SPOIL (8)
SPOIL (8)
Acts 11: 19 - 30; Acts 13: 1 - 4
JT It is understood that the section of our subject of “Spoil” which is now under review, is based on Proverbs 31, the woman of worth, as typical of the assembly. On account of her industry and care, it is said that her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land; and also, he shall have no lack of spoil. To see how this works out spiritually, we began with Acts 2 and Acts 4, and went on to chapters 7 and 8, when it became manifest that the type in Proverbs was exemplified in the early history of the assembly, in the sense of spoil accruing to Christ through assembly conditions and industry, involving discipline and gospel testimony. We reached chapter 8 in our last reading and also touched on Chapter 11. The thought now is to consider the section read, centring in Antioch. With the Lord’s help we may see how spoil accrued to the Lord through the tribulation that began at the martyrdom of Stephen.
It is said in chapter 8 that Saul ravaged the assembly, and that those who were scattered on account of the ravaging went abroad and preached the glad tidings of the word. That is to be noticed. It is a remarkable designation of the gospel. “Those then that had been scattered went through the countries announcing the glad tidings of the word”; and in our chapter the link is in verse 19: “They then who had been scattered abroad through the tribulation that took place on the occasion of Stephen, passed through the country to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one but to Jews alone”. That verse links on with chapter 8, and the Lord may help us to see how the fruit that is so striking in these chapters was [p. 387] directly the outcome of the scattering and tribulation that befell the assembly. Instead of being overwhelmed by the calamity, as it might be regarded, they are overcomers and pursue the testimony in the way that was needed, so that the mind of God should be known through the gospel.
AFM Would the normal way of discovering the assembly in a place be by announcing the gospel in that place?
JT Yes; the gospel of the word. There are a great many designations of the gospel, as you know, and this is one of the most significant. It is a question of the word of God being made known, and what accrues from that in persons being formed to answer to His mind.
JTJr Is the thought of “speaking the word” conversational rather than preaching?
JT Yes; there was no effort to make any personal exploits. The idea of “the word” is that God speaks. It is in speaking that our minds are disclosed. If we have the mind of God, then we speak that; there is the idea of teaching the word of God, too, which took place at Corinth. Paul was there eighteen months teaching the word of God, which would be enforcing it; but speaking would be bringing out its beauty and attractiveness as the speaker has himself enjoyed it.
ANW The believers who spoke to the Greeks announced the glad tidings of the Lord Jesus. Is that more the public character?
JT Announcing would be the public side. That is the word used in chapter 8 — “announcing the glad tidings of the word”.
AR Does announcing carry with it authority?
JT Well, it does. There is the idea of proclamation, and of preaching, and also of teaching. I think the word “announcing” is more that people should know certain facts. We use the word commonly.
[p. 388] A brother makes an announcement, for instance, but it is not teaching or merely speaking, it is explaining something clearly and simply; but here evidently it would be with feeling, particularly in chapter 11, where it is “the glad tidings of the Lord Jesus” — a very beautiful appellation of the gospel.
JAT Why does it say, “speaking the word to no one but to Jews alone”?
JT I think they were carrying on as had been the custom, confining the testimony to the Jews — “to the Jews first”. The others went beyond that. They are not presented as having a commission, but as prompted by their own intelligence, exercise, and feelings, and the result shows that they were justified. “And the Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord” (verse 21).
RWS Is there some reason for Antioch being selected at this point for the special operations of the Spirit?
JT Well, evidently, it is representative of the gentile world. It was one of the capitals of the Alexandrian Empire and continued to be so for a long time. No doubt God takes account of these things.
SMcC Would the title “Lord Jesus” be calculated to move the affections in a peculiar way? It is not the official title, Lord Jesus Christ, but the glad tidings of the Lord Jesus, a peculiarly endearing name attaching to the assembly’s relations with Him.
JT Yes. It is the title selected as suggestive of the action of the Holy Spirit. No one can say “Lord Jesus” save by the Holy Spirit. That title is selected as suggestive of the action of the Spirit in the [p. 389] confession.
