THE ASSEMBLY
THE ASSEMBLY
Matthew 16: 15 - 18; Acts 19: 1 - 7; Song of Songs 3: 6 - 11
I desire to say a little about the assembly and the features whereby it is recognized, and I have selected the passage of Scripture from the Song of Songs so as to call attention to these features. I begin with Matthew 16, the passage in that gospel which formally introduces the assembly. What it is may be gathered from the Lord’s remarks to Simon; He says to him, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona”, as answering His question, “Who do ye say that I am?” He refers to him by the name he bore in his responsibility. In the corresponding passage in John’s gospel, the Lord says, “Thou art Simon, the son of Jonas” (John 1: 42), omitting that he was blessed; but in Matthew the Lord addresses him by the name he bore in his responsibility, prefixing “blessed”; he was blessed in that he was so favoured as to receive the revelation about Christ from the Father in heaven. It was an immense favour, and would stand in relation to Simon in his responsibility while he remained on earth. No other had that particular favour; others were blessed in other connections, such as Mary, the mother of our Lord. She was blessed among women; that particular advantage would never depart from her in her path of responsibility here. Again, the woman who anointed the Lord in Simon the leper’s house was specially distinguished, so much so that wherever the gospel was announced she was to be mentioned; what she had done was to be made known. She had a personal distinction that was peculiar to her, but no one had a distinction like that which was attributed to Simon: “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in the heavens”.
We have thus a man standing out in responsibility, but blessed; and it describes those of us who form the assembly in its public character, the assembly as seen in us as in flesh and blood conditions. The truth of the assembly at Corinth is an example: it was composed of men and women, old and young, who had believed in Christ, who had been baptized, and in consequence had received the Holy Spirit, but who were still remaining in their position in this world as responsible to God. Romans provides the material for the assembly from this point of view. The believer, in Romans, is Simon Bar-jona, blessed; it is the same person, of the same parents, the same family links, and in the same place; but a disciple, baptized and possessed of the Holy Spirit. We see in Simon the leper, a name attached to a believer in responsibility in a negative sense. Evidently he was not a leper then, for Jesus was at his house; but he has been so known, and the stigma attached to him; this would help him spiritually. But although a leper he was responsible to God, and the fulfilment of his responsibility is, in part, seen in that he entertained the Lord. The woman of whom I spoke anointed the Lord’s head in that house.
Romans contemplates the believer from that angle. He has his body which he can use as a sacrifice; it is the same body in which he sinned, but by the Spirit it is now in his control; it is dead in regard to sin, but the Spirit in it is life in view of righteousness. And so he presents it to God a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, which is his intelligent service. Believers viewed thus in the aggregate, being “one body in Christ” in any town, are treated as the assembly. They are still in responsibility, but in a collective sense, and God regards them not only as His people,
[p. 3] but as His assembly — a body subject to Christ, in which the Holy Spirit is free, and maintains what is due to God, and insists upon the keeping of the feast of unleavened bread. By the presence of the Holy Spirit, His responsible people are God’s temple; 1 Corinthians 3: 16. Whatever others may think of them, that is what they are, for the Spirit of God dwells in them, and moreover they are the body of Christ; 1 Corinthians 12: 27. In them the features of Christ are exhibited in any city or place in which they may be; in them the presence of God is known.
An exercised person comes into one of their meetings, and there is ministry. The women are silent, they are suitably attired, and their heads are covered. The men are in subjection, they wait upon one another, they give place to the prophet because his ministry is the most desirable and profitable, see 1 Corinthians 11 to 14. And so one may discern in that company, in a particular room or building, in a particular street, that God is there, He has a footing among these people; the one who comes in may discern a place where everything is morally right, even the order of creation is not violated. Now that is what marks the assembly of God, and I take Simon, the son of Jonas, being blessed, as descriptive of those who form it.
Then the Lord goes on in the passage I read in Matthew to say to Peter, “And I also, I say unto thee that thou art Peter”, not that thou shalt be called Peter, as in John’s gospel, but “Thou art Peter”, and the meaning of the word “Peter”, as you all know, is a “stone”. From this point of view Peter does not represent our responsible history, but rather the spiritual. He is a stone; he was constituted that by his confession; it refers to what he was spiritually. Of such material the assembly is built. It is the other view of the truth of it, not what it is locally in responsibility here, although greatly affecting this, but [p. 4] a wholly spiritual thing composed of persons who are so viewed.
Now unless we make this distinction in ourselves severally, and in the saints generally, we shall not arrive at the truth of the assembly, nor shall we recognize it. We shall be liable to regard companies that are not really of it, as of it, and we shall be unable to see how the assembly is to be the eternal companion of Christ. It is from the standpoint of Peter, that is to say, of what is wholly spiritual, that the assembly is to be the companion of Christ in heaven and the vessel of God’s glory eternally. The responsible side will pass away, for in the new creation “there is no Jew nor Greek; there is no bondman nor freeman; there is no male and female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus”, Galatians 3: 28. It is from that point of view that we form the assembly, as in the purpose of God. It is an immense thing for us to lay hold of this.
