"HAVE YE UNDERSTOOD ALL THESE THINGS?"
“HAVE YE UNDERSTOOD ALL THESE THINGS?”
Matthew 11: 25 - 30; Matthew 13: 36 - 52
JT These last two verses are really in mind as to what should be before us: in general it is to link up chapter 11 with chapter 13, specially bearing on the three parables beginning with verse 44 and ending with verse 50. Chapter 11 affords a foundation for what is in mind because it contemplates the Lord’s rejection here and His immediate relation with His Father, the holy links of the Father and the Son, and the Son’s position before the Father as saying to us, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me” — the thought of learning from Him referring to His position as a model for us in these circumstances, all leading up to the assembly. That is briefly what was before one so the time at our disposal as regards chapter 11 is not long. Chapter 13 is the main thought, that is, the three parables: the treasure in the field, the pearl and the net cast into the sea, culminating in the Lord’s enquiry in verse 51, which it is hoped will be an appeal, a challenge to us: “Have ye understood all these things?” There has been much instruction, and it is desired that we will receive this challenge as to how much we have learned and are learning.
ET Have we to begin as babes?
JT I thought that: it is a foundational allusion, the wise and prudent being those who pretend to know religiously, but the Father taking up babes, indicating that He has been working in a fatherly or generative way so as to bring about men such as He has before Him in His thoughts and purposes. It is a question of the Father, how the Father is pleased to operate.
ETS Does that lie at the root of everything [p. 214] we have to understand in the later chapter — the Father’s operations?
JT I would say so: as the Lord said to Nicodemus, “Thou art the teacher of Israel and knowest not these things?” How is it you do not know certain things that relate to the new birth? Men may know much but know nothing about the new birth and the Father’s operations and mind in view of having a man according to His own thought.
Ques What would be the indications that we are learning?
JT I suppose the answer here, “Yea, Lord”, would indicate that if the Lord looked into their countenances He would discern there was intelligence there. What you see in the countenances of the brethren would indicate whether they have learned. So in writing to the Corinthians in regard of the Lord’s supper the apostle says, “I speak as to intelligent persons”. Intelligence should be in our countenances if we are learning.
Ques Would that apply in the case of Stephen? It says his face shone.
JT There was an angelic appearance in it; it might go a little further than what we are speaking of. Of course you would love to think of the brethren as having angelic faces, but I think the idea of intelligence in our countenances should be with us.
WL Would that include what we are in our spirits too?
JT I should think so. The countenance would represent what is in our mind. A man is composed of body, soul and spirit and the spirit seemingly is that in which we are nearest to God, so it should reflect our relations with God and our formation from God.
Ques Was David’s countenance a reflex of what he was as a man after God’s own heart?
JT The ruddiness of his countenance would [p. 215] indicate life, I should think, and life according to God should carry with it intelligence. Hence Abigail, who is, you might say, the counterpart of David femininely, was a woman of a beautiful countenance, and she was a woman of intelligent discernment.
JTS You spoke of the Lord as model in chapter 11, to contemplate, but in chapter 13 they approach Him inquiringly: “Expound to us”. He had said in chapter 11, “Learn from me”.
JT That is what I had in mind. It is a Man in the presence of the Father, because the Jewish side is abandoned as rejecting Him; the Lord is accepting the rejection and in accepting it He is showing what He is in Manhood, not simply as in Judaism. In Manhood He is a Son, so He speaks to His Father in that relation. One might say there is an unseen voice which the Lord answers — “Jesus answering said, I praise thee, Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes. Yea, Father, for thus has it been well-pleasing in thy sight. All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son but the Father, nor does anyone know the Father, but the Son, and he to whom the Son may be pleased to reveal him”. This is instruction, whereas verses 25 and 26 refer to His relation and speech to His Father. Then comes His appeal: “Come to me, all ye who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart”. The Lord Jesus is rejected by the Jews; He turns to His Father in the consciousness of His Sonship and His knowledge of the Father and addresses all who labour and are heavy laden to come to Him. As Man before the Father He is as the Model for us, both as to our inward state and enjoyment and for our instruction. I think the line of [p. 216] instruction is running through these chapters, and it finishes up in the Lord’s inquiry as to whether they understood these things. Hence the point in mind is the challenge as to whether we do understand. There is much teaching and learning, but have we understood these things and followed them up?
