THE POWER THAT WORKETH IN US (2)
[p. 358] THE POWER THAT WORKETH IN US (2)
JT It was remarked in the previous reading that what was in mind was the bearing of this typical book on the service of God. It implies the saints entering on their inheritance — taking possession with a view to God having His inheritance. His inheritance is the saints — the saints as He would have them; that is, clothed and enriched with their heavenly portion, so as to serve Him. We enlarged this morning on the dominical side of the service of God, which is really introductory to what we are speaking of now. It has reference to the wilderness side of our position; that is, for the individual as in Romans; and for the assembly as in Corinthians. This stands in relation to the Lord’s supper; not in the gospels, but in the first epistle to the Corinthians, which gives us the doctrine of it. It is not God’s supper, or the Father’s supper; it is the Lord’s supper; therefore, it involves subjection. The importance of this side of the position is seen in the types, in that the glory enters the tabernacle in relation to the service of Moses. As the glory enters, it is significantly intimated that the service of Moses is no longer needed. Moses could not enter, we are told; as if God took charge of the saints viewed there typically as pleasing to Him. It is to show the result reached as the brethren are in subjection; each is in his place, and functioning in his place.
Following the dominical side as set forth in Moses’ ministry, it is emphatically stated, in the first chapter of this book, that “Moses my servant is dead”. Yet the service is to go on, the service of God. There is to be no void. Joshua, who had been Moses’ attendant during all the period, we may say of his service, is here; one upon whom Moses [p. 359] had laid his hands. It is said, in the end of Deuteronomy, that the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as Jehovah had commanded Moses; so that the allegiance went on. Hence the new position is to be taken up on the same principle, namely obedience.
Joshua represents another view of Christ. As seen in Joshua, Christ is presented in Romans and Corinthians; for whilst the authority of Moses runs into the book of Joshua, what Joshua represents extends back to the beginning of Moses’ ministerial history. Joshua is just another side, or feature, of Christ — the hidden side — connected with our exercises. In chapter 1 obedience to what Moses had said is enjoined, and Joshua brings forward the two and a half tribes as completing the idea of administrative unity in the twelve. The administrative idea, involving love, runs right through. In Joshua 1, 2, and 3 the tentative side of the position is seen; but we must never lose sight of the unity — the saints as one body; otherwise we shall be partisan or sectarian. On these lines of subjection and unity there is no possibility of defeat — we go right through; so that there is every encouragement given to Joshua that God will be with him. Thus as to chapter 2, it was pointed out that the work of God is seen by itself. Rahab as the subject of it does not mention any minister; she mentions what God did for Israel in the overthrow of death in the Red Sea, and subsequently, what Israel did themselves in the overthrow of Sihon and Og, the latter the big man; that is done by themselves. It is obvious therefore, that we have to do that in a spiritual sense, to make room for one new man; for our old man has been crucified with Christ.
It was also pointed out that what marks the work of God is what is different; that is, “another way;” and what accompanies it is purity, as seen in the [p. 360] flax. It is said first that she hid the men, and then we are told how she did it; she hid them with stalks of flax — an element spiritually that would not be expected to be with her. God’s work is to defeat the enemy at every point, even in the sense of hiding. His work is not known, for it is hidden. On the other hand, it is distinctive. Hence we find in the word of the spies that the “cord” is composed of “scarlet thread”, a suggestion of the feature of distinction in God’s servants, and of what is of God. The token is not to be an ordinary one, but of a moral character. She is to be distinctive in their eyes, including her family also. The token was for the eyes of Israel, therefore it was to be distinctive. It was not simply a cord, but what it was composed of — a constructive idea is referred to — “scarlet thread”. It would be well for younger brethren especially to dwell on chapter 2. Ministry is inclined to carry us beyond what we really are, but what we learn from God ourselves, as subjects of the work of God, is most important: in other words, a man is what he is.
