LIFE IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICE OF GOD
[p. 258] LIFE IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICE OF GOD
Isaiah 38: 9 - 20; Acts 20: 4 - 12
JT The thought is life in connection with the service of God. There is much that can be deduced from the Scriptures as to life, but in view of brevity and conciseness these scriptures were chosen, because of the subject in mind, that is the service of God.
Hezekiah is one who knew much of the service of God, as seen especially in this chapter in Isaiah; while of the boy, Eutychus, we know nothing except what we have in Acts 20. He is seen, however, in the same service, connected with it, that is of the Lord’s supper, which stands at the beginning of the service of God. Paul evidently discoursed at great length as to this very matter, because the brethren had come together to break bread; instead of this there was this long discourse, and the breaking of bread did not take place till the next day. Much was needed to be said, but we are not told what Paul said, at least not here; he must have said a good deal, and the spiritual inference is, at least, that he spoke of the Lord’s supper, and that what he said was prophetic in view of the much controversy that has entered into the Lord’s supper throughout the dispensation. And therefore, it seems right there should be this long discourse, and the conversation that followed.
We need constantly to speak of the Lord’s supper, and invariably we find some difficulty as to it. Hezekiah’s remarks are clear enough, that he had the service of God in his mind. Verse 9 reads, “The writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness”; it would have in mind what was needed for the service [p. 259] of God; instead of peace he had “bitterness upon bitterness; but thou hast in love delivered my soul from the pit of destruction; for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. For not Sheol shall praise thee, nor death celebrate thee; they that go down into the pit do not hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I this day the [p. 261] father to the children shall make known thy truth. Jehovah was purposed to save me. — And we will play upon my stringed instruments all the days of our life” (that is, he brings others into the matter, the “we will play” and “the days of our life”) “in the house of Jehovah” (verses 17 - 20).
AH Do the difficulties dissolve if we are maintained in life?
JT Yes; that is a good way to put it, and if we can search the Scriptures, too, we see what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11. Yet we find (and I myself have often noticed it) continually that the brethren are asking why the new covenant is mentioned, and many other such questions, whereas accurate enquiry into the Scriptures would help us to see why they are mentioned.
AH There is Paul’s word, “Think of what I say” (2 Timothy 2: 7); do we lack through not listening to Paul?
JT I think so, for in any locality where we have a company of Christians walking in the truth and the light of the temple, we can enquire there.
Rem So Hezekiah says, “the father to the children shall make known thy truth”, Isaiah 38: 19.
JT Yes, and especially the children are to be kept in mind, “the father to the children shall make known thy truth”. So that the young should not be dark as to the Lord’s supper, because the fathers should know. The Lord made a special request as to it, and it should be a special matter with parents, that all should know it.
[p. 260] Ques Will you say a word as to the new covenant?
JT You have been a long time in fellowship; why do you ask?
Rem Yes; many years; but I want to know.
JT Well, why is it not looked into temple-wise, “Do ye not know that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3: 16)? I am not meaning to be short with you; we should always “be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and chanting with your heart to the Lord”, Ephesians 5: 18, 19.
AH Enquiry in the temple should help us to value what is in the local setting.
JT Yes, quite; such questions have been asked a hundred times as far as I know, but why not enquire of the brethren, or the nearest brother?
Ques Would the Bereans be an example, “receiving the word with all readiness of mind, daily searching the scriptures if these things were so”, Acts 17: 11?
JT Just that; it appears that Paul had one with him in Acts 20, and he would be the first to be able to answer a question.
Then we began with Hezekiah and it is thought that we should get all we can at the present time. Hezekiah is a brother (excuse the word) who should give us much instruction as having been to the gates of death; and now he speaks of the father making known the truth, and so we should get some instruction from him.
ESH Would we seek to acquire quality by experience, in death, and in living, in the power of resurrection life?
JT Yes, and his life is lengthened to the very end, and hence he is a brother who should help us in the service of God. He says, “The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I this day”; and then “the father to the children shall make known thy truth”; he was doing it himself.
