THE SUBJECTIVE SIDE OF THE TRUTH (1)
[p. 153] THE SUBJECTIVE SIDE OF THE TRUTH (1)
Matthew 4: 12 - 25; Matthew 28: 16 - 20
JT It is in mind to call attention to two of the Gospels, with a view to our acquiring more knowledge of what we call the subjective side of the truth in the Scriptures. Matthew and John particularly give the subjective side of the truth, and it is thought that we should look at Matthew this morning and John this afternoon. The Gospels, so called, among other things, are intended to balance us in our knowledge of the truth. In Luke and John, for instance, we have no allusion to the forsaking of the Lord Jesus on the cross; whereas in Matthew and Mark the forsaking is specially given. Correspondingly, it is thought that the subjective side of the truth, as we call it, that is what is formed in us in a positive way, appears in Matthew and in John. What is immediately in mind, in the passage read in Matthew, is the fact that light is said to have “sprung up”. The same is true as to life in John. It springs up. The water of life springs up into eternal life. In the other gospels, and especially in Acts, light is seen coming down from heaven.
In regard to what springs up, we have the idea of making, as seen in Matthew. The disciples, specially John and Peter, but the twelve generally, were to make disciples of all nations and it is thought that this should be understood, so that the idea of making disciples should be apprehended by us. It is mentioned in Acts, too, in connection with Paul, for it says “having made many disciples”, Acts 14: 21. Then in the passage read in Matthew 4, the Lord says to Peter, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men”. I think it will be obvious that the thought of believers being made, in the sense of disciples and fishers, is practical and concrete.
WC Does it enter into God’s original thought in connection with man, “Let us make man in our image?” Genesis 1: 26.
JT I would say that. “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground”, Genesis 2: 7. It would appear that the whole man was made in a material sense, and then the breath of God was given to him, for it goes on to say, He “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life”.
PL You referred in prayer to what was historical. Is there an allusion to a subjective state in Zebulon and Naphtali in a crisis, when it says they “jeoparded their lives unto death”, Judges 5: 18? The end of the Song of Deborah, “let them that love him be as the rising of the sun in its might”, would be in accord with what is in view in Matthew.
JT I think that is good; specially if we consider Deborah and who she was. She was the wife of a man whose name signifies light. The wifely condition would be the practical side of our position. She did not represent the full thought of leadership, nevertheless she did act in leadership. Although a great sister, a great woman and a poetess, she is not mentioned among the persons of faith in Hebrews 11; Barak is the one who is mentioned, because God would have the official side, which belongs to man, in the record.
Ques Would Deborah represent the state of soul that lay behind Barak’s activities? He says, “If thou goest with me, then I will go, but if thou goest not with me, I will not go”. That was a right sentiment, from that point of view, was it not?
JT Yes. He had confidence in her. He was conscious of the need of her. The practical side was in her and the light was in him. He was to be the leader and she herself had that in mind.
FCH Have you in mind that light is in view of formation?
JT It is. That, I believe, is seen in the first and second chapters of Genesis. God said “Let there be light”. Paul enlarges on that in saying that the light now is in the face of Jesus, which is a very practical thought. The light was necessary in the first day, before there [p. 155] were any operations. It was necessary that there should be light, but we are not told what the light was on the first day, whereas we are told on the fourth day. It says then that there is a greater light and a lesser light, and these would be substantial. It was a question firstly of what light is in itself, but the New Testament says “God is light”. Whether we can say it is ‘substantial’ is a question; but the result of it, what is brought about as the effect of it, is substantial.
Ques Were you going to say any more about it having sprung up here in contrast to the Acts where light came down from heaven?
JT Well, it was just to call attention to that fact. Christianity, as seen in the Acts, connects with what comes out of heaven, what comes down, but Matthew speaks of what was here. Hence he does not record the ascension of Christ, but has in mind that He is still here with us during the whole period until the end of the age.