ETS It is a wonderful way to learn — “Learn from Me”. We should learn if we are before Him and in His presence more.
JT To learn from Him as a model is a wonderful thing. If there is discouragement, well, He is the Model for us.
AM Is there a difference between the Father revealing and the Son revealing?
JT I would think so. You will notice the Lord says, “All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son but the Father, nor does anyone know the Father, but the Son, and he to whom the Son may be pleased to reveal him”. The Son is not said to be revealed, but the Father is said to be revealed by the Son; no one knows the Son but the Father.
AM I was thinking of the Father revealing to babes and then also the Father revealing to Peter in chapter 16, and whether that was different from the Son revealing.
JT The revelation to Peter was not the revelation of the Son to him; it was the revelation of a Man, the Person as He was who stood before Peter. Hence Peter’s answer, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” — that is, Christ as He was down here in Manhood.
WB A great feature in the present economy is the knowledge of the Father and the Son. What is the bearing of Proverbs 30: 2 - 4. “... I have not a man’s intelligence. I have neither learned wisdom, nor have I the knowledge of the Holy. Who hath ascended up [p. 217] into the heavens, and descended? ... What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou knowest?”
JT The Son as such is not said to be revealed, the Son is inscrutable. The revelation here is of the Father, by the Son.
WGC The Lord’s question in chapter 16 was, “Who do men say that I, the Son of man, am?”
JT The answer of Peter is, not simply, “Thou art the Son”, but “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”. It is to bring out the combination of features in the Lord’s Person here below in testimony. There is the idea of revelation in that chapter, and in Ephesians it is the Lord’s Manhood to which we grow.
AB Would “the Son” imply a divine Person here in Manhood?
JT Yes, If it is taken in that way, as the Son in Manhood, He is the Model for us.
The word “know” in verse 27 implies full knowledge, not a mere objective acquaintance. The Father and Son know each other in perfection according to what they are for each other. As to the Son Himself, He is inscrutable.
Rem It means to us that the Father only knows Him.
JT That is the idea: “No one knows the Son but the Father, nor does any one know the Father, but the Son, and he to whom the Son may be pleased to reveal Him”. The Father is the object of revelation here. It is in order to get that basis that we have touched on the eleventh chapter. There is a Model set before us in Man, nevertheless a divine Person. The line of instruction runs through, and in chapter 13 the Lord is pleased to take up the kingdom, and speak of the mysteries of it.
After having unfolded certain parables He went into the house and they inquired about the parable of the tares, which He unfolded to them. He then [p. 218] likened the kingdom of the heavens to the treasure hid in the field, then the pearl, and then the net of fishes. These are mysteries which apply particularly to our own times and refer to the assembly.
Ques Do mysteries refer to the way the kingdom is understood now, before it is set up in manifestation?
JT That is the idea. Christianity is a mystery, it is not what anyone can understand; it can only be understood by those who are born again, as were the disciples. The Lord calls attention to this in speaking to them (verses 10 to 18). “Hear ye, therefore, the parable of the sower”. It is that they were able to understand, indicating that they were the work of God. “Blessed are your eyes”. The appeal is to us, having eyes to make the most of what is available to us: hence we can answer in the affirmative the Lord’s question in verse 51. It is a challenge, and I thought the Lord may use this suggestion to lead to a better understanding of the truth, because the answer brings out a further thought. “For this reason every scribe discipled to the kingdom of the heavens is like a man that is a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old”. He singles out a scribe and a householder. He is aiming at setting up among themselves the idea of a model, one to be observed and followed, as the Lord Himself is.
