THE THRONE OF GRACE (1)
[p. 101] THE THRONE OF GRACE (1)
JT The throne of grace is in mind as a suggestion to start with and it is hoped it will be carried through as to its meaning. The throne of grace has been suggested and chapter 7 is thought of after chapter 4 and then several chapters running on to the last chapter in the book where we have the fullest thought of our subject.
It is in mind now that we should consider the Lord from the standpoint of grace and how the idea is presented in Himself. The idea of the throne is taken up to stress the thought, and show how it should be dominant and carry authority. The gospel is to be enforced and in authority, and this directs our minds immediately to the Lord and how things are presented and spoken of by Him. We have to learn from the Lord in everything.
SP Is Luke outstanding in his presentation of this feature?
JT I think so, although the phrase is not found here but in Hebrews, “Let us approach therefore with boldness to the throne of grace”, Hebrews 4:16. We are to come boldly to it according to Hebrews and then according to Romans “... so also grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life”, Romans 5:21. It is as if the end in mind carries the thought of grace reigning through righteousness unto eternal life. All these thoughts, we can readily see, point to the Lord. It is a question of what marked Him, whether it be the throne of grace or other features.
JWD When we speak of the throne of grace are we to bear in mind what you say, it is the Lord Himself?
JT That is, the throne of grace is static - we come to it, come boldly to it. The active side is in [p. 102] us. The active side is in Christ in this passage, and so with all the activities in the gospel. The static side of the throne is there, but it is a question of the activity being in us, our need producing it. The activity in the gospel is peculiarly aggressive, but the throne is there always accessible.
CT The outcome of the activity of Christ in this chapter is that all eyes are being fixed upon Him.
JT Just so, but it is the effect of what He said and what He was and how it impressed the hearers. It is not a question of a static condition in Him; it is active. Because it is said, “And he came to Nazareth, where he was brought up; and he entered, according to his custom, into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read”. That is. He is doing it. And not simply what He is doing, but How He is doing it.
LES Would the bringing forward of Isaiah suggest the embodiment in Christ personally of the grace found in this section?
JT I would think so. Luke represents the whole idea. He was taken up by God to do it according to his own words. “Forasmuch as many have undertaken to draw up a relation concerning the matters fully believed among us, as those who from the beginning were eye-witnesses of and attendants on the Word have delivered them to us, it has seemed good to me also, accurately acquainted from the origin with all things, to write to thee with method, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things in which thou hast been instructed”, Luke 1:1 - 4. Attention is called to eye-witnesses of and attendants on the Word. So that the thought in the Word is clearly presented in this section. Just what He was in activity.
JWD Then action is the prime feature in the system.
JT [p. 103] The Lord is presented here active, but in Hebrews 4 He is presented as the great High Priest and we come to Him; we come to the throne of grace with boldness. We should be able to get at what Luke has in mind. It is the attack on Satan’s domain and how the Vessel of the attack is skilled, the skill that marks Him. He overcomes the enemy because Luke presents Him as overcoming. We are told, “But Jesus, full of [the] Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness” Luke 4:1, not ‘into’ but ‘in’. It is a scene of contrariety and the devil is overthrown. “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee”, Luke 4:14. That is after the devil had completed every temptation. “And the devil, having completed every temptation, departed from him for a time” Luke 4:13. He is silenced and the Lord is thus free to go and carry on His service.
HB “Where sin abounded grace has overabounded”, (Romans 5:20).
JT That is the point — overabounded. Sin is there but grace has overabounded.
SP Luke begins immediately to introduce the thought of the throne. We have the throne of Herod in the first chapter — the Lord as over against that would exercise His influence, that men may know the meaning of grace.
JT The idea of the throne is there, which is important, but for the moment it is a question of the Person.
JGV Grace is mentioned very early, “And the child grew and waxed strong [in spirit], filled with wisdom, and God’s grace was upon him”, (Luke 2:40).
JT Even at that early age!
HB Why is this enacted in Nazareth where He was brought [p. 104] up?
JT It is to bring out the importance of the local cities where God is pleased to set up His testimony. The Lord was brought up in Nazareth, which is in keeping with what has just been remarked, that God’s grace was upon Him even as a Boy at the age of twelve. He grew up in His place, we are told in the prophets, a very important thing implying that each is to be in his place in the locality, not going away.
