SPIRITUALITY (1)
SPIRITUALITY (1)
JT The subject proposed is, I may say, cumulative, and it is essential to the completion of certain lines of truth that have been before the Lord’s people for some years; doctrines and principles all bearing on the service of God. It is thought that spirituality, as the Lord may help us to consider it, will be seen as essential to the application of what has been before us. We are told that which is first is natural, afterwards that which is spiritual. So that the spiritual is the final thought, that is, it enters into the final thought of God, our eternal portion, and we ourselves will be marked by spirituality; as raised, our bodies will be spiritual, or if quickened, as alive and remaining when the Lord comes, they will be spiritual. So that in view of our final portion — our being with the Lord — it seems that this subject should be formally looked into.
Then as regards the present time, in the epistles to the Corinthians, which are corrective and instructive as to the service of God, the subject of spirituality is stressed. The apostle says to the Corinthians, for instance, that he could not speak to them as unto spiritual, a very humbling thought; he had to speak to them as unto babes in Christ: that is, they had the full Christian status, but were wanting in spirituality and hence were depriving themselves of the best and most blessed thoughts of God.
One need not say that this latter thought is solemn, because unless spirituality be developed, however much we may take things in mentally, we are not really profiting by them, and perhaps we may be better off without them; but, as having them, it is obvious that we [p. 2] should have before us this matter of spirituality. Then as to administrative service — of which there is much need in our care meetings, and assembly meetings for discipline — spirituality is a leading necessary feature; it shuts out personal feelings in these matters. Paul’s word to the Corinthians is that “the spiritual discerns all things, and he is discerned of no one”, 1 Corinthians 2:15. That is, in the administration of divine things the principle of the mystery is always present, everything is not compassed, especially as to those under discipline, they are unable to discern. The spiritual man retains inscrutability in measure; he is discerned of no one, so that the dignity of Christianity is maintained in these administrative matters by spirituality. In Galatians the restoration of erring ones depends on spirituality; “ye who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of meekness”, Galatians 6:1. With all this in view it seems to me it would be wise for us to look at the subject from the foundation in the types, and I believe that is properly in Exodus 17.
In 1 Corinthians 2, spirituality stands related to the Spirit of God in a personal way. It is a subject brought in as developed out of faith and the Spirit of God. In John’s gospel we have the foundation of it bearing particularly on our own times, that is new birth. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”, (John 3:6). That is what I understand to be the fundamental thought in us; it is constitutional, not exactly what we have received through our minds, but what God effects sovereignly as fundamental in our constitutions. Those who grow up ostensibly in the truth, without bearing in mind this fundamental thought, are usually defective, so that the chapter read, I believe, deals with the matter first as rooted in the sufferings of Christ, which were essential in order that we may have the Spirit; the Spirit being viewed here as received through the sufferings of Christ.
[p. 3] The chapter begins with an allusion to the commandment of Jehovah as governing the teaching in it, and proceeds to tell us of the people contending with Moses because there was no water. The battle of Rephidim, which follows, has in mind the state in us seen in Romans 7, which requires elucidation if this matter of spirituality is to be reached intelligently. The matter of God’s sovereign act as fundamental to our chapter contemplates the elucidation of conditions within us; the law being the instrument, divinely provided, to lead us to this analysis, without the understanding of which none of us shall ever reach Christianity in a spiritual sense. In general that is what one had in mind.
FJF Is the Spirit received directly from God by each individual who believes, or as a consequence of the Spirit being here in the body?
JT It is the gift of God. It is always the direct gift of God and never automatic, as far as I understand; but the Spirit is given as already here in the assembly.
JD Does Ephesians 1:13 help — “in whom ye also have trusted, having heard the word of the truth, the glad tidings of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, ye have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise”?
