THE KINGDOM OF GOD (10)
[p. 210] THE KINGDOM OF GOD (10)
Matthew 13:1-18; Matthew 13:24-33; Matthew 13:44-52
JT The brethren will all be aware that we have been considering the kingdom of God, and we have now come to our last session on this subject. We have been engaged with the kingdom of God generally, in its abstract character, but it is thought that we should review this chapter because it treats of the kingdom in a somewhat mixed character; so that we have the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens. Perhaps, if we keep our minds on this term, we may have a clearer view than we have had. The chapter furnishes instruction as to the present form of the kingdom; not the abstract form that we have been engaged with. The mixed condition that has arisen is presented in this chapter in seven parables. The closing section, verses 51 and 52, show how the truth in the chapter works out in believers who are regarded by the Lord as discipled into the kingdom of the heavens. One such is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old. So that believers are thus furnished, as to the kingdom, with what is new first; namely. New Testament scriptures, or truth; and then, with what is old, namely. Old Testament scriptures. This is a matter of first importance for us because of the complicated conditions that have arisen in Christendom. We need to be discipled into the kingdom of the heavens; taught as pupils, so as to learn things as they are, with care and attention and with accuracy.
HH “Every scribe” would connect with the idea of accuracy.
JT I think it would, because a scribe is supposed to be an accurate man. He writes, and writing tends to accuracy. Inaccuracy is very prevalent among the brethren, especially in regard of what is mysterious. This chapter presents the kingdom in a mysterious sense, and we are very hazy about it. The thought is that we [p. 211] might gather help as to the mysteries of the kingdom. They are spoken of in this chapter and also in Mark 4 and in Luke 8. It is well understood, I think, by many, that mystery in Scripture refers to what is known by the initiated only. The public side is spoken to the crowds, and the Lord explains in verse 13 why He speaks in parables: “For this cause I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear nor understand; and in them is filled up the prophecy of Esaias, which says. Hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand, and beholding ye shall behold and not see; for the heart of this people has grown fat, and they have heard heavily with their ears, and they have closed their eyes as asleep, lest they should see with the eyes, and hear with the ears, and understand with the heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them”. (Isaiah 6) is quoted; a well known passage which refers to judicial blinding which came about in Israel because of their obduracy in refusing the ministry of the Lord. So that this parabolic ministry of the Lord has a judicial character. People are unable to see and understand because they have refused the truth. Hence, the refusal of the truth tends to this kind of judicial dealing on the part of God.
EAL It says here, “Hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand”. The footnote says it is an emphatic negative. Do you think our difficulty when we say that we cannot see things in the ministry may be because we have made up our minds in a self willed way not to see them?
JT We may shut our eyes to the truth. Therefore, if we characteristically do not see, and say so, we may be blinded by the judicial dealings of God which is a most solemn thing.
CN Does verse 16 give us the character of the initiated ones?
JT “But blessed are your eyes”, meaning they had [p. 212] been affected by God. The natural man does not understand what is of the Spirit, we are told in 1 Corinthians: “he cannot know them because they are spiritually discerned”, chapter 2:14. Therefore, it requires a work of God in each one of us if we are to understand; and so the word here is most precious: “But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear”. The Lord is speaking to His disciples.
ABP Does this link on with the word we had in John 3 about seeing the kingdom of God?
JT It is the same suggestion, because the Lord says: “Except any one be born anew he cannot see the kingdom of God”, (John 3:3). It corresponds very distinctly with this. The Lord says, “But blessed are your eyes because they see”, which would mean the disciples were the subjects of new birth.
SJH What is the difference in the setting? In another gospel they come to him in the house to inquire. They are initiated there, are they not? But this seems a little different.
JT If we look at verse 36 we shall see what opens up the matter: “Then, having dismissed the crowds, he went into the house; and his disciples came to him”. He is taking up a new position, in the house, which is a most important matter in the understanding of the chapter. Another thing is that in verse 1 we have, “And that same day Jesus went out from the house and sat down by the sea”. The house He has left is the Jewish house. He had been teaching in the Jewish position, but now He has left it and has sat down by the sea, which would allude to the gentiles, to ourselves.
