DEFINITE SPEAKING
[p. 237] DEFINITE SPEAKING
Luke 4:22; Acts 14:1; Luke 24:33 - 36
It is because these scriptures refer to speaking that I have read them, wishing to remark on the importance of speaking, not only as to what is conveyed, what is said, but also the manner of the speaking. I am thinking of the quality that the Lord would develop in these days, the quality of the ministry and of the testimony in general.
I have in mind in making these remarks the Lord’s words in Matthew 12, in commenting on His own personal service and testimony; He refers to Jonah and to Solomon as typical vessels of Old Testament times, times in which, as it may be remarked, nothing was perfect. It is said that the law makes nothing perfect, whereas Christianity involves what is perfect; and whilst God in Old Testament times bore with what was not perfect, He is less disposed to do this now for the reason that He has brought in what is perfect, “That which is perfect is come” 1 Corinthians 13:10 And so He said, “Ninevites shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and behold, more than Jonas [is] here” Matthew 12:41; what He referred to was there. The Ninevites had a remarkable testimony presented to them, but the message was not enhanced by the vessel — a matter worthy of note, for the divine intent is that the ministry should be enhanced by the minister and not detracted from.
And so on Jonah much care had been expended. One is often impressed with the care and attention paid to the vessel so that the message should not be in any way impaired by it. But in the case of Jonah, his spirit and viewpoint were on a much lower plane than that of Jehovah; he complained against God [p. 238] and said he did it justly; he knew that God would be gracious and merciful, but he was not equal to his knowledge. The book of Jonah is a remarkable part of the Old Testament as covering a specific testimony and a specific place; both the testimony and the place and the vessel are carefully specified. The Lord alludes to all this in saying, “Ninevites shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and behold, more than Jonas [is] here” Matthew 12:41 That is what I want to call attention to — the quality of the new thing, what was there in Christ.
And so the Lord goes on, referring to the queen of Sheba. “She came” He says, “from the ends of the earth” Matthew 12:42 The Ninevites did not have to move. Jonah went to them; it was grace. Remarkable testimony! But the queen of Sheba moves; she came, the Lord said, from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. She had not seen him, she had heard; the tidings of his fame had reached her, and she moves. She came to hear his wisdom, and the Lord says, “And behold, more than Solomon” — having the quality in view — “[is] here” Matthew 12:42 Now those remarks of the Lord indicate the quality of the thing that was presented to the Jews, for Matthew has the Jew in view — his responsibility. So the Lord sets before us the quality of that which was presented, what it was that was presented; and having brought that in, He has brought in a standard, a perfect standard, and I believe that His mind is to maintain that standard. If there be deterioration, as there has been to a lamentable degree, God would bring us back to the perfect standard. In Matthew we find a greater than Jonas, a greater than Solomon is here. Luke, without saying that, presents the Lord’s service, so that we might say it. He presents it in such an unmistakable form that we recognise its superior quality. A great infidel once said that Luke [p. 239] was the most beautiful book ever written. If he said nothing else that was true, that was true; it is indeed most beautiful; it is “the work of an engraver” Exodus 28:11 The picture in chapter 4 is so presented, and in such a setting, that any eye that is at all keen for what is beautiful morally, sees it there.
The picture is in Nazareth, as you will remember. The Lord was accustomed to go into synagogues, according to Luke. We have much more about the Lord’s ministry in synagogues in Luke than in any of the other gospels; no doubt so as to allay in His approach with the testimony any religious or other prejudices in the Jews. So on this occasion in His own town, He entered into the synagogue, as was His custom, and the roll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him, and He read it, and then sat down and the eyes of all there were fastened on Him. His attractiveness as ministering is presented. Such pictures, as I said, in Luke are frequent, but this is unique. He sat down, and the eyes of all were fastened on Him. It is to bring out the commanding attractiveness of what was there; not to pay tribute to the people, or call attention to their state, but to the commanding attractiveness of Christ in service. And then He began to speak, saying, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your ears” Luke 4:21 There was a present fulfilment of the wonderful scripture He had read. Then it says that they “wondered at the words of grace which were coming out of his mouth” It is the flow of grace in the words; the grace of the words.
