go into much detail, but the relations between Jacob and Laban were [p. 203] not happy. But in result they led in a right direction and they settled happily. So in chapter 31, verse 54, we read, “And Jacob offered a sacrifice upon the mountain, and invited his brethren to eat”, “and Laban went and returned to his place”. Genesis 31:54,55. So far, one might say, so good; certain conditions of peace are established between him and his son-in-law. These “in-laws” deserve consideration, care and watchfulness. God helped Jacob to finish up with his father-in-law in peace. And Laban departed and returned to his place. And Jacob went on his way. He is journeying, he is really journeying to Isaac, for that is spiritually the objective at this time. There is always a spiritual objective. In every meeting there should be a spiritual objective, some end to reach, not to leave things hanging in the air, so to speak, but something is to be reached; just as Jacob had Isaac in his mind.
The education he was going through was progressive; the end was to be reached. Terrible things happened in the interim, but the end was being reached. So I would seek to set us all on that line, to reach the end, the end everlasting life. Everlasting life is a great terminus, but it is not finality. The Lord Jesus is coming to meet us, as if to say, You are not to go the whole journey by yourselves. We are seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus according to Ephesians, but the final journey is in company with the Lord, not the Spirit. It is the Lord that comes for us. He is to join us in the final journey, and what a journey, dear brethren. What an experience of power lies before us. The Lord’s supper paves the way. It is a paving of glory each first day of the week, as we partake of the Lord’s supper. “Christ has been raised up from among the dead by the glory of the Father”, Romans 6:4. That was the first day of the week. We may well speak of glory, “from glory to glory”. 2 Corinthians 3:18.
Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him. Our Angel in that sense would be the Lord Jesus, the [p. 204] Lord of glory would meet us, dear brethren. Surely we must think of this. “His wife has made herself ready”, Revelation 19:7. That is to be understood. It is not exactly what has come out of heaven. “The marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready”. Revelation 19:7. She is already his wife, and that speaks much, because the book of Proverbs provides for her. “Who can find a woman of worth? for her price is far above rubies”, Proverbs 31:10. That is the assembly. So that she comes out first as His wife, and then as His bride. John the baptist, speaking of the Bridegroom does not say who the bride is. All he says is, “He that has the bride is the bridegroom”, John 3:29. It would look as if she was left for Paul, for he is to be, as it were, the greatest servant in the house, corresponding with Abraham’s servant in Genesis 24. Pardon my constant reference to him, because he fits in with what I am speaking of, namely refinement. The assembly is Paul’s product, so to speak, it is he who speaks so much of her. What should we have known of her save from him? We should have known a little perhaps from the types, but we wait for Paul to bring it out. She has no sinful history viewed in that light. Eve, as she was brought to Adam, had no sinful history, as a type she represents the assembly.
But I must proceed. Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him. We are looking for the Lord to meet us. We often speak of it, and sing of it, but one would like to realise it in some sense in ones own soul, to visualise what it will be for the Lord to come down and meet us. He will do that, not leaving it to the Spirit. So that you can understand what will happen, the resurrection first. Resurrection is not ascension. It does not take us off the earth; that is clear enough, but it is a wonderful fact nevertheless. “The dead in Christ shall rise first”, 1 Thessalonians 4:16. The Lord speaks Himself of “that world, and the resurrection”, Luke 20:35. He spoke of that Himself You can understand how He [p. 205] would thrill some Jewish hearers. That world and the resurrection, that world may involve more than the world to come, it will involve more, it will involve the resurrection. Christ is the first-fruits. “The firstfruits, Christ; then those that are the Christ’s at his coming”, 1 Corinthians 15:23. That will be a private matter, and so we may as well become accustomed to one another in a private way in our houses. “The Lord himself, with an assembling shout, with archangel’s voice and with trump of God, shall descend from heaven”, 1 Thessalonians 4:16. The word assembling is greater morally for it involves the refinement and glory and order of which I have spoken. The assembly comes down having the glory of God. We are to think of these things.
The angels of God met Jacob. And when he saw them he said, “This is the camp of God”. Genesis 32:2. He was not abashed by the sight. Others may be and so may we, but not Jacob. He has advanced. He already met angels on his way to Padan, but now he is returning. He has more refinement, more understanding, so he names them. He says, when he saw them, “This is the camp of God. And he called the name of that place Mahanaim”. Genesis 32:2. Mahanaim is plural. Jacob had more in his mind at the end of his sojourn than at the beginning, showing the kind of man he was, and how he could develop into greater thoughts. Nathanael could too. The Lord said to him, “thou shalt see greater things than these”, John 1:50. He had already said great things, in saying to Christ, “thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel”. John 1:49. He attributed both titles to Jesus, but the Lord said he should see greater things, referring to the Son of man. We are to lay hold of greater things all the time. Now as to Jacob, God ordered everything for him in view of his education. How ready he was to lay hold of greater things. He is on his way to the greatest, and he is learning to lay hold of greater things. There is no limit to them, we learn. So it says, “he called the name of that place Mahanaim”, Genesis 32:2.
