THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PAUL'S SERVICE

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PAUL’S SERVICE

Acts 19: 1 - 10; Acts 20: 7 - 12

I was thinking of the prominence the Spirit gives to certain incidents in these chapters as bearing upon the end of the dispensation, and the two scriptures referred to bring out the thoughts that one had, beginning with Lydia, in chapter 16, of whom it is said that the Lord opened her heart to attend to the things spoken by Paul. We see the gain derived from Paul’s ministry. These things are specially to be attended to. Each minister had his place, but Paul had a special place of service and authority in that way, authority because of his superiority, not only as an apostle, but there was a certain superiority which the Lord had bestowed on him, involving, as he writes to the Philippians, what was “more excellent”; so that Lydia would stand for that side, the side of appreciation of what Paul says.

What is to be noticed in this section is the effectiveness of his service; not only as laying the foundation, with Barnabas, in the localities visited, but in the confirmatory character of his second visits; as is said in chapter 15: 41, “he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches”, and in chapter 18: 23, “strengthening all the disciples”.

Coming to chapter 19, we have the feature of linking on the work of God with what may be current.

An important principle in the assembly is linking on what God is now doing with what He has been doing.

Chapter 18 shows us that Aquila and Priscilla valued what was there, and they proceeded at once to link on Apollos with what had preceded; then the apostle recognises what is there. The ministry they had profited by earlier is linked on with what is coming.

The principle running through the book is that there ^[p. 185] should be one tabernacle, and every bit of that must be God’s work, through whomsoever it may be effected.

The apostle asks the disciples at Ephesus, “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye had believed? And they said to him, We did not even hear if the Holy Spirit was come. And he said, To what then were ye baptised? And they said, To the baptism of John. And Paul said, John indeed baptised with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him that was coming after him, that is, on Jesus”. He did not in any way weaken John’s service, but rather alluded to it as a service that he would not discredit. He would not weaken the effect of it in their souls. I think we may learn from that, that whatever precedes us should be valued rightly, not discredited in any way. If it is of God, it should be rightly valued. If there is anything we can build on, it should be fully owned. The object of John’s ministry was reached. It adds, “when they heard that, they were baptised to the name of the Lord Jesus”. It brings out the state they were in. There was something there that could be added to.

Rem They were subdued and bowed in their affections.

JT There was a subject state in them that had to be credited to John’s service. Paul did not add anything, but he called attention to Jesus in the most beautiful manner. Paul spoke with a full heart when he spoke about Him. John said, “Behold the Lamb of God”; there was a certain spiritual fulness in his words. When Paul said “Jesus”, he was not a whit behind. It should remind us of what tells in ministry and teaching, the fulness that there is in the heart behind the words used. I do not suppose there was a man under heaven who spoke of Jesus with such power as Paul, for he loved Him. No one can say “Lord Jesus” except by the Spirit. If there is no ^[p. 186] response to that, there is no response to anything. “When they heard that, they were baptised” — it touched them. I think the principle is that of linking on with the best there was in John. John the evangelist, in the most skilful manner, makes John the baptist run into Scripture (John 3: 35, 36); you cannot tell whether they are the words of the Spirit or the words of John the baptist. It shows the beautiful link John the baptist had with Christianity. There is the principle of linking on with what precedes us, making the most of it. The whole tenor of Scripture is one, so that when Jesus was raised from the dead, the disciples “believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken”, John 2: 22.

Ques Do you think there was something in these believers at Ephesus that the apostle could follow up?

JT I am sure there was. Evidently he knew their faith. He discerns that they had believed. It was a question of what testimony had been presented to them. There are many today who believe genuinely, but the testimony presented to them has been defective. A large part of the work of those whom the Lord is supporting is to help them to link souls on with what they know is greater. Aquila and Priscilla discerned that Apollos had believed. I can see that brother and his wife listening to that remarkable Jew as he spoke in the synagogue at Ephesus. He had come from Africa, and had not heard of what had happened at Jerusalem. You can picture what these two thought when they heard that man preach. It is a question of being able to discern what is of God.

Rem The apostle seems to discern by his questions how far these disciples had travelled.