What is in mind in chapter 3 is still tentative, but it contains most important items from the standpoint that we are considering; the filling out of the antitype by the type. The type is explanatory of the antitype, that is, Colossians and Ephesians.
NKMcC Why do you stress what is tentative?
JT To provide for contingencies before we come to the matter in hand, otherwise we should be baffled and confused when we reach the real issue. The Spirit of God helps us in detail here. Many of us are confused as to the change from the dominical side to the paternal side of the service of God; to the Minister of the sanctuary, and the heavenly side that follows the dominical side. There is a great deal of confusion about it all over this country. I believe we have to observe what is furnished to us [p. 361] as to approach; not only approach to God, but by the new and living way; not only the objective, but the way to it.
WSS Would it be appropriate to ask as to the three days in each of these chapters? Joshua 1: 11, “Prepare yourselves victuals, for in three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, that ye may enter in to take possession of the land which Jehovah your God giveth you to possess it”. Then in Joshua 2: 16, “she said to them, Go to the mountain, that the pursuers may not meet with you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have returned;” again, in verse 22, “And they went, and came to the mountain, and remained there three days, until the pursuers had returned”. In Joshua 3: 2, 3 “And it came to pass at the end of three days, that the officers went through the camp; and they commanded the people”.
JT It seems important instruction. In the first chapter it includes the idea of victuals; the food is not specified, as it is left to us to determine what we need to eat. It would seem that the three days in chapter 2 would establish the teaching of the chapter in linking what is in Canaan with what is still the other side of Jordan. That is, the spies go back greater men than they were, for they go back another way, I suppose the idea is that we do not enter Canaan as strangers; there are those there with whom we are linked. The link would be in this other way: their remarks and hers mingle beautifully; they are all in line with what is subjective and continuous. It would be one of the sure signs of the truth; things would be on a sure footing; and the spies, instead of using the word “cord”, refer to “scarlet thread” (verse 18) — what is distinctive. What is of God is distinctive; the work of God in us makes us definite. The line of scarlet thread would allude, I think, to what is constitutional. The cord [p. 362] is made of such a thread as that; so that we are not simply on the line of light; but moving in what we are constitutionally according to God. The heavenly family are to be known in this way; built up constitutionally and distinctively.
PL “To the end that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Colossians 4: 12). Is that the constitutional side?
JT Yes. Colossians contemplates that there could be no continuance on this ground aside from the positive work of God. Light itself would not suffice, or even instruction. If we do not begin early to build up our constitution on these lines, it will show itself later. We may go along with light and the truth, but in the long run the constitution will be defective, and I think that is in mind in the victuals and the other way. The stalks of flax and the thread are foundational. The thread would be the continuity of the thought; it has gone through the process.
FI Do the victuals in the three days suggest that, having had the Lord before us in the dominical side, we need strengthening for what is before Him as Minister of the sanctuary, and to go into our inheritance?
JT As to the victuals, it is that we ought to know at this juncture what to eat. “Give ye them to eat”, the Lord said to the disciples (Matthew 14: 16); but they could not do it. We are to know what is needed and have it.
PL Would the distinctiveness of what is constitutional come to light in Epaphras, who is said to be “our beloved fellow-bondman”, and “faithful minister of Christ for you”, (Colossians 1:7). Then Tychicus, and Onesimus, “who is one of you”, (Colossians 4: 9). Are they in the land already, so to speak? Are they constitutionally and distinctively marked?
JT Quite so; Onesimus might exceed Philemon,
[p. 363] for instance; and certainly Epaphras would go beyond what was in Colosse generally. Onesimus is sent back as marked by the work of God, a brother beloved, to be received for ever — it is an eternal thought.
APT Is John the baptist one who early began to imbibe these features, which keep him constitutionally right in his history?
