FORMATION OF ASSEMBLIES
[p. 353] FORMATION OF ASSEMBLIES
Matthew 18: 19,20; Acts 9: 32 - 43
RB We had in mind rather the formation of assemblies locally. In Acts 16 we read that not only were the assemblies confirmed in the faith, but also that the number of them increased every day.
JT It seems to be a general thought that the Lord should get the most possible out of the saints. We see in Rebekah that she was to be a comfort to Isaac. We look for the greatest possible yield, so that it is a question of our being intelligent as to how that yield is to be increased. To that end, it would appear that the increase of meetings — companies of saints walking in the light of the assembly — means increase for Christ, not exactly increase in the size of the meetings, but rather in the number of them. This supposes that the material is such as may be formed into that which answers to the assembly, for we have, of course, to consider the material - The Lord appeared to different ones after He rose. In Luke 24:34 it says He appeared to Simon, and in 1 Corinthians 15 He appeared to Cephas. If we have such material as “Cephas” indicates, I think the Lord would look for increase in the number of the meetings.
Matthew calls attention to the material that forms the assembly. It is, “If two of you” Matthew 18:19. The formation of assemblies (meetings) necessarily hinges on the existence, not simply of believers, but of church material. This would involve Paul’s ministry, so that in suggesting the passage in Acts, I wanted to show how Peter’s service anticipated the economy set up by Paul’s ministry, that is, he anticipated that the time was coming when the saints would learn how to do things for themselves. “Make thy couch for thyself”. Acts 9:34. That underlies Paul’s system. We have to look for this feature whether in local meetings or [p. 354] otherwise. There are those who can do things spiritually for themselves without having to seek for help elsewhere. In the case of Tabitha, of course, there is the principle of seeking help, because they besought Peter to come to them. In the first instance it says, “As Peter passed throughout all quarters, he came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda”. Acts 9: 32. It then relates that there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, and she having died, the disciples hearing that Peter was there sent two men beseeching him “that he would not delay to come to them”. Acts 9: 38. So that there is the principle of asking for help from a near-by meeting, or from any person who is available and can help. But the principle of doing things for yourselves precedes that, otherwise you would simply build up a metropolitan system.
WCG Would the “two of you” Matthew 18:19 refer to the “little children” in verse 3?
JT It refers back to chapter 13, where you have the truth of the assembly introduced. The assembly is specially in view from chapter 13, and I think that “two of you” refers back to the whole course of instruction, particularly the revelation of Peter in chapter 16.
EJMcB You look upon “two of you” as assembly material.
JT Yes.
RB You make a distinction between persons who are merely believers and church material.
JT In Luke 24 you have the Lord’s ministry as effecting recovery of two insignificant ones to the public company. They were going away from Jerusalem and the Lord goes a distance of sixty furlongs after them. They were not “two of you” characteristically; they were believers, but their backs were on the assembly. In that chapter we read also, “The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon” Luke 24:34 — he was an erring one. He is not material [p. 355] for the assembly, but he is an object of grace and he is restored. “The Lord appearing to Simon” was grace.
Rem You need more than grace for the assembly.
JT Yes. So that in 1 Corinthians 15 the apostle gives six different appearings of the Lord, beginning not with Simon, but with Cephas. If He appears to Simon, He means to emphasise grace; but if He appears to Cephas, He means to emphasise the assembly, because the word ‘Cephas’ signifies material — a stone.
RB Then “two of you” would be persons who have the light of the assembly in their soul.
JT Quite. That is the thing we should get hold of first of all; we begin with the minimum of two: “If two of you shall agree ... as touching anything”, etc. Matthew 18:19.
EJMcB Was it in your mind that Aeneas set forth one of the features of the “two of you” in that he could make his own bed?
JT That is what I thought.
JJ So that the “two or three” Matthew 18:20 of the next verse would be those acting together.
JT Yes; there you have the Lord supporting them.
RB What is in your mind in being able to do things for yourself?
JT Well, Jerusalem had hitherto been the centre. The saints in the different meetings would look to Jerusalem, the twelve were there; but it seems as if, under the Lord, Peter in chapter 9 discerned that what was coming was a new movement of the Spirit, and instead of saints looking to Jerusalem they were to learn to do things for themselves. But they were not to be independent; so that Peter did not go to Joppa of his own accord, he was besought to go there. The two things balance each other, the first thing is there was a local company that had the means within [p. 356] itself for maintaining for God in the locality, and the second is that there may be special need, or there may be a special vessel available for help and it were folly to ignore an opportunity like that, especially when the need was there. There was a woman having a great reputation who was dead, and Peter was near by and they besought him to come, and he went, and the result was that there was there what had not been there before — a living woman.
EJMcB Do you look upon the woman as representing a moral feature that had been lost to the company, and Peter as restoring this in greater power than before?
