THE ASSEMBLY (3)
[p. 116] THE ASSEMBLY (3)
Acts 19:1 - 20; Acts 20:17 - 28
JT What has been in mind in the two previous readings is to reach the full level of the assembly as presented to us in the book of Acts, and it is thought that we should look at Ephesus at this time.
The intent primarily in this inquiry is to show that, while the assembly as a whole had a local position, a metropolitan position indeed, in Jerusalem, ultimately it spread out so that in chapter 9 the plural “assemblies” was used designating it. In chapter 2 where the position was established primarily as the Spirit came in, the word assembly is not in the original, but the idea of being together is there and is stressed. Later the assemblies in Judaea are referred to as being comforted by the Holy Spirit; this was after Paul’s conversion. Paul having come in, the light that was intended to shine through him came into evidence, and so the assemblies are alluded to. It is doubted by some whether the plural should be used in chapter 9, but it is used and understood to be in the original; but Jerusalem retained its place as a metropolitan centre for the assembly up to chapter 12 and even later.
As Paul and Barnabas were sent out according to chapter 13, the assembly in its local constitution came into evidence through the action of the Holy Spirit; henceforward local assemblies came into evidence, the thought becoming prevalent. Then for the first time we have elders chosen by Barnabas and Paul. This indicated that the local position was established, and was to be maintained in a governmental way; that is, through elders. In pursuing this, certain cleavages occurred, not only such as in chapter 6 in relation to the distribution of food; that is, diaconal work, but between [p. 117] Barnabas and Saul a cleavage took place which led to more definiteness in the local position, leading up to Corinth where the local assembly is definitely and fully in mind; the epistles to Corinth clearly establish the thought. “The assembly of God which is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with all that in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both theirs and ours”; 1 Corinthians 1:2. So the local position is clearly established and has continued since; having been revived in a special way of late years through ministry from the Lord. It is thought that, as we have touched on Corinth in that light, we might now look at Ephesus so as to see how Paul’s ministry develops the truth of the assembly.
MC Why do you think that the metropolitan position was retained in Jerusalem since it was not the mind of God?
JT Well, it was at first. God evidently thought it wise to bring in an impressive effect of the work of the Spirit, and so a great number were converted at Pentecost. It was evidently wisdom on God’s part to work in a powerful and public way, with a view to forming the assembly. But it certainly was not His thought that it should continue, because the position under Paul has become characterised by local assemblies, all in communion with each other, in unity.
HPW Why do you think the first question Paul raised as having found certain disciples was, “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye had believed”? Acts 19:2.
JT That is the key to what is before us. Paul in stressing the idea of persons having the Spirit, clearly indicates that the non-possession of the Spirit disqualifies for the assembly. I should be glad to hear what you and the brethren here have to say in view of the local position.
HPW I should like to know, because it is not a light thing to be a disciple. Yet it does not seem necessarily to supply what is needed for the position of the assembly. I [p. 118] trust we are all in some measure disciples, but it is a healthy inquiry to make as to our conscious reception of the Holy Spirit.
JT I believe that is what should come up now. As to the persons its says, “certain disciples”. “It came to pass, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper districts, came to Ephesus, and finding certain disciples, he said to them, Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye had believed”? Acts 19:1,2. It seems that it should be a matter of inquiry at all times among us in all places. It is not simply that we are professedly christians in the ordinary sense of the word, but the question is whether we have the Spirit. The fact that there are twelve men is not to be ignored, because it would point to an administrative position resulting from the reception of the Holy Spirit. The administrative side should be taken care of, for it is essential to the full establishment of the assembly in any place.
EF Would the way he speaks of this in the epistle to the Ephesians have a bearing on what you are saying? “In whom also, having believed, ye have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise”, Ephesians 1:13.
JT That is an allusion to what is here, not simply that they were disciples, but they were sealed. There are three things said of the Holy Spirit in relation to the saints in Corinth. He is the anointing, the sealing, and the earnest: 2 Corinthians 1:21,22.
AC Would it be a matter of inquiry as well as discernment?
