THE ASSEMBLY AS DIVINELY USABLE
[p. 10] THE ASSEMBLY AS DIVINELY USABLE
Hebrews 2:12; Revelation 22:16,17
Other scriptures are in mind but these two will suffice to introduce the subject that is to be presented. They refer to the assembly, as divinely usable — usable in a peculiar way, as no other family of God can be used.
The first passage is quoted from Psalm 22:22, which reads: “I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee”, Psalm 22:22. The word ‘congregation’ is changed to the word ‘assembly’ in the passage in Hebrews. This fact shows how things, persons, systems, generations and families were utilised by God in earlier days to work out his thoughts, first in a tentative and imperfect way. But finally, as the time of perfection arrived, that is, the time of sonship, all is to be treated of and regarded in the light of what is perfect. We are living in the time of perfection. The time of imperfection was the time of law, but we are living in the time of perfection. We read, “When that which is perfect has come, that which is in part shall be done away”, 1 Corinthians 13:10. We are in that time; it is a time in which we can speak of things as existing, not as things that should exist. Christianity exists; the assembly exists; the Holy Spirit has come; the Son has come; the Father has been made known; so that we are in the time of the existence of things that are of God. We are not waiting for them, they have come.
In speaking of the assembly, I would say of it immediately that it is the nearest of all families, or all systems, to the Deity, to God. Others are relatively near; there are to be many families in heaven and on earth which all will be named of the Father. He has pleasure in naming them, but above all He has pleasure in the assembly. He kept it in His mind without [p. 11] saying anything of it to men, directly, for many centuries, “but when the fulness of time was come” Galatians 4:4 the assembly began to be spoken of; in fact, it began to be revealed. Not that all came out at once, for it did not, but at the same time we read, “The Lord added to the assembly daily those that were to be saved”, Acts 2:47. Now the word ‘assembly’ is not in the original. The word is not there, but the thing is there, and so “the Lord added ... daily those that were to be saved”. It is obvious that He added to the great thing that was there; that is to say, what was being formed and was formed then by the Spirit of God. The assembly was there. People were being added, three thousand indeed being added on that day; and they were added to something; not added to judaism, but to the great something that had been in the divine mind, the assembly. And that is being added to all the time up to the present minute. The Lord is doing it; the Holy Spirit is doing it; and I may add, the assembly itself is doing it, for it has the means of adding.
Now the thing added to had already been spoken of prophetically in Psalm 22. The Lord Himself, in that solemn hour on the cross, was in mind as the Speaker. The Spirit of Christ in the psalmist wrote: “In the midst of the congregation will I praise thee”, Psalm 22:22. He used the word ‘congregation’, which is not as great a word as ‘assembly’. God was leading up to the greatest thing, and that is the assembly. God was leading up to that, but the word ‘congregation’ is used in Psalm 22. The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews changed the word to ‘assembly’. Undoubtedly it was Paul. He was a living part of the assembly himself; in fact, he was the minister of it. No one knew more about it than he; he was minister of it, rightly so according to the place divinely given to him in the service of God. And he, under the hand of the Spirit, changed the word from ‘congregation’ to ‘assembly’ to bring it up to date, so to speak. We all need to be up [p. 12] to date, not living in the past, but in today, as it says, “To-day if ye will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the provocation”, Hebrews 3:15. God speaks, and is carrying on His work today; He is making much of the assembly today. Were we all to be translated to heaven today, we should find the assembly a great thing there. We should not look on it objectively, we should see that it is a great matter and that we belong to it; we are of it. It is not being used in heaven yet, but it is being used on earth. Our part should be to make it more usable and more useful. And if it is to be as useful as heaven would have it, then it sings; it is the place of singing. It has the exceptional place; the privileged and most distinguished place, because it is the thing in which the Lord Jesus Himself is acting in the highest way, namely, in a musical sense. He is acting musically in the assembly, and we all want to be in that, because we belong to the assembly. As David says, “With the instruments which I made ... to praise therewith”, 1 Chronicles 23:5. He is a type of Christ there. We were all made for music for the Lord’s use, and therefore we want to be sure we are of the assembly.
