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THE HOUSE AND THE HOUSEHOLDER

A.J.E.Welch

Our houses stand in very close relation to the prospering of God's work. It is of deep interest to review the houses that are specifically spoken of in New Testament scriptures, because to a very large degree indeed they are spoken of in a creditable sense, as if the Spirit would remind us that the household side makes way for the elements of distinctiveness that belong in the assembly. This is particularly so when we consider the Pauline ministry, Christ and the assembly, and reflect upon the houses that are referred to by Paul in his letters. We often speak on these occasions of the house of Lydia, and the house of the jailor; they come to light in commendable connections, leading in a distinct sense to the kind of increase that the Spirit would bring about. It impressed me that more than once in Matthew's gospel, particularly, the Lord retires into the house. Scripture is interesting in distinguishing several times between what was public or among the crowds and what took place in the house, showing us how the Lord delights in a certain protected sphere where the truth can be unfolded in its fulness. Whilst the application of that would primarily be to our assemblings, the atmosphere of the house has a large place as furnishing the distinctive elements that take their place as the assembly is convened. As the Lord sends out the twelve for their distinctive and powerful service he has in mind that there would be worthy houses to receive them. We are not told what constituted a house worthy; we are not given detail of the exact features of a worthy house; but the scripture is put in a way calculated to stimulate us and to search out whether our houses, in the circumstances that the Lord touches, could be spoken of as worthy houses. "If the house indeed be worthy, let your peace come upon it". The desire of our hearts today is that the house that is this day founded shall at every point in its history be a worthy house, available in the interests of Christ, whatever those interests may require, and fittingly a place of residence for one who is distinctively a servant of the Lord. These matters arise with all of us and challenge us at a time when there are evidences of increase and prosperity in God's work. Are our houses such that they can fit, in divine grace and ordering, into a distinctive place in what the Spirit of God is prospering at the present time? We are searched therefore whether the house in which each one of us is could be spoken of by the Lord Himself as a worthy house. He has in mind that in the course of the testimony such should be available. It would be a very solemn thing for a house that was not a worthy house, in the light of what the Lord says; but let us see the positive side of what a worthy house can be for the furtherance of His interests as his servants are sent out by Him.

In chapter 13 the Lord went into the house, and very remarkable teaching ensued. The Lord would remind us that our houses are to be related to the prime thoughts of God at every point, available to the Lord for the furtherance of the truth, spheres where the truth is loved and is held in faithfulness, into which the Lord could come and proceed with His matters without any limitation being set upon Him. So the Lord, it seems, selected a house. We are not told much about the house, but there was a house that He entered into, and He was at once free to unfold the most wonderful features of the truth. First He is enquired of by them, asking that He expound to them the parable of the darnel of the field. He does it, but the Lord adds the most precious things in speaking of the kingdom of the heavens as like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls. The Lord goes further than the immediate point of enquiry among the persons who come. The Lord is going further and touching what is dearest to His own heart, bringing out in a figurative sense what the assembly is to Himself, the preciousness of that vessel. The Lord adds these things. As He has to do with us in our houses, dear brethren, can the Lord add, can He bring in, in His own wonderful initiative, what is precious to His own heart? Have we grasped the point of the treasure and the pearl? Have we seen the assembly in something of the Pauline view as distinctively precious and exceedingly costly to Christ? It cost a great deal, and yet the Lord in His grace and His love has paid the price that this precious vessel might be fully secured. To what extent, beloved brethren, are we free in our homes to find a part and place in what is distinctively precious to the heart of Christ? The Lord goes into the house and He brings out these things. He has in mind that in every house what is precious to Christ is to be cherished. There are the questions as to the truth, enquiries as to the teaching. It is fitting that we always bring these enquiries to the Lord, but the Lord is pleased to add something of a singularly distinctive character as He finds His place among His disciples in this house. Well, this calls for conditions, beloved brethren; and who of us would not seek to maintain the conditions in which the Lord can be free to speak to us of what is most precious to His own heart?

Then, at the conclusion, the Lord Himself raises a question: "Have ye understood all these things?". They say "Yea, Lord". The Lord is concerned that we have the understanding of things, and the household is one sphere in which we can proceed into the understanding of things. We recognise that the assembly, especially gathered in temple character, is outstandingly the sphere where we can have the truth unfolded and things made clear to us; but in our houses there is room for enquiry and conversation, for pondering over things, for getting to the Lord about things, so that the who le extent of the divine truth becomes precious to us and according to measure understood by us. The Lord says "Have ye understood all these things?". They say to Him "Yea, Lord". We might have thought it was a very bold reply, but at least it brings out for us the point of the Lord seeking that we come into an understanding of what is precious to Himself. It is not just that we hear things, or even retain them mentally, but we are to come into a spiritual, priestly grasp of what relates to the interests of Christ. Then He says, "For this reason every scribe discipled to the kingdom of the heavens is like a man that is a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old". We now have the householder, not just the house but the householder, a responsible man who can fulfil his responsibility, a man who is furnished wit h what is precious. He "brings out of his treasure things new and old". We covet for our brethren that they may accumulate treasure, and there is abundant treasure to be accumulated. The grace of the Spirit among the people of God in these days is bringing in much that indeed is treasure. The treasures of which the Lord is speaking currently to His beloved people are to be valued by us, and we are to know what it is to bring them out. Things new and old involve that we are kept in touch with the blessed Spirit day by day. Our brother and sister have the day by day course before them, and they will begin day by day to look for something from the Lord that is to enter into each day. Let the practice, dear brethren, of reading the Scriptures and having prayer together be maintained in every household as a beginning to the day; it makes singular place for the Lord to come in, but the result is that not only is there a house but a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old. The old things are of value; there is much that in a certain sense is old; in one way the whole of the truth is always fresh, but there are certain elements of the truth that are basic, and we are to know them, to keep them, and to stand by them. Then there is the new, the fresh side of what the Spirit is immediately asserting in a living way for the instruction and gain of the people of God.

So, dear brethren, our houses and ourselves as the householders are of deep interest in the Lord's sight, and our dear brother and sister today are among such; we covet that all our houses may be such that the Lord finds them to be worthy. For His Name's sake.

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