"LET NOT THE ASSEMBLY BE CHARGED"
“LET NOT THE ASSEMBLY BE CHARGED”
HCMacG It was inquired of you last week if you could help us in regard to administration in the matter of gifts distributed in the assembly, especially that the assembly should not be unduly charged. The matter was brought up in ministering to cases of need, that we should have the facts before we bring up any cases to be ministered to. You stressed in the care meeting the importance of the assembly, and that its dignity should be maintained.
JT It is to be understood, therefore, that we are not now taking up the subject of the assembly as a whole, but in relation to the administration of certain funds that are available from the contributions of the saints, so that we might see how the assembly functions in distribution. The closing verse of the passage we read was particularly in mind in the remarks that were made at our last care meeting. It is said, “Let not the assembly be charged”. That is, some specific thing is in mind that is not to be a charge on the assembly. “If any believing man or woman have widows, let them impart relief to them, and let not the assembly be charged, that it may impart relief to those that are widows indeed”. In view of the subject before us it may be remarked that the assembly is viewed in Scripture as functioning in several important respects. It functions above all in the service of God. The Lord Jesus Himself said that He would sing praises to God in the assembly, showing that it is a vessel capable of such service. The praises of God are sung there; the Lord Himself sings them. Then it is also said that the all-various wisdom of God is to be learned in the assembly by the angels, which is a very important matter too. It is said also that there is to be glory to God “in the assembly in Christ Jesus unto all generations of the age of ages”, (Ephesians 3:21), that is, in the great service [p. 234] of the assembly. Then we are told that the assembly prays, and several other features are attributed to it. For instance, the assembly is said to have ‘ears’, meaning that it hears what is said as to the things of God and takes up what is heard and uses it, it may be, for administration or other things, it is on the alert for all that relates to God. These are in mind, not to be treated of, but to indicate how wide the subject is. The feature now before us is the matter of distribution, or administration, of the gifts of the saints to the Levites that maintain the service of God, and to meet the need of the poor.
AR You have suggested the high level of the assembly.
JT That was in mind; the high level in which she is set and in which she is to be set eternally; for it is said that she comes down from God out of heaven having the glory of God, and her shining like a most precious stone; evidently to function in the millennium, and to function eternally: “unto all generations of the age of ages”. Hence, it has been thought that certain impressions have obtained that the assembly may be used to meet the idea of giving to persons, who, while in fellowship and while worthy, are not in need. Therefore, they do not come within the range of the assembly’s service in this sense. This verse that we have quoted says, covering these cases, “Let not the assembly be charged”. That is, a particular charge, although admissible otherwise, is not to be made on the assembly. It is to be met otherwise.
JAP Are all the brethren Levites?
JT Well, that is somewhat a big question, because if we go back to the types, the sons of Levi were taken account of from one month old and upward. They were held for service from a month old, but entered on it only at a mature age. In Numbers the total number of about twenty-three thousand was reduced in view of the service imposed upon them, to about eight thousand. (See Numbers 3 and 4). They were to serve beginning at the [p. 235] age of thirty, and they were offered as a wave-offering before Jehovah. They were divided into three kinds of service: that of Kohath, of Merari and of Gershon. They had no territory assigned to them in the land. The tithes of Israel, offered to Jehovah, were to be their portion, and they had in addition to that forty-eight cities in which to dwell. That is in Joshua, chapter 21, but the service properly is to be seen in Numbers. The question has just been asked whether we are all Levites, and what has been remarked is to show what has to be borne in mind, that those in active service were to be particularly looked after; always a charge on Israel, Deuteronomy 14:27 - 29; therefore, they come within the range of our subject. The Levites come first in the order for consideration, and then the stranger, and then the fatherless and the widow; so that the poor, in that sense, come last.
APf Would not verse 17 of our chapter bear on what you say? “Let the elders who take the lead among the saints well be esteemed worthy of double honour, specially those labouring in word and teaching”.
JT Quite so. Eldership came in especially through Paul. They are included in levitical work.
WWM You referred to the Levites who are in active service. Would they be primarily in the minds of the saints in a care meeting in view of their current service more so than those who may have served in that capacity but are more or less inactive now?
JT I think the idea is those who are active, although in general they all are a charge. The whole house of Levi was a charge on the nation, because they had no land given them. They had cities but no land, so that they were to be a charge on the tithes of the whole house of Israel, and today, of course, on the assembly.
TEH When a Levite became fifty years of age he was not to serve any longer, but minister in the tent with his brethren. Would that involve anything in the way [p. 236] of activity?
