THE SOIL INTO WHICH THE TRUTH HAS BEEN INTRODUCED
[p. 481] THE SOIL INTO WHICH THE TRUTH HAS BEEN INTRODUCED
Acts 9: 1, 2; Acts 19: 9, 10; Acts 17:16 -34
JT The last scripture read has in mind the nature of the soil into which the truth has been introduced; not only the truth of Christianity but the truth of God from the outset. The scripture in Acts 17 deals with the scope of the truth extending back to the creation, but looking into the truth of Christianity, linking it on with the concrete conditions in which Christianity is found. The few gathered as a result of Paul’s ministry at the time in Athens were small but are intended, doubtless, to remind us of the hardness of the soil of educated society. Corinth, which was nearby, yielded much more. There are allusions to heathen conditions in the passage read in chapter 17. It is thought that it will help us as to the truth to bear in mind what these heathen conditions are and were, and how in the course of the history of humanity terrible elements arose, springing up directly from the devil, and, we might say, descending down from angelic heights to corrupt humanity as in Genesis 6. It is, I believe, right that the brethren should be somewhat conversant with the terrible depths of wickedness that had to be faced and have to be faced; and in facing the wickedness that has arisen, or that had arisen, and that is now engaged in combating Christianity, the gospel, the idea of “the way”, comes in or arises. It is a well-chosen expression involving that those who are in it are moving. They are not stationary or stagnant. The way implies there is movement, as it is said, indeed, in the Lord’s own time: “He ... followed him in the way”. One who had been blind followed Him in the way and the expression has become current to imply the truth of [p. 482] Christianity and that it is moveable, moving on to a testimony.
RWS Would you distinguish between the soil of Athens and the soil of Corinth?
JT That is a good question. The soil of Athens certainly was less fruitful; although the soil at Corinth was confused and darkened, yet the Lord said He had much people in that city and He was determined to secure them and that no hostile power should interfere. The Lord was determined to have them on His own terms, and those terms are the gospel and the assembly. Both features are stressed in the ministry at Corinth whereas at Athens, as the facts recorded in the passage read indicate, the educated or learned class dominated the soil. The results show that it was a very barren soil, but not wholly barren, for it was intended that the power of God should be seen in dealing with the indifference and callousness in the city of Athens. Undoubtedly God intended that the learning should be exposed, and directed His servant to go there and to bear testimony actually at Mars’ Hill, famed as a place of instruction or education or information.
CAM You had it in your mind to stress the power of Satan working. Do you not think that we are likely to underestimate his power?
JT I think we are very slow to recognise it. Of course, we are familiar with the thought of Satan. We are somewhat familiar with it, I suppose, but we need to inquire into what the real depths are. The depths of Satan are alluded to in the book of Revelation as over against the depths of God; in the power of the truth we are enabled to face the depths of Satan and overcome.
LES Do you think that the end in view would link on with the timely result in that a man and a woman are secured in such [p. 483] soil?
JT This seems to be a note of subdued triumph in that there was a result. It says, “Thus Paul went out of their midst. But some men joining themselves to him believed”. That is to be noted. It is not as it was at Philippi where the women were in the lead; in fact there were only women there at first, although it was a man of Macedonia that had called out for help. That is not said of Athens; here it is, “But some men joining themselves to him believed”. It is a real matter in spite of the darkness; “among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman by name Damaris, and others with them”. There can be no doubt that the fact that these two names are mentioned would mean that each had a subsequent history well known to the saints. We have a similar condition in this country particularly; places where the testimony has not prospered. Boston is especially a place of that kind on account of assumed learning and historical links, and New York on account of its great industrial prosperity making much of man, and Philadelphia. These are three cities that are well known in the American mind on these lines and we have to understand and have in mind to be true to the testimony in these places.
RWS The cultured soil is harder than the commercial soil?
JT That is what I was thinking and those of us who have had anything to do with such education as leads to the higher levels of society know how it militates against the truth.
LES Do you think that the scripture in Isaiah 40 would link on with this? It says there, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, make straight in the desert a highway for our God! Every valley shall be raised up, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and [p. 484] the rough places a plain. And the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken” (verses 3 - 5).
