SYMPATHY WITH THE DIVINE CURRENT
[p. 194] SYMPATHY WITH THE DIVINE CURRENT
I had in mind to show how the work of God moves with the light, and how what is spoken on God’s part at any given time affects those who are with Him in any measure, particularly now those who minister.
They should be the first to sense the divine movement, they should not be behind; at least they should, like Jacob, observe what may come to their ears. Jacob, you will remember, observed the saying of Joseph.
Joseph had dreamed about his brethren, symbolised in their sheaves; as his stood up, theirs stood round.
They did not like that; those whom the sheaves represent did not like to be eclipsed; they did not like to be outrun, to take the second place. But, in the wisdom of God, we may have to take the second place, or the third, or the fourth, or the eleventh, or the twelfth, and occupy it happily. Elisha, we are told, was ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth; there was no evidence of complaint in that. There could be no doubt that his furrows were equal to those of any of the others.
Then Joseph dreamed of the sun, moon and eleven stars bowing down to him. That was more difficult, and even drew out his father’s disapproval, though not exactly his opposition. The brothers of Joseph, other than Benjamin, who is always the overcomer (a most important man to keep your eye upon, a man who can hold aloof from partisan activity, for partisan activity even formed against what is wrong is wrong itself, but if formed against what is right, how much worse!) the ten brothers of Joseph were partisan against him.
Their ire was aroused, for his dream about them was true; they had to come to that. It is better to come to things at once than to defer. Joseph dreamed about [p. 195] heavenly things, and spoke his dream, and drew out the disapproval of one who loved him; for Jacob loved Joseph. We need not have much fear about the disapproval of one who loves us, even if his disapproval may not be well founded; he will come round, for love never fails, and love according to God is a stranger in a party; it has no part there, in fact. But his father observed the saying; and that, dear brethren, is what saves us-to observe what is said. It is worth thinking over; God will help you, and we are enjoined to prove all things and hold fast what is good. God gives us ability by the Spirit to discern, and it is well to observe the sayings and try them: “Doth not the ear”, it says, “try words?”. After all, there may be something worth observing.
Now I speak thus because of Peter’s part at the end of this chapter. He represents the ministers; he is, indeed, the leading minister in relation to the twelve, and what comes out is that he senses, so to speak, what the current is, what has come in. Something had come in, and that a long way off; why should not the new thing come in at Jerusalem? It was at Damascus, a city that had no claim on Jerusalem; really it was an ancient rival, we may say. It was a long way off; faith had made the journey before, Abraham made it from Hebron to save his brother, and he succeeded. So that what enters into this period is a matter of distances. The apostle Paul later speaks of these distances, saying that he from Jerusalem and round about Illyricum had fully preached the gospel of Christ. He knew what journeys meant and did not hesitate to make them, certainly not from religious prejudice. To hesitate to visit a district from religious prejudice is foreign to the spirit of Christianity. But religious prejudice existed, and existed strongly in Jerusalem, and God was breaking in on it. The scattering by persecution after the death of Stephen was an intimation of this. We are told [p. 196] that the apostles remained in Jerusalem, and now in these circumstances the Lord moved out of heaven, as we might say, or in heaven, but in relation to a territory far away from Jerusalem, and in relation to one man, too. There was the light from heaven shining round about that man, and there was the voice calling him by name and questioning him. Think of heaven questioning a man as to what he was doing! Does heaven not need to question us, beloved, as to what we are doing? It is a challenge to every heart as to what I am doing.
