SPIRITUAL EDUCATION (2)
[p. 365] SPIRITUAL EDUCATION (2)
JT The record of the Lord’s ascension in Luke’s gospel mentions that it occurred while He blessed His disciples; “while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven”. Luke 24: 51. Whereas here it is as He was speaking with them that He was taken up. He says, “Ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. And having said these things he was taken up”. It is well to note that this narrative is in view of their responsibility. The gospel narrative shows that they were constituted priests; it says, they “returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God”, Luke 24: 52, 53. Here He is taken from them as having given directions. Thus, instead of going to the temple, they go to the upper room; that is, their movements are in keeping with the new position; they act in keeping with what had been set before them.
Ques What do you understand by the upper room?
JT It indicates what was to mark Christianity; that is, it is not to be associated with outwardly great things; public buildings and the like. The Lord had instituted the Supper there, giving a suggestion as to how things were to be in His absence. They evidently took note, and acted accordingly.
JM Would you repeat what you said with regard to the difference between the education the apostles received from the Lord in His life and what we have here in connection with the forty days?
JT I would mention that the instruction during His life refers mainly to their public service, how [p. 366] they were to do things, and how they were to be supported in doing them. The forty days had in view their being educated inwardly with regard to what is spiritual. This is private. Henceforth the Lord was not seen of the world; “the world seeth me no more”, He said; John 14: 19. In the forty days He was seen of the disciples and known of them, “to whom also he showed himself alive”.
Rem And that remains for us.
JT That is what gives power to what we are outwardly. The mount of transfiguration comes nearest to the forty days, in the Lord’s ministry before His death, but that does not prove the power of resurrection. It was not that He was risen there, but He was changed; “as he prayed the fashion of his countenance became different, and his raiment white and effulgent”, Luke 9: 29. The mount of transfiguration had reference to what He was personally; resurrection is the answer to what He undertook sacrificially. Note, it was as He prayed that He became different.
Ques His death was a necessity if we were to pass into the spiritual sphere; is that the reason we have the Supper given to us?
JT Yes, we apprehend Him as presented in it, we pass into association with Him where He is.
Rem The Lord gives us what is in itself material, as a memorial to draw us out to Himself in the place where He now is; so that in our affections we pass through death and enter into the spiritual sphere.
Ques What is the thought in His showing Himself alive “after he had suffered”
JT It is an historical reference, of course; but it suggests how real His humanity was. He suffered in death; it was real suffering. He showed Himself alive after it.
Rem Then He charged them by the Holy [p. 367] Spirit.
JT And as the risen Man He was acting by the Holy Spirit. I suppose that is what characterises the service of Christ; He acted by the Holy Spirit, and this marks the whole of His mediatorial administration until all is brought into subjection to God. Then He Himself becomes subject, “that God may be all in all”, 1 Corinthians 15: 28. All will thus be spiritual in eternity. How important that we should apprehend Christ as He is as Man before God! It says, “As he is so are we in this world”, 1 John 4: 17. When they saw Him go up, according to our chapter, “they looked steadfastly toward heaven”. It showed the place He had in their hearts.
Rem They seem to have continued looking up. Would that have any application to us now?
JT Well, I think Colossians would encourage on these lines. “Set your affection on things above”. (Colossians 3: 2). The point here is that they were to occupy till He returned; they must accept that they were responsible witnesses. “Why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven”. And then it says, they returned “unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet”. This narrative has in view the position that was to be occupied, and how it was to be occupied; they were to begin at Jerusalem; and instead of going to the temple they returned to Jerusalem from the mount of Olives. The mount of Olives has reference to the Spirit, I think. It was in connection with spiritual circumstances that He went up; and their course subsequently was governed by spiritual instincts. It says that when they were come into the city “they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter and James and John”. They went where those were who represented the authority of Christ. They went there instead of going to [p. 368] the temple.
JM It would be the outcome of the sensibilities they received from Christ.
JT Their movements in this chapter show how effective Christ’s education had been with them.
Ques You refer to the forty days?
,J.T. Yes.
JM Instinctively their place was outside the world, the Lord having gone to heaven.