I read the passage in Acts 19 just to illustrate these two features. You will observe that it says, “While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper districts, came to Ephesus”. Scripture is exceedingly accurate in the words and phrases it makes use of. God was pleased to work in Corinth in an extensive way, whereas there was but little in Athens. It suggests to us an answer to a question that often arises: Why is it that there is nothing for God in such and such a large centre? God knows! There indeed was some result at Athens, but very little; whereas the Lord says to Paul, as to Corinth, “I have much people in this city”, Acts 18: 10. Why he had them it does not say, but He had them. It was not on account of the lack of ministry at Athens, for Paul was there and preached there, but he was directed to remain at Corinth. He had a vision in the night so that he should know the mind of God regarding the work in that city.
[p. 5] On entering Corinth from Athens, it says that Paul found Aquila and Priscilla there. Now that was not an accident; they were assembly people, representative of the assembly in its local character. Twice it is said that they had an assembly in their house. Paul lodged with them. It says also that they, being tent makers, were of the same craft as the apostle. Attention is thus called to the humility of the vessels, corresponding indeed with the smallness outwardly of the assembly; there was nothing in it to appeal to the man after the flesh. It was a question of tents, not great ecclesiastical structures, as in the world.
That is the introduction to Corinth; and the apostle remains there eighteen months, ministering the word of God. It was a question, really, of the antitype of the tabernacle, and so he ministered “the word of God”. The tabernacle is that in which God is known in this world, and so it was the word of God. At Ephesus it was more the word of the Lord. Paul leaves Corinth and goes to Ephesus with Aquila and Priscilla, and leaving them there he goes to Jerusalem. Presently Apollos arrives at Ephesus, and is instructed in the way of God more exactly by Aquila and Priscilla. They did not do this in a public way; they took him to them. The perfecting of his instruction was important, for he was a great vessel. Now we are told that Apollos was at Corinth — having left Ephesus commended by the brethren. He was there in regard to the responsible body; and being mighty in the Scriptures, his ministry watered the saints, and thus promoted the growth of that which Paul had planted. This represents a continuing ministry for the maintenance of the assembly in its responsible character here. It was while Apollos was at Corinth that Paul went to Ephesus. The feature of the assembly represented at Corinth was being cared for by this servant; and the apostle was comforted, doubtless, by the fact that Apollos was there.
It says that Paul came by “the upper districts” to Ephesus. We are now on another line which corresponds with “Peter” — the spiritual material; for God knew what was at Ephesus. He did not tell Paul that he had much people there, as at Corinth, but we may be sure that Paul had divine guidance. He arrived at Ephesus and found certain persons there who were believers, but who knew only the baptism of John. They represent many at the present time, persons who believe, but have not had a full gospel. There are many like that, for there is much defective teaching abroad; much teaching which comes very far short of the truth, but there is light in it, and God has respect for those who walk in the light they have; they are true to the light they have. First of all he asks, “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye had believed?” For now it is a question of what is wholly spiritual, and if you have not the Spirit you are not material for the building.
Well, they had not heard of the Holy Spirit, and he tells them about Jesus, quoting John as saying to the people that they should believe on Him. “And when they heard that, they were baptized to the name of the Lord Jesus”. They were ready for fresh light. I commend that to all here; if you have been true to the light you have, you will be ready for something fresh; you will not refuse it, you will accept it. They accepted what Paul said to them, and were baptized to the name of the Lord Jesus. This would take them wholly out of the world, and would introduce them to all that was set forth in that name. I cannot tell you all that Paul said to them, but elsewhere he says, “Having heard the word of the truth, the glad tidings of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, ye have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise”, Ephesians 1: 13. You may be sure that a touch of what is heavenly was conveyed to them in that gospel; there was something in it of the gospel of the glory as well [p. 7] as the gospel of their salvation, for in the epistle to the Ephesians, salvation means not only from wrath to come and the power of Satan, but also from this world as a place. Then there were twelve men who evidently received the Holy Spirit together; and thus, potentially, there was spiritual material for the assembly at Ephesus.
I go one point further to show the bearing of all this. In writing to them the apostle says, “Ye are no longer strangers and foreigners, but ye are fellow-citizens of the saints, and of the household of God, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the cornerstone”, Ephesians 2: 19, 20. I want you to take note of the place “Jesus Christ himself” has in this structure: Himself — it is very touching, especially in these last days. I take it that the foundation of the apostles and prophets, refers to their ministry; it was not for show — foundations are not for show. The apostles never made a show of what they were doing, but their service always afforded testimony for God; what they were concerned about in laying the foundation was solidity and permanency — material that would stand. It is a great tribute to them that the Holy Spirit says that the structure was on their foundation. But what about the corner stone, “Jesus Christ himself” — that is to be seen! Christ is known in the assembly. It is said in connection with the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31, “Her husband is known in the gates”; she is a type of the assembly. The idea of the corner stone suggests what is seen; it binds all together and is ornamental. What it means to a spiritual person is, that Christ is everything to him — that he thinks of Christ as “Jesus Christ himself!” There is no mediator between Christ and the assembly, “Jesus Christ himself being the corner-stone”. In keeping with this, the heavenly city has no temple; God and the Lamb are the temple there.
