WITHIN AND WITHOUT
WITHIN AND WITHOUT
Genesis 7: 11 - 16; John 20: 19 - 23; 1 Corinthians 5: 12, 13
JT It is in mind to consider what is characteristically within, that is, in a spiritual sense. Genesis 7, the first scripture read, conveys this idea, and indicates that what is within in our dispensation involves limitations by God. It is said that Jehovah shut Noah in. Noah himself only being mentioned as shut in would suggest that he is viewed as operating, and that the sphere of his operations is determined by God. The Lord, in answering the enquiries of His disciples, after He rose and before going to heaven, as to whether it was at this time that He would restore the kingdom to Israel, said, “It is not yours to know times or seasons, which the Father has placed in his own authority” (Acts 1: 7). He had been speaking about the Spirit as the promise of the Father, which they were to await; so that the Lord in Acts is evidently taking up the position of operating in an area allotted to Him by the Father. The Father had reserved in His own power the times and seasons, and Acts shows that the Lord was accepting that, and that His present operations are according to the divine determination. Hence in the type it would seem as if this is in mind in Jehovah shutting Noah in the ark until the cover was lifted off. Its having rested on the mountains of Ararat refers also in the type to the faith period dependent on the Spirit. The dove is sent out from Noah and returns to him. Later he sends her out and he now has the evidence from her in the olive leaf brought in at evening that the waters are low on the earth. Finally he sends her out and she returns no more. Then he takes off the [p. 2] cover of the ark, which would imply that he can now see everything.
John 20: 29 contemplates that we are in the period of faith, “blessed they who have not seen and have believed”. In Acts 1, the cloud received the Lord out of the sight of the disciples. The faith period began. In this connection the ark represents life, having all the varieties of life, but they are inside. Noah is shut in, but with all the varieties of life, so it would seem as if we should consider first this thought of the gradations of life. The capacity of the ark is specified in chapter 6, as if it were large enough to include all the varieties of life. The suggestion is, therefore, that the Lord for the moment is occupied on those lines. When we come to John 20, we have the highest grade of life; it is by the breath of Christ. The status is seen in the disciples being regarded as His brethren: “Go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God” (verse 17). Breathing into them would be in keeping with these great relationships, and would imply the highest order of life. In Genesis 1 and in the gospels and epistles, we have life in a graded way, all seen, of course, in christians.
It is the time of life, in that sense, through faith, as John says, “believing ye might have life in his name” (John 20: 31). It would seem as if we are to be conversant with the various features of life. Noah shut in is typical of Christ engaged in this way; presently He will take on other things.
NL In suggesting that they all went to Noah, does that imply that every phase or grade of life responds to Christ?
JT That is what comes out. The references are striking, “every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them [p. 3] alive with thee: they shall be male and female. Of fowl after their kind, and of the cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of each shall go in to thee, to keep them alive” (Genesis 6: 19, 20). In Genesis 7: 2, “Of all clean beasts thou shalt take to thee by sevens”, and in chapter 7: 8 “Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowl, and of everything that creeps on the ground, there came two and two unto Noah into the ark”. Again in verses 13 - 16, “On the same day went Noah, and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; they, and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and all fowl after its kind — every bird of every wing. And they went to Noah, into the ark, two and two of all flesh, in which was the breath of life. And they that came, came male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him. And Jehovah shut him in”.
CHH Is the thought that in the faith period divine operations take place in this living way?
JT That is what I was thinking — all in relation to life, animal life particularly, for vegetable life is not mentioned; it would be a millennial thought.
FW Is the suggestion that all spiritual life is held in relation to Christ?
JT Yes; all would die otherwise. John’s gospel has in mind to stress that it is on the principle of faith — life is on the principle of faith, and the Lord says, “Blessed they who have not seen and have believed”. So John says that he wrote of the signs that Jesus did, “that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life in his name” (John 20: 31). All outside of faith is in death. Paul says, “Having [p. 4] judged this: that one died for all, then all have died; and he died for all, that they who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who died for them and has been raised” (2 Corinthians 5: 14, 15). “So if any one be in Christ, there is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold all things have become new” (verse 17). This is a limited state of things, but life is there; the preservation of life is carried through to the millennial day.
