Bob Gray
Acts 20: 26-32
Matthew 13: 45-46
1 Corinthians 11: 18, 23-26
Acts 13: 1-3
What is in mind in reading these scriptures is to seek help of the Holy Spirit to speak about the assembly, and what it is to divine Persons, and what it means to us. The assembly is a marvellous vessel, and God will show it in the world to come, in the day of display; a wonderful sight. The scripture in Revelation which tells of its appearing gives us some idea of its size. Of course it is figurative, but still the Spirit of God would impress us with the greatness of the assembly. It says in Revelation that it is twelve thousand stadia long and broad and high, chap 21: 16. If we look on these measurements for a moment literally, the holy city would take up space from here to Spain, maybe further, and it is that wide and that high; it is vast. As I say, that is figurative, but it is intended by the Spirit of God to impress us with the grandeur and the greatness of what God is doing in regard of the assembly, and what He will yet bring out in display. Now if you consider that on the one hand, and compare it with what the assembly is now publicly, we must accept that there is no place in Edinburgh where we could gather and say, ‘this is the assembly’. We cannot do that because things have become so broken up on the line of responsibility that we cannot point to the assembly in that sort of outward way but - and this is the burden of what I have in mind - we must not lose sight of the fact that the assembly is God’s masterpiece. It is His mightiest work by far, and He intends that we should have an impression of it, not only in our minds but in our hearts; and He intends too that we should have something of the experience of assembly light. Well, that is fine, we can read of that in the ministry, but my desire is that we might have some actual impression in our hearts of what the assembly is to God.
I read first in Acts 20 where Paul is speaking to the elders of Ephesus, and I have the sense that what Paul was speaking about here had the character and quality of first love. He says of the assembly, “Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, wherein the Holy Spirit has set you as overseers, to shepherd the assembly of God, which he has purchased with the blood of his own”. What a thought that is, no question of your needs or mine entering into this. This is what God did; He purchased the assembly “with the blood of his own” because there was no other resource that would meet the matter. Now, it was said in the reading that the idea of love in the world has become debased, and so it has, but I do think our minds and hearts are set again on what love really is according to God when we see the way in which divine Persons interact with one another. You think of the mighty transaction when God purchased the assembly "with the blood of his own.” What was He purchasing? We are taught that we cannot apply the idea of redemption to the assembly because its origin is heavenly; there is no defect there that requires redemption. It says He “purchased with the blood of his own”. I suppose it involves the way in which He has operated to secure persons for Himself who would form part of the assembly, and let us not be in any doubt that that is you and me. If we are saved persons and we have the gift of the Spirit, we form part of God’s assembly, something that He values beyond our calculation. If it is so, what is the assembly to God? The psalmist says prophetically “here will I dwell, for I have desired it”, Psalm 132: 14. The assembly is a dwelling place for God, wonderful thing. Another thing is that it is a vessel of praise. The Lord says, “in the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises”, Heb 2: 12. You think of that, what this great creature is as before God, to God, and in the heart of God. It has been said that the assembly is never an object of worship: it cannot be because it is a creature, but it does promote worship in our hearts as we look at what God has wrought. “At this time it shall be said ... What hath God wrought!”, Num 23: 23. As we have these thoughts in relation to God’s feelings about the assembly it would help us as we gather. ’Oh’, you say, ’there are just a few or us’. We are not gathering to ourselves, we are gathering to the name of the Lord Jesus and we are gathering in the sense that there is something represented in the company of the saints which is pleasing to God. I would say this to our younger brethren: do you have the sense in your soul that God is pleased with you? ’Well’, you say, ’I fail sometimes’: yes, we all do. But there is a view of things, which the scripture teaches, that is, that we are in Christ Jesus, Rom 8: 1. The hymn says:
In Christ Jesus” - new creation,
We are graced in God’s own Son.
(Hymn 37)
When God looks at you, just being simple, what He sees is the work of Christ. Do you have the Holy Spirit; have you come under the shelter of the blood? You are part of the assembly, and God looks on you in that light, and when you come to the meeting He is pleased with you. Is this too simple? You know, these things are very real. God treasures the fruit of His own work, and the assembly constitutes these things we have mentioned.