JT I think it should be, for it should be known whether the young people have the Spirit. Many of them move towards the position of discipleship following others, but wanting in the needed conviction and confession of sin, and hence not having the Spirit.
AL We are in a different position today from those in Acts 19:2; these said, “We did not even hear if the Holy Spirit was come”.
JT It is well known among us, you mean.
AM It seems as if it should be part of the normal consciousness of a believer; “ye know him”, John 14:17.
JT Quite so. “He abides with you, and shall be in you”. John 14:17.
Ques Do you think one has to distinguish between the person having the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit being there ungrieved? It is normal for a believer to have the Holy Spirit.
JT It is.
CB He does not consciously merge in the assembly unless he has the Spirit.
JT Quite so.
FWO Do we not want to get first the basis on which He is received? These people were believers, but the question was believing in what? “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye had believed?” Acts 19:2, and then Paul alludes to the Lord as a Person on whom they should believe. Is that not going beyond what they already believed? What is a basis for the reception of the Holy Spirit?
JT We are told in chapter 5 that He was given to those who obeyed God. But then there is another side; that is, of asking. The Spirit may be given according to Luke 11:13, on the principle of asking. “How much rather shall the Father who is of heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him”?
HPW Is it linked with being baptised to the name of the Lord Jesus, which involves obedience? You could hardly ask unless you were livingly subject to the Lord Jesus; it would be mockery.
JT But then livingly subject is a large expression.
HPW Is not the Spirit our living link with the Lord Jesus?
JT That would be true, I am sure. New birth ever must precede it, and the reception of the truth of redemption too, but still the Lord does say, as quoted [p. 120] from Luke 11, that the Father who is of heaven may “give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him”. Luke 11:13. Another thing that comes out in that chapter is that “he was casting out a demon, and it was dumb; and it came to pass, the demon being gone out, the dumb man spoke. And the crowds wondered”, Luke 11:14. That passage comes in immediately after the Lord’s word as to asking for the Holy Spirit, and it brings out the need for the casting out of any demons. The dumb man spoke; the idea of speaking is connected with priesthood. The thirteenth verse shows the power to dispossess the demon or whatever would hinder souls speaking in liberty in the assembly. The idea of speaking is seen pre-eminently in the saints. The young man who was raised up in Nain began to speak. This would point to the need of young people being intelligent as to the Spirit, and to the fact that they are to speak, to use their voices in the assembly. We should soon find out whether they are intelligent if they used their voices, even in meetings such as these to speak to the brethren.
CG Is not the Lord’s word in Luke 11:13, calculated to engender confidence in the soul with God, so that we turn to Him for something that we need and He gives us the Holy Spirit as that which alone can meet our need.
JT He gives the Spirit to those who ask; the need is expressed and satisfied. Who has made man’s mouth? Is it being used? The assembly is supremely the place where it should be used. We have other scriptures that would restrict the speaking to men, but at the same time the idea is, that the voice is used.
AM It says of those men in Acts 19:6: “they spoke with tongues and prophesied” at once.
GCG Are you connecting this matter of right speaking with the possession of the Spirit, as evidence that the Spirit is possessed by the believer?
JT That is how it stands. In Luke 11:14, the Lord [p. 121] is casting out a demon, and we are to understand how it is done, and how the power of speech is restored.
CB Is it done by giving the Holy Spirit?
JT I am not saying that there is a demon involved in the non-possession of the Spirit, but the Lord is seen doing the thing, and the fact is that the man spoke. That is the idea. The young man who was raised from the dead began to speak; the priestly thought is brought in.
AGH In Acts 2:4, they “began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave to them to speak forth”.
JT Quite so. It must be a great matter with God. His greatest master-piece is the human voice, the human power of speech. Now through redemption the Holy Spirit comes in, and the voice can be used so that the service of God can be carried on.
BOW Jeremiah says, “I cannot speak; for I am a child”, Jeremiah 1:6, and God does not like that.
HPW Man according to God’s thought is thus rescued out of the grip of Satan. This man was dumb, but now he is able to speak, and speak acceptably, and then if you get a collection of people like that, twelve of them, you have something to work on.