HH Would that introduce a new start with the Lord leaving the house?
JT He is in the field now, to which sowing applies. The Jewish position was already under tillage by God and there was no need of sowing, the Lord being in operation there, but it had failed. The Jews turned [p. 213] against the Lord. I believe that is what is meant. The Jewish position is given up in verse 1, and hence the idea of the sowing which refers to the gentiles.
WWM In verse 14 it says, “In them is filled up the prophecy of Esaias”. The thing is filled out now.
JT That is right. The time had come for it, which is a very solemn matter. It is quoted from the chapter that tells us the time when the prophet himself was converted. “In the year of the death of king Uzziah, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. Seraphim were standing above him ... . And one called to the other and said, Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:1 - 3). Then he speaks about having his lips cleansed with a coal from the altar and this prophecy follows. He becomes capable of uttering such a prophecy.
RWS In chapter 12 they had attributed the works of the Lord to Beelzebub. Does that make it a moral necessity that he should go out to the nations?
JT I would think so. They have disqualified themselves. It is in that chapter the Lord says, “Whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the coming one”, verse 32. That remark is the basis of chapter 13, because the parabolic teaching comes in so as to hide the truth from those that were apostate. The truth is there. The parable has the truth, but it hides it; and in order that we should see what is hidden, in that sense, we need to be born again. The Jewish system will not help us, nor will any other merely religious system.
WFK Is the kingdom a mystery to the world?
JT It is. That is what the word implies; although the word “mystery” has also a positive sense in the truth being there.
WR Have you in mind that the judicial teaching is one of reduction? In verse 8 it speaks of the fruit:
... “[p. 214] one a hundred, one sixty, and one thirty”. Would that be that the judicial ministry is on the lines of reduction rather than increase?
JT The persons who get the good of it are reduced in number. The judicial dealings of God would not necessarily reduce the number of those who get the gain. Mark speaks of thirty, sixty and one hundred — the up line — as if it is the idea of encouragement in Mark. Where there is real evangelisation there is encouragement and increase. But Matthew is severe in dealing with us. He is leading up to the assembly, and if we allow ourselves to be blinded because we belong to any system of teaching, or whatever it may be, we are apt to come under this judicial dealing.
HH Would what you say about the assembly be touched on in the end of chapter 11? “No one knows the Son but the Father”, verse 27. Would these chapters have that in mind?
JT Yes. The Lord says in that chapter, “I praise thee. Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes”, verse 25. The wise and prudent are the persons that are shut out judicially.
CAM Would you say that the fact that this is addressed to everybody — it is addressed to the crowd although it is a parable — might have the effect of awakening some as to whether they were in these classes? Would it cause concern in their souls, and would it be a sort of test to us as to whether we are to be classified with those who are hindered?
JT We are challenged, I should think.
CAM If so, it would show that there is something in the way of a work of God in us.
JT In verse 1, where the Lord goes out from the house and sits down by the sea, the allusion would be to leaving Judaism on account of its hardening and darkening influence, and then we are told, “And great [p. 215] crowds were gathered together to him, so that going on board ship himself he sat down, and the whole crowd stood on the shore. And he spoke to them many things in parables”, verses 2, 3. That is where the matter is broached. It is parabolic teaching, as containing a judicial element. The crowds would have many among them that were judicially blinded. They might be there with curiosity and the Lord is hiding the thing from them, and is putting it into parables, but the initiated would understand.
CAM Someone who may come into this room, may go out with a sense that it was all meaningless to him, but he might go out with a great concern because he could not understand.
JT Quite so, if he did, there would be hope for him.
AAT Is the house in verse 36 the assembly?
JT Well, it is a change-over from what we have been having inasmuch as the truth of the assembly is opened up in it. We shall see that later. It would indicate that the assembly is in mind; the teaching is such as you might get in the school of Tyrannus, for instance, in Acts 19. It was a severe sort of school, but it was a school in which the truth was unfolded and learned.
