"MY ASSEMBLY"
“MY ASSEMBLY”
Matthew 16: 15 - 18 The first thing to lay hold of is that it is in connection with our Lord’s rejection this new structure was brought out. What marks it is that the Lord speaks of it as “my assembly”. Hence it is an entirely new thing. God always had an assembly on earth since the calling out of Israel, but “my assembly” is a new structure, and is consequent on Christ’s rejection. Chapter 14 gives us the rejection of John the baptist; he is beheaded, and everything takes a new course. The Lord is preparing His disciples for this new structure. No one understands this new structure unless he is instructed in the two previous chapters. I do not say he is not a stone, but he is not confirmed as one. Chapters 14 and 15 are what the world would call the divinity school. It is learning how we are fitted for the new structure. In chapter 14 we learn Christ’s supremacy over everything in this world. In chapter 15 we find that He is able to relieve us through grace from the lowest point, as we see in the case of the Syrophenician woman, whose daughter was vexed with a devil. Then we get the feeding of the multitude, and the seven baskets of fragment — full supply as to ourselves; twelve indicates administration. We must learn this. There is no doubt that many have been blessed in their souls through preachers who do not apprehend the church. What are they to do? How are they to learn it? They can learn it here; and to learn the nature of the church we must go back to the beginning. The Lord asks, “Whom say ye that I am?” Peter answers, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”; he does not only say the Saviour, though that was true. Many are gathered to the Saviour who do not understand the house of God. I [p. 419] do not say they are not stones, but they have not taken their place as such. Peter was called Cephas, “a stone”, at first (John 1), but he only takes his place as a living stone now, on his confession, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”.
JSO The name given to him involved the revelation of Christ as Son of the living God made to Him by the Father.
JBS Quite so. Only confirmed now; we must learn the immensity of coming to the place where Christ is as Son over God’s house. In Acts you get nothing of the body. In the house aspect you first understand the church. A dissenter has the idea of membership. A churchman has no idea of this, but he has an idea of the house. With a churchman, all in the parish belong to the house of God. Still we may learn from a churchman in his reverence for the house. He takes off his hat in his respect for the building; I should do so for the company. If I had a cough I should not come, lest I should disturb the meeting.
I do not think one of twenty, of the labourers even, understand the mystery. You must begin with the house. I was a long time in the house before I knew what the house was; but that is no excuse for you. J.S.O. Here (Matthew 16) we get the foundation on which He builds, Himself confessed as Son of the living God.
JBS Exactly. I do not think that I should hinder simple souls because I press that you are going to meet the Son of God, not simply the Saviour, but the Son over the house of God. It is very important, because unless you give Christ His place you will never find your place. He is above everything here. Everyone understands heaven or earth, but do they understand a place outside this world? Such is God’s house. The Colossians had not apprehended the mystery though they were a very nice [p. 420] company.
WH If that truth were better known-that Christ is Son over God’s house, it would suppress a great deal.
JB S. Yes; but we must begin at the beginning. The beginning of this in a soul is, “To whom coming as unto a living stone”.
GeoC What do you include in owning the Lord’s supremacy?
JBS That He is above everything here on earth. That He is supreme over all the evil, and comes in as supreme over all the evil and storm here. Peter had the right idea when he left the ship to join the Lord on the water. It is a great thing to go to a spot where the supremacy of Christ is owned.
JSO Is there any difference between the aspect of the church in Matthew 16 and the way Paul presents the church?
JBS I do not think there could be any other way but on the foundation.
FER As regards public testimony, Paul was the first one who preached that Jesus is the Son of God.
JBS Paul was the first historically who preached Him as such; he went into the synagogues and preached Jesus that He is the Son of God; and he says, “Who revealed his Son in me”. Read Hebrews; he begins with the Son of God, and you must be listening to the Son all the way through: it is the ministry of the Son.
FG How is it we get the house of God in Hebrews, not the church?
JBS In Hebrews it is the congregation of God and how we become companions of Christ. The house may include professors; partakers of the Holy Spirit; chapter 6. You are told that if you leave the house there is no hope for you.
Ques Are you in the house before you are in the body?
JBS If you speak of counsel, we are all in the [p. 421] body; but as to learning it, as a rule we learn our place in the house first. Many devoted men do not understand the mystery.
WH Would it be correct to say, Peter was a stone for the house. but not in his place till the Spirit of God came and put him there (Acts 2)?
