THE HOUSE AND THE HOUSEHOLDER
[p. 253] THE HOUSE AND THE HOUSEHOLDER
Matthew 12: 50; Matthew 13:1-3; Matthew 13:36-52
This gospel has in view the assembly and the rule of heaven in relation to the assembly. In Matthew it is “the kingdom of the heavens”, meaning that heaven is to rule. It is to rule now in a moral way among the people of God, although in the history of the world men have not recognised this. The world has largely run in modern times on the line of democracy. But whilst the general course of the world is in that direction God has called the attention of many of His people to His method of rule, namely, that it is centred in heaven.
Indeed, there was a testimony to that from the very outset of creation in that He made the sun to rule the day and the moon to rule the night; He made the stars, too. Every second of time these bodies are benignly influencing the earth. And so David, inspired by the Spirit of God, said, “The heavens declare the glory of God”. Psalm 19:1 There is something in them that denotes what God is, because God’s glory is the shining out of what He is. David says further, “In them hath he set a tent for the sun, and he is as a bridegroom going forth from his chamber; he rejoiceth as a strong man to run the race”. Psalm 19:4 - 5 There is energy. In his whole course the sun is benign, beneficial to the earth and to men upon it.
But all that pointed to Christ in the heavens. He indeed is prefigured in the sun coming out of his chamber as a bridegroom. We who belong to the bride are looking for Jesus to come out as the Bridegroom. And He will come out. “For yet a very little while he that comes will come, and will not delay”. Hebrews 10:37 We expect Him. He comes out as a bridegroom, not in weakness but in energy, as a strong [p. 254] man. He arises as the Sun of righteousness with healing in His wings. We are expecting Him thus. Indeed, this very gospel says in the Lord’s own words, “in the middle of the night there was a cry, Behold, the bridegroom; go forth to meet him”. Matthew 25:36 Last night I was speaking of His bearing His cross, and our going forth unto Him in the hour of His rejection. Now, as the midnight cry is heard, we go forth to meet Him not in rejection, but coming out of heaven in power to exercise universal dominion.
In the mind of God the heavens rule. That is what Matthew enlarges on, the kingdom of the heavens, and the assembly in its position here on earth at the present time. John gives us the future. In the Revelation the assembly is seen in its entirety coming down from God out of heaven, having the glory of God. Matthew has it in view as it is here and in every place in which saints gather in the light of it. I am speaking of the assembly in its local aspect. It has a general aspect and a local aspect.
Matthew contemplates it in both. In chapter 16 he quotes the Lord Jesus as saying, “on this rock I will build my assembly”. It is the whole assembly, “and hades’ gates shall not prevail against it”. Matthew 16:18 Then in chapter 18 he shows how a trespassing brother may be restored. The Lord says, “Go, reprove him between thee and him alone. If he hear thee, thou halt gained thy brother. But if he do not hear thee, take with thee one or two besides … But if he will not listen to them, tell it to the assembly”. Matthew 18:15 - 17 That is the local assembly not the whole assembly. The whole assembly is not viewed in Scripture as acting at the present time administratively. The economy is worked out locally. So that there is nothing in scripture to warrant a general council at the present time, people met together from all parts to formulate decrees whereby the assembly is to be controlled. Administration is in the local assembly. 1 Corinthians is addressed “to the assembly of God which is in Corinth”, 1 Corinthians 1:2 and all administration works in that way, in the local company.
So that the Lord says in Matthew 18, “But if he will not listen to them, tell it to the assembly”. And then if he does not hear the assembly, he is to be regarded as a heathen or publican, that is, the assembly is the final court down here. As supported by heaven, it has more power than any supreme court. For after all it is what heaven recognises that is final.
But when the churches became unfaithful this authority could be no longer exercised by them, and so the Lord goes on to say in chapter 18, “Again I say to you, that if two of you shall agree”, meaning two of the assembly; two christians who are moving in the light of the assembly, brought into it, knowing what it is as this gospel teaches — “If two of you shall agree on the earth concerning any matter, whatsoever it may be that they shall ask, it shall come to them from my Father who is in the heavens”. Matthew 18:19 You see, it is heaven’s rule. Whatever those two ask of the Father in heaven is done unto them. Then He adds, “For where two or three are gathered together unto my name”. “Unto” here is a preposition denoting movement towards an object. The gathering together is towards His name. That is the only name we gather to in this world, not the name of Paul, not Apollos, not Cephas; it is the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. The Lord says to Philadelphia, “Thou ... hast not denied my name”. Revelation 3:8 The Lord says, “For where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them”. Matthew 18:20 And so, as in the midst of them, there is administrative power. The Lord is here to support us in what we do in His name.