FI Would this refer to our taking part in the Supper, and in referring to the new covenant? He says, “Jehovah was purposed to save me. — And we will play upon my stringed instruments all the days of our life, in the house of Jehovah”; it is all in relation to the Supper, and to our part in the service of God.
JT Just so; and to see how things are placed in Acts 20 where they assembled to break bread, which is the beginning of the service; “my stringed instruments” is the high level of the service, past the Supper, the Ephesian level. To bring that into the New Testament is right; we must remember the apostle’s teaching, and especially when a question has to be looked into most carefully. The higher levels come in after the Lord’s supper, and involve the Lord’s relation to His assembly as His spouse, then as His brethren, then as the sons of God; they are all on the high levels, “upon my stringed instruments”. It is “we will play upon my stringed instruments all the days of our life, in the house of Jehovah”.
Rem He is concerned to get the gain himself, and others with him.
JT Yes, just so. It is like the man in Luke 11 who asked the Lord to teach them, not him, to pray.
Ques Does Hezekiah show us the advantage of going in the way of discipline?
JT We are all brought up in discipline; Enoch was the great one, for his name means ‘disciplined’; it is to help us to know how to behave in the house of God.
Ques Would Enoch represent the teaching of the new covenant?
JT Just so, but being the “seventh from Adam”,
[p. 262] he stands for more than the new covenant; “the seventh” is the full thought of spirituality.
Ques Do we get the full thought of the new covenant in the cup?
JT Why did you ask as to the new covenant?
Rem Because Paul refers to it, not only in 1 Corinthians 11, but also in 2 Corinthians 3, especially the thought of the spirit of the new covenant.
JT It is just that. It is the spirit of the new covenant. We do not get it in the higher levels of the truth, as in Colossians and Ephesians.
Ques Would the thought of joy enter into the spirit of the new covenant?
JT Into the spirit of it; yes.
Ques Would it go further than that?
JT The higher levels in the New Testament go further. Paul’s higher service is in the prison, showing the need of lying fallow in the atmosphere of God; it is not the initial thing, as the new covenant suggests, but to us it is a question of God’s sabbath; “on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed”, Exodus 31: 17.
Rem Peter’s imprisonment in Acts would refer to new covenant conditions, but Paul and Silas to Ephesian conditions.
Ques Would Habakkuk referring to his feet being like “hinds’ feet”, and to his “stringed instruments” show that he was at home in these higher realms?
JT It was not only his mind but his feet.
PL He has power to leap in the agility of love.
Ques Would we be learning under the Father’s discipline to “be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live”. Hebrews 12: 9?
JT Very good; “But no chastening at the time seems to be matter of joy, but of grief; but afterwards yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those exercised by it” (verse 11), so that we are trained [p. 263] in that matter to the end that we might be in the service of God, “all the days of our life”.
Ques Would Paul have these things in mind in 1 Corinthians 11: 30, “On this account many among you are weak and infirm, and a good many are fallen asleep”
JT Yes; it is linked up with their behaviour at the Lord’s supper.
Ques Would Enoch be supported in his discipline by the conscious knowledge that he pleased God?
JT Just so; that was before his translation.
Ques Is there a difference between the stringed instruments and the notes? “My stringed instruments” involve the song; it goes up in sounds.
JT There is a difference, especially when you transfer the history to yourself. It is like Paul and Silas at Philippi; it is heavenly music.
Ques Is it as we touch the higher levels that the service of God commences?
JT It is the discipline that yields the right kind of sound: “All my springs are in thee” (Psalm 87: 7); that is where the sounds come from.
Ques Would “my stringed instruments” link on with the service of song under David?
JT David is the sweet psalmist of Israel. It says in 1 Chronicles 23: 5, they “praised Jehovah with the instruments which I made (said David,) to praise therewith”. It is what each one is in the hands of the Lord.
Ques Is life in view in discipline?
JT Yes; it is a question of the assembly, “the whole body, fitted together, and connected by every joint of supply”, of what is developed in Ephesians 4, namely the joints and bands; Ephesians 4: 16.
Rem In Hebrews 12 it is sons who are disciplined.