JT They took account of what He did. In our own experience we find how we instinctively follow in the steps of one more spiritual, but how great the effect of this when we become acquainted with the Lord and make Him our model! This was the case with the disciples as presented to us here. Christ was Wisdom, and wisdom is justified in her children. He had directed that the Supper should be in the upper room, and after He rose He appeared to them there; they were evidently governed by the example He thus set for them. So that while, as far as the narrative goes, He did not tell them what to do, except to tarry in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came, yet they acted according to the example He had set. The Lord had charged and instructed His apostles, this involves His authority, but He also acted before them as a model, so that they might learn to act in wisdom; this involves His headship. It says here, “They went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren”. That is apparently where they abode.
Rem And the principle remains true. The result of this spiritual teaching would be that you abide [p. 369] there; you have to take up things here, of course, but the assembly is your home.
JT Yes, that is the point, your spiritual home is where the authority of Christ is recognised, and where the brethren are dwelling in unity. It was so at the beginning.
WH It is remarkable how intelligently they moved.
JT “These gave themselves all with one accord to continual prayer, with several women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren”. It seems to me that in this we have a suggestion of Christianity. It shows how they had been formed by the Lord’s example and ministry. They were the material for the new structure; and the way it acts on one’s soul is that it raises the question whether I am of that material; and thus available for Christ.
Rem When the Spirit came the apostles were led on in the line in which the Lord had helped them.
JT I suppose Peter is developing here according to what he was by the Father’s revelation to him. The Lord says, “Thou art Peter”, Matthew 16: 18. He was designated by the Lord as a stone. I think that this chapter brings Peter into evidence as material for the assembly.
WH That special revelation constituted Peter a stone.
JT Yes, the revelation made to him by the Father; it was outside flesh and blood.
Rem That governed his activities here, no doubt.
JT Yes, his ultimate course and service justified the Lord’s pronouncement.
JM I suppose there is a special indication given by the Father to each of us that would help in regard to who Christ is; and this is a necessity in order to have intercourse with Christ, and a true apprehension of His Person.
[p. 370] Ques Do you imply that the thought of a special communication is applicable today?.
JT Only in principle. We are to be brought into what was revealed to Peter; the Father helps us to apprehend Christ in this way, and so the foundation is laid in our souls. Compare John 6:44.
JM One can see there is no fresh revelation, but there is what accords with it in one’s soul. You see among the Lord’s people those who have a true apprehension of who Christ is, and in that way material for the building is in evidence.
JT One who recognises Christ is assured as to everything. You see the Christ is the One who effects everything for God. You are not affected by political and national occurrences, because Christ is the One who effects everything. The woman in the fourth of John said, that when Christ comes, He will tell us all things; but we understand that He not only tells everything, He does everything for God, and knowing this, our souls become restful. “The Son of the living God”, implies that we are to be living. The assembly is built on the testimony, known in the souls of those who form it, that Christ, being Son of the living God, has overthrown death and has brought in life and incorruptibility.
Rem It is not a mere doctrine, you have life in the soul.
Ques While there is no fresh revelation, can there still be fresh communications?
JT Yes, but not in the sense of revelation. The Father works in our souls in relation to Christ. Besides, the Spirit is always speaking to the assembly, either in the way of authoritative rebuke or in communications for guidance, edification and comfort.
Ques How do you distinguish between what He says authoritatively, and what He communicates to the assembly on the privilege side?
JT [p. 371] His authority is seen in the way in which His will is asserted, especially where things are going wrong. But Christ is Head to the assembly also, and so He guides and comforts her; there are communications on this line also.
EM The thought of headship is not authority.
JT No. It is very beautiful here to see, “Peter, standing up in the midst of the brethren”. He is in perfect order; among the different ones mentioned: “several women, and Mary the mother of Jesus and ... ... his brethren”. Notice, it is Peter standing up in the midst of the brethren, not with the eleven, as in the next chapter. Here he is one of the brethren; in the next chapter he stands up as an apostle. Here he stands up to convey the mind of God for the moment.
Rem It is all in suitability spiritually. The Lord had shown the way.