In Matthew 13 we have the suggestion, not so much of what the assembly is to God, but what she is to Christ. Now, this brings in a different view of matters. It says, “the kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls”. What is the assembly? What do you think the Lord thinks about the assembly? It is presented, of course, in the types in various ways. One of the things that we could say about the assembly is that it is a comfort to Christ’s heart in the absence of Israel. That is one view we should never lose sight of. The type teaches us that “Isaac was comforted after the death of his mother”, Gen 24: 67. You think of the Lord’s life, thirty three and a half years, and of these three and a half in public service. He worked all day, and sometimes He was in prayer through the night. He slept when He could. He slept on the boat on the cushion in the middle of a storm. Now I do not say that to belittle the Lord or to speak in a familiar way, but to show that His humanity was so real, and He came so near, and yet He had to say, “I have laboured in vain, I spent my strength for nought and in vain”, Isa 49: 4. These were His feelings about Israel because they rejected Him and eventually crucified Him. What do you think then His feelings are about the assembly? What a comfort the assembly is to Christ. The reality of this vessel, this body, which He has secured at infinite cost to Himself; she is all for Him. Would we not want to be part of that? A company that is responsive to Him. It says here He was “like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls”. That would, I suppose, involve the attractiveness of the assembly to Christ. We get inklings of it in the Song of Songs; you gather there His feelings, almost His longings, “Let me see thy countenance,” He says, “let me hear thy voice”, chap 2: 14. Well, would you like to answer Him in regard of that, let Him see your countenance at the Supper, let Him hear your voice? Would you not want to respond? Of course we do. The assembly means everything to Christ at the moment, and it says He is “seeking beautiful pearls; and having found one pearl of great value”. I asked a brother recently if the Lord was looking for beautiful pearls, why does it not say He found a very beautiful pearl? It does not say that; it says one of great value. The brother suggested that the beautiful side would be for the satisfaction of the Lord’s own heart, but the value might relate more to the fact that when He secured the pearl He found in it something that not only met His heart’s desires but something that filled out to the full the purpose of God; “great value”. There it was, the assembly; so you can get some inkling of the Lord’s feelings even when He was here. Remember before He was taken up how He spoke to Mary in the garden. He did not have to say much to touch her heart, did He? One word, He just said “Mary” (John 20: 16), but what volumes were in that word; His heart reaching out to that woman, who suggested to Him something of the features of the assembly, and she answers “Rabboni, which means Teacher”. We said in the reading, and I verily believe it is true, there is no teacher like love. If love is there, love in our hearts for Christ, our hearts are opened to receive impressions, to take on the lessons that He would impart, what He would give to us and say to us. This is the Man we spoke about in the reading; this is the Man that we are following. He is worthy of everything we can give Him, our heart’s longings, our heart’s desires are after Him and, believe me, He will satisfy them in a way that nothing else could.
Well, I go on to 1 Corinthians because we said that the assembly meant much to the blessed God and it means much to Christ. I will just read the verse again, 1 Corinthians 11: 18, “For first, when ye come together in assembly, I hear there exist divisions among you, and I partly give credit to it”. Now it is not in mind to talk about the divisions, but to show that the Lord was intent on bringing in this matter of the Supper and setting it in the assembly, and He was going to do that in spite of whatever may come in. Paul might have said, ’Well, no, I will not tell them just now, I will leave it till some other better time’, but he brought it in and set it out before them in spite of conditions. I am not saying the conditions were acceptable, nor am I suggesting that we can hold the Supper carelessly. Scripture is very clear about that, that we are responsible to maintain what is due to the Lord.
What I wanted to touch on is that this is Christ’s assembly in Corinth, and His assembly is a vessel here to whom He can entrust His most precious secrets. Now that makes the assembly very important. He has here a vessel that He looks to to maintain His interests like the woman of worth in Proverbs 31. The Lord has something here that He trusts and the question that I ask myself, sometimes at the Supper, is, ’Have I been trustworthy?’. How has it been in the past week? I know we do not bring that to the Supper exactly; we have “let a man prove himself” (1 Cor 11: 28) before that. We come prepared; but the sight of the emblems brings things up; it sharpens them up to our minds when we see the loaf and the cup. Divine wisdom is seen there shining; you could hardly get anything simpler, could you? You could not make the Supper any simpler: a loaf and a cup, His body and His blood. You cannot alter it or adjust it; it is stark simplicity, and yet it holds volumes for those whose hearts are affected. Well, am I trustworthy? That is a question we can ask ourselves. But Paul goes on, “I received from the Lord, that which I also delivered to you”. Now he got it from heaven and he placed it in the assembly, and the devil through the intervening centuries has attempted to swamp the idea of the Supper and what it meant. But the Lord has the last word: He says “I am the Alpha and the Omega”, Rev 1: 8. The Lord, in the time He chose, revived it: near the beginning of the nineteenth century. The real teaching and significance and truth of the Lord’s supper was recovered, and you know it was not just overnight. In earlier times there were still pious saints who had the Supper; filled out the meeting with prayer and praise to the Lord Jesus, and with a certain