HOUSEHOLDS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT (1)
[p. 140] HOUSEHOLDS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT (1)
Genesis 18: 1 - 11; Genesis 19:14; Genesis 7:7; 1 Samuel 1:20; 1 Samuel 3:11 - 13
JT I was thinking as our brother was reading the scripture as to how the scriptures approach the subject of households in the New Testament. Paul seems to be the vessel through whom the subject is introduced properly, and how it arose from his being invited into a house. If one lived in Abraham’s time, and were invited into his house, one would find order there. But Ishmael was there. There is a slight discrepancy there — I mean to say, Ishmael was there, and when Isaac was born he was mocking. In the New Testament the apostle is invited into a house and no one on earth could be a better judge of a household at that time than he. The householder says, “If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there”, Acts 16: 15. Now that seems to be the start of the thought in the New Testament from the standpoint of apostolic ministry. The apostle is one capable of judging a house. He is invited in on the ground of the householder being judged by him to be faithful.
AR Do you mean faithful in the measure in which she has taken in Paul’s ministry?
JT The householder’s heart was opened by the Lord. The Lord opened her heart to listen to the things spoken by Paul. And she was baptised, and then she says, “If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house”. Now, that seems to be an excellent start for the thought. The householder has had her heart opened by the Lord to attend to the things spoken by Paul and she accepts the divine requirement. Now we have in that chapter, Acts 16, the subject remarkably opened up; as if the apostle had such congenial circumstances in Lydia’s house that all believers’ houses must be secured. The next one that comes up is the jailor. Paul talked about his house, as if the thought arose from what he had found in Lydia’s house. He carried it in his mind. How the Lord met with it in His service here! He met with the assembly in principle. He found the jailor and that set things moving. So that the thought would be to get a concrete example of a household.
AFM Do you think a little stress might be laid on the word ‘when’? “When she had been baptised”.
JT Paul is the one the Lord used to open it up. See if Abraham’s house came up to Lydia’s. There does not seem to be any Ishmael here. I am stressing Lydia because she is the first household mentioned to be baptised. The man most qualified to judge is Paul, and the next opportunity he has of helping a soul, he says, “thy house”.
Rem We feel the need of being helped on the matter.
JT Well, if I come here to Chatham, the subject is good, the next thing is the house. What house am I to go into here, to start this matter? Come into my house, that is the next thing. If I get good entertainment there, the next place I go to, I want to get the believer’s house.
Rem It is remarkable how the verse is quoted in christendom: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”. The better translation is, “thou and thy house”.
JT There are two “thous”. “Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house” (verse 31). The first “thou” is as a saved person. That is, my own personal salvation must be settled first. The second “thou” links me with my house. It is not one stroke. I am saved first, and as a saved person my house will be brought in.
[p. 142] ANW That is emphasised with Lydia, because she was the one that attended to the word. But in baptism she carries the household with her.
JT Quite so. You will follow what was pointed out, that there are two “thous” there. The first “thou” is my own matter, my own salvation.
APf “And when she had been baptised and her house”.
JT Quite. The head is distinctly separate. They said to the jailor, “Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved”. That is one thing, the next thing is, “thou, and thy house”. Salvation for yourself first. It is as a saved man his house is saved. They are not saved together. The man is saved first, and then you can count on God coming in.
Rem So Abraham has a wonderful transaction with God prior to chapter 18. It is remarkable what is going on in his own soul.
JT Quite so. He had an Ishmael there. You must not forget that. It is a terrible element in the house. The truth is that Abraham was not saved in the full sense of the word or he would have had an exercise about it.
APT Is there any adjustment needed in Zacchaeus? You recall the scripture in Luke where there was some difference in the Lord’s mind, in Zacchaeus wanting to see Him and the Lord coming into his house.
JT The Lord did not seem to have any hesitation about going into his house. He, rather, presents it to Zacchaeus as a premium. “Make haste and come down, for today I must remain in thy house”. It is a premium. I do not think the Lord had any hesitancy about it. As soon as the Lord is in the house He says, “salvation is come to this house”. The man is saved. The Lord was there and salvation had come to the house. The second “thou” in the jailor’s [p. 143] case implies that his own matter is taken up first. It is the believer’s house that is saved.
NW What does it mean for the man to be saved first?
JT It means his salvation. “Thou and thy house”.
NW But you have more in your mind than merely saved in the ordinary sense of the word.
JT It is always an open matter. It is applied as already effective. “To us that are saved” (1 Corinthians 1: 18); it is a progressive thing.
AR Whereas in Abraham’s house, he had Sarah and Hagar, and when the boy was weaned Ishmael mocked. He was interfering with Paul’s ministry and had to be cast out.
JT Quite so. There were two elements there. They were interfering with the state of the house.
