DIVINE VISITATIONS
[p. 371] DIVINE VISITATIONS
The companies of believers seen in these scriptures would afford conditions for divine visitations; in a certain sense the apostle, as coming to these localities, would be representative of the Lord.
Some of us have been looking at Luke. In chapter 9 the time of His “receiving up” was drawing near and He sent messengers to certain cities of the Samaritans and they refused Him. Then in chapter 10 He sent out seventy, two by two, “into every city and place whither he himself would come”. Luke 10:1. He came to Bethany as an example, He was received there. “A certain woman named Martha, received him into her house”. Luke 10:38. Then the Spirit of God gives us facts covering the conditions in that house; the house was Martha’s. Those responsible in a meeting may not be the most spiritual. Mary was the most spiritual at Bethany. Her attitude would gratify the Lord’s heart.
In chapter 11, “One of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray”, Luke 11:1 and He gave a formula as to what they should say. Then He speaks of one who did not have what was necessary, but obtained it by asking; and then the Lord goes on to verse 13, which is the great means of local furnishings, that is, the Holy Spirit, so that the Lord in coming might find conditions which He could delight in. We could not have such without the Holy Spirit. In Acts these are concrete cases. If conditions are not right, the Lord cannot be there.
What are local furnishings?
Conditions where things are according to God. Take Antioch for example, in the assembly there were certain prophets and teachers. They ministered [p. 372] to the Lord. It is a question of what is in heaven being brought down here; heaven was the place of it, the subject beginning with His being received up. In going in there, the furnishings were perfect so that the Spirit coming from heaven, should bring out a counterpart of heaven. Legislation and social etiquette combined do not provide conditions for Christ to come in, these conditions are brought about by the Spirit.
So in Antioch we get an indication of the mind of heaven. We see how God can bring together people of all conditions of society. Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius from the north of Africa, Manaen, evidently a nobleman, the highest condition of society; Saul, whose history we know, a citizen of Rome, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, and yet he is the last in the list. This shows that his natural ability did not count; he is not at all occupied with himself, he is amongst his brethren as one of them, no distinctions are in his mind. “The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all”, Proverbs 22:2. The Lord was before them; the levitical family was among the Gentiles. They were fasting, disallowing the flesh, and hence the Holy Spirit could speak. Verse 2 is what marked the company.
What is ministering to the Lord?
I suppose it would be priestly. Aaron was to “minister unto me in the priest’s office”. Exodus 28:1.
What form would it take apart from the Lord’s supper?
It would take form at all times where we turn to the Lord and speak to Him. In Luke 8 they ministered unto Him in material things. There should never be a coming together of the Lord’s people but that He should have something. In Acts 16 we have both prayer and praise by Paul and Silas in the prison. See how that scene answered to heaven! The Holy Spirit had come down from heaven and He brought [p. 373] about spheres on earth answering to heaven. The Spirit is unhampered, He is seen here as acting freely and sovereignly. One would never feel satisfied except the Lord had some part in what engages the saints. In Numbers 28 you get “my offering and my bread”, etc. Numbers 28:2, that must be always in view. At Antioch the Lord was considered. The presence of Barnabas and Saul during the previous year would tend to form the company. They were there a year. “The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch”, Acts 11:26.
It is a great thing to keep before us the thought of dwelling — “a place for the Lord”, Psalm 132. These two brothers would convey that thought and bring to the saints what was required for the Lord. David said that Jehovah’s house was to be “exceeding magnifical”, 1 Chronicles 22:5 it was to contain upper chambers, inner chambers, treasuries, the house of the mercy-seat, etc. He specified them and impressed upon Solomon that they should be all there. David had the pattern of the house by the Spirit; 1 Chronicles 28:12.
God is in heaven, His dwelling place is there. The thought was to bring in here what corresponds with heaven. We can understand that nothing else would be suitable.
Paul and Barnabas had been accustomed to gather with the assembly. They took pattern from the Lord in that; we read of His “being assembled together with them”. Acts 1:4. Then the disciple who was to take Judas’ place must be one who had assembled with them. “All the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us”. Acts 1:21. That was the principle.
