IS "THE ASSEMBLY" AVAILABLE TODAY?
IS “THE ASSEMBLY” AVAILABLE TODAY?
2 Timothy 2:19-26; Matthew 18:17-20; Numbers 16:1-5; Numbers 16:20-35
In the, second letter to Timothy the apostle states that every scripture is divinely inspired and is profitable for doctrine, “that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works”. It is therefore appropriate to use the passage from the Old, Testament as serving to help in the teaching of Matthew and 2 Timothy. Matthew may be regarded as the ecclesiastical evangelist; his gospel supports the economy set up by the twelve, the assembly economy, as we may call it, and so he makes much of the assembly in its outward bearing. Chapter 16 is that which Christ builds, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail, and in chapter 18 it is to be appealed to; it is brought in there as that to which one may have recourse in his dealings with his brother, that which God recognises, so that what is bound on earth is bound in heaven. It runs along with 1 Corinthians, in which epistle the saints are locally addressed as the assembly of God, so that the economy took the form of local administration. The assembly is never regarded as having a universal administration: administration takes form locally. So we have in 1 Corinthians 11: 16 assemblies; it is plural.
This is mentioned to show the position of the assembly in the beginning. In Numbers 15, which corresponds with 1 Corinthians in that sense, we have a case of discipline: the man who gathered sticks on the Sabbath. They wait on the Lord for guidance as to what to do with him. The direction is that all the congregation should stone him with stones outside the camp. In Numbers 16 we have, not an individual [p. 20] sin, but the whole congregation revolting against Moses and Aaron, so that there is a change in meeting the evil; instead of the congregation dealing with it, the Lord deals with it, and they are called upon to separate themselves. This principle is set out in 2 Timothy. We have not the assembly today to which to appeal, and that brings about a change. Whilst the assembly still exists on earth, it is not available in its external corporate form or constitution, so that the individual believer now has to consider how to act. First of all the subject is brought in in Matthew in connection with one individual having to do with another. If a Christian finds himself in the circumstances indicated in Matthew 18 he has to consider how he is to proceed; he has to weigh things over. On the other hand, if we have, as those seeking to walk together, to deal with sin, we have to weigh things over before the Lord as to how we have to proceed against it. So Numbers 16 helps, as one of the scriptures which is given for our direction.
You could act in the light of Matthew 18 today in seeking to gain your brother, because you are available yourself, and another brother is available. The question arises as to the two who go as witnesses; to whom do they bear testimony? It is quite clear that you cannot assume in any public way that the assembly is available to you, for you could not speak of any company as the assembly today, yet the principle is there. You act in the light of Matthew 18. The assembly is not available in a formal way; there is no company that you can designate as the assembly of God; but you act in the light of it.
“Tell it to the assembly” by no means falls to the ground, for the assembly remains here though not available in any public way. You know there are those who are of the assembly, but we may not assume that they are clothed in any public way with [p. 21] authority, and in acting on it you are careful not to convey an impression that any walking together today can be recognised as “the assembly”. I would tell it to such, but not as possessing official capacity. Literally you cannot act on this scripture, but in principle you can. To act on it literally would be assumption; to act on it in principle is right. If we know anything of being “gathered together” (Matthew 18: 20) (not gathered only), we come together to His name, but you are in keeping with all that the name stands for, otherwise you could not reckon on the Lord being there. It did not refer to a broken state of things; it referred to a time when the assembly was in order. It does not say in verse 20 what they might do; the point is, He would be with them to support them. The Lord just points out in what He said that whatever contingencies should arise as gathered together to His name, they could reckon upon Him, whereas verse 17 treats of the authority of the assembly.
Two or three “gathered together” would not form a separate company, but would consider themselves as part of the whole. The point there is that the assembly holds a certain responsibility. The Lord treats of the kingdom; He brings in the assembly as a court of appeal. That involves heavy obligations; so the Lord immediately adds, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. You can reckon on heaven’s ratification of what you do. Then He pursues, “If two of you shall agree”, etc. We rightly connect it with matters of discipline requiring special support. When you have to meet evil, then you need His support specially. It is another thing to claim the power in an external way; that is where the mischief lies. Inwardly you know the Lord is with you; there is no change; but outwardly it is very different. The assembly is broken up, and the only thing is to admit the ruin, as with Moses, “he fell on his face”, powerless to meet the ruin. He did not fall on his face in Numbers 15, but this was a situation that he could not meet; the Lord had to meet it directly.
“Gathered together” is a question of what you know in your own soul; you are not clothing yourself with any authority in the position. If you do you are denying the ruin and assuming the candlestick position. The Lord is with His people, but then they are not clothing themselves publicly with that. Outwardly, if humble, they admit that there is complete ruin, and that their only resource is in God. If by gathering together is meant, that in the secret of their souls those who so meet do so in the Lord’s name, there would be no difficulty. They do not assume to have any official capacity; the Lord is dear to their hearts; they would not gather together to any other name. We would be afraid to gather together except in that light, because it involves His protection and our loyalty to Him. It is not pretension; it is imperative. If it means that they are accustomed to come together and that their walk is in keeping with what that name embraces no difficulty need be raised about it. It simply implies that they love the Lord and are loyal to Him, that they take His name as a protection and would not have any other. The word ‘Christian’ is involved in that. There is a very great danger of assuming to be a special company. It is a very fine point, but it is a point involving a good deal. The revival of the truth in our souls would be a safeguard. I would not have any difficulty in addressing brethren as “gathered together to the Lord’s name”, as I should not thereby clothe them with any external authority.
