LOCAL ASSEMBLY CONDITIONS
[p. 203] LOCAL ASSEMBLY CONDITIONS
Acts 1:13,14; Acts 9:32 - 43; Acts 13:1 - 3
JT These scriptures show how the local feature was developed in the early days. There is also in the Acts the general thought of fellowship, but it would appear that the manner in which the truth should appear in any locality in which God works is introduced at once in the conditions of the upper room — the persons who were staying there, and what marked them, Then chapter 9 anticipates the incoming of the gentiles; in Aeneas and Tabitha we have set forth ability to make one’s bed for oneself, and a living woman. Then chapter 13 sets before us the full spiritual product in the locality — the assembly that was there, that is, at Antioch — and those who were ministering to the Lord, and fasting; it was not simply that they had the reputation for doing these things, but they were actually doing them.
AN Do you mean that these are the features which should properly mark a local company?
JT Yes. The Holy Spirit indicates at the beginning how things were at Jerusalem, and the persons who were staying there are mentioned — the apostles by name, Mary by name, and the Lord’s brethren, besides women whose names are not given. The recognition of the authority of the Lord in a local company is supposed to mark all; and there were women there, they were not all brothers. Then there are persons with experience, with peculiar knowledge of the Lord Jesus; Mary His mother represents these. There could be no one in the whole world who had greater opportunities of experience, and of knowing the Lord in a private way, than Mary His mother had.
AN When you said the recognition of the authority of the Lord is supposed, what were you thinking of?
[p. 204] JT The apostles. They are not called apostles, but their names are given, signifying certain attachment to Christ in His public ministry. They were men who had become acquainted with Him in His public service, whereas Mary knew Him thirty years previously. Her knowledge of the Lord would be more private, referring to secret history. Each of the apostles who are named had his own history among the brethren, each one stood for something; together they stood for the authority of Christ.
AN And the bond by which they were bound together was owning Him as Lord.
JT Quite so. Anyone in that company introducing anything derogatory to Christ would soon be resisted by Peter and John.
AN Would it be the same as the local company at Corinth? The apostle writes to “all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours”. 1 Corinthians 1:2. That was the bond that held them together.
JT Yes. If Peter were there we may be sure he would look out for the interests of Christ — his history was known. One loves to look over the field and think of the different ones whose names are known, what marks them, and how they regard any matter that arises. What is needed in localities is brethren who knowing the Lord have been with Him. Such would look after His interests, for they love Him, they know how He did things, and thus know what to do.
HH-s Would you suggest that the features set out in these different ones should be seen in varied localities at the present moment?
JT Yes; for I believe that is the way it works.
Ques Would you say that these twelve had so come under the hand of the Lord that they knew the position of things, and so they go to the upper [p. 205] chamber, not being content any longer to stay on the street level?
JT They would not look after the things of God according to the common religious custom of Jerusalem; they had learned how to look after them from the Lord. In the end of Mark 13 it says, “As a man gone out of the country, having left his house and given to his bondmen the authority”. Mark 13:34. Peter would understand that the authority was given. The general principle governing localities is this, that the Lord is in heaven and we are here. Can I determine what He would do if He were here, and how He would meet any emergency? These men whose names are given here knew, for they had been with Him; they would meet things as He would meet them.
GN How would the influence of His mother and His brethren come in?
JT They had a peculiar apprehension of Christ. They had an apprehension that even Peter could not have. Mary had the most intimate knowledge of Jesus. For thirty years in private life she had opportunities of knowing Him that no one else had. His brethren, too, who probably had worked with Him, knew Him intimately, having opportunities of knowing Him that others had not. I think they would be taken to represent that secret knowledge of the Lord, the knowledge that I acquire myself that others may not know. That kind of thing is of incalculable importance in the assembly; persons who have a secret knowledge of Christ, each one having his own apprehension. As the Lord says, “Enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret”. Matthew 6:6.
GN Mary at the beginning of Luke would set forth the hidden and secret thing.
JT There is that hidden thing which each one of us has, the Lord knows it is there. He knows our history; the brethren may not. We know, perhaps,
[p. 206] the public history of the testimony for the last eighty years, but there is that secret history with each of us which is of immense importance, a sort of reservoir, and the Lord knows that it is there. Mary does not represent the kind of profit that I gain from public meetings, invaluable though that is, she represents secret growth with Christ.
EA The white stone would speak of that.
JT That is it; the white stone and the name written which no one knows but he who receiveth it.
