LOCAL ASSEMBLY CONDITIONS
[p. 543] LOCAL ASSEMBLY CONDITIONS
Luke 10: 1 - 12; Luke 11: 1 - 4; Luke 24: 36 - 44
JT Local assembly conditions are in view in these scriptures. No doubt we are all aware that the assembly ministers first Godward. And this works out in localities, but not in the way that is current in religious bodies generally. All administration according to God is seen in the assembly. So that the Lord is sending out His word here by the seventy, and the end of their mission was “every city and place where he himself was about to come”. The seventy are not directed to form assemblies; the time for that had not yet come. As the Spirit comes down we have the ordering and formation of assemblies, but the seventy are not directed to form assemblies, although the formation of assemblies is in view. The sending forth of the seventy is additional to the twelve; “seventy others also” which He appointed to go before His face. Paul was in addition to the twelve. The point here by the Lord’s direction is to go to “every city and place where he himself was about to come”, that is, the Lord intended to come. The workmen had in mind that things should be right in view of His coming. Paul the wise architect says in Corinthians, “Other foundation can no man lay besides that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ”. The wise architect had laid it. He was aware that the Lord would test his work. What is particularly in mind here is “Into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace to this house. And if a son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it”. And then “Into whatsoever city ye may enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you, and heal the sick in it, and say to them, The kingdom of God is come nigh to you”. So there is the idea of entering a house or a city. The [p. 544] house has in view the local assembly, and the city a sphere of influence where the testimony is to be rendered. That is what is to be particularly observed, not so much the work and the workmen, but what he finds in the house; that is, the house is to have a son of peace; if not, they are not to stay there, nor are they to add anything to the house. The point of contact is the ‘son of peace’.
AC What do you understand by a ‘son of peace’?
JT Well, one would like to work that out for oneself. The word son has in mind maturity, in fact he is the product of it, he is characterised by it. He is in a position to promote peace. This is non-provocative. The epistle to the Romans helps us to that end; it gives direction how to overcome evil with good.
GT Is the son of peace material for the assembly?
JT Well, if he is not that, he is not material for the assembly. The assembly is to be the reflection of what is in heaven. So we get “on earth peace” at the beginning of this gospel (chapter 2: 14), but at the end we get “peace in heaven” (chapter 19: 38), and that peace goes back into this troubled world. The assembly is said to be “the pillar and the base of the truth”. Peace is the mind of God. There will be peace on earth presently in the millennium, but there is peace in the assembly now.
AC Is it the head of the house that is to be a son of peace?
JT Any one in the house. In Luke 10, Martha was not a son of peace, but Mary was. That is how it reads, it says, “If a son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it”. The presence of anyone there who has the character of a son of peace is peace to the house. This shows how God works in houses. He takes on what is there, any person. It [p. 545] is characteristic of this house, a son of peace would ensure peace for it, it may be the husband is the only one, sometimes the wife is the only one, heaven takes account of such an one.
JDS Is it the working out of what we get in the epistles?
JT That is it exactly. We have to understand the gospels by the epistles. Lydia represents a son of peace in her house.
Ques Would there be a moral order in the house?
JT The household side of the truth is hardly seen in the ministry of the twelve. It comes out in connection with Paul; first there is Lydia’s house, then there is the jailor’s house. Paul preached to him, and he and his house were saved. Paul was impressed with Lydia’s house. Certain brethren tend to disregard this side of the truth, but it is there. The position of the assembly is in the city, and the houses minister to it.
RS Is the house more what is inward, and the city more what is outward?
JT Exactly. The position of the city is a sphere of influence, but the house is inward, Martha’s house, Simon’s house.
Ques Would a son of peace be on the line of sacrifice and surrender?
JT Tell us what you mean by sacrifice and surrender?
Rem To be prepared like Mary to let everything go.
JT You mean she does not answer in defence of herself.
Rem She is prepared to be misunderstood.
JT Quite so.
Rem The psalmist said, “I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war”, Psalm 120: 7.
JT [p. 546] There we have the attitude of a son of peace. A son of peace comes to his house; he ministers peace to his house. He gets distinguished by that. There is a difference in him, and that very difference brings out persecution.
GA Is it on account of the son of peace being there that they are instructed not to move from house to house?
JT They get a good point of contact there, a centre of operation. The son of peace is the centre of operation; they are not to go from house to house. A centre of operation is established from which the testimony radiates.
CL Was Paul’s letter to Philemon on that line?