JBS Yes; but you do not get that order of things now. The Spirit of God had to put him into his place.
There are two errors against which we must guard. One, the notion of “believers’ meetings”, and the other, an imitation of the true company. To be the right company you must call on the Lord out of a pure heart. I do not go to Matthew 18 to learn what the house is, I go to chapter 16. That is where you find out the right thing. In Matthew 18:19, it is, “if two of you”. They were on the right ground already.
Ques Would you be looking for a company where the supremacy of Christ is acknowledged? J.B.S. Certainly. How could He have an assembly unless He is there?
Ques Do not all own that?
JBS They do not; they own the Saviour. Imitators generally use the right terms.
FER They would take their ground on Matthew 18.
JBS You must begin with chapter 16. You cannot rightly have the ground of chapter 18 without having first chapter 16. You cannot have the assembly without the Person, whose it is, as revealed in chapter 16. When you are on that ground, chapter 18 must not be left out; it is your prerogative-a blessed consequence.
FER You have enough in chapter 16. You get there “my assembly”.
JBS How could you have “my assembly” without the Person who calls them together? The “Speaker of the house”, so to speak, is there. You do not understand “my assembly” if you do not see that. It derives its character from “my assembly”. If a man invited me to his assembly, and I found he was not there, I should retire disappointed. Every local gathering is on this ground.
JSO Chapter 16 introduces the new structure, and the foundation on which it rests. It has nothing to do with gatherings, but is Christ’s building, not yet complete, composed of all saints.
FER The assembly was to take the place of the synagogue here on the earth where His authority was owned.
JBS Chapter 18 is rather a deduction from chapter 16. In dark times we had to go to chapter 18 to get round to it, but it shows we had lost chapter 16. Chapter 18 contemplates chapter 16. Verses 19 and 20 would, I judge, apply to any two or three who really know what church ground is, who might go to the chamber of a sick saint, or give themselves to prayer, because it says, “if two of you”, that is, those who are of the church.
JSO The assembly has been mentioned in chapter 18 before verse 19, for we read in verse 17, “Tell it to the assembly”.
JBS We have not only the assembly there but privileges belonging to it.
DLH It has been thought that Matthew 18: 20 refers to the assembly. From what has been just said as to the two or three in the sick chamber, or giving themselves to prayer, it would seem that it does not refer actually to the assembly.
JBS Two or three may go to a sick believer on the ground of being gathered to His name, but they are of the assembly beforehand. It must be that they act as those who belong to, and are on the ground of, the assembly. The Lord would be in the midst of those two or three. Matthew 18: 20 is a rallying word in the darkest time. The first thing in the revival of [p. 423] truth was to see that Christ had an assembly of His own. If you accept Matthew 16 as the ground on which we are met, why not accept any privilege conferred in chapter 18. You have the foundation first. “If two of you”, opens out an important benefit. The assembly had been alluded to. Now he says, “If two of you”.
FER It is really supplementary to the other; if any two of you who are gathered on the ground of the assembly.
JBS In order to be a Peter you must acknowledge His supremacy in the assembly. He is Son over God’s house.
JSO The Son of the living God must be owned as the alone foundation of the assembly. We always have connected the two things — the truth of the one body, and the Lord’s presence in the midst of the two or three gathered to His name.
JBS We are gathered on the ground of the one body — all who are members of it; otherwise it would be sectarianism. In 1 Corinthians 10 you have passed from the house to the body. You are ready for any privilege when you have the foundation.
JSO I think I understand your point as to having the revelation in chapter 16 in your soul before you can be truly gathered to His name.
JBS No one can understand the assembly except he has been taught of God in these chapters. Chapter 16 is the foundation. Chapters 14 and 15 are, as I said, the divinity lectures to prepare me for the new structure. “My assembly” is connected with Christ’s rejection. He is now rejected from the earth and received on high. Whenever He moves from there the church moves. Nothing of church order will remain after Christ has moved from His present position on the Father’s throne. It is here only during Christ’s rejection. The body belongs to heaven. We [p. 424] have not a word about the body until He is refused in glory.
J What do you mean by Christ moving?
JBS Directly He moves off the throne the church moves also. The mere professors, the foolish virgins, then become “the harlot”, and the beast carries her in order to subserve its own objects. Man is greatly helped in his projects by Romanism. But at last the beast will burn the harlot with fire; all of Christianity will be swept away. Then Babylon will be judged and then comes the marriage of the Lamb, Revelation 19. Until the rival is disposed of the marriage does not take place.
