THE KINGDOM OF GOD (8)
[p. 166] THE KINGDOM OF GOD (8)
Matthew 3:1 - 17; Matthew 4:23 - 25; Matthew 5:1-21; Matthew 5:44-48
JT In considering the subject before us, we have already looked at certain sections of the epistle to the Romans, the epistles to the Corinthians, and the gospels by John and Luke. In the remaining readings, therefore, including this one, we shall need to touch on Matthew and Mark, so as to link on with all the gospels. It is thought that we should look at Matthew now as treating of the kingdom of the heavens, a term that is almost confined to Matthew. The word heavens is used in the plural here, as will be noticed, and would undoubtedly link on more particularly with what is called “the expanse” which was named by God, “Heavens”; it is that part of the heavens which comes nearest to us. We cannot say much as to the number of heavens there are, but certainly there are three, and our subject would link on more with what is nearest to us; what is designated as “the expanse” in Genesis 1. It would seem as if the term is intended, as connected with the kingdom, to direct our view more to the heavenly side. In Matthew 6, the Lord’s prayer is that the kingdom of God was to come. It was to be prayed for; that His will should be done on earth as it is in heaven. So that what is before us now is to see how the divine will is to be worked out now in us down here on the earth as it is in heaven. And another thing that is to be noted is the thought of the King; we have the genealogy of the King in this gospel. “Book of the generation of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham”. It is to be noted that He is said to be “Son of David” before He is said to be “Son of Abraham”, as if the thought of the King should be stressed; thus the Lord’s genealogy is traced, in Matthew, through forty two generations; and it is said the forty second reached to Christ. “All the generations, therefore, from Abraham to David were fourteen generations; and from [p. 167] David until the carrying away of Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the carrying away of Babylon unto the Christ, fourteen generations”. This gospel, therefore, contemplates the Lord as the legally established King, the true David. He is “Son of David”, but the King; in fact, the “great King”. And then another thing to be noted, as we shall see, is that the idea of righteousness is in mind throughout this book more than in the other gospels. So the Lord said to John, according to what we read in chapter 3, “Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness”, verse 15. That would be righteousness in the ordinary sense, but also what may be called ecclesiastical righteousness, because Matthew is the only gospel writer that formally mentions the assembly. It is he who tells us of the foundation of it and also the structure of it. Joseph, the reputed father of the Lord Jesus, is particularly said to be a righteous man, which is an important thing; referring not simply to an incident, but to a matter that involves a principle in the gospel. It is said, in verse 19 of chapter 1: “But Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man ...” He behaved in a most comely and godly way toward Mary, his wife, in view of the revelation he had from God; all being governed by righteousness. That was the point.
CAM The beginning of the chapter we read speaks of the “wilderness of Judaea”. I was wondering, when you were speaking about the heavens, if the existence of the wilderness does not imply that earth was not fully answering to heaven as yet.
JT Therefore it involves discipline.
CAM Yes; it just occurred to me that it would involve that. It would involve the prophetic word also, would you say?
JT The position entered into John’s ministry, as we see in Isaiah 40:6. The wilderness is to be changed so as to blossom as a rose; thus the disciplinary character of it will be over; but while it lasts, there is need for discipline.
[p. 168] John the baptist is said to have been in the deserts. That is the wilderness in an intensified way, as the plural indicates. He had to do with wilderness conditions in view of the ministry that was entrusted to him. It would qualify him so that he would be sympathetic with others in whatever adverse circumstances they might be.
RWS Would you enlarge on your remarks as to the kingdom of heaven being related to the heaven that is nearest to us?
JT I think it is the atmospheric heavens; that is, the heavens that were made on the second day of creation, called “the expanse”. It is said in Genesis 1:6, “And God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it be a division between waters and waters. And God made the expanse, and divided between the waters that are under the expanse and the waters that are above the expanse; and it was so. And God called the expanse Heavens. And there was evening, and there was morning — a second day”. Now that is clearly something additional to what is mentioned in verse 1 in which we read, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”; but in verse 6 we have detail as to how what is called the “expanse” became formed; that there were waters above it and below it, and we cannot but see that what is alluded to is an extension of what is spoken of in verse 1. Our Lord Jesus Christ went up to heaven — involving verse 6. What he reached beyond that, we have to think of, because He went beyond “all the heavens”. Paul said, of himself, that he went to “the third heaven”, but evidently there is what is beyond that. Therefore we come back to what is immediate, in what is called “Heavens” in verse 8. Our feet are on the earth now; that is, the believers’ feet, in the wilderness period. Therefore the feet of the saints are spoken of in the types. The children of Israel did not have to buy shoes in the wilderness. God kept them [p. 169] from the need of shoes; what they had lasted to the end of the wilderness journey.