JT That is exactly the thought, because the administrative idea must come in. So in Mark 7:32 - 34, they bring to the Lord “a deaf man who could not speak right, and they beseech him that he might lay his hand on him. And having taken him away from the crowd apart, he put his fingers to his ears; and having spit, he touched his tongue; and looking up to heaven he groaned, and says to him, Ephphatha; that is, Be opened”. The Lord’s actions were most striking; “And immediately his ears were opened, and the band of his tongue was loosed and he spoke right”. Mark 7:35. This is remarkable, because it says, “they were astonished above measure, saying, He does all things well; he makes both the deaf to hear, and the speechless to speak”. Mark 7:37. I think all that is most significant as to our point at this time. Paul says to these men, “To [p. 122] what then were ye baptised? And they said, To the baptism of John. And Paul said, John indeed baptised with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him that was coming after him, that is, on Jesus. And when they heard that, they were baptised to the name of the Lord Jesus”. Acts 19:3 - 5. Someone might say, They believe and as soon as they believe they get the Spirit. The Scripture says “when they heard that, they were baptised to the name of the Lord Jesus”, Acts 19:5 but facts show that persons did not always get the Spirit on believing. Here it says “Paul having laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied”. Acts 19:6.
JnoT It says in Acts 10 that the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius and the company there while Peter was speaking.
JT That shows how divine Persons are free and we cannot impose anything on them. Here Paul’s touch is needed and in Acts 10 Peter’s word was needed; in each case it was a question of the Spirit. The Spirit fell on them; it is an energetic action, the same kind of action that marked the prodigal’s father in Luke 15.
JnoT What answers to the laying on of hands today?
JT We have to go by Scripture. The laying on of hands was necessary in the beginning of christianity; it was necessary to establish the apostolic authority. We are now at the summit of Paul’s teaching, but at the same time the most elementary part of it is involved in this chapter. These men had not the Spirit and did not even know about Him, but the question for us is whether we are taking care of the young in this matter, and if they are coming into divine things such as the apostolic teaching requires.
MC At Corinth the apostle told them that no man could call Jesus Lord, but by the Holy Spirit. Would their confession have to do with that?
JT Quite so. They could not do it without [p. 123] the Spirit; the Spirit must be there before they can confess Jesus as Lord.
KS Where a full gospel is preached would it be normal for a person to receive the Spirit?
JT The full gospel is preached here. “John indeed baptised with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him that was coming after him, that is, on Jesus. And when they heard that, they were baptised to the name of the Lord Jesus”. Acts 19:4. So far so good, but the Spirit did not come then, although they believed what Paul said. It is remarkable that in the epistle it says, “in whom also, having believed”, not as you believe, but “having believed, ye have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance to the redemption of the acquired possession to the praise of his glory”, Ephesians 1:13,14.
JP Would these disciples be in the good of redemption?
JT Apparently not at first. Paul gave them the light of redemption and yet they did not get the Spirit. Philip went down to Samaria and preached Christ, yet they did not get the Spirit, and there were a great number of people.
HPW Are you making something of the fact that Paul laid his hands on these men? Is there something implied in Paul’s committing himself to them?
JT I feel it is important that people should observe the text of Scripture more accurately.
GCG This seems a vital matter, what is suggested in Paul laying his hands upon them. Does it bring in apostolic authority, and as submitting to it, is the whole range of what the Lord has established here for us to enter into?
JT Quite so. That would be the idea in the laying on of hands. I find that on this subject the Scriptures are not observed, people slur over Scripture to reach a certain idea [p. 124] they already have.
CESW Paul himself received the Spirit after he had believed.
JT Quite so.
MC Is not Cornelius an outstanding example? A godly man to whom God sent the angel, and yet he had not received the Spirit.
JT He did not get the Spirit until Peter preached; then he received the Spirit before Peter’s preaching had stopped. The Holy Spirit acts of Himself, because He knows the state we are in. That is probably a difficulty amongst us, that the state is not dealt with.
AHF Those to whom the apostle spoke in Acts 19 bowed to him immediately and were baptised to the name of the Lord Jesus. I was wondering if he could commit himself to that.
