HOW THE ASSEMBLIES ARE TAUGHT TO WALK
[p. 151] HOW THE ASSEMBLIES ARE TAUGHT TO WALK
Acts 13: 6 - 12; Acts 14: 8 - 23; Psalm 80: 1 - 3
JT The object in these scriptures being read is that we may see in them how the assemblies are taught to walk. It is said that God taught Ephraim to walk, and the passage in the psalm indicates his position in relation to the tabernacle in the wilderness. It was immediately behind, west of the tabernacle, and in the journey through the wilderness he came immediately after the ark. So that we have the idea of his position in the locality, but in relation to the whole position, not independent. Although seemingly at a disadvantage, being behind to the west, he was nearer the ark than any, and the psalmist calls upon Jehovah to shine forth before Ephraim and Manasseh; so that I think we have in the setting in the wilderness the idea of being taught how to walk, collectively. The tribes were set round the divine dwelling sovereignly and were represented on the breast of the high priest accordingly. They were loved and sustained in that way, according to the divinely given setting and position; thus the position assigned is to be accepted, and all that enters into it, whether joy or sorrow. We may see in these chapters in the Acts, and particularly in Paul’s service, how intelligence is in mind, and how the material in view is to be according to that intelligence. So that the first person secured in this missionary service is an intelligent man who is amazed at the teaching of the Lord; he is ready for it, wonders at it and admires it, and the man at Lystra corresponds in that he heard Paul speak, and had faith to be healed. Paul saw something potential there and he spoke to him accordingly, bidding him stand upright on his feet.
[p. 152] It says in the passage that he had never walked but now we are told “he sprang up and walked”. Then the apostles’ ordination or selection of elders in the last verse read in chapter 14 shows how the assemblies were provided for. “And having chosen them elders in each assembly, having prayed with fastings, they committed them to the Lord, on whom they had believed”.
AMH Would you say a little more as to being near to the ark? These three tribes were together at the rear of the tabernacle and nearest the ark.
JT Well, it indicates that the position that might seemingly be at a disadvantage is really, through that very fact, advantageous.
AMH The Lord makes Himself near in an apparently disadvantageous position.
JT Where there seems to be a disadvantage it only brings out the more the provision made.
PL Would Stephen illustrate that? Is he divinely set to westward in his martyrdom but he sees the glory of God and Jesus? Would that be like a view of the ark?
JT He developed from a westerly setting. The Hellenists were murmuring because of the neglect of their widows in the daily ministration. He arose out of that circumstance and developed out of it; he did not arise out of favourable circumstances. There are those who come in out of favourable circumstances and there are those who come in from dark and difficult circumstances. Stephen was a man marked by the Spirit and faith, and able to go through the conflict. Instead of being behind he soon comes to the front. You are in the front either sovereignly or morally. A man is what he is.
PL Gideon coming from one of these three tribes would illustrate the same thought?
JT You mean he was one of Manasseh and the least in it? Quite so. His father was poor, there was [p. 153] nothing advantageous outwardly and he was working in very limited circumstances in the wine-press.
FW Would the cherubim have a specific bearing on the character of the ark in the psalm?
JT They represented the immediate government of God. Not only did He dwell there but He governed there. Cherubim in Scripture involve authority or government; God has to say to us if He is dwelling amongst us. We must bear that in mind.
FW I thought that had a bearing as to the movements of local assemblies.
JT Definitely. The psalmist begins with the Shepherd of Israel: “thou that leadest Joseph like a flock”. And then, “thou that sittest between the cherubim”. That is a solemn consideration, because the cherubim from the outset involved judicial dealings, beginning with Eden.
WRJL Had you in mind that these tribes were placed in a locality and the government of God was there to help them?
JT Quite so, and the shining comes in — a beautiful thought.
AMH Is there intelligence in that one is able to take account of when God moves and of His government?
JT That is the thought. “I speak as to intelligent persons”. We are to discern the Lord. What precedes this passage is in the end of Acts 11, where we are told that Barnabas and Saul taught a large number of people in the assembly. They were taught in the assembly, it is the best place to be taught. Now in the assembly in chapter 13 there were certain whose names are given, who were recognising the rights of the Lord, serving Him. That was not to be detracted from, that was to enter into the service that was to go on. We can understand that as Paul and Barnabas went about, the converts would enquire as to Antioch and Jerusalem, and they could speak of what was [p. 154] there, and that would involve teaching in the assembly, and understanding and intelligence as to it. It seems remarkable that we have this man, said to be intelligent, at the very beginning of Paul’s mission. It says, “And having passed through the whole island ... they found a certain man a magician ... who was with the proconsul ... an intelligent man”. The proconsul was an intelligent man.
JC-S It is often pressed that affection is preferable to intelligence, but must they not go together?