PL Does this fit in with “the word of God grew and spread itself”? In the quotation from Isaiah in the chapter we have read, we have this thought of increase, to which you alluded in prayer, “Thou hast multiplied the nation, hast increased its joy: they joy before thee like to the joy in harvest; as men rejoice when they divide the spoil”, Isaiah 9: 3. Is that the great Matthew issue?
JT Quite so. Hence the references in Matthew to the great followings which the Lord had. You cannot have too many for God if they are the kind He wants, and the Lord was seeking the kind that was needed. So Matthew mentions two or three times the large following He had. Then in Acts 2 there is a large result from the gospel, and there is an allusion to a large result later, in chapter 4, but large numbers are never referred to in connection with Paul. With him it is a question of quality and formation. The Matthew side would be the idea of numbers and then the formation. The last [p. 156] passage we read alludes to the baptismal words or pronouncement; it is in “the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit”. Although the divine Persons are one, and “God” would apply to each at any time, yet you could not reverse the order in which They are said to be, because the wisdom of God requires it for the economy that He has in mind. So Matthew does not tell us that the Lord ascended, which is remarkable, and we have to understand that it is needed that He should remain with us and He does remain with us. He says, “where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them”. It is not simply “in the midst”, but “in the midst of them”. That is to say He recognises or signalises the disciples because He is in the midst of them.
Ques Is what you have in mind, that the work of God in a subjective way, links with the thought of making? Making fishers and making disciples, is to be carried on by those who accept responsibility in localities.
JT It is, and that is what I would understand to be the meaning of our care meetings and the service of our elders. The form care meetings have taken is almost, you might say, modern, but, anyway, the intent is the formation, the regularisation, of the persons that are there; that they are to be enlightened. One of the greatest needs existing now is that of being regulated by the principles of the truth, so that the saints are kept from the world and from sin. Care meetings have become increasingly important, because we are able to investigate. It is not simply that the elders should do it, but the brethren are all brought into it; even if the sisters are not present they should certainly ask their husbands at home, so that the facts should be known and that there should be formation.
WC Would David in the cave of Adullam illustrate the way it works out? It says, “he became a captain over them; and there were with him about four hundred men”, 1 Samuel 22: [p. 157] 2.
JT Exactly. There were none such elsewhere. Then David came under prophetic ministry, which is just what we have and what the Lord has opened up for us, so that there might be formation. The prophet Gad came into evidence and told David what to do. He was always subject to the prophet, whether it was Gad or Nathan, for he always recognises the importance of the prophetic ministry.
PL So that David became greater and greater, and then it says “it was a great camp, like the camp of God”, 1 Chronicles 12: 22. Would that be the regulation as seen in Matthew and Corinthians?
JT Just so, and that means the assembly. It is not simply as it was in Acts, “the crowd of names”, but an ordered assembly. The word assembly is not found immediately; it is doubtful that it is found in the second chapter, and it is doubtful if the plural is found in the ninth chapter; but anyway the idea of the assembly appears in due course, and that implies order. It implies those that are called out; those that come under subjection and walk in subjection, so that they are formed.
PL Does the Galilean environment, in both scriptures read in Matthew, bear on the truth of the cross in 1 Corinthians in relation to our regulation? I was thinking of the reproach of Paul in the light of the cross in 1 Corinthians and whether the ‘making’ process was in view as suggested in Matthew in the Galilean environment. Is that the place of reproach where all this is worked out?
JT Yes. The Gospels insist on the truth of the cross and so does Paul in 1st and 2nd Corinthians. The truth of the cross is marked by severity in the application of it, and in Colossians you have the extraordinary word nailing of things to the cross, so that they are fixed there.
PHH The disciples at the beginning of chapter 5, are being separated from the crowd. Is that the beginning of this [p. 158] regularising?