Rem Does that fit in with Acts 16? The first “thou” was there. It only enhances what you say about the “thou and thy house”. Ishmael was there because of Abraham’s failure. Is not your thought the moral adjustment of the head first?
JT That is right. And Abraham had come to the idea of salvation in chapter 18, but still Hagar and Ishmael were there. So that there is a serious discrepancy and it only enhances what we are saying Get the head right first.
Ques Are the moral qualities seen in that Lydia attended to the things spoken by Paul? Does that lay the basis for it?
JT That is the beginning. “And a certain woman, by name Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, who worshipped God, heard; whose heart the Lord opened to attend to the things spoken by Paul. And when she had been baptised and her house”. The thought is left with her first. When she had been baptised, not when she and her house had been baptised. The thought of the head is there. As [p. 144] you say, the head must be right. When the apostle has to say to the next person that needs salvation, it seems to me he carries the thought with him of what he enjoyed in the house of Lydia. “Having gone out of the prison, they came to Lydia” (verse 40).
Rem On her side she constrained them. There are only two occasions where that word is used. In Luke 24 they constrained Him.
JT Quite so. How perfectly at home he would be there.
AR Is it your thought that Paul has in his mind the thought of the assembly? It is worked out in households first.
JT I think that is the way it stands. The fact that he brings it in, as if he would secure the house; and then it goes on to say (verse 32) that “they spoke to him the word of the Lord, with all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed them from their stripes; and was baptised, he and all his straightway. And having brought them into his house he laid the table for them, and rejoiced with all his house, having believed in God”. It seems to me that the apostle would say this is a complete victory, following up what we enjoyed in Lydia’s house. This is a complete victory.
We have this man’s house. “Having believed in God ...”. He is like Abraham. It is the full position of the believer.
TW Might this matter of the household work out where the husband is an unbeliever? Would the principle work out that the household might be for the Lord as in Lydia’s case, if her husband were an unbeliever?
JT We do not know about her husband. Where the husband is an unbeliever it is extremely difficult.
TH In view of the apostle coming to the Corinthians, he seemed to secure entrance there by means of the households of Chloe and Stephanas; and it [p. 145] seems that he had households in his mind all along in his ministry.
JT He is the household man. He introduces the matter, and evidently from having experienced the thing. What a great thing it is.
BP Is it significant that baptism has such a place?
JT It is. Paul says, The Lord did not send me to baptise, but to preach the gospel. “I baptised also the house of Stephanas, for the rest I know not if I have baptised any other”. As if, besides baptising Crispus and Gaius, that were the one thing he would do.
CAM This matter of the “thou” is a very interesting thing. When we have to do with a house — even the Lord had to do with a house — it seems to be an important thing as to what the head of the house is personally. We are to respect the work of God in the children.
JT I think there is a word in it. It seems to be the thought of God to secure the head, to have to do with him, and then his house.
WFK Sarah takes the initiative in casting out Hagar and Ishmael.
JT That helps as to salvation being in the house.
Abraham is hardly equal to the position. He would have retained Hagar and Ishmael. He was hardly saved in that sense, although one would be slow to say much. It says, “he will command ... his household after him”. Things would get right. The house would not be right till then.
AS Sarah would represent the subjective side. Evidently there was a work of God going on in her soul regarding Ishmael.
JT Quite so.
AFM The word ‘saved’ occurs in Exodus 14. “Thus Jehovah saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians” (verse 30). They were in that [p. 146] way delivered out of Egypt. Is not that the object in salvation? Referring to Hagar and Ishmael, they were of Egyptian origin. Would not salvation today be entire separation from the world?
JT What is Egyptian has to be cast out. The word ‘cast’ is to be noted. It is a strong word. There is no allowance of Egyptian principles in the house. That is what makes Abraham’s house so precarious. Although he would command his house after him, there were those elements there and Sarah had to take the lead in the matter. She represents the subjective element. She represents the wife and she is a good example as to how a wife may put things right.
AR It does not say that anything had to be cast out of Lydia’s house, or the Philippian jailor’s house.
JT No.
RWS Why is this set out in a condition other than husband and wife?
JT Because so many houses are like Lydia’s, where the husbands are dead or the like. God takes account of it. It is a difficult matter. It made it all the greater triumph. “Whose heart the Lord opened to attend to the things spoken by Paul”. That was the right way to meet that condition. It is the same sort of thing in chapter 18, and tests Paul about the people that were there. He saw what was needed to open her heart; not simply to hear the gospel, but to attend to the things Paul said.
CAM I was impressed with what you were saying. It seems to be such an answer to Satan in this section. You were referring to the fact that God had something in this place. Here is a woman that was giving her ear in the right direction, even if she did not have a head, and listening to the apostle.