JT You will not have the assembly if you do not have them both.
JC-S Sometimes we deprecate intelligence, whereas the divine thought is that we should be an intelligent company.
JT I think that comes out in John 20. It is said of John that he looked into the sepulchre and then went in, and saw and believed. He believed through his intelligence. He saw the position of the graveclothes and went home. Going home is not a credit to him, but it is a credit that he judged things intelligently. He saw the graveclothes. Mary failed in that and you cannot have an assembly just with persons like Mary. She had love, of course, but she did not have faith and intelligence and she could not judge of things by what she saw in the sepulchre.
EBMcC It says of this man he desired to hear the word of God.
JT Very good. Having called Barnabas and Saul, he desired to hear the word of God. It is not a mere matter of curiosity. It is not, “What would this chatterer say?” as they said at Athens. He discerned that there was something more there. The word of God appeals to the intelligent.
PL The expression in this psalm, “Cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved”, is brought in three times and seems like a refrain running through the psalm. These three tribes were shut up to the [p. 155] shining of God Himself, their great advantage in spiritual intelligence. Does “thy face to shine” bring in the intelligence?
JT It indicates that our position is not merely theoretical. We come together to stated meetings, week after week, and proceed on the same lines. There is a shining which involves freshness. Every meeting should afford something in the way of shining forth.
AMH Would that have some bearing on the local conditions? The word of God would shed light on what was right and on the position locally.
JT So that in all our meetings, if a difficulty exists, you feel that on the coming first day of the week, maybe, the Lord will shine in this matter. Something will move us and clear the matter. The meeting for prayer is not simply a meeting to tell God about our burdens but shining takes place; it is the place where He makes us glad. His house of prayer cheers us. A good state of soul is a great matter in settling difficulties, the shining reflects that. There is intelligence and freshness and the light shines.
Rem A Benjaminite would be a great help in that connection. As linked up with the two tribes mentioned Benjamin would come in with the intelligence of his father and bring in, not only weeping, but compassions.
JT I think Benjamin’s history and the history of the tribes would have a great place in Israel. Benjamin would represent initially the overcomer in a dark day.
EBMcC This man in Acts 13 would take account of these two men shining out. There was the shining forth in Barnabas and Paul of the word of God. You take account of vessels.
JT That is how we should look at it. Benjamin stood out in a dark day. Ten brothers were murderers [p. 156] in the household of faith, a terrible state of things. But he was not a murderer. I have no doubt that his history would be known. Each tribe had its history. He was associated with the house of Joseph and Joseph is mentioned in verse 1 of Psalm 80. Ephraim and Manasseh were the house of Joseph. They had an excellent history, these tribes — I suppose they had the superiority in that way — they were adjusted by the sovereign touch of Jacob. It is well to keep history in mind. On the other hand, it is what a man is now that tells, not what he was, but what he is now. But history has a place with God, genealogy has a great place with God.
EBMcC Barnabas was a man of compassion.
JT He had a good history, he was a son of consolation. These men issued forth from Antioch, where they must have had some excellent times.
In going through Acts we have to read between the lines or we shall never get the full truth, we must see things as a spiritual person would see them. What times they must have had in Antioch, and the Spirit speaks to them under those circumstances: “Separate me now Barnabas and Saul”. The Lord had said earlier that Paul was an elect vessel to Him. So here they go forth throughout the whole length of the island to Paphos. It would look as if they were to be tested as to their service and it was not the proconsul they found first but this man, Barjesus as he is called, who was with the proconsul. Thus the position is very difficult. This man that the Spirit of God had in mind and who is described as intelligent, was with such a companion. How is he going to be dissociated from him?
FW Why is it that the Holy Spirit sends them forth and not the Lord?
JT It is to bring out the position of the Spirit here as a divine Person; that He is acting of Himself.
FW In the difficulty of the case I wondered if [p. 157] it would need the Lord and His authority to deal with it, but it is the Holy Spirit.
JT It is to show that the conditions were subdued; a state of things existed in which the Spirit of God was free. It means when He speaks freely in this way conditions warrant it. That the Lord’s authority does not need to be asserted is a very great thought.
JC-S This intelligent man represented that which would be in affinity with that, but he was under an influence which was going to hinder him and sometimes you may find that in the local assembly.
JT It is mentioned at the very outset of the service of these men, at the beginning of the preaching to the gentiles, that God was taking out of them a people for His name, really the assembly. That this combination should be met with is intended to show that any such combination in the assembly is a serious matter. They would say, We hope we will not meet this again. This man Elymas is not an ordinary enemy. He is sailing under false colours, his name is Barjesus, son of Jesus. He is a magician. His name is interpreted — it indicates what the man really is; he is with the proconsul and he opposed them, seeking to turn away the proconsul from the faith.