JT It would be whatever he was capable of. There was an earlier age too, a sort of novitiate beginning at twenty-five, showing that above and below the regular age persons may be employed according to what they have ability for. In the time of David the age was reduced to twenty, the period of service being from twenty to fifty.
TNW Would you say what services are included in levitical work today?
JT Elders and deacons would be included, only their work is not so distinct as it was at the beginning, and thus they are not much in the minds of brethren now. There are two words used for eldership: one is the idea of bishop, which means overseer, and the other is the idea of an old person, an experienced man. Their services are usually local and hence do not involve travelling. I think the idea generally in levitical service is that persons devote themselves to the ministry, such as the gospel and the ministry of the word of God. These require gift. Levitical service took the form of carrying things while the children of Israel were moving in the wilderness. Each of those mentioned had to carry certain things. Now that would mean carrying things that relate to the assembly or the service of God generally, things, not in a physical sense now, but spiritual or moral things.
ANW “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that is treading out corn”, (1 Corinthians 9:9); and, “The workman is worthy of his hire”, Luke 10:7. Is this confined to monetary remunerations?
JT 1 Corinthians 9 enlarges on this. Paul speaks of surrendering, or not asserting, his rights in certain things which involved monetary considerations. For instance, he says that the preacher of the gospel should live of it, which would refer to monetary support. And he also says he took hire from certain churches for the sake of the Corinthians; that is, he received money from [p. 237] them which the Corinthians should have provided (see 2 Corinthians 11:8).
APT The Lord used that word ‘hire’ Himself. About a son of peace He said, “And in the same house abide, eating and drinking such things as they have; for the workman is worthy of his hire”, (Luke 10:7). Paul also uses the word as you said.
RWS Is there a certain local responsibility in regard to the Levites, or are they universal?
JT I would say they are universal. In the types they are attached to the tabernacle, which implies what is universal. The Levite’s work is universal. They are gifted men. In the encampments in the wilderness the levites were round about the tabernacle; nearer to it than the people generally.
RWS That involves the assembly herself being active in regard to those whom God is using in the service.
Question Could one be a Levite and not have a gift?
JT I think what we have been saying is that gift is implied. I should not like to say that a man working as an elder and caring for the brethren should not be supported. The Lord tells Peter, who was an apostle, to be a shepherd, which corresponds with eldership; Peter says he was an elder, 1 Peter 5:1. Therefore, I have no hesitation in saying that a man working in that way ought to be regarded as a Levite.
RTM Would it need spiritual discernment to differentiate between what obtained forty or fifty years ago, when many were out wholly in the Lord’s work, and what is current now? There are many gifted amongst us who have means and are not in the same way dependent upon the saints for monetary support.
JT I am sure that is true. I quite remember what you say. There were a great many who were said to be wholly in the Lord’s work. I should not like to lose sight of that.
RTM [p. 238] I should like to get a little help on how we should regard the matter at the present time when that is not so prevalent amongst us.
JT If it is not prevalent it may be that the saints have not provided what the Levites need. They are being provided for better now then they used to be; the question therefore arises — if a brother has a gift and he is working with his hands, is it because he feels he is too young to take up the attitude of a general labourer depending on the saints, or is it that the saints have not been helping him? Both of these things may be true. I think that more recently the labourers have been better cared for than they used to be, but not so well as they were fifty or sixty years ago. Funds that were contributed in those days were considerable and usually devoted to men wholly given up to the work.
WFK Should a Levite who has means to support himself be helped?
JT The obligation of the brethren is there whether he has means or not. “Let him that is taught in the word communicate to him that teaches in all good things”, (Galatians 6:6). That is, the saints are taught in the word and it is their obligation to minister to those who teach in “all good things”.
VCL Then you would be guided more by the measure of gift than by the employment?
JT I would; and if he is himself liberal and worthy he would like to distribute what comes to him; that is to say, from the point of circulation which is an important thing, for circulatory thoughts should characterise the Levites.
GBL On what ground does a Levite refuse ministrations?
JT Do you mean there are those who do not accept gifts? I do not know of any. I believe in putting the thing into circulation. Circulation is a great matter with God. That is, if you get anything, put it into circulation and it enriches all who share in it. That is [p. 239] the principle, I believe. Divine circulation is there and the more that is put into it the better; so that the brethren are freer and the special meetings are supported in that way, and maybe brethren are helped to get to them. All that is what I would call circulatory ministry, greatly enriching the whole community of saints.
WWM The verse we read then, “Let not the assembly be charged”, would mean that we would not run the overhead up in one department so that it would hinder the other departments, so to speak.