JT By listening to him she would get the mind of God. He spoke about the household, too.
BP The man was in his mind when he saw [p. 147] the vision of the man of Macedonia standing, and saying, “Pass over into Macedonia and help us”.
JT It seems so. It would be a great test to the apostle that the one outstanding convert was a woman. But being a woman, she becomes a head.
She attended to the things spoken by Paul. She is a householdly woman. There is nothing said about her house, or her children, but she would be capable of managing a house. Come into my house if you reckon that I am faithful. That is wonderful as to the humility of the woman.
Rem In the beginning there was Eve, who was not, perhaps, subject to Adam in recognising the head. In the first house in christianity we get those recognising the head.
JT This is the one the Spirit of God takes up to record for us.
EB Why do you think it is that God selected a jailor?
JT Because his office would make him a very hard man. These cases are cited so that we might not be discouraged in hard soil. He is the last man you would think of, the way he treated the apostle Paul.
EB He was not being a head to his house.
AS This characterised the assembly in Philippi, “no assembly communicated anything to me in the way of giving and receiving save ye alone”, Philippians 4: 15.
JT They were on the giving line.
TH When Elisha met the widow he says, “what hast thou in the house?” 2 Kings 4: 2. Would that not be most helpful?
JT The Old Testament helps to elucidate the New. His master had to do with a house, too. Elijah tested out the head of the house. “Make me thereof a little cake first”, 1 Kings 17: 13. Are you ready to make God first and yourself second? No one can be head aside from [p. 148] that.
BP Would the ultimate of that be having the assembly in your house?
JT Well, that is a great point. Elijah tested out the head of the house. She was a widow, taken up, you might say, like Lydia. He is sent to Zarephath and he finds her gathering sticks, preparing to eat the little she had and die. A very poor case, but how well she turns out. She entertains the prophet. In fact, the word used is ‘maintains’. “I have commanded a widow woman there to maintain thee”. And she does. Now with Elisha in 2 Kings 4, as he begins his ministry, there is another widow. The house is brought up again, and the next woman is the Shunammite. She has a house, and when the son dies he walks about in the house, as much as to say, ‘Is there anything in the house that is the secret of this boy’s death?’ The Scriptures are full of it, only let us get a concrete example in christianity. The head of it invites the great servant on the ground of his own judgment of it, for after all what does God think of my house? That is the idea. I am there on God’s terms.
McC One is impressed with the character of Lydia’s invitation. Not only to come into her house, but to abide. If I asked a brother to come into my house, I would be sure that there was nothing there that would be out of accord.
JT If his eye has to rest on novels, it is no honour to him at all. So that the service of God is to be in the house on divine terms.
Rem So that we may speak a word in that house about something.
JT There is liberty there.
AT Does 1 Timothy run concurrently with this ministry? The apostle says, that if anyone aspires to exercise oversight, he must know how to conduct his own house well. If I had a radio in my house, I would not be conducting my house well.
[p. 149] Rem Putting it in the attic is not casting it out.
JT The word ‘cast’ is very striking. In Exodus 15 we have Jehovah showing Moses wood, and he cast it in. That is what is due to all that is sinful. Cast it, use force.
AR When Paul went to the Philippian jailor’s house he “spoke to him the word of the Lord, with all that were in his house”. He is speaking the word of the Lord.
JT Quite so. It is always a question of authority when you bring the Lord in. And what comes out is that the jailor rejoiced. He is so pleased with all that came to him. He “rejoiced with all his house”. They all joined in.
AFM It says, “with all his house”. Would they all share?
JT That is the point. The word ‘house’ — the whole house is in it.
Rem With Lydia it is her intelligence first, and then her affections. She first heard and then the Lord opened her heart, as if the Lord valued her intelligence.
Ques Does it not emphasise the love side in the jailor’s household? He lays the table. It is a service of love.
JT The jailor is doing a woman’s work. He lays the table. It is to bring out how thoroughly serviceable he was. He would do anything for these men.
BP Was not that commendable?
JT Yes.
Rem The jailor’s wife is included in the house.
JT If there was a wife.
Rem I thought that she would be in the background on account of the head being saved. She would take the second place.
JT Quite.
Ques Do you not think there is a lack of inviting the men [p. 150] of God into our houses?
JT The servant of God represents God.
CAM I was very much impressed with that. You cannot patronise a servant of God. It is a remarkable test when a servant of God comes into the household.
AT That woman in Kings makes room for him. He is not an ordinary visitor. There are certain classes amongst the people of God. There are those worthy of double honour.
JT Quite so. You see what she says about him in 2 Kings 4: 8. “And it came to pass on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a wealthy woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. And she said to her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us continually. Let us make, I pray thee, a small upper chamber with walls, and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a seat, and a lampstand; and it shall be when he cometh to us, he shall turn in thither”. That is the way she looked at it. He would be passing by. The Lord comes before us, His servants come before us; do we not discern them?
