THE ASSEMBLY (2)
[p. 311] THE ASSEMBLY (2)
The instruction in this chapter is in connection with the title Lord. This is the only place where we find the expression, “the Lord’s supper”. Paul says that he had received from the Lord that which he also delivered to them. Nothing is said here as to what day the Supper should be held, but instead the place is spoken of — “when ye come together in assembly”. In Acts 20 we find that the breaking of bread stands in relation to the first day of the week. If we notice the scriptures where the first day of the week is mentioned, we will find that it stands in connection with the inward and spiritual side — for example, in John 20, where it stands related to our heavenly position. It is this side we will now look into. It says in John 20: 19, “When therefore it was evening on that day, which was the first day of the week”. Nothing is said of the sabbath here, whereas it is mentioned in the three other gospels.
In the gospel by Mark it says, “the Sabbath being now past” (chapter 16: I), and Luke says, “on the morrow of the sabbath” (chapter 2¢: I). The three first gospels are linked with what had gone before in the Old Testament. This corresponds more with the side of the assembly which is seen in type in Rebecca. After the death of Sarah (typically Israel) Rebecca comes in to fill Sarah’s place in the tent and as a comfort to Isaac. The assembly, in the ways of God on the earth, takes up Israel’s place in the testimony, while Israel is set aside for the time being. But the side presented in John’s gospel is the place the assembly has with Christ, the eternal side, which has no end. The first day of the week speaks of a new and eternal order of things. The revelation made to Mary in John 20 links the first day with what is eternal. Matthew begins his gospel with “the generation of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham”. In Mark there is what the prophet says of Him, and Luke begins with a priest of Aaron’s order, so [p. 312] that everything is linked in this way with the old order of things. But John speaks of the Word who was “in the beginning with God”, and in chapter 17 of the same gospel the Lord speaks of the glory which He had with the Father before the world was. John’s gospel corresponds to Ephesians, where the whole counsel of God is presented to us. When we come together to break bread, the Lord Himself is before us, and opens up heavenly things for us. The expressions, “the Lord’s day” and “the Lord’s supper” stand more in connection with God’s testimony down here. In Corinthians, which corresponds to Numbers, we are looked at as here in this world, and the heavenly colour should be seen in us. Ephesians on the other hand presents Christ as ascended up to heaven, and the saints are placed with Him there. We are thus entitled to have our place in heaven even now. When we give Him his place as Head, He will lead us there. We have a type of this in the cleansing of the leper. Two birds are to be brought, the one of them to be slain, and the other dipped in the blood of the slain bird and then let loose, as a testimony that the cleansed leper now is free, so to speak, to fly up to heaven. Ephesians opens for us heavenly things, but Corinthians speaks of the assembly as placed in certain limitations, where she can witness for God, governed by God’s commandment and in subjection to God, like Him who said, “Thy will be done as in heaven so upon the earth”, Matthew 6: 10. The apostle says in 1 Corinthians 14: 37, “If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize the things I write to you, that it is the Lord’s commandment”. We should not think that Corinthians leads to Ephesians, for they run side by side. In Corinthians we have the side of responsibility, and in Ephesians the side of privilege.
Ques What is the thought of the bird let loose along with the offering which is presented for the cleansing of the leper?
The free bird let loose in the open field answers to the truth of Ephesians. It speaks of the Lord ascending above all heavens and of the saints having a place in the heavenlies [p. 313] with Him. We find also in Corinthians that which goes together with the truth in Ephesians, for example, in chapter 15: 48 we read, “such as the heavenly one, such also the heavenly ones”. The first day of the week is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 16, but there it is in connection with giving, and not in connection with the Supper. The character of God shines out as we give. He is the great Giver. Giving stands in connection with the first day of the week. When God gives us entrance into His thoughts, we come out as givers, and we do it as being impressed with what is eternal and abiding, not by anything down here. “It is more blessed to give than to receive”, Acts 20: 35. These were the Lord’s own words, and the apostle brings them before the elders in Ephesus. One side is that as strangers in this world we give our contribution to the collection to meet the general need as those who do not wish to take anything from the world. “Your Father ... makes his sun rise on evil and good”, Matthew 5: 45. Also it says in another scripture, “Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of lights”, James 1: 17. It shows that, if we rightly understand the heavenly side, we ought to give liberally, and as we break bread in the light of the first day, we get help that enables us to do so. It was after the Lord was risen that we hear these words for the first time, “It is more blessed to give than to receive”. It seems to be a word that the Lord often used. In Corinthians it says, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sakes he, being rich, became poor, in order that ye by his poverty might be enriched”, 2 Corinthians 8: 9. It is His glory to give. As we give, we think of Christ, and His features come out in us; so this constitutes His glory. The apostle also says, speaking of giving, that some were “messengers of assemblies, Christ’s glory”.