AR Does the kingdom of heaven suggest elevation?
JT It does; the kingdom of the heavens is elevation, but in the sense that the elevation involves the will of God, and the Lord’s prayer implies that that will should be done on the earth as well as in heaven. We are not above yet; it is while we are here below that the will of God is to be carried out and hence the kingdom is needed down here. And that is what we get in these passages read, because John the baptist first speaks about the kingdom of the heavens in chapter 3, and then the Lord Himself speaks about it in chapter 4 and it is touched on in detail in chapter 5.
JS Do you view the heavens as ruling in the light of heaven?
JT That is another thing; they rule in a moral sense. They rule because the will of God is carried out there, but God Himself, of course, rules; He rules, and the heavens, in that sense, rule, according to what the book of Daniel teaches.
ANW When John says that the kingdom of heaven has drawn nigh, is it a matter of time, or is it the Person of the Lord he has in view?
JT The time enters into it because we are told in verse 12 of chapter 4, “But having heard that John was delivered up, he departed into Galilee: and having left Nazareth, he went and dwelt at Capernaum”, verses 12,13. That is historical, and John undoubtedly had in mind that it would be a matter of time before the kingdom of heaven would be actually there, but it had drawn nigh. That is what I would understand.
WR Do you see that in relation to the magi? It seems that the star that the magi saw was held in relation to the mind of heaven.
JT That is another thought, and stresses what we are saying. The magi had the idea of the heavens;
[p. 170] they probably were astronomers; they belonged to the educated or, so to speak, higher class in the East, and they had seen Christ’s star; not His mountain, or His river, or His sea; but His star; it was the star of the King of the Jews. Well, they understood; that is. God spoke to them in view of what is in mind. He spoke to them according to ideas they could understand. They could take in the idea of a star and that the Lord had a star; in fact. He holds the stars of Revelation 1, but this is His star. It must have been one such as would be intelligible to such persons as the magi.
ANW In an earlier meeting, you linked the kingdom drawn nigh with another thought: The kingdom of God is among you. That would be in His Person, would it not?
JT Just so.
RWS Would it be too much to say that each breath we take involves the expanse? Is that to have some moral counterpart in us?
JT Quite so; it shows it is the part of the heavens nearest to us.
APT It was said to Nebuchadnezzar, “Thou shalt be bathed with the dew of heaven”, in contradistinction to the suggestion about the breath. Would there be a suggestion in that?
JT There is; in the use of the word breath there is more than the thought of heaven. We speak of the atmospheric heavens but that word atmospheric hardly goes so far as the use made of breath in Scripture, because we read of “the breath of God”, and we read of the breath of the Lord Jesus; He breathed into the disciples. It is just to distinguish the use of words, which I think is important.
ABP The luminaries in Genesis were set in the expanse of the heavens. Would that suggest that the will of God is carried out in these bodies that express the glory of God and show forth His handiwork?
JT [p. 171] That is what I was thinking. We have the ordinances of the heavens, and we have to do with ordinances of the earth, too. They all have the same sense, only the will of God is adhered to in the ordinances of the heavens, but we cannot say that of the ordinances down here, for some of them are of man.
FNW It is remarkable how the star went before the magi and rested at Bethlehem.
JT Showing it was a matter of heavenly guidance.
FNW “The stars from their courses” are referred to in Deborah’s song.
JT Just so.
WFK Would repentance, in chapter 3, make us kingdom subjects? It says, “Repent”.