JT That is so. How far Peter may have been intelligent in what he was doing one cannot say; but God was going to work on these lines; it was not to be a metropolitan system. There is a metropolitan system in the sense that heaven is its centre, but there is no earthly centre. Each company has to learn to make its bed for itself otherwise it is dependent on some outside support.
EJMcB Do you look upon Paul’s ministry as changing the situation from Jerusalem to this?
JT Yes; and the churches in Judaea, I apprehend, began to understand this, so that when Paul went to Thessalonica and the assembly was formed there, he wrote to them, “Ye ... became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus” 1 Thessalonians 2: 14, without any reference to Jerusalem. That is an important point.
EJMcB Yes, I quite agree with that. Paul’s ministry brought that about.
JT Some of us have been remarking as to the great disadvantage in travelling of having to change your train. In Australia you have to change four times from Brisbane to Perth, because the lines are of different gauges. I was in a meeting not long since and a brother whispered to me, ‘We are accustomed to do a certain thing here’. They had a local custom. And that is more prevalent than we are ready to believe. There are local customs; that is to say, you have to change your train. Now I think that Peter’s move here involved that he was laying tracks for Paul’s train; there was to be an express train, so to speak, right through even to Babylon. When Peter writes his letter to the Jews of the dispersion from Babylon, which is a big stretch, he refers to our beloved brother Paul and he says to them, “To whom coming, a living stone ... yourselves also, as living stones”. He is linking everything up; they “are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ”, 1 Peter 2: 4,5. Jerusalem is not in view.
Rem He was writing to saints in a territory in which Paul had laboured.
JT Quite so. In speaking of assemblies — we may use the word ‘assemblies’ for convenience — the first thing you think of is the material.
HH That is, believers who have church exercises to some extent.
JT Yes.
Ques What is set forth in Aeneas making his own bed?
JT If anything occurs to disturb the comfort of the saints you seek to right it locally. I do not think it is wise to call in outside help, but if you do, be sure the help you call in is in accord with Peter — a man who unifies things and who has a universal outlook; Peter is the material that stands for that.
EJMcB That is why you emphasise the thought of Cephas — a stone.
JJ Why is it that Paul is brought in immediately before these two things in chapter 9?
JT Paul is on the horizon now, and Peter, whether or not he understood it fully, is under divine guidance; he made way for this elect vessel, as the [p. 358] Lord says. It is a serious thing to be out of accord with Paul.
RB If there is heavenly light, you want to be in accord with it.
JT Quite.
JJ You must take up Peter’s ministry in the light of Paul.
JT Quite so. Paul says, “I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision”. Acts 26:19. If there is movement from heaven, you want to be in accord with it. There was evidently going to be a move, and Peter was in accord with it.
EJMcB Do you attach any importance to the fact that Peter put the widows all out before raising this woman?
JT I think Peter had learned; he had been with the Lord in Jairus’s house; he knew that these widows were under natural influences.
Ques Why did you say just now, in speaking of the assembly, that you must go back to Matthew 13? We have been accustomed to go back to chapter 18.
JT At the beginning of chapter 13 the Lord left the house; that is a definite movement. I suppose the house there would have reference to the Jewish system, and He sat by the sea and spake many things to them in parables, and the parables lead up to the assembly.
Rem There is that seen in the soil that was not there before.
JT Exactly, it is the principle of the wheat and the tares growing up together. Those who compose the assembly would have to contend with a situation like that, so the disciples ask the Lord in the house to explain that parable to them, and what He gives out in the house in that chapter is most instructive in regard to the assembly. Then He goes on to speak about the leaven, and about the treasure, and the pearl, and about the fish — all these involve discrimination,
and then He says, “Have ye understood all these things?” Matthew 13:51 and upon their answering in the affirmative, He says, “Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old” (Matthew 13: 52). I think all that is most important for instruction in regard to the assembly.
Chapter 14 is to show that the Lord can feed the multitude. You learn there how you can rely on Him in an emergency. Then He walks on the water, which is a further thing, and in chapter 15 He says, “Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up”. Matthew 15:13. Then He goes away into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon and finds a woman there who, I think, represents the kind of material that is required for the assembly. It is the same territory as that out of which Solomon got his material for the temple. It is cedar wood and had to be brought down; she qualifies as a cedar, for He says, “O woman, great is thy faith” Matthew 15:28 — a very unusual thing. All that leads up to the revelation that is made to Peter.
Rem So that in this chapter we have certain characteristic features of the material you are speaking of.
JT Yes, that is what I thought.
EP Would you say how Paul presents living stones?
JT I think they are members of Christ’s body. He speaks of the house also, but the Pauline terms corresponding with the stones, I should say, would be the members of Christ’s body.
RB With regard to the woman you referred to as a cedar, “O woman, great is thy faith”, Matthew 15:28, would that answer in a way to being gathered together in His name in the sense of His power and authority being [p. 360] available?
