BRETHREN, ELDERS AND FATHERS

J.Mitchell

Exodus 4: 13,14; Acts 20: 17-21; 26-28; Nehemiah 8: 13-15

What I have upon my spirit, dear brethren, is to say a word of encouragement on the thought of the brother, then the elders, and then the fathers. In Nehemiah the word is the chief fathers. There are all stages of growth amongst the brethren. John, when he writes his epistle, takes account of every stage of growth. He writes to the children and has a word for them, he writes to the young men and has a word for them, and he also writes to the fathers. Let none of us here therefore think that we may be too young or too old for the ministrations of our Lord Jesus Christ. Every one of us is of intense interest to Him. We know in the family side of things that we are all equal, each one has cost the Lord exactly the same, cost Him His precious blood. So that from the viewpoint of the family there is no one any more important than another; each one is equally valued by Christ. How wonderful that is! In the scene of testimony, in the sphere of responsibility in which we are, there are certain measures, measures of growth, and there are certain furnishings, so to speak, which the Lord has left in the assembly in view of what belongs to Him in a difficult day being cared for. How wonderful that is! Those who are a little younger should not feel out of that because, at any rate, you are the recipients of the care of what the Lord has left in the assembly. Nevertheless it may please Him to leave things here a little longer. Who knows? Who can say as to that? - although of course the general feeling I believe among the spirits of the brethren is that we are right at the end of the dispensation. But the question of time is in the Father's hands, and as long as we are here there will be persons needed to care for what belongs to God on this earth in the testimony in the midst of all that is opposed to it, as it was opposed to Christ.

So we need these things - the brother (that is we need one another), and the elders, and the fathers or the chief fathers. We should be very thankful that the Lord has furnished us with these elements in some measure, recognising as we do that it is a broken day and there will never be any return to what was pristine among the saints. Nevertheless the moral qualities of certain things go through and we are thankful that they can be seen in some measure among the saints in the days in which we are. Thank God for these days when the Lord is helping the brethren, helping the brethren possibly in a unique way that may not have been experienced before, as circumstantially the saints have been brought into a character of dependence upon God, dependence on Christ and dependence upon the Spirit that may not have been known before. The Lord has taken away things that would hinder this character of dependence, and what is being experienced is the unlimited resources in love on the part of Christ to maintain His own in the scene of testimony at His own level despite all the difficulties. But in doing that He uses persons such as these, He uses a brother and He uses the elders and He uses the fathers.

When we think of a brother we always remember John in the way that in the hardships in which he himself was he can in mutual feelings and solicitude and concern for the saints write "I John, your brother", Rev 1: 9. What it is, dear brethren, to be a brother! To be a brother is in a certain sense the greatest niche that any one can fill. It must take character from the blessed relationships that we have with Christ, as He could say, "go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God", John 20: 17. But as another has said, brethren of Christ bears on the glory of love's elevation up there, while brethren of one another bears on the responsibility of love's affection down here. So we need the brother in the circumstances down here, and the thought involves mutual affections and the mutual carrying of burdens together. How important