The order of God's dispensed blessing towards the earth, was to make Jerusalem its center -either to be sought unto as the place where His name was, or as the source from whence the testimony was to proceed. This is clearly intimated as the purpose of God by the prophet Isaiah. It stands almost as a preface to his predictions -so that the soul of faith might be sustained by it, whatever the vicissitudes of judgment and mercy through which this city might have to pass, before it was publicly acknowledged as "the city of righteousness," "the city of the great King." "It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house, shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it: and many people shall go and say, come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob: and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." But "the faithful city had become a harlot" (Isa. 1:2121How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. (Isaiah 1:21)). The Lord Jesus when He came, acted on the truth of the prophetic testimony,—h its temple standing -priests in due order -synagogue worship -its numerous Scribes and doctors of the law, He treated it as the harlot city, full of murderers, thieves and covetousness, because He judged not according to appearances, but righteous judgment according to the word of the Lord. He therefore did not commence His ministry at Jerusalem, neither did the word of the Lord go forth from it. There was a new center from which the light was to be spread. "Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, the land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Capernaum thus became the source of testimony, and had the title of his own city (Matt. 9:11And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. (Matthew 9:1)); but it knew not its honor and therefore heavier judgment awaited it. If we follow the narrative of St. Matthew, we find the ministry of the Lord Jesus at the extremest distance from Jerusalem; Scribes and Pharisees came to him from Jerusalem (Matt. 20:11For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. (Matthew 20:1)). It was at Caesarea Philippi that He told them about His going up to Jerusalem, not to make it the center of testimony, but "to suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and Scribes, and be killed and be raised again the third day." It is not till the 19th chapter, that we find Jesus departing from Galilee, and going up into the coasts of Judea beyond Jordan; and in ch. 20 as He was going up to Jerusalem, He again tells His disciples what the result would be. And after entering the city in triumph (Matt. 21), and in cleansing the temple sealing on them the word of the prophet, we find it stated, He left them and went out of the city into Bethany and lodged there (v. 17), as though He could not lay His head in the polluted city (see also Luke 21:3737And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives. (Luke 21:37), John 8:11Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. (John 8:1)). Even after His resurrection, Galilee was to be the meeting-place with His brethren (Matt. 28:1010Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me. (Matthew 28:10)); and there the eleven receive the largest commission ever given them (v. 16), which would seem to intimate that before Jerusalem will actually become the center of blessedness, it will have to acknowledge the light sprung up in Galilee.
But Jerusalem was to be put on a fresh trial, it had had the sad honor of crowning all its fearful evils of stoning the prophets, by slaying the well-beloved of God. And therefore it is the fit place for the testimony of sovereign grace to go forth from. "Repentance and remission of sins are to be preached in the name of Jesus among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." "Beginning at Jerusalem," what grace was in that? the city of murderers was to have the testimony first given in it. Most fitly therefore did Jerusalem resume her place as the center of testimony, but she could only hold it in the humbling remembrance that she stood only in grace. She could only invite others to come to her in the confession of her own sin, for if this was not the case, what would the nations have beheld, but the same which the Lord had seen, -the city of righteousness, the habitation of murderers and a den of thieves. The disciples therefore were to tarry not in Galilee but in Jerusalem, until they were endued with power from on high. God will always be faithful to himself, and his counsel ran thus: "Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers, yea upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city... until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high (Isa. 32:13-1513Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city: 14Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks; 15Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. (Isaiah 32:13‑15))." If there is to be a new order of blessing, it is to be deposited first in Jerusalem, but only as we shall see to seal up her guilt in the rejection of the Holy Ghost as well as the Son, after this there is no remedy but judgment. Accordingly we find the disciples assembled together on the day of Pentecost at Jerusalem, and the promise of the Father was given to them. And the very silence of Peter (while asserting the marvel before them to be that spoken of by Joel the prophet), concerning Jerusalem and Mount Zion, expressly mentioned in the last verse of the chapter which he quotes, shows us that things would not go on in the prophetic order, but would again be interrupted; so that because of Israel's unbelief; we are obliged to speak of a first coming of Messiah and a second, -a first outpouring of the Spirit and a second. The second outpouring is not presented to us as our hope, but the redemption of the body; but to Israel as Israel, it is still desolation, until the Spirit be poured on them from on high, and the Redeemer come to Zion. The very fact of the coming of the Holy Ghost, was the testimony unto Israel's sin in the rejection of Messiah: "whom ye slew, God hath raised up," was the burden of that testimony by St. Peter. And on conviction of their guilt, they were led to know the power of His name in forgiveness of sins, and to receive the promise of the Holy Ghost; which was given to them which believed on His name The pouring out of the Spirit was a promise of the New Covenant; but the blood by which that covenant was ratified, had now been shed, and in it was remission of sins: this was now preached, and if the word of the Lord went forth from Jerusalem, it must be in testimony to its sin as well as to its blessing. And the word would have been made good, "Then shall ye remember your own evil ways and your doings which were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and for your abominations. Not for your sake do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel." But Jerusalem refused to acknowledge its sin or to receive the blessing. The city still retained its character of killing the prophets, and stoning them sent unto her; and Stephen's testimony to their resistance of the Holy Ghost, was sealed by his own blood. Thus the city rejected the Holy Ghost, as it had previously the Son and the Father. The testimony does indeed go forth from Jerusalem, but is not sent by Jerusalem: it was her sin now not her glory, which caused the word of the Lord to go forth from it. "And at that time there was a great persecution against the Church which was at Jerusalem: and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the Apostles. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word." But still the Apostles regarded it as the center of testimony and of blessing, salvation is of the Jews. "Now when the Apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John." But the Lord was now evidently very gently preparing the way for giving up Jerusalem, and depriving her of this pre-eminence also. Philip is sent by an angel of the Lord to the Eunuch returning from Jerusalem towards Ethiopia. He had turned his back on Jerusalem and is not turned towards her again as the city of righteousness. "The Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the Eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing." This was a very remarkable intimation of the mind of God, in turning away from any visible dependence on person or place. He returned to Ethiopia with his understanding enlightened to understand the scriptures, and was left to the guidance of the Spirit. Even after the calling out of Saul, it would appear as if the Lord was loath that Jerusalem should lose the testimony of him who had seen the Lord in glory, and knew the Church as one with him in it. After being introduced by Barnabas to the Apostles, we are told he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem, "and he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him." Thus they rejected his testimony as well as that of Stephen, "so the brethren brought him down to Caesarea and sent him forth to Tarsus."
