"TO HIS BONDMEN THE AUTHORITY"
E.C.Burr
There is no doubt that this scripture bears on the present time. Jesus speaks of the similitude of a man gone out of the country having left his house, and that is paralleled by the way in which Jesus has, as He says in John's gospel, left the world and gone to the Fat her. Not that the world is His house; He has a house here but He has, in that sense, gone out of the country. In other scriptures similar to this it speaks of one going to receive a kingdom and to return, and in this scripture the Lord Jesus speaks also of the master of the house coming. He says it might be at any time and He counsels those who are hearing Him to watch. That, of course, bears on us very directly and often have we been spoken to about it. But in leaving the country, and seeking to make provision for the time in which He would be away, these three things are remarked on as being in His intention sufficient to care for what belonged to His own house while He was away; that is, He gave "to his bondmen the authority, and to each one his work, and commanded the doorkeeper that he should watch".
Now the responsibility of the doorkeeper would, of course, be significant and substantial. The doorkeeper would know what to exclude and what to let in, and we are very thankful that the exercise of door keeping that we have mainly been concerned with over recent times is with what to let in, what to see has again its own place in relation to the things that belong to the Master of the house. And I am sure all the brethren desire that the activity of the doorkeeper should be mainly in that direction; that is, what can be admitted to what seeks to maintain the responsibility of Christ's house in the time while He is away. The Lord has manifestly helped us in regard to door keeping responsibilities over recent years and He has helped us peculiarly in seeing how quickly brethren may be restored to their place in what belongs to the profession of Christ's name. It is very easy to be held by, in a sense, what is traditional and to think that there must be a long interval before persons resume their place, but I think the Lord has helped us distinctively in seeing that that does not have to be so, and we pray that He may give us more opportunities, the door being open, of seeing those come through the door in order to take their place again. The Lord does allow instances to arise which are sufficient to counsel us that the responsibility of door keeping is not one to be taken lightly, and there are experiences currently among the saints in this country where it has been seen that individuals were, as it were, let past the doorkeeper in the other way again. The Lord allows these things in order that we might be the more responsible in what He has committed to us during the time while He has gone away. Mainly the Lord encourages us, but He gives us sufficient cases of exercise, not just locally but elsewhere within our knowledge, so that we may see that we are not to be superficial in any of these responsibilities. So He "commanded the doorkeeper that he should watch".
Then it says (going backwards) that He gave "to each one his work". Now that is something again that we are to take up responsibly. It may refer directly to the bondmen to whom He gave the authority, but "and to each one his work". I think that the Lord would tell us that He has given each one his work. It may be that sometimes one may feel that he has to, as it were, stretch himself into work that is not normally his own; sometimes the interpretations of the injunction to Timothy to "do the work of an evangelist" (2 Tim 4: 5) would appear to have that in mind. Not that that is necessarily the right interpretation, because I think Paul was saying to Timothy that he is, as it were, to do the work of the evangelist properly and carry it as far as getting people into the assembly - see it through as a good workman would do. As Paul exhorts Timothy elsewhere, to be "a workman that has not to be ashamed", 2 Tim 2: 15. But sometimes we may feel that, while the Lord has given us work, yet we have to apply ourselves to work that we would not normally expect to be doing, save that the whole range of work is to be considered within our own responsibility. The Lord would therefore encourage us to identify what it is that He has given us each one to do. It is easy to drift along and to think that things will go along as if the care of the Master's house could look after itself and one could pick up a job if one liked an d that kind of thing. But the Lord's injunction is specific here; in view of His absence each one is given work. It says, indeed, in a very solemn scripture, "Cursed be he that doeth the work of Jehovah negligently", Jer 48: 10. We would take warning from scriptures like that, that if we are conscious of the Lord having given us specific work to do, then we would, as we might say, get on and do it and do it with our might. If we are not sure what work the Lord has given us to do, then seek Him in relation to it, for He is the Master of the house and He could tell us easily what job we were supposed to be doing. We are all familiar with that kind of thing from earlier times in our lives, even brothers who have been in the army would see people detailed for his, that and the other, and if they are not given anything they would say, What am I to do? That in a sense is the way with us all. But what is clear is that each one has work. In this scripture it appears to apply to men, although the scripture does not actually say so, but the sisters have work, too, and the Lord is very encouraging in relation to work that is taken up as given by Him and that is carried through effectively. He would encourage us positively to be seeking what work He has given us to do and then encourage us to apply ourselves so that it may be done for His satisfaction, for He may come at any time. Again, if one could refer to earlier experiences, and the army is quite illustrative, if the master came and found you sleeping when you should be doing your work, then there would be various consequences to face. And the Lord does not like to find persons sleeping when they should be doing the work that He has given them to do. So we would learn, beloved, to apply ourselves to the work the Lord has given us to do.