that is, dear brethren! As the scripture says, "Two are better than one", Eccles 4: 9. How some of us have been made to realise this in a way that we may possibly not have realised it before. Here Moses, although not exactly up to the greatness of what God had in mind, is providing the opportunity for God to bring in the thought of the brother. When Moses says that he could not speak, God says "Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother?" And He goes on to say, "And also behold, he goeth out to meet thee; and when he seeth thee he will be glad in his heart". If we read on we find that when Aaron goes out to meet Moses he kissed him. Think of the mutual feelings of affection that came into expression at that meeting! It says of the Lord, when He came in amongst His own in that chapter from which we have quoted, "The disciples rejoiced therefore, having seen the Lord", John 20: 20. When they saw the Lord, what gladness that was. I think too, dear brethren, as being here in the sphere of responsibility where things have to be carried, where things have to be done, where the rights of God have to be stood for, where we have to go through some rigorous matters, we are glad in our hearts that there are brethren with whom we can carry things, with whom we can work things out, who can assist in the mutual affection that is so necessary in the fine balancing of the truth in the way that things come out. You remember that, when the apostle Paul writes to the Corinthian saints, he adds the thought of the brother. We see how necessary that great thought is. Very likely the brotherly idea was missing in Corinth. How could it have been there when there were schisms and parties and feelings against one another and brother persecuting brother even to court? Brotherly feelings would have been absent there. How sad it is if brotherly feelings are absent in a locality. Let us hold to the bond of the brotherhood and let us value one another for the features of God, features of Christ in one another, so that we may mutually carry things together. It is not a day for one at the present time. It is a day for the brethren generally and mutually working out things together. You can see that in the way in which brethren serve together. How important that is, particularly among the Levites! Here it is "Aaron the Levite thy brother". There should be that brotherly spirit and the mutual help and encouragement and working together having the same judgment. It may not be that we always say things the same way. Peter had his own way of saying things. Peter does not exactly, for instance, speak of the assembly. Paul speaks of the assembly. Peter speaks of the spiritual house. But they were both at the same thing. What a brotherly link there was between Peter and Paul! There was a link there that stood the test of an extreme difficulty and you can see how their links together in the glory of the truth were able to hold the situation together. So it is important that we develop this thought of the brother amongst us. Let us value one another. We have not chosen one another. I have not chosen the brethren here and they have not chosen me. We have not chosen anyone. God has chosen us, and He has chosen us that we can work things out together, and the Spirit of God is among the saints developing this great feature of mutuality and the features of Christ in one another so that the thought of the brother should be an easy one to work out in our midst. So what these two men, Moses and Aaron, were in the testimony together! Think of the number of times in the scripture that these two are referred to, Moses setting on a great apostolic line in the way that it is set out in Paul, and Aaron setting out the priestly feeling side. Aaron comes on to view when what is priestly and what is marked by affection is required for the drawing of the brethren into the truth. We need this, dear brethren; no one is capable in these days of carrying things through on his own.