In coming together to read the Scriptures even, we should have before us what the Lord would do — what part He would have. He always takes His part with us. The barren woman is taught to keep house and be a joyful mother of children. The thought of housekeeping enters into all this. The [p. 374] house is in order and hence the missionaries go out to bring in the children. Hence where the order of the house of God is presented in 1 Timothy, the attitude of God toward all men for blessing is in view.
Fasting is the disallowance of legitimate demands. It is not a matter of righteousness exactly, that is imperative. The apostle gives us an outline in 1 Corinthians 9 of what governed him. He did not use these liberties, for the sake of the testimony. “We have not used this right”, he says, “but we bear all things that we may put no hindrance in the way of the glad tidings of the Christ”. 1 Corinthians 9:12.
We get “prophets” here, and “teachers”. The prophet brings in the mind of God; one great feature in teaching is adjustment. If God speaks to you, you feel humbled; that is the effect of prophetic ministry. In the order of the gifts we get pastors and teachers. The pastor brings in food for the saints, but then he also adjusts their minds to the mind of God.
Luke takes great pleasure under the Spirit of God, to bring out the comely things; he has in his mind to bring in all that was at the beginning. He speaks of a “a multitude of the heavenly host”. Luke 2:13. What is according to God is brought in here. They were well known in heaven and were to be known here. The Lord reminds the disciples that their names were written in heaven, and further that He saw Satan as lightning fall from heaven; Luke 10:18. Thus it was cleared for them.
The composition of any meeting should be a matter of great interest. It is a question of what the Lord does. We have in New York a remarkable composition from all parts of the world. We get among others at Antioch, Niger mentioned here and a Cyrenian; it is the composition of “the assembly which was there”. It gives us the leading brothers, they are all occupied with the Lord. There is no thought of what anyone was as in the world.
[p. 375] In the introduction of the dwelling of God in Genesis 28, the Lord stood at the top of the ladder. Jacob was lying on the earth; those were not normal house conditions. It was to show how the light came into Jacob’s soul. If God remained at the top of the ladder, Jacob would not understand the full meaning of Bethel — the house of God. When he goes back to Bethel, he goes back as a prince with God. Jacob is a type. In Genesis 35:13, we read, “God went up from him in the place where he had talked with him”. He had been down to be with Jacob. Jacob is a peer now; typically, he is a fit companion for God in His house. The peers are here at Antioch; ‘titles’ are, so to speak, in order. God has made them princes. “Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in the earth”, Psalm 45:16. The Lord is the Prince of the princes of the Levites. The principle is that all are princes by having the Spirit, but the practical qualification is largely by prayer, thus they are fit for the assembly. “As a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed”, Genesis 32:28.
We read in verse 2 of our chapter, “The Holy Spirit said”. How would that be today?
He would speak through someone. He would always speak through a medium, but the saints would recognise that it was the voice of the Spirit.
We see the importance of Acts 13 as a basis for the operations of God through Paul. They “returned to Antioch”. It is the setting of Antioch, and the apostle’s labour is seen in connection with the assembly there. This is set down as a principle governing levitical work, that is, their local meeting. They would always have a sense of obligation there. The work at Antioch did not begin with Paul and Barnabas, but through those that were scattered by the persecution at Jerusalem. The assembly never sends out a missionary or servant, it is the [p. 376] Holy Spirit who does that. They got their commission in the assembly from the Spirit.
There was no thought of setting up Antioch as a metropolis, the simplicity of the order of the assembly at Antioch strikes you, that assembly was formed by those scattered, a sort of voluntary service. The assembly at Antioch was the outcome of a sort of service without a commission as it is now. Now it is generally the outcome of love; your hands find work to be done, and you do it. The Lord takes you up as a workman, do what your hands find to do and the Lord will give you a commission in time. This principle indeed is seen in Paul himself, for he laboured at Damascus and Antioch before he was formally commissioned by the Spirit.