When the fullness of time was come for preaching Christ to the Gentiles, the word of the Lord does not go forth from Jerusalem to them. Peter was at Joppa when he had the vision of the sheet let down from heaven, and the commission to go to Caesarea to Cornelius. And subsequently to the baptism of the household of Cornelius, we read when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, saying, "thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them. " Thus we find Jerusalem, instead of being known as the city, the name of which is "the Lord is there," standing forward as a city to thwart the work of the Lord. There was still in her indeed that which was precious to God, and that which He would honor. But the word of the great prophet still took hold of them "Behold I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and Scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city." It was still the Jerusalem that killed the prophets and stoned them that were sent unto her.
The last honor put upon Jerusalem, was the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, coming to the disciples there. But He had been grieved in that city; and although without the same accompanying circumstances of power, He had again, unsought for, been sent down from heaven, on the household of Cornelius in Caesarea. And this was the answer of Peter, to those who contended against him for going to the uncircumcised: "As I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning."
Now this was not only the testimony from heaven to the Gentiles being brought into the one body, but that the order of dispensed blessing was now changed. It was no longer in one mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, but the Holy Ghost coming to carry on His work, in what would appear to man an irregular way; but only irregular because He will show his sovereignty in working where, how, and by whom He will. We do not therefore find Caesarea as the center from which testimony goes forth to the Gentiles. But we are told that "they which were scattered abroad, upon the persecution that arose about Stephen, traveled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only; and some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which when they were come to ANTIOCH, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus, and the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed and turned to the Lord." But still there was that at Jerusalem which the Lord owned, although He had disowned the city. There was the Church there; and that Church was not so occupied with itself, as to forget to care for the weak. "Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the Church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas that he should go as far as Antioch, who when he saw the grace of God was glad, and after he had exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord, he departed to Tarsus for to seek Saul, and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch." The way in which this is told us, seems clearly to intimate that Barnabas, who was full of faith and the Holy Ghost, here saw fitting service for Saul. They would not receive his testimony at Jerusalem -it might have been he had no honor in his country Tarsus -but here was the grace of God, here was a sphere for him who was especially called to bear the name of the Lord before the Gentiles. "And it came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves with the Church, and taught much people."
Here then in the city of Antioch of Syria, we find a Church established; not by Jerusalem as a dependency on Jerusalem, but raised up by the controlling power of God, over Jerusalem's sin in persecuting the Church, a special instance of His own grace. There doubtless was intercourse between this Church and the Church at Jerusalem, but the word of the Lord did not come forth directly from Jerusalem to Antioch. Antioch gladly owned the Church of Jerusalem as able to counsel it, and gladly received its messenger for its establishment in the faith. But its same standing was in the grace of God, and not in dependence on Jerusalem; and therefore we find, that the messenger which had been sent forth from Jerusalem to Antioch, does not return thither again to get help for the infant Church, but goes independently of Jerusalem to Tarsus for Saul. And for a whole year we find that Barnabas and Saul assembled themselves with the Church there, acting entirely independently of any external aid. In the intercourse which passed between Jerusalem and Antioch, we do not find Jerusalem adding anything to Antioch; and although as to the date we may be uncertain, yet the fact is most interesting, that it was at Antioch that the Apostle of the circumcision, the representative at least of the feeling of Jerusalem, received public rebuke from Paul. "But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed; for before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles; but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him, insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation; but when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel." Here we see the influence even of the Church of Jerusalem, presenting itself as that which hindered the truth of the Gospel. And that Antioch, under the guidance of Paul, could assert its own standing in the grace of God, entirely independent of Jerusalem.
There is another circumstance to notice as to the Lord's turning away from Jerusalem. A new name is given to His people at Antioch. "And the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch." From Antioch therefore not Jerusalem, that name which has now so widely spread, went forth. They had previously been called disciples and brethren; but now it would appear, when the Holy Ghost was about to act from another center, a name was given, the peculiar distinctiveness of which was, the anointed ones by being in the anointed One: as if to draw off the thoughts from place and birth, to fix them on that which could only be true because Jesus was risen, and as risen had sent down the Holy Ghost. I believe the proper definition of Christian, to be that which is given us by the Apostle himself in writing to the Corinthians, in which he includes himself. "Now he that establisheth us with you into the anointed One, and hath anointed us in God." There was stability in no city -in no Church now -Jerusalem had failed -and the only sure establishment was that which took the soul out of all earthly associations -establishment in Christ. This left a freedom to the Spirit to act where he would -to raise up a testimony here or there, in many or in few, since the testimony now was to no locally organized body, but to the oneness of the Church with Christ in heavenly places.