CT The whole verse is local — “... and he entered according to his custom”.
JT Yes, to bring out what already marked Him. He is no novice; of course, you could not think of such a thing about the Lord, but very often young brothers are novices, they have no custom at all; they seem to think that anything will suit, but that is not according to the Lord’s method.
JWD Timothy had a good testimony in his locality.
JT Quite so. The apostle noted that and he took him and circumcised him to relieve him of any unnecessary hindrances.
SP Here it is not merely the custom of the place, but His custom, which would mark Him wherever He served.
JT Well, it is His custom. Paul had a custom. He says to the Corinthians, “But if any one think to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor the assemblies of God”, 1 Corinthians 11:16. We all know how customs have grown up. There are customs wherever you go. If you go on the continent of Europe you will find certain features there which would be customs. And so in Great Britain, in Ireland or in America here. The local position develops custom. But the Lord stands over against all that; it is His custom. He has the pre-eminence - we have to learn everything from Christ. We have even [p. 105] to learn how to pray from Him. Teach us to pray, one says in this gospel.
ABM Speaking of the throne, have you in mind the authoritative side is represented in the throne but in the activity of it, it is grace?
JT Yes, at the beginning it is not much stressed, it is more the Person of the Lord as the Vessel of grace. But it will come out in time as we proceed There was the authoritative side.
CCT Would ‘standing up’ bring out the thought of authority?
JT It is more what is suitable when one is ministering the word of God, that one should read it standing, “... and stood up to read”.
JWD You were saying that different countries have different customs, but these would all be subservient to the Lord’s custom.
HB In Psalm 45 the Vessel of grace is spoken of as the One who is “... fairer than the sons of men; grace is poured into thy lips”, Psalm 45:2.
JT The Psalms yield much in that section, dwelling on the Messiah. But Luke is properly the gentile in relation to its customs, they are not Jewish customs, they might be coloured by heathen, or Romish customs, or by Babylonish customs. We are to know how to unload whatever attaches to us in these matters and begin with Christ.
LES Would the thought of custom be adjusted by the current features of the testimony?
JT Just so. See what the Lord did Himself and how He asserted Himself in the temple. “Did ye not know that I ought to be occupied in my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49). Did ye not know? He says to His mother, inclusive of His father, He meant to convey the same thought to both parents. “Did ye not know that I ought to be occupied in my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49). I must be. We begin there. But He goes to Nazareth and is subject to them, so [p. 106] that He is true, for the idea of subjection to parents is not hindering Him in the service He is carrying on.
CCT Do you think the thought of custom is in 1 John 1:1? John speaks of what they had seen and handled of the word of life.
JT Well, it was what they saw in the Lord. It is all a question of life and, of course, that idea enters into what we are speaking of now. We are not exactly speaking of life, but of grace. But it is a question of what is living. Even with grace it is a question of what is living.
JWD Would you say that when the Lord says, “I ought to be occupied in my Father’s business? (Luke 2:49)”. that that was His custom?
JT Well, it is rather the Person there because He asserts His conscious sonship, showing how early the relation of Son entered into the Lord’s mind and how consequently it must have entered into the lines of His service, His way of doing things. The family thought is dominant in everything, and it is much better to be characterised by the family idea than the priestly, because priestliness is something acquired for a certain need, but the family means that you are a son all the time. Therefore John’s gospel is the great gospel in a general sense. It precedes all the others, it is the family idea. The Lord begins with that thought in Luke, “Did ye not know that I ought to be occupied in my Father’s business? (Luke 2:49)”.
AH At Philippi the apostle Paul joins himself to those of whom it is said, “And on the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where it was the custom for prayer to be, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had assembled”, (Acts 16:13). Do you get the thought of the throne of grace there?
JT Quite so. That is good. Especially as linking it with the thought of Lydia, what she was; and how the apostle calls attention to the women who [p. 107] laboured with him. All these thoughts enter into what we are saying, because we are dealing with Paul really. If we want to work out what grace was here according to Luke we must follow on to Paul because Luke follows Paul in the second treatise. We have him at the end in his hired house. It is the thing to note.