JT Exactly. You mean that there should be peace in Philemon’s house, that he would be restful in having his lodging there. How restful Paul must have been in Lydia’s house. He went to her; that is, she was the centre of operation because she was a son of peace. A son of peace is an exemplification of what is presented in the testimony.
Then the same thing applies to the city; it says, “Into whatsoever city ye may have entered and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, Even the dust of your city, which cleaves to us on the feet, do we shake off against you; but know this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh. I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for Sodom in that day than for that city”. These two rebukes are intended for those not regenerated, who are not affected by the work of God; otherwise they would only add to confusion.
AI Is this on the line of “Lay hands suddenly on no man”?
JT You are to be sure if he is worthy of it.
Rem They are really rejecting the testimony.
JT Quite so. The testimony is, “The kingdom of God is come nigh”. It does not say to that city,
[p. 547] It is come nigh to you. What a wonderful testimony has been brought to this city. If it is refused it shall be more tolerable for Sodom than for this city. So in preaching the gospel we go on quietly even if we do not get results; there is a testimony going out.
GT Is the eating and drinking here an expression of fellowship?
JT I do not think it goes so far as what we might call fellowship. There is some reference to it later in chapter 13 when the Lord shuts the door. “Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten in thy presence and drunk, and thou hast taught in our streets; and he shall say, I tell you, I do not know you”. That is, the city remembers that.
WAS Would the kingdom of God coming nigh to you mean response?
JT Quite so. The thing was there in power. Paul and Barnabas in Acts 14 entered together into a place. I understand by that that they went together; there was something there to be seen; the kingdom of God was there: they represented it. Peter says, “Look on us”, Acts 3: 4.
AC Would it mean that there was something for God in the house or the city where the son of peace is?
JT Quite so; it would be in view of formation of assemblies.
Ques Would the wise woman in 2 Samuel 20 be a son of peace?
JT She was a mother in Israel; she represents a son of peace; she saved the city by her wisdom.
FI Do these conditions depend on our households, all the households?
JT That is how it works out in Philippi. Lydia takes in the two labourers. She is a son of peace. She opens her house to them. Then the next house is the jailor’s house, then he was to have another [p. 548] house, and another. What a beautiful thing it is household-wise for every brother and sister to turn to the Lord!
FI I was thinking it would be the exercise of a son of peace that a testimony might go out from his house.
JT I have often thought of the Lord Himself. He lived in Nazareth, and then He dwelt in Capernaum. He dwelt in that place. It is alluded to both in this gospel and in Matthew. The cities round the lake came in for a greater testimony than the other cities: “The people sitting in darkness has seen a great light, and to those sitting in the country and shadow of death, to them has light sprung up”, Matthew 4: 16. They were sitting in darkness, but the Lord went there to dwell, and He had a house. They would see the Lord moving in and out every day. Every movement of Christ was testimony. He went to Simon’s house. There was trouble there; his mother-in-law was taken with a great fever; the Lord stood over her and healed her. He promoted conditions of peace in that house. In Mark it says, “It was reported that he was at the house”, Mark 2: 1. If He lived in Capernaum He lived in a house. The man sick of the palsy was brought to the house. There was no complaint as to the freedom taken that the man might be healed.
GA Would you suggest that the houses of the saints have an influence in the city?
JT Certainly; the more houses the more testimony. Your neighbours see you. Elisha passed by the woman’s door, and she said, “Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us continually”, 2 Kings 4: 9.
AI Is there any particular service in view when it says, “Go: behold I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry neither purse nor scrip nor sandals, and salute no one on the way”?
JT It was seventy that were sent two by two; thirty-five pairs of brothers; they are given the same instruction by the Lord. What is in mind is peace. We are not a trouble to our brethren. We are sons of peace. The Lord says, I am coming to that town; what shall I find there? Will He actually find sons of peace! I think that is what is in mind: the obligation of each to be a son of peace.
RS Is that what should characterise the local assembly?
JT If the Lord comes in, what is He looking for? We do not want the Lord to be disturbed. At the end of the chapter, Martha is distracted with much service: “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?” She calls Him “Lord”, yet she is criticising the Lord. We use the word “Lord” very freely, but we might be complaining against Him: “Dost thou not care?” That kind of thing comes in amongst us.
WM So the Lord’s desire is to find sons of peace.
JT They are not plentiful.
RS Martha was not answering to His lordship.
JT She was inconsistent in her ways.