JT I should think that; he was in the deserts and his food was locusts and wild honey. I suppose that would be a good illustration of building up from the beginning constitutionally, so that one is characteristically of the land. I suppose Rahab would represent that side; she could say to any of them, I was in the land before you. Paul says there was one in Christ before him, and that is something.
EuR Does Colossians 1: 21 - 23 involve what you speak of as tentative? It recognises what we were as alienated and enemies in mind by wicked works, and recognises what we are to be; it is made dependent on continuing.
JT Quite so. God is able to do that through reconciliation. It seems to me that this should be looked into, especially by young men amongst us, for we are sure to be tested as to it. The scarlet thread must run through from the outset. I believe that it is a family thread, too, that is in mind, because she specifies her family; she is a family woman. Her previous course would be destructive of the family, but now she has family feelings — her father’s house, father, mother, brethren, and sisters, “and all that belong to them”. She is brought back to what is normal in the mind of God, and their salvation would be contingent on the line of scarlet thread, bound in her window. She immediately does it, so that she continues in Israel.
CAM Do you think Rahab, as representative of the work of God, and awakening this interest,
[p. 364] would be something like Epaphras in Colossians, as representing the work of God in that place; he awakened great interest in the apostle’s soul?
JT His prayers would show that he was “always combating earnestly” for them.
EBG In view of the work of God in Rahab, how are we to understand the misleading statements she made to those who came to search?
JT That is intelligible as we compare the light she had with what we have. The sinfulness of untruthfulness does not seem to have been brought out; from her point of view, she was doing what was right. We read that God winked at the times of this ignorance (Acts 17: 30). It does not affect what we are speaking of. The scriptures in the New Testament corresponding with Joshua teach us to “Lie not one to another” (Colossians 3:9).
FSM What would be the present application of the injunction that she must bind the line in the window?
JT It is where it should be. Spiritually it is herself, but it is to be seen.
FSM It is more than confession, it is the person.
JT That is it. The brethren will look for you, they will consider you. I believe a spiritual man has a judgment about everybody he knows, particularly himself.
AMP The word in Acts 9 as to Saul, “behold he is praying”, would indicate the early features of the work of God.
JT A very good illustration. It is noticeable that he never lost that characteristic. I often wonder how he prayed for so many.
HES Why do these spiritual triumphs of God come to light in the early part of the book?
JT To show the work of God. This is a crucial matter that we should fully notice as we go on.
[p. 365] We have now come to this third three days that our brother referred to, chapter 3:2. “Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. And it came to pass at the end of three days, that the officers went through the camp; and they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then remove from your place, and go after it; yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Ye shall not come near it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go; for ye have not passed this way heretofore” (verses 1 - 4). This direction is to be put over against verses 9 and 10, “And Joshua said to the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of Jehovah your God. And Joshua said, Hereby shall ye know that the living God is in your midst, and that he will without fail dispossess from before you the Canaanites”. The direction as to the three days, and as to the distance between them and the ark, is to impress us with the need of sobriety, solemnity, and reverence. If we apply that to an assembly gathered, we see the force of it; three days meaning that sufficient time is allowed for the exercise to be completed. We do not move till the ark moves, and we move reverently after it. There is another thing — stimulation for our movements in the matter of assembly service. Joshua says, “Come hither, and hear the words of Jehovah your God”. This is a direct word from Jehovah — an important matter in assembly service.
MWB Would you link that with a word on a Lord’s day morning, possibly after the Supper?
JT I was thinking of that; it helps greatly, especially a word coming in at the particular stage [p. 366] indicated. Three days is a completed exercise. You are measured in what you are doing. Ecclesiastes enjoins that we be careful in regard to the house of God: keep our feet, and look to our words. But then, at a given point, a word greatly helps. “Come hither, and hear the words of Jehovah your God”. Then Joshua says further: “Hereby shall ye know that the living God is in your midst”. The living God in our midst is to be recognised.
JJ Do you make any difference between assembly service and service in relation to the sanctuary?
