THE ADMINISTRATION OF DIVINE BOUNTY (3)
[p. 183] THE ADMINISTRATION OF DIVINE BOUNTY (3)
Matthew 13:44 - 52; Matthew 17:24 - 27
JT In order to understand these three similes of the kingdom the Lord’s exposition of the parable of the tares should be well noted. Unless we are disentangled in our minds from the sons of the evil one we shall not be prepared for the similes of the kingdom which involve the assembly. These three parables of the kingdom have reference to the assembly.
JCS Has the enemy sown the tares by way of imitating the wheat in order to corrupt and deaden those whom the Lord has in view for the assembly?
JT I think so. The sons of the kingdom would be those who form the assembly, showing that development in the kingdom is essential in order that we should take our places in the assembly. Sons of the kingdom are those who have grown up and are developed in it. They apprehend the rule of heaven and the power of God; the arms of their warfare are not carnal. As David’s men learned from David, these have learned from Christ how to be in the kingdom and partake in its administration.
RMcM Does the parable of the tares bring us down to the present moment? “A man sowed good seed”; then the enemy, in opposition, sowed something like it, and the result is all around us today.
JT Yes. The enemy opposed from the outset, but the opposition that was most successful was imitation, and that is what we have to contend with now, because the parable of the tares covers the period of the corruption of the church. What the enemy could not overthrow he would corrupt, [p. 184] and that by bringing in imitation.
JCS Was that illustrated in Smyrna and Pergamos?
JT Quite. The doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, I think, thus served the enemy’s end.
RJW Would you say that one great point in the administration of the kingdom, as we are speaking of it, would be that the sons of the kingdom would have the power and wisdom from God to support them?
JT Yes, I think David’s men, as coming under his influence, may be taken to illustrate how the sons of the kingdom are developed. They were remarkable men — perhaps the most competent warriors that had appeared. They developed wonderful prowess in every conflict because they came under his influence.
HB Would this parable have reference to Exodus 19:5 “A peculiar treasure”, a peculiar people?
JT They were to be a peculiar people unto Him on the ground of obedience, but the point here is, the treasure is hid, “which a man having found has hid, and for the joy of it, goes and sells all, whatever he has, and buys that field”. The thing is known only to him.
SF And though the treasure is hid for the moment, these sons of the kingdom are apparent.
JT Yes, they would be more public. What we are in power, as having come under the influence of the Lord in His rule and administration, brings us into publicity more, but what we are as under His eye is another matter. That is for Him. It came to light in His ministry here among the Jews. He found it; that is, the assembly began to take form in His mind, so to speak, in what He saw in the remnant, and it stretched out in His mind, apparently, although always foreknown by Him. It was in the “field”. Israel is not the field. He sees the assembly taking form, I think; and He connects that [p. 185] in His mind with the whole world. “The field is the world”.
JCS So it makes the thought in connection with sons of light very important. They have been educated and versed in all relating to the kingdom, and now the Lord designates them in assembly light in the treasure.
JT That is it. What I am publicly in power is one thing, and what I am for Christ as quickened is another; and I apprehend He began to find the response in the disciples that would go wider than the remnant.
LDB You suggest that the treasure refers to qualities that were actually there.
JT He began to see the assembly; something developed, more than Israel.
“He found it” — it was hidden already. It was not the remnant that was apparent in the Old Testament. The Old Testament abounds with references to the remnant. But this was hidden, and He hides it, as it says, “which a man having found has hid”.
JCS You remarked that He hid it; in what way did He hide it?
JT Openly He regarded the disciples as connected with Israel, but in His mind they were to form the assembly. Although the material existed (chapter 16), it was hidden until the time of the assembly arrived. It came out in Paul’s ministry.
Ques Was it hidden until the Holy Spirit came down?
JT Yes, the Holy Spirit is bringing it out now. He kept it to Himself; the things concerning the assembly were kept hidden. We know from the epistles that God had hidden it, but the Lord here emphasises the preciousness of it to Him, in that, having found it, He hides it until He has acquired the field through His death. Had He not died He could not have taken it up. It was His property,
[p. 186] but it had become encumbered. The title deeds were not His until it was unencumbered. The liabilities are paid off; He buys the field. He has the title deeds, and can use the field as He pleases. In the meantime He is only using it for getting out the treasure. It emphasises what the assembly was in His eyes.
