THE PRECIOUSNESS OF THE ASSEMBLY
Matthew 13:45,46; Genesis 24:1-4, 10-25, 54-58; Revelation 21:2; 2:1-7
I seek to speak of the assembly and its preciousness, particularly to divine Persons. The assembly is the most precious vessel on earth and in heaven. I desire to convey an impression that the assembly is the most precious of any group of persons that you could think of on the face of the earth, or in heaven. Anyone here who is sheltered by the precious blood of Jesus, and is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, has the great blessing of being part of that precious vessel. Let it affect your heart, beloved brother, beloved sister, that you have part in what is most precious in the sight of God. Every one of our fellow Christians, if they are covered by the blood of Jesus and are indwelt by the Spirit, is part of the assembly, this precious and beautiful vessel. It is particularly precious in the sight of divine Persons, and I would like us all to have that heavenly view.
I would like to think that for me, the assembly is already a very precious thing to my heart. We know the love of the Lord Jesus, we have spoken of the love of the Father and we know the privilege of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. These are very precious things to us, immensely precious. But we also have the great blessing of belonging to a vessel which in the sight of these divine Persons is very precious.
The scripture in Matthew starts with the Lord Jesus who Himself has secured this vessel. The Lord Jesus stands at the centre of everything that is for God. We could not speak of divine things as we have done today without very quickly realising in our affections that at the heart of everything for God stands the blessed person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to this earth to seek and secure a precious vessel. It involved your salvation, thank God for that, but your salvation was just the beginning. What Christ was seeking was that He should secure a vessel, the assembly, which was to be precious in the sight of heaven, not just for now, but for ever! We will touch that when we come to Revelation. I would desire that we might be elevated in our affections in pondering Christ and His assembly, because the assembly is precious in the sight of God Himself. His Son came here to seek it and secure it. It says in this parable that the merchant was seeking beautiful pearls. When the Lord Jesus was here, He was seeking an answer. It would have answered to His heart, in part at least, if there had been an answer from Israel. How much it would have meant to the Lord Jesus if there had been an answer from His own people, something that responded to the fact that their Messiah had come. But instead, they cried out “Away with this man”, Luke 23:18. I suppose it would also have gladdened His heart if, from the wider mass of humanity, there had been some appreciation of who was here as their Creator. There was some answer; there was one of whom He said that He had not found greater faith even in Israel (Luke 7:9). How that pleased the Lord’s heart, but apart from one or two such souls, there was no answer.
So Jesus was seeking beautiful pearls, seeking that which under His intense scrutiny was pleasurable in His sight. It says here that the merchant found one pearl of great value. It does not say that he found the most beautiful pearl. I am sure it was, but it was of “great value”; the assembly is so precious to the heart of Christ that He gave His life to secure it. It could not have been more precious, it could not have been more valuable. A coming day will show exactly how beautiful the assembly is. In the divine sight it is that already, but we shall all see it. Whether we will ever fully understand the preciousness of the assembly to the heart of Christ, I do not know, but what I do know is that we shall see how beautiful it is. Now there is something in the divine affections that responds to the value of what has been secured in the assembly; He “sold all whatever he had and bought it”. He held nothing back; He “sold all whatever he had”. How precious this vessel must have been, that the Creator of the world itself “sold all whatever he had” – that is how precious the assembly is to Him – “and bought it”. He has secured that precious object, He has taken possession of something that is for Himself for now and for eternity. It is ever precious to Him, beloved brethren.
Do you find yourself actively part of the assembly? Do you find yourself actively taking part in what the assembly is doing at the moment? Maybe you are just a passenger. If your sins are forgiven, praise God for that! Maybe somebody here is not saved; I trust you will be as result of what we speak of today, but if your sins have been forgiven, then we thank God for it! Have you received the gift of the Holy Spirit? Then we thank God for that! Again if you have not, ask Him for the Spirit, He loves to give that gift. But if you do, you are part of this precious vessel for which Christ died. He “sold all whatever he had”; He was not going to buy anything else and He never will. He has bought what is most precious and He owns it, He has claimed it for Himself, and in a coming day He will present it to Himself. The scripture says “glorious”, Eph.5:27. It was of great value and He bought it, but He had been looking for what was beautiful, and He will present that to Himself.
