PREPARATION IN VIEW OF THE ASSEMBLY (2)
[p. 68] PREPARATION IN VIEW OF THE ASSEMBLY (2)
— Yesterday, we were engaged, in chapter 17 of this gospel, with the face of the Lord which shone as the sun. Those of us who have part in the kingdom and the assembly ought to take on this character which is expressed in connection with the Lord. There should be rule, but it ought to be a rule of benignity, as the sun shines in a beneficent way over the whole earth, without regard to what may be found on the earth. Thus, as being in the kingdom, we ought to reflect what is found in heaven, and for that, the truth of sonship is essential. The end of chapter 17 shows us that we are sons. We are brought into company with Christ, His companions. Being thus in the family, we are personally dignified; we are qualified to have part in the kingdom, according to the thoughts of God. It says that the sons of David were chief rulers. There is a family dignity secured, and this dignity enables us to take a humble place in order to help the interests of God on the earth. It is said, with regard to the greatest servants, the apostles, that “God has set us the apostles for the last, as appointed to death. For we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye prudent in Christ: we weak, but ye strong: ye glorious, but we in dishonour. To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and are in nakedness, and buffeted, and wander without a home, and labour, working with our own hands. Railed at, we bless; persecuted, we suffer it; insulted, we entreat: we are become as the offscouring of the world, the refuse of all, until now” 1 Corinthians 4:9 - 13. It is God who had set them for the [p. 69] last; in their outward circumstances they occupied the lowest place among men. But nevertheless, they were great inwardly, and they were conscious of it. It was by reason of this consciousness that they could take the lowest place, an obscure place, a despised place. Thus, Matthew 17 has in view to qualify the saints for chapter 18; there is grace to go down. This is not condescension, but humbling. The Lord is the One who descended into the lower parts of the earth.
— The Lord would have us learn to follow Him.
— We remarked yesterday that it is first said that the Lord descends, and then that He ascends, in Ephesians 4, before the gifts are spoken of. If any one has a gift, that gift can only harm him, unless he knows how to go down. So the question at the beginning of chapter 18 of Matthew was far beneath the teaching of chapter 17. “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of the heavens?” Evidently the disciples had failed to learn the great lesson of chapter 17; and I fear that many have undertaken the Lord’s service only with a view to distinguishing themselves. Those who go in for politics, for commerce, for military service, do it to distinguish themselves personally, but the Lord said, “Ye shall not be thus”. Christianity is opposed to all that is in this world. If I have the ambition to make myself eminent in the Lord’s service, I expose myself to Satan. It was he who led the Lord to the edge of the temple. Satan puts before you the hope of attaining the pinnacle of religious renown.
— By the “edge of the temple” (Matthew 4:5) you understand the culminating point of religious renown?
— The Lord calls to Him “a little child”. There was one whom He could call; there was one who was available to the Lord. It does not say ‘having taken’, but “having called”. The principle in Scripture is that the truth is illustrated for us. We [p. 70] can desire nothing better than to be an example ourselves, as the Lord said, “Altogether that which I also say to you”, John 8:25. Then if the Lord has someone who has the spirit of a little child, he can illustrate this principle. It says that “Jesus having called a little child to him, set it in their midst, and said, Verily I say to you, Unless ye are converted and become as little children, ye will not at all enter into the kingdom of the heavens”. We have not only the teaching, but we have the thing itself.
— And it is illustrated by “a little child”.
— So, in this passage, the Lord brings out the value of such a little child. If we do not know the value of the saints, we shall not serve them rightly.
— The value of the saints, in the Lord’s eyes, is that they are animated by the spirit of the little child.
— We all know how much we appreciate the value of such a spirit, the spirit of a little child. There are two aspects, two features of ministry, which are illustrated in the example of Paul in chapter 20 of the Acts; the first is a discourse, and the second is a conversation (Acts 20:7,11). Our present reading should take on the character of a conversation. In a conversation, several talk together. This passage in chapter 20 of the Acts is prophetic. The great revival of the truth in the last century has been characterised by discourses and conversations. Thus a meeting such as we have this afternoon brings out the character of the temple which includes all the saints. The apostle said to the Corinthians, “Do ye not know that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16. Thus the truth comes out when we converse together as brethren dwelling in unity. In our chapter, the Lord speaks, but Peter puts a question which brings out much light: “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him?”