AN The disciples who went to Emmaus got a knowledge of the Lord which, when they went back to Jerusalem, added substance to the company. There was a knowledge they had gained through their personal link with the Lord.
JT And no others had it.
AN The others could tell what they had got, but these two were there as contributors. I suppose in that way, each one having a distinct knowledge of the Lord personally, adds considerable substance to the whole.
JT Exactly; there is a spiritual element in the meeting, and the Lord knows what is there. In a crisis you will see how it works. And so indeed in any meeting, there is an undertone.
Ques The apostles, with the women mentioned, are “of one accord”. Is the gain of the aggregate seen in their being of one accord?
JT Quite so. So in these circumstances, when a matter has to be faced — the nomination of an apostle, an important matter, surely — the undertone warranted that. Peter could stand up and give a lead, and the matter was solved.
Rem It is always Peter, John and James (Peter and John sometimes); the order is not reversed.
JT I think they represent what you might call the more excellent, the first quality. There is a principle of grading with God. These three brethren [p. 207] are known to have been selected by the Lord on special occasions. The Lord knows whom He can select for a special purpose. These first three have a distinct place. It is said of some of David’s mighty men that “they did not attain to the first three”. 1 Chronicles 11:21. If the Lord makes a selection, He makes it according to His perfect wisdom.
AN While being together in affection to the Lord, there were those who had a special experience of the Lord, and it would make them quick to discern what would be suited to Him.
JT Quite; they would fall in. There was Mary the mother of Jesus; anything that would come out in regard to the fine flour, in regard to the meat-offering, she would verify from her own experience. For thirty years she saw the perfection of that humanity as no one else could have seen it.
AN In the world when anything has to be carried, it is done by vote, but here a spiritual system had come into being, and the spiritual state was what counted..
JT Yes, you are conscious of the spiritual body underlying; and it shows itself, you cannot get past it.
WA Do you think where there was distinct local interest the saints would be held together?
JT Yes, if you get these features, they will not be scattered. Why should I follow another voice, why should I be influenced by another influence than His? It is a question of the state of my soul.
WA Is there any significance in the way in which they go to the upper room from the mount of Olives?
JT It shows the influence of heaven; they had seen Him go up, and that corresponded with the upper room. “This same Jesus ... shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go”. Acts 1:11. Hence all that comes in between must be in keeping with that movement — a reflection of Himself. We were noticing [p. 208] that they were staying there. You are not a bird of passage; in the acceptance of local responsibility you stay there; the Lord’s interests have to be cared for.
GN When you come to chapter 6, the twelve seem to be separated from the local administration.
JT Yes, and one just wonders whether they gained by it. Paul took up service as a deacon. It is not that one would say much, but it has often occurred to me that it does not seem as if they gained much by it. Two of those who took it up were specially honoured in general service and testimony — Stephen and Philip.
Rem You have touched a very important point. Positionally we might be right, but it is intimacy with the Lord that gives us a knowledge of what is suited to Him, and it will come out in a spiritual state.
JT And then you will see, your vision will be clear. We often hide behind our professed blindness, and say, I do not see it, and justify ourselves in taking another way. But then it is there to be seen; why do you not see it? Thousands see it, and you do not. It is the state you are in, a question of eyesight.
JMcB Peter, speaking of Christ in his epistle, says, “leaving us an example”. 1 Peter 2:21. Do you think that begins here?
JT Well, quite. They saw Him go up, and they are to see Him come back in like manner. He is not changing between these two events — His going up and coming back; it is the same Jesus, He who is the same yesterday, today and for ever. It is a question of what corresponds to Him. All this modern thought about development is wrong; finality is reached in Christ; the staves of the ark were drawn out. It is a question now of being maintained in relation to that, or rather of being brought to it. There is to be development in us, of course, in regard to the perfection which has been in Christ from the [p. 209] outset; we are to arrive at the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.
GN So that in Revelation, where the whole background is antichristian, it is the same Person who presents Himself, “I Jesus”. Revelation 22:16.
JT That is it; there is no development in christianity at all; God has reached His thought in Christ; it is a question of bringing us to it.
Ques Is that why the thought of continual prayer is brought in here?
JT That is beautiful. “These gave themselves all with one accord to continual prayer”, as if that was the thing to be maintained in relation to the perfection that had been reached in Christ.
