THE KINGDOM OF GOD (7)
[p. 144] THE KINGDOM OF GOD (7)
Luke 9:27 - 36; Luke 10:8 - 11; Luke 11:20; Luke 17:20 - 21
JT The reference to the mysteries of the kingdom, in the parable of sowing the seed, should be reserved for our consideration of Matthew, who gives us more on these points. It is thought that on this occasion we should confine ourselves particularly to the subject of the kingdom as it bears on the gospel. On the last occasion we touched on chapter 8 and now it is thought that we should consider the mount of transfiguration, which seems to be a turning point in the subject. The kingdom there is not viewed as it is now in connection with the gospel, but evidently in an entirely spiritual way. In chapter 9, verse 27 to the end of verse 36, we have an account of what happened on the holy mount; referring not to the moral features of the kingdom down here, but to what is up there; what is spiritual. The word is, “There are some of those standing here who shall not taste death until they shall have seen the kingdom of God”, verse 27. The characteristic features are not designated: it is just the kingdom of God. In Mark, the corresponding passage says, “There are some of those standing here that shall not taste death until they shall have seen the kingdom of God come in power”, chapter 9:1. And in Matthew, “There are some of those standing here that shall not taste of death at all until they shall have seen the Son of man coming in his kingdom”, chapter 16: 28. Here, in Luke 9, it is just the kingdom of God without any qualification; clearly not the kingdom of God as we have been looking at it in Romans and Corinthians, but rather how it is to be apprehended as up there, as a wholly spiritual matter. And there follow illustrations that bear on this — or on which this bears — such as chapter 10, in which the seventy are sent out, obviously in order to make way for the formation of [p. 145] assemblies. Therefore, what is before us runs into the present dispensation and present circumstances, and the formation of assemblies; because it is said that, the seventy were sent out. “The Lord appointed seventy others also”, meaning that they were in addition to the twelve, “and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place where he himself was about to come”, chapter 10:1. It is where the Lord comes, and of course we have learned to count upon Him coming to us in assembly, and undoubtedly the allusion is to this, so that it is Christ coming in from heaven. Having gone up. He is viewed in that light. And the expression “son of peace” runs through the instruction. Sons of peace are to be looked for. And in chapter 11, in order to bring this out more clearly, we have the idea of the finger of God: the Lord cast out demons by the finger of God, and that was the proof that the kingdom of God had come. Matthew speaks of this in the same connection, as the Spirit of God and, of course, there was the living evidence, but the finger of God is evidently God intervening, according to the statement by the Spirit in the Acts, that the Lord “went through all quarters doing good ... because God was with him”, (Acts 10:38). So that the kingdom in this setting is mediatorial. It is God and His finger, but it is through Christ; God is working through Christ. And then in chapter 17 we have the formal assertion that the kingdom of God is in the midst of them, meaning that it was a question of what was in Christ, and what is in Him now. It has not come with observation; it is not in a public way, but in a moral way, and yet it is in Christ. “The kingdom of God is in the midst of you”, verse 21.
JS Is seeing a special feature here?
JT Well, that is what it says. They should not see death until they saw the kingdom, which would greatly emphasise the idea of John 3; persons who can see it and who can enter into it.
[p. 146] JHE That would bring in the eyes of the heart mentioned in Ephesians?
JT Just so; what we see inwardly.
CAM Would you say that to get a correct view of it we have to look at it from the top?
JT Yes; and to see how it embraces the legislative and administrative branches of the kingdom of God.
JTJr Does Peter’s reference to this help as to the bearing on this dispensation? He says that the Lord received honour and glory from God the Father. Would that connect with Peter’s part in the dispensation?
JT That is in the mount, (2 Peter 1:17); just so, Peter himself had a peculiar part in the administration; not, however, in the sense in which we are speaking of it now. Peter had the keys of the kingdom, alluding to the power of administration.