JT The word is “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn nigh”, chapter 3:2. There is a reason given why men should repent; that is, the kingdom of the heavens has drawn nigh, and, of course, it is a very urgent matter, because we cannot contend with the heavens; we cannot overcome them. Indeed, it says in Romans that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven, so that heaven is overpowering, and therefore there is every reason why men should repent in view of the coming of that kingdom.
AR Do you get a contrast between the thought of the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the heavens in Joseph’s dream? The sheaves bowed down to him, but then the sun and the moon and the eleven stars bowed down to him also. Is that the idea of the two spheres?
JT It is. But it also carries with it the greatness of Christ; that not only the stars, but the sun and the moon, bow down to him. Hence principalities and powers are made subject to him. That is, not only men and women ruling people here on earth, but the principalities in the heavens bow down to him.
AAT Did you not want to say something more about the Son of [p. 172] David?
JT I made reference to it in chapter 1, in the genealogy of Christ. It is very important, because it is the only one we have, properly, as peculiar to the King. It is a question of the King. Well, we have now reached the moral side, which is the side we want to stress, only I think what is said about Joseph is striking; that is, that he was a righteous man. That is one of the most important things that could be attached to a man down here; that he is righteous.
CAM Are we to look at these names in the generations in relation to some feature of the work of God in each, and that they reach a certain objective?
JT You would be obliged to attach that idea to it, because God was in all these generations. Some that might be called generations are not in the list. That is, God is discriminating against certain ones, which is important. God does discriminate against persons who, from all appearances, should be in the list, but are not there, because God discriminates against unrighteousness.
CAM That is a very remarkable thing. That raised the question in my mind, because we say that so many generations reached to Christ; that they go through a certain history but they reach Christ. That would be looking at the work of God abstractly in these generations.
JT It would. God was over all that. He took up Abraham. David is mentioned first because of kingship, but Abraham was the beginning of the generations here. We have a greater number in Luke, but as we have remarked, the importance of righteousness entering into these generations is a very great matter, and especially ecclesiastically, because God is concerned about assembly history. The word ‘ecclesiastical’ refers to what relates to the assembly. The question of righteousness is outstanding in relation to it; not only in ordinary matters such as business and the like, but assembly history, and in our relations with the assembly. Righteousness is predominant [p. 173] in it.
APT The Lord Jesus speaks in this gospel of “righteous Abel”. It only occurs in Matthew.
JT That is characteristic. You get more about righteousness in Matthew than in any of the other gospels, and all this is in view of the assembly.
JTJr It is remarkable how much Peter speaks about righteousness. He speaks of Noah, as a preacher of it, and also of the way of righteousness. And he is brought into this gospel in special connection with the assembly.
JT Exactly; and his name signifies that he is material for the assembly. The Lord commits the keys of the kingdom of the heavens to Peter.
TEH He finishes his second epistle with the idea of righteousness dwelling.
JT The reign refers to the millennium, and the dwelling is in eternal conditions where righteousness will dwell. The wilderness is where righteousness is carried out, in spite of difficulties, in spite of opposition.
ANW Repentance is the element to it on our part.
JT That is just what we have in John’s remark: “Now in those days comes John the baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, and saying. Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn nigh”, verse 1. It is urgent; and in connection with this there is the matter of righteousness, whether it be ordinary matters or assembly matters.
ABP There is a symmetry in reference to the generations — three sets of fourteen. Is that idea of symmetry a sort of parallel to the thought of righteousness?
JT I suppose we could discover, if we were able to give time to it, that God was working out righteousness in these generations; and the number three is used in the types as a symbol of the development in anything. Sometimes it is seven. Three is a shorter way of dealing with a matter. Have I proven to be righteous in a reduced [p. 174] plan of my life; in a small portion of it which God gave me in early days? Joseph would be a comparatively young man here, and the Spirit of God tells us that “Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and unwilling to expose her publicly, purposed to have put her away secretly; but while he pondered on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David ...”. His relation with David is noticed at once. God is giving him a great advantage to judge everything as to the circumstances he is in. They were delicate and complicated, and Satan would not fail to take advantage of them. But he is called son of David. “Joseph, son of David, fear not to take to thee Mary, thy wife, for that which is begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit”, verses 19, 20. That is, he is aided in his righteousness, because God takes a man up if he is usable, and now he is aided in the position and maintains it fully as the sequel shows.