JT Yes. It is perhaps more difficult to understand this verse if the brethren are in affluence; but when it was written undoubtedly the brethren were not in that position, because Peter, James and John enjoined on Paul that he should remember the poor; and he said he was always forward to do it. So that, in the second letter to the Corinthians, he enlarges on the idea of giving to the poor. But as regards the Levites, he cites himself as to how he was cared for, and he says that he was short at times and that was intended to bear on all the brethren so that the Levites should not be short; that they should be supported.
APf At the beginning the administration was in the hands of the apostles. At a care meeting there are suggestions as to this one and that one being a Levite. We sometimes spend an hour or more deciding to whom we should give the money.
JT I would suggest that that should come in a little later in our considerations, because we have weightier matters to get to. But I am sure what you say calls out the sympathy of many of us, that we should not spend so much time on this matter; but yet time is needed. You raise the question as to the absence of care meetings in the early days; the care of contributions fell into the hands of the apostles. The money was laid at their feet, we are told. But at the same time, the second of Acts tells us, none regarded what he had as his own. It seems as if [p. 240] God was giving the saints a sense of liberality at the beginning of Christianity. Paul brought in fresh thoughts as to it; so that the collection for the saints, which is enlarged upon in the second letter to Corinth, is a matter of great importance. It has come up lately, and I am sure many have received help through it; but the position at the beginning was a matter of the administration of the twelve. The apostles decided that it was not right that they should leave the word of God, which is the proper service of the Levites, and serve tables. Attending to tables meant serving physical food for the need of the saints. Hence, they directed that seven men should be chosen from among them, showing how the mutual side was stressed, that the brethren should choose them, but they were to be men full of the Holy Spirit. The apostles prayed and laid their hands upon them. It is a very important matter to keep in our minds in all these things, that the Holy Spirit has a great deal to do with deaconship.
RWS The word ‘charged’ is also translated elsewhere ‘burdened’. I suppose the assembly would be less burdened if it allowed for the natural relatives to help the needy, where there are ample means.
JT It would release certain monies that might otherwise be given to widows if their natural relatives attended to them. “If any believing man or woman have widows, let them impart relief to them, and let not the assembly be charged”. That is to say, if there is a believing man or woman and his mother or aunt is a widow without means, well, it is his responsibility to look after her, so as to release for levitical purposes, or the poor, any monies that might otherwise go to her. “Those that are widows indeed” would have no support at all.
AR What about those put on the list?
JT That is another matter we should consider also. We ought to bear in mind what particularly led to this meeting, and that is persons proposed for monetary [p. 241] ministration who are not really in need, but are recommended because they are good brothers and sisters, and the like, and that it would be nice to give them something. That is what it was thought should be corrected, and understood as needing correction by the brethren.
Rem We have been using the word fellowship quite a bit in ministering.
JT I think this chapter helps us as to the words we should use. Here it is to “impart relief”.
GBL Before we leave the Levites, will you kindly say one thing about Levites who are not active? Should they be ministered to as a charge continuously?
JT That would be a matter of consideration by the brethren. Why is he not active? He may be over fifty, but literally that would not mean that a brother should be inactive because he is fifty years of age. It is a question of whether he is able to do anything, and if he is not doing it and he is able to do it, then I do not think he should be ministered to as a Levite.
GBL If he is not able to do it for the time being should he be ministered to?
JT If he is incapacitated by sickness he ought to be. He is hindered, not because of his own fault, but because of physical disability.
KWR Do we not all have levitical features if we are in fellowship?
JT We are talking about men who are workers. The Levites numbered about twenty-three thousand and the workers were only about eight thousand. These are the ones to be supported; I refer just now to our dispensation.
AM Would Numbers 7 help? It says Moses was to give to the Levites according to their service.
JT That would help. It is a question of facts. He differentiated between the Kohathites and the other Levites. The Kohathites did not need any wagons, because they bore what they carried on their shoulders,
[p. 242] whereas the others needed wagons because of the weight of the things they had to carry. We have to translate into New Testament language what such weights as the curtains would be, as compared with the ark and other things that were not so heavy.
VCL Would a young man who is happy with the saints locally, and who from time to time serves when asked, be one of these workers of whom you speak?
JT Do you mean a preacher?
VCL Yes. I am thinking of a younger brother who is not given over to the service but who may serve the saints occasionally in the gospel. You would hardly think of such a one as one of these specific workers.
JT That is just a point for us to understand — whether he is a gifted man. That is to say, if he works at it; not simply if he is able to do a little work, his gift not being yet established. I would think the spiritual meaning of a levitical worker is a man who has gift. God has set certain in the assembly and their classifications are given; the classes are given and they are all gifted men, 1 Corinthians 12:28 - 30.
AR Preaching that Jesus is the Son of God would be by a gifted man.
JT You allude to Paul, of course. If the Spirit of God calls him a preacher, he would be a gifted man.
