Address—P.L. Johnson
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And so the first thing we have is that he hears a voice behind him. And that would suggest in my mind that John had John was looking, as it were, in the wrong direction. He had to be turned to look in the right direction. That's the first step, you might say, in the, in the adjustment of John in communicating something to his brethren.
And before I go on, I'd like to say this that one might feel that.
John can't be a model to us in this way. For John is going to write something to these seven churches and and how do we fit into that? We can't sit down and write these letters to churches. And, and one might say I'm a sister and I, I can't even take part in the meeting that is verbally. And one might feel that he has nothing verbally to communicate in the meeting, even a brother, a young brother perhaps.
But there is a sense in which each one of us communicate something to the assembly. We communicate something. We either communicate.
Of God are we communicate what is of the flesh, we can communicate a spirit of devotedness and of loyalty.
We can devote, we can communicate a spirit of faithfulness.
Or we can communicate to the assembly a spirit of indifference, carelessness.
You see, we're all communicating something and I believe that. I believe that's something to think about. One may feel that you're you may think that you're an insignificant member in the church or assembly, that you really don't count, but every member affects the others. If one member suffer, then all suffer. And I believe that even refers to the spiritual state.
Of individuals, one may think that you're communicating nothing to the assembly, but you can help to communicate a bad state. You can help to contribute to a bad state. You can help to contribute to a good state.
We are all communicating something and we may not all write letters like John.
We may not all communicate something verbally, but we are communicating by our attitude, by our spirit, by our state of soul, by our associations, by our walk, and by our ways. We are communicating or supplying something in the assembly, good or bad. Well, John is going to communicate and he needs to be properly adjusted. And the first thing in that adjustment is.
If I may be allowed to use the word orientation?
Maybe that's the word I ought to explain. He needs to be properly oriented. That is, he has to be looking in the right direction.
Now I know that in the United States, I can't say about Canada, but the Army.
Uses that expression orientation.
They when one joins the army.
They, they go through a series of orientation lectures or something of this art and the object is this to Orient them to, to look at things from the military standpoint. No longer as a civilian, you know, they say you're, you're not a civilian anymore. You're a military man and you have to look at things from the military viewpoint. That's orientation. Well, that's used even in in civilian circles, I know to properly.
One means that they're looking in the right direction. That is you. You get them in the frame of mind to look at things in a certain, in a certain light and in a certain way. And so it is with the John here he was looking in the wrong direction and he heard a voice behind him. And you'll notice what it says.
In verse 12 and I turned to see, now that's the thought of orientation. He had to turn and look in the other direction.
Well, why is there this great need of being turned and looking in the right direction? I'll tell you why.
You see, we all have the flesh in us. We have that human nature is born into this world, and it is only human.
It is a characteristic of human nature that we look at things in human eyes and in a human way rather than looking at things from the divine side. And oh, I think this is very, very important, to look at things from the divine side, to look at things from God's side. You say, well, how can I do that? Well, that's the importance of this word. It's the word of God that gives us to see things from his viewpoint, and things may not.
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Always look the same. We can look at things through human eyes, and then we look at things through the Word of God and we see them from God's side and they look entirely different. And in the assembly we need to be properly oriented so that everything that comes up and arises in the assembly should be viewed from God's side, that is.
Are we looking at it from the side of what God has shown us in the Scriptures and what is for His glory?
And for what is the honor of His beloved Son? Or do we take them up merely according to human feelings and human thought?
And human philosophy and things of that nature, it must be looked at from the divine side. Well, that's the first thing. But now notice in verse 12 what he saw.
When he turned he saw 7 golden candlesticks and the last verse of this chapter tells us what these are.
At the end of verse 20 it says the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
The seven churches.
Now you will notice.
That he doesn't see one Candlestick or lampstand. The word property is lampstand. He doesn't see one, he sees 7.
And someone says, well, I thought there was only one church.
And if these if the lampstand represents the church, why isn't Why wasn't it just one instead of seven?
Well, there is in Scripture the truth of the one church.
The Body of Christ, the one Church on earth, composed of all believers, indwelt by the Spirit of God.
For by 1 Spirit are we all baptized into one body. That's true, but when we view the church in its responsibility.