The only one who has been proved capable of carrying through on His own is the blessed Lord Jesus. Therefore in the working out of things under Christ we need one another. How we need to value and make room for one another, and cherish what there is of God and what He may have placed in one another. It may be somewhat different but the great aggregate is what is in mind in view of the best coming into expression, everything necessary furnished so that the assembly may be well served, that the rights of God may be stood for. These men stood together in difficult times. They supported one another. They supported the truth, each of them in their own practical lives, but then the important thing is they supported one another. So I appeal to every one, no matter how young, you can always be a brother, you can show brotherly feelings. How attractive it is to find brotherly feelings, the kind of feelings that can get down alongside the saints, that can enter into their exercises, that can enter into their joys and share them, can enter into the sorrows and share them, can pray together in a mutual way, the kind of feelings that lift you up when you might be a bit low. How valuable these things are, dear brethren, and the Lord has placed this feature amongst us. My exercise is that it might be developed even more amongst us so that the saints may be well served in these difficult times in which we are.

Now I say a word about the elders. We ofttimes refer to the elders at Ephesus. What there had been at Ephesus was very choice. Paul had laboured there, longer than in any other place. That is because, I think, there was so much to bring out there. He says here that he had not shrunk from declaring to them the whole counsel of God. So here we have a man that is imbued with the greatness of God's thoughts in regard to the assembly, great mystery which has come out in our times - Christ and the assembly. As he says later, when writing to the Ephesians, "I speak as to Christ, and as to the assembly", chap 5: 12. It was the great thought that Paul had, and he laboured among the saints with the result that there was an expression of what he laboured for in Ephesus. While there was departure from it, the Lord having to say in the book of Revelation "that thou hast left thy first love" (chap 2: 4), the fact is that as the result of Paul's labours at Ephesus there was a concrete expression of the glorious truth of the mystery there. I think Mr Raven says that the epistles were needed because of declension among the saints. The truth was there in a practical way at Ephesus. What a wonderful state of things there must have been in that city! It was because of the labours of this man and those with him. He speaks in this chapter of his labours. That is always a model for us. As patterned after Christ, if we labour in any measure among the saints in the way that Paul laboured, we labour with the great standard in view of Christ and the assembly. This mystery, he says, is great. Then Paul was going to leave there, and as leaving his. feelings for the saints come out and he wants to leave them in good hands and therefore he calls over to him the elders of the assembly. I think that indicates, dear brethren, that there is that element there that can be trusted with the greatest things of God. Now it is a great challenge as to whether I am among that kind of persons. When Paul writes to Timothy he speaks to him: "Let no one despite thy youth", (1 Tim 4: 12), indicating that what was lacking in age in Timothy is to be made up by moral qualifications. I think some one asked Mr Taylor why Paul took up a young man, and he said, I suppose it was because he was the only person available. Therefore when we think of elders let not the young men exclude themselves, if at least it can be in the way of exercise even now, so that you may develop into what is reliable in the way of experience with God and things can be trusted to you. And let those of us a little older be concerned that there may be moral capacity and spirituality with us that the Lord can entrust things to. So here he calls over these elders. Earlier on he had ordained elders; that was part of the confirmatory ministry of Paul that there should be elders in every place to look after the rights of God and the interests of Christ in the places in which they were. Evidently in Ephesus they had these elders, they could be located and be called over. Not that you would point to certain persons at the present time and call them elders; as we said at the beginning we are in days of breakdown, and what we should be concerned about is that the moral features of these great thoughts should be seen in us without necessarily claiming anything or drawing attention in any way to any individuals. Paul calls them over and says "Wherefore I witness to you this day, that I am clean from the blood of all". What a service was the service of Paul! While on the one hand he is setting out that he himself was clear, I think there might just be the indication in it that the elders were to take up their service in this character. Think of completing a service and being able to say that I am clean from the blood of all, for I have not shrunk from announcing to you all the counsel of God. Paul did not go seventy-five per cent of the way, or even eighty per cent or ninety per cent of the way; he announced to them all the counsel of God. And there was an answer in Ephesus that was commensurate with the ministry that he gave. Now he is saying to these elders that the responsibility is upon them as to how they serve the saints, as to how they hold them, whether they hold them to this great high level of what they are for God. 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, which he has purchased with the blood of his own". That is, I think, the greatest thought of the assembly - the assembly in the mind of God, what it is for God Himself. O that we viewed things a little more from God's side! viewed the saints in our localities as to what they are for God, what they are to God, what it has cost Him that He might have them for Himself, that this may enter into our feelings in our service among the saints in our local meeting, dear brethren. It may involve the practical side because here Paul spoke about his hands, the way that he served, and about his tears and about the way that he moved in and out among them; he spoke about every house. When Paul went into these houses he would always be influencing the persons with whom he came in touch in relation to the greatness of Christ and the assembly, and the greatness of the assembly as being the dwelling place of God, what it was for God. O that our conversations, dear brethren, and our influence on one another may be more on that line so that the saints may be held in the divine thought for them and that they might always be kept up to that level and never descend below it. Of course I realise that we are, as we speak, in the kingdom, and the kingdom things must be worked out and there is need to go over those things as well, but in going over them let our approach be from the standpoint of what the assembly is for God, what it is as the assembly of God, as he says here, "which he has purchased with the blood of his own". That is the greatest thought of the assembly, it is the highest thought you could possibly have, and that thought governed the service of Paul. And not only that but he wished the elders to maintain the saints at that level. Now it may not be your privilege to serve in ministry, but it certainly can be your privilege to take some responsibility, however large or however small, for the saints in the place in which you are. There are not too many of us these days and there are certainly never too many to take responsibility, there are never too many to take up the things of God in the places in which we are. Let every one here then see that we are committed to caring for the saints at this great high level, at no lower level than this, holding the saints as to what they are in the divine thought and what they have cost God.