WH We are not proposing any new ground, but owing to the many meetings it is important to press Matthew 16.
JBS I have been pressing it for years. You must know the foundation of the church in chapter 16. If you do not understand the foundation you are not in your place.
FER Saints may be gathered professedly on right ground. At the present time there are numerous companies coming together owning certain truths, and pre-eminently the truth of the one body. The point for us is to see that we are really gathered in the truth of what the assembly is — the nature of the structure, and that each stone is a component part of that structure.
JBS Gathered on the ground of the one body is characteristic; the tendency is generally to congregationalism with a certain creed-souls linked together on the profession of certain truths.
THR There is a place between earth and heaven; we require to understand an out-of-the-world condition of things consequent on Christ’s rejection. He has a place on earth, though rejected; that is the assembly.
JBS John 20: 19 is pattern. Though not [p. 425] earth nor heaven, this place is on earth. The Son has His assembly here.
H Will you give us a word on the difference between the church and the kingdom of heaven?
JBS It is the kingdom in verse 19 — introducing people into the kingdom, the keys opening the door. It is here on earth. A common idea is that the kingdom now is in heaven, but it is here on earth, and we have the word without the presence of the King. The kingdom is the authority of the word when the King is not here. The word of God without the King.
Turn now to John 20: 19. The Lord comes into their midst, the doors being shut, without opening the doors, and He says, “Peace unto you”. That was the first time it could be said. It was virtually saying, I have cleared away all that was between God and you. No one can take his place in the assembly who has not peace with God. He breathes on them, and says, “Receive ye Holy Spirit”; and He then sets forth the object of the assembly — that it is the place for His things. He gives them their mission, “As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you”. No one could be in the assembly but on the new ground of peace in the Spirit. This may appear to shut out many. The more important a step is, the more necessary is it that the step should be taken in faith. There is always more blessing in waiting until you have faith than in assuming a place for which you have not faith.
FHB John 20 is a beautiful example.
JBS Yes, the Lord fulfils Psalm 16, “In whom is all my delight”. He seeks His own on the earth. Instead of going to heaven He comes to the assembled disciples; “Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord”. In Acts 2 you have the church formed. The Holy Spirit came down; He fills the house where they were sitting, and He fills each believer. You do not get beyond that in the Acts. You can never go [p. 426] beyond a revelation. In Acts 2 the revelation of the one body had not come. You will not understand the mystery, the one body, unless you first understand Acts 2. The house being filled with the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit filling each believer, is an entirely new action of the Spirit. In the millennium the Holy Spirit will only be on them.
Ques Which do you learn first, the body or the assembly?
JBS In the purpose of God we are all set in the body as it hath pleased Him; we get the assembly as the house first. Believers learn the truth more correctly who learn the house first and then the body. They are often awakened to the truth by bearing of the body.
FER Have not things come out of late years rather in the reverse way? Was not the body seen before the house?
JBS The Head was seen before the house. The light about the Head, which was as perfect as ever, was given of God before that of the house, which was in ruin. The house was in dilapidation, but the body was not, so the truth of that was restored to us first.
Ques Is there a difference between holding the Head and understanding the body?
JBS Yes; if one apprehended the body, he must apprehend the Head; but in recovering the truth of the one body you must begin with the Head.
FER I had an idea of the body years ago, and that brought me out; but I had no spiritual apprehension of the Head, and therefore could not have had it of the body.
JBS Nay; some of the brethren began pretty much with the evangelical alliance idea that all Christians should congregate together and for the time sink their differences.
Ques Was there not the idea of one family more?
JBS I think the family idea was a refinement of the evangelical alliance idea. There was a feeling that [p. 427] wherever you heard of a Christian you should try to become acquainted, in order that you might induce him or her to join the gathering. In 1848 the truth of the house came out. There are professors in the house, but the aspect of it that we have been having before us today is that of the real thing.
FG I have been thinking I have spoken of the body, and know very little of the house.
JBS The truth of the one body is more attractive than to find and accept your true place in the house where there is every disorder and confusion. Acts 2 is not on the ground of the mystery. The Spirit of God is there, and all is set up in divine power; but you do not get beyond that there. The body was not revealed until Acts 9. Many pious souls seek to be led of the Spirit who do not understand the mystery. The danger in such a case is impulse — saying, “It was on my heart”: that is Quakerism. Having it on your heart is no authority. Very good to have it on the heart if the Head had directed it. As the assembly is the Lord’s place my care should be that I get from Him that which I give out; when you are near Him He directs you.