FW Would the limited circumstances in which they were in the ark suggest typically that these conditions would promote faith and so help them? I am thinking now of those who would be intelligent — Noah, his wife, his sons, and his sons’ wives.
JT They are represented in that way. “On the same day went Noah, and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark” (verse 3), as if the family of Noah, the persons specified, go in intelligently. The others are said to go to Noah, as if there is a lower grade of life contemplated, and it is important that it should have an object, that it should be governed by an object.
IL What is the force of verse 19 of the previous chapter, where Noah is instructed to bring them in?
JT I just read that to show the different phases presented. Bringing in would be Noah’s part, but finally he is attractive as in the family position inside; he is there in relation to his family. Hebrews 11: 7 says he “prepared an ark for the saving of his house”, which is not as large a thought as the beasts and cattle and fowls. I suppose the idea of the house is abstract, referring to the saints viewed as of him, but the others need an object, to be put under control, that is, the lower forms of life; young [p. 5] believers growing up in these forms of life are drawn to Christ.
JL Noah was commanded to keep them alive. It would seem as though Noah was in the ark to keep them alive.
JT Yes. The more we look into it, the more striking are the variations. They appear to be repetitions, but they are variations to bring out every phase of the position, and one great phase is that Noah is an attractive object to life, to those who live, because they came to him into the ark.
WHW Is this seen in John’s gospel where the disciples say, “Where abidest thou” and the Lord says, “Come and see”?
JT That is the principle of John’s gospel, “Come and see”. It is a characteristic word in his gospel; and applied now, the question is, what is there to see? Luke does not stress that side, there it is more the approach of God to men in grace, whereas John contemplates the work of God in the saints, and implies what is attractive. Life is always attractive, even in physical things, so that “Come and see” is a characteristic word. Nathanael represents one who is moved by it. As he came, the Lord saw him. As one invited to come, he may have thought it optional whether he does or not, but it is not optional. If he remains unmoved he is spiritually dead. A subject of the work of God will come, and in coming he is under the surveillance of the Lord. Nathanael came, and as he moved towards Christ, as He saw him coming to Him, the Lord names him. Life is marked by movement; and it is named as it is in movement.
CHH What is in mind in the lower orders of life mentioned?
JT We have here beasts, cattle, creeping things and fowls. It would seem as if “beasts”
[p. 6] are distinguished. Applying the thought generally to christians, it would allude to lower forms of life, what appeared in the early stages of the work of God, and then development. We have in the New Testament vegetable life introduced: “the fruit of the Spirit” is such an allusion.
LI Would you say a little as to the varieties mentioned here, such as creeping things, fowl, beasts?
JT Creeping things, I suppose, represent a phase in us, not to be despised, though certainly not so attractive as the highest orders of life; not of the same interest as a fowl that can fly in the heavens, nor beasts as seen in Proverbs 30: 30. We read in Isaiah 40: 31 of how they who wait on the Lord “shall mount up with wings as eagles”. The creeping things cannot mount up, but still there is evidence of life there, there is in the designation the idea of number and getting together. It is just the great general thought of gradations of life, all of which are of God. The repetition here shows what interest God has in these forms of life.
FWW Do we get these various features put together by heaven in Peter’s sheet?
JT It is the counterpart of this, bringing out the idea of a vessel as we have had it, bringing the thought down to ourselves. Peter likened the vessel to a great sheet descending from heaven to earth, and drawn up again. So we have to consider that these creatures represent ideas, forms of life to be carried through in us. They take concrete form in christians. Vegetable life is not mentioned in the ark, because it is not the time for it, but still in the New Testament we have reference to Genesis 1 in that sense, because we have the different gradations of life in [p. 7] that chapter.
FWW Are we to take account of these various features in our local assemblies?
JT That is the point to come to, and not to despise any evidence of God’s work. Take Nicodemus — he could not even understand new birth. His is certainly a low form, but the principle of life was there; he remains in the council, but as in it, he says a word for Christ. He neglects association with Christ while Christ is alive here on earth, he missed that great privilege, but identifies himself with Christ in death and brings a large quantity of myrrh and aloes for His burial. You can see he is not a person of Mary Magdalene’s type. Mary Magdalene comes in immediately after him in John’s gospel, and although she is not much ahead in regard to Christ’s resurrection, she is far ahead of him as to affection, and comes into the full thought of the highest grade of life, whereas there is no evidence that Nicodemus did.