JT Yes, the “word of the truth”. That is where the difficulty lies in many. Very few believers, brought up under defective teaching, have the Spirit operating in them, as far as I have observed. This is because they do not get the “word of the truth” which is an adjusting thought as to our souls. That is always necessary in view of the reception of the Spirit. The apostle alludes there to Acts 19, in which we are told that there were twelve men at Ephesus who had had imperfect instruction — what related to the baptism of John; they were persons, such as are very prevalent today, brought up under defective teaching; truth to a point, but not the whole truth; not such as “the glad tidings of your salvation” (Ephesians 1:13) implies. So that the apostle gives us a lead in that chapter as regards the Spirit, saying, “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye had believed?”(Acts 19:2) The men said they had not heard of Him as come.
AMH Does Exodus 17 indicate how far souls may go without having received the Spirit? There was faith in relation to passing through the Red Sea, Hebrews 11:29; but the smiting of the rock and the coming out of the water, alluding to the Spirit, followed this.
JT That helps, because it is a question of the commandment of the Lord. This position is reached by the commandment of the Lord; meaning that it is imperative that we should come to this point in our souls. We read in 1 Corinthians 10:4 that they had all eaten the same spiritual food and drunk the same spiritual drink; they drank of “a spiritual rock which followed them”. This is what is alluded to in the spiritual drink; the rock comes into view here; but the position is marked by divine commandment. The gift of the Holy Spirit is from God’s side. It is essential to Christianity; to our being in it rightly. Verse 1 says, “at the command of Jehovah ... they encamped in Rephidim”. I believe this is to be noted specially, because there is with many the feeling that divine things are optional; this is especially so in young people; whereas it is a divine commandment that we should reach this point.
EE It is imperative then for us to move under the control of the Lord, that we might come under the effect of His sufferings and thus be instructed in view of our having the Spirit.
JT Yes. God gives the Spirit to those who obey Him, Acts 5:32. Peter says, in Acts 2, in answer to those who were convicted, “Repent, and be baptised, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for remission of sins, and ye will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”(Acts 2:38). The promise was to them, but later he says that God gave the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him, as said above.
HJM Is it not very attractive that the original word for commandment is “at the mouth of Jehovah”? It should make an added appeal.
JT A practical word from His mouth. That is, there is nearness in it.
HH You have referred to Pentecost, when the Spirit was given as the promise of the Father; have we to appreciate that the Spirit is on earth in relation to divine interests?
JT Quite so. He is not given now directly from heaven as He was given at Pentecost. He was “sent from heaven”, we are told, (1 Peter 1:12), and is here so that the believer comes into what is already here, and he is set in the body by the reception of the Spirit, but still every believer has a transaction with God, and God with him, as the Spirit is received.
FJF Is it that it is given directly from God to the believer?
JT That is what I understand.
FSW We are told in 1 Corinthians 10 that God was not pleased with most of those who came out of Egypt. Would that suggest that there are many amongst nominal believers in whom God is not pleased, because they have not the Spirit?
JT Exactly. The apostle is dealing with the profession of Christianity in which many would not have the Spirit, which is so today; hence the importance of obedience. This is an imperative matter, so that in order that we should have the Spirit, Christ had to suffer; He had to be smitten. God does not express resentment at the people’s murmurings. He deals with Christ in regard of it all, for He would intimate to young believers that Christ would undergo sufferings, so that they should have [p. 6] the Spirit.
FI Is spirituality seen in Joshua as the one who was able to overcome Amalek? And then Moses is on top of the hill with the staff of God. Typically, Christ is above.