amount of mention of their sins and so on and their repentance, then took the Supper at the end of the meeting. As you know, the Lord worked through all of that, He bore with it and He gave ministry to adjust it, and what we have, I believe, is the Supper as it was as He set it on, as He wished it to be. We have a treasure in the Supper that is priceless. I do not want to use, unwise, extreme language but it is something I do not think we can survive without. We need the Supper every week; we need the Supper. God arranged Israel’s history in months, and that was fine, that was suitable, but the assembly’s history runs in weeks and days, and we have the Supper weekly. Now the Lord has put that in the assembly. He has sovereignly revived it to us: we cannot treat it lightly, can we? Could we say, ’Well, the Supper would do once a month or once a quarter?’; some do that. He has given it to us and He is trusting us to carry what is for Him and His interests. I sometimes have the sense, even as the emblems come round: what must it have been like when He handed it to His disciples? You know, it is as real as that. The Lord is there, He is interested; I trust I speak reverently. He is watching, what for? Something springing up that would answer Him. That Man who loved so well and so dearly and gave so much, He says, ’Here you are, what will you do with it?’. Well, now, that is what the Supper is, to call the Lord to mind, and it is placed in the assembly, and it is for us to take it up, and then enter on what flows out of the Supper. I wonder what our feelings are, not just about the Supper, but the service of God. We say that the service of God flows out of it. How does it? What happens? It is the fact, the truth held by faith and known by the Spirit, that the Lord is present, and He takes us with Him; “Rise up,” He says, “my love, my fair one, and come away”, Song of Songs 2: 10. What a word that is! Could you go with Him? Surely you could go with Him. He takes us on and, you know, He binds us to Himself; He binds us to Himself with the relationships that we speak of. We speak of Him first as the Lord and bring in a note of worship, and then He is not ashamed to call us brethren, Heb 2: 11. Then He brings us closer and He says, “my assembly”. He brings us up with Him in His affections and takes us thus: we go from one step of glory to another and it is cumulative, and then we have an address to the Holy Spirit which I believe is right. He supports the whole thing and then what opens out: what a vista! The Father’s house, the Father’s home. Are these things real? Of course they are real, more real than the things we see in front of us now; they are things that we will know and touch to all eternity.
I just close with a reference to Acts 13. Here we have the assembly again, but this time we see the blessed Holy Spirit active in it. These persons were there; it must have been an interesting meeting there among those brethren that were “first called Christians in Antioch”, Acts 11: 26. These varied names are given. I suppose that would suggest different characters, different personalities. What a wonderful place the assembly is, where saints are brought together and bound together “in the bundle of the living”, 1 Sam 25: 29. These would be different characters, having personalities, and so it is with the saints. We can try each other, and do at times, and what is the answer? The answer is to keep our eye on Christ, but more and more I think we need to make way intelligently for the service of the Holy Spirit. The matter has come into our readings in Grangemouth and one of the things that came out was how sensitive the Spirit of God is. If you deny Him, He will retire. You say, ’He is a divine Person; He may do what He will’. Well, that is so: but that is the character of His service; He is gentle and the hymn speaks of that -
But soon the Spirit’s gentle grace
In service shall completed be;
(Hymn 288).
Do not deny Him; be sensitive. Remember this, when you are praying, even privately, remember to listen. Well, you say, ’I am speaking to God’; yes, but is He going to speak to you? That is more important. Make way for the Spirit, make way for His guidance, make way for His prompting and when He prompts. You say, ’How will I know?’. Well, just keep listening, and when He prompts, do something. I am speaking now about the service of God, and readings, and ministry meetings, and the Supper. If you get a little encouragement from Him, give voice to your impression, make way for it and the brethren will take it up and expand it because it is a living system of things we have part in. Well, the Holy Spirit was here, and He was active, and again I would say this of the assembly, it is a sphere in which the blessed Holy Spirit operates. He is active, He is present, He is living. Our brother here said in the reading, ’Would the Lord be speaking to us today?’. Well, would He? Was there anything at all in what was said that was the Spirit’s voice? Would I go away and say there was nothing of value? Surely not. If the Scriptures are read and prayer is offered, divine Persons would come in, according to our state, of course, and give help, and give a word, and give encouragement. “And as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then, having fasted and prayed, and having laid their hands on them, they let them go,” and so on. It is part of the Christian path that we were speaking about, that is sacrifice. Fasting involves that. Oh, you say, ’We do not fast literally nowadays’. I am not so sure. We are surrounded by everything we need and want. Would it be of any value to go without something, say for a day, or a week? I am not trying to introduce a legal note at all, but something in the way of self denial would show the Lord I really mean what I say to Him, I really want to be committed, I really desire to be here pleasing to Him.
I trust the Lord will use what has been said to encourage us to have a greater appreciation of the assembly as it is to God, and as it is to Christ, and as it is to the Holy Spirit. When we gather it will engender a tremendous respect and holy fear in our hearts as to what is there amongst the saints for the pleasure of God.
May the Lord bless the word.
Edinburgh
21st January 2012