JTJr What happens in the assembly should be supported by righteousness; it should be righteous, should it not?
JT That is the point for us; righteousness should mark what is done in the assembly. In complicated cases we are tested. We all should understand Matthew in the light of righteousness. The history of the world is nothing compared with the history of the assembly, and the history of the testimony. It is there we should expect righteousness. It is seen in these forty-two generations; let us learn how it is worked out. The first trouble in the assembly was in the matter of food. The widows were being neglected. It seems that sectional prejudice entered into it — “murmuring of the Hellenists against the Hebrews”.
TEH Would you help as to Jephthah: in New Testament language he became an assembly man, but earlier he had a lot of unrighteous matters to be dealt with in his own soul before he came [p. 175] forward.
JT Quite so; with most of us it is so, if we are to be anything for God in His service, we must especially work out righteousness, as we have been saying.
AI It says in chapter 5, “For I say unto you, that unless your righteousness surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of the heavens”, verse 20. How would you fit that in with what you are saying?
JT Christendom is marked by sects, and there may be differences if the question of righteousness arises. The Romish system, I would say, is the worst. The Lord suggests the idea of comparison as to righteousness. Therefore I would not regard a professed believer who is a Presbyterian as on the same level as a Romanist or Christian Scientist. We have to pay attention to grades because the idea of righteousness is graded.
AR Would you say Barnabas, in Acts 15, because he wanted to take Mark with him, involved fellowship? I wondered how that was to be regarded.
JT That would be more personal; there was not much principle involved. Mark was restored, and evidently Barnabas was too. There was really no ground for the cleavage; it was personal. But you will notice that the support of the brethren was with Paul. There is nothing said about Mark and Barnabas for a time. They lost ground, and that was serious. The general position was clear. Paul was approved and supported.
RWS You have alluded a great deal recently to the Corinthian epistles. I was just noticing as to the working out of the evil seen in Corinth that almost the last injunction of Paul is “... [p. 176] that ye may do what is right”, (2 Corinthians 13:7).
JT That is a weighty word to any local company. How often you hear, as to conditions of failure: Well, they are not any worse than others. That will do no good at all; it is a question of facts, involving what is right. Paul says, “Not that we may appear approved, but that ye may do what is right, and we be as reprobates”. That is the word for each of us: You see that you do what is right. In this sense it is no matter what others may do; let me see to myself that I am doing what is right; because heaven is looking on in each case.
AAT At the beginning of the church’s history, Ananias and Sapphira were examples of unrighteousness.
JT Yes. It was lying. Unrighteousness is a most important word in the divine vocabulary — in a negative sense.
JTJr Nehemiah had to meet all sorts of things in maintaining righteousness, and he brought in the question of the God of the heavens in regard to the position, chapter 1:4.
JT So with Daniel; Nebuchadnezzar had to learn righteousness.
JAP Is there a difference between righteousness considered in Romans and the righteousness that we get here?
JT Romans treats of imputed righteousness. It is most important as to Christian doctrine that righteousness is acquired primarily on the principle of faith, not works. In our scriptures we are dealing with practical righteousness. The Lord says, “For thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness”, verse 15.
FNW Is not Abraham an excellent example to bring forward in this gospel in relation to righteousness? The quotation in Romans 4:3 is identical with that in James 2:23. “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”. But in Romans 4 it is by faith; in James, he proved his faith by what he did in offering up Isaac; it says there that the scripture was fulfilled, as if it is substantial there.
AMacD Is it not remarkable in that connection that Abraham was met by Melchisedec, king of Salem, who is later called king of righteousness? This has a special touch.
[p. 177] JT Yes. He met Abraham. That was to distinguish Abraham. It was not only because he had imputed righteousness, by faith, but because he was practically righteous; he was waging war in righteousness. The fight was of God, like Deborah’s, and Abraham took part in it — not to take sides with any of the kings who were fighting, but to rescue his brother. He rescued Lot. That is the point.
ANW You spoke just now of ecclesiastical righteousness. Would that be in mind in 2 Timothy 2:19 on the negative side, and termed “iniquity”? In the positive list, verse 22, the first principle is to follow righteousness. Is iniquity like ecclesiastical unrighteousness?