JT That is not always understood, because Cornelius’ case is the opposite to this. The Spirit came of Himself without any laying on of hands or confession.
FWO Cornelius and these people were marked by a truly subject attitude, and is that the commencement for us? You spoke of obedience to God as the basis on which the Spirit was come.
JT Yes. “Those that obey him”. Acts 5:32.
FWO A subject spirit would accept what He says, and would go along with it. There is so much that God has said that should be done, but is the first thing that we are subject to Christ as our Lord in heaven?
JT That is true, but not all, there is the necessity for confession in some cases, and the laying on of hands in other cases.
MC Is it not important what you have said, that God takes account of our state, because the Spirit was very free with Cornelius and his company, but there was a state there commendable to God?
JT Undoubtedly they would take in what Peter said, but then Cornelius had established a memorial in heaven already. Think of that! Yet he had not the [p. 125] Spirit.
AL So it is possible for disciples to be in a city, such as Ephesus, and yet not be assembly men.
JT They were not assembly men because they had not the Spirit.
CG Can you help us a little as to what corresponds to the laying on of hands?
JT If it is there at the beginning, it is a principle to abide by. We have a large number of people converted through Philip and yet they did not get the Spirit. In chapter 8 Peter and John came down and prayed for them and they got the Spirit.
AHF The Holy Spirit took on what the apostle did because as soon as Paul laid his hands upon them the Holy Spirit came upon them.
JT “Paul having laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them”, Acts 19:6. You said as soon as, but you cannot be sure of that. In the epistle it says “after that ye believed”, Ephesians 1:13, that is important.
JnoT You seem to indicate that state has great place in the receiving of the Spirit.
JT We are dealing with the whole realm of divine operations and we are bound to pay attention to the primary thought of it in the Scriptures. The Spirit is come, redemption having been accomplished, but it cannot be said that His reception is automatic. I would lay that down as a fact, that should be observed. The gift of the Spirit is a definite action, but not automatic. It is a question of what divine Persons will do.
RL In John 3 the Spirit is likened to the wind.
JT Quite so. “The wind blows where it will, and thou hearest its voice, but knowest not whence it comes and where it goes; thus is every one that is born of the Spirit”. John 3:8. That would apply to the coming of the Spirit too. You cannot say when it will come, it is a question of God’s rights.
HPW You laid much stress on the thought of asking. Does the Spirit come by way of deep exercise and [p. 126] desire?
JT The Lord is very simple in His remarks in Luke 11:1: “as he was in a certain place praying, when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples”; and then He tells them how to pray and the passage runs on to what I have read already in verse 13. Great stress is on asking. “Who among you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight and say to him, Friend, let me have three loaves, since a friend of mine on a journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him; and he within answering should say, Do not disturb me; the door is already shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise up to give it thee? — I say to you, Although he will not get up and give them to him because he is his friend, because of his shamelessness, at any rate, he will rise and give him as many as he wants”, Luke 11:5 - 8.
HPW It is a question of deep appeal, but then, on God’s part, His disposition is entirely toward giving, so that there is no hindrance on God’s side, but there may be lack of state and desire on mine.
JT That is so, providing you make due allowance for what pleasure God may have in the thing being asked for.
HPW Perhaps we do not realise fully what the activity of the Spirit would really set us up in; the blessedness of it. If we would but ask!
JT That is important. Young people should learn to ask as feeling the need of the Spirit.
HPW Ask, seek and knock.
ECT We should see something more living as a result; those who received the Spirit spoke with tongues and prophesied, Acts 19.
AC It is very much a normal request of a child to its father, but are we in danger of admitting any who have not the Spirit?
JT Persons may be assuming to belong to the assembly and yet they do not really, because they have not the [p. 127] Holy Spirit.
BOW Simon is said to have believed under Philip’s preaching, but Peter discerned that he was false, although he was spoken of as believing.
JT Quite so. “Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter”, Acts 8:21.
K S. If the person is not conscious of having asked for the Spirit, would you challenge as to whether the Spirit has been received?