SMcC I wondered if it would fit in with peculiar evangelical activity at the end of the dispensation, corresponding to the final word, “Come, Lord Jesus”.
JT Yes; all that is in keeping with the title Lord Jesus. Stephen used it very befittingly: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”, Acts 7: 59. Paul says, “remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive”, Acts 20: 35. Again he says, “and no one can say, Lord Jesus, unless in the power of the Holy Spirit”, 1 Corinthians 12: 3. That would mean, I apprehend, not simply that peculiar address that resounds in the assembly, but Lord Jesus, pronounced by the Spirit of God.
ANW The apostles in the jail used that term. According to the better translation, they said to the jailor, “Believe on the Lord Jesus”. We get accustomed to say, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, but what has been said makes the title “Lord Jesus” more affecting.
JT It makes the Person of the Lord Jesus more pronounced or distinctive — that is, what He is personally.
CAM One is impressed with the unofficial way in which this wonderful movement is introduced. Would you think, in that way, that God may bring forward a most wonderful increase of light in an unostentatious way, and that is a test to our spiritual observation and senses?
JT I think the word unofficial is good, and certainly fits in with the last days, because it is a question of what heart we have for the Lord and for His things; if there is anything to be done, can we do it without being asked to, and without its giving us any official or distinctive status. They did it of themselves without any ostentation at all,
[p. 390] without any commission; but the hand of the Lord was with them. Their hand moved first, however.
WR Were they not sent, according to the closing chapter of Mark’s gospel? It says, “the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs following upon it”.
JT These were not sent; they were disciples, of course, even as those mentioned in Mark. The Lord having spoken to them — to the twelve — worked with them. But it is not that here. Missionaries might say, We can do this and that. Or any one of us might say it. But we have to go by the circumstances as Scripture presents them. These were not specially commissioned. They were scattered by tribulation, which is not what the Lord had in mind in the commission in the gospels.
WR Would you say John on the Isle of Patmos was one in whom tribulation worked out the idea of the brother?
JT Quite so; the idea, I think, is that however severe the circumstances on account of the testimony may be, we are not overwhelmed. We carry on what is of God.
Ques Is there any thought of colonisation in this section? We were noticing at the last reading that the woman in the end of Proverbs considered a field and bought it.
JT I think that enters into it. Undoubtedly heaven was behind all this, and the instincts of the assembly lead to it. In chapter 8, they went through the countries, it says, announcing the glad tidings of the word; and then Philip went down to Samaria. That is one part. That is a field of itself. Here the field is much further off and varied. “They ... passed through the country to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one but to Jews alone”, and then others went to Antioch and spoke to the Greeks. So this would be a wider [p. 391] thought than chapter 8, as to the idea of a field. It seems to be the assembly acquiring the field. She saw it and acquired it.
AFM In chapter 8, the service of Philip is somewhat like that of these men in our chapter, only that they did not perform any miracles. Philip preached Christ to them, but there was apparently nothing left in Samaria at that time, such as an assembly like there was at Antioch. Would you think his field and movements were similar?
JT I think his great part has its own significance — how Philip preached. The generally scattered ones “passed through the country to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one but to Jews alone. But there were certain of them, Cyprians and Cyrenians, who entering into Antioch spoke to the Greeks also, announcing the glad tidings of the Lord Jesus”. Philip preached the Christ at Samaria. That was part of the field, you might say, that the virtuous woman was acquiring. But then how was it being acquired? The field must be taken account of. It was a Samaritan field, over against Jerusalem, and if the work of God is to be carried on, the testimony must be suited to the conditions and in keeping with the soil. Then Philip goes down, under the direction of the angel, to the desert, and meets with another kind of soil, another field, you might say representatively; that was Ethiopia. What will he do there? The wonderful skill that is seen is to be accredited to the assembly, because these men are not like commissioned apostles, they are scattered ones of the assembly, suffering as of the assembly, overcoming the afflictions, and maintaining the testimony with great intelligence. They knew what to do. So that in dealing with the Ethiopian, Philip preached Jesus, and found a convenient text that the man himself had, as he was reading the Scriptures. It [p. 392] was a southern field. The scattered ones in chapter 11 are in another position. They are in the north; you might say, in the very heart of the Alexandrian empire, where God is going to work.
