READING
READING
Acts 3: 1 - 11; Acts 4: 23 - 37
JT I thought these scriptures might help us to see that all levitical service merges in the company. It is the divine thought, and was so even in Old Testament times, that the testimony should be connected with an ornamented vessel. Peter and John obviously represent the best men there were, but although distinguished in their service, they merged in the company. “They went to their own company”, it says. The maintaining of a balance is necessary to save us from disaster, for in spiritual things, as also in physical things, there must be balance. Thus, however distinguished one may be in his service, in returning to his own company he merges in it. In the company the Holy Spirit operates, so the equalisation principle maintains a balance throughout. In chapter 4 we find that the apostles witness, not necessarily Peter and John, but the apostles. In the divine thought they were not to overshadow the others. Then again, we read that the money which Joses brought, was laid at the apostles’ feet, and he is surnamed Barnabas by them. I think in these cases we have a principle which should govern the whole dispensation in regard of levitical work.
The company is the sphere of the Spirit, in which He maintains the mind of God and the necessary balance which saves us from clericalism, or the exercise of undue personal influence by any of us. On the one hand, these chapters bring out the sovereignty of God in those whom He is pleased to use and put forward, and on the other hand, His rights in the assembly, to make room for all the varied vessels. The apostle says, “But unto every one of us is given grace”, Ephesians 4: 7. The first chapter of the Acts [p. 112] shows that after the Lord ascended, those who saw Him go up returned to Jerusalem to the upper room. Peter and John were there, and His brethren were there, and Mary the mother of Jesus also. But Peter standing up to call attention to the scriptures which governed the position, stood up in the midst of the brethren — not in the midst of the apostles, but in the midst of the brethren. But when he stood up to preach the gospel, he stands up with the eleven, we are told. So that there are in these cases certain balancing circumstances, all involved in the sovereign rights of God, and all culminating in the company; and all is in view of the enrichment of the company in which the Spirit of God operates.
GN Do you think love is greater than gift in the assembly?
JT That is how it works out. The most distinguished servant merges in the company. The others were not overshadowed by Peter and John. Then it says, “Being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord”. It is a movement of turning to God. Everything is, after all, determined by priestly state amongst the saints. There would be the sense of being brethren, and, moreover, John would specially take account of that relation. You notice that the Lord, according to Luke, sent Peter and John to prepare for the passover in view of the institution of the Lord’s supper; and I think the one represents the authority of the Lord, and the other family affections.
Ques It says the man who was healed held Peter and John. Would that bring in the thought that paying attention to the ministry of Peter and John would promote these priestly conditions?
JT I think so. These servants return to the company with this product of their service. They [p. 113] brought the man in with them apparently. When they stood before the council the man which was healed stood with them, so they could say nothing against it; “So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all glorified God for that which was done. For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was showed”. As entering into the company with him, there would be an immense acquisition. He held Peter and John. The two things go together. The family thought comes in to regulate us generally. Fellowship is general as well as local, and I think the family thought governs the general thought of fellowship. Then Peter would come in by way of authority in the ordering of the house of God.
Ques Would this save us from individualism and independency?
JT That was what I thought. You merge in the company. All the fruit of your labour is brought in there.
Ques It says of Paul and Barnabas after they were sent out from Antioch and had gone through the cities, that “they sailed away to Antioch, whence they had been committed to the grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled. And having arrived, and having brought together the assembly, they related to them all that God had done with them”. Does that suggest what is in your mind?
JT Yes, very aptly. They returned to Antioch from whence they had been committed to the grace of God, for the work which they had fulfilled. They gathered the assembly together as they returned — not the elders in it, but the assembly. It definitely confirms this. I think Peter and John represent what is ornamental in chapter 3. They say, “Look on us”. Morally they were more beautiful than the beautiful gate of the temple. They represent a fine [p. 114] thought of unity in testimony; they represent the mind of heaven for that moment. So Peter says, “Look on us”. The temple had been guarded as an ornament from God on the earth, but it was about to be superseded, not merely in an arbitrary way, but by what was superior. The divine way is to bring in something superior; and Peter and John were morally superior to the temple. They represented heaven, where Jesus had gone.
FWB Would you say the family thought governed the universal ideal of fellowship? What would you say about the local?
JT The local idea is not developed in these early chapters; but Peter from his epistles and his early service unquestionably represents authority.
FWB Would the family thought apply locally?
JT It ought to take form locally, but there is only one family. There are many assemblies. John’s ministry is universal. He begins by saying, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men”. “The true light was that which, coming into the world, lightens every man”. And so, right through his gospel, epistles, and the Revelation, he has in view what is universal. “God so loved the world”. All is on that line. He brings in the “whosoever”. In the epistle whatever or whoever is born of God you love, not necessarily because he is your neighbour, but because he has been born of God.
Rem Peter had something superior to the silver and gold he spoke of.
