UNOFFICIAL SERVICE
[p. 52] UNOFFICIAL SERVICE
Acts 6:8 - 15; Acts 8:4 - 8; Acts 9:6 - 19; Acts 11:19 - 26; Acts 13:1 - 4
JT We have to consider the work and service of persons without formal commissions. Pursuing the book of the Acts, we find Peter finishing his testimony in the opening of the door to the gentiles, the door of the kingdom, in which he did well; but he had to be prepared for it specially by heaven, reminding us that if any work opens up to us different from what we have been engaged in, we need to be particularly concerned that we get the mind of God. So that Peter has a vision, a remarkable experience according to chapter 10, and is qualified, fitted, and set at liberty to do the special work, and this great work opens up to him. At the end of chapter 9 he sets before us a principle, that if we are to be spiritually in the service of God we are not to be out of accord with the change-over in the character of the service.
Paul’s conversion implied that the Lord had in mind that he was to do a great work, as an elect vessel, that the assembly should be brought into evidence, and that the economy should work out in localities, not in a central or metropolitan position, but in localities throughout the world. Before the truth given to Paul is developed, but after he is converted, Peter seems to sense by the Spirit what is coming in and is ready for it, so he goes through all quarters in chapter 9: 32, “Now it came to pass that Peter, passing through all quarters, descended also to the saints who inhabited Lydda”. That is a great principle in local matters. The thing has to be done by the persons there. Then secondly, raising Tabitha, he “presented her living”: there is a sense in the locality of responsibility to do things for God. On the other hand, they are done in a living way, not in [p. 53] a mere legal or routine way. Chapter 10 finishes Peter’s testimony in so far as Acts is concerned. He is seen again, but in general, that is the great end of the service of the twelve, Peter being outstanding right through.
Then, as I said, we now have to look at service by persons who are nondescript, but still very successful service, first in Stephen and Philip; and then in chapter 11 we are told, “They then who had been scattered abroad through the tribulation that took place on the occasion of Stephen, passed through the country of Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one but to Jews alone. But there were certain of them, Cyprians and Cyrenians, who entering into Antioch spoke to the Greeks also, announcing the glad tidings of the Lord Jesus. And the Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord” (verses 19 - 21). So that we see in this section, beginning with the end of chapter 6, how persons without formal commissions may serve and serve effectually, so that their work is taken account of, and is in entire keeping with the spirit of the moment, with the spirit of Paul’s ministry, before Paul’s ministry came out. It would mean that they were spiritual persons who walked in the Spirit and lived in the Spirit, as we are told to do. So that first of all we should consider Stephen and Philip, then in general the scattered saints, and then Barnabas and Saul.
SMcC As distinct from the service connected with the twelve, how does this feature of the service in individuals, referred to here, work out in a practical way today?
JT It is helpful for young servants, those who desire to serve, to show that they can do it; not wait for invitations to serve, but as they have opportunity, take on service as it opens up. The Lord gives opportunities. Later they will be [p. 54] invited to serve by the saints, but initially they have to show that they can. Nobody else can help them. They have to do it themselves. It is obligatory on each to do something himself. He may be appointed to the same manner of service, but he takes on something more as he has opportunity. He begins to show that he can do something, and then the Lord takes him on. You see how Philip, for instance, went down to Samaria to preach Christ; he did not have himself before him in what he was doing, he preached Christ. The appellation Christ means the One who does everything. Let us never forget that! The most unskilled has that light as well as the most skilled. He preached Christ; there were great results. The angel sent him on a great service and the Spirit took him on, told him to join the chariot, and finally raptured him and caught him away, showing that He was so pleased with him. I believe Philip is a model for all young brothers and sisters in regard of service.
EP Would this dispute in the synagogue arise on practical lines? Authority in doctrine was vested in the apostles; a new element of authority had come in now dealing with what was practical. I was wondering whether the “freedmen” suggests an attitude, ‘we do what we like’.
JT You mean that Stephen was moving under authority. Yes, quite so. And the Libertines would not like that, it would not suit them. At first it says, “And Stephen, full of grace and power, wrought wonders and great signs among the people. And there arose up certain of those of the synagogue called of freedmen, and of Cyrenians, and of Alexandrians, and of those of Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen”, chapter 6: 8, 9. God gives more grace. It seems a remarkable thing that there should be such opposition from such wide, extended parts against this man. He was himself, I apprehend, a man from [p. 55] a distance, a Hellenist, I suppose. He himself was a man of that type, and the enemy, I suppose, senses that this man represents a new turn in the building of the temple, or of the walls of Jerusalem. The twelve are not attacked, it is this man.
CAM It is like the move of an army, Satan is always secondary in his ideas. So the man’s name and his setting would make the enemy feel it is going to be on a larger scale.
J.T. You mean his crown?
CAM It is a Greek name.