At the present time, the assembly is here on the earth, and we cannot encompass that. The assembly is composed of all those who love the Lord Jesus, are sheltered by His precious blood, and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. It is here in the scene of testimony at the present time. A testimony to what? We know that it has been said that if we are a testimony to anything, we are a testimony to the ruin1. We have to accept that – we feel the public breakdown immensely. It bears upon our spirits, and we know the effect of what Satan can do when he gains inroads into Christendom; it comes very close. But from the divine view of it, the assembly is not part of the breakdown, neither is breakdown attached to it. The assembly is to be a testimony to that which will be displayed in a coming day. We are to have our part in that testimony here until the Lord comes. It helps me when I may be tempted to attach breakdown to the assembly, to think of her as the body of Christ. From that moment when the Lord Jesus spoke to Saul on the Damascus road and said “why persecutest thou me?” (Acts 22:7), was there any breakdown in the body of Christ here on the earth? Was there any failure? It cannot be. The Head in heaven is our Lord Jesus Christ, and His body is on earth; it cannot be that it is partial or that it is broken. That is the beauty of what is precious to divine Persons. They see the whole assembly. The Lord Jesus, the Father, the Holy Spirit see the whole. Christ has the assembly. May we find our part in being actively in what is for Him at the present time, and with a sense that the assembly is active towards Him now and is functioning, is precious to Him at the present time; it does not await a future day.
One of the reasons that we can be assured of that is because of the service of the Holy Spirit. I do not want to go through every detail of what we read, but I would just seek to speak of the preciousness of the assembly to the Holy Spirit. I have not thought of that very much before. The Holy Spirit dwells in the assembly. It is where He is at the present time. Let us allow that to fill our hearts, that the vessel to which we belong and in which, I trust, we have our active part is indwelt by a divine Person. The Spirit is here, and what He dwells in is precious to Him. How could it be otherwise? There is nowhere else for Him; the world cannot receive Him, it never has and never will. He has come to the assembly, and Genesis 24 gives us glimpses through the types of how precious the assembly is to the Holy Spirit. He has come as sent. We read of that in the first verses, “thou shalt go to my land and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac”. It is divine ownership; that is beautiful, is it not? The world has no claim on the assembly. Everything that nourishes and cherishes and beautifies her comes from a divine source. Nothing I bring can add to the assembly. I can only come with what God has wrought in my soul and in my life and in my affections, and bring it into the area of the assembly. Nothing of this world can add to it, nor can it function in it. Abraham says “my land” and “my kindred” and “take a wife for my son Isaac”; the whole area is in type under the guidance and control of divine Persons. This is the area to which we belong; you might say in the words of Hebrews 11 it is our “country”, Heb.11:14. Are you seeking that country? It speaks there of those who have died in faith and it says that they who confessed such things “were strangers and sojourners on the earth. For they who say such things shew clearly that they seek their country”, and in verse 16 it says “but now they seek a better, that is, a heavenly”. Of such is the assembly comprised.
Are we actively seeking to find our part in what is heavenly? The assembly is heavenly; it came from heaven, will be going back to heaven, and its character is heavenly. So the Spirit came at Pentecost. What a journey by the blessed Holy Spirit is depicted here in type, what length and detail is gone into in this chapter. The servant is going out to find a wife for Isaac. In two verses (vv.10,11), we have three different types of the Holy Spirit; the camels, the water and the servant. How important it is, beloved brethren, that what is being formed in the assembly for Christ at the present time is under the control of the Holy Spirit. Teaching, administration, affection, fatherhood, prophecy – all these things are to be under the control of the Holy Spirit. The camels provided strength for movement, there was a well of water for refreshment and for life, and there was a servant who was doing the Master’s bidding. The Holy Spirit is to be in control of every single element of activity that proceeds in the assembly at the present time. You may ask if that is so. We see so much going on around us, but for those living in the true gain of it, the Holy Spirit is in control. He has the resource, we see that here, He has every resource, but may He have this control in our lives.