[p. 8] Revelation 2 and 3 contemplate distance, in view of the failure of the public body, but not so Ephesians — Christ is Head as seen there.
Now I go on to the Song of Songs, to outline these features. The question is asked,
“Who is this, [she] that cometh up from the wilderness
Like pillars of smoke ... ?”
It is not here, “Leaning upon her beloved”, as later, in chapter 8: 5; it is a question here of herself, what she is as the subject of the work of God, what she is as spiritual. What are these “pillars of smoke?” They indicate, I think, that she had to do with God, that she had offered sacrifices. I suppose the allusion is to the smoke of the sacrifices on the altar in the tabernacle. But she is not soiled by it nor by the defilement of the wilderness. She is not damaged by it; on the contrary, she is
“Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
With all powders of the merchant”.
She does not bear a mark of the wilderness, but is perfumed. She is not a child of the wilderness like Hobab, who preferred to stay there. She has come out herself; it is not a question of Moses supporting her, she is coming out herself. She comes up answering perfectly to Christ,
“Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
With all powders of the merchant”.
She has acquired all this at a price; it is a question here of what she is, what she has acquired, and that all is for Christ. And now Christ has something that He can call His own. “Behold his couch, Solomon’s own”. He is restful where these conditions are. The virtuous woman in Proverbs had much, but all was to glorify her husband; everything there indicated what he was; and so we get here, “Behold his couch,
Solomon’s own”. That principle began at Pentecost, when nobody called anything he had his own; it was a question as to what was at the disposal of Christ. Am I at the disposal of Christ? The more spiritual I am, the more I am at His disposal. The assembly is Christ’s — something that He can regard as His own; “My assembly”, as He says.
Then there are men of war to defend that. They were expert in war, threescore of them round about Solomon’s couch, each having a sword. The idea is collective; the number is given, but each has his sword. Each is ready for alarm in the night. They are expert; if an alarm is sounded, they are ready to defend what belongs to Christ. Of the assembly it is said, that hades’ gates shall not prevail against it.
And now Solomon, that is Christ, is free to provide something for Himself.
“King Solomon made himself a palanquin
Of the wood of Lebanon”.
We are now on a high plane, for it is a question of the dignity of the saints, as indicated in the wood of Lebanon. He made it for himself. No doubt it refers to that on which he is borne by others, but he made it.
“Its pillars he made of silver,
Its support of gold”.
And now instead of someone coming up out of the wilderness, there are “the daughters of Jerusalem”; they are not daughters of the wilderness. Many of us come into fellowship, who have barely escaped from the world, and are content to remain in the wilderness; such do not want to go into Canaan — to take up the heavenly calling. “The midst thereof was paved with love”, we are told, not for the daughters of Jerusalem, but by or “from” them, as the better [p. 10] rendering puts it; it was what they were doing. Paving is severe work; you have to get down to pave. They paved with love — what fine material that is! And then there is the appeal to the daughters of Zion, “Go forth, daughters of Zion”. Thus we move from the wilderness to the full purpose of God. Of ourselves it is said, “Ye have come to mount Zion”, Hebrews 12: 22. It is the principle of sovereign mercy on which we stand, as we read, “God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love wherewith he loved us ... has raised us up together, and has made us sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus”, Ephesians 2: 4, 6. Zion represents sovereign selection; God refers to it in that way: “Here will I dwell, for I have desired it”, Psalm 132: 14. There is nothing safer than to fall back on the sovereign mercy of God. He loves us to be in that position, and He loves to recognise us in it. It is there we get great love and rich mercy, and in the light and enjoyment of these we are, so to speak, “daughters of Zion”. A daughter signifies a subjective result of the light presented. The daughters of Zion are called upon to go forth; it says,
“Go forth, daughters of Zion, And behold King Solomon
With the crown wherewith his mother crowned him
In the day of his espousals, And in the day of gladness of his heart”.
All this refers to the affectionate recognition in the saints of the official glory of Christ. “His mother” no doubt alludes to Israel as brought to this in a future day. The action of the woman in the house of Simon the leper foreshadows this; she anointed the Lord’s head. She, however, represents more, prefiguring those who form the assembly. The answer to the question, “Who is this?” Matthew 21: 10, is obvious if you are spiritual. The Lord asks such a question with regard to Himself. In Mark Peter says, “Thou art the Christ”, chapter 8: 29; in Luke, that He is “The Christ of God”, chapter 9: 20; but in Matthew the addition is made, “The Son of the living God”, verse 16. It is a question of revelation, and so the Lord names the result: “thou art Peter”. This, as we have seen, enters into the constitution of the assembly, making it wholly spiritual; each member of it, as it were, is “Peter”. This is the result of light in the soul as to the Person of Christ, which each member of the assembly normally has by the Spirit. You can only be in the assembly by the Spirit.