THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CHRISTIANITY (4)

THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CHRISTIANITY (4)

Acts 16: 6 - 10; Acts 20: 17 - 35; Acts 21: 4 - 6

AJG As we have only one reading left, I thought it wise not to spend time on the beginning of chapter 13, or chapter 15, although they are important passages. Chapter 13, as we know, telling us that there were in the assembly which was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers, and as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Separate me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then having fasted and prayed, and having laid their hands on them, they let them go,” and it says, “They therefore, having been sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia,” and so on. So that that clearly establishes what we have already said as to the Holy Spirit being presented as in charge of Christianity, and in charge of the service and those engaged publicly in the service, and also as to certain moral conditions being necessary if the Holy Spirit is to be unhindered in His activities. So as it says, “they were ministering to the Lord and fasting,” and then, “having fasted and prayed.” Then chapter 15 gives us the greatest crisis in the history of the testimony, where there was a definite effort of the enemy to introduce the idea that Gentile believers must be circumcised and keep the law. It is what Paul referred to in his epistle to the Galatians, and chapter 15 gives us the way it was met, by the brethren coming together and patiently waiting on God in regard of the matter; dependence and patience being seen particularly in the apostles. It says, that after much discussion Peter stood up, as though he did not immediately take a lead, but gave time for others to express themselves and for the Holy Spirit to direct him what he should do or say. And then as was remarked this morning, he stands up and reminds the brethren of what God was doing. He does not read any scripture but he just reminds them of what God was doing, sovereignly, in having given the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles without any question at all of their keeping the law or being circumcised. And that should be sufficient for them. And then James stands up and confirms it by a word, quoting from Amos a scripture which I think it would be right to say in its literal interpretation looks on to the world to come; but giving it in the power of the Spirit an application to the existing exercise, and it was so living that the whole matter was settled, and when they sent a letter to the Gentile assemblies, they say, “It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” It is a model, really, of a decision in the Spirit arrived at by quiet waiting on God. We see James expressing a spiritual judgment in what he said, confirming it by Scripture. I thought perhaps this afternoon we might look at these scriptures we read, first emphasising the need, on the part of those who are moving in the work, to move dependently and tentatively, and then chapter 20, which is most important, giving a review by the apostle of his service at Ephesus, where the Lord allowed him in his ministry to bring out all the truth. And he goes over it, not only emphasising that he had ministered in a constructive way, but emphasising also that he had moved in love, and places on the elders the responsibility to care for the saints and to remember the example of love which he had set. He commended them to God and the word of His grace, but reminded them too that the Holy Spirit Himself had set them as overseers. Paul is an example to us, showing that if the saints are to be built up, they must be cared for with unceasing love, and also we must be concerned as to constructive ministry. And then finally chapter 21 shows how all the saints are brought into the matter and how the Spirit is there among the brethren. The disciples told Paul by the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem. It indicates too, I suppose, although one would speak carefully as to it, that perhaps at this particular point Paul was lacking in sensitiveness, so that he failed to discern that what they had said to him was by the Spirit. And hence it emphasises the great need for sensitiveness if the things of God are to be carried through, as they are being carried through in the Spirit.

RS Does it show liberty in the Spirit, that Agabus knowing who Paul was, as such a vessel, that he would speak to him?

AJG Quite so. And he says, “Thus saith the Holy Spirit.” He had no doubt as to what he has to say, and that it had been given to him by the Spirit.

LBl We reached a point this morning when Peter was brought to God’s sovereignty, Jesus being Lord of all things, Gentile and Jew, as the footnote says, but now we have here the Spirit forbidding the apostle to speak in Asia, what would that suggest? Macedonia must be first?

AJG That is very interesting. While there is at first the word, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16: 15), yet when it comes to the actual working out of a commission to serve, the servant has to maintain subjection of spirit and sensitiveness as to what may be the Lord’s will or the mind of the Spirit at any particular time. So it says, “And having passed through Phrygia and the Galatian country, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia,” that is, the Holy Spirit evidently spoke authoritatively to Paul, whether inwardly or whether by someone we are not told, but the Holy Spirit it says, forbade them to speak the word in Asia, but did not direct them exactly where to go; He left them still dependent, only they were not to go in a certain direction. And then it says, “Having come down to Mysia; they attempted to go to Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” That I take it is not the specific word by the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit of Jesus, implying that the apostle, no doubt helped on by the exercise of having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in a certain direction, is more than ever dependent. The Spirit of Jesus would be the spirit of dependence. And the Spirit of Jesus would not allow him, that is, moving dependently, he was not free in his spirit, and therefore he was still left waiting, left undecided, where to go. “And having passed by Mysia they descended to Troas,” and then he receives a vision, and then it says, “immediately we sought to go forth to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to announce to them the glad tidings.” That is, he came to a certain conclusion, as weighing up all the preceding incidents.