JT The Lord has opened up a great field. People may say what they please, but God has specially helped us in opening up the truth, and the question is, What are you doing with it? God intends it to be used. It will be used more and more, especially ^[p. 187] if you come to the truth of the assembly. “The work to which I have called them” (Acts 13: 2) — we have to understand our particular service. It is an appointed work for the moment. It is a question of our discernment of what has preceded us. People say there is no change, but there is a change. Chapter 16 plainly indicates that the Spirit of God had a certain part of the world in His mind, not the whole world. He hindered the apostles from going to certain places. There is the idea of a given territory to be evangelised, the west, and to this these two men are called out. In chapter 13 it is “for the work to which I have called them”. It is true the disciples were to “preach the gospel to every creature”, that is the general attitude of heaven, the character of the dispensation; but the other side is, “to take out of the nations a people for his name”, Acts 15: 14. Paul is kept from going to certain places and directed to go to another place. Paul was at Philippi certain days; he was there to await orders. The Spirit did not tell him to go to Macedonia; a man from Macedonia called him there in a vision. As he arrived in Philippi he waited for orders and sought out what was for God. It must have been a great test to his heart. All that came up, except Lydia, was the spirit of Python. The levite has to get his orders from the Lord. “Go into all the world” — it does not abrogate that, but we have to go where we are sent. Today it is a question of what the work is. What comes out here is the important principle of recognising what preceded it.

“They have Moses and the prophets”. The great mass of God’s people has listened to defective teaching, and they are suffering accordingly. This question of Paul, “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye had believed?” has in view to lead them on to God’s best, the gift of the Spirit. It is pitiable that there should be so many genuine believers who are defective in this respect.

Jacob’s first visit to Padan was on the paternal line. He looked round and saw a well with a stone on its mouth. That is the position; the flocks are not getting water. He tells them what to do, but he does not do it. But then the point of interest with him was his relatives. However defective they may be, they are real relatives. You know Laban — well, there is one of them. There is Rachel coming; everything is coming into view. It was a question of getting in touch with them on those lines. These people were related to Paul; they were his relatives. They were more than the ordinary Jews whom he met in the synagogue. You can look on a believer as a relative of yours and can go on with him. You get the family links and you can go a long way with them. Jacob was a month with Laban, working for him. Laban says, What about wages? He begins to recognise obligations. They owe you something. That is Christ’s wages. He wants you to have part in the assembly, so Rachel is wages for Jacob. He knows just what to pay. If you love the Lord Jesus, that is all you want; the assembly is your wages. You cannot be in the assembly without the Spirit.

They were baptised “in the name of the Lord Jesus”. The Holy Spirit honoured Paul in service. Jacob was a type of Christ; you are on the Lord’s behalf. That is the whole position; you are merged in Christ. That is the great end in the gospel. Paul’s joy was full; he would have everything connected with Christ.

It is a question of what is behind what you are saying. There is a depth behind it, and that is what grips people’s souls.

The fact that the Spirit came upon them when he laid his hands on them is a beautiful tribute to Paul. He would be greatly enhanced in their eyes. Most christians think that they get the Spirit when they are born again. These dear people did not get the ^[p. 189] Spirit until Paul laid his hands on them. Some think that God must give the Spirit when you reach a certain point; they make the gift automatic. They say, You get the Spirit when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Luke 11 places God in the position of Giver; you must allow Him the blessedness that belongs to giving. God gives in His own way. If there was such a gift they would certainly want Him. “In whom also, having believed, ye have been sealed with the Holy Spirit”; you cannot bring in time there. Faith must receive the testimony of the Spirit, nevertheless God gives the Spirit in His own way and in His own time. It is a point of order, not time.

Ques Would this suggest that christianity stands in relation to divine Persons?

JT Yes, so we are baptised in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We are introduced to that realm where They are; to the sphere where divine Persons are acting. There is no doubt that in a general way the person who believes in Christ glorified gets the Spirit; it is only a question of making room for God. How He honoured Paul in this! It greatly enhanced him in the eyes of the saints afterwards. You must have the Spirit for the kingdom as well as for the assembly. People have light, but that is not enough. They listen to defective teaching; thus the work for those whom He has specially enlightened, is to keep on ministering the truth to them. “Paul, having passed through the upper districts, came to Ephesus”, and there he found certain disciples: he had been at Ephesus before, but could not stay long enough; that is another point. Aquila and Priscilla were reserved for Paul coming back. Unselfishly they help him in regard to the Spirit. There was no evidence that Aquila had any special gift. It is a remarkable thing that Paul should have missed Apollos. You would ^[p. 190] never expect a man coming from Africa to be of such service as Apollos. He did not see Paul, but he saw Aquila and Priscilla. God will bring in somebody to keep us in step. It is a remarkable thing that Apollos is never said to have met Paul, yet how fully they worked together. Unless God Himself works, it goes wrong. It is beautiful to see how the work of God proceeds, and the beautiful golden link that is here. God gives the Spirit to them that obey Him. What beautiful faith they had: “when they heard that, they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus”as if they were committing themselves to Him. Without obedience we can do nothing, for there is not the readiness to submit to the truth. “When they heard that” — he had not said very much.