JT That is where the conflict begins. The conflict is from verse 9; Moses says, “go out, fight”. The battle must result in victory for Amalek unless we recognise the Spirit; hence the early part of the chapter is basic from the divine side. What appears from verse 9 to the end is what transpires in our souls; so that victory is reached in an experimentally spiritual way. The law comes into this, although it is seen more fully in Numbers 21, but the writer of Romans 7:14 says, “the law is spiritual: but I am fleshly”, There is a battle inwardly between what is spiritual, and what is carnal. What is spiritual prevails; the victory therefore is spiritual. It implies the introduction of a spiritual element into one’s being, an operative spiritual element and, as augmented by other elements seen here, it prevails. The law is spiritual. Why should there be a law? It came in, in order to work out the great thought of sin, “that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful” — exceeding sinful, (Romans 7:13). It has been worked out in the history of humanity. The book of Revelation shows how it will appear later on, and God is patiently waiting until it is fully developed before He strikes. It is the history of humanity without God, but it becomes exceeding sinful in the believer. The thing is worked out in the believer on the same principle. That is the thing to get at in our souls — the judgment of sin, not only sin normally, but the exceeding sinfulness of it. The operation of the law, being spiritual from this point of view, develops this.
FW Is it the answer in our souls to the sufferings of Christ?
JT Quite so, that we might know what caused them, that each had his part [p. 7] in it.
EE Does smiting in scripture always involve death? What would be the character of the Lord’s suffering here in being smitten. Is it in connection with the principle of sin in us?
JT The context shows that the death of Christ is meant in this type. Smiting is applied to Christ several times, involving His death, Matthew 26:31. We could not have the Spirit except Christ had died. The Lord said on the cross, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”(Matthew 27:46) But sufferings alone would not suffice; there must be the termination judicially in death of the man that sinned, and the more I discern the exceeding sinfulness of sin in that man — that is, in myself - the more ready I am to abandon him, and to see the necessity of his being brought to a termination. The first cry on the cross, I believe, is that the wrath of God was felt in the Lord’s heart, and He says, “why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) The second cry is the termination of the man, for, having uttered it, the Lord actually died. There were two cries.
JD Romans 7:25 says, “I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself with the mind serve God’s law; but with the flesh sin’s law”. Is “Jesus Christ our Lord” here an experimental expression?
JT It is an objective thought. The writer is dealing with what is subjective: what is going on in himself up to that point, and finds he is helpless to overcome sin in the flesh. The law has only accentuated it and made it more powerful, and he is correspondingly all the weaker, so that he is helpless and in despair. Hence the objective thought, “I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:25). That involves the work of Christ, it involves His death and His resurrection. Really it is Christ viewed as “made ... Lord and Christ”, with the consequent result of relief for men. So that as a result, one is now to exercise his mind. One of the greatest [p. 8] things is to see that I have control of my mind; that it has not control of me. “I myself”, that is the ego and its consciousness. I am consciously there in deliverance, and I have control of my mind and I start to make resolutions which enter into the moral fibre of the believer. I myself with the mind serve God’s law, whatever that may be.
ESW Does the action of Phinehas in Numbers 25 correspond with the smiting of which you have been speaking? When the grave sin of Israel came to view, he rose up from among the assembly, and took a javelin and destroyed those who had been guilty.
JT It is the principle of dealing with sin effectively. He smote them both, the two sinners.
WBP Is not the smiting in Isaiah 53:4 from God? God was the smiter, here it is from Moses.
JT There is a question of Moses’ rod — Moses represents God in the type — it is a question of the rod that he used. Verse 5 says, “And Jehovah said to Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel, and thy staff with which thou didst smite the river, take in thy hand, and go”. He represents the authority of God. Then verse 6 says, “Behold I will stand before thee there upon the rock on Horeb; and thou shalt strike the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so before the eyes of the elders of Israel”. That is to say, it is God’s authority exercised visibly before the elders. It is a question of the responsibility of the people; the elders being there, Jehovah is there also. The smiting is Moses’ part, but it is the rod of God. The rod by which He dealt with the world, represented in Egypt, is now the rod that is used against Christ typically. There is no drinking mentioned here; it does not say the people drank, because it is to show typically the bringing in of the Spirit, who is here through sufferings; but still there is a suggestion that the Spirit is available.
[p. 9] The battle is to bring out the state of our souls, the state inwardly that had to be discerned so as to reach victory.