The writer to the Hebrews was of the assembly. He knew more about it than any other; in fact, he writes to the Ephesians, “By revelation the mystery has been made known to me, (according as I have written before briefly, by which, in reading it, ye can understand my intelligence in the mystery of the Christ,)” Ephesians 3:3,4. He had in his mind that he had more knowledge than others and he would love to impart it to the Ephesians; at any rate, he was concerned that they should know that he had it. This is a great matter. Paul is now with the Lord. There is a distinction between being with the Lord, and going to heaven. The departed saints are never said to be in heaven. They will be, but they now are with the Lord, as Paul said, “Having the desire for departure and being with Christ, for it is very much better”, Philippians 1:23.
[p. 13] Although he knew that he was not going just then, the time would come and he was ready to go. He had a desire to go, but he was thinking of the saints. He was being used by God to complete them, and he had it in his mind that they needed him, and so he elected to stay, and the Lord left him here. He said that he was “pressed by both, having the desire for departure and being with Christ, ... but remaining in the flesh is more necessary for your sakes”, Philippians 1:23,24. He elected to be with the saints. How long he remained, I cannot say; we are not told how old he was when he was martyred, but at any rate, he elected to stay for the sake of the Philippians, and in principle, by way of extension, it would be for the whole assembly. He would, in staying here below to serve the Lord, not only serve the Philippians but all the saints: “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. He had that in mind, nothing else than the assembly — not simply one group at Philippi or at Corinth — but to “fill up that which is behind of the tribulations of Christ in my flesh, for his body, which is the assembly”. And he would mean, in saying that, that the saints should not be behind; they should be what God intended them to be; they should be a vessel for His praise.
So this verse which I have read, says, “I will declare thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises”, Hebrews 2:12. As I said before, he uses the word ‘assembly’. The word is properly ‘assembly’, and the assembly is for God’s praise. It is the time of praise, and the vessel of praise is the assembly, and the songs keep going on all the time. Were we to go into heaven, we should find the song proceeding, like the continual burnt-offering. And so it is, the song of God proceeds constantly, and we want to be in that song; we want to be in the choir, as it were.
[p. 14] Now I want to refer to Genesis 2. Chapter 1 is a record of the creation, and chapter 2 speaks of the generations of the heavens and the earth. The word ‘generation’ is used in that connection to show how important the creation is in the mind of God. Then we have Man. He is viewed as created in chapter 1, but in chapter 2 he is seen as formed. We are told he was formed, dust of the ground. He is not very peculiarly distinguished by the use of such material. He was made, you may say, in his entirety without breath. Chapter 2 is a wonderful chapter in the sense that God is saying, as it were, I have gone over things creatively but now I want to go over them a second time, so that they may be understood. And so first we have the reference to the seventh day, in which God rested, and then the histories or generations of the heavens and the earth. Then we are told about Man, how he was formed, because “there was no man to till the ground”, Genesis 2:5. And God formed him, in all his parts, but there was no breath, and hence no movement, nothing really to cause pleasure to God. Life affords pleasure to God in the grass, in the trees, in the vegetables, but in man it is life in its supreme place, and so he is said to be formed and then God breathes into him. In Ezekiel we have a like position in the valley of dry bones. The bones first came together and then flesh came up, sinews, and the skin. And God said to the prophet, “Prophesy unto the wind”. And he prophesied to them and life came into them. “The breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army”, Ezekiel 37:9. That great army is said to be the “whole house of Israel” — not part of it. Are the Jews included? Certainly. It is the whole house of Israel, but it is not so great as what I am speaking of. I am speaking of the assembly, which is a greater thought.