AMH Do these lower grades of life suggest persons in whom the mixed condition is particularly prominent, whereas the highest grades would indicate the work of God being more in evidence; but we have to take account of every grade?
JT That is the way we may see the truth worked out in John, and in the ark here you will observe the small measure of the window on the top which would afford a view heavenward. There are storeys in the ark; I suppose the upper would refer to the highest grade of life, finished a cubit above.
AMH What is in your mind in the reference to a cubit above?
JT People came to the Lord to hear Him in great numbers during His service here, but when we come to the ends of the gospels, we are greatly reduced in numbers, and in Acts 1 it is 120 names,
[p. 8] meaning, I believe, that life in variety was there. We need to have that before us, whether we belong to finished products, or whether we belong to the large numbers, some of which are perhaps questionable as believers.
TRH Referring to the lower forms of life, Paul would not omit at Corinth the weak brother for whom Christ died.
HS The apostle also speaks of the least esteemed in the assembly, (1 Corinthians 6: 4).
JT They are characteristically of the assembly, so they have that status. The Corinthians were honoured, the apostle is seeking to lead them to appreciate their spiritual dignity. They were babes, but babes in Christ. That gives them a peculiar status, and it is a remarkable thing that the least esteemed in the assembly is able to judge. It seems as if the assembly is preserved and protected in its dignity in these references; those who belong to the assembly have a dignity that does not belong to others.
AMH Whichever form of life they represent, they are all true to the death of Christ in the fact they are in the ark, in the assembly.
JT I should think that is confirmed in the fact that the creatures move to Noah; they all move. Noah bringing them in indicated his influence over them; on the other hand, God wrought in Noah so that he becomes an object to them, and they come to him into the ark. What a wonderful thing to think of that movement, to think of the state of men generally, and these creatures coming to Noah into the ark!
Rem Does this connect with the scripture in John 6: 44, “No one can come to me except the Father who has sent me draw him”?
JT I think it does. It is the work of God. John 6 shows that many who came to Christ went back and walked no more with Him. That is the principle of apostasy, and the Lord said, “Will ye also go away?” Peter says to Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast words of life eternal; and we have believed and known that thou art the holy one of God”. The disciples were reduced in numbers. John 6 is a reducing ministry, therefore He brings in the Father’s work, which can be seen in type in these creatures which move to Noah into the ark. I think the dove is the most exalted feature, representing the Spirit. Noah sent her out from him and she went out, and returned, and he took her back to him into the ark. She was a beautiful link between what was in the ark and Noah.
JD Do we get the movements of life illustrated in John 9, in the blind man who has found Christ as his object?
JT That is another view of the working out of life under pressure. Intelligence is seen there developing under pressure. They cast him out; he is an outcast, but his position implies he has been under pressure. Pressure has a great deal to do with refinement and development. The Lord found him after he was cast out. It is another side of the position, but shows the feature of life. The Lord asked him if he believed on the Son of God.
Rem These animals came to Noah into the ark, and God shut them in.
JT God shut Noah in. What should be noted is the divine determination as to the sphere of divine operations today; the Lord Jesus takes a lower place in these, so that God might be over everything. When the disciples asked about the restoration of the kingdom to Israel and He said, “It is not yours to know”. He was lifting them out of the realm of Israel and Israel’s hopes, saying the Father has kept that time in His own authority. It was for them to be occupied with the Spirit, and the Spirit’s day, and parallel with this the day of life in its variety.
CHH Would you explain the exclusiveness of the position?
JT Jehovah shut him in. I think Noah represents the operator at this juncture, he is the man who does things. He comes in after Enoch who goes up to heaven, but Noah is a type of Christ, as doing things: the great Operator. The Christ is to dwell in our hearts by faith (Ephesians 3: 17).
AMH Would this thought preclude the idea of the Spirit of God working in relation to any other families at the present time?