PL Such are found at the beginning and also found at the end, those who “say they are Jews, and are not”, Revelation 3: 9.
JT The Lord has brought the danger of the Jewish element before us lately. This is the most pronounced feature of it you can get in one man and we have to watch it in our meetings.
JJJ How would we see it in our meetings?
JT It is usually seen in persons taking advantage of their position and privileges to give effect to their own feelings, gratifying themselves.
PL It led to the crucifixion. “We have a law”.
JT Quite so. They had a certain right according [p. 158] to the way they spoke to Pilate, recognising his right as representing Caesar. They had a privilege and law to ask for one man to be released, which they used; not Jesus, but Barabbas, another son.
JC-S “Perverting the right paths of the Lord”, the apostle calls it — the paths in which He would teach them to walk.
JT I suppose this man represents the Jewish element which is seen at its worst in opposing Paul’s ministry. Paul was the last and best word from heaven and yet he would turn that aside.
EBMcC Paul names it here: “full of all deceit and all craft”.
JT “Son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness”. It would be hard to get anything worse than this.
JC-S I suppose such a state is possible amongst the saints in a person who may be very refined and cultured and yet have this moral feature about him.
JT It is well to see it in its true setting; it represents the official Jewish opposition. It was seen at the cross at its height but now it is taking form against Paul, against the last great testimony of God here and it is found in one person.
WW Is the suggestion here that we need to be intelligent to discern this kind of thing in our midst?
JT It is a very subtle thing, this judaism. It comes up in a thousand ways in our meetings though not in its gross form, and it is always against the last and best word that God is giving. It would show itself in turning the saints away or keeping them engaged with something that was given earlier, so that they might lose what God is saying now.
JC-S Was there something of that in Corinth?
JT That was the same sort of thing. Are they Israelites? So am I. Undoubtedly the most acute opposition arose [p. 159] from these.
AMH Paul fixed his eyes on the man. Some movement may call our attention to what is said or a course taken. We should give attention to discern what spirit is behind such movement and the name it comes under. Outwardly one might be orthodox.
JT Paul fixed his eyes on him as if to say that is the opposition at the moment. In chapter 14 we have the Romish system in this idolatrous proposal to make the apostles an object of worship. You have foreshadowed the great Romish system in Christendom, setting aside the true idea of the assembly.
PL Would scrutiny, suggested in the apostle fixing his eyes on him, lay bare the power of evil on the one hand and embrace the good on the other? Does all that go with the scrutiny, whether of evil or good, connected with the cherubim in the psalm?
JT That is good. Fix your eyes on evil. When anything occurs there is evil somewhere, but then there is good too. Chapter 14 shows that Paul could discern what was there. He fixed his eyes on a man who had faith, there was material there for the matter in hand.
EBMcC It would be a terrible thing not to see the sun for a season.
JT He is out of the way of the great testimony that God is now proceeding with, and Satan has to do something else, to build up the Romish system, but in either case it is a question of setting aside what God is doing.
JC-S In locating evil the difficulty sometimes is to deal with it and hold the person.
JT You do not want to lose anyone. This man Elymas was an out and out child of the devil, an enemy of all righteousness. He represents the Jew as put aside for a season, he will be brought in again. It is tempered with mercy because it is a question of the promises made to the fathers. The Jews are out of the way in a most effective sense now. Blindness [p. 160] has happened to them, the veil is on their hearts, and thus Satan sets to work in Lystra to introduce another thing. They could not set aside what Paul had done in this man, but they would make the saints an object of worship and would sacrifice to them. That is full-blown now around us. That is what Satan has done, and the servants of God are stoned if they refuse to be worshipped.
JJJ You have the teaching of the Lord (verse 12).
Does that suggest ministry that is a corrective for that condition of things?
JT It is the teaching of the Lord, meaning that it is authoritative teaching and it is to be wondered at. Facts are given as they are to call attention to this teaching, and what intelligence is required to meet the situation! It needs authoritative teaching, and that is our salvation. What principle governs this position? What truth governs this position?
The intelligent look for that. They say we are not going to be governed by our feelings, we are going to be governed by the law that governs this position.
Rem It is not only a matter of dealing with evil, but a question of teaching on right lines.
JT Teaching is important. It is not merely the knowledge of facts but what is pressed into your soul by the Lord, as in the school of Tyrannus. It involves power.
JM Was Paul’s chief aim so to deal with Bar Jesus as to enable the proconsul to use his intelligence in a priestly way?
JT To use it free from this influence, too. Peter refused recognition when Cornelius did him homage.
“I myself also am a man”, he said. That is the attitude of a servant and so the angel says to John in Revelation that he is his fellow-servant — like himself.
He is serving in the testimony of Jesus. “Worship God”, he says. The servant disappears behind the truth he is [p. 161] presenting.