Peter later (John 6:68), denoting what was in Him spiritually, refers to the “words of life eternal” He refers not only to what was coming out of the Lord’s mouth, but what He had. He is speaking in a spiritual way; it was not a question of outward adornment in Peter’s mind (a spiritual person appreciates this, of course), but he goes deeper. Hence John [p. 240] occupies us more with what is in Christ. Like David as he took Zion, he builds ‘inward’. It is the inwardness of the thing that John presents to us, so that Peter says to the Lord, “To whom shall we go? thou hast words of life eternal” John 6:68 Not only what He was saying, but what He could say. We must think of what Christ can say, not only what He has said. “Thou hast words of life eternal” John 6:68 We know where they are; Peter tells us where they are. You may have to ask the Lord about them. The Lord loves to be inquired of; Peter says, “Lord, to whom shall we go?” John 6:68 John says that Christ was full of grace and truth. The source of the thing is there and nowhere else. “We have contemplated his glory” he said, “a glory as of an only begotten with a father, full of grace and truth”; and, “Of his fulness we all have received” John 1:14,16 With John it is not so much the outward effect, but what was there substantially in the Lord’s Person, and there to be received. “Of his fulness we all have received, and grace upon grace” John 1:16 But, as I said, Luke presents the picture, and it is of all moment in the testimony to be right externally. Do not put anything in the way of people in what you present to them to arouse prejudice. Of course, the truth has to come out, and it does come out in this passage, occasioning, alas! murderous opposition; but before that you have the perfect picture of the gracious features of Christ as ministering. Although it did not permanently affect those who witnessed it, they wondered at it; they wondered at the gracious words that were coming out of His mouth.
I want now to show in Acts how the testimony is carried forward. In the passage I read (chapter 14) Paul is said to be the chief speaker. His speaking is emphasised. In chapter 3 we have quality alluded to, but it is more the kind of persons exhibited in Peter and John. They went up together to the [p. 241] temple at the hour of prayer. The Beautiful gate of the temple is brought into view, but this was superseded by Peter and John. Peter said, “Look on us” it is a question of what God was now presenting — the quality of the persons. Peter with John said, “Look on us” as if God would call attention at that juncture to what was there, in connection with which He was now working.
They went up to the temple at the hour of prayer, which was the ninth hour, the hour of prayer being the incense hour — God’s hour! You will all remember how Zacharias was offering incense in the temple at that hour, and the people were praying without, when Gabriel came in; but the quality of the service was poor, for although the priest was serving, “in the order of his course” Luke 1:8 and the people themselves were praying, yet Gabriel did not find things as they should be; they were not right. May I not comment on our prayer-meetings? One loves to think of the hour of prayer; it is like the evening oblation, it is that in which God has something marked by the fragrance of Christ. These two were going up together at that hour, and they say, “Look on us” Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I have not; but what I have, this give I to thee: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazaraean rise up and walk” Acts 3:6 These are his words; but we have not only words but action, for Peter took him by the right hand and lifted him up. It is the quality that you see, the thing was there that men could look at, representing what God presented in connection with His work, representative of Christ.
Now in chapter 14 it is a question of speaking pre-eminently, although it is said they entered together. Of these two servants much could be said; they went both together into the synagogue; that was not accidental; it is a word by the Spirit; they entered together. Is there nothing in that? It is [p. 242] the manner of the ministry, that they were both together; not a bit of rivalry, not an atom of it they were co-workers. One of them says, “Whom I serve in my spirit in the glad tidings of his Son” Romans 1:9 It was not only what he said, but how he said it; his spirit was in his service. It is an immense thing to be able to express divine affections in ministry. Here are two thus marked. The Lord had sent the disciples out by twos. In this dual representation the Spirit had more scope to express Christ. Two are always better than one. There was reciprocal affection and interest in these two men: “they entered together into the synagogue of the Jews” Is it a mere physical reference? Not at all, it is a spiritual reference, and so we read, “and so spake that a great multitude of both Jews and Greeks believed” One would love to have heard them!