HN The feature of sensitiveness, is it normal to all saints?

AJG I think it is normal Christianity because the Holy Spirit indwells believers, and the Holy Spirit is presented in Scripture as a dove, which is intended to impress us with the idea of great sensitiveness, but as to whether it actually marks us all is another matter.

HN Would you connect it too with circumcision and the fruit of that?

AJG Circumcision you mean, in a spiritual sense? Quite so, the cutting off of the flesh.

MSS Would John’s word as to the unction be much on the same line? “Ye have the unction from the Holy One and ye know all things,” implying that the saints are sensitive as to right and wrong?

AJG The unction is specially connected with the thought of intelligence in divine things. “Ye have the unction from the Holy One and ye know all things, ...and ye have not need that any one should teach you.” It is more a question of the truth in relation to the unction.

HN You would connect hearing with this thought of sensitiveness? And nearness to the Lord?

AJG Well, quite so. You do not always know all at once where you are going, or whether what you may have in mind to do is the Lord’s mind, but you are dependent. You have a mind of your own, and you get to the Lord about it, you move subjectly, prepared to have your plans or thoughts altered if it is the Lord’s mind: and things gradually become more and more confirmed to you. I think that is the way it works practically.

RS Does it not work the same way as to what we are to have at a certain season, even when you have some sense as to where you are going?

AJG Yes, it does indeed.

AAT Philippi is on the border of Europe, is it not? So that this is God entering into the European territory?

AJG Yes, although of course, after this Paul did go back to Asia. That is, the Spirit did not forbid him never again to go to Asia, because it was after this that he went to Ephesus, which is in Asia. So that this being forbidden to speak the word in Asia, was not, so to speak, final, that he was never again to go there, it was just the mind of the Spirit for the moment.

WSW And possibly Asia was not ready for it yet?

AJG Well, possibly the Lord had in mind something else. He was going to invade Europe, and that is what it meant, Philippi was a colony, that is to say, an integral part of the Roman Empire, the citizens of Philippi having the rights of Roman citizens, and therefore it suggested the power of the Roman Empire, and God was going to invade it, with a view to establishing His testimony, as He has done, in the western world, and what has developed out of the western world.

WSW Would you say then the gospel has come to us from that point?

AJG Yes, I think so.

RS Is it that the Roman Empire, strong as it was, was unable to hinder the testimony from entering into it?

AJG I think so. The jail and the inner prison and the stocks and all that were the power of the Roman Empire, and all that was just set aside in a moment by an earthquake, and also by the spiritual power of Paul and Silas, that they could not be overcome, although they were put into prison.

AY I wanted to ask if you did not think that the Spirit saw there was something to be accomplished immediately in Philippi? As a result of the opposition of Satan and the vessel of testimony being cast into prison, what happened was that the Roman Empire was utterly defeated and the assembly was brought to light at Philippi, in the jailer and his house.

AJG Yes, I think so. The jailer was the representative of the power of the Empire and he was converted, and the magistrates were made to come and ask the servants to go. So that the supremacy of the testimony was shown in a remarkable way, and the assembly of the Philippians became an assembly of great spiritual wealth and power, having its beginnings in Lydia’s house and then also in the house of the jailer.

AT You referred to the Spirit of Jesus. Would you say the Spirit is introducing that spirit now in the believer?

AJG Well, that is what He has in mind. It is interesting how the Holy Spirit will take on different characters. We have “The Spirit,” or the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of God, or the Spirit of Christ, or the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of God’s Son - the Holy Spirit is ready to take on various characters in order to produce different results.

MSS Would the Spirit of Jesus be a peculiarly sensitive title - The Spirit of that Man?