JT I think it is. It is a striking chapter. It says, “But seeing the crowds, he went up into the mountain”. It is the mountain, you will notice, as over against the plain, “and having sat down”, meaning deliberation. The Lord would be deliberate in what He was about to do in view of their being formed by the truth He was about to bring out. “His disciples came to him; and, having opened his mouth, he taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens. Blessed they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”. There are nine ‘Blesseds’ down to the twelfth verse, where we have “Blessed are ye when they may reproach and persecute you, and say every wicked thing against you, lying, for my sake. Rejoice and exult, for your reward is great in the heavens; for thus have they persecuted the prophets who were before you”. The Lord’s instruction, in Matthew, begins there properly. He is on the mount, which would be in agreement with the idea of the word assembly; that is, those who are called out. They went up themselves, as it says, “he went up into the mountain, and having sat down, his disciples came to him”. He did not even call them; it is what they did themselves, showing that they themselves were affected immediately by the light that was coming out.
Rem They seem to have got benefit from Christ and He would doubtless become attractive to them and they now come under this teaching to regularise them.
JT Matthew stresses teaching right through so that His followers might be affected. The fifth chapter is one of three, for the sixth and the seventh are on the same line. It is the line of teaching, but also of legislation. There are seven mountains in Matthew and what is in mind at this first mountain is legislation. The Lord refers to what others had said, but He stresses what He says.
[p. 159] PHH Would that correspond with the word of Paul, “the things that I write ... it is the Lord’s commandment”? 1 Corinthians 14: 37.
JT It would. That word commandment is in the singular. It expresses the one idea that pervades the whole epistle, as if Paul was impressed with the need of obedience. It agrees with Romans, where the gospel is said to be “for obedience of faith among all the nations”. Paul readily discerned the need of the insistence on obedience in order to form the assembly.
ESH The Lord says to Peter in Matthew 16, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona”. That is the responsible side, before He says, “thou art Peter” in regard to the revelation.
JT He is taken up by the responsible name, but the Lord has in mind to change it, and to constitute Peter material for the assembly. That is in keeping with Matthew, for it is not simply a question of light but of material. The revelation involved light, of course, that Christ is the Son of the living God, but then there was need for material; there was need for an assembly, and the Lord had in mind to build one, and Peter was to be the material. I suppose that is what is meant, and, of course, it comes into what we are saying in Matthew, for it is not simply a question of light or doctrine, but the material for the assembly, and the idea of making in order to add to it.
Ques Does that bear on the difference you are making between teaching and legislation? Will you open that out a little more?
JT It would be the difference between the universities or the schools and the House of Commons. The House of Commons is the place of legislation, of making laws, and then there is the administration of the laws. Administration calls for principles and hence the need of certain laws being laid down, but teaching is for children to start with. They are to be brought up in the truth of things, so that they can handle things when the [p. 160] time comes. Therefore the idea of formation or making, which we are dealing with now, is of first-rate importance.
PL With regard to this making, it says of David’s mighty men, that he “made them chiefs”, 1 Chronicles 12: 18.
Ques In verse 24 of chapter 4 we see a large range of enemy power, but there is power down here to meet it. The Lord had to say to every form of it and He healed those who needed healing. Is that all in view of teaching?
JT That is why, I think, Matthew omits the ascension. It is to stress the idea of the presence of the Lord here. We have to understand the presence of the Lord here continuously as applied to assembly service as well as to service generally.
WC As to light springing up, would the thought apply now in local assemblies?
JT I think it would. So the local assembly is immediately mentioned by Paul in the first epistle to the Corinthians. It is to support Matthew. The apostle would imply that the truth of Matthew has to be maintained, and that it had to be maintained at Corinth. The Lord said to Paul, “I have much people in this city”, Acts 18: 10. That is important to keep in mind because of the need of formation and teaching and of administration too. So that in the beginning of Corinthians we have the assembly. The first mention of the assembly in Corinthians is in chapter 1, “the assembly of God which is in Corinth”. That is a great expression which is in keeping with Matthew 16.
PHH Is the local position hinted at in the reference to the Lord Jesus leaving Nazareth and going and dwelling at Capernaum? Is that to lay some stress on the locality where the Lord is?
JT I think that is right. It is to a locality that would not be any advantage to Him or to anybody, physically. Capernaum would be considerably lower even than the surface of the Mediterranean. Therefore there was a disadvantage in dwelling at Capernaum in [p. 161] preference to Nazareth, which was a considerable number of feet higher.
