THE FINDING OF THE ASSEMBLY

N. T. Meek

Matthew 13: 44; 15: 21–28; Luke 7: 44–46; Ephesians 3: 1–6

I would like to speak about the finding of the assembly—how it came to light. The Lord speaks of it in our first scripture in connection with the kingdom of the heavens and He says it was like a treasure hid in the field which a man having found has hid, and then, in order to have the treasure, he sold all whatever he had and bought the field. The truth of the assembly was not revealed in Old Testament times. We can look back to Old Testament scriptures and see certain figures of the assembly in persons like Eve and Rebecca, and others, but it was not part of Old Testament light. The prophetic scriptures spoke of the coming of Christ; they also spoke of His sufferings, and of His coming in glory and the establishment of His kingdom down here; but this present period of nearly two thousand years was not spoken about. The present time is not a subject of prophecy at all, in fact Paul says that “silence has been kept in the times of the ages”, Romans 16: 25. The assembly was a secret matter that God did not divulge. It was there in divine purpose and counsel, but even to the twelve apostles little was said about the mystery. It had been “hidden throughout the ages in God”, Ephesians 3: 9. It was so precious that God must have looked round as to where He could hide the secret, and He hid it in Himself.

When the Lord Jesus was here He, of course, knew all about it, but His words about it were few. It was so dear to His heart that He must have thought often about it and He gives us some hint of it here in Matthew 13 as He speaks of a treasure hid in the field. He does not enlarge upon it, but He says a man found it. When the Lord was here He found assembly features in certain persons, including the two women of whom we have read. He went, it says in Matthew 15, into the parts of Tyre and Sidon. It was not the regular area in which He served, but I wondered, dear brethren, if in going there He went to get a glimpse of something special—

and He found something special in this Canaanitish woman. It touched Him; it touched His affections. He says, “O woman”. That must mean that He was moved in His spirit. He found there a character of faith that He did not find in Israel, and because He was sent to the lost sheep of Israel’s house He did not pursue the matter with her, in fact He says, “It is not well to take the bread of the children”—they would be Israel—“and cast it to the dogs”. But she had such wonderful intelligence that she says, “Yea, Lord; for even the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from the table of their masters”. Now the Lord Jesus knew that the assembly would largely be drawn from the Gentiles, from the nations, and in the principle of it this woman is pleading for His interest and attention and He saw in her something that greatly affected Him. He did not say anything about it. He had, in principle, found the treasure, but He hid it, and He set about purchasing the field.

We get something similar in Luke 7 in this other woman whose service to Him was so special. The Lord contrasts it with what He had from Simon. Simon was one of the Pharisees, one of Israel, but Jesus found in this woman what He never had from Israel. He did not get a kiss from Israel, but He got many from this woman, and He says, “She loved much”. It must have been a very affecting thing for Him and He recognised it, that it was assembly affection, although there had been little truth yet presented as to the assembly and no formal announcement

as to its formation. Yet the Lord found in this woman a character of intelligence that He never found in Israel. These two women bring out both intelligence and affection. The Lord said nothing more about it and as He went to the cross He must have cherished in His heart what He had found. The full truth as to the assembly must wait until the Spirit had come down from an ascended Christ, for only then was the assembly formed.

Then the question was, Who could He tell it to? Who could He tell about the treasure? Who could He trust with the secret? The apostles had some knowledge of it but largely it was confided to Paul. And so Paul speaks in Ephesians 3 as to his “intelligence in the mystery of the Christ, which in other generations has not been made known”, and then he says, “To me, less than the least of all saints, has this grace been given”. The Lord had confided the secret to Paul, and it is Paul who tells us so much about the mystery, the wonderful position and relationship of the assembly. It is a company of persons really, but viewed as one whole that can peculiarly answer to the heart of Christ.

This is a wonderful truth for us to cherish, dear brethren. There are many Christians who have not understood this mystery, but here it is in Ephesians for our enlightenment. May we become not only more intelligent about it, but may we grow in the affections that are proper to it so that the Lord Jesus, who gave up so much—it says He went and sold all whatever He had—may have assembly response in greater fulness for His own joy, for His name’s sake.

Amen.

Address at Vevey, Switzerland
2 May 1987