EAL A man who recently attacked the truth said that he sat in the meetings and did not understand the truth: yet he attacked it.
JT Quite so; it is a very solemn thing. It would mean that he is not born again. It is one that is born again that may be regarded as having hope of seeing and entering into the kingdom of God.
WWM The Lord says, “Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens”, verse 11.
JT Quite so. And it goes on to say, “... but to them it is not given; for whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall be caused to be in abundance; but he who has not, even what he has shall be taken away from him”, verse 12. “For whoever has, to him shall be given”; this implies that he is an industrious learner in the kingdom of God. He has something. These are searching things, and they are characteristic of Matthew, because the assembly is involved in Matthew.
AR When does this first sowing take place?
JT I would say that it alludes to Paul’s ministry. Of course, sowing applied under the twelve in Acts 2 when Peter began to preach, but that was a Jewish position, externally, whereas when Paul and Barnabas began to preach, they went among the gentiles and began to sow for a crop, but they could not get it among the gentiles any more than among the Jews, unless God worked, but in Acts 13 God did work.
FSC What would you say about the Canaanitish woman in chapter 15? Would she be an outgrowth of the Lord’s ministry?
JT She was an exception, of course. It was the exception that came into view in the time of the Lord’s ministry because He was still ministering among the Jews, but the branches ran over the wall (Genesis 49:22). If you look at Romans 15, you get what the Lord’s ministry was. “For I say that Jesus Christ became a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises of the fathers; and that the nations should glorify God for mercy; according as it is written. For this cause I will confess to thee among the nations, and will sing to thy name. And again he says, Rejoice, nations, with his people. And again. Praise the Lord, all ye nations, and let all the peoples laud him”, verses 8 - 10. The Lord, in the days of His flesh was a Minister of the circumcision to confirm the truth of God and He carried it on in a wide way. He went to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and He told the twelve that they should not go in the way of the nations or the Samaritans, but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. That is this gospel. The woman of Canaan was not of the lost sheep [p. 217] of the house of Israel, but she said to the Lord that her daughter was ill and had a demon. The Lord did not answer her, and she cried after Him, and then He says, “I have not been sent save to the lost sheep of Israel’s house”. Then, later. He says, “It is not well to take the bread of the children and cast it to the dogs. But she said. Yea, Lord; for even the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from the table of their masters. Then Jesus answering said to her, O woman, thy faith is great”. The truth was that she took her place as a dog and got blessing.
This is our own position. The gentiles have come into blessing because they have taken a low place and accepted the Lord; whereas the Jews refused Him.
APT Would Paul’s remarks in Acts 26 confirm your remark that Paul began to sow according to the Lord’s commission to him? He says “... and the nations, to whom I send thee”, verse 17.
JT Quite so; he was formally sent to the nations. He was not really raised up for the circumcision; in fact, in the general assembly in Jerusalem, the leading apostles said to Paul particularly, that he should go to the nations and they should go to the circumcision. (Galatians 2:7 - 9).
AR He says to the saints at Corinth, “Paul plants”. Would that be beyond sowing?
JT The emphasis there would be on God giving the increase. Paul and Apollos worked together.
WWM In the parable of Luke 15, would the Lord have in mind that the elder son represented the Jews, who would not come in, whereas the nations, represented by the younger son, did come in?
JT Just so; because the prodigal says to his Father, “I have sinned against heaven and before thee; I am no longer worthy to be called thy son”, verse 21. He refers to the bounty of God through the heavens, in what is given in a world-wide way, for “the heavens declare the glory of God”. They are not limited to any nation or persons. They are universal, and the prodigal had failed [p. 218] at first, but he acknowledged that he had failed, “I have sinned against heaven and before thee; I am no longer worthy to be called thy son”. He comes on to the ground of the Canaanitish woman because he acknowledges his unworthiness.
CHH Would this be spoken of prophetically in Isaiah 49 where the Lord says that He laboured in vain and spent His strength for naught? And then, in the following verses there is the indication that He should be glorified among the gentiles.