JT Well, I think the assembly is the sanctuary, only that the thought is enlarged when the Minister is mentioned. It is seen in this connection; we are passing into a wholly spiritual realm, but I do not think we should ever lose sight of the fact that it is in assembly; we pass from what is local to what is universal. Ephesians 3: 21 would show that it goes right through: “to him be glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus unto all generations of the age of ages”. The assembly is “in Christ Jesus;” we come together “in assembly”, but “the assembly in Christ Jesus” goes on; the preposition would imply, I think, that it goes on in the power of Christ Jesus.
JJ Is it in your mind that the sanctuary and assembly are identical?
JT Well, they are identical, the word meaning a sanctified area or condition. It alludes to the formation of the assembly here for God’s service, in which He seeks His pleasure in His people.
JJ Then how do you regard the holiest?
JT The holiest is involved in it. The holiest is, of course, a typical word, used antitypically; that is, used for Jewish ears. It is the presence of God, according to what Christ is before Him. In scriptures which refer to gentiles it is expressed in other terms; but the presence of God, according to what [p. 367] was typified in the holiest in the tabernacle, is what is in mind. “Let us draw near” (Hebrews 10: 22), is the end in view. The holiest relates to a spiritual element put into our minds; we have boldness to enter it, and this affords us liberty in our souls in assembly service. Christ is at the right hand of God, but it is Christ in relation to the assembly that is before us. It is God according to what He has reached in Christ. God is glorified in Him according to all that He is.
HH In Hebrews the holiest is in a sense in a wilderness setting; how would you connect that with what you are saying?
JT It is in a wilderness setting, as has often been remarked; the saints are viewed as there, and in contrast to Aaron, they have boldness to enter, so that there is full liberty to draw near to God. Ephesians 2: 18 corresponds, only it is positive, Christ and the Spirit are seen as instrumental for access. In Hebrews 2: 10 God is seen as bringing many sons to glory: that is the great idea in Hebrews. “For it became him”, that is, God, “for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make perfect the leader of their salvation through sufferings. For both he that sanctifies and those sanctified are all of one; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises” (Hebrews 2: 10 - 12). That is the full thought; it is specially what is in the mind of God in Hebrews. Then the Spirit of God leads on to the full thought of priesthood, seen in Hebrews 7: 26, where we read: “such a high priest became us”. This means that it is a heavenly people with a heavenly Priest. The greatness of the people required such a great High Priest. While Hebrews, alluding to the tabernacle, contemplates the saints [p. 368] as actually in the wilderness, it has in view that we should take up our heavenly calling and privileges. The reference to the holiest is to show that we have liberty to do this, and hence that we should “draw near”. Hebrews has the heavenly calling of the saints in mind. It is the book of the opened heavens; and inasmuch as heaven is our place, we are being brought “to glory”. How we are being brought to glory, chapter 2: 10 shows; God has made our Leader perfect through sufferings, referring to His glorified condition, and that He is not ashamed to call us brethren. Chapter 7 shows that He is our Priest up there. Then we come to the next chapter, which gives a summary of all that has been said: “We have such a one high priest who has set on the right hand of the throne of the greatness in the heavens; minister of the holy places” (Hebrews 8: 1, 2). It is a heavenly thought, “Minister of the holy places and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord has pitched, and not man”. Then we have a collateral section to that, beginning with what is said, that it is meet that He should have something to offer.