JT Quite so; I am glad you brought that up; because it is one of the leading points in the revival at the present time, the effect of which is going on and will go on to the end. The word is “Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity”. The allusion there, I believe, is to ecclesiastical unrighteousness, and there is much of it all the way down in the public history of the assembly.
EAL Is this matter of withdrawing or separating from iniquity seen in Matthew 3, in the winnowing fan? Is the idea of winnowing separating the false from the true?
JT Quite so; there is the chaff and the real grain. You want to secure the grain. This is effected in “every one who names the name of the Lord” withdrawing from iniquity. And then after that is secured and the great principle of separation is established, the next thing is to follow righteousness. That is the first thing mentioned in the list; righteousness, faith, love and peace. And then the next thing is “with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart”. All this indicates the way the present revival has come about; that God wrought in certain souls and they separated themselves [p. 178] from evil. They had discovered the way back in those years alluded to. They were a group, of course, but a group in the sense of following righteousness, calling on the Lord out of a pure heart. You cannot complain about that, nor show in any way of reasoning that they are a sect. They are simply right, as following righteousness.
ABP Would this character of righteousness enter into John’s word in our chapter, “Make straight his paths”, verse 3? Would that possibly terminate in the way that is seen in the Acts?
JT Just so. The word way is mentioned in that sense in chapter 9. It is significant that it is mentioned at the time of Paul’s conversion. See note on Acts 9:2, New Translation.
ABP And the idea of straight comes in at the beginning of Paul’s history, “the street which is called Straight”.
JT Quite so.
APT In 2 Corinthians 10, one says, “his letters ... are weighty and strong, but his presence in the body weak, and his speech naught”, verse 10. Is that man moving in assembly righteousness?
JT A man saying these things against Paul! Do you not think he is the very opposite?
APT I think it is very serious to attack in this way those who serve the Lord.
RWS John the baptist urgently forbade the Lord being baptised of him; was that commendable?
JT That brings up the leading point in this gospel. It comes in verse 13 of chapter 3: “Then comes Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptised of him; but John urgently forbad him, saying, have need to be baptised of thee; and comest thou to me? But Jesus answering said to him. Suffer it now; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffers him”, verses 13 - 15. It was a question not only of that particular item, but all [p. 179] righteousness.
DP Why did John take up the position in the wilderness instead of honouring the city with his presence?
JT That is a good question to raise. We have already remarked that it was not only in one desert, but in deserts, as if he did not avoid the idea of the wilderness. There are variations in wilderness conditions, and John seemed to take them all up, as if it were a curriculum he had to go through, for his great mission, so that he should be in the thing really, as involving suffering. We are told to endure suffering, and it is doubtful if any one of us can be of much service unless we have learned in our youth, and perhaps always, to endure suffering.
CFE Do you think wilderness conditions call for dependence?
JT Yes. Here is a man born of a priestly family, having that distinction, and of course such distinctions can only hinder us if we make use of them. But John evidently did not, whether his mother and father saw to it, or whether it was his own desire. I think if we look at the first chapter of Luke, we shall see how it stands. His father had been dumb for some months until the promised son was born; and some one asked. What is the child to be named? It was thought that he should be named after his father, which is a natural thought, and so it says, “And they made signs to his father as to what he might wish it to be called. And having asked for a writing-table, he wrote saying, John is his name. And they all wondered”, verses 62,63. And then we are told that “his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue, and he spake, blessing God”, verse 64. That is the first thing from his side. Zacharias, being filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied most beautifully, as the brethren will know. Then later, it says, “The child grew and was strengthened in spirit; and he was in the deserts until the day of his shewing to Israel”, verse 80. It is evident that he was to go through a course that would take him away [p. 180] from what would promote natural instincts. Of course, he had such instincts, and desert conditions would tend to offset these; and thus, as under God’s hand he would be rendered suitable for the great service opened up to him.
WR According to Matthew, John is very severe on the scribes and Pharisees.