JT It would be, I suppose. Stephanas — Stephen. The enemy would say, this man is in keeping with it, “full of grace and power”. He was doing something, “wonders and great signs among the people”. God has victory in mind on another line, not on apostolic lines, but “those who shall have ministered well obtain for themselves a good degree”, 1 Timothy 3: 13. I begin to rule over myself, because I shall never acquire a good degree unless I get victory over myself in that sense, “So then I myself with the mind serve God’s law”, Romans 7: 25. I believe that enters into Stephen’s make-up, on the line of victory in himself first.
WL Is it good for the young to start serving tables?
JT Yes. The next thing — Am I victorious over myself? I believe that is what Stephen was initially — one is full, not full of himself but full of grace and power.
CAM It is a great thing to be of value, willing to give your life for a position, so strikingly set forth in Stephen. I suppose a general would promote a man where he was ready to give his life.
JT It is a military position. And so in the council, “all who sat in the council, looking fixedly on him, saw his face as the face of an angel”. It is glory in a man, glory shining in a man, he is manifestly victorious over himself, “full of grace and power”. He is showing it in what he is doing. This widespread opposition only brought out the reflection of heaven in judicial glory.
WW In connection with what you said about a vessel full of light, no darkness, it only exposed the darkness and hatred.
JT He is really intended to represent the Lord in this service, a representative of Christ. He is the first martyr, he has that honour, that is his crown.
DeB He is a sort of a leader in that way. “We ought for the brethren to lay down our lives”, 1 John 3: 16.
JWD Do you think all those who embark on unofficial service must make up their minds for suffering of this kind?
JT I think they do. In truth you might say all service in these remnant times is of this kind. The Lord is not putting out His hand publicly to honour anybody. The point in Stephen is that he was full of grace and power. It seems very remarkable that the opposition should be so widespread, first by these freedmen — Libertines, they would do as they liked. But Stephen is doing as he likes, but with liberty in the service of God, that is where his liberty is. He is in liberty in subjection.
EP Do you think that the first attack in the early chapters is on the apostles, whereas the second attack seems to be on the ranks, and God produces a bit of quality from the ranks?
JT Just so. Taking up the nondescript, although Stephen has a little distinction in being a deacon. He is in mind now to be promoted in the service of God, to be useful in a wider way. Satan discerns that.
APT The enemy does not like anyone like Jesus. One feels as going back to one’s daily employment and household affairs of life, the reflection of the truth of meetings like this would go through, [p. 57] so that the enemy is defeated. Is that the way with Stephen?
JT He is a reflection of Christ. His face is shining in the council. “And all who sat in the council, looking fixedly on him, saw his face as the face of an angel”. It is remarkable. Why are they looking fixedly on a man? There is something in the man, what he is himself.
JRH Why do they bring the same charges against him as against the Lord Jesus? “This man does not cease speaking words against the holy place and the law” (verse 13).
JT It is to bring out the correspondence to Christ. The attack on him here is very like what you get in the Lord before the high priest and before Pilate. The same happened before the high priest, “We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God. And they roused the people, and the elders, and the scribes. And coming upon him they seized him and brought him to the council. And they set false witnesses, saying, This man does not cease speaking words against the holy place and the law; for we have heard him saying, This Jesus the Nazaraean shall destroy this place, and change the customs which Moses taught us”. It is the same spirit that appeared in the attack on the Lord before the high priest.
TH What does it mean to be full of grace and power in a practical way?
JT If I am full of grace, I am not full of myself. It is what the man is. He must have learned Romans, you know. I believe that is the way, acquiring power over yourself first. “Better ... he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city”, Proverbs 16:32. Complete mastery over myself, that is the secret of promotion in the things of God.
JWD The way Satan seems to becloud the levitical power of Stephen by all these false witnesses is to be noted. There is a great deal of idle speaking [p. 58] with regard to those who seek to serve, without being able to substantiate it.
JT It fits in here. “And they set false witnesses, saying, This man does not cease speaking words against the holy place and the law”. They were false, it is a powerful weapon that Satan uses to discredit the servants. The Lord said, “Judge not according to sight, but judge righteous judgment”, John 7: 24.
CAM So that Satan brings up a religious element to counteract.
JT I think it is very striking here, the wideness of the field from whence the opposition came, and then the deliberate setting up of false witnesses. It would look as though Satan saw and knew the turn the testimony had taken, and gathers all his forces against it.
APT Is the attractiveness of the servant seen, not only in being full of grace and power, but in his knowledge of the truth of assembly matters as chapter 7 shows?
JT That is the next thing. Satan did not know the type of man. He usually fails in his calculations in such a widespread attack as this. Stephen was like an ambush. God sets ambushes — there is unexpected power and ability. Satan did not know in calling attention to Stephen in this way and attacking him, that it would bring out the extraordinary power of the man. Satan never does rightly gauge what is there.
JRH He did not know he was going to lose his best leader.
JT He was going to lose Saul of Tarsus. God is a man of war. We are in a military position here. Satan is gathering his forces from all quarters. “And there arose up certain of those of the synagogue called of freedmen, and of Cyrenians, and of Alexandrians, and of those of Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen”. The enemy is going far afield, as if this is a serious matter in his mind, and he must meet it with all his power. Still he does not take account of what is in front of him, that God is a man of war.