JH Is this the thought of manhood going forward?
JT I would think so; that is what is in mind — the reproduction of Himself in measure, and if we have such men then we have some guide and leadership. What is always needed is leadership in the things of God; a scribe is supposed to be an accurate man; he is, moreover, a householder and can display things.
JHT So the babes in Thessalonica, the assembly “in God the Father” had an advantage in having Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus: “Ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake”.
JT “What manner of men”, that is good. You have the same at Corinth: “The Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus” — you have men whom you can follow. It is a most important thing for us at the present time because the tendency is to introduce novelties in what is said.
ETS Would they have all these three parables very much before them?
JT I think so. Ask one of these men about the treasure hid in a field, what would he say about that! The two parables are very much alike, but they are not the same. One is a treasure hid in a field, and the other is a pearl, so that a man discipled into the kingdom of the heaven would be able to find something that would illuminate you.
WL Has he found the hidden treasure?
JT I think so. The treasure, however, is just mentioned as such. We do not know whether it is gold, silver, or precious stones; it is just treasure and it is in a field, which may be designated “that field”, or it may be the whole world. It looks however, as if it is a particular field that the treasure is in.
WL You have the assembly in mind in speaking of the treasure?
JT Quite so. There are two things mentioned, the historical purchase and then the present purchase or acquirement. “Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls; and having found one pearl of great value, he went and sold all whatever he had and bought it”. It is a historical transaction that is alluded to. I do not know if that has any meaning to you?
WL I was going back to your suggestion. What [p. 220] would this man say? He might say, I have found the treasure, I know something about the assembly.
JT I believe that it is a man that preaches that is in mind, a man who goes out into the field and secures material for the assembly. He knows what the treasure is in the Lord’s mind, and I believe it is to be opened up because it is a present thing. Verse 44 is in the present tense: “the kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure hid in the field, which a man having found has hid, and for the joy of it goes and sells whatever he has, and buys that field”. “Whatever he has”, not whatever he had, “and buys that field”. It seems to be a particular field, not the whole world, I would say, but where you could get material such as is suitable for the Lord’s present operations.
Ques Would the word to Sardis fit in — “thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments”? I was thinking of Sardis as that from whence the Lord is bringing out material.
JT That is good, and I think it would also cover any preacher that might attempt to be a missionary, who is thinking of going to China for instance. He would learn that “that field” is not China. Someone who came from the east told me lately that there is only one meeting in the whole of Asia. “The field” is evidently not there.
Rem The Holy Spirit forbad the apostle to go in a certain field, and the Spirit of Jesus suffered him not to go to another; apparently it was the Philippian field that was in mind.
JT If there are only a few brothers in fellowship in the whole of Asia we may be sure that is not the field where the treasure is.
Ques Should our eyes be on the “field that is being reaped”?
JT That is a suggestion; Ruth was not to go outside of it. It is a question of what is in mind in “the field”. A scribe instructed in the kingdom of the heavens would know, and it is important we should know where the treasure is. If therefore the whole of Asia has only one meeting and has had very little to show for the whole of the dispensation except at the beginning, we may conclude that we have to look somewhere else for the field where the treasure is.
ETS Would you think the brethren who went out one hundred years ago had this before them?
JT Some went from Dublin to Baghdad in the beginning of the present revival, but they, did not get anything. In India there have been a few meetings, but largely from European sources; current missionary ideas therefore are not according to what the Lord has in mind here.
WL Looking for the treasure is a more spiritual matter than the fishing.
JT Quite so, but when the Lord says to Peter, Go to the sea and cast a hook, and you will find a stater in the first fish that comes up, the Lord’s sovereignty is in the matter; He knows where the treasure is and how to get it.