JS Is this scattering allowed in the wisdom of God, so that the Lord may have spoil in this way even though apart from what is official?
JT I think so. These were characteristically assembly persons, though not seen as functioning in the assembly, but rather suffering as of it, yet doing what their hands found to do. The door is shut at Jerusalem, but it is not shut in this wide area. It is the assembly looking abroad and instinctively finding suitable fields for the testimony that heaven had in mind.
Ques Do you think the movement of brethren to this country, for instance, under adverse circumstances, seeking employment, and others having gone to the islands and to Australasia, might be parallel with this idea today?
JT I think it would.
CH Would the fact that this report reached the ears of the assembly illustrate what you are saying in connection with Philip? He preached Christ and it reached the ears of the apostles. In verse 1 of this chapter it says, “And the apostles and the brethren who were in Judaea heard that the nations also had received the word of God”; and then for the first time, we get in verse 22 that the report reached the ears of the assembly.
JT That is what I thought we might see; the link with the assembly in this section, as distinct from Jerusalem, where the word had been hitherto applied. It is now applied for the first time in the gentile world, “they were gathered together in the assembly” (verse 26). It is a most significant fact, an epoch, as you might say. This wonderful and beautiful word, which has acquired such a place in these [p. 393] last days, was first mentioned here, and under the most inauspicious circumstances. What can we say but that it is peculiar spoil for Christ, all arising out of the attack on the assembly, in which the apostle himself had led, before his conversion. He was secured as spoil, and now he is used to spoil the gentile world, that the assembly should be established in spite of the circumstances.
JS Instead of loss, as we might have supposed, on account of this scattering, there is really great gain, showing how those scattered were in touch with the Lord Jesus — a great many were added.
Rem It also says in verse 21 of chapter 11, “And the Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord”, not to the brethren. That is like David’s spoil.
JT Quite so; they turned to the Lord. That is a point that Barnabas took up: he exhorted them to abide with the Lord. I think we are getting to the most interesting part of our subject — what arises from persecution of the assembly, implying that we are to be buoyant in the persecution, whatever it may be, and not to be under the circumstances that may arise. These scattered ones, perhaps driven from homes and families, some in most distressing circumstances, were so sustained by the Lord that they could present Him in a most attractive way, each in his own sphere, whether it be Philip at Samaria, or in the desert with the eunuch, or whether it be at Antioch, the testimony is rightly presented, and the Lord can identify Himself with it.
ANW Are there not successive waves of spoil in that way? In chapter 8, the scattering is throughout all Judaea and Samaria. Spoil is gathered there, but there seems to be another wave here in the Antioch section, far removed from Judaea and [p. 394] Samaria.
JT Yes, here it is, as you say, far north — Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch.
JS Is the height of buoyancy reached in chapter 16, where Paul and Silas prayed and sang in prison under most adverse circumstances?
JT That is a good illustration.
AFM This work in the outlying regions was outside of Jerusalem and apart from the apostles. It appears that the interest went beyond them; they were active and interested in hearing of things, but not exactly participating in them. Would you mind saying something about that?
JT Well, their position is maintained. There are two lines running through — the apostolic position, which has to be taken account of by itself; and then the movements of the assembly. The apostles are unique; they are direct representatives of Christ in authority, so they are the ones that are concerned about Samaria. It is a question of the authority of Christ. It is a dispensational matter, and that comes within the range of apostolic commission. So they sent out Peter and John to Samaria; but in chapter 11 it is not the apostles, but the assembly and the ears of the assembly. Chapter 10 intervenes, and the question might arise, Why not include Cornelius and his household and company, but it seems to be an apostolic matter. It is not something arising from the assembly as such; whereas our section is the direct result of assembly exercise — assembly sorrow first, and what might have been overwhelming becomes the occasion of spoil for Christ in the most striking manner.
FHL Had the great number that believed become the large crowd that were added as assembly material?
JT Yes. Barnabas and Paul taught a great crowd for a whole year in the assembly — a most remarkable combination [p. 395] of words.