Here is this man, he is of no account, he is not an apostle, but is a man who can do great things. See the indictment he brings forward; God would arraign Israel at this juncture and He had this man to do it. Peter could not have done it as he did it.
GM God is greater than all the enemy’s power.
JT That is the first great sign after redemption the Lord is a Man of war. Every attack only brought out what was there, until finally we have the martyr, like his own Master. He has the martyr’s crown.
You could not have a better account of it than Paul gives. “And when the blood of thy witness Stephen was shed, I also myself was standing by and consenting, and kept the clothes of them who killed him”, Acts 22: 20.
CAM I was wondering in connection with our secret history with the Lord, if that baffles Satan. He can see what goes on in the religious world, but I suppose if there is a private matter going on, Satan is liable to underrate that.
JT Quite so. He gauges you according to your history, but suppose you go in to God, he has got a different man to deal with, he does not understand that.
JH-t When Nehemiah came to Jerusalem to build the wall, he went by night into the valley-gate, and to the dung-gate, so that when the attack of the enemy comes, he has already had secret history with God about it.
JT That is a good reference. He went out alone, without anybody, a matter of secret service.
CAM Alluding to Philip, you were going to say more about him? Philip and Stephen were a counterpart [p. 60] in some ways. But Philip is a very movable man, ready for any emergency.
JT Yes, he is another step in the development of the building of the wall, a turn in the wall, a change of testimony. These are men who have the thing. You cannot say much about them; as in Elijah’s case, we do not know anything about their early history; it is what the man is as he stands before you, that is how Elijah comes in. So here these men are taken up with this wonderful development in Stephen’s case; what he is personally is very striking, and how his face is capable of reflecting. What is in mind is an angelic thing, it is really judicial glory that is shining in his face, not new covenant glory, but judicial glory.
APT Is this needed in our localities?
JT It is the Lord in judicial glory, one of the main things in the ways of God acting judicially. It is not a doleful thing — it is a sorrowful thing, of course, but there is glory in it. Whatever God does, there is glory in it.
CAM Something like the glory of the angel at the end of Matthew’s gospel. His face is called attention to.
JT Matthew’s gospel is something like this, it bears on the guilt of Israel.
APT Is this tenth verse to be noted? “And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke”. When local difficulties are protracted; is it due to the absence of this feature in us?
JT Quite so. Matters are not handled with skill.
There is not judicial glory and ability. We had that this morning as to an act of discipline. This is a wider thing. Stephen’s address helps us as regards the whole history of the professing body. We are called upon to judge the whole history. “Wilt thou judge them, wilt thou judge, son of man?” Ezekiel 20: 4.
[p. 61] That is a word to Ezekiel. The whole thing is judged. Who is able to do it? God is calling on us to do it, and Stephen is the exemplifier of that how to go over the ground, the history of the professing body. See how it has sinned against God! So that we are justified in leaving it, in principle.
HM Would the same principle work out in Stephen that worked out in Moses? “When Moses came down from mount Sinai — and the two tables of testimony were in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mountain — that Moses knew not that the skin of his face shone through his talking with him”, Exodus 34: 29.
JT Moses’ face shone because of the covenant. This is not the covenant, this is judicial glory. Moses’ face did not shine as the face of an angel, Stephen’s did, because this is like Matthew, God coming in to deal with Israel judicially. He fully states the case, plentifully declares the thing. In stating a matter in the assembly, we state it carefully; still there ought to be a full, ample testimony before a judicial action is taken: the matter should be clearly defined, and that is what Stephen’s address is.
WD I was wondering if the man himself does not suggest the thing? “Full of the Holy Spirit”, “full of grace and power”. His testimony is full.
JT Yes, it is complete. I believe that God has helped in the revival in this way. What we speak of as the ‘collected writings’, and ministry necessarily took on the form of the indictment of the general public position, because it was a question of, “Come out of her, my people, that ye have not fellowship in her sins”, Revelation 18: 4. Well, these sins have to be declared, they have to be attested. God would have that, we know what we are doing.
CB In that way, would you connect this glory with the cherubim?
JT It is somewhat like the glory of Ezekiel. [p. 62] It was the Shekinah in the temple really, it was the presence of God in the temple in Jerusalem. And the glory departed from the cherub and went on the threshold, and then from the threshold it finally went up to the mount of Olives — departed altogether; that corresponds with what we have here. I think we should take notice of the angelic shining, that is, angels are instruments of God’s judicial dealings.
RWS He addresses them as “Brethren and fathers”. Is that the point? He judges it himself.
JT Yes, they are still in relation to God, but their attitude towards this final appeal makes them reprobate: there is no more hope. Paul says, “but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost”,
1 Thessalonians 2: 16. Before it is executed, we get this wonderful indictment of the whole position, the whole history of Israel.
CAM So really our position today is in Galilee, because the Jerusalem setting has received this indictment. In the end of Matthew that is the position in which we see the Lord. “But the eleven disciples went into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had appointed them”, Matthew 28: 16.
JT In Luke the city is still recognised, but not in Matthew. In Matthew the meeting place is in Galilee. That confirms what we are saying. Matthew has the overthrow of Jerusalem in mind, and the angel “came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his look was as lightning”.