JT Yes. He would raise up the tribes of Israel, too. And so Simeon in Jerusalem refers to the Lord, as in his arms, and says to God, “Now thou lettest thy bondman go, according to thy word, in peace; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples; a light for revelation of the gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel”. The gentiles come first. It is remarkable that Simeon should say that, as if God had the gentiles in mind before the Jews. It is characteristic of Luke. It is a question of the throne of grace. It is a question of grace on the throne, and working out unlimitedly to the gentiles, so that Simeon says, “... a light for revelation of the gentiles”. He is to bring the gentiles into evidence. The word ‘revelation’ means unveiling; to bring them out to be seen; to be revealed; no longer veiled, as the gentiles were. There was a veil over the gentiles, but now the light is to reveal the gentiles, to unveil them for blessing, and then the Jews come in after; as it adds, “... and the glory of thy people Israel”.
DP Would this judicial teaching of which you have been speaking be seen in Acts 13 when Elymas the magician is seeking to turn away Sergius Paulus from the faith? Paul said, “O full of all deceit and all craft: son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness ... thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season”, verses 10, 11.
JT That would mean that the Jews would come in [p. 219] for judicial blindness just as we have been saying, according to Isaiah 6, but it was only for a season, not for ever; and so it is now. The Jews, we know, are coming in for blessing, but now they are in darkness.
JTJr It is remarkable how the blessing is extended to the Jews right to the end in the book of Acts. Paul graciously takes them into his lodging. Would that not indicate how gracious God is with certain elements today in order to reach them?
JT It would be like the father of the prodigal with the elder brother. He begged him to come in, he would do all morally possible for him, but he would not go in. That is the position of the Jew now, whereas the gentiles are coming in.
HH Simeon said, “This child is set for the fall and rising up of many in Israel”.
WCR It says in the last chapter of Acts, “... persuading them concerning Jesus, both from the law of Moses and the prophets, from early morning to evening”, verse 23.
JT It is remarkable the time he spent on them. The Lord Jesus seemed to be in a hurry to get to heaven at the end of the gospel by Luke. There is no period of forty days referred to in that book. It would almost seem from the text as if the Lord went up to heaven the day He arose. It brings out how He had heaven in mind; not simply to be there, but to carry on administratively what was in the mind of God; because administration has a great place with God, to make things effective. And then He says to the apostles, “Do ye remain in the city”, as if there were no other, “till ye be clothed with power from on high”, Luke 24:49. It would seem that what was in His heart was to administer to the Jews. He also said “that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations beginning at Jerusalem”, verse 47. It would stress the idea of grace — the wonderful grace of God that was coming in and [p. 220] that it should get to the Jew first. That was the point, the Jew first and then the gentiles. So Acts 28, which has been quoted, says that Paul laboured all day with them at Rome, but in vain. The salvation of God was sent to the nations and they will receive it.
CHH Psalm 81 is beautiful: “Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, that Israel had walked in my ways! I would soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries ... And he would have fed them with the finest of wheat; yea, with honey out of the rock would I have satisfied thee”, verses 13 - 16. It is wonderfully tender language.
CN Acts 13:46,47 says, “It was necessary that the word of God should be first spoken to you; but, since ye thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the nations; for thus has the Lord enjoined us”.
JT Yes. It looks as if God at the very outset brought circumstances about so as to enhance the idea of grace. It is the throne of grace; not the throne of mercy, but the throne of grace. God can move out freely into the conditions He has set up. He can labour freely according to what is in His own heart.
RWS Has not the system of sin become very complex, especially ecclesiastically, and is that why we have these seven parables, so that an instructed believer can chart his way through the evil?
JT I think that is very good, because we have to chart our way through, as you say. These parables contemplate a mixed condition. The kingdom of God has taken the form of a mixed condition through man’s mind being allowed in the teaching. The position is darkened and these parables are intended that we might make our way through. As discipled into the kingdom of the heavens, we can make our way through.