The next thing is He was praying in a certain place. The idea of the place is carried through. Morally, no doubt, this is in relation to the unnamed place Bethany. So He prayed in a certain place, and when He had ended one of His disciples says to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray”. He had been impressed by the words the Lord used, and he wanted to learn to pray in a more seemly way. So the Lord tells them how to pray. “Father” is the first word. “Father, thy name be hallowed; thy kingdom come”. That would be the way the Lord prayed.
Ques Would that deliver us from selfishness? If we speak only of ourselves there is a lack. The order of the prayer would help us.
JT “Father. Thy name be hallowed” is the first thing mentioned in the prayer. It is a question of the Father. His name being hallowed; His kingdom to come; that implies a good deal, but it makes the Father prominent. I think that is how to meet the local conditions that are indicated in Martha’s house; how we should turn to God. The more we pray for a person the more we have power with that person.
AC We need to be very careful when we say ‘Father’.
JT It is a term of affection.
AI Is what you said about prayer more individual or in relation to the prayer meeting?
JT It has the prayer meeting in mind. The following verses open up this matter. The Spirit of God gives instruction. The Lord goes on to enlarge on the great results of prayer. The meeting for prayer has great results in view. According to Isaiah 56: 7 the Lord will make His people joyful in His house of prayer; that is not only that He hears them pray, but He makes them joyful.
AI In regard to prayer for those who are not sons of peace, would you pray for such at the prayer meeting?
JT I should. Spirituality enters into this. There are those who are under divine government who are to be left alone; but I should pray for Martha; the sequel shows that she was worth praying for. The quarrelsome ones are to be special subjects of our prayers. In Isaiah 11 a shoot comes out of the stock of Jesse — of the stock of Jesse, not David — the leading person comes on the line of the father. The wolf and the lamb shall lie down together; there is nothing to disturb the peace. “With righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity the meek of the earth”. Then it says, “A little child shall lead them” and later, “And in that day there [p. 551] shall be a root of Jesse, standing as a banner of the peoples: the nations shall seek it; and his resting-place shall be glory”. So that there is power to subdue the vilest temperament.
GT Would you pray for the gospel and the powers that be in the prayer meeting?
JT ‘Every interest precious to Thee’, Whatever affects the testimony of God.
GT Would you say something about the Father’s kingdom?
JT The kingdom of the Father is peculiarly free of what is punitive: “The Father judges no one”. The Father’s kingdom is the kingdom on the line of grace.
AI What do you understand by “Give us day by day our daily bread”?
JT That would keep your mind from the desire to be rich. The desire to be rich is a most dangerous thing. So the missionaries are to go in dependence upon God. ‘Give us today our daily bread’ is piety; not that you do not work with your hands.
Now in Luke 24 we find local conditions such as the Lord can have part in, something to eat. He “says to them, Peace be unto you. But they, being confounded and being frightened, supposed they beheld a spirit. And he said to them, Why are ye troubled?” Often we are unbelieving as to the Lord’s coming, and doubt.
RS He would not come unless there was peace.
JT Well, more than that, peace and something to eat.
AI Why should He say “Peace be unto you”?
JT He shows that it is in His mind that the assembly should enjoy peace.
AI It was not found with them; they were frightened.
JT That shows the need of this word. It is very humbling that the Lord in coming in should find confusion. “Have ye anything here to eat?” — anything here, that calls attention to the locality; the Lord Himself asks to have part in what we have.
FI If I am just looking for what I can get I can relapse into indifference, but if I am a son of peace, I shall be in exercise that the Lord is getting His portion.
JT The honeycomb is a mutual state of things. We have each to secure our part of it.
Rem If I am distracted with much serving like Martha I am causing trouble, I am hindering this mutual state of things.
JT In John’s presentation of Martha she is lovable; it would indicate that the Lord’s prayers for her are answered. But here it is, “Have ye anything here to eat? And they gave him part of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb”. The fish indicates the sovereignty of God.
GA Are mutual feelings seen in that meeting, conditions for the Lord to come in?
JT He knew it. The actual state was not in agreement with that. So He says, “It is I myself”. My actual Person, and “he shewed them his hands and his feet ... he said to them, Have ye anything here to eat? And they gave him part of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb”. Part of it, that means someone else has got the other part. He promotes peace in coming in, and more than that, He asks for something that He Himself can have part in.
GA So is this question continually asked by the Lord?
JT It is very touching that it may be so, that the Lord Himself desires to have part in what we give Him.