JH In dealing with the sin of Achan, “My son, give, I pray thee, glory to Jehovah the God of Israel”, Joshua 7: 19. Is that the judicial glory that you spoke of?
JT Quite so. It is a judicial matter. It attaches to everyone as we separate, as we withdraw, from iniquity. Judicial glory shines there. We do not take account of that enough. It is a very important matter, because it strengthens you in your position:
[p. 63] the glory attaches to you in the position; the withdrawal is based on a clear understanding of the guilt you are leaving.
EP Glory comes into view in Ezekiel 10:5. “And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh”. Do you think that in Stephen’s powerful testimony here there is something of that? “The voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh”.
JT Quite so. What an address it is, beginning with the God of glory and carrying the thought right through until he calls attention to the glory of God on high and Jesus standing there!
JTT Is it not important in going over these matters judicially that we begin at the beginning and come on to the present moment? “O stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers, ye also”. He brought them forward to what they were doing then.
JT Yes. They “gnashed their teeth against him”. That is in general the kind of service that Stephen’s represents. It arises from a man who purchases to himself a good degree and great boldness in the faith. He purchased it, he acquired it, through self-sacrifice, self-denial. It is what one may acquire in one’s way of dealing with oneself.
JTT The Lord in speaking about a disciple, says, “For which of you, desirous of building a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost”, Luke 14: 28.
JT Quite so. Philip, as has been remarked, is not a martyr: he is never seen as a martyr specially; he is an evangelist, the only one called that, which is a very significant matter. I think in Stephen you see one line of service and glory attached to it; the other is that of an evangelist, and glory is attached to that, and the Spirit of God makes so much of it,
[p. 64] not only guiding Philip, but taking him on, rapturing him, and showing how delightful a servant may become who is amenable to the guidance of heaven.
JRH What do you say about his being one of the scattered ones? “Those then that had been scattered”.
JT The point is he has no commission. As far as facts go he is a deacon, he has no other commission. He also purchased to himself a good degree, and becomes a very attractive man, an evangelist. You get more appellations of the gospel in this chapter than in any chapter of the Bible. I do not profess to understand much about evangelisation; the idea is one of the most delightful to heaven.
CAM One thing is evident, he was not a platform man. He was a very movable man. It says, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that announceth glad tidings” (Isaiah 52: 7); they are not beautiful on the platform, because you are not using them. He moved about marvellously.
JWD There is not much unofficial visiting. Would you encourage our young brethren to move about unofficially visiting the brethren? Meetings for ministry and that sort of thing?
JT Quite so. And to places that are not very attractive in themselves; Samaria was a rival to Jerusalem. It would not be attractive, a rival to Jerusalem, as we know from John 4. So that a young brother, or any brother who visits of himself, might go to a place which hitherto had not been very favourable towards him. That requires self-negation. We must learn to commit ourselves to the brethren, not trust to our attractiveness, but seek to find out how the brethren regard us, seek to meet their wishes and desires.
WR Philip would be prepared to come to martyrdom.
JT The Spirit of God has already occupied us [p. 65] with a martyr. Now I want you to see a man who is very attractive in himself, the only one called an evangelist, so that I may get some idea of what an evangelist is, a man that the Spirit of God loved, He raptured him. What does that mean? He caught him away, we are told. The Spirit of God must have been greatly pleased with him.
SMcC The idea of rapturing him away, how would that work out?
JT “And Philip was found at Azotus”. What enjoyment he had in the meantime we are not told. What kind of a time did he have with the Spirit?
SMcC I would like help on it. Have you ever been raptured away?
JT I should not like to say that. There is such a thing as having a time with the Spirit.
SMcC I was wondering whether it is workable in these days.
JT Certainly it is. The Spirit is so pleased with your service. It is a perfect bit of service, an evangelist’s service. The word ‘evangelist’ is written over the whole chapter.
JRH How would you compare this with Paul being taken up to the third heaven?
JT Something like that, of course. That was elevation. What a time he had with God then! “Whether in the body or out of the body I know not, God knows”. He had to do with God.
APT Peter had an ecstasy. These men get something.
JT What kind of experiences did they have? What experience did Philip have when he was caught away and was found somewhere else, what time elapsed, what territory was covered, what experience did he have? We are left to think of that, we are not told.
CAM The word ‘evangelist’ has ‘angel’ in it.
[p. 66] A remarkable supernatural affair — he was more like an angel than the ordinary person.
JT The point is to get the thought of being with the Spirit of God, of the Spirit of God taking hold of you. What an experience it is! John says, “I became in the Spirit on the Lord’s day”, Revelation 1: 10.
CAM I think some of us feel in connection with that, we are often too orthodox, too set, and God does not want us to be like that, do you think?
JT I think we are to be amenable to spiritual influence. We know there is spiritualism and we know that its followers are amenable to spiritual influence. The believer is to be amenable to spiritual influence, the Spirit taking hold of him. What an experience that must be! You are outside of yourself.