And when we view the Church as a responsible light bearer, it has to be taken up in a local way. In other words, the one Church, the body of Christ, never convenes. You know what I mean? Now, I know that in in Christendom they think it does. They try to have an ecumenical council that represents the one Church. And Rome thinks so too. But in Scripture we do not have the one Church on earth composed of all believers ever.
Or assembly. What we have are the members of that church in each locality Assembly.
The Church of God, which is at Corinth assembled, and those that are in Ephesus assembled. We read in Acts 11 That Paul and Barnabas assemble themselves with the church there in Antioch. It was the believers in Antioch. And if there were believers in Lystra, Derby, Iconium, wherever they were, they assembled and you we find in Scripture that responsibility lies with the local assembly.
The local assembly when Paul wrote to Corinth.
About the difficulty there in that assembly.
He did not call upon Ephesus to do something. He called upon Cornup. They were responsible there. And when he sets forth in the Epistle to the Corinthians the ardor that was to prevail in that assembly.
How that the spirit dividing severity to every man as he will when they came together.
And they came together to remember the Lord and that there was liberty for prayer and praising.
And there was even opportunity for an open meeting where the prophets might speak two or three, and all of these exercises, you might say, of the service of God. When the assembly came together, he gave the order that was to prevail in that assembly at Corinth.
You see, he didn't give that order to the whole church, but he gave it to that assembly. Well, does that mean then that that all of these seven churches or assembly are separate and distinct and unattached and independent one of another? Not at all. But what it does mean is this, that each one is responsible.
For maintaining the light and the testimony in itself and its own locality.
The Saints gathered to the Lord's name here in Vancouver. We would not arrogate the title of assembly to such a company.
That is, we wouldn't take the ground of saying that we are the whole church here in Vancouver. No, we know they're true believers. But we would be on the ground of the assembly here and walking in the light of the assembly so that the assembly here is responsible to act for the glory of God and to act according to the due order that is set forth in Scripture. The assembly in Seattle and wherever they were Saints gathered.
To the Lord's name, walking in the light of the truth of the assembly, they too are responsible.
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But not independent one of another. Turn back to Corinthians.
I want to show you how that the apostle, while he lays upon the Corinthians, the church at Corinth, their responsibility.
And This is why I believe there were seven lampstand scenes, because each assembly was responsible itself.
But we cannot use that to deny the unity that existed between those seven assemblies.
We see that in Corinthians. Notice in the first chapter in verse two he writes under the Church of God which is at Corinth.
So he localizes it. You see, he doesn't write to the Church of God over the whole earth.
He's not writing this epistle to the one church composed of all believers on the face of the earth. No, he says, I'm writing this to that assembly and current that local assembly sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be Saints. But now notice with all that in every place, call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours right from the outset. He says while I write these.
Instructions to the local assembly in Corinth.
It's for all the Saints everywhere. It's it applies equally to those who call upon the name of the Lord in every place.
It's not restricted to Corinth so that the unity that exists between them is that what is what Corinth is responsible for in their area. The other assemblies in their area were responsible for as well. Now the several times turn to chapter 4.
Several times the apostle links up.
His instruction to the Corinthians with the Saints elsewhere. Verse 17 for this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways, which be in Christ as I teach everywhere in every church. You see, it wasn't left for this assembly to choose how they wanted to meet and how they wanted to conduct the service of God and then it was left to.
To to act according to their own as men speak, to dictate to their conscience and so forth, and to carry and to meet according to what they thought was right. Paul says no. It's what I teach everywhere in every church. What Timothy is going to bring down there to you, what I'm bringing before you is what I teach everywhere in every church.
The same set of teaching everywhere. Now turn to the 11Th chapter.
And we see that the Corinthians were seeking to introduce something that was unscriptural.
That sisters would appear in the presence of the Saints.
Where the Word of God was read or spoken on and where prayer was made without a head coverage.
And he's correcting that error and he ends up by saying in verse 16. But if any man seem to be contentious, in other words, he has presented the argument, you might say are presented the case for wearing a head covering on the part of the sisters. Now he says if there are those there that that still want to be contentious, if you want to contend about this thing, let him know this. We have no such custom, that is we apostles.
Neither the churches of God. He reminds them that all of the Saints, all of the assemblies everywhere followed this order, and if they were going to have another order, they were out of line and out of step and out of unity with their brother and elsewhere. You see how he's emphasizing the fact that while each assembly is responsible in their locality, they're not independent of their brethren gathered elsewhere. They're not independent of assemblies.