Then we find Paul disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. Tyrannus means ‘a tyrant’. Christians are too casual about their learning. People think it optional to come to the meeting or not, to read their Bible or not. These things are not optional: they are imperative. Tyrannus would not let you read any book you like. This schoolmaster is arbitrary. There is nothing more important than absolute domination. It would never do to make christianity less imperative than the law. There is nothing more imperative than christianity. It is a question of the obedience of faith. It is a question of the Lord at Ephesus, but of God at Corinth. It is a two years course here. Everything must be subjected to the Lord. The assembly is subjected to Christ — that is the principle. I have to go through the school of Tyrannus to be subjected to Christ, to break down the will, to make the heart subject. The deputy that ruled in Cyprus was amazed at the word of the Lord — that is the idea. “So that all that inhabited Asia heard the word of the Lord”. Paul reasoned with them. There is much lightness and carelessness in learning in the school of God. People assume that they can come and go as ^[p. 191] they wish, that it is optional. It is not optional. If you come into the assembly, this course has to be gone through. It is compulsory, in the sense that the Lord has taken us up for this; His authority is absolute. You must go through this way. See how the young men who go to a university have to go through their course. You have the principle of “a good degree” in 1 Timothy 3; you obtain it for yourself. You come out of that school smaller than when you went in. A disciple really involves being disciplined. I think the name Enoch means ‘a disciplined man’; that man was translated. He was in the school of God for three hundred years. It is a learning time. We are not volunteers; that is not the principle of christianity. The Levites were taken up from a month old. It is a case of conscription.

There is the appeal in the gospel, too. The riches of God in Christ is a great feature. The Lord is putting in His claim for the assembly. There ought to be subjection.

I think we might just touch upon chapter 20, to connect it with what we have been saying. The Lord’s supper stands in such a way in connection with the assembly that it appeals to our affections; it is not so much a question of authority, though there is authority in it. This long discourse by Paul at Troas is to remind us that if we have the Lord’s supper, the Lord wishes us to have it after we have listened to Paul. Ordinarily we would not have such a procedure as this in an assembly meeting; it is unusual. There is no indication in the scriptures governing the Supper that it should be preceded by a long discourse, so that we have to link it with Paul’s place in the testimony as representative of the Lord. Before we receive the Supper, be sure that we listen to him. The Lord wants us to partake of it in the light of Paul’s ministry. His long address would mean that he has to be listened to. There would no ^[p. 192] doubt be in that long talk a peculiar breathing out of the love of Christ. We should not allow any of the things that have come over with us out of the systems; we must go back to Paul and listen to what he says.

We are not told what he said; that would mean it was a spiritual matter. There are certain things left indefinite in Scripture, so that there might be prayer and exercise, and that they might be reached on the line of spirituality. Nothing is told us of what Paul said except, “Be not troubled, for his life is in him”. It was a mark of his discernment. Eutychus represents the inward state of the man; “his life is in him”. What Paul said is not recorded, but it is not lost. It is kept somewhere, and I believe the Holy Spirit has it. These things are all the property of the assembly. The Spirit does not let them go, otherwise we should not have what we have today.

“This do in remembrance of me” is more an appeal. The Lord says “search the scriptures” — that is an appeal, but no godly man would turn a deaf ear to it; to do so would be rebellious.

Eutychus is called “a boy”. That means he is a potential man. “They brought away the boy alive, and were no little comforted”. It is a living boy. I have no doubt it describes the state at Troas; that is where they were. “They brought away the boy alive”. That is what they had. There was not an assembly in the world that had a boy like that.

Think of what he was spiritually. It suggests the possibility of manhood at the end. We have no record of what happened after this. It is a question now of whether the man will hear.