JT Quite so. The silver and gold represent the best a man has. The combination of these two servants greatly helps to the understanding of fellowship. They bring in something. One has to disappear as a Levite, unless he can bring in something.
FF He would not hinder fellowship.
JT Not at all. It adds to it. Here is a man coming into the company, and he is holding them [p. 115] both. There is no disunion in his mind. He does not favour Peter more than John; and that saves us from setting up one against another.
Rem In that sense he would not be a charge to the company, but would contribute to it.
JT Quite. He is not to be carried; and he is not a partisan, because he holds them both.
GN What do you mean by authority?
JT Peter had the lead on moral ground, I think. There is not a divergence between them. They say, “Look on us”. They were brought into perfect unison through the work of God. Unity is the feature here.
Rem That would be delightful to the eye of God.
JT Yes. The product of their labour holds them both. He recognises them as the vessels whom God used.
Rem So that he leaped and praised God. God gets the praise.
JT Yes; he was not praising Peter and John. If we do not return to the company, we stand on the dignity of our service, and then we have clericalism. They returned to the company, and merging in it saved them. The other apostles are not named, but they are all recognised there. “With great power gave the apostles witness”. Each gets his own place. Every servant must have his place. God comes out with the best. He would enhance His testimony, and so He says, “That repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem ... but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued [clothed] with power from on high”. They were to have proper clothes on — heavenly clothes. In rendering that testimony it is not the “cloth” that some wear but moral qualities.
HH It shines out in what they say, “Look on us”.
JT Yes; “clothed with power from on high”.
WA Is it not significant this power being in the name?
JT Yes; that brings in another thought, “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazaraean”, that is, that whilst heavenly dignity marked them, being clothed with power from on high, yet they were identified with what was most despised on earth, “Jesus Christ the Nazaraean”.
EF And the One who was despised had the highest place in glory.
JT Yes. Peter and John while representing two features, each has his distinct shining in the foundation of the city. Each will shine — every one a precious stone radiating a feature of Christ’s glory.
EF And no matter what any one may have individually, all merges in the unity of the saints. You have every element of unity together in that sense.
JT Yes. God would see the shining of all those precious stones. Think of what we are brought into! They are all set there. “God has set certain in the assembly”. They were not there before; they were set there by Him, with the greatest skill, greater than any jeweller could set a jewel. Think of the resplendent light shining upon us! Every one of these men was the handiwork of Christ, and now the light of heaven was shining and radiating in these precious stones. This man would look around and begin to see what he had come into. Caesar could not give him such a place.
EF There is nothing on earth like it.
JT Nothing.
HH He had reached a little bit of heavenly territory, as we read in Genesis: “The gold of that land is good; there is bdellium and the onyx stone”.
JT Yes; and so it is good. The heavenly city brings out the setting of each of them. They were [p. 117] all present here apparently, and each got his place in the company. Peter and John are not once mentioned; it is the apostles.
JS Would it suggest that each went back to his own distinctive position?
JT Yes. Peter would just merge and take his own position there. “God has set certain in the assembly”, so he would just find his own place, and so would John. Matthew would too, and so also James. Every one of them would find his place, and one would not eclipse the other.
HH It is beautiful. So that you have got the unity formed now, not merely by the two, as in chapter 3, but marking the whole company.
JT Yes. When we have the Lord appearing, it says He appeared to over five hundred brethren at once; then He appeared to the twelve, and also to all the apostles. It seems like a repetition, but it is not so. The five hundred would include the apostles, but they are brethren there. He would, however, shine on the twelve as appearing to them. I can understand Peter saying to himself, I prefer to be here among the brethren, because it is what is going to abide.
HH It reminds one of what is recorded in the book of Chronicles when David was getting things ready for Solomon coming to the throne, and he gathered all the princes and mighty men of Israel, representing the universal thought, and “David the king stood up upon his feet and said, Hear me, my brethren”.
JT Very good. In 1 Corinthians 15 we see how the apostle Paul brings into order the appearances of Christ, so as to show how He would affect the saints in every relation here. Peter is called Cephas. He would emphasise in that appearing the material of the assembly. As He appeared to Cephas He had in [p. 118] mind the kind of material that would form the assembly. The next appearing is to the twelve; as if He would say, This precious material must be nurtured and cared for, and for that you must have administration. It is the bounty of heaven, and that is to be dispensed in the sense of what Christ is, and so He appears to the twelve, and then He appears to above five hundred brethren. If you have the material of the assembly nurtured and cared for, it is enlarged and you get the brethren. Then He is seen of James; because we have what one man can do at any time. He would distinguish one man; for one man can do much if he is with God. James says, “Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it rained not upon the earth by the space of three years and six months”. So the Lord appeared to James, then He appeared to all the apostles, taking them by themselves, because with all else we must have authority; but authority wielded by those who are under the direct influence of Christ. Luke tells us that He appeared to Simon, but that was to emphasise grace. Paul says He appeared to Cephas because he is thinking about the assembly.
