HOW THE TRUTH OF THE ASSEMBLY APPEARED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF GOD'S WAYS (3)
[p. 474] HOW THE TRUTH OF THE ASSEMBLY APPEARED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF GOD’S WAYS (3)
JT I think this chapter is the end of Paul’s active ministry. When I say active, you will remember that it was after this he was imprisoned; he went to Rome. One would gather, from what was said here, “that they should see his face no more”, that his active ministry among the saints had come to a close, at least, as far as the divine record goes. In sending for the elders at Ephesus, he intended to convey his final verbal message to the assembly; and the wording of it would indicate that Ephesus, as a local company, represented the assembly as it had been formed by Paul’s ministry. He had withheld nothing from these Christians; he had declared unto them the whole counsel of God, which would indicate that there was a state there answering to those counsels. He could not communicate to the Corinthians in the same way, on account of their state; he says so definitely; he could speak wisdom among the perfect, but not to the Corinthians. So it is evident that the Ephesian believers were perfect, in that sense; they were fully developed; and therefore they were set, at to their state, in the love of Christ; for we know afterwards that the Lord speaks to them, and says, “I have against thee because thou hast left thy first love”. I understand that Paul had placed them there; he had so presented Christ to them, in his ministry, that they were set in His love. That it is what one might call the climax, as it has indeed been called, the climax of his ministry, the top stone of his ministry.
[p. 475] Rem Would you say that we get in the epistle to the Ephesians substantially all that had been communicated to them verbally?
JT Yes; the epistle is more a record; what is put down in writing is to remain; it is an inspired account of the counsels of God; of the place that Christ and the assembly have in the divine counsels. That is really what the epistle is for. It is more than a local epistle, it contemplates Jew and Gentile formed into one body; so that it is that part of Scripture which is, so to say, our heavenly charter; it gives us our heavenly position.
Rem But now, as then, state is necessary for the truth ministered in the epistle.
JT Yes, in order that we should appreciate it.
Ques Do you mean the Ephesian epistle is the climax?
JT No, the assembly was. The assembly was really greater, in that sense, than the epistle. It was a great achievement to bring in a thing like this. Paul remained longer in Ephesus than in any other place; he remained at Corinth for eighteen months, but his stay at Ephesus was longer. It helps immensely to understand the book to see these characteristics. It is not a simple record of occurrences; there are no repetitions in Scripture at all; the Spirit communicates certain facts in connection with each locality that represents certain aspects of the truth.
Rem So in that way this epistle becomes instruction for us today, as regards the different things that are needed.
JT Quite so; it is the development of the truth. So you have the door opened to the Gentiles in Acts 10; that is not repeated; and then you get the inner workings of a local Christian company at Antioch; that is not repeated; it is cited once; that is all you need. The circumstances recorded [p. 476] at the beginning of chapter 13 indicate how things were done in the Gentile Christian companies; and it is passed on; that is enough; you are to take note of that. Then Paul and Barnabas go out, and their ministry is recorded in chapters 13 and 14 and they return. It is said of them that they returned to Antioch “from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled”. There was nothing lacking, they had accomplished what they had undertaken to do.
Rem They returned to the bosom of the assembly again.
Rem They were like the Levites, who were to recognise that the priest had supervision of their work.
JT Then chapter 15 records the assembly meeting at Jerusalem, in which certain things were adjusted in regard to the Gentiles. God, as it were, maintaining still, in His wisdom, the outward unity of the Jewish section and the Gentile section of the assembly. That was divine wisdom; and chapter 16 is the formal introduction of the testimony into Europe, and a very important feature of the testimony comes to light in that chapter that is not found in any other chapter in the same prominence; namely, the Christian household. That is a very important institution, which was to play a great part in the course of the testimony among the Gentiles.
Rem You refer to Lydia, and the Philippian jailer.
JT It is noticeable that in both cases it is the household that is brought into view.
Ques What is the importance of that?
JT Well, the households of those that were to support the testimony become a very important factor; for if you have not a proper household you cannot have proper overseers and deacons. “But if one does not know how to conduct his own house, how shall he take care of the assembly of God”,
[p. 477] 1 Timothy 3: 5. So that the truth as to the believer’s house, in Acts 16, prepared for the overseers in Ephesus. The first epistle to Timothy is connected with Ephesus; and it is in that epistle you have the instruction as to overseers and deacons; therefore you can see the importance of chapter 16 as a feature of the testimony.
Rem So the household being in order would be a good recommendation for the saint in that way as to his place in the assembly.
JT Yes. So the apostle goes into the household; it is not the saints coming together; he enters into the houses of the saints. Lydia says, “If ye have judged me [p. 478] to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide”. She did not think she was patronising Paul in asking him into her, house; she recognised that he honoured her in going into her house. Then, when you come to the Philippian jailer: he took care of the apostles; he washed their stripes, and he took care of them in every possible way; there was studied hospitality.
I think it is very beautiful to see the place the Christian household has in the testimony. You will find that where there is defective apprehension as to the household the person is defective as to the assembly; there is a certain defectiveness in the apprehension of the whole scope of the truth, if you are defective in any part of it.