JT Yes, and the Lord is especially so in chapter 23. But this matter of the deserts ought to be noted particularly because there are many young here, and if we aspire at all to have a part in the service of God, we have to accept that side of the position; not to cater for the natural side, for that which would feed the natural, but, as it were, to starve the natural appetites. John was in a position where he would be forced, as it were, to this great preserving feature. God is over that, to render him just what he needed to be, as a forerunner of Jesus. And the Lord, we may say, crowned the thought in saying to him, “Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness”. And so John suffered Him, meaning that he was already a disciple. He was a learner.
CAM Referring again to “all righteousness”, you were referring to imputed righteousness and the part faith has in it; it says in 1 John 2: 29 that every one who practises righteousness is begotten of God. That has to do with our moral origin, does it not?
JT Quite so; the work of God in us is marked by that. He that is born of God practises righteousness; not exactly that he is told to do it, but he does it because he is born of God; he is like God.
CAM Is it not remarkable that the prodigal said he had sinned against heaven? Would that be in line with what has been said as to righteousness?
JT The prodigal says, “I have sinned against heaven and before thee”. That is, as you say, remarkable. Why did he speak about heaven? That is what came into the prodigal’s mind. He had a right thought. He probably got it earlier, that heaven ruled; and not only [p. 181] that, but heaven is beneficial. How could we get on without it, in view of the seasons and the effect of them on the earth, the supply of food and other needed things? We are sinning against it if we are wasteful and unthankful.
ABP Are the heavenly bodies in their orbits a witness to obedience to the command of God?
JT I think so. The prodigal knew that he had sinned against heaven and sinned against God because of the bounty of heaven. How beneficial it was to him! He had money; his father was well off and had given him his living, and he went off and wasted it in riotous living. That is sinning against heaven. That is not what heaven does. It benefits those who are down here. And another thing is that manna, the food of the mighty (the mighty means the angels), represents the idea of heaven.
ABP I wondered if the heavenly bodies, moving in their prescribed orbits, in righteousness, represent obedience to the word of God and should be considered as types of what we should be in obeying the truth.
JT I am sure that is right. And therefore the introduction of righteousness in Abraham’s history answers to all that, because he is directed to look up to heaven. He is the heavenly man peculiarly because his generations are not given in Genesis. Abraham’s generations are not mentioned; Isaac’s and Jacob’s are. There are about ten of them mentioned in Genesis, but his is not amongst them. I believe it is because he belongs to heaven; he is elevated in that way in the mind of God. Isaac is typically a heavenly man, too, but he is rather the heavenly man in testimony down here in relation with the assembly.
ABP Is it significant that the term “the word of God” comes in first in relation to what was spoken to Abraham?
JT He is the first one of whom it is said that the word of God came to him. Genesis 15.
[p. 182] DP Why is Matthew so careful to establish the legality of the Lord’s genealogy?
JT Well, it is most important for us because the legality of an assembly status applies today to those who are true to Christ. Matthew is the assembly gospel. It is the only gospel that treats formally of the assembly and hence the importance of righteousness. The word legality should be rightly understood. It is not the idea that is in mind when we speak of a legal man, or an exacting man. That is not what the word would mean as applied to Christ’s genealogy and the facts relative to the assembly in Matthew. Using it in the sense before us is to establish the position of Christ as the Messiah of the Old Testament, and also as Head of the assembly. The facts furnished in Matthew establish all this incontestably. And I believe that is the point in Matthew, that the legality is established beyond question.
JTJr Matthew would require us to know something of Abraham and David in taking up his gospel. We need to know something of their histories and also something about John, because John is introduced immediately without giving us his birth.
JT Therefore, to apply this principle now to ecclesiastical history, it is important for us to understand the Reformation. It is not exactly a scriptural word, but it is a good word to cover the position and we all ought to see how the Reformation was established to be right; that is, the principle of justification by faith, and separation from the system of Rome. The Reformation resulted in the establishment of the thought of “justification by faith”. That is Paul’s great point in Romans; and what has been developed more recently, which relates not exactly to justification by faith, but to the assembly, the Spirit of God here and the formation of the assembly; the righteousness, or legality of that position has to be established. The word legality is used in the same sense in which it is applied to Matthew 1 to bring out the righteousness of Christ’s claim to the Messiahship; and so what happened a hundred and twenty-five years ago has to be shown to be right; to be legal. The position in which we are as walking together and meeting together as of the temple of God, all that attaches to the assembly; all that is most important, and the doctrine of it should be established.
