PEACE IN "ONE BODY" AND CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
PEACE IN “ONE BODY” AND CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
A sort of epitome of what is presented in chapter 11 of the Acts will be found in verse 36 of the previous chapter, namely, “The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all)”. These two points are prominent in the passage in chapter 11, namely, peace and the recognition of Christ as Lord. There are two parts to the chapter: (1) the account of what took place at Jerusalem; and (2) of what occurred at Antioch; the first part is connected with the preaching of peace, and involves the consequent truth of the one body; and the second part gives the basis of christian fellowship — namely, that Christ is “Lord of all”. If we were more acquainted with the universality of His lordship, there would be more real fellowship. Fellowship is a practical principle, and we find it coming out in a practical way at the end of chapter 11.
A student of scripture will attach importance and distinctness to these two parts of this chapter. When the Holy Spirit came down on the day of Pentecost, the effect was the formation of the church as “one body”. The house of God was necessarily formed too, but those who had received the Spirit were by that fact formed, constituted one body, yet at that time the church had not reached the scope which God intended for it; it could not have been said then: “By one Spirit are we all baptised into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles”. Now Peter was used in the case of Cornelius to bring the gentiles into the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Still the body, although not in the full extent of it, was here from the outset, and it was so truly Christ’s body that He could say to Saul: “Why persecutest thou me?” There [p. 289] was the presentation of Himself here in the saints morally; this came out in Stephen, and it was not in the mere fact of unity but in a real setting forth of Christ. It was this that was hateful to Saul, and he sought to remove it; but the Lord’s way with Saul was remarkable; He weakened him when on the way to Damascus, very much as occurred with the Syrians who came to take Elisha, when they were smitten with blindness. They were weakened, and yet when brought to Samaria the prophet would on no account allow violence toward them, but directed the king to set bread and water before them. So Saul, when he came to Damascus, where he had intended to be a persecutor, received forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The one body is the expression of peace; reconciliation is there — Jew and Gentile were baptised into one body. This was first brought about in the reception of Cornelius. Peter gave to him and his friends the light of the scripture and testimony as to Jesus, and the Holy Spirit fell on them, and thus was accomplished what God intended, namely, Jew and Gentile baptised into one body. Afterwards they were baptised with water, which brought them within the limits of christianity down here upon the earth.
Before I go on to point out the significance of peace I would just note that there are three towns spoken of in this chapter: Caesarea, where Cornelius was; then Jerusalem, where Peter’s defence took place; and then Antioch in Syria. Caesarea was the seat of the Roman governor, and the place where the Holy Spirit had fallen upon those gentiles who heard the word. Jerusalem was for the moment the seat of light and even of authority, and that in connection with the church, and it was on that account that Peter went up there to justify to the assembly what he had done in connection with Cornelius. What he had had grace to do in regard to Cornelius he had grace to explain to the assembly. This is an important principle in regard of the servant, for he [p. 290] cannot rightly hold himself independent of the assembly.
In Peter’s vindication of himself the first point that is noticeable is that people are saved by words. “Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved”. Cornelius was already a devout man, but salvation was brought to him by words — the tidings of God’s salvation in Christ, and in receiving the light he was saved. The reception of light from God as to His grace necessarily brings a man into salvation, “with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”. The believer confesses Jesus as Lord, and that means salvation as to his soul. The light of the Lord means salvation from the judgment of God and from the power of the enemy, as seen in figure in the Israelites when passed through the Red Sea. Believing on the Lord has a mighty power in the soul, and brings unto salvation. While Peter spake, the Holy Spirit fell on them that heard, and Peter recalled the word of the Lord Jesus, how that He said: “John indeed baptised with water; but ye shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit”. Who but God could baptise with the Holy Spirit? That He should baptise with the Spirit was the proof to John the baptist that Christ was the Son of God. (John 1: 33, 34.) When Peter saw that the Holy Spirit fell on them, he recognised the act of God: “Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us ... what was I, that I could withstand God?” Peter was silenced; Cornelius was baptised with the Holy Spirit, and by the baptism of the Holy Spirit he was brought into the one body. The moment a gentile was there the body existed according to the mind of God, Jew and Gentile were baptised by one Spirit into one body.
