DIVINE ACTIVITIES IN SUPPORT OF THE TESTIMONY (3)
[p. 31] DIVINE ACTIVITIES IN SUPPORT OF THE TESTIMONY (3)
JT What was remarked this morning is also true of this chapter, that God acts in support of His testimony, and for the help of His people. He acts on physical things and by physical things, as well as spiritual and moral things. He can do this in His own right as God. And so this matter of Ananias and Sapphira serves to promote this thought. It is a matter of discipline, of course, often alluded to and constantly needed, and, of course, more drastic than is usually applied, for it became a question of death; but still it was discipline, and indicates how God may resort to physical things to carry out His thoughts.
RP There was this lying to the Holy Spirit right at the beginning of the assembly’s history.
JT Yes, as it were stressing the thing, so as to impress us at all times with it, just as in 1 Corinthians 5 we have a similar drastic matter, but not so severe as this; but still such as we may make allusion to. God may act severely, for the purpose of establishing a principle which runs down the dispensation. It will be noticed that Peter did not himself have recourse to anything physical in the matter, it was God Himself, but Peter indicated the truth.
CWA Is it important to see in all these matters how these things affect God?
JT Quite so; the whole matter is a question of God, really, the whole matter of the dispensation. “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son (Hebrews 1:1,2)”.
[p. 32] But it is a question of God; whether it is the Son, or God. Himself, the Father.
JMcN Is this to show that God is a consuming fire even in a day of grace?
JT Quite so, and it is “our God”, remember. That is to say, the Christian’s God, not merely the God of the Jews.
RP If we have to have part in the assembly vitally, we have to be consistent with the God who dwells there.
JT Quite so. So in the epistle to the Hebrews already alluded to, it is a question of the Son over God’s house, whose house are we. So in the book of Revelation, when the Lord Himself writes to the assemblies, He is seen as the Son of God in relation to Thyatira.
ENJ It would be a serious matter to lie to the Holy Spirit.
JT Quite so; there are several allusions to that very thing. You will perhaps name them all for us.
ENJ I was referring to the third verse: “But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled thy heart that thou shouldest lie to the Holy Spirit ... ?”
JT Then there is another allusion in verse 4, “Thou hast not lied to men, but to God”. That is to enforce the thing. Then in the ninth verse, “Why is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord?” So that the thought of divine Persons is brought in strikingly in this matter of discipline, and the severity of the action taken, because we are to behold God’s goodness, but we have also to think of His severity: that God is severe if He has to be.
PAH It produced a great effect upon all who heard it. That seems to be the effect of this severity and discipline.
JT You allude to the eleventh verse, “Great fear came upon all the assembly, and upon all who heard these things”. That is the intent of it, to subdue us and to cause fear, because God is to be feared in all who draw nigh to Him.
PAH That scripture already alluded to as to our God being a consuming fire, also speaks of serving Him with reverence and godly fear.
RP There was much at stake. It was the effort on the part of the enemy to set aside what was coming in.
JT As we have already remarked, we get things stated at the outset that run down. We have to learn what God is in the severity of judgment against evil. In fact I believe God is calling attention to that, because the book of Revelation is especially intended to stress the thought of judgment, even the lake of fire being mentioned.
PP Are you applying this matter specially to the saints?
JT Well, it is a question of the saints of course, that Peter is dealing with. Ananias and Sapphira were ostensibly of the assembly, and, of course, the assembly is amenable to the discipline of God. We should there learn what God is in judgment.
Ques Do you mean that God is very jealous as to His rights in the assembly, and in this matter of associations we should see that God is jealous also?
JT Particularly so. Associations mean banding together. They began in Genesis 11, where they banded together and one said to his fellow, “Come on, let us build ourselves a city and a tower, the top of which may reach to the heavens; and let us make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth Genesis 11:4”. “The whole earth had one language, and the same words. And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar Genesis 11:1,2”. That is the secret of all these combinations, power being vested in the idea of combination. “Let us build ourselves a city (Genesis 11:4)”. It is [p. 34] ourselves. The secret of all these combinations is in that passage.
JM Are you bringing before us the importance of what Peter says in verse 9, “Why is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord?”? Is this the introduction of evil into the assembly?
JT Yes. Agreeing together. That was the idea at Shinar, to have something great. It is pure selfishness, the thought of exalting themselves.
RP Is not the great effort of the enemy at the present time to introduce what is counterfeit? What was so beautiful and glorious at the beginning was the saints moving together, and God being the inheritance of the saints, and love operating among the saints. Is there not a great effort at this time to bring in influence on that line; the idea of security, and universal brotherhood, and the like?