AEJ As they listened to what Jesus said, “all bore witness to him, and wondered at the words of grace which were coming out of his mouth”. Would all this connect with what Paul wrote to Titus about the grace of God that carries with it salvation having appeared? It appeared in the Lord Himself as He taught in the synagogue, and spoke these gracious words. “Grace and truth subsists through Jesus Christ”, (John 1:17).
JT Quite so. Subsists, all is in the Person of Christ. Luke has in mind that the whole testimony from Adam onwards is laid out and worked out in the gospel, that grace might be effective in our souls, not simply in our minds, but in our souls. It is remarkable how Luke links on with the record in Chronicles. The first word in Chronicles is Adam, and Luke embraces men from Adam onward. The Spirit of God by him confirms each individual taught of God through the gospel. All is carried down by Luke, finishing in the Acts with Paul in his own hired house in Rome preaching the kingdom of God. So that the gospel is carried down into the gentile world in Paul and the whole testimony of God is involved. That is the idea we are to get into our souls that God is with us in this matter.
SP In Acts 3 you see how a customary “hour of prayer” was turned into an occasion of grace to the lame man reaching the soul of the person. It shows the availability of grace.
JT That is very good. Luke presents the thing in persons. The propagation of the truth universally [p. 108] is seen in the second treatise. There is no mention of the term ‘excellent’ in speaking to Theophilus in the second treatise, because he is speaking to a believer from among the gentiles who has been brought into the current of grace in Christianity.
LES In Chronicles the first family named is that of Japheth. Would not that link with Luke?
JT It refers to the spreading abroad of that family into the Western world, and that is what is indicated in Luke’s second treatise, that we are to go to the West. That is another thing — the matter of geography. The Spirit of God recognises geography and uses Luke and Paul; so we have to learn there are limitations in our calculations, and to eliminate certain parts of the world spiritually. The gospel of God is designed to proceed towards the West.
Rem We have the Spirit of God anointing Christ for His service; that is, the service of grace, and the power exercised was to bring in grace.
JT That is how the matter stands. It is said, “But Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness forty days, tempted of the devil” (Luke 4:1,2). And then we are told in Acts 10:38, “Jesus .. . how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power; who went through all quarters doing good, and healing all that were under the power of the devil, because God was with him”. In chapter 4, Luke speaks of that. He says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach glad tidings to the poor”. In Luke it is the peculiar thought of grace. Grace itself reigns. The thing is personified. It is, of course, the Person that is in mind, the Lord Jesus, but grace is personified. The thing itself is an active matter, not static, although it may be at times, but in a general way throughout this [p. 109] gospel it is the activity of grace and how it overcomes all opposition.
JGV It is said of Paul in the end of Acts, “And he remained two whole years in his own hired lodging, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, with all freedom unhinderedly”, Acts 28:30,31.
JT “Received all who came to him”, no retinue of servants! Probably chained himself, but there serving. The Lord Jesus says, “But I am in the midst of you as the one that serves”, (Luke 22:27).
LES You were saying something about certain sections of the earth and geography?
JT The allusion to Chronicles and Japheth brings out the matter of geography; that is to say, where the gospel was to be announced. From Paul’s missionary journeys one is forced to conclude that there are limitations upon our activities. The missionary associations generally make a way into the East, but the Spirit of God in the Acts does not direct that way. After three hundred years of missionary work in the East there is very little accomplished for God. We cannot be sure if the persons numbered as converts are converted at all. The societies have ignored the Spirit’s reference to geography in Paul’s service; he is directed to go to the West, not the East.
JWD “Go into all the world, and preach the glad tidings to all the creation”, (Mark 16:15). What would that include?
JT That has all to be taken up. You are quoting Mark, “Go into all the world; and preach the glad tidings to all the creation”(Mark 16:15). The moral side is the world, but all creation is in God’s mind. We are not to limit that, but we are to be subject to direction in limitation in our service. We have rather to [p. 110] follow Luke as to where the gospel is to be preached, for through him we learn how the Spirit of God directs and controls. The facts of the case are seen in Acts.
SP Is there not a suggestion of this in Acts 16:6 - 8? “And having passed through Phrygia and the Galatian country, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia, having come down to Mysia, they attempted to go to Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; and having passed by Mysia they descended to Troas”. Does it not suggest limitations for that moment?