Ques Do you mean that God should be fully owned in the household?
JT Yes; and you will find that Paul emphasises the baptism of households. He was not sent to baptise, but he did the service and he baptised households. I do not say that he did not baptise individuals; he did; but he records that he baptised the household of Stephanas.
Rem It is very beautiful to see the way Lydia invites them into her house: “If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide” there.
Ques Is there any other principle you notice in the chapters between this one and chapter 20?
JT In chapter 17, the great point is the resurrection: it is recorded there that they said Paul was “a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection”. He was emphasising the setting aside of all the pretension of man in the flesh. The Man by whom God is to judge the world is the Man whom He has raised from the dead. He says, “God hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead”. His qualifications are in that direction; a Man raised from the dead. It is in view of that He commands all men everywhere to repent.
Rem What is your idea in regard to a sister in the absence of her husband: is she to lead the household in prayer?
JT Yes. The virtuous woman, in Proverbs, helps as to how a woman should act in the absence of her husband. She is under authority and recognises it, but she has initiative, and acts intelligently, and for the honour of her husband.
Rem What you have said about the Christian household is of the greatest importance. It all implies that the testimony was to be permanent; and everything is ordered in relation to it. That should bring in exercise that every detail should be ordered in relation to the testimony. It should be a living thing.
JT Yes. In 1 Corinthians 11, we see the divine economy; there is authority, beginning with God, and extending to Christ, then to the man, and finally to the woman; so that if the husband be not present the wife is under authority; she can act.
[p. 479] Ques You said Scripture does not repeat itself, when referring to the household: are there any scriptures that substantiate that?
JT Yes; in chapter 16 we have the household as a subject; and it is well to take note of it. The apostle says, “Thou shalt be saved, and thy house”. The latter part of the sentence is almost invariably omitted in quoting that scripture.
I think it is easy to see from chapter 17, that the resurrection is the great basis. Peter emphasises it in his sermon at Jerusalem, but here, in the very heart of the Gentile world, Paul establishes the great principle that the earth is to be judged, and ruled, by a Man risen from the dead; “Whereof”, he says, “he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked”. The natural, cultivated man resents that; it means that he is to be removed; he is to be superseded. The Man who is raised from the dead is the approved Man.
Rem That means the removal of every other man. It was a very serious thing to bring Him to them at Athens.
JT Now, chapter 18 is Corinth; and the point the Lord makes is, that He had “much people in that city”. That is to be noted; He had the treasure in that city, and Paul was not to be terrorised by any circumstances; “No man shall set on thee to hurt thee”. “I am with thee”.
Rem That is said, before they were brought to light.
JT Yes, they were there; His eye was upon them. So Paul was there for eighteen months, and he preached, with the result that the assembly was formed; a company of men and women called out of the city of Corinth, and formed into an assembly. The Greeks were well acquainted with the idea of [p. 480] an assembly; it was no new thing to them; but that God should have one was entirely new to them it was God’s assembly. Now in that assembly, in the city of Corinth, every divine thought was to be found; it was to be the assembly of God, and the building of God, and the body of Christ in that city. That is one side. Now when you come to Ephesus, in the next chapter, it is not the idea of the assembly in the city; it is the assembly in God’s counsels. Of course, there was an assembly there, but I refer to the truth connected with it.
Rem Christ sometimes speaks of the assembly as “My assembly”; and it is also called God’s assembly.
JT The thought in Christ’s assembly is that He has a company in which He is supreme.
Ques Would you repeat what you said about the distinction between the assembly in Ephesus and the assembly at Corinth?
JT You can see, by what the apostle says, “I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God”, that he wanted them to understand God’s counsels. It is not the idea of a company in a locality; but of the whole assembly as connected with God’s counsels in heaven. I am referring not only to the chapter before us, but also to the teaching of the epistle.
Rem He was free to bring the counsels of God to their attention, on account of their state.
Rem But what is true of all is that the assembly’s position is heavenly.
JT Yes; the power of God will put her there. That is what the epistle develops; so the apostle contemplates her as there already in the heavenlies.
Ques Would you say the Spirit of God is putting her there at the present moment?
JT Well, we are being formed for that. “He [p. 481] that hath wrought us for this selfsame thing is God”, 2 Corinthians 5:5.
Rem The actual putting there will be an easy matter.
JT Yes; it is all connected together in Ephesians 2. “He hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”. It is all one stroke of His power; there it is seen in its grand result. It is going on now in every one of us.
Rem There are two sides to your thought: the greatness of the thing in itself, and then in the number of saints that are brought into it.
JT It is seen in the end in Ephesians 2; it is seen in the end according to what it will be. As we know, it takes twenty centuries to accomplish it in detail; but there it is seen in its grand result; the assembly is set down in the heavenlies, as God’s creation.
Rem We often speak of things being true of us in Christ; we need a little help on that.
