HOW THE BELIEVER IS TO BE AMONG HIS BRETHREN
[p. 159] HOW THE BELIEVER IS TO BE AMONG HIS BRETHREN
Romans 12: 3 - 5; 1 Thessalonians 2: 7
What I have to say, dear brethren, refers to the word “among”, having in view how each is to be among his brethren. It will be recalled that the Lord said of Himself, that He was among the disciples “as the one that serves”. He is the model for us. Indeed it is said in Ephesians 4: 13 “until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, at the full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ”: and the apostles recognizing this, in selecting the one to take the room or fill the office from which Judas fell, stipulated that it was to be one who had companied with them during all the time in which the Lord Jesus came in and went out among them, from the baptism of John until the day in which He was taken up; showing that the one who is to serve in the exalted capacity of an apostle, should be acquainted with the Lord’s manner as coming in and going out amongst His disciples, amongst His own. There was to be in his service, as in the service of the others, a reflection of the fulness of what shone out in Christ even in coming in and going out amongst His own. And so the apostle in writing to Rome before he visited the place, speaks to them in this individual manner, singling them out, “every one that is among you”, he says. So that the intent was that each of the saints at Rome should take to heart, how he was among his brethren.
I read from 1 Thessalonians because the apostle calls attention to his own manner as amongst them. Indeed the Holy Spirit records that in his visit to Thessalonica he went in, as his custom was, to the synagogue; he went in as one among others; so that [p. 160] great as he was in his service and in his representation of God as an apostle, he would convey the thought that he was one among others. “He went in among them, and on three sabbaths reasoned with them from the scriptures, opening and laying down that the Christ must have suffered and risen up from among the dead”, and that Jesus whom he announced, was the Christ.
We shall see that this is a practical matter because each of us has to take account of himself not simply as belonging to the company but as among others. He does belong to the company, but he has to single himself out in this respect as among the saints, as to how he behaves, and what he is amongst them. Hence the apostle, in opening up this matter, speaks not formally as in authority but according to the grace given to him. So that in service it is according to the grace given to one, and that means that one has not only power as having received authority and gift, but because of one’s character arising from his spiritual formation. So the exhortation is “to every one that is among you, not to have high thoughts above what he should think”.
Now what I have to say leads up to the truth of the body. The passage continues that as in a body we have many members, thus “we, being many, are one body in Christ”. That is the setting of the truth of the body in Romans. It is a question of delivering us from the principles that govern other bodies. There are other bodies in the world, such as Free Masons, Good Templars, Foresters and various political societies, bound under certain rules; but in no case can any of these be called a body in Christ. They are bodies in the sense of being bound together under certain rules and principles, but in no case can any one of them be called “one body in Christ”, even though held in so well by principles or influences that there is no schism. Of only one set of [p. 161] people can it be said that they are one body in Christ, and that body is indicated in this passage where each begins thinking of himself soberly so as to be wise, as God has dealt to each a measure of faith. That is to say, one is in the faith realm, and in that realm each has a measure that is appointed by God. We have to do with the God of measure, and therefore one’s own will, and every other will, is shut out. It is a question of the measure divinely given to each, and we must recognize this if we are to be in God’s realm. God determines the measure. He is said to be the God of several things, one of them is measure, and that shows how important the matter is. The physical system necessarily depends upon the principle of measure, in distance, weight and capacity. If the universe is to hold as it does and fulfil the will of God, this must enter into it.