JC-S We might have this kind of thing in a modified form in a local meeting, where you can trace the origin of the thing to what is devilish.
JT That is what will come into evidence. Here you have the worst kind of the thing in one man and it is dealt with and put out of the way for the time being, because the promises of God are involved in this man’s position, and God is true to those. This intelligence that God is bringing in should have its place; it never could have shone under Jewish conditions. Paul stands for that in which intelligence shines. That is, the assembly is the great vessel for the shining forth of intelligence, in fact, of glory in man.
WW Being intelligent, do we understand that the question is that the Lord has gone up, but these in chapter 14 say the gods have come down? As having gone up, He is working with His servants.
JT The very word ‘gods’ is connected with idolatry.
Ques The assembly is here for God, the place of safety and security. Is the assembly in moral correspondence with heaven?
JT I think that is exactly the setting of the truth of the assembly. It is the reflex of heaven. It contains conditions for the divine dwelling and is here in accord with heaven. It is great enough to be the divine residence on earth now, and also the vessel of divine service showing forth intelligence. So “Paul and his company” (an expression you get only here) would mean that there were those associated with him as representing this great thought that was coming out, the mystery. The Spirit of God writes this down in view of what had come out; it would suggest that already the idea was taking form. Not that Paul was to be head in the assembly, but he had companions who would be in accord with what he represented. They would speak about what was at [p. 162] Antioch. I believe that is how the thought expanded, it requires intelligence. Intelligent persons are needed. We need love, of course, in the assembly, but we need intelligence so that we know what to do, and I believe that in this man in Lystra the apostle saw the kind of thing that was needed. He saw that he had faith to be healed. He had never walked; that is not said of the man in chapter 3 who had been lame. He had never walked. It is a question of God taking up this kind of thing, making him to walk. That is to be seen in regard to the assemblies formed, in the apostles going back to see them, choosing them elders in each assembly, not in each city, but assembly, such persons as would convey their thoughts, and the thoughts of heaven, and maintain them, not impeded by what had been introduced by judaism and Rome.
We have been having a good deal about order and procedure in assembly, but all that goes on is really in the hearts of the saints. You must look out for such material as this — material that is available for the Spirit of God to operate on, producing feelings and thoughts that are needed for assembly service, and having found the material, he would have it delivered from the Romish ideas.
WW They stoned Paul.
JT ‘If you do not allow us to worship you we will slay you’, that is the attitude — a terrible thing.
They stoned him and the stoning only brought out all the more what was there, what Paul did. It is put that way. “But while the disciples encircled him, he rose up and entered into the city”. His mind and instincts are not impaired, he goes into the city.
He was told to do that at the very beginning, and he knew what that meant. He goes in again, as alive, where the evil was, but encircled by the brethren; you have the brethren around you, not to do you harm, but to create an atmosphere, a favourable state [p. 163] of things. He was more like Jesus than ever before; it is a great thing to be brought into the realm of the living, like Lazarus and Tabitha.
JC-S Do we encircle Paul now, as representing the mystery?
JT He comes out with wonderful things in his heart. Some say he was caught up into the third heaven while he was stoned. If that is true he certainly comes out with wonderful things in his heart. What thoughts he had! He is very urgent that they do not worship him. What would he think, if he were here, of the place he is given in christendom? What if he saw St. Paul’s or if Peter saw St. Peter’s? We would like to hear what they would say, indeed we can well imagine what they would say. Paul would say, I was stoned because I refused that.
WW Is it the normal thought here that there is a circle of affection round that which is the answer to the living God?
JT That is the idea, to rally round the vessel of the light. It is the idea of the assembly now, those whom God will use, it is a question of what is living.
Paul rose up while they encircled him.
WW This circle would be composed of intelligent people.
JT His going into the city means that there is no impairment as the result of the persecution. It is a matter of testimony to cities. You might have thought he would flee from it, but he goes, as if to begin where he had left off, and you find him coming out, establishing the assemblies, and providing elders for them. The assembly did not choose elders, the apostles chose them, they would provide what is needed. Every local assembly is to be provided with that element, the element of rule and the element of correction. The care meeting would be a counterpart of that in our day. It is a question of experience and what God provides for the rule and government of [p. 164] His house. The elders were left amongst them to maintain the government of God and the care needed in the assembly. It is the last touch.
JC-S A case might transpire in a locality, for example, a difficulty between two brothers, and the thing cannot be solved. This would be rare.
JT If God has His way there will be a solution. These elders represent that. They are chosen of the apostles, those that represent God. God puts them forward, and provides them.
FW The weakness of the position is seen in the apostle having been stoned, but the strength in his rising up.
JT It shows the power of God that worketh in us. It is not any new power, it is always here.