FHL I was thinking of the position; first, they believed; then they were added to the Lord.
JT Quite so, and then they were taught in the assembly and are called a crowd, but a crowd that gradually becomes ordered and regulated and unified, so that the beautiful word “assembly” can be applied.
JS Then we see the assembly here in Jerusalem taking on the work, so that they sent Barnabas as far as to Antioch to consolidate and link on the work.
JT I think that is to show that the idea of the virtuous woman still holds at Jerusalem. In spite of the terrible withering attack, its enduring qualities sustain the attack and the scattered ones of the assembly carry on the testimony where it should be rendered. They clearly made the selection. The virtuous woman considered the field. Heaven was in the selection, and they are supported in it. The thing for us to see is, the spoil accruing to Christ as the outcome of the exercises of the “woman of worth”; how the assembly is to be maintained in the face of attack, whatever that attack may be; how it is maintained in its completeness — in these features, and continues on according to the pattern set by the Lord Jesus. He went on; some of them doubted, we are told in Matthew 28, but He went on. His word was, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations”, Matthew 28: 19. In spite of the doubtings and questions, and maybe opposition and hard tribulation, the assembly goes on, and spoil for Christ accrues from its activities.
JS Instead of being limited, it progresses, does it not?
JT That is the thing to see. We ought to make application to ourselves in our own days. We may be in the last days, things are small, but are we to allow any kind of circumstances that the enemy may bring about to prevent our going on positively?
[p. 396] Have we the instincts of the assembly enabling us to go on positively, so that there may be something for Christ out of all this?
SMcC Is it not interesting in that light, to see that the saints in Jerusalem are referred to as an entity? — “The assembly which was in Jerusalem”.
JT It shows that formation was there. The building, as it were, is there. It is maintaining itself although so many have been scattered; the assembly still stands, and has assembly instincts and ears, and assembly industry; and so it sends out its best man, as you might say. Barnabas is to be viewed here as a product of the assembly. He was received into it as a son of consolation and he enriched it. Now he is being sent out by it.
JTJr There is no contention now. In verse 2 of chapter 11 there was contention among those of the circumcision, and Peter spoke of it, but now the assembly is in full sympathy with the work of God and sends out Barnabas.
JT That is very good and helps at this point. Peter set forth the matter in order, it says. That is important. Whatever the matter may be, it may be a collective matter, it helps to set it out in order intelligently and with patience so that God gets a result, as in the case of Cornelius. But now at Antioch, there is no contention at all. It is very beautiful to see that the field is all ready, and the servants are equal to the requirements.
ATD Do we see the result in the fact that these disciples were called christians first at Antioch?
JT That is good. It fits in here. Evidently the quality is the grace of Christ. The characteristics of Christ are taking form now in the saints.
GMacP Does Barnabas suggest the quality of the work of God in the assembly in Jerusalem: “For [p. 397] he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith” (verse 24)?
JT Yes; he becomes the link between Jerusalem and Antioch. He is like the golden taches in the tabernacle linking on two distant parts of the work of God, maintaining one tabernacle.
ABP You were speaking of suffering and order and fruit. It seems to link on with the word in Proverbs 31 — “of the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard” (verse 16). The vineyard would be a smaller area than a field.
JT Just so. The field is a wider thought. The idea comes down from Isaac. “See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which Jehovah hath blessed”, Genesis 27: 27. That is what is in view in the service of God, to acquire a field that the Lord has blessed and get the right seed. In Samaria, it is the Christ; that presentation was to break down the rivalry that was there. The apostles at Jerusalem were interested in it, because it was a question of the Christ; they represented Him. Then it is a question with the eunuch of a south land — a southern field and the kind of seed that is needed. It is a question of the race there. It is not the authority of Christ so much as the race and the kind of man that is to dominate and give character to the race, that is in the mind of God — the kind of humanity; so that Philip evangelises unto him Jesus. In Isaiah 53 it is Jesus.