Note the tense in the 44th verse: “The kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure hid in the field, which a man having found has hid, and for the joy of it goes and sells all whatever he has, and buys that field”. He throws in all that He has now. Hence I would say the Lord is spending all these centuries in this sense, working out the great matter of the assembly where the material is.
JTS The woman of worth considers a field and buys it.
JT Very well; she herself would be a great find. There was not such a one until the Lord came, and had the assembly in mind.
Rem Some areas on the Continent are not favoured as regards gospel [p. 222] testimony.
JT Take Germany for instance; there was a great field three hundred years ago, it is not yielding much now. So we have to consider what comes about now — what sort of a yield and where the treasure is. What has become of Turkey and the whole of the Mohammedan world? You may make up your mind that if you go there to evangelise, you will not obtain much. The governmental element is current at the present time and we have to find where the field is.
JHT Is Paul in the field in Corinth, where the Lord says, “I have much people in this city”, and then at Ephesus where was “the assembly of God which he has purchased with the blood of his own”?
JT That is good: hence He had His workmen at Corinth, and He said, “Fear not ... no one shall set upon thee to injure thee”. I was also thinking of His spending all that He has — what, for instance, was expended after the Corinthians were converted, to perfect them; the whole matter rests on Him.
Ques Would you link what has been said with the word in Corinthians: “I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray also with the understanding”?
JT Quite so, hence if you have exercises about going to a field for the Lord, go to Australia and other places around where are fields that are yielding. If you take any Roman Catholic field you will find very little. In a field controlled by Modernism such as Germany, or any of such countries on the Continent, you will not get much. You have to deal with facts: the Lord knows the good treasure hid in the field, and for the joy of it He sells all whatever He has and buys “that field”. It is remarkable that the joy is not occasioned by the pearl, it is in the treasure and no one knows where the treasure is but the Lord, because He has hidden it. Therefore I would say it is of the Lord if it is now in the Colonies and the field is [p. 223] extending far in the world. The Lord has had joy in it all these centuries, and has His own time for bringing out these things.
Rem It says of Cornelius that his prayers and his alms had gone up as a memorial before God.
JT The memorial had already been set up in heaven before he received the Spirit. There was a great amount of expenditure on him. Three men were sent to Joppa to fetch Peter, and Peter himself was directed by the Spirit to go to Cornelius. The Lord knew what Cornelius was and he was already building up something in heaven before he received the Spirit. Then when he had the Spirit he would be much greater, much more fruitful.
Ques Would this material be the result of the Father’s working?
JT I would think so; what the Lord says of the Father would indicate that.
ETS Some of us would not be able to get to Australia, would you encourage us to look nearer home?
JT You do not have to go to a place to be assured of what is there; I would take things on testimony, that is what they did at the beginning. Paul had it in mind to go to Spain, but you never read of his going there. So we can learn things on testimony and in that way find out where the treasure is likely to be at the present time.
Ques Have we before us now two great facts: firstly, what is to be put into it on our side (he sells whatever he has), and secondly to find out where the field is?
JT I think the Lord would indicate where the field is. The government of God would help; it is used for that very purpose. For instance, Aquila and Priscilla were in Rome, and they had to leave it because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave [p. 224] Rome. The apostle found them at Corinth and they were great helpers in the work there.
JHT “The report concerning them reached the ears of the assembly which was in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to ... Antioch: who, having arrived and seeing the grace of God, rejoiced”. Was Antioch a fruitful field?
JT That is another feature, they had ears: it is a point as to testimony. There is such an idea as church ears, and the assembly at Jerusalem had such. They learned from information available of what had happened at Antioch, and they sent out Barnabas. I think that is the way things work out. If anyone wants to go out on a field in service you can depend on the testimony of the brethren as to it. The Lord has His servants here, and He has already been at a considerable cost with regard to them and has made Himself responsible for still more “whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee”. He would say to us at times, ‘It is your duty to do, I have paid considerably already’. We ought to learn to work for nothing if necessary, because the overhead is very great. There is the idea of servants being apprentices who do not expect wages; the general principle of an apprentice is that he does not get any, and the Lord would tell us that there are things we ought to be doing without any wages. He spends all — all that He has; the Lord is putting everything into it so as to get everything out of it, and His servants ought to be on that line. Paul says he did not use what he had a right to so as to make the glad tidings costless to others.