JT Certainly, “the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them” (Acts 16:7) not the Spirit of Christ, but the Spirit of Jesus, the Man, and the testimony of that is to work out into the West. The kind of Spirit that is to appear in Christianity in the West. Because the Spirit of Jesus is, of course the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of the anointed Man. You may say, How is it, that the Spirit of Jesus would prohibit the preaching of the gospel anywhere? Let us see how Paul finds things. He had a vision. Peter had a vision too, but Paul had this vision and saw a certain Macedonian man, standing and beseeching him. The Macedonian man was in the West, because Paul was in Asia at that time. And this Macedonian man says, “Pass over into Macedonia and help us” (Acts 16:9). Paul would have to go through Asia to Europe to get there. We have to pay attention to these things in regard of where the gospel is to be preached. We have to regard the fact that there is no record of great activity towards the East. We have much said as regards the gospel going towards the West.
HB Colossians 1:23 says, “... and not moved away from the hope of the glad tidings, which ye have heard, which have been proclaimed in the whole creation which is under heaven, of which I Paul became a minister”. How would that fit in?
[p. 111] There is a great deal in that chapter about the Lord creating everything.
JT That is the general fact as stated by Mark in the end of this gospel. We have subdivisions in service. The whole idea in Mark is “all the creation”. But the subdivisional limitations asserted in levitical service apply to Europe, as the Acts shows.
JWD I am sure what you are saying is right, but how do you account for those who are converted?
JT We know about the magi. The magi from the East came westward. The Lord is said to have bought the whole field. But when we come down to the idea of that field, what the Lord really bought is a particular one. We must make allowance for what has been remarked about Japheth, and how the gospel spread into Europe and the outgoings of Europe. We get the full thought of grace here, and the Vessel through whom the gospel of the grace of God comes to us. He is the Person to learn from, also Paul and others.
Ques The Lord speaks of Himself as having been anointed to preach glad tidings.
JT Quite so. The mind of God as to the whole matter was there, but then it is going to spread out. The second treatise by Luke deals with that, a wider outlook to what he had in the first one.
JWD Why does it say that Jesus came to Nazareth, where He was brought up?
JT Well, let us see what is said, “And he came to Nazareth, where he was brought up; and he entered, according to his custom, into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Esaias was given to him; and having unrolled the book he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach glad tidings to the poor; he has sent me to preach to captives [p. 112] deliverance, and to the blind sight, to send forth the crushed delivered, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord”. He finishes and He rolls up the book. We have to learn where to stop. Now the question raised is, Why Nazareth was so adamant, and indifferent to the Lord? He was brought up there. Is it not a warning to us as to what may be in such a situation. We have to see that we have to go back to Christ and learn everything from Him. “But he, passing through the midst of them, went his way, and descended to Capernaum, a city of Galilee” (Luke 4:30,31). Those hard-hearted Jews that were in the town where the Lord was brought up — He passed through them, “... passing through the midst of them, went his way”(Luke 4:30,31). See what feelings the Lord had as He carried through. What opposition there was, but the Lord passed through the midst of the opposition and came on His way and as coming said a great deal about Elias and Elisha. It reminds us, that what we learn in our youth from religion in Christendom, has to be discarded.
LES In contrast to the callousness of Nazareth we have in Isaiah 66:2, “But to this man will I look; to the afflicted and contrite in spirit, and who trembleth at my word”. And then further on in verse 5, “Hear the word of Jehovah, ye that tremble at his word: Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let Jehovah be glorified, and let us see your joy! but they shall be ashamed” Isaiah 66:5.
JT Yes, that helps us, for we have to disallow and unload, what may have been taught us as coming out of whatever ‘isms’ we have been in. We have to learn everything from Christ.
ABM How far would you carry the thought in relation to our households, those reared amongst us?
JT You mean young people? We have to test everything by Scripture whether we may not have [p. 113] adopted things that will not stand the test of Scripture. It is worth while bringing it up — will these things stand the test of Scripture? But what we are saying in a general way is that we are so apt to carry with us what we have learnt from our forefathers, carry it in amongst the brethren and retail it without testing it out. The Bereans are always an example, “daily searching the scriptures if these things were so”, (Acts 17:11).
CCT Speaking of Timothy, he received his training from his grandmother and his mother. We never hear of there being anything amiss with it.