JTJr We have the principle set out in Paul because he alludes to the assembly giving to him.
JT That is what I thought. Paul had in mind to illustrate this matter for other labourers as well as himself, and so he speaks at length about it in 1 Corinthians 9; but in Philippians he speaks touchingly about them sending once or twice. Evidently this was within a month (compare Philippians 4 and Acts 17). Well, he would surely mean that the brethren ought to think of all the labourers in that way, that they should be provided for, for really at times Paul did not have enough. He had to [p. 243] go hungry.
JS Would he illustrate both giving and receiving?
JT “In the way of giving and receiving”, he says (Philippians 4:15): this is a very nice and suggestive phrase.
RTM Fellowship would come in in connection with a Levite in that the assembly provides funds for the Levite to move in service. It is a question of how far we can further a Levite in his work. That would bring in the thought of ability, as you suggest, but I was wondering whether the thought of fellowship would come in in that way in connection with our giving, enabling the servants to continue their work.
JT We were eliminating that word as used merely to express fellowship to a brother or a sister who is not in need, but it certainly applies to a brother in active service.
RTM That is what I was trying to get clear in my own mind: if we could not use the word fellowship in giving to a Levite so that he might continue or even enlarge his work.
JT The word would be all right even in regard to a poor brother who has no gift, but not if he is not poor and that the saints just want to have fellowship with him.
TNW How low would a brother be in resources before you consider him in need?
JT In need means he is destitute of needed things, (James 2:15). “But whoso may have the world’s substance, and see his brother having need, and shut up his bowels from him, how abides the love of God in him?” (1 John 3:17). If a man has a bank account he is not in need.
TNW Or a car? Something that is easily saleable?
JT Quite so.
EEH Paul does not seem to have had a regular income. The scriptures referred to in Philippians speak of need; they ministered twice to his need.
GBL How does that fit in with the scripture [p. 244] that says he worked with his own hands for himself and others?
JT He worked with his own hands. He went beyond what a Levite needed to do. He said he had a right to eat and drink; a minister of the gospel should live of it, so that if a brother works with his own hands that does not relieve the brethren of the obligation to look after him.
CN It was more or less the spirit of the Corinthians that caused him to speak that way.
JT It was.
AR Paul says to the Philippians, “Not that I seek gift, but I seek fruit abounding to your account”, Philippians 4:17. He refers to assembly giving.
JT Then there is giving to anyone that might be in need by persons who are ‘well off’. The Spirit of God says that at Antioch there were those who each gave according as any one was well off. Of course, that kind of giving is open too. Any brother can give to another as he is exercised about him as needing something that he ought to have and has not. Any brother who is well off can do that, but the assembly is not to do it.
ANW They sent it by the hand of Barnabas and Saul, Acts 11:30.
JAP Should sisters that take the notes be before us in the administration of funds?
JT Yes; they are serving the saints.
VCL On a levitical basis?
JT They are doing spiritual work. It is of spiritual importance, because they are themselves understanding what they are writing about, to convey it, to the brethren.
ES Did you once say that Mr. Darby in translating the Bible did levitical work? He did not say it was levitical work.
JT He said it was hewing wood and drawing water for the congregation. You can understand how he would say that. Very few can take such humble ground [p. 245] in appraising their work. The translation of the Bible by him was more than hewing wood and drawing water. It was a spiritual work of immense value to the assembly.
RDG Would you take it that some were abusing the liberality of the assembly and hence the apostle wrote as he did in 2 Thessalonians 3? He had a right but did not exercise it.
JT Very likely. We know he did take money as others.
RDG There are several interesting verses that bear on it. One of them, 2 Thessalonians 3:7, says, “For ye know yourselves how ye ought to imitate us, because we have not walked disorderly among you; nor have we eaten bread from any one without cost; but in toil and hardship working night and day not to be chargeable to any one of you: not that we have not the right, but that we might give ourselves as an example to you, in order to your imitating us. For also when we were with you we enjoined you this, that if any man does not like to work, neither let him eat. For we hear that there are some walking among you disorderly, not working at all, but busybodies”.
ABP Does the passage we read in 1 Timothy have in mind ministering to meet need mostly?
JT I think so. That is why it was thought to be apropos of this meeting. Our question was one of persons who were not shown to be needy, and therefore were not subjects for assembly ministrations.
ABP Does this chapter have in mind continuous need?
JT I think it would; persons put on the list, for instance. But at the same time a person might be in need this week and might not be next week. Something might happen to meet the need. But it would look as if the need was dealt with very systematically, according to verse 9, which refers to a widow being put on the ‘list’. It would seem as if they were dealt with systematically.