SMcC It was not that he was coming down off the platform, it was when he was coming up out of the water, suggesting there would be abnegation of what is attaching to ourselves, to our condition.
JT A remarkable thing. He went down with the eunuch, and he began at the same scripture to preach unto him Jesus. “He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and was as a sheep dumb before her shearers, and he opened not his mouth. He was taken from oppression and from judgment; and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living”. That is something that could be said of nobody else. Jesus’ life is unique, by itself, wholly of itself and by itself; there is nothing like it before, or since, or ever. A state of manhood for a few years which never existed before, and never again, that is taken away.
JRH Are you linking up this thought of being caught away with the Lord’s life being taken from the earth?
JT Yes, I should.
JWD What do you say about the “Spirit of the Lord”? Something like the end of 2 Corinthians 3 — a category of spiritual blessing?
JT You are alluding to Acts 8: 39. “But when they came up out of the water the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, and the eunuch saw him no longer, for he went on his way rejoicing”. The “Spirit of the Lord” is akin to “the Lord is the Spirit, but where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”. There was authority in it, because he was in service, but it was no less than the Spirit in the sense of the Spirit Himself who did it. There is authority in it. He was found at Azotus and he continued to serve. What an experience this was, to come back out of that state and serve again!
DeB Elijah became discouraged and he was taken away. He had done a great service.
JT He was taken up to heaven, you mean? It is the same idea: he was raptured. We are going to be raptured, too, presently. The point is to be pleasing to the Lord. If I am a Stephen, or a Philip or any of these scattered saints, the point is to be pleasing to heaven. To rapture emphasises what is pleasurable.
WW How well heaven is pleased. First the angel and then the Spirit, showing what one taking up that service has at his disposal.
JT How well he did it. The Spirit was so pleased with him that He raptures him.
APT It says of Enoch “he has the testimony that he had pleased God”, Hebrews 11:5.
JT He was the first one translated. The idea is that he pleased God. Here it is an evangelist that pleased God. Another thing, he had four daughters who prophesied. They did not sit back and say we are prophetesses, but they did the thing. That is what marks Philip — he does the thing. He went down to Samaria and “preached the Christ to them”.
These women, his daughters, do the thing, they prophesy.
WR Have you in mind that the saints should take on these moral qualities in view of the rapture?
JT That is the point the Lord is stressing — what is to be raptured is what is pleasing to heaven.
RWS We might be pleased if we were asked to preach in a big meeting.
JT That is it. He has a big field, he has Samaria; but he is sent to the desert to speak to one man, and that a black man.
SMcC And he ran there, too.
JT The Spirit told him to do it and he did it.
CB Would some consider that a reduction instead of a promotion?
JT It might appear to be a reduction, but it is a promotion. It is what a man purchased to himself a good degree and great boldness in the faith. “For those who shall have ministered well obtain for themselves a good degree, and much boldness in faith which is in Christ Jesus”, 1 Timothy 3: 13. You are not looking to the brethren to make much of you. They will make much of you if you are worth it.
WL So that Philip going down into the water with the eunuch is important.
JT Very. He identifies himself with the eunuch; he is not a cleric, he is suitable to the Spirit of God.
CAM This is one of the sermons that is printed. He could not have had any idea of it at the time he gave it. The Spirit puts on record a verbatim statement of the preaching. I take it it is a very great distinction.
JT Quite so.
JRH What do you mean — a verbatim account?
CAM To the Athenians there is a verbatim statement in chapter 17. But what Philip said of Christ was all summed up in one word.
JT He [p. 69] preached Jesus.
CAM It was not one of these platform affairs taken down. God is making His own records.
JT Philip preached Christ to the Samaritans, but he preached Jesus to the eunuch. He is a true servant. You take a man according to how you find him. What is he occupied with? He is not reading the newspaper, he is not reading a monthly magazine, he is reading the Bible. That is an important matter. Brethren who travel in cars or subways should read the Bible, or something like it.
APT It is much easier to read now than then. Undoubtedly he would have to unroll the scroll. God has made the Scriptures very easy to read.
JT You can put a Bible in your pocket. It is like a flag put up, to read the Bible. And Philip says, “Dost thou then know what thou art reading of?”
Acts 8: 30. One might ask that of anyone reading the Bible today, it is so little understood.
APT There was a double portion for God in it. God was so pleased with this eunuch.
JT Instead of allowing him to come into contact with what was at Jerusalem, He prepared Philip to meet him. It is the skill of heaven in selecting a man to meet this particular man.
WW Would not that work today?
JT God is preparing men to hear the word of God, and He is preparing men to preach it.
The next phase of our subject is how a local company can serve a man whom God is going to use in the service; what part a local company has in that. When Paul came to this town, could the brethren help him? He would be ready to listen to them if they had anything to say of any value. So you get with Paul this sort of thing. He listens to Ananias; and at Antioch the brethren let him go, they let him go from the local company to preach, to serve. Then when he is going up to Jerusalem finally, the Spirit witnesses to him in every city — meaning that in [p. 70] every city the saints said something to him. The Spirit had means of addressing him in every city, because the Spirit spoke through the brethren that he was going to suffer in Jerusalem. He was a man of that kind; he would listen to the local brethren as he passed through.