We have now come to chapter 8: 3, which runs on immediately to the covenant and gives a description of the first tabernacle and the service there; the Spirit showing that “the way of the holy of holies has not yet been made manifest, while as yet the first tabernacle has its standing” (Hebrews 9: 8). Then the Spirit of God enlarges on the offerings through chapter 9 to verse 15 of chapter 10; returning then to the question of the covenant. After specifying what the covenant means subjectively for Israel, he says, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy of holies by the blood of Jesus, the new and living way which he has dedicated for us through the veil, that is, his flesh, and having a great priest over the house of God, let us approach” (Hebrews 10: 19 - 22). It is a question of drawing [p. 369] near to God; that is to say, the heavenly position is settled, for “such a high priest became us”. The heavenly position is settled, but how are saints coming into all this? Chapter 8: 3 begins this subject and carries it on till we come to verse 19 of chapter 10, where we have the exhortation to draw near to God; and that is where the wilderness comes in. It is a wilderness position, but clearly the second chapter is in mind. The Spirit of God is mentioning the heavenly side and establishing the idea of it, but how we are coming to it is the next thing — the covenant is necessary for that.
WHU How are we to regard God in relation to the sanctuary? In the light of the covenant, or in the light of Father?
JT Well, it is stated in chapter 8 what was in mind in the covenant: it was not made with the assembly, or those who form it, but with the house of Israel, and the house of Judah. “I will be to them for God, and they shall be to me for people” (verse 10). There is no covenant between the Father and Christ, or between the Father and His sons. It is a question of God and a people down here. God is not said to be our Father in Hebrews.
WHU I thought you connected the service of the sanctuary with Colossians and Ephesians.
JT We shall come to that, to the heavenly side, please God. What is in my mind now is to make clear that the Father is never connected with the new covenant.
HWS Do you think of drawing near to God in relation to the wilderness position, or does it go further?
JT It does go further; the full thought is in Hebrews 2, where it is said that God is “bringing many sons to glory”. That is in His mind. Anyone drawing near to God would find out that that is [p. 370] what He has in His mind. Ephesians 2: 18 is the extension of the thought. There we are said to have access, through Christ and by the Spirit, to the Father.
EuR Does the sanctuary include both covenant relations and heavenly and spiritual relations? Are both enjoyed there?
JT I think so. The Minister of the sanctuary is mentioned in Hebrews 8: 2 and then the Holy Spirit takes up the high priesthood of Christ again. He takes it up in relation to sacrifice, and finishes the subject in the exhortation to draw near — having “boldness for entering into the holy of holies by the blood of Jesus, the new and living way which he has dedicated for us through the veil” (Hebrews 10: 19, 20). In drawing near to God, we have a great Priest over His house, and we have to ponder how much is involved — the holiest, the house of God, and the great Priest over it. As drawing near to God, great thoughts come into your soul; you come to what is in His mind.
Ques What is the difference between drawing near, in Hebrews, access by faith in Romans, and in Ephesians access by the Spirit?
JT We have access by faith through Him into this favour in which we stand; that is Romans. In Hebrews, access by blood, by the new and living way, goes beyond Romans. It implies, I apprehend, Christ in resurrection, and the presence of the Holy Spirit here. If an intelligent believer in Jerusalem in pentecostal times should meet a Jew, exercised as to the service of God, he could suggest to him to “come and see”. What would he see? Suppose he saw Peter and John and other spiritual men sitting down at the Lord’s supper; he would see a living state of things — not what was current in the Jewish temple. He would see that the saints had liberty of approach through faith, by the blood of Jesus; but [p. 371] it was a new way, altogether different; and as they proceeded, he would find that the saints were occupied with a living Christ in heaven. Manifestly they would reach God in the power of the Spirit and worship Him. What an experience that would be! How he would be affected by the way in which things were done! It helps to look at a concrete picture, and even at the present time it may be realised — what it is to reach God. Of Him are all things and for Him are all things, and He is bringing many sons to glory through their Leader, who was made perfect through sufferings.
MWB Does “the abode of thy holiness”, if entered into, give the leverage to go in to “the mountain of thine inheritance” — the sanctuary in the land?
JT Quite so. One has often thought of the great vista that opens up through Moses in Exodus 15: 17; how he went right on to David’s time, “the Sanctuary, Lord, that thy hands have prepared”. What a thought that is! It indicates what we have been speaking of. Moses did not stop at mount Sinai; he went right on to the place that God had prepared for himself to dwell in — God’s prepared dwelling.
