PRESENT PLACE AND PRIVILEGE
[p. 11] PRESENT PLACE AND PRIVILEGE
Luke 24: 50 - 52; Matthew 24: 1 - 3; Matthew 26: 30
Summary of Reading
These passages serve to show the difference between Matthew and Luke. Matthew, having the assembly in view, makes the formal separation from Judaism — the withdrawal from the religious system of the earth — a prominent feature; and hence you get the mount of Olives, that being a link outside the established order, a link with heaven. Luke, on the other hand, having the reign of grace in view, leaves the disciples in Jerusalem. Truly he “led them out as far as to Bethany”, but representing the remnant, they returned to Jerusalem, and there they were to remain till they were clothed with power from on high. In order to understand the governmental setting aside of the religious system on earth, we have to understand Matthew. In chapter 24 we read, “Jesus went forth and went away from the temple” — there is a definite break. Earlier in the gospel (chapter 16) He left them, but in chapter 24 it is the system itself; He withdraws from it and seats Himself on the mount of Olives. As going away from it the disciples call his attention to the buildings, showing what a hold these things have upon our minds. But the Lord says, “Not a stone shall be left here upon a stone which shall not be thrown down”. It is after this that He takes His place on the mount of Olives and they have their private questionings with Him.
Matthew speaks of the whole system of buildings, whereas Luke brings in the priestly side of the system; so the Lord speaks of building His assembly, while in Luke He brings in a priestly company.
In Luke, the Lord having opened their understandings to understand the Scriptures, and having given them instructions, tells them to remain in the [p. 12] city till they should be endued with power from on high. They should be competent witnesses in the city. He led them out as far as to Bethany; it was a measured position in regard to grace in the mind of God.
Here in Matthew there is a formal withdrawal from both the orthodox and the modernists of that day; the orthodox and the sceptics are both withdrawn from, and the whole system is left, and He takes up a position on the mount of Olives. In chapter 26, after partaking of the supper, it says, “They went out to the mount of Olives” — showing the intelligence which governed them; in the power of the Spirit the final withdrawal took effect. Every stone thrown down shows the government of God; Hebrews synchronises with this, and the Christians are exhorted to go forth to Him without the camp. There is a definite break with the Jewish system.
In Matthew you get the mount of legislation (chapters 5 - 7); the mount of transfiguration; the mount of intercession, and the mount of Olives. These have each to be understood if the believer is to be delivered from the places of strength in this world. You have to have faith as a grain of mustard seed before you can say to the mountain “Be thou removed hence”. We have to beware of our unbelief. In Luke it is the city all through. When it is a question of the end of the dispensation, God does not leave it to us; He marks it out; so here the Lord leads them out as far as to Bethany. There are other steps which are left to our own intelligence and power. But the Lord is available for all our questionings; private communications mark the present time. We have access to the Lord in a private way. His relations with Israel will be public. The official system of religion in this world is on the principle of publicity, whereas our privilege is inside; it is private. In Solomon’s temple there were inner [p. 13] chambers; and the citadel too was built inward. “This same Jesus shall so come in like manner” is public, every eye shall see Him, but today we have access to the Lord in private. “If a man love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him”; what relates to us spiritually is private.
So with the Supper — the eating is public, but the memorial is private. The breaking of the bread and the drinking of the cup are public and material in a sense. Baptism and the Supper are the two material feasts of Christianity, yet the breaking of bread refers to what is spiritual. On the public side it is “as often as ye eat, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come”. The breaking of the bread reminds us peculiarly of Himself, it is an understood thing between Himself and the assembly. The present teaching would enter into this; we should recognise it as delivering light for Christians. In Matthew then we see the Lord leaving the temple and going forth from it; He went away.
John refers to the inner, spiritual side of things. This is on the ascending line. David had a seat in the palace, but he left that for the place of reproach — the cave. Accepting that place, the man of God comes to him and says, “Go up”; you learn that you are to be elevated spiritually. “Go up to Judah”. Then in 2 Samuel David himself inquires whether he shall go up to one of the cities of Judah, and he is told to go up to Hebron. John shows how things are held in the Spirit:, “I will send you another Comforter”. In his gospel we have nothing about His withdrawing from the religious system or His going to Bethany; it is the power we have in face of the Jews, so that in the very midst of religious pretension and power we are maintained. We have power for it in the Spirit.
In Matthew Jerusalem is set aside, and the saints [p. 14] are set in moral elevation. He was sitting on the mount of Olives, and the disciples come to Him there; but in chapter 26 it says they went together there. The light given to us on the mount of Olives is given to us privately. He opens up to them what would take place later; we are in the secret of what is about to happen. Then their going there after the Supper shows the trend and result of His teaching; we are led out of the world and put in touch with heaven. The only thing that will save us from dropping down into a sect is to be on the mount of Olives, so that we get everything spiritually. All that pertains to the assembly is private; it was never intended to be public. The preaching is public of course, but the gospel can only be rightly presented as we are in the truth of the mount of Olives.
Luke is in the van; he sets the disciples in the temple, as much as to say they are God’s contribution to the city. They are full of joy; blessing and praising God daily; they were themselves a witness to the power of the gospel. But in Acts you find they break bread in the house; the secrets were in the house. In Acts 3 Peter and John go up to the temple to pray; the power was there, they were the expression of it; they say to the lame man, “Look on us”. They were the thing they presented. It is in the maintenance of the secret side that we are in heavenly power. Paul preached the kingdom of God, and taught the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ; the teaching comes afterwards. So what Paul combated about for the Colossians is that they may understand the mystery of God; the gospel is in the van, but the mystery comes next.