CAM He would gather impressions in the local settings.
JT It was all in keeping with his own ministry. He introduced this idea of local companies. Now God is using them to testify to him that he should not go up to Jerusalem. So the Lord, in order to bring this out, goes before Saul to prepare Ananias so that he could speak well, and He is preparing Saul to hear Ananias. I believe this is going on all the time, God preparing men to hear the word of God, and preparing men to speak it at the same time. It is a question of being prepared for the occasion every time you preach.
APT When you are preaching the gospel yourself, what is in your thoughts from Monday morning to the next Lord’s day evening? Are you preparing a sermon?
JT Oh, no, I never would do that. That would take the matter out of the Lord’s hands. He will prepare you just as you are going, as He did here, He prepared Ananias and Philip. He prepares you for the service.
JRH You prepare yourself?
JT Quite so. You do not want to go too far ahead. You had better wait until you are in the assembly and you will get something.
EF You would not want to stay away from the Lord’s day afternoon meeting to prepare to preach the gospel?
JT I should not. I should be ashamed if anybody found me staying at home.
BM Is it essential to mention the brother who [p. 71] is going to preach so that he is going to be prepared?
JT He ought to know before the morning meeting. That is the way things are given out.
CAM Philip could not have chosen his scripture. His scripture was found for him.
JT Quite so. I find it very good in a brother’s house, or in my own house, before the preaching, to have prayer in the house for the gospel, either at the tea-table or immediately before the gospel meeting. If you are upstairs, you will get a word from the Lord while they are praying. I believe the brethren would do well to pay attention to this. We are all in it. If you go to the room, a few go, but if we have it in our houses, a great many pray.
RWS What would you say to God about the preaching of the gospel in churches and chapels, in systems as we speak?
JT We ask Him to do things which are very awkward for Him to do. They are not normal, these preachings, and yet, of course, God uses them. But what we have in all these chapters is what is normal, precedents for us. The book of Acts is a book of precedents for saints, not legal precepts, but precedents. You see how things were done. There is a certain authority about it. Well, you say, look how Philip was, so simple. Look how the Lord prepared Ananias immediately before he served Saul! Why could the Lord not come to me an hour before the preaching? He can do that, He wants us to be with Him in that way.
HD Is there any objection to praying both in the house and in the room?
JT I think praying in the house is best.
JWD You would ask a brother to preach twice running or three times running. I believe most of us are beginning to recognise that it is normal, but in localities where we are scattered, [p. 72] it is difficult to operate.
JT Why is it difficult? You mean the brethren have to travel too far?
JWD In our own localities, so few can preach well enough to preach three times.
JT The general thought of that is Paul at Thessalonica, he went in among the brethren three sabbath days; he opened and laid down the truth, he preached on three sabbaths. It seems to me that is a sort of precedent for us. Three gives you opportunity for complete testimony.
CAM Might I allude to the brother’s remark about praying in the house, as you stress it? As Peter set out on that wonderful evangelisation of the gentiles, he went up to the house-top. It is a specific house named of the Spirit — the counterpart of that was also going on housewise in the way of prayer in Cornelius’ house, not in the temple.
JT There is a remarkable movement going on. Peter went up while they were preparing downstairs, they were getting dinner. That is the setting of the thing. It is all very practical. Household prayer is very practical. Sisters can have part in it. Special prayer meetings in the room are sparsely attended, but in the house we can all join in. I notice the Lord honours it.
DeB It is a day where there is opportunity for obscure service on evangelical lines. We are in danger of giving that up and a little more occupied with preaching in the room. Do the work of an evangelist — like the little maid in Naaman’s house.
JT There is nothing about a room in Philip’s service, so that young men do not need to wait to be asked to preach. That is the lesson to be learned from this. You can go out in the open air and preach, and preach to individuals as well.
WL So Philip went down; he is not asked to go [p. 73] down.
RC Is it right to preach in another locality if you are not preaching in your own?
JT Philip did not preach in his own locality. Philip belonged to Caesarea. What is in your mind?
RC With regard to the gospel, does it start with the confidence of the brethren in your locality before you go into the service?
JT That would come into our next inquiry in chapter 13. What the brethren think of you, there is nothing of that kind raised so far in regard of Philip. We must assume that he was in good standing at Jerusalem.
Now we have already come to Paul, then later in chapter 13 we have instruction in regard of a local gathering of saints in regard to those who serve. Hence the Lord’s word to Saul here, “But rise up and enter into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do”. The Authorised Version has Paul’s question as to this, but it is not in the original. In chapter 22: 10 we have Saul saying to the Lord, “What shall I do?” but it is not in this chapter. Because in this chapter, what is to be learned is that if a young man is to serve, the Lord says you must go to the brethren, you must have regard to the brethren. Saul does not ask the question here, “What shall I do?” It is the Lord’s own side that is mentioned. He is telling the young potential servant not to neglect the brethren; go to the brethren, they will tell you what to do. You must regard the local brethren.