JT There was apparently no fault to be found with their teaching. We all have to come to the point eventually that we learn everything from Christ. There is authority in the Lord. The verses read impress us with the Vessel through whom the gospel has come; it has come through that Person. Have we begun to admire the glory of the Person — the Vessel of grace. While learning how to preach yourself, you are admiring the marvellous glory of the expression of it all in Christ. It is the idea of the Vessel — how Christianity has come to us through the gospel.
CCT The whole occasion stands out as unique — the reading of the book and the rolling of it up.
JT “And having rolled up the book, when he had delivered it up to the attendant, he sat down”. Meaning that is the point to stop. And then it goes on to say, “And he began” that is a characteristic word to note in Luke. “And he began to say to them, Today this scripture is fulfilled in your ears”. The word ‘began’ in this connection would suggest that there is so much to learn that you have to stop, because the beginning is the thing we are at for the moment. John’s gospel gives us the beginning of life, but in Luke it is the beginning of grace. The kind of thing grace is, is the point [p. 114] in the gospel.
SP In Revelation 5 there is another book which the Lord opens.
JT There is; only that is the book of the inheritance. There is no idea of anyone else but the Lamb opening that. It is the book of the inheritance and involves all the suffering of the book of Revelation. It is most interesting to see the book in the fifth chapter and the throne in the fourth, and then the little book in the tenth. The end of Christianity or Christendom is in view in Revelation, but in Luke we are dealing with the beginning of Christianity. It is an evangelical scene and there is nothing more interesting. We are seeking to do a little preaching and we are doing a little preaching here and there in our meeting-rooms and heaven is interested. The Lord sees there is a little faith to go on, and faith to pray more so that there will be progress, for we are dealing with Christianity in this small way. We are coming to the end of the Christian dispensation, and there is another dispensation coming in that will bring in Israel. The Lord is getting ready for something else and would have us to know. Things appear little with us, but God is with us. The things that will be great to sight are coming. John tells us that in the visions of Revelation, he saw “a great crowd, which no one could number” Revelation 7:9. Young people may say, You are only a few. Nevertheless God is with it, and God would have us to go on with the preaching of the word.
But now let us look at the Lord. The Spirit of God would direct us to fix our eyes upon this Person, to see where He was brought up, and how He does things there, and then what He says. But what a result after these things! so that the Lord went through their midst — through the midst of them, just the kind of people we are preaching to, and how adamant they are; that is the reason there [p. 115] are not many converted. Apostasy is rampant in this city and everywhere.
AJ This book of Isaiah is not sealed. The Lord opened it and gracious words proceeded out of His mouth.
JT We have the same book that He opened, and He is in heaven, the same Person who opened the book. You and I are to learn from Him the way, as we seek to preach the gospel in our little meeting-rooms.
LES In contrast to the preaching of Christendom, it is on a high level.
JT And God is in it too, and in our prayer meetings for the gospel.
SP We are to be not simply accepting the Nazarene position, but conformed to it.
JT From verse 23 to 27, is presented the sovereignty of God in such conditions as that. How God moves sovereignly; that is what He is doing now with a few who are preaching. The Spirit does not despise a day of small things; they are small nevertheless. We want to get the idea of the Vessel of grace that laboured in this dispensation, the present one, that we are in now. The words of grace come out of His mouth. The reference is to the Person. “And having rolled up the book, when he had delivered it up to the attendant, he sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon him. And he began to say to them. Today this scripture is fulfilled in your ears”. I would say ‘today’ is this dispensation. “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your ears”. Speaking of the dispensation, at the very beginning of it is Jesus.
Ques What do you say about His sitting down?
JT It does not say that He sits on the throne of grace. Grace reigns but it is active. Sitting down here would refer to His personal influence, not so much the activity of administration. As you look [p. 116] into these things you come into the full thought of what they are worth. In the gospel of Mark, which is characteristic, the Lord says, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has drawn nigh; repent and believe in the glad tidings”, Mark 1:15. Not believe it, but believe in it. We get a primary thought of believing in there. However much there may be, go into it.
CCT Do you find an order here in regard of the way things take place, the reading, the rolling up of the book, and the sitting down?