AJG That is what I thought, particularly dependent. We were referring to Psalm 16, and the first feature brought out in this Psalm is dependence, “Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust,” and that is to characterise and preserve us in our movements. So the Spirit of Jesus does not allow them. Paul had to wait some time before he got positive direction. First of all his directions are negative, not to go in certain directions, but it is not yet a positive direction where to go. And then he is given the vision, and he concludes that the Lord had called him to go to Macedonia.

AAT I do not think it is looked upon as a very happy thing to accept invitations six months ahead.

AJG Well, I suppose all that is a matter of the servant’s own exercise before the Lord, as to whether or not he is free to accept invitations a long way ahead. We do get in 1 Corinthians 16, that Paul had certain plans at a considerable distance ahead, but all would be with him, subject to the Lord’s will, of course. So in general, I think, dependence would perhaps prevent us from going too far ahead in our commitments.

RS But then sometimes we learn that servants whom we would like to have have so many commitments that we would not know where we were if we were not to invite them a long way ahead.

AJG Well, all that increases the exercise, I think. And while we do not want to get involved in things, we do not want to get too systematic. The great thing is to maintain balance and learning the reality of dependence.

HEB How is the thought of a vision to be associated with the activities of the Spirit and His direction?

AJG The vision is not exactly attributed to the Spirit. It says, “A vision appeared to Paul in the night. There was a certain Macedonian man standing and beseeching him, and saying, Pass over into Macedonia and help us. And when he had seen the vision immediately we sought to go forth to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to announce to them the glad tidings.” So the vision was given, I suppose, by the Lord.

LAC Would there be here an encouragement, in general, to move with what we know to be right and then look for divine support and guidance, rather than to delay as a result of looking for direction and never receiving it?

AJG I think that is the way. As we read through the Acts and other scriptures carefully, I think we see that servants move, not necessarily always with specific direction, but they move very much according to their own judgment, but of course dependent and ready to be directed otherwise if it be not the Lord’s will, they have no will in the matter. They either get confirmed or they get directed elsewhere. Sometimes they get confirmed, sometimes they get their thoughts changed. It is a question of being subject.

LBl Hence you would say the importance of servants holding themselves available?

AJG Yes. Here is says, Concluding that the Lord had called them to go there, that is there was a reasonable weighing up of things, and they made that decision.

RS Does the vision imply that his way was not perfectly clear but he had his eyes opened somewhat?

AJG Yes, I think so.

HLH In the case of Peter we get the vision first and then the Spirit speaking after. Here it seems to be the reverse, we get indications of the Spirit’s mind first and then we get the vision.

AJG Yes, quite so. That just shows that we are not allowed in Christianity to have a fixed way of going on. It is a question of the Spirit all the way through, and that makes things living on His side and of course on ours, if we are subject, but it enforces dependence and sensitiveness on our part.

LAC Are you indicating that these things apply in the sphere where the Spirit’s authority must be recognised, but can we understand these directions unless we enjoy communion with the Holy Spirit?

AJG No, I do not think we can.

CB Do you connect the sheet let down to Peter with this vision and move into Europe, having the nations in view?

AJG Well, to some extent, but not exclusively, because in Asia, and other parts some were of course converted from the nations, but at the same time, in God’s ways, it seems that the testimony has developed in Europe and the western world which has come out of Europe, and that has to be recognised. It is just sovereignty, and where God has placed the treasure.

JJ The testimony then was going forward in the house of Lydia and the Philippian jailer?

AJG Yes, undoubtedly. The house of Lydia was the great centre, so to speak, the Lord put it into her heart to attend to the things spoken by Paul and then she having been baptised and her house, she says, “If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there.”

And after they were released from the prison, they went to the house of Lydia. So that Lydia’s house evidently was a kind of centre secured by the Lord - a centre of operations, and the jailer’s house was an additional support to it.

JJ There was no synagogue at Philippi.

AJG That is right, there was no synagogue at Philippi as far as we can see.

VB I was wondering what you would say about this feature of prayer that was seen by the apostles first at the riverside?

AJG That shows that God had been before them, but that is always necessary. “Except any one be born anew he cannot see the kingdom of God.” God always has to go before, and the fact that there were women who were godly, and prayed by the riverside, would assure Paul that there was a work there that he could link on with.

RS Is not that apparent even in the way Paul got the vision, a man in Macedonia crying out for help?

AJG Yes, quite so. It has often been remarked that he saw a man in the vision, but when he got there he only found women at first, but then eventually the man came to light in the jailer.