ANW Would it be right to speak of what transpired on the mount as a private view of the kingdom, it still being true, that it did not come by observation? Would that be right to say?
JT It would. It was a vision on the top. Matthew calls it a vision.
ABP You suggest that legislation was seen in Moses and administration in Elijah?
JT That is what I was thinking, although it is very general. That is the idea suggested. It is the linking up of the Old Testament economy with the present one. It is not a question of the assembly, because the Old Testament, save in type, does not contemplate that. It is the kingdom.
ABP Would you say a little more about administration in relation to Elijah?
JT Well, he came in at a time when the legislative side in Israel had failed. Elijah was peculiarly used to meet the situation. It was a time of quickening in the administration of what is of God, which is always important especially when there is a lapse, so that you are [p. 147] impressed with the place that Elijah has as alongside of Moses, as if he were almost equal. And I think it would mean what personal service may be in a time of decline; of what one man can do. And so he is alluded to by James in this sense; what he did by prayer, he prayed with prayer. And so it is that James is said to be himself signalised in that the Lord appeared to him; as if he represented the service of one man, what one man may be or do. That ought to be an incentive to us, each one, to do something, because something has to be done if one is to be signalised.
WFK Is glory connected with the kingdom? They beheld His glory.
J T Quite so; these men were there, but only in the way of enhancement of the position; not to remain. They talked with Jesus. It is very remarkable that they should be the ones to speak to Him. It is said, “As he prayed the fashion of his countenance became different and his raiment white and effulgent. And lo, two men talked with him, who were Moses and Elias”, verses 29, 30. They are not angels. The point is that they are men. These great officers, either as legislative or administrative, are men. It shows that God has laid hold of men and is thinking of men in what He is doing.
WFK Did they represent something in past testimony? .,..
JT They did; that is what we are saying: what Moses was in his service; what Elias was in his. How distinguished they were in it! One of them when he died, was hidden in burial; God Himself buried him, but Elias was not buried; he went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
RWS Does Elijah’s taking the twelve stones in the repairing of the altar, 1 Kings 18:30,31, bear on administration.
JT It does, clearly. The altar is repaired; it represented twelve. Moses had the same idea in the [p. 148] twelve pillars. Exodus 24. They did not need repairing, but one point with Elijah is repair: the resetting up of things, and that in power. What Moses inaugurated needed repair.
FSC Does the Lord represent the subjective side of the kingdom? He was in subjection to the Father; He prayed.
JT Yes, in the sense that He was subject; this characterised Him as become Man. The word usually means something that is inward and consciously realized as over against what is objective; but I see your point. It is a great point throughout this gospel that the Lord is seen about ten times in prayer. In this chapter we have Him thus, verse 18: “... as he was praying alone”. And in chapter 11 He is seen praying and one of the disciples asked Him to teach them to pray, verse 1. And in the end of this chapter, verse 29, He is seen in prayer when He is changed: His countenance became different, and His raiment white and effulgent; showing the attitude as honoured.
RWS When you use the expression up there is that heaven as over against what is on the earth?
JT Well, it is just according to the meaning of the phrase. The word up has a very great place in Scripture, even in regard to the resurrection. It is applied to the resurrection, but not always; that is, we have Christ raised from among the dead, Romans 4:24, and Christ raised up from among the dead, Romans 8:11.
APT In Revelation 4 the voice says, “Come up here”. Is that the idea?
JT Quite so; caught up into paradise; caught up to the third heaven. Scripture says. Have you anything else in mind?
RWS I am not quite clear as to the bearing of this. I would like to follow the instruction, as you quote the book, whether this was actually present, though a future setting, and why it was brought [p. 149] in.
JT It was obviously to impress the disciples. It has the same importance as Paul’s ascension to the third heaven. It has the same bearing as John being caught up, as has just been remarked, “Come up here”. That is to impress us with the greatness of what we are connected with and what we will come into; it should bear on us down here in the time of our humiliation.