AFM Do you think the different periods of time that the apostle spent amongst his converts had in view the ultimate results for God? I was thinking of the three weeks in Thessalonica, the twelve months here in this chapter with Barnabas, the eighteen months in Corinth, and the three years at Ephesus; all on the line of teaching. Is that the work of the wise architect having in view great results for God in the [p. 398] assembly?
JT Those long periods of service imply in each case some particular phase of the truth that has to be thoroughly worked out; and then finally the four years of imprisonment, implying what had to be worked out in Paul himself to bring the best out of him. He was a field that the Lord had blessed, and that field must come under the most extensive and careful tillage so that the best crop should accrue, and the crop is seen in the prison epistles — Colossians, Ephesians, 2 Timothy, Philippians, and Philemon, a yield of the most wonderful teaching that has ever reached human ears, outside of the ministry of the Lord Himself.
RWS “He goeth forth and weepeth, bearing seed for scattering; he cometh again with rejoicing, bearing his sheaves”, Psalm 126: 6.
JT Exactly; there was much more to be wrought in Paul than by him; that God would bring out such a crop of ministry from one man, and that man four years in prison — two years in Caesarea and two in Rome — is the greatest fruit.
Ques What was in the Lord’s mind in John 4, “behold the fields, for they are already white to harvest” (verse 35)? Are these the fields He had in His mind?
JT Yes. That is a good reference. You stressed the plural. It is significant in that connection that the ministry began at Samaria. The Lord said to His disciples as they came to Him: “Do not ye say, that there are yet four months and the harvest comes? Behold, I say to you, Lift up your eyes and behold the fields, for they are already white to harvest. He that reaps receives wages and gathers fruit unto life eternal, that both he that sows and he that reaps may rejoice together. For in this is verified the true saying, It is one who sows and another who reaps. I have sent you to reap that on which ye have not laboured; others have laboured,
[p. 399] and ye have entered into their labours”, John 4: 35 - 38. That brings out our position today, but it is very remarkable that the first field actually is Samaria. Philip goes into that field, and the scattered ones go into other fields, but every field is blessed of the Lord. Now we see fruit; Christ is getting the fruit.
JS You see the results of the labours in Antioch. In the opening of the section read, we have the fact of the scattering, but in the close of the chapter, we see the gathering.
JT Quite so; what a result! You can understand that these scattered ones would be present in the meetings that were conducted by Barnabas and Saul for this whole year. Genesis describes the year. “Henceforth, all the days of the earth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease” (chapter 8: 22). It is suggestive that the words whole year are used, as if to call our attention to that period, that God is working out some great result in Antioch, and He takes a whole year to do it.
ANW The crowd is found in the assembly. It is being taught, and formed, and then, as you say, it can be termed “the assembly” in Antioch.
JT I think that is the way to picture what happened. This large crowd of people met together. Would they have a meeting, such as we have tonight? How would they carry on? Well, the word “assembly” is in mind and the Spirit of God, and Barnabas and Saul, you may be sure, have this word in mind, and the scattered ones have the word in their minds. They were part of it. They felt it. The Lord had alluded to these scattered ones when He spoke to Saul, “Why dost thou persecute me?” Acts 9: 4. What feelings there would be in these [p. 400] scattered ones and in Saul, who had been persecuting them! Barnabas would know, too. These men would all have the idea of the assembly in their minds, and the Greek crowd was attracted and added to the Lord; they were all subject. No doubt it was gradual, but they conceived the idea of the assembly — the greatest conception in the universe, the mystery, the assembly; it would gradually appear as Paul and Barnabas worked together in this meeting for a whole year — winter, summer, seed-time, and harvest.
CAM That is very interesting, and particularly connecting it with what you have said about the last part of Paul’s life and the wonderful fruit that came out of it. When we think of this initial setting of that remarkable servant and the intensity of feelings that must have been experienced by him at the end, how much there must have been for God in it all!
JT All arising from the tribulation in which Paul himself had such a part. How much would come into his mind! He would say, I persecuted the assembly, and yet God’s hand was over it to bring the truth of the assembly into this gentile setting.