Apollos came from Alexandria. His appearance is very interesting. Paul had been taking the initiative everywhere, now we get other persons, Aquila and Priscilla, who had no previous relations with Paul. They are found at Corinth. Then Apollos appears at Ephesus; he needed instruction, but he was greatly fitted to augment the work of God. All this shows how God is never committed to one man for His work. Apollos is a brother who might be emulated; he was accurate and knew the Scriptures. “He spoke and taught exactly”. Acts 18:25. It is a great feature in ministry to be exact. It makes it imperative that we should read Scripture to use it as Apollos did. He made a point of causing the Scriptures to speak, to bring them to bear on his hearers. It does not say he was a prophet. He knew how to take off the stone from the well’s mouth to water the flock. He had the baptism of John and the Old Testament Scriptures. “He that hath, to him shall be given”. Mark 4:25, Luke 8:18. The Lord gave him more. The Lord led him on and he was a ready learner. We read that he was “an eloquent man”, as though God used what was there. A man speaking under the power of God would speak eloquently, in a [p. 377] sense it would be good speaking, words and sentences conveying things forcibly. It is not a question of studying eloquence.
In Acts 21 you have three illustrations of local companies: Tyre, Ptolemais and Caesarea. Tyre was the centre of the great commercial system. In verse 4, the disciples said to Paul, “by the Spirit”, etc. It does not say which one said it; it is simply that the disciples at Tyre spoke to Paul by the Spirit. It was normal Christianity. They were the result of Paul’s ministry, no doubt, now they speak instead of him.
Was it not failure in Paul that he did not listen to them?
I would be loath to bring that in. The point is to see the wonderful results of the gospel that there were disciples who could speak to Paul by the Spirit. However gifted or spiritual, you are to remember that you may come to a local company and get help yourself. One ought to be open for it, open for help from any of the Lord’s people. The great thing to emphasise is that the result of the gospel brought out these conditions. It is well to be prepared for it, because these local conditions are simply a reflection of what is in heaven. You must not think you have got the watering-can exclusively, because the Spirit is there and you may be refreshed.
In the previous chapter, in Troas and then at Ephesus, the apostle is representative of the Lord. They embrace the apostle; it indicates the love they had for the Lord. At Tyre, Paul and his company stayed seven days. It afforded an opportunity for assembly affections to be displayed. At Ptolemais, they remained one day; there the brethren are saluted. The “brethren” are the same as the “disciples”, only viewed in a different light. The latter term refers to everyday conditions. At Tyre they accompanied him with wives and children. We see them as they are. “And we kneeled down on the shore and prayed”. What a beautiful scene! What it must have been for heaven! It was a reflection of what was there. In heaven Paul was highly honoured, they all knew him there. However great a brother may be, the Spirit of God is greater. There are no wives and children in heaven, but there are brethren there; they will be there eternally. Paul saluted them.
Then at Caesarea there is Philip the evangelist. As a matter of fact he is the only one called an evangelist. He was known that way, not that he evangelised Caesarea. He came as far as Caesarea in his ministry, after he had evangelised the eunuch. It was Peter who brought the gospel into Caesarea.
Philip had four daughters that prophesied — one of the most remarkable households you get in Scripture! They would soon discern any counterfeits. They were a striking testimony to what Philip was. They are not called prophetesses. They brought in the mind of God, they prophesied. It is an immense thing with a sister to have power to bring in the mind of God. What a refreshing time it would be there (Philip’s house) for the apostle’s spirit! Doubtless they would compare notes as to how God used them in enlightening souls through the gospel. Deborah dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah; it would mean that she was victorious.
It is all to bring out what the Lord looks for — love. At Caesarea there was love. Then there is a prophet, Agabus; he has liberty here. There is full scope for the Spirit in all these places. See the area in which the Holy Spirit was free! Acts 21:11. That is the thing the Lord would say to us: Is there room for the Spirit? Nothing is of any moral value unless there is room for the Spirit in the company.
In 1 Corinthians 11, we have what is comely in domestic relations; it is God’s order in creation which should be reflected in the man and the woman.
Paul says as to this, “If anyone seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor the assemblies of God”. 1 Corinthians 11:16. We accept the teaching of the passage. It is a question of comeliness before we come to the assembly, what is comely in creation, the order of God is presented. It is a question of the woman being in her place in relation to the whole creation; then too, “because of the angels”. 1 Corinthians 11:10,
The question raised in what has been before us is: Is there room for the Spirit of God to speak in our respective localities? As we see in the composition of the assembly at Antioch, there should be no respect of persons amongst us; it is a question of spiritual stature, those who are spiritual are recognised. In Acts 21:14, the saints submit to the will of the Lord. What they could not alter, they leave. This always marks spiritual persons. In Antioch you get “they ministered to the Lord”; it was priestly service.