JT Quite so. And the word is taken out of its proper setting. The proper setting of the word “together” is in Matthew 18:20, “Where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them”. That is the precious setting of the matter, leading up to the truth of the assembly, and confirming it; whereas men band together with selfish motives, and with a view to exalting themselves, which reverses everything. Power belongs to God, but this idea that we are dealing with is power vested in men, by themselves, not by those above them, but by themselves.
CWA This works out in Acts 19, where the artisans of Demetrius’s trade banded together in a way that is suggestive of the operations of men now for their own purposes, regardless of what God was doing in the assembly, but God’s work was going on.
JT Yes, it was a question of business.
PRP Would you say that the enemy is sadly [p. 35] using this to make inroads into the assembly, and to divide the saints?
JT Well, this sort of thing would divide the saints and make them selfish and deceitful, and the word is stressed as to lying to divine Persons. There is also mentioned lying to one another, and also agreeing together to lie, which is the point stressed here.
ENJ I wondered if it would help us to see how intolerable this matter of unionism is, if we could lay hold of the fact that this is where the Holy Spirit is operating; and in Ezekiel the Lord, in speaking of His house, says, “This is ... the place of the soles of my feet”, Ezekiel 43:7. Then in relation to angels which you have brought before us, they are said to be “the holy angels”, (Mark 8:38).
JT I think we ought to touch on this matter of angels at this reading, because although we have already touched on it, it comes in here in this chapter in verse 19. The angels are to be in our minds. They are great intelligent agencies of God for dealing with matters that we cannot deal with because of our belonging to this dispensation. They belong too, to what is outside the range of the time of man, because they existed before men, and were there, we are told in Job 38:7, when the foundations of the earth were laid; they then shouted for joy, showing how sympathetic they are with God.
Now this is a great matter, and God has His means of dealing with it. In all these evil wars that have come upon the saints in this dispensation, especially recently, there has been need for great power to deal with the evil, and to rescue the saints out of it; and so I think the Lord would help us as to the place that angels have. So here in verse 19 we have, “an angel of the Lord during the night opened the doors of the prison, and leading them out, said. Go ye and stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life”. Notice that it is “all the words of this life”, in order to bring out the importance of that life, the preciousness of it. And the angel is directing the apostles here, “Go ye and stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life”. So we can see how much the idea of angels enters into what we are saying.
ENJ Would that preserve us from taking up one thought or one line of doctrine, and remaining around it?
JT Very good. I believe the Lord has greatly helped the brethren as to how to study the Scriptures, and how to read them, to study them carefully, and spiritually, and to take account of all that has been said. How great the volume of things in the life of Jesus!
CEJ Would you say that we should be free to pray in our prayer meetings that God may set the angels in activity in relation to His people?
JT It is just as well to bring that up, as to how they are to be brought into our prayers. There are a great many of them, but we are not given many names, so far as I can see only about two; but obviously there are many. If we pray for the Lord’s servants, we pray for them by name. We can ask the Lord to send a brother known to us, if He was pleased to do so, if we thought he was suitable to meet any condition in this country; that would be quite in order. But you could not speak of the angels in that way, because we only know the names of two of them. Therefore it is a question of asking God as to a matter; and I verily believe that, as to men in this world, in the recent war and the previous one, God acted through men who were perhaps not converted at all.
ENJ This chapter brings forward Gamaliel as one God could use as having influence, and similarly [p. 37] the queen in Daniel 5, who remembered Daniel and what he had done.
JT Quite so; we get that too, in the book of Nehemiah. The feminine side is of great importance because of the influence that woman may exert in all matters; and the sisters among us certainly ought to be ready to speak a word of truth as regards this current evil that we have now before us. We all ought to be ready to speak a word, as we have opportunity, to guide persons, it may be persons we are working with. So we get throughout the Scriptures the influence of women, and Esther is not the least. We have often spoken of her; she asked for fasting. We spoke of it before, but it is well to speak of it again, the idea of fasting, and the importance of fasting. Then again, it does not say that the queen in Nehemiah said anything; she was sitting by, but evidently she had influence, and so we are reminded that we should think of what an influence the sisters may have, as they have opportunity to say what is right, especially about what is current now. Referring again to Gamaliel, he is one of the outstanding agents in this chapter. He comes in at the end, but then there were others also, and we are told too of the influence of the people themselves in favour of the truth.