Perhaps we should proceed further in the chapter. Verse 24 reads, “Another parable set he before them,
[p. 221] saying, The kingdom of the heavens has become like a man sowing good seed in his field”. That is the Lord. The seed is good, but then, “While men slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel amongst the wheat, and went away”. That is the work of the Lord’s enemy, which we know historically took place very early in the history of the assembly. The enemy began to sow something in the way of imitation. The darnel resembles wheat, and the devil chose to imitate in order to defeat the divine teaching.
HH The note says, ‘A useless weed resembling wheat’.
JT It goes on to say that “his enemy came and sowed darnel amongst the wheat, and went away”, meaning that the devil knew his work would be done as the evil was sown. It would work itself, and we know historically what has happened. Therefore it says, “But when the blade shot up and produced fruit, then appeared the darnel also”. The devil knew that would happen. “And the bondmen of the householder came up and said to him. Sir, hast thou not sown good seed in thy field? whence then has it darnel? And he said to them, A man that is an enemy has done this”. How the Lord felt that! The enemy got in on the principle of imitation. He had failed to get in by persecution, but imitation succeeded. “And the bondmen said to him. Wilt thou then that we should go and gather it up? But he said. No; lest in gathering the darnel ye should root up the wheat with it. Suffer both to grow together unto the harvest, and in time of the harvest I will say to the harvestmen, Gather first the darnel and bind it into bundles to burn it; but the wheat bring together into my granary”, verses 28 - 30. Now some one might say from that parable, that the good and the bad must continue together, and we must mix with them, whereas there are other principles that deal with that; that is to say, 1 Corinthians deals with evil amongst the brethren — put it away. “Remove the wicked person from amongst yourselves”, (1 Corinthians 5:13). So there is no tolerance of evil in the fellowship.
ABP Does the apostle endeavour to deal with the tares of Judaism at Galatia, in order that the fruits of the Spirit might come to light?
JT Quite so; and so it is now that we have withdraw from iniquity. These are principles that enter into this, because we cannot make Scripture contradict itself, We must not assume that Christians can mingle with unconverted people and take the Lord’s supper with unconverted people, because Scripture says the contrary. We are told that we must come out from among them, (2 Corinthians 6:14 - 18). And, “Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity”, (2 Timothy 2:19). So that we do not have to walk with unconverted or ungodly people. We must withdraw from them.
ABP Does the parable of the seine support that? “They gathered the good into vessels and cast the worthless out”.
JT Just so; these parables are very complete because the truth is spread out in them. We can see the truth as to separation there so that we can understand.
This parable of the darnel runs on to the end of verse 30, and then it says, in verse 36, “His disciples came to him, saying. Expound to us the parable of the darnel of the field”. And the Lord did expound it, as we have seen.
The next section is another parable: “Another parable set he before them, saying. The kingdom of the heavens sowed in his field; which is less indeed than all seeds, but when it is grown is greater than herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and roost in its branches”, verses 31, 32. So that the evil that the devil sowed among the wheat is now showing itself as overshadowing everything. Mere profession is overshadowing the truth in real Christianity, and this parable deals [p. 223] with that. It typifies inflatory conditions where God’s people are darkened by wishing to be great and have a name in this world.
AR Would you call that Protestantism?
JT Well, it includes what Protestantism has become; it makes room for the birds of the heaven; that is, Christian Science and modernism and many other whereas, Catholicism cages the evil, but it is there in a worse form then even in Protestantism, and of course it has the greater pretension; it claims everything.
HH Does the word “Christendom” cover it?
JT Yes; as corrupt — it covers the whole position. We have to differentiate between Protestantism and Catholicism, but from the point of view from which we are speaking Christendom is a huge growth overshadowing everything else of the kind.
DP A believer, in coming out of those systems of which you have been speaking, would be required to have a judgment according to the truth about them?
JT Quite so; even as regards Babylon. “Come out of her, my people, that ye have not fellowship in her sins”, (Revelation 18:4). God has His people there, like the wheat, of which we have been speaking. According to 2 Corinthians the word is, “Wherefore come out from the midst of them” (that is, certain specified persons who have adopted evil), “and be separated, saith the Lord, and touch not what is unclean, and I will receive you; and I will be to you for a Father, and ye shall be to me for sons and daughters”, (2 Corinthians 6:17,18).