JM Would faith enter into all this?
JT We see faith in the end of chapter 14; faith had begun already; they “believed in Jehovah, and in Moses his bondman (Exodus 14:31)”. Faith must precede this, but now it is a visible thing done before the eyes of the elders by the hand of Moses who represents the authority of God. What had been used against the world is now used against Christ on account of the state of the people, and in order that they might have the Holy Spirit.
WJH Is your thought that all this comes into “the word of the truth”, the acceptance of separation from Egypt and the acceptance of the judgment of sin in the flesh?
JT That is exactly what I thought when our brother quoted from Ephesians 1. It is the gospel of our salvation, but it is the word of the truth, involving that what we are is made clear, and, of course, what God is in Christ.
HJM Speaking of the experimental side, and the remark as to the expression, “Jesus Christ our Lord”, the moment the soul, looking outside himself, really says that, he is in touch with the spiritual realm.
JT That is what I was thinking. The battle, the conflict here implies Romans 7. Historically the law had not yet come, and we have to wait for Numbers 21 to see how it works for the exposure of sin in the flesh, and how perfectly it is dealt with in the death of Christ. Amalek comes up in verse 8, and fights with Israel in Rephidim. It is this particular place, the battlefield being chosen by Jehovah. We are not at any disadvantage in it. It is a selected battlefield, but nevertheless a real conflict and the issue for a while is uncertain. Moses directs Joshua. This is the first time we have [p. 10] Joshua, and that is why the passage is selected, because it is the introduction of what will culminate in the eternal state of things. That is, the spiritual state first, and then the spiritual body. Here it is a question of divine authority, God taking the initiative through Moses. He says to Joshua, “Choose us men”. It is a collective matter in that sense and even Moses himself is in it. All heaven, the whole economy of God, is in this matter, so that we should be ready to realise the presence of the Spirit in the victory. What comes out are elements that are not mentioned before, such as the uplifting of Moses’ hands and the support of his hands by Aaron and Hur, also the stone on which he sat. So that as the battle goes on, every exigency of it brings out the remedy — brings out the provision to meet it. Thus one is encouraged to move on, knowing that however severe the conflict, victory is assured.
JM Would that represent intercession?
JT It is intercession, but in the economy, as it were, otherwise these weak elements would jeopardise victory. They are occasioned by the state of our souls. If you look at the economy from the divine side there is no weakness, and the Spirit is here also looking after our state. It is a state of great weakness, but yet a provision comes as need arises, that victory may not be snatched from us.
It is a question of intercession, but our weakness in these circumstances is stressed. You are hardly realising what there is provided of God for you in the place occupied above. That is the real difficulty, so that faith is to develop in this process. This is to bring us to see, little by little, the wonderful economy that has been set up, under which provision is made for this weak condition in us. It is an uncertain or undulating process and yet complete victory at the end. It is written for us that we might not lose heart. The experience of most of us is that one day we are bright and happy in our souls [p. 11] and another day we are down, the next day we are a little brighter; and perhaps at a meeting we get a definite lift and realise marked victory over the flesh. We find definite provision to meet every exigency. It is very touching that they could hold up Moses’ hands all day. As they weakened, Amalek prevailed. So long as the hands are supported, Amalek is defeated. It is a question of our state when faith is in exercise.
FW Joshua broke the power of Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. It is Joshua.
JT That is it. We must let Joshua into our minds. Who is Joshua? The Spirit of God gives us no account of him here, he appears abruptly. Later history explains fully who he is, but already light as to him is breaking in; one has come in marked by military ability.
Rem Was not Joshua a man of another spirit?
JT Yes, that comes out later. We learn as we go on. There is authority in this. Joshua was not to be careless in his choice. Another thing here is “the book”, verse 14; it is the beginning of spiritual history. The real difficulty is, that one knows in oneself that there is an unreadiness to get down to the real state of things, and to admit the weakness of soul in which we are. If we admit it we find Joshua acting for us, and Moses and Aaron and Hur acting for us, and everything done for us above. Let us therefore admit the weakness.