APT Verse 26 begins with the word “For” and verse 27 with the word “But”. Would that help to denote what the Lord has in mind in a spiritual sense?
JT Quite so. The “but” is the transfer to something else. “But I say unto you of a truth ...” The “but” there is to carry you from one thing over to something else; a great matter that the Lord had in His mind.
ANW Has it not a direct bearing on their tasting death? The Lord makes a point of that, that they shall not taste death until they have seen the kingdom of God.
JT They would be equal to Elijah in that sense and also, in a sense to Moses — something extraordinary — something was to happen and they were not to taste death before it happened.
EEH Would you say it was educational for the disciples to have seen this?
JT It would be highly educational. I suppose it would be one of those things which would be landmarks in their histories, like (1 Corinthians 15), where the Lord is said to have appeared to so many. There were above five hundred of them who saw the Lord at one time; and Paul says, “Of whom the most remain until now”, showing that they would be distinguished persons, and that is a great matter, to be distinguished among the people of God.
CFE Is there any thought in the eight days mentioned here?
JT I suppose it points to a further development; passing on to something else; another dispensation. It [p. 150] is a change over from seven. We have six days in Mark 9.
AR Moses had wished to see God’s glory, but he could see only God’s hinder parts, but this is a question of His face. What is the difference?
JT Well, we are in the realm of revelation now, and revelation is a question of the face of God; of seeing God in Christ here and hearing His voice, the Father’s voice.
JTJr Would the prayer in verse 18 be on the level of what was down here, because He goes on to speak of His sufferings and of His being killed, and then in verse 28, “He went up into a mountain to pray;” that is, prayer is on the mountain? Does that involve the change we are speaking about?
JT Yes; I think it is to show that. We are told that He has passed through all the heavens; that is, the idea of ascension attaches to Him. He might have gone up without dying, and did here, because it was going up. “He went up into a mountain”. “If then ye see the Son of man ascending up where he was before?” (John 6:62).
JAP Is there help in Paul’s remarks in 2 Corinthians 3:18? “But we all, looking on the glory of the Lord, with unveiled face, are transformed according to the same image”. Does that help us as getting a view of Christ, and we becoming like Him?
JT It does; it has a bearing on it, because the “same image” in the passage includes His image — “from glory to glory”. There is a strong link here with that, but there is no change in any one, but in Christ here. The apostles remained just as they were, but He was changed. The wording, “as he prayed”, is remarkable, too, showing, as our brother said already, the position prayer has in this wonderful scene. “And as he prayed the fashion of his countenance became different and his raiment white and effulgent”.
ABP Is the present service of Christ as intercessor a part of the functioning of the kingdom of God? I [p. 151] there a link between His prayer on the mount here and His present place as interceding for the saints?
JT Undoubtedly it is intended to bear on the whole scene that the movement begins there, real movement begins there. The attitude of prayer would imply that He is interceding. I suppose He is thinking of the three He brought up with Him; that they would understand it was worth while to be taken up and that His prayer had entered into it.
AR Do you have in mind to say something more about the Lord’s countenance being changed here? Is it suggested that Moses and Elias were changed? They, “appearing in glory”, spoke with Him.
JT The thought is that they came out from it. They are not said to be changed. They really represent the heavenly saints, but the Lord had been down here in testimony and service, and the bearing is on that. The bearing is not on Moses and Elias or what the occasion would be to them. They are simply representative as augmenting and filling out the scene. The angels are not there, they are not in mind. It is men — “two men”. The change in the Lord gave character to the occasion. The whole movement is seen to begin in Him. “And it came to pass after these words, about eight days, that taking Peter and John and James he went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed the fashion of his countenance became different and his raiment white and effulgent”, verses 28, 29. That is the position. The movement is clearly in connection with Him. It is a great matter that the saints who form the assembly, represented in the three apostles, are brought into the movement, which presently will be enlarged to the universe. All the coming glory will begin with Christ; He is “the beginning”.