ABP In the first parable the birds of the air come and take away the seed that has been sown; but in this parable they have a roosting-place in the system.
JT Quite so; a roosting-place, whereas in Revelation 18 you have the idea of a cage or hold of every unclean and hated bird. I believe that Roman Catholicism cages these wicked people so they cannot [p. 224] have liberty.
JTJr A tree is large enough for the birds to have freedom, and does the idea of liberty, too, come in; they can go to any tree?
JT They do what they like and go where they like; go from one church to another if they wish to; but not in Roman Catholicism, they are caged there.
WCR Would so-called Open-Brethrenism be like the tree?
JT In measure; that is, there is a refusal to acknowledge the truth. The truth was presented but they refused to acknowledge it, and carried on in spite of the protest that was made and the truth that was presented to them. They are still carrying on. Of course, it is fair that we should differentiate and not put them on the same level as others of whom we are speaking, but still, it is a solemn thing that they have refused the truth of fellowship, and the truth of the assembly. There is not much to be said as regards Protestantism or Roman Catholicism, for they hardly touch that, but so-called Open-Brethrenism did touch it, and the question of fellowship was brought to their attention, and they refused it.
JTJr The importance of the wall in Nehemiah came in at that point. It was a question of the wall. They said, “Come, let us meet together in the villages in the plain of Ono” — they would make it all one level.
JT But Nehemiah would not accept it.
AR They did not understand the truth of 1 Corinthians 10: “The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of the Christ?” verse 16.
JT Quite so.
HH One thing that might be said is that many persons connected with that system but not acquainted with the history of it, when they get light, leave it, thank God. Many of our brethren have come from them.
SJH Does the lesson in the next parable refer to bad teaching?
JT “The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until it had been all leavened”, verse 33. This is a parable of the kingdom and has mystery attached to it, and the idea of leaven is that it corrupts the whole body.
JS Is this the enemy now working on the inside?
JT It is a woman, which would mean corruption.
SJH It is connected with the food? The teaching that some companies put out has something in it that would innate those that partake of it.
JT Quite so. How very searching all that is! Then it is said, “All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and without a parable he did not speak to them, so that that should be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the world’s foundation”, verses 34, 35. This is another quotation. We noticed one earlier, from Isaiah. And then we have this important point as to the house in verse 36. The crowds are left outside; but the Lord goes into the house and His disciples come to Him. It is a question of who will go to Him in the house. The crowds are dismissed. That is a point in this gospel. They are not interested enough to follow, but the disciples are. When the Lord went up into the mountain in chapter 5 the disciples came to Him, showing the disciples are real and the Lord recognises that. He does not ask for them; they come to Him. We are left free in that sense so as to bring out what is in us. The work of God will lead in that direction. They want further light. “Expound to us the parable of the darnel of the field. But he answering said. He that sows the good seed is the Son of man”. And so the Lord opens up what we have already touched on. Verse 44 says, “The kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure hid in the field, which a man having found has hid, and for the joy of it goes and sells all whatever he has, and buys that field”. There are two parables that are somewhat alike. The next reads, “Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls; and having found one pearl of great value, he went and sold all whatever he had and bought it”, verses 45, 46. These two really allude to the assembly, and, therefore, our hearts ought to burn within us as we touch them. They present the greatest thing, especially the second one; that is, what the Lord saw in the assembly. How we should cherish it! He was seeking beautiful pearls but He found one and He was detained by that. He is arrested by it, as it were; there is nothing like it. Although the Lord Jesus is in the highest heavens, to Him there is nothing like the assembly.
JS Is that why He presents Himself as Son of man in that connection? He sows as the Son of man.
JT The Son of man is a term leading outside of Judaism.
AR In connection with the pearl, it says that the merchant sells all whatever he had, and in connection with the treasure it is whatever he has. Does that suggest purpose?