JT The Lord would have us admire the opening of this beautiful thing. We hear of half-open flowers in the temple. There is the presence of life in this connection; how grace is set out in the beginning, how it is set out in the Lord, in His deeds, we want to contemplate and admire it. That is what is intended; that we should be admirers of Christ as the Preacher. It is the appeal of the Person, all here in the synagogue heard Him. It is remarkable that “... all bore witness to him, and wondered at the words of grace which were coming out of his mouth”.
LES Is the personality of the preacher a counterpart of the preaching?
JT I should think so. In the seminaries of Christendom, there is no idea of beautiful persons morally, but of oratory. We are getting here something of grace itself, absolutely original, there was never such a Person like this before.
LES Would you suggest that this is to be the model for all who serve in a small way in the preaching?
JT We have the preachings in the little rooms and the brethren come and a lot of children come and the mothers come; that is smallness marks it, but sometimes a brother gets up full of the grace, full of these thoughts from God. He is thinking of [p. 117] the Person through whom Christianity has come to us. This passage is to show how beautiful Jesus is, and to show the effect on every one.
AD It is remarkable to take account of this matter of witness. “And all bore witness to him, and wondered at the words of grace which were coming out of his mouth”. But they discount His words.
JT That is a good point. We may get persons in the room to hear the gospel, such as those from the religious systems; they may come in and go out, and not come back again because they do not see what we are engaged with. The point for us, nevertheless, is to be engaged with this Person and what the preaching was as presented in Christ.
JGV When the Lord refers to their ears it would bring in the thought of responsibility.
JT He puts the responsibility on them. The whole position is exposed, because the grace is there and they turn away from it.
Rem “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your ears”, that holds good today, too.
JT It is what happened in Dublin when they began to preach the gospel, and this gospel of Luke began to open up to the brethren. They were not many, they began to preach in a furniture store. Not many attended, but the people of Dublin had the thing fulfilled in their ears and the whole country began to speak of it after a while because the false religious position was attacked. God has stood by the brethren ever since, although they have never been very large. God has kept to the real thing and is going on with it now.
ABM Does Luke suggest the bringing to light of persons who would be the nucleus of the assembly in the Acts?
JT They are coming to light, one here and one there. It is remarkable the smallness of it, but the [p. 118] genuineness of it too, and God is going on with that. It is a beautiful picture here — the kind of preaching Christianity started with.
JWD It is said of Paul, “And straightway in the synagogues he preached Jesus, that he is the Son of God. And all who heard were astonished”, (Acts 9:20). Is that something like the refusal you get here — nobody converted? There was grace in personality with Paul.
JT And that is the case with us. But the thing is of God notwithstanding the smallness of it. God is standing by the thing and making it impressive to others. If you get a conversion like the woman of Samaria or the eunuch, it is worth while. It is remarkable how little you get of large numbers in the book of Acts. The first three thousand increased during the initial period to five thousand and showed what God could do, that He could get numbers. But there is never any repetition of that.
LES Paul’s preaching although it did not yield much at that time, must have been a marvellous setting forth of Luke 4.
JT There was little effect and that is so with us, but I think God is standing by it. I am certain of it. Although one generation is passing away, there is another coming and you want that other to be right, too, and to get some impression of Jesus, the Vessel of grace that is presented here so beautifully by Luke, whom God used for it.
LES So you would encourage the brethren to go on with the preaching.
JT That is what I am saying, “eye-witnesses of and attendants on the Word” (Luke 1:2); we are witnesses of what we are saying. Whatever we may be doing, we are to be attendant on the Lord. It is the Word there, the Logos, the Person saying the thing. I must be attendant on Him. It is sorrowful how the smallest things, a shower of rain, keep people at home from the meeting. God says, “Henceforth, all the days of the earth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22). The seasons of the year are His ordering, and yet a little rain is made an obstacle to coming to the meeting. We are to be “eye-witnesses of and attendants on the Word”(Luke 1:2). Are you looking after that? Do you see the Person who is speaking?
AEJ The aggregate of all that is seen in the wonderful results in the western world. Christ is beginning to preach in Luke 4, and the preaching is now continued by those here too.
JT Quite so. God is attending to that. But if you consider the whole history how poor the attendance is. It is not simply the listening to the thing, but the going after the Person from whom it comes, “eye-witnesses of and attendants on the Word”(Luke 1:2). Luke is telling us that these men he is writing about would listen to the Lord Jesus and be attendant on Him as well.