PAUL'S MILITANT MINISTRY
PAUL’S MILITANT MINISTRY
2 Corinthians 11:31 - 33; 2 Corinthians 12:1 - 10
JT We have been dwelling considerably on this epistle as the brethren know, and the thought now is to look at this closing chapter and compare it with what we have had already. From chapter 10 on to the end, we find that the apostle by the Spirit turns to a militant attitude, and we may see as we proceed, why, in passing through much and developing the truth, he changes to a militant attitude, combating evidently something to which the close of the epistle alludes. It had not come out in the earlier stages of the epistle, but as we look into these closing chapters, we shall see that they are militant. The apostle had much to contend for in the truth with the Corinthians, and much, too, to reprove them for.
Chapter 10 begins the militant side of the epistle, and it runs on to the end. The verses read from chapters 11 and 12, it will be observed, begin with a reference to lying. It says, “The God and Father of the Lord Jesus knows — he who is blessed for ever — that I do not lie”. In saying that himself, he has in mind to say like things about others, and in fact the whole section of this epistle that we have in mind is combating deception; deception either in the saints or in the enemies of the apostle he stresses that he did not lie, he was truthful in all that he said and wrote.
LPM The reference at the beginning of chapter 11 is “As the serpent deceived Eve by his craft 2 Corinthians 11:3”. Is that what is working against the ministry in all this section?
JT Showing how early the enemy had begun to work, and how it extended on down to Paul’s ministry. It is a question of discerning how ministry may turn [p. 218] to this phase of the truth for the sake of the protection of it, exposing the evil, and exposing lying.
PRP Are you linking together the militant idea and the idea of deceptiveness?
JT Yes, they run together. The militant thought is necessitated by the presence of deception and lying.
PAH In chapter 11 the apostle speaks of false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. That is the sort of thing the apostle is meeting.
JT So he says, “I am jealous as to you with a jealousy which is of God; for I have espoused you unto one man, to present you a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear lest by any means, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craft, so your thoughts should be corrupted from simplicity as to the Christ 2 Corinthians 11:2,3”. He had the whole of the saints at Corinth in mind, when he said he had espoused them to one Man, to present them as a chaste virgin to Christ. That is to say, brothers and sisters alike were included in the reference, showing how the feminine side predominates, or is the main thought in the assembly; Christ being the masculine and the saints themselves the feminine. But there was exposure to evil in all this, because he says, “Lest ... your thoughts should be corrupted from simplicity as to the Christ. For if indeed he that comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or ye get a different Spirit, which ye have not got, or a different glad tidings, which ye have not received, ye might well bear with it 2 Corinthians 11:3,4”. The allusion would be to the opposers of the truth taking on what the apostle was saying, which is often to be seen in ministry. Things are taken on because they are said by others, and therefore have weight, but nevertheless there are deceitful allusions, under-currents of evil to baffle the minds of [p. 219] the saints.
JAA The Lord commends those at Ephesus in the Revelation. He says to them, “Thou hast tried them who say that themselves are apostles and are not, and hast found them liars Revelation 2:2”. They are commended for the militant attitude in trying those and finding them to be liars.
JT Quite so. So that very often specious developments of evil are covered by well-known truths, by the ministry of well-known accredited persons, all to work out something that is not the truth; it may be to set up a rival ministry. It is usually covered over so as not to be exposed, and therefore the apostle here alludes to these different things such as “If indeed he that comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or ye get a different Spirit, which ye have not got, or a different glad tidings, which ye have not received, ye might well bear with it 2 Corinthians 11:4”. But they did not pretend to have anything special. At the same time they had in their minds something hidden deep to bring out as a rival thing. That is what I conceive is to be discerned at the present time with all that has been current in this country, and which the Lord has greatly exposed, and delivered the saints from; but what is needed is to be confirmed in what He has wrought.
CP Would the principle of that be seen in those who said “I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:12)?
JT That is the same sort of thing. Something is hidden, but it is cleverly covered over until the opportune time for developing it.
LPM So that the attack is on the thought of one Man, and a chaste virgin for the one Man.
JT And the one Man is Christ; whereas there is usually some other man, a rival man, and perhaps deeply laid thoughts about something to develop in regard to some other man. What is needed is clarity [p. 220] of mind, and decided or definite adherence to the truth at all costs.
JM So when the apostle says “I lie not”, is it countering the whole range of the enemy’s activities from Eden right down to this moment?