It is of interest that in the slain bird we see a type of Christ who died for our sins, and how He gave Himself for the assembly. In the living bird we have a type of a person who can lift himself up above everything on the earth; but then an unclean bird can do the same, showing [p. 314] than an unconverted person can exalt himself above others in the world. So a believer lifts himself in the power of the Spirit off the earth to enter upon heavenly things, to which in Christ he has right. In Ephesians the apostle prays for the saints that they might be “strengthened with power, by his Spirit in the inner man; that the Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts, being rooted and founded in love, in order that ye may be fully able to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height; and to know the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge”, Ephesians 3: 116 - 119.
When the Lord Jesus in John 20, after His resurrection, said to His disciples, “Receive the Holy Spirit”, and breathed into them, it was the Father’s Spirit He breathed into them, not just “the Holy Spirit”, because the scripture should really read, “Receive Holy Spirit”.
Ques What did the apostle mean when he says in 1 Corinthians 11: 17, “ye come together ... for the worse”?
It is not enough to come together in one place; we must also be governed by divine principles. We ought to have respect for our brethren and not think that we are better than they. The rich ought not to think that he is anything above the poor. “The rich and poor meet together; Jehovah is the maker of them all”, Proverbs 22: 2. “But let the brother of low degree glory in his elevation, and the rich in his humiliation”, James 1: 9. All stand on the same plane in the assembly: the ground on which the assembly stands is exalted over every human distinction in rank. There were several parties in Corinth; the rich ate by themselves, and the poor were despised. It is a very serious matter to despise the assembly of God and we do this if we allow any class distinction amongst us when we are assembled. In chapter 12 we find a spiritual distinction where it is a question of the gifts in the assembly, but these ought to be used to bring Christ in. In Corinth worldly principles were governing, which was something dreadful, and Paul must therefore say, “it is not to eat the Lord’s supper”, chapter 11: 20. If we allow any person to rule in the assembly, we [p. 315] are giving place to Judas. Paul says it was on the night in which the Lord was delivered up when He inaugurated this Supper. We therefore, so to speak, shut the doors to exclude all that is human. It says in Psalm 69: 25: “Let their habitation be desolate; let there be no dweller in their tents”. It suggests that no one will take the place of Judas; that man’s judgment has been settled in the cross of Christ. It could be said that the Roman Catholic system corresponds to Judas, while Peter’s denial has been repeated again in Protestantism.
What the apostle received from the Lord brings in the kind of person who has a place in the assembly. The Lord says, ‘This bread is my body, and this cup is the new covenant in my blood’. We give Him His place and, when we do so, we bring Him in. When we acknowledge the Lord in this way at the Supper, we make way for the Spirit, and therefore it goes on to speak of the Spirit in chapter 12.
Ques Ought a brother to put into the basket both for himself and his wife?
All family relationships cease on entering the assembly. My wife and my children are there under the Lord and His authority; they are not there as specially belonging to me, so at the Lord’s supper I have no special connection with my household as such. I have no more right there over my wife than over any other saint. “We, being many, are one loaf, one body”, 1 Corinthians 10: 17. But it is interesting that in chapter 112 there is this noticeable difference, that there are different gifts, and in the body there are different members, and some among them are called comely, and others uncomely, which we clothe with more abundant comeliness, 1 Corinthians 12: 23.
Ques What does the new covenant mean for us?
The new covenant is not made with us, but we see in 2 Corinthians 3 how we come into it. This covenant expresses the love of God for us. We come into Sarah’s tent, to fill the place which Sarah, i.e. Israel, once had in the testimony. “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts”, Romans 5: 5. The Lord is the Spirit in the new covenant.
[p. 316] 1 Corinthians 3 shows how the spirit of the new covenant operates in us. The love of God is expressed by us. There is no blessing which the saints in the Old Testament enjoyed or which the saints in the millennium shall enjoy, which we now beforehand by the Spirit cannot enter upon.