Now I just refer to the thought of the chief fathers. Fathers are a very valuable asset in the assembly; somewhat like the elders, you would expect them to have experience with God. I think there might be just that little touch of the family side with the fathers more than with the elders. How great it is, dear brethren, how needful to develop that side amongst us! John is a family man; his gospel brings out the truth of the family, and in his epistles he develops the thought of the family in days when the official side, as we speak of it, had broken down. John reverts in the power of the Spirit to the family side of things, and I believe that is what we can see developing, if we have eyes to see it among the saints in these days. May it go on and develop more, may there be more affection for one another, may there be more regard for one another, may the thought of these holy relationships be developed in a deeper way with us so that we might enjoy one another's company. I think it is a great thing for the young people to enjoy the company of the saints. What is fatherly amongst the saints will promote that, it will promote an atmosphere of affection which can be enjoyed. They might not understand all that is going on. It is not exactly necessary for them to do so. We pray that if the Lord leaves us here and they grow in the things of God that they will understand what is going on. But it is a great thing at any rate to enjoy the atmosphere among the saints. That in itself will cause stability in the souls of the young people. Let us be exercised then that what is fatherly might be corning into expression. The fatherly never repel. A father, of course, has to discipline. The epistle to the Hebrews tells us that. It speaks about God as the Father of spirits and the way in which discipline is exercised, but that is not the main line of the father. The main line of the father I think is family affection and the providing of an environment in which the saints can grow in the truth, in the true knowledge of God. But then here it speaks of the chief fathers, and that may be another thought. It may be in advance of the thought of the fathers, and I think, dear brethren, there is a great need for the chief fathers at the present time, and a great need too to make room for the chief fathers. The setting in chapter 8 is that the children of Israel were in their cities. What a wonderful thought that is! How we would crave at the present time for the whole universal position that it could be said of the saints that they are in their cities! that is, that they are settled with regard to city principles, to the rights of God in cities, that they are settled in regard to the responsibilities in the testimony. How important that is! that every one has found their place in the testimony set out in the thought of the assembly of God in Corinth. God is known in that city. God has a foothold there, and the fact that God has a foothold there involves that He is going to overthrow everything that is opposed to the truth in that place. How important then cities are! You find that the persons here are settled in their cities. They are not restless, and there is a great voluntary movement forward in relation to the truth. It is not a question of a trumpet calling the saints together in chapter 8; the saints come together of their own volition and ask for the words of the law to be read. What a great thing that is! What a state among the saints that there is a genuine desire for the truth and the saints come together out of real affection for the truth and for the word of God and to hear what God would say to them. And there is a long meeting as we know, (not short meetings in those days), and there must have been a large number of them and there were those who were able to help, and there were those who were able to read and there were those who were able to give the sense. What a mercy that is! Think of the divine provision in that environment that there were persons who were able to give the sense. And then there was the response Godward as the result of it. That should always be the result if there has been help in ministry. If I have been helped as I sit under the word of God it should always result in something returning to God. Then you find that there is joy. There was weeping as they took account of the great departure from the truth, as they were affected inwardly as to how far they had departed from the truth, but in the main the answer was in joy. Now that I think is the setting. What an encouraging set of circumstances it is! And I believe that the Spirit of God is working to secure that character of things among the saints at the present time; and who would say that He has not secured it? I have no doubt that He has secured it, and I think what He would be working for is that it should be deepened. Now it is in that setting that we have this second convocation. The chief fathers come together that they might "gain wisdom as to the words of the law". Things were more weighty perhaps on the second day than they were on the first day. That always raises a challenge. We do not wish to be exclusive in any way but would I be among those who would be able to be present on the second day? Thank God for any measure in which there is spiritual capacity among the saints in these days for the development of the truth. The result of their coming together in this mature, developed way is that there is a great accession of light. I say an accession of light bearing in mind, of course, what we have often been taught that the truth is not exactly recovered to us. The truth has been there all the time and we are recovered to it. So if we say an accession of light what we mean is that there is a great development in the way of recovery of the saints to the truth. I think we have a right, dear brethren, to look for that in these days, that there may be some fresh unfolding of things. Not that it has not been unfolded before because all that will come out has been out before in the beginning of the dispensation. But there may be some fresh recovery among the saints in the way, if I may be allowed to use the expression, of an accession of light amongst them that may cause joy and liberty and glory among the brethren. So that the result here is that they look into the scriptures and find that the divine thought was that the brethren should dwell together in unity; that is what it really means. But at the same time the feast of tabernacles is the crowning feast in the old economy. It is the touch-stone of everything, and one does not need to be very spiritual to see that we are in days when the Spirit of God is putting the crowning touch not only in accession of light but in the way of experience among the saints. The result here is that what is really the touch-stone of the order of things in the old economy is entered into in a way that it had never ever been entered into before. How wonderful that is! I believe, as I say, that we have a right to look for that kind of thing, but I would repeat that it does involve this atmosphere among the saints. You cannot leave it to the chief fathers and say it is their matter. Of course in the second day it is their matter but the first day comes before the second day; so those of us who are not chief fathers would nevertheless be concerned that we might fit into our own place on the first day and provide what is basic in the way of environment in which the chief fathers, as under the hand of Christ and in the power of the Spirit, can develop in spiritual capacity in the enquiry into the truth and the bringing in of that which will, so to speak, cap the dispensation in which we are. Well, there is much in this, dear brethren, that I find very attractive. One may have to speak of it in a certain sense abstractly. One has always to regard one's own measure in speaking to the brethren. But nevertheless I think I can see something exceedingly attractive in it and something that should exercise our souls that we may, as I said, be providing the atmosphere on the first day so that the chief fathers can come together in the enquiry in a developed and a mature way in the truth, and that we too may develop in a mature way into these great thoughts so that the saints may be helped into the very best. May the Lord bless the word.

MAIDSTONE

26 February 1977