JT If not “then are ye bastards, and not sons” (Hebrews 12: 8); Paul, in writing the epistle to the Hebrews, would have the full thought before him. The salvation [p. 264] of God sent to the nations would involve all that. The house of God is viewed in its completeness, yet as increasing “to a holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2: 21); so it grows, and without the learning time, how would we come out then?
Ques In Hezekiah’s recovery do we get suggestions of the embrace of Jehovah through Isaiah, and in the boy, Eutychus; is he in the good of Paul’s embrace?
JT Let us look at the boy; as it is said, “the father to the children shall make known thy truth”. Eutychus begins to learn; from now on he is beginning to become a comfort to the brethren.
Ques Is life the atmosphere in which the service of God proceeds?
JT Yes; so we have the place that John has in the service; the truth of life is his great theme. The exercise as to the service began fifty or sixty years ago, and it still goes on, bringing God into His service mediatorially, through Christ and the saints. Teaching is the great feature in John, linking with life; it begins with the two disciples of John that followed Jesus, and ends with Mary of Magdala; she is typical of the assembly.
Ques Would “the third story” be typical of the height of Paul’s ministry?
JT Well, we might question where the disciples were when they came down from the mount of Olives, and went up to the upper chamber, and the like movements carried forward into the Lord’s supper; whether going up or coming down, we have to understand that Paul takes us up to heaven and John brings us down.
Ques Would there be any significance in verse 5, in those who went on before and waited for Paul?
JT The Lord waited for him; the dispensation was not properly inaugurated before Paul came. He [p. 265] was an elect vessel, and the Lord’s full thought did not come in till then.
Rem I meant in verse 5 were they preparatory, as in the new covenant reference, and Paul’s ministry comes in on top.
JT Just exactly that. These persons awaited him, there were seven of them; it would refer not only to the men personally, but to their local settings, but that they were in Paul’s company at that time, and they awaited him, “And there accompanied him as far as Asia, Sopater son of Pyrrhus, a Berean; and of Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus, and Gaius and Timotheus of Derbe, and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus. These going before waited for us in Troas”; the ‘us’ would indicate Luke was there, and others like him. It means that the Lord waited for Paul, too; and so it is now we need to wait on the Lord ourselves.
Ques Were all these seven Gentiles?
JT Yes; for we are really in Ephesians in this chapter; it is the great chapter of love.
Ques In chapter 13: 13 we have the reference to “Paul and his company”; is it to make us characteristically of Paul’s company?
JT Yes, but not on official lines; it would tend to be partisan to do that; it was on moral lines.
Rem So we are all to be characterised by life in the service.
JT Yes, and all that precedes shows that. Believers were first called Christians at Antioch (Acts 11: 26), the great formative work was going on in Acts 13 in that city, and the five servants mentioned there; then the fasting, then the Holy Spirit comes forward and says, “Separate me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” then the saints let them go; so the full position of the conversion of the nations is on the way, together [p. 266] with the Jewish system, typically seen in Elymas, smitten with blindness.
Rem It reaches its climax at Ephesus, in chapter 19, where the “seven sons of Sceva, Jewish high priest, who were doing this” fled out of the house “naked and wounded”; they would stand in contrast with these seven sons of Paul, in Acts 20.
JT Yes; just so.
Ques Was Eutychus, falling asleep, not capable of singing like Hezekiah?
JT Well, what can you say? There was no lack of light in the upper chamber; young people come in, and one is glad for this, but how much do they take on in assembly service? He was evidently watching out of the window-opening. But now, as restored, he becomes a comfort to them, and divine things could be made known to him.
Ques What would be meant by his life being in him?
JT We get the son of the woman in 1 Kings 17 where Elijah was maintained, and it helps to compare that boy with Eutychus. His soul had left him; an Old Testament way of putting it; but here Paul says “his life is in him”, the heat of Paul’s arms enfolding him could not bring it life was in him, back again; the element of life was in him.
Rem So he is fully recovered, “they brought away the boy alive”.
JT It reminds one of the instrument that the Lord had in Paul, of whom Peter says, “our beloved brother Paul”, 2 Peter 3: 15.