Ques Does the appellation. “Men of Galilee” in Acts 1: 11 suggest that the truth had taken shape in a substantial sense, that they had been made?
JT Quite so. The Lord took great pains in dealing with certain facts needed to adjust the saints. Among them were such things as divorce and the like; matters that were of great importance in the households. Undoubtedly Matthew 5 was intended to lay the basis for the assembly in the sense of teaching. In this part of Matthew He is directing the disciples to their Father, to God, for they were to be imitators of their Father in the heavens.
Ques As to the process of making; is the putting of the material together in mind in Matthew 16 in the Lord’s word, “I will build my assembly”?
JT Just so. The first thought as to building we get is in Genesis 2 in reference to the woman.
AHG Has the sovereignty of God to be recognised in connection with the thought of making, as we see in Romans 9: 20, “Shall the thing formed say to him that has formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?”
JT We are to be submissive and not to admit of our own will in what God does. I think the great letters to Corinth, especially the first, are in keeping with that. They are to maintain the truth of Matthew in the local position.
FCH As to things being effaced and nailed to the cross, would the record of the forsaking of Christ so definitely mentioned in Matthew have this in view?
JT It is remarkable that the forsaking is found there and in Mark. The cross is stressed in the epistle to the Colossians, to which you have alluded. The thought of nailing things to the cross, would refer, I think, to Jewish things, and they are the most difficult to handle.
GWB Would the Lord’s word in chapter 18, “two of you”, imply formation in those who agree and ask?
JT Quite so. The idea of agreement must be there, and it is to ask the “Father who is in the heavens”, showing that the heavenly side is also found in Matthew. The you in the expression “two of you” is, I think, an allusion to the assembly, for the assembly is formed of persons. It was a great thing to belong to that company and their number is given at the beginning. It says, “the crowd of names who were together was about a hundred and twenty”, Acts 1: 15. That is ten times twelve. I suppose there is something in that, but it was a great matter to belong to that company. There is no such august group of people on the earth as the assembly, but then it is not simply a group of people, it is a building, as the Lord said, “on this rock I will build my assembly”, Matthew 16: 18.
Ques Are there special occasions when the name disciples might have application to us now?
JT The word is not much used in the epistles; it is more used in the gospels. It is more initial, and I believe that the Spirit of God would in this link on with Enoch; that is to say, with the idea of learning. He is the seventh from Adam, the principle of learning being cumulative.
WH In verse 19, the Lord says to Peter and Andrew, “I will make you fishers of men”; but in the case of the other two brothers, He does not use any such expression.
JT In Matthew 4: 21, in connection with James and John, I think, the idea of the father is in mind, for they were with their father; that is not mentioned as to Peter and Andrew. What characterises them is that they are brothers; brothers in the flesh, and the Lord sees that they were casting a net into the sea. It says, “for they were fishers”; that is, their occupation is in mind and they are working on their own; they are not working [p. 163] with their father. It is not a family affair. Then the Lord brings in this thought, “I will make you fishers of men”, and it says, “they, having left their trawl-nets, immediately followed him”. That means that the principle of leaving something enters into this whole matter. It is not simply that I have a side line to my own affairs, and that side line is Christianity, or the gospel, or the like, but that my main thought is in my business. That will not do for the Lord or the Spirit of God. It says “they ... left their trawl-nets, immediately”. Luke adds to that somewhat and says, “leaving all they followed him”. Then it goes on here to say, “And going on thence he saw other two brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the ship with Zebedee their father, mending their trawl-nets, and he called them; and they, having left the ship and their father, immediately followed him”. They do something further, for they left the ship and their father. The others left their trawl-nets but John and James, I would think, are to be noted as having left more.
PL Would the brotherly reference of Luke to Matthew, the writer of this gospel, emphasise that? He says, speaking of Matthew, “having left all, rising up, he followed him”, Luke 5: 28. It is such a one who writes this gospel.
Ques Have you in mind that these two sets of brothers are, in a way, an advance on the idea of disciples, having the assembly in view?
