THE SCOPE OF 1 CORINTHIANS
THE SCOPE OF 1 CORINTHIANS
FER There is perfect correspondence between Christ above and the Spirit here. Christ is the truth, and the Spirit is the truth, and, generally speaking, the work of the apostle Paul was to unfold the consequences of the Spirit here in perfect answer to Christ above. It helps us to understand the writings of Paul when we see the line he follows in his epistles. He is always on the line of what was of the Spirit, unfolding all the consequences of having the Spirit here in perfect correspondence with Christ.
There are three great points in Corinthians. It is not like Romans, where the chief thought is righteousness, and bringing us to righteousness; but here it is more privilege. There are three points brought out — the temple, the body and victory over death. “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory”.
Ques Will you say what John’s line is in contrast to Paul?
FER I think John is confirmatory of Paul. It has been said, ‘Paul carries us to heaven, and in John it is the other way, he brings heaven to earth’.
Ques Why is it the temple, and not the house?
FER Christ is the temple of God properly — the Lord spoke of Himself as such. Here it is, “Ye are the temple of God” — “Ye are the body of Christ” — the two things go together, the church occupies the place of Christ here.
Ques Do we get the house or the temple here?
FER The temple is the house — there is not much difference between them. The idea of the temple is, the oracles of God are there; the house sets forth the place where everything is ordered by God. The saints of God are the house of God, and come under the influence of divine teaching. The temple is more where the oracles of [p. 299] God are. The oracles of God were there in Christ. The Lord says, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.... he spake of the temple of his body”. The house of God is akin to ‘household’. My household comes under my care, my discipline, my attention. The oracles of God are in the ‘temple’, because the Spirit of God is there — “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” The Spirit was there, hence whatever light there was from God was there in the temple.
Ques Is that part of the christian calling?
FER It is an immense privilege connected with the presence of the Spirit; Paul follows the line of the Spirit. The Spirit came to dwell — Christ prepared the temple, and the Spirit came to dwell in it. There was what we might call a revolution — instead of being only amongst the Jews, the temple was among the gentiles; but the whole thing depended upon the presence of the Spirit to bring out perfect correspondence to what is true in Christ.
Ques Why does the apostle bring in privilege to correct the bad state of the Corinthians?
FER To pull them up.
Ques He does so in Galatians also.
FER Very much. His writing did not make them this — they were so already; but all depended on the presence of the Spirit. It was proper christian privilege — “the temple of God”, “the body of Christ”. “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory”. These were true of any assembly in any place. The enjoyment of these things was their privilege.
Ques Then would you press privilege on saints who are in danger of lapsing?
FER I think so. They were faulty in that way. There are two important obligations — holiness and unity. The temple of God involves both.
Rem Pointing out their faults was a very [p. 300] important correction.
Rem It was by showing good.
FER Quite so. If a doctor sets to diagnose the case of a sick man, he has a sound man in his mind at the time. He must have this, or he could scarcely tell what is not sound.
Rem The best way to mend an old coat is to give a man a new one.
Ques In what way is the Spirit the truth?
FER The Spirit is in perfect correspondence with Christ above. Christ is the truth, the expression of it, it is set forth in Christ, and the Spirit perfectly corresponds with Christ.
Rem Then Christ is still the truth, in glory, and the Spirit is the truth here.
FER Yes, I think so. Christ is in heaven, and He is the temple. We see life and incorruptibility brought to light, we see everything in Christ, while the answer to it down here is the work of the Spirit. In this epistle you see what is consequent on the presence of the Spirit apart from the work of the Spirit, in a kind of way.
Ques What does he mean by saying, “Hitherto ye were not able to bear it”?
FER They had given so much licence to the flesh that they had dropped down to the level of the people around them. They were not able to bear what was spiritual.
Ques The temple, the body, and victory over death — are they in the line of what is spiritual?
FER They are spiritual — but the great thing is to keep to first principles. If you give up first principles, you give up christianity. But christianity is Christ, you must remember, and not a system. Christianity is Christ, but you could not say that Christ is christianity.
Ques What do you mean by that?
FER Well, what is christianity but Christ? It is a reproduction of Christ on the earth by the Spirit; anything short of that is not christianity.