Now the same principle must enter into the great moral system into which we have been brought: a realm that is governed by this principle of measure; and it is not promiscuous or general, merely, it applies in detail: “as God has dealt to each a measure of faith”. Here you will observe that it is not a measure of gift, as in Ephesians, although that idea enters into it, but it is a measure of faith, which must apply to every one in the body. It is not a sight system or body, but a faith system, and so God regulates it initially in this way, by giving to each a measure. Each in the body — I am now using the word “body” in the sense of a company, for I apprehend that is the force of it here, the initial idea — everyone has to regard himself in a sober manner as among his brethren, according to the measure of faith which God has given to him. It may take time, but the grace given at the outset is that which directs the heart to God, and I have to learn from God what my measure is. It is a question of what God gives, “as God has dealt to each a measure of faith”. One would raise the question, dear brethren, as to whether we have thought it worth while to make this enquiry from God? to get into direct touch with God as to the measure that it has pleased Him to apportion to each? So that after determining it before Him, we might turn round to the brethren and move in and out amongst them, according to that.
It is not what I may be naturally: I may have certain ability, I may be a speaker or a thinker, or a man of wealth. These things will give a man a status and a place in any of the societies I have mentioned: they go to make up what is required; faith is not needed in them; they belong to a world of sight, and the principles of this world govern them. Whereas in this epistle the great feature is faith, and then the Spirit, but faith to take us out of the world and bring us into a realm in which God is dominant, in which His measure is applied to each, and in which each is governed in his going in and out amongst his brethren by that principle of faith.
If he looks abroad on the wide expanse of the heavens he does not use a telescope, nor does he take his spade and dig down into the earth to find out what is there. He uses faith. He says, “By faith we apprehend that the worlds were framed by the word of God”, not made, but “framed”, which indicates scale, measure, weight. The believer in the Christian company regards all this, he is not indifferent to the physical creation. It is something in his mind, and so, he says, We apprehend by faith that, great and glorious, and indeed incomprehensible as it is to us creatures, it was all framed and carried into effect by the word of God. The astronomer generally leaves that out; it is not part of his education; so does the geologist; science leaves it out. But the believer as going in and out amongst his brethren does not leave it out. He applies faith to everything. He [p. 163] says, By faith we understand, not simply I understand, but by faith we — christians — understand that the worlds were framed “by the word of God”. We are able to see in these things that are made, the eternal power and divinity of God. Believers apprehend through the mind, as Scripture says, that these things were framed by the word of God; the things convey, the invisible things of God, even His eternal power and divinity. It is no small matter that one among His people should bring that in. It ought to affect us in our morning readings and prayer and giving of thanks, as at all times. No intelligent lover of God would fail to regard creation in that light, and give thinks to God for it. It is all brought in among us, by one and another who apprehends it by faith. God is in it. “He is not far”, says the apostle, “from each one of us”, and he was speaking to unbelievers. It shows how God enters into what is material, and how the believer, governed and actuated by faith, respects Him there and honours Him there; the apostle says that every creature of God is good and to be accepted with thanksgiving being sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
You can see thus, dear brethren, how this element of faith in each of us tends to make the company of christians in any locality spiritual. It diverts from what is material; though he thinks of what is material, it is in a spiritual way, on the principle of faith. It makes the company spiritual, and each one among them serves. He looks on them now, as the apostle goes on to say, according to the figure of the human body. Perhaps we know less about our bodies than we know about anything. They are fearfully and wonderfully made. God alone knows them. The body is said to be curiously wrought in the lower parts of the earth. But it is brought in here as symbolic, figurative of believers. As I reckon soberly, and according to the measure of faith, I begin to see [p. 164] that others have faith in their measure, and I must stand in relation to them, according to the measure that each has. If another has more than I have, I am bound to recognize it; and gradually this principle works out until we begin to see that we stand organically in relation to one another. I use that word because it is a word that properly applies to the human body. Organization may be applied to a company of persons under rules so that each knows his place, his service; but in an organism we are more closely bound up together. I begin to recognize the divine measure in each of my brethren, as among them: each has to take that position as among others. I recognize what each has, and if another has a greater measure of faith, I bow, if I am before God, if I have been to God about myself and am thinking about myself soberly, so as to be wise. “As God has dealt to each a measure of faith”, I am bound to recognize that in another, and that gives me my place in relation to him. I have determined my place in relation to him, and he determines his place in relation to me, and so it goes through the company, until each determines his position as divinely given, according to the measure which God has dealt to each.