AR He is the Speaker — “Hear him”; is that the idea?
JT Yes; the great Mover, the Beginner of everything . [p. 152] The apostles were unequal to this display of glory; indeed, they were oppressed with sleep, and later Peter spoke of making three tabernacles; one for the Lord, one for Moses and one for Elias, showing they were not delivered from the Jewish system. What is presented is to glorify Christ in His kingdom. Thus it is said, “as he was saying these things, there came a cloud and overshadowed them, and they feared as they entered into the cloud: and there was a voice out of the cloud saying. This is my beloved Son: hear him”, verses 34,35. It is a question of hearing what is said by Him. What is current in His ministry down here is in mind.
JTJr Would the idea of majesty be seen in the condition in which Moses and Elias were as they spoke to the Lord in that He was in majesty then? Would all that remain in the apostles’ minds?
JT That is the idea; the majesty of Christ would enter into Peter’s ministry, as we can see by his second epistle. It is remarkable that he did not write about it in his first letter. It shows that apostolic ministry was governed by the Spirit.
RWS The feature of the kingdom of God in this setting is the majesty of the Person?
JT Yes; but there are other accompanying things that belong to the kingdom, because it is a question of seeing the kingdom, not any special movement or feature of it, but the thing itself; the whole thing is to be seen there. Thus the Lord’s announcement in Luke is, “... until they shall have seen the kingdom of God”.
ANW What is the warning to us in this oppressive sleep that comes upon the disciples on this august occasion?
JT It certainly ought to mean at least that we should not sleep in the meetings! Sleeping in the meetings is derogatory, even if we are tired and weary; the Lord was weary, too. We ought to learn to respect the place. We cannot say that Peter and the others added anything [p. 153] to the great occasion. That is the thing to notice; that we should avoid the things in which they broke down. The mount of transfiguration was a most striking testimony to Christ’s glory.
AR You mean that we should see the kingdom Christ’s glory — now?
JT It is characteristic of Luke that what the three selected to go up were to see was the kingdom of God. It is a group of circumstances in which He is to shine; we are to see the things that we are brought into. We are brought into a system of things, not only persons, but things. The man in Mark had his eyes opened and saw “all things” clearly; not only a divine Person, but the things related to Him.
DAP Would Peter and those who were sleeping miss what the two men were speaking about to Jesus?
JT Yes, they were speaking about what they were seeing; it was His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem. The moral glory of Jesus was in their minds more than the physical glory there. The moral glory was wrapped up in what they were saying: that is to say. His departure; as Israel departed, so He is departing out of the world. It should be accomplished; it was His moral glory, a matter of accomplishment — and where? At Jerusalem!
ABP Should we normally have in mind the thought of departure? Our life is not an earthly matter; while having part in it here by the Spirit, it is native to heaven.
JT That is right; there ought to be moral glory in all our departures. “Precious in the sight of Jehovah is the death of his saints”, (Psalm 116:15). There is moral glory attaching to a real Christian in his death.
AMac Is that seen in both Moses and Elijah? Both of them went up at their end, and sight entered into it. Moses saw certain things from the mount, and Elijah saw certain things, too.
JT Just so; they are linked together peculiarly in [p. 154] that way. They are selected by God to fill out this wonderful scene. But what we were just saying is really the thing to be thought of by all of us; how the moral glory of Jesus was occupying Moses and Elias and they were talking with Him about it; He was not talking to them about it.
WFK Would the white raiment suggest purity in the kingdom?