HEB And if we recognise the Spirit’s activities and the sensitiveness that is proper we may expect a vision?

AJG Well, we may expect guidance, not necessarily in the form of a vision.

HEB No, I only mean what a vision would suggest in our day.

AJG Yes, getting clear as to what we should do.

RAE Is it not very important to have the mind of the Spirit, the Spirit’s guidance, and not to be too much governed by circumstances? If Paul had been too much governed by circumstances he would have been discouraged when things turned out as they did in Philippi, would he not?

AJG Quite so.

WSW What does the river suggest in Acts 16? Does it refer to the Spirit?

AJG I think it is an allusion to the Holy Spirit. It was outside the city too.

JHH The vision appearing to Paul. Would there be the recognition of the principle of leadership in that. In verse 10, “And when he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go forth.” Would you say that if the Lord is pleased to give light to any leader amongst us that the saints should be ready to take it on in that way? It says, Immediately we sought to go forth.

AJG Well, quite so. And that seems to be the point at which Luke joins Paul. Up to verse 8, Luke, who is the writer, says “they,” but when we come to verse 10, it says, “We sought to go forth to Macedonia,” so apparently it was at this point that Luke joined him.

MSS Have you any thought about their descending to Troas?

AJG You mean that there was some moral suggestion in that. That they were going down. Is that what you had in mind?

MSS I wondered that.

AJG Well, very likely. The exercises that had gone before were likely to produce that kind of spirit. Now in chapter 20, which is one of the most important passages in the book, we have Paul, aware that his service at Ephesus had come to an end and that he would not see the saints there again, sends from Miletus to Ephesus and brings the elders of the assembly to him there. That is, in one sense it is a local position that is in mind, that is, the elders of a particular assembly, but they are brought out of their local setting so that what is ministered is really applicable to any assembly. Only at Ephesus, apparently, Paul was allowed to carry his ministry from the very earliest point, repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, right up to announcing the whole counsel of God. So the whole scope of his ministry had come out at Ephesus, and he reminds the elders of it. But he also reminds them of what he had been among them in love, in self-denying service to them from house to house and with tears night and day, and so on.

MSS Would that help us in regard of being in line with what is universal?

AJG I think that is the idea, that we have here the whole scope of the truth covered in one particular assembly, and the charge is laid upon the elders, now Paul was to be no longer with them, to care for the saints and to care for the truth. But it really applies to every locality. Elders are a local thought, they are not gift, they are those who have moral weight and authority by reason of their experience with God, and they have the responsibility to care for the saints, and to care for what is of God in the place.

EB Caring for what is of God may cause us many a tear, but the Lord understands all about it.

AJG Exactly, and it is a question of love. “Hereby we have known love, because he has laid down his life for us, and we ought for the brethren to lay down our lives.” It is a question of being formed in love.

HAL What do we learn from the fact that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city saying that bonds and tribulation await him, and yet he still goes forward.

AJG That was all right of course, it was right for him to go forward, not deterred by the fact that bonds and tribulations awaited him, because love will not be deterred by mere bonds and tribulations.

So that there was nothing wrong in that, but perhaps he might have taken it up before in exercise as to whether the Lord would have him go to Jerusalem, but still, the mere fact that testimony was rendered to him in every city that bonds and tribulations awaited him is no reason why he should have turned aside. Only the main point is that the Holy Spirit witnessed that in every city, showing that the truth had taken shape and in every local assembly the Holy Spirit was free to speak.

AY Paul said in another instance that he was not only ready to suffer but to die. So you would say nothing would deter him from what was before him in relation to the service to which he had been called by the Holy Spirit.

AJG Quite so, he says that in verse 13, of chapter 21, “I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” So that is all right so far, that is love - laying down his life for the brethren, or the readiness to do it. But then all that has to be regulated by the Lord’s will and the mind of the Spirit. And it is clear in chapter 21, that the Spirit did cause His mind in the matter to be expressed, and that Paul failed to recognise that it was the voice of the Spirit.

BA Would you say that the apostle was marked by the Spirit of Christ?

AJG Quite so. We see perfection in Christ, and we see in Paul a very large measure of formation after Christ, but just a measure of weakness at certain times. We have to speak diffidently, because he is so much above any of us, but still that is what we are allowed to see, I think.

JS It is remarkable that Paul says he took no account of himself.