JT I was thinking that. We are restricted, but it is a restriction of dignity, and we are occupied with the greatest things; the greatest Persons, of course, but the greatest things; the highest order of life.
FJF The whole position as seen in Noah in the ark is potential in view of development by the power of the Spirit.
JT That is the thing. We should greatly stress the power of the Spirit. Our Lord said to His disciples, “Await the promise of the Father”, that is, the Spirit.
FJF Would you say that the faith found in the coming families is preserved in the ark? I was thinking of Paul and what he said of the twelve tribes instantly serving God day and night.
JT I should think the ark contained what was needed for the establishment of a new world. Israel had not come into evidence yet, but applying it to the New Testament, the twelve tribes would imply the thought of Israel carried through. Every divine [p. 11] thought is to be carried through in the intelligent affections of those who form the assembly. Christ is operating within those limits.
TRH In keeping with that Peter remarks that there were eight souls saved in the ark. Would that be a suggestion that there was potentially what would inhabit eternity?
JT Yes. You are stressing the numeral eight, which goes beyond the complete period of seven.
Ques Is there a link between these creatures in Genesis and what is said of them in Leviticus as to clean and unclean?
JT Uncleanness in our passage is not like leprosy. The creature is usable in the divine realm, it is a question of being usable. A horse is useful, but not acceptable for a sacrifice. It is a question, I think, of the aspects in which christians are viewed. “Unclean, unclean”, as in the leper’s mouth is a different thought; he is not fit to be inside the camp, and that takes us to our scripture in 1 Corinthians, “For what have I to do with judging those outside also? ye, do not ye judge them that are within? But those without God judges. Remove the wicked person from amongst yourselves”.
We are viewed in this epistle as in assembly in responsibility, and there is the without and the within. We should see that within is pure and holy. John 20 has in mind the highest abstract thought of our position, but here in 1 Corinthians we are viewed in a mixed condition, as has been remarked. We are men and women in the public assembly, but there is the within and the without. It is not so refined or exalted a within as John 20 presents, which is the abstract thought; there is no discrepancy contemplated in the disciples, in the first coming of Christ amongst the disciples in that chapter.
[p. 12] Rem Does the word to Philadelphia run parallel with this, the evidence of life: “Thou hast a little power, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name”?
JT Yes. It would allude to the power operative in the assembly, as over against dead forms of religious services; also love for Christ, underlying faithfulness.
AMH Referring to 1 Corinthians 5, does this figure of the ark help us to see how deadly it would be to allow any uncleanness? Intimacy of contact should make for spirituality, and intimacy of contact belongs to the saints.
JT Quite so. This is a striking chapter as dealing with this matter of within and without. They had one in their midst who was unfit for fellowship, and they were not humbled about it, but Paul prescribes what they are to do, that is, to remove the man from amongst themselves, and to do it in power, with the apostle’s spirit present. They “being gathered together, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ”, to deliver the guilty man “to Satan for destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus”. That was what they were to do. Then in the last verse, “Remove the wicked person from amongst yourselves”. In verses 9 to 12 a list of persons is given, as to which he said, “I have written to you in the epistle not to mix with fornicators; ... For what have I to do with judging those outside also?” That is, he indicates the class of persons outside, and then says God judges them, showing that it was never intended that those forming the assembly should be reformers. We have to leave the world to God, we cannot reform it. God never intended to reform it, He will judge it, He has already judged it in principle, but He holds it still in reconciliation in [p. 13] view of the gospel, (Romans 11: 15). Referring to the inside, he says, “Do not ye judge them that are within?” That means we should judge what is inside.
AMH You are not reforming there, but maintaining what we really are.
CAI In Revelation the saints are said to wash their robes to go into the city.
JT That is a good connection; Revelation 22: 14 “Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have right to the tree of life, and that they should go in by the gates into the city. Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one that loves and makes a lie”. We have the inside and outside distinguished and guarded right through. Earlier it says, as to the city (Revelation 21: 26, 27), “And they shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations to it. And nothing common, nor that maketh an abomination and a lie, shall at all enter into it; but those only who are written in the book of life of the Lamb”. Taking the thing in a cursory way, there ought to be an impression with all of us of the great privilege of being inside the divine realm, where the varieties of life are displayed, all under Christ; God limiting us, and Christ being with us in that position, until the cover is lifted (Genesis 8: 13). In the meantime, the blessed ministrations of the Spirit, as seen in the dove, bring us first-hand knowledge of everything. As soon as life is evident in view of the millennium, that is vegetable life, the dove brings in the witness of it. We know thus that the millennium is near. In the meantime it is the period of faith.