And so, as I said, the chapter calls attention to Paul’s speaking. Here, too, in this same chapter we get another lame man — a remarkable instance of the work of God at Lystra; he heard Paul speaking. It is not now, “Look on us” but the speaking; he heard Paul speak. And Paul saw him and saw that he had faith, and we read he heard Paul speak. Need I say that he paid attention; he had never heard speaking like that. The populace proposed to make a god of Paul, and called him Mercury, because he took the lead in speaking. One can form some little conception of the character of Paul’s speaking. There must have been some representation of his Master, of that exhibition at Nazareth, in the manner and expression and words and grace of the apostle. Evidently he took the lead in speaking. They wanted to offer sacrifice to him because he did so; and the reason why he did so was because he was qualified, because of his spiritual intelligence divinely given, which exceeded that of Barnabas, and Barnabas recognised it. At this juncture there was not the [p. 243] slightest evidence of any rivalry between these two great servants. But the speaking did its own work, the speaking, according to the record, had its own blessed effect. A great number, both of Jews and Greeks, believed.
To the lame man Paul cried with a loud voice, “rise up straight upon thy feet” Acts 14:10 We do well to take note of that, for one of the most important things in our time is the ability to rise up and stand upon one’s own feet. One is of no value practically in the assembly until one has learnt balance, being able to stand, to stand upon one’s own feet. I did not mean to refer to that, but these are realities that are to teach us how to be material for the assembly of God.
Now I go on to the end of Luke because the passage there has in view what I have been speaking of; it is a question of what they were saying. You will all remember how it is said of the remnant in Malachi that they spoke often one to another. We are not told what they said, but it does say that they did it often, and that they spoke to one another; and the Lord hearkened and heard. The Lord was interested, because that is the idea of hearkening. Much conversation goes on amongst the people of God that does not move heaven in the least degree, heaven is not interested in it. In this case the Lord was interested, and He said, as it were, That is worth taking note of, for that is really what is meant by “a book of remembrance” Malachi 3:16 What they were speaking of was in keeping with the mind of God, and so He took note of it.
So Luke develops this thought of speaking. In the last chapter he takes up the thought of the public assembly. He tells us that two of the saints were going to Emmaus and the Lord drew near and went with them; and two words are used; it is said they conversed together, and the Lord refers to their discourse, that is to say, we may be able to discourse [p. 244] about things, and converse about them, and yet have our backs on the assembly — a very solemn thing! “What discourses are these which pass between you” the Lord said, “as ye walk, and are downcast?” Luke 24:17 One of them, I suppose, would make a speech covering what had happened concerning the Lord that he was cognisant of, and the other would follow on and make another speech. The Lord heard all that, but there was very little power in it. It was not such a discourse as you get from Paul, because he says, “I have believed, therefore have I spoken” 2 Corinthians 4:13 They were not believing. The Lord said, “O senseless and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!” Luke 24:25 The prophets believed what they spake. Speaking without faith is valueless. And so the Lord said, “O senseless and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken... and having begun from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” Luke 24:27 What speaking that was! A discourse indeed, causing their hearts to burn!
Well, that is how Luke presents the thing; he is leading up to the public body, the public assembly, and what they were saying in it. The Lord, as we know, went as far as the two were going, and turned in with them, and they recognised Him in the breaking of bread. They said, “Was not our heart burning in us as he spoke to us on the way?” Luke 24:32 They set out that night for Jerusalem, and arriving there found the eleven; for that is what I want to come to — they found the eleven. Some of you young people may not have found the eleven. You think that you have to be found, and that all the finding belongs to others, but it belongs to you, and until you begin to find things you will never have them. “Seek, and ye shall find” Luke 11:9 the Lord said. So these two found the eleven and those who were with them. The eleven represent authority, the authority of the Lord Jesus.
[p. 245] That is one thing of great importance for young people seeking assembly relations; be sure to find that which Christ has accredited, not simply that you have found those who have the truth, but those who are accredited by Christ. These eleven apostles represented Christ. They were together and there were others with them. There was thus a company answering to the mind of God — the assembly. I should not care to be with that which God has not accredited. We are to seek God out in what He is taking account of, and in all that is being done by Him in every locality. You want to find what God accredits, and it is to be found; as I said before, you have to seek it, and when you seek it you will find it, and when you find it, you ought to identify yourself with it.