Well, I have spoken about Adam, who, in a sense is God’s great thought because he is a type of Christ;
[p. 15] but he is also the representation of the entirety of the persons who are to form the assembly. He is made to live with the breath of life, the breath of God. God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life”, Genesis 2:7. Then it is said that Adam “found no helpmate, his like”, Genesis 2:20. There was not his like in the whole creation, no one just like him — femininely. So it is that God said, “I will make him a helpmate, his like”, Genesis 2:18. Now I am speaking thus, dear brethren, to show how God, at this very early date, had the assembly in His mind. And it is in His mind yet, and will be in His mind eternally. It is the greatest thought of the Creator’s mind in relation to His creation. Hence it is said in this remarkable chapter that He put Adam to sleep. He had breathed into his nostrils the breath of life but now He puts him to sleep. It is the first time we get that thought; he is put into a deep sleep, which would imply that he was not conscious. He was not conscious of what was being done, but God was doing something. A new word is brought in; the word ‘built’; it was never applied to Adam, but it is applied to the woman. She is not, as it were, an independent creature by herself. Adam was asleep; he never saw the woman as a rib, nor did she ever see herself as a rib. I am not seeking simply to occupy or entertain you, but I am endeavouring to convey facts and truth. And so it was that God was doing something of supreme interest, not only to Himself, but to heaven, and something that ever will be of supreme interest to men and to women. So that it is said that “he took one of his ribs and closed up flesh in its stead”, Genesis 2:21. That is to say, there is no void, there is nothing wanting in Adam after the rib is taken out; the flesh is closed up instead. And there is no wound or mark to indicate any defect in him. He is a whole man; he is going to be a husband; and so it is said, “Jehovah Elohim built the rib that he had taken from Man into a woman; and brought her to Man. And Man said, This time it is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh: this shall be called Woman, because this was taken out of a man”, Genesis 2:22,23.
[p. 16] So we see what had been done, and how the Creator was occupied with something other than creation — He was building.
Now I want you just to carry that word ‘build’ in your minds into what I am about to say as to the verses I have read in Hebrews and in Revelation. The book of Revelation takes account of the assembly, in a peculiar way in the use of the word ‘bride’. John, in speaking of the assembly, uses that word, and he uses it in the sense that she is “as a bride adorned for her husband”, in Revelation 21:2, and, “I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife”, in verse 9. Revelation 21:9. She is thus shown to John. He says, first of all, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth ... and I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”, Revelation 21:1,2. That is, she has done something. Eve had been prepared for Adam. God had performed a remarkable piece of work without Adam’s knowledge. He had taken out a rib and had closed up the flesh, as if He were to say, You are not to know what came out of there; it is going to be mystery. Presently it is to be disclosed. Something had happened, but God would say, You are to wait for the time of the revelation of the mystery. We are in the time of mystery; it marks our dispensation; and those of us who are in the dispensation, characteristically, are initiated into the mystery; the mystery of the kingdom of God, and the mysteries of God. This rib taken out of Adam, and the flesh closed up where it had been, is one of them. Much is said about Eve, but that mystery remains untold. Now it is disclosed, and the book of Revelation contemplates it. John the evangelist says, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth ... . And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”, Revelation 21:1,2.
[p. 17] He saw that; he saw her adorned, and I want to say, dear brethren, that the present is the time of adornment, the time of doing things. God is doing things, but the adorning is our part. Not that God does not adorn, too. The Lord puts His beauty upon us; but at the same time, there is such a thing as the bride adorning herself for her husband. It is a time of seeing that, and understanding that we are going to have part in that.