WGC Spending and being spent would be the idea.
JT Quite so.
Ques Would this be worked out in Philip? He went by the direction of the angel into a desert.
[p. 225] JT He was sent and he found the eunuch, but he was not sent to Samaria so far as we know. That is another point that comes up as regards evangelisation service: the young brethren have to win their spurs, as it were. So Philip went down to Samaria, it does not say he was sent. “There was great joy in that city” but no Holy Spirit was given to them. The gift of the Holy Spirit is heaven’s matter, not that of the servant, the Lord has to provide that. That is a most important side. He went up to heaven to beg the Father about the Spirit, and He sent Him forth. Philip was not honoured in that connection; through Paul the Spirit was given, through Peter the Spirit was given, but not through Philip. That is one thing to exercise those who are seeking to be labourers. In Luke 11:13 it says, “... how much rather shall the Father who is of heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?” We cannot afford to be without the Holy Spirit.
AB When the question was raised in Acts 2, “What shall we do, brethren?” Peter said, “Repent, and be baptised, each one of you, ... for remission of sins, and ye will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”.
JT If we are working in the field we should be very concerned about the persons whom we seek to serve, that they have the Holy Spirit. The field is only worked in view of that; there is no other thought in the gospel than that the person should get the Holy Spirit.
Ques How would you discern that a person has the Spirit?
JT By his affections and his desires after Christ. The next word relates to the pearl: “Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls; and having found one pearl of great value, he went and sold all whatever he had and bought it”. That would be a matter more of purpose,
[p. 226] a settled matter. The value of the pearl is already known by persons who can judge, and it is “of great value”. So the Lord sold everything that He had, which I believe would be a historic matter, a fixed matter.
Rem The one who has profited by these things and understands is likened to a householder with treasure.
JT The word is used in a typical sense, and we want to speak in anti-typical language. The Levite, for instance, is one that works hard; and therefore as understanding these things in that sense, we ought to be, as the Lord says here: “Every scribe discipled to the kingdom of the heavens is like a man that is a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old”.
JTS Would the teaching of verses 45 and 46 leave the sense upon our spirits that the assembly is Christ’s and of its great value to Him?
JT I am sure that is so. It is a fixed matter, and a finished matter; the overhead is all settled historically. The Lord was looking for pearls, but apparently He never found anything like this, which He speaks of as of great value. It would be the assembly as apprehended by the Lord as from God. As a historical matter the transaction has already taken place, the pearl is secured, but the 44th verse is a matter that has gone on for years. The Lord is constantly spending, and is spending on the material so as to get the treasure. He is going to great expense to bring about conditions in a certain part of the earth that would afford material such as He would have pleasure in, and this has been going on these nineteen hundred years. Whatever He has He expends on it: He will not stop at anything. But the pearl is a known thing; it is a matter of a merchant, a person with a knowledge of the commodity, and he secures it by purchase.
[p. 227] Ques Are you suggesting that there are possibly different kinds of material in the treasure?
JT Whatever it is. The Lord does not say what it is; we have to take His word for it and in working it out we shall see what it is. The early evangelists soon found out what it was, what joy there was in it. I can understand what joy the apostles had in the result of the first address by Peter.
Ques “To him be glory in the assembly” — would that be in line?
JT Well, yes. It is a question of what the Lord found and hid. Then what joy the workers, the apostles, the evangelists and teachers had! It was not doleful work: the Lord had joy and they shared it. The Jewish ideal did not come up to the Lord’s ideal in this hidden treasure; He kept it quiet, there was joy in it.