— [p. 71] The preparation of the bride depends much on her conversation, does it not?
— It says that she has made herself ready.
— These conversations result in confidence among the brethren; and so we have increased capacity to receive spiritual things. The clerical system is opposed to that and does not prepare for heaven. Conversations among the brethren prepare us for heaven. Communications among the brethren will help us into the enjoyment of divine things.
— And they will not cease: we shall enjoy this liberty eternally.
— So the Songs of Degrees culminate in Psalm 133 where it is said that it is good and pleasant for brethren to dwell together in unity. The great revival in the time of Nehemiah was characterised by the feast of tabernacles; these tabernacles typified conversations between brethren; they were everywhere: on the roofs, in the courts, in the courts of the house of God, in the open spaces. It was a joyous scene of conversations among brethren; and the exercises of the Songs of Degrees found their culminating point in that the brethren were united together at Jerusalem. I have no doubt that the feast of tabernacles is the counterpart of heaven. As the result of the coming of the Holy Spirit from heaven, heavenly thoughts have been introduced down here. It is very remarkable that the Lord appeared in the midst, of five hundred brethren together. It was a large meeting; and I believe that by this appearing the Lord wished to honour the brethren. How He appreciated the relationship of brethren!
— The subject before us is the kingdom and the value of “a little child”. The world takes little account of them, but they have such a value that “their angels in the heavens continually behold the face of my Father who is in the heavens”. Consequently a great responsibility rests on “whosoever shall offend one of these little ones who believe in me”. Offences will come, but “Woe to the world because of offences!” The world has found an inlet among the saints and has turned them aside. The Lord draws near to each one of us, calling our attention to the hand, what I do, my work: “If thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee”. If I am engaged in whatever it may be that is contrary to the Lord, I must cut off my hand; for example, commerce has ruined many persons. Then there is the eye — what one sees, what one desires. The eye can see much at once. The apostle John says to the young men, “Love not the world, nor the things in the world” 1 John 2:15. The eye can travel far and desire many things, and they are hurtful to our souls. In the kingdom, we learn to show ourselves very severe towards our natural tendencies.
— And with regard to “thy foot”?
— The feet would indicate my movements, where go.
— It is my walk?
— We ought to walk in the paths of righteousness.
— Compare Proverbs 4:20 - 27. In verse 26 it says, “Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be well-ordered”.
— That is a very good quotation. As we said yesterday evening, the book of Proverbs is for those who are in the kingdom of the Son of the Father’s love. It culminates in the woman of worth at the end of the book. It leads us to our part in the assembly. We are trustworthy: “The heart of her husband confideth in her” Proverbs 31:11.
— The Lord said to His disciples, “Have salt in yourselves” Mark 9:50. Then there will be genuine peace. One has to be severe with oneself.
— Like the sharp knives of Joshua.
— For circumcision.
— [p. 73] In the light of all that has been said, if my brother sins, what am I going to do? He is one of the little ones, but he is my brother. He has sinned against me. It is evident the disciples did not put many questions, and the Lord raises one: “If thy brother sin against thee, go, reprove him between thee and him alone”.
— We do not sufficiently appreciate the spirit of the little child, and what the brethren are, the affections that are proper to the brethren.
— We are not possessed by the affections proper to brethren.
— Otherwise we should go to gain our brother.
— The Lord does not say, ‘If a brother’, but “If thy brother”. ‘A brother’ is general; but “thy brother” is more particular.
— One of the first questions God put to man was: “Where is thy brother?”
— The want of the brotherly spirit is condemned more than anything else in Scripture. Frequently we find that God expresses His abhorrence of Esau, and the last book of the Old Testament says, “I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau” Malachi 1:2 - 3. We see how much God abhors the absence of the brotherly spirit among His own. I have realised of late in a special way how little we are in brotherly affections. If we are conscious of affections which are proper to brethren, we shall not be able to do without them, and although it may be my brother who has sinned, I must gain him. So the Lord says, “Go, reprove him, between thee and him alone”. Much courage is needed to go to find a brother alone.