JT Well, they are true of us in the sense that they are in God’s mind for us, and seen in Christ, and God will bring them to pass unfailingly; that is the idea of it.
Rem “He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God”.
Ques Is not the work of God in us to enable us to anticipate that moment?
Rem The light of it is presented to us now, and we can anticipate being seated there.
JT Yes. The first prayer in the epistle to the Ephesians is that you might have the light of these things; the second prayer is that you might have strength to lay hold of them: that we might be filled with the Spirit. But in chapter 2 they are looked at as already accomplished; God presents them to us in their grand result.
Rem You were saying the other evening, that [p. 482] it took in the past, and present, and future of the saints.
JT It takes in every item of the work of God in the saints; of that I am fully assured. We are only able to take up things as we are formed by the work of God.
Rem It is not doctrine, or terms, but a spiritual state.
JT I believe that; holiness is a great principle in connection with the things of God.
Rem You see it here, in Ephesians; love and faith.
JT Yes; Paul having heard of their love, and their faith, begins to pray for them.
Rem If we were more separate, we would have more light, and more ability to enter into the things of God. Holiness is a great element; we read, “without holiness no man can see the Lord”.
Ques Would you say the thing would develop to us more quickly if there was that state?
JT You see, if you feel you are not in these things; well, what are you going to do? We come together, and talk about them; and you say they are very nice, but perhaps you say I am not very much in them. Well, what are you going to do? Comfort yourself with the thought that you are as well off as others? No; what one should do is to turn to the Lord about it, and see what it is that hinders; because there is something that hinders.
Rem Very likely it is something at the very beginning of our spiritual history. Mr. Raven said, that apart from the groundwork of righteousness being laid in the soul, there is no entering into the love of God.
Rem If we were more light.
JT I think so. We are too much on equality with the world, and with those around [p. 483] us.
Rem We are rather sociable.
JT Yes, we are all exposed to that. But the first great principle in Balaam’s prophecy is that Israel “shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations”. That laid hold of, brings in light as to associations; and, following upon that, you get strength referred to in Balaam’s prophecy, Numbers 23: 22.
Rem It might take the form of religious associations, which would be more dangerous.
Ques Is there not something more to be noticed in our chapter?
JT Well, verses 26, 27, indicate the place the assembly had in the apostle’s mind. He says, “Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God”. That is to say, the saints had no excuse at Ephesus; the whole counsel of God had been presented to them. He had brought in every bit of light; so if there was a turning away at Ephesus, it was in the presence of the fullest possible light. Paul was clear; he had delivered his message. That is what makes the failure of the Ephesians so serious; it was turning away from the fullest possible light.
Ques Does verse 21 refer to the beginning of his work with these people, or afterwards?
JT I think it refers to the character of his ministry. He says, “testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ”. “I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have chewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house”. That is what was presented, no matter who it was he visited, that is what he testified. “Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ”.
[p. 484] Ques Why do you think the apostle was specially concerned as to Ephesus above all other places?
JT He wanted to see the elders; that assembly had a very great place in his mind; he knew what he had done there, and he wanted the work continued; he was not to continue there himself, so he put the responsibility on the elders.
Rem His heart is, opened out to them in a wonderful way.
Rem He points out to them that in spite of all his ministry, grievous wolves would enter in among them, not sparing the flock.
Ques What does he mean by saying he was “bound in the spirit?”
JT That had reference to him in going to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was not a door opened up to him. If you are going to a district where there is an open door, your spirit is free. He said a great door and effectual was opened to him at Ephesus; but it was not an open door at Jerusalem. All the way along the Spirit testified to him that bonds and afflictions awaited him.
Ques Was it right for him to go on?
JT Well, it is hardly comely for us to say much about it; but it is clear enough it was not part of his service; he was called to go far hence among the Gentiles. It was really the Spirit of Christ, in a sense; he loved the Jews, his own earthly people.
Now another beautiful touch is his word in verse 28, “shepherd the assembly of God which he has purchased with the blood of his own”. That is the assembly viewed in the full light of its preciousness to Christ, and to God.
Rem It is the place the flock have here.
JT Yes, but it is purchased with the blood of His own Son.
Rem In spite of the apostle’s ministry, and the greatest possible light; that was the place where the apostasy began.
JT Yes, exactly; the Lord felt the movement. He says, “I have against thee, that thou hast left thy first love”. Perhaps none else could have detected it. They were zealous of doctrine; He said, “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are riot, and hast found them liars”. But the Lord detected the cooling of their love.
Ques Is it not wonderful, after all Paul’s labour and hard work among them, he was able to say, “these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me”.
JT Wonderful. Now another very touching feature is that these leaders loved Paul; and that was the proof that they loved Christ; that was the evidence of it.
There is no difficulty about the rank and file, if the leaders are right. You may depend upon it the mass of the saints will be right if the leaders are right.
Rein. It is very humbling that when the leaders go wrong the others go wrong.
Rein. There is only one course that love can take.
JT We read in verse 36, “when be had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all, and they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more”.
That was a most touching scene. It was real affection. No doubt it was the final touch, answering to the top stone.