The Lord says, “Why dost thou persecute me?”. Now that question, as we have often had it, enfolded a truth. That little pronoun ‘me’ embodied a truth of far-reaching importance. It included every person in this room tonight who is a believer in Christ. Such was its importance. It implied journeyings; many of these members were far away, ourselves included. The Lord had every one of us in mind: such is He. John says that He died to “gather together into one”without mentioning the body-”the children of God who were scattered abroad”, John 11: 52. John mentions that; and the Lord, in the use of this personal pronoun, as referring to His suffering people, conveyed the thought of the body, His body, whether it be viewed in the local sense or in the general sense. The Corinthians were viewed thus in a local sense, and that is what I have in mind. He says to them, “Now ye are Christ’s body, and members in particular”,
1 Corinthians 12: 27. That is one of the statements in the epistle that are foundational; that is, a large structure is reared upon it. “Ye are Christ’s body”: the Lord had that in mind, and it involved journeyings. He appeared to Saul (and it was a long distance away from Jerusalem) and announced it to him. I have no doubt the apostle Paul would never forget that, as the truth was unfolded in his soul and as he applied it to others; these words with heavenly warmth would never be lost to him. We are told elsewhere that it was in the [p. 197] Hebrew tongue-as if to enlist his sympathies; as much as to say, ‘Saul, I do not want to prejudice your mind’. “It is hard for thee”; that shows the sympathy, the divine sympathy, that accompanied the light and the instruction bound up in the word ‘me’, whom Paul was persecuting. How did it react upon him, and how should it react upon us, too, if in any way, by word or deed or attitude, we are persecuting the Lord’s people? We slip into it very easily, for though we may have good reason to speak against a person, at least from our point of view, yet in that way we may be persecuting him.
Now Peter, in what happens here, senses all this. It says that he went through all quarters. The word ‘quarters’ is not there in the original, as if, it seems to me, to make the force of the word ‘all’ stronger. It is a sort of indefinite thing, without limit. He is in accord with the Lord’s mind. I do not suppose that if we had been there with Peter he could have told us much about the body of Christ, but he was in the sense of the thing, involving that the ministry implies journeyings; so he went “through all [quarters]”. His mind was in that direction, ready for anything that God might require. We have no word of command given to him at this time; it is mentioned in such a way as to show how a minister comes into the current. He cannot afford to be out of it; if he stays out of it he will come into stationary waters and become waterlogged. Peter says, ‘I do not want that’: he is in the current. He descended, we are told, to Lydda, and he finds Aeneas lying on a couch, paralysed for eight years, the Spirit of God reminding us of how accurately heaven takes account of these conditions.
As you move about in any little way, you may think and say, ‘This local condition has been going on now for several years’, which is sorrowful. This man’s condition had lasted eight years. Peter could not explain it to you as I can explain it now; I mean the [p. 198] spiritual bearing of this occasion. It was in relation to what had happened at Damascus, as in the mind of God. What had happened there implied the church in its character as the body, universally and also locally. It was to be seen thus in hundreds, and even thousands, of places on earth; that was the mind of the Lord when He said “me”. He meant the saints whom Saul was persecuting, and these saints were to be found in an ever-widening area. They are found today in this town here, and in many other towns, and as far west as the sun sets there are saints. This passage bears directly on the present moment as to local conditions, the paralysed condition. And Peter says, “Aeneas, ... rise up, and make thy couch for thyself”. The figure refers to local conditions, the lying on the couch, implying that somebody else has to do the work. It may be visiting brethren, and the one who is using the couch is, so to say, paralysed, and does not lift a hand to do anything. Peter says, “Rise up, and make thy couch for thyself”; that is to say, ‘Make the condition for yourself; do not expect others to do it’. But how do you make the bed? Make it properly, as it should be made, surely. You cannot suppose heaven asking us to do something other than to do it properly.
We have often alluded to this passage; the Scriptures are infinitely profound; we never get to the bottom of them; they are intended to be so. They wear and wear and wear, and apply to varied conditions; so that it is a question now, as the Lord seems to suggest it, of persons who are in the local setting church-wise, as we speak, that they should not expect others to do things that should be done, certainly not to do things for their own comfort, but that they should do things themselves. The idea is, as Acts teaches us, the reflection of what is in heaven, heavenly conditions. That is what is in view in Acts; hence we have the light from heaven, the voice from heaven [p. 199] and, earlier, the sound from heaven, and later, the sheet from heaven. It is heaven conveying what is up there; and, if I am in accord with heaven, I want heavenly conditions. I will soon expose myself in my making if I am not heavenly: I will make my bed in an earthly fashion or a worldly fashion; but if I am in the light of heaven I will make it according to heaven’s requirements.