JT In the next chapter he stands up with the eleven, although there were many besides the eleven. All are not called to preach and teach, but the twelve were, and so the eleven stand up with Peter when he preaches, but here he stands up in the midst of the brethren. The number of the names together was one hundred and twenty.
Ques Does this still contemplate what you began with, the thought of the spiritual sphere?
JT Yes, it shows that these men were formed spiritually.
RWG It is not only that they saw Him go up; they were still beholding Him, we may say.
JT Yes, their minds were on Him.
Rem The Lord gives light and food amongst His people where these conditions are maintained.
JT A spiritual man knows what to do and also how to do it. The first epistle to the Corinthians mentions the absence of what we are speaking of amongst them. “I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual”, the apostle says, “but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ”, 1 Corinthians 3: 1. The deep things of God could not, therefore, be unfolded to them.
Rem It is remarkable that Peter stood up.
JT He was evidently in the leading position by moral qualification.
Ques Why is the number 120 given?
JT I think it has reference to responsibility and administration, ten times twelve. As responsible I must do the needed thing, but as formed after God I do it bountifully. “God loveth a cheerful giver”,
JM That is practical Christianity.
WK You speak of giving, in view of what the twelve were chosen to give.
JT Peter says, “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee”, Acts 3: 6. The apostles were to be liberal givers: “freely ye have received, freely give”, the Lord said to them in sending them out; Matthew 10: 8.
Rem Paul was responsible, as sent out to preach and he preached according to the measure of the rule which God had distributed to him, 2 Corinthians 10:13. The measure of the holy city in Revelation 21 was twelve by twelve.
J .T. Responsibility is not needed there; all is perfect, though finite. The city is not only square, but a cube, indicating that although the administration is finite, it is in every way according to God. It has the glory of God. Nothing, in a way, reflects more what God is than giving. “If thou knewest the gift of God”, John 4:10.
JM If we are to be like Him we must be givers.
JT He does not give His Spirit by measure. So, according to John 7, the Christian does not give by measure; “out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water”. In Ezekiel 47, the river was measured until it had become “waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over”.
FM What a testimony that is in a selfish world where everyone is seeking his own gain!
JT And then it says, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over”, Luke 6: 28.
JM One feels the importance of this intercourse with Christ, so as to keep the spirit of all this, and that it may come out effectually.
JT Peter had been told nothing, as far as we know, with regard to the replacement of Judas. The Lord could easily have settled the matter by telling who it should be. The question is, is there to be preference shown? Is it to be the brother that I like best? Look at Peter’s proposal: “Wherefore of these men which have companied (assembled) with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection”, Acts 1: 21, 22. It must be one who had assembled with the apostles during all the time in which the Lord Jesus had gone in and out amongst them; one who had seen His manner in the assembly, we may say.
Rem There were present those who were qualified in that way. I think we trust too much to our memories sometimes. We might know the Scriptures, and yet be wanting in the impressions of Christ which they would convey.
JT I find it a help, in considering the gospels, to endeavour to see how the Lord acted in the various circumstances presented. The use of the word “assembled” here is very striking, but it suggests that the thought had already taken form in their minds.
[p. 374] Ques Have you any thought as to why there were two selected?
JT I suppose these two must have been eligible in a special way. The fact that they could not decide on either, but placed the matter before God, was a humble acknowledgment of their weakness and their dependence on Him. “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord”, Proverbs 16: 33.
WK We can apply it now in the things of the Lord. If we place humbly before Him whatever we may be in doubt about, He will make all clear.
JT There may be questions upon which we are unable to come to a decision; we may be slow to admit it, but if we place them before the Lord, He will make all plain for those who have eyes to see. The lot served to bring God in on this occasion; it was a divinely ordained method, according to the Old Testament. But of course we would not act upon it literally now, as the Holy Spirit is here. The great thing is to place things before God.
Rem There was no partiality shown; the saints acted for God. The principle of the Lord’s sovereignty was maintained.
JT Yes, all this shows how effectively the Lord had prepared the material for the assembly before He ascended to heaven.