Ques Was there something additional in the long speaking until daybreak?
JT Well, yes; it is for us to understand. “Paul descending fell upon him”; he did not fall like the boy, or like Satan. It is a heavenly idea.
Ques Would Paul’s thought be to open up the truth [p. 267] here?
JT Yes, searching for it as hidden treasure, not in creeds and the like; it needs searching out.
Ques Would this upper room be like the “large upper room” in Luke 22: 12?
JT Yes, and in Acts 1, too.
Ques Would we expect the boy to develop and grow?
JT Just that; it is what is potential.
Rem It would be well worth while going down to get that.
JT Well, Paul knew that he would be the product of his resuscitating power, “they brought away the boy alive, and were no little comforted”.
Ques What is the significance of the sailing”away from Philippi” (verse 6)?
JT “These going before waited for us in Troas; but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and we came to them to Troas in five days, where we spent seven days”. This is about the personnel at Troas, and what happened there.
Ques The word in verse 7 is affecting, “Paul ... about to depart on the morrow”.
JT Just so, it is a moving time, like Jacob going to Egypt to meet Joseph in Genesis 46; and so it is now to be on the move till the day breaks.
AM Are we reminded in the long speaking till daybreak of the Lord’s word to Peter about John, “If I will that he abide until I come, what is that to thee Follow thou me”, John 21: 22?
JT Yes, it is conversational and the brethren are happy and not disgruntled; the long speaking would convey the thought of conversing over things mutually, the thought of communion.
AH So would “until daybreak”refer prophetically to the present period, with an ear to hear what the Spirit says?
JT Just [p. 268] so.
FS Are we to be affected by Paul’s action in embracing the boy?
JT Yes, it is like Luke 15, “covered him with kisses”; or kissing caressingly; it would be in perfect order there.
Ques Would Paul’s action indicate the need for teaching and practical care?
JT Yes, it suggests all the nursing of the sucklings, and the care; all that promotes life. It involves development of intelligence, too; Paul shows that the mind can be trained best; it is the surest faculty in dealing with the truth; but the affections are needed or we shall be hard. The feet are needed, too, and the hands, in good works; the whole man is required.
Ques What is implied by, “they ... were no little comforted”?
JT We love the thought of development, of what is begun in him. The Lord, in Luke’s gospel, is seen in full manhood, “Jesus himself was beginning to be about thirty years old”; after He was baptised, He was beginning His course. But even at twelve years old He was occupied in His Father’s business; it is the perfect beauty of the Lord in every phase of life; He was lovable to heaven and to His mother, though she did not miss Him that day’s journey.
Ques Would certainty mark Paul’s service as compared with the vagueness that often marks us?
JT These are great matters; I am impressed with that. The Lord would be telling us here how it is a question of life developing; so it enters into Luke’s account of the Lord, in His beginnings, His size, so to speak, for they sought for Him, before they found Him, and His mother says, “Child”, but He was beyond all their thoughts.
Ques Would David in his youth in Psalm 132, and Josiah’s youthful service while still in his teens, both be on this line?
JT Very helpful; ‘in his teens’, but Josiah’s affections were right.
Rem So heaven speaks approvingly of his youth.
JT Yes.
Ques Would the reference in Mark 5: 41, to the child raised by the hand, be similar?
JT That is a simple case in point, “And having laid hold of the hand of the child, he says to her, Talitha koumi, which is interpreted, Damsel, I say to thee, Arise”. Before that we must read verse 39, “And entering in he says to them, Why do ye make a tumult and weep? the child has not died, but sleeps”. It is like what Paul says, “his life is in him”; in Mark it says, “And they derided him”, but what the Lord said was the truth; so He adds the words, “Talitha koumi, which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say to thee, Arise”; it was like Paul’s service to Eutychus; so it adds, “And immediately the damsel arose and walked, for she was twelve years old”. And finally, “he desired that something should be given her to eat”. The sustaining of life raises the question as to whether parents know what to give their children.
Rem Hence the statement in 3 John 4, “I have no greater joy than these things that I hear of my children walking in the truth”.