CAM Do you think that the generations from Babylon to Christ correspond to the present time? The Reformation really was the saints coming out of Babylon, do you think?
JT That is what happened. There was a certain amount of that in the Reformation. They did not go very far, because the clerical principle was carried with it, but in the more recent revival that was abandoned as wrong; the clerical principle was renounced in that. So it has been said that the notion of a clergyman is dispensationally a sin against the Holy Spirit. That is one of the strongest points we can have before us.
EAL At the time of the Reformation the church of Rome wanted to establish that those who came out from it were legally wrong, but in truth they were morally right; that was the strength of their stand.
JT The letter to Thyatira deals with that — “the rest in Thyatira”. They were the separated ones that came out from Rome, and the Lord gives them promises. If we look at the end of Revelation 2, we shall see that. We have not time for it now, but the brethren ought to have it before them. It is the idea of separation.
FNW During the last one hundred and twenty-five years there have been certain difficulties and divisions. What would you say establishes the legality of our position today?
JT One point negatively would be the clerical element. Over against that is the ground of gathering; hence, “Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity ... and pursue righteousness,
[p. 184] faith, love, peace, with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart”, (2 Timothy 2:19 - 22). How are we to bring that into the ecclesiastical position? Matthew 18 helps us, because there the Lord says, “Where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them”, verse 20. The position is established in that way in two or three without a clergyman! The principle is the assembly meeting together, and going on together, governed by the Scriptures and recognising the Holy Spirit.
CFE Going back to John the baptist again, would you say that he stands alone in his ministry? He is not linked on with others in his ministry.
JT He never was really. He says in John 3: “He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all”, verses 30, 31. Earlier he had said, “The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices in heart because of the voice of the bridegroom: this my joy then is fulfilled”, verse 29. He finished there, you might say. He did not establish a system of his own at all. It was never intended that he d, although he made disciples, but he finished and disappeared in the acknowledgment of the glory of Christ. His joy was fulfilled in the thought that the Lord Jesus had the first place; indeed all the place.
AR Other gatherings of brethren today, I suppose, would claim the legal or right position.
JT The legal position is seen in the sense in which we are speaking, in what is right according to scripture. The genealogy here is established by law; that is, the facts presented in Scripture, as in the first chapter of Matthew. These names run down from Abraham to Christ, and He is proved to be the Messiah by what is stated, the Spirit of God inditing it. Chapter 4 shows what He is and what He can do. “And Jesus went round the whole of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the glad tidings of the kingdom, and healing [p. 185] every disease and every bodily weakness among the people. And his fame went out into the whole of Syria, and they brought to him all that were ill, suffering under various diseases and pains, and those possessed by demons, and lunatics, and paralytics; and he healed them”, verses 23, 24. Well, who could question His Messiahship? There it was! John sent messengers to Him later, asking, “Art thou the coming one? or are we to wait for another?” And He said, “Go, report to John what ye hear and see. Blind men see and lame walk; lepers are cleansed, and deaf hear; and dead are raised, and poor have glad tidings preached to them”. (Matthew 11:4,5). That was the testimony. It is a question of what He was and His power. He went about doing good for God was with Him.
As regards ourselves; that is, the assembly now, 1 and 2 Corinthians apply particularly. Chapter 14 of 1 Corinthians supposes conditions in Corinth. Well, suppose there were three meetings there: one was a Jewish synagogue, one an idol temple, and the other a Christian assembly. What is to be said about these? A man comes into the Christian assembly. He may have gone into the others, too. What would he say about the heathen temple? What would he say about the Jewish synagogue? But what would he say about the Christian assembly? God is there. That is a legal point, and the evidence was that prophesying was going on. Men were prophesying, bringing God to souls; and the man who came in felt the power of that, and he fell down and worshipped God, and he reported that God was among them. That is the point. Let that be clear! Let us see to it that there is something like that, that God is among us.
AAT Would you say that is the kingdom of the heavens?