JT I should say so; it is a feature of Luke here, and at the Lord’s resurrection, and at His ascension that there were those who stood by in white garments. Well, now, chapter 10, as we said before, points to the formation of assemblies — that feature of the kingdom. It enters into the formation of the assembly. The assemblies are to be characterised by the Lord’s visitations. “Now after these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place where he himself was about to come”, chapter 10:1. The whole passage would, I think, confirm what we are saying now. The idea of the word ‘assembly’ does not enter into it exactly, but it says, in verse 2, “The harvest indeed is great, but the workmen few; supplicate therefore the Lord of the harvest that he may send out workmen into his harvest. Go: behold I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry neither purse nor scrip nor sandals”, verses 2 - 4. We have been speaking lately of travelling lightly and those that have goods need to be in exercise as to them. We do not take anything out of the world, nor should a servant of Christ think of taking anything out with him, as we have here: “carry neither purse nor scrip nor sandals, and salute no one on the way. And into whatsoever house you enter, first say. Peace to this house. And if a son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it; but if not it shall turn to you again. And in the same house abide, eating and drinking such things as they have; for the workman is worthy of his hire. Remove not from house to house”, verses [p. 155] 4 - 7.
CAM It has been said that Luke’s line makes way for Paul’s ministry. This account of the seventy sent from city to city is peculiar to Luke. Do you think that should govern us now as moving about; that we thus enter into the idea of Paul’s travellings, for instance?
JT Yes; I should say Paul represents the highest idea the Lord had in service. He says, “Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ”. These seventy are sent out after the apostles. Paul somewhat corresponds as coming in after the twelve, and as having laboured more abundantly than they all.
AR Lydia would be like a son of peace; Paul went to her house at Philippi.
JT Quite so; the Lord saw to it that she was, because I think He intended her to be a suitable one to receive Paul and those who accompanied him. It is said that the Lord opened her heart to attend to the things spoken by Paul, and that would enhance the conditions. And so when he was leaving the city he “came to Lydia”. If a brother visits us here, who is he going to see? That becomes a test.
AR Her house has peace in it; our houses should have peace in them.
JT Luke 10 calls for sons of peace.
RWS Does the thought of, “Let not the assembly be charged”, enter into this? Would the glory of that bear on this section? These Levites are sent forth; might it be some addition to the service in which the glory of that ministry is involved?
JT What the Lord said, as seen here, would indicate that. He said, “Behold I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry neither purse nor scrip nor sandals, and salute no one on the way. And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say. Peace to this house. And if a son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it; but if not it shall turn to you again. And in the same house abide, eating and drinking such things as they have”, verses 3 - 7. It would look as if the servant has a free house; that he has free surroundings; nothing to hinder him in his service. And he is not a burden on the person with whom he is staying.
APT There is an excellent illustration of the kingdom in chapter 22, where the Lord sends Peter and John to the city. They meet a man with a pitcher of water and the master of the house seems to be ready for them; a son of peace.
JT I think Luke has all that in mind. He has a great sense of the greatness of the thing he is dealing with; that is, the moral greatness of it; hence, when he writes to Theophilus the second time he is quite free, evidently having the sense that Theophilus was reducing his own estimation of himself. The word “excellent” is dropped in the second treatise.
EAL I believe you have said that a minister being over particular would lack in spiritual control; that in the servant natural likes and dislikes should be under control.
JT Just so; we do not want to acquire priestcraft. Those of religious reputation assume power over people and make demands upon them. The liberty of sonship makes us free and righteous in the houses of the saints.
ANW “Such things as they have”, is the statement the Lord makes, (Luke 10:7).
JT Just so.
JTJr Is this thought of two in regard of the servants carried forward from chapter 9 where it is seen in Moses and Elias? There would be the idea of legislation and administration here also?
JT Yes; “two are better than one”, the Scripture says. There is great increase in the idea of two.
RWS Do they carry in their affections the ministry of the glory of chapter 9?