RP Are there two lines seen representatively in Michael and Gabriel? One is a military angel, and the other the priestly angel. Gabriel says he stands before God. Michael contended with the devil for the body of Moses, but brought no accusation. He said, “The Lord rebuke thee (Jude 9)”.
JT That would mean that Michael had regard for the primary place that Satan had, because evidently he was in God’s service at one time, and it is important to bring that in, that we may be respectful as to dignitaries. The agencies we get in this chapter are brought in one after another to help to promote [p. 38] the matter in hand. It says the captain and the officers feared the people, showing that at times we may be helped by the people. We may not be helped by the leaders of them, but we may be helped by the working man.
PP Is there some instruction in the way that this help comes to us? I mean God seems to hold it in reserve until a certain point arrives in the souls of the saints. I was thinking of it in a general way as to Gamaliel, who has been referred to, and then as to the angel coming and releasing them from prison, as to whether God allows the saints to go through pressure, and so bear testimony to Him, and then He comes in in power.
JT Quite so. It is well to take the events of the chapter up in the order in which they are mentioned, and how God uses them for the purpose in hand; and so this matter of discipline of the man and his wife. How important it is that husbands and wives should not be in collusion in any matter to promote evil, but that there should be transparency. Also as to any testimony that may have to be rendered, that it may be rendered in a pure unselfish way, because it is a question of the government of God in the assembly, and that ought to be carefully watched for.
PAH It is important to see that discipline is exercised in the assembly, and then following that later in our chapter, how God comes in in an external way through angelic service, but first of all discipline in the assembly is maintained.
JT Quite so. Angelic service deserves the most particular attention, because it is the one we began with, and I believe God has followed it up ever since. God reserves the direction of angelic service to Himself, and so you get the angel in the book of Exodus, who was to conduct the people into the land. They were to fear him. He would not tolerate [p. 39] any evil, but they had to fear him (Exodus 23:20 - 22).
RP Should we not look for something of that nature in circumstances today? It says in verse 19, “An angel of the Lord during the night opened the doors of the prison, and leading them out, said, Go ye and stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life”. Should we not look for intervention in circumstances under God’s hand in relation to the testimony?
JT That is just what I was meaning. The angelic side is of prime importance in what we are dealing with, because the service is so near to the ordinary service of the Christian. It is not an angel doing anything in the way of dealing with military matters, but one dealing with the saints who are engaged in the service, and telling them what to do, to go and speak to the people in the temple all the words of this life. That is, it was the Spirit of God speaking to the apostles, through the angel, telling them to go and stand in the temple. It seems to me that the angel is brought into almost the same position as the apostles for the moment.
ENJ Their response is very ready. It says, “When they heard it, they entered very early into the temple and taught”.
JT The apostles themselves heeded the angelic word.
RMcC Whilst there are myriads of angels, one is sufficient here. Does that give us an insight into the great power that is available?
JT There is more to be said on that. One hundred and eighty-five thousand men were slain at one time by one angel in the days of Hezekiah (2 Kings 19:35). That is a very important thing as to the power of an angel, and what is available to us in that sense.
JPB Daniel said, “My God hath sent his angel and hath shut the lions’ mouths Daniel 6:22”.
JT [p. 40] That is one angel. But I think it is well to think of the one hundred, and eighty-five thousand that were slain at one time by one angel.
PAH You are distinguishing between the speaking of the Spirit and angelic service?
JT It is distinctly distinguished here. An angel tells them to do it. It says in verse 19, “an angel of the Lord during the night opened the doors of the prison”, and so on, and they did exactly as they were told.
PAH And would the speaking be by the Spirit, through the angel?
JT Of course, the Spirit of God would be the agent. When you come down to the actual words of the Lord Jesus in His ministry, it would be a matter of the Spirit. At the same time the angel’s word is heeded, and acted upon.
JM The apostle in Acts 27:23,24, speaking of an angel of God serving him in relation to God’s work, says, “An angel of the God, whose I am and whom I serve, stood by me this night, saying, Fear not, Paul”.