But then the first thing He says is that He has "given to his bondmen the authority", and that also remains in the present day. Of course, if we think of a great servant like Paul, he could speak of "the authority which the Lord has given me", 2 Cor 13: 10. He knew that the Master of the house having gone away was coming back, and he knew that he had been given authority. But this authority remains in spite of gifts that were ornament al to the assembly not being so conspicuous in the present day, or in some cases not being available at all, certain gifts that were needed in the pristine days of the church in testimony not being publicly seen at the present time. And distinctiveness among the saints in the way in which we have known it may not be known either, but it does not say that the giving to His bondmen the authority depended on the conditions. The only thing it depended on was that the Master of the house was absent. And while we may be careful as to the way in which we apply the thought of bondmen, I think, beloved, that we work loss for ourselves if we neglect the fact that in going away He gave to His bondmen the authority. One thing that should be clear to us all is that gift is authority. We may not normally, as it were, put it that way, but gift is authority; that is, it is a distinctive manifestation of Christ given to one in relation to service; and since it comes from Christ, if nothing is put in its way, if the vessel does not hinder what the gift is, then gift is authority; and we do well, beloved, to have great regard for gift which the Lord has given in the present day. I am extremely thankful for brothers in whom you can see gift from the Lord. Some have gift in preaching, some have gift in teaching, some have gift in administration, some have gift, you might say, just in ordinary brotherliness that can help you and set you on the right road if you show any signs of wobbling off it. But gift is authority, and the grace that the Lord has given to each, according to Ephesians 4, is authoritative in itself. Therefore we do well to have great regard for gift which the Lord has placed among the saints; and as any serve in the manifestation of gift, to see that we are furthering what the Lord is giving through them, so that His authority is in no way complicated or distorted by impressions brought in that are not wholly in accord with what He is giving on the line of His own gift.
Then on the other hand the bondmen would recognise that they had authority from the Master of the house and as acting in the authority that the Lord had given them they themselves would speak with authority and when they acted it would be with authority. Of course, in relation to any matter outside, it would be representative of the absent Master of the house that they acted. In any matter inside it would be recognised that they were speaking or acting with the authority of the Master of the house. But they themselves would recognise it; and therefore there is a clear responsibility on any who have gift, or any who take a lead among the brethren, or any who help in ministry or in showing the way, there is a clear need for the manifestation currently of authority. I do not speak any further as to the need for recognising it and being submissive to it, but there is a responsibility on those who have gift to minister with authority. There is a responsibility on those who preach to preach with authority. After all, the substance of the gospel is well-known to us all and, as believing in it, "we also believe, therefore also we speak", (2 Cor 4: 13); almost any one who preaches the gospel would be able to preach with authority. But there is a need for preaching with authority, and a need for teaching with authority, and for leading with authority, and for ministry with authority, because He gave "to his bondmen the authority". It is only natural to us, I suppose, that we draw back from implying that what we may say is authoritative. We do tend to draw back from that because of what we are. There is a certain kind of modesty innate in most people that makes them hesitate to say that what they are saying is authoritative. But if it is, there is no need to say that. If a man has something from the Lord he has a responsibility to act from the Lord in the manifestation of what the Lord has given to him. So that the bondmen having the authority of the Master would speak plainly about any matter that arose in the house. They would not turn away from any issue that arose, they would speak plainly about it. I was impressed on Lord's day morning at the Supper, in giving thanks for the emblems a brother referred to the occasions in John's gospel where it speaks of Jesus speaking plainly and of His speaking openly. One of the last things the Lord says publicly in John's gospel is "I spoke openly to the world", chap 18: 20. And the bondman having this authority would speak plainly as Jesus did, as Paul did; not setting any other that level, but bondmen with the Master's authority would speak plainly because they know their responsibility in relation to the authority that they have been given. You might say, Someone might speak with authority and be wrong; and you might say, Have we not been through all that kind of thing earlier in our history? Well, beloved, perhaps we have, but we have also been through times when there was ministry with authority that was of the Lord and was right. Therefore there is no need to assume that anything said with authority will be wrong or have to be put straight afterwards, let alone revoked. When conditions among the saints are as nearly normal as they can be, what the Lord gives is presented with authority and therefore presented with clarity. My mind often goes to the scripture in 1 Corinthians 14: "if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself for war?" (v 8). Therefore there is a need in any service for the authority which the Master of the house has give n to His bondmen to be demonstrated and for those who act to take the responsibility of acting as on behalf of the Master whose authority it is.
I believe that if this is not regarded, just as if the door keeping is not regarded, or the work is not regarded, the house soon begins to bear signs of neglect and you find things there that you did not expect to find. You go in and you say, O, if the Master was here, I would not have seen that. That is because the door keeping is not right and the work is not right and the authority is not expressed; and authority cannot be submitted to unless it is expressed. If these things are neglected you soon find that the whole atmosphere of the place gets that feeling where almost anything will do. It creeps in and is very insidious, and once a bit of ground has been allowed to slip it is very easy to let a lot more slip. But the Lord has left an indication in this scripture of the way in which He Himself has provided for His absence. And I think, beloved, that He would encourage us to have regard to it and not only to submit to what the Lord has arranged, as His parable shows, but ourselves to take on responsibility in relation to it, so that if He comes He may not find anybody sleeping.
LONDON
10 August 1976