Thus gently led on, we find Antioch as the first center; for the special work the Holy Ghost had now to be done. If the Lord had in His own person said to the disciples, "that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name, beginning at Jerusalem"; the Holy Ghost now in his own person sends forth His servants whom He had called to a definite work, beginning at Antioch. "Now there were in the Church that was at Antioch, certain prophets and teachers." It is not here a commission from an ordered Church, such as Jerusalem, sending forth any in the power of apostolical commission, to gather others under the shelter of Jerusalem as a mother Church. It is not human ordination to a definite mission; but it is the Holy Ghost separating from among those who were already accredited, certain individuals by name for an expressed object: thus asserting His authority as to the place from whence He would work, as to the specialty of the work He would have performed, and as to the particular agents by whom it should be carried on. "Tidings came unto the ears of the Church which was in Jerusalem," -and they acted according to the wisdom in them on the occasion, and sent forth Barnabas, one every way qualified for the mission. This an ordered Church could do -and so they might evangelize any geographical extent -and such will be the case by and bye, the testimony will go forth in an orderly way throughout the cities of Israel, and the Lord's saving health among all nations; but now this was interrupted on account of Jerusalem's sin, and a new work is begun. Here, at Antioch, we have not the Holy Ghost appointing individuals to carry on a work already begun, but separating to a work the character and extent of which none knew. And such appears to have been his way ever since, it would be what men would call executive agency. Revivals in the general corruption of Christianity or evangelization owned and blessed among the heathen, have generally originated from some obscure and irregular agency; and then the established bodies have acted on the result, and sought to carry on the work thus begun, corporately. And although establishments are not hindered in helping on a work of the Lord when once begun, yet their very orderly way of proceeding in evangelizing must necessarily be much misspent labor, because the region they would evangelize may not be the work the Holy Ghost has to be done. The great difference between the Church at Jerusalem sending forth Barnabas to Antioch, and the Holy Ghost sending forth ("so they being sent forth by the Holy Ghost") Barnabas and Saul unto a prospective work, cannot be too solemnly weighed. It raises a very practical question, whether the Church taking upon itself to send forth Missionaries to evangelize any given locality, is not assuming an authority with which she was never entrusted, since the day that there was one raised up as an Apostle of the Gentiles. And after he was raised up, not even the Church at Jerusalem itself, could advance any such pretension.
But to return to this work of the Holy Ghost, whereunto He had called Barnabas and Saul. Its character is undefined, and only ascertained by the result. Now I believe the very undefinedness of the work to be that which is declaratory of its character. When Saul was called to be an Apostle by the Lord Jesus, there was at least a definite character given to his ministry,—"he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel, for I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake." But here the work whereunto they were called, is kept entirely in the hand of the Holy Ghost, He himself directing their movements from city to city, and their tarriance here or there. "So they being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Selucia, and from thence they sailed to Cyprus." Now the undefinedness of the work just shows the way in which the Holy Ghost now began to act, and that was in the assertion of his own sovereignty. From henceforth He will act from any center He chooses: Jerusalem is passed over, so is Caesarea, and Antioch is the place from whence those called to the work are commended to the grace of God; and whither they return on the accomplishment of the work, to detail what the Lord had wrought by them (see Acts 14:26-2826And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled. 27And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. 28And there they abode long time with the disciples. (Acts 14:26‑28)). But how different was Antioch from Jerusalem. At Jerusalem, there were the Apostles and elders, and everything orderly and established. At Antioch, the Apostles themselves go forth, leaving there prophets and teachers, but nothing on which those going forth could lean: Antioch was but an infant Church, and its main pillars had gone forth unto this work. Surely this was all designed to teach simple dependence on the Holy Ghost, to wean the servants of the Lord from leaning on any establishment. And from this moment it appears that the influence of Jerusalem began to act unhealthfully, because as an established thing it interfered with that prerogative of the Holy Ghost which He was now asserting. This was speedily shown, in the carrying out of this work. We read (v. 5), "when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they also had John to their minister. And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar Jesus... which withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith." Now I think we have here presented to us two of the great hindrances in the work which the Holy Ghost was working. In Bar Jesus, a Jew, we find the spirit of the unbelieving Jews, who most unrelentingly followed Paul and Barnabas from city to city, stirring up the minds of the religionists, and making them evil affected towards them, "forbidding them to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved." In John, we find the influence of Jerusalem acting on the mind of the believing Jew; and this was a much sorer trial. The faith and patience of the Apostles was rendered very conspicuous through the one; but the other required all the wisdom of the Spirit, all the impartiality of love, all the uncompromising boldness for the truth to meet it. A slight acquaintance with the Epistles of Paul, will sufficiently show what constant conflict this led the Apostle into. God vindicated the testimony unto His own word by inflicting blindness for a season on Bar Jesus, even as it is written of Israel that they are "blinded unto this day. " But that which was early shown in John, is the bane of the Church to this very day. It is to me most instructive to trace the notices of John. Now when Paul and his companions loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia, and John (Mark) departing from them returned to Jerusalem. There was something at Jerusalem for the flesh to rest on, there was something there established and visible; but in the work whereunto Paul and Barnabas had been separated, there was nothing of the kind. It was simple dependence on the energy of the Holy Ghost, and simple following of His leading. It