Rem “Who for the joy that was set before him…”
JT Here it is the joy of it. It is the same idea of course, but I would seek to work it out that way — the joy of it. What joys the apostles must have had in their work!
JTS “Ye are our glory and joy” — and the apostle John says, “I have no greater joy ...”
JT As regards the pearl, He went and sold all whatever He had and bought it. We read such a thing as, “I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee”. There were things in the counsels of God that belonged to the Lord as Man: all that was put into the matter, it is a settled thing in the Lord’s death. This other matter, this present matter, however, in connection with which the Lord has been working all these centuries, is to be noted — the joy of finding every saint. Heaven is full of joy, there is replenishment of joy in heaven all the time, over every sinner that repenteth — it is not a doleful but a joyous matter.
[p. 228] Rem The Lord prays to the Father for those who should believe on Him through their word.
JT The Lord had them in His heart when He prayed, and He had joy in them. What joy the Lord had in the apostles — if we only start there! Wherever the truth comes out you will find this joy in some sense — when, for instance, the Lord went up into heaven. He was carried up in Luke; Paul says He was received up in glory; the Israelitish mother is not in mind, the securing of the earth is not in mind, but we may be sure the Lord is not doleful but joyful. The Lord finds joy in every convert, as do those who are workers with Him. The scriptures abound in testimony as to what the early servants found in the Lord — joy.
Colossians indicates incompleteness in things: to present every man perfect is in view in Colossians, therefore completeness is needed, but what will be the completeness, the finished product as the Lord comes down from heaven! The assembling shout has to be understood in that connection. This is the great thing He has had in mind all these centuries.
Ques Would Paul’s word to Timothy help: “Think of what I say, for the Lord, will give thee understanding in all things”? You referred to the disciples saying, “Yea, Lord”.
JT You may be sure the Lord accepted what they said. He accepts them as ready for the work; each one of them had a treasure out of which to bring things new and old. What He is speaking about to the disciples now involves joy as well.
Ques Could we have a word on the net?
JT That is a side where things are good and bad — a cause of sorrow as well as of joy — verses 47 - 48. We are at the end of the age now, gathering out the good from the bad. It is somewhat sorrowful to have to throw away, but there is good, and it is a [p. 229] question now of getting the good. We want to get all the brethren at the present time in view of the coming of the Lord, to get them all in. In John’s ministry there comes up the idea of great fish — whether the Lord would encourage us by bringing some great ones in for the replenishment of the meetings, so that the testimony goes on in power.
Rem So there is still great abundance in the sea.
JT That is the way to look at it. Sometimes we get a great fish; John brings in the idea of that element.
JHT The house of Justus at Corinth and the school of Tyrannus would represent the sorting principle. Treasure is discovered, then the subsequent ministry relates to the pearl.
JT The brethren who are in service do not, perhaps, have so much to do with sorrowful cases. I was thinking when Paul and Barnabas finished their first missionary journey they returned to Antioch and remained with the brethren certain days, apparently a considerable period of time, and then they had to do with conflict, not joyous things. They had to go to Jerusalem and deal with certain injurious elements. The question is whether those who are engaged in getting the fish spend much time in the care meetings?
JHT I do not miss many!
Rem You want us to be challenged as to whether we have understood these things.
JT Mr. T. has said that he does not miss many of the care meetings, and the question is whether we are prepared to miss some of the fishing so as to be at the care meeting and the local gospel meeting.
“Where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them”. They are to be engaged in working out the local assembly position, where the Lord has peculiar joy. The Lord is saying in Matthew 18: 20 (it is peculiar to Matthew), ‘I will help the two or three’. Whatever problem there is to [p. 230] be dealt with, they do it, but He is there to help them. The Lord has great joy in the work of assembly persons — “two of you”.
Rem It says they sat down to cast the worthless out.
JT It is a judicial thought; you are doing the thing rightly, according to the principles that govern the position.