Rem The Spirit is the truth, and [p. 301] He reproduces Christ in the saints.
FER Exactly. In 2 Corinthians the apostle goes further, but in 1 Corinthians he has to keep to first principles, that they may understand the temple of God, and the body of Christ. They hardly understood the presence of the Spirit — much less what is dependent on having the Spirit.
Ques Do you mean by correspondence to Christ here that God has secured on earth what is adequate to the setting forth of Christ — that in the temple, the body, and victory over death, God has secured what shews His triumph over all that man does in thwarting Him?
FER Yes, I think so. The answer to what God has wrought for Himself is made effectual by the Spirit.
Ques Does responsibility come in in connection with it?
FER Yes, you recognise the obligation of holiness, as well as of unity. You recognise privilege, and then you come under obligations — they flow from privilege.
Ques Will you say a word as to ‘victory over death’?
FER It anticipates what will be brought to pass in the millennium — “Death is swallowed up in victory”. Death has lost its power over us. “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”.
Rem Meanwhile we get the good of it.
FER Yes, I think so.
Ques Why does the apostle not touch resurrection till the end of the epistle?
FER You must first get hold of first principles. Victory is there for you, it is not that you have it; but “ye are the body of Christ” is positive in the way of privilege — every christian is in it. God does not take ‘victory’ up on the ground of privilege — He gives it.
Ques Did you say that nothing which was brought about in Christ will pass away? Will you enumerate some of [p. 302] these things?
FER Well, you have got the temple, the anointed Man, victory over death — everything; it is a great principle, it would be unthinkable for man or Satan to be able to dislodge anything that God has set up here. For example, the temple of Solomon was never set aside — it was superseded, as we have it here, “Ye are the temple of God”. It is the same general idea — the idea of the temple, which is maintained. There is “the latter glory of the house” in Haggai.
Ques Is the exhortation as to discipline based on the fact — “Ye are the temple of God”?
FER Exactly. God dwells in you — hence the obligations of holiness in God’s temple.... It is the corporate thought, it must be so.
Ques Does the teaching of the Supper come in with a view to unity?
FER Yes. The assembly consists of the temple of God, whether it comes together or not. It is the assembly that comes together. Chapter 11 presupposes unity, and so you get in chapter 10, “The bread which we break”. There is the idea of unity, and it is developed in chapter 12. At the Supper, we put Him in His proper place, and He puts us in ours. We never get unity if we are not right in regard of Christ — I mean practically.
Ques Where does unity now find expression?
FER In those who apprehend the truth of it. The unity of the body is a fact — “we have all been baptised into one body”. You cannot do away with it, but I should not know where to find it. Things may be obscured, but they cannot be set aside. All is obscured now, and it is extremely difficult to point out where this great fact may be seen. The reality may be obscured, but it is there all the same.
There was a great deal obscured among the Corinthians, by their practice and so on. The very people to whom these things were written were mixed up with the heathen around them. The great difficulty nowadays is [p. 303] unreal profession.
Ques How are divine realities now made good to us?
FER The moment you apprehend the truth, and come under the consciousness of it, you accept the obligations to holiness, and the word brings you apart from everything, and you “call on the Lord out of a pure heart”.
Ques Has christianity ever been really seen?
FER The assembly was declared to be the epistle of Christ known and read of all men. I think christianity was manifested in that way. They recognised the Spirit dwelling among them, and were under the obligations of holiness. Contrast that with the professing church now — it is very difficult to purge out offenders from it. All sorts of things go on there. You do not hear of discipline unless there is a clergyman holding flagrant doctrine, or committing some publicly-known moral evil. Discipline becomes a necessity if you are to maintain holiness. If the presence of the Spirit is recognised discipline becomes a real necessity. We are to put away from ourselves the leaven.
Ques Does “Take these things hence” correspond with that?
FER I think so. It is an awful thing to bring principles which are corrupt and defiling to bear on people. God would judge that man.
Rem Corruption of that kind is really destructive of christianity — such as maintaining that there is no need of the atonement.
Ques Would you not say that unitarianism and the like are very corrupting?