The spirit and character of the Lord’s ministry here on earth was peace. There was no hostility to man; He went about doing good, “healing all that were oppressed of the devil”. He set Himself against the great author of enmity. When the Lord Jesus was born into this world, the heavenly host sang, “on earth peace”, and the Lord went on in the ministry of peace; and the cross was in that sense a moral continuation; so, too, even now at the right hand of God He preaches peace; there never was any difference in this respect. Christ went to the cross in order to remove all hostility, and the enmity was abolished by the man in whom it existed being removed from under the eye of God. In death all was gone, the Jew and the Gentile alike, and therefore in principle all enmity was gone; there could not be a more complete removal of the cause of enmity than in the removal of every kind of man in Christ’s death. And now at the right hand of God “He is our peace”. Peace is there; there is but one Man where there were two. Where there are two there will be hostility, for there are two wills. Now the Holy Spirit is down here forming one new man after Christ. There is one will only, there is but one Man, and that one Christ, and this is the true way of peace. Jew and Gentile are one in Him.
When Eve was taken out of Adam, she had no will divergent from his — I speak of the time previous to sin coming in. So in the church, Christ’s body, there is but one will, and that is Christ’s. Practically there is no way of peace save in the putting off the old man and putting on the new. Then there is no opportunity for discord: there is one will only, the will of Christ, and that will is love. When the Lord Jesus gave a commandment (and His commandment is the expression of Himself) it was, “Love one another, as I have loved you”. There is no room for discord where Christ’s will rules. I have been delighted in tracing the continuity of all that comes out in Christ. We never do fully come to peace until we come to the one body which is Christ’s body. “Let the peace of Christ” “rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body”. The church is taken from Christ, and is ruled by His will. I believe that is the force of the headship; the various members of my body move at the dictation of my head, and so the will of [p. 292] Christ rules the body, and where love rules there can be no discord. Where discord exists saints are not walking in love.
Now another very important point comes out in connection with Antioch, verses 19 - 24. Mark how the name of the Lord Jesus recurs in this passage. Verse 20, “preaching the Lord Jesus”. Verse 21, “And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord”. Verse 23, Barnabas “exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord”. Verse 24, “much people was added unto the Lord”. Now it is important to remember that the work of the Holy Spirit is in the formation of which is unseen (I am referring again to the former part of the chapter) — the body of Christ is unseen; but when we come to the point of christian fellowship, this is manifest and can be apprehended. At Antioch people turned to the Lord, and were added to the Lord; all this connects itself with what we find in chapter 10. Christ “is Lord of all”. Men recognised that He was Lord to the gentile as well as to the Jew. The truth that He is Lord of all was acted on when men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who had come to Antioch, spake unto the Greeks, preaching the Lord. The Greeks spoken of in verse 20 were really gentiles, not Greek-speaking Jews. Peter had recognised that Christ was Lord of all, and these emissaries went out in the faith of this, and the Greeks who received the word were brought into the light of the Lord, and thus into christian fellowship. The Jews, on the one hand, went to Antioch to bring the good news that Christ is Lord of all; and on the other, these gentiles who believed sent temporal relief to the saints at Jerusalem, and this is the expression of fellowship. The Lord is the real bond of fellowship. There may be those who have come into the outward profession of christianity, but fellowship in the true sense of it does not admit of profession, but is possible only in those who have believed in the Lord. These gentiles [p. 293] soon shewed their fellowship in a practical way. It was remarkable for gentiles to be ministering to Jews, and thus giving expression to the truth that Christ is “Lord of all”. Freemasonry is an imitation of christian fellowship in its universality. Our christian responsibilities are connected with our fellowship, and our bond is the common confession of Christ as Lord. No one ever understands fellowship unless he recognises that, while owning Christ as Lord, we are in a scene from which He has been rejected; we have to be faithful to His death. The Holy Spirit maintains us in the fellowship of one Lord and of His death.
The hearts of these gentiles who were in christian fellowship went out to the Jews; they had received the word of God through Jews, and now they ministered to the Jews in temporal things. All was of God at the beginning. The great point for us is to get back to that in which the power of the Holy Spirit is displayed. These are the two things which come out in the chapter: peace brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit, forming one body in Christ; then christian fellowship finding expression in those owning one Lord.
May God give us to understand these things. You may be sure that the Lord and the Holy Spirit are our resources in a day of weakness such as that in which we are.