JD Would Aaron and Hur putting a stone under Moses be equivalent to an apprehension in our souls of the ability that is in Christ?
JT Yes. That is relatively a small thought, but it is what is needed for stability. It is not a rock, but a stone; the rock is smitten. According to 1 Corinthians 10:4, “the rock” followed them, not a stone. The stone refers to the smallness of our experience. It is enough for the moment; it met the need.
EE What is meant by verse 14? — “Write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in the ears of [p. 12] Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens”.
JT This experience is to be carried forward; it is that in which Saul failed. I have to remember what enters into my spiritual history; there is to be a blotting out of the remembrance of Amalek. It is not blotted out here. It was reserved to Saul to do that, but he did not do it. It is a question now of whether we are engaged on this line, blotting out the thing; whether in the culmination of the period of grace, and the building of the assembly in the service of God, there is the blotting out of Amalek. “I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens”. It was the final test of king Saul, and he seemed to have done very well in his own eyes and in the eyes of others, but the word of God discovered to him that he had not done well; that he had not borne in mind this book of remembrance, and he lost the kingdom. So it is a question for each of us to settle: the memorial in “the book”; see also Deuteronomy 25:17 - 19.
JM Is that because it is the commandment of the Lord?
JT That is right. Samuel, in conveying to Saul the divine commandment as to Amalek, said, “hearken to the voice of the words of Jehovah”, 1 Samuel 15:1. That is not only a general instruction, but refers to the details of the matter. We get on to a certain point in our souls and think everything is well, but in truth it is not well. There are the words of Jehovah which Saul failed to keep, in the commission given to him to destroy the Amalekites. He reserved the best. There are good things in men — family status, education, amiability, and such like; why not reserve a little of these? They will add to us outwardly, but if we do, we disregard the words of Jehovah as Saul did.
PL Is this the fundamental book in the divine library referring to the primary education of the saints, but carried forward right through their [p. 13] history?
JT That is it. A book involves accuracy and this is one of the most important items in the book of God. The very remembrance of Amalek is to be blotted out. How long we cherish in our minds a little bit of family status and the like! And yet we may be valuable brothers. “The book” is to determine things, and Saul is rejected because he disregarded it.
WJH Would you say David and Mordecai had read this book carefully; David in ordering the destruction of the Amalekite that brought the crown and bracelet to him, and Mordecai in refusing to recognise the Agagite?
JT Very excellent allusions. It is a most testing and perhaps exposing experience. Hebrews 4:12 says, “the word of God is living and operative, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and penetrating to the division of soul and spirit, both of joints and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is not a creature unapparent before him; but all things are naked and laid bare to his eyes, with whom we have to do”. And then Proverbs 20:27 says, “Man’s spirit is the lamp of Jehovah, searching all the inner parts of the belly”. The inner conditions of the saints are tested in this way, and we discover motives that we never thought were there. If we let the word of God in, it will expose them to us, so that we might have the victory, and learn this book of spirituality. That is what it is, the beginning of the instruction. When God records things, they are worth recording, as building up spirituality in us.
HDT Does the thought of rehearsing emphasise the need of ministry that covers this ground? We take too much for granted, perhaps.
JT I suppose the great prominence given to Romans 7 in the early ministry of the revival last century would suggest this to us. It is very difficult to take into the mind the section of Romans 7 which treats of this matter, and I think God intends it to be so in order to [p. 14] make us look into it. He causes this truth to be rehearsed in our ears. Joshua would not miss the rehearsals. They would be the making of him, so that he should be an example for us.
Rem We learn from verse 15 that “Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi”. What would that suggest?