JT I would think so; I suppose Paul and Barnabas are the best illustration of two working together in the [p. 157] truth. Peter and John first, and then Paul and Barnabas, as if the Lord illustrates what He said, which is a feature of the gospels. They confirm what you get in the Acts and the epistles. Things are confirmed in the actual facts presented. So you can picture the glory that was reflected in Peter and John, as they say, “Look on us”. And then, as we said, Paul and Barnabas, and later, Paul and Silas. These facts are illustrative of what we are dealing with here; how the kingdom was set out in Christians, and how we should learn from them. The scene on the mount is illustrated in the fact that Mary, as seen in chapter 10, is sitting at the feet of Jesus and hearing His word. She is setting out the kingdom in that sense, and that helps us as to how the gospels confirm what we have in the epistles.
AEW Would Paul be like a son of peace in the last chapter of the Acts? — “in his own hired lodging”, preaching the kingdom of God and receiving all who came to him.
JT It was indeed a free house!
AR We have been having the teaching of the kingdom of God, and now we see it demonstrated.
JT Quite so; and if a man who has a house uses it in a hospitable way, the brethren are free to go there.
Question. What would you say about the house in 2 Kings 4 in relation to this?
JT The Shunammite was a ‘great’ person. She made a home for Elisha. That illustrates it very well. I have no doubt she is the continuation of the wife of the son of the prophet, who sold the oil and paid her debts. She and her sons thus became free. So she was free in her house because she paid her debts. We cannot entertain freely unless we pay our debts. And so the Shunammite is not in debt; she is capable of entertaining the prophet and entertains him well.
AAT I notice that in Luke 10 there is the healing of the sick, and then in chapter 11 the finger of God is [p. 158] spoken of as the power active in the kingdom of God.
JT That is what we will get at now. The word was, that when the disciples visited any city the people there were to know that the kingdom of God had come nigh them. That is a great matter, if I am a preacher or teacher, or whatever I may be, that I am to be able to say something as to the kingdom of God coming nigh to people. Even if they have not received it, it has come nigh to them. It is a testimony to be rendered. And as to the finger of God, it says, “But if by Beelzebub cast out demons, your sons — by whom do [p. 159] they cast them out? For this reason they shall be your judges. But if by the finger of God I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God is come upon you”, verses 19,20. That, I think, is to bring out that God was with them. The apostle implies that the testimony will be given, “God is indeed amongst you”. That marked the assembly at Corinth; that God was there. The Lord said to Paul there, “I am with thee, and no one shall set upon thee to injure thee”. And so he stayed there for eighteen months and the result was that a large assembly was formed there.
JAP Would it seem that the kingdom of God, having a heavenly side to it, is opposed by Satan’s kingdom? In Ephesians reference is made to the power of spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies; is that set up to compete with the kingdom?
JT Well, the charge was by the Lord’s enemies in verse 15: “But some from among them said. By Beelzebub the prince of the demons casts he out demons”. That was the attack of the devil that should never be forgiven, according to another passage. And so the Lord goes on to say here, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation: and a house set against a house falls; and if also Satan is divided against himself, how shall his kingdom subsist? because ye say that I cast out demons by Beelzebub. But if by Beelzebub cast out demons, your sons — by whom do they cast them out? For this reason they shall be your judges. But if by the finger of God I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God is come upon you”. It is not simply come nigh them; but come upon them; and upon them as a sort of moral judgment, for we have the idea of the stone cut out without hands; it breaks to pieces those on whom it falls, (Daniel 2:34).
AR In Exodus 8 the scribes said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God!”
JT Quite so; it is a remarkable thing; possibly the Lord had that circumstance in mind; that is, the plague of the gnats or lice. It was the finger of God. What they had in Egypt was really here — the finger of God — and who can stand against it? It is the power of God, in that sense; they could not stand against it. Another thing is that the gnats were never removed, meaning, evidently, that power is here, despised and under reproach, but here nevertheless. It alludes to the saints as characterised by the power of life.
AR The living kingdom, in that sense, in life.
JT That is the idea exactly; it is a question of life. The finger of God, I suppose, would point to accuracy and detail; nothing is omitted. I think that is it. We all know about the fingers of a man, and what they wrote on the wall; they meant the overthrow of the Babylonish kingdom. It was most accurate and sudden; the thing happened that night.