HH He speaks of Epaphras “one of you ... labouring fervently in prayer”.
JT Yes. Possibly his account of the Colossians led the apostle to write the epistle. Then “last of all”, Paul says, “he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time”; and he goes on to say, “I laboured more abundantly than they all”. There is no diminution of power. We may be sure God has His reserves, and comes in often unexpectedly.
EF It shows that the whole thing had been formed in the divine mind beforehand. It only needs bringing out.
JT Yes.
JS The apostles going back to the [p. 119] company would show that they were by no means on independent lines.
JT Just so; they all had the company in view. I think the swarm of bees in the carcase of the lion in Judges would be suggestive. It was naturally a most unfavourable place, but they were industrious, and there was honey in it. All the industry is for the company. We are not to consider for ourselves, but for the company.
HH One has often thought of the two going to Emmaus. Would you say they would be a great asset to the company when they came that night?
JT Yes. They were saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon”. Then they relate how He was known of them in breaking of bread. And then Jesus Himself came in.
GN “And having been let go they came to their own company”. They were free from every influence that would hinder them from getting to the company, so in every levitical service the company should be before us?
JT Yes. And then see the fulness of it. The company must have afforded them a retreat after all their toil and suffering, and in having the support and prayers of the company and the divine response shaking the building, how greatly encouraged the two servants must have been.
WA “I dwell among mine own people”.
JT Exactly. You have to observe it says, “They having heard it, lifted up their voice with one accord to God”. They had direct access to God there. Prayer through priestly access to God means the carrying on of the testimony. You see therefore the gain of coming into the company.
WS In that way the Lord used the pressure that the company might turn to Himself.
JT That is how the Lord uses pressure. They said, “Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven,
[p. 120] and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: who by the mouth of thy servant David hath said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy servant Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together”. It is very beautiful how everything centres round Christ. “And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word”. They did not ask for the apostles but for servants — bondmen. There is a humble spirit; no pretension at all. And then it says, “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God with boldness”. See how a new impetus comes in! It is now a filling in answer to prayer, so that the testimony goes on in heavenly power.
FWJ You have every human power in verse 27.
JT Yes; that is interesting. And the power of the Holy Spirit is able to cope with all that. He acts in answer to prayer. That is the position. The apostles merge in the company there, and the prayers are the product of this. “And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all”. And then further we read that “Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, ... having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet”. There is great movement here, and I think we might look for that in recognising the company.
EF The testimony is in power, and everything fell into accord with [p. 121] it.
JT Yes. We see everything now serving the testimony; it is so great.
JS The laying of the money at the apostles’ feet as they were all thus together would be the recognition of all that was there.
JT Yes. I think the apostles in that way represent the authority of the Lord; all the apostles are in view, not merely Peter and John now.
JD This condition of things produces a “son of consolation”.
JT Yes. You see now how God adds. You see God adding, bringing in elements of help.
GN What is the son of consolation?
JT I think Barnabas represents the golden taches of the tabernacle — a means by which everything is bound together. He brought Paul to Jerusalem and introduces him. Then he went after him again to Tarsus and brought him to Antioch. He has no personal interests. He is a brother who can bring brethren together. The tendency always exists of divergencies in the assembly, but Barnabas overcame all these things. The fact that he had judged his course in having possessed land, brought him into the true levitical position, that is to say, he gets his city to dwell in. The Levite belongs to the family of the first-born ones registered in heaven. I think that when Barnabas sold his land and laid the money at the apostles’ feet, he became a true Levite. In the next chapter you have the attack of the enemy. Satan saw that this was a wonderful thing — something he could not overcome, but what he would do was to corrupt it.
HH We see the thing set up from the divine side in all its perfection, and these principles should govern us today.
JT That is it.
JS Speaking of Barnabas as a true Levite in the spirit that marked him, I suppose it is not so much [p. 122] his gift, but rather the influence for good which he had.
JT Yes. One sees in a man like Barnabas, how one man may stand out for good. He was a man who had means and knew how to use it; he brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet, his object being to help the testimony.
Ques Is it the same thought as the widow casting in her all?
JT Just so. Think of the contrast in Solomon’s day: two and twenty thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep sacrificed at one time; 1 Kings 8: 63. Think of the food that was there for the people of God in all that. So here: “For neither was there any one in want among them; for as many as were owners of lands or houses, selling them, brought the price of what was sold and laid it at the feet of the apostles; and distribution was made to each according as any one might have need”.
JS So that when you come to the assembly there is no lack.
JT No. I think that is the way the Lord is encouraging His people in our own times by mutual contribution; and how large a contribution becomes, as brought into the company.
FWB What is the selling? Is it getting rid of the thing through exercise to produce something?
JT Well, that is how it works out spiritually.
GN You sacrifice for the testimony’s sake.