RMcM Did it come to light in John 20 in His message to Mary?
JT I think it came to light in Paul’s ministry; he is said to be a minister of the assembly. It was in his ministry the thing took form.
RMcM I was thinking that He hid it, and in His resurrection, when He met Mary, He was free to make known what had been brought about through His death.
JT There it is His brethren. The mystery is what we have here. The thing was hidden. The idea of brethren was not new, the Old Testament had spoken of brethren. It remains for Paul to be taken up to bring out this great secret.
JCS So that the joy that was in the Lord’s heart concerning the assembly was like a river that was flowing deep, but secretly; it had not yet come out fully.
JT There was an underlying thought in His heart that He did not divulge even when He says, “I will build my assembly”. Matthew 16:18. He does not bring it out fully. The idea of an assembly is not new, but the idea of the body is new — that He should have a body here; that was not disclosed. Israel could never have typified that. The idea of an assembly and the idea of brethren were there, but the idea of His body was not.
RJW Is that why, when Paul, in Colossians, opened up the truth of the body, he had no quotations (so far as I know) from the Old Testament [p. 187] to support it?
JT That is good.
JCS So there was a unique character of things seen by the Lord here, and later Paul discloses it fully.
JT r think the question of trustworthiness enters into it, He had reserved the secret until Paul came. He stands out as a unique vessel. The references to him show that he was particularly trustworthy. This was the most important thing the Lord had. It was His treasure, and not until Paul appears does the thing become known.
RJW Do you contrast the light of the assembly with the sons of the kingdom?
JT They come into Peter’s line. The Lord says, “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven”. Matthew 16:19. It is true he got the revelation that the Lord was the Son of the living God and the foundation of the assembly, but that in itself was not the mystery. Peter’s ministry was the kingdom. What is so interesting in the Acts is that he comes round immediately Paul is brought in; he seems to recognise that there is a change, so he comes round to the idea. He represents the kingdom, but he was ready to stand by the new development; he was with it in heart. Compare Acts 9 and 10.
SF So it is helpful to see that Paul comes in in the Acts before Peter was lost sight of. They seem to come periodically, first one, then the other.
JT It is very beautiful to see how Peter comes in in chapter 9. Immediately Paul comes in Peter goes to “all quarters”. Acts 9:32. This was anticipating Paul’s ministry, which was universal in its bearing. But Peter needed adjustment — the sheet comes down from heaven. That prepared him to use the keys intelligently and graciously.
JCS So that Peter was really opening the door for the development of the treasure and the pearl which Paul was coming in to take up.
JT [p. 188] He was coming into line, standing by as the minister of the kingdom, as it were, to guard this precious treasure. It was about to be brought into evidence, and was to be guarded. It was what the Lord saw, and he was taking it up. What is emphasised in Acts 9 is the kingdom — the power of the Lord. No one can lift up his hand against the Lord. “Saul yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord”; Acts 9:1 not the disciples of Jesus, but the disciples of the Lord. But he did not realise what he was doing; he had to contend with the Lord. Was he stronger than the Lord? It soon came to light he was not. He was brought down himself, and in his being brought down the secret was brought out: “Why persecutest thou me”? Acts 9:4. That is where the secret lies.
JCS That greatly enhances the kingdom when we see it in that light.
JT It does. Then Peter, who represents it officially on earth, goes into all quarters; the power of the kingdom is to be known in all quarters. He says to Aeneas, “Rise up, and make thy couch for thyself”. Acts 9:34. That indicates what is coming in; God is going to establish assemblies throughout the world. Where localities have assemblies they are to learn to make their beds for themselves; it is in this way the assembly is to be developed. Then Peter raises up Tabitha and delivers her back alive. Later the sheet comes down from heaven. It is a new thing entirely; it comes down from heaven, and is taken up into heaven; heaven held it, so that it could draw it back to heaven.
SF Is that the house of God character of things?
JT I think it is. The sheet is the house — note the four corners — but it embodied the mystery. It represented all kinds of people that the Lord would take up.
JCS So an entirely new development is coming [p. 189] in. Such ideas as the house, the kingdom, the assembly, brethren, and so on, are all ideas familiar in the Scriptures, but the mystery — Christ’s body — is something new.
EBMcC Does that bring in the importance of Romans — sons of the kingdom are to be developed?