JT I think so, especially with the thought of making added to it, for there would be skill acquired thus. We need skill in handling the things of God. John puts Peter and Andrew together, and tells us that Andrew had sought out Peter.
Ques Would “fishing” be on the line of the gospel, but “the mending of the nets” be the maintenance of right principles to preserve what is caught? Both are required in the working out of the truth formatively.
[p. 164] JT Quite so. In John 21 the Lord takes in hand the restoration of the disciples who had turned away from the service, but John does not say that the Lord reproved them. That is to say, John would ease things a bit, and make restoration as easy as possible for us. It is not that principles or the truth are forsaken, of course, but the Lord does not reprove them, and that, I think, is a very important thing to keep in mind. They went fishing, it says, but they did not catch anything. In the earlier instruction in Luke 5 the catch was very large and the partners are brought into it, but in John 21 they did not catch anything; nevertheless, the Lord does not reprove them, and it is to be added with comfort, that they found on the beach “a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread”. Whoever caught the fish, or made the bread, is not stated, but the Lord invited them to dine, without a word of reproof. Then He says, “Bring of the fishes which ye have now taken”. There were one hundred and fifty-three great fishes which shows the result of the Lord coming in without reproof. Someone has spoken about the Lord’s ‘unrebuking gaze’. Even in such circumstances He can, if necessary, reserve His rebuke and He reserved it here in instructing the seven who went out fishing. The fish were brought, and then the probing ensues, but the probing of Peter is to bring out that this man, of whom the Lord said He would make him a fisher of men, had to do something himself. He had to probe himself as to whether he loved the Lord more than the others did.
Ques Is there instruction in the use of the word for mending in Matthew 4: 21, and in its being the same as united in 1 Corinthians 1: 10 and restore in Galatians 6: 1?
JT That helps as to the restoration, or recovery of the brethren. We need not always contemplate disciplinary action in our first approach to a matter causing sorrow. It may have to come, but it ought to be the last thought, for we want to gain the brethren; that [p. 165] is what the word in Galatians 6 means, “Ye who are spiritual restore such a one”. It is not ‘if you can’, but it is assumed that they can do it.
Ques Do you mean that, although it may become impossible, restoration would be the primary object in view in any visitation?
JT This is discipline, of course; yet, at the same time, although the apostle is severe in his word to the Galatians, he is not severe in chapter 6 as to someone taken in a fault.
PHH Would the section of John 21 to which you have referred be a sample of “whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted to them”?
JT Just so. That is what the Lord says. Remission is a very important matter.
It is thought that Matthew 28 augments what we began with, namely what happened at Capernaum. There we have the thought of light springing up instead of coming down, and what we have already remarked as to formation. Chapter 28 brings in the work they are given to do; to “make disciples of all the nations”. These would be a most difficult kind of people, because they are nations, they are not trained from the divine standpoint; they are just raw material, but the Lord proposes that they should make disciples of them. Governed by this thought in the little work that we have to do; that is, the brethren with whom we are all walking, we are endeavouring to get souls. The Lord’s word is, “Yet will I gather others to him, besides those that are gathered”. Isaiah 56: 8. We are entitled to expect gathering, but it is with persons who are already, more or less, affected by the truth of Christianity generally, that we have to deal.
EuR There were disciples whom Paul could embrace in Acts 20. They had been made, and then it says there were many lights. Is that like light springing up?
JT I think they would be suggestive of the seven whom Paul had with him. They were the evidences of [p. 166] his work in different localities, so that the places whence they came are mentioned. I believe that God’s intent was that Paul should have evidences of his work, which could be examined at any time. According to Galatians 2: 1, Titus was there at Jerusalem, at the meeting recorded in Acts 15, and Paul says they did not compel him to be circumcised. The fact is that they could not produce anyone better than Titus at Jerusalem. I think the workman should have some example or model to show what can be done or what he has done.
Ques Some effect of his ministry in a person?