JT Very good. We can see how that great cry in Isaiah bears on what we are saying and how John the baptist came into that. That great voice was lifted up: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness”. What a testimony he was! How he introduced the Lord Jesus Himself in the opening of John’s gospel.
LES The axe being laid at the root would involve the social side as well as the commercial side.
JT You can see they go together; the great phases of society rest in these things: money or wealth, education, and corresponding with these, intellect.
CAM Would you say that the great vessel that is taken up by God in Acts 9 is expressly designed of God to nullify the working of Satan in these ways?
JT You can see as John the baptist was taken up, so Paul was. Paul’s ministry following on John the baptist’s is found in chapter 19 of the Acts. But we can see that in chapter 17 he met the power of Satan and in chapter 19 it is seen working in Ephesus. The results of the ministry are most remarkable, leading to the conversion of almost all Asia. At least that is what is spoken of (verse 26). It shows that in Athens there was little or nothing, but in Ephesus a great deal and in Corinth a great deal; but it was a question of the men God raised up. That raises the whole question as to gift, for the gift was co-extensive with the power of Satan, the depths of Satan. The gifts are from above. The Lord Jesus went above all the heavens and gave gifts to men, so that the power was in men. The [p. 485] power of Satan was in men, but the power of the gifts was seen in men, especially in Paul.
FHL Saul the great intellectual would never forget he was struck down by a heavenly light so much greater than any light that he had in his mind.
JT Quite so.
AAT What connection is there with philosophy and vain deceit as in Colossians?
JT That all enters into what we are saying as to the mind, the Greek wisdom; but what is said about Colosse is that an attempt was being made to adapt Greek wisdom to Christianity, to introduce it into Christianity. That is what is exposed and refuted in the epistle. But there are things behind all that, which we cannot find time to go into on an occasion like this, but certainly the brethren ought to be aroused as to what wickedness really is, what the present phase of the world is and how it can be met, because it can be met and is being met. The working of the devil in Genesis 6, for instance, is an awful thing: angels coming down and linking up with humanity in the sexes. That preceded the flood, led up to the flood, and made the flood imperative, showing how seriously God took the matter at that time and brought in the flood. The Lord describes what was going on and says, “the flood came and destroyed all of them”, Luke 17: 27.
ABP Is there any link between Genesis 6 and the ministry of John to the Pharisees? He called them a generation of vipers.
JT You get a man there able to deal with the wickedness. “Offspring of vipers, who has forewarned you to flee ... ?”, Luke 3: 7. Of course, if they were judging themselves John would not say that. The question is whether they were, and so he begins to name the things that were influencing [p. 486] men at that time. Take the early chapters of Luke. It is said in chapter 3: 8, “We have Abraham for our father”, but John says, “Offspring of vipers, who has forewarned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce therefore fruits worthy of repentance”. John is aiming at something positive. “Begin not to say in yourselves, We have Abraham for our father, for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. And already also the axe is applied to the root of the trees; every tree therefore not producing good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire. And the crowds asked him saying, What should we do then? And he answering says to them, He that has two body-coats, let him give to him that has none; and he that has food, let him do likewise. And tax-gatherers came also to be baptised, and they said to him, Teacher, what should we do? And he said to them, Take no more money than what is appointed to you. And persons engaged in military service also asked him saying, And we, what should we do? And he said to them, Oppress no one, nor accuse falsely, and be satisfied with your pay”. Well, I think it is how the matter is met, but only in a comparatively superficial way, for more was needed than John’s word here. The death of Christ was needed and was in view, but still there was the idea of reforming things and making them better, and at the same time, dealing with wickedness. There is little that can be said. There is no attempt to enlarge on the thing because there is not time, but certainly it is a thing we should all think of, the character of wickedness now and the features that are arising in society to develop this wickedness, and how they bear on the truth and how we are able to go through in the power of the Spirit [p. 487] of God.
AR There are quite a number of the brethren sending their children to colleges. Would this meet that?