Ques A person may think that he got something from the Lord at home?
JBS I do not deny this; but if he has, it is sure to be confirmed in the assembly as the Lord’s mind. If I am near the Lord in His own house, He helps me to act according to His pleasure. It is there, too, I learn what my gift is. Many a person does not know what his place in the assembly is, because he has never been near enough to the Lord to learn it from Him.
Ques What would correct taking a part because I had something on my heart?
JBS A knowledge of the Head. In Colossians 3 you get the Head. The Holy Spirit always makes [p. 428] Christ paramount.
THR If we follow what we have been going through — you get the structure, and then the Holy Spirit comes as the power of the structure. If a person does not understand the structure, he does not understand the Spirit in the structure.
JBS The Head is how Christ stands in relation to the assembly.
THR You might have the power of the Spirit in a congregation.
JBS There are a great many very true who do not understand the Head. Many love the Lord who are not holding the Head. If you speak under the direction of the Head, you edify the assembly. In Colossians 3 you touch the Head (verse 11). Christ everything and in all; you are outside everything of man and every order of man.
FER Is it too much to say outside of my own individuality?
JBS It is individually that you hold the Head, but you are outside of your own head. You are in a new state while in the old state; you are outside the world. Jordan is not dissolution, but you have gone outside of your natural life while still in the place of it; because you are still here.
Ques Is the assembly across Jordan The Lord is risen. Many have enjoyment in the assembly who have not realised the presence of the Lord. It is not merely the ministry there, but the impression from the presence of the Lord in glory. If I am there in truth, I am where there is nothing but the divine glory. In the assembly you are outside the order of things here. The assembly is not the place for your necessities. When a brother gives out a hymn about our sins, he has lost the idea of the assembly. The great thing is to see that we are there outside man’s order of things, and that it is Christ’s interests that are to occupy us.
[p. 429] In Colossians 2 it is the individual who is spoken of as not holding the Head; but I have not got to the Head there.
THR You do not reach the Head till you have learned that Christ is everything; chapter 3. There you are off human ground and you are on divine ground.
FER There is another point in chapter 3: You have put on the new man; you are off natural ground.
JBS You are off human ground and you are complete in Him; and nothing can be added to you.
FER You get in chapter 2 the virtues of the Head, but you do not touch Him till chapter 3.
JBS It is a great thing to see that in the assembly everything is from Christ. I feel in the assembly sometimes I drop what I had in my own mind; presently I receive from the Lord. When you take part in the assembly, you are the organ of the assembly, therefore you ought to pray in the Spirit. In giving out a hymn you are leading the praises of the assembly. The Lord would dictate to you there a word for the assembly, and you get light and expansion as to the truth that you never had before. Now in Ephesians I not only derive from Him, but I am united to Him in heaven. In Colossians I am on new ground in the old place; you do not get to heaven in Colossians. They were not beyond the house. All the sensibilities of the Head come out in Colossians: “Bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering”, et seq.
FER All the grace of Christ comes out in the assembly.
JBS And such is the object and end and gift to man that the grace of the Giver may abound to the blessing of the assembly.
Now when we come to Ephesians, we are raised up and made acquainted with His power and His place. There is very little about power in Colossians, you get [p. 430] life there: He is our life. You cannot know union except in the place where the Person is. You get life in Colossians, not union.
Ques What is the force of “fulness of him”, Ephesians 1?
JBS In chapter 3 Christ is the complement of God. In chapter 1 the church is the complement of Christ, as Man exalted and glorified. The church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all; Ephesians 1: 23. He would not be complete without His body; it is of Him; we do not add to Him, we all derive from Him; we are the expression of Him. My thought about “that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5: 26) is, that the Lord would have us so apart from everything here unsuited to Himself that if He were to walk in, He would find all to His pleasure. I have no doubt Stephen tasted union, though he did not know the doctrine. In Acts it was all there in principle, for they had the Holy Spirit, but they knew nothing of it.
JSO Everything belonged to them, though the whole truth was not unfolded till Paul’s ministry.
FER Take a saint who has the Spirit; everything is there, for he has the Holy Spirit. You must seek to establish souls in what is their portion.