Now I wish to show that the bride has the first place with God; I will say, with Deity, to make the thing plainer. The title “God” may be used in a final way, but when we speak of ‘Deity’ we use another word, we are speaking of what is to be reverenced, and to which we bow. We are to bow to God, but we are to worship when we use the word ‘Deity’. It is a special thought which is particularly available to the minds of those of the assembly. The assembly is capable of taking in more of it than any other family. And so it is that the Lord says, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is athirst come; he that will, let him take the water of life freely”, Revelation 22:17. Now, this is after the Lord Jesus had said, “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify these things to you in the assemblies”, Revelation 22:16. The Lord is speaking in a personal way to us; He is speaking in the assemblies; He is not speaking abroad to the world; He is speaking in the assemblies, in a personal way to us. He says, “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify these things to you in the assemblies”, Revelation 22:16. And then He says something about Himself. He is saying it in the assemblies, not anywhere or to anybody, but to the assemblies. And He speaks about Himself: “I am the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star”, Revelation 22:17.
I have already spoken about music, as to where it goes on; it is in the assembly. And now I am speaking of what the Lord is saying about Himself in the assembly. He is speaking in a confidential way; we [p. 18] are His confidants; we are those in whom the Lord has confidence. He is saying, I have something personal in My mind. I have brought you here today for a purpose — to say something to you about Myself. The question is whether we are listening and taking it in. He is saying, “I am the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star”, Revelation 22:16. That is one of the greatest statements, perhaps, that we can think of from the Lord. There are other great statements, of course, but this is one of the greatest; it is a matter of what He says and where He is saying it. And what He says is, “I am the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star”, Revelation 22:16.
Well now, I come to the immediate thing I had in mind — what the Spirit and the bride say. It is what is being said in response. It is a great way with God to say certain things and then look for response. There is very little response today, I am sure. At the same time, christianity is a current matter and some are speaking and responding to what God has said, and the response here is in two beings, speaking reverently. The first is the Holy Spirit, who is God Himself. When I speak thus, I am seeking to be reverential, to be very careful to say nothing that would discredit the Holy Persons of the Deity, but it is within our range to have to say to what God is saying, because the Holy Spirit is saying, “Come” to Jesus. The word ‘come’ perhaps was never employed in a more effective way than here. “The Spirit and the bride say, Come”, Revelation 22:179. It is spoken in a united way. The first speaker is God Himself and the second speaker, whose utterance is in perfect unison, is the bride of Christ.
So we can see what a place the assembly has. There is no other family, system, society, group of beings or persons who have the place and privilege that the assembly has, and we belong to the assembly. We are privileged to be united in this matter, in saying to the Lord Jesus, “Come”, in conjunction with the [p. 19] Holy Spirit. I bring this forward as a clear proof that the assembly has the nearest place to Deity. She has the nearest place in that one of the divine Persons sings in it to God; “In the midst of the assembly will I praise thee”. We have already seen that the writer to the Hebrews changed the word ‘congregation’ to ‘assembly’. But there is something else. For the word ‘sing’, he uses the word ‘hymn’, which we do not get in the Psalms. Psalms are distinguished from hymns in Ephesians. Hymns refer to vehicles of praise, peculiarly, and so the Lord Jesus in the assembly says, “Will I praise thee”, but the word is really ‘hymn’. It is not the dispensation of the psalms, it is the dispensation of hymns, and the Lord Jesus says to His Father, I will hymn Thee in the assembly. It is a clear indication of our nearness to the Deity: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
I am endeavouring with all the means at my disposal to convey to you something that ought to stay with us; that we belong to the greatest group of persons, the greatest family, in the whole universe, and that family is being used by divine Persons for Their own peculiar purposes. One of those purposes is to praise God in the sense of hymning to the Father, and then that the Spirit says to the Lord Jesus, “Come”, and the assembly joins in unison to say the same thing. You see thus how near the assembly is brought in conjunction with divine Persons in speaking and singing. We belong to it; that is the thing to get hold of. If the dear brethren are able to lay hold of this and carry it away, I will be thankful, feeling that I have done something. I can only leave it with you, that you belong to what is nearest to the Deity. Be in what He is doing in His own way, in His own place in the assembly.
May God bless His word.