AFM Do you not think the apostle had great joy in seeing the fruits of this in Antioch now that discipleship was there? They were disciples, but as christians they were members of one body. Is that the thought? They were not only disciples and expressive of Christ, but expressive characteristically of the body of Christ; for surely that would be included in the whole year’s ministry.
JT I think so. The word would mean that they took on the graces of the anointing. They announced the glad tidings of the Lord Jesus. Philip announced Jesus to the eunuch. It is the idea of the race there, that God has the race in mind; He is to have a new [p. 401] race. The personal name Jesus is connected with the race, and it seems as if the Spirit of God selected the eunuch with particular feeling to bring out the traits of the race. Though having become degenerated, it is now to be elevated to this wonderful character of Jesus, as in Isaiah 53. Here at Antioch, in the realm of Alexander’s kingdom, or empire, where rule is the prominent feature — seen in one man — we have the title “Lord Jesus” introduced. It conveys the beautiful thought of Jesus, but with authority. It is the authority of that Man.
SMcC In John 12, the Greeks came up and said, “We would see Jesus”, but here it is Lord Jesus. Lord is added.
JT Yes; the eunuch heard about Jesus. Philip saw to that. It was on Jesus that he believed. There was not much in the Greeks coming up. Nothing accrued save that the Lord said, “The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, it abides alone; but if it die, it bears much fruit” (verses 23, 24). This means that Christ should be in control of the race, but instead of that He had to die to produce a race acceptable to God. Philip evangelised Jesus to the eunuch. It is a beautiful word, for He is presented in that character, and what is it save to meet the race as represented in that man? Whatever we may think about the white and other races, the race was represented in the eunuch, and God is going to bring it into blessing, by bringing about in it a condition like Jesus. In the north, we are in Alexander’s kingdom, where empire prevailed. Really we are in the very centre of the Alexandrian empire, the greatest of empires, and so the Lord Jesus is presented. Those in Antioch are to know the Lord Jesus; that is, rule in that Person; a beautiful thought, preparing them for [p. 402] the assembly.
CAM It would look, from what you say, as if God had selected the race at its greatest disadvantage, to change man altogether.
JT Quite so. He does not take up the race in connection with the distinguished features of it; although this man was a distinguished man, but he represented a part of the race that belonged to Africa rather than cultured Europe, for instance. God takes that up to represent the race; He is going to make that race like Jesus.
CAM The prophet’s question of old was, Could an Ethiopian’s skin be changed? Well, it could be changed by the presentation of that Man — Jesus.
JT I trust the brethren see the idea of the race being met in the Ethiopian, and then the idea of the proudest empire that ever existed, with Antioch one of its capitals — the very centre — being eclipsed by the presentation of the Lord Jesus. That is the thing that prevailed in the European world.
Rem As the virtuous woman goes north, “She is not afraid of the snow for her household; for all her household are clothed with scarlet”, Proverbs 31: 21. There is a certain quality about those that were scattered abroad in that northern position.
JT Quite so; they are not afraid of snow.
GMacP Following that remark, the book of Job says, “and cold from the winds of the north” (chapter 37: 9).
JT Quite so; it is a question of what is of God coming out of the cold — cold, as well as heat, has its place in the development of what God has in His mind.
WR Does all this help us to understand Isaiah 53 — “He shall see of the ... travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied” (verse 11)?
JT Quite so.
[p. 403] Ques Do you think the thought of being dressed in scarlet would link on more with the title Lord? Is there the idea of royalty in it? Would they be dressed in scarlet as going north toward Antioch?
JT Scarlet is usually typical of earthly glory.
FC Does the Lord determine the material for the assembly?
JT I think that is the idea. They were added to the Lord. What has He in His mind for us? Being added to Him would mean that He has control of us. We are entirely at His disposal. He will make the very best out of us — something answering to the mind of God collectively as there was in Antioch; the assembly is the great result. It was the outcome of all this; the great spoil that accrued to Christ as the outcome of all the suffering and scattering.
JHE In John 4 it was a question of seeking worshippers; David made instruments for the carrying on of worship. These would be the instruments that David made?
JT Yes; we hear of them as the assembly is described in chapter 13. We are told they were ministering to the Lord, and five names are mentioned which actively, under the Lord’s hand, were as formed instruments of David.