JT No. God can give the Spirit without your asking, and He does. You know the Spirit is there, when He has been given.
CG Do you think there should be the sense in the soul of having received something from God?
JT He is a divine Person and there should be some effect in the soul. The soul himself and everyone else would be conscious of it.
MC Persons coming among us would make valuable assets in the assembly if this was always true of them.
JT Just so.
AHF Referring to the example in Mark 7:32 - 35, which you gave of the Lord Jesus causing the man to speak right, would it be that the Holy Spirit is given for that purpose?
JT I would say so. What remarkable exercise the Lord went through in that chapter as He looked up to heaven and groaned. This indicates His deep feeling as to this man who could not speak right, and it would indicate His feeling as to those who neglect the Spirit.
Ques “If any one has not the Spirit of Christ he is not of him”, Romans 8:9. Does that mean he is not in the good of redemption?
JT It means more than that. He has neither part nor lot in the matter. My impression is that we should be more real about these fundamental matters, and believe the Scriptures.
Ques Are these remarks in Acts 19 fundamental to what is in mind?
JT [p. 128] They are establishing for persons who are instructed in some sense in the truth. Apollos came in earlier. He was John’s disciple too, but there is nothing said about his not having the Spirit. It is clear that Paul had in mind the great position which should arise at Ephesus involving the great administrative thought, as indicated in the number twelve. The Lord going up into heaven and sending down the Spirit should affect every member of the assembly. So we are told that “all the men were about twelve”, Acts 19:7, the fundamental side of the great assembly being secured. Then it is said, “And entering into the synagogue, he spoke boldly during three months, reasoning and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when some were hardened and disbelieved, speaking evil of the way before the multitude, he left them and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. And this took place for two years, so that all that inhabited Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. And God wrought no ordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even napkins or aprons were brought from his body and put upon the sick, and the diseases left them, and the wicked spirits went out”, Acts 19:8 - 12.
Now what I think the brethren should notice is the necessity for this school of Tyrannus after the matter of the twelve disciples getting the Spirit. There is the need of fundamental work in a definite way, so that the truth is forced into people by teaching.
BOW Tyrannus would be a forceful man who would force his thoughts into his pupils.
JT Yes. It does not actually say that he was a teacher, but it was his school, and it is mentioned to show that the truth is to be insisted on.
EF Is this teaching particularly in reference to a local company?
JT It is a local position here because the elders are spoken of. Paul calls for them later. “From Miletus [p. 129] having sent to Ephesus, he called over to him the elders of the assembly. And when they were come to him, he said to them, Ye know how I was with you”, Acts 20:17,18. He insists on the way he taught them.
EF There is the thought of general teaching, but is there to be this forceful teaching in the local assembly as well?
JT We are to take example from Paul. He is three years in Ephesus and what he says would show how careful and thorough is his teaching there.
AL What would the reasoning daily mean?
JT It would show it was a daily matter; that is important too, because the Bereans searched the Scriptures daily. We work on the weekly basis, and I think it is right, but daily is the most effective.
AM The Lord’s teaching in Luke 11 is full of remarkable severity at times.
JT Quite so.
AC What is fundamental is most important for what follows.
JT A great deal enters into this section because it really includes the incident in Troas which we often speak of in relation to the Lord’s supper. Paul stresses here the point of severe teaching, exact teaching, confirming the truth in persons who form the assembly. So he calls for the elders. Evidently there were a good many of them, because they represent the government of the local assembly, and they would insist on the truth, as we would learn from Titus and Timotheus, they would insist on the truth being maintained amongst the brethren.
MC Do we not see how they had been affected by Paul’s teaching, and how he had impressed them?
JT I am thankful you brought that in now because we have only a few minutes left to talk about love, and this is a love chapter. The Lord’s supper and the raising of Eutychus are related in it; so we are in the environment of the truth at [p. 130] its height.
HMA So we not only need the truth, but to hold it in love.
JT We are dealing now with things that are hard to be understood by some here, and it is well to see that we are applying ourselves to understand them.
Ques Do the extraordinary miracles referred to show how God is approving the ministry?
JT Even napkins brought from his body effected cures.