JT That all enters into what we are saying; we are dealing with the kingdom of the heavens; that is power.
[p. 186] The kingdom is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit and that is what we are dealing with. Righteousness is the leading feature in Matthew.
APT In the beginning of chapter 5, the legality of the Lord’s position is maintained. It synchronises with 1 Corinthians 14. The blessing is where the Lord is. He says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens”. And then He follows on in a delightful way, the sequence of being in the atmosphere of the assembly.
JT The word ‘blessed’ is mentioned nine times. What really enters into the point of the assembly in 1 Corinthians 14 is that blessing is there in the power of the Spirit, operating in prophesying.
RWS It is not sufficient to speak of good meetings or getting converts; that in itself does not establish the legality of the position at all.
JT That is the thing to look into because we know that thousands of people who are spoken of as converted are not real. In large evangelistic meetings this has been going on. But where is the formation resulting from such conversions? God is to be glorified in the assembly unto all generations of the age of ages, (Ephesians 3:21). And if those converts are not in the assembly what can we say of them?
JHH Does Peter give a good word in Acts 10:34 when he says, “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him”? Is that the legality we look for?
JT Very good; he that works righteousness.
WFK What does “poor in spirit” mean?
JT It would be poor in the sense in which the Lord was poor. We may be poor in that sense although we have means in a literal sense. It is said, “Blessed is he that understandeth the poor”. (Psalm 41:1), referring [p. 187] undoubtedly to the Messiah. It is to be noted that the Lord is not spoken of as having money in His possession. He had to ask to be shown a penny, (Luke 20:24).
AI Would chapter 5 bear on the features of the kingdom?
JT Yes. The verses read speak of it; it is a question of teaching. It is really a legislative chapter. There are seven mountains mentioned in Matthew, and this chapter treats of one of them. Verse 1 says, “But seeing the crowds, he went up into the mountain, and having sat down, his disciples came to him; and, having opened his mouth, he taught them”. We have this list of things that are mentioned, which are features of the kingdom. And so in the final passage we read, verse 44 to the end, we have the disciples likened to their Father; that is, to God. So the Lord says, “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who insult you and persecute you, that ye may be the sons of your Father who is in the heavens; for he makes his sun rise on evil and good, and sends rain on just and unjust. For if ye should love those who love you, what reward have ye? Do not also the tax-gatherers the same? And if ye should salute your brethren only, what do ye extraordinary? Do not also the Gentiles the same? Be ye therefore perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”. That is what is in heaven now — par excellence The Father in His holy character is brought down to where we are; we are enjoined to reflect here below what God is.
WR Is it not a question of God being in us and among us?
JT The characteristics of God are to be seen in the brethren; those who are righteous; only it is here our heavenly Father; and He is called your Father.
JAP Does this work out in Job? At the beginning he was speaking of his righteousness, but at the end he prayed for his [p. 188] friends.
JT Yes. That is real righteousness; just like what is before us — he is like God.
AI Does teaching such as we are having at this time have in mind the thought of perfection?
JT That is what is stated: “Be ye therefore perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”. That is indeed a great idea, and it is brought down to ourselves.
CFE It would seem as if there is an inner circle here; the crowds are not brought into it. “His disciples came to him”.
JT “But seeing the crowds, he went up into the mountain, and having sat down, his disciples came to him”, verse 1. The crowds did not go up there. The disciples went up. They thought it worth while and they went up; so with our meetings: relatively few come, but those that do come get instruction and blessing, generally.
ABP Is it significant that this teaching was on the mountain? Is it in keeping with the idea of the heavens?
JT I think so; the teaching is connected with the thought of moral elevation. There are seven mountains in this gospel; we have often noticed that, like the mountains round about Jerusalem in the Psalms. There is more that has its bearing on us in this passage than has come under review. We are not to be militant in the literal sense; we do not want to take the sword. We may have to suffer for that, because we are not like other men. All that enters into the instruction of this chapter. We are to be like our Father, who is in heaven; and we are to bless those that curse us; that is the idea. We do not avenge ourselves: “... not avenging yourselves, beloved, ... for it is written. Vengeance belongs to me, I will recompense, saith the Lord”, (Romans 12:19).