JRH In that regard, something has been said about having a desire to preach in the open air. Would it not be wise to speak to another brother in the locality, and tell him your exercise and seek his support?
JT I think the Lord means in this chapter that the young servant is to be told things by the brethren. First he has got to learn to be subject to the brethren [p. 74] and to learn from the brethren. Paul says of some, “who were also in Christ before me”, Romans 16: 7.
AHP Would this guard against independence, so common amongst us, and the assumption of right to move out on independent lines?
RH Would you say one who commits himself to the Lord does it also to the brethren? They cannot do as they like; it is subjection on their part.
JT That is important. On the other hand, if the brethren say you must not go out to preach until they tell you, that is wrong. If the brethren assume they control the servant, that is not right. The Lord says, “But rise up and enter into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do”. He does not mention the local brethren, but He is going to see to it that a man should tell him what to do. He is prepared to do some particular service to Paul. Hence, when we come to chapter 13, “The Holy Spirit said, Separate me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (verse 2). The assembly did not send them out, they laid their hands on them and let them go. There are two sides to Paul’s position; the first is he is told what to do — whatever it was we are not told — not that you are to preach, or that you are not fit to preach. It was the necessary thing for the moment; it carried with it that Saul must learn from other people.
HM There was a twofold service in that way. Ananias learned something and so did Saul.
JT Quite so.
RWS A brother was asked to preach in Summit. Because he had not preached locally, he would not preach. Is that a principle — a brother must be asked to preach locally first?
JT Was he able to preach?
RWS We thought he should be able to preach.
JWD In a large meeting, a young brother could get little or no chance to speak, but when he comes to [p. 75] a small meeting like London (Ontario), we are glad to open the door.
RC It seems a matter of confidence with your brethren. “Standing up with the eleven”, Acts 2: 14.
JT It is a question of what a man can do, then the idea of fellowship; we are now on the line of the assembly. The first thing seems to me, as to a service, that it is entirely from the Lord in this chapter. Saul is not asking the Lord in this matter, that is Saul’s side. This young man must learn from others, great as he is and great as he is going to be, he has got to learn from others. It is a wholesome matter to start with. Then the facts show that he was with them at Damascus. “And he was with the disciples who were in Damascus certain days”. That seems to be the order; he is adjusted by what Ananias says to him. It refers to his state of soul. It is not a question of his commission or what he is going to do in service, but to get his soul right, get himself right.
JRH Being subject to his brethren?
JT Learning the truth from them about his needs, being baptised and all that. And then he is with them certain days. “And straightway in the synagogues he preached Jesus that he is the Son of God”. That is the order of the service in relation to the local company.
AES He preached a good sermon: “Jesus that he is the Son of God”.
JT Quite so.
APT All this would help us in our relations with the servants; the brethren being greater than the servant. Can you go into a locality and feel you are somebody, and, if the brethren do not ask you to preach, that they are missing something?
CAM I suppose a man coming in like that could not preach the Son of God with any power.
JT [p. 76] It is remarkable comparing this with Philip. Philip preached Christ; that is, the One who does things for God. But Paul preaches “Jesus that he is the Son of God” in the synagogues. He does not ask the brethren about that. He straightway went in and preached, but he is with the brethren first.
WL It is interesting they both preached about a Person. Paul says, “For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus Lord”, 2 Corinthians 4: 5.
JT Quite so. I think it is clear from these facts that the young servant has got to learn from the brethren, be adjusted in his soul, and be with them certain days, however many, and then he enters into the synagogue and preaches. He does not ask them to let him go. I do not think it is ever intended that the brethren are to control servants.
TH I have long been exercised why there is so little result from the preaching of the gospel amongst us. Could you suggest any reason?
JT There is a good deal of result.
TH There is very little apparent result.
JT I would not say that. There were two hundred persons blessed lately in Australia that I heard of. The truth of the matter is that the present day work of God is carried on in relation to the assemblies. That is, in relation to what is pleasing to God; they are being added to. I may say that every second letter I get tells of certain ones being blessed. All over the world there is a great deal of work going on, but it is God adding to what there is, as we get here. Fifty years ago there were brethren who went out and broke up new ground; there is not much of that now, not that there is not the ability to do that. It seems as if the Lord is moving and enlarging what there is. There are constant additions: there are more gatherings now than there were fifty years ago, more gatherings and larger meetings; that is the thing to look at. It is a day of small things. Too, there is [p. 77] not much energy. It is well to know the facts of the case.
JTT In not attracting public attention to ourselves, increase is more delightful to heaven.
JT We get the idea of adding all the way through; first adding (Acts 2: 41), and then “the Lord added to the assembly daily those that were to be saved”, Acts 2:47. He did not leave one out, you may be sure of that.
CAM I do not think we have any gauge as to what God is doing. As you look along the rows here before you, you see many brethren that were converted recently, many are not very old.
JT This is what comes out in these chapters; we have to wait until we come to Antioch before the word ‘assembly’ is used in Paul’s ministry. “And so it was with them that for a whole year they were gathered together in the assembly and taught a large crowd: and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch”. Now we have assembly formation, teaching in the assembly; this is a new thought: we do not get it in Damascus, we get it here for the first time.