Rem Barnabas seems to do the right thing again, as he did in chapter 9, being used of the Lord to put Saul forward as the man the Lord was about to use. In chapter 9, he brought him up to Jerusalem, and now he goes to Tarsus to seek him out again. Evidently he was the right man for this work.
JT So that, if you see a man that can do the work better than you, you put him forward.
Rem He was unselfish, too. He saw a great work going on in Antioch, and instead of doing it [p. 404] all himself, he sought out someone else that could do it better.
JT Quite; they worked together; they taught. That is the idea of two going together, as if Barnabas discerned the need of that.
CH Barnabas was rejoicing as the result of the work in chapter 11. It says he rejoiced when he saw the work in the place, the work of others — the sower and the reaper rejoicing together, as spoken of in John 4.
JT Quite so.
AR He exhorted them “to abide with the Lord” (verse 23). It says, they turned to the Lord and were added to the Lord, and now Barnabas exhorts them to abide with the Lord.
JT Yes; the empire they were coming into was ruled by the “King of kings, and Lord of lords”. It is the idea of empire that we need to have in our minds here. Barnabas had in mind, I think, that they were to stay there for something further; they were to be held there in subjection — abiding with the Lord; awaiting the return of these great servants who understood His mind, to work out the assembly features in Antioch.
AR As being formed under Paul and Barnabas, room is made for Agabus, and the prophetic word coming in through the prophets from Jerusalem.
JT Yes; and it makes room for those who were well off to put their hands in their pockets, do you not think? Barnabas had done that; he gave up all that he received from the land that he sold.
GMW Would the spirit of rivalry be offset in the determination to minister to the brethren in Judaea?
JT Quite so. Barnabas’s influence undoubtedly had something to do with this. Those who were well off at Antioch, in response to the prophetic word, gave the money for the relief of the saints,
[p. 405] and Barnabas and Saul took it to Jerusalem. That is the link. Then another thing that comes in here is, where do I return to? Barnabas did not return to Jerusalem. That was not his thought. He went there to carry the bounty to the saints, but the idea of return is to Antioch. The mention of this is to show that God is changing the position, that Antioch now is the object in the return. That is where God’s mind is being developed now.
FHL Assembly service Godward was established before this service manward, was it not?
JT That is the next thing to notice. In chapter 13 we get something that is not opened up in regard of Jerusalem, not that it was not there, but the Spirit of God is bringing out the beauty and grace that were developed at Antioch — the assembly features that were there. There were five distinguished men there, and they ministered to the Lord, it says, and fasted. The Lord was before them.
GMacP Would this be a counterpart of John 4, where the Lord speaks of worshipping the Father in spirit and truth, not in Samaria or Jerusalem, but worship in spirit and truth?
JT Quite so. This public service of God is now set up amongst the gentiles. It was not taken away from Jerusalem, but it was begun here. Certainly this was of immense interest in the eye of heaven.
AR It says in chapter 11, “And so it was with them that for a whole year they were gathered together in the assembly” (verse 26). In the beginning of chapter 13 it says, “Now there were in Antioch, in the assembly which was there, prophets and teachers”; then it describes these five men as pleasurable, as if they are to be taken account of as trophies of the work of God.
JT Quite. The first is Barnabas, and the last is Saul. The other three have histories — marks of [p. 406] distinction that would tend to hinder the work of God in them. One is said to be Niger, and the second a Cyrenian, from North Africa, and the third, the foster brother of Herod the tetrarch. What a triumph it is — the product of the wonderful work of God, to take these men out of these settings and set them up in the service of God!
ABP They were called christians in chapter 11. Does that link on?
JT I think it does. It would be the graces of Christ the anointed One — the King of kings, and Lord of lords — represented here in the Alexandrian empire, in christians.
AR Naturally they would be extremely adverse to one another, but they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, showing that the adverseness had been overcome.
AFM How would you regard this matter of cities? Did Antioch supersede Jerusalem? What was Jerusalem’s status while this work was going on at Antioch?
