INTELLIGENCE IN THE ASSEMBLY
INTELLIGENCE IN THE ASSEMBLY
Luke 24:27; Luke 24:44 - 46; 1 Corinthians 14: 14 - 20
JT I had before me the thought of the intelligence that God intended should mark the assembly as it is constituted here on earth at the present time. The idea of an assembly is that it is composed of intelligent persons.
H We sang in our hymn, ‘Give us a child’s simplicity’ (479:1); does that contradict your thought?
JT A little child is one who learns, who is impressionable, and learns. “As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word”, Peter says; there is no reproach in that, but there is a reproach in the word ‘babes’ in this epistle, it implies that the saints had not gone on. Luke 24 contemplates the public body; John 20, which is the corresponding passage, contemplates what is within. The disciples were again within, it says, but Luke has in view the public assembly, and hence the place the Scriptures have. We might have read from Ephesians, which also enlarges on the thought of intelligence, but it would carry our subject beyond our time. Ephesians would show the divine thought that those who form the assembly should have the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God, the eyes of our understanding being enlightened, all in view of us being formed for heavenly places.
Ques How is the intelligence you refer to obtained?
JT There are two things in Luke 24 which have a bearing on the house. The first is the exposition the Lord gives of the Scriptures. Then secondly He opened the understanding of the disciples that they might understand the Scriptures, and the way they treat of Himself. In a corresponding passage in 1 Corinthians 2 the apostle says, “even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God”, and further, “we have the mind of Christ”, 1 Corinthians 2: 11, 16. So that we are furnished from God with all that is requisite for spiritual understanding.
Ques Would the manifestation between the two expositions in Luke 24 have any bearing?
JT Yes, a very great bearing. It does not appear that the first exposition the Lord gave altered the course of the two. There are those who enjoy expositions of Scripture and their course is not altered, nor their associations changed, but the manifestation of the Lord in Emmaus in the breaking of bread led to a movement toward the assembly. The Scriptures cannot be understood save by those in the light of the assembly. The manifestation had the effect of their returning to Jerusalem and there they find the eleven and those with them. Then they relate what had taken place, and the Lord comes in and says, “It is I myself”, and it is in the light of His appearing that we have the Scriptures divided so that they become intelligible to us: “that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me”. The law of Moses represents the authority of God, His rights. One has to begin there, no one can arrive at an understanding of what is becoming in the assembly, save as he sees how the rights of God are fully maintained and expressed in Christ. “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day”. So the law of Moses read in the light of Christ risen represents the authority of God in our souls. Then the prophets impress us with the patience of God. One needs to know the patience of God if one is to reach the Psalms, because, if we seek to answer to the rights of God, we soon discover that we have to draw on His patience. One of the most interesting [p. 3] things found in Scripture is the patience of God. The Psalms themselves testify to this feature, and as I said, if we do not know patience we shall not reach the Psalms. So that is how the Scriptures are to be read if we are to be spiritually intelligent; they are to be read in the light of Christ risen.
RSP You do not get the Psalms in verse 27.
JT Well, they are included in “all the scriptures”, but their omission is a mark of spiritual exactitude. People who have their backs to Jerusalem have no psalms that God can take account of. They were going through an experience of dejection, and their faces were away from Jerusalem where divine interest was centred.
PL So you get in Isaiah 66: 13, “ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem”; there is no dejection there.
EP Do we make psalms of our own as the result of this intelligence?
JT The Psalms are a wonderful storehouse. God greatly honours saints in that He draws from that storehouse to build up the testimony to the greatness of Christ.
G In the “things concerning himself”, you apprehend Christ as set forth in Scripture.
JT Where can we get an apprehension of Christ risen if we do not understand Scripture? How many things one could refer to in a moment to show how true that is!
AN What you have been saying will be seen in the remnant eventually. “They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward”, Jeremiah 50: 5. They have had proof of the patience of God, and are now moving on to the Psalms, so to speak.
JT Yes. Hosea 6: 1 contemplates they should return. “Come, and let us return unto the Lord”. Then in verse 3, “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain,
[p. 4] as the latter and former rain unto the earth”. That is what comes within the range of one who is truly desirous of knowing. As light comes into the soul, you see what God has effected on the third day; you move on. You are not stationary, you follow on to know, and that brings out the movements of Christ. How many apprehend them? “His going forth”, Hosea says. He is moving in relation to all the thoughts of God; every thought of God is to be fully expressed in the day, so His going forth is as the morning dawn. Spiritually you see every divine thought becoming verified in Christ, and the heart is full of hope as the fulfilment of all these thoughts is the end to which we are going. Colossians and Ephesians take account of Christ in that way in relation to the thoughts of God, to the mystery. This principle of following on to know is important. As knowing and made to live before the face of God there is power for movement, and you come to see that His going forth is as the morning dawn. Wonderful things come into view, filling your heart with hope. “He shall come unto us as the rain”: His coming unto us shows what an interest He has in us.