was in the eyes of men apparently acting without authority; and the character of the work was not of that orderly kind which is the result of human arrangement. There was no calculating whereunto it would grow; and there was nothing in the work accomplished congenial to a mind habituated to a system which was ingathering to itself. The work not only required the soldier's hardness, but required constant dependence. Now John's {Mark} conduct not only deprived Paul for the time, of one profitable to him for the ministry (2 Tim. 4:1111Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry. (2 Timothy 4:11)), but it was the means of separating Barnabas and Paul. And it is the very same principle which most effectually hinders co-operation in service unto this day. The resting on or being the servant of any particular establishment, effectually hinders that free service which the Holy Ghost requires; and it is found by experience that there is no fellowship in service, because each servant for the most part, has an object before him, independent of the great object of the Holy Ghost in gathering around the death of Christ as its center, the children of God which are scattered abroad. The narrative (Acts 15:3636And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do. (Acts 15:36)) is humbling and instructive. "Let us go again (said Paul to Barnabas) and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do; and Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work; and the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other." The words "went not with to the work," are very important. There may be a great deal of individual zeal and of busy activity, but it may not be at all occupied in the work which the Holy Ghost has definitely in hand. It behooves us to ascertain what that is, before we can serve intelligently. It was clearly not now to gather to Jerusalem; so that even a saint of God, gifted too for ministry, would be thwarting the work, by throwing his energy into that which once might have been the work of the Lord, but was not now. I believe we as much need intelligent perception of what the work of the Holy Ghost is now, as John Mark did then, or else we shall find our very service (so far as in us lies) hindering the work of the Lord; and this is the case when we act either on our own wills in service, or on human calculation. I believe the work to have been the same throughout the history of the Church, the Spirit to have been gathering here or there as He would; and the hindrance to have been the attempt to make the Spirit of God work in a course, which according to human wisdom, appears calculated to insure a good end.
It is interesting to mark the character of the work unto which the Holy Ghost had separated Paul and Barnabas, in the testimony of Paul at Antioch of Pisidia (to the Jews especially, but in the audience of the Gentiles), to the complete justification of the believer in Christ Jesus. It is his especial work to glorify Jesus, "through him was preached forgiveness of sins." Such was the commission given to the Apostles by the Lord personally after His resurrection; repentance and remission of sins were to be preached in His name beginning at Jerusalem. But now all the privileges of faith were at once to be announced. "By him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. " When that law was understood, it could never give peace as pertaining to the conscience. It did not at all touch the question of indwelling sin: the one who by the law, known as spiritual, had discovered that, would have found that it did not even pretend to provide for justification in that point. What a blessed work of the Spirit, so to testify of Jesus, that the moment the soul was brought to Him, there every question about sin which could possibly be raised was immediately set at rest, "justified from all things. " The history of the Church has painfully proved how little this special work of the Spirit in testimony has been heeded. Recurrence to worldly elements under some form or other, has always given the Church a Jewish complection; and the simple presentation of Christ to faith, has almost being superseded, by the requirement of some preparatory meetness, or the setting up some standard of subsequent experience. And in more forms than one, have we seen ordinances brought in, to the exclusion almost of Him to whom they testify, so that the sinner's justification is made practically to rest on obedience, not on grace; or on the work of the Spirit wrought within, rather than on the finished work of Christ without. This work of the Spirit was just suited to the necessities of sinners of the Gentiles, so that they besought that these things might be preached to them the next sabbath. And when it was so, and Jewish influence stirred up the devout and honorable woman and chief men of the city, so that they expelled Paul and Barnabas out of their coasts... we find that the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Ghost. Such was the effect of the reception of the word of the Lord published through-out these regions. The confirmation to the souls of Barnabas and Paul, by means of the prophetic word, is very remarkable, and shows the Holy Ghost's use of that word, as such a light as gave confidence to the Apostles to turn away from the Jews, and to turn entirely unto the Gentiles (v. 46).
Persecuted in one city, they go to another; and even in this we find a direct contrast with the word of the Lord, going forth from Jerusalem in regular order and peaceful triumph. The wrath of man is made to praise God, in the spreading of his testimony; and this feature in the work of the Holy Ghost, has more or less been manifested in all ages of the Church. The laborious efforts made for evangelization by large ordered bodies, have signally failed; but those who have been persecuted for the truth's sake, have carried the truth with them, from out of the country whence they have been driven, into that wherein they have sought a refuge. At Iconium (Acts 14) we mark very distinctly the character of the testimony given by Paul and Barnabas, "they spake boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony to the word of his grace." This is very distinctive indeed; and while there is surely a great boldness in the confidence of the truth unto which we bear witness, I apprehend there is more meant by the expression, "spake boldly in the Lord. " The grace is so large -so able to meet any sinner, whoever he be, that we are at times almost led to question whether we are not making too free with the Lord's name, in bringing it home to the ungodly where he is, as complete salvation. But it is such a testimony the Lord owns, and unto such a testimony the Holy Ghost had separated Paul and Barnabas. And it was doubtless the largeness of the very grace which made Paul even distrustful of himself in handling it, lest he should obscure it, so that as it were, he enters a protest against himself, "Though we or an angel from heaven preach any other Gospel unto you, than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed."