AJG Well, exactly, his life was just something to be used, but he says in Philippians, his earnest expectation and hope was that in nothing he should be ashamed, but whether by life or by death Christ should be magnified in his body.

HLH Paul refers to finishing his course in the ministry that he had had from the Lord Jesus, that was what was before him?

AJG Yes. The authorised version says, “Finish his course with joy,” but joy is not the point, the point is to finish the work. That is what the Lord said, “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.”

HLH The bonds and tribulations did not divert him from his purpose to finish his course?

AJG That is what I thought.

MC The apostle’s spirit was in accord with what God had in mind, and testified by the Spirit, that bonds and tribulations awaited him, but he goes forward.

AJG Yes, he was bound in spirit. Maybe he did not interpret it rightly as to why he was thus bound in spirit.

TG He said he had not kept back anything that was profitable.

AJG I think it is a good thing to notice the features of the teaching that he indicates, for they are really constructive, which is an important thing in ministry, that having regard to the conditions existing in a locality there should be what is orderly in the opening up of the truth. So that he speaks first of all of repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, and then he speaks of the gospel of the grace of God, and then he speaks of the kingdom of God, and then he speaks of the whole counsel of God. So all that he had covered in his ministry. It shows that there ought to be a measure of discernment as to the particular need. It is no use bringing in the greatest features of the truth if the saints are not established in the more fundamental features. They need the fundamental features before they can move on to that which is greater.

RS Then would you say there will never be a time in the history of the assembly when the whole circle of the truth will not be needed?

AJG I am sure of that, and so we get the example in Samuel, that he went round in a circuit from year to year. He went round to Bethel, and to Gilgal and Mizpah and then he came back to Ramah where he had an altar, but he went round that circuit year after year. So he recognised that the saints would need to go over the truth from time to time. And so with us, for there are always young ones coming on.

VB And so Paul found it necessary to teach from house to house. The necessity for entering into the houses of the saints in order to help them in the truth.

AJG Well, that is an important matter that perhaps we do not give sufficient attention to, that is the question of from house to house, that is, how much opportunity is taken of visiting the saints. Not in an official way, of course, but there is the personal contacts in our homes.

RS Is it to be noted that while he had not kept back anything from them at Ephesus that was profitable, yet he calls the elders over to Miletus and encourages them to take care of the flock?

AJG That is a most important thing, because Paul could not remain with them all the time, and any whom the Lord fits to minister the truth cannot remain all the time, so the responsibility rests on the elders, that they should care for the interests of the Lord in a locality and care for the saints.

RAE This matter of ministry, of the whole scope of the truth being covered, it would not be the idea of specialising, that certain of those who minister would have one line and certain another, but all would seek to be available for whatever might be needed?

AJG Well, I think that is more the thought. It is not to be expected that the Lord would have specialists in the ministry, it is really the work of the Holy Spirit, and He knows what is needed, but repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, while it might be thought that is just the initial thing that you present to the unbeliever, is really a kind of basic idea that runs right through. The repentance is towards God, God is before us, and faith is towards our Lord Jesus Christ, there is another Man before us. So that it is a basic principle that we have to maintain in our souls all the way through.

MSS Why does he say he is clean from the blood of all?

AJG Oh, because he had not failed to declare unto them all the counsel of God, I think.

CB When he says, I have shown you all things, does that correspond with what is said in the beginning of the Acts. The things that Jesus began both to do and to teach? There would be that corresponding with Paul?

AJG I am sure that is right. “I have showed you all things,” is evidently that Paul had shown them by example. So he says, “These hands,” holding up his hands, showing how he had served them by example.

AAT From a doctrinal standpoint, I suppose they were fairly well established, but do we not learn from the letter to Ephesus in Revelation that they had one defect, they had left their first love?

AJG Well, later on, I suppose. I do not know that that state applies here at this time. Certainly it took place not long after, but they had been established, I suppose, in moral correspondence with the truth, because in the Lord’s word to the assembly at Ephesus in Revelation He says, “Remember, therefore, whence thou art fallen,” so they had been at a top point, so to speak.

EB Would not what the apostle Paul says here, that he had not failed to bring to them all that was profitable, depend on how he had followed things up in the power of the Spirit?