JT If the brethren are free to move a little into chapter 8, we shall see the directions given to Philip. It furnishes a distinction that would be helpful to us. First we are told, in verse 4, “Those then that had been scattered went through the countries announcing the glad tidings of the word. And Philip, going down to a city of Samaria, preached the Christ to them; and the crowds with one accord gave heed to the things spoken by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs which he wrought Acts 8:4 - 6”. Then the angel speaks to Philip saying, “Rise up and go southward on the way which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza” (Acts 8:26). Then verse 29 shows that Philip increases in importance in his service. We begin with the thought that he went down to Samaria and preached Christ. He is not told to do it, as far [p. 41] as we see. That would point to the importance of open-air preaching, which is a service any young man can do. He does not ask the brethren to do it, he can do it himself; if he gets a message from God that he can speak to men about, there is no reason why he should not do it, and it will soon become evident whether he has power. So Philip had power, but it is not said he was sent to preach. Then when we get down the chapter, the angel spoke to him first, and then the Spirit spoke to Philip, and said, “Approach and join this chariot (Acts 8:29)”. And Philip ran and heard the eunuch reading the prophet Esaias, and said, “Dost thou then know what thou art reading of? And he said, How should I then be able unless some one guide me? (Acts 8:30,31)”. So we have now come to real and spiritual work in Philip’s case in chapter 8. I thought it well that the brethren might have this before them, because it will greatly help us as to open-air preaching. There is no reason why any young man should not go and preach if he has liberty to do so.
ENJ Guiding is a great matter. The Spirit seemed to guide Philip as you were saying, and then Philip is able to guide the eunuch.
JT But then Philip went down to Samaria, and preached the Christ, and he had power without being sent.
ENJ He was not guided there?
JT It was a question of his doing it himself. We hear of persons complaining because they are not invited to preach, but then the streets are open, there is plenty of opportunity to preach if we have anything to say. Philip went down to preach.
RP Heaven is taking account of the service, and angelic means seem to come in to further the service. Should we not look for that to make things practical? God undertakes for us providentially in relation to our [p. 42] circumstances.
JT You are thinking now of a brother being in business and sent by his firm to a certain part, and he may have an opportunity there to take up the service. That would be a providential matter. The angel really represents that side in the guidance. It is a providential service. Another thing is that the government of God often affords us opportunities of preaching or teaching, and the thing is to be ready when these opportunities open up, that is to say, our business may open up ways of service from time to time, and the thing is to be ready for them.
ENJ Would you say, in that connection, that the way in which Joseph prospered wherever he was placed, whether it was in the prison house, or Potiphar’s house, or with Pharaoh, is significant?
JT That is excellent. Joseph was in the service of God, but Pharaoh’s servant forgot Joseph, and he has to remind himself afterwards of his sins. I call attention to it now as regards the providential dealings in the ways of God. How much there may be for us in His service in that sense!
JP So that you suggest we should be ready to preach in our conversation, even in travelling?
JT Just so. If you are a traveller, for instance, you may have many opportunities, but, of course, the next thing would be to keep pure and holy for the service, to be ready for it in holiness. There is the man who was befriended by Joseph, but he forgot the request that Joseph made to him to remember him when it was well with him. The butler has to remind himself of his sins later on.
ENJ Were you thinking we might, if we looked back, find we had been remiss in the confession of the Lord’s name in the places in which we have found ourselves?
JT Quite so, and even schoolchildren may be reminded of this. They say they have confessed the Lord, but it is not enough to do so to their father or [p. 43] mother. The children are to confess before their schoolmates, or better still, their teachers.
RP It would help immensely in taking up the path of responsibility.
JP The more we confess the name of the Lord, the more power we have in that way.
JT Well, that is where the power is, where we confess. The reproach of Christ is regarded as greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. That is where the testimony lies, in reproach. You are not ashamed to confess Him.
JM There had been great failure on the part of the butler, but he confesses the help he had had from Joseph in the presence of Pharaoh, and he said, “I do remember my faults this day (Genesis 41:9)”.
JT I was speaking about that. He had to recall his own sins to say something to Pharaoh. That is how he had to make his confession, but he should have made it before; he did not remember Joseph.
PP Referring again to open-air preaching, what qualifications would you say are required? You referred to Philip as not being sent, but would he have some qualifications?
JT He certainly did, because what he said the Spirit of God commends, and it was resultful; but at the same time he was not directed by the Spirit at first. Firstly he went by himself, then as directed by an angel, and then by the Spirit. He progressed as he went on.
PP Is it affection for Christ?
JT Well, quite so, it would be that, but there is more than that. You ought to be able to speak coherently, up to a point: “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God (1 Peter 4:11)”. That is to say, what power of speech have you? Can the Spirit of God use it? Has it proved itself to be telling in [p. 44] the testimony?
PP You have spoken of the danger of just being a volunteer without having a message.
JT I think there is that danger too.