Ques Are these movements assembly-wise?
JT Yes. You begin to see them as you follow on. The present dispensation is a dispensation of movement on His part, as well as on ours. The Lord’s appearings after He rose suggest a dispensation of movement. Freshness in the assembly is in mind. He comes to us as the latter rain, shedding refreshment on us, but that is dependent on following on to know.
Rem In the end of John’s gospel you have, “follow thou me”, John 21: 22. Does the thought of following run through the dispensation?
JT John gives three manifestations; Paul gives six appearings, and Matthew, Mark, and Luke give a variety of additional appearings. John in the first [p. 5] two manifestations in chapter 20 has in view a weekly experience, they were on the first and the eighth day; the third manifestation is in chapter 21; we do not know on what day it occurred as it is not a question of a spiritual or assembly experience as the two others were. It has reference to recovery, not of the whole body, but of leading brothers who went astray. Luke has in view the recovery of the most insignificant persons who, we might consider, are of no note. But the public assembly requires every believer, the least as well as the greatest, so they have to be brought back. One, it says, “named Cleopas”; he was not like Peter, for instance, well known to every one, but the Lord thought it worth while to travel sixty furlongs to bring him back.
Ques What is the force of the second manifestation in John 20?
JT The disciples are again within. The exact day is given to show that the Lord is thinking of the experience of the assembly. None of the other gospel writers gives exact dates. It shows too the Lord would take account of any absentees from the first manifestation.
PSP Is this chapter in Luke an illustration of how He deals with us individually to set us in assembly conditions?
JT Yes.
AN The two set out themselves for Jerusalem, though they had said it was too late for the Lord.
JT Yes, they set out the same hour. It is well worthy of note. The Lord in His work of recovery would not overlook the humblest of the people of God when the public body is in view.
PL So “I have much people in this city”.
JT Yes, all are to be sought out, and if they come back they are to be intelligent.
EP It says “that same day” (verse 13). Is there anything in the fact that all takes place [p. 6] then?
JT It shows the wonderful activity of grace. Things are all done at once; God does not put off. The seraphim flew in Isaiah 6. Thomas was absent from the first meeting in John 20 and he had to learn during the week what he had missed.
— M. As we take account of the Lord’s movements we shall be exercised to get something fresh every time we come together.
JT Yes. He comes to us as rain.
Rem We see Him going forth as the morning.
JT Yes. First in relation to the thoughts of God, then in relation to the saints.
JCMW Would the first be in connection with the exposition of Scripture?
JT It would be more than that, though it includes it. The morning dawn would include the effectuation of all the divine thoughts in Christ.
FW Spiritual intelligence largely depends on the apprehension of resurrection as in Hosea.
JT Yes, we are made to live before God in the resurrection of Christ on the third day. He is risen and would set the disciples in movement in regard to spiritual intelligence as there is much more beyond. You observe He is never seen sitting in these appearings, as the end is not reached.
Ques Are all His activities in view of the assembly getting the gain?
JT Yes; the disciples come in, in the light of Christ risen. “It is I myself”. He is now apprehended as risen, and they are to be set in movement here in the intelligence which should mark those who form the assembly publicly. The Scriptures provide a basis for what is authoritative; the study of Scripture is in the light of Christ risen, and the understanding He gives has in view the setting up of a public body here representative of God. They know what to do, they know the position as it is. Wonderful that the Jewish remnant should have part in this;
[p. 7] the Scriptures are instrumental in severing them from the accredited religion of the world. Those led into the light would use the Scriptures with powerful effect in delivering the Jews from their present position. How effectively would a scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven use Genesis, which abounds with types of the assembly, for the deliverance of the Jews from Judaism. The gentile, too, would be reached. We are told that Jacob fled into Syria, and Israel served for a wife and for a wife he kept sheep. That would be understood, showing the Jews the divine thought extending beyond themselves, and showing the gentiles that they were in the mind of God even in Genesis. They were to form part of the assembly.
PL The Syrophenician woman would come in in that way.
JT Quite so. Here in this chapter we want to see the place the Scriptures have in the constitution of the assembly. You know where you are. You have in the right understanding of the Scriptures, an authoritative groundwork for all you do. This chapter shows how the assembly as a public body is to be instructed by the Lord directly. The assembly is God’s and He has a right to speak there.
M In the recovery of the truth there is the place Scripture has and the place the Lord has, to be taken account of.
JT In 1 Corinthians the truth of the Supper is introduced, and then the body, then love, and the exercise of gift. In ministry you have God speaking, particularly in prophetic ministry.
WSS Peter speaks of the writings of Paul in 2 Peter 3: 15.