[p. 246] The list would surely mean that certain ones were deserving of being cared for by the assembly and that they were honourably regarded; not simply in need, but their qualifications as honourable are given. So that the idea we are now on is important as keeping the assembly on its own dignity, regarding its distinction in the economy of God, that it is not a benefit society. It has a great distinction in the economy of God, and that distinction should not be weakened or obliterated by our use of it.
JS Being the assembly of the living God it is indeed a great vessel.
AR Persons on the list are brought up to the same level; they are elevated.
JT Quite so. The Spirit of God is really set, particularly at the moment, to bring the brethren into the idea of the dignity of the assembly. It is not to be brought down to the level of ordinary matters. 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 enlarge on its administrative glory.
GBL Is it as obligatory for us to minister to “widows indeed” as ministering to the Levites? “That it may impart relief to those that are widows indeed”. If we have those amongst us who have all those qualifications, is it obligatory?
JT It is unless they have relatives. If their relatives meet that need it does not discredit them in any way. They are still on the same honourable level.
JAS If a widow has relatives not in fellowship, should she accept from them?
JT I do not think the brethren should think of that. It is a question of the relatives being in the assembly. If a relative voluntarily meets her need she is not dependent on the assembly, but it does not reduce her status as of the assembly or even as a subject of the care of the assembly, because an assembly widow is a woman known in heaven. She is not simply a needy person; she is a woman qualified in heaven for that distinction. That is what the Spirit of God is seeking to bring before us, that [p. 247] the assembly has great distinction; not only now, in the sphere of time, but eternally. God would have us to know that and be governed by it.
Question Should we understand that the assembly is charged with ministering to the Levites and to cases of need only?
JT It would seem so. Do you know of anything else?
Rem I am trying to get help?
JT I do not think there are any other things we should bring forward.
HCMacG Is it quite in order to accept aid given by federal, state and municipal governments for need occasioned by old age and other causes?
JT That all comes under the provisional government of God. Even the roads on which we travel are available to us on that basis.
AR Persons put on the list should be thoroughly investigated.
JT The matter of investigation would be clearly implied in this particular chapter. If a woman is to be put on the list, how are the brethren to know if she is in need? She would tell them, no doubt, but I think there ought to be more than that. “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every matter be established”, (2 Corinthians 13:1). Things that are current in the assembly ought to be put on the principle of testimony.
VCL As to the qualifications of the widow here, I was thinking of some who have had good positions and have been taken out of them by the government and might need help. They would not meet these qualifications and yet the assembly would be interested in them, would it not?
JT It would be hard to find one taken out of his own work and put into the service of the government, who is in need. It would be hard to prove that they are in need and that they should be a burden [p. 248] on the assembly.
AR We have some cases on the list that come up almost every month. Should they be investigated every month?
JT I am sure they should be investigated, because almost every day brings a change in most of our circumstances, and to make each case permanent is very difficult. I think the principle that has come into our meeting in this city, of investigating every month in view of the special collection, is right. There should be an investigation as to every person to whom we minister.
E S. It says the widow, put on the list, must be sixty years old.
JT This is very special. I think the apostle is dealing with special cases here. Take Anna: although not mentioned in this connection, her history corresponds. It is a rare case.
ES She was very much over sixty.
JT The widow contemplated in our chapter was not to be less than sixty.
RWS Would you enlarge on the military matter.
JT I think that is a subject we should not overlook — whether we can speak much of our brethren who are in the military service as being in need. I have not found much of that at all.
VCL How do you regard the Canadian fund?
JT As a matter of fact, it is in another country and we are dependent on our brethren there to tell us about any need. The assembly should not be charged with that fund.
CAM That brings up a very interesting thing about funds. The idea seems to be divorced from the assembly as such. Two brothers usually look after them. I have often wondered about that with regard to assembly giving.
JT As far as I can see there is no such thought as a literal treasury connected with the assembly. The idea of a treasury in the assembly is spiritual, whereas in the old [p. 249] economy there was a treasury in the temple where money was cast in; but it seems now you pay as you go, so to speak. It is a very simple idea of settling accounts. The special collection is nothing more than stimulating. It is one of the collections having the character of stimulation. That is what Paul means, I am certain, in this matter of the collection in chapters 8 and 9 of 2 Corinthians. In ordinary practice all is settled on every occasion. When the money is given in, it is known what is to be done with it; so that the thing is settled and we have another month to go on to.
CAM That is circulation.