JT Well, you might say that. What he says about the devil’s work against Eve would indicate that. He just brings out that specific point as to Eve, because it is a question of the assembly and one Man, and he says “I have espoused you unto one man, ... to Christ”. We must adhere to the one Man and to the feminine side in the assembly.
JMcN Is the enemy seen at his worst on the line of imitation? He began early to imitate.
JT Just so.
PBP Alongside of this imitation, is there an attack on those who are standing for the truth? I was thinking of what the apostle says here, “I lie not”. He was showing that he was going on with what was right.
JT He is asserting that he is truthful in what he is saying himself, but he says a great deal at the same time of the untruthfulness and deception of others. So that there is a need, according to what the apostle says here, to be guarded. All of the brethren need this at the moment, and to be held firmly to the truth, and stand for it.
CTMcC Do you suggest that in order that the truth might be preserved, the saints as a whole must be militant in character and not acquiesce in evil? There is a danger of acquiescing in evil.
JT I am sure that is right. The whole position is affected, and the apostle turns to those we are speaking of as he touches the tenth chapter, because there was something hidden to be dealt with, but they were ministers of Satan that had been doing it.
PAH He speaks so definitely in chapter 11:12, “But what I do, I will also do, that I may cut off the [p. 221] opportunity of those wishing for an opportunity, that wherein they boast they may be found even as we 2 Corinthians 11:12”.
JT Taking the opportunity away from them and refusing to allow them an advantage.
LPM Does this all involve suffering taken on? The apostle speaks of the tremendous range of sufferings he had gone through. I suppose the only way the position can be met is to be prepared to suffer in standing for the truth.
JT That is what is seen in these chapters. He tells us about what he had suffered. You marvel at what he had suffered, and how he could suffer so much. The Lord had said “I will shew to him how much he must suffer for my name (Acts 9:16)”. So here he says, “But what I do, I will also do, that I may cut off the opportunity of those wishing for an opportunity, that wherein they boast they may be found even as we. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And it is not wonderful, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. It is no great thing therefore if his ministers also transform themselves as ministers of righteousness 2 Corinthians 11:12 - 15”. So we can see how the enemy will work to gain a point, but all the time have something hidden that in due time he will bring to light.
WJB As to the matter of lying, it is not just untruthfulness in statements, but there is such a thing as a spirit of lying, an element of lying among us if we allow it.
JT As the devil attempted with Eve, “Yea, hath God said”, (Genesis 3:1) he said to her, as if to say God had not said it, and it was to deny what God had said.
WLJ Should they have had a real judgment as to what the apostle had raised with the Corinthians earlier?
JT Well, I would say that there is a definite line of truth in the second letter; it is a second letter,
[p. 222] and it is to bring out what is omitted in the first letter. Second letters are always to amplify first letters. It is a question of enlarging on the truth, and this had been proceeded with right up to the end of chapter 5, as we have had already. Then we have much else up to chapter 9, especially about the collection, but in chapter 10 the apostle refers immediately to certain things in himself: “I myself, Paul, entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ, who, as to appearance, when present am mean among you, but absent am bold towards you; but I beseech that present I may not be bold with the confidence with which I think to be daring towards some who think of us as walking according to flesh 2 Corinthians 10:1,2”. That is where the apostle clearly shows he is attacking something.
ENJ The attack is particularly against the beloved apostle, and he himself is the vessel of the testimony at the time, and the brethren would be following what the apostle was bringing out, and now the enemy is opposing that by means of certain who are prepared to serve him.
JT What had been built up in the early chapters, as we have had in the last two or three weeks, is the line of truth that was needed, because it is intended to develop the service of God, to work it out in a practical sense; and then the apostle alludes to himself and to certain things that were there, and then he alludes to what is wrong in others. He says, “I beseech that present I may not be bold with the confidence with which I think to be daring towards some who think of us as walking according to flesh 2 Corinthians 10:2”. There were those who assumed that Paul was walking according to flesh. “For walking in flesh we do not war according to flesh. For the arms of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful according to God to the overthrow of strongholds; overthrowing reasonings and every high thing that lifts itself up against [p. 223] the knowledge of God, and leading captive every thought into the obedience of the Christ 2 Corinthians 10:3 - 5”. So the conflict is established, and is pursued right through to the end of this epistle.
LPM Are there two positive things that he is making room for in the ministry here? The fact of new creation in chapter 5, and a man in Christ in chapter 12, and the whole attack is encircling such matters.