Driven from Iconium, they fled unto Lystra and Derbe, "and there they preached the Gospel. " It was "the Gospel of the grace of God" they preached, and not themselves. They would have been received had they come in their own names, and might have used what men would have believed a wholesome influence on the minds of the heathen. But what testimony would the receiving honor from men themselves, have been to that grace which they preached. The very grace itself declared the nothingness of man; and it would have been a poor thing for these heathen to have forsaken even their idols, to turn unto men of like passions with themselves: the Gospel which they preached was to turn them from vanities of every kind, Paul and Barnabas, as well as dumb idols, unto the living God. The readiness of man to receive his fellow-man in the place of God, and his unreadiness to receive God himself, are alike remarkable. And there was a holy jealousy in the Apostles, lest any honor shown to themselves, should put them in the place of the priests, which stood between the people and their idols, and thus make them to occupy in their minds a place between Christ and themselves, to the obscuring or nullifying the grace of God. "We are men of like passions with yourselves"; how is it the work of the Holy Ghost to lead to all possible self-abasement, that the Lord alone may be exalted? The subsequent history of the Church speedily proved how this feature of the work of the Holy Ghost was disregarded. "Men of like passions with others," were regarded, and sought to be regarded as a superior order: they soon came to occupy the place which the priests of Jupiter and Mercury had occupied, and thus made the way of return to bondage, to the weak and beggarly elements of the world. Such necessarily is the result of the ministers of God's grace occupying the place of an ordered priesthood. There is another thing to be noticed in the carrying out this work of the Holy Ghost, that the exaltation of Christ is sure to bring with it personal trial. The people at Lystra would have honored Paul and Barnabas as gods; but when they refused that honor, that they might testify to the grace of God, they were speedily stirred up by Jewish influence to stone Paul, and leave him for dead. How well then were they prepared to go from city to city where they had preached the Gospel, to confirm the souls of the disciples, and to exhort them to continue in the faith, and that we must "through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. " The 13th and 14th chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, appear to me to furnish us with an outline of the character of ministry among the Gentiles, as it is written "preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world. " In this ministry, we see everything on which man as man would rest, set aside; everything which would give prominence to man abased, and the assertion of a sovereign controlling power. The choice of instruments, the selection of place for testimony, the joy given to those who received the testimony, are all manifested to be of the Holy Ghost, to the setting aside of human arrangement entirely. And the manner of carrying on this work apart from and almost independent of Jerusalem, is especially marked throughout. The appointment by Paul and Barnabas, on their second visit to the several Churches of local elders, is quite in character with the whole of this work. The wisdom of the Spirit in Paul, led to this arrangement: it was not the Church which either chose or ordained them, but Paul and Barnabas, and this entirely independent of Jerusalem. "And when they had ordained them elders in every Church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord on whom they had believed." This again appears a part of the work whereunto the Holy Ghost had separated them. And then "they sailed to Antioch from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled. And when they were come and had gathered the Church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles; and there they abode long time with the disciples." Here we find Antioch acknowledged by Paul and Barnabas as the center of this work of the Holy Ghost: they went out from it and returned unto it. Now in the case of Antioch itself, it had not been so, the word reached it from Jerusalem by irregular action; and Barnabas who had been sent forth from Jerusalem to Antioch, did not return to it again. But here they return to Antioch from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled. But although they had been recommended to the grace of God by the Church, they had not been sent forth by the Church, but by the Holy Ghost: they were not responsible to the Church, and it was not the Church which summoned them, but they gathered the Church; for although they could receive no authority from the Church, they delighted in its co-operation, and owed it this debt of love to rehearse to them all that God had done with them. It was both blessed to recognize the Church as fellow-helpers unto the truth, and to make them partakers of the joy.
The peace of the Church at Antioch, did not remain undisturbed; and the influence of Jerusalem was manifested as again thwarting the work of the Holy Ghost. "Certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the Apostles and elders about this question." There was both grace and wisdom, in Antioch thus recognizing all that was of God still at Jerusalem, all the debt it owed the Church there for its parental care in its infant weakness in sending forth Barnabas to strengthen and confirm it. There was a council of appeal there, which has never existed in any other Church. The imitation of this in general councils has simply tended to bring the Church under the power of the world, and to hide from the Church its fall from "the goodness of God." Nothing has been more injurious to the Church than imitation -it has blinded the Church; and while holding the form, has effectually denied the power. It is thus that the very strength which remains, even the Holy Ghost, acting in sovereign agency in the Church, has been almost entirely overlooked, and the Church turned aside for help to power not its own; and thus the influence both of the flesh and the world, has been attempted to be 'consecrated to God. But it should be remarked, it was not the Church at Jerusalem summoning representatives of Antioch before her, but the wisdom of the Spirit leading those who stood only in the Spirit, to see that this question ought to be settled at Jerusalem. The Apostles were there -the evil had come forth from thence; there was holy boldness in the truth in which they stood as of God, that they only reckoned on its being confirmed there and in no wise shaken. "When they came to Jerusalem," it was not to be questioned as to what they taught, but they were received of the Church, and of the Apostles, and of the elders, "and they declared all things that God had done with them." They did profess subjection to the spiritual judgment in the Church there, in the full confidence that the Spirit there would vindicate His own act at Antioch. They had to declare what God had done with them, and immediately there were found those who would frustrate the grace of God. Here is the real point at issue, whether the work is wholly of God, or one of man's co-operation. This is the question which ever disturbs the Church within: its rest is only in what God has wrought, but certain men say, "except ye" or "it is needful," and thus the ground of grace slides from under the feet. "Then rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses." The whole truth of God was at stake, the work of the Holy Ghost was in question; and here we find brought into conference, Peter, James, Paul, Barnabas, and other Apostles not mentioned by name, and the elders. We know not of their ever having met all together before, and what was it for? to bring the Gentile Churches into the Jewish standing? no: but solemnly to record that Jewish believers could only take their stand on the very same level on which the Gentiles stood -the supreme grace of God. It was the solemn recognition of the grafting in of the Gentile branches into the olive tree, to partake together with the unbroken Jewish branches of the fatness of the olive tree {Rom. 11}. Thus was the unity of the body here asserted, and the way prepared for the planting separate Churches, having no other dependence on each other than that of being all of the one body. No one of them asserting precedence of the other, no one sending forth anything like authoritative direction to another, as Jerusalem did to Antioch. Such were the Gentile Churches planted by Paul, -such the seven Asiatic Churches addressed by John in the Revelation. None of them held the place which Jerusalem had stood in. None of them occupied the transition place of Antioch, looking to and receiving help and guidance from an ordered Church, as Antioch did from Jerusalem.