JT The Lord said. Shew me a penny, implying that He did not have one. That enters into our position. We are light travellers. One may say to me, ‘It does not apply to you’; but it really does. It is a question of the state of one’s mind. “Blessed are the poor” refers really to the state of persons’ minds, not simply that they are poor monetarily, but they are poor in the sense in which the Lord was poor. “Blessed are the poor in spirit”. (Matthew 5:3). He referred to Himself or those like Him in the sense mentioned, see Psalm 41:1.
CAM That is a very valuable suggestion. If it was Monday night that Peter and John went up to the temple to pray, Peter must have given everything the day before. He says, “Silver and gold I have not”.
JT The Lord says. Shew me a penny. He did not have money on His person, as we have noted. He says to Peter, “Go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up ... and ... thou wilt find a stater; take that and give it to them for me and thee”. It was just what was needed for the tax. It is a short account; we are travelling lightly; we belong to heaven.
JAP I can see the assembly has no treasury, but can the brothers not take up matters if they have an exercise such as the fund in England for the special need occasioned by the [p. 250] war?
JT That is just an emergency fund. That is not ordinary.
VCL Would you say that if a matter had been investigated carefully and found to be worthy and met certain spiritual qualifications, you would meet the case as it stood regardless of whether these qualifications were literally met? I am thinking of the military question and families left at home.
JT Give an illustration of what would be chargeable.
VCL I am thinking of the insufficiency of the government allotment to provide for the requirements of a family left behind by a brother called into service. I am not thinking of any specific case except that I know there has been a great sense of difficulty encountered by such, and while there has been much private giving, can it be made chargeable to the assembly?
JT It is very happy if it can be met privately. Perhaps it should continue so. If the brethren who have any means at all begin to give severally, good and well, but do not freight the assembly. That is the point. “Let not the assembly be charged”. It is a light traveller, as remarked. Peter says, “Silver and gold I have not”. You may say, You cannot say that. Of course I cannot, but all that I have is in relation to the government of God. It is a question of holding it that way, not holding it as being rich. If God has put something in your hands in His government, it is your responsibility to use it. At Pentecost the saints had all things common, but Paul’s ministry contemplates what we are saying.
RTM Would stewardship enter into this matter?
JT It would; “... as good stewards of the various grace of God”, (1 Peter 4:10).
CAM It is not a question of whether the brother has a deposit in the bank. It is a question of the spirit of the man.
JT He is a light traveller, so to speak, as Paul say “... as having nothing”, (2 Corinthians 6:10). That is to say, your attitude is that you are not encumbered by this world’s goods. Let those “who have wives, be as not having any”. People would quarrel with that scripture, but it cannot be broken. Let us learn that.
CN “The time is straitened”, (1 Corinthians 7:29).
JT Scripture is full of these things; that we are not to be burdened; and we are not seeking to show ourselves persons of importance because of what we have.
GBL Did not John the baptist say to the soldiers to be satisfied with their pay? Maybe, in God’s ordering, they have to learn, as Paul says he had learned, in all things to suffer and be in want as well as to abound.
JT Yes.
GBL That may be a soldier’s lesson in God’s hands, to learn to be in want.
DP If a brother has visible property and he is still in need, how would you meet that?
JT How is he in need if he has means?
DP A brother might have a house with a heavy mortgage.
JT He might be house-poor you mean?
WWM It says of Barnabas he had land, but he put it into liquid assets.
JT Quite so. He put the money down at the apostles’ feet.
ES It went into circulation.
JT Exactly. The apostles were representative of the Lord and the Lord had confidence in them and the brethren knew that. The converts from Peter’s preaching said to Peter and the rest: “What shall we do, brethren?” (Acts 2:37). That is important. They were persons that were reliable. And therefore the money was put down at their feet. But we do not do that now. We have no apostles; besides, Paul’s teaching contemplates believers having means, although they were not to trust in them; they were [p. 252] to give.
EWS Referring to military matters again, certain persons are a long way from the meeting and have considerable transportation expenses. Would that be better contributed to individually?
JT I think the more we get along on that basis the better. Let the assembly stand on its own dignity.
RWS If a brother is in service with a large family at home, is that better met individually?
JT The more I think of it, the more I see that it is right. Let brethren learn to give individually.
ABP In regard to the specifications in the chapter, do they not seem to relate specifically to those put on the list for constant care? But if need comes to the knowledge of the saints, and it is real need, the assembly should meet it, should it not?
JT I do not know that there is such a thing as a constant need. Suppose you would single out this person put on the list at the age of sixty. That wording does not mean that the brethren must put her on the list. She is not to be except at the age of sixty, but then there may be other considerations and these have to be thought of; so that she might not be in need next week although she was this week.
ABP Does the chapter contemplate the kind of person that is considered as eligible for care if care is needed?