JT The idea of all that he had is historical — all that he had. All that he has is a present matter. We ought to go on that line. All that he has is what is going on; those that are likely to be subjects of the gospel: the treasure; it is indefinite. He knows its value, and He does not want others to know. He hides the treasure, and “for the joy of it”, buys the field in which it is. “Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls; and having found one pearl of great value, he went and sold all whatever he had and bought it”. But whatever He has would be the present time; it occurs in verse 44. It is an immediate transaction.
HH That is an interesting thought — connecting the treasure with [p. 227] the gospel.
JT It contemplates the gospel; what accrues from it. Paul and Barnabas would be governed by this. Hence the teaching in the assembly for a whole year, (Acts 11:26).
JAP Is this the same as Paul referred to in Colossians? He says, “I became minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given me towards you to complete the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but has now been made manifest to his saints, to whom God would make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the nations, which is Christ in you the hope of glory”. (Colossians 1:25 - 27). Is that what he refers to here; what has been hidden all down the ages?
JT I suppose the idea would be there, but the application of it in a practical or concrete way would be, “Your life is hid with the Christ in God”, chapter 3: 3. The Colossians had to learn that because they were in danger of making a show of what they had received. They would mingle with the philosophers as Christians often do and make a show of the ministry and the like. So he says, “Your life is hid”; yourselves, in effect, but your life. The real life of Christians is hidden. It is not to be made a show of in this sense at all, although it ought to be a testimony, of course; but it is not to be displayed as a mere toy or adornment. It is for God and for Christ. It is a hidden matter.
JTJr We have to keep out of public sight as much as possible.
JT It is not building a cathedral — you may build a “room” but it is only to accommodate the brethren.
ABP Does the word “as unknown, and well known” cover it?
JT Yes; and the upper room at Jerusalem would mean that. They were well-known, but when they came from the mount of Olives, after the Lord Jesus went up to heaven, they went to the upper room in Jerusalem;
[p. 228] they did not build anything like what is called a church. They just contented themselves with an upper room, and evidently it was in a house.
APT Is there a delightful significance in the fact that the Lord, speaking in verse 44, brings the thing into view first: “The kingdom ... is like a treasure hid in the field”, but in verse 45, a person comes into view first: “... like a merchant“
JT Yes; it is a person, but a merchant, that is, one with skill, able to discern and value what he was looking for. He was looking for beautiful pearls. “And having found one pearl of great value, he went and sold all whatever he had and bought it”. The pearl, therefore, as was remarked, refers to purpose. It is a deliberate matter. The assembly was in the Lord’s mind in becoming man. It antecedes Israel. Someone once said to F.E.R., ‘Why do you make so much of the assembly? and he answered. What is there to make anything of except the assembly?’ And that is the truth here.
HH It is worth as much now as when He bought it. It raises the question as to what we are doing in relation to the assembly.
ABP At the treasury the Lord saw the rich casting in their gifts and He saw also the widow. Does that enter into this?
JT No doubt it is suggestive of what the assembly is. I mean to say, her soul was taken up with what is of God. It was the treasury of God — not simply the money, but the treasury of God, which now would be the assembly.
Question Would you say the true preacher today is digging up this treasure which is hid in the field?
JT Quite so, not making a show of it or of what he is doing but serving in a lowly way — “your life is hid” — and gathering the converts up when the time comes so that they should be in fellowship, and as in fellowship, under [p. 229] reproach.
AR Do you think these parables suggest our day? Was the Lord looking forward to our day?
JT The Lord undoubtedly looked down the line, and I am sure He is especially interested in our day, not to think of ourselves, but of Philadelphia’s day. That is the day. We read in Numbers 7 that each prince had his day. There were twelve days and each man had a day to present his offering, and that was to express his love for God and for Christ. But these parables cover the whole dispensation.
HH Philadelphia would be the pearl?
JT It would, in character. It is characterised by keeping Christ’s word and not denying His name: “Thou ... hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name”, and so on. It is loyal to Christ and loved by Him. But the one pearl represents the whole assembly.
CAM I wondered, in that connection, would it be right to connect the completion of the age in any sense with the finishing days of the assembly on earth?
JT I would think so; not in the character of the remnant but in what is in character as the whole assembly, the Lord clothing it with that thought. And so, “I also will keep thee” is the assembly.