FS Would you encourage us to make way for teachers in our local gatherings, and teaching from house to house?
JT Yes, and in our houses too, I would say. Paul greatly stressed the household.
HPW So that in writing to Timothy he says, “Occupy thyself with these things; be wholly in them”, 1 Timothy 4:15.
JT The beautiful treatment of Eutychus by Paul is undoubtedly brought in here to point to the need there is now in other cases. There were many lights in the upper chamber, in fact we are told about seven men who were the subjects of Pauline work and who were present at Troas at that time. The statement that “there were many lights in the upper room”, Acts 20:8, no doubt referred to these men who were mentioned in verse 4; they were the fruits of Paul’s labours. Then “a certain youth, by name Eutychus, sitting at the window-opening, overpowered by deep sleep, while Paul discoursed very much at length, having been overpowered by the sleep, fell from the third story down to the bottom, and was taken up dead”, Acts 20:9. Now we have Paul’s tender consideration for youth brought out. “Paul descending, fell upon him, and enfolding him in his arms, said, Be not troubled, for his life is in him. And having gone up, and having broken the bread, and eaten, and having long spoken until daybreak, so he went away. And they brought away the boy alive, and were no little comforted”. Acts 20:10 - 12. It shows [p. 131] how the recovery of Eutychus was the point with Paul. The youth are in mind.
HPW He had a great discernment; “his life is in him”, Acts 20:10, he said. We are perhaps a bit backward in committing ourselves to some people; we may let them go on their way, and we give up because we think everything is lost, but to be able to discern that life is still in him is a great matter.
MC Would you call this a labour of love?
JT Yes, he enfolded him in his arms. No doubt warmth was needed, and the strength of the arms of affection.
AC The continuance of things depends on the youth — Paul would have that in mind.
JT And the brethren are to understand what it was to have him brought back; he was but a boy.
Now, the position of the elders is a matter that we should attend to. We are alluding to eldership as chosen by Paul and Silas in their first missionary service in chapter 14; they chose elders in each assembly. The general character of assemblies is maintained, each assembly having the means in it of carrying on according to the fundamental basis. That is, a continuation of what was set up at Pentecost required the added thought of eldership. The care of the bodies of the saints is provided for in chapter 6 in the appointment of the seven deacons, but elders are a further thought. They were chosen by Paul and Barnabas and now here at Ephesus there are a goodly number, and the whole position is put on them. The responsibility is stressed. He says to them, “Ye know how I was with you all the time from the first day that I arrived in Asia, serving the Lord with all lowliness, and tears, and temptations, which happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I held back nothing of what is profitable, so as not to announce it to you, and to teach you publicly and in every house, testifying to both Jews and Greeks repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ”, Acts 20:18 - 21. We should notice that particularly. He then says, “now, behold, bound in my spirit I go to Jerusalem, not knowing what things shall happen to me in it”. Acts 20:22. Having said all this, he charges them, “Wherefore I witness to you this day, that I am clean from the blood of all, for I have not shrunk from announcing to you all the counsel of God”, Acts 20:26,27. I feel it is important to run on to that, so that we may see the extent and the fulness of his testimony there, in view of the assembly being properly founded. “Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, wherein the Holy Spirit has set you as overseers, to shepherd the assembly of God, which he has purchased with the blood of his own”. Acts 20:28. That is a very touching allusion to the Father’s love for His Son; He has purchased the assembly with the blood of His own.
AL This is the charge of Paul himself to the elders of Ephesus as he was about to leave this scene. In Acts 1 the Lord charged the apostles whom He had chosen.
JnoT He links up the service of overseers with shepherding.
JT That would be their office. Elders because of age or experience, but overseer was another thought.
AC He would indicate the value of the assembly in saying, “purchased with the blood of his own”. Acts 20:28. It is of great value to God.
MC If we had that in mind it would help us as to how we serve the saints. We should think of what they cost God and Christ.
HPW The stability of the assembly is essential in the mind of God in view of His service and testimony, and we should be exercised that we are brought into these things fundamentally, so that we may constitute material on which the Spirit of God can continue to work, and which He can use.