So the servant stops at the well and he prays, and then there comes this beautiful word in verse 15 “And it came to pass before he had ended speaking, that behold, Rebecca came out”. The Holy Spirit has such full feeling for what is being secured in the assembly, not just for Himself, although there is that which is for Himself, but His heart is filled with what is to be for Christ. His heart is filled with the preciousness and the calibre and the glory and the worth of this precious vessel for the Lord Jesus. And you and I have part in it! It is not too much to say that our activities in relation to assembly features and activity, both our movements and our part in it, can make divine Persons rejoice. How much more when the Lord Jesus comes at the rapture to claim her for Himself; the glory of what has been secured by the work of the Holy Spirit will come out then, very shortly, to be displayed. But the Lord’s heart is already rejoicing. Let us find our part in that at the present time. Let us not be side-tracked into other activity. What is of the assembly rejoices the Lord’s heart. So Rebecca came out and her activity was vigorous. This was no small feat for a young girl, giving water to ten camels! The activity within the assembly at the moment is vigorous. It must be, because the Spirit indwells it. Is He going to allow activity within the assembly towards divine Persons to decrease before the end of the dispensation? I do not think so. Let us be in the area where such activity is vigorous. She said “I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have drunk enough”; not just to a certain point, but until they have drunk enough. So “the man was astonished at her”. Think of the Holy Spirit finding in the assembly more than what He had expected. I speak reverently because He is the Spirit of God, and He knows the end from the beginning, He knows everything, but there is that about the activity of the assembly which fills His heart with joy! So the servant remained silent for a moment because of all that he saw in Rebecca.
I think we tend to lose sight of that because of all the breakdown there is. I sometimes lose sight of divine activity and its preciousness, but divine Persons see it in its entirety. And so when the camels had drunk enough, the servant gave Rebecca the gold rings and bracelets, but she had something to give to him; she said “There is straw, and also much provender with us; also room to lodge”. This is another thing that is precious about the assembly; there is always room for the divine word, the divine presence, to lodge. It is the only place on the earth at the present time where that is so. If the word of God comes, where is it going to find a place to take root? It is in the assembly that these things can grow and activity continues so that more assembly features might come to light. But at any one point, divine Persons see the whole, and they see it as perfect. So there was room, there was provender, there was straw, there was a place to rest, there was food to eat and there was room to lodge. It is a very attractive feature, is it not? We have our own local assemblies to which we belong, and may these features be characteristic of them, that there is activity that is guided by the Holy Spirit, that there is room for divine Persons, which all pleases their hearts, and in which they can rejoice.
The Holy Spirit never forgets why He has come. It says that after they ate and drank and lodged, they rose up in the morning, and the servant said “Send me away to my master”. This brings into my heart the words at the very end of the Bible, “the Spirit and the bride say, Come”, Rev.22:17. I think there is a joint feeling and affection, a desire to go to the Master. The Spirit would engender that, but there would be that in the assembly which instinctively looks for the Lord’s return. So the voice is one, “the Spirit and the bride say, Come”. How precious that is. Where else on the earth is there a desire for the Lord Jesus to return? Nowhere save where the Spirit is active in the assembly, “the Spirit and the bride say, Come”. Let us join our voices, join our hearts in anticipation of what is about to happen when the Lord Jesus comes.
I just touch on Revelation. We have spoken of the Lord Jesus and what He finds in the assembly, and of what the Spirit finds. The first scripture we read speaks of the pearl with its beauty, and now Revelation 21 verse 10 speaks of the millennium and what will be seen. It will be a wonderful time when the beauty of the one pearl is seen in display. Will you be part of it? I think the vast majority of those in this room will be part of this display, “coming down out of the heaven from God, having the glory of God”. We sang of this in our hymn:-
‘Descending out of heaven
To fill with Christ in grace,
In blest administration,
As bride and wife, her place!