JT Yes, but there is more than that. The Spirit of God means something in these distinctive persons being brought forward, like Lydia and Phoebe and Anna and this person suggested here. The Lord is talking to us about important personages morally; as they are known in heaven; and the more we think of them the more we will see there is more than simply that they might have need.
Rem The apostle says that giving and receiving yields thanksgiving to God (2 Corinthians 9:12).
JT Yes. “Enriched in every way unto all free [p. 253] hearted liberality, which works through us thanksgiving to God. Because the ministration of this service is not only filling up the measure of what is lacking to the saints, but also abounding by many thanksgivings to God”, (2 Corinthians 9:11,12). Then it runs on to, “Thanks be to God for his unspeakable free gift”. All these things we are speaking of now revert back to God; as they are carried out God is honoured.
AR The idea of circulation is that the impulse goes round and round.
ANW A brother who is in the army might come into view in connection with levitical service. He is not deleted because he is a soldier.
RW S. If this assembly dignity is held, would it not enrich the assembly and enrich the service of God?
JT It would; lifted up to the idea of not only giving things but receiving; “giving and receiving”. Let us all learn to give. God’s thought is to lift us up to the level of heaven. We will only be here a little while and we are to be educated for heaven. We are going to administer in the millennium and in the eternal state of things.
AR This woman we read about in this chapter has had part in the circulation. It says in verse 10, “If she have exercised hospitality, if she have washed saints- feet, if she have imparted relief to the distressed, if she have diligently followed every good work”.
JT She would be marked by these things. Thus God honours her. She has a place in heaven.
APT The assembly is Christ’s glory. Would that enter into it?
JT It would indeed.
ABP Are the poor another class? The Lord says, “Ye have the poor always with you”. Would that be distinct from these persons?
JT That would not mean that everyone that has ever been poor continues poor. Many things come in to alter people’s circumstances as we have said.
[p. 254] ABP Does the administration to the poor from the bag, during the life of the Lord here, find a counterpart in the assembly?
JT Judas is seen under reproach in the remarks made as to him in this point.
AR He must have loved money.
APT “He was a thief and had the bag”, (John 12:6).
JAP Do we need to examine our motives in the proposals we make at the care meeting?
JT We are apt to be partial in what we suggest at such a time. So that as has been said, a brother may be spoken of as a good brother and a worthy brother, and it would be nice to give him something, but still he is not really in need. All that ought to be eliminated. We are dealing now with the assembly, the most exalted thing in the universe of God, and we ought to see that we belong to it and to keep it in its own dignity and position.
JS It says, “That it may impart relief to those that are widows indeed”. Is discernment needed?
JT Yes. “Widows indeed” must be provided for, and they are not going to be reduced in their dignity by our conduct towards them. If we could get that into our minds we would all be helped; it is the heavenly mindedness of the assembly; the place it has in the purpose of God both now and for eternity.
APf Should we not know who the Levites are so that we do not spend too much time in arriving at who is to be ministered to?
JT I think it ought to be mentioned that the brethren, in coming together in care in these matters, should be more conversant as to the persons who are engaged in the divine service.
ANW As to the matter of time taken up, we usually take very little time as to need.
JT That is because we have confidence in our brethren in the subdivisions in this city that they will not suggest persons in need beyond what they should do.
[p. 255] The question of investigation has been raised, and that investigation should take place before the care meeting.
ANW The time seems to be taken up with the Levites themselves. Should we not be concerned as to the proposals for contributions? If each brother had a specific Levite in his mind, it would not take long to put the names down.
JT As regards any Levite which the local brethren in any meeting have in their minds, it would facilitate the work if they brought his name with them. If we have assembly ears we would seek to be conversant with what is going on and have someone to propose and some reason for the proposal.
RWS Is it not a right principle that the amount given reflects the ability of the Levite?
JT I think it is right. Of course, other considerations might be brought in such as travel and the like, but these are matters, as our brother has already intimated, for discernment. If a brother wishes to go to the Pacific and thus whether the situation calls for the extra expense. All these things entering into assembly giving should be in our minds.
APf Sometimes names are mentioned of brothers who are not known to the brethren. Some whose articles have appeared in the magazines may be suggested. They might be brothers we do not know.
JT I have a list of such names which our brother here gave me recently.
HCMacG I do not know them at all, but I have observed their names in the magazines.
JT You gave them to me because I should know them, and I do know most of them. Of course, the mere insertion of an article in the magazines is not much.
ANW On what basis do we give to conferences and special [p. 256] meetings?
JT That is to promote ministry; of course, it is fellowship, too. These conferences are to promote in a general way the interests of the Lord. They are calculated to do that, and therefore we should support them.
Question Would it be right to minister to a true Levite that we have never seen; unknown locally?