Ques Where would you place the thought of God leading them to His holy habitation, referred to in Exodus 15 some time before the sanctuary is mentioned? — “Thou by thy mercy hast led forth the people that thou hast redeemed; Thou hast guided them by thy strength unto the abode of thy holiness” (Exodus 15: 13).
JT That is the tabernacle.
Ques “Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, The place that thou, Jehovah, hast made thy dwelling, The Sanctuary, Lord, that thy hands have prepared” (Exodus 15: 17). What is the difference between the tabernacle [p. 372] setting of the truth and the sanctuary in the land? Would not Hebrews answer to the former?
JT I think the “abode of thy holiness” is an allusion to what took place at Sinai; but “Thou shalt bring them in” alludes to the land. Verse 17 is anticipatively the final thought, corresponding with Psalm 78: 68, 69.
Ques Would the sanctuary in the wilderness in the main answer to the epistle to the Hebrews, and coming into that position are we led further?
JT I would not say that the sanctuary in Hebrews is confined to the wilderness; the way it is brought in in the teaching of the epistle, would be on account of the state of Jewish christians, but chapter 2 shows that God had the full thought in mind — “bringing many sons to glory”. Although we have to begin with the blood of Jesus, God has nothing less than what is mentioned in chapter 2: 10 - 12 in His mind. Hebrews 10: 19 - 22 would thus link with Ephesians 2: 18, as has already been said.
JJ Would you say that the truth in Hebrews is on a level with Ephesians?
JT It is all implied, but the state of the people the Spirit is writing to prevented Him opening it up.
Ques Why is the throne emphasised in Hebrews, particularly in the opening part of chapter 8?
JT I suppose what is in mind in the four references is what Christ has entered into actually — the idea of permanency; that the Lord Jesus has reached a permanent position in regard of what is on hand. It is the fixedness of the thing. We are on sure ground, and the beginning of chapter 8, taken with what we have quoted in chapter 10, is to show how believers are led into it, from a very low state, and how this links at the present time with christendom.
JJ I notice the covenant is mentioned in Joshua 3 seven times in connection with [p. 373] the ark.
JT That is important; we are still on the wilderness side of Jordan. It is an if position, and the covenant is very important in such circumstances. It is brought in, in Hebrews, in that connection.
JAP Did I understand that the full position is reached in Hebrews 2: 10 - 12?
JT Yes. What would you expect to get beyond that? Christ owns the saints as His brethren, and He is in the midst of the assembly praising God. The full service of God in the assembly is implied.
CRB Is chapter 8: 3 reverting back to chapter 2? — “in the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises”. In chapter 8: 3 we read, “whence it is needful that this one also should have something which he may offer”.
JT I do not think so; it is the High Priest over against the other high priests.
CRB What would that offering be?
JT I think it is opened up in chapters 9 and 10. We have nothing about the covenant until chapter 8, and then chapters 9 and 10 open it up to us. It is a high-priestly offering characteristically that is required.
Ques Would you say a word as to the “great priest over the house of God” and the “minister of the sanctuary”?
JT The High Priest is the Minister of the sanctuary. The summary in the beginning of chapter 8 is of all that preceded, which leads up to the thought of fixedness. The saints being such a people, a heavenly people, we need such a Priest as that One. How is the sanctuary to be reached? How is the service of God to be carried on? You must have the people; and if He is to have the people, He must have an offering, and that offering is Himself — a characteristically high-priestly offering, and that has been offered. That is what is in mind, as far as I can see. So we have a fixedness in verse 1, all in [p. 374] view of the sanctuary. This implies the assembly. If we are to draw near, the way must be made for us, and it is a new and living way. Thus He has the saints with Him. Hebrews has in mind that there should be a practical sanctuary; the saints so constituted, and there every one appears before God — they draw near to God.