WR As a result, you might say, of taking on the features of Christ.
JT You can see how the matter stood. The scattered ones went there, they preached to Jews only, others went further, there is enlargement; we are told they “entering into Antioch spoke to the Greeks also, announcing the glad tidings of the Lord Jesus. And the Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord”, (verses 20, 21). That is how the matter stands now. Paul comes on the scene, and he and Barnabas for a whole year were teaching in the assembly. That is the next part of the service — teaching in the assembly. I believe it is very largely the kind of teaching we have now; all the ministry is in that [p. 78] connection, teaching in the assembly. Some may be present who are a part of the crowd, they have never understood the assembly, what it is to stand in relation to the assembly. The crowd is distinct from the assembly.
RWS In a large crowd there are those called out who would form the assembly.
JT Paul is present. A whole year is spent in that sort of service. They were first called Christians there.
WL Do you think the teaching carries with it the idea of completing the material being built in?
JT Quite so. They were teaching in the assembly. John enlarges on this, calling attention to the Lord who “seeing them following, says to them, What seek ye? And they said to him, Rabbi ... where abidest thou? He says to them, Come and see. They went therefore, and saw where he abode; and they abode with him that day”, John 1: 38, 39. Teaching in the place where they abode, teaching in the assembly, would mean they gather up assembly thoughts.
HB Like the end of Revelation — “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify these things to you in the assemblies”, Revelation 22: 16?
JT Quite so. The result is, “Now there were in Antioch, in the assembly which was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manaen, foster brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul”. That is what they had; what an assembly it was with such men! The year’s work was resultful, so that God has something now in a locality far away from Jerusalem; there is no apostle there yet. Paul and Barnabas are not yet apostles. The whole matter is carried on and completed without the help of an apostle. It is a question of the work of God in this way.
EF [p. 79] You remarked that Paul and Barnabas were not yet apostles.
JT Not yet.
EF When did Paul become an apostle?
JT Right here. They are both called apostles. Later on they are sent out, that is the meaning of it; but they are sent out from this place called the assembly, which is there at Antioch.
EP The starting point of the apostles would be important. I mean Peter said, “beginning from the baptism of John until the day in which he was taken up from us, one of these should be a witness with us of his resurrection”, Acts 1: 22. That is the basis of their apostleship, whereas Paul gets his starting-point from Antioch.
JT It is a question of honouring what he and Barnabas did, teaching for a whole year in the assembly; the word ‘assembly’ is used in that way for the first time.
JWD Do you think that there is a spiritual arrangement of the names here? The first and the last were selected.
JT Barnabas is mentioned first. I suppose he had distinction as sent out from Jerusalem: he is more or less a delegate from Jerusalem, he had that place. Saul is mentioned last, which would mean it was just what he was. Barnabas comes first, it was what he is officially, he was sent out from Jerusalem, he had a certain authority. But in Saul’s case it was not that he had any commission from Jerusalem; he had a commission, he understood, from the Lord, but as yet not commissioned in the work. What a lowly man! Wherever you place him, it is all right.
CAM In past history he was always the first named. He was above others.
JRH What do you say about his being now one of the prophets and [p. 80] teachers?
JT Well, he was. He had that place in Antioch with Barnabas. It is to bring out what was there, and the assembly there, how ornamented it was That spiritual personages so qualified that the Holy Spirit could take them and honour them — “Separate me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them”. The Spirit had made a selection, the first and the last.
RWS Is that what the cycle of time brings out with this teaching in the assembly?
JT Quite so. The year was well spent. Instead of going out preaching further, they were consolidating ground here. Consolidation means the assembly.
CAM The whole year is the entire period, like the acceptable year.
JT Quite so.
RWS There is much made of the apostle’s time. His life is so many months here and there, eighteen months and three months there.
JT I think it is the life of a servant, how it is spent.
RAL “They then who had been scattered abroad”, in chapter 11: 19 — is that the brethren, not exactly in relation to the service?
JT It is just to bring out what you might call their accidental position: they are scattered by the devil from Jerusalem, they are not giving up, they are not drooping, they are keeping on with the work of God, to show the life that was there, the energy that was there, and how God honoured them.
JRH In regard of stated periods connected with the beginning of things, you would hardly look for a gift today to stay in a place for eighteen months.
JT It is all a precedent for us. Paul was in Caesarea two years a prisoner, and more than that in Rome. His life is divided up as though God was pleased with it, like David’[p. 81] s life.
SMcC It is remarkable on the whole how much is made of this great vessel — his hands, his eyes, his bowels, his mouth, his voice; how pleasing he must have been to the Lord!
JT Quite so. How pleasurable he must have been! And then the years of his life. David’s life, for forty years, three or four great prophets are used to write about it, showing how pleasurable it was to God.
APT The sacrificial service he mentions in Romans, is that the other side — what God gets out of the service, a general offering up?
JT Quite so. And then the offering up of the nations: that is what he had in mind.