CHH Is the obligation put on the saints to maintain the position within, in suitability to the sphere of life [p. 14] there?
JT That is the way it is presented, I think. The apostle had set them up in that way, and it is remarkable the attention that was paid to them. Paul pays remarkable attention to these Corinthians, different from any other assembly in certain respects, as regards his love for them. He tells them, “Ye are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read of all men, being manifested to be Christ’s epistle ministered by us, written, not with ink, but the Spirit of the living God; not on stone tables, but on fleshy tables of the heart” (2 Corinthians 3: 2, 3). It is a remarkable tribute to the Corinthians as to the place they had in his affections, for that is what he means. Wherever the brethren were talking to him, he would refer to the Corinthians, yet they were guilty of having a wicked man among them, and others, too (2 Corinthians 12: 21). So he says, “Do not ye judge them that are within?”
Rem The raven did not return to the ark: what is the suggestion in that?
JT The raven is not to be despised. I think it refers, or may be applied, to young christians who have but little spiritual instinct. Noah sent it out — it was in the ark, and had a place there — but it did not return. It is a question of its tastes as over against the dove.
WHW Does John 20 teach us what we have inside? The Lord there says, “I ascend to my Father”.
JT John is building inwardly (see 2 Samuel 5: 9), which implies getting nearer to God, but it is within, as well as inward. Inward is the direction, within is the place, the place of seclusion. Then the outlook is ascension; the ark, as a type, has the same thought — lower, second and third storeys. It is a highly refined thought, and although the brethren of Christ are very numerous — yet the thought is not [p. 15] numbers so much as quality — and we are His brethren, in fact it is a question of quality. Noah and his family are called few, that is, eight souls.
IL What do we gather from the statement, “But those without God judges”?
JT I think it indicates who they are in the list he gives here, and really covers what the world is, characteristically. There are, of course, other features, but in general this is to show the working of sin; wherever it works, it is morally outside. He is dealing with what is in the outside position, fornicators, idolaters. These all represent sin working in its most vicious form; others may be less vicious, but all come under the same heading, and are outside.
CAI God is not dealing with men in general, or nations as such, but confining His activities to the assembly in testimony.
JT God is over all, of course, but in the present economy, involving the assembly, He is dealing with what is within. This administration is through and in Christ. What is without is left with God, so that international matters are with God. We are not having to do with them except in our prayers. Our outlook is heavenly.
CAI Being God’s assembly, it is what God has provided for Himself at this time.
JT There is God’s universal government, as Creator: in this He deals with all. But in Christ He has come in grace and rules directly in the assembly. The Lord Himself in the beginning of the Acts takes this place. God has reserved to His own authority times and seasons, and connects the saints with the period of the Spirit. Thus Christ is not governing the world now, but God the Father.
CFI [p. 16] The Lord is not occupying Himself with the world, nor with the nations, but with what is within.
EBMcC Would the thought of ‘without’ take in 1 Corinthians 5: 5?
JT There you are dealing with one who is within, but about to be put under discipline. That is another thing. “To deliver him ... to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus”. He is in the realm of divine judgment whilst in the hands of Satan, which is a very solemn thing. For the time, he is without, with recovery in view.
EBMcC What is the thought in the spirit being saved in the day of the Lord Jesus?
JT The spirit is over against the flesh, but his spirit is himself really. The Lord said, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit” and to the thief He said “To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise”. It was Himself — the thief was to be with Him.
AMH How far does delivering to Satan apply today?
JT I do not think we can undertake it formally, although it is the principle governing the position when discipline is executed.
AMH Would you be rather concerned if no discipline from the Lord followed on the action of the brethren?
JT Quite so. The Lord would act to make the assembly’s judgment effective.