Ques Why does it say”he desired that something should be given her to eat”?
JT The Lord’s servants are to help; all our readings are to serve a good bowl of milk. The Lord would place the responsibility on all.
Ques Would we look for a listening ear like Lydia’s?
JT Yes, very good.
Ques Is it in your mind in the beginning of this meeting that we lack in understanding the Pauline setting of the Supper; we are really asleep?
JT Yes; very good.
[p. 270] Ques Some of us, you mean, go back to the gospels; we should go to Paul, and wait for Paul?
JT Yes, Lydia’s heart was opened by the Lord, and all ended for her in the things that Paul said, which is what I said at the beginning. All that Paul said was pure gold as to the Supper. The mention of the memorial in connection with the cup only occurs there, as given by Paul.
Ques Would the discernment of the Lord as to the damsel, that she had not died, but slept, be like Paul and Eutychus, “his life is in him”?
JT Very good, and so as children come up for their places in the fellowship, there is not only what they say to their parents, but what do they know of reproach at school?
Ques Why were there seven in Paul’s company, and yet Luke was clearly with Paul all the way (verses 4, 5)?
JT Luke’s presence is referred to in verse 5, they “waited for us at Troas”.
Rem So Luke was a fellow-traveller with Paul.
Rem They really travelled with the Lord; the ways are opening up for travelling with Paul and his company now.
JT Yes; these seven accompanying him show the great place that Paul was acquiring on moral grounds. “Paul and his company” are mentioned first as having been sent forth from Antioch in chapter 13: 13, but he is now advancing on moral lines; he is becoming more influential with the brethren.
Ques Does his expression in Ephesians 3: 5, “To me, less than the least of all saints” indicate that he was always on moral lines?
JT It shows how far he had gone down.
Rem The Philippians were to be in the gain of it, the going down line.
Rem “They brought away the boy alive”; they took possession of him for the inheritance.
JT Just so; he is not mentioned again, but we can be sure he will be mentioned in heaven.
Rem Verse 37 speaks of them all “falling upon the neck of Paul”, and of ardently kissing him; they would be on moral lines, too.
JT Yes; it is the love chapter of the book; the epistle to the Ephesians fits into it. If conditions are living we can go all the way in the service from glory to glory; the bride and the place she occupies in the service; and then the sons of God.
Rem The measurement of the worshippers in Revelation 11: 1 would be on moral lines.
JT “And there was given to me a reed like a staff, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship in it. And the court which is without the temple cast out, and measure it not”. The court is left out; it is defiled.
Ques What would be implied in the measurements of the worshippers?
JT Just to show what the service of God is; the worshippers are bound to be taken account of; and then the altar, and the temple; and the court not to be measured. The mere profession is to be left out. The temple is according to 1 Corinthians, and those who worship in it by the Spirit of God. They are the ones that heaven is occupied with now.
Rem “No little comforted” is like “The living, the living, he shall praise thee”, in Isaiah 38.
JT It is a great word; it is like 2 Corinthians 1: 3, the “God of all encouragement”.
Ques Must you not have comfort of mind and heart for the working out of the mystery according to Colossians?
JT Just so.
Ques Are we always to recognise divine order?
JT You can work out the place it holds in [p. 272] the Revelation, and transfer it into the Pauline epistles. There it is the beginning of things in Christianity.
Ques Would Ephesians 5:19 be like this, “speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and chanting with your heart to the Lord”; it would be the spiritual order in the service first; then “giving thanks at all times for all things to him who is God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” would bring in order in our approach at all times, too?
JT Good; it is placed there as to genuine Christian experience; but what you say is good.
Ques The seven sons of Paul here coming to light would be over against the seven sons of Sceva who fled naked, and would this have in mind the public vindication in glory soon of the Pauline assembly?
JT We all should study what is said by Paul as to the assembly. He says, “I fill up that which is behind of the tribulations of Christ in my flesh, for his body, which is the assembly” (Colossians 1: 24); Paul is not in the foundations; in Revelation 21 he is really in the centre of the holy city.