Elsewhere there is a unity that links them together as members of the body of Christ.
That's why there's that unity. They are all, they are the members of the body of Christ in this locality, this locality and that locality, and they're all governed by the same truth. And in the 13th chapter.
Or rather the 14th chapter.
And verse 34.
Let your women keep silence in the churches.
Or rather verse 33. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.
As in all the churches of the Saints, then he says, Let your women keep silence, and know that he had been speaking about the ardor that was to prevail in the assembly. There was not to be confusion. Everything is to be done unto edification, and everything is to be done decently, in order and under the direction of the Spirit and according to spiritual understanding. Now he says.
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That as in all the churches or assemblies.
Of the Saints, he reminds him again that if they do not follow this order that he is setting forth, they're out of step with their brethren elsewhere. They're acting independently of their brethren. And this is not according to the mind of God. God's mind is that while there is local responsibility.
Yet we are not independent of our brethren elsewhere. We're all acting.
You might say on that principle of the one body, we are all acting as those who are united together as members of the body of Christ, though it's carried out in a local way. Well, back to chapter one. I'm not going into great detail in all of these things, but just to point out some of the things that I think are most important in regard to being properly adjusted.
In supplying or communicating something to the assembly, we need to see assembly responsibility. And that's really what this vision is about, the fact that these assemblies were responsible as light bearers. That's why they're seen under the figure of lampstands. They're not seen under the under the figure of the body of Christ, under the figure of the House of God or the bride of Christ, but under the figure of lampstands.
For they are responsible as a witness for Christ.
And in fact, the Lord Jesus presented here as being in the midst.
Is in the midst, not ministering blessing to His people.
We know He does, and we know He is in the midst of that. He's not in the midst.
To give authority, but he's in the midst to make an assessment as to how they have.
How they have maintained the responsibility that was theirs locally to maintain the light for Christ. He's there in the midst, as judge, in the midst of the assemblies. And so we need to recognize the fact that there is assembly responsibility.
And the Lord Jesus takes account of it. But at the same time, and I want to impress this, that independency is not taught here. The fact that there were seven different lampstands does not mean that each assembly of the Lord's people is independent of the other, but it merely brings out the fact that each one has its own responsibility. But as we've seen in an in Corinthians, they are united together as members of the body of Christ.
Well, now notice these lampstands in verse 12.
Are spoken of as being golden.
I suppose that most of us, in reading the scriptures, have discovered that gold is a type of that which is divine.
That which is divine, being a precious metal it is, speaks of that which is divine. And so John was to see it that these assemblies were not just groups of brethren, if you want to use that expression.
Not just a gathering of Saints, but it was that the assembly.
He wanted to impress upon him and upon you and me that the assembly is a divine institution.
That's why Paul writes to the Church of God, which is at Corinth. You see, the Church of God is more than just a title. You can have a building and you can put a sign out front and say Church of God, but that isn't what he's talking about. It's God's church. It means that it's it's not a human institution. It's not a voluntary association.
You see, man can. Man can have a voluntary association.
Even Christians, they can band together, they can say, well, we believe in in the the missionary activity. So they band together and form a a missionary group for the furtherance of missionary work. But that's just a voluntary association. Now, I'm not going to say that there hasn't been some good done from by these things, but that's not the assembly.
All sorts of organizations are have been farmed by men and and God has used some of them in his sovereignty. But the thought is that the assembly is a divine institution and we we don't farm an assembly. The Saints in a locality can't farm an assembly even where the we know that.
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As we sometimes speak of a new gathering being farmed, it isn't that we have farmed a new assembly.
It is that the Saints in that locality have learned that they are a part of the assembly which God is already established.
They have learned that Christ has a church and that they're of it. They belong to it, you see, And so they withdraw from all of the organizations of men. They gather simply to the name of Christ on the ground of the one body, owning that they're a part of that assembly which God has set up in this world, that assembly which Christ that I will build. They're a part of that Church of God.
And they seek to function and to and to walk in the light of that.
And to carry on the service of God in connection with that. So we want to look on it as a divine institution.