Rem “She said to her husband”. We do not want to do this independently.
JT She discerns who he was. “I perceive that this is a holy man of God”.
AR She put the boy on the bed of the man of God. She saw that there was virtue in him.
JT Quite so. That brings out the servants of God are not to be patronised. Lydia is the great model for us. She appeals to the apostle, it is a question of your judgment of me, whether I am worthy.
RWS He resisted. He did not say, ‘I will not come’. But she had to force him to do so; as if she might never get another [p. 151] chance.
JT The Shunammite is the gainer, as was the other widow in Elijah’s time. They are all gainers. Wherever the servants of God are accorded their place, we always gain.
Rem And on the contrary the locality may suffer on account of not doing that. It is because they needed it in the place. They needed the servant there.
JT God knows that, too. God says to Elisha, “I have commanded a widow woman there to maintain thee”.
APf The Lord invited Himself to Zacchaeus’ house. Is that the contrast you find?
JT Just so. The Lord knew Zacchaeus would be glad. It was an honour.
TH He “received him with joy”.
JT Quite so. “Today salvation is come to this house”.
TW Would you say something about Luke 10 the son of peace in the house?
JT That is a good suggestion. That is a word for the servants. If they go into a house and the son of peace is there, their peace shall rest upon it. It is an important thing to have a right base. That is the idea of Lydia. That was Paul’s place. He did not stay with the jailor; she is the son of peace.
JC There are two houses here in Philippi.
JT We must get concrete evidence of this in Chatham.
BP There were six houses in Toronto where the breaking of bread could be held.
JT The son of peace is a matter of importance. You come to a town to serve. It is a great matter where you are going to lodge. You do not want to be hampered. Hence the Lord says, “If there is a son of peace there, stay there”.
Rem If there is. As though there were certain moral conditions connected with [p. 152] it.
JT Lydia is the thought. Paul went back to Lydia’s house. That was his base.
CAM In connection with this matter of the son of peace. As you say, when a servant goes into a place, he does not want to be hampered. This matter of salutation enters into all that. One of the things that greatly restricts in connection with this matter is that in some houses salutation is not properly considered. You are hampered if the house was not godly in its salutation. If you found those there that you could not greet, you are hampered. Would you go with that?
JT I do, indeed.
Rem Would that show that there are not those peaceful conditions in the house? If I am having people in my house whom I ought not to have, there is something that is wrong there.
JT Quite so. I think Elisha walking in the house is the point to notice. The boy died. Why has that boy died? God gave him and yet he died. Is it because the conditions in the house were not suitable to bring him up for God?
Rem Evidently they were not right. The father sent him to the mother.
JT The father seemed to be powerless. Why did he not look after the boy?
A.R. He says, “my head!”
Rem The matter of going to and fro in the house seems to come after he had begun to work on the boy.
JT It looks as if he were saying to himself, ‘Are the household conditions right? Is there a skeleton in the cupboard?’ Something that is secretly working to damage the young.
ANW The Lord definitely put some young people out of the house before He raised the young girl.
JT Quite. They had flute-players there. That was nothing to have in the [p. 153] house.
AT He did not put Peter’s wife’s mother out. You were saying that he put certain ones out of the house. I was wondering if there was another way of touching it.
JT Quite so. It was only a malady. He cured her. She was a good case. The Lord is ready to help at any time.
Rem In Martha’s case, the Lord was finally unhampered there.
JT Finally. She not only criticised Mary, but the Lord Himself. She received him, but it was very chilly inside.
McC If you are invited to our town, and there are several homes open to you, and they are equally desirous to have you, what would the test be?
JT These visits are contemplated, so that God goes before, and you find a Cornelius or a Lydia whom God is actually working in. That furnishes a base for His operations.
McC And you, as the invited, would discern that?
JT I should.
Ques Whom would you approach in the house where moral conditions are not right?
JT The head.
Rem Help us on that. The Lord spoke to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel”. He commanded his household.
ANW In regard to commanding his household, it says in Genesis 18: 19, “For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice, in order that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham what he hath spoken of him”.
JT Just so. You have in your mind the difference between the children and the household. I think the household is wider. It includes all that are under the head. Children have a special place. The [p. 154] household includes the servants. It would include the whole order of things under a head.
ANW Everything that he has a right to control.
JT Quite so. Take Abraham’s house. The oldest servant of his house, the one that was sent out to seek the bride for Isaac, there is the suggestion there that he belongs to the household.
AFM Would you mind saying something about the service of the sons of the widow, and of the sons of the prophet, as to how they were brought in?
JT I think the time is up. We will follow on with that tonight.