He says to Philadelphia, “I will cause that they shall come and shall do homage before thy feet”. (Revelation 3:9). The “thy” is the assembly. The Lord has nothing less than that in mind. “They ... shall know that I have loved thee”. That is the assembly.
AI Why do you think the thought of joy comes into verse 44? It says, “... for the joy of it goes and sells all whatever he has”.
JT I think it is what He has, in the gospel and the fruits of the gospel, what the treasure affords in the working out of it; and then verse 45 is the thing viewed as the assembly according to plan or purpose — “one pearl of great value”. The language referring to the treasure [p. 230] is not so definite and direct the field is immediately before the man’s mind.
CHH What is the distinction between the field in verse 38, where it says, “The field is the world”, and the field in verse 44?
JT I was thinking that the field of verse 44 is some specific field, meaning that it is the field out of which the Lord would obtain the treasure, as the western world, for instance; Japheth’s world — “that field”. Perhaps it is more limited in size than the other, but it is that particular field. The treasure that the Lord has in mind in the gospel was found in the western world.
SJH Would that correspond with the land of Havilah of Genesis 2? “The gold of that land is good”.
JT There is what corresponds in that, but, of course, we do not get the nations there. I think “that field” would allude to the division of the earth after Noah. It is a question of the division of the earth, I think. The field in verse 38 is the world. It is the whole idea without specifying any part of it, but “that field” would be more particularly some part of it which afforded material for the assembly through the gospel. I think it is Japheth’s part of the world. There is the suggestion of the Lord’s discrimination in the gospel field, that He differentiates certain territory. When Paul would go into Asia the Spirit would not suffer him, meaning there was somewhere else He wished him to go to, and the man of Macedonia clearly points to the West: “Pass over into Macedonia and help us”. That is where the assembly came from, although at the beginning western Asia yielded much.
HH Not the heathen world — the far East — but where the Spirit has wrought.
JT Yes. In heathen Asia polygamy is a disgrace to humanity and detrimental to the gospel and especially the assembly. Of course, we cannot say much as to the western world now, but still the idea of one man and one [p. 231] woman linked in marriage is professedly maintained there, and that is not for nothing.
ABP Did Naomi have the idea when she instructed Ruth not to be found in any other than the field of Boaz?
JT That is a scripture bearing instructively on what is before us.
Question The Lord said to the disciples, “Lift up your eyes and behold the fields, for they are already white to harvest”, (John 4:35). Would that be the field in which the treasure was hid?
JT It is “fields” there; general. But the idea of the field is limited except it is specified as in verse 38. But the field of verse 44 is contrasted to a city or town and is more limited (see note), therefore we have in the Proverbs, “Prepare thy work without, and put thy field in order, and afterwards build thy house”, (Proverbs 24:27).
What is said about verses 51 and 52 ought to be carried away with us. “Have ye understood all these things?” One wonders sometimes as to what we carry away. “They say to him. Yea, Lord. And he said to them, For this reason every scribe discipled to the kingdom of the heavens is like a man that is a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old”. That is what he has; not in his bookcase, but in his treasure.
WFK What form would this discipline take?
JT Well, the discipline of school education. Enoch would be the model. The name Enoch means disciplined. I believe it would be the idea from the very start of the human race, that man is to learn.
WFK Every scribe is discipled.
JT The word ‘scribe’, as we have already noted, means a man who writes. David’s cabinet included such an officer. We have our Bibles, and of course the thought is not that we open them and leave them in the meeting room, but carry them home and read them and there speak about the things that are read.
HH It says, “things new and old”; not old and new. We are tested by present ministry.
WFK Why is it a householder?
JT It is a good word. It is important to the assembly that every elder brother should have that character. He has a care for things — something he is responsible for — and he comes to the meeting in order to fulfil that responsibility.
CHH This would imply the previous instruction in Matthew? Is it like a culmination of the idea of the house?
JT Yes. One has often noticed how prominent the idea of the house is in Matthew, and it seems nowhere more so than in this chapter.