Well now we have an organism. We have arrived at a point where the Holy Spirit is moving in us organically. I do not say that you get that in this chapter, for you do not get the Spirit emphasized here, it is a question of faith: you get that in 1 Corinthians: “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body ... and have been all made to drink into one Spirit”. That is more vital, but I am speaking of what is initial, how we arrive at proper movement, conduct and manner, as each is among his brethren, on the principle of faith. We have thus arrived at the organism, and can say it is “one body in Christ”, and no other body in the world can say [p. 165] that. In each locality where christians may be, as in Rome, no other body, the Senate or others, could claim such dignity, such a status, as to be one body in Christ. That status is respected in heaven. The heavenly intelligences understand what it is — “one body in Christ”. What dignity! The Holy Spirit is the power of it. Faith is the initial idea, and takes us out of the world, as having light as to it. Romans is a question of light, and I am dealing now with light as governing us in a collective sense. No one can be in a body in this world, and understand what I am speaking of — one body in Christ. It is incompatible with any other organization or organism; so that the light is delivering. In Romans the armour is “the armour of light”. It is not as great as that in Ephesians; it is just the armour of light, and it applies to the saints as viewed in this collective way — that they are “one body in Christ”. It delivers us therefore from all other bodies whatever they may be; although they may be advantageous in a worldly respect, they have not the status of one body in Christ, and therefore a position in them is incompatible with the calling of the believer in Christ.
What you see in the exhortation in Romans 12 is that Paul begins with what we may call gift, as in the sense of Ephesians: prophecy, teaching, leading and exhortation; and then they come down, and extend out to everyone in the company, as in giving, loving, overcoming evil with good; but the exhortation begins with those who have gift. If one has the gift of prophecy in any local gathering it is for him to take the lead in showing how this great principle works out, for the young have to learn from the old. He is to prophesy according to the measure of faith; he is not to go beyond it; nor will he take everything into his own hands, but would make room for others; that is, he gives a lead. The chapter covers much on this line, ending up with the overcoming of evil with [p. 166] good. A great moral victory! A company in any given place, such as Rome, marked by this great moral victory of overcoming evil with good is indeed a testimony.
In the apostle’s own manner and service at Thessalonica we have this exemplified. He says that he was in the midst of them as a nurse. That is remarkable. The great apostle of the Gentiles is in the midst of the Thessalonians as a nurse! How near his Master he was! and how striking the result in the company! His entrance as a servant into Thessalonica was marked by this very principle. He went in among them, and served for three sabbath days opening up and alleging that the Christ must have suffered and have risen again from the dead, and that Jesus whom he preached was He. How they would think of Paul afterwards and his manner amongst them! He was amongst them as a nurse. Now that challenges our hearts, as to how one is amongst his brethren; for in serving, that is the principle, to be one of the brethren. He entered in amongst them, and continued for three sabbath days, as it says, and the result was marvellous! Many of the Jews believed and some of the Greeks, and of the chief women not a few. The result was excellent, and not only that, but the apostle shows how the thing went on, how the example shown by the apostle worked out so that from them sounded out the word of the glad tidings. They had become followers of Paul first, and then of the Lord. You see the example was so reflective of the character of Christ, that as they became followers of the apostle, they became followers of the Lord. The apostle was a nurse. He is thinking of their welfare, and the assembly that was formed there is honoured in a peculiar way, in that he addresses it as “the assembly of the Thessalonians in God the Father”. That is how they are regarded. This works out in correspondence with Christ. He was amongst His [p. 167] own as the One who served, not simply as a servant but as the One who served; the article is there. I think it is a good thing to seek to picture in one’s own mind the scene during the time of the Lord’s sojourn here, during the time of His ministry, as the Holy Spirit says, “From the baptism of John until the day in which he was taken up”. What do you see in Galilee, or in Judaea, as He sat down with His own, as He conversed with them, as He talked with them? Luke refers to “All the time in which the Lord Jesus came in and went out among us”; Luke records Peter saying that, “From the baptism of John until the day in which he was taken up”. The apostle that was to be selected must be one of those who had seen all that; and so would reflect what Jesus was amongst His own.