— But love gives courage. It is because brotherly love is lacking that one does not go to find his brother.
— Then, Peter takes up the thought again, asking, “How often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? until seven times?” Seven times was not enough.
— Peter thought “seven times” was a great many, but the Lord goes to “seventy times seven”.
— That means that there are no limits. It is not necessary to count the number of times we forgive. Then we are, so to speak, pervaded with the heavenly atmosphere.
— The Lord says elsewhere that if thy brother sin seven times in the day, he must be forgiven. “If he should repent, forgive him” Luke 17:3.
— But in this chapter it is not a question of repentance.
— There is no limit.
— The principle is that there is forgiveness with you.
— What the Lord says arises out of this question. He speaks of a man who was forgiven, and this bondman found another who owed him a hundred denarii and said to him, “Pay”. The divine thought is that the believer ought to reflect what is before God.
— These two men were both in the kingdom. They were not outside.
— What the Lord brings out here is that the principle of forgiveness ought always to be found with the Christian. But then, in order that this principle may be effective, there must be repentance in the one who has sinned. I believe that love comes in there to help us to act wisely, so that repentance is produced. Therefore the first thing is to go and see our brother alone. If you do not gain him when you go to him alone, you must take with you two or three persons, that every matter may stand upon the word of two witnesses or of three. We are in the kingdom of the heavens, and all is to stand on the principle of testimony. It says, “If he will not listen to them, tell it to the assembly”. The assembly is therefore introduced here to help me to save my brother. The great thing is to lead my brother to listen to me.
— [p. 75] I was comparing with this what is said to the Ephesians, in connection with brethren in the assembly (Ephesians 4). What is presented in Matthew in connection with the kingdom, is found in Ephesians in connection with the assembly.
— The assembly is introduced down here as external means. It is a question of going to find my brother and of gaining him. That is not natural; in the human order the offended one does not go to find the offender; he waits for the offender to come and apologise, but a brotherly heart goes to find his brother.
— We see indeed the contrast between man’s world and God’s world. I have a brother to help. I can take two brothers with me; and I can appeal to the assembly. Then, if that brother is hardened and will not listen to the assembly, “let him be to thee as one of the nations and a tax-gatherer”.
— For me?
— It is a question of the resources that I possess in the kingdom, towards a brother who has sinned. Then the Lord shows that the assembly has divine prerogatives. “Verily I say to you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on the earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on the earth shall be loosed in heaven”. Things are therefore adjusted; as we were speaking of it yesterday, the end is reached. Matters of discipline must not be allowed to continue indefinitely. The wise woman in 2 Samuel 20 said, “They were wont to speak in old time saying, Just inquire in Abel; and so they ended” 2 Samuel 20:18. We have here first principles, and when they are observed by the assembly the decision ought to be final. The Lord says, “Whatsoever ye shall bind on the earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on the earth shall be loosed in heaven”. The thing is adjusted until the moment when everything can be loosed. Therefore the saints should walk according [p. 76] to these principles. We have the adjustment of the thing in the decision of the assembly. Then what follows immediately is that everything is loosed when the time is ripe. The Corinthians did not move quickly, when it was a question of loosing; and the apostle said, You ought rather to forgive him. Thus, assembly prerogatives are transferred to a day of small things. The Lord continues, “Again I say to you”. He brings in supplementary instructions applicable to our days: two agree and obtain help from their Father in the heavens; in the second place, two or three are gathered together unto the Lord’s name. In these supplementary instructions we have resources which enable us to reach the end. The Lord never fails. The most complicated difficulties find their solution in the supplementary instructions which the Lord gives. Prayer brings down the help of the Father who is in the heavens, and the fact that two or three are gathered together to the Lord’s name secures to us His presence, and His presence assures finality. Things are adjusted, as the wise woman said, “And so they ended” 2 Samuel 20:18. We can judge these things and reach the end of them. It would be sad to have a long list of things to adjust. The woman went in her wisdom to all the people. The woman threw the head of Sheba to Joab. “And so they ended” 2 Samuel 20:18.
Reading with J.T. at Loriol, 6th May, 1926, afternoon.