1 TIMOTHY 3
The important point here is that we may hear the voice of the Spirit in the house of God. The first three chapters are a preface to the important truths which come out afterwards. The time had come when the voice of the Spirit was that of warning beforehand in reference to what was about to creep in.
Christendom listens to the voice of man and disregards that of the Spirit; so being insensible to the Spirit’s voice it falls into that which the Spirit warns against. They lost all knowledge of the house of God, as well as the fact that the Spirit is here. This is where the bulk of Christendom is today. The Spirit’s presence [p. 470] is a great test, for it raises the question as to whether one is in a condition to hear the voice of the Spirit. When Christians ignore the Spirit’s presence they cannot hear His voice. It is easy to listen to the voice of ministers, or even to the voice of a brother, but the point is to hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. This means spiritual perception.
Ever since the figure of redemption God has had a house upon earth. The house of God in this chapter is identical with the assembly or church of God. To desire the office of a bishop is to desire oversight, a good work in itself, but to be qualified for it is another matter. The word “bishop” is overseer. Ecclesiastical ideas gave the expression of “bishop” translated many years after it was written, and with an anxiety to maintain the clerical thought. You must bring home to a person the truth of the house of God before they can hear the voice of the Spirit.
The truths in the chapters before this lead up to the correct behaviour in the house. They set forth the place suitable to man and woman, etc., and then bring in office in connection with this order. There is no mention of the house of God until these things are built up in the mind.
The truth of “God is One” involves the Spirit’s presence here. Man is displaced, and the Spirit is here to form another man in the likeness of Christ. If Christ gave Himself a ransom for all, then all are gone, for a lost thing in this sense is never restored. Adam had nothing but life for this world, and having forfeited it, there is no life now except in Christ, outside this world. Baptism is the admission on my part that death is upon all, and that there is another Man in view, and life alone is in Him. If we have faith to be buried with Christ we have faith to have life in Him outside of death. If a man has a title here such as prince, duke, he only holds it in the providence of God. It is the greatest audacity to hold title or possessions in one’s own right when all such have been forfeited by man and belong to Another. The house of God is formed by baptism, and the Assembly has always the character of the house of God even in this day of confusion.
Moral office and order are established here to take care of the saints. The office and character of deacons and overseers were portrayed in a day when darkness and confusion reigned around, and we cannot improve upon it now. The deacons and deaconesses need to be proved in ministering among the saints. Verse 11 reads “deaconesses”, not wives, that is, sisters who served, such as Phoebe, Euodia and Syntyche. They continue now, and are as needful as the deacons, but Scripture never makes elders of them. A single man is not suitable to be a deacon; he must be a married man to enter properly into the office.
The effect of light was to bring back what God had ordained at the beginning, i.e., “husband of one wife” as we read here. Things were allowed under the law which God did not countenance. Moses wrote a bill of divorcement because of the hardness of their hearts, but the Lord said “but from the beginning it was not thus”. (Matthew 19: 8.) Christianity has restored all to God’s original thought and purpose. In 1 Timothy 3: 16; God has been manifested in the flesh. Christ was justified by the Spirit in all He did upon earth in His mighty works. The great mystery is the secret of the house of God, that is, piety. In God’s Jewish house there was a mystery of God, certain things not made known outside. Now in the light of Christianity there is a mystery connected with the things of the house of God outside and far beyond what was in the house of Israel, and piety should distinguish and mark off those who are of it. They should be morally distinguished as a testimony in contrast to Judaism. The idea here is that God has come out. The contrast is breadth and length in contrast to the narrowness of Judaism. If [p. 472] people are dogmatic over Scripture they spoil its force. It has wide principles.
Chapter 4 refers to riches brought into the assembly as a mark of power instead of spirituality. This is utter confusion and error. It is better to suffer anything than to look to rich men instead of spiritual ones in the things of God. On the other hand God can open the way to use riches in His service if rightly held. The words “received up in glory” (1 Timothy 3: 16) may take in the thought of the Church caught up with Christ. It was His right to be received there, but He did not go alone, and we have the figure in the man child of Revelation 12.