JT That is another thing that enters into assembly service and testimony; that is, witness; a brother’s witness. “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every matter be established”. We can minister to one we have not seen on that principle.
JS There should be nothing selfish in what we do.
JT Quite so. The fact that collections are fairly large ought not to create any longing to participate in them, because the matter is very dignified.
HGMacG How could we find out about these Levites? Would it be well to write to persons in whom we have confidence in other parts of the world?
JT And ask questions, because some make long journeys and have much information that others have not.
APf If a brother is invited to minister in a distant place, should not the brethren in that place provide for him?
JT That is the understanding I have. And I think visiting brothers are cared for in that way.
Rem In writing to the Philippians Paul seems to keep the saints on a very dignified level: he refers to some “whose names are in the book of life”.
JT That is seen in other sections of the word, but Philippians especially is on a high level. You will notice that the apostolic salutations have in mind persons who care, not so much gifted persons as persons who care for the saints. “Paul and Timotheus, bondmen of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the overseers and ministers”, chapter 1:1; it is not the gifted persons but the overseers and the [p. 257] ministers. The latter would be persons like Phoebe, although she served as a deaconess. These are the persons who seem to be in the apostle’s mind and then he says, “I thank my God for my whole remembrance of you, constantly in my every supplication, making the supplication for you all with joy, because of your fellowship with the gospel, from the first day until now”. And then, “Having confidence of this very thing, that he who has begun in you a good work will complete it unto Jesus Christ’s day”. And then again he says, “And that both in my bonds and in the defence and confirmation of the glad tidings ye are all participators in my grace”. We have already alluded to the tribute which he pays to them on this very point; so that he says, in chapter 4, “But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now however at length ye have revived your thinking of me, though surely ye did also think of me, but lacked opportunity”. (Meaning they had been a little slack). “Not that I speak as regards privation, for as to me have learnt in those circumstances in which I am, to be satisfied in myself. I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound. In everything and in all things I am initiated both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer privation”; that bears out what we are saying; how a man may be well off now and hungry later. “I have strength for all things in him that gives me power. But ye have done well in taking part in my affliction. And know also ye, O Philippians, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I came out of Macedonia, no assembly communicated anything to me in the way of giving and receiving save ye alone”. We might wonder at that, that the great apostle was neglected except by these Philippians. “For also in Thessalonica once and even twice ye sent to me for my need. Not that I seek gift, but I seek fruit abounding to your account. But I have all things in full supply and abound; I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things sent from you, an [p. 258] odour of sweet savour, an acceptable sacrifice, agreeable to God. But my God shall abundantly supply all your need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus”. I think it is worth while, therefore, that we keep Philip-plans before us, because it is unique on this point. Note also the references to Timotheus and Epaphroditus in chapter 2 — expressive of care for the saints.
APT So that chapter 4:17 is the basis of the glory in the Levites: “Not that I seek gift, but I seek fruit abounding to your account”.
JMacD A brother in the Lord’s service would draw out the bounty of the saints. It would not be simply a matter of meeting his need.
AR Is not a locality put on record in heaven as having given?
JT I would think this Philippian epistle is an education on giving — how things are taken account of in heaven. What the apostle says reflects that.
RWS He says, “Ye have revived your thinking of me, though surely ye did also think of me, but lacked opportunity”.
JT Some circumstances that they could not surmount came in, but he must mean that they had the apostle in their hearts.
RWS I was trying to reconcile the reviving as if it reflected on their forgetting him, but he says, “ye did also think of me, but lacked opportunity”.
JT I think it shows how love regards things. He would give them credit for all possible, but yet there was some little defect, I would think, even in them, so that the apostle’s standard in this epistle is on a very high level. It is Christian experience, really. That is the point in it. It is not simply doctrine as Ephesians. This is Christian experience. It is what God is working out in heavenly people down here. This matter of giving has a great part in it, and as we were saying already, not only assembly giving but individual giving to relieve the assembly. “Let not the assembly be charged”. Let the brethren do something. It is not a question of, Have you anything in the box? Love is active in meeting need, if there is more need it will act again. There is no treasury. Love is active all the time.
RWS “But of doing good and communicating of your substance be not forgetful, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased”, (Hebrews 13:16). Is that personal giving?
JT That is what it is. “Let him that is taught in the word communicate to him that teaches in all good things”. That is individual giving. You are giving to a brother because he has taught you. The matter of giving, it seems to me, is to be resolved into somewhat new settings. There should be more giving by individuals, so that the assembly be not unduly charged. The exaltation of the giving is to be stressed.
Pages 260 - 465 — “Notes of Readings in New York” 1946 (Volume 169).