AJG Well it would, of course. A brother, as far as I know, does not know beforehand, or not long beforehand, what he is going to bring out in a place, and if he remains in that place a long while what he brings out over that period will be the result of the Lord’s knowledge, or the Spirit’s knowledge, of what the needs of the saints are.

MSS The thought of “not shrinking,” would that mean that conflict is involved in the service?

AJG Evidently. He is referring to the opposition of the Jews. He says in verse 19, “Serving the Lord with all lowliness, and tears, and temptations, which happened to me through the plots of the Jews.” And then of course, sometimes even among the saints opposition may be encountered if the truth is not palatable.

MSS I was thinking of what he says in the end of Ephesians about spiritual power of wickedness in the heavenlies, whether that would come into the thought of opposition?

AJG It does. Anyone who has been brought up in the accredited systems of men is under the authority of darkness. What is taught in those systems has a certain authority attaching to it, but it is the authority of darkness, and it is a most difficult thing to deliver people from it.

EB You referred to the truth being unpalatable. Do you mean with those who are not ready for it, or oppose it?

AJG Well, sometimes to unspiritual persons the truth may be unpalatable because it cuts across what they may have been cherishing or going on with. It was very unpalatable to Saul when Samuel came and hewed Agag to pieces before the Lord, because he had spared him.

HLH What would the preaching of the kingdom of God involve?

AJG I think that would involve the subjective side of the truth. First repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, and then there is the preaching of the grace of God, which would deliver from all legality. It would be like the truth of Galatians, to bring before them sonship in all the glory of it as that which God has in His mind for us. But then we do want also the subjective conditions in keeping with it, and I think that is what the kingdom of God involves, because the kingdom of God really involved the sway of the Spirit over the soul.

HLH So Paul seemed to find particular pleasure in the saints, he refers to them as “ye all, among whom I have gone about,” as those in keeping with the features of the kingdom; the subjective features of the truth were attractive to him and in this connection he speaks of their not seeing his face any more.

AJG Quite so.

VB Then after referring to all that he says, “Take heed therefore to yourselves.” Do you think he places the responsibility therefore on the elders at Ephesus, in that connection?

AJG Exactly. I believe the Lord would exercise the brethren in every locality, especially those who have the character of elders, who have a certain measure of moral authority, by reason of their experience with God, that there must be a more definite acceptance of responsibility to care for the saints. And He would lay it upon the elder sisters too that they have responsibility, according to the epistle to Titus, to exemplify the truth before the younger ones, and to look after the younger ones in that way.

BA Do we not see how Paul admonishes them with tears, each one individually?

AJG Quite so. Each one of them, as though he had every brother and sister under his eye.

SP When this oversight is lacking, what is the outcome in relation to any locality?

AJG Well, I think there will be deterioration, and the enemy will get in in some way or another. He will always get in in some form or other.

HLH The reason for this injunction is that they would be attacked from outside, there would come in amongst them grievous wolves, would you say?

AJG Yes, exactly. “I know this, that there will come in amongst you after my departure grievous wolves, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves shall rise up men speaking perverted things to draw away the disciples after them.” Therefore, he says, “Watch!” That is a great word, Watch!

CM Paul was thinking of the flock, do you not think?

AJG Yes, and first of all he says, “Take heed therefore to yourselves,” that is the first thing. That is what Paul said to Timothy, “Give heed to thyself and to teaching, continue in them; for doing this, thou shalt save both thyself and those that hear thee.” So he says, “Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, wherein the Holy Spirit has set you as overseers, to shepherd the assembly of God.” A most extraordinary way of putting the truth, you might have expected him to say, Shepherd the flock, but he says, “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock... to shepherd the assembly of God.” He would set out the value of the assembly of God before the hearts of the elders, in order to give them an incentive to care for it.

RS Does it not involve that we are to set ourselves to these things, to be concerned about more care?

AJG I am sure of that, and then the need of prayer too to go along with it.

FHP Tears are mentioned twice.

AJG Yes, exactly, and night and day. Obviously he would not be visiting the saints in the night except in very exceptional circumstances, but I have no doubt he would pray in the night. I think we may conclude that his references to day and night would allude to his prayers as well as his service.

AKH Would that be borne out in the epistle? It says, that from the time he heard of their faith in the Lord Jesus he had not ceased to give thanks, “making mention of you at my prayers.”

AJG Yes, and we get many references to prayer in the epistle to the Ephesians.