I wish now to come back to my scripture. What I have in mind is the idea of a house. I have been speaking of the assembly. The word ‘assembly’ conveys the idea of persons ‘called out’. As we were saying last night, the Lord “bearing his cross went forth”. John 19:17 He calls us out of that which He has gone out of, the world. The assembly is formed of persons called out, not set up in the world as of the world. The Lord says, “They are not of the world, as I am not of the world”. John 17:16 They are called out of it and set up here in testimony in that way.
But I want to speak of the house as seen in our chapter. A house suggests a place of affection. Ordinarily, in a house you have a father, a mother, brothers, sisters; it is a sphere of affection. The word does not always mean a building. The Lord Jesus will rule over the house of Jacob for ever. God has a house, beloved friends. There is but one house of God, although there are local assemblies, subdivisions, as it were, of the assembly. Whilst Matthew has the assembly in administrative capacity in view, yet he also speaks of the idea of a house, and also of a householder. God is spoken of in this gospel under the figure of a householder. And I wanted to show from the verses read that the Lord left one house and entered into another, and that the one He left does not suggest God’s house; whereas the one He entered into does. The house had been in Israel, but it is now the assembly.
In the end of chapter 12 it says, “But while he was yet speaking to the crowds, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to speak to him”. “But he answering said to him that spoke to him, Who is my mother, and who are my brethren?” And He stretched out His hand to His disciples and explains who they are: His brother and sister and mother are now those who do the will of His Father who is in the heavens.
Now you see, dear brethren, you have the family; and the next thing is the house suitable to the family. Because, if God has a family, if Christ has brethren,
[p. 257] they are to be in a suitable dwelling-place. That is what Matthew has in mind. So that a review of chapter 12 will show that the house He was about to leave could not be suitable for those who did the will of God. Nor could He today put them into a large building with an organ and an altar and a choir and fine music and rented pews! That is not a place for the exercise of divine affection. Down below in many of those places you will find conveniences for dancing and other worldly entertainments. Such places could never answer His thought of a house for His brethren. He, possessed of infinite wealth, provides a suitable abode for them — temporarily and eternally. As to the latter, the Lord said, “I go to prepare you a place; and if I go and shall prepare you a place, I am coming again and shall receive you to myself, that where I am ye also may be”. John 14:2 - 3 Well, what in the meantime? If His love provides for us permanently in heaven, He will not overlook what is needed whilst we are here. And so He leaves one house and goes out by the sea and takes a boat and sitting in it speaks to the people in parables. The first parable is in regard to the sower; He explains that and speaks another one, and then two more. All this is before He entered into the house mentioned in verse 36.
He is going, as it were, to another house and intending to bring all these fruits of His sowing there. Verse 36 says, “Then, having dismissed the crowds, he went into the house”. He is not going to have everybody in this house. It is an exclusive house, the crowds having been dismissed. The multitude is not against Him, necessarily. People listen, there are many such. We must be ready to speak the gospel wherever there is an ear. But all those who were listening to the gospel are not going to come into the house. The disciples came to Him there. Matthew would indicate selection. In his gospel we have,
“[p. 258] many are called, but few are chosen”, Matthew 22:14. The disciples say, “Expound to us the parable of the darnel of the field”.
Matthew emphasises that under certain circumstances His disciples follow or come to Jesus without His asking them. At the outset He says, “Come after me”. Matthew 4:19 But now they have learned that it is an advantage to follow. If He makes a move, or changes His position, they do the same. The Lord attaches great value to that. Here “his disciples came to him”. It is a word for everybody here, as to whether you are moving with the Lord. If He is making a move, I cannot afford to be still; I must move with Him. If the disciples had stayed outside, how would they have been better off than the multitude? But they came in.
Now I want to show you, beloved brethren, that in this house you have expositions of scripture. You will not get these in the theological schools. You may get certain expositions according to the view of the seminary. But in this house, what is the view? Who is the expositor? Jesus. That is what we want: expositions from Jesus. We will never get them right except from Him; He may use others, of course, but the work is His. In John the first two disciples call Him Rabbi. That means a person who can teach. How much authoritative divine teaching is needed today! The disciples say, “Expound to us”. In Luke 24 we are told that He expounded unto two disciples: “And having begun from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself”. What an exposition! How one would love to hear what He said about Exodus; about the ark, for instance, and many other types in that book! What these disciples wanted to know was this particular parable about the darnel — what the Son of man had sowed and what the devil had sowed. It is very important to understand disentanglement from the mass of things in [p. 259] this world religiously. Certain are of Christ; but the “darnel” is of the devil. There are “the sons of the kingdom” and the “sons of the evil one”.