AN How quick it made them in discernment! When the case of Judas comes up, they have such a knowledge of the Lord, and their affections are so true to Him, that they come to a definite pronouncement in regard to evil. He “was guide to them that took Jesus”, Acts 1:16 and they have a very definite judgment about him. But the only way in which we are qualified to take up discipline, is in having a personal knowledge of what is suited to the Lord.
JT It is very striking that they express such a judgment of Judas. Some say, Such a thing happened fifty years ago and we had nothing to do with it. But what it was then it is today; the sin remains, and if you are associated with it, you have to judge it and forsake it.
HH-s They have also a definite judgment as to the one who should take his place.
JT They have; he must be one of the men “who have assembled with us”. Acts 1:21. Now here an apostle is to be appointed, and what are the qualifications required? One who has “assembled with us all the time in which the Lord Jesus came in and went out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day in which he was taken up”. Acts 1:21,22. This man [p. 210] must know all about the life of Jesus in public service; and he has been accustomed to assemble. If we pay attention to these two things, I think on the one hand we shall come into line with what God is doing, that is, judging evil unsparingly; evil is evil and years do not alter it, but on the other hand there is the good; there is the assembling, and the Lord Jesus coming in and going out among us.
HH-s So that we should be “followers of that which is good” 1 Peter 3:12 by the assembling of ourselves.
JT Quite so. Then the lot is cast; they selected two, but they did not know which to choose. They might have passed a vote and determined it themselves. A good deal of that goes on, indeed that marks christendom, but the lot means that God is to determine; that was a principle established in Israel and which had come down. “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord”. Proverbs 16:33. The lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven, and the Lord appeared to the twelve afterwards, showing that He approved. The Lord coming in and approving what His people do is a very precious thing.
Ques Would you say that to reach this we need first of all the personal knowledge of Jesus, being of one accord in continual prayer, and then, as we see in Peter, the knowledge of the Scriptures? He can quote the verse.
JT Yes, that is another important thing.
GN It was not sufficient that he should have companied with them from the baptism of John, but he was to be a witness of His resurrection.
PT You referred to something that may have happened several years ago, but still remains. People often say, I was not in the meeting then, and must I go back and judge that? How would you answer [p. 211] them?
JT Well, as in the fellowship in which it is unjudged, they are partakers of the evil. The Lord said to Jerusalem that all the blood from Abel down to Zacharias would be required of that generation — the one that then was. The accumulated sin of centuries would be required of them. They were not there, they did not kill Abel nor Zacharias, but the guilt was there unjudged, and those who remained in the Jewish system were identified with it.
AN Suppose you have a person in exercise of soul as to assembly position, and he finds various companies of christian people who are not walking together, is it necessary to go over the past?
JT I think it is. The thing stands; the only way one could get out of the Jewish system, and escape the wrath of God, was by accepting the death of Christ in baptism through faith. “He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved”, Mark 16:16 the Lord said. And to Saul it was said, “Arise, and be baptised, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord”. Acts 22:16. There is complete severance from the whole system. There are the two things in 2 Timothy, the first is iniquity, “Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity”. 2 Timothy 2:19. But then the vessels to dishonour are persons; these may be affected by it, advocating it, preaching it, from these you also have to separate.
In chapter 9 it is important that one should know, as healed, how to make his bed. In the gospels we have one carrying his bed, but what is in view here in the local setting is that you are ordering your circumstances (not only superior to them, but ordering them) so that they should be according to God. My circumstances must be ordered according to the mind of God; loose ends must not be left. This is to enter into all my affairs — my house, my business, and every sphere of responsibility. One is thus [p. 212] a testimony.
AN Just as Israel pitched their tents in relation to the tabernacle.
JT Exactly. This first incident took place at Lydda; it is still the local thought that is in view. Peter says, “Jesus, the Christ, heals thee”. It is not something done in the past; the assembly is a continuous thing, and as the Spirit remains here, things are being done. Some brother or sister, perhaps, has been for eight years in circumstances that are not according to God. Now Jesus, the Christ, heals thee. Christ is a name that denotes One who is doing things, and doing them for God, doing them properly according to God; as in the gospel of Mark, He does all things well. So here it is for the man to make his bed, to see that his circumstances are right.
JS Are you speaking of individuals, or the company, with regard to this man?
JT It is better to work it out as applying to the individual, but it would surely show itself in a local company. Things will be properly done; all the circumstances attaching to the testimony are to be done according to God.
WA Would this be a man able to take up his local responsibilities?