JT That is what I was thinking. Whether it be his wife or his child, or anybody near by, or whoever it may be, bring them forward to show what can be done. It is not simply what God can do, but what the disciples can do. We have already alluded to David and what happened in the cave of Adullam. It is a question not only of what these men had been, but what they became through David’s training and example, and the prophetic word of Gad too (1 Samuel 22: 5). The position in Judah is to be added too, for Judah’s was a place of special favour in the counsels of God. The prophet’s word on that occasion was, “get thee into the land of Judah”.
PHH Is the reference to power in Matthew 28 all the more remarkable seeing that the company was incomplete? There are only eleven disciples, and it says of them that “some doubted”. Would that be an encouragement to us in our day to understand that the power is not diminished?
JT Quite so. As we approach chapter 28, many questions are raised in our minds. There is what the soldiers did, and what the Jews did. What stumbling-blocks there were to obstruct the work of God! The Lord, however, does not instruct His own near Jerusalem, but He says, “go into Galilee”. They are only eleven, and they have to go a long way to meet Him. Later that company would be restored to its number twelve.
[p. 167] Allusion has been made to the idea of mending in Matthew 4: 21, and 1 Corinthians 1, and then Paul’s word in Galatians 6: 1 to the restoration of a soul.
The word restore has reference to a person who has been taken in some sin. John 8 tells us about one who was taken in sin, and it tells us, too, how the Lord met that case. But the apostle says, “ye who are spiritual restore such a one”; so that when we come to discipline, we must think of those who are spiritual. It is not simply those that are at the care meeting, but those who are spiritual; that is the point that Paul makes. “Ye who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of meekness, considering thyself lest thou also be tempted”. The apostle Paul carries the thing through as expressing what Christianity implies in relation to recovery. We are living in a time of recovery, and the way of Paul is the thing to be kept in mind. The Lord selected him for a purpose, and he was to be an example to everybody. So he stresses the idea of persons who are spiritual, and that they are to restore the man. It is not if they can do it, but they are to do it.
PL The scrutiny in the healing of the leper to be restored is exclusively in the hands of the priests?
JT That is what it is exactly, so the Lord sends the leper to the priest.
AMcG Would Elihu’s service to Job help? He says, “If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man his duty”, Job 33: 23. The footnote to the word duty gives the meaning as in judging himself.
JT That helps.
EB I would like to ask whether “taken in some fault” in Galatians 6 is merely a sudden lapse, or whether it may even include a grave case of evil?
JT We are not told what the case is; he is taken in it, however. It is not in the sense that he is caught in it, or overtaken in it. The fault is there and the thing is unquestionable. What the apostle intimates is that the [p. 168] spiritual are capable of restoring such a one, and that is, I believe, to bring out the superiority of Christianity in the epistle to the Galatians.
EB So that the scripture in Galatians applies to cases of evil.
JT That is, to certain cases.
AM It is remarkable that the ministry of James closes with that service. “He that brings back a sinner from the error of his way”.
JT Yes, quite so. “Shall save a soul from death and shall cover a multitude of sins”. That is to bring out the greatness of the action.
Rem In view of what you are saying, and the balancing of the scriptures, it is noticeable that there is no suggestion of this kind when Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 5.
JT There is not. There is, however, something to be said there, that the Corinthians did not think that the man would be restored so soon.
Rem I was thinking rather of the call to action, so to speak, and the characteristics mentioned in the list that Paul gives in 1 Corinthians 5. It is a course indulged in so that the person has, for the time at least, been characterised by something. Wisdom is needed to determine into what category a matter falls.
JT Quite so. Only that Paul says of the person, “being such”. The thing must be clear, that he is what is stated. Then the word is, “that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus”. That is the point; but then the Corinthians were not ready for the early recovery of the man, and that is a thing to be noticed. They were not restoring him when they might have done so. He was already recovered in his soul and they did not apparently know it.
Rem In 1 Corinthians 5 it says they were not mourning about the sin. They were allowing the sin and even glorying in it, so that it was necessary that the [p. 169] truth should be brought home in such a powerful way by Paul.
JT Quite so. In the whole company.