It was not then in the issue, Antioch bowing to Jerusalem, but Jerusalem in solemn conclave, taking the same ground of sovereign grace as that on which Antioch stood. Thus was the work of the Holy Ghost, whereunto He had separated Paul and Barnabas, most solemnly confirmed, as the work which the Lord was working in that day. And it is thus to Antioch, that we may trace the great charter of Gentile liberty. But the manner in which it comes forth to us, is peculiarly interesting. The Apostle of the circumcision is the great witness to Gentile liberty, and thus He concludes, "we believe that by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they." Here is the entire relinquishment of all Jewish superiority as to standing for justification; and till Israel is content to take the standing of mercy, simply as the sinner of the Gentile, they cannot receive their blessings. How clearly too does he assert the supplement of the law to Christ, to be "a yoke," using the very same language as the Apostle Paul subsequently, "be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." Paul and Barnabas followed, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them." It was what "God had wrought." God was working apart from Judaism, apart from Jerusalem, apart from that which was ordered and established; and none dared to say to Paul and Barnabas, By what authority do ye these things? James follows confirming the testimony of Peter, and allowing that Judaism under any modification, was a troubling those who from among the Gentiles had turned to God. It would have been a subverting of their souls, a taking them off from their secure standing in grace, to have imposed anything on them. But even here at Jerusalem, we find the sovereign power of the Holy Ghost recognized as giving its character to the Church at Jerusalem, and justifying his own act at Antioch by the charter he dictated here. "It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us." The Judaizers thought it was Jerusalem that gave the Church there superior authority; but it was the Holy Ghost who had ordered and established the Church in that city in unity and in power, and under immediate Apostolic control, which gave it a pre-eminence and standing in which no Church has stood since. No Church has been competent from that day to the present, to say "It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us," and to send forth a decree for the regulation of other Churches. That Antioch never presumed to take such a stand, will plainly appear as we proceed. There was no yoke imposed by this decree; and doubtless it was the wisdom of the Spirit, suitable to the circumstances, to recommend as necessary things, the abstaining from things offered to idols, from things strangled, from blood, and from fornication. To Antioch, Barnabas and Paul returned with the full concurrence of the Church at Jerusalem, in that which they had taught. They bore with them the epistle declaratory of the liberty of the Gentiles, and commendatory of Paul and Barnabas, as those who had hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. On their return they gathered the multitude together and delivered the epistle, which when they had read they rejoiced for the consolation. This last accredited act of authority by the Church at Jerusalem, is the only true ground of consolation for us. It is indeed most interesting to mark the manner of the Holy Ghost, after this last recorded corporate act of Jerusalem.
The Apostles and elders at Jerusalem, had sent Judas and Silas to declare by word of mouth, that which was briefly contained in the epistle. After a time, Judas returned to Jerusalem, but Silas tarried, and subsequently went forth with Paul throughout Syria and Cilicia, confirming the Churches.
Now here again we find a breaking in on the regular order of Jerusalem. Barnabas had been previously sent to Antioch by the Apostles at Jerusalem; he returns not there again, but goes to Tarsus to seek for Paul. Silas had now again been sent, but returns not to Jerusalem again; but is recommended by the brethren at Antioch to the grace of God, together with Paul, and goes forth with him on a visit to the Churches of Syria and Cilicia. Now in these instances I think, we see the Spirit acting through individuals, leading them into service on their individual responsibility. In our days, the conduct both of Barnabas and Silas would be esteemed irregular and questionable; but the effect of human order is invariably to interfere with personal responsibility. This I find very jealously insisted on by the Apostle Paul, who saw the Jewish leaning of the Church as greatly tending to bring individuals into bondage to itself. I believe the controlling power claimed by Churches of our day, to have been unknown even in the Church at Jerusalem in all its plenitude of authority; and that godly order can alone be maintained by the recognition of the Holy Ghost as guiding into service, and personal responsibility to the Lord in the service. It is much easier to serve an establishment than to serve the Lord; and the bondage into which an establishment brings is not the subjugation of the flesh, which would be a good thing, but the fettering of the Spirit of God.
The way in which the action now goes on entirely independent of Jerusalem, may be noticed in the case of Timothy, whom Paul met with at Lystra, and took him to go forth with him. Thus the Holy Ghost was showing that he was raising up laborers for His own work; they did not go forth from any institution of man, but were called out immediately into active service.