JT That is pretty much what I would say, but then he also takes advantage of the opportunity to speak of the great experience he had above. “I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago, (whether in the body I know not, or out of the body I know not, God knows;) such a one caught up to the third heaven”. So that now he is dealing with visions and revelations, but he brings these things in to meet the attack that is being made against the truth. He is asserting that he is not lying in what he is saying, which is a most important thing in our ministry, that we do not turn aside to lying.
ENJ Would this give a heavenly character to his ministry, and lift it immediately above those who were operating with an ulterior motive in their hearts?
JT Just so.
DHB Did Ananias and Sapphira have in mind an imitation of what Barnabas had done?
JT That came in early, of course.
LPM Why does Paul refer to fourteen years ago in this relation?
JT It was a secret matter, I would think. God gave him the advantage of a visit to the heavenly places, and he did not make much of it; he did not parade it, but kept it secret for all these years, but he is now bringing it out; the time had come to use it to advantage.
PRP Would you be free to develop this thought [p. 224] of warfare in the tenth chapter to which you have already referred? “The arms of our warfare are not fleshly 2 Corinthians 10:4”.
JT “Powerful according to God to the overthrow of strongholds”, 2 Corinthians 10:4 which might be party spirit, brethren bound by special friendships; “overthrowing reasonings and every high thing that lifts itself up against the knowledge of God, and leading captive every thought into the obedience of the Christ; and having in readiness to avenge all disobedience when your obedience shall have been fulfilled 2 Corinthians 10:5,6”. That is to show that the Corinthians themselves were not generally clear in matters, and Paul would not proceed until he had them all right, because he doubtless feared that division might arise through these wicked men, so he is waiting on the Corinthians. “Having in readiness to avenge all disobedience” 2 Corinthians 10:6 (whatever it might have been), when their obedience had been fulfilled. He would wait on them. It is a great thing to wait on the brethren, because the enemy is always ready to use companionships or special friendships, if the truth is to be attacked.
PRP It says, “having in readiness to avenge all disobedience 2 Corinthians 10:6”. How does that work out in each individual, do you think?
JT Well, he referred to vengeance earlier: “but what vengeance”. That is, the idea of vengeance entered into the judgment of the wicked man, the incestuous person, so Paul had in readiness to avenge all disobedience in whoever it might be; but he would wait on the Lord’s people in Corinth until they were ready. The point is now, if there is anything exposed as evil, let us see to it that we follow the exposure, and do not fall under the power of the evil; refuse companionships and special friendships.
LPM Solomon’s couch is protected by swordsmen [p. 225] that are expert in war, in case of alarm in the nights. The swordsmen are there in the presence of the most restful conditions. Would you say that, while we live here, the attitude of militancy must be maintained to protect the truth?
JT Yes, we must be good soldiers of Jesus Christ, even in attack and defence of the truth, because of the dangers, combinations, and special friendships. When an attack comes to light, be sure to stand by the truth that is brought into evidence, otherwise there may be a return to the thing that was intended to baffle the saints.
LPM You mean persons may resume the friendships they had before the position was exposed?
JT Yes, if the friendships have not really been judged, they may be resumed, and the same things will recur. This is undoubtedly what was active at Corinth, because there are two epistles, and Paul was gravely concerned about the Corinthians. Evidently it was because he desired to develop the thought of the service of God in connection with the assembly at Corinth, and the enemy was set against that. That is what these epistles mean. The position has to be defended, and there must be the refusal of special friendships, otherwise we shall fall back into what we have been delivered from.
ENJ It appears that the apostle would wait for his epistles and what they contained to be consolidated in the saints, that some at least might be on good ground before dealing with these cases.
JT That was the idea exactly; the two epistles combined were intended to consolidate the truth in the saints at Corinth, so that the service of God should be set up there.
JAA Would there not be power to deal with the matters, if the saints were all one in relation to these things?
JT That is it. The danger is that we are not all [p. 226] one in these matters that have been before us these few weeks. At the same time God is working, and the brethren are being delivered, and helped and strengthened against what is evil, and strengthened in the sense of what is good; but the thing is to go forward, so that the enemy will be utterly defeated and there will be no recurrence of what we have been delivered from.
PRP So that if this matter is still working in persons it has to be pursued, and if we see it in a brother we would seek to help him.
JT Quite so, because that is where the evil will be, in some brother or brothers who have special friendships.
JMcN Is there a good example in Paul in Acts 19? By asserting the truth he really defeated the trade union of the silversmiths.
JT Very good. We learn everything from the great servants at the beginning. The Lord taught them, so that it could be said of the early disciples that they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in breaking of bread and prayers. They were fitted for that purpose, to lead the saints; and they did lead them; so here the truth was developed in the second epistle and the service of God was proceeding.