JT Romans develops the sons of the kingdom.
EBMcC The body is touched on at the end.
JCS Is the body an abiding idea?
JT I think so.
JCS It gives the body a very great dignity and nearness.
JT What can be nearer than “bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh”?
Rem It says in Corinthians, “Now are ye Christ’s body and members in particular”; 1 Corinthians 12:27 we are members in particular.
JT That is to emphasise each one’s responsibility, and that responsibility is to be carried out in relation to the truth of the body. So that in Colossians it says, “He is the head of the body”. Colossians 1:18. It was then a known thing. It is not His body, it is the body.
JCS What are we to gather from the fact in verse 44 that the treasure is found? It says, “Which a man having found”, and then in verses 45 and 46 it is finding in seeking.
JT Verse 45 is an advance on the other. In verse 44, “He found” the thing; it does not say He was looking for it.
HLD Are they co-extensive, the treasure and the pearl? I was wondering whether the treasure in the field took in a wider area.
JT I suppose they are. The mystery is suggested in the treasure: it had been hid, and when found was again hid. The “merchant” was seeking pearls. The pearl is specific — it represents the assembly as a definite conception in the Lord’[p. 190] s mind.
HLD You think that both show a different feature of the assembly, and the assembly only?
JT I think so. When you use the word ‘treasure’ it is indefinite; we are not told what it was — gold, silver, or precious stones. When you come to verse 45 you have something definite; it is an advance. He is now ‘seeking’ the thing.
HLD I was wondering whether the treasure might have included what Christ might have on the earth, as well as the heavenly side.
JT I do not think it does. The remnant and the Jews would be His treasure on the earth, but He knew about them; He came to them. This was something He found; it does not say He was looking for it. It emphasises what had taken form in the disciples; something of the assembly had begun to take form — what He began to discover, I think, in them as they encircled Him. He valued this. This was something He was not looking for. Not that He did not know everything, but we have to look at the thing as presented in the Scriptures.
HLD Though we have many types of the assembly in the Old Testament, no one understood it until Paul’s mystery came out. We can go back to Genesis 2, and there see a type of the assembly.
JT Yes, but it was a type sufficient to hide the thing until the time came. It says in Romans, “The mystery, as to which silence has been kept in times of the ages, but which has now been made manifest to all nations”. Romans 16:25,26. The point to get here is that He found the thing.
Ques Would you say in the second hiding it was hid in His own affections?
JT I would, but He did not say anything about it publicly.
SF The feelings and sensibilities which Christ has for the assembly are intense, are they not?
JT Yes, and marital too. Affections began to [p. 191] take form in the disciples and the Lord took note of them, and He hid the thing, and bought the field in which it was.
MPM If a man makes a discovery of gold he does not say anything about it; he marks his claim.
JCS So the Lord Jesus, as walking in this scene as a Man, finds it; whereas in the other case He is definitely seeking it.
JT It is an advance there, because the pearl has reference to what was in His mind before He came. It is in the plural — “seeking beautiful pearls; and having found one pearl of great value, he went and sold all whatever he had and bought it”.
WV Would the pearl have in view the day of display?
JT I think so. It is seen in the heavenly city: “Each one of the gates ... was of one pearl” Revelation 21:21. We know now what we are dealing with. It is a merchant — One who knows how to value these things.
EBMcC You cannot add to a pearl.
JT He saw the thing taking form in the disciples. Then, after the Spirit came down, it took more definite form. Up to Acts 9 it was taking definite form. He would look at it now potentially. He would look at what He knew would develop.
SF And we cannot be satisfied with anything short of that development.
JT So Paul was working that the full thought of the Lord could be seen; there should be nothing wanting.
EBMcC He sold all that He had; is that the place the Lord had as Man?
JT It involves His death, because it is in His death that He sells all. He gives up all His rights. This gospel shows He was heir of Abraham, and heir of David. He had rich belongings, rich inheritance, but He lets it all go. But then it is to emphasise His [p. 192] appreciation of this thing. It is not that all these things are not secured on another basis, but it is brought in here to emphasise this thing. He foregoes His rights as Son of Abraham and of David to have this.
JCS It shows what He thought of it.
JT That is it; that is what we want to get hold of.
JCS Following what you were saying — in Acts 1 the Lord presented Himself, and spoke to them of the great things concerning the kingdom, but He held back the mystery pending Paul’s coming.