The solemn ratification of Gentile liberty in the sure grace of God, by the decrees of the Apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem, greatly tended to strengthen the faith and increase the numbers of the Churches. But we again find the Holy Ghost speedily interrupting the orderly course which man would pursue, by turning his servants another way from that into which their own judgment was guiding them. It was most natural to Paul, after being led out of Syria into Asia Minor, to consider the whole of that country as the field of his labor. But the way in which be was directed by the Holy Ghost, is so stated as to lead our minds to acknowledge that he would allow no conference with flesh and blood at all, in the work which he was working. "Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, after they were come to Mysia they assayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not." Now this was clearly intended to show, that Antioch had not taken the place of Jerusalem to act on its order; and that if God had chosen it as a center from whence testimony was to proceed, still the great thing to be presented was the character of the work, and not the place from whence it proceeded. And from the time of the vision of the man of Macedonia to Paul at Troas, it would appear as though the work of the Holy Ghost was to turn the great current of testimony away from Asia into Europe. The result has been according to the prophetic intimation -highmindedness among the Gentiles, who have acted in testimony as if the word of the Lord proceeded from themselves. We cannot readily conceive what must have been the strangeness of this constant interruption in their orderly course, to the minds of Paul and his companions, but the yearning of the Apostle's soul after Asia and even Jerusalem, is very marked in the remainder of his history. Philippi, Thessalonica, Bercea, Athens, and Corinth, are successively the scenes of Paul's labor. At Corinth he made a longer sojourn than at any other place, he continued there a year and six months teaching the word of God among them. But the Holy Ghost did not set up any center of testimony in Europe. Place, so to speak, had been left behind in Asia; and now it was the great moral power of testimony, which was to be regarded (1 Thess. 1:8, 98For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing. 9For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; (1 Thessalonians 1:8‑9)). And what the Apostle said to the Corinthians, may be spoken to all. "What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?" to all I mean who would take the place that Jerusalem once occupied, and is yet again to occupy -a center of testimony to the whole world.
From Corinth Paul returns to Syria -lands at Caesarea, goes up and salutes the Church at Jerusalem, and then went down to Antioch; and after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening (the same word as in Acts 15:4141And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches. (Acts 15:41), is translated confirming) all the disciples. He saluted the Church at Jerusalem, still honoring all that was of God in that city, but tarried at Antioch and went forth from it a third time, as the center from which the special work of the Holy Ghost had proceeded. And here the record as to Antioch closes, but there are some points of instruction which I would desire to notice.
I. -It is impossible to follow the narrative of the Acts of the Apostles, without being struck with the patient way of God's grace. The reception of the word by Samaria -the preaching Christ in the wilderness to the Eunuch -the conversion of Cornelius -the manner in which the word reached Antioch -all prepared the way for the gradual breaking up of the Jerusalem system. And with it was set aside not only successional order, so manifestly interrupted by the Apostolate of Paul, "not of man or by man," but also that orderly progress of evangelization which man would naturally desire. The time for Jerusalem's blessing, and the blessing of the nations under its fostering care, was thus proved not to have yet come. We are apt to be more hasty in our thoughts, than God is in His ways -He is slow to anger; and perhaps we are in danger of drawing too nice distinctions between the dispensations of God, so as exactly to say where one passed away and another begun, and thus to lose much deep instruction in the ways of God. Although another center had been chosen for the special work of the Holy Ghost, and that work proceeds in an extraordinary manner, yet still the Church at Jerusalem is owned in a peculiar standing, even while this work is going on independent of it. And it cannot be too distinctly pressed, that the testimony presented to us, clearly shows that Antioch never pretended to occupy the relation to other Churches which Jerusalem had occupied to itself. With the breaking up of the Jerusalem system, the principle of a mother Church was lost; and the assertion of its existence now, I mean visibly on earth, is just the apostasy. In the Acts then, we have the Church at Jerusalem, in plenitude of spiritual power, claiming and exercising jurisdiction over other Churches; 2nd, Antioch recognizing the authority of the Church at Jerusalem, yet acting under the immediate direction of the Holy Ghost independently of Jerusalem's order; 3rd, Gentile Churches planted by Paul with local elders independent of external jurisdiction.
II. -The peculiar character of the work of the Holy Ghost is quite an infringement on human order. The moment that anything is established and begins to act for itself, it would appear as if the Holy Ghost would form another center for Himself to act from. This has been the tendency of the Church in its history: a school of doctrine or a standard of practice, has fettered the liberty of the Spirit; and He has again acted outside that which had its rise in His own blessed energy. In principle it is ever the same, returning to the weak and beggarly elements of the world. It is important for those who are now awakened, to see the character of the work of the Holy Ghost, to take great heed that they establish nothing. There must be an open field for the Holy Ghost to act in -where, when, and by whom He pleases. It might doubtless be asserted, that there have been various centers of testimony in the history of the Church, but they have sought their own, -set themselves in the place of mother Churches, and thus thwarted the very work of the Holy Ghost. It is indeed hard for us to get out of our local attachments: we are ever anticipating a resting place, as David did for the ark of the Lord, which had only been migratory and dwelling in curtains. But the time of its rest was not yet come. The Church is in its tabernacle state, and we would fain fix it here or there, but not so God. The history of the work of the Holy Ghost, most clearly shows us the Judaizing tendency of our minds. We desire something visible to lean on -something on which to cast ourselves, which though raised of God himself, is not God. Many must have seen and felt the tendency to put the Church itself in the place of its Head, and to make Church responsibility supersede individual responsibility to the Lord. He will not allow this. Fealty to the Holy Ghost in His sovereign agency, and to Jesus our one Lord, is now the great point. We must claim liberty for the Holy Ghost in ministry, none for the flesh; and obedience must be rendered to the Lord, even though it be disobedience to man. We need especially to keep a watchful and jealous guard in these respects: the Church would hinder the rightful authority of the Holy Ghost, by constitutions of its own; and the world allegiance to Jesus as Lord, by its enactments. "He went not with them to the work," should be words of solemn caution to the saints now.