There is an analogy between the Lord’s position here and ours; there is the secret link with heaven and there is the outward and public position, as presenting the grace of God, and the blessings of the gospel to men.
[p. 15] As to the education of this world all is public; the schools are public schools, the universities are public bodies, but our privileges are all secret; the mystery of the gospel lies behind its public proclamation. If a preacher is in the good of the secret, he will convey the germ of it by his preaching, even though he may be unconscious of it himself; there is power with it, and the seed is sown, and bears fruit. In 1 Corinthians 9: 17, Paul speaks of being entrusted with the administration of the gospel, no one else could speak in that way save Paul. We may have our part in the service of it, and may pray for it to be effective, but when you come to the thought of administration committed to a person, that is a stronger thought. Paul was appointed to an official ministry, he had received definitely from the Lord. He was in the position of what is known in this country as a Crown Minister; he had received authority; he was a herald; he announced the gospel. In Ephesians 3 he speaks of “the administration of the grace of God which has been given to me towards you, that by revelation the mystery has been made known to me”.
The administration was seen at Pentecost; it involved the wealth of heaven brought in and administered to men. Peter called attention to what was, as it were, in their hands; the twelve had a peculiar place. The coming down of the Holy Spirit brought to light the place which Christ had in heaven; “having therefore been exalted by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which ye behold and hear”. He was made “Lord and Christ”.
At Samaria it was not a question of the administration, but of power, so Philip preaches Christ. At Pentecost He is made “Lord and Christ”. The administration is first given to Peter, then later to [p. 16] Paul towards the Gentiles; they were representatives of Christ.
As we have seen, Matthew has in view the clearance of saints from every earthly religion, so that they may be free to enter into spiritual relationships. He went forth and went away from the temple; the whole system is left; He says to them, What you are leaving is doomed to destruction — not one stone was to be left upon another. But then He takes up a position on the mount of Olives, and the mind of God is made known to them. Later on in chapter 26 they themselves go to the mount of Olives.
His seating Himself on the mount of Olives and their approaching Him there does not imply distance, but rather suggests a turning to the Lord when some question arises, as it may do locally. If we were more conscious of the power of things in the world we should seek to be fortified against them; we should seek the Lord for His mind in regard of them. There would be more light with us, more intelligence, and He would warn us of things as He did the disciples here, “See that no one deceive you”. We should find Him as available as ever. He says to them in resurrection, “All power has been given to me in heaven and upon earth”. He does not formally go to heaven in Matthew; He remains with us to the end of the age. He says, “Where two of you shall agree ... it shall be done unto you”; it is done for those who ask. God signalises those who ask.
Then again the Lord says, “Where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them”. He is with us down here; that is the assembly position down here. In Matthew we get the statement, “I will build my assembly, and hades’ gates shall not prevail against it”. All His power is exercised to support the thing down here. To get the good of the assembly we must be grounded in the truth of Matthew’s gospel. John shows that [p. 17] we are here with power in the very midst of the religious powers of the world, but it is wholly spiritual.
The Lord would seek to withdraw us from persons, whether orthodox or free thinking; whether they are professors of religion, or modernists who profess not to believe in the spiritual at all. The Lord Himself withdrew from them; He left them and departed, and He warns His disciples against them and their leaven; the danger is always of being contaminated. He would teach us that things are not to be held formally, but all is maintained in the power of the Spirit.
The disciples come to Him and say, “See what stones!” It was the greatness of the things that impressed them, but the Lord withdraws from it. The day of small things is not to be despised, as Zechariah would show us, for there are the two sons of oil to support the light in the power of life. The Spirit is here, and inwardly the things we have to do with are very great things. So resurrection is presented in Matthew as a question of power; there is “a great earthquake”, and the angel comes down and rolls away the stone and sits upon it.
“Behold I am with you all the days until the completion of the age” — the Lord gives them the history of things to the very end, from their own standpoint. This is the ground upon which recovery took place. There were those who inquired; they brought the Lord into it, and very great light was vouchsafed. The power of the mount of Olives was there; they came to Him and He answered all their questions.
It may be asked if you turn away from people what will happen? There is to be the preaching of grace. As thus withdrawn you are full of joy, manifestly in the good of the blessing, and as such you become God’s contribution to Jerusalem, as it were. It was so with the disciples in Luke 24. Men [p. 18] had crucified Christ, but God says in the fulness of grace, this is the result — men full of joy, blessing and praising God. He gave it to them as His contribution to Jerusalem, a testimony to His grace in living men.
As you enter into the truth of the mount of Olives, so you will go out publicly in the testimony. The more separate you are the more power you will have. The more the saints are conscious of reproach, the more power they have. It was only a little captive maid in Elisha’s day who became the vessel of the testimony. She was the outcome morally of the great woman in chapter 4 (2 Kings). And the next people brought forward are the four leprous men — ostracised people — but they become in the grace of God the vessels of testimony at that moment. It is open to all of us.
So we see that if Matthew separates you from man’s system of religion and brings you into reproach, Luke sends you out in grace. When under the greatest reproach they went to their own company. The mount of Olives is still available for us spiritually.