JT She recognised the Lord; she said, “Lord, help me”. Matthew 15:25. I think Romans 5 brings in the Lord and corresponds with Acts 9, because in that chapter we have the Lord throughout; in any movement of God we must begin with the authority of the Lord. You find throughout that chapter that the Lord is in view.
JJ She says too, “Truth, Lord”. Matthew 15:27.
JT In Romans 5 everything is “through our Lord Jesus Christ”. It is the principle of administration; it is not simply that you have supplies, but that supplies are brought in through our Lord Jesus Christ, and they are all available for faith. That really leads up to the point where it is not a question of the Lord, but of the Spirit, who sheds abroad in our hearts the love of God. I learn to use the Spirit, and that underlies the principle of making your bed for yourselves.
Ques Would the Lord expect us all to be intelligent?
JT Yes, surely. Intelligence depends on subjection. “After two days he will revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight”; then it says, “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning”; and it further says, “and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth”, Hosea 6: 2,3. There you see His activities; He is moving in relation to all that is in the mind of God, bringing in the day. Your intelligence enables you to rely on what He does as the latter rain upon the earth. I think Romans 5 corresponds in that way, it shows the resources that come to us through our Lord Jesus Christ, and then in Romans 8 we learn to use the Spirit.
That chapter underlies the principle of doing things for yourselves. In Romans 12 your body is presented to God as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable, which is [p. 361] your intelligent service. It is a most dignified thing to present your body to God as an intelligent act, a priestly act. Then you get the principle of unity, that is, you see you are “one body in Christ”. Now you can have all brought in; it is not yet “of Christ” but “in Christ”. It is the principle of unity governed by the thought of “in Christ”; not in the flesh.
RB That person is a living stone.
JT That is how it works in chapter 8. I have learned to use the Spirit by myself, but others have learned it too, and we use Him generally. I think Luke refers to the Spirit received in a collective way, “How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (Luke 11:13). All that refers to the local furnishing, because the Lord is there seen as praying in a certain place. (See verse 1.) The subject begins in chapter 9. How is the Lord going to be received up in heaven? He is going to be received up according to heaven, in the heavenly way. And so in chapter 10 the Lord sends out seventy by twos into every city and place where He Himself was about to come, so that He should be rightly received, because previous to that He had come to a city of the Samaritans and they received Him not. Now He is going to be received, and in order that He should be received, He sends out seventy and says, Seek out the son of peace, because heaven is marked by peace. You cannot have local conditions according to heaven unless you have the son of peace: “And if the son of peace he there, your peace shall rest upon it ... and in the same house remain”. Luke 10: 6,7. Then later it says, “Now it came to pass that ... he entered into a certain village” Luke 10:38; you are not told the name of it, but we know it is Bethany, but He is not occupied with any particular locality. Then we read, “And a certain woman named Martha received him into her house” Luke 10:38; but Martha had not the gain of the Lord’s ministry as Mary had. How [p. 362] could you think of having the Lord happily in a locality if you are complaining about someone else? Even a spiritual brother does not want to hear complaints. The Lord does not want to hear that; not that He did not hear it, for He did, and He rebuked it.
Rem The difficulty is that in some parts there is the desire to come together, without being sure of the material.
JT I think we should see that the material is there; it is more important to get “two of you” than to think of two elders. The assembly is not made up of elders. The elders were appointed after the assembly was formed, not before. Paul and Barnabas formed the assemblies, and then they came back and ordained them elders in every church. Their ministry brought in the saints, and then they came back and appointed the elders. Later Paul enjoins Titus to ordain elders in every city (Titus 1: 5), and to Timothy Paul writes “If any one aspires to exercise oversight”. 1 Timothy 3:1. In Titus it is the word ‘ordain’. I believe there is an angelic service in the locality where an assembly is formed. Things happen governmentally to the saints. A local assembly is a counterpart of heaven; it is a place for Christ, and heaven is interested in it; all the resources of heaven are available for it. The assembly is of immense importance to heaven, and the government of God is in its favour. There is immediate divine protection and support for “two of you”.
Rem Some of us feel here there might be material for a new assembly, as we were saying, but we are concerned as to what would be left in the old assembly.
JT Well, what would apply to the new would apply to the old; you want to see that there is enough church material left. But if there are two left that is enough; it would make room for fresh plants. There are many in the shade that do not [p. 363] develop. If there were a greater number of meetings there would be more opportunity for development.
Ques Would you say a word as to why the widows were put out?
JT I think they were governed by natural feelings. They are distinguished from those who believed, natural feelings would only hinder the acting of the Spirit.
PL Would you attach any importance to “the upper chamber”? Acts 9:37.
JT I think Luke uses that expression, meaning that he lifts us up above the level of what is natural.