JM Paul says in Romans, “For God ... whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son Romans 1:9”.
ENJ Would it be appropriate at this moment to ask for a little more as to Gamaliel? You have spoken about the people and their being instrumental to help the position, and then the angels’ place, and then what God has in a man like Gamaliel.
JT Well, I think Gamaliel is an outstanding agent here. He is not a Sadducee. The Sadducees were infidels, who had no regard for God at all, no regard for the Scriptures; but Gamaliel is not like that; he is a man such as Paul. I believe God had respect for Paul as a man, because, even although he was a Pharisee, he was a man who believed the Scriptures and believed in angels. He was an orthodox person. God is more likely to take up a man like that than a Sadducee, an infidel, who is more likely to be a leader in what is false, such as we are dealing with now. Gamaliel is the man whom God takes up; he is not made much of, but there is more in him in a way than in others, because he knows the truth so far.
ENJ He would not represent a brother in fellowship, but he would be one who has some work of God in his soul, perhaps, and he finds himself near to the powers that be, and makes his presence felt as, for instance, Pilate’s wife did.
JT Very good. I think that is very true. Gamaliel is here in a similar way, and he is taken up by God because he recognises the Scriptures. But if a man comes forward who holds infidel beliefs, I would be afraid of him at all times, and we know such as those that the enemy is working in at the present time politically. I believe the enemy is working through Russia at the present time. Then [p. 45] there is this trade unionism, which would be a similar thing, an agency of the enemy against the truth, just as Russia is in another sense.
RP Do you not think that the governments in these countries are in some ways alive to these elements?
JT I marvel at what has come about in the United States of America, what a change has come over that country. I believe it is all the government of God. There is such a change as to certain principles that it used to ridicule, and we are to be on the look-out for these things, so as to be ready for any change that may come in, for we do not know what may happen in view of the political situation abroad.
ENJ All this should stir us up, after hearing what the Lord has brought before us, in regard to our prayer meetings, availing ourselves of the mighty power of the angels to come in for us in Australia and New Zealand.
JT I marvel that this thing has acquired such power in these countries, because it has not the same power in the United States, and I think the change is in God’s ordering.
ENJ Perhaps we have to humble ourselves as we find ourselves in the position of the butler, that we have been remiss as to this.
JT Quite so, we have to recall our sins.
Rem The angel told them what to speak, all the words of this life; and they went out and taught, and then there are various other allusions to teaching, and finally at the end of the chapter they are found teaching.
JT Well, you would understand the apostles would not wait on the angel to guide them as to the subjects of their ministry, because he is just an angel, whereas the Spirit of God is here in regard to the testimony, and the ministry, and the preaching of the gospel, and the servant ought to be looking to the [p. 46] Spirit of God for that sort of thing, that is to say, for the actual scriptures he takes up, and the subjects he takes up.
RP That is seen in verse 32, “we are his witnesses of these things, and the Holy Spirit also, which God has given to those that obey him”.
JT They are accredited witnesses of God. Gamaliel is not that, nor is anybody else of that kind, but still God in His governmental ways may take up Gamaliel, as He does here, and turns the whole matter; but the actual power for ministry is the Spirit of God, and the agents of it were the apostles, at this particular time; others were added, of course, later.
ENJ Gamaliel has a sense that you cannot overthrow any matter that proceeds from God, and if there is a member of Parliament, or a man in power or authority in the land who has that sense, he will be used of God to help the saints in the testimony.
JT I think that fully. I have seen some remarkable quotations from members of Parliament in this country. One of them was that every liberty we have is due to conscience. There are so many brethren in fellowship here that one marvels we do not hear more of what they are saying about this very question.
CEJ Do you think it is because there is not sufficient witness, and that would involve what you have been suggesting to us as to open-air speaking? “We are his witnesses of these things”.
JT There are not sufficient persons who are obviously witnesses. That only stresses what we are saying; the importance of what we say in ordinary business life, whether we are conveying light to persons we have to deal with.
JP In Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar was brought to know that God ruled over the kingdom of men.
JT That is good.
JP He may have had a Gamaliel, as you [p. 47] say.
JT Just so. At the same time we would be very cautious about giving out things said by others if they are not characteristically witnesses. I would be very concerned, for instance, in making up a hymn book, as to taking on the hymns of persons who are not in fellowship. We would be cautious of anything of that kind, printing or publishing in relation to the truth anything that men who are not characteristically moved by the Spirit might say. Even though the things said may be right, we are afraid of the source of them.