I desire now to point out that there is not only divine exposition in this house, but the idea of a treasure is also there. In it the Lord speaks about a treasure hid in a field. The Lord would not speak thus to robbers! In this house you have suggested a place where you can speak freely about treasure. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid in the mystery, and you get suggestions in this house of hidden things. In Colossians you get treasure hidden in the mystery. In Ephesians it is a fuller thought “the unsearchable riches of the Christ”. Ephesians 3:8 There are no material riches that are not searchable. Bank accounts are dwindling! Where large fortunes existed they can be easily counted in many cases now. God is doing that for good. His thought is that we might be rich towards Him, and have treasure in heaven where moths do not corrupt or thieves break through and steal. This house is where God’s rights are owned, where treasure can be spoken of in a safe, holy way; the hidden wisdom, which God prepared for us before the world was; 1 Corinthians 2. Think of a place in which these things are unfolded! Some of us have proved this; we have sat down together in the light of the temple of God, as of it, and we had things opened to us in a divine way. Thus we see how rich we are in Christ. “Christ ... for your sakes he, being rich, became poor, in order that ye by his poverty might be enriched”. 2 Corinthians 8:9 And then there is another thing: in this house there is greater ability to value things. And so you have reference to a pearl. But the Lord brings in a simile of a merchant conversant with values in pearls. It is a question of the highest class of precious things, appealing to the most refined taste. The figure the Lord uses is a merchant seeking beautiful pearls.
[p. 260] There is the suggestion of great spiritual refinement. Every gate of the heavenly city is one pearl. The Lord enjoins us not to cast our pearls before swine, lest they trample them, and turning round rend us. You keep them out of sight, so to speak, from the unregenerate mind. They belong to what is refined. God is doing that in His house; He is developing refinement, so that we will not be out of accord when we get to heaven, where what is most refined is. I speak, of course, of what is spiritual, what relates to God. Peter speaks of “the excellent glory”. 2 Peter 1:17 God would bring us into accord with that. “That ye may judge of and approve the things that are more excellent”, Philippians 1:10 the apostle Paul says. There is discerning between good and evil, but here it is “the things that are more excellent”. That is refinement. All this is seen in the assembly, which has the glory of God, and whose “shining was like a most precious stone”, Revelation 21:10,11.
The next thing is the net full of fish. This simile contemplates ability to discriminate between good and bad in active things. Fish are living things, being the first of those mentioned in Genesis 1. They refer to believers who are spiritually alive, as the explanation of the parable shows. Of course the bad fish would have energy also, but this would be in a bad sense. The good fish are those who are true lovers of Jesus. The apostle Paul says, “If any one love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maran-atha”, 1 Corinthians 16:22 that is when the Lord comes. That is how the apostle Paul regards those who do not love Jesus. It is a question of deliberation. Fishermen sit down and discern between what is good and what is not; they gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad out.
The ‘householder’ comes next. This gospel almost exclusively speaks of the householder. Here we have a householder who “brings out of his treasure things new and old” (verse 52). The Lord is conveying the idea of refinement and wealth in one who is discipled into the kingdom of heaven. This includes ‘antiques’, which, as a figure, go greatly with refined spiritual taste. People give large prices for furniture two or three hundred years old, not for its utility, but because it is exclusive: ‘There is not another like it’, they say. That is the way they talk about antiques. You get them in a spiritual sense in the assembly. There you have the best things in the universe, carefully selected. And then there is the householder who keeps all these as treasures. They are not common things. He would not show them to everyone. He takes account of your taste. He would have you in his house because of quality. You understand I am not talking about man’s way of regarding quality, but heavenliness as reflected in the house of God down here. The householder would show you one group of things after another, antiques which go back four, five, six thousand years. Would they not be interesting? He would say, ‘Look at that; it refers to Abel’. ‘And is not that interesting? It contains things relative to Noah’. The University of Pennsylvania and the British Museum have persons out in Mesopotamia now seeking such things, but in a material sense. But we cannot be sure of their findings, although they tell us that some of them are of antediluvian antiquity. But I take the Scriptures, the record of the Holy Spirit who was hovering over the face of the deep before any order was there, and who strove with men in Noah’s time. Here I get certainty. They speak of Christ. Genesis testifies of Him. Some of you may not have seen one thing in it which you regard as treasure, but the householder here brings these things out.
Then there are new things as well. A certain group pertains to the Lord’s life here on earth; another to the days of the apostles; and so forth. That is [p. 262] what such a householder as the Lord speaks of here will do for you. Every scribe instructed into the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old. He knows and values the things and so can speak of them intelligently and feelingly. Interest in them requires change of taste — from the natural to the spiritual. Moab had not been emptied from vessel to vessel, and so his taste remained in him. The acceptance of discipline from God aids in the acquirement of divine taste, and so we value the things of His house.