JT You come to the actual thing there. This in Matthew 13 is a parable. In Acts 1 the Lord is speaking directly, but it is remarkable that in the forty days He spoke of the things concerning the kingdom, and that kingdom in His mind was bringing about this thing. The assembly was in His mind, and everything worked up to that.
JCS Is the gain of it in seeing that we are to be discipled in all this in view of taking up administration here? This must be laid on our souls, otherwise we will not be competent when we touch administration.
JT In understanding all these things they would see what the Lord is doing. Even in the conversion of a soul today you see what the Lord is doing in that soul. He has the pearl in His mind, and that soul is to be ultimately for Christ. You seek to help him from that point of view.
LDB You follow up the dispensational idea in seeking to help individual souls. The same process takes place in the individual as has taken place dispensationally.
JT Exactly. Every one of us is taken up with this in view. We have to get what is in the Lord’s mind. Your desire for yourself and the brethren is, as Paul says, “To present every man perfect in Christ”. Colossians 1:28. “Every man” — you see the breadth of his thought.
Ques Would you say the net cast into the sea would be to bring this pearl into sight?
JT Quite. Now you come to another side, namely discrimination The definite idea in the Lord’s mind is seen in the pearl. You must not have anything different from that, so there must be careful discrimination. It says the net is cast “into the sea and gathered of every kind: which, when it was full, they drew to shore and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels”. They sat down on the shore — that shows we are not to be in a hurry when selecting. The man who deals in precious stones must be a very careful man. You are not content with yourself or any of the brethren until “perfect in Christ”. Colossians 1:28. It keeps you praying if you cannot do anything else.
JCS And in that light if you preach the gospel or minister to the saints the pearl is in your mind.
JT That is the idea. The thing is called by name.
Ques Does the pearl lead on to the city and the idea of display?
JT The city in Revelation is said to be the wife. “The marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife has made herself ready”. Revelation 19:7. That is what she is in trustworthiness, I think. Then it says in chapter 21 she is seen “coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride”. Revelation 21:2.
Ques What is the difference between a wife and the bride?
JT The wife is the confidante. The book of Proverbs develops the wife. “Her husband is known in the gates” Proverbs 31:23. She is trustworthy. The book culminates in that. As each one of us learns the great principles of that book we are trustworthy collectively. It is remarkable how she is portrayed [p. 194] there — the reliability, the carefulness, the wisdom. So the result is that Christ is known in the gates. In the coming down from heaven the wife is not said to come down; although it is the Lamb’s wife, she is in that sense. But the wife is mentioned to call attention more to her reliability. Then she has made herself ready; and when she is seen coming down she is as a bride adorned for her husband. “Making herself ready” is John’s ministry. It is to enable you to look in on yourself. You look after yourself, so that you are ready for Christ. I believe John’s ministry is to that end.
WV Is it that the assembly has anticipated the thought of being the Lamb’s wife?
JT I think she is making herself ready for Christ.
WV I thought the bride was more the thought of display — what is public.
JT She is thinking of what His estimate of her is. A bride coming down suggests what is chaste and fresh. It is public. The idea of marriage is a public thing. It is remarkable that there are hardly any public marriages in the Old Testament. You have no public celebrations. Rebecca is brought to Isaac without ceremony at all. We have to take it in the anti-typical sense; it is what we are to Christ now. There has been no public ceremony. That is all future. It is a question of what she is as “coming down out of the heaven” Revelation 21:2 from God, not as a bride from a far country. She is from the same place as the bridegroom; they both come down.
SF The important thing for us is present inward preparedness — affections after Christ.
JCS So you would like us to catch up what is in the Lord’s heart at this moment; what He is working in view of, so that we might be down here intelligently, and growing up in feelings suitable [p. 195] to it.
EBMcC The coming down would suggest both are in perfection.
JT She needs nothing to be added to her now; it is as “a bride adorned for her husband”. Revelation 21:2 Would you say the saints are brought to Isaac at this time? The Spirit of God is leading the saints to Christ as Rebecca was brought to Isaac. That is, the meeting is not at a future time between Isaac and Rebecca.
JT She is brought into his mother’s tent.
HLD The Lord is comforted concerning the loss of Israel. That has come to pass now.
JT Quite; we ought to be a comfort to Christ now.
WS Paul says, “I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ”. 2 Corinthians 11:2.