And if we do, I believe this thoroughly, and one can never anticipate what we might do. And I'm not going to say I can anticipate, but I do believe that if we really hold firmly in our heart and conscience that the assembly is a divine institution, we won't be too quick to leave it. We won't just get up and leave it over flimsy things and flimsy reasons because we recognize that it's that which God himself has instituted. Now, again, I'm not saying that.
Any gathering of the Lord's people today can arrogate to themselves the title of being the Church.
In the sense of including all believers, but I do believe it is the privilege.
Of those who have faith, to act upon it, to gather on the ground of the Church of God, and to walk in the light of the Church.
And act according to the principles of the assembly. And those who do so, I believe are held responsibly by God to act for the church and on behalf of the Church of God. And it is our privilege to view the actions of such as having God sanctioned and the sanction of Christ as being his assembly.
Again, we never want to exclude those who are true believers in our thoughts.
And we know that if those, all of those who were the Lords.
Were on the right ground, they would all be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where He would have His people be.
We know that well, we want to look on it as a, as a divine institution, not just a group of Christians that meet seeking to carry out certain truths or principles, but we're we're seeking to carry out what is of God, divine. Well, I've already anticipated the Lord in the midst as a judge, because when John sees the Lord, he sees him not as the head of the church or as the Son of God, he sees him.
Son of Man in the character of a judge with the his garment right down to the feet.
Not the garment was not girded up for service because the Lord here is not seen in his wonderful care of service of his Saints. No, the garment is down because he's in the under the figure of a judge and even his affections are as it were restrained with that girdle about the pact we read with a golden girdle that means that he he is not here now to.
Display all of his affection for the church.
But he's here to to take account of how the church is fulfilled its responsibility how each local gathering has fulfilled its responsibility as a responsible light bearer. And I'm sure all of these figures of his head and his hair is white like wool. Perhaps Speaking of maturity and his eyes is a flame of fire would speak of of discernment penetrating discernment feet like a debris. We know that brass is a type.
Of divine righteousness and dealing with man and responsibility. Because you see, if the Lord takes an account of things and however He judges of things, his judgment is going to be righteous.
And again, we want to look at things from the Lord's side, and in a sense, you might say if the Lord is seen in this character taking stock of the state of the assembly, this is the way in which we we should too. We should have some maturity of judgment, we should have some spiritual discernment, and we should have that ability to judge things righteously.
And then we read that the voice of and sound of many waters, that perhaps dignity.
And majesty. And then we see that responsibility is in His hand with the seven stars, and He judges everything according to the Word. He has in His hand a sharp 2 edged sword. And we know this refers to the scriptures. The Word of God is spoken of as being sharper than any two edged sword. So you see, everything is judged according to scripture, according to what He has set forth and the Scriptures. Now notice the attitude of John.
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And here he's a model for us. John falls at his feet, is dead. What does that mean?
I think that is a figure of self judgment in other words, instead of judging.
Others. The first action of John is to judge himself, judge himself in a spirit of self judgment. And so John gets the comfort and power of the Lord. The Lord lays his right hand upon him. That's the hand of power.
Because the place of power is the place of self judgment and loneliness and humiliation, and in the right hand of power is placed upon him. And the Lord says, fear not.
You see, he gets that comfort and he knows that he has the Lord's support, and I feel that this is a moral principle.
If we're going to have the support of the Lord with us, we need to take this attitude and spirit of self judgment, knowing that the Lord is in the midst and he's in the midst here discerning everything. He knows everything that's going on. He knows all about the state of everything. He knows every heart. He knows every bit of progress we've made. He's know He knows every bit, everything that hinders and all, everything about us, everything going on in the assembly. And so we take a low place.
Judgment and humiliation, and then we have the sense of His power and His support.
And he will put forth his hand, right hand of power, and he will support those who take that place. But if we, if we're insensible to his being in the midst to discern these things, and if we're careless and indifferent, we'll lose that sense of comfort, that sense of support and that right hand of power that he gives. Well, what a model John is, is for us.
Not only as we had the other night, but as we have him here now.
In this vision of the Lord and taking the right attitude, falling at His feet as dead, and to have that wonderful experience of the Lorde support and the Lorde power and the Lorde comfort, even though we are made aware of the fact that He observes and knows everything. Well may we be those who communicate what is according to the mind of Christ and the assembly and supply that and that we see things.
Right perspective from God's viewpoint and see the assembly as it is a divine institution.
And be on that right attitude of self judgment before the Lord.