AR We have, in the idea of the gnats, the power in the saints for the overthrow of the Egyptian kingdom.
ABP Is the judicial side of the kingdom seen in, “they shall be your judges”?
JT Quite so; that was something they would have to reckon on and the kingdom coming upon them is remarkable, it seems to me. It is not simply coming nigh; it is the power of it adversely; it grinds to powder.
ABP In that relation the judges will take up the details eventually?
JT Just so; “... and books were opened”. (Revelation 20:12). And then, Luke 17: 20 says, “And having been asked by the Pharisees, When is the kingdom of God coming? he answered them and said. The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor shall they say, Lo here, or, Lo there; for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you”. He is here calling attention to Himself as in the midst of Israel, as answering the Pharisees.
JTJr Does that apply today in the way the Lord is among us?
JT I thought so; on the line of what we had already as to the Lord being in the midst of the assembly; that a man should come in who would fall down and worship; he acknowledges what is there and reports that “God is indeed amongst you”. That is an immense testimony, that God is amongst a certain people of a truth. There is no question about it and the fact that there are such companies on earth is something that the Lord can fall back on in the judgment day.
WR Would you say the kingdom of God is not only in Christ now, but in the saints?
JT Exactly; that is what is meant; the Spirit of God is here; divine Persons are here. The conditions are as great or greater than they were during the Lord’s presence on earth. He told the apostles, “Greater works than these shall he do because I go unto my Father”.
JTJr Is the order of things in the kingdom in mind? It says in chapter 9, “But Peter and those with him ... having fully awoke up they saw his glory, and the two men”. Is that linked up with this scripture in that the Lord says, “The kingdom of God is in the midst of you”? So that we see a system of things functioning in men.
JT I would say that, especially the twos that were sent out; the thirty-five pairs sent out in witness to the kingdom. It was in them in principle. And you may [p. 161] say that it is a figure of the present time, making way for Him to come Himself. “All the time in which the Lord Jesus came in and went out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day in which he was taken up from us”. (Acts 1:21,22).
ABP There seems to be a judicial aspect to Abraham’s word to the rich man in chapter 16: “They have Moses and the prophets”. That would be represented in Moses and Elias, I suppose, but now the kingdom is amongst them in Christ personally. Would their condemnation be that they had Christ amongst them and had not believed?
JT I thing it is remarkable that this matter is being revived peculiarly, we might say, in our times, because it was not much stressed in the beginning of the revival. It has been stressed more lately — the thought of the Lord coming to the saints. There was an opposition to that, which meant that He was here all the time, which is true, in a sense, but not all the truth. All the truth includes what John says, quoting the Lord: “I am coming to you”; not I have come to you, but, “I am coming to you”.
FSC The Lord seemed to face great opposition after the mount of transfiguration, did He not?
JT I thought that would be apparent in this remarkable section. What a section of vitality and activity; numbers added to the economy; not only the twelve, but the “seventy others also ... two and two”, making way for the Lord to come.
AR In chapter 5 of the Acts a man stands up in the council and says, in effect. You are fighting against God in fighting against these people. The position is impregnable. You cannot overthrow that! It involves the kingdom.
JT That is very important; and the addition of persons in the seventy sent out as labourers must be especially noted. We are not told who they were any [p. 162] more than we are told who the five hundred were to whom the Lord appeared, but they were all distinguished. Here the seventy are making way for the Lord, and what does it matter what others think of us if we are making way for the Lord?
JS Do we see the power of the testimony in the seventy in the overthrow of Satan?