JT Well, there is a danger in that and in all these things that are arising because the combinations that are being formed in human societies to combat certain difficulties are throwing the saints into them. The saints are being thrust into them and, therefore, trade-unionism has a great power because the success in these trades or professions depends on associations, and of course we set to work to defend the associations and therefore the leavening begins; whereas the matter has to be dealt with suffering-wise. Instead of putting ourselves and our children into these things and promoting them, the wisdom would be to be content with less, and to keep our children out of the societies.
CAM Really the whole matter of Babel depended on their hanging together. It was a society business.
JT That helps in what we are saying because they say, “Come on, let us build ourselves a city and a tower, the top of which may reach to the heavens; and let us make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth”, Genesis 11: 4. These trade-unions and all that pursue that line, are holding together for mercenary purposes.
LES The high level of the ministry is over against the inroads of evil, the enemy coming like a flood would be met by the truth being held and maintained.
JT That is Paul’s line of things in Ephesus. The highest levels were reached there and he came there from the upper quarters. Apollos was at Corinth at the same time, as if he was holding the ground on the lower level, which is the safe level. It avoids associations. The higher level, however,
[p. 488] is safe in so far as we hold to the spiritual side. What is high is spiritual.
Ques Was there a trade union in Ephesus? It speaks of the artisans being gathered together in Acts 19: 25.
JT Just so. There are other things like that.
ANW There were books to be burned.
JT That enters into the position at Ephesus, showing how successful the testimony was. We are told the value of the books, and it must have been very great relatively, but they were burned.
APT In a way was Apollos a little behind in helping?
JT The brother and sister that met him saw to it that he was brought into the way of God. That was the thing that was unfolded. That is the point that is before us now, the way of God and the way of God more exactly. Apollos was amenable to the truth on those lines; he had a great place in Paul’s mind too, as we learn.
ANW The school of Tyrannus was the school to go to.
JT That is the idea. It was a separated school. There is not a college on earth on the principle of separation. That of Tyrannus was evidently, because that is where Paul taught. It is said, “And entering into the synagogue, he spoke boldly during three months, reasoning and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when some were hardened and disbelieved, speaking evil of the way ...”, Acts 19: 8, 9. Now we have already spoken of Apollos and he also had been instructed in the idea of the way by Aquila and Priscilla, the way of God more exactly. The fulness of the truth is used in meeting these things so that the school of Tyrannus evidently must have been a severe, exacting school as to the truth, with no slipshod allowances for mixed marriages that bring in leaven. I [p. 489] believe the school of Tyrannus is intended to show the severity of Paul’s ministry which was needed at that time to establish the truth in Ephesus.
ABP Do you refer to the significance of the name Tyrannus?
JT I think so. It was not that for nothing. The word is, “he left them and separated the disciples”. That is what I was thinking about particularly: separation in that school. “He left them and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus”. It does not say ‘one called Tyrannus’ as if you did not know who he was. He is seemingly mentioned as if you would know, as if he had a significance.
RWS Does the time factor enter into what is accomplished at Athens and Corinth and Ephesus, or did Paul get the impression that his work at Athens was done? Apparently he stayed just a few days at Athens. I am wondering if he had spent a longer time at Athens would he have got more material; or did he move under such direction from the Lord that he knew his work was done at Athens and went on? You alluded to the long time at Ephesus and Corinth.
JT It is important to bring that in because the time at Paul’s disposal must have been a matter of great consequence in heaven because his life was not very long. I would say that he was not more than seventy when the Lord took him. He spent a total of four or five years in prison, two at Caesarea and probably rather more at Rome. His service at Corinth and at Ephesus accounted for four and a half years so that about nine years of his life is accounted for. We can thus understand that his imprisonment was intended in the mind of heaven to enrich his ministry, and to bring out the very best in a spiritual sense. I believe the very best is to be found in the letters to Ephesus, Philippi, and [p. 490] Colosse. All this reflects on the importance and the value of these epistles and indicates what a place they should have with us as we look into the truth.
ANW No ordinary miracles were wrought by God by Paul’s hands. They were extraordinary miracles.
JT Do you mean at Ephesus?
ANW There were napkins taken from his body that effected healing.