JT Now with reference to the “sitting down”; this should have a voice to us because, like the parable of the tares, it is a mixed state of things we are dealing with now. The seine, or net, is thrown in, and there are good and bad in it, and the fishermen are those who are responsible. You want the good. We have to learn to know the good, and I think Romans helps us. What Romans emphasises among other things is the good. “The good figs are very good, and the bad very bad”. Jeremiah 24:3. Things are getting awful today among professors who have not life. They are ready for apostasy.
JCS So the sons of the kingdom are able to classify things here, and put them under their proper headings.
JT It says, “Having drawn up on the shore and sat down, they gathered the good into vessels and cast the worthless out”. That is what is going on — the good are put into vessels.
WS Do you think the key to the good is found in the scripture, “No man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Spirit”. 1 Corinthians 12:3.
JT That is Corinthians, it is the same idea. Romans runs parallel with Corinthians. We know what is good, and we want to be sure we are going on with the good. I think that is what has been going on for the last hundred years. The Lord has laid it upon certain to go in for the good. God looks down from heaven to see what is good. The bad are cast away as worthless. You have to examine things, but you want the good, and to put them into vessels.
MPM “Ye have an unction from the holy one, and ye know all things”. 1 John 2:20. “Try the spirits whether they are of God”. 1 John 4:1.
JT That is right. That is how John’s ministry comes in at the end.
JCS Would “vessels” be assemblies?
JT Well, in a way, I think local companies.
EBMcC I suppose when we come to this we must confess how imperfect we are at it. We feel it is a voice showing us how imperfect we are.
JT The prophets greatly help us in these things. We were remarking the other day about Jeremiah’s girdle. It denoted how Israel were brought near to God, and yet they were not dipped in water. They were good for nothing. It is only as we are prepared to accept death that we shall be good for something. A man who does not accept what is set forth in water is not good for anything.
EBMcC Would the sitting down suggest patience?
JT “He that believeth shall not make haste”. Isaiah 28:16. When it is a question of responsibility, and we are admitting persons into the fellowship of the death of Christ, we have to exercise care; not to be in haste.
SF I think there is an absence sometimes of [p. 197] sitting down. We are often a little feverish to see things accomplished in a short time, but the word is “let patience have her perfect work”. James 1:4.
JT Many of the evangelists in Christendom are typified in the ostrich. God Himself, in Job, describes the great features of the creation. The ostrich lays its egg in the sand and forgets that the foot of man may crush it. It has no care for its young; whereas the divine idea is that a hen gathers her brood under her wings. The ostrich typifies the popular evangelist; he gets converts — the egg is there, but the foot of man can crush it; it is in the sand, there is no protection. The vessels are for protection; the good is preserved in vessels.
MPM “Thus shall it be in the completion of the age”. What does that mean?
JT Matthew runs on to the end, as we had yesterday. It is the government of God, and that runs on to the end.
HLD The angels come in there; they deal with the bad. They gather the tares and burn them.
JT So here it says, “There shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth”. The thing is carried right through to the end. We must be discerning in putting the good into vessels now; it is assembly work.
JCS The other is judgment.
JT Yes, because it says, “The wicked are cast into the furnace of fire”. We do not do that; it is not for us to do.
MPM Is it the great white throne?
JT It goes on to that.
RMcM Going back to the thought of gathering the good into vessels; we sometimes see a lack in some who desire to break bread. Do you think if we had more discernment we would patiently wait before receiving [p. 198] such?
JT No doubt. We want to see the link of love. There are those who stand at a distance and expect to be received. Love draws near.
MPM You have reached the point now when the scribe “brings out of his treasure things new and old”.
JT He is “discipled to the kingdom”. We have not come formally to the assembly yet. The kingdom is making for it.
MPM “New and old” — what does that involve.
JT I think the new is what He has been unfolding — the treasure and the pearl. These are fully developed in Paul, because Paul preached the kingdom too. As developed under Paul one would have these things. I suppose the old would be the things that refer to Christ in the Old Testament. You get the things thousands of years old. Their very age adds to their value. They are antiques!
WS You think the kingdom paves the way for the assembly?
JT That is the point in this chapter; it is a “scribe discipled to the kingdom of the heavens”.
SF While the assembly or mystery is hid down the ages, every now and again you see glimpses of light of the assembly.