FER Unitarianism is not really christian at all. A man who does not admit Jesus Christ come in flesh is not to be counted as a christian.
Ques Do you see it in Thyatira?
FER She teaches and seduces; it is very corrupting. And then there is the gainsaying of Core, the corrupting of the priesthood.
Ques Would you say a little about unity, [p. 304] and what promotes it?
FER Well, you have to accept it as a necessary consequence of the presence of the Spirit. “By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body”, i.e., the presence of the Spirit sets aside all that is after the flesh.
Ques Is it in the same way you recognise holiness?
FER Yes.
Ques Does union precede unity?
FER No, I think unity depends upon the presence of the Spirit — “By one Spirit”, that is the point.
Ques What is union connected with?
FER You are “married to another”, you are united to the One who is raised from the dead. “He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit”. All that is more or less individual. Law is taken up as the first husband; now, “ye are married to another”, to Christ. He becomes the Husband to you. Union is connected with the bride, but unity with the presence of the Spirit.
Rem “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit”.
FER Exactly. The Spirit has come to establish unity, and our obligation is to keep it in the uniting bond of peace.
Ques Why does it come in in connection with the house?
FER It is to be kept in the house — “forbearing one another in love”; therefore it is a very important point as a practical witness that our own will is set aside.
You cannot have unity as long as man’s will is not set aside. You want one will (and that is what we have in the Spirit) to rule all — then you have unity. Unity could not be brought about any other way.
Rem As brought into the sense of the love of God, you delight in His will.
FER I think so — Romans 12: 1, 2. If power comes in, it sets aside all our will, and then we are according to the will of God.
Ques Is there any difference [p. 305] between the unity of the body and the unity of the Spirit?
FER Yes, I think so. The unity of the Spirit brings in obligation to maintain “the bond of peace”, but “one body” is the statement of an existing fact which is not committed to our responsibility to keep.
You see another thing come to pass in the church — instead of the Spirit ruling, you see men ruling. When the church was first set up, the Spirit ruled. There were defects and failures, but everything was ruled by the Spirit.
Ques Does the end of Acts 4 illustrate it — “Of one heart and of one soul”,?
FER Yes, I think so.
Ques “With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering” comes first. There must be that condition?
FER Yes, there must be. As long as the Spirit had His place in the church, unity was manifested, but when the Spirit was set aside, discord came in. The working of the flesh brings discord in. When you keep out all intrusion of the flesh, you get unity. All is regulated by the Spirit of God.
Ques ‘Endeavouring’ shews that there is some difficulty?
FER Yes; they were to shew diligence. If you look under the surface, there are all sorts of feelings, jealousies, etc.
Ques What is the remedy, for it is a widespread disease?
FER The only way is to get right with Christ. If people are not right with one another, they are not right with Christ. They may think they are, but they are not. The moment you find that sort of thing coming in, you will find you are not right with Christ. In Timothy we are told, “Take heed unto thyself”.
Rem Philippians 2 might help.
FER Yes. They were to have the same mind. There were certain jars among them, and they were exhorted to have the same mind — “of one accord, of one mind”. The saints were ministering to the apostle, they were shewing the fellowship of the Spirit, and the comfort of love, and so on, but there was discord, and Paul says, “Fulfil ye my joy”. There is fellowship, now complete my joy by being of the same mind.
Ques How does the washing of the feet come in here?
Rem You must first be like Christ, be of no repute, be nothing yourself.
FER I do not like the expression “emptied himself” often used here. It may be correct, but I do not like it very much. It is ‘made himself of no account’.
Rem The only thing which will make that possible for us is for the heart to be right with Christ.
Rem If saints are wrong with one another, it indicates wounded flesh.
FER Yes. You want to get grace from the Lord for it. It is a matter of vital moment, as meetings are often affected without the saints seeing the reason why.
Rem The Supper brings love before us.
FER Yes; but many take the Supper sacramentally, and not in a moral way. The Lord made Himself of no reputation, no account.
Ques Does not Psalm 132 set forth the preparation for the assembly, the state suited for it?
Rem Euodias and Syntyche were to be of the same mind in the Lord.
FER Quite so — “in the Lord”.