Then, as if the spirit of instinct was followed in the verses, those who dwelt at Joppa have a circumstance. It is a female disciple, not simply a certain disciple; that is to be noted. Aeneas means the side of authority, “a certain man”. As we find in the gospel of Luke (who wrote this book), every convert through the gospel is to be material for the assembly. In his gospel we find one after another, each conveying, as helped by the Lord, some feature of the assembly. Amongst those is a woman who had an internal disease (chapter 8); before her we have the account of the man who had been a demoniac and he is sitting clothed at the feet of Jesus, in his right mind; that is to say, he represents the mental or intelligent or authoritative side-and how much he is needed, sitting clothed and in his right mind! A balanced mind is one of the greatest needs amongst us, sitting at the feet of Jesus; he is not yet like Mary, hearing His word, but the point is his restfulness and balance, and his respectability spiritually. He is a very important man, a man to be respected spiritually. Then the woman had an internal disease, and Mark mentions her body; Luke speaks about her transparency. She represents what is secretive, for she purposed to enjoy the benefits and say nothing about it. She is not church material; she is an opaque person; she is not outwardly what she is inwardly. A member of Christ must be transparent; there must be that through which Christ, as it were, can shine; and that is what she comes to. She represents that sort of church [p. 200] material, and she falls down, we are told, in the presence of all the people and told all the truth; that is, everything is out. Then the maid of twelve years of age would represent in that chapter the youthfulness and freshness of the material of the assembly. It is a beautiful combination, man and woman and child; and it is right to speak of it now because of this word, “a female disciple”. She represents the feeling side of the position. If it be spiritual, well and good, but if the feeling side is not spiritual, it is ill, it is damaging. I often say that in our comings together there are three phases of the meeting: first the sitting down, when we speak together of the things of the Lord with a measure of sobriety; then the meeting at the back of the room where we talk freely, and feeling comes out, the sisters having as much to say as, or more than, the brothers. There we may have complaints right away, when we have been talking together about the Lord, when we have been seeking to be sober and spiritual, at least externally, but now feeling comes out, sister against sister, or brother against brother; one brother may be taking another up who said too much, and he did not have enough to say. Then on the street we have perhaps fewer, but perhaps more secretive talkings, some brewing of trouble, it may be. I only suggest that we avoid these things, that we take care of our feelings, for one of the last great features of the Spirit is self-control, that by the Spirit of God I can control my feelings and my words. Thousands of things may be said at the back of the room that should not be said, for they have no edification at all, but just the opposite.
This was a female disciple and she was a worthy person according to the usual estimate of widows, a garment-maker; that is, she dealt in externals. Externals are right in their place, but you want the internals, the secret parts. To put beautiful clothes on a brother or sister who is not right inwardly will [p. 201] not do. It is well to clothe the saints with our affections, but do not overdo the feeling side, do not put on clothes that do not suit; that is what a woman like Dorcas is pretty certain to do. She was dealing in externals. God, of course, dealt in externals, for He was the first clothes-maker, but He made clothes from skins; the material was out of death. Dorcas did not use that material. In the next chapter we have a tanner; he corresponds with Genesis 3, and Peter was in his house. There is no tannery needed for these clothes, no death is needed for Dorcas’s garments, and yet she is a respectable sort of woman, well thought of. She sickened and died. We have spoken of sickness and dying: how much of it there is! We have in Luke sick persons and diseased persons. This is a sick person. A disease may be a sort of epidemic in the place, more dangerous and contagious. I know of places where these diseases exist; they are contagious. This is a sick person, there is nothing about contagion here, but she just sickened and died.