AAT Is it not so, that eldership is a local idea?

AJG Yes, it is.

AAT Well, what about Peter, does he not speak of himself as an elder?

AJG Yes, he does. I suppose while it is quite clear that the responsibility of elders to exercise oversight is a local idea. Peter brings himself before us in his epistle as having that character, so as to encourage us by a good example. He obviously did not remain in one locality, but he cared for the saints.

RS Does it not imply that he must have been located somewhere?

AJG I suppose so. No doubt in the locality where he was he would have the same feelings of care for the saints.

LAC What is the difference between an elder and a shepherd?

AJG An elder has years, not necessarily a large number of years, but one who has years, who is not one of the younger ones, not a novice; but one who has experience with God and a measure of moral authority.

MSS The thought of teaching is connected with shepherding in Ephesians, would that suggest that a shepherd would have the ability to teach the saints, the two things going together as one gift?

AJG Yes.

RS Does not the teacher look at the saints as together, while a shepherd suggests individual contact?

AJG I think that would be the case in a general way.

SC We can only get the spirit of discernment by watching, can we?

AJG Well, watching, of course, has in mind that you should be able to discern, so that you would need the spirit of discernment, particularly in the way of anything that is being taught. It says, “From among your own selves shall rise up men speaking perverted things, to draw away the disciples after them, Wherefore watch.” That is, you have your eyes open as to what the trends are, and what it is that people are saying. If something is beginning to be taught in a locality that is not sound doctrine, well, you are not going to let it go on.

CB What we are to take on in watching is what was exemplified in Paul himself?

AJG I believe that is the importance of these matters, that while he does go over what he had taught, and it covers an immense scope, it was constructive and orderly, yet what he specially emphasises is what he had been himself among them and how he had laid himself out in love to serve the saints.

AT Would tears be the expression of feeling here?

AJG Well, quite so.

WH It says, “Serving the Lord with all lowliness.” Would that not become the foundation for them that they would see the spirit in which the apostle had served them for those three years?

AJG Well, exactly, and Peter is on the same line, it is very interesting to see that Peter and Paul, though leading apostles, are the exemplification of lowliness, and they enjoin it, so that Peter says, “Likewise ye younger submit yourselves unto the elder,” and then he says, “Yea, all of you... be clothed with humility,” elder and younger alike.

TG You think we have to be careful of serving because of necessity and not willingly?

AJG Well, here the apostle is stressing that he had served in love, and then, while he sets himself before them as an example, in order that they should not be left with the last impressions on their minds being of Paul, he finishes by saying, “And to remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.” It is as though, while he is emphasising the thing in himself, he does not want himself to be the last impression left on their minds.

FM What is the thought of an inheritance among the sanctified?

AJG Well, the inheritance, I think, is what we enjoy together as saints, “Things... which God has prepared for them that love him.” That is the inheritance, but it is to be enjoyed among the sanctified, that is, among the saints.

LAC In verse 24, the apostle speaks of having received the ministry from the Lord Jesus, is there such a thing as receiving ministry from the Holy Spirit, or is ministry or receiving of it, always referred to the Lord Jesus? He speaks also in Corinthians of what he had received from the Lord Jesus.

AJG Yes, I should think it is right to regard ministry as received from the Lord, but I do not know whether it is wise to draw too definite a line between the different divine Persons for they all work in accord, so that it is best to take it just as we find it in Scripture. The Lord is on high in supreme control, and the Spirit is here too working with us, so we can get a word from the Lord through the Spirit or perhaps from the Spirit Himself.

AT Is the word of His grace very comprehensive?

AJG Well, I think it is, because it is a dispensation of grace and so whatever he told them would be of that character - the word of His grace.

MSS “I commit you to God.” Would that be the apostle’s falling back on the faithfulness of God?

AJG Yes, quite so, there is no such thought, as was remarked this morning, of apostolic succession, what we are committed to really is God, and the Holy Spirit is here, so that it says, “Take heed therefore to yourselves and to all the flock wherein the Holy Spirit has set you as overseers,” the Spirit is in charge of the position, and if one brother who has served well as an elder is removed, the Spirit will see that the place is filled if there is exercise on the part of the saints. Of course, if there is carelessness and so on, He might not raise up anyone with the ability of a pastor to care.

CM The thought of “purchased with the blood of his own” was to show how dear the saints are to Christ?