JT I think God was gradually, but surely and patiently, terminating the metropolitan idea. An earthly metropolitan centre is not proper to christianity. The metropolis of christianity is heaven — “Jerusalem above”. Antioch is not brought forward to supersede Jerusalem as a metropolis. God had no thought of doing that; but because of the power that had wrought there. He could employ it to gradually and patiently set aside what was becoming an encumbrance to the testimony. God is very gracious when removing encumbrances to the testimony, things which once had a place in it.
AFM When Paul went to Jerusalem later, he evidently came under the metropolitan influence.
SMcC Do you not think it is important for us to put ourselves into this scripture — to challenge [p. 407] ourselves as to whether these conditions obtain amongst us, so that God can set up His best?
JT That is good; ministering to the Lord is a positive thought, suggestive, I think, of the public service of God being inaugurated among the gentiles — a great epoch in the ways of God, but then how is that to be maintained? We may minister to the Lord in liberty on the first day of the week, and the next first day of the week we may not be so free; the fasting is what maintains our freshness. Fasting is self-denial; it is unselfishness. The feast of unleavened bread intervenes, which suggests self-denial. It is non-inflating; it reduces.
RWS Are these three men the product of gathering together in assembly a whole year under these conditions?
JT I think that is how the matter stands. Barnabas and Saul of course are the workmen. These other three are placed between the two great servants in chapter 13: 1. The circumstances whence they are drawn and the way they are mentioned, would serve to bring out the idea of the quality of the work in them. They can be placed between Barnabas and Saul, and they all minister to the Lord; doubtless the whole assembly did too. It is as they continued in that ministry to the Lord and fasted, that the Spirit speaks. So that the Lord has now in Antioch what He can use — a vehicle for the Spirit. The Spirit undoubtedly spoke through one of them.
Ques What is the difference between a prophet speaking the word of God, and the Holy Spirit speaking as presented here?
JT The point here is the Holy Spirit — a divine Person — is speaking.
Ques Is that due to a right moral condition which is produced through [p. 408] fasting?
JT I think it is to show what had been produced there and how the service of ministering to the Lord and fasting is honoured.
Ques Sometimes in ministry meetings we may say, That was the word of God tonight. Is there a time when we might speak of it as the Holy Spirit speaking?
JT This is more than that. It is to bring out that one of the divine Persons has scope in the gentile world, as God used to speak in the temple and in the tabernacle, so He can speak here. It is God by the Spirit, a very great matter that God can speak, and so Paul alludes to the matter later, that the “Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city”, meaning that God had means in those cities which the Holy Spirit could use to speak.
Ques Is it like the anointing of the position, the anointing of the tabernacle?
JT The anointing did not go so far as speaking. The anointing is public dignity, but the speaking took place inside.
ANW Why are they designated as prophets and teachers, while their service is apparently Godward?
JT They were such as could take part in the service. I suppose the whole assembly would be included in this service. They are mentioned as the best — peculiar spoil. It is a feature of the Acts that God puts forth His best, and they are mentioned in that way. Surely God is entitled to that: when He produces something prominent, He is entitled to call attention to it.
AR It says they were sent forth by the Holy Spirit. How would you explain that?
JT That is to show that the testimony was officially inaugurated by the Spirit of God. It was not like Philip. He was not sent in the same sense, nor were the scattered ones. We must arrive at [p. 409] divine representation. Whether I preach or another preaches, in due course all must come under the anointing for divine representation, or it is nothing.
Rem Sentimentality was excluded, too, in the selection of Saul and in separating him for the work.
JT Quite so; the selection of the brethren was right, and it is most important, however small or feeble we may be, to have before us that there is to be divine representation.
JS Do you regard Antioch as the position to be reached by us morally? We should be in self-abnegation if the Spirit of God is to be free.
JT That is a most important thing; so the position gradually becomes a divinely accredited one. God was putting His stamp of approval on the whole movement. It is His. It is what Christ had out of all this, and it is representative of Him.
ABP Would you say the Godhead is represented at Antioch? They were called christians, representing Christ; Barnabas saw the grace of God, and now the Spirit of God is speaking personally.
JT Quite so.