JT Moses coming in at the end is to bring out that, at this stage, it is still the authority of God that was seen in the smiting of Christ. It was His authority in the smiting of the river of Egypt, but now it is that authority in my soul, so that I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Moses is covering the whole position, but Joshua is coming into view. He has a place here, and he will be kept before us in this rehearsal by Moses. Moses is now in the lead; Joshua is subservient, yet presently we shall see that Moses disappears and Joshua is everything in leadership. The instruction is that young believers, and all of us, are to keep in mind the authority of God in Christ, and to recognise that according to Romans 7, God is dealing, through this authority, with our inward parts. The apostle is putting it before us to look into it and to name our inward emotions, feelings, promptings, etc. — name them; tabulate them, as it were. What do they mean? The law is spiritual; it is holy, it is just, it is good, but it has caused my death, sin through it becoming more powerful, Romans 7:9 - 13. So that the Lord would have us to go through the thing, not in an optional way, but in a balanced analytical way. As I said, it is a difficult thing to keep in the mind that section of scripture. God intended it to be so, to make men of us as looking into it; by applying our minds to it. So that we reach the victory, attributing it all to God through Christ. Deliverance usually occasions a great and long exercise in the believer, but in result he sees that it is what Christ has effected for him, and therefore he thanks God, Romans [p. 15] 7: 25.
GGMcK Does Philippians 3:3 show us a man, the beloved apostle Paul, who was thoroughly in accord with what you have been speaking of; one who worshipped by the Spirit of God and had no confidence in the flesh?
JT That is the outcome of it. He says, “we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and boast in Christ Jesus, and do not trust in flesh (Philippians 3:3)”.
FJF Would this be a great encouragement to Joshua, who had won this his first victory on a spiritual line? God showed him the end He had in view in blotting out the enemy?
JT Yes. It is in the book and to be rehearsed in his ears. It is of course written for us, so that we might have the thing rehearsed. In regard of what has been referred to — the worship of God — it is remarkable how the altar comes in here, how the worship of God is secured on this line. It is from Moses — he was not directed to build it. It is his first one. We may worship because of teaching we receive into our minds, but this process of which we are now speaking is essential to the worship of God. It is remarkable how the woman of Samaria, when the Lord exposes her to herself, introduces the thought of worship; it comes into her heart then. The Lord does not despise it, but converses with her about it, and says things to her that He says to no one else. In that way we are reminded of the importance of humbly accepting the conditions we are in as in the flesh. Paul says, “when we were in the flesh”,(Romans 7:5) that is, these fleshy conditions that the believer has to discern and judge unsparingly, so as to be free to worship God. The two things go together; the disclosure of the woman’s state, and the living water operating in that relation; it operates in the region of the lower affections. As our state, as in the flesh, is thus disclosed and judged, the Holy Spirit has scope to spring up into everlasting life. So that the man who is [p. 16] supposed to come into the assembly at Corinth, and comes under the power of the prophetic ministry, does the same thing; he falls down and worships God. God comes into his soul and becomes his Object.
AMH Is it that, as we go through this analysis and find how sinful things are in ourselves, we discover that the stone and the priestly feelings and purity are with us as being the subjects of the work of God; so that I myself with the mind serve God’s law?
JT There are these possibilities in a believer. They are not in an unbeliever. He never arrives at them, no matter how much he may punish himself in a monastery — as some do. He never arrives at spiritual results. The instruction is for a real believer, a person who has faith and in whom God has wrought.
HJM The woman of Samaria read the rehearsal in “the book” in the presence of Christ. It is the only place to read the book and learn the lesson.
JT Quite so. She came into deliverance. Christ became the Object.
AMH The name of the altar here is “Jehovah my banner”.
JT Thus you go on now confidently to other conflicts and other victories.
HDT “Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth”, (Psalm 60:4). Is that applicable now?
JT It is indeed. Here it is entirely from Moses — “Jehovah my banner”. Now we can go on again to other conflicts. We get a military start, and great confidence is inspired in the soul. We have reached a landmark under this banner. All conflict henceforth is to be under it.