JT There is no attempt, as I said, to exhaust this great subject because you cannot do it, but it certainly requires attention. And then in Acts 9 we have the way; not that Paul mentions it but it is said, as the brethren will notice, “But Saul, still breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, came to the high priest and asked of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, so that if he found any who were of the way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem” (verses 1, 2). The idea of the way enters into the very front door, as we might say, of Saul’s history. What he did was an effort to refute and set aside Christianity. He is converted at that particular time as if to meet that great danger.
CAM Do you think that encourages us in regard to what the Lord is doing today? Heavenly light has been shone on the way, and it shows the way Paul was to go, city-wise.
JT How suggestive all that is if the brethren are turning aside or tending to do so as they have been of late! Light has been shed on the way; not simply the truth but the way, showing how things should be done.
ANW Would it not be fair to say that the current divine movement at any given time is what is attacked? Is that what is vital?
JT The word ‘movement’ is good; it is remarkable that we have here, “as he was journeying,
it came to pass”, because the word ‘journeying’ is a good word that enters into his history peculiarly. “But as he was journeying, it came to pass that he drew near to Damascus; and suddenly there shone round about him a light out of heaven, and falling on the earth he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute me?”. Surely that is significant at such a time as this. The light of God was caused to shine so that our paths are illuminated. Those of us who belong to the assembly, as walking in it, have our paths illuminated. Light is shed upon us.
CAM There would be a point in the fact that it was Damascus and not Jerusalem.
JT Quite so.
AR If our position is attacked today do you expect the Lord to come in and defend it in some way like this, showing Himself among us?
JT He has been doing it for a long time and maybe there is a little more light now coming in.
CAM Do you think that it is remarkable that the truth of the Son of God was preached in Damascus? It was not at Jerusalem that this great truth came out; it was from some unexpected quarter.
JT He was preached as that; quite so.
RHS Is this the way that seemeth right unto a man, who does not enquire of God, and the end of it is destruction? I was thinking of Paul and his movements prior to his conversion. At Athens, also, they worshipped the unknown God without any inquiry as to what they were worshipping.
JT The light came in on Paul’s part.
FHL Referring to Athens, would you say why the apostle said he thought it good to be left alone there? I thought it might throw light on 1 Thessalonians [p. 492] 3.
JT The facts were, as far as I can learn, that he was waiting for Silas and Timotheus. It says in Acts 18: 1 - 7, “And after these things, having left Athens, he came to Corinth; and finding a certain Jew by name Aquila, of Pontus by race, just come from Italy, and Priscilla his wife (because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome), came to them, and because they were of the same trade abode with them, and wrought. For they were tent-makers by trade. And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks. And when both Silas and Timotheus came down from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in respect of the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But as they opposed and spoke injuriously, he shook his clothes, and said to them, Your blood be upon your own head: I am pure; from henceforth I will go to the nations. And departing thence he came to the house of a certain man, by name Justus”. I read that so that it would come out clearly that Paul was dependent on these men who were about to come when he was at Athens. It says, “But in Athens, while Paul was waiting for them, his spirit was painfully excited in him seeing the city given up to idolatry”. The apostle, in his own self, was affected by the darkness at Athens, and the men that he was relying upon to help him in the work had not arrived. I refer to all this because it shows how the work of God proceeds and how important it is that we should have associations and work together.
Well now, Paul went on by himself and we have the results. It would look as if real work according to the mind of God was to take place at Corinth. The Lord had already said that He had much people in that city, but He does not say that about Athens; yet the apostle remained there and his spirit was stirred up because of the darkness, and hence this remarkable word that we have, which is applicable [p. 493] to the present time as to what is to be presented in the gospel in view of current conditions.
APT It says in 2 Corinthians that the three of them preached Jesus the Son of God. Is there something to that?
JT Exactly; there was a united effort. “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, he who has been preached by us among you (by me and Silvanus and Timotheus)”, 2 Corinthians 1: 19. That is a remarkable thing, and shows how the work of God proceeded at Corinth.
AR These five persons, Silvanus and Timotheus, and Aquila and Priscilla and Paul were engaged in the work.
JT They were the personnel that the Lord had at that juncture, and it shows how important it is for brethren to be united and to be working together; not in any kind of isolated way or isolated line, but united in the service, because the testimony is one and they are helpers in it.