JT That is what we get later in chapter 10. They reported that the demons were subject to them. It says in verse 17, “And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us through thy name”. That is remarkable, because it would be connected with the finger of God: “And he said to them, I beheld Satan as lightning falling out of heaven. Behold, I give you the power of treading upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall in anywise injure you. Yet in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subjected to you, but rejoice that your names are written in the heavens”. And then the Lord rejoices: “In the same hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I praise thee. Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth, that thou hast hid these things from wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes: yea. Father, for thus has it been well-pleasing in thy sight. All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is but the Father, and who the Father is but the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son is pleased to reveal him”, verses 17 - 22. Well, now, all that has come into our own times in a most remarkable way. It has been stressed in our own times; hence the importance, and solemnity, too, of what the Lord has given to His people, as to whether we are in any way affected by it, because the Lord is stressing here the importance of the persons and their names. We do not know them on earth, but they are written in heaven.
DP Would the power the seventy had be an extension [p. 163] of what the Lord referred to as casting out demons by the finger of God?
JT That is the thought. The finger of God in Luke is really the Spirit of God in Matthew; it is the same incident, and that should be the point with us; that God is among us of a truth.
AR The Lord uses the title. Lord of the heaven and earth, in this passage. Is that the idea of the kingdom? He is not only Lord of heaven but also of earth.
JT It is the Father; it brings us really to Ephesians, which is the height of the truth with which we are dealing. Luke enlarges it. The Lord says, in chapter 10, that He beheld Satan as lightning falling from heaven, but later it is said, and Peace in heaven, “glory in the highest”. It is not now peace on earth, as at the beginning of the gospel, but in heaven, because as we proceed in Luke we are instructed on the heavenly line. That is the point on which we should be clear.
JS To make place for the assembly?
JT Just so; because the assembly is going to fill it.
RDG Is it particularly significant that in chapter 17 the question of the kingdom is raised by the Pharisees, who live in the world of appearances? The Lord points out definitely that it is not a question of appearances or “observation”.
JT If it is a question of appearances, it is a question of the religion of the world. Great importance is being made of freedom of worship in the Atlantic Charter and I have seen a picture of worshippers, representing this idea. The human idea of a number of persons seen in a picture worshipping is what interests the Pharisees. They can talk about that, but we should know something different from that. God is a spirit, and we must worship Him in spirit and truth. He is stressing that to us now, in association with the other things we are speaking of. The truth that God is a spirit enters into preparation for heaven. We belong to a spiritual realm [p. 164] where we know God and worship Him according to what He is.
ANW As “come nigh” the kingdom means blessing; as “coming upon” man it means judicial action; and as in “the midst” it represents power. Is that a right presentation of the truth?
JT I think it is. “I am coming to you” is a beautiful expression. It came up in power amongst us about forty years ago. It is mainly seen in John. It was alleged that the Lord Jesus is here all the time; whereas the beauty of the truth is that He comes. It is a divine movement: “I am coming to you”, the Lord says. Matthew quotes the Lord as saying, “Behold, I am with you all the days”, and of course that has to be understood and accepted. It is in keeping with Matthew’s side of the truth which, of course, does not weaken John’s line, which contemplates movement by the Lord while in heaven, as seen in Acts and 1 Corinthians 15, whereas Matthew records no ascension.
APT John 20 says, “And the doors shut where the disciples were, through fear of the Jews”, verse 19. Would the kingdom underlie that in some way?
JT Quite so; you mean there is power there to shut the doors. The doors are in the plural; it is not door. The saints have power within them to shut out what intrudes. That is what is implied; it is the kingdom, I would think.
RWS When it speaks of the days of His receiving up, in chapter 9, does that have any bearing on what we are speaking of?
JT Yes, it does, in the sense that the apostle that was to be named to fill the place of Judas was to be one who had experience in “all the time in which the Lord Jesus came in and went out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day in which he was taken up”. (Acts 1:22). It was necessary that the apostle selected should have that experience. Therefore, it enters into what we are saying, that the power of the kingdom is involved in the Lord’s coming to us. There is nothing to hinder us. “Lift up your heads, ye gates; yea, lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in”. Psalm 24:9. That may be applied to the saints now, although it will be an earthly scene in the future, but the door is now opened to the King of glory.