Ques Is it not a fact that those who may be lax in regard of what may be required for assembly action may also be lax in discerning the work of God in a person who is repentant?
JT Therefore the need of having an eye for anything of God in the person. Sometimes it is said, Well, just leave him or her, as the case may be. “Ephraim is joined to idols: leave him alone”, Hosea 4: 17. That may be true sometimes, but then is that so in every case?
ECM In the second epistle the apostle says, “ye should rather show grace and encourage, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with excessive grief”, 2 Corinthians 2: 7. Would that link up with the thought of the priest?
JT Quite. That is the priest’s work. All these things suppose the existence of the priest, and the Lord would not expect us to effect the things unless the priest was there. So Leviticus always assumes the presence of the priest. It is not if he is there; it always assumes that he is there.
Ques Then supposing the priest visits and cannot bear testimony to any alleviating circumstance, he does not proceed with restoration at the time, does he? With the leper, for instance, there were certain matters that would preclude him coming back to the camp. So is it not a question of determining, at the time, the category into which the person comes?
JT Just so.
PHH It says in Leviticus 14: 3, “when the priest looketh, and behold, the sore of leprosy is healed in the leper”. Would that be like the work of God which must precede the process of cleansing and restoring, as we might say, to fellowship?
JT There is hardly time to go into that chapter now but it is very important to examine the process [p. 170] Of restoring the leper and its bearing on the restoration of a man or woman to fellowship, after they have forfeited it by their conduct. Chapter 14 gives us an account of that, and it is remarkable to note these things that are mentioned; especially the priest and how the anointing oil is poured into his hand and then put on the he ad of the cleansed leper, so that he is anointed. He is set up; as Galatians would say, he is restored. The word restore, according to the note, means mending him; setting him up again to function among the saints; that is what is meant.
PL Would the going down of pain and the embrace of Eutychus be a little like the priest going outside the camp and restoring Eutychus to his privileges and place? You referred once, happily, I thought, to the Lord on the cross in relation to His service to the dying thief, going out as the priest in relation to the leper. Do you too not think there should be more preparedness with us Identity oneself with the condition?
JT I think Galatians is remarkable, because the word restore, in view of what it means, shows that the thing is completely done. The person has forfeited his position and he is useless in the service, but he is to be set up again. That I understand, is the meaning of the word, so that the brother or sister is set up again as he used to be.
PL “Mark ... profitable to me for the ministry”?
JT Exactly. So that we have not lost him.
JCW Would you say what you had in mind when you distinguished between being overtaken and taken?
JT The word overtaken is not there. The person, whoever he or she may be, is taken in the fault, like the woman in John g. The fault is unquestionable; you have no need to prove it; but the point is to restore him; set him up again to be of use in the economy of God.
Ques Does all this involve that we are in the good of “all things whatsoever I have enjoined you”; that we ourselves are held in relation to divine legislation? If [p. 171] there is looseness with us in matters we shall be loose in our dealings with others.
JT I am sure that is right.
PL Would you say the great outstanding features of the dispensation shine severally in the bringing in of I, teach of the divine Persons, who give character to it; the Father, in grace; the Son, in liberty and dignity; and the Holy Spirit, in power?
JT Exactly, and the Holy Spirit is here with you all the time in a peculiarly personal way. Matthew also tells us that the Lord said, “behold, I am with you all the days”. That has to be understood according to what was in the Lord’s mind, but the Spirit is here in a permanent way as the Lord said, “I will beg the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever”. What is meant, I am sure, is the first-hand knowledge that the Spirit has of all that relates to the testimony and its requirements. He knows what has happened from the beginning.
PL So the “communion of the Holy Spirit” (2 Corinthians 13: 14), refers to His place here as the Companion of the saints in the wilderness and in the assembly as in Corinthians?
JT Quite. Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 12: 3, is very striking; “no one can say, Lord Jesus, unless in the power of the Holy Spirit”. The Spirit must be here if the service of God is to go on, and to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus must not simply be in words, but in feeling. That is what is implied, I am certain, in the idea of the power of the Holy Spirit.