LES Would you say another word as to the bearing and importance and character of the gospel in such a section as this?
JT What is brought out is the importance of brethren working together, not being isolated in any sense, or having special lines, but being held by the truth. I think that comes out in this section, and what we get at Thessalonica in chapter 17 is the opening and laying down of the truth on three Sabbath days. I think the principle of brethren proceeding together, moving about, interchanging services, and all that, is of the Lord. We should be united in the service. Athens follows Thessalonica, being just an isolated service of Paul’s and successful only to a limited degree; and then there is the great work at Corinth, the workers including Paul himself, and Silvanus and Timotheus, besides those two that were there already. The work was very [p. 494] great and much time was spent on it; and that there was much in mind too for all the ages, for the whole period of Christianity, is seen in the great importance of those used, the apostle and those serving with him.
LES I was wondering what you had in mind further as to the importance of the preaching and what is to be stressed under such circumstances as existed at Athens, and to the particular distinctive features of the preaching that might come forward at any given moment.
JT Of course we have read the passage and I think we will do well to get it into our minds a little. It says, “But in Athens, while Paul was waiting for them, his spirit was painfully excited in him seeing the city given up to idolatry. He reasoned therefore in the synagogue with the Jews, and those who worshipped”, meaning the Jewish proselytes and the like, “and in the market-place every day with those he met with. But some also of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers attacked him. And some said, What would this chatterer say? and some, He seems to be an announcer of foreign demons, because he announced the glad tidings of Jesus and the resurrection to them. And having taken hold on him they brought him to Areopagus, saying, Might we know what this new doctrine which is spoken by thee is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears. We wish therefore to know what these things may mean. Now all the Athenians and the strangers sojourning there spent their time in nothing else than to tell and to hear the news”. You can see what that results in. “And Paul standing in the midst of Areopagus said, Athenians, in every way I see you given up to demon worship”. That is what I was thinking of; the terribleness of the wickedness that is in paganism and that is allied with Judaism too here. “For, passing through and beholding your shrines,
[p. 495] I found also an altar on which was inscribed, To the unknown God. Whom therefore ye reverence, not knowing him, him I announce to you. The God who has made the world ...” That is what I was thinking of at the beginning. He goes back to the creation; “and all things which are in it, lie, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is served by men’s hands as needing something, himself giving to all life and breath and all things; and has made of one blood every nation of men to dwell upon the whole face of the earth, having determined ordained times and the boundaries of their dwelling, that they may seek God; if indeed they might feel after him and find him, although he is not far from each one of us; for in him we live and move and exist”. So that he brings out Christianity and God among the Christians; not far away from them but among them. Surely that is of great importance just now in our meetings and in our services, that God is with us.
CAM He covers a remarkable scope, does he not? He starts with the creation but he goes on until everything is settled in the judgment. The whole chapter of responsibility is covered in this short preaching.
JT Just so, it leads up to the day that is fixed, when the millennium will begin.
AR Did this combination creep into Christendom? What is pagan and what is Jewish crept into Christianity.
JT We are suffering from it every day.
AAT Paul is able to condense his whole sermon to a very few words and it takes very few minutes. I notice our preachers stand up for three-quarters of an hour. Why is it necessary for our brothers to be so long in the preaching when he was so brief and to the point, and got [p. 496] results?
JT The soil is hard. We have to admit that, and I believe God knows it and is with us in our Sunday evening preachings. The Lord is with us and, even though there may be not many conversions, the work is going on; the steady work is going on and is perfecting the saints.
APT The gift of the evangelist is in Ephesians “for the perfecting of the saints”. That is possibly left out a good deal.
ANW That last verse is perhaps our position today. There might not be much outwardly; there may be mockery, etc., “But some men joining themselves to him believed”. That is what is going on.
JT That is what I was thinking at the very beginning. There were men; some men and then a woman. That fact that there were men in Athens is something to note, and the fact that one here and there is coming into the truth is something to note.
ANW They joined themselves to him. That is an important matter.