LPM Would you say a word as to the matter of a man in Christ, consciously known by Paul? “I [consciously] know a man in Christ”. What relation has that to the Corinthian epistles?
JT It is a turn in what he is talking about. He has been saying very strong things in chapter 11. He says, “For ye bear if any one bring you into bondage, if any one devour you, if any one get your money, if any one exalt himself, if any one beat you on the face. I speak as to dishonour, as though we had been weak; but wherein any one is daring (I speak in folly,) I also am daring. Are they Hebrews?
[p. 227] I also 2 Corinthians 11:20 - 22”. It seems that these opponents of Paul were all these things; they were like him and had great resemblance to him, and they were taking advantage of that; and now he is exposing all this, and in exposing it he has to go into his whole history, and tells us what he went through; and what a history it is!
JM Would it be right to say that in chapters 10 and 11, he meets them on their own level? They had been boasting, and he says in chapter 12, it is not profitable for him to boast; he has to go on to a higher level now.
JT He says, “I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago”; he does not say ‘I am the man’, but he knows him. And then he says that he does not know whether he was in the body or out of it, but he could say God knew; therefore he has to rest in that. It is a question of what God knows.
ENJ Does he set his most humiliating experience of being lowered by the wall against this most exalted experience of being caught up to the third heaven?
JT Just so. The record that we have from him is to be taken account of. As he says, “I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago, (whether in the body I know not, or out of the body I know not, God knows;) such a one caught up to the third heaven”. He was caught up into paradise; and to the third heaven, but it was paradise, which is a joyous place, and heard unspeakable things which it is not allowed to man to utter. “Of such a one I will boast, but of myself I will not boast, unless in my weaknesses”. So now we are in the presence of one who is an example for us in humility. And he is ready to accept a thorn for the flesh. The thorn was intended to weaken Paul as in the flesh, and he besought the Lord three times that it might be [p. 228] removed, but the Lord did not remove it. He said, “My grace suffices thee; for my power is perfected in weakness”. And Paul says, “Most gladly therefore will I rather boast in my weaknesses, that the power of the Christ may dwell upon me”. That is the lesson for us.
PAH It says here, “Of such a one I will boast, but of myself I will not boast, unless in my weaknesses”. I was wondering if that expression was over against the boasting referred to by some in chapter 11, who were boasting according to flesh. Now he has something to boast in “such a one”. Do you think that is a contrast?
JT I suppose so. There was given to him a thorn for the flesh, and he tells us why, “That I might not be exalted by the exceeding greatness of the revelations”. There was given to him a thorn for the flesh, a minister of Satan that he might buffet him that he might not be exalted. “For this I thrice besought the Lord that it might depart from me. And he said to me, My grace suffices thee; for my power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather boast in my weaknesses, that the power of the Christ may dwell upon me. Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in insults, in necessities, in persecutions, in straits, for Christ”. So we learn from Paul here how to accept discipline. It is intended to help us. We get an example in him as to how to get on despite such a serious situation, because something has happened to him that must have been very painful, and the devil would take advantage of Paul’s great exaltation. The thorn is for the flesh, so that Paul might be brought down, lest he might be exalted above measure.
CP Is that why he could say I am less than the least of all saints?
JT Yes.
CGMcC [p. 229] Would you say a little more as to what it is to boast in weaknesses?
JT Well, what do we know about these things? We would not undertake to explain such exalted experiences as Paul had, but clearly it is for us to learn to accept the things that humble us, to glory in the things that humble us. “I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me”. That is to say, he had learned his lesson, and was submissive to what the Lord proposed to him. The things he had gone through were extraordinary, you might say unbelievable, but they were to be believed; what he said was the truth. You marvel at it indeed, but it was not at the end of his ministry, for what he records here is likely at the middle of his service.
LPM Had he Titus with him in this outlook? He says of him, “Have we not walked in the same spirit? have we not in the same steps? 2 Corinthians 12:18” Titus had taken on a little of this in his own way, had he not, and been loyal to the truth, and what had come out in the apostle, and was standing by it?
JT So there were others moving in the same direction, such as Titus and Timotheus; but you marvel at what the apostle himself goes through as tabulated here, but you glory in it too, that he was able to tell these things, and they were really true.
RGW The apostle speaks here of being caught up, and the saints in Thessalonica are referred to as being caught up, and the man child in Revelation was caught up. Would you help us a little as to that?