III. -We may remark in this work of the Holy Ghost, the subordination of the providential order to that of the Spirit. We see this in the second departure of Paul from Antioch: his orderly providential progress was directly interrupted by the Holy Ghost forbidding him to preach in Asia. And I conceive that the use the Apostle made of the vision of the man of Macedonia, is intended for our instruction on this point. It was not the positive command of the Holy Ghost that led Paul into Europe, but his inference from the vision that he was called to preach the Gospel there, "assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the Gospel unto them. " We are not deprived of the providential order; but having the mind of Christ, we are responsible for our use of it. The Holy Ghost may now in some very marked manner forbid or hinder, and then providential circumstances may open a plain path before us. But we are entirely forgetting the work of the Holy Ghost, when we merely judge according to providential circumstances. And these we must remember, are much more easy for us to rest on, than simply to depend on the guidance of the Holy Ghost. One of the peculiar Jewish features of the Church of the present day, is, that the exercise of its ministry appears to be almost entirely under the control of circumstances, as if the Holy Ghost was not still asserting His own sovereignty in the work He is carrying on. If God has been pleased to link any together by a spiritual tie, it is not for us to snap it for our convenience. Something more promising may open to us as a sphere of labor -there may be a greater prospect of usefulness; but it is untried, and we know not that it is our place to be there. He that would "gather" from circumstances alone where his place of service in the Church is, would generally find himself placed out of the course of the work of the Holy Ghost. Providential leading is not of faith, the guidance of the Spirit is. We constantly find God helping on our little faith by circumstances, and bringing us just where we ought to have been brought by the leadings of his Spirit. But all this is very humbling, and proves to us at what a very low ebb, real spiritual discernment is amongst us. May we be humbled, and earnestly seek more intelligent guidance of the Comforter -the spirit of truth, to guide each of us in the way we should go.
IV. -Though it may not appear to be properly of the subject we have considered, yet the connection in which Apollos is introduced to our notice is very remarkable. It appears as if a character of ministry was then raised up, even more out of the range of human order, than any which had preceded it, -a character of ministry for which we may boldly say, there could not possibly be any room in modern Church constitution. And this is their very fault, they attempt to imitate a pattern which once was, and to which they would fetter the Holy Ghost; and he chooses to act outside it -as well as inside it. The Jerusalem model, more or less, is attempted to be taken by modern establishments; but the Holy Ghost provides for his own work in other channels After Paul's last departure from Antioch, we read "a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the Spirit, he spike and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of the Lord more perfectly. And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace: for he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, showing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ (Acts 18:24-8)." Now here we get one led on in the way of instruction, so as to be a fitting help to the Apostle Paul, by the instruction of a man and his wife, who held no ostensible place of ministry in the Church at all. He was not like Timothy, one whom Paul took and would have to go forth with him, to be brought up under Apostolic training. But when he had learned the way of the Lord more perfectly, he was disposed to go unto Achaia. He was not sent as Barnabas, or Silas and Judas, from an ordered Church, but he was independently led of the Spirit, and recommended by the brethren to the notice of the Church at Corinth, and was able to help them much who had believed through grace, equivalent I doubt not to his watering the ministry even of Paul himself. "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." The Apostle gladly recognized in Apollos a fellow-laborer, however raised up; his soul was too much occupied with the necessities of the Church, to raise the question as to Apollos' ministry which had been raised in other quarters respecting his own; that is, the source from whence it was derived. He saw that the Lord had fitted him for the ministry, and that he himself was a servant in God's husbandry, and could gladly recognize Apollos as a fellow-laborer, not as an intruder. And in this spirit could say, "who is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to each?" It is thus that the soul which is occupied in the Church's necessities, most thankfully receives any help that God may give, and owns all that is of God in any in its suited place. The presence of Apollos at Corinth, seemed even to release the Apostle for a visit to the Asiatic Churches, at least I should gather this from the first verse in the nineteenth chapter. And this character of ministry -I mean the Spirit leading an individual into his place of service -independent of Apostolical or Church commission, which have both had their place, I find maintained in Apollos much later; "as touching our brother Apollos, I greatly desired him to come unto you with the brethren: but his will was not at all to come at this time; but he will come when he shall have convenient time." Now the effect of taking for a pattern any previous Church order, would effectually exclude Apollos' ministry. And I believe the real wisdom in our present condition, is to seek to get the work of the Lord done efficiently, gladly receiving any one in the place the Lord has given him to fill. Not even putting back one who was instructed in the way of the Lord less perfectly, so as to set up some standard of ministerial competence; but to use all that the Lord has given us. And it is especially needed to guard against trenching in any wise on individual liberty, or personal responsibility. It was not self-will in Apollos, that disposed him at one time to visit Achaia, and at another even to run counter to the desire of the Apostle Paul, by not going there at a particular time Doubtless he would value the judgment, and weigh well the council of the Apostle, but he must be fully persuaded in his own mind that it was his place then.
Surely all this should make us particularly jealous over arrangements of our own. How blessed is that co-operation in service, as in the case of Paul and Apollos, which is the result of the individual guidance of the Spirit. And how often is service, when undertaken at the suggestion of another, without the individual leading of the Spirit, a yoke of bondage which we find it difficult to bear. The Lord grant to his saints more and more, the godly order which springs from the recognizing the leading of his Spirit, in all things.
The Christian Witness 7:32-59 (1837).