AJG Yes, I think so, and to show how great the assembly is in the mind of God that He paid such a price to get it. “The assembly of God,” he says, “which he has purchased with the blood of his own.”

HEB So that with Paul it was not merely the carrying out of a commission, although he was personally commissioned, but it was more the feelings of Christ that entered into his ministry which afforded a balance, would you say?

AJG I am sure of that.

AY I was wondering if this expression of Paul’s here, “I commit you to God,” would be in any way linked with the Lord’s prayer in John 17? In view of His going away and the sorrow that would fill the hearts of those whom He had drawn to Himself, He commits them into the Father’s hands.

AJG Well, quite so.

RS The shepherding in Peter is more confined to the words “sheep” and “lambs,” but here we get the shepherding of the assembly.

AJG Well, he had just referred to the flock, of course, “Take heed unto yourselves and to all the flock” as though to emphasise that they need care, as a flock does, but then he brings forward the thought of the assembly in order to show how great the flock is, and of what value it is to God, so that he gives the elders an incentive to care for it.

EMe In reference to verse 19, the apostle Paul had the light of the assembly of God from the beginning at his conversion, “Why persecutest thou me,” and then here it says, “serving the Lord with all lowliness,” Would serving the saints be the same as serving the Lord?

AJG Well, it would. We serve Christ by caring for the saints. Abigail was attractive to David, and when he sent to take her as his wife, she says, “Let thy handmaid be a bondservant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” She was going to show her affection for David by washing the feet of his servants.

LBl I think what you said just now is very important, that if individuals in a locality are careless the Lord may not raise up an elder when one has been removed. Would you say the exercise in that is that we should watch all in the locality so that things may be living, and that all may be moving with Him in exercise in regard of the testimony?

AJG Oh, quite so. Then I think we referred this morning to what was said of Timothy, that he cared with genuine feeling how the saints were getting on. He was not told to do it, but he did it of himself, and I believe it is just that kind of thing that the Holy Spirit takes notice of and takes on, so to speak. Timothy was a young man and yet he cared with genuine feeling how the saints were getting on, and he would pray for them and visit them and so on; and doubtless by this means he became fitted in a more general way for the work of caring for the saints.

HEB Paul was himself an example, was he not, of what he was enjoining? He found Timothy a young man who was well reported of in the district, and it says, “him would Paul have go forth with him.” So Paul in that way, built him up in view of his departure when things would be committed to him?

AJG Yes, I would say so.

HLH Now what about chapter 21? Have you anything to say about Tyre?

AJG It says in verse 4, “Having found out the disciples, we remained there seven days, who said to Paul by the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem.” So there we have disciples in Tyre who have the mind of the Spirit, and can convey it to Paul, and the history shows that Paul disregarded it. Not that he was deliberately disobedient, we would not think that for a moment, there is no ground for thinking it, yet we see he failed at that time to recognise that it was the voice of the Spirit, showing how sensitiveness is greatly needed with every one of us, even with a great servant like Paul. The disciples had the mind of the Spirit, just the local brethren, but they had the mind of the Spirit. And then it says, “When we had completed the days, we set out and took our journey, all of them accompanying us, with wives and children, till we were out of the city. And kneeling down upon the shore we prayed.” That is the whole company, not the brothers only, or not the brothers and sisters only, but the children as well, wholly committed to the testimony; the children brought up to have an interest in it and to be with their parents in relation to it.

RAE Is there any significance in the thought that these disciples were at Tyre?

AJG You were thinking of Tyre representing what is commercial?

RAE Yes, I was thinking that the Lord’s mind is that our occupations should not hinder us from this great feature of having the Spirit’s mind in our locality.

AJG I think that is right, and the Lord had disciples, that is, He had true believers, what Scripture terms believers, in Tyre, in the midst of the commercial world, which is an important matter. Rome has established monasteries and all that kind of thing, a certain outward withdrawal from the world around them, but the thought is that we move amongst men, in the Spirit’s power, so that the testimony of divine grace should reach them.

LAC Is it not very helpful to recognise the full authority given to the Spirit in that way?

AJG Well, I am sure of that. The Spirit is here to carry things through. It says, “He shall guide you into all the truth.” So that notwithstanding all that has come in in the way of opposition, there is no reason why we should not come into all the truth. Those who are available to the Spirit will come into it.