JT And Philip was caught away. “The Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip (Acts 8:39)”. It is really rapture, you might say. That is what we are to look for presently when the Lord will come to rapture us, and this incident that is mentioned ought to give us [p. 230] the idea of what the rapture will be, that is to say, we are to be caught away. Caught up really is the word here; caught away would refer to Philip, and he was found at Azotus; showing what experiences the early saints had. The rapture is something we often speak of, and it is a very good term too. Paul had a full experience of it in being caught up to the third heaven, but he did not know whether he was in the body or out of the body; it is very remarkable that Paul himself did not know this.
ENJ It would give the apostle an advantage over all his enemies, this heavenly experience. To be caught up to the third heaven was a marvellous experience.
JT That is a good way to put it, and you feel that the Lord would do that for His servants, not to exalt them, but to humble them. He knows just how much we can stand. He knew what Paul could stand, and we see here how much he did stand. We marvel at the things he records in these chapters; it says, “I have become a fool; ye have compelled me; for I ought to have been commended by you; for I have been nothing behind those who were in surpassing degree apostles, if also I am nothing 2 Corinthians 12:11”. He tells us the things he had actually gone through, they are mentioned in chapter 11.
JMcN It was the state of the Corinthians which brought out this experience of Paul, which had been kept a secret for this long period of years?
JT Quite so. It shows how he could keep such a secret, not to bring it forward to extol himself. He had kept it for fourteen years, but now the time comes when it could be made good use of, and he makes use of it.
LPM Was it to help the Corinthians who were true to successfully combat this attack upon [p. 231] them?
JT I would think so; these great things were true of him, and he now uses them to advantage.
LPM Would you say that the ministry the Lord is giving us in these times, if taken on readily, will enable us to combat successfully any attack upon the truth?
JT I think so. There has been an attack on it and the enemy will keep on the attack and keep on the combinations that support it. That danger is ever with us unless we judge ourselves as to it, and judge ourselves as to the danger of partisan feeling.
WLW Speaking of the rapture, is Enoch a sample man in that way? He walked in a difficult day, and he had the testimony that he pleased God.
JT Quite so. He was the seventh from Adam, meaning that he had gone through things experimentally. Seven would be an allusion to what he had gone through in the way of discipline and teaching. It is a question of history. Enoch is an historic figure, and he pleased God, and he had the testimony that he pleased God. That is the great point if we are really in the ministry and serving effectively, to please God.
LPM Referring again to this matter of the ministry, the way in which the apostle brings out the truth that relates to a man in Christ seems to be emerging in view of the needs that were then a Corinth, so that I suppose at any time in the ministry, if we are diligent and careful, there is something from the Lord that will enable us to meet the situation on hand.
JT I think so. God has His resources, and it is the glory of God to conceal a matter. Things are often concealed until the proper time to bring them out. It was so in Paul’s case, and it is often so in others. “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; but the glory of kings is to search out a thing (Proverbs 25:2)”.
LPM So what has come out of late years has been the peculiar place of the assembly as the woman, the complement to the man. Is that not the distinctive feature that the Lord has drawn attention to in the ministry in a general way?
JT Quite so, and that there is neither male nor female. The truth is that the idea of the masculine is in Christ, and the feminine is in the assembly. That has come to light and it is for the brethren to understand what that means. So here he says, “I have espoused you unto one man, to present you a chaste virgin to Christ 2 Corinthians 11:2”. All the Corinthians, brothers and sisters alike, were viewed as feminine. So that the question is whether the brethren are getting at the truth of the assembly in that sense.
DHB You refer to the point of special friendships. Is it good to see that the apostle in finishing most of his epistles makes such remarks as, “Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss”, (1 Thessalonians 5:26) bringing all the brethren into it?
JT It is a holy kiss, a very important thing to keep before us. The father in the prodigal’s case kissed him caressingly.
ENJ Would it be right to say that we need to keep Christ and the truth before us in a supreme way, rather than persons?
JT Exactly. So that the principle of these epistles would show how the apostle built them up, and when the time arrived he would turn to the militant side. Having kept what had happened in Corinth in the background, he had in readiness to avenge all disobedience when their obedience was fulfilled. Now the time has come for this, that is to say, to avenge disobedience.
ENJ No doubt these men that were causing the trouble would be attractive, and possibly able and gifted [p. 233] persons.
JT I am sure they would be. The enemy would take up men that would suit his purpose. And when God comes in for us and exposes things, then the thing is to follow the exposure, and to walk in the light as God is in the light. If there is an exposure God is in it, and it is for us to follow that: thus we will be kept from the evil, so that it will not overtake us.