The other disciples in the place were in the current of things in some little way, for they washed her after she died. Why did they not do it before? The Holy Spirit would not mention the fact of washing if it were a mere physical thing. They laid her in the upper chamber, which alludes to the current God has introduced; indeed it had been introduced from the time of the institution of the Lord’s supper. It appears earlier in the Acts, where the disciples abode, and many dear women were there who were not just like Dorcas, for we do not hear a word about garments being made in the upper room at Jerusalem. Now they place her there; they are in accord to that extent with the current of the moment-a most important thing-and they send two men for Peter. That is another point with Luke-two men. Two men would signify adequate testimony given with all right feeling, manly feeling. We have them, as we know, in chapter 1, at the [p. 202] ascension, at the sepulchre and at the transfiguration in Luke. Now we have them here. Do we not need them? There are so many rumours; the conflicting stories we hear are most painful; we need these two men. Let us have recourse to these two men; no matter what we hear about our brethren, get the facts of the case!
Peter came with them. Peter is that type of a servant, ready for the service. He did not say, ‘I will follow you’; he came with them, and he came to the upper chamber. He would be at home there, for his own mind was in that current; indeed it was moving on towards heaven, for the heavenly thought had come in. The women are there, weeping widows, soft-eyed persons-not that I speak disrespectfully of any one-but the Spirit of God has this in mind. It is just natural feeling, in a way to be respected and yet not to be respected, for it is out of place here. Peter put them all out. You may say, ‘That is very severe, to put dear people out like that’. Many would say today as to that, ‘You have killed the servants of the Lord’-it is the natural mind resenting the judgment of God. He put them all out. There is no evidence of any ceremony about it; he would remember what the Lord did in regard to Jairus’s daughter. I believe that Peter is on the up line here, and I am speaking now with servants in mind, to be in the current of the mind of heaven for the moment, not to be behind. Peter’s epistle confirms all this, how he came into it. Then he knelt down and prayed. What a beautiful example of service! What can he do, a mortal man, about to put off his tabernacle, soon to die himself? He can do nothing more than any of us, but God can do much-what can God not do? All things are possible with God, the Lord said, when the disciples were puzzled. Peter knelt down and prayed, and then he turned to the body. I want you to notice that, and remember what the Lord said to Saul, that word that had been uttered from heaven-’me’. 1 Corinthians is the opening up of the doctrine of all this; our very bodies are said to be members of Christ. How essential, therefore, that our bodies should be washed with pure water!
1 Corinthians 6 should be read in this connection, for we are living in a polluted world. The Corinthians had just come out of polluted paganism, and the apostle has to instruct them as to the pollution of the world; so today the world is becoming pagan in every way, alas! All the laws and principles that should govern christendom are being cast to the winds. How important, therefore, that Christ’s own should hold themselves and their bodies so that they can be used as members of Christ! Think of the exaltedness of the fact that our bodies are members of Christ! So Peter, having this in mind, turns to the body. He says to her by name, “Tabitha, arise”. She looks on him. It was well that he was there to be looked upon, not those weeping widows; they could not help her. They were occupied with the garments; they had them all there, an exhibition of what she used to do. But she sickened and died by that; she is lost to us. God only can bring her back, and He does bring her back, and her eyes were opened on Peter. She is to be here henceforth as representative of God. Peter gave her his hand and lifted her up. That is what is needed in our localities in many instances. It comes in here as in keeping with the current of things. A present current is running and we do not want to be out of it. All this happens to show what God is doing in these circumstances.
Peter presents the woman living. What a fine person she is now! She is like the Lord, who presented Himself living. The word ‘presented’ is used there, and so here, “He ... presented her living”. We have a living sister or brother henceforth. That is what is in mind in view of Paul’s ministry that is to [p. 204] follow. The lesson for us is to keep in the current; if you are with God you will be sensitive as to whatever God has brought in. It will not surprise you; you will be thankful for it, and you will move in relation to it, and thus you will be serviceable to the Lord.