The thought in my mind would be that they are walking according to 2 Timothy, implying that Matthew 18: 17 is still applicable in the principle of it, because the assembly remains here, and those [p. 23] who are walking in the light of it form in principle such as you could tell it to. The principle is that I tell it to a brother. You take two with you; if there was another one I would take him in. You accept what is available, and the Lord will be with you in that. In recognising right principles you are in the current of power. In dealing with matters publicly we fall on our faces; that is an acknowledgment that we have no claim to assembly authority or power. But that does not say that we do not get it. That is a complete acknowledgment of the ruin. The Lord avoids referring to the candlestick after Ephesus; He does not even say that He holds the seven stars as in Revelation 2: 1; it simply says He has them in chapter 3: 1. He intimates that He is not supporting anything in a public way now. But that does not mean that He is not supporting. He says to the remnant in Thyatira, “I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already hold fast till I come”. If the assembly were there in its original constitution, He would not speak of minimising the burden; He simply asks them to hold fast what they had. He does not ask them to deal with Jezebel, but reserves her judgment to Himself. Now that is how the matter stands. In these circumstances those who love the Lord can say: things are ordered for us. The Lord loves us as much as ever, but He is only asking us to hold fast what we have, assuring us that He is dealing with evil.
There is a very strong analogy between this and the passage in Numbers 16. There is no intimation of the light of the assembly to the remnant in Thyatira; all that is said to them is, “hold fast till I come”. When we come to Revelation 3 we find there is something that He can speak of corporately that He loves, that is Philadelphia. “I will make them ... to know that I have loved thee”. There were some who refused to pay allegiance to any [p. 24] other name; they clung to His name and kept the word of His patience; they apprehended Him as the Holy and the True. He says to such, You have a little power; and the inference is clear enough, that they had come back to the truth of the assembly. They recognised the Holy Spirit, so that there was in some collective sense power which He could speak of, Many have proved that in a private way; they have proved the reality of the power of the Holy Spirit and of the Lord’s support in all that they were doing; that will continue to the end.
In view of that we can act as to evil in the light of 1 Corinthians 5. The way it stands is that the power in dealing with the man was connected with the apostle’s authority; when it came to the clearing of themselves it was a question of their obligations: “put away from among yourselves”; they were under obligation to clear themselves. So that the simple action befitting today would be, not announcing publicly that we are acting in the Lord’s name, as a company with administrative authority, but that we can no longer, as following righteousness, walk with such an one. If the Lord’s name is attached publicly to the act let us avoid conveying the impression that we have the prerogative to exercise discipline or of assuming to have a public commission from the Lord to administer discipline. It is quite clear that the alleged thing has to be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses; and when it is, the humble, simple way is for the saints to say they can no longer walk with such an one as that. Wicked persons are not suitable for Christian fellowship anywhere, therefore we cannot walk with them. We might say we cannot break bread with them.
A distinction exists between power and authority. The Son of man has authority; then He shows the power. It is safer to assume neither the authority nor the power. The power is there, and will show [p. 25] itself. The public situation is that we are not walking with a wicked person any longer, any more than we are walking with Christendom. But privately you know that the man is under discipline, and you pray for him. We are clear in the matter among ourselves, and clear in the eyes of those who know about it outside. If a man is a drunkard, or has committed any such sin, and it is known publicly, then it ought to be known that those with whom we are pursuing righteousness cannot go on with him. It is all really in the light of the assembly. You are to be known as not walking with evil. People have their eyes on the saints, and if we love the Lord, we must be in no way marked as recognising or condoning evil. The principle of dealing with sin is that it is public. Charity covers a multitude of sins; but when it becomes a question of public wickedness the saints must stand clear in the matter. As regards our public position we are just so many individuals; as regards what we are in our souls before God we are of the assembly. We come into the current. It is often difficult to make the distinction clear. 2 Timothy defines the public position today; 1 Corinthians 5 is what governs us in regard to our relations one to another. If the evil is dealt with that is the main point.
Holiness becomes God’s house. Leviticus comes before Numbers. There it is question of approaching God; it is what is Godward; in Numbers it is what is manward. 1 Corinthians 5 is the law of the house governing discipline. Avoid anything formal, anything that assumes official authority. One may say, I do not mean it; then do not use forms that do mean it, because someone else might take it up, and he would mean it. In many localities the meeting is regarded as the assembly that you can receive to and put away from, as they did at Corinth. Instead of assuming to represent the assembly or to act for it,
[p. 26] we have to accept the fact that we are a testimony to the ruin of it, and in that acceptance we prove the power of God. The saints are never forced against the wall. “If any man seem to be contentious”; I just leave him if he refuses to bow. If a man persists to hold on after the saints tell him that they cannot walk with him, there is nothing to do but to leave him, because you cannot have God there. You cannot have the privileges of the Spirit under the conditions of contention.
“The Lord will show who is holy” that is what we can reckon on. It keeps us very humble. These verses in Matthew are a resource for us; the Lord gives His assurance that what is done will be ratified in heaven.