JT Well, he would be not only a brother who could preach, but he would look after everything connected with the Lord’s name in the locality. You do not want things to go contrary to God, whether it be the room, or the order of meetings, or whatever goes on — things are to be looked after in a godly way.
AN This making the bed would be the result or fruit of the moral conditions in chapter 1. It is an important point that you mention, that assembly condition depends upon your personal knowledge of the Lord, that is, you know what is suited to Him because you know Him. I fear we may have been content in simply being technically right, and accepting [p. 213] the position, but it is our knowledge of the Lord that enables us to discern things.
JT You see that beautifully brought out in the next case, that of Peter dealing with Tabitha. He puts all those sentimental people out. The Lord had done exactly the same thing when he was going to raise Jairus’ daughter — He put them all out and taketh with Him Peter, James and John and the father and mother of the child. So Peter here puts out all the widows who stood by weeping, showing that natural sentiment is not only useless, but it is in the way when you come to what is spiritual. It says of the woman that she grew sick and died, and having washed her they put her in an upper room. Now whoever did that had some spiritual intelligence. And so when Peter comes they bring him into the upper chamber. The thought of the upper room is carried forward, that is one right principle. If there be one right principle in evidence, we can be hopeful about the rest, but if we go to a meeting where all the principles are given up, it is a difficult matter. Peter, having put them all out, kneeling down, prayed. That, too, is in keeping with the first chapter.
Ques Would the sentimentality of the widows here refer to natural feelings operating in the assembly? I suppose the sorrow of the widow of Nain was perfectly natural, and the Lord had sympathy with that.
JT Well, that was right and legitimate; it would have been out of place if she had not felt things.
Rem So your point is, the damage that results from the working of natural feelings in the assembly.
JT In the assembly it is a question of spiritual operations, and the Spirit is extremely sensitive as to any intrusion of natural sentiment. Now it says, “When she saw Peter, she sat up. And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up”, as if to raise her into the position of action, “and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive”.
GN [p. 214] Referring to the widows weeping, it would be well for us to seek to understand what it was that Jesus felt in His spirit when He wept at the grave of Lazarus.
JT There you are in another set of circumstances — the family of God, with death upon them. John emphasises the feelings of Christ: He wept, He groaned, He shuddered. All these have to do with the power of death over the believer’s spirit; the Lord has met that, but in meeting it He felt it, it was a reality to Him. We should note in Acts 9 that the widows wept, and they are distinguished from the saints. Now in chapter 13 we have the full result, the local thing presented. These brethren were ministering to the Lord and fasting; they were doing it, and whilst that is going on, the Spirit says, “Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them”.
AN Does ministering to the Lord set forth the height of spiritual state?
JT I thought so. We have now the assembly in a locality, available for the Spirit. The Holy Spirit, a divine Person, can speak there; He speaks to them in regard to the work of God. There is a condition in which the Spirit can speak. He does not take the leading men all away; He leaves enough so that the assembly should not be impaired. Spiritual activities are to continue. He takes two out of five, the first and the last mentioned by name.
HH-s Would you say that the conditions referred to in chapter 9 — the man brought into healing and blessing, and the woman into living conditions — would result in what we have here, living conditions in the assembly?
JT And then added to these priestly conditions — ministering to the Lord. As it says of Aaron, “That he may minister unto me”. Exodus 28:1.
GN Then you take it that anyone sovereignly [p. 215] called to serve the Lord should go out from proper local conditions?
JT That is the thought. The company then revert back to the fasting and praying, then lay their hands on Barnabas and Saul, and let them go. Things are on a very high plane here; it is the assembly in a locality as God intended it.
AN The local assembly is like the base of action; you go out from it, and you come back to it.
JMcB Fasting and praying, which means the shutting out of the flesh and nature, and the bringing in of God, were characteristic of these early days.
JS The Lord has first to be considered; it speaks of ministering to the Lord first, and then He sends them out afterwards.
JT Surely; that is what the assembly is for. It must be first for God, then the pillar and base of the truth here.
HH-s It must be very encouraging for servants at the present moment to be connected With a locality in which there are spiritual brethren. The saints lay their hands on them, and let them go, so that they are in full fellowship with Barnabas and Saul.
JT They would keep them if they could; it involved sacrifice.
GN Would it not show the complete identification of the local company with the testimony of God?
JT It does; and that, I think, is the thought of the local company — “the assembly that was there”. Acts 13:1.