AH-w Is life according to God preserved only in the assembly?
JT That is the teaching in these passages. This man, in 1 Corinthians 5, was evidently a christian, in fact he is presented in that light, and you could hardly put him into the category of [p. 17] those who are characteristically without, but he is under discipline.
AH-w His life is preserved through discipline.
JT That is right: the work of God in him was submerged by the working of the flesh, and Satan is employed to break up the flesh.
FW The man is not put out into the world, he really belongs to the assembly, but is to be removed from their company, and is in Satan’s hands only for a time.
JT That is right; Satan being an instrument for the breaking up of the flesh.
CAI Is the thought in John 20 then that life is stressed rather than the place or position where the disciples were? He came to where the disciples were — I was thinking of the evidence of life in the disciples.
JT The passage shows that they were in principle living spiritually, that the doors were shut for fear of the Jews; they had that fear, which would mean the legally religious element. It is mentioned to show that they represent the full result of the Lord’s ministry. They had judged the Jewish element. There is no discrepancy at all mentioned here, so that the Lord could breathe into them. He confirms what is there potentially in breathing into them, that they are capable of such a life as that, the life which is His. The highest order of life is Christ’s life as Man.
EBMcC The names of those without are given, but you would not include among them the man to be put away. They are without; that is hardly the place we assign to them.
JT I do not think this contemplates that at all. In our minds, we have to keep persons under discipline as a separate class, assuming they are real christians like the man here. So with Ananias and [p. 18] Sapphira; there can be no doubt that they were real christians, and what we are saying is evidenced in the fact that they were buried by the young men present; their christianity is protected, but not their guilt. We should protect the work of God in a man, for it is pure gold; but we cannot have fellowship with believers who sin until they judge themselves as specially enjoined in verse 11.
TRH “That the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus”. Would that involve recovery?
JT Quite so, and he was recovered quickly, more quickly than the Corinthians recognised. It is important to be able to see the evidence of the work of God especially in circumstances that obscure it.
SL “As the living Father has sent me and I live on account of the Father, he also who eats me shall live also on account of me” (John 6: 57).
JT That is an allusion to this high order of life, as also John 14: 19, “because I live ye also shall live”. It is a beautiful thought. We are bound up with Him in one bundle of life.
CAI Would you say that a certain state is involved, and that His breathing into them is the result?
JT Yes. They are qualified for such an order of life as that. They keep out the legal element, which is a very important thing. I believe spirituality is always marked by that.
Rem At the very end of the Psalms it says, “Let everything that hath breath praise Jah. Hallelujah!”
JT That, of course, includes all these forms of life that we have spoken of, “everything that hath breath”. The Psalms do not go as high as John 20. It is a question of the kind of breath, God’s breath. Every animal and bird has life by breath, but under these categories we do not get fish. Genesis 1 gives [p. 19] gradations of life rising to man, who receives his life by the divine breath; God breathed into him the breath of life, and he became a living soul in that way. No other creature was so dealt with. In John 20 we have a divine Person dealing in the same manner, only He Himself is in manhood, living, and obviously presenting to us the highest order of life, and He breathes that life into His disciples. It is to bring out the order of life that belongs to us as in the blessed relationships spoken of in the message sent by Mary to the disciples.
IL Before breathing into them, the Lord says to them, “as the Father sent me forth, I also send you” (verse 21). As they go forth, life would be seen in their testimony.
JT That is right. He had the testimony in mind immediately, but the breath would qualify them for heavenly things, for ascension. It brings out the testimony of the assembly in the persons who form it, they know how to act as required in their testimony. If a person is a sinner, and they judge that his sin should be forgiven, they forgive. The Lord gives them that authority. He commits Himself to them, John 20: 23, “whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted to them”. They are trustworthy, because they have His own life. They were sent forth. Apostle means one sent; but it does not convey the thought of being within, but more the authority of the One who sends. The Lord gives the disciples their position in the message to Mary, and now the power to live in it; then that power is to work in the testimony immediately.
TRH Is the full result of this breathing seen in, “God all in all”?
JT It makes room for that, prepares for it; the great truth is that God is all in all. This is more than the breath breathed into the disciples.