These two found the eleven and those who were gathered together, saying, “The Lord is indeed risen and has appeared to Simon” And then they told how He was recognised, or made known to them in the breaking of bread.
Now I want to dwell on this particularly in closing, because it is most important. One thinks of this brother and that brother, what they say severally, and we know what they say and how they say it. Now what were those gathered, as seen here, saying? They were saying something very definite: “The Lord is indeed risen and has appeared to Simon” You know there is much that is indefinite said and the effect is indefinite. I am referring now to our readings. If things are said indefinitely, the impression is indefinite and it vanishes, there is nothing built in, nothing abiding. The public assembly is a place in which things are said definitely and certainly. It is not a debating society. If I have something from the Lord, I do not need to apologise for saying it; it is what should be said, and it should be listened to. And so they were saying, “The Lord is indeed risen and has appeared to Simon” They were speaking definitely and they were occupied with grace. I believe in these things we have the leading features of our dispensation — the great fact of the resurrection, and the great fact of grace. The risen One appears to the erring one. Is that not grace?
What an immensity is told in what they were saying, reaching down even to us. Who of us does not regard as full of grace that simple remark, “and has appeared to Simon”? Not to Peter, for Luke is too accurate for that, it is to Simon. Who of us is not a Simon — an erring one? They were not commenting on Simon’s cowardice. How much could have been said about that! But they were not saying it, they were saying that the Lord had appeared to him — a very different matter; they were speaking about grace. The public assembly should be marked by that, by speaking about grace, for this is the dispensation of it. Luke presents grace, and they were speaking about it; it is worth speaking about.
Then the last thing is the breaking of bread. There has been a great deal said in recent years, thank God, about the breaking of bread. If the Lord cause His people to speak much about anything, you may depend upon it He has something in it. In Luther’s time they spoke about justification by faith and corresponding features of the truth. Later on other things were spoken of, and later still other truths, amongst these the breaking of bread. I believe we shall go on speaking about that right to the end; certainly we shall if we take the apostle Paul’s example in Acts 20; he spoke till the break of day. He discoursed before the breaking of bread, and he conversed with the brethren after the breaking of bread until the morning, being ready to depart on the morrow. How much are we gaining from this speaking? Here they said the Lord was recognised or made known unto them in the breaking of bread.
[p. 247] That is what they said; and as they were saying these things Jesus Himself stood in the midst. Is there not much in that, beloved brethren? As they were saying these things the Lord stood in the midst, as if He would say, I am delighted with that kind of speaking. The Lord loves to hear His people converse together about these matters, about the breaking of bread. Ah, He does. “As they were saying these things, he himself stood in their midst, and says to them, Peace [be] unto you” as if He would confirm them in what they were saying, and indicate to them His pleasure in the subject of their conversation.
I need not proceed, but much might be said as to our conversation, what we say, for there are many idle words, and there is much spoken and written that profits but little. If I think of a brother who ministers, I like to think of him as speaking for Christ. In the chapter I cited in Matthew 12 the Lord makes a point of words. He says, “Every idle word which men shall say, they shall render an account of it in judgment-day: for by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned” Matthew 12:36,37 Hence the importance of keeping our mouths, so that profitable things only may proceed out of them. I believe the cloven tongues of fire mean that corrupt things should be nullified; that the tongue should not have the poison of asps under it, that it should not be an unruly member, but that it should be a member under the control of the Spirit of God. A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. Hence the importance of controlling our tongues and keeping our mouths, and particularly that when we go to the house of God there should be no indefinite speaking, but that there should be definiteness with us — five words with the understanding rather than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue. It is the five words with the [p. 248] understanding, something contributed to the house of God, that is needed. In going to the house of God our words are to be few; we are not to be silent, but let what is said be to the point; it should contain something for God. “I have believed, therefore have I spoken” 2 Corinthians 4:13 That is what is in view in Luke and in 1 Corinthians. The public body should be representative of God very largely by what is said in it and how it is said.
Pages 249 - 318 — “Spiritual Development”, Great Britain, 1928 (Volume 92.)