JT He recognises that Paul’s letters were Scripture. Peter tends to unify the work of God by writing to the Jews of the dispersion, who had been scattered, and he reminds them that Paul’s letters [p. 8] were Scripture. But what I was thinking of was the assembly convened, which the first letter to the Corinthians contemplates, and how room is made for divine communications. My impression is that the tendency in assembly occasions is to overlook the divine right to speak. I believe the tendency is growing among saints, unconsciously perhaps, to view such meetings as the place where saints speak to God. Now, it is intended that saints should speak to God, but it is never intended that our speaking to God should shut out His speaking to us. If God comes in, and He will come in, there will be something that will greatly enhance what I may have to say to Him. Rain coming into my soul (referring to our scripture in Hosea) greatly invigorates me and accentuates what I have got. I fear the tendency is to make no provision for God speaking; people come without their Bibles, and do so deliberately. They say it is not a time for the Bible, only for the hymn book.
Ques Do you refer to the morning meeting?
JT It is not so called. The ‘assembly’ is the word used. In the early days they met in the evening apparently. The word is “in assembly”. The breaking of bread is spoken of in Acts 20. It is God’s assembly and there should be the full recognition of the rights of God; it is where He can speak. It is a denial of the rights of God in the assembly, if we say we should not have a word on that occasion.
PL “He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth”, Hosea 6: 3.
JT The rain comes into the soul and it enhances what may be there, and freshens and enlarges it; a word from God instructs you.
AN We may have a tendency to go from one extreme to another. There was a time when a word given in the assembly was corrective in character and [p. 9] had relation to the wilderness; now, it may be, no room is given for a word at all.
JT Of course there is to be no licence for the activity of our wills. We simply want to get the right principle that governs the assembly. The assembly is God’s and He speaks, and we should expect it and make room for it. In the end of each gospel, what is emphasised is what the Lord says. The Lord is not here corporeally now; He comes in in a spiritual way, and if He speaks He speaks through selected vessels. The assembly is furnished with these, and gift will be there, if desired, particularly prophecy.
ELM How would you distinguish between what is prophetic and what is expository?
JT A prophetic word would bring God into the consciences of saints, and He is identified with His word as in Hebrews 4. This does not at all interfere with the outflow of worship; it rather enhances it, if there is a worshipful condition.
FGW Would the Psalms help us in regard to the assembly on the line of intelligence?
JT Oh yes. Take Psalm 45, “I speak of the things which I have made touching the king”. Someone has made something; he has got it fresh; what an asset that is!
PL The queen would profit by all she heard about the king.
JT Yes.
MO Would a prophetic word connect you with Christ?
JT Yes, quite so.
PL The heading of Psalm 45 is “An instruction — a song of the Beloved”.
JT That is very good.
WW “Where there is no vision, the people perish”, [p. 10] Proverbs 29: 18.
JT Yes, that is very good.
PSP A word spoken would not be of an individual character, but one expressive of the mind of God at the moment.
JT Yes, a word spoken in the grace of the Head. If we see it is God’s assembly, we shall recognise that He will speak according to what is needed. It is a question of what may exist and He knows. Here He had to allay their fears. We may give out beautiful hymns and say nice things, but the Lord is concerned as to what lies behind. There might be a very low state, a very worldly state, and yet saints can give out hymns in a formal way. Generally speaking, if a word is given, one would look for something in the grace of the Head in the way of refreshment.
M Something that would give the Lord His true place in our hearts. J.N.D. used to say he knew the state of the meeting by what the Lord gave him.
Ques Would you say there was something wrong if a company had not had a word for a year?
JT I should certainly think so.
G You spoke of God speaking through selected vessels.
JT Yes. He does select His vessels. It says in referring to the gifts, that He set certain in the assembly, the ones fitted to speak, no doubt.
Rem If one had no gift, would he be precluded from giving a word on that account?
JT Oh no, not at all. But if you give the Lord His place, gifts are provided; that is part of the furnishing. If you leave it with God He will select His vessels. He had to take up a woman in John’s day; not that that would be suitable now.
AN We have thought of ministry Godward in relation to the assembly; what you are now speaking of is ministry manward. Is there the ascending and descending, as when the thought of the house was first introduced (Genesis 28: 12)?
JT [p. 11] That is good, that was the first thing in connection with the house.
PL In John 20 you have, “I ascend”, and later, “I also send”. Might not a word given in the grace of the Head provide the furnishing in regard to sending? Solomon rose up from before the altar, and stood and blessed the whole congregation (1 Kings 8: 54, 55).
JT Yes, and David dealt to every one of Israel “a loaf of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine”, 1 Chronicles 16: 3. There is the thought of God’s bounty; you go out richer than when you came in.
FW Is gift open to desire?
JT Yes, it is there to be had. The Lord has plenty to give, if we make room for it. “Desire earnestly the greater gifts”, the apostle says, and he adds, “but rather that ye may prophesy”, 1 Corinthians 12: 31; 1 Corinthians 14: 1.