Now I would like to finish with what He is amongst His own — what Jesus is amongst us. It may be we have not thought much of this. Personally I should like to suggest, as moving in and out amongst the brethren, something of Jesus. That is what the Holy Spirit is leading up to. All ministry is to that end, that we might be led “to the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ”. In writing to the Colossians, which assembly the apostle Paul said he had not yet visited, he refers to a dispensation that had been given to him, that is the mystery. I wonder how many of us have thought of the mystery? There are mysteries attached to certain secret societies but I do not know that there is much in them; people that belong to these societies assume that there are mysteries. But there is a very real mystery connected with the body of Christ.
In 1 Corinthians it is a question of the Spirit, and instead of the measure of faith, it is that God has set the members in the body “as it has pleased him”. He has set each of us there according to His pleasure. It is a very beautiful and practical thought. But [p. 168] in Colossians the epistle speaks about suffering, filling up that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ, and when I speak of that, one has to be very humble, because he knows so little about the filling up of the sufferings of Christ for His body’s sake. Have I filled out my little bit of the sufferings of Christ for His body’s sake? The body becomes intensely interesting as we regard it in this way. And so the apostle is desirous to fill up that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ for His body’s sake which is the assembly. That is the mystery which was hid from the ages — the mystery which is now among the nations. I use the word “among” there, because it leads on to what I am saying. Think of what there is amongst us — the mystery, “this mystery among the nations, which is Christ in you the hope of glory”. How much have we thought of it?
Perhaps you say that everything is told out; there is nothing that any person in this town may not know. Well then, there is no mystery. The idea is that we do not tell everything. We do not cast our pearls before swine; if we do, they turn and rend us. The Lord spoke parabolically, and that was to hide things, the mysteries of the kingdom. The idea of mystery, divine mystery, lends tone. It gives a certain dignity to those initiated, as possessing something that others have not and cannot have. What do we know about this mystery amongst us — this mystery amongst the nations? It means among other things that I am much less externally than I am internally. The believer is much greater in the divine realm than he is externally. He gradually becomes less and less outwardly, and it is in his reduction, to a great extent, that the things of God are in mystery. I do not say that we should not preach Christ, far otherwise; but then the apostle in speaking to the Corinthians did not tell them everything. He kept the secret that he had been to the third heaven for fourteen years. And [p. 169] so he conveys to the Colossians that there was a mystery amongst them, for they represent the nations; and he speaks further about all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge being hid in it, so that there is an intensification of the thought. There is a mystery and something hidden in the mystery, and what is it? “Christ in you (among you) the hope of glory”. The understanding of that takes us out of this world altogether, as fixing our minds on another world where Christ is. The apostle had not as yet been amongst them, but Christ was amongst them, and that was greater. He had been rejected by His own according to the flesh, but He had found a place amongst the Gentiles, and He is amongst us, and that is the mystery; but He is amongst us as the hope of glory.
And so, dear brethren, this truth leads us out of the world. Romans takes you out of Egypt, but Colossians takes you into the land of Canaan. The principle of Colossians is going in, the principle of Romans is going out. Romans is generally a question of light. By it we come out of what God has doomed, on the principle of faith. But in Colossians, we come into what God has effected in Christ; we come in on the principle of faith of course; it is by the Spirit, but more correctly by what the Spirit works in us. We are raised with Christ and also quickened with Him. We are raised with Him through the faith of the working of God, but quickening with Him is a positive work in us. May God bless His word, and lead us to reflect as to how each one behaves amongst his brethren.