JT Joining themselves to him was not a partisan matter; it was a question of what he was ostensibly. So at Philippi, the man that Paul saw in his vision was from Macedonia. He was asking for help and Paul went to Philippi and got into prison. He suffered dreadfully, but he got the man. The woman had already been found; the women were there. The Lord had opened the heart of Lydia to attend to the things spoken by Paul, but the man, the jailer, was secured, which was a great triumph. If we keep on with our meetings on Lord’s day evening, although there may not be conversions, yet there is the perfecting of the saints, the completion of the assembly, and especially young people coming into the truth.
Ques Would “Let there be light” (Genesis 1: 3) and “Because it is the God who spoke that out of darkness light should shine” (2 Corinthians 4: 6), fit in here?
[p. 497] JT It is an act of God to bring light out of darkness.
VCL Do you think Paul’s efficacy in preaching was due to the way in which he felt idolatry? Do you think if we felt more the need of the truth coming in we would have more power?
JT Just so; and then the agonizing in prayer that it might come in. I think a man like Elijah is a suggestion for us. He put his face between his knees and the man’s hand soon came up. It was what God was going to do: outwardly small but presently very big. What we are doing now is going to assure big things when the assembly goes to heaven and the work of God appears in the millennial day.
RWS The psalmist speaks of those in whose heart are the highways; the highways are in our hearts now but the enemy is behind hindering them and the world being opened, so that we do not have intercourse as we had previously.
JT There may be that. Certainly I was conscious of it a few months back but still the way was opened and I think it is going to be opened again. I think the Lord is going to make a way for the brethren to visit each other.
RWS That would mean the international situation would quieten down.
JT I think so; and international things that are pending if they come about would mean more interchange internationally. Certain things are pending. I know what they are and I think God is going to bring them about and the way will be opened up presently.
Rem In Judges 5, Deborah spoke of the death of Sisera and of the time when the highways were unused.
JT “Until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel” (Judges 5: 7), showing God was [p. 498] working. That chapter in Judges is really an opening up of things for the saints in the sense of poetic ministry; there is rebuke to those who lag behind, but praise for those who went forward. That is what is needed now, that the brethren should move, and instead of taking things easily and quietly and comfortably, should go into the front and be tending things, acquiring things, and succeeding in doing things.
APT The Lord might prosper us if we had these gospel meetings again.
JT God is with us in anything of that kind.
FHL In Isaiah 35: 8, it says, “A highway shall be there and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness”. Is this leading on to that?
JT Very good. I thought of that connection; a highway shall be there.
FSC Even fools shall not err therein.
ABP Does the street called ‘Straight’ coming in at Paul’s beginning indicate that he was to have a very definite part in the bringing in of this highway?
JT Quite so. You can see that much is made of his journeyings. You can see that what we are speaking of is just what is in mind: he says, “From Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ”, Romans 15: 19. That was a great extent of testimony.
CAM The Preacher in Ecclesiastes 7: 28 said that he had found a man, but that he had not found a woman. Do you think in connection with our preachings the first thing should be to find a man? I mean on the principle of this cry from Macedonia. Sometimes our preachings become a sort of address to Christians. The preachings in the Acts are remarkable for the way they bring out the elementary side, so that every man can understand what is being said.
JT [p. 499] Paul, it seems, is the one to go by. He preached the Lord Jesus that He was the Son of God. That is the first thing he did.
ANW But at Athens he does not use his Bible.
FHL The resurrection seems to be the test here.
JT That is the way they took it up. They thought there were two things: Jesus and the resurrection, showing he was stressing two things.
AR The preacher is minister of the assembly. Is that not important?
JT Yes; he preached that Jesus is the Son of God. That seems to have gone through that section. He and Silvanus and Timotheus preached that Jesus is the Son of God. He says, in Him is Yea and Amen. We are dealing with verities in what we are speaking of, so that one’s hope was that we should understand the way and see how it came into Paul’s ministry, how his ministry was the idea of it and how it was opposed. He says, The way which they call sect. They called it sect, but it was the gospel and the truth of the assembly as well. So that the two things are in mind in what was read: Paul’s gospel and the truth of the assembly. That was all that was in mind and one hopes that what has been before us will lead to something in that sense.