[p. 206] I pass on from this to verse 24. I need not say much about this, for every preacher uses it. We should not be afraid of using texts repeatedly, because they are the word of God. I refer to the passage now, not in a gospel sense, but to show how God ordered everything for Jacob’s education. His wives and his children had gone over the ford, and he was left alone, and “a man wrestled with him”. Genesis 32:34. That is to say, Jacob is to meet a man, such a man as he had not met before. He was thinking of Esau. Esau was in his mind, he was afraid of him. When we are afraid of the enemy we are hardly growing. It is victors who grow. The addresses to the assemblies have in view those who overcome. These are the ones who get the education. So here Jacob is left alone and a man wrestled with him until the rising of the dawn. “And when he saw that he did not prevail against him, he touched the joint of his thigh; and the joint of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated as he wrestled with him”, Genesis 32:25. Jacob is victorious in weakness. Jacob is the victor. God allowed him to be so, but made him weak in his victory. So Paul, when he was caught up into paradise, was in danger of being inflated and was given the thorn for the flesh. Jacob is made weaker, but stronger, he is fitted now for his journey.
I go now to the final thought in chapter 33, to show how the education went on, and how Joseph comes into view. Joseph represents Christ in type, Christ spiritually. You all remember how Jacob moved, or proposed to move back to his land when Joseph was born. He proposed to return to the home land, that is the land. That is the place to go. He is now on the way, and Joseph comes into view again, and you will observe that Jacob arranges the mothers and all the children. “He put the maidservants and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindmost”, Genesis 33:2, but when they draw near it was not according to Jacob’s arrangement. This shows that we are apt to make [p. 207] arrangements which have to be abandoned sometimes. God takes the matter in hand and adjusts it. Jacob had arranged Joseph after Rachel, which was natural and you might say, Why not? But when you come to the final disposition in Genesis 33:7, it is said, “And lastly Joseph drew near, and Rachel”. This is not Jacob’s arrangement. I am speaking of this to show how the spiritual matter progresses, and God maintains His own thoughts, and His thoughts are always Christ first. He disarranges our arrangements, and His arrangements are always in view of Christ. Christ is never second. He takes the place of second to His Father, but at the same time says, “I and the Father are one”, John 10:30. We must never forget that it is “the Christ, who is over all, God blessed for ever”, Romans 9:5. God will never tolerate anything less than that. The more He thinks of us the more likely He is to change our arrangements, and to expose us in the change, hence we must be ready for adjustment if it be needed. So you will observe here, “Leah also, with her children, drew near, and they bowed. And lastly Joseph drew near, and Rachel”. Genesis 33:7. Notice Rachel after Joseph. That is the way. It must be that way. If God has His way, and His mind is to go through, Christ must be first, “the firstborn among many brethren”, Romans 8:29, anointed above His companions, Hebrews 1:9. In the service of God, wherever it is, Christ must be first. So here, as I said, Joseph drew near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves, but Joseph was first.
Now I want to finish with that, Joseph first in our hearts. In the future dividing of the land of Israel as recorded in Ezekiel 48, two parts are to be for Joseph; showing the place he has in the mind of God. Christ is first in the mind of God. He is always to have that place in order to frustrate every effort of the enemy. It is for us to be sure we do not put Rachel before Joseph. Keep Joseph first, and I finish with that, dear brethren, to the [p. 208] end that we may all think of this matter of refinement, of what is in mind in the early chapters of the epistles to the Corinthians. The Spirit is brought forward prominently, the teaching is to be governed by the Spirit; all our teaching must be governed by the Spirit. The word is “the spiritual discerns all things, and he is discerned of no one”. 1 Corinthians 2:15. The spiritual man is first after Christ. Paul was the spiritual man and he is aiming at our being spiritual. So if any one goes wrong, and it is very distressing that those who were once with us, walk no more with us; yet if there be this deflection, the word is “Ye who are spiritual restore such a one”, Galatians 6:1. The spiritual is qualified to be priest as in Leviticus. The priest is always to be there, and we can hope for recovery because of his presence. The priest is the spiritual man, he is discerned of no one. Of Abigail, David says, “blessed be thy discernment”, 1 Samuel 25:33. She represents the assembly. The assembly is marked by spiritual discernment, and as we make way for the assembly, we make way for the truth. The needed recovery is at Corinth. Sometimes the recovery takes place too quickly for us, but we should be ready for it. The man in Corinth was recovered quickly, quicker than they expected, they were not alert enough. The spiritual discerns all things. The spiritual discerns the recovery, and when it comes about. May God bless these thoughts to us.