Jerusalem, eternal!
The city of Christ’s God,
Thine origin celestial,
Thou art His blest abode.’ (Hymn 221)
The hymn goes on to say; ‘O residence of glory!’ You see that at the beginning of the chapter. How pleased God is with the preciousness of what has been secured by the work of the Lord Jesus and the labours of the blessed Holy Spirit. When it is seen in display, all of that beauty will be seen. Every eye will behold it; they will see the One who was rejected from the earth, and they will see His counterpart reigning with Him. All will see it! All will come to bow down to the Lord Jesus. What a time it will be! There will be a thousand years when the Lord Jesus will rule the world in equity. I believe that it will be pleasing to Him to do that, but I am not sure that I could attach the word precious to it; certainly not in the same way that we attach it to the assembly. The assembly is precious and unique; she is the counterpart to Christ. She answers to His longings and she is for Him. So when she comes down out of heaven “from God having the glory of God”, her shining will be like a most precious stone. Her shining will be displayed, it will be radiant. Then at the beginning of the chapter, we have what will be eternal and we find there too that the assembly is in relation to Christ; and why? She is adorned for her Husband because she belongs to Him. But why is the assembly in relationship to Christ for eternity? Because that is where God is going to dwell. Now we can see why this vessel is so precious to God Himself, because He is going to dwell there – a place where He can set His name, a place which will be His tabernacle, as it says here “the tabernacle of God is with men”. They will be with Him and He will be with them; how precious that God should have a place where He can dwell.
We often speak of the assembly as the vessel of God’s praise. That does not just refer to eternity; it is also true now, and we can have our part in that. Is that not precious? Would you not want to have your part in being associated with and active in the vessel of God’s praise? We will have an opportunity, if the Lord leaves us here until tomorrow morning, to take up our privilege in that respect, and to be active in God’s praise. May we do that with all our hearts and with all our affections; you might say that divine Persons are waiting for it. I wonder if you are waiting for the Lord’s supper with as much anticipation as divine Persons. I wonder if you are waiting to take part in the service of God as much as God is looking forward to receiving the praise and worship from those who find themselves active in this area. Are you looking forward to that? When the saints assemble, the focus of heaven is upon that assembling, and the pleasure of heaven is in the response that comes from it. May we find our part actively in it. Think about who is looking on and listening. How precious it is to God that a young brother should get on his feet and offer up five words of praise and thanksgiving. It is a most precious thing because it is of assembly character and it is pleasing to God – this will be what God will have eternally.
I just finish by touching on the scripture in the second chapter of Revelation. Whilst there is enjoyment and activity, there is also responsibility attached to having our part in the assembly. There is One here who walks in the midst of the seven lamps. There are seven assemblies written to in this chapter, and they mark different aspects of church history since Pentecost. There are seven of them; it is a complete thought, but there are features in all of them that mark Christendom at the present time. The Lord Jesus Himself is walking in the midst of these seven lamps and He has a right to do that. Where He walks, He finds where there are things out of keeping, but He also finds those who overcome. The brethren in Ephesus had had the whole counsel of God announced to them; they knew the truth and they knew the teaching. The Lord Jesus says to them, “I know thy works and thy labour, and thine endurance”. They had tried those who said that they were apostles but were not; they had acted correctly, but they had left their first love. This is our responsibility, beloved brethren, to show that we cling to our first love. What is for Christ, what belongs to Him, and what is for the divine pleasure now and forever, is to be what fully occupies us now. It is our responsibility. We are to find our part in praise, we are to find our part in activity, and we are also to take up our responsibility in holding to this great truth, the great purpose of God to secure His own dwelling place in